#worth noting maybe that i still hiked about a half mile in?

[disabled-dean]

Whooooo wants to see pictures from the bone trail today???

(Under the cut, cw: gore)

#if it helps this is an area with a lot of hunting #so I am ~assuming~ that someone had a kill they butchered #weren't gonna use these parts and was like- hey #you know what would be absolutely fucked up? #worth noting maybe that i still hiked about a half mile in? #and then I started to get ~a vibe~ and turned around #and about 20 yards from the spot where you cross back over the canal to the orchard road #a dog came over the hill behind me #perhaps with people following ir and i was like #oh fuck no #and did a little run away #anyways rural areas are just like that sometimes <3 #small town gothic #personal

[your-daily-biaswrecking]

Serva me, Servabo te

save me and I will save you

pairing: photographer!Taehyung x f.reader (oc)

more characters: Jimin x Yoonji

genre: angst, slight enemies to lovers, slow burn, eventual smut

word count: 4.6k   |  reading time: 25 min

summary: Somehow you end up having to share a Victorian Manor (that may or may not be haunted) with a person you really dislike: Kim Taehyung

warnings: nothing specific in this chapter, some swearing and toxic traits

A/N: Amy= Army= reader:)

All chapters | Masterlist   |  Read on AO3

Chapter 1: The tragic state of affairs

An hour and a half long car drive and you still managed to be in the middle of nowhere. You could almost swear the dirt road was leading to nothing, but the occasional sign swore otherwise. You sighed. How had you gotten yourself into this, again? Oh, yeah.

-9:34 pm, the day before-

A loud thud followed by an inhuman growl produced from the deepest pits of hell reached your ears in the kitchen. I guess you couldn't ignore her any longer. You leaned past the door,  peeping at your roommate cocooning on the floor.

"Uh... You good?" She immediately started mumbling with fiery passion and you couldn't understand a single word. That meant no. "What did Jimin do this time?"

Yoonji sat up, turning her spine abnormally to look at you. "He's an idiot," you managed to hear.

You pressed your lips together and nodded. "Right. You guys broke up. Is he still bothering you, what is it?" You walked to her and squatted down to her level. You noticed her cheeks were bloody red and stained with tears, her mouth giving you a pout. But you were unbothered.

"He won't let me go tomorrow," she complained.

"The Manor you guys had booked?"

"Yeah!"

"Why won't he let you go?"

"No, I mean... He says I can go but he says he'll go too and I don't want to see him," Yoonji mumbled while wiping her tears with the back of her hand.

Your immediate thought was to tell her to just go since they were going to make up eventually anyway. Seriously, the two of them broke up and got back together like twice a week. Sometimes it looked more serious, sure, but you had fallen for it too many times to believe it now. You would only be sure the two of them were done for real when... Well, actually, never. "So, you don't want to lose your vacation but you want to have the whole house to yourself?" you asked and she nodded. "Well, since you both paid for this, I'm sorry to tell you, but he has just as much right to go as you. You should have thought about that before you broke up over- what was it again? Dumplings?" I mean, this had to be some type of kink or something at this point. They had to be into breaking up and chasing each other all the time. Maybe it was the make-up sex, who knows.

Finally, one of the road signs pointed to the right for a turn. 200 m it said. You breathed out in relief; you were starving and so sleep deprived, you feared you'd drive your car into a ditch by the road. In front of you stood a large gate with an astounding metal design. It was open and you carefully drove in. Your breath hitched the moment the house came into view. What house? That was a whole palace! With three floors, a garden bigger than the nearest park to your apartment, and about a million windows adorning its two wings. So caught up in the drama, you hadn't even had the chance to see a picture to prepare yourself for the beauty of the Victorian artifact. Your jaw on the floor, all you could do was laugh.

Say, how had you managed to get here again? Right, right...

-11:04 pm, the day before-

There was a soft knock on your bedroom door and you hummed in reply. Yoonji burst in with great contrast to her knocking, dashing for the foot of your bed and plopping herself on it with nerve. You paused your texting on your phone momentarily to turn your eyes on hers, noting her tears were all dried up now, a frown in their place.

"I told him I'm not going 'cause I don't wanna see his stupid face," she announced.

The corners of your mouth turned downwards. "Good for you. I'm sure the house isn't worth it, you can do your vacation elsewhere."

"But now he says he's not going..."

You thought about it for a second, then got back to your texting. "Great. Isn't that what you wanted? Now, you can go."

The girl leaned over your legs, trying to catch your attention again with wide eyes full of conspiracies. "But... What if he's bluffing?"

You paused again. Damnit, why was this even making sense? You'd say Jimin is not capable of doing something like that... if you actually thought it to be true. "So, don't go." You looked at her again to make sure your point was getting across. "Yoonji, don't go. That way no matter if he goes or not, you still won't see his stupid face."

A middle-aged woman dressed to fit right into the aesthetic of the Manor greeted you on the big steps of the entrance with something like the enthusiasm you only show your favorite aunt on Christmas. "You must be Ms. Min Yoonji," she called before you even had the chance to reach her.

"Must I?" you replied, immediately following it with a peal of fake laughter.

The woman chuckled and walked towards you. With a closer look, you noticed how youthful her face looked, and how undeniably pretty she was. Definitely looking like a noblewoman who would be in charge of something like this mansion. "Welcome, I'm Mrs. Kim. I'm glad you're here, your partner is already inside," she said.

Oh... So he was bluffing.

You smiled. "Thank you. The place looks stunning."

"Oh, I'm hoping you'll get to enjoy all of its beauty to the maximum this week you'll be spending here," the woman said as she guided you towards the entrance." Just to let you know, every room is at your disposal, the kitchen is fully equipped and with every kind of food you might crave. Housekeeping is daily and with a very discreet staff. I have already given a tour to your partner."

You pushed the heavy door open and walked in, immediately hugged by a heavy but warm atmosphere with a strong, musky scent. Right across from you, there was a big, double staircase with a magnificent chandelier hanging from the high ceiling. All you could do was look around with a stupid face. Jimin was getting Yoonji this type of vacation and she had the audacity to fight with him? How had they even afforded this? You totally understood why your roommate was throwing a tantrum wanting to come here. Why had she even let you come instead?

-12:56 am, the day before, or more accurately, this day but super early-

"Amy... Amy..." You were startled awake, barely making out the silhouette of Yoonji hovering above you in the darkness. "Were you sleeping?" she whispered.

You exhaled and pushed her away, groaning. "Yoonji, a piece of advice: if you have to shake someone for them to answer you, yeah, they were sleeping!"

"Sorry," she said but definitely didn't mean it. She scooted you over to sit next to you. "Hey, so... I was thinking. Maybe you should go."

Be it the sleep or your roommate speaking utter nonsense, all you could think was: "What?"

"Well, I don't wanna go in case Jimin goes, but I also don't wanna let him have the house to himself -you know, out of spite- so maybe you should go." Yoonji blinked at you expectingly but it was still too complicated for you to process. "I mean, you're gonna have a good time, Amy. The house is amazing, I promise, this is a one-in-a-lifetime opportunity, okay? I thought if I let you go then we could also be even for the time you did that assignment for me and got me an A? What do you say?"

You frowned, starting to shake your head. "Yoonji-"

"Please, I just want you to annoy him by just being there, you know? Also, he might not even go. Then you'll have a whole Manor to yourself for a whole week! You can take your books with you and enjoy some time away from society, right? Pretty please..."

Your frown deepened, but you started to think about what she was saying. "You really would rather just give up your vacation to a Victorian Mansion or whatever it is to your roommate than let Jimin have it to himself?"

"Absolutely, yeah."

Well, you couldn't think of a reason to say no to that.

Mrs. Kim finished her welcoming speech with a smile. "In the library, you will find a map of the hiking routes of the forest. There is a mushroom picking one that I wholeheartedly recommend. Of course, anything you might need, you can always pick up our vintage phone -it works perfectly- and call us any time of the day and night."

You gave her a genuine grin and nodded. "Thank you very much, Mrs. Kim!" And after that, the beautiful woman opened the door and left. Where to, you had no idea, since you doubted there was any kind of civilization nearby.

You dragged your suitcase to the bottom of the staircase, about to lift it and go find one of the surely many rooms to occupy. But in the silence of it all, you noticed a fire cracking in the background. So silent, it felt like you and the fire were the only things alive for miles. Yet Jimin must have been roaming somewhere in this Manor.

Huh... He still hadn't shown up at the entrance to check if Yoonji had come? Surely, he must have heard the commotion made but you two ladies.

You released your grip on your suitcase and slowly walked towards the room the fire seemed to be coming from. You wanted to find him and enjoy his face when he would see you instead of his girl- well, ex-girlfriend. You passed through a small hallway, little rooms with cabinets and bookcases until you reached a slightly ampler room that had a lit fireplace. It looked like a sitting room, with a pair of scarlet, velvet armchairs and a matching sofa. There was a large, thick carpet that covered almost the entire floor, and an ebony coffee table in the middle. On the right, a window that expanded from floor to ceiling, but was however half-hidden behind a rich curtain.

You were about to go towards the fireplace before you noticed the slim man standing tall by that window. Looking outside, turned opposite to the entrance. You almost didn't notice him as the colors and textile of his outfit matched the room so well. His brown, a little wavy hair tucked messily behind his ears, light silver glasses sitting low on his nose, hands in his pockets. He was wearing a sweater vest over a beige shirt and baggy trousers and was standing like a model. Something very off about him that you didn't immediately recognize.

"Oh." The interjection left your lips without your command. And at the sound of your voice, he turned around to face you.

-10:46 am, this morning-

You had left your apartment more than a long time ago, Yoonji was expecting that you would have arrived by now and waiting for your news. Had Jimin gone too? How had he reacted? She tried calling you a couple of times but was only met with voicemail. Maybe you didn't have a good signal up in the mountains. Oh, no, how would you keep her up to date now?

Her cellphone buzzed and she rushed to see the message she assumed was from her roommate. It turned out to be her ex.

"You didn't go, then?"

Yoonji laughed. How wicked of her. He must have just seen you arrive at the Manor, instead of her. So he was lying about not going, just as Yoonji had predicted. She flipped her hair from her shoulder dramatically and quickly typed her reply.

"Of course not, I told you I wasn't going."

She couldn't stop giggling like a little girl.

"Cool... Just so you know, I felt bad wasting this already paid vacation, so..."

Yoonji rolled her eyes, still giggling.

"Let me guess. You went by yourself?" How pathetic... He really thought his little trick would work.

"No."

Wait, what?

"I myself didn't go..."

Yoonji blinked.

Come again?

Your eyes widened when you realized the man in front of you wasn't Jimin. The man in front of you was...

"Kim Taehyung? What are you doing here?"

He was about to open his mouth to reply when your phone interrupted you. Without taking your eyes off the man and with a deep frown on both of your faces, you took it out of your pocket and answered. Yoonji's voice started ringing immediately from the other end.

"Amy! Finally! I've been trying to call you for ages. Did you arrive yet? I wanted to tell you Jimin isn't coming. He said he let Tae go." You rolled your eyes. "Can you hear me, Amy? The signal is so bad... Amy, the idiot did the same thing I did and sent Taehyung! Remember Taehyung? Jimin's best friend?"

You sighed. "Yeah... Way ahead of you. He's standing right in front of me." Your eyes traveled down his arms as he moved to fold them over his chest, tilting his head at you.

Yoonji let out an exasperated cry. "Ugh, man! So he told the truth... Look, I'm so sorry I got you into this. Amy, can you hear me? I hope you have no problem with him there. I know you guys are not close- wait, have you guys met? You have, right? Okay, I know you're not close but it'll be fine, right? Just don't pay attention to him and do your thing, yeah darling? Act the same as if Jimin were there, or as if you were alone. Amy, that's fine, right? You can do that, right? How is the house, is it awesome and totally worth it and you're totally not mad at me for sending you there with Tae? Huh? Amy?"

You sighed again. The signal was indeed bad. So you just hung up, hoping your roommate would blame your rudeness on that. Hiding your phone away again, you eyed Taehyung from head to toe. He was still glaring at you as if you'd stolen something from him. Well, I guess if he thought he'd have this whole place to himself, it was kind of like stealing. But that was only because he just happened to arrive first. Both of you had the same claim over the place. Or, well, neither of you did.

"Right, so..." you started since he didn't seem to be reacting any further. "I guess we'll have to stay together."

Suddenly, Taehyung started moving. His eyes still piercing yours and not a word out of his mouth, just a steady charge towards you.

"I-I know you didn't expect me-" you felt the need to mumble quickly, "-but I didn't expect you either!" Taehyung stayed silent, getting closer. "Okay, maybe we lied!" you exclaimed, your feet stepping behind each other. "But you guys lied, too!" There wasn't any more room to move and the man was now right in front of you, leaning into your personal space. "Taehyung, what-"

"Who are you?"

You were caught off guard. "What?" You thought he was joking, but he stayed looking at you with a serious face. "What do you mean who am I?" you sounded offended. "We've met before!"

"Have we?"

"Couple of times!"

Taehyung scanned your entire face before he shook his head. "I don't remember you."

Now you were offended. "I'm Amy!" you announced loudly. "Yoonji's roommate."

At last, he pulled away, his mouth opening in understanding. "Oh... Right, I knew Yoonji had a roommate by that name." He moved farther away but turned his head to you again. "I don't think I've seen you before, though."

You rolled your eyes and slipped around him to escape the place you had been trapped in earlier. "Alcohol does that sometimes," you snorted at him.

Taehyung rubbed his chin, looking at you differently now. You tried to avoid his eyes, examining the room more closely instead. The paintings on the walls, the black encyclopedia on the shelves, the candelabra and tea set on the small table. Every detail was thought of inside the house. "Why are you here, though?" he asked.

"Same reason as you, I assume."

He licked his bottom lip in the act of releasing a small chuckle. "Did you owe a favor to your best friend, too?"

You took out one random book and browsed its thin, yellow pages. "Actually, she owed me."

Taehyung raised his eyebrows in response, then started occupying himself with the little things around the room, as well. "They're ridiculous, aren't they?" You hummed in agreement and put the book back, moving along. "Do you think they might be done for real now?"

"No way." You moved to the smaller window behind the sofa and pulled its curtains away to look at the view. A hill decorated by a dense forest. "Yoonji is over her phone 24/7 waiting for him to text her."

He chuckled again. "I know for a fact Jimin is not taking this seriously. He laughs every time she texts him."

"As he should! She's a drama queen."

"Thank you!" Taehyung called out as if he had been struggling with this for a long time. With two long strides, he appeared next to you and forced you to look into his eyes. "Jimin gets mad at me every time I say that, but she is, isn't she?"

You were a little taken aback by how eager he seemed to be to find this one thing in common between the two of you: having had enough of your friends' relationship. You nodded with an amused smile. "Extremely."

He shook his head, pushing his hair back with a hand. "I honestly don't get how they make it work. Aren't they tired?" He turned serious again and looked at you with big eyes. "I could never have something like that. When I like someone, I want it to be Titanic, not Mr. and Mrs. Smith."

It took you a few seconds to reply, a little lost in his intense stare. But you shrugged. "I kind of get it. It keeps it fun and interesting. They've been together for three years now and yet it's still not boring. Like, they confess their love to each other every other week."

But he insisted. "I wouldn't need all of that to remind my girl how much I love her."

This was getting a little uncomfortable. He was a little too close, and a little too serious. So you leaned back and maneuvered around him, walking towards the door. "Alright, you do your thing with your relationship, they can do theirs." You turned to look at him right at the same time he did. "So, we'll be staying here together, right? I hope that's okay."

Taehyung shrugged just one shoulder. "If it's fine with you," he almost whispered.

You nodded once. "Well, as long as there is not only one bed," you smiled at your joke but he just frowned. You guessed he didn't read fanfiction. You cleared your throat. "The house seems big enough for the two of us, I'm sure we could go about our separate vacations without getting in each other's way."

"Sure, if that's what you want."

You nodded again and pointed to the door. "Should we choose our rooms?"

He clicked his tongue and moved past you. "Sorry, I have already chosen the big chamber on the east wing since I didn't expect company. You might want to get a room on the west wing to avoid me more efficiently." Taehyung walked quickly down the corridor without waiting for you, or even checking if you were following. Not that you had to be following, obviously. You thought he sounded a little annoyed, but you couldn't think of a reason why. If it was you being there, he'd have to get used to it 'cause you weren't going anywhere.

"Cool," you simply replied and followed. The man appeared in your line of view again only after you got in the lobby. He was standing by the staircase, looking at your abandoned suitcase. "I got it," you said automatically, only realizing he hadn't offered to carry it after he looked at you weirdly. You cleared your throat awkwardly, needing to change the subject. "Do you know where the kitchen is? I'm thirsty."

He motioned towards the corridor opposite the one you had just come from. "Down the hall, there's a small one," he said and started jogging up the stairs with his hands in his pockets.

You exhaled the moment he was out of view again. Being around him took up more of your energy than you expected. Which wasn't ideal for a vacation. The whole situation, to be honest, being isolated with Kim Taehyung in an old, strange house, wasn't ideal. You wondered if he felt so put out by it as you did while you walked around the house to find the kitchen. Definitely, you thought. He didn't want to be there with you, it was certain. Not necessarily because he'd shown something like that up until then, but because you knew exactly the type of guy he was. I'll tell you one thing: it wasn't a coincidence that you had such close, common friends, yet barely knew each other.

The kitchen was bigger than your living room, yet it was characterized as small? A long counter stretched all along the wall on the left, with three windows over it that overlooked the garden. There was an island in the middle and cabinets around the rest of the space. A very pleasant room, bright and with light colors on the furniture that went well with the green that posed on the window panes like self-illuminated paintings.

You put your whole face under the faucet and swallowed the very cold -cold like it was just now coming from a nearby river- water. After cleaning your dripping face with your hands, you did a short inspection. The cabinets and the fridge were filled with all kinds of foods, Mrs. Kim was right. You guessed that should have been the case, considering there weren't any markets anywhere close. But that also meant you had to cook all of your food. You and Taehyung. What were you going to do? Cook different meals or share?

That was a future problem. Now, you had to find a room. You dragged your suitcase up the stairs making a little too much noise and turned to the west wing without hesitation. There were a few rooms to choose from; a double room with navy blue wallpaper, a smaller one with a balcony, a more princess-looking room with a small bed and a boudoir. You picked the next one. It had a canopy, queen-sized bed with thick, purple curtains that matched the ones on the big window across the door, and a wooden wardrobe that looked like it was taken from the set of Beauty and the Beast. There was a small fireplace too, although it was not lit, it was still decorated.

A big smile appeared on your face at the sight of the cozy room. Perhaps the house would be worth it after all. Right before walking in, you quickly looked to your left, thinking you saw something, but when nothing was there you walked excitedly inside and closed the door. You tried opening the window to let some fresh air in, but it seemed to be stuck. Or maybe you just didn't know how to do it. It looked fragile and so you let it be, deciding against causing an accident. Instead, you took your clothes and your things out, organizing them around the room to make it more personal, and when you were done, you hoped on the rather tall bed with the softest mattress you had ever felt in your life and called your friend.

"Girl, you owe me big time after this!" you whisper-shouted at her when she picked up, still not certain of how soundproof the building was and not wanting to risk Taehyung hearing anything.

Yoonji giggled from the other end of the call. "Hey, girl! How is the Manor looking so far?"

"Oh, that part is fantastic," you said genuinely. "Still in awe you were stupid enough to let this thing go. But don't try to change my mind like that," you scolded her. You knew her too well for her manipulation to work on you. And she knew that, which is why she giggled again. "Why, oh, why is Kim freaking Taehyung here, Yoon?"

You could almost hear her pout. "Oh, babe, you know I didn't know he'd be there! It's not my fault."

"Well, yes, but when I agreed to do this, it was between having the place to myself or sharing with your boyfriend. I would–"

"Ex-boyfriend!"

"–much rather have Jimin here to annoy instead of stupid Taehyung annoying me," you said, rolling your eyes. You stared at the door then, thinking you'd heard something, but dismissing it as just the old house making noises.

"Oh, c'mon. Don't call him that. It's not his fault he got into this, either."

"You know how I feel about that boy!" you insisted.

"He's actually nice, Amy."

"To you. Because you're his best friend's girlfriend. He doesn't–"

"Ex-girlfriend..."

"–give a fuck about anyone else," you mumbled, playing with your hair. "Anyone who is beneath him and his stupid, rich ass is not worth being nice to, you know?"

Yoonji hummed. "I don't think he's that rich, he's just kind of famous. It's not the same."

You rolled your eyes and groaned. "That's not the point here." You got up and looked out the window. Air had picked up and was making the trees around the garden dance passionately. "I don't feel comfortable around him, so now I have to spend a whole week being weird and worried I might run into him no matter what I do."

Your roommate clicked her tongue disapprovingly at you. "Girl, I say give him a chance and get to know him. Who knows, you may become friends and when you get back we can all hang out together."

You smiled, raising an eyebrow even if she couldn't see it. "I thought you had broken up with Jimin, how are we gonna hang out all together?"

"Ah!" It really must have slipped her mind, too, which made it all that funnier. "You're right, don't become friends with him. You will never see him again, anyway," Yoonji was quick to correct herself.

You sighed, still smiling at your silly friend, as you propped one leg up on the window sill and leaned your head against the glass. "Can't I just leave, say, tomorrow?"

"Amy..."

"Too tired today," you added with a yawn.

"I think you should stay. First of all, if you leave, Jimin might come, and him with his self-proclaimed soulmate there would just make my blood boil, so we can't have that. But second of all, and most importantly, you are at a gorgeous Victorian Manor and all you do is complain about a gorgeous boy living with you. Things could be worse, Amy. He could have been an asshole and ugly." You burst out laughing. "So just enjoy it, okay? Fuck him and enjoy your stay. You won't ever get a chance like this again, Jimin paid for most of it, you know we could never afford that."

You rolled your eyes again, but as lovingly as you could. "Fine..." you succumbed to her words. "I guess I could put on my cute dress and go pick mushrooms and forget about the other guy."

Yoonji cheered. "That's the spirit! Go be a cottagecore fairy, baby, you deserve it."

"God, I hate you."

"Love you, too!"

Yeah, you should enjoy what you could from this. Maybe Taehyung wouldn't be such a pain in the ass. Not very likely, but maybe.

Next chapter

#kim taehyung #taehyung fanfic #bts #bangtan #v #fanfiction #multichapter #taehyung x reader #taehyung x oc #enemies to lovers #slow burn #agnst #bts x reader #serva me servabo te #save me and i will save you #chapter 1

[rpf-bat]

Scream Out ‘What Will Save Us?’

Pairing: Frank Iero x Reader

Genre: Angst

Summary: Written for Gothtober 2020, Day 15. Prompt: “Catharsis.” 

Your band just broke up, and you’re trying to force yourself be okay with that. But, when you visit Frank, at his home in New Jersey, he advises you to be honest with your feelings. You find that he has some things to get off his chest, too. 

It had been six months now, since My Chemical Romance broke up. You hadn’t done much since then, except move back to your house in New Jersey, and….sit there. For the last eleven years of your life, you’d drummed for a living, and life had moved to a frenetic pace. There was always another city to travel to, another show to play. But, now? Life was suddenly at a standstill. 

You didn’t have to do anything for a living now, you supposed. The royalties alone, could probably sustain you, for years to come. Perhaps a millionaire like yourself, had no right to complain. Bullets You would, after all, kill to have Current You’s problems. 

But, having lived at both extremes, you found that being functionally homeless, in a dirty van with your four best friends, was more enjoyable, than being all alone, in this spotless mansion. You hadn’t joined My Chemical Romance to make money. There were other things that mattered more - the joy of spending time with friends, who slowly became more like family. The creative fulfillment, of writing a piece of music, and then having ten thousand fans sing along with the tune. These were the things, that made your life meaningful. 

These were the things, that you had now lost. 

The Way brothers - who, up until recently, had felt like your own brothers - were still residing in Los Angeles. Ray, too, had stayed on the West Coast. You hadn’t seen them since the decision was made, to disband. You weren’t sure that you even wanted to. 

But Frank - good, old, loyal Frank, who had known you longer than any of them - was merely a few miles down the road. Perhaps today was a good day to pay him a visit. 

You called him on your cell, and he answered the phone, almost immediately. Like you, he probably had nothing better to do. 

“Hey, Y/N,” Frank said in a tired voice. “How are you doing?”

“Alright,” you shrugged. “Just bored, I guess. How are you?” 

“Not so good,” Frank confessed. “I’ve been having, like, the worst stomachaches.” 

“Oh, no,” you said sympathetically. “Do you want me to bring you some medicine?” 

“The doc says I have a bacterial overgrowth of the small intestine,” Frank explained. 

“What does that mean?” you asked. 

“It means your drug-store Pepto ain’t gonna do shit for me,” Frank chuckled bitterly. “I got prescription pills for it, but it still hurts like a bitch. Some company might take my mind off the pain, though.”

“So...I can come over?” you asked hopefully. 

“Please do,” Frank agreed. “It’ll at least give me a reason, to get out of bed.” 

You chose not to mention that, at two o’clock in the afternoon, you had yet to find a reason to get out of bed yourself. 

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Frank’s house was nowhere near the main road. You had to drive through nearly half a mile of trees, just to reach his front door. He had selected this property partially because he loved nature - and partially because hated people. 

You supposed you couldn’t blame him, for trying to avoid having nosy fans show up on his doorstep. The only person who always seemed welcome on his doorstep, no matter the hour, was you. 

You found him sitting on his front steps, his acoustic guitar in his hands. The melody he was playing drifted over the air, as you got out of the car, and approached him. 

“Is that...Disenchanted?” you recognized instantly. 

“,,,..Yeah,” Frank sighed, his inked hands ceasing their strumming. “Hi, Y/N.” 

“Hi, Frankie,” you frowned. “What made you decide to play that one today?”

“I don’t know,” Frank said sadly. “Doesn’t it feel strange to you? Knowing that we’re never going to play that song onstage again?”

“Or any of them,” you noted. “If I had known that set at Bamboozle would be the last gig we ever played, I would have tried harder, to make it count.” 

“You and me both,” Frank said wistfully. “But, anyway….it’s a nice day. Do you want to take a walk with me?” 

“Sure,” you nodded, extending your hand to help him up. “As long as you’re feeling up to it.” 

“I’ll be fine,” Frank assured you, groaning as he stood. “C’mon.” 

You followed him, around the house, through his backyard, and from there, into the woods, that sat behind his home. The trees were beginning to lose their leaves, and the sky has turned overcast, and grey. Summer, you supposed, was just another thing that wouldn’t last. 

“Careful,” Frank warned, “there’s a brook up ahead.” 

You saw that was what he said was true. The small body of water separated the hill from the valley, in the same way that a garotte wire separated a head from a neck. 

“Take my hand,” Frank offered. “I don’t want you to fall.” 

You found yourself blushing, as his calloused fingers, intertwined with your own. He pulled you up onto a rock, in the center of the brook.  

“Are we going to have to jump?” you guessed. 

“Yeah, but don’t worry,” Frank said softly, “I got you.” 

He leapt from the rock, to the other side of the brook. Still holding hands, you leapt with him. Just as he’d promised, you made it to the other side safely. 

“It’s just a little further now,” Frank assured you. 

“What is?” you wondered. 

“You’ll see,” he replied cryptically. He could have let go of your hand, but instead, he kept it held tightly in his own. You didn’t mind. 

“....Whoa,” you gasped, as you realized, that you’d arrived at your destination. You were at the top of a cliff. From here, you could see the whole city, stretched out before you. 

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Frank admired. 

“Yes!” you gasped. “Thank you for bringing up here! The view was totally worth the hike.” 

“I’m lucky as hell, to have a hidden gem like this, on my property,” Frank confessed. “I like to come up here sometimes, when I need to think.” 

“....What have you been thinking about lately?” you asked, sitting down on a boulder. 

“What happened with the band, of course,” Frank admitted, sitting down beside you. “I just….I don’t know. Gerard’s decision felt so sudden. It was like having the wind knocked out of me.” 

“Yeah,” you recalled. “It was like….it wasn’t fun anymore to him, so he just….dropped it. Like it was nothing.” 

“I’m not gonna pretend, that being in My Chem, was sunshine and roses all the time,” Frank acknowledged. “Sometimes, touring sucked.” 

“It did,” you admitted. “I hated the early bus calls, and the jet lag, that never seemed to go away. But, I don’t know. It was worth it, to go through all that, if it meant I would end my day, on a stage with you.” 

“I guess it wasn’t worth it to him anymore,” Frank frowned. “But, what can you do? You can’t continue a band, without its frontman.” 

“I guess our time was just up,” you shrugged. “All we can do, is move on.” 

“I know it was messing up his mental health, trying to write the new record,” Frank said, pulling a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. “It’s not right for us to ask him to keep doing something that’s hurting him.” 

“You’re right,” you sighed. “It’s not fair, to risk causing him another relapse, or something, just because we thought the album could’ve gone somewhere.”

“But now, you and me?” Frank grumbled, lighting a cigarette, and taking a drag. “We’re not gonna go fucking anywhere.” 

“We’re right back where we started,” you realized. “Stuck in the same little town in New Jersey, where it all began.” 

You and Frank, had been in another local band, called Pencey Prep. That band had broken up, and then Gerard, had asked you two, to join My Chemical Romance. Even before you’d become a member, you’d known just from listening to the demos, that this band would be something special. They’d captivated every soul, in the shitty dive bar, where you’d gone to see them play. 

After you and Frank joined their ranks, things began to pick up speed so quickly. Local bars, turned into clubs on the other side of the state. And then you’d attracted the interest of a major label. And then, the next thing you knew, you were playing in fucking Japan. Clubs turned into arenas. Obscurity turned into infamy. You’d done things, you never thought, you would have an opportunity to do.  It was a wild ride. And it was….over now. 

“It makes me want to scream sometimes,” you said honestly. 

“So, do it,” Frank said, exhaling smoke. 

“....What?” you blinked, staring back at him. 

“Go on and scream,” he suggested. “I mean, we’re in the middle of nowhere. Nobody’s going to hear you, except for me.”

“You’re serious?” you gaped. 

“Yeah,” Frank nodded. “Honestly? I think it would be cathartic.” 

He had a point - you’d been trying to hold a lot of emotions inside you, since everything went down. Maybe what you really needed, was to let them out. 

You went and stood, on the edge of the cliff, and looked out, onto the horizon. You took a deep breath, and tilted your head back. 

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!”  you cried.

You turned back, and saw that Frank was laughing. 

“....Did that feel good?” he grinned. 

“....Honestly, yeah, it did!” you admitted. It felt even better, to see a smile on his face, for the first time today. 

“You should just...feel what you feel, Y/N,” Frank advised. “You say we’re supposed to move on, and maybe that’s the narrative the fans want to hear. Like, they’re sad that they’ll never hear their favorite band live again. And it makes them feel better, to think, well, the band members did this, because it’s what made them the happiest.” 

“But, we don’t feel happy,” you argued. “At least, not all of us do.”

“What do you feel?” Frank asked seriously. 

“I feel….lost,” you described. “Like, I don’t know what my next move is supposed to be. The whole world knew me as My Chemical Romance’s drummer, for pretty much all of my twenties. Now, I’m hitting my thirties and...I don’t know who I am. I don’t know where we go from here.” 

“Well, I know that I want to keep making music,” Frank decided. “Even if nobody else wants to hear it, I’ll play it for myself.” 

“I want to hear it,” you said seriously. “Did you write something recently?” 

“Yeah,” Frank said shyly, stubbing his cigarette out into the dirt. “I actually did start writing a song, the other day.” 

“Play it for me,” you pleaded. 

“I don’t know,” Frank blushed. “I wrote some lyrics, but….you know I don’t have the gift for singing, that Gerard does.” 

“You sang in Pencey,” you reminded him. 

“Yeah, that was twelve years ago!” Frank scoffed. “Who knows if I even remember how?” 

“I know you can do it,” you encouraged him. 

