The coffee's bitter again, you thought as you walked through the hallways of your apartment. It's always bitter because the machine is broken and the sugar never comes out.
The coffee's hot too, and your fingers hurt a bit as you carried the cup and strode across to your room by the end of the hallway.
And then boom, out of nowhere came a brown-haired man. He stepped in front of you, about three feet away and you immediately stopped, flinching as you watched the coffee almost spill out of its paper cup.
"Shaun!" you gasped. Just Shaun, whom you'd met a few weeks ago when he crashed out in his room over a screwdriver and you came to check on him after you'd woken up. He was nice, and you couldn't help but form a small crush on him over the past few days.
"Hello, (name)," he greeted you, a slight smile on his face. "How are you today?"
"Oh- fine." you smiled gently, blowing on the coffee. "Just getting ready to pull an all nighter. Lots of paperwork waiting for me," you chuckled awkwardly. "You look like the type to finish them fast though."
"I do." Shaun said, nodding slightly. "I think I do," he then giggled — yes giggled — and it sounded so foreign that you got taken aback. And then he leaned forwards, in almost a curvaceous way and flipped nonexistent hair over his shoulder.
And then suddenly, you had the urge to laugh because that was certainly no other than the women's flirting trinity — all at once.
"Shaun," you said slowly, suppressing your smile. "Are you flirting with me?"
Shaun looked at the ground, a little ashamed, before nodding, his eyes flitting around. "Claire said that that is what you do when you like somebody," he says.
A grin broke out on your lips. "I think you have a lot to learn." And then leaning up on your tiptoes, you kissed him on his cheek, where a blush spread, and said, "So I'm treating you to a smoothie and a free flirting lesson tonight."
Shaun didn't completely understand why, but a fluttery feeling spread up his chest and into his mouth, urging it to spread into a small smile. "That would be nice."
okay so I know this fandom is like so dead and that I'm super late but screw it we ball (shaun murphy ily)
SWWSDJ Monster Oneshots Day 1 Dhampir Shaun x Reader
WARNINGS/DISCLAIMERS: Something's Wrong With Sunny Day Jack is an 18yrs+ horror game that contains dark/NSFW content and is not for people younger than 18yrs+. Out of respect to the creators, please don't interact with the game unless you're 18yrs+. While my works are sfw the original game is not and thus shouldn't be interacted with if you're still a minor. Please respect the creators' wishes for everyone's own good.
I will include official art of the characters that go with each chapter but in no way is any of the art mine. They were all drawn by Jambeebot before deactivating their account and I found them on both Pinterest and Tumblr. I claim nothing but the writing here. All characters and art belongs to Snaccpop Studios/Jambeebot.
(Warnings for death, yandere themes, and killing mentioned. I know Shaun is drawn as a Vampire and not a dhampir in the OG artwork, but I wanted to experiment with the concept of other cultural vampire mythology for this.)
Dhampir: In Balkan folklore, a dhampir is a mythical creature that is the result of a union between a vampire and a human.
Never go out at night. Especially near the cemetery or deep woods. Never go alone and stay away from old back allies.
You never understood why. As a child growing up you just assumed because the place was scary and full of ghosts so you were happily in agreement of staying far, far away from the cemetery and woods. You'd never go there, and stayed very far away which pleased your family. It wasn't until your sixteenth birthday that your grandfather pulled you aside one day under the guise of coming to help him carry vegetables to sell at the nearby town square however as soon as you two were alone, he pulled you both behind the barn and had a very scary serious face.
"Y/n, listen to me. You're sixteen years old now. In two more years you're going to be all grown up and be able to make your own decisions and that's why I have to warn you before it's too late."
You blinked at him in shock. "Grandpa, what are you talking about about?"
"I'm talking about vampires!" His tone was so blunt it made you blink.
"Vampires?"
"And their hellspawn dhampirs!! Do you ever wonder why no one strays near the forest? Or why no one stays out at night?" You shook your head. You just assumed because it was creepy and haunted. He scoffed. "Of course not! No one's ever bothered to tell you the truth! Folks around here like to pretend nothing bad happens around here!"
"But...Vampires?"
He nodded. That sounds.. unbelievable. There hasn't been any cases of people going missing or being found dead with their bodies drained of blood or with bite marks on their necks. And there hasn't even been any livestock killings other than the time your uncle caught a fox in his henhouse last year..But that was just a fox.
"Let me tell you the entire truth." He looked around as if making sure you both were actually alone before leaning in to whisper in your ears. "There are things beyond this world that we're not meant to know or interact with. Things that like to hunt humankind."
"What does that have to do with Vampires?"
"Let me tell you a story that haunts our town. Long ago there was a family consisting of a couple and two brothers. One brother stayed in town while the other left to seek his fortune elsewhere but that was his first mistake. The brother who left died." His tone suddenly became very grim. "His body was found one day alongside the road as dead as roadkill. Instead of burning the cursed corpse, he was brought home to his family so he may be buried in the cemetery. However that mistake would prove to be fatal. The very next day after the funeral, the remaining brother was found dead in his bedroom! His entire body was drained of blood and a look of pure horror was etched onto his face."
Your eyes widened in shock at the words that left his mouth.
"It didn't stop there. The woman who was the lover of the first brother went missing. Disappeared from her bedroom one night as if she turned into air. A string of killings both human and livestock too place after that. Each with their throats ripped apart and their blood drained."
"That's all very sad..but how do you know that it was vampires. Couldn't the girl have just ran away from home out of grief? Or the brother have a heart attack and died? And couldn't it ha d been a wild animal responsible for the killings?"