“The lyrics, they’re not all that nice,” Frank warned. “I didn’t write them to be radio friendly. I just wrote them, because I needed to get the thoughts out of my head.”

“You needed your catharsis,” you nodded understandingly. 

“Yeah,” Frank sighed. “But….if you really want to hear it, Y/N, I’ll play it for you.”

He took out his guitar, and set it on his lap. Hesitant fingers plucked the strings. You listened, with rapt attention, as he began to sing: 

Some things change but they don't get better

I'm so sick and so tired of trying to tell them that

I'll never do it, no I'll never make it alone

But pay no mind, it fades in time

Don't we all?

Someone I love threw me away 

Someone I love threw me away

Someone I love threw me away

But I don't mind, no I don't mind at all

“That’s bullshit, Frank,” you interrupted. “You do mind.” 

“.....Of course I fucking mind,” Frank snapped. He looked up from his guitar, and you realized, that he had tears in his eyes. 

You moved over to where he sat, and pulled him into a hug. 

“It’s okay,” you told him gently. 

“It’s not,” Frank shook his head. “I gave my blood, sweat, and tears….my heart and my soul, to that band. I thought you and I were going to be in My Chemical Romance for the rest of our lives.” 

“What, like Mick Jagger?” you tried to smile. “Rocking out, even in his sixties?” 

“I don’t know,” Frank said, burying his face in his hands. “Maybe I’m the stupid one, for thinking that something like that, could last forever.” 

“You’re not stupid,” you said softly. “The truth is….I wanted it to last forever, too. It was the best thing I’d ever done. And now, I don’t know what else I can do with the rest of my life, that could even come close.” 

“If I decided to play that song, in front of other people, someday,” Frank asked, “would you play the drums for me?” 

“Of course,” you promised. “Frank, I’d jump at the chance to get onstage with you again. You should know that.”

“I feel like I don’t know anything anymore!” Frank said vulnerably. “Everything I thought I could count on, is slipping through my fingers. I feel lost. Just like you said. And  I’m aching all the time, Y/N. What if you’re the next thing, that I lose?” 

“I’ll never leave you, Frank,” you vowed. “It’s been you and me, from the very beginning. I couldn’t imagine a life that didn’t have you in it….in one way, or another.”

“You met me when you joined Pencey. But now, for the first time in my entire life, you’re not my band mate anymore,” Frank choked. “So…what am I to you?” 

“You’re my best friend,” you whispered, pulling him close. “And you could be more than that, if you wanted to.”

“Wh-What are you saying?” Frank gasped. 

“Frank….,” you took a deep breath. “The truth is, that I always wanted you. I never told you how I felt, because I thought, if we got into a relationship, and broke up, it would destroy our ability to work together. But….you’re right. We’re not bandmates anymore. So, I have nothing left to lose. I...I love you.” 

“You….love me?” Frank repeated, eyes wide. 

“Yes.” You put it all out there. “Yes, Frank, you’re the one I love. And if you would have me, I swear to you, I would never throw you away.” 

Frank surged forward, grabbing you by the collar, and pulling you in for a passionate kiss. Your startled mouth was suddenly full of his tongue. It felt so good. 

“....Frankie!” you gasped, pulling away. “You...you actually want me back?” 

“Of course I do,” Frank breathed. “It drives me absolutely fucking crazy, that we’ve both been burying our feelings this whole time, to protect a career, that no longer exists.” 

“...Then at least I still have you,” you whispered, and pulled him in again. He tasted like smoke and desperation. 

His body pressed against yours as he kissed you harder, pushing you down, against the hard rocks. His hands found the buttons of your blouse. 

“....Frank,” you stopped him. “We should go back down, to your house, if we’re going to do this.” 

“You’re right,” he chuckled. “My bed is a lot softer.” 

“Take me there,” you begged, laying your lips on him again. 

“Oh,” Frank promised, “I’ll take you all night.” 

#frank iero x reader #frank iero imagine #gothtober #band member reader

[dameronology]

the one where you take the leap {poe x reader}

summary: you and poe take a late night walk and talk about everything and nothing (and you get tacos)

warnings: language 

just some fluff because i am having a big sad tonight™ and i need some wholesome content. this is about 101 cliches rolled into one but sometimes that is the best thing 

enjoy,

- jazz

There were very few people that Poe Dameron would wake up at 3AM for. In fact, the list started and ended with your name. You were that important that he was willing to forgo his beauty sleep and that was truly saying something. Everybody in the galaxy and their mother knew that the pilot needed a full eight hours to function and nobody could change that. However, you didn’t fall into the category of nobody. 

That’s how you both ended up trekking across the plains of a jungle planet at an ungodly hour, the squelch of your boots in the wet mud filling the comfortable silence between you. Ajan Kloss was unbearably hot in the day but it bordered on glacial at night; that was how you’d ended up with one of Poe’s jackets. It was far too big for you, almost swamping your body, but he’d insisted you’d put it on before leaving. 

‘Remind me why we’re going on a hike at 3AM?’ Poe’s voice, still raspy with sleep, called from behind you.

‘Because I told you I couldn’t sleep and you said hey, let’s go for a walk!’ You chortled back, peeking over your hood to glance at him. 

‘Poe from half an hour ago was an asshole.’ He grumbled.

You stopped, turning to face him with a grin. The moon was high up above you now, casting the field of green in a yellow glow. Compared to the humid days, you almost relished in the crisp night air, enjoying the cool sensation on your skin as you glanced up at the dark sky and plethora of stars. Late night walks with Poe had become a regular occurrence over the last year - sometimes he initiated them, and other times like tonight, it was you. 

‘The village isn’t far from here.’ You said. ‘Maybe we can see what’s open?’

‘That tiny place that does the tacos is twenty four hours!’ Poe’s face lit up as the thought came to him. ‘C’mon!’

‘Waaaaait!’ You called after him. ‘My legs are tired, Dameron.’

Poe knew you what you were doing - the whole thing was kind of your play. Either that, or the man was so whipped that the first thing he thought to do was carry you the rest of the way there. Whatever it was, he bent down in front of you, signalling for you to leap onto his face. You swung your bag over your shoulder and made a run for it, landing perfectly in place. He wound his arms around your legs and boosted you up slightly, peering up to face at you. 

Now, it should be noted that Poe Dameron was one of the best-looking human beings you’d even seen - and that was on a normal day. But under the light of the moon, with his brown eyes illuminated like a warm, welcoming fire, and a cheeky grin on his face as he turned to look at you, it was something else entirely. It wasn’t just the external kind of beauty either - it ran deeper than that. He was the best person you knew; the kindest and the funniest, the smartest and the most selfless. As far as you were concerned, he was the most beautiful person in the galaxy (and he was carrying you half a mile - for tacos). 

You chattered quietly amongst yourselves but it wasn’t about anything in particular. That was how a lot of conversations went; they were simply natural musings, you two bouncing off each other and giving a thoughtful hmm every now and then. 

Clinging onto the material of Poe’s jacket, you blinked under the bright lights of the village, finally breaking through a clearing in the thick trees. It was a little town made up mostly of retired rebels and business owners. The place was hardly a sprawling city but it provided the Resistance with shops and bars, becoming the hub of different squadrons. 

‘Taco Town is open!’ You cheered, almost falling off of Poe’s back as you pumped your first in the air.

‘Have you summoned up the energy to walk now?’ He teased.

‘I think I might be able to.’ You gave him a light poke. Your boots hit the ground with a dusty thud and then you ran towards your beloved taco place. 

It was a twenty-four/seven shop, usually because of the Resistance soldiers passing in and out all hours of the day. The lady who manned the place at night was an elderly woman - she knew you both by name (and both your orders, because that’s how often you frequented the establishment). 

After gathering your order and paying her a few extra credits as a tip, you carried the food outside to Poe. 

‘You’re the only person who can get me out of bed at this ungodly hour for tacos.’ He muttered, flinging an arm across your shoulder as you sauntered towards a strewn bench. 

He didn’t move it when you sat down, nor did he say anything when you shuffled into his side. The air was still cold, biting at the bare skin on your face as you enjoyed the taco-induced bliss you’d been waiting for. To your right, you could see the rest of the town lights as they stretched out for miles, eventually blurring into a blob of distant light. Poe was on your left, meanwhile, hand absentmindedly rubbing circles on your shoulder as he ate his food. 

‘I wonder how far out this place actually goes.’ You murmured. ‘I’ve only been as a far as the boot shop, and that took me like an hour.’

‘Sorry I set fire to your old ones.’ Poe nudged you, and you couldn’t help but laugh as you remembered the incident. 

‘It’s okay. I nearly grounded your jet so we’ll call it even.’

He didn’t respond verbally, instead giving your shoulders a light squeeze. 

Even with the chaos of the war, Poe felt like an anchor amongst a raging ocean of pure fucking insanity. You’d met people before, ones you’d vibed with and connected with but with him, it was an entire new level of...whatever it was that you had. You’d teetered on the ledge of more-than-friends on multiple occasions, but neither of you had taken the leap. If you did, there was no coming back - you’d be jumping without a parachute. 

‘That was a good taco.’ You declared.

‘Worth the walk.’ Poe nodded. ‘Not that you did much walking.’

‘You offered, Dameron!’ You reminded him. ‘You are my trusty stead.’

‘And that’s all I’m useful for?’

‘Of course not! Sometimes you bring me caff as well.’

Your conversation continued, veering off of the subject of the Uses of Poe Dameron™ and to a million other things. 

You spoke about his X-Wing and the fact that BB-8 had made a point to show every single person in the base his new antenna. You discussed your latest meetings and missions and how Finn had lead his first successful operation the day before. You laughed about something - you couldn’t remember what - and the only thing that pulled you from the conversation was the fact you noticed the sky beginning to turn pink. 

‘Maker, it’s gone 4AM already.’ You pulled up the long sleeves of Poe’s jacket to check your watch. 

That was the thing with you and Poe - when you started talking, or when you were even just in the presence of one another, you completely forgot about the world around you. It felt like nothing else mattered. It was just you, him and the blank canvas of the galaxy ahead of you (and sometimes, a circular droid child). 

‘Let’s stay a while.’ Poe murmured. He dropped his head against yours, pressing a soft kiss to your hair. ‘I have no-where to be tomorrow.’

‘Me neither,’ you reached up to squeeze the hand that was resting on your shoulder. ‘But the Resistance doesn’t wait.’

‘It can for now.’ He shot back. 

Maybe this was it - the moment that he finally found it within him to take the leap and just tell you outright that he was blatantly, irrevocably in love with you. The thought of risking your friendship was painful - but the only thing more agonising was the idea of not knowing if you loved him too. 

(But with the way you looked at him, it was a mystery to everybody around you how he didn’t you obviously were - but more on that later). 

‘What is it, Poe?’ You gave his hand another gentle squeeze.

‘Huh?’ His blinked at you.

‘You’ve gone off some place else.’ You replied. ‘I know that look on your face and it means you’re either in deep thought or you’ve seen a nice butt and given that I’m sat down and the only person here, I’m gonna assume it’s the first one.’

That was the comment that pushed him over the edge. The realisation that you knew him, that you could read him like a book. You got him in a way that no-one else seemed to, understood him in a way that others had failed to. In a galaxy so cold and so daunting, having somebody by his side with a bright smile and a few cheesy jokes was imperative. Every time he thought about his future after the war, your face was always the first thing that popped up.

‘You know I love you, right?’ Poe - for the first time since you’d met him - stumbled on his words.

‘Of course.’ You replied, before silently adding but not in the way I want you to love me.

‘No...’ He shook his head. He shuffled to the side slightly, turning to face you. He put one hand on your cheek, the other resting on your shoulder. ‘I mean I love a lot of things. I love Leia, and I love Finn, and I love Beebs and I love my X-Wing. But not in the way I love you.’

‘What are you saying?’

‘I’m saying I’m in love with you.’ He got there eventually.

‘You’re in love with me?’ You couldn’t work out if you heart was going a million miles an hour or if it had stopped entirely. 

‘Yeah. What do you think?’

‘I mean...’ You trailed off, chewing your lip for a moment. ‘I think you’re probably in love with your X-Wing too. I saw you cry over the landing gear once-’

‘-Y/N!’ Poe whacked you in the shoulder. 

‘Poe, you’re an idiot.’ You gave him a watery smile. ‘Obviously I’m in love with you.’ 

Dropping the remains of his taco to the ground*, the pilot grabbed you, crashing his lips to yours. Just like Poe, the kiss was a lot of contradicting things all at once - it was soft but hungry, demanding but sweet. It was a lot of feelings at once and you could feel every single individual one, finally coming together after well over a year of pining. You’d both taken the leap and the water below was even better than the ledge on which you’d been standing. 

(* you made him pick up the taco wrapper before you walked back to the base - hand in hand, obviously). 

#poe dameron x reader #poe dameron x you #poe dameron x y/n #poe dameron imagine #poe x reader #poe x you #poe x y/n #poe imagine #star wars fluff #star wars imagine #star was x reader #star wars imagines #star wars fanfic

[wangxiangiftexchange]

Winter Solstice Gift for inessencedevided

This is a Modern with Magic AU, hope you like it @inessencedevided!

Read On AO3

*****

Hunting Partners

“Lan Wangji.”

It was approximately the twentieth time that class that Wei Wuxian had tried to get his attention and Wangji was ignoring him. He’d learned less than twenty minutes into the first class they had attended together that there was nothing Wuxian wanted from him other than to get someone to distract him from his studies. For some reason he’d made it his goal in life to try to get Wangji to join him in his antics from day one.

At first Wangji had hoped that his constant inattention and pranks meant he would flunk out of his classes quickly but it turned out that despite all of that he was always able to answer questions the professor put to him and passed all his tests. He was in the top five of the class at all times without doing any work and in a moment of weakness Wangji had wondered if he’d lose the top spot if Wuxian would bother to put some work in.

“Laaaaaaan Wangji.” It took a lot of effort to not just give in and look at him when he drawled out his name like that. Wangji kept his face turned toward his notebook and continued to take notes. Others might use a laptop or a recorder but he took all of his notes in a series of notebooks that he could add notations, diagrams and sketches to as needed. Each notebook ended up marked with plastic tabs to help organize it for later study and lined up carefully on his shelf in the dorm room for future studying.

There was an irritated huff from Wangji’s other side from Jiang Wanyin. As irritating as Wuxian could be in his incessant need for attention most of the serious students could ignore him. Some of the other students were actually charmed by his ways and he never lacked for people flocking to him hoping he’d draw them into his social circle but for some reason it seemed to drive Jiang Cheng into a near rage to have to deal with him.

“Shut up, some of us are trying to actually listen to the lecture.” Wanyin’s tone was as hard and clipped as the expression on his face. He was the oldest son of another of the old magic clans but Wangji didn’t like him. His older brother XiChen told him that years ago the Jiang clan was more like the Lan clan but something had happened when their patriarch and matriarch had been killed. After that when he took over leadership of the clan Wanyin had cut off his long hair and they’d withdrawn from the other magic clans.

There wasn’t enough of the old blood left for a large population of magic users and those that used it had stopped joining the magic clans and banding together in the last few generations. Most of the old families were either gone or faded into the background and very few of them aside from the Lan Clan still wore their hair long and uncut to show they had magic.

As soon as he thought that Wangji’s eyes almost slid to look at Wuxian’s hair. He managed to keep his eyes on his writing but he was able to picture the long tail of hair that Wuxian usually kept in an artfully messy topknot or coiled into an absurd bun with his pen stuck through it to keep it from falling down. Once Wuxian had pulled the pen out of it to loan it to someone and the way it had tumbled down and kept catching the light as it brushed over the back of the chair out of the corner of his eye had made Wangji feel like something was stuck in his throat. His notes had made less sense than usual that class.

Since his name hadn’t been hissed in his direction after Wanyin chastised him Wangji thought he was going to be able to take notes without interruption for the rest of the class. There was homework to finish and something that was attacking people around the campus leaving them with pieces of their souls damaged or missing. Wangji wanted to finish making preparations for his hunt for the culprit tonight. He should have known better than to hope that Wuxian was done since as soon as he was distracted he started in again.

”Lan Zhan.” Wuxian’s voice was just a touch louder this time but that wasn’t what snared his attention and snapped his gaze to glare at Wuxian. He’d used his clan name, the name that only other magic families used and only if they were familiar or close with each other. No one else did that, it was so rude that Wangji felt his chest burning with anger.

Instead of looking abashed or worried for the glare he was getting Wuxian grinned and wrinkled his nose slightly like he was thoroughly delighted. Despite everything it was a very charming smile and realizing he was admiring the smile just made the anger in Wangji’s chest burn hotter and as soon as the chimes went off indicating class was finished he closed his notebook and scooped everything into his messenger back in a shockingly careless way so he could leave and get away from that infuriating Wuxian.

“Wangji!” Of course Wuxian apparently wasn’t going to let him make his escape with any kind of dignity. “Wangji wait!” There were some startled exclamations behind him as Wuxian must have been pushing his way through people to catch up to him. He just kept up his pace in the vain hope that Wuxian would get tired of chasing him and leave him alone. Any hope of being left alone was dashed when the other student appeared in front of him. He was slightly out of breath and half of his hair was starting to escape the knot he’d tied it in.

Since he wasn’t going to run Wuxian down Wangji stopped where he was without saying anything to see what he would say.

“I’m sorry!” This time he actually did manage to look contrite but then of course he immediately ruined it. “But I couldn’t get your attention. I finally got you to look at me didn’t I? So it was worth it...except now you’re walking off again!”

Wangji had turned to the right and started to walk off again since once again it didn’t seem like Wuxian wanted anything other than attention but he was pulled up short when the other student dodged in front of him again. “What do you want?”

“You’re Lan clan, you’re ‘Wherever the Chaos is?’ right?” There was still a smile on Wuxian’s face but it was no longer that boyish proud of himself grin. To Wangji it looked like the smile of someone who knew something they weren’t supposed to. “If you meet me back here at dusk I think I know where to find what’s attacking people.”

It wasn’t a secret what his clan’s motto was. The Lan clan was one of the last public magic clans because of their philosophy that they were there to help whoever needed their help wherever they might be. You couldn’t do that if you cut your hair and blended into the background like so many others had. What Wangji didn’t like was that he seemed so familiar with it and how Wangji would react to it. He glanced at that hair falling out of the knot, tried not to notice how tendrils of it stuck to Wuxian’t damp neck, but there was no other real signs if he was from a magic bloodline or clan.

“Please.” Wuxian put a hand on his arm but immediately pulled it back when Wangji’s frown deepened. “No one else is going to listen to me. I mean I could go ask Wanyin to trust me but…”

If this was real it had to be acted on no matter who the source was. Maybe later after the hunt he could call XiChen and see if he knew anything about Wuxian and why he seemed to know things about the magic clans and families. Needing to make a quick decision Wangji glanced at his watch. “Two hours. Here.”

He was rewarded with another of those bright grins from Wuxian but Wangji turned his back on it and left to go prepare to hunt.

Just because they controlled magic it didn’t mean that they were invincible and going unprepared into a situation could be suicide. Wangji made sure as soon as he returned to his room to eat and drink to keep his physical energy up. Magic was both spiritual and physical, you couldn’t neglect either side and be effective. After he ate he gathered what he thought he would need for supplies then lit some incense to breathe in while he meditated to calm his emotions and make sure his spiritual energy was flowing freely.

Even with his preparations he was still back to where he said he would meet Wuxian at least ten minutes early. To his surprise the man was already there sitting on a tall retaining wall while waiting for him. This was a much more serious front than the student Wangji was familiar with. The student breezed through the door to drop into his seat just as the chimes finished ringing.

“Early as usual.” Wuxian shook a set of keys at him with a smile. He’d changed from his usual t-shirt with long sleeves he had cut holes in to hook his thumbs through into a plain black t-shirt with what looked like ribbons wrapped around his hands and wrists. It looked like he was getting ready to box someone and had put on hand wraps. “Let’s take a drive.”

Wangji nodded once and followed Wuxian after he hopped off of the wall and led the way to the parking lot for the East side dorms. They were the nicer rooms that were all singles and were for upperclassmen. He frowned slightly with a glance back at Wuxian. He was sure that his classmate was in the same year he was. How did he end up in one of these rooms? Of course it would make sense if he wasn’t but was just stealing parking over where he shouldn’t. That seemed like something he would do.

Wuxian made the alarm chirp as he unlocked the car from several rows back and gestured to Wangji to follow him. Neither of them said anything until they’d pulled out of the parking lot onto the main road.

“I wouldn’t have driven but we have to go up the other side of the hills and I didn’t want to wear us out with a hike.” Wuxian turned the car onto the little side road that wound up the smaller hills that surrounded their college in a half circle. The school was at one time several miles outside of the town but over the years since it was built civilization had grown out to reach them so that within walking distance there was no shortage of junk food, coffee shops and movie theaters. But on the side where the hills started it was too difficult to build, the soil was prone to mudslides and the grass fires in the hills along with the lack of a view kept people from building there.

Once the hills blocked off the view of the school it was suddenly much darker. Once there wasn’t anything to see outside the windows Wangji turned his attention to the car and realized it was much cleaner than he’d expected. Wuxian was someone who wrote on scraps of paper as he had ideas and shoved it all into a backpack with his books on top of it. Once he’d seen the pile of crushed paper lining his backpack and cringed internally at the mess.

“Your car is…” Wangji cut himself off before he could finish the thought. It was rude. “Nice.”

Wuxian took his eyes off the road long enough to shoot him an amused look and laughed. “I’ll tell Wanyin you said so. It’s his car. I might not have been able to ask him to help on a hunt but he’s contributed anyway.”

“You stole his car?” Wangji was horrified. He not only was going on a hunt he wasn’t sure was real but now he was an accessory to auto theft.

“Borrowed. He’ll get it back.”

He was starting to get the suspicion this might not be the first time he’d stolen a car. “He could have you arrested even so.”

Wuxian didn’t take his eyes off the road when he smiled this time and the laughter was sharper. It didn’t seem right when the smile didn’t touch his eyes. “Jiang Cheng might hate me but he’s never had the guts to go that far. He’ll be pissed off and I’ll get even more of a cold shoulder than usual but I doubt he’ll stoop to having me arrested.”

“That is his clan name.” It felt almost like he was in the car with an entirely different person than he knew in class. Wangji wasn’t sure if he liked that feeling or not. The Wuxian from class was an annoying attention seeker who didn’t have a serious thought in his attractive head. This Wuxian...well he didn’t know what to expect from him.

This time the smile reached his eyes again. “That it is, Lan Zhan. Don’t worry I’ve known Wanyin a long time. It will be fine.”

After that they turned onto a dirt road that was more of a suggestion of a road than anything else and he was concentrating too much on not being bounced around the interior of the car as they went over ruts and rocks before they came to a halt under a scrubby live oak tree that had split a boulder with its roots in a determined effort to keep hold in the unstable red dirt.

“Come on.” Wuxian didn’t wait for him, he just reached back to grab his bag out of the backseat and left the car. Unlike the ratty backpack he used for class this one was a thick leather cross shoulder bag with various protective charms stamped into the thick leather. Once it was settled he started up the trail that went up the hill past the tree.

Wangji grabbed his own bag of supplies and hurried to follow. The moon had made its appearance over the top of the hills so there was some light to see their way. The hill was steep but it wasn’t that far until it plateaued and they were back on a mostly flat surface. Flat that was except for the remains of some buildings that were placed in a rough semicircle around a long dead fountain. The buildings had been made of brick and possibly adobe so they were slowly being etched away by the wind and it made the broken edges oddly smoothed off and clean. Because of that they were just hulking shadows that seemed to be waiting for something to happen.

“That’s it.” Wuxian had ignored the buildings and headed straight for the broken fountain. There was something even more off about it than the buildings but it took a minute for Wangji to place it. All the buildings and even the outside of the basin of the fountain were covered with debris and plants. There was grass sprouting through cracks and even a tree sprouting up through one of the buildings but the figure in the fountain was clean.

The figure was a woman. She was kneeling with her head bowed on a pedestal beneath a cracked and broken bowl that was obviously supposed to let the water flow around her like a gentle rain back when the fountain had been whole and functioning.

Wangji moved closer, keeping a careful eye on the statue but other than the oddity of being clean and in one piece couldn’t decide what exactly he was looking at.

“Be ready.” Wuxian held up a hand and Wangji could feel a small spark of magic before he saw the tiny ball of light dancing on the man’s fingers. With a flick of his fingers the energy was sent to hit the statue and its head snapped up with an angry hiss.

“A soul eater.” With a quick flex of magic Wangji manifested his sword. It appeared in a bright flash of blue light drawing the soul eater’s attention to him with another hiss. They were creatures that attacked in the night and took a piece of soul causing lingering sickness and sometimes death but they usually hid in the form of an animal. He’d never heard of one shifting into something like an inanimate statue!

The soul eater leapt from the fountain straight at him and Wangji met the attack with a blow from his sword. Made of his magic it was still solid and physical until he dismissed it or he ran out of energy to hold its form. Unlike other soul eaters he’d fought this one not only looked like a statue it had skin like the stone it was mimicking so he was knocked back with a grunt.

Before the soul eater could attack again he saw a flash from the side and a magical rune drawn in dull red light hit it in the head. When the soul eater snarled and turned to look at its second attacker Wangji saw Wuxian drawing another rune with his finger and flicking it out to smash into the soul eater again.

As soon as it was distracted Wangji channeled more magic into his sword and hit it from his side. This time the stone skin cracked under the blow and several chunks of rock skittered across the floor. They took turns drawing the things attention and attacking while its focus was split. Wangji found it was easy to trust that Wuxian would be there to draw attention and that somehow working with him was an easy rhythm to fall into.

There were cracks over most of the soul eater’s body and one of its arms had been smashed off of its shoulder when the soul eater in a move of desperation to take one of its attackers down with it ignored Wuxian and swung an arm at Wangji as he lowered his guard.

“Lan Zhan look out!” Wangji heard the warning and tried to raise his sword to deflect the blow but he was off balance and he knew it. The remaining arm swung down to crush through his defense but although the blow hit hard enough to make his hands numb it didn’t hit nearly as hard as he expected. Wangji lifted his head to look and saw Wuxian with his arm wraps off and a circle of glowing runes around his wrists with the light spinning into a bright rope that had caught the statue’s arm and was holding it back. Even as he was trying to process what he was seeing the statue flung out its arm and cracked the rope like a whip throwing Wuxian into one of the nearby buildings with a yelp.

But that was all the opening he needed. Shoving every bit of magic he could into his sword he swung straight into the mid section of the soul eater. The magic was released as he hit and the statue exploded into hundreds of pieces. Ignoring the rubble all over the ground he dismissed the sword and ran to check on Wuxian.

“Ow. Did we get it?” The man was trying to pick himself up off the ground. There was blood sheeted down one side of his face from a cut and he was holding his ribs with a grimace but other than that he seemed in one piece.

“It’s dead.” Wangji didn’t know whether to help the other man off the ground or not but he eventually held out a hand after Wuxian’s foot slipped on some of the soul eater gravel and he almost ended up on his face. Once he had him up Wangji didn’t let go, he pulled Wuxian’s arm closer to look at the charms tattooed in a ring around his wrist. They were all fairly common, protection, focus, amplifying, but none of the clans would put charms permanently on their skin. You put charms on spell papers, or inanimate objects. Tattoos could attract attention you didn’t want and he ended up looking at Wuxian with a mix of worry and consternation, what on earth was he doing that he needed to do something like this?

Wuxian gently pried his fingers off his arm and pulled more wraps out of his pocket so he could start winding them around his hands and arms to hide the charms again. “It’s all right Lan Zhan. Don’t worry about them. Come on let’s limp back to the car and go home.” He had another of those nose wrinkling grins which looked absolutely ghastly with the blood down one side of his face and neck.

“I am not limping.” Wangji didn’t argue with leaving but he insisted on leading the way since Wuxian was injured. He would have insisted on driving as well but he’d always told XiChen he didn’t need to drive anywhere so he’d never learned. Obviously, that wasn’t the best decision if he was going to go on hunts that involved travel and injured companions.

“Where was your sword?” If he was one of the magic families then he should be able to manifest a sword. They were all taught the technique and even the uninitiated manifested some sort of weapon when they started to tap into their powers.

Wei Wuxian just shrugged with one shoulder, his amused smile still on his face alongside a slight grimace of pain. “I didn’t feel like using it. It’s no big deal Lan Zhan. Npt every situation calls for it.”

The trip down the hill took longer than he expected. Wuxian’s ribs were bad enough he wondered if they were broken and Wangji ended up putting a shoulder under the man’s arm and helping him over the last rough patch back to the car. On the drive out every rut and rock they bounced over took more color out of Wuxian’s face until Wangji was worried he was going to pass out.

“How did you figure out the statue?” He was hoping to distract Wuxian from the pain but all he earned was a grumpy look.

“Now you want to talk? Not now Lan Zhan. I’ll tell you all about my brilliant research skills after I have had something for the pain and half a pint of vodka.” And that was the last he got out of Wuxian aside from some swearing when he hit a particularly bad rut or when they hit the speed bumps in the parking lot.

Maybe he shouldn’t have been surprised that Wanyin was standing outside the parking lot waiting for them when they got back. To be honest there were too many other things on his mind to remember that they’d stolen a car for this hunt so he was caught off guard. Wuxian groaned and let his head thump on the steering wheel when he saw him and Wangji got out of the car, slung the other man’s bag over his shoulder with his own then opened the door and insisted on helping Wuxian out of the car. The last thing he wanted to see was him taking a header in the parking lot after all of this and maybe Wanyin would think twice about attacking him in Wangji was in the way.

“You stole my car.” Wanyin’s arms were crossed and his jaw was clenched.

“Borrowed.” Wuxian had let Wangji give him a hand out and put his arm over his shoulder to support him again. He used his free hand to toss the keys to Wanyin.

“Stole.” Wanyin glared at Wangji. “What now you’re on his side and helping him? This isn’t your business. You don’t want to be involved with him.”

Wuxian straightened like he was going to let go of Wangji but every time Wanyin said something Wangji could feel his fingers twitch and tighten on his shoulder like the words were hitting him physically. There hadn’t been even a hint of fear from Wuxian at the soul eater or his injured trip home but there was something like fear in him at Wanyin. No, fear at what Wanyin might say.

Wangji stepped out from under Wuxian’s arm to stand in front of him and face down Wanyin. “We’re leaving.” Let him try to stop them.

After a look of shock crossed his face Wanyin scowled again. "You are interfering, Lan clan. This is none of your business. Wei Wuxian uses dangerous methods, he casts demonic spells and endangers everyone around him." Jiang Cheng was so angry he was spitting out every word like he couldn't get them out fast enough. There was more there than just the obvious Lan Zhan was sure. He had been there when Wei Wuxian was using charms and his tricks and although they were unorthodox they weren’t demonic.

It meant he didn’t budge from in front of Wuxian even though the man had caught hold of his shirt and was trying to move him. “We’re leaving.” And ignoring Wanyin he turned to go a different direction, grabbed Wuxian’s arm to sling it over his shoulders again to support him and started walking. He had no idea where the man’s room was but he was going anywhere but here. There were several strangled noises of anger from behind them but Wanyin didn’t follow.

"I should be used to him and his outbursts, I hear them often enough after all." Wuxian's tone was light as he made a show of not minding the encounter but when Wangji looked at him his eyes were dark and serious above his mocking smile.

“Why?” Wangji was curious what possible reason Wanyin could have for his animosity towards Wuxian. Other than the fact that Wuxian seemed to feel like it was his right to take the man’s car whenever he felt like it. He was walking slowly so they didn’t jar Wuxian’s ribs and with a lack of any other destination in mind he was steering them toward his room. At least there he could wash the blood off Wuxian’s face and make sure it wasn’t anything to be worried about.

Wuxian sighed at the question. "He was my clan brother but as you may have noticed I am not welcome there anymore....what?" Wangji had stopped walking in surprise.

“Clan brothers...you are Wei Ying.” The pieces of information clicked into place. The Jiang clan had a younger member that had been disowned. Wangji didn’t know the reason, he hadn’t been old enough to be involved in any councils called about it but still there had been whispered words about it and warnings to the younger clan members to behave and not be like Wei Ying or you would be clanless. The one time he’d asked XiChen about it all he would say was the stories about Wei Ying were exaggerated.

“Yes, Lan Zhan, I am Wei Ying but you can probably guess why I don’t go by my old clan name here.” Wuxian chuckled as Wangji got them moving again. “And I am very proud of you, you didn’t even spit or make the sign against the evil eye after you said my name. Maybe you do like me after all. Or not, what a glare you have Lan Zhan.”

Wangji walked them up to the door to his room and carefully slipped out from under Wuxian’s arm so he could unlock and open the door. Once it was open he moved to help Wuxian again but he’d already walked into the room before he could. “So neat, this has to be your room Lan Zhan.”

Wangji was tempted to roll his eyes but he just hung the two bags he was carrying by the door and went to run a cloth in the small sink. His room was supposed to have two people in it but the person assigned to room with him had found another place and left within the first month of school so there was more room to move around in than in most of the dorms.

Once he had the cloth soaked and wrung out Wangji walked over to take Wuxian’s chin in his hand to start wiping the blood off his face. There was only a brief attempt to escape being cleaned up before Wuxian relaxed and let Wangji do whatever he wanted to his face. There was enough blood on his face that Wangji had to rinse the cloth out twice before Wuxian started to look less like was wearing half a mask of dark red.

At first when he was concentrating he didn’t notice but slowly the way Wuxian was watching his face became hard to ignore. Wuxian leaned into the wet cloth as he ran it over his face and there was something haunted but hopeful to his expression.

“Lan Zhan.” Wangji kept lightly wiping the last of the blood off of Wuxian’s face but he let his attention go to Wuxian instead of what he was doing.

“Mn.”

“Does this mean we can go hunting together again?”

Wangji let the cloth drop but he didn’t let go of Wuxian’s face with his other hand. It was possible that this would be trouble. There were obviously a lot of clan politics behind Wuxian being disowned but he had fought with the man at his back and aside from XiChen he had never trusted someone as quickly to cover his back without question. Once when he was questioning how you could tell right from wrong XiChen had told him there was no black and white, you sometimes had to judge for yourself the measure of a person and to trust his instincts. You had to do what you thought was right even if it didn’t follow a rule or custom.

Wangji smiled slightly and nodded once. “Yes. We will hunt together.”

The smile he was rewarded with for his answer could not be described as anything other than dazzling.

#inessencedevided #wangxiansolstice20 #*fic20 #*gifts20

[chimswae]

BTS Caretaker  Ch1

Summary: She may think she has Bangtan Sonyeondan wrapped around her fingers. She may think it is easy to love the members equally without hurting any soul. She may think the boys wont fall head over heels for her. She assumes it is okay to show a little love and affection towards the boys, what if she gets it all wrong? What if it only brings more complication to her already complicated life? Can she survive their charms? Will she be able to resist them? What if they just wont let her go?

- Pairing: BTS x Oc ( Yoongi x OC, Jungkook x OC, Jikook~)

- Genre: Fluff, Slight Angst, Romance, Idol!au

- Word Count: 2,161

-Author Note: I crosspost this story from my Asianfanfic/Wattpadd account. Mind you, clicheness OVERLOADS.

Next

Chapter 1

“Ahjumma’s food. I can smell it from miles away. Yums..” the maknae line hollered excitedly as they made their way inside without even taking off their socks properly. Stood behind them in line were the hyung lines which only shook their head in amusement. They just got back from a 11-hour practice yet those boys still had some energy stored in them.

Age aint just a number for sure.

Taehyung and Jimin voice were so loud which could shake the whole building “AS EXPECTED AHJUMMA COOKED THE BEST FOOD” Jin smacked their back head lightly accompanied with soft grunt.

“Clean yourself first, this food need to be reheat first” as usual Jin would take charge when it came to kitchen issues. Taehyung puckered his lips in protest and shot the older boy a stern look sending there-is-no-way-im-listening-to-you message which only being ignored by him.

Jimin cracked a grin as his eyes sunk into his signature eyes smile “I will be here in 10 minutes” he paraded to his room happily. Jin watched his figure disappeared with a soft sigh “And, how about you?” turning to face hungry Jungkook, the younger guy only rolled his eyes earning a smack on his forearm.

“HYUNG WHAT WAS THAT FOR?” bewildered, he half-yelled.

“Manners Jeon Gukkie” said the leader. Jungkook pursed his lips looking awfully sulky as he made his way to his room to get changed before his hyungs goofed around making fun of him again. Like a routine, every time they reached their place, meals would already lay flat on the table for them to savour. Even though it was weird to eat something without knowing the caretaker lady’s face, they were aware the lady was like a mother to them.

Every single day without failed, the caretaker lady or they preferably called as “Ahjumma” would prepare a simple meal for the seven boys. However, due to the nature of her contract with Bighit the ahjumma is not allowed to perform her task when the boys were around. She would only be there early in the morning daily except in certain occasion whereby the boy had no schedule ahead then she would come as per requested by BTS manager.

Therefore, none of the boys had ever met the caretaker lady face to face. Entering to her third year working with the boys, the caretaker lady knew almost everything about them just by cleaning their dorm. Yes, the dorm would not be in a good shape if it weren’t for the caretaker lady. The place was big enough for everyone to stay in comparison to their old dorm back then.

Make it big or not, they are still guys. Some may take time to clean after their mess but the nature of their career restricts them to perform even a simplest task like doing their own laundry. Now and then Jungkook would be in charge doing their laundry however nowadays they were so cramped with awards shows and tours ahead.

There were lots of things to be prepared at once, and the guys barely got time to even shut their eyes properly in a day. Poor boys.

Like a flash, Jungkook and Jimin came running to the kitchen taking their seat looking all ready to gobble down the food. At time like this, they really missed homecooked food. They are grateful for caretaker Ahjumma’s food that kept them fit and healthy all these years. Unlike before their debut days, the company could only afford them simple snacks which were not enough for grown up boys like them.

“I wonder when will we ever get to meet this caretaker Ahjumma” the youngest one mumbled between his bite.

Jimin shrugged “According to Sejin hyung, she is not allowed to work when we are around. The nature of the contract I guess” he felt someone sank in a seat beside him lazily. Lazy but hungry Min Yoongi.

Yoongi picked up his chopsticks and shoved kimchi in his mouth hastily “The contract is made to protect us”

“The ahjumma is not a sasaeng. It has been 3 years, plus she has been nothing but awfully kind to us. She prepares food for us even though it is not in her job description. Aint that enough to prove she won’t cause any harm?” Jungkook argued with a slight pout.

Sprawled lazily on the couch, Hoseok nodded in agreement as he started to mumble incoherently most likely how it was unfair for not be able to meet the kind lady personally. It was all talk and they couldn’t stop wondering how kind the Ahjumma was in person.

The eldest in the group appeared looking squeaky clean with a gleeful smile plastered on his face “Jungkook, are you falling for this Ahjumma’s charms” he teased. The younger guy flustered in his seat sending a death glare to his hyung’s way.

Jin didn’t stop right there, he heard him continue “Maybe she is not that Ahjumma after all. What if Bang Pd is protecting us from a beautiful caretaker lady?” he hummed as he sat across Jungkook still with that playful smirk tugged at the corner of his lips.

“Mmm.. I don’t think her notes sound so young after all. She used a lot of old words in her writing” Jimin scratched the back of his neck in confusion. How could a person be so clueless and oblivious? It supposed to be a mere tease but he indeed took things quite seriously. Judging by his expression, Jimin was racking his brain to find answer to the relevancy of this matter as per mentioned by Jin.

A soft sigh escaped from Yoongi’s lips in response to his friends’ irrelevant conversation “I am going to sleep. Clean up after eating, don’t put more loads on the ahjumma’s shoulder” he warned before leaving the group.

“Tch, how can he be full by eating kimchi!” Jin cringed in annoyance.

 ---------------------

Ji Seul, 22 years old, a college dropout.

Alright, cut that college dropout thing. She’s diligently working in a bubble tea shop and sometimes she would work at 7-eleven just to kill time. Another reason was that, to make more money.  Due to financial constraints a year ago, she had to give up her college in exchange to her little brother school fees. The fees on the other hand had hiked up crazily leaving her with no choice but to give up her future.

It was not easy for her mother to raise the siblings alone without external support. The condition of the economy nowadays was not favourable to family with low disposable income like them. Ji Seul worked when she was in college however it came to no avail. For some reason, she performed badly in her first semester. To add to that sappy story of hers, she almost got kicked out due to her poor performance.

If she were to work, she would perform so badly in her tests and projects.

However, if she decided to give up on having a part time job, she could not afford the college fees. And vice versa.

Some might think there was another way to resolve her so called issues. Scholarship? She tried it all, guess the competition was surprisingly high lately. Ji Seul had a decent result to apply for one, but there would always be another person who’s above you after all. That’s life.

She spent her youth time working hard like there is no tomorrow for the sake of her family. As much as she wanted to chase her dreams, she would rather work her ass off for her mother at least. The failure of her mother’s marriage literally messed up everything. Let’s not talk about her typical shitty life, Ji Seul preferred to let it buried deep in her brain. It was not worth talking anyways.

All she knew, her father was a real jerk for abandoning them.

Ji Seul loathed her father to the core.  She would never forgive him for all misery that he had caused to their life.

Placing the last ingredient in her stew, she smiled to herself feeling a little proud of her little accomplishment. Cooking was not easy, and if it weren’t for her annoying little brother, which was not that little, demanded a decent dinner tonight, she did not need to struggle with the recipe. He was old enough to cook a freaking ramen yet he chose to order her around just to piss her off.

“Where is my food?” Ji Hoon blinked with a sly smirk.

Ji Seul scoffed in disbelief “Here..” she kicked his calf as her eyes rolled in annoyance.

“OWW NUNA! THAT IS RUDE!”

“So, your nuna is being rude now? Don’t call me nuna, I am disowning you Hoon” she snickered. Bantering was a usual thing between the Ji’s, the world would be a better place without their existence for sure. The sound of front door being opened averted Ji Seul attention from her brother.

“Im back kids. No one is losing their teeth today, right? I hope” her mother closed the door behind her with a sarcastic remark. Pursing her lips, she took the bag from the older woman’s hand “Don’t worry, our teeth are still intact. But seems like Hoon will be losing his soon” Hoon puffed his cheeks.

“Can both of you behave for one day” she shook her head utterly speechless of her children’s childish behaviour. She went straight to check the food on the stove “Oh you cooked Seul-ah?” Seul broke a wide grin with a nod.

“If it weren’t for me, nuna would not be cooking that stew right now. Amazing, isn’t it?” Hoon replied chirpily.

Snorting under her breath, Seul retorted “For your information, the world does not revolve around you Ji Hoon. So, mother how’s work?” she watched the older woman taking a seat with a fatigue smile. Over years, she could see how older she got. It must not be easy for her to work as a caretaker lady. Her mother cherished her job as BTS’s caretaker because they paid her handsomely and the company really looked after her like a family.

She grew fond of the boys even though they did not have the chance to meet each other just yet. However, it was satisfying to look after the boys just like her own child. She loved her job. If she were given a chance to meet them in the future, she would shower them with lots of good food.

“The boys really made a huge mess. I think they were pretty busy” she chuckled.

She took a sip of the cold drinks as she continued “Jungkook piled up the laundry in his room again. He must have forgotten it while tending other important works like-“ Seul cut her off with a cringe.

“Like his games?” her mother nodded in response, ‘” Lazy bum” she claimed.

“Jungkook is just a kid Seul, let him be” her mother defended.

Seul crossed her arms disliking the fact that this Jungkook person made her mother worked extremely hard today “He is 20 and a grown-up man. He should have cleaned his own mess” Hoon pretended he did not listen to his sister complaints. It had always been like that. Ji Seul appeared to have a personal vendetta against Bangtan Sonyeondan. She knew they were pretty hot nowadays but sadly BTS did not meet her par.

Now and then, she would listen to their songs. Some of the songs are decent enough which gave colour to her already sorrowful life. Nevertheless, that was it. She had no idea who was who, all she knew there were 7 members.

If Ji Seul were like those fangirls, she would be the happiest human being alive for having a connection with BTS. Too bad, she was not into them. She had something better to do, like making money and keeping their stomach full.

“Do you like Jungkook hyung?” Hoon’s voice brought her out of her trance.

Ji Seul facepalmed upon listening to his absurd questions. She let out a low grunt “Jungkook hyung? Are you that friendly with him? Ew that is gross Hoon” she shot him a judgemental look.

“He is older by a year, and I am being polite. You seem to have lots of shitty complaints in your brain when it comes to BTS members. Especially Jungkook hyung” he purposely pressed the hyung part staring at the small girl in front of him.

“Because for some reason mother only talk about him and that other guy Chin?” she blurted out of annoyance.

“It is Jin..” her mother leaned back in her seat with a teasing smile. Now she’s teaming up with Ji Hoon to bring Seul down for good. She added before Seul could continue “He is a good cook..unlike someone” earning a low scowl from Ji Seul.

She had made up her mind to ignore them both.

Her stew needs her attention.

 This work belongs to  Chimswae © 2020. All Rights Reserved.

#bts fic #bts fanfic #bts series #jeon jungkook x reader #Yoongi x reader #bts fluff #Bts x oc #btscaretaker #bts idol au

[be-ready-when-i-say-go]

Jinxed- Part 2

Calum’s so used to fucking up that when a second chance comes his way he’s not sure what to do with it. Demon!Calum. 

CW: Mentions of death. 

Enjoy my masterlist

Support me on kofi. 

No one has my permission to repost this fic, including translations. All rights reserved. Copyright © be-ready-when-i-say-go.

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Her house is a mess. Dishes have piled up, her laundry is overflowing the basket. She hasn’t returned anyone’s phone call. Her mother has left twenty or so voicemails. Her text notifications are near the hundreds. None of those matter. His notes aren’t slipped under the door. She’s checked every night for one. Like her brain hasn’t computed that he’s actually gone. But he is. There is nothing but that handful of dust. 

When she calls all those old numbers, she gets an automated voice. It tells her that the number she is trying to reach is out of service or has been disconnected. She always sobs on the last word. She is disconnected. Disconnected from a friend. Disconnected from her loved ones because no amount of the phone buzzing and shaking on the table gets her to pick it up. A lifeline has been unplugged. 

Ruby clutches the small jar to her chest most days, or keeps it near. It feels appropriate for all the times Calum would shoot whiskey or hennessey straight out of one of them. Or the time he left a single carnation in one of her mason jars. It was pink, even though she hated pink. The next time he brought white. She carries the little bit of him left in the mason jars he used to always poke fun about. 

She can’t even cry anymore tears. She just sits, curled up in his jacket. She’s starting to lose his scent though. She can smell now is herself mostly. Ruby can’t mess up Calum’s jacket. The least she can do is preserve that. So she peels herself out of, draping it carefully over the edge of her bed and goes to shower. 

She texted her boss the next morning after it happened, after the shock still weighed her down. Ruby explained she’d need to take a couple personal days. Ruby really thought that was all it would take. Like a couple days just to get herself out of the funk. It’s hard to deal with death, but she thinks that she can bolster through. However, everytime she walks into her living room, she stares at the spot he last kneeled and her whole chest shatters. Her lungs can’t expand large enough for hair. She wheezes while tears stream down her face. 

If she could use the sprinkling of his ashes and her tears to sprout him again, she would’ve done so by now. She stands, in that spot, clutching his shirt, praying there’s anything she could do to bring him back. She is by no means, a witch. She tries nevertheless. She prays that anything brings him back. At first she wanted to never know Calum. It would be much easier to never hold onto these memories of falling asleep on him when she just couldn’t keep her eyes open anymore. 

The reality though is that she’s happy to have known him. She’s happy to have those random trips for ice cream, even though she knows it’ll make her intestines shiver. If she didn’t have those experiences, what would’ve been the last year and half of her life? Who would she be without the imprint of Calum on her soul? 

____

Her hair is no doubt a mess when she walks into work. She managed to do laundry and put on decent clothes. Her dishes are still not done. She’s yet to take the trash out with all the delivered fast food. But at least she’s taken care of one thing. She was just much too tired to keep her shoulders lifted to properly comb out. Most of the knots are out with her pick and wide tooth comb. 

“Hey stranger,” Tiff says. Her smile is soft, maybe even a little sad. 

“Hey, sorry about being gone for so long.” She can feel the sting behind her eyes now. Fuck, she really thought she had cried enough. How does she even begin to function like her life is normal again? 

“No, no, it’s okay.” Tiff collects Ruby into her arms, combs and all still in her hands. “Shh, it’s okay.”

“He’s gone. I just--I can’t believe it,” Ruby hiccups. 

_____

The weeks pass, blurring into months. Ruby lingers less often on the spot in her living room. She still wears his shirt around the house just for comfort sake. His leather jacket hangs in her closet, now a staple piece even though it’s boxy on her. It’s comfortable. It’s lived in. Even though his cologne is long gone and nothing but the scent of the cleaners is seeped into the garment, she can still feel the lingering of Calum in it. 

She knows he slipped his arms into the same holes. He layered it with a sweatshirt and beanie. There is something of him, his living visage still seeped into the threads that makes her feel better when she wears if, even if she doesn’t need the comfort constantly. 

Ruby keeps up with her dishes now too. Her laundry basket is emptied at least once a week. It hurts less to laugh. She can go about her day easier now. She doesn’t think she’ll ever reach her old normal. But she likes her new normal, the new routine of noticing the small things that Calum used to do that don’t cause her chest to rupture. But she gives a sad smile whenever the thoughts cross her mind. 

Like now, sitting in Kourtney’s car, Ruby is slightly reminded of the times that she and Calum would ride across town, just to try the latest sweet treat. 

“I don’t know how you’ve been single for this long now,” Kourtney laughs from the driver seat. The red light stares down at them and they stare up at it for the moment being. The comment isn’t mostly out of the blue. But their previous conversation about how dating is hard had died down a little. 

Ruby look to her friend through her peripheral. The high ponytail weave still slick and perfectly pinned in place. “I haven’t been single for that long.”

“It’s going on two years now! Ever since your birthday when that creepy guy cornered you at the bar. You broke things off with Darrell, what three just weeks before that?” Kourt risks a glance over. Rubs picks at her nails, the set of extended nails a deep burgundy color. They don’t mention that birthday too much. 

It was brought up once before after Calum’s passing and Ruby broke down into tears. Kourtney and the rest of the girls thought that Ruby and him had been dating and then broken up. But the way she cried and told them that a good friend had passed away, they figured they might be wrong about it. Everyone does their best to dart around the topic. 

Ruby makes sure never to give a name. Part of it feels like a disservice. That she’s silencing him even in death. But the other part knows it’s better this way. That she can’t say his name. Not to anyone. Would she be causing trouble for herself if she does? Would Lucifer come back for her? She’d rather not having the devil himself show up at her door again. Once is more than enough in a lifetime. 

Ruby blinks. It has been two years. Time surely hasn’t slowed. But it doesn’t feel like it’s sped up either. “Well I won’t be taking anymore recommendations from you,” she tsks, sucking her tongue around teeth. 

“You can’t hold Tre over my head forever. I thought she was cool.”

“She’s like the rest of them n--,” She had more to say but Kourtney cuts her off with a wave of her hand, as if she’s heard the guilt trip from Ruby enough already.

“So are we going out for your birthday or not?”

Ruby doesn’t know what she wants to do for her twenty sixth birthday. It feels mundane. It’s not 21 or even her 30’s. Just 26, a tick mark in the calender of her life. Just another day on the wheel. “We could go back,” Ruby offers with a shrug of her shoulders. 

Kourt presses down as the light turns green. “Back to Greenlight? It’s an hour out of town.”

“The music was lit.”

“The drinks were expensive.”

“You’ll have a birthday girl.”

“Why do you want to go back?” Kourtney asks but not without having to tap her brakes to allow for an asshole weaving through the lanes. She flips them the bird. 

Ruby watches, focus blurring on the passing asphalt. She can’t avoid things forever. She can’t hide from what’s happened. Calum’s dead. Though she’s wondered if demon’s can every truly die. Part of her wished she had asked sooner. She wished she had considered what happens when she dies, if she’ll ever cross paths with him again. Should she make some sort of deal with the devil? Calum would probably have her head for something like that. 

“Earth to Ruby!” Kourtney shouts, snapping her fingers near Ruby’s ear. 

“I’m not dead,” Ruby huffs. 

“Why should we hikes our asses all the way to Greenlight? Need to pour one out for them?”

Ruby has to laugh. Calum would not stand for the waste of alcohol in his honor. But it feels appropriate to remember him like that, even if it is wasted whiskey on concrete. “Yeah, something like that.”

“Someone’s gonna have to DD. Because I am not splitting that Uber again. I couldn’t even afford enough drinks for a solid buzz.”

“It won’t be long. But I guess if it’s an hour drive. We better make it worth our while. There’s a waffle joint close by too. Make pretty good breakfast.”

Kourtney parks in front of the mall, lips pursed. “And how would you know that ma’am?”

Keeping her gaze straight ahead, Ruby shrugs. Her lips curve though. The smile slowly etching itself onto her face. “Heard it through the grapevine.”

“Yeah right. Who you fuck that far across town?”

“No one,” Ruby defends. Her offended tone doesn’t last long before her laughter cuts through. It’s shocking that she’s never brought up the night she spent with Calum. But Ruby nows her friends. The would take any amount of scandalous details and run it for miles. 

Kourtney’s nonbelief is clear on her face, especially with the eyeroll. “Yeah and I was born last night.”

The women climb out of the car, laughing. As Ruby slings the purse onto her shoulder, Kourtney leans against the hood of the car. “Was it them? The one that passed away?”

Ruby matches her position. She can trust Kourtney, one of the few that always been more receptive to Ruby’s quiet moments. She’s always been the one that makes sure to keep the things that need to be quiet quiet. So Ruby nods her head. “Just once.”

“You just out here hoeing around and making friends out of them? Only you Ruby. Only you can sleep with someone and be friends wit’ ‘em.”

Ruby closes the car door, walking around the bumper. There’s a small breeze as they walk to the entrance. “It wasn’t supposed to go down like that. We slept together and I thought it was over. But he came into the salon.”

“So it was a guy, huh?”

“Yeah, he came into the salon to see a stylist. We talked for a minute.” Ruby pauses. She can’t admit that Calum turned out to be a giant asshole and a demonic one at that. “He was a bit of an asshole about it. But it was chill. Then on the date with Tre, he happened to be hanging out there too. She was still yelling about getting some ass. We argued and resolved it. Though, things didn’t actually get fix. She just stormed off. He was there. We hung out getting ice cream.”

Kourtney nods. “So you didn’t sleep with him again after that?”

Ruby shakes her head. “No.”

“Was it that bad?”

“Quite the opposite.”

“So why not?” Kourt screeches. 

The mall isn’t too crowded for the moment. Both of them wanted to get out and about early.  It’s only the older people that walk laps with their wristbands and two pound weights. All of them look at Ruby and Kourtney for sudden loud interruption. They are used to the stares from others because their glossy lips, and occasional pop of their gum. They know the hair and the color of their skin makes them an easy target for judgemental stares. 

It’s sometimes exhausting how true the phrase is that there is nothing new under the sun. There is nothing new about the prejudices they face. There is nothing new to the way they are watched, followed around. There is nothing new about losing loved ones. Nothing new about the stories of their lives. There is just new names on the characters they play. 

“Because we became friends,” Ruby answers. 

“You can fuck your friends.” Kourtney throws the 22 inches over her shoulder. Her nails aren’t long. But are a sharp stiletto point and have rhinestones tacked onto them. 

“You shouldn’t though,” Ruby states. 

Kourtney loves Ruby but sometimes wishes she gave more about her life. How to go from fucking a stranger to becoming their friend is a story that others would kill to tell. But Ruby holds it close to her chest. She won’t give the details.  Even if Kourtney tried to push it out of her, it would only be condensed. She’d only ever get the sparks notes version of the truth. “Fine, fine. We’re here for birthday outfits anyway.”

“Why do you need an outfit for my birthday?”

“Because I can’t go to Greenlight raggedy.”

“Your closet is twice the size of mine. You calling me raggedy?”

“Never in a million years, Rubs. Never.”

Ruby purses her lips but says nothing. Their feet carry them down past the anchor stores to a small run boutique. The displays are still neon and fishnets, with a sprinkle of cheetah print bodycon skirts. The shirts are cropped in the stomach but still thick long sleeved. The fashion choices don’t always make sense. As if only the flesh of arms get cold but not a stomach. 

“Are jeans and clear heels look too simple for my birthday?” Ruby asks, the jeans at the first display for her. She owns enough denim to last her the rest of her life if she gains no more weight. 

The question is mostly to herself, a little bit for Kourtney’s response. Kourtney’s already two racks over, thumbing through the previous season’s sequin tops. “No, it’s a very you look. Spice the top up with some glitter maybe. Or some neon?”

Ruby bypasses the denim, finding a blue sequin dress and holds it up. “Kourt, look what I found.”

A small gasp feels the air. “I need it. And I need it now.”

“Your size too.” Ruby dangles the rack from the tops of her fingers, thumbing over the dresses. Birthdays require maximum fun. A dress will have her stressed that her ass is not showing. Though depending on the amount of shots she’s had the stress of not mooning anyone could easily be overcome by the giggling urge to moon someone. She’ll stick to pants though and let the worry reside for another day when she dares a skirt. 

Kourtney takes the dress from the waiting hand and pulls out a red cheetah print top. “Try this?”

“Looks like a dress I have.”

Kourtney watches Ruby glance over the racks. The hangers making a piercing screeching as they scratch with rusted metal over the glossy metal rods that they hang on. Is smart to support her want to go back to Greenlight? Nothing special is really there about the place. It’s popular and crowded, but that’s only because it’s the latest club on the scene and more artists want to play in the club because of it’s blossoming elitist status. But a good time could be had anywhere.

“Are you positive about Greenlight?” Kourtney asks. 

Ruby nods. “As positive as I am black.”

“So hella positive then,” Kourtney laughs. 

It takes one store for them to find the base pieces, a dress for Kourtney and the top for Ruby. It takes three others for the shoes. In the second store, Kourtney finds her heels, black and strappy to neutralize the red glittery bling. And in the last one, Ruby finds a pair of clear heels--on sale. An important caveat for her considering she may not wear the shoes much after her birthday. 

When Ruby gets home, she drops the bag to her couch. She might be crazy to go back to Greenlight. Yes, they are memories there, but who’s to say that she couldn’t build more there. Why should the only ones she has of the place be tainted by a heaviness that could be replaced? 

____

It’s mutually decided that Ruby can’t be the designated driver for her own birthday. She only offered as a way to keep herself on a leash drinking wise. But her group of friends quickly shot that down.  She slips on the gold hoops as Tiff corrals the already tispy group. She can perfectly enjoy a birthday while being sober, or as close to sober as she could realistically be with a shot or two in her. 

Ruby hears the glasses clinking in her living room. The rest of the group has been sipping on fruity wine. It’s cheap, but good. Tiff hands over her tube of buttergloss. “Peachy nudes always pop more with a little bit of gloss. Always.”

Ruby takes it, just taking in the tube of glass, a fair pink. “Noted.”

___

The Greenlight is packed as always. Bodies look like a giant sea, swaying to and fro. Ruby looks over to the corner. Calum’s not there. She didn’t expect him to be there. But she had a fleeting hope. A sliver of it sits in her chest and drops when there’s just a couple talking, leaned in close to each other. Calum would be sitting there, beanie on his head. The look would not be complete without his leather jacket. She suddenly wishes she had it draped over her shoulders.

A whiskey would be in Calum’s hand of course. Maybe he’d wink at her. Maybe he’d just watch her dance with her friends. He’d offer of course to pay for a drink or two, but he’d really only be on the sidelines to let her enjoy the night. At the end of the night, when her world is still swimming with the buzz of her shots, Calum would probably tuck her into bed with water on the nightstand. “No dying on me tonight,” he’d whisper. 

For a fraction of a second, Ruby wishes she had made Calum promise that too. So that she could be angry for his death for him leaving her. But it really wasn’t of his own volition. That was a choice made for him by someone else’s hand.  

“We’ve got a birthday girl!” Tiff shouts, grabbing Ruby’s arm. 

Ruby’s imagined version of Calum disappears as she’s dragged to the bar. It takes her a moment to start reaching for her clutch to grab her ID. The bartender smiles. “And what will she have?” There’s a quick glance at the ID. Ruby thinks it most definitely isn’t long enough to see her age at all. 

“Whiskey. Straight.” The order falls from her lips without her thinking.

Tiff blinks. “Well that’s different than your usual.”

The only thing Ruby does is shrug. She can offer no explanation. It just feels like the right thing to do. The bartender nods and turns. The rest of the girls order shots or fruity drinks strong enough to knock a grown man over. 

The night doesn’t feel too special. Ruby manages to snag a few free drinks for her friends. The music thumps in her bones and the bass shakes her core. The bodies are still moving in mass, a sway. She finds herself looking to that corner again. The couple’s since left and it’s empty. She wonders if that spot feels like wearing Calum’s jacket. 

Telling Kourtney that she’s headed to the bathroom, Ruby sneaks away from the group. She climbs into the high chair, into Calum’s chair. It feels different up here. To watch everyone living their life. To know that someone’s going to home with someone else, to know that they are all in the middle of something—a breakup, trying to break a two year single streak. Whatever the case may be, every single person on that floor has a life headed in some direction. And she gets to watch the intersections. She gets to see how all the webs cross and unravel. 

“I’m very grateful you are a creature of habit. Or finding you would’ve been hell.” 

Ruby’s heart thunders, the veins in her neck thumping clearly behind the skin. She knows that voice anywhere. Even if she’s only heard it the one time in her apartment. She could identify it in a crowd of thousands. “Don’t you have other lives to ruin?”

Lucifer grins. “Don’t shoot the messenger.”

“That is absolutely rich coming from you. So why the fuck are you here?”

“I’m on a delivery. And I don’t think you’d be too receptive of my other Hunters.”

“To what? Deliver a harsh reminder that you killed one of my best friends? Thanks. Especially on my birthday. Perfect timing. You asshole. You’re such a goddamn asshole.” Ruby slips down from the hair, reaching back up to grab her drink. 

“Just listen for two second,” he hisses. When her hand comes up, he drops the long velvet box into it. “It’s from your friend. He never got around to giving it to you. So I figured I’d be nice. For once.”

“From Calum?”

“Yeah, from him.”

“What is it?”

“Look I’m just delivering the damn thing. I don’t ask questions about what it is. Do you realize that does spoil the whole thing about gift giving?”

“How long has he had it?”

“Again, that is not something I can answer.” 

If it weren’t for the fact that he was delivering something from Calum, she’d smack him. Maybe. It’s not like he’d feel it. Calum didn’t feel the left swing she gave him. Granted, it would be more for the affect, for the spectacle. 

“Apparently it’ll mean something to you. He’s been whining. Enjoy the rest of your day. Drink the spirits for me too.” With that, Lucifer slithers through the crowd. She notes it’s less of a walk and more of a glide. Calum had a swagger to his walk. Never rushed but never slow either. Ruby cracks open the box. 

A gold anklet stares back up at her. A small charm is attached. A mason jar etched into the gold plate with a C and R carved inside as well. Her eyes water. He’s had to have it for a while, holding onto it for some reason, for some sort of occasion. He mentioned getting her a gift. Only to her once. In passing, during Christmas. He said he wanted to give her something to remember him by that wouldn’t be subjected to the erosions all memories face. 

He wasn’t sure what to get though. Wasn’t sure how to give it to her. Sure he’d give her small things--surprising her with candy, or giving her t-shirts that he thought she’d enjoy mostly because of the crazy sayings printed on them. But he wanted to give her something tangible, that would fade to the wear of a machine. 