"Because when the local priest investigated the cemetery alongside the towns men, he ordered all the recently deceased's graves to be dug up and the bodies examined." His gaze turned grave as a shudder physically shook his body as you gulped. "One by one each and EVERY recently deceased man, woman, and child's grave was dug up from the ground for the priest to examine and each one was the same with some form of destruction until they got to the final one. The brother who left the estate. "
Your skin got goosebumps and a shiver ran down your own spine at the way he was looking at you in fear. This story..Even if it was fake, sure was scary.
"When they pulled his cursed coffin from the ground and tore it open, his body was in perfect cold condition. As if he had just died within the last hour." His fearful expression became more scared. "A wooden stake was driven into the man's heart to return him to the dead and his body cremated to nothing but ash. Since then no one's dared set foot there at night."
"If the vampire was killed, then why is there still worry?"
"Because his child still roams about! The woman he took as his lover gave birth to some unholy abomination! Dhampirs are the result of the unholy unions between vampires and humans. She may have been burnt at the stake for her sins but her son is still out there. Somewhere. Seeking vengeance on any human who crosses his path. Mark my words. If you're not careful. You'll be next."
Since then you've been scared of going outside at night by yourself which your grandpa approved of until his eventually death a year later..but with you becoming older and older, you noticed that everything really wasn't as scary as your grandfather made it out to be. Your parents never before seemed to mind you going outside at night so long as you stayed away from the old cemetery they seemed perfectly happy.
Plus LITERALLY NOTHING EVER HAPPENED!!
Nothing but the usual animals in the night. You never saw anything dangerous other than maybe a wild animal. Even IF there was a Dhampir running around, he must've been long gone by now or wasn't interested in the humans here. In fact he might not even exist at all! You came to the conclusion that he DEFINITELY didn't exist when you were out stargazing fell asleep and woke up perfectly okay on your balcony. If there was a salty dhampir then he would've taken advantage of a woman fast asleep in the night.
So you began to wonder what else might've been made up? Fairies? Ghosts? Imps? You've never seen anything like that even when you visited the cemetery and your grandparents' graves. No ghost, spirits, or spooks. So was the old cemetery and night they told you about really that bad either? Your curiosity only continued to grow and grow as you turned twenty and it was one day that you decided that you definitely didn't believe im anything like vampires, dhampirs, or whatever beasts that are said to lurk in the dark. That's why when you had the opportunity on your eighteenth birthday to either become a shrine maiden for the temple next to the cemetery or get married off you chose the one with nore freedom. For two hours now you've lived in the small village temple with nothing but an old shrine to keep you company.
It wasn't so bad but you could see why the older shrine maiden wanted to retire as soon as possible and just left you without any training. It wasn't too difficult. All you had to do was keep the place clean and place the offerings people came to deliver on the shrine. The only times the shrine was used outside of people delivering offerings was when a wedding or funeral would happen. So far in your two years of working as the village's sold shrine maiden you've got to witness one wedding and three funerals. Two for some fishermen that drowned after a boating accident and the more recent one of an elderly woman who passed away Peacefully in her sleep. It was shortly after that that you first encountered the mysterious stranger.
It was a week after the funeral that the old graves keeper also quit. Something about seeing strange things at night and being too old to deal with it. So naturally everyone thought it was only fair for the young shrine maiden to take up this burden too. You might have wouldn't have minded if they asked you first but instead they just trusted it upon you expecting you to just take care of the graves. It wasn't so bad during the daytime. Still creepy but you didn't mind doing things like trimming the weeds around the fences and graves or going to get rid of the old dead flowers and food offerings starting to rot people would leave behind or watering the bright red spider lilies often planted around the graves to ward away wild animals..In fact the red flowers made it look a bit more cherry than dreary. However nighttime was a whole different ball game.
Usually there was two rounds the caretaker would've made. One in the daytime and one at night to be sure no wild animals. The daytime as stated before wasn't too bad. Most of your work was even done during that time but you tried to get your nightly rounds done as soon as possible often just using a candle or lantern to quickly walk through the graves at night as soon as the sun went down before quickly walking back to the temple. Logically you knew that dead people weren't going to harm you and there was no such thing as ghosts but it was still incredibly creepy to be wondering our there by yourself.
You hated what your life became. So many of your friends and family didn't visit you because of the fear of the rumors had instilled in them, you were just suddenly expected to do a huge job no one even asked if you wanted to do either. Were they also expecting you to aso dig the holes for the graves? Sigh. It sure felt lonely not being able to see anyone outside of events or if you went to go see them yourself and then you were chastised for leaving the sacred temple unattended. Perhaps maybe that's why you didn't mind making a friend that night?
It was like any other. You had planned on doing your nightly patrol early but some repairs to the temple door had delayed that so you were late in doing it. The moon hung overhead like a warning beacon. And of all the nights for fog to roll in, it had to be tonight. Making the atmosphere feel heavy and creepy as you stepped through the graves lantern in hand. The light doing little to help see past the thick fog.
Each step you took looking at the graves as you passed felt like an eternity. You just had to make it to the end of the graves then you could turn back around and get out of here. Or that's what you thought when you had seen it. What looked like a large shadow in the fog. It was quick and nimble suddenly ducking between two graves and disappearing within the fog.
"W-Who's there?!", you shouted shining your lantern in that direction. "I-I-Its too late to be visiting the graves so get out of here!"
What was that?! A grave robber?! A wild animal?! Was one of the local kids out here causing trouble?! Nothing but silence and the distant sounds of an owl hooting answered you. You tried to strain your eyes against the fog to see anything but it was too dark and the fog was too thick. Stepping next to the graves you'd seen the shadow disappear behind also showed you nothing. Perhaps it was just a wild animal like a raccoon or wild dog you scared of or your eyes were playing tricks on you in the dark.
"You're not that old geezer."
You froze at the sudden male voice behind you. In one moment you snapped around you and froze at what you saw. A man!! He stood just some yards away from you sat upon a random gravestone and he stared at you with dark black eyes. He was hard to spot at first through the fog because he wore all black from head to toe minus the strange red accents to his wardrobe. His face bore a calm smile as he stared at you.
You stared at him a little longer before you shook your head making sure you weren't seeing things before frowning. "What are you doing here?" Your hand held up the lantern higher to better see this stranger's face. "The cemetery is closed at night. You shouldn't be here."
Instead of just leaving his brow rose instead. "Is that right? Who are you, Girl? Last time I checked, it's not proper for a girl to be wondering around by herself at night."
"I'm the new caretaker."
Now both his brows rose in surprise and a hand pointed to you. "You?"
You nodded frown widening. "Yes. Now if you wouldn't mind could you please get off of that grave? It IS disrespectful to just sit on one's headstone you know."
"Heh. Well since the pretty lady asked so nicely." He slowly stood up, and you could finally see his figure better within the lantern light. "So you're the new caretaker?," he asked sounding skeptical but still smiling. You nodded and his brows raised. "What happened to that old geezer?"
"He quit and no one else wanted to take his job, so they made me do it." You also looked him up and down. ..You didn't recognize him from the village and he didn't seem to be visiting any graves. "Why are you here in the middle of the night? It's dangerous with wild animals around."
"HA!" You jumped as he barked a laugh. Hands going to be placed on his hips. "As if some wolves and bobcats would scare me. You're looking at the best ghost story novelist in the making!"
"Maybe but that doesn't make them any less dangerous. What are you doing here?"
He shrugged. "I usually come out here to spend some time alone. After all, what better place to gather inspiration for my thrilling novels than an actual cemetery?" He gestured around the fog covered graves like it was obvious. "Barely anyone comes out here anyways so who'd notice me hanging around?" His gaze looked around the cemetery without any fear before looking back to you. "..I also heard there was a new shrine maiden but I didn't think you would be the caretaker too."
You only sighed once more. "Unfortunately I didn't have a say in it. However like it or not I am the caretaker so I must ask you to leave. There's no visitors allowed at night."
He looked a mix of intrigued and amused at your request. "Heh. Sure. I'll get out but in return I get to walk you back home."
You blinked. "What?"
"You heard me. If you want me out of here I'm going to need a good reason." He smirked. "Walking a pretty girl home would be a good enough reason don't you think?"
You sputtered. Was he hitting on you?! "I-...Ugh! Fine!" You side stepped around him to continue on. "But I'm finishing my rounds first."
He made a grunt but didn't say anything else as you walked past him but you knew he was following you because you heard his footsteps behind you. He did indeed follow you your entire route around the cemetery and out of it all the while he calmly laid his hands behind his head as he walked. You looked back a few times but he hadn't done anything to harm you..Though it was strange seeing a stranger out here. You stopped outside of the small temple and turned to the man still behind you.
"Well I'm back. Thank you for walking me back," you said trying to be polite with a bow, "Now please stay out of the cemetery."
"Aw. You're not even going to invite me in?" He leaned closer smiling widely at you as you leaned back. "I've been a good boy til now."
"Sir-" He blinked as you smooshed your hand into his face and pushed him away annoyed. "I don't even know you're name. I don't know who you think I am but I'm not that kind of woman."
He chuckled leaning back up still deeply amused. "You like playing hard to get them?"
"No. I just prefer to get to know someone before I make a move on them. Mister??"
"Please. Mister was my father. Call me Shaun."
You smiled at him. "Well Mr. Shaun, have a nice night. And stay out of the cemetery!"
The door closed in his face before he could say anything. With a sigh you just turned to go blow out the lantern and go to sleep. It's already been a long night. However that was only the first you saw him. The second time was actually the next morning when you were doing your daytime rounds through the cemetery. You always tried to get these rounds done early. You were just walking around when out of nowhere a figure suddenly jumped out from behind a large stone making you shriek out jumping back to see the figure of-
"Good morning, Girly. Did you sleep well last night?"
"..YOU?!" An annoyed feeling bubbled up seeing THAT guy again. He looked very pleased with himself for scaring you. "What are you doing here?!" An accusing hand was pointed at him. "I told you to stay out of the cemetery!"
"You told me to stay out at night. As you can see-" He gestures to the early sunrise. "-its daytime, Sweetheart.~"
"You are starting to get on my nerves! What are you even doing here?"
"You're interesting and I'm in need of some new inspiration."
"..Nice to meet you, In Need Of Some New Inspiration. Im going to go now."
"Hey!" To your dismay he followed you despite you walking past him. "I'm not done talking to you yet. I get bored by myself."
From that day on for the next few months you'd run into Shaun. Sometimes at night and sometimes during the day. And days would pass by in between the times you'd see him. It started out with him annoying you but overtime you started to enjoy his presence. After all you were almost all alone most of the time so having someone around to keep you company was a nice change of pace. Shaun was stubborn and annoying sometimes...But he was better company than the dead people. He was interesting too to say the least. He always carried a bag on him and you asked him about it one night.
He puffed his chest out proudly. "Oh, that?" A hand reached up to pat the large leather satchel. "I said I was a novelist wasn't I? I carry around my journals to take notes or if I'm suddenly inspired!"
Your eyes widened in surprise. "Really? I didn't think there was anyone around here who practiced literature as a career."
"Of course. My teacher took me in and taught me everything I know..." His eyes narrowed off in thought. "After the humans betrayed me."
"What was that?"
"Nothing!...Tell me about the village. Is there still a Wayne family living there?"