Ruby looks up back into the crowd. Lucifer’s is long gone. She continues to stare out over the packed dance floor. Will he show back up? And what he meant by Calum was whining? Calum was dead. The dead can’t complain, can’t speak, can’t blink. There is nothing but silence from them, right?

“Ruby! That’s one hell of a piss,” Kourtney laughs. Her eyes are glassy, Ruby notes. Maybe she won’t notice the tears forming in the corner of Ruby’s eyes. 

“Helping another girl,” Ruby lies, tucking the box away. “Zipper got caught.”

“C’mon. We got more shots. We need you.”

Ruby extends the hand not holding the chain. They filter through the crowd, over to the counter. She takes the glass of clear liquor, knocking the glasses together. As the liquid slides down her throat, it burns. What burns more is the thought that Calum might be alive somewhere out there in the depths of Hell.

Ruby crawls back into bed. The gold anklet dances against her skin. The last shot still pounds against her head. But the question would not leave her alone. Could Calum still be alive? She saw the dust. But Calum made her promise that she couldn’t watch. Right now, she wishes she had. She would know for sure, with her own eyes if death had truly ruined her. 

Her computer, even dimmed, still is harsh against her eyes. But she squints and opens a new window of Google, incognito. Like it’s illegal to search questions about demons. If it didn’t hurt to laugh, she’d chuckle at herself. 

Can you kill a demon? 

Ruby waits, blinks her eyes once and Google returns with answers, all in blue. She groans and clicks on the link. There had to be a color for the font that was easier on the eyes in the hangover state filled with curiosity.  

Demon traps, salt circles, holy water, heavenly fire, blades. 

This isn’t actually helping, she huffs. So clicks away from that link and back to the search results. Please work, she begs clicking another link. She skims over the black text. You can’t actually kill a demon. It surely look like Calum had died to her. It felt like he had died. Because if he was still kicking around he’d find a way to find her, to talk to her. 

Unless he couldn’t communicate with her like before. Ruby doesn’t know the first thing about how to communicate with any other spiritual beings. But there’s nary a question that Google can’t at least attempt to answer. 

How do you communicate with the dead? 

Ruby pauses. Should she type in how to summon a demon?

She is trying to summon one, technically. She’ll start there with the dead. To her that is what Calum is. He is dead. A dead friend. No matter the status of his spirit, he is dead to her. There’s seance, alters, crystals. Her brain begins to spin. So she closes the screen and lays back into her purple fuzzy pillows. They can offer some solace from the pounding of too much alcohol and too little water and the sting of tears. Calum can’t still be out there. She can’t handle that. 

___

The leather jacket is overkill. She knows. But staring up at the bookcase of books, she finds warmth in knowing that she is carrying a small part of Calum with her. Titles jump up out at her. Most of them centering around Wicca. She’s intrigued and pulls one down. She thumbs through the pages and holds it into the crook of her elbow. 

The Handbook of Witchcraft slips onto the top of her stack. People pass her by and no one seems to blink an eye. It’s her little secret, her little endeavor. To everyone else though, she is just down an aisle in the bookstore. She is just carrying a stack of books. She is just a patron amongst the fairly quiet calm river of the bookstore. She’s not making a ripple or bothering a soul. She is a nobody taking up space meant to be occupied. 

She settles into the cafe attached inside the store. Her stack is about four high. She might as well get started now. The whirring of machines blurs into the background of her mind. 

“Just starting out I see?” 

Ruby glances up. Another black girl with pink box braids tips her plastic cup at her stack. “Looking for answers,” Ruby says. 

Reaching into her pocket, the young girl finds a pen and takes a napkin from the small stack Ruby grabbed for her muffin. The girl scribbles down the at symbol followed by what looks like a username. “This is my Instagram. Message me if you need help.”

“Thanks.” Ruby smiles. “Like the hair.”

“Gotta get them redone. New in town. Still looking for a stylist.”

Ruby reaches into her purse. She grabs a business card for her and the salon. “I do eyebrows mainly. But the salon I work in is black owned.”

“You’re a lifesaver.”

“It can be hard out there.”

Ruby knows she’s been at the store too long when the afternoon sun fades into a pastel orange. Packing up the stack, she proceeds to the registers. The cashier looks unphased, pushing their reward card and membership. Ruby’s thankful. Her secret is safer for even a little bit longer, safe even from the cashier, who probably cares nothing about her life to start with. 

___

Ruby laughs at herself walking into IKEA, even though her entire house is completely furnished. Nothing is broken either. She’s still here though. She gets lost every time she walks through the doors. Taking a survey of the shop, she takes a deep breath. Just a small end table. That’s all she needs. She’ll start there. 

It takes an entire half an hour and help from two different employees but she secures the end table she needs. It’s on sale, or there’s some sort of special. The small wooden two tiered table is only 10 bucks, not including the taxes. It’s even small enough for her carry herself to her car. Though several employees offer one the flatbeds to help her walk even easier. Ruby know she could’ve easily gotten one for free, maybe with more characters, more knicks in it.

All the articles she read mentioned that the table wasn’t the important part. There would be more money to spend elsewhere. Is it wrong to want to give Calum the best if he’s still out there? The only thing Ruby can do is just give it a shot. As she slides the large cardboard box into her truck, she pauses. It’s just a shot. 

It would be funny to have an ivory cloth to cover it, Ruby thinks. Though black is more fitting. She settles later on, while in Target, for a Halloween themed one, black with silver trimming. It’s clearly been lingering since the holidays. She’s shocked they haven’t been tossed out yet by the store. It hasn’t been that long since the holiday, though. So maybe it isn’t old enough to be thrown out just yet. 

Calum might be pissed. She can almost hear his voice in her head, deeming worthy of at least something solid back. But Ruby figures he has a small silver streak in himself. Even if he refuses to believe it himself.He’d probably refute it. Tell her she’s the only silver streak in his damnation.

Ruby would then tell him he’s much too harsh on himself. She misses those moments, the bickering even though it’s not real. Twisting the last screw into place, Ruby looks at the gold anklet again. 

He’s been whining. 

Is she insane? Has she finally gone off the deep end to be sitting in her bedroom, screwing together an end table to create an altar? Calum might not even be on the other side. He could all the day dead. He could be really good. 

But why the present tense? Was it false hope, some sort of unresolved sadness or fear  that kept her clinging to any gram of hope? 

 Honestly, it didn’t matter. If she was insane, Ruby would find out soon enough, right? If she was insane to try and communicate with a damned soul, then it wouldn’t work. She’d just have a spare end table and a cool table cloth to help her decorate for the holidays. It wouldn’t be a waste if it all went to shit on her. 

___

“You have to set it up for what you need. You can add traditional elements. But they’re really customizable.” 

“I need it for like,” Ruby starts then stops, readjusting her grip on the thread.

“No, no. I need not know,” Jasmine reprimands. Her eyes are still closed. Her fingers still holding the skin taut. 

Ruby cleans up the underbrow before moving to the top of the bone. “Aren’t their guides for this kind of stuff? Could I go to someone else to do this?”

“I mean you could yes,” Jasmine says. Ruby brushes away the plucked hairs and moves to the right brow. “You’re looking for something maybe more along the lines of a psychic.”

“I don’t know. Everytime I think I can do it, I chicken out.”

“Just sit for a few minutes. Even if the altar isn’t complete just sit in front of it for a few minutes. Smudge it before and after. Besides, you’re not going to get it right on your first try. It’s not about getting it right the first time either. You have to feel it, know what you’re looking for, know when you’ve found it.”

Ruby hums, focused now on the string pulling the right hairs from the roots. When done and the brows outlined, Ruby hands Jasmine the mirror. “What do you think?”

“Holy fuck,” Jasmine gapes. “My brows have never looked this good.”

“I do my best.”

“You fucking slayed it is what you did.” Jasmine turns her head side to side, to make sure it’s not just a trick of the light and angle. The truth is no, her brows look this good for every angle thanks to the talent of Ruby. Jasmine adds a ten dollar tip to the fee. “I’ll be back for sure.”

“Glad you’re happy with them.”

Jasmine grabs a couple of business cards from the display on the front desk. “For friends,” she notes before shouting loudly over her shoulder. “Bye ladies. See y’all later.”

The entire shop responds with a shout too. Ruby leans into the glass front desk. The sidewalks are pretty dead. A couple boys hanging out because of the barber shop next door. There’s a convenience store at the corner of the block, where most people grab snacks for before coming into their hair appointments. Ruby would go there to grab snacks before movie snacks. She managed to sneak out of the salon well before closing sometimes and because of that, she could load up before calling Calum. Never texted. 

The rest of the day is pretty slow. It’s only Tuesday though. The closer to the weekend they get, the busier it becomes. Ruby walks into her apartment. It’s quiet and she thinks about turning on her TV. There’s never anything on, so she lets the silence lingers and gets water instead. The table is still bear in the corner of her bedroom. Just the cloth. Ruby finds the shoebox in the top of her closet. She pulls the only photo she has of Calum. Just him reclining on her couch in a green t-shirt and sweats. 

He’s not even looking at her, too busy browsing her computer. He was trying to prove her wrong about the meaning of carnations. This then took him down the rabbit hole of flora meaning, which he spent twenty minutes reading aloud to her. Ruby has since put it in a gold frame. It fits him. So she sets the frame onto the table, just right in the center. 

Ruby sits in front of it. Just admiring the photo. Her clock ticks in her ear. The water sits on the floor, still in the cup. Ruby lights one of the incenses. Rhodney gave her a good deal on them. He helped her get into this apartment. And she just sits. Eyes closing briefly. This is nice, peaceful. Just her, sinking into the floor, thinking about Calum. She lets the lavender scent settle into her lungs. 

Ruby sits cross legged, mind suspended between the reality that she is in her bedroom and the shallow pool of not having to think about anything. She can just bathe in the memories, his love of chocolate pretzels, the way he always smelled a little like nicotine but mostly like wooden musk of cologne.

Maybe Calum couldn’t communicate with her. Ruby knows in her heart of hearts that Calum would fight heaven and high water to keep in contact with her if he could. This had to be on her to figure out. Ruby couldn’t rely on Calum’s supernatural abilities anymore. This was a fight she’d have to take up on her own. 

There’s a small rumble. She can hear the clink of her glass. She thinks it’s the glass clinking against the floor. But she doesn’t dare open her eyes.  Then her phone rings from the living room. 

“Shit,” she whispers, standing up. She was positive she had turned it on silent. But she can never be sure anymore. It’s only a spam call. She was searching for a new health insurance plan and now the companies don’t leave her alone. 

When Ruby returns to her bedroom, her glass of water is still.

___

“You really need at least 4 people to communicate with spirits. Don’t want to be doing that kind of shit alone,” Jasmine hums. She sucks through her straw, the bottom of it clearly in nothing but air. 

“I don’t really have 3 other people that would be down for that,” Ruby counters. The coffee shop is loud. It’s a shock for how late in the day it is. But for those that need the caffeine, it matters not the time of day for them. 

“Well, now you only need 2 more people,” Jasmine grins, finishing off the last of her scone. 

“You’re going to help me?” Her disbelief is clear in her question. Why would Jasmine potentially be subjecting herself to the unknown for Ruby? It’s probably less unknown for Jasmine than it is unknown for Ruby. 

“Of course.”

“You do know what I’m asking you to do right?”

Jasmine laughs. “Yes, I’m aware.”

Her latest hairstyle are crochet locs. The fake hair has the ends dyed royal blue. Ruby notes that she always has to have a pop of color with her hair. She likes it. The way Jasmine’s always so free to express herself. Ruby does that too, with her hair too, but more so through her nails. She’s not sure what color to get this time. Though every time she goes into the nail salon, her eyes drift to the olive green. The same color of the shirt in the picture. 

“You’ve got time to get your nails done today?” Ruby asks. 

Jasmine looks over the black polish she put on about a week ago. It’s chipped a little. It was a rush job on her part.  “I hadn’t planned too, but sure.”

“My treat,” Ruby adds on. 

“Sold.” 

Knocking on Kourtney’s door, Ruby wonders if she’s already gone for the day. She tried to text before driving over it. Kourt hadn’t responded though by the time they got there. Kourtney keeps her car in the garage, so there’s no way to know. The door cracks open just as Ruby’s phone buzzes in her pocket. “Well this is a surprise,” Kourtney laughs. 

“Kourt this is Jasmine. Jasmine, Kourtney.” The two ladies wave at each other. “Think you can squeeze us in.”

“For you, Rubs, always. No matter how last minute it is.”

Ruby knows that tone, it’s joking but serious. “I promise this won’t be a common occurrence.”

“Oh I know it won’t.”

As the drill buffs over Ruby’s growth, Kourtney clicks her tongue. Her nose and mouth are hidden behind the dusk mask. The raised eyebrow is clear. She’s not buying this pitch, not in the slightest. The fine powder flies under the harsh light of the lamp bent over Ruby’s nails. “You want me to do what now?”

Ruby knows what she’s asking is probably insane. “Just be there. That’s all.”

“We are too black to be fucking with spirits.”

Ruby looks over to Jasmine, who just shrugs. Her gel manicure is freshly cured, though she sits under the nail dryers for her toes. “I mean, I totally get where she’s coming from. But at the same time, if you look at other religions, they do the same thing all the time.”

“Like what?” Kourtney tuts, pulling the drill away from her work. Ruby’s hand is still firm in her grasps. 

“Do you know about orishas?” Jasmine asks. 

“Do I know about what?” 

“They’re deities, gods,” Ruby explains. “I mean, it’s not totally the same. In that belief system people who practice are mounted.”

“Mounted?”

“The deity descends and uses the practitioners physical form, or body, during rituals.” Ruby wants to avoid the term possess. That would only serve to fuel Kourtney’s resistance. 

“Just say possess them. You can say it,” Kourtney huffs. 

“It’s not like the deity stays forever.”

“So, for argument sake, people are mounted by these spirits. And you want to equate that to openly knocking on the supernatural’s door and just ask them to chill out with us until whomever you’re trying to contact shows up. Is that what you’re asking me to do?”

“Well, it’s less about just chilling with spirits than it is trying to directly contact one. But yeah, let’s go with that version,” Ruby returns. 

“You’re fucking insane.” Kourtney’s tone isn’t harsh. It’s not even condescending. She just sounds tired, and maybe even a little flabbergasted. She can see Ruby’s desperate. Kourtney thinks she might be too if a friend just suddenly upped and died. It’s different than when Kourtney’s grandmother died. She had reasons. There was an explanation and a clear peace at the end.. Her grandmother was older, had been teetering on the edge really for a while. She wasn’t deathly ill, just getting up in age. She was starting to forget things easily. She couldn’t do the same things as before. In all honesty, her grandmother’s peaceful slip from temporary slumber to a permanent sleep is the best outcome. 

Kourtney changes the bit on her drill, taking down the length of the old set. “If I become haunted, I’m making friends with the ghostman and getting them to haunt your ass instead. I don’t have the time be fucking haunted, alright? Ain’t no ghost finna pay my bills.”

Ruby looks over to Jasmine. She hadn’t expected that to happen. She thought she’d ask. She’d get told no. Ruby halfway thought Kourtney would shut her down when she started talking about the deities. But to have Kourtney agree--that comes from left field. “Are you high right now?”

“No but I just might hint a blunt after dealing with you.”

The room echoes with laughter. “I’ll even roll it for you,” Ruby offers, her chest still hiccuping with tufts of laughter. 

“Nah, it’ll be haunted or some shit. I’ll roll my own blunts. Thank you.”

___

Jasmine’s friend, who only goes by Ash, settles down last in the circle. He’s a psychic, according to his Instagram. Ruby’s talked to him once face to face. His voice is too deep, too alluring. But he doesn’t carry himself like he takes life too seriously. It made him more inviting. The long hair, it’s always braided back. Ruby can appreciate his humor. His stare can be intense, dark brown keen eyes. They don’t ever miss anything. 

As his hands wrap around Ruby’s, his gaze is stern. His tone is softer. He has no qualms with people getting the answers that they need. But he doesn’t want them to do it for all the wrong reasons.“Are you sure about this?”

Ruby’s not really completely sure. She was never really supposed to talk about Calum. She was supposed to keep all this shit quiet. But if it weren’t for her run at Greenlight, she could be at peace. She doesn’t need constant communication. She just needs to verify. Calum really might be out there. “It’s the only shot I’ve got.”

Ash nods. He can understand that. With the board settled down, Ruby begins. Kourtney keeps flicking her gaze about the small circle. She prays to God she doesn’t wind up haunted because of this shit and she prays Ruby’s not diving into the deep end either. Even though Kourtney is not well versed in how hauntings work, she knows that no matter where Ruby goes these spirits can and probably will follow. 

“I am asking if my friend Calum is still out there,” Ruby starts. Her hands are shaking a little. She can hear the quiver in her own voice. 

It’s silent. Ruby watches, blinking erratically. Does she even want to contact Calum? Should be doing this at all? It could be best to live and let die. Kourtney shifts on the floor. They’re all situated in Ruby’s bedroom, around the small little table that holds a picture. Kourtney thinks this must be the friend, this Calum. 

The lights are off. The room’s already decent temperature wise. But Ruby doesn’t miss the small distinct breeze across her face. It’s easy to think that when presented with this scenario she would be brave. But right now, she can feel her gut leaping. “Oh shit. Did anyone else feel that breeze?”

Jasmine, to the left of Ruby, speaks up. “Can the spirit in this room confirm that you are Ruby’s friend? Gently move a piece on the altar.”

Ruby watches the gold anklet. Even in the flickers of the candle light, it glitters more than the picture frame. She placed the charm upside down. Whether it was on purpose, Ruby can’t say for sure. But a part of her did hope that if she were to have any success that the anklet would be the first thing Calum would reach for. He’d know the significance.  

Nothing happens. Ruby probes whatever might be reaching out to them to move something. The minutes pass and there is nothing still. The charm does not flip over. Another breeze does not come by. There is nothing. Just the rising and falling of four chest in Ruby’s bedroom. Any potential spirits that crossed over are thanked. The circle is closed. The candles are blown out. “Did you feel anything besides the breeze?” Jasmine asks. 

Ruby shakes her head. Sometimes she wishes she hadn’t decided to keep her hair short. The longer the hair, and even the longer the weave, she could’ve hidden her disappointment, the wobble of her chin. “Sometimes, you’re not always successful on your first try,” Ash counters. His voice is soft, much like the touch of his hand on Ruby’s shoulder. 

“Thanks,” Ruby answers. Her voice is thick as it leaves her throat. 

It’s rude, she knows. Ruby shuts herself into the bathroom. The door swings close and clicks with a harsh thud. She only needs a moment. Just a second. Just so the first hot tear can run down her cheek. She was a fool. How could she really believe that this would work? Hope made everyone blind. Everyone could probably see that it would never work. And yet, they had hoped for her that it would work. Yet they had sat in her bedroom like children at a sleepover, playing with spirits. 

 Ruby couldn’t be that mad at them. They were only trying to help her. But did no one think to stop her, to save her from this embarrassment? She sniffles hard, wiping at her cheeks. She’s never really had a flush on her face. But right now, behind the copper tones of brown skin, she can feel the heated flush taking over. Why would he do such a thing to her? She was a fucking fool to believe the gift was actually from Calum. He’s dead. His ashes are still in that godforsaken mini mason jar. There is no bringing him back. 

There’s nothing left of him. His soul was already damned to Lucifer. There was no way he would let anything remain. Ruby would’ve done better to just talk to open air than to try and communicate with Calum. She was just a fucking fool. 

With another harsh sniffle, Ruby opens the door. If her eyes are red, they’ll just have to be red. “Thanks for subjecting yourselves to this. I owe you guys.” She doesn’t hide the quiver that takes over her chest. 

“Rubs,” Kourtney sighs, hugging her friend. Ruby shakes like a dog caught in a thunderstorm in Kourtney’s arms. “Do you want me to stay with you?”

“N-no,” Ruby croaks. “I’ll call if I need you though.”

Kourtney thinks for a moment. She could refuse Ruby’s wishes and have to deal with a crying and pissed Ruby or she could just wait for the phone call. Ruby will probably still be crying if she calls, but at least there won’t be any anger. “I’ll be near my phone.”

As the door creaks close, Ruby locks it, bottom and top locks before sliding down the steel door. Here she is again. On her fucking knees crying over Calum again. She wants to laugh. She really does. It catches between her sobs in ragged coughs. “Fucking of course,” she pants. “Of course.”

She pushes her hands and crawls to the edge of the coffee table. Right where she was when Calum died. “I thought it was only lovers that were supposed to hurt like this.” Her speech is interrupted by sobs. But she continues on. “I thought only lovers were supposed to rip your fucking heart out.”

“They say talking to yourself is a sign of insanity.”

Even though her vision is nothing but a watery field of tears, she knows that pale skin. “Don’t you have some other poor soul to torture? Don’t you have anybody else to fuck over? Haven’t you ruined my fucking life enough?” she shouts. Her hand finds a coaster and lobs it before she can even think, still half hung onto the edge of the coffee table. It requires too much energy to support herself on her elbows. She just hangs her weight into the sturdy piece of furniture. 

“He heard you calling. So I had to answer,” Lucifer returns. 

“You’re such a fucking liar.” Ruby wishes she could smite him. Do anything to him to make him feel the ache in her chest. Would it take a bolt of lightning? Did he hold anything precious to his heart?

“I’m many things.”

“Leave me the fuck alone, God.”

Lucifer fakes a hiss, throwing up a cross with his fingers. “We don’t say His name around me.”

Ruby drags the sleeve of her shirt under her nose. Her tears, though they roll down her face, have stopped stinging her behind her eyes. “That’s a corny ass joke.”

Lucifer shrugs, pushing his hands into his pockets. “Figured I’d give it a shot. See if you’d stop cursing me out.”

“You’re still an asshole. So no, it didn’t work.” Ruby finally pushes up from the coffee table and falls into the legs of the couch. She stares out into the open dining room, at the table pushed up against the wall, right under the window sill. Calum would sit most nights that he stayed over in front of it. He said watching the night relaxed him. But she wonders now if she was watching for Lucifer. If Calum knew all along that he was playing with a fire that would burn him. 

It would hurt more if he just disappeared, Ruby thinks. If Lucifer somehow got him in the middle of the night while she was sleeping and Calum just wasn’t there. If he never showed up with another note under her door. That would hurt more. Not knowing would kill her more than knowing Ruby figures. She probably wouldn’t have noticed it at first. But as the days blended into weeks and the weeks turned into months without any contact from Calum--that would kill her. Slowly and then all at once she’d lose her head. 

“Mind if I sit?” Lucifer asks. 

“And if I say I do. What are you going to do? Kill me?”

“I’d never kill for such a frivolous thing.”

Ruby whips  her head to look at him. “You killed Calum? And for what? Being my friend?”

“I don’t have to explain that to you.”

“No, you do! You do have to explain that to me.”

“I don’t,” Lucifer defends. 

“Oh, but you do, Lucifer.” She’s never uttered his name before. It made him too real if she did. Made Calum’s death too real. But right now, after what just happened, or didn’t happen, he owes her that much. She can say his name. It is not lead on her tongue anymore. 

“Ah, she does remembers my name.”

“I could never forget it.”

“Ruby, I don’t owe you any explanation. I didn’t owe it to Calum to make the trip before or this one. But I’m doing it.”

“What the fuck did he do?” Ruby pushes up from the floor. Her face is tight. She knows her eyes are red. There’s probably snot on the sleeve of her shirt. It doesn’t matter though. She’s going to get these answers. “Tell me. What is so wrong about finding a friend?” She searches his gaze, seeing if he’d crack. 

The only thing Lucifer does is take a step forward to her. There’s still a good foot between them. “If you’re boss gave you a rule, and you broke it, couldn’t you be fired for it?” 

Ruby takes a small step forward. “Depends on how big the rule was.”

“I’ve ruled with an iron fist. And I will always continue to do so.” Lucifer meets her step, but only after his statement crosses his lips. 

No one moves again. There’s only another step between them. “Don’t tell me you have a soft spot? You can’t have a soft spot for the person you killed.”

“Calum isn’t a person.”

“He was to me.” Ruby closes the gap. Finger poking at his chest. “He was as real to me as Kourtney, or Tiff. Or anyone else in this world. He was a person to me and that’s all that matters.”

“We are monsters. Me included,” Lucifer states. “He is nothing more than a hound now. Just like all the rest.”

“And who did that to him? Who did that?” Ruby hates to get loud. But the emotion leaps from her. Her fists are furling at her side. 

Lucifer must admit she’s bolder than he took her for and far less fearful than he thought would happen for something that just tried to summon a demon into their bedroom. Though, anyone trying to do that must not hold much fear to begin with. “I know what I’ve done.”

“And is this supposed to make me feel better? Is this you trying to rectify the situation?”

“No. I can’t fix anything now. What’s done is done.”

Ruby cracks, she can feel her core crumbling. The tears come back. She presses the heel of her hands into the sockets of her eye. “Just tell me what you did. Is he really dead?” She pleads. The tough guy act is exhausting. All she wants to do is cry again, curl into her sheets and let the ache fall over her throat in screeches. 

Lucifer, for just a second, lets himself peer down at her. She stands right under his chest. He can see what Calum meant about how endearing it feels. “The Calum you knew no longer exists. You can’t summon him. His physical form is dust.”

“The whip?”

“Turned over to another owner.”

“They’re temporary to you. They’re nothing,” she gaps. It really ought not be a shock. It is the devil she’s dealing with. She’s not dealing with someone human. But it still shocks her. 

“We’re all nothing. Calum got a second shot at his life. And he fucked it up. Like he always does.”

Ruby shoves Lucifer. Her palms hitting hard into his chest. Lucifer stumbles back half a step but plants his feet to catch himself. “He didn’t. He didn’t do anything wrong!” She can see the pointed tail rising behind him. She sees the flash of fire in Lucifer’s eyes. “Do it. Fucking do it, I dare you.” Now she’s really gone insane. To goad the devil like this. But she doesn’t care. 

It’s a steel resolve that stills Lucifer. It stills even Ruby. “You don’t mean that,” Lucifer taunts. “You couldn’t possibly mean it.” 

“You don’t know what I mean and what I don’t.”

Lucifer grins, lowering the tail. “I do know that what’s left of your precious Calum whines for you. He curses himself for messing things up with you. It’s ironic really. To be subjected to an eternal curse and then curse yourself on top of that.”

Ruby just stares. She’s tired of the circle games. She’s tired of begging. If he’s going to explain himself, then he will. And if he won’t explain himself, he can go right back to the place he came from. So Ruby remains silent. Lucifer blinks at her.

 He says nothing either, waiting for her rebuttal. She’s a smart girl; she’ll have something, Lucifer figures. 

A few more moments go by. “Nothing to say?” Lucifer asks. 

Ruby remains quiet. 

“Did Calum ever tell you he was a Hunter for me? Really the head of them. That’s why I gave him the whip.” Lucifer stops for a moment. She look unphased for the moment. He sees the way she’s biting on the inside of her lip though. “I can’t bring him back,” Lucifer admits. “He still exist. Just not like you knew him as. You can’t bring him back.”

Ruby wants to look away. But she doesn’t. She takes a breathe. “You took everything from him. I hope you know that. I hope you know the destruction you’ve caused, Lucifer. Whatever good he had going on in his life, whether it was damned to you for eternity or not, all that good is gone.”

“It’s like the Big Guy said. All I’m good for it stealing, killing, and destroying. We’ve all got our parts to play. I brought you the anklet because I thought it would get him off my back. He’s relentless when it comes to you. He wanted me to give him updates. Him! Like he runs the fucking place.”

“So, tell me, do you give him updates? Why else would you be here?”

“No, actually, I heard you knocking on my front door with that summoning circle. But I didn’t think the others would take kindly to me showing up.”

Ruby has to laugh. She really does and it escapes her in dry tufts. “Tried to summon a friend and I got a piece of shit instead.”

“Yeah, I’m not the greatest, alright. I know. Just because I took Calum’s status away, just because I stripped him of his physical form doesn’t mean he can’t annoy the shit out of me in Hell.”

“And you can’t undo it? Can’t give him back his human form?”

Lucifer shakes his head. “If The Big Guy himself had to flood the earth to start over, there’s no way He’s giving me more powers than Him. He can’t snap his fingers to undo anything and I can’t snap mine.”

“What rule did Calum break? What the hell did he do deserve that?”

“I told you. Rules have to be followed. That’s that.”

“I can’t ever talk to him again. I can’t ask Calum so I’m asking you. I’m giving you the second shot you don’t fucking deserve.”

This isn’t a second shot, Lucifer thinks. He never gets those. Not that he’s ever deserved them in any capacity ever. But Ruby’s pleading stare is maybe just enough to crack his chest open. “I told him not to get too close. I told him that if he got too close to you it would be his head. You might’ve called me a liar. But others would disagree.”

Ruby sucks in a breath, turning away. Her hands cover her face. But that’s not enough darkness so she closes her eyes behind the fabric. “In my house. In front of me!”

“There’s a reason why he told you not to watch.”

She can picture it all now. There was no sound. But she can see, clear as day, a fistful of Calum’s curl in Lucifer’s fist as Calum’s body slumped away before disappearing. She wonders if his eyes blinked close, if Calum had just enough life in him to finish that action. Or they were probably already closed before the last blow was delivered. Was he thinking of her? Was she Calum’s last thought? 

Lucifer’s voice interrupts her buzzing mind. “The anklet’s actually from him. I found it in his apartment while I was cleaning it out. I had some others keep it safe. I wouldn’t have given it to you, in all honesty. I was going to have it pawned. Needed the cash for some other earthly endeavours. But I could never bring myself to fucking do it. So I gave the boy what he wanted. I gave it to you. His last good deed, he called it.”

“Do me a favor?”

“I’m not a middle man for the two of you. I agreed to give you the anklet and I only agreed to check up on you like once.”

“Just one thing,” Ruby sighs, turning to face Lucifer. 

“Just one.”

“Don’t come back to me. Don’t check up on me. Don’t give him updates.”

“This is going to sound ironic coming from me. But he’s going to raise hell over that.”

“Tell him I told you not too. I want to remember him like he was drinking whiskey way to early in the day and always dawned in the leather jacket. I want to remember him like a friend.”

Lucifer sighs. Calum’s not going to like that. But he nods and says nothing as he exits her apartment. Through the front door this time. For a brief moment, Ruby finally realizes that she never opened the door for Lucifer in the first place. Could he have been the breeze she felt? 

She was just torturing herself. Ruby never considered herself to be a masochist. Pain was never really her thing. But all she was doing was hurting herself. This was just a wound they kept picking the scab off of. It would always bleed if it’s never left alone. It can never clot and create new skin. Even if it leaves a scar, the thicker skin is more protection that busted blood vessels. 

Ruby drags herself to her bedroom. Calum’s picture staring at her as she enters. She walks over, placing the photo face down. She’s gotta let him rest. Let herself rest really. What is she doing besides running herself into the ground. That’s all it is. She picks up the anklet, testing the weight in her hand again. It’s cold against her skin and has never been heavy until now. She sets onto the dresser next to her bed. In the morning she can think about whether or not to bear its weight again. 

____

Lucifer can already imagine the roar that’s going to echo off the walls of his head. But he’s really only the message man, yet again. “Good news and bad news,” Lucifer starts. 

“Bad news first.” His voice is harsher, more of a snarl in this state. Body much too large and too hunched for the man he once portrayed. The fire does like it does everyone, making the skin blister and turn a pinkish red. It’s a shock that anyone can hold out at the eternal flick of the flames like he does. 

“You’re going to regret that. She wants to give you a good memory. Take it.”

“What?”

“Let her go. Let her remember you the way she knew you.”

While Calum would hate to admit Lucifer to right. It might be naive to think that Ruby wouldn’t try everything in her power to see him again. He’s not the man he used to be. He’s not in any position to be seen for what’s beneath it all, beneath the lies. “What’s the good news then?”

“You have a friend in her, even still. You’re lucky.”