He didn't seem to mind you talking. Guess he really didn't have anything better to do. And then one night you met once more with a small surprise. He was already waiting for you by the entrance of your temple as you returned from visiting your family, a small cloth in your hands. He perked up smelling the air a few times before snapping to it.
"Are those blood oranges?"
You giggled but nodded. "You have a good nose." Hands held up the bag to him. "I remembered you mentioned liking them once before so I got you some at the marketplace."
He didn't question it. Immediately just grabbing the bag and in surprising strength ripped right through it before digging in. You just simply watched him devour one orange rather quickly tearing through it ...very unusually. It was hard to explain but he seemed to tilt his head sideways before biting into the plump fruit and slurping the juice up only pausing to spit the peels out before devouring the rest. An odd way to eat it but then again your baby cousin was also a messy eater so you supposed all men were like that in some way-
"What took you so long?" He paused holding a second fruit to look at you and wipe at his mouth. "I've been waiting for you all day to show up! I thought maybe you were spirited away by a dullahan." He teased.
You frowned and crossed your arms. "Well it's not my fault. My parents were showing me my..'fiance'."
He stopped completely to stare at you blankly. "... Your what?"
"My parents decided to arrange a marriage for me without telling me." Your eyes gazed off to the side. "The visit didn't exactly go well."
"... Isn't it strange for a shrine maiden to be married? Where's the priest of this town?!" He suddenly looked annoyed for some reason making you look at him.
"Uh..There isn't any. The last priest was the old shrine maiden's father and he passed away thirty years ago. There hasn't been a priest in the village since so most marriages are officiated by the village elder."
Ah..That made things so much easier then.
"I see...Hey. Come take a walk with me." He offered nodding towards a forest path you liked to go hiking. "It'll take your mind off it, and I can let you read my newest script! I'm calling it 'Midnight's Waning'."
"You know that doesn't sound too bad. Sure."
You hadn't suspected a thing from that day, or from the next two weeks. Not until you woke up early to someone pounding frantically on the temple doors until you answered it to find your mother heavily breathing and drenched in a cold sweat.
"Mother? What are you-"
"Y/n, it's Samson." She sobbed nearly collapsed in on you. "He-He's dead!"
Samson Maine, your 'fiance', was found that morning. Dead as roadkill. His throat ripped out as if some wild animal bit through it and then sucked out all the blood from his body. His corpse was found behind his house the next morning by his neighbor who screamed bloody murder and alerted the whole village to his gruesome discovery. You didn't know what to make of the discovery. It almost didn't seem real as just two weeks prior Samson was at your family's home being introduced to over over eating a salad together. But you had to face reality when you sat there at the funeral and saw his body present. You were not expecting this to happen to you, finding yourself crying for the family and in the arms of an unexpected visitor tapping you on the shoulder.
"S-Shaun?"
He smiled down at you despite a funeral happening around you. "Hi. I was stopping by to see you again, but it looks like a bad time." He gazed around at the multiple people around him. ".. Doesn't look like a wedding? Someone die recently?"
"I-..Why are you-?"
He shrugged casually. "Figured I'd pay my respects to whoever's here. But you look like you knew him." His head tilted with a concerned expression. "Was he a cousin or something?"
In the end you couldn't speak. Only crying as he hugged you smiling sharpened teeth at your head and licking away the lingering redness stained on the back of his tongue. All taken cared of. He smiled at you offering condolences to the loss of your 'friend' and stayed by your side until he was buried. Comforting you and sending any on lookers large unsettling feelings.
You were in hysterics but soon calmed down and allowed life to go on as usual. Ironically the funeral only allowed you to get closer to Shaun and found comfort in his hold. But as life moves on so does your family and their wants for you. And that included future grandchildren-
"Seriously?! They're trying to marry you off again?!" Shaun's angry voice echoed out of the outside of the temple as you stood there and looked at your feet. "It hasn't even been a month since your supposed lover died and they want to marry you off to the next guy?!"
"It's not like I have a choice in the matter. It's just what's done around here."
"Does this dam town still expect you to take care of the temple and cemetery on top of being a stay at home wife?! Or are they planning on letting your future children play amongst the graves?"
"Hey!" You barked at him. "It's not like I want this! I never wanted to take care of any cemeteries or get married off! The only reason I even agreed to this job was because it was supposedly a chance to give me some freedom!"
"Well look how well THAT turned out!!" You went quiet making him sigh. "Look." He gestured a hand to you. "It's obvious no one in this town respects you. You're left all alone in a run down temple and you're made to care for a cemetery of all things. What if you get attacked by the supernatural? Even after all of that you're still expected to get married off to someone else you don't want? ...Not fair if you ask me. They don't care about you, they only threw the dangerous responsibilities they didn't want on the first person they could."
"Then why don't you solve it since you're such a genius, Mr. Novelist?!"
He already did. "Why do you even stay here?! You could just leave!"
"And go where exactly ?!" You finally looked at him. "It's not like I have anywhere to go."
A hand extended making you blink at the sudden gesture. "Yeah. You do." You looked from the hand to Shaun's smile. "Come with me. Forget the guys that would only keep you tied down here."
You just stared at him the hand he was offering like a lifeline. "...I don't know about this."
"Do you trust me?"
"Yes bu-"
The sentence stopped on your lips as he suddenly stood over you. And then suddenly you were engulfed in an embrace as he hugged you burying his face in your shoulder near your neck. You only froze there for a moment before hugging him back tightly
"All you have to do is say you'll come with me. You'll be better off with me. Just say yes."
"....alright."
F I N A L L Y
"Do you trust me?"
"I do."