He surely doesn’t feel lucky. Trapped here as his body is constantly burned and healed all within the same minute. He surely doesn’t feel lucky knowing that he won’t ever be able to answer a call from Ruby again. But if she’s willing to hold onto his memory, even with all the messed up shit he’s done, than he found something to be lucky about. 

Though it’s never rest that finds his soul, Calum remembers the way she laughs and something like peace stills the moment. It’s a quiet calm that only simmers for a moment before the pain kicks in again. He takes the second of calmness whenever they come because they always bring her with them.

#calum hood #calum hood fanfiction #calum hood fic #calum hood fanfic #calum hood series #demon!cal #demon!calum #calum hood 5sos #5sos #h writes #5 seconds of summer #5sos fanfic #5sos fic #5sos imagine #5 seconds of summer imagine #5 seconds of summer fanfi #5 seconds of summer fanfic #5 seconds of summer fic #luke hemmings #ashton irwin #michael clifford

[spaceraspberries]

(The first chapter of my 18+ Undertale Fic ‘Monsterous Skeletonus’ is complete!)

(It’s gonna be a -very- slow burn, but there will be a whole lot of the UF Skelebro’s (G included!) in later chapters and a whole lot of eventual smut to go with it, even if the plot is gonna be heavier than a semi as it maps out 👀)

(Once I get it proof read fully I’m going to post it on A03!)

.................

‘Alright, alright! Easy now. We don’t need anyone breaking a leg, do we?’

‘Ugh, why do we need to go -all- the way down here? It’s not like the machinery for this shit doesn’t exist. I feel like a old school miner or something, y’know?’

‘Hey! That’s no way for a brave explorer to talk, Meg! Don’t you want to see what’s down there? Could be all sorts of cool, weird stuff!’

‘Like what? More rocks and dirt?~ Oh! Maybe some ‘sand’ even? Give me a break’

‘Guys, d-don’t start arguing. We’re going to be down here f-for a while so it’s best to get along~’

.................

The varying chatter of excited, muffled voices ringing down into the unknown, inky blackness of what was assumed to be a rather hidden among the weeds and rocks but still wide crevice leading into Mt. Ebott that had been only recently discovered, the forested area had been well scouted out over the past few weeks and had been mapped well so that the current team leading the charge wouldn’t have to contend with trying to figure out where their destination would be by sight alone.

The ‘team’, otherwise known as FTL (Future team leaders. A cheesy name if there had ever been one) were simply a group of third year Geo students who had been tasked with taking core samples from the innermost caverns of Mt. Ebott for substrate testing. It wasn’t exactly a glamorous job by any stretch of the word but it was good experience for the youngsters in terms of field work, the leader of the group of ragtag students, a rather burley, bearded man named Sean and his partner Gunter already being at the bottom of the cavern as they waited for the rest of his team to follow suit, the impatient Sean watching as Meg and Desmond, the third and fourth oldest on the team respectively, carefully sidled their way down the craggy rock surface, arguing all the way much to the usually cheerful but honest mans chagrin.

“The more you guys complain the more time your gonna spend down here getting the damn samples. We still have to set up camp too so I suggest you guys pick up the pace”.

A collective groan coming from the duo grappling down, Desmond and Meg soon reached the bottom of the dimly lit cavern while two other members on the surface still suited up, Terra and Mira, a pair of naive adventurers if there ever were any, looking seriously nervous as they prepared to begin the descent down into the unknown.

“You ready?”, Mira smiling nervously at the freckle faced Terra as her friend nodded back hesitantly, it was more often than not that Mira was the braver one between the both of them, Terra being more of the ‘I’ll just follow you for safety sake’ type ever since they were children and Mira often having had to assume a’leadership’ role because of it.

Not that she minded it at all though! If anything, the short-stack of a girl enjoyed leading her best friend through the forest and hills when they were merely kids, the both of them often fighting imaginary monsters and imagining what it would be like to climb the forbidding and dangerous Mt. Ebott that had the reputation of housing -real- beasts and all sorts of angry spirits for centuries.

Well, according to many a scary bedtime story it did at least, Mira no really longer believing such childish fantasies and thinking them about as real as a monster under the bed. The girl had always been terrified as a kid by the thought of some horrific creature climbing down the mountain and snatching her up in the night when she misbehaved, her being unable to look back at those times without laughing at how her own imagination used to run wild.

“Y-yeah, let’s just take it easy though, alright?”.

Terra blushing nervously as Mira grinned and the both of them began the slow descent down into the inner workings of the massive Mt. Ebott, the dark slag that covered most of the upper surface area soon gave way to crumbly, brown flecks of caked in dirt about halfway down that rained into the depths below at the smallest touch, the bright entrance to the surface growing smaller and yet smaller still as eventually it was merely a pin prick of light far, far above the teams head when Terra and Mira finally hit the weirdly soft and rather squishy ground beneath.

“See? We made it down okay~”, Mira helping to unclip Terra’s equipment as she could tell her fellow team mate was uneasy, she was used to Terra being a bit of a worry wart but she seemed to be especially unnerved today for some reason, “Told ya we would make it in one piece”. Sticking her tongue out playfully at Terra as the girl batted her hand away with a sigh once she was unclipped, Mira laughed as Sean meanwhile approached with bottles of water for both of them.

“Hey now! Looks like you made it all in one piece!~”, Sean smirking broadly as he playfully patted the nervous looking Terra on the back, the girl smiled small as she watched the others in the group already beginning to set their bags down alongside the smooth, stone covered walls of the wide, expansive cavern they had landed in.

The circular area where they stood being lit by a few torches that Gunter, a rather quiet short man that was second in command to Sean had placed around what would be their designated base area, it was easy to tell that whatever this place was it must have been pretty damn old, scraggy bits of moss and thick, thorny vines creeping up the strangely, almost ‘carved’ looking walls that were reminiscent of a oversized well in a way.

The dirt covered ground being rather soft and squishy as was mentioned previously, it wasn’t ‘wet’ but had the texture and feel of a half absorbed sponge that had been wrung out and left to dry, bits of dried plant matter, green and yellow, making up a bulk of the signs of life that had floated down from the surface to the seemingly lifeless cave over the years, a large pile of the shriveled mess having formed a rather neat mound directly below the gleaming entrance far above.

Meanwhile, the lack of hardiness in the soil was proving difficult for Desmond to drive the stakes for his tent into by his annoyed grunts and frustrated strings of cusses.

Nature wasn’t for everyone apparently.

A naturally formed but crooked arch towards the east appearing to lead deeper into whatever lay beyond the teams immediate landing spot, it was oddly convenient, almost as if it was beckoning anyone who fell or grappled their way down here to enter it and take a chance with whatever dangers laid beyond Its dismal, abyss like entryway.

Mira getting a bit of a odd vibe from the area as she decided to stick by her team mates side for now, there would be plenty of time to explore later, her taking a sip from her water bottle with a content sigh as Sean soon formed everyone in a loose huddle to discuss their next plan of action.

“Alright!”, Clapping a hand to get everyones attention as he visually assessed that his team was safe and sound, Sean held his constant, positive outlook proudly even as most of his members looked exhausted from the day trek up Ebott and grappling down here, “Now, we all know why we’re here, collecting samples and all that fun stuff. Of course, to avoid outside contamination from -that-“, Sean pointed upwards at the tiny prick of light to the surface above them, “We are going to have to do a bit of traveling inwards once morning hits!”.

“Oh! Does that mean we get to see how far all this goes?~”, Mira speaking up as she genuinely seemed excited about the possibility of traveling farther into the cave system, she ignored the sound of Meg behind her muttering something annoyed under her breath, “I hear some of these caves can stretch for -miles-!”.

“Andddd your exactly right, kiddo! Of course, we only need to collect samples unspoiled by outside contamination. We won’t need to travel too terrible far in for that, but I wouldn’t discount the idea of another trip down here if funding for this pans out”, Sean winking at Mira as the pint sized girl blushed and internally swooned, a intentional, rough cough from Desmond seemed to break the pair out of whatever little ‘thing’ was blooming between them as he motioned to the tents that still needed to be set up.

“Yeah, uh, a-anyways, another thing guys, I don’t want to see anyone wandering off either, got it? We have no idea where these caverns might lead and the last thing we need is to have to send out a rescue squad to find one of you. I’m sure everyone has heard the horror stories of those idiots who decide to go off alone and wind up wedged under a boulder or something”.

Sighing a bit awkwardly to himself as he seemed to get the hint across to his team judging from the murmurs of acknowledgement they gave, Sean was a natural leader and the head of this group obviously....but sometimes it was a bit difficult to get everyone on the same page, the only real ‘friendship’ between them all outside of being grouped students and cavers being Terra and Mira, two of the youngest mates among them.

This was going to be a long, difficult journey if they couldn’t all manage to find a common ground to communicate on, but at least in the end their mission was likely to prove successful now that they had arrived safely in the interior workings of Ebott as planned with barely a scratch.

Soon enough everyone would be back on the surface and they could all go their separate ways, but for now there was work to be done in terms of getting tents set up and dinner ready, the long hike just to get to the top of Ebott having been almost a full days worth of energy.

“Meg, you get a fire and dinner set up since Desmond already has the tents”, Pulling out a small note paid from his pocket as he scribbled something down while he spoke, Sean than looked at Terra and Mira as his usually eager eyes seemed to grow a bit more tense in thought as he rubbed his temple slowly with his free hand.

“And you two....Just...don’t do anything stupid, okay? We don’t want another Cauldron incident. That -especially- goes for you Mira, got it?”.

“Uh...yeah, y-yes Sir”, Mira blushing and nodding once as she glanced at Terra who now had a chance to smile and nudge her friend back playfully, neither of them particularly were proud of the unspoken ‘Cauldron’ incident but it was good reason for them to stay put and out of the way.

...........................

The team taking the next hour or two to set up tents and unpack gear, the plan was for a three day excursion to take samples from the depths of Ebott for both sediment and groundwater exploration. Of course, no one had really ever been -in- this mysterious cave system until now to map it out, the next few days having the potential to be longer or shorter depending on exactly how difficult the terrain proved to be to navigate.

By the time Meg had managed to scrap together a decent fire and everyone had settled down around it for a meal of rationed leek and potato Soup, the group seemed to be more than happy to simply have the chance to relax and take off their worn jackets and boots, The night sky far, far above them having the faintest sparkle of stars and moon mist to indicate the time of day on the surface.

Mira sitting to the left of Terra and near Sean on a blanket while Gunter sat near Desmond on the ground and Meg had perched herself on her bag, it could have almost be called a crude form of camping in a way if any of the said campers shared any sense of shared camaraderie.

“I’ve always heard weird things about this mountain, y’know? Things like ghosts and goblins and the like”, Desmond sipping his soup as he spoke with a sly grin, the flannel shirted man seemed to enjoy the way he made the nervous Terra especially perk up and shuffle ever so closer to Mira like a lost pup.

“How they especially like to eat little kids that wander away from home....Yeah, I bet they are just waiting to snatch some new prey up when they get a chance~”.

“Real mature, Des. I bet it took you all day to come up with that one, right?”, Meg rolling her blue eyes as the man continues to grin and simply drank his soup, Mira meanwhile seemed to be quite curious about what Desmond was getting at though as she suddenly became a bit more attentive.

“Well...I’m not a kid and neither is Terra, so we should be fine~”, Smiling lightly as she kind of wanted Desmond to continue talking about his little stories of what might be in these mountains, her gaze silently urged him to keep speaking as she let Terra cuddle close to her for warmth.

Desmond chuckling and shaking his head at Mira’s assertion that she wasn’t a child, he closed his eyes for a moment in thought, “ Nah, you don’t wanna hear stuff like that before bed, believe me”.

“B-but, I mean it, I’m really curious about -all- that kind of stuff! Cryptids, ghosts, you name it! I-I mean I don’t -believe- in any of it...it’s just, uh...fascinating I guess”.

“Mmm, I think he might be right, Mira. Besides, we should be hitting the sack soon anyways. Everyone’s got a big day ahead tomorrow”, Sean raising a brow at Mira’s apparent interest in what might be lurking around the inner workings of Ebott, his input seemed to only fuel Mira’s insistence in knowing more about what she thought Desmond was ‘hiding’ from her because he saw her as merely a kid.

“Come on, just -one- story?~ You can’t just lead me on like that”, Mira feeling Terra cuddle a bit closer to her even more so as she seemed to be persistent enough to convince Desmond to give in, the man sighed and put his empty cup down as Mira internally cheered that he seemed he was going to tell them more about his creepy tales.

“Alright alright, but only one, got it? Man, you kids these days know how to work a old mans feelings”.

........................

................

.........

Sleep coming easy for the exhausted group by the time Desmond had sufficiently managed to spook nearly everyone out with his tale of a creature called the ‘Crooked handed woman’, Terra had, as usual, decided to remain by Mira’s side even when they were comfortably safe inside their tents and was cuddled up next to her best friend once the group had decided to call it a night.

It wasn’t as if Mira minded much that the perpetually nervous girl wanted to share a tent, her honestly thriving off the warmth that the both of them being this close gave in this unnaturally cold cavern.

Desmond’s tale still ringing in the back of Mira’s mind as she fell into a mild sleep not long after getting herself comfortable, the thought of some old, crone like hag with skin like old onion paper and a twisted and gnarled hand with a ‘mind of its own’ was enough to keep her up a little after everyone else had fallen asleep, the occasional sound of what Mira assumed was dried leaves shuffling outside her tent instinctively making her cuddle up a bit more in her sleeping bag to feel smaller.

Yeah, maybe it hadn’t been the best idea to beg Desmond to tell his tale after all....

‘T-there isn’t anything out there! Stop being stupid and get your mind off of it already!’

Maybe Desmond was right to not want to tell his creepy stories when what she really needed was to sleep for tomorrows expedition deeper into the cave, Mira sighing a bit to herself as she watched Terra’s soft, unworried, sleeping face next to her own as she slowly tried to lull her body into rest as well.

............

......

-scerch scerch...scritch....~

‘W-what? What is that?’

Mira cracking her groggy eyes open after a minute or so of letting her mind rest, the sound of rustling ‘leaves’ outside of her tent had for a second or two became a bit louder than before, her senses instinctively going on high alert as she waited in silence to see if she wasn’t truly just going crazy from exhaustion.

...............

.........

‘scritch scritch....-c r u u u u n c h-

.............

The sound of what Mira could best describe as one of the Lit-A-Fire portable logs that had been put out by Sean earlier snapping slowly in half, the girls heart was pounding in her chest by now as it was more than obvious that someone, or some t h i n g, was out there just beyond her tent, her wide eyes focusing on the still sleeping Terra in front of her as she debated on waking her friend up to investigate.

‘No, she is just gonna freak out. Just stay put Mira...I-it’s probably just Sean or someone out there....’

............

-c r u n c h-

The sound of another one of the logs seemingly being split in half reaching Mira’s ears as she squeezed her eyes shut and tried not to panic, a odd tapping noise, almost like long nails clicking on stone, was a new sound to emerge after a few seconds of silence, the story she had heard from Desmond earlier returning to her already panicking young mind ten fold.

The old lady with her crooked hand and it’s long, gnarled nails....t-there was no way it was real, right?

............

.......

-tap tap-

A terrified, muffled squeak coming from Mira as she buried her head in her bag, the sound was now right outside of her tent as she felt Terra stir besides her, her not wanting to see who or whatever was attempting to seemingly try to get her attention as the front zipper of the girls shared tent opened rather slow and quietly.

“G-go away!!”.

Mira bolting up and slamming a pillow directly into the face of a most perplexed looking Gunter, the sleepy, heavy set man crunched his brow together as he put his hands up in a mock fashion to show he surrendered.

“Hey there, just calm down!”, Shaking his head once as he tried to speak quietly to avoid waking Terra, Mira blushed heavily out of shame as she immediately seemed to realize how stupid she had been to think that the kindly second in command to Sean had been some kind of ‘monster’.

“Was wonder’in if ya had the first aid in here. Kinda stepped on some of the logs while going to take a leak...and, well...”, Gunter running a hand along his hairline as Mira immediately went to hand off the box of medical supplies to the sleepy looking man that resided safely by the tent entrance, the pink blush she had sprouted didn’t leave her face as she sighed and retrieved her pillow she had thrown at him as well.

“Sorry bout that....”, Speaking quietly as she hugged the parcel to her chest, Mira was merely given a nod by the typically introverted Gunter as he went to zip the tent back up, her and the still sleeping Terra once again being left in the dark, Mira feeling like a total fool for letting Desmond and his stupid story get to her to the point of her actually thinking some terrifying beast had been shuffling about outside.

..............

........

-Scritchhhhhh~

Laying back down to -finally- get some much needed sleep, Mira paid little mind to the sound of what she assumed was Gunter bandaging up his wounded foot, her giving a mighty yawn as she wrapped a arm around Terra and-

..........

-B A N G-

.............

A heavy, extremely loud jolt rocking the pairs tent and apparently the others nearby as she could hear the sound of confused yelling and tired murmurs almost all at once, the startled Terra too blinked her eyes open as she gave a scared, confused look to Mira, her putting a finger to her lip to silently signal to the younger girl to remain quiet as she unzipped and peeked out of the tent to see what the heck was up now.

.......

-B A N G!!!-

A heavy, hot pressure nearly collapsing the heavy canvas tent in on both Terra and Mira as the girls let out a terrified cry of confusion as the fabric fell around them, Mira even under the mess could tell that Sean was shouting indistinguishable words to the others in a apparent panic at whatever was going on, Meg’s just as muffled, frantic pleas mixing in with his orders as Mira tried to yank Terra out from under their collapsed tent as another heavy bang and a sudden, strange whistling noise erupted around them again.

“T-Terra! We need to get out of here!!!”.

Terra, fearful tears streaming down her face as Mira grabbed a hold of her wrist while a bright flash of what could only have been described as a ‘ball of green hued flames’ slammed into the opposing wall nearest where Desmond and Meg’s tent had been, Mira squirmed out from the remnants of tent fabric as she didn’t bother or try to look at whatever or whoever was causing this havoc, her only instinct telling her to run as far away with Terra as she could while she still had the chance.....

Whatever was going on m-must have been some weird, natural cave phenomenon....that was the only real explanation Mira could come up with on the fly e-even if it made little sense logically....

Flames just didn’t shoot out of nowhere like this though.....but maybe since Ebott was rumored to be a long dormant volcano t-that had something to do with all of this?

As little sense as it made it was the -only- logic running through Mira’s imagination as she tried to block out the frantic sound of yelling and screaming back from base, the loud crack of a shotgun being added to the fray as Mira practically dragged Terra towards the archway nearby.

The dimness of the cavern making it nearly impossible for the pair to get their footing as the torches from earlier had been put out by Sean in anticipation of a good nights rest, Mira blindly ran towards the stone archway that led deeper into the yet unexplored inner cavern, her bare feet scrapping painfully along the much rougher, cement-like surface of the pitch black entry way into the unknown depths.

Her nearly crushing Terra’s wrist in her grip as she pulled the hyperventilating and crying girl along, the sound of the carnage from the base camp was now only a muffled, distant drone as the wide eyed and fully shocked Mira eventually stopped to take a breath once they reached a narrow alcove that was eerily silent and still compared to the chaos outside.

“Y-you alright?~”, Whispering softly to Terra as she held her sobbing friend close to her chest, Mira tried to shush Terra but it wasn’t doing much good, the easily terrified girl unable to calm herself as she clung to Mira tightly.

“I want to go -home-, Mira! Coming down h-here was a mistake! I -knew- it was a bad idea and now look what happened! We need to g-go back and help them!!”.

“I know, I wanna go home too....but I don’t think going back there is the best option right now”, Mira trying to give Terra a little smirk to lighten the mood but failing miserably, it didn’t help much at all as Terra simply broke out into a fresh round of sobbing, “We will figure this out, okay?~ I-I’m sure things aren’t as bad as they seem and we probably just over reacted. To be honest I bet this is one of Sean’s stupid pranks”.

“Thats -not- funny and you know that isn’t true!! F-for all we know Sean a-and Desmond and everyone else is hurt back there! I don’t know what happened but whatever a-accident or...-thing- tore up all our tents...but we are going to have to go back and help them!”.

The sound of the distant drone of chaos back from the base slowly growing less urgent as a unnerving silence began to replace it instead, Mira gave Terra a look that said to not even try it, her keeping her grip on her friends wrist as tight as ever.

“Listen...”, Mira taking a hold of Terra’s trembling hand as she tried to be the braver one between them, she sensed that the agitated girl was going to run off the first chance she saw to who knows where and wasn’t going to take the risk of letting that happen.

“Your going to stick with me until we can figure out what’s going on, okay? Going it alone in this place...seems a bit, uh, dangerous...”.

“B-but Mira!-“.

Mira letting out a deep, exhausted sigh as she shuffled Terra to her chest for comfort with the girls protesting, it was partially to avoid letting her see the nervous tears forming in her own eyes, Mira not being cut out to be a leader on the fly like this by any means.

“We need to see if there are any other exits out of here. I know this is scary a-and all, but I know you can do this, Terra~ I know your really brave deep down even if you don’t think it”, Giving her friends hand one last squeeze of determination as Terra seemed to brighten up slightly at Mira’s kind words, the darkness ahead of them seemed to be silently daring the inexperienced pair to take it on, there being no chance of going back now as Mira gave a slight tug of Terra’s arm to prompt her along into the unexplored and potentially hazardous new world, “We are going to get out of here together, I promise”.

Unfortunately for the unwary girls, the journey ahead of them wasn’t going to be easy and the chance of either making it back to the surface at all was slim, a certain green eyed, rather dirty furred ‘beast’ already being well aware of Mira and Terra’s presence~

#Undertale #undertale fic #fanfiction #horror #slow burn #undertale fanfiction #o.c

[ixalit]

Hey I’m the anon that asked if I could ask you about exercise and stuff... thank you, by the way. Um so I’m just getting into it and trying to be healthier and hopefully lose weight and everywhere I look people say contradicting things and I was just wondering if you had any tips that you’ve found helpful? Or suggestions to kind of navigate the information and everything?

Hey Nonnie, that’s exciting! Go you!!!

I completely know what you mean with so much contradicting information. I’m going to share a few things that have helped me and a few that I do personally, but ultimately it’s completely up to you. I can’t make personalized recommendations because one, I’m not qualified, and two, I don’t know who you are!

Discussion of exercise, food, body image, and similar topics under the cut that might be triggering to some

Note: I use “fitness” and “getting fit” in this answer to mean happy and healthy in your body, not any standard of weight or other measure of athletic ability.

My personal experience is based on four years of research, experimentation, and finding what works for me.

You probably know the basics, but in case you don’t...

Sleep! Getting adequate sleep is going to help you so much. It’s the time for your body to rest, recharge, heal, and prepare for the next day. It regulates your hormones, repairs your muscles, and helps keep your body in a cycle where it feels safe to improve. Personally, I’ve found that a consistent bedtime and wake-up time with quality sleep helps me more than getting 8 hours no matter what.

Water! To make it easy, I pick a bottle I can easily carry around, and work out how many times I aim to fill it up per day. For me, it’s a 24oz bottle, which I fill up 4-5 times a day. That way I’m getting in around 100-120 oz of water every day, in addition to any tea or coffee.

Healthy food! What’s “healthy” varies widely from person to person, and you’ll need to find what that means for you. Basically, it’s food that you feel good about eating and that makes your body feel good.

I have three main pieces of advice that have helped me.

The first is to check (and maybe change) your mindset and relationship to food and exercise before trying to go anywhere with it.

Our culture, media, and society as a whole are very “less is best” when it comes to food and weight. As a result, most people have distorted views of themselves and an unhealthy relationship with food, whether it be rules, restriction, shame, or something else.

It is about a million times more challenging to meet your fitness goals when you’re also fighting against your mind. Instead, my advice is to heal that part of yourself before attempting anything big. This way, you’ll be more likely to fall into a “binge/restrict/shame” cycle that can seriously fuck with your mood.

Personally, I’ve struggled with disordered eating in the past, both restrictive (brought on by a period of circumstances that triggered my PTSD and put me in a near-constant state of fight/flight) and binging. I’m still learning how to have a healthy relationship with food, but I’m a lot better now than I was three years ago, mostly due to a period of time I devoted to healing that specifically before trying to lose weight or gain muscle.

Also, if you can, try to view getting fit as self-care. Make peace with your body as it is in this moment, and try to avoid thoughts of “I’ll be happy/be able to do ____/be able to have ____ when I meet x goal.”

Goals are good to have and work towards, but not when they put conditions on your current self-worth or confidence.

My second piece of advice is to pay attention to your body—moods, pain, sensitivities, etc—and take the time to find what works for you. Most likely, it’s going to be different than what anyone else does, and it will likely change over time.

For example, I’ve found that I can’t do certain exercises because of the stress they put on my joints, so I find what muscle that exercise works and research variations and/or other exercises to target muscle.

There are also certain foods I have to stay away from because they act up my IBS or make my body retain more water in a way that’s uncomfortable.

Through trial and error, I’ve discovered that cheat days/meals don’t work for me and that I like measuring stats but have to be careful that I don’t start obsessing over them. I’ve learned that my body doesn’t feel good with heavy exercise every day, and that my body hates (and I mean hates) sugar.

Basically, check in with yourself frequently.

Do you feel happier, more clear-headed, and more energized after a workout? Make that your main reason to work out.

Does a certain exercise (coughrunningcough) make you wish you were doing literally anything else? Stop doing it and find a different exercise.

Does your stomach hurt after eating a lot of sweets? Space them out or try eating half of what you would normally and see if it satisfies your craving.

Do you find you’re beating yourself up every time you exercise under the guise of “motivation”? Find someone to exercise/go on a hike with you and talk about literally anything else.

Something that’s helped me is getting a body composition scale. I have this one from Amazon. It works well for tracking trends, and helps to understand how my body composition is changing. Through this, I know how many calories I need to eat in a day for my basic functions (my BMR) and go from there when deciding what to eat.

My third piece of advice is to make sure whatever you do, it’s sustainable.

Cutting out all your favorite foods and exercising three hours a day might feel good at first, but it will take a toll on your body in the long run, which will probably work against you.

And don’t stress the small stuff. Being consistently “good” 80-90% of the time is much better than being perfect 20-30% of the time.

Find a way to live that’s adaptable but that you can enjoy doing for years and years to come.

And lastly, here are some random things.

Personally, I eat foods that make my body feel good when I feel hungry. I also track my calories, but more out of curiosity to know how much I’m eating in a day. I need to watch this to make sure I don’t attach unnecessary self criticism to eating “too much” or “not enough.”

My goal is to do something active every day. Some days that’s a 50 minute HIIT workout, some days that’s biking 30 miles, some days that’s a 20 minute walk with my dogs around the neighborhood.

Finding a few active things you like doing really make all the difference. For me, that’s hiking, skiing, boxing, and swimming. Because of covid, I’ve taken more to HIIT and biking, because some of my “go to’s” aren’t safe.

It’s true that at the end of the day, to lose weight, you need to burn more calories than you consume. An easy way to do this is calculating your base metabolic rate (how many calories your body burns in a day when it does nothing), keeping track of the calories you eat in a day, even if it’s approximate, and exercising to put yourself in a deficit.

Weight fluctuates. Bodies fluctuate. Water weight and rentention, bloating... what you eat, how much you eat, time of day, how you exercise, hormones, and a million other factors can have an affect on weight. It’s not uncommon for weight to change 5 to as much as 20 pounds in the curse of a day. I try to pay more attention to my muscle mass, body fat percentage, and how I feel in my skin rather than my weight. (I have 13% body fat, which means 20lbs of my weight is fat. I’m also focused on gaining muscle, which means my BMI is technically in the “overweight” range, even though I’m considered “fit” and “muscular”)

Most importantly, try to remember that a healthy lifestyle doesn’t have an “end date” and it’s not something you have to endure

These are just the basics, the foundation. The details (time of day, heavy or light weights, type of cardio, macros, etc) are up to you. I know there’s a lot of contradicting information, and my recommendation is to experiment and find what makes YOU feel the best.

#no clue if anyone will even read this but I hope it’s helpful Nonnie! #fitness #asks #if you want to message me I can share what I move learned about specifics like macros and training types but #ixalitwrites #ixalitnonfiction

[jessethorn]

Some Los Angeles Tips

People are always asking me what they should do when they visit LA. I am by no means the greatest LA expert on earth, but I’ve lived here more than a decade now, and I have some ideas for you. Note that I live in the far Northeast corner of LA, and really rarely travel to the western half of town. So if you are looking for advice on Beverly Hills stuff or Malibu stuff or whatever, I am not that helpful. Also this is very subjective and really non-comprehensive in general. Just some stuff I like!

In General

Rent a car if you drive, but don't be afraid to take the bus or subway. There are some very long distances to traverse, and not everything is convenient to transit, but the transit is reasonably comfortable and efficient for a lot of purposes (going downtown, for example), particularly when combined with some judicious ride-sharing. There's plenty of parking everywhere, despite what Angelenos would have you think. Don't try to do too many things in one day, or cross town on the 10, 101 or 405 at anything even resembling rush hour (ie between like seven and ten thirty or three and seven on weekdays). Stick to one area for the day, maybe two.

The Museum of Jurassic Technology This is the best thing in Los Angeles and one of the best things in the world. It is part museum, part art project. To explain it much further might ruin the experience of visiting it, but please take my word that it is one of the most amazing places in the world.

The Watts Towers As the name suggests, they're in Watts, a bit out of the way for some trips, but absolutely without a doubt worth the travel. They're an incredible artwork/building built in a backyard out of rebar, concrete, glass and tile by an illiterate Italian immigrant in the mid-20th century. Worth signing up for a tour, they are cheap (it's a city park) and not all that long. There's also a little gallery on the site. One of the great works of American outsider art and a deeply beloved city treasure.

Other, More Regular Museums LACMA is a world-class art museum. The collection is a bit scattered (and as of this writing a wing is closed for renovation and replacement), but it's really good. It's in Mid-City on the Miracle Mile, and surrounded by other museums. The Petersen Automotive Museum is pretty cool if you're into cars. La Brea Tar Pits are more park than museum, but the museum is fun in a kitschy way, if you're into prehistoric creatures. It's also a nice place to eat lunch. In Exposition Park are a few major museums - the Natural History Museum is pretty good, though not better than others in other major cities (the Field Museum or whatever). The science museum is OK but significantly outclassed by the competition (it's no Exploratorium), though it does have a real space shuttle, which is pretty sweet. The Annenberg Space for Photography does what it says on the label. A good mid-size museum of photographs, check what show is up. The Broad is a nice contemporary art museum in a beautiful building that's right near Walt Disney Concert Hall, also an incredible building. They have a second campus in Little Tokyo that's very nice but smaller.

Architectural Stuff The LA Conservancy runs affordable walking tours that take you into some of the most fascinating built environments in LA. The subject matter ranges from Art Deco in downtown to the modern skyscrapers of the 50s through 90s. They're mostly Saturdays, but a few also run on weekdays. Can't recommend them enough if you're up for a couple hours of walking. You can go inside the Bradbury Building and up into the upper floors! It's cool. (The Conservancy also runs screenings in the big movie palaces downtown, which are mostly otherwise closed to the public. Definitely recommend those.) A couple of other architectural highlights: the Hollyhock House is in Barnsdall Park in Los Feliz. It's a restored Frank Lloyd Wright estate willed to the city many years ago that as of relatively recently runs regular tours. Also in the park is the city art museum of LA, which sometimes has some cool shows. Cal Poly Pomona students run tours on Saturdays of the Neutra VDL studio and residences in Silver Lake, which can be combined with a nice walk around the lake and some middle-aged-hipster watching. The Gamble House in Pasadena is an absolutely breathtaking craftsman mansion with a lot of

Griffith Park Griffith Park is one of the largest urban parks in the United States. It has all kinds of stuff within it - the LA Zoo, the Griffith Observatory, some great hiking. It's a great place to spend some time. If you have little kids, they will love Travel Town, a train graveyard/museum that's inside the park (and free!). The zoo is good if you like zoos, though not incredibly great or anything. The Autry Museum of the American West is worth a visit if you're into that kind of thing.

The Grove I know that we talk about The Grove a lot on Jordan, Jesse, Go. Please do not waste your vacation time at the Grove. It's a mall. It's fine. This also applies to the Americana at Brand, which we sometimes talk about because we have talked about the Grove too much. Also a mall. A little nicer than some? I went there when I needed a new power cable for my Surface.

Dodger Stadium Look, I am a Giants fan and hate the Dodgers, but if you are a baseball fan, Dodger Stadium is a great place to watch a baseball game. Even I can admit that. Angel Stadium is about as generic as it gets, but if you go on a weekday you can take a train from Union Station in LA.

The Getty Center The Getty Center is a beautiful building on a breathtaking piece of real estate. It's pretty cool to visit, but be aware that most of the art is pretty early, so if you don't like busts or paintings of feasts and stuff from the bible, then it might not be your jam art-wise. And getting up there is a whole thing. That said: it really is a beautiful building and an incredible view, so you probably won't feel like it's a waste. And if you like busts, then get your ass over there.

Downtown Stuff I will again recommend the LA Conservancy's walking tours to get a flavor of downtown LA, which is very walkable and full of incredible stuff. The main library is a beautiful edifice, the history of which is detailed in Susan Orlean's The Library Book. Worth wandering around in. Grand Central Market is a great place to get a bite, though pretty bougie at this point. Right next to Grand Central Market is Angel's Flight, a block-long funicular that is a lot of fun and costs next to nothing. Besides this, there are still functional specialized commercial districts in downtown LA. The flower district is particularly fun - the big flower market opens early for wholesale sales but is open to the public and there are tons of stores selling silk and artificial flowers which are very fun to wander through. There are also areas with stores specializing in selling imported toys, store fixtures (a favorite of mine), jewelry and fabric. Most of the fabric is kinda garbage honestly but there is a good tailor supply store called B. Black and Sons and a great hat making store (worth visiting even if you don't make hats) called California Millinery Supply. FIDM also has a thrift store with cheap fabric leftover from LA-based factories.

Movies The Arclight is a fancy movie chain, and the Hollywood location (near Amoeba Records) is also the home of the Cinerama Dome, which is pretty fun. The Vista is a great single-screen theater on the east side. There are some great rep houses on the west side - check your local listings.

Comedy Stuff The UCB has a few great shows every night at both locations. It's hard to go wrong, though you should be aware you will be seeing things that are a little rougher than whatever makes it to your town as a road show. The signature improv show is Asssscat, which is absolutely as good as it gets. Dynasty Typewriter (right by our office) has a lot of great shows these days. A great standup show is Hot Tub at the Virgil. The big comedy clubs have pretty comedy-club-y comedy in them, not necessarily what I'd recommend, though you will certainly see a lot of relatively big names doing sets. The Improv Lab sometimes has MaxFun-adjacent headliners who've put together their own lineups, as does Flappers in Burbank. Largo has bigger-name shows of this variety as well, and if you go see a show there headlined by a Sarah Silverman or Patton Oswalt, the lineup will likely be packed with their pals, even if they aren't advertised.

Some Places To Eat This is NOT a comprehensive list. First: Jonathan Gold died a few years ago, but he is still the king of LA food. Anything he recommended in the Weekly or Times is still the gold standard (no pun intended). He was also a wonderful writer and a champion of foodways that are unfamiliar to many in LA, much less outside LA. If you are a food nerd, KCRW's Good Food is a superb local food show (and podcast) produced by Nick Liao, who used to work at MaxFun.

Philipe's The French Dip A restaurant that's been around for literally a century, with sawdust on the floor, big jars of pickled eggs, ladies in hairnets and really tasty French Dips. They have competing claims to having invented them but the other competitor turned into one of those goofy sleeve-garter-barman subway tile exposed lightbulb places about ten years ago. Philipe's is totally for real and great.

Pie N Burger This is just a burger place in Pasadena that sells classic SoCal-style burgers and is really great. Cash only, though.

Langer's The only one of the Jewish delis in LA that's really worth a special trip. The #19 (pastrami, cole slaw and swiss on rye) is truly one of the world's greatest foods. Pastrami here is better than anywhere else I've ever eaten, including those famous delis in New York.

Park's BBQ 

One of many great Korean BBQ restaurants in LA, but the only one recommended to me personally by Jonathan Gold. (I also like Soot Bull Jeep, which barbeques over charcoal and will leave you smelling like smoke, and Hae Jang Chong for all-you-can-eat.) (There are LOTS of different kinds of Korean food, but I am not an expert on the soups and blood sausages and bibimbaps and etc., but if you're adventurous, you could eat a different Korean food at a different spot every month in LA and make out well.)

Guelagetza Oaxacan food is one of the best kinds of food in the world, and Guelagetza is an LA institution that serves good-quality Oaxacan food. Moles, tlayudas, queso fundido. If you've never eaten any of this stuff, a couple of chicken moles are a great place to start (as is Guelagetza).

Dim Sum You can drive all the way to the San Gabriel Valley and eat at one of the many wonderful dim sum places there. That's where the best stuff is. If it's not worth a special trip to you, I like a place called Lunasia in Pasadena, and they also serve dim sum for dinner. Not a HUGE menu but good food.

Mozza This pizzeria, now a sort of group of restaurants, is an unimpeachably excellent Fancy Meal in LA. So (per my producer Kevin) are the other restaurants run by the same chef, Nancy Silverton.

The Dal Rae This is an old-timey fancy restaurant in Pico Rivera, a semi-industrial part of LA. It's just a great place to wear a suit to and eat Clams Casino. Famous for their table-made Caesar salad (legit great) and pepper steak (too peppery for me). Generally the food is excellent in a 1955 sort of way.

Bludsoe's Best Texas-style barbeque I've had outside of Texas. Used to be a window down by the airport, now a fancier place on La Brea, but I'm told the food is just as good at the fancy place.

Pupusas I love to eat pupusas. Maybe my favorite food. I really like to eat pupusas at Los Molcajetes on Hoover in Westlake (near Koreatown). Note they are weirdly big here (a regional variation of some kind) and they only take cash. (Note also this is one of 10,000 restaurants in LA named Los Molcajetes.)  I also sometimes eat at a nice sit-down Salvadoran place called Las Cazuelas on Figueroa in Highland Park.

In N Out In N Out is good! It will not change your life! But it is very tasty, especially for a $4 food! Some people complain about the fries, which are fresh-cut and fried only once and thus are less crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside than some others! I think they are fine! Try In N Out, why not! But maybe don't make a whole special trip to do so!

Tacos and Other SoCal Mexican Food Stuff Everyone has their own favorite taco places, and none of my favorites are so special they should be destinations. They are mostly my favorites because they are close to my home and work. But I can tell you that I like to get sit-down Mexican-American food at La Abeja on Figueroa in LA, where I eat a lot of carne adovada and enchiladas and sometimes albondigas or breakfast. I also really like to eat carne en su jugo at Carnes Asadas Pancho Lopez on Pasadena in Lincoln Heights. I eat tacos from Tacos La Estrella on York in Highland Park or the truck (with no name) across from the Mexican consulate on Park View at sixth in Westlake. At night I sometimes get cheap tacos (I like buche) from the place that opens up on Pasadena at Avenue 37. I like the shrimp and fish tacos at Via-Mar on Figueroa. I like Huaraches from Huaraches Azteca on York. The burritos at Yuca’s in Los Feliz (or Pasadena) are great, though they are totally different from the SF-style burritos that I grew up eating. I sometimes get nachos at Carnitas Michoacan on Broadway in Lincoln Heights, which feature meat and cheese sauce and are gross but also really, really good.  I have also eaten at the very fancy Mexican restaurant Border Grill and to be honest it is really good even though the interior feels a little like a cross between a fancy restaurant in 1989 and a Chili's.

El Coyote This is a famous Mexican-American restaurant from the early part of the 20th century, but you shouldn't go there because the food sucks.

Stores I Like This is going to be REAL subjective, but a few stores I like which sell the kinda stuff you'd expect me to want. &etc - A great (small) antique store at 1913 Fremont in Pasadena. The Last Bookstore - A downtown bookstore that is the closest thing to a "destination" book store in LA. Good selection and reasonable prices on used books, and a nice art book room. (Records as well, but they're not very good.) Gimme Gimme Records - I like this record store in Highland Park. You'll pay retail here, but reasonable retail, and the selection (while not immense) is really excellent. Good stuff in all genres.

Secret Headquarters - One time at this small comics store in Silver Lake the lady at the counter asked if I was Jesse from Jordan Jesse Go and they won my business forever in that moment. Don Ville - My friend Raul makes and sells shoes (and repairs them!) in the northern part of Koreatown. If you have the dough, get him to make you some shoes! The Bloke - A really great little menswear store in Pasadena. Sells cool (expensive) trad-ish brands like Drake's and Hilditch & Key and Alden. The Good Liver - A beautiful shop in Little Tokyo specializing in perfect home goods. The perfect scissors, the perfect dish towel and so forth. Some things are expensive, some aren't. H Lorenzo Archive - The "outlet" shop of a designer clothing store on the west side. Discounts aren't huge, but the selection is really interesting, and they have a good collection of one of my favorite brands, Kapital. Sid Mashburn - Excellent classic clothing shop on the west side. Suit Supply & Uniqlo - if you haven't got these where you live, they're the places I usually send people for reasonably-priced tailored clothes (Suit Supply) and cheap basics (Uniqlo). Olvera Street - This is an old-timey tourist attraction, a street of folks selling Mexican handcrafts (and their Chinese-made analogs). Right near Union Station and Philipe's, and a great place to buy factory-made huaraches (the shoes, not the food). They even have sizes big enough for me, which is pretty much impossible to find in Mexico or most Mexican-American shoe stores. Thrift Stores - I go to a lot of thrift stores but if I told you which ones you might buy something I would have bought so I'm not going to tell you which thrift stores.

Flea Markets You may know I am at the flea market every weekend. The good fleas are on Sundays, and there's one every week. First Sunday of the month is Pasadena City College, a big (and free) market with pretty reasonable pricing. PCC has a pretty big record section in addition to the regular flea market stuff. Second weekend is the famous Rose Bowl flea, which is HUGE and has a big new goods section (blech) and vintage clothing area (good!). Third weekend is Long Beach Airport, which is a great overall show. Fourth is Santa Monica airport, which is smaller and a little fancier but very nice. The Valley flea is also fourth Sundays, at Pierce College, and that's not huge but sometimes surprises me. With all of these, the earlier you can arrive, the better you'll do (not least for weather reasons). I usually try to get there around 7:30 or 8:00. The Rose Bowl in particularl is a 4-6 hour operation if you do most of it. There are also a lot of swap meets - I don't know enought to recommend any in particular, but these are much more about tube socks and batteries and bootleg movies than antiques and collectibles. Still can be fun, though, and are certainly a proud SoCal tradition. (The Silverlake Flea and the Melrose Trading Post are garbage, don't go there.)

Going to the Beach I'm not a huge beach goer, but by all means go to the beach if that's your thing. The Annenberg Community Beach House in Santa Monica is a great place to base your operation, though you have to arrive in the morning on busy days to get a parking spot.

Kid Stuff I mentioned Travel Town, that's pretty great. Kidspace in Pasadena is a very good children's museum. The Bob Baker Marionette Theater is a great place to see a marionette show straight out of 1966. There's a good aquarium in Long Beach though it's a bit nutty there on weekends, and the zoo in Griffith Park is a good zoo. I really like Descanso Gardens, a big botanical garden northeast of LA. Huntington Gardens is also very nice, though it's much more expensive and hotter.

Geography Los Angeles is BIG. I'd say try to spend each of your days within about a sixth of it, geographically. It's entirely possible to do west side and east side stuff on the same trip, but don't try to do them on the same day. Look at a map and look at driving times when you're planning. Neighborhoods in LA are BIG, geographically speaking, don't assume two things in the same neighborhood are an easy walk. There aren't a ton of urban neighborhoods suitable for wandering in the way there are in some places. A few manageable general areas for stuff you might like: Silverlake/Los Feliz/Echo Park, Koreatown, Highland Park, downtown, Little Tokyo and the Arts District. (I live in the northeast part of town, and don't spend much time on the west side, which is one reason why this list focuses more on east side stuff. Some folks like West Hollywood and Venice on the west side. Long Beach and Pasadena are both neat towns with their own thing going on that might be worth a visit, too.)

Books & Media The Great Los Angeles Book is probably City of Quartz, a socialist-leaning history of LA. I really loved Susan Orlean's The Library Book, which is about the library as an institution, but also specifically the LA central library and the mysterious fire that nearly destroyed it. And a wild guy named Charles Lummis who was one of the founding fathers of LA culture and was really something else. (You can visit his house - it's right off the 110 near Highland Park.) An LA movie I love is The Long Goodbye, which is sort of a predecessor/inspiration for The Big Lebowski. A shaggy mystery directed by Altman where Elliott Gould just sort of wanders around LA. Another really cool one is Los Angeles Plays Itself, a long (long!) film essay about the ways the real Los Angeles has been used to create fictional worlds in film over the decades.

TV Tapings I'm not an expert in TV tapings. I can say that I've been to a few Conan tapings, and while it takes a LOOOOONG time to get in there, the show is fun to watch live. This is generally true of talk shows and most game shows, which tape more or less as-live. Sitcoms take WAY longer than you were expecting them to. Make sure to try to book tickets early if you have something you want to see. No matter what it's a most-of-the-day thing.

Nightlife Is a word that describes evening activities - especially dance clubs. I am old and don't know about these things.

The Magic Castle I can't get you in, please don't ask me to. I went a couple times. It's fine. If you're not into magic you're not missing too much. If you are, then obviously, it's a priority.

The Walk of Fame and Hollywood Not recommended, not worth it, don't bother.

Disneyland Why would you want my opinion about Disneyland? It's Disneyland. You're in or you're out.

San Diego If you happen to plan a side trip to San Diego, you can take the Amtrak there, and it is a breathtakingly beautiful and exceedingly pleasant trip. I have no San Diego expertise to impart beyond that, however.

[argylemnwrites]

Warmth

Pairing: Bryce Lahela x MC (Cassie Vanderfield)

Book: Open Heart (a little over 1 year after the end of Book 1)

Word Count: ~1300

Rating: G

Summary: Bryce finds himself in an unexpected location for his vacation.

Author’s Note: Written for Days 12 and 14 of the Autumn writing prompt list (prompts - Bonfire and Toasted Marshmallows) as requested by @universallypizzataco. I hope you don’t mind that I combined these prompts into one fic, but they just went so well together!

Bryce pulled the blanket further up over his lap and settled back in the lawn chair as he sank further into his Patagonia. His front might have been warm enough from the heat pouring off the flames, but his back was cold. The smoke from the bonfire drifted over toward him as the wind shifted, not only chilling him more, but also causing him to start coughing. 

This wasn’t exactly how Bryce had pictured spending his vacation. His other vacations in residency had been a bit more adventurous. Hiking in Peru. Backpacking in Iceland. Surfing in Bali. When he learned that he and Cassie had been lucky enough to actually have a week of vacation that lined up, he’d figured they could go to a resort in the Caribbean. Something warm, tropical, and relaxing, a perfect escape from the cold wind and rain of Boston Octobers.

But instead, they were at a cabin in Michigan’s upper peninsula. Instead of a luxury king sized bed, they were sleeping in twin beds they’d shoved together. And instead of cocktails on the beach or by the pool, they were drinking beer around a bonfire, the temperature 45 degrees, not 82. But when Cassie had suggested they head to her family’s cabin to join her parents and her brother in closing it down for the season, he hadn’t been able to say no. She’d looked so excited, her eyes sparkling and her speech just slightly pressured, telling him she hadn’t made it up there for this annual tradition since the second year of med school. Who was he to deny her that chance?

To be fair, it hadn’t all been huddling in the cold and lounging around a bare bones cabin. They’d spent a couple days in Ann Arbor for her fellowship interview at the start of their vacation, and their trip north had involved a night in a quaint little B&B as they ate fudge, rented bikes, and golfed at a much nicer course than they could afford in the warmer months on Mackinac Island. But for the past two days, they’d been up in the middle of nowhere, and starting Friday night, they’d been joined by her parents and her brother. Which is how Bryce found himself sitting around a bonfire with Mrs. Vanderfield and Nick on the last Saturday of their vacation, waiting for Cassie and her father to join them with the s’mores supplies. 

It was a bit strange to find himself willingly attending a family vacation. Of course, this wasn’t his family. And her family, though they were far from perfect, at least seemed to be open and caring with one another. Even now, as Bryce listened to Mrs. Vanderfield needle Nick about the length of his hair and how it wasn’t helping his job search, it felt more affectionate and warm than even the nicest compliments his parents tended to pay him. 

Soon, Cassie plopped down in the lawn chair next to his, grabbing a marshmallow from the bag and shoving it on her roasting stick before passing the bag to him. Bryce grabbed his stick, sitting next to him since he finished roasting his hot dog for dinner, and placed his marshmallow above the center of the bonfire, causing Cassie to roll her eyes and laugh.

“How many times do I have to tell you that’s a recipe for a burnt marshmallow?”

Bryce winked and shrugged, “Only like half the time. And what can I say, I like to live on the edge.”

“Yeah, real big risk taker here. You’re just impatient.”

“Oh, you’re one to talk. How many miles over the speed limit were you going on the way up here when you got pulled over?”

Cassie shot him a dirty look as her mother interjected, “Cassie, you got another speeding ticket? And in a rental car? I’m so sick of telling you that getting somewhere five minutes faster is not worth risking your life.”

“Mom, it was nothing. They let me off with just a warning.”

“Only because you played the doctor card,” Bryce chimed in, taking great amusement as Cassie glared at him while her father just shook his head as her mother pinched the bridge of her nose and Nick chuckled. “What medical emergency were you rushing to again?”

“None at that time, but if you keep this up, you will need a doctor before the night’s over.”

“Promises, promises,” Bryce said with a grin, but wisely decided to stop the teasing while she was only mildly annoyed. He pulled his marshmallow out from the center of the flames, perfectly golden brown. He glanced over at Cassie’s stick, held over the edge of the fire. Her marshmallow was still pale white.

Bryce grabbed the chocolate and graham crackers off the spare lawn chair, using them to slide his marshmallow off the stick and passed the s’more to her. “Here,” he said as he grabbed the stick out of her hand, “We’ll be here all night if you wait for that marshmallow to roast there, and we have to be on the road by 7am for our flight.”

“Wait, not only did Cassie get my bed for her boyfriend, but they aren’t gonna even be here for the worst parts of closing up the cabin?” Nick asked as he whipped his head around to look between his parents.

“We’re just happy Cassie could make it this year. And Bryce, of course,” Mr. Vanderfield said as he made his own s’more, leaving off the chocolate and just using graham crackers.

“Next year we should close out the cabin the first weekend of their vacation so they can actually help on Sunday. And one of you two can take the couch,” Nick said with a shake of his head, pointing between Bryce and Cassie.

“I doubt they’ll be able to make it next year, Nick. Bryce, your residency is four more years, is that right?” asked Mrs. Vanderfield.

Bryce nodded and opened his mouth to clarify, but saw his marshmallow catch fire. Yanking the stick back toward him, he quickly blew it out, but still found himself with a blackened marshmallow. Cassie moved to get him a new one, but he shook his head and made his s’more anyway. A little charring wasn’t a problem.

“The next two years are dedicated research time for me, so we should have some flexibility in scheduling our vacations,” Bryce said before taking a bite. 

“Oh, don’t feel obligated, dear. We completely understand if you two want to take a trip to Hawaii to see your family. That has to be more exciting than the UP,” said Mrs. Vanderfield.

“And warmer,” added Mr. Vanderfield.

Bryce just shook his head and continued eating his s’more. No need to get into that mess tonight. So he let the conversation drift to other topics, from Thanksgiving plans with Mrs. Vanderfield’s sister to Mr. Vanderfield’s new boss, from memories of the time Cassie broke her arm climbing the giant oak tree out front to Mrs. Vanderfield attempting to determine if Nick was currently dating anyone. It was so different than what Bryce was used to when his family got together, watching a family that clearly actually liked spending time with one another. 

As they left the bonfire and went to get ready for bed in the tiny bathroom, Cassie slipped her hand into his and said, “Thanks for coming up here with me. I know this isn’t your usual vacation.”

Bryce shrugged, “Maybe, but I am always up to try something new.”

“Still, I know you aren’t a big fan of the cold.”

“Warmth isn’t always found in a forecast, Cassie.” 

She smiled at him gently, then handed him his toothbrush and toothpaste from the toiletry bag they had sitting on the top of the toilet tank. While she was right that he never would have chosen a vacation like this on his own, he wouldn’t change sharing these moments with her for anything.

@mfackenthal @lilyofchoices @thequeenchoices @octobereighth @feartheendlesssummer @tallulahshh @fortunatelywaywardsandwich @dreaming-of-movies @choicesarehard @universallypizzataco @omgjasminesimone @srta-give-me-my-jax-rl

#bryce lahela #bryce x mc #open heart #open heart fanfiction #oh fanfic #choices open heart #choices fanfiction #choices #playchoices #choices stories you play #prompt request

[jrcashwrites]

Camping

Pairing: Flip Zimmerman x Female Reader

Warnings: Lemons ahoy! 

A/N: Thank you always to lovely @ravenj84

“Finally getting out of here for a bit, Zimmerman?”

Chief Bridges raised an eyebrow as Flip placed the paperwork down onto his desk. Stepping back, the detective waited patiently as his boss scanned over his request.

“Thought I’d get out to Gunnison before the first snowfall.”

“Beautiful this time of year up there.” Chief Bridges commented as he stamped his seal of approval and handing the papers back over to him. “Enjoy yourself.”

Flip couldn’t help but feel a bit of excitement as he walked out of the station to his truck. He’d never taken anyone camping with him before, usually using his time off as a bit of solitude up in the mountains, far removed from case files and detective work for a weekend. If he was being honest with himself he’d never had anyone he’d ever wanted to ask to accompany him before.

You’d come in like a whirlwind, catching the detective off guard one night at the Red Lantern. Finally fulfilling a long standing promise to Ron and Patrice for an after work drink, Flip finally found the time to meet with his friends. He hadn’t expected for them to bring another along, finding you sitting in his usual spot in the back booth, forever altering his usual nightly routine of frozen dinners and reruns.

Making a quick stop at the grocery to pick up a six pack of Coors and a bottle of your favorite bourbon, he arrived at your apartment. Plopping himself down on your couch, Flip made himself comfortable as you switched off the television set and joined him.

“How’d you feel about a little weekend getaway?” Flip asked as popped the tab of his beer open with a hiss.

Leaning against his side, a vision of a weekend away on a white sand beach surrounded by palm trees with a shirtless detective lounging in a hammock next to you floated through your head

“Up to the mountains,” Flip added, causing any thoughts of the ocean to evaporate instantly from your mind’s eye. “Thought you’d might want to come camping with me?”

“Camping?” you questioned, sitting up on the couch a bit to look over at Flip.

Suddenly feeling nervous he’d even brought the idea up, Flip faltered. Maybe you weren’t the type that thought spending a weekend out in the woods as an idea of fun. Second guessing himself, he worried that maybe it was too soon altogether to ask you to go anywhere other than dinner or the movies.

“If that’s not something you like... I just thought…” he began to ramble, trying to redeem himself on his fumble.

“Flip,” you interrupted, immediately silencing the hulking ball of nerves beside you. “I’d actually really like to go camping with you.”

Breaking into a small smile, Flip felt a wave of relief come over him that you had agreed. He hated that he felt like such a blithering idiot half the time around you, always questioning why such a beautiful woman as yourself was hanging around the likes of him. Relaxing at your acceptance, he swung his arm back around you, allowing you to curl into his side again.    

***************************************************************************************

When Flip asked if you’d ever been camping before, you eagerly said yes, even if it had been a long while since you’d gone. Your family had taken you on summer road trips as a child; piling everyone into the nine passenger station wagon with a pop-up trailer hitched to the back and driving up north to a scenic state park. Your father and uncle would set up camp on the dirt plot, hooking the trailer up to the provided electrical outlets.  A shower area and general store were just a short walk down the paved road, where you and your cousins would stock up on bags of marshmallows to roast later over a fire. It was hardly roughing it in the wilderness, but you’d always enjoyed it nonetheless.

Never once did Flip mention that his definition of camping did not provide any modern amenities.

As Flip turned onto the unpaved road, the rusty Chevy bumped along causing you to hold onto the dashboard as best you could. After a few miles of rough terrain knocking your head against the ceiling of the truck when he hit a particularly deep divot in the road, he finally slowed to a stop, parking alongside a row of pines.

“Ready, sweetheart? It’s about a mile out to the lake from here.”

“A mile?” you blurted, staring at Flip as if he’d suddenly grown a second head. “What I wouldn’t give for an ATV right about now.”

You muttered the last bit to yourself, but pretty sure you heard the soft rumbling of Flip’s laughter at your admission.  

Trusting that Flip knew what he was doing, you hopped down from the Chevy, grabbing your backpack from the bed and swinging it over your shoulder.  Flip gathered the rest of the items from the truck. Crossing the dusty road, you set off into the woods.

Flip made the trek seem easy, leading the way through what seemed to be an endless sprawl of forest. A few steps behind, you wondered how he was barely breaking a sweat even though he was carrying twice as much gear as you were. Flip was clearly in his element and you couldn’t help but admire how good he looked; plaid shirt rolled up to his elbows and rifle strapped to his shoulder.

“Where exactly are we going?” you questioned, catching up to Flip’s side as the trail finally widened enough to allow you to walk comfortably beside him.   

“It’s gonna be worth it, trust me.”

“It’d better be,” you hummed, adjusting your backpack straps on your shoulders.  

“This is what I get for taking a city girl out in nature,” Flip joked playfully as he brushed a bit of stray hair out of your face that had worked itself loose along the way.

“Shush you,” you playfully nudged Flip’s arm. “There’s not as much city in me as you’d like to believe and besides, I wouldn’t want the mountain man I have with me to feel useless.”

“Is he cute?”

“Oh, very much so.”

The rest of the hike, Flip pointed out various things to you in the wilderness as you walked along. A rare black squirrel scampering up the side of a tree, the name of a distant bird that called out. Impressed with his knowledge, you hardly noticed the final ascent as you listened to him rattle off a list of things about the area with confidence. He clearly knew it well, which hardly surprised you. He’d grown up here, this was practically his backyard, even though it seemed like the farthest reaches of the earth to you.

The trees began to thin out as you reached the top of the hill, a large lake spanning out along with a breathtaking view.

“Worth the hike?”  

Pausing, you took in your new surroundings. You had never quite seen anything like it before. The lake glittered a deep blue in the sunlight, seeming to reach on forever. Mountains sloped up from either side of it’s banks, rolling off into the distance as far as the eye could see.

“It’s beautiful,” you commented, still in awe that such a spot existed.

“Good.  Cause this is our home away from home for the next few days.”      

Flip dropped his pack from his shoulders, leaning his rifle against a nearby tree.  Pacing a few times across the area, he determined the flattest spot for the tent, digging the item from his backpack and unfurling it on the ground. Making quick work in a matter of minutes, it was set up, followed by a small fire pit.  

“We’re going to need some firewood,” Flip noted, as he wiped his forehead with the back of his sleeve.

Joining him in the nearby woods, you soon had an armful of fallen sticks and a few larger logs. Not being completely inept, you returned to the campsite, stacking them into the fire pit in the teepee shape your father had taught you long ago that would sustain the best fire.  Tucking some dried leaves and kindling around the base, you struck a match, stepping back as the fire caught, quickly spreading to the larger logs.

Flip couldn’t help to smile as he returned, a stack of logs of his own in his arms, at you sitting near the fire. Dropping the firewood to the ground near the fire pit, he kissed the top of your head.

“Not bad for a city girl.”

“I told you I wasn’t completely helpless.”

*****************************************************************************************

Daylight was already fading from the sky, casting hues of soft pinks and oranges over the still waters of the lake. The fire cracked and popped, burning strong and casting a warm light over the campsite. You helped Flip prepare dinner, adding spices to the cast iron pot he’d rigged over the fire as he stirred the ingredients to a simple, yet delicious meal. Laying out a blanket, he joined you as you sat down, warm bowl in hand.

You could get used to this, you thought as darkness fell around you. The first few stars began to twinkle in the inky black sky above. After cleaning up the dishes and packing them back away, Flip joined you near the fire. As it began to burn low in the small pit Flip had dug out to contain it, you noticed how quiet the woods were at night. Gone were the tweets of birds and rustling of forest animals through the underbrush. Your ears rang for a moment, unused to such silence. It was peaceful, yet eerie all at once, to be in such a secluded place. Pulling the over-sized flannel Flip had leant you closer around yourself, you shivered slightly in the cool night air. Leaning back against Flip, he wrapped his arms around you.

“Cold?” Flip asked, pulling you closer to his body from where you sat between his long legs.

“Just a little.” you admitted. Between the hike and the warmth of the sun, you had been almost too warm all day. As night fell, you realized you may have underestimated how quickly the temperature would drop at a higher elevation.  

“Think I could warm you up a little,” he purred into your ear, nipping at your lobe.

“You think so?” you hummed back, tilting your head back to look up at him.  

“I do.”

Catching you with a kiss, you wiggled a bit in Flip’s arms to turn yourself in his grasp. Straddling him, he let out a low moan as you settled yourself on his lap. He tasted of the spice from dinner, mingled with the tobacco from his last cigarette. Deepening the kiss, you ran your fingers through his hair, rocking your hips against him.

“Careful, sweetheart,” Flip warned as you twirled the long strands of his hair at the base of his neck.  

“Mmm, why’s that?” you cooed.  “Am I going to get myself in trouble?”

“There’s no one out here to hear me making you scream.”

More than once, your neighbors had pounded on the wall, warning you and Flip to quiet down. The apartment walls did little to contain the noise, much to their dismay. It took all of your willpower not to laugh the next day when Ms. Paterson from next door warned you that “next time I hear such a racket in the middle of the night, I’m calling the police.” Little did she know that it was law enforcement between your legs that was the cause for such a ruckus.

“I’d like to see you try,” you challenged Flip, rocking your hips once more against him for good measure. You could already feel he was hard, straining against his jeans. “Make me scream your name.”         

Letting out a strangled sound, Flip moved you from his lap, turning you on to your back.  Hovering above you, Flip ghosted his hands over your chest, palming at your breasts over the flannel. Diving towards your neck, he pressed his lips against you, nipping and sucking against your skin.

Flip hummed between kisses. “You are in so much trouble.”

“Have I been bad, officer?” you murmured as your back arched from the blanket and Flip pressed a line of kisses along your collarbone.   

“Fuck,” Flip groaned as he struggled to undo the buttons to your shirt. He desperately needed to feel the softness of your skin against his palm.

A low giggle escaped you, knowing that pushed Flip over the edge. Feeling his hand trail down your stomach he dipped between your legs. Pressing against your center, you took a deep breath as Flip rubbed his hand over the fabric of your pants. While it felt good, you needed more. Reaching down, you unbuttoned the top of your jeans, Flip’s fingers quick to join, pushing the fabric down your legs.

Feeling the cold night air hit against your wet center, you stiffened for a second at the sensation. Flip wasted no time in pressing a warm finger against you, teasing you slowly as he circled your folds before dipping inside. Grasping his shoulders, you exhaled as he began working in and out of you at a torturous pace, adding a second and then a third. Goosebumps prickled against your skin, the mixture of pleasure and the chill of the mountain air cascading over you. Flip continued, pumping his hand rhythmically as you squeezed your eyes shut. You were lost in the feeling, his thick fingers working you as his thumb circled your clit.  Nearly there you were teetering on edge when the loss of contact made your eyes fly open and suck in a deep breath, as Flip pulled his hand away.

“Think I was going to let you come that easily?” Flip smirked, before bringing his fingers to his mouth, sucking them clean with a pop.