"Good." His mouth drew closer to your neck his breath cold as fangs enlarged from a maw and black nails clutched the fabric of your dress. "Then forgive me later for this."
No one will forget the day your mother cried bloody murder when she stumbled on the sight of her daughter's limp body being carried off by a monster who's eyes were as black as night with slitted pupils. He left with a mouth covered in blood, a smile spread on those fangs.
In the Collapse (Shaun Murphy x Resident!Fem!Reader)
Part 2? (Maybe)
Word count: 2.9k
Summary: In the chaos of a collapsed brewery rescue site, Dr. Shaun Murphy and you (a resident) fight against crumbling debris, dust, and time to save lives. Amid the danger and adrenaline, emotions surface in the middle of the crisis.
The Good Doctor Masterlist
The brewery site looked less like a rescue zone and more like the aftermath of a war.
Dust hung in the air in thick gray sheets. Concrete cracked underfoot. Twisted beams jutted out from collapsed walls like snapped bones. Sirens screamed from every direction, EMTs shouted over one another, and the whole place carried that terrible feeling of instability, like the building still hadn’t decided if it was done collapsing.
Y/n had been on her feet for too long.
Her hair was half out of its tie, dirt streaked across her cheek, gloves tacky with blood and dust. She was moving from victim to victim in the makeshift triage area that had been set up just outside the most dangerous section of the structure, barking orders, checking pulses, pressing gauze into shaking hands when no one else was free to do it.
“Keep pressure there,” she told a teenage boy with a laceration across his arm. “No, harder than that. If it hurts, that means you’re doing it right.”
A paramedic hurried over. “Doctor, we’ve got another crush injury coming in.”
“Conscious?”
“Barely.”
“Bring him here. Where’s Melendez?”
“Over by the west corridor collapse.”
Y/n nodded once and moved, stepping around broken glass and chunks of plaster.
Everywhere she looked, there was motion. Patients. Firefighters. Nurses from St. Bonaventure who had come straight from the fundraiser in formalwear and changed into scrubs or whatever they could find. Someone was crying. Someone else was vomiting. A child was asking for her mother over and over again in a voice so thin it made Y/n’s chest hurt.
And somewhere beneath all of it…
Shaun.
Still underground.
Still in that flooded basement.
Still with the trapped woman.
Y/n shoved the thought down because it was useless right now. Shaun was doing what Shaun did best: solving the problem in front of him with tunnel vision intensity. She trusted that.
What she didn’t trust was the building.
“Y/n!”
She turned at the sound of Melendez’s voice.
He was several yards away near the edge of the unstable zone, shirt torn, face grimy, one sleeve dark with blood. He looked like hell, but he was still upright, still moving, still directing people with clipped authority.
He pointed toward a pocket of survivors being brought out. “I need you over here.”
She ran.
Lea was near the command area, clutching the walkie talkie with white knuckled fingers.
She wasn’t supposed to be here, not really. Not in the middle of active collapse risk, not with the rescue crews surging in and out. But no one had managed to keep her away from the radio once they realized she was the only one Shaun was answering consistently.
So she stood there amid the chaos, listening to Shaun’s voice crackle in and out through static, trying to keep him anchored and trying not to fall apart.
“Shaun?” she said into the radio. “Can you hear me?”
A burst of static. Then: “Yes.”
Lea closed her eyes briefly in relief. “Okay. Good. Good. They’re still working to get a better route to you.”
“That is too slow.”
“I know.”
She turned away from the rescue crews for a second, trying to hear him better.
Behind her, the main site was a blur of organized panic. The temporary triage station was overflowing. Medical teams were moving in every direction. And through all of it, she kept catching sight of Y/n.
Y/n, who looked like she hadn’t stopped moving since the first collapse.
Y/n, who was helping hold pressure on a wound one second and climbing over debris the next.
Y/n, who kept glancing toward the unstable part of the building every time someone mentioned Shaun’s name.
Lea noticed. Of course she noticed.
She also noticed that every time Shaun asked for an update, he never asked if Lea was okay.
He asked how many victims had been extracted.
He asked whether the water level outside had changed.
And once, in a voice so controlled it nearly gave him away, he had asked:
“Is Y/n still on site?”
Lea had swallowed around the answer.
“Yes.”
That was all he’d said in response.
Now she pressed the radio closer. “Shaun, tell me again where you are.”
“In the lower service corridor adjacent to the boiler room.”
“Still with the woman?”
“Yes. Her name is Vera.”
“Okay.”
“I know her name because she told me.”
Lea almost smiled despite everything. “That’s good, Shaun.”
“I will probably need to amputate.”
The words landed like stones.
Lea shut her eyes. “Okay.”
Around her, a fresh wave of shouting went up.
She turned instinctively toward the noise.
A support section near the west corridor had shifted.
Not a full collapse, not yet, but enough movement to send a spray of debris and a ripple of panic through everyone still working nearby.
“Move! Move back!”
“Watch it!”
“Medics!”
Lea’s heart jumped into her throat.
Across the site, Y/n was already running toward the commotion.
Of course she was.
“Lea?”
Shaun’s voice crackled through the walkie, pulling her back.
“I’m here,” she said quickly, but her eyes stayed fixed on the scene.
Melendez was there now too, helping pull a victim free from beneath a slab of fallen concrete. Y/n dropped to her knees beside them, immediately checking the patient’s airway, shouting for a backboard, for suction, for someone to stabilize the neck.
Even from a distance, Lea could see the grim focus in her face.
“Lea,” Shaun said again, sharper this time. “What happened?”
“Nothing,” she said automatically. “They’re still extracting people.”
It should have ended there.
It didn’t.
Because the building shifted again.
This time the sound was horrible, a deep cracking groan that cut through every other noise at the site.