Giving Flip a sly smile, you grabbed onto the collar of his shirt, pulling him close. Teasing him, you licked a stripe up the side of his neck. Salty and sweet, you relished the taste of him. Biting his neck, he let out a low groan. You were easily going to be the death of him and he wasn’t complaining in the slightest that this was how he was going to go.           

“Are you going to cuff me, officer? you teased, letting go of Flip’s shirt to stretch your arms above you.  “Wouldn’t want me to get away now would you?”

Pinning your wrists in his grasp, Flip held you steady with his large hand. “I’m off duty, sweetheart. Plus there’s no headboard to cuff you to.”

“But sir,” you mockingly protest, playing into Flip’s current conundrum. “I’m sure you could find some way to restrain me.”  

Ever the quick thinking boy scout, Flip pushed the flannel shirt from your shoulders, making quick work of knotting the fabric tightly around your wrists. Satisfied with his handiwork, Flip ran his hand down your chest, delighting in how your body arched into his touch, begging for more.

Fumbling with his belt buckle, Flip wasn’t sure he still had the necessary motor skills left to work the leather free from his waist. Managing to get it undone, he unzipped his pants, taking himself out in his palm. Pumping himself a few times, his hand felt useless, especially as you were splayed out before him, legs parted, waiting eagerly for him to sink into you. Lining up to your entrance, Flip could barely breathe as he slipped into you. He would never grow tired of the soft exhale you made as he sunk deeper into you, steadying his hands against the blanket, careful not to crush you with his weight as he began to move.

Soon finding a rhythm, Flip rocked against you, driving deep as your hips snapped to meet each of his thrusts.  

“Let me hear you,” Flip encouraged. “Be a good girl for me.”

Struggling against the fabric bonds, tight around your wrists, you tried to wiggle free but to no avail. The sensation of restriction only added to your pleasure as the flannel dug against your skin. You cried out into the night as Flip thrust into you.

“Fuck! Flip, please!”

“Please what?” he asked, his voice low and thick.

“Please,” you begged.  “Please fuck me harder.”

“Careful what you wish for sweetheart.”   

Withdrawing from you, Flip grasped your hips, flipping you to your knees. Faltering for a second, you steadied yourself as best you could on your bound wrists. Feeling his weight against your back, Flip reached around you, tearing the knotted shirt free allowing your hands to plant flat against the blanket.

“You look fucking beautiful like this,” Flip confessed, taking in the sight of you bent before him, your thighs slick with your arousal dripping from your center.

Giving your ass a firm slap, Flip let out a growl as he dove towards you, licking a long stripe against you with his tongue. Shuddering, your fingers grasped the blanket, desperately trying to hold onto anything that would ground you as Flip continued to lap at you. As he circled his tongue, you let out a cry, unable to contain the sounds you were so used to keeping quiet. Continuing on, Flip worked you until you were trembling, on the brink of collapsing, your arms weak from holding yourself up.  

Pulling back from you, Flip’s chin glistened in the pale moonlight that blanketed your surroundings. Hardly fazed by the mess, Flip took hold of your hips once again, guiding you back as he pushed into you.

“Flip!” you moaned as his cock sunk deep within you. Wrapping an arm around your middle, he leaned down against your back, pulling you close as he rocked back and forth in time with your movements against him.

“Such a good, good girl for me,” Flip murmured, his voice deep as his pressed his lips against your cheek. “Just like that darling,” he encouraged.  

#flip zimmerman x reader #flip zimmerman x female reader #flip zimmerman/reader #flip Zimmerman x you #flip zimmerman #one shot #flip zimmerman/female reader #flip zimmerman/you #reader insert #Female reader #reader #lemon #lemons ahead

[redwoodoriginalfirstnine]

Roadtrip [SOA] Chapter Two Part One

Chapter Two: Desert Bound Part One

Author’s Note: Hey guys! Sorry it has taken me this long to get this out, it’s in two parts so keep any eye out. Remember, feedback is always welcome!!

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The smell of bacon and light small talk rouses me from the surprisingly heavy slumber I slipped into during the night. I slowly kick the covers away and roll over allowing my legs to dangle off the side of he bed while dragging a hand through my messy hair. With a low groan I slip off the bed and land on the floor stumbling some as Jax comes rushing over to me with a plate piled high with food.

“Morning darlin hope you’re ready for a fun filled day.” Jax states as I take the plate from his hands. I flash him a small smile before dropping down onto Juice’s bed which will more than likely wake him up but I hold no regrets for doing so.

“Oh so excited.” I reply as he smirks and turns back around to the others who are sitting around the small dining table. I study the plate in my hands before picking up a piece of bacon and stuffing it into my mouth as a happy hum comes out in return. The bed shifts underneath me as Juice rolls over to inspect his surroundings, once he realizes it’s just me he sighs and falls back into his pillow.

“Morning, I miss anything of importance?” Juice questions as he runs a tired hand over his face, obviously still somewhat asleep. I shake my head no since my mouth is full of food and I motion to the plate in my lap. He chuckles softly before nabbing one of the biscuits and devouring it within a matter of seconds.

“What are we going to do today?” Tig asks as he pours himself another cup of coffee. Jax stops mid chew to look at everyone before cutting his eyes over to Juice who rolls over and begins fumbling around under his bed. Once he finds what he’s looking for-the map- he sits back up and unfolds it to see the next circled destination.

“Today’s exciting trip will take us to the desert!” Juice states excitedly before tossing the map to the end of the bed and grabbing the last piece of bacon on my plate, “hopefully someone packed sunscreen.”

“Wha the hell is out in the desert worth goin to see?” Chibs asks from his bunk across the aisle, “besides sand.”

“Well, for starters we’re going to take a short hike to see Darwin’s Falls and to wrap the day up, that is if we have time, Randsburg ghost town.” Juice replies as he shimmies out from under the blanket so that he’s now sitting shoulder to shoulder with me.

“A hike? In the desert?” Tara questions from the dining table.

“Yes, it’s only two miles round trip and the end result is so worth it.” Jax states as he begins to tidy up the kitchen area obviously itching to get on the road, “anyone wanna make sure Clay and Gemma are up and ready to move?”

“Already done.” Happy states as he suddenly appears at the front of the bus with the two aforementioned people standing behind him.

“Right then, everyone change or do whatever you need to do and we’ll get on the road. Are the tents put up?” Jax questions as everyone scrambles to throw away plates and be the first to the bathroom. Tig and Opie sprint down the aisle in an attempt to beat one another and to avoid being hit I slide further back onto Juices bed. Once everything is cleaned and everyone has changed into something clean Jax double checks to make sure everything is fastened properly before setting out on the road.

The drive from Santa Monica to Death Valley ends up being a little over five hours. The drive of course consists of several stops to stretch legs and for more than one bathroom break. Not too long after the last pit stop Jax eases the bus off of the main highway and onto the dirt road that leads to the trailhead. For a split second the road remains nice and flat, but about a half a mile in it turns to hell and of course I made the bright decision to remain sitting on Juice’s bed. As the bus makes its way down the sketchy road I bounce up and down and side to side smacking my shoulder roughly against Juice’s.

He wraps his arm around shoulders as an attempt to keep me in one place and as a buffer, but unfortunately it doesn’t work. I glance around the bus and find that i’m not the only one flying through the air and grabbing onto things as a feeble attempt to remain grounded. One particularly rough spot causes me to smack my head against the wall and nearly come crashing down on Juices lap. The same rough spot sends Chibs tumbling from his bed and Happy and Tig to bang heads together which of courses sends people into fits of laughter as they curse loudly and rub their now sore heads.

“I’m so sorry Juice.” I mumble loud enough for him to hear me as we continue on down the rough road.

“The bigger question is, are you okay? You whacked your head pretty hard there.” He states as he adjusts himself on the bed before wrapping and arm around my waist so that i’m pulled firmly against his chest, “there, maybe that will buffer out some of the roughness.”

“Y-yeah, i’m okay.” I reply as my cheeks flush a bright red which I try really hard to ignore. The blush sprawled across my cheeks doesn’t go unnoticed though because once Chibs resituates himself on his bunk he shoots me this knowing smile and a thumbs up. I roll my eyes at him just as the bust comes to a skidding stop in a open area surrounded by barren hills and a few mountains with fauna.

“We’re here! Everyone out, make sure you wear sunscreen and at least carry a bottle of water or two.” Jax states happily as he shuts the bus off and opens the doors. Several people scramble to get off the bus but I take my time wanting to revel in the warmth of Juice’s arms, but he soon grows antsy so I slip out of his arms and off his bed. I stretch for a few moments before kneeling down next to his bed in search of the backpack I opted on bringing with me knowing full well that i’d use it for something. Not seeing it under Juice’s bed I glance over to Chibs’ bed and happily find what I was searching and with quick hands I yank it out and sling it over my back. By the time I stand back up Juice is already ambling off the bus leaving me as the only one left so I jog down the aisle and hop down the stairs and out into the dry, humid air of Death Valley.

I gently push the doors of the bus closed behind me before turning around only to come face to face with Tara, “Hey everyone, [Y/N] has a backpack.”

“No, no, no there’s no way I can carry all of this stuff.” I state as everyone bum rushes me with water bottles, towels and various other sundries.

“It’s honestly not that much.” Tara replies with a soft smile, “if need be we can take turns carrying it or we can always sweet talk one of the guys into doing it for us.”

With a low sigh I pull off the backpack and unzip it before holding my hands out for their belongings. I don’t keep track of who hands me what but by the time everyone's done the backpack is full with towels, bottles of water and sunscreen, an extra pair of clothes, a camera and a few other random objects. After I force the backpack to zip all the way closed I heave the heavy bag up and onto my shoulders as a few of the larger items dig into my back.

“Ugh, can we get this thing started i’m already pouring buckets over here.” Gemma states loudly as Jax sets off down the trail in an attempt to smooth over the already tense momma bear.

The first part of the trail is smooth with a few easy climbs but as we continue to press on we begin to climb more frequently and cross streams. I was just about to give in and call it quits because climbing with an overloaded backpack is exhausting, but low and behold Happy comes to the rescue. He easily slips the bag off of my shoulders and over my head without missing a beat. I raise an eyebrow and get ready to question what he’s doing but he waves me off and offers a hand as we climb a rather steep hill.

As I clamber up the hill my foot slips and I end up tumbling head first into Happy’s chest. He quickly wraps an arm around my waist in order to keep the two of us up right and as I pull away I can’t help but catch a glimpse of something in his eyes. I clear my throat and step away from him before falling in behind Opie who is bouncing on the heel of his feet out of pure excitement. The trail continues on for about another half mile before the canyon walls start to close in on us forcing us to turn right and follow Darwin’s creek. As soon as I see water my heart skips a beat as my own excitement begins to pour forth in the form of a huge smile and a nearly silent squeal. Jax continues to lead us further and further into the canyon and the deeper we go the more vegetation and life becomes more evident to us.

Toads and frogs skamper away from our group as we pass by several tiny ponds and small cascades as we continue our ascent to the larger falls. The further we climb into the canyon the more bushwhacking Jax and Tig had to do, but before long we reach one of the main attractions- the plunge pool. As I near the plunge pool my eyes widen at all of its beauty, the pool itself isn’t that deep but the water is extremely inviting. The waterfall drops down onto a rock splitting the stream into two as it pours into the pool, the entire area is surrounded by greenery and even a couple of small trees.

“It’s absolutely stunning.” Gemma mumbles as Clay walks up beside her catching her hand in his as he does so.

“I agree, this place is stunning. Nice pick Jax.” Opie states as he and a couple of the others break off and start pulling off their boots, socks and rolling up their pants legs so that they can wade out into the water. I look around the group for Happy and when I do find him he’s currently passing out a few of the items from my backpack, I quickly take the opportunity and head over to retrieve my own water bottle. After I take a couple of swigs from the bottle I follow suit and remove my shoes and socks before rolling up my pants legs.

“Be careful [Y/N], some of those rocks are covered in algae and they’re really slick.” Opie states as I meet up with him by the plunge pool.

“Thanks for the forewarning!” I chirp back happily as I slowly begin to wade out to where Juice, Chibs, Tara and Jax are splashing water at each other. I take my sweet time maneuvering the slick rocks but unfortunately about six feet out I meet my match as my left foot comes down on an extremely slick rock. My feet shoot out from under me and I soon find myself sitting in knee deep water, the area falls silent for a few seconds before it erupts in laughter.

“A-are you okay?” Tara asks as Juice slowly makes his way over to where I’m sitting.

“Perfectly fine, with my klutz self I should have seen this coming.” I reply with a small laugh as the same thing suddenly happens to Juice a few feet away from where I’m sitting. The sight before me causes me to bust out in laughter, instead of Juice ending up like I did he was fully submerged in the water. He comes up sputtering and wiping the water from his face as realization dawns on him that he made the same mistake and went a little too fast on the rocks.

“Well I think i’ve had enough fun here for one day.” Juice mutters as he begins carefully getting up from where he’s sitting, “[Y/N], you sure you’re okay?”

“Oh i’m perfectly fine, my tailbone might be a little sore but other than that i’m okay.” I reply as Jax soon finds himself submerged under the water as well. Once we’re all righted and not slipping on the rocks anymore the four of us slowly begin our exit from the plunge pool where we are greeted by Chibs and Happy who are holding towels.

I sheepishly take one of the towels from Happy and wrap it around my waist where the majority of my clothes are soaked. Jax and Juice follow suit and not too long after that we all agree that by the time we make the hike back down the canyon it’ll be time for a later lunch and one more stop for the day. We gather everything we brought with us and quickly pull on on our shoes before Jax takes point once more and begins to lead us back to the bus.

Surprisingly the trek back to the bus didn’t take nearly as long as the walk to the waterfall. Once the bus comes into view the group splits up so that the ones who are wet can change into dry clothes while the others seek out food. As soon as I set foot on the bus I make a mad dash to my bunk where I grab a change of clothes and sprint to the bathroom. The moment I grab the door handle and twist to open it my heart sinks, someone has already beaten me there. I quickly glance around and deduce that it must be Juice since Jax is still outside of the bus chatting up Tara. With a low huff I turn around to the closest bed and contemplate stripping down really quick like, the shiver that runs up my back in that moment pretty much seals the deal.

I glance back over my shoulder double checking to make sure Juice is still locked away in the bathroom before proceeding. In a hurry I unbutton and shimmy out of my wet pants and underwear making sure I quickly pull on a dry pair. Waisting no time I yank off my wet top and pull a dry one on before making a grab for the pair of pants I sat down on the bed.

“Damn,” a soft voice whispers from behind me. I freeze with pants in hand as my cheeks begin to heat up and redden, my mind already spinning trying to form words. Ever so slowly I turn around to face Juice who’s own face looks red, his eyes dart around before connecting with mine.

“I’m sorry, I thought I’d be done way before you.” I mumble lowly as Juice takes a tentative step towards me.

“No need to be sorry, you’re absolutely perfect and I was just caught off guard and opted to admire versus acknowledge my presence.” He replies softly while trapping me between the bed and himself. I absentmindedly fiddle with the pair of pants in hand as he inches closer and closer to the point our noses are almost touching. Juice hesitantly reaches up with his right hand and cups my cheek, his eyes search desperately within mine for anything that says no.

“Juice?” I whisper softly, my heartbeat picking up as my mind becomes incresingly lost in the moment.

“Yeah?” he answers in return, his warm breath fanning out across my face.

“Are you going to kiss me or continue to torture me?” I retort with what little confidence that I can conjure up. Juice doesn’t say aything and wastes no time in dipping his head and pressing his warm, slightly chapped lips against mine. My eyes flutter closed as our lips glide against one anothers, our noses bumping against each other as the pair of pants fall from my hands. Now that my hands are free they instantly reach out for Juice’s chest where my fingers become intertwined in his shirt in an attempt to pull him closer. The hand on my cheek migrates around to the back of my head holding me close to him as his free hand lands on my hip. I don’t wish to pull away from Juice but the need for air becomes a little to overwhelming and I force myself to part from him. Silence falls around us as we stand there clutching one another breathing heavily, our eyes connect once more and this time i’m able to clearly see all of the new found emotions within them.

Before he can say anything to me the bus shakes signalling that others are climbing on in order to leave for the next destination. Juice very quickly swoops in and presses a gentle kiss on my forehead before stepping away from me and making his way back up to the front of the bus. I quickly yank the pair of pants off of the floor and pull them on while trying to compose myself which I manage to do just in time. As I step around the bunkbed I nearly run smack into Gemma who’s wearing one of her see all, know all smiles which makes my blood run cold.

“Everything okay sweetheart?” she asks me as I step around her so that she can go to the bathroom.

“Yes ma’am, just happy to be out of the wet clothes I was wearing.” I reply as I stop, turn and scoop up the said wet clothes, “is everyone ready to go?”

“I believe so, I’m just running to the bathroom real quick and then we’re pulling and heading to our last stop.” Gemma replies before entering the bathroom and closing the door behind her. I hurry over to my shared bunk and stuff the wet clothes into a laundry bag before heading up to the front of the bus and claiming a seat next to Opie at the dinning table. Jax comes bouncing up the steps of the bus with a huge grin on his face which causes some of the patrons already seated to groan loudly.

“What’s with the creepy smile brother?” Tig questions as he leans further back into the warn couch, the springs popping underneath his weight when he shifts. I glance around the bus in search of something to occupy myself with, but find that my gaze has landed on Juice who’s intently focused on a rubiks cube he’s picked up.

Jax clears his throat as he drops down in the driver’s seat and closes the doors, the smile he’s wearing never faltering for one second, “Oh you know, I’m just bubbling with excitement over the fact that not only are we going to tour he town, we’re actually going to be staying the night there.”

“What? Why in the hell are we going to be staying at this place when there are more apporpriate camping grounds nearby?” Clay asks from one of the small lounge chairs by the door, “there’s no need.”

“Why, you scared of ghosts old man?” Jax retorts as the bus fires up drowning out a few of the laughs that casually appear from Jax’s witty retort.

“I’m not afraid of no damn ghost son, I just don’t want you’re mother and I sleeping on some hard ass desert ground. Do you know how bad that is for your back?” Clay snaps back, agitation becoming more and more apparent.

“Aye, we’ll protect ya from all of the ghosts and goblins Pres.” Chibs states while laughing and slapping his knee. I can’t help but chuckle myself which soon grows into fully on laughter that spreads like wildfire through the bus. Clay shakes his head angrily but drops the conversation as Jax directs the bus back down the path they traveled earlier to get to the falls. The travel time from Darwin Falls to Randsburg is a little over an hour and a half and within that time most people have dozed off or fallen to the now intense game of Uno.

I’m two cards away from unoing out and I can feel the draw four pressure coming from Opie, Chibs, Happy and Juice. Tara sits next to me in the same position and as Juice goes to lay down the next card Jax slams on the breaks sending the ever growing stack of cards skidding off the table and onto the floor. I groan loudly and toss the few remaining cards in my hand onto the table followed by everyone else.

“Anybody a winner?” Jax asks as he turns off the main road and onto yet another dirt road. I glance up at the mirror and catch him grinning ear to ear knowing full well that he’s ended the game in an upsetting manner.

“Nope, we’ll never know.” Juice quips back in an agitated manner that dissipates just as a quick as it appeared when we lock eyes.

“Well, you can always start a new one and put a twist on it.” Jax chirps back happily which catches my attention and when I glance over at him he smirks and winks at me. I quickly catch on to what he’s implying and shake my head no, but he’s bound and determined to push strip uno.

#sons of anarchy #soa #happy lowman #jax teller #juice ortiz #tig trager #chibs telford #opie winston #soa roadtrip

[gurguliare]

EMIGRANT WILDERNESS (2/2)

This was a rough trip. Cut for long description of hiking misadventures, mostly for my own reference:

The plan was to spend three days/two nights out on the trail---we were going to camp the first night at Camp Lake, then move on to Bear Lake in the morning, drop off our packs, and do a day hike up to Granite Lake, which is only a couple of miles from Bear Lake but is (notably) off-trail. Then we would spend the second night at Bear Lake and pack out in the morning. Hiking party was me, my dad, and my dad’s best friend, B. In a humorous initial setback, we had come expecting to pick up a wilderness permit from the ranger station only to discover that the station was closed and advance notice was required for an off-hours permit. We decided to risk it!

The first night and morning were lovely, although we all got way too high on B’s stash of medicinal chocolate and had a perhaps-unduly-hilarious time setting up camp. In the morning we had a slow start, and didn’t get to Bear Lake until 2:00. We had some indecision over which campsite to claim, and ended up dropping our packs at a point slightly after the trail ended, on the theory that we would pick them up on our way back from Granite, and compare campsite merits then. We then followed the creek our to the fairly steep rock scramble/ridge which is the only way to get to Granite Lake in < two hours. We’d done maybe half an hour of that, my dad at the front, me in the middle, and B at the back, when Dad and I noticed that B was no longer behind us.

After shouting for him a bit we went back to where we’d left the packs; B had packed three walkie-talkies but we... hadn’t actually brought ours for the day hike. But we thought he might have! So we took one and went back up the ridge, hoping to get in range. After another hour’s search we were significantly discouraged and circled back to base a second time, whereupon we discovered that B’s walkie-talkie was, of course, clipped to his pack.

Fine: we decided to stay there and set up camp, on the assumption that he would have turned around soon after noticing we were separated. We took our packs back to the closest established campsite, and left a note on his pack saying where we had gone.

Then we had a long unpleasant wait until sunset. Neither of us really knew what to do; it was obvious that, whatever had happened, he wasn’t going to make it back before dark. The most attractive possibility was that he had decided to forge ahead to Granite Lake on the assumption that he would meet us there; the least was that he had slipped and been injured and couldn’t move. We went over to where his pack was, debated bringing it back to camp, and instead attached my dad’s flashlight to a nearby tree and set it on blinker mode, hoping that B would be able to see it from a distance in the dark.

At this point we had already agreed that someone needed to hike back to the trailhead and get help, but weren’t at all sure about timing: Dad wanted to leave me at camp and go on his own in the dark, which I thought was a dumb idea; he understandably didn’t want to wait until morning to get a real search started. In the end we decided to pack out together that night, since we had multiple lights and phone battery still. First we ate a fortifying meal of flat pasta and salmon mush. Between that and decamping, we didn’t leave until about 8:00.

To my surprise the night hike was pretty painless---we got lost in a marsh skirting Bear Lake, but once we found the trail again we didn’t have any major problems. Some of this was luck. We also made excellent time, since both of us were terrified. We went through one bike light and about 5% of my phone battery. I kind of wish I didn’t have such a finely-calibrated sense of how much phone battery corresponds to how much time safely trundling on a gentle downhill, but whatever. We met a guy at Camp Lake, who we fed B’s description and asked to keep an eye out. At some point the moon rose.

Once back at the trailhead, Dad drove us out to---uh, a couple of different places, in search of signal, but we ended up stopping at a gas station with a pay phone, where he called 911 and got confirmation that a search and rescue team would go out in the morning. I’ve never seen him make so many hand gestures while on the phone. I halfheartedly suggested that we go and camp at the trailhead, but he, for some mysterious reason, wanted to stay somewhere with signal so that we could establish contact with the SAR team as soon as they went out, and I was very eager for a bed. We found a motel, showered, and he I think lay awake all night while I passed out on the promise of a 6am wakeup.

At 6 we gave the deputy sheriff(!) B’s description, drove out to meet him at the pack station, and (on arrival) were told that B had been found, was fine, and was being brought back to the station imminently.

What happened? Well, we were right that B plunged ahead and got to Granite, and only there realized that we hadn’t made it up at all; he also hadn’t realized that the descent would be slower than the ascent, because of the steep downhill scramble. But he, like us, had some phone battery left, and made it down in the dark (a much more impressive feat without a trail). He found our abandoned campsite... at around 8:30. lmao.

He didn’t find his pack. He had: a walking stick, a hat, a water bottle I had irresponsibly left at the campsite, but no jacket or lighter. Lacking shelter or food, he decided to hike back to the trailhead himself, although his phone was dead and he would have to wait for the moon to rise. And he did! although he reportedly spent a lot longer in the marsh than we did, and ended up doubling back along the trail between Camp Lake and the trailhead three or four times, because he kept ending up at the creek rather than the bridge. He considered knocking on the tent door of that guy we’d told about him, but decided against it, out of politeness. Finally he made it to the trailhead, only to find no trace of us and the car gone.

“I guess I’ll hike to the freeway??” he presumably mumbled, and set out---by this point it was starting to get light, and thank god he didn’t get very far before the sheriff’s car rattled up to pick him up. He had what looked like the beginnings of frostnip, per WebMD, but he wasn’t otherwise injured and in the whole thing all he’d lost were his sunglasses.

(Everyone at the station was very kind! Not once were we asked whether we had a wilderness permit, which was just as well. We left, B commandeered directions in order to guide us to a diner, deputy sheriff & co. showed up at same diner, Twain Harte is a very small town. Instead of paying a large fine, Dad bought the SAR team breakfast, which is just another way of contributing to the community.)

...In conclusion, we should definitely have moved his pack to the much-more-visible campsite, and we should probably have stayed longer and maybe even waited until morning to hike out, or at least camped at the trailhead. But also holy shit, that was so fucking scary! I’ve been on a succession of star-crossed hikes this year which were neatly ordered by scale of dread: the Santa Fe river one where the worst I had to fear was the heat, Wedgemount where *I* was convinced I was going to die but was not at any risk, and then this. Important takeaway: preparation is worth nothing if you don’t use it; also, good to weigh likelihood of scenarios which will be made more dire by delay against scenarios which will be made more dire by haste. Real soul takeaway: walkie-talkies suck. keep a lighter in your hat.

#photoblogol #this experience DID make me oddly grateful that i didn't drag clodia out on expeditions from marmaris #like. bad enough in a country where everyone involved had insurance.

[totallyrhettro]

Territorial, chapter 20

Word Count: 2159 Rating: This chapter: PG-13. Overall story rating: explicit Warnings: Forced Human Captivity Summary: After finally realizing their shared love for one another, all internetainers Rhett and Link had to do was live happily ever after. Unfortunately, as it turns out, that’s a lot harder to do in a world of werewolves. Notes: Takes place 1 year after Animalistic began. Still no wives; Rhett and Link are in an established relationship. This is a sequel to that fic. You don’t have to read that first, but it is highly recommended.

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The first thing Link noticed was that he was cold. A chill shiver ran down the length of his body and his hands shook as they grasped for a blanket that wasn’t there. He whined in frustration, thinking for a moment that Rhett had taken all the covers again, but when he reached out to find his boyfriend beside him, there was no one there. Link opened his eyes and the next thing he noticed was green.

Lots of green.

He squinted to see clearer without his glasses, but he didn’t recognize his surroundings. Continuing his tactile search of his environment, his glasses weren’t in their normal bedside spot. Neither was his nightstand. He realized he wasn’t even in his bed, and then he noticed he was completely naked.

Then he remembered.

Getting to his feet, Link rubbed arms, trying to warm up. He had no idea where he had ended up, but he remembered where he had left off last night. On the north side of Twin Lakes, the town Alistair had told him about, Link had parked his car well out of sight. He didn’t have much to go on besides North, so North was the direction he began to hike. He knew it was a useless venture to try and find the Lowells, and therefore Rhett, just by wandering around in the woods, but he hoped to get a head start before his wolf self took over. Maybe then he wouldn’t have to go as far in hybrid form. Besides, he didn’t want to be anywhere near civilization once he changed, just in case he couldn’t control it. He would never have been able to forgive himself if he'd hurt or infected anyone.

But where was he now? He remembered feeling the change coming, irresistible and insatiable. The need to scratch every part of his body, the drive to run wild through the trees. He thought he was prepared to control it, but it was even more difficult being in these strange woods, without Rhett by his side. Once he had removed his clothes, car keys, wallet, phone and glasses, placing them all carefully into a duffel bag in his car, he had let the change happen, maintaining a hybrid form for almost two minutes before he couldn’t hold it any longer. The call of the moon was too much apparently, and now he could be miles away from where he started and no closer to finding his best friend.

~ ~ ~

Rhett felt the cold concrete floor beneath his naked body and at first he thought he was back in Theo’s holding room. When he opened his eyes, he desperately wished he was there, or anywhere else really. Instead he was still in the damp, dingy basement of a prison, trapped in a cage that could either hold him forever or end his life on a whim. He wanted to cry.

Sitting up, making sure the spikes had not been lowered more while he out, he checked himself over. In fact, the spikes had been brought up to their original position, high above him. While this gave him more room to move around, it brought him little in the way of comfort. The pain from his torture was gone, replaced by a dull ache. The wounds were healed completely, but his flesh still remembered how they’d felt, and his muscles were sore from being in this cage for going on thirty-plus hours. His clothes, for the most part, had been shredded, the seams and stitches no match for his late night change in size. Scraps of denim and flannel littered the bottom of the cage. He pulled the last remnant of a sleeve from his arm and sighed. He didn’t hold out any hope that his captures would give him anything decent to wear. As he searched around for anything large enough to hide his modesty, he saw the food tray had returned, this time with real food.

Cautious and more than a little suspicious, Rhett leaned closer to get a better look. On a paper plate were two waffles. Ego, by the look of it. There was no syrup or butter, but Rhett’s mouth salivated from the sight, and his stomach rumbled angrily. It was a far better offering than the dog food from the day before and he didn’t hesitate long to reach out and grab one. It was still warm.

He downed both waffles quickly, leaving barely a crumb behind, and while he was still hungry, he felt better to have something in his stomach. Only once he had finished everything did he wonder who had brought the food down here for him in the first place. It couldn't have been Caleb, surely. Not after the ‘meal’ he served Rhett yesterday. Then who…?

“Good morning.” Without even thinking, Rhett grabbed up the remains of his clothes and covered himself. Coming down the stairs was Damian, who didn’t seem to care in the slightest about Rhett’s embarrassment. “I hope the waffles were still warm. I wasn’t sure when you’d wake up.”

“How long do I have?” Rhett asked, sardonically. Damian gave a small smile as he picked up the empty tray.

“Poison isn’t really our style,” he commented. “Besides, you’re worth more to us alive.”

“I don’t know anything else.”

“You know more than you think.” Leaning against a nearby wall, Damian regarded Rhett with a keen eye. “Yesterday you said you didn’t know anything, and yet, under pressure, you gave us Sequoia National Forest.” Flashes back to the night before ran through Rhett’s mind. He hadn’t been thinking clearly, if at all. Now he wasn't sure if he should have said anything.

“Unfortunately for you, we searched the woods all last night and didn’t see any sign of the mutts. Nothing recent, anyway. They must have just have cleared out. I guess you’ll be staying with us longer.” He turned to leave, but Rhett stumbled to his feet, one hand still covering his privates, and the other grasped onto the bars of the cage.

“Wait!” Damian paused, wary. “Tell me: why is your brother doing this? Why are you and Seth letting him?” Without turning around, he lowered his head with a sigh.

“We’re not really brothers,” he muttered, sadly.

“What?” Rhett wasn’t sure he’d heard right. Now looking back, Damian shrugged.

“Caleb, Seth and I. We’re not really brothers. We grew up together, in the pack, and I guess people thought we looked alike so they just assumed… and we liked the idea so we ran with it. We’d been friends since we were kids and we loved doing everything together so it was like, why not be brothers? We’re brothers in the pack, so that was close enough.”

“Sorta Like me and Link, huh?” Rhett didn’t really want to talk about Link, but he wanted to keep Damian talking. Maybe he could get the man on his side. “Met in first grade. Pretty much inseparable since.”

“Yeah? Wow. I mean, Caleb and Seth, we… we had the pack to be with. I mean, it wasn’t like there were a lot of kids we could hang out with, but you guys…” He let out an impressed whistle. “You had a choice and you stuck together.”

“He’s my best friend. Closer than family. Closer than blood, you know?” Damian nodded, but his eyes weren’t exactly focused on the present.

“He’s your pack…” he murmured.