People screamed.
Lea snapped her head up.
A fractured beam and a rain of concrete tore loose from the unstable overhang above the west corridor.
Everything after that happened too fast.
Melendez looked up first. He lunged toward one of the victims.
Y/n turned at the shout, shoving a paramedic backwards just as the debris came down.
The beam glanced off the wreckage, slammed into the edge of the triage zone, and caught Y/n across the side hard enough to throw her violently to the ground.
For half a second, Lea couldn’t breathe.
The walkie talkie was still live in her hand.
And suddenly the air around her was full of noise.
“Doctor down!”
“Y/n!”
“Get that beam off her!”
“We need help over here!”
“Melendez is hit too!”
“Oh my God-“
The radio hissed in Lea’s grip.
She looked down too late.
Too late to stop the chaos from carrying straight through the open channel.
Underground, Shaun froze.
He had been reaching for the improvised equipment beside Vera’s trapped leg when the screaming came through the radio in a burst of static and terror.
At first it was just noise.
Too much overlapping sound. Too many variables. Hard to parse.
Then one thing cut through.
“Doctor Y/n is down!”
His whole body went still.
The flashlight trembled in his hand.
Over the radio, voices crashed together.
“Get her out!”
“She’s bleeding!”
“Where’s a pulse?”
“We need a collar!”
“Melendez, don’t move-“
Someone was shouting Y/n’s name.
Someone else shouted back, “She’s not waking up!”
The tunnel seemed to constrict around him.
The air changed.
Or maybe it was just him.
“Lea,” Shaun said, but it barely came out as a voice.
Static.
Then Lea, breathless and shaken and too far away.
“Shaun-“
“What happened?”
No answer fast enough.
His chest started to hurt.
“What happened?”
“Shaun, Y/n got hit. There was another collapse and she-“
“How badly?”
“I don’t know.”
That wasn’t acceptable.
He gripped the radio so tightly his fingers hurt. “How bad?”
Lea turned away from the scene, but the sounds were still there, still spilling through, medics yelling, metal scraping, someone calling for intubation equipment, a monitor being dragged over uneven ground.
“She’s unconscious,” Lea said, voice breaking. “They’re working on her now.”
Unconscious.
Working on her now.
Shaun’s vision sharpened into something painful.
Beside him, Vera made a frightened noise. “What’s wrong?”
He didn’t answer.
Aboveground, through the radio, a paramedic shouted, “We’ve got weak carotid pulse!”
Someone else: “BP crashing!”
And then, like a knife slid clean between his ribs: “Tell Dr. Lim we may lose her!”
Shaun turned so abruptly he nearly lost his footing in the water.
Go back.
Go now.
Leave.
Leave the woman. Leave the tunnel. Leave everything.
Y/n was dying.
Every thought in his head began collapsing into that single fact, crowding out everything else.
Vera was talking, crying, maybe,but he couldn’t process the words.
The radio crackled with Lea’s voice, frantic now. “Shaun, listen to me-“
“I need to go back.”
The words came out flat and wrong.
“Shaun-“
“I need to go back.”
His breathing was too fast. His skin felt cold. The tunnel was suddenly too small, the dark too close, the water too loud.
Because Y/n was hurt.
Because she was above him, somewhere above all that concrete and wreckage and blood, and he was down here.
Because she might die while he was down here.
He took one step toward the way out.
Then Vera spoke.
Not loudly.
Not dramatically.
Just one broken, terrified sentence:
“Please don’t leave me.”
It hit him like impact.
Shaun stopped moving.
Every muscle in his body locked.
Because if he left, she would die.
Immediate exsanguination risk. Flood risk. Entrapment. No rescue team in time.
If he left, Vera died.
And Y/n…
Y/n would know that.
Y/n, who ran toward danger instead of away from it.
Y/n, who would throw herself under falling debris for a patient and then probably apologize for making paperwork more complicated.
Y/n, who believed medicine meant you stayed until the very end.
If he left Vera to die for her, she would hate it.
More than that…
She would understand it.
And that was worse.
His breath shook.
He lifted the radio again. “Lea.”
“I’m here.”
“Is she alive?”
A pause.
Then: “mhm.”
It wasn’t enough, but it was everything.
“Is she still alive?”
Lea’s voice broke completely. “Yes.”
Shaun shut his eyes.
One second.
Two.
Then he opened them and turned back to Vera.
“I am going to save you,” he said, voice scraped raw. “Then I am going to her.”
Aboveground, Y/n drifted in and out through pain and noise.
The world was fractured into pieces. Sound came strangely, like it was reaching her through water.
Hands on her.
Pressure on her chest.
A voice saying her name.
Another saying, “Stay with me.”
She tried.
God, she tried.
Every breath hurt. Her side felt wrong, deeply, terribly wrong, and there was warmth spreading beneath her back that she knew, clinically, was blood.
She coughed and tasted iron.
“Y/n, look at me.”
That was Claire.
Or maybe Lim.
No… no it was Claire.
Claire’s face swam into focus above her, wild-eyed and furious in the way people got when they were scared.
“Hey. Hey, stay awake.”
Y/n tried to answer.
Nothing came out.
To the side, Melendez was on the ground too, propped against debris, pale and glassy but still conscious enough to be arguing with someone trying to assess him.
That would’ve been funny under different circumstances.
“BP is dropping.”
“We need to move now.”
“Chest sounds diminished on the left.”
“Possible internal bleed.”
Critical, Y/n thought dimly.
That’s… bad.
Then darkness pressed in again.
The next thing she registered was Lea’s voice somewhere nearby, thin and shaking.
“Shaun knows.”
Y/n wanted to laugh.
That sounded bad too.
Underground, Shaun worked with brutal precision.
He didn’t let himself think past the next step.
Clamp.
Cut.
Control bleeding.
Reassure the patient.
Move.
The only way through it was through it.
His hands stayed steady because they had to.
But everything else in him was fraying.
Vera screamed once.
Then again.
Then she was free.
Rescuers reached them minutes later, but it felt like years. Shaun barely registered them taking over. He barely registered the praise, the urgency, the movement.
The moment there were other hands on Vera, he turned and climbed.
By the time he reached the surface, soaked through and shaking, the whole site looked even worse.
His eyes found Lea first because she was running toward him.
He met her halfway.
“Where is she?”
No hello. No are you okay.
Just that.
Lea’s face crumpled for a split second before she steadied it. “They’re loading her into the ambulance.”
Shaun was already moving.
“Shaun-”
He didn’t stop.
Near the ambulance, the world narrowed.
Claire was there, covered in dust and blood. Lim was issuing orders. A paramedic was bagging someone through an oxygen mask.
And on the stretcher…
Y/n.
Pale.
Too pale.
A cervical collar around her neck. Blood on her temple. Oxygen mask in place. One side of her scrub top cut open, bandages pressed hard against her ribs and flank. Her hand hung limp off the edge of the stretcher until a paramedic tucked it back in.
For one awful second, Shaun couldn’t make his body move.
Then he was there.
“Shaun,” Claire said, startled.
He looked at the monitor, at the blood pressure, at the oxygen saturation, at the bruising, at the dressing already shadowing through.
“What happened?”
“Blunt force trauma,” Lim said. “Possible splenic injury, probable hemothorax, maybe more. She’s crashing.”
Crashing.
The word echoed.
Y/n stirred weakly at the sound of voices.
Her eyes fluttered open just enough to find him.
For a second, everything in her face changed.
Some of the strain left her. Some of the fear.
“Shaun,” she breathed through the mask.
He stepped closer immediately.
“I am here.”
Her gaze moved over him as if checking him for injuries first, because of course it did. Even now.
He hated how much that made his throat tighten.
“You…” She fought for the breath. “You got out.”
“Yes.”
The corner of her mouth twitched, a ghost of something fond and exhausted. “Good.”
A medic adjusted the IV line. “We need to move.”
Y/n’s hand twitched against the stretcher.
Shaun caught it instantly.
Her fingers were cold.
“I heard them say you were unconscious,” he said, because apparently that was the thing he needed to say first. “Your blood pressure is low. You may need surgery.”
She blinked at him slowly. “Still… doing terrible with your bedside manners.”
“It is getting better.”
That tiny almost smile again.
Then pain hit her hard enough that her face tightened beneath the mask.
Shaun leaned in. “Stay awake.”
“I’m trying.”
He believed her.
Lea had made it over by then, stopping a few feet away.
She looked between them and understood everything all at once.
Not later.
Not eventually.
Now.
Not because Shaun said something grand.
Because he didn’t even look at her.
Not really.
He was entirely focused on Y/n, on the stretcher, on the monitor, on the hand in his.
“Shaun,” Lea said softly.
He glanced up, but only briefly.
The ambulance doors stood open.
Lim was climbing in.
“Come with us or stay here,” Claire said to him, not unkindly. “But decide now.”
Lea took a breath like she might say something.
Maybe that he needed rest.
Maybe that he should get checked out too.
Maybe that she was here.
But Shaun looked back at Y/n, at the blood on the stretcher rails, at the mask fogging faintly with each fragile breath.
And that was it.
That was the decision.
“I’m going with Y/n.”
Simple.
Immediate.
Absolute.
Lea’s face fell, not dramatically, not angrily, just with the quiet pain of hearing the truth said out loud.
But she nodded.
Because she understood.
Because even if Shaun didn’t fully have the words for it yet, the choice had already been made long before he said it.
He climbed into the ambulance without looking back.
Inside, as they worked around her, Y/n’s eyes opened again.
Shaun stayed at her side, one hand braced on the stretcher, the other still holding hers with careful intensity.
She looked at him through the haze and pain. “You saved… the woman?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
He swallowed hard.
“I almost left her.”
Y/n’s gaze sharpened, faint but present.
“But you didn’t,” she whispered.
“No.”
Her fingers tightened weakly around his.
“Good,” she said again, and this time it sounded like more than approval. It sounded like relief. Like trust. Like she knew exactly what it had cost him.
The siren wailed as the ambulance lurched forward.
Shaun leaned closer, lowering his voice so only she could hear.
“I heard them say you were dying.”
Y/n’s lashes fluttered.
He kept going because stopping felt impossible now.
“I heard the chaos in the background. I heard them say your name. I heard them say they might lose you.”
Something in his face must have shown, because her expression softened even through the pain.
“I’m here,” she murmured.
His jaw tightened.
“I know.”
Then, after one trembling second: “I chose you.”
Her eyes filled.
Not because it was dramatic.
Not because it was polished.
Because it was Shaun.
Because with him, the simplest sentence was often the deepest cut.
Outside the ambulance, the city was still broken open by disaster.
Inside it, Shaun Murphy sat beside Y/n’s stretcher with blood and dust still on his skin, choosing her in the only way he knew how, completely.
Just like a would in an actual visual novel, you’ll be going through this but you will have a storyline with each character. The route will be separate from the other routes. So each of them won’t be connected at all.
Enjoy the piece of trash I’ve written, cause this gon’ be one long ass post.
\Again
He did it a-fucking -gain
Half naked on top of another random woman, and here you are standing at the front of his bedroom door with a bag of cookies made just for him. It's nothing new honestly. Just a repetitive loop that happens over and over again. The shock isn't even there to show on your face, instead a conniving smile stretches across your face, “Ah, it seems as though I'm interrupting a friendly moment here."