“Y-yeah. I guess he always was, even before the change.” Damian seemed to dwell on this a moment be speaking again.

“I didn’t want this to happen, you know,” he blurted. “I wanted things to go differently. It didn’t have to end this way...” There was the slightest hint of wetness in his eye before he realized what he was saying. Looking up, he gave Rhett a strange, blank stare. Then, without another word, he headed back up the stairs.

“Wait, please!” This time, Damian didn’t come back and Rhett was, once again, alone in the basement.

~ ~ ~

While he couldn’t be sure how far or how long he’d been wandering through these woods, Link knew he was getting closer to something when the smell of burning logs met his nostrils. A campfire, or maybe a fireplace, was nearby. A warm hearth sounded mighty nice right now. Still shivering, Link searched the skies for any sign of smoke and was relieved to see a thin trail to the North-West. He turned and immediately headed for it.

Before long, though it seemed much longer, he stumbled from the rough, brush-covered woods to a grassy clearing. A small house, barely a cottage, sat on the hill with a single car out front. Neither looked like much, but Link didn’t care. Keeping one hand strategically placed, he dashed across the open area to the front door, his mind desperately trying to come up with a good reason as to why he was showing up to a stranger’s house completely naked. Still shivering, he rang the doorbell and hoped for the best. He half expected Little Red Riding Hood to answer the door.

After a moment or two, a middle-aged woman opened the door, just a few inches, and peeked out at the odd gentleman on her front porch. She eyed him him up and down, and then down again before opening the door further. There was definitely a look of surprise on her face, and Link couldn’t blame her in the slightest. He decided to get a jump on the conversation before she had a chance to ask.

“Ah, I, um…” Unfortunately, he still hadn’t come up with a good cover story. At least, not one that didn’t involve drugs or alcohol, both of which seemed the obvious answer. Lucky for him, the woman seemed nice enough, she even smiled sweetly.

“You want a blanket?” she asked, with a lilt of humor in her voice.

“Yes ma’am,” Link admitted, sheepishly. He couldn’t help but smile when he heard the softest of laughter as the two of them stepped further inside. Link had to admit, it was pretty funny, and at least the woman thought so and not that he was dangerous. He certainly didn’t feel dangerous.

Inside he made his way to the living room, a cozy little room with a fireplace, burning nicely. Link stood next to it, resisting the urge to rub his cold butt before it, simply hunching over, trying to hide his shame while he waited for the promised blanket. The woman, a petite brunet with more than a few greying hairs, grabbed a large brown and white quilt from another room and wrapped it around the naked man, turning around so he could adjusted it better. Muttering a polite thank you, Link curled inside it, relishing in the warmth it provided. He felt much better now, and his senses were starting to come back, including his manners.

“I didn’t catch your name,” he noted, sorry that he didn’t ask before coming into some woman’s home.

“Grace,” she told him, heading over to the adjoined kitchen. “Didn’t catch yours either, dear. Or should I just call you Willy?” Link blushed, smiling an embarrassed smile. He didn’t really want to give her his real name, but the innuendo was far too much for him to handle.

“Charlie.” Ok, so, it was his real name, but not the name millions of people knew him by. It was common enough, and it was easy to remember. He wasn’t very good at lying anyhow. From the kitchen he could hear the clink of metal on china, and then a microwave being opened and closed.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you Charlie,” Grace was saying. “Do you like marshmallows?” An odd question, but then this was an odd situation. Instead of dwelling on the question, Link just answered.

“Not really.” The microwave beeped and Grace opened it up and closed it again. Link couldn’t see what she had made, at first, but when she came back into the room with a steaming cup in her hand, he had a very good guess.

“I don’t have any coffee or tea,” she explained “But this should warm you up good.” She handed the hot chocolate to her guest, who took it gingerly with a grin.

“Thanks. It’s perfect.” It was also very hot, and Link had to wait a bit before really drinking it. While he waited, Grace motioned for him to sit in one of the fluffy chairs by the fire. She took the couch.

“Now, Charlie,” she began, sweet as honey. “I’m guessing you had a rough night.” Link couldn’t agree more.

“Yeah, I uh, I did…” Still didn’t have a good explanation.

“Well, that happens to the best of us, dear.” She gave another short chuckle. Her smile was so kind; Link was so shocked about her next question that he nearly dropped his cup. “Tell me. How long have you been a werewolf?”

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#rhett #link #rhink #fic #fanfic #fanfiction #werewolves #territorial

[vesperlionheart]

Tam Lin

Sakura rolled the bead shaped pebble under her toe back and forth, feeling but not seeing it. Her eyes were hazy and unfocused as she stared into the amber liquid of her drink. Half of it was gone but it felt like if she tipped it over the beer would flow forever. She was already light from it.

There was a shadow that passed over her and then the seat across from her creaked from the weight of the visitor. She lifted her eyes and blinked until the vision in front of her came into focus. What she saw made her grin out of the side of her mouth.

“Oh, I had heard the royal brothers of a far off land were visiting to court the sisters of whirlpool, but I didn’t think I would see one here in this little hole in the wall.”

Sakura blinked and looked up at the window to the outside. She could see the sign hanging but couldn’t remember what the words meant. Her vision was blurred and she had to blink again to see better.

“He’s been looking for you. Have you heard?” Itachi asked.

“Hmm?”

Sakura blinked and kept her eyes closed while she adjusted her posture in the seat. The places where her skin was stitched back together were all still sore. Not even a single one felt better and it had been days. She always healed slower during the New Moon nights.  

“It’s the whole reason we’re out here this far, since there was some business concerning children going missing near the moors. One of the wise women said it was fair folk business and that’s all he needed to hear.”

“Kelpie aren’t fair folk, technically speaking. They’re beasts… sentient beasts, but they just want to eat pretty tasty things.” Sakura’s eyes couldn’t focus and she felt the pebble crack under her toe when she sat up again. “But that’s beside the point, because the moors are plenty of miles west of here and there are a dozen different bars like this one you could have wandered into. What are you doing here?”

“Fifteen.”

She blinked. “What?”

“There are fifteen bars of this par and quality in the city. I’ve been to all of them.”

Sakura hummed. “I thought it was odd that all the princes were going out together to do this courting business like a big happy family, but I can guess better now. You’re the brains, aren’t you? Madara isn’t stupid but he’s sheltered, which is sometimes worse. He wouldn’t know how to find a person without his nose.”

Itachi reached out and grabbed a tankard off the tray that passed him by and when the table maid turned to tell him off he smiled and flashed her a silver coin she took with a blush and a stutter.

“He misses you terribly. Finding you again is all he seems interested in getting out of bed for. He’s turning out to not be what father hoped.”

Sakura raised a finger. “Let me stop you there and read your mind. Ah, the king blames me for that, does he. He says I bewitched or cursed his son and that it’s alllllll my fault. How’s that?”  

Itachi sipped at his drink without turning his nose up at it, but set it aside after only a mouthful. “You’re not far off but he has no one to blame for how things went. I don’t blame my brother. He’s had so little kindness in his life it is not hard to believe he’d want to covet what little he’s tasted.”

Sakura swallowed, glancing towards the bar door. It wasn’t busy inside and she could see clearly and easily all the way to the front and back exit. She reached inside her cloak where the shadows were heaviest and pulled out some berries still on the twig. She popped a few into her drink and then knocked the whole tankard back.

“What was that?” Itachi asked.

“Is Madara on his way here?” Sakura countered.

“Maybe. It depends on how fast Sasuke can get to him.”

Sakura hummed and pushed her tankard across the table. “Sorry, but I need to leave. I don’t dislike your brother, but this and that aren’t things worth speaking about. I’m not ready for someone to think so well of me, and I’m afraid of what sort of terrible things he would see if he stayed too long or too close.” She smiled playfully. “Tell him to move on.”

“You think it would be that bad?”  Itachi braced to stand but staggered, falling back into his seat. His eyes went wide. “What?”

“It’ll last only a few minutes but the more you fight it the longer it will last. Don’t fret, the effects aren’t long lasting at all.”

Itachi looked at the twig left bare on the table and then the pair of tankards. Sakura made a clucking note and he stared up at her.

“You put something in my drink,” he gasped.

“Nope, just mine, but it was an antidote to the toxin we were both exposed to when I crushed a hag berry under the table. I’m sorry, but I’m not ready to stop running.”  

Sakura turned towards the back door and stopped when the pain in her side made her gasp. She covered it with a chuckle and shook her head. Her eyes still swam fuzzy and she could smell her blood in places the shadows clung darkest. She turned and headed for the front entrance, staggering like the other drunks with a sloppy smile.

“Sakura, don’t do this. He’s not the sort of person that will give up.”

Something about the tone of his voice made her turn, hand on the doorframe, ready to leave. She looked back and smiled sadly, believing every word. “I know. I’m still sorry. There are many more miles I need to go before I am done.”

“Done with what? We can help you if you are in trouble with someone.”

Sakura laughed. “I doubt that. Tell your beautiful brother what you need to. Say I was with another man, or two or three, I’m a harlot that doesn’t love. Tell him I have money problems and I used him. Say what you need to, just don’t tell him to keep searching because that will only hurt him longer.”      

She pulled the cloak’s hood down and stumbled out of the bar and into the shadows between streets and buildings.

The morbid part of her that liked to press her bruises until the pressure made them sting stopped and dominated her in that instant. She turned and looked back, watching as a pair of brothers too pretty to be peasants raced down the street. Madara passed the Dancing Pig pub, but Sasuke had to yell at him to turn back and Madara cursed about having to scramble. When he turned Sakura saw his face.

It hurt worse than any bruise.

“This is what you wanted, idiot,” she said to herself, backing away and drawing her cloak closer. She hurt all over and only half of the pain was from the bleeding bits of flesh.  

The bites weren’t healing and she couldn’t wait for the full moon when they sapped her so much each day. She applied what she knew of medicines to closing the wounds and healing the sites, but Kelpis were terribly good at death curses. She would need something specific.

The stone at the end of her necklace tugged her down the old road that had been well worn maybe half a century ago, but not so recently. The locals spoke of Carter Hall like it was a haunted thing and Sakura was willing to believe them if she was heading there. She needed a double headed red or white rose and wasn’t willing to hike another hundred miles in the opposite direction.

She dropped the stone back to her chest and let it rest there, tugging her along as she pulled her skirts up over her knee to keep the branches and twigs from taring through her.

She saw the edges of the outer wall over the treetops and pressed on. More and more of the modest castle emerged from the brush, looking as old and worn as the rest of the road. Sakura could smell the roses and knew she was closer at last. She had walked too far to not be close by now.

When she staggered the leaves came away red.

There was an old wooden door that was broken in so many places it swung with the lightest of touches. She stepped over the grassy threshold and let the broken door swing open and hit the wall behind her. There was no one else around the hear the sound.

Sakura saw heavy bushes blooming and full with roses, but ignored the sight of them all to follow the tug around her neck. It would take her hours to look through all the roses until she founded what she wanted, but her stone led her right to where she needed to go, around the bend of a tower’s curve. Sakura had to climb up fallen debris long overgrown with weed and grass, but in the gapping hole in the tower’s side there was a monsters bush heavy with bloom. Each rose was as red as her blood.

White roses were better for bones and red for blood, so she was lucky.

Sakura reached into the thicket of thorns and grabbed at the double headed rose to tug it free.

“Stop!”

She whirled around, eyes going wide to soak up the surroundings for something she must have missed. Her eyes landed on the figure of a man, heading for her with the footsteps of a ghost.

Her eyes narrowed when she noticed the other elven features and gripped the thorny stem tighter in her hand, never minding the prick of thorns.

“Do not pull that double rose,” he said while reaching for her with one hand. “Lady, pull no more.”

Sakura raised a hand of her own and he stopped when he saw the palm and licked his lips, panting from the jog. “Who are you and where did you come from?”

“I am the master of Carter Hall. Who are you to come and go as you please throughout my lands?”

“I come and I go by my own leave, good lord, and it need not be on your will.” Sakura angled her chin up to stare down at the man below her, left at the base of the rubble she had climbed earlier. “And no one has claimed these lands in ages. They’re supposedly haunted.”

“I assure you, that is not the case. Please, release the double rose.”

Sakura tugged it out a little more, closer to herself and narrowed her eyes. “Why?”

He almost looked nervous, but his voice didn’t shake when he spoke. “It is a piece of my property and I wish it to remain where it was placed. I need no further justification than that.”

Sakura tugged it a little more. “Wanna try that again?”

“Haunted, it may not be, but Carter Hall may still yet be a place of ill to those who do not fear or respect it. Release the rose. You know not what you do.”

Sakura yanked hard and the rose came away with a snap. The man cried out, reaching for her as he ascended the first step with hands outstretched. Magic screeched out from the place where the stem was ripped and Sakura felt her handprint throb with it, but after all she had been through, the Rebuke was little more than a breeze to her. At the very least it didn’t stop her from drawing her sword in her free hand and holding it across her chest as the man climbed up onto her rubble perch.

“You…” he breathed on a note of awe. “You are well still.”

“Funny how that happens. Are you going to leave me well or do I have to use this?” Sakura asked while shaking her sword.

“Not on m, I dare say.” He smiled at her and it was so disarming it made her flinch. “I am glad to see you are not taken with illness. Speak your name, lady.”

“Not until you tell me yours, stranger.”

“I am Hashirama, the Lord of Carter Hall and the Tam Lim to these lands.”

Sakura swore under her breath and dropped her sword a little more. “No wonder you sound like something from my grandfather’s youth.”

She didn’t bother asking how long he had been a Tam Lin, since the decay of the castle told her enough on its own. He had probably been cursed by a fairy queen over a hundred years ago by the look of things.

“And your name, lady. Pray speak it.”

 He took a hesitant step closer to her, careful not to draw too close and be perceived as threatening.  

“You can call me Sakura.”

She huffed and turned her sword around to fit back into the scabbard hidden between the folds of her skirt. His eyes followed the action and fixated on the discoloration of her skirts.

“You’re hurt!” he exclaimed. He approached her and knelt at her side even as Sakura turned her body around to hide the stain from her blood.

“It’s fine. It’s what I needed the rose for. I’ll be well with this. You can back off.”

He reached up for her hand and grasped it gently, like a gentle lord would. Sakura felt stiff at once and didn’t move as he rose to stand alongside her. 

“Please, Lady Sakura, let me invite you in where you may rest.” 

He held her hand with one of his own and swept the other out into a shallow bow before beckoning her to join him down at the base of the rubble. He moved like a shadow or beam of light, something that never made sound on it’s own and it made sense considering how he was no longer technically human. He was in the same class as her.

Sakura made her way down with little extra effort, but winced when she hopped down to the ground and jolted her wounds again. She covered the hiss of pain with a shallow chuckle that didn’t fool anyone.

“Come,” he urged, taking her hand again.

Sakura followed at his beckoning, knowing she wouldn’t be in any danger from this Tam Lin and suspecting whatever he was taking to her would be modest and just as run down as the rest of the castle.

She was wrong. 

The interior reeked of magic and elegance of the elven kind. There were white birch trees with leaves of honey gold growing neatly out of the floor in rows down the great hall and banners hanging across the stone walls in shades of rich emerald and crimson.

There were tapestries clustered with the imagery of fairy traditions and rituals she recognized too well. The main tapestry behind the head of the table was stitched with the setting from a Fair Folk tradition between Day and Night courts called the Rabbit Games, where each side chose a champion to don the mask of a rabbit and outrun the enemies’ hounds. In the tapestry a woman in a long black dress and a black rabbit mask outran several elven knights with long ears and gold armor decorated with foxes and wolves.

The table of the main hall was dripping in finery and exotic dishes, unfolding upon the gold and silver plates out of the space between spaces, growing more bountiful the closer they approached.

Hashirama drew her to a bench between two white trunked trees and beckoned her to recline upon the pillows. Sakura just glared harder at him and tugged her hand back.

“I’m not at liberty to bare my wounds to you, sir. You are too bold.”

He had the decency to blush. “Please, I am a healer and mean nothing by it I only wish to help you.”

“I can help myself,” Sakura grumbled.

“Of…of course. Here.”

He gestured to the bench again and backed away. As he drew back the trees grew wider and thicker, extending new branches that obscured her alcove from his view.

Sakura grunted and sat down on the edge of the bench and  pulled her shirt out of the waist band of her skirts, up over her head. Next, she untied the bow from her skirt around her waist. Looking each wound over Sakura sighed and turned the double headed rose over before tilting her head back and stuffing it into her mouth, thorns and all. She nearly gagged, but push it all the way down and let the magic in her burn the rose away before it could choke her out.

In response, each wound began to glow with a honey colored glow as the magic from the rose dissolved the curse that kept her from healing. The bites around her side were the worst but she could see those closing up nicely when she pulled the bandages back to watch skin knit skin.

By the end of the night she hoped it would all be gone.

“Are you decent, lady Sakura?” Hashirama called out to her a minute later.

Sakura huffed and pulled her cloths to her chest but didn’t slip back into them. “No. What do you want?”

One of the branches grew towards her, bearing a folded cloth draped like it was meant to be there. It stopped right in front of Sakura and she reached to remove it. The dress unfolded at her hands and pulled around her ankles on the floor when she held it up. It was simple and sturdy enough.

“What is this for?” Sakura called back through the trees.

“You need not done your bloody things. Please, dress and come eat so that you may not grow weary.”

His voice sounded happy when he answered, and Sakura suspected he was actually smiling even though she couldn’t tell or see his face in any way to know that for sure.

“Your kindness is too much. I should not stay here long.”

“Please, you are my guest!” he exclaimed. She heard him scuffle on the other side of the trees and then he spoke softer. “Please. I wish to dine with the first guest in many a year. Let me be a good host.”

Sakura looked down at the dress and felt the cotton between her hands. Sighing, she tugged it on and smoothed it out when she stood. There was a glittering belt still on the branches she looked over for hexes or magic and finding nothing. Sakura clipped it about her waist and was a bit dazzled by the brilliance of it. The stones were large and lovely, making it the prize of any noble lord or lady. Her sword dangled from it nicely.

“I think I am ready now, Hashirama.”

She heard his gasp and then stammering. “Oh-oh of course. Of course. Please.” 

The trees pulled back and strand their branches while leaving the leaves to fall off and shed across the stone floor like paper gold. He was there when the branches pulled away, grinning happily at her.

“It’s been a while since I heard someone else call my name.”

“You’re alone here?” Sakura asked, looking for invisible servants. She couldn’t see anything that moved.

“Precisely so, but I am not uncared for. Come, sit at my table and break bread with me.” He held his hand out for her again and delighted when she took it.  

Out of the corner of her eye Sakura caught movement and turned to see a stag at the corner of the room, walking in with a doe at his heels. A blue songbird fluttered down, chased off by a handful of others nesting in the rafters. Hashirama held out his hand and the bird perched on his fingers.

Not as alone as she first assumed.

“When was the last time you broke bread with other person you could talk to?” Sakura asked.

“I can talk to the birds and the trees. But another human you mean…oh, it’s been ages I dare say.”

Sakura eyed him critically, unable to not see the way his ears shaped themselves like leaves that poked through his long chestnut hair.

“Neither of us are truly human, though.”  

The bird fluttered off his fingers and his smile lessened in vibrance. His face was still kind as it looked to her. “Maybe we are no longer what humans would recognize as their own, but what else could we call ourselves?”

Like Tam Lins, being a changeling meant you didn’t fit on either side of the fence between the good neighbors and the humans. You weren’t one or the other, you were caught in between with no real home.

The white handprint on her skin was a brand that drove her from village after village and town after town. The same people who begged for her help would chase her out the minute they had what they wanted. What had made her a rouge to the people had made him a hermit to his.

Sakura took his offered hand and sat alongside him on the bench at the head of the table. A squirrel with an enormously bushy tail ran up to her plate and then sat beside it, staring up at her expectedly. Nothing thinking twice about it, Sakura fed it from the fruits multiplying from her plate.

She waited for the questions to come but was a bit surprised when Hashirama started to tell her about all the different animals. Most of them had names but all of them loved him in their own way. None of them seemed afraid of him or even her when she sat next to them. That wasn’t…terribly unusual. People touched by the fair folk naturally were more trusted by animals, but that didn’t always mean loved.

It surprised her when the first question between them came from her. “How long have they loved you like this?”

“Ever since I came back to Carter Hall. It’s a funny story. Here is my birthright but one day I was riding through the forests on my horse and off I fell. I thought that was it, but I was swept up and the Queen of the Fox Court saved me and made me one of her knights in her realm for what felt like a mere summer. When she sent me back home it was overgrown and my family was gone. I’ve been here ever since, waiting for someone to summon me back and be useful.

The fork stayed hovering in front of her her mouth. “Mito?”

“Yes, the very one,” Hashirama exclaimed.

Sakura groaned and lowered her fork back down to the plate. “Of course she would. Do you remember what spooked your horse in the first place, casing it to buck you off?”

“Not in the least,” he chuckled in good nature.

“I bet you don’t,” Sakura mumbled under her breath, feeling a little sick in her heart at how little he cared about his fate. He probably didn’t even know about Mito’s title to hell.

“It’s not such a terrible fate. I’m fit as can be, I have many adorable friends, and there is no need or want that is not met under this roof. Watch!” he extended a single hand and inhaled. “I wish for a chest of gold.”

The table groaned as a chest settled in the middle, turning over and spilling gold across the floor. Sakura stood up suddenly but didn’t move towards or away from it.

“See? Anything I want will appear. Is there something you want? I can ask for it for you. Pearls or rubies?” He looked eagerly towards her, so excited to be able to show off for someone.

“What good are things like those if you are stuck here all alone?” Sakura huffed, settling back into her seat and closing her eyes. “No thank you. I don’t want anything I don’t need. Especially if it’s coming from a fair folk’s magic wells.”

“Truly? There is nothing I can get for you?” he asked, tone dropping alone with his expression.

Sakura waved his concerns away and forced herself to smile. “You are very kind, but no thank you. The food is delicious and more than enough to satisfy. I need nothing more.”

“Then can I offer you a room for the night. It is nearly twilight and the roads are unforgiving in the dark this far out. You will be safe under this roof my lady.”

“You know precious little of me, other than the fact that I’ve picked your only double headed rose despite your pleas. You think it will be safe to invite a person such as I into your home?”

“Of course,” he laughed. He gestured to his chest and grinned wide. “I may not look it, but I’ve been defending this place for nearly seven years now and never had a problem with anyone who came through. Plus, the animals always tell me what they think and they trust you the most, more than any other visitor, so I’ll trust you too.”

She wasn’t sure why she felt guilty when he smiled at her, because she wasn’t planning on doing anything to feel guilty about, but when she settled down for the night she figured it out. He said nearly seven years. Halloween was in a month. He was Mito’s teind to hell and she hadn’t said anything to him about it. But…there was no way he didn’t know by this point. Right?

‘Whatever, I have my own problems.’

“You’re staying for breakfast?” he asked with good cheer when he saw her on the bench in the early hours of light.

“Just for another couple of days. I’ll intrude upon you no longer than that. By then my wounds will not be enough to bother me on the road. Of course if you wish me gone sooner that’s fine too-“

“Oh no, no!” Hashirama was quick to dash in front of her and grab both her hands. “Of course not. Please, feel at home here and stay as long as you like. You have my permission to remain as long as your heart desires.”

“No, it’s really only going to be a couple of days.”

“Of course, as long as you wish it.”

“I’m serious,” Sakura countered. “Only a couple of days.”

A couple of days turned into a week. A week turned into a couple of weeks, and then the month was over and the wounds were healed but Sakura was still around, enjoying herself a little too much as she wrestled with the problem of what to do once halloween set.

Hashirama didn’t seem to take the threat very seriously, or if he did, he hid it well, and that annoyed her further. Whenever she tried to talk about it he would laugh and diver the conversation elsewhere. Even when she offered to help, he was overly cheerful about denying it. He insisted she didn’t owe him anything and when she told him it wasn’t about repaying a debt the conversation turned to water in her hands and no headway was made.

What made it worse was how he had started leaving her with instructions on how to take care of Carter Hall if she wanted to stay ‘after he went away,’ since the magic would still be making food and wine like it did for him. When it came to the likes and preferences of the animals Sakura didn’t think she could take it anymore.

“You’re not going to hell for her. Stop it, stop acting like you are,” Sakura hissed, backhanding the tray of berries out of his hand. They scattered across the floor and the squirrels raced for them. “Don’t treat me like this.”

“I-Sakura, I didn’t mean to offend.”

“You never do, which is why you’re stuck in the situation you’re in now. It’s not fair and I’m not so terrible a person that I’ll just sit back and watch it all unfold. You know I could probably do something so why won’t you let me help you?”

“Oh Sakura. There’s nothing you could do. It’s a done thing, my lady.”

His smile was sad and soft as he reached to brush his knuckles across her cheek. She didn’t pull away anymore, but she still refused to look at him if he touched her so tenderly. She considered them friends, maybe even good friends, but she was still a changeling and he was still a Tam Lin.

“You don’t know what I can and can’t do.”

“It’s not worth it anymore.”

He looked as if the conversation was going to end there but he caught himself when he saw her eyes wet and leaking. A tear slipped past her lashes onto his finger and it froze him in his spot. Sakura closed her eyes to hide the rest and pretend they weren’t there.

“A white horse.”

Her eyes shot open. “What?”

Hashirama wasn’t smiling anymore. “Listen to what I tell you, for it is what I was told in a moment of mercy. At Miles Cross lovers and humans will see the fair folk’s procession on this stretch of road only, led by the fair queen. So first let past the horses black and then let past the brown. Quickly run to the white steed and pull the rider down For I'll ride on the white steed, the nearest to the town. Because I was an earthly knight, they give me that renown.”

Hashirama closed his eyes and inclined his head to hers.

“Oh, they will turn me in your arms to a newt or a snake but hold me tight and fear not. They will turn me in your arms into a lion bold but hold me tight and fear not, they will turn me in your arms into a naked knight. Then and only then cloak me in your mantle and keep me out of sight.”

He opened his eyes and there were tears making his own glassy as she stared into hers. “But that’s not the end of it, because if you do this she will come for you, and she will make you recount a defense. I know not any justification a mortal or changeling could grant to sever the bond of a Tam Lin from his turner. Her magic has fed and saved me for seven years. What could be powerful enough to break that bond? Please, do not try this, Sakura. You will not avail.”

He leaned in to kiss the crown of her head, soft like one of his smiles for her. She felt him slip a ring on her finger made from gold as he drew away. When she opened her eyes to look he was gone, and for the rest of the two days before the Hallow’s Tide, Hashirama hid himself from her.  

She dressed in a long black dress that wouldn’t betray her in the night and a long green mantle pinned up high with a hood that hung low over her face. Her sword was safe in the scabbard around her waist, but as she found the cross at Miles road she unbuckled it from her belt and laid it out on the grass beside her. She was low in the bushes, watching the center of the crossroads where the fair folk would walk. Anyone not touched by the good neighbors or without hag stones would have to wait until they were in the cross of the roads to see them, where their magic couldn’t hide them from mortal eyes, but Sakura didn’t need to wait for that.

The mists rolled in right on time and the air chilled with the presence of spirits but she stayed in the bushes and didn’t move. Something cold trailed along her face and she didn’t move. Something reached for her ankle but she didn’t move. Something whispered in her ear and then shouted at her, but she didn’t move.

Far off the fox fire lit and the first faces started to appear. A the front were the fair knights in glittering armor, guarding a Queen most fair with a veil of red. Anyone who saw her face would be struck dead by the sight of it.

Sakura held her breath and kept her eyes fixed on the rest of the procession. Passed the knights on horses of red, black, and then finally brown. At the very end of the line was a single white horse, somewhat separated from the others. Atop its back sat Hashirama in his elven robes and armor, hair intricately braided half up and woven with leaves. His face was painted with the markings of the teind to hell.

Sakura left her sword behind and waited till the last moment and then sprang upon him at the crossroads, reaching with all her strength to tear him down from his steed onto the earth.

Hashirama cried out and twisted into something long and slithering, trying to get away, but Sakura held him tighter, even as he grew arms like a newt and tried to wriggle away. Sakura whispered hexes to herself for strength as he bulged and became a roaring lion with teeth and claws that couldn’t reach her as long as she held him tight. She pulled him closer and he roared louder before turning into a smaller cat that nearly turned to bite at Sakura’s shoulder. She felt the teeth and hissed at the touch but there was no pain. Hashirama bulged in her hands and then bled white, shrinking and shedding until he was a pale, naked knight in her arms.

With one good arm Sakura pulled her mantle over his form and pressed herself on top of him, hiding him from the rest of the world in her dark fabrics. He was burning flesh under her and she knew if she let him go or if the world saw him he would turn into a burning coal that could consume her.

“Hold there, young maid. Who are you the challenge the teind of the Faery Queen?” a voice called out to her.

“I am the one who challenges it!” Sakura shouted back, keeping her head down and body prone atop Hashirama who still burned beneath her. “This knight is mine. He fell from his horse and I caught him. His life is mine.”

“He has been owned before from such the same fate. What do you say to challenge this?”

Sakura licked her lips and hoped she wasn’t wrong. “I have more right to him than tee, for this man is my love and the may yet be the husband of my hand.”  

She held out the hand with the gold ring he had gifted to her two days ago, as a token of his affections but with no true ulterior intention. It was a brilliant thing without stones, etched and crafted into the shape of a many branched tree that hugged her finger.

Below her, Hashirama instantly stopped burning and turned cold beneath her. The horses around her stomped and cried out. Sakura looked up finally and saw the red haired queen with the cloth over her face.

“You,” she hissed, looking down at Sakura. “You are touched by another. From which court does this aggression stem?”

“No court, fair Queen. I am that which has been cast out. By mother was of The Milk and Moon court before now.”

“Kaguya, I should have known.” Mito growled angrily, pulling her horse back. “I’ll curse you in another life for this girl!”

“Please, let he and I be and challenge us no more,” Sakura implored, keeping her head down.

The hooves of her horse stopped in front of Sakura but she didn’t look up, only held her breath and kept Hashirama hidden beneath her.

“Oh, had I known, Tam Lin, " she said, "what this knight I did see, I have looked him in the eyes and turned him to a tree.”

In a wheel of wind the procession was gone and they were alone. When Sakura looked down Hashirama was asleep and nearly human again, but like anything touched by magic, he would never truly be human again.

Sakura carried him back to Carter Hall and was surprised when the bed she wished for appeared out of magic. She tucked Hashirama in and sighed deep.

“What have I done?” she whispered to the dark of the room. She hadn’t meant to become so involved, but here she was, tied by some odd magic to not only one, but two different men.

Sakura rubbed her face with her hands, filled her pack with food, checked her sword, and bid the animals farewell. The road was calling to her again, and she knew she couldn’t stay much longer if she wanted to stay free and keep ahead of the Milk Court’s hunters and whatever curse the Queen of the Fox Court had in mind for her.

Hashirama awoke and felt light in his chest and a new wholeness he hadn’t felt in years. No, this was new compared to that true human feeling. Yes he was broken free from the queen and her courts, but the magic hadn’t released him entirely.

Not that he needed it to.

Hashirama smiled wide and pushed back the covers and jumped from his bed screaming her name. He ran through the halls, and then into he gardens where she loved to watch the flowers. She was neither place, but when he turned to ask the birds they say she wasn’t in any of the other places within Carter Hall.

Fear made him human made heart race. “What do you mean, then where is she? Did the queen take her away? Where is my wife to be?”

The birds sang to him and only more fear came into his heart as the birds recounted the story from the night she saved him from hell. He remembered the claim she made, how he was her love and husband to be. He even remembered the curse the queen spoke upon Sakura’s head.

“She’s been driven away in fear.”

He looked to the gate and felt his resolve harden. There was nothing holding him back anymore, nothing binding him to Carter Hall with invisible chains. He could leave as he pleased, and if Sakura was out there running, it was his turn to find her and save her.

#Lindworm #Tam Lin #Sakura #Hashirama #HashiSaku #Madasaku #what have I done #happy halloween #enjoy #my writing #my fic #my fiction