The red head snaps his attention to you, with the most 'worried' expression, “Y-y/n! It's not what it looks like! Honest!”
You give him a blank through your jeweled veil as he tries to take out another sad excuse in his book.
Oh this poor bumbling idiot, he hasn't realized that you're already sick of his shit. You raised a gloved hand at him as a sign to stop talking, at the same time the woman on his bed wraps her arms around his neck from behind pressing his breasts against his back
"Ian, what's wrong? Is she bothering you?" she said in a seductive voice. Red flushes across lan's cheeks, a reaction that used to be for you. The woman glances at you with a smirk. However you couldn't care less.
*You can have him, you thought, less work for me'
You set the cookies on a nearby small table, "I’Il just leave these here then." exiting the room.
"W-wait!" Ian pleaded wanting you to stay and listen, but you didn't live your whole life to put up with this. With a turn on your heel, you walk down the adorned hallways as the palace's maids and butlers slightly bow, not looking back.
Ian Duff, the crown prince bound to be next in line for the throne. And as his fiance you are the soon-to-be queen.
At first, you felt happy.
Happy because you would be with your 'lover' since childhood, and throughout the years were also the times that drifted you from each other. The times when he would shower me with affection, only for it to be for other women that jump into his sheets. While you just sit pretty as a doll that can't say anything about it. It just pisses you off!
You stop at an open window, admiring the royal garden, if you could, you would take off the jewels that covered your eyes but the nagging feeling of attendants nearby would gawk at the sudden sight.
You really needed air, and you're just taking the chance to clear your head. It's just... hard to always handle this problem Leaning at the edge of the window, eyes closed and rubbing your temples, the veil shifting slightly.
"Mew!"
A squeaky little meow makes you jolt. Opening your eyes, you see a gray tiny kitten peeking underneath the veil. She has a small purple envelope tied to her back. Readjusting yourself to look at her properly. You smiled as you curled a finger to scratch her chin. "Hey little Moonpie, got something for your aunty?"Moonpie purrs in response. Distracting the little messenger you take the note and read it.
"Heya kitty!
I got something cool I want you to see. Meet me in the woods tonight?”
You softly chuckle to yourself, “what a dork.”
At least he’s the only guy in your life
At the same time, Moonpie jumps off the window ledge and trots her way into the forest.
Well, looks like you gotta get ready.
_________________
The sound of leaves crunch underneath your boots. The change of attire suitable for exploring out in the woods, knee high boots, white shirt with a vest, a long cloak, and a bag filled with needed supplies. It's also perfect for when you need to blend into a crowd of commoners while out and about.
You scan the area of the meeting spot, you don't see him around. Maybe he's just late?
"Shaun?"
No response
"Shaun wher-"
A pair of large hands weigh on your shoulders, feeling your whole body go stiff.
"Guess who-"
A voice all too familiar to you. You look up to see a dark-skinned man's face looming over you with dreads dipped in blue dye wearing a beast skull on his head with black-purplish fur reaching his back to top it off. "C'mon, I told you to stop that!" you said swatting at him, Shaun avoids your mini assault stepping away from you.
"Hah! What makes you think I'll promise such a thing?" he puts a dramatic hand on his chest. "You're just breaking my heart. How else can I have your undying attention?"
You couldn't but roll your eyes at his little performance. "Ya know, if it wasn't for my little niece i wouldn't even be here." Shaun gives you a raised brow and a shit eating grin. "And you would've still seen me."
He ruffles your hair, "C'mon, we don't wanna be out for too long." suggesting while grabbing a hold of your wrist to guide you to a safe point.
_______________
We stop in front of a small cabin, a very charming in fact one belonging to no other person but Shaun's. The inside of the cabin has already been decorated to his taste. I set my bag at the table full of little projects he's made before as he also takes off the beat skull on his head, tattoos of deciphers on his back. "So what's it you have to show this time?" I asked
Shaun gives a wide grin all that you recognize. “My god, Shaun, I swear if it’s another-” however your words are interrupted.
“Okay before you, finish. Lemme just show you.”
he pulls out of glass box in his hands revealing to what looks to be-
“… a… slime?” You tilt your head to the side. Sensing the confusion, Shaun explains.
“It’s an acidic slime! Perfect for this one practice I’m doing.”
“And is it safe?”
….
“….Shaun? It’s safe, right??”
……..
Beads of sweats from on his forehead, nervously shifting his eyes to a very nice wall.
“Shaun are you kidding me right now?!”
“Cmon, it’s not that bad! I made sure myself.”
Narrowing his eyes, you move your attention to the slime. Its green color shines in the candle lights, and it’s …rather cute too. “Well if you say so, I trust your judgment.”
Shaun gives a shit eating grin in victory, “See? A professional you can rely on.”
Hmm, to think you became friends with a guy like him.
Thunk!
The sudden sound alerts the duo, and look in the glass box.
“Ahh, shit!!”
The slime melted through the glass and landed on the wooden floor sinking into it in the process. However, it stopped and looked at Shaun.
“Uhh, it looks… angry?”
“Y/n, don’t. Move.”
….
The creature stretches into a lengthy height, over towering the idiot.
“Or start running!”
Shaun dodges the slime as it lunges at him. One attack after another items are getting destroyed and small animals running away from the little boxes they were being held in. “Professional my ass! You didn’t make sure it was in the right box!”
“I thought it was slime proof!”
You tried to dodge the next attack, but it grazed you left thigh. On the floor, you yelped in pain, it’s burned through your boot. You take it off as fast as you can before the acid could spread anymore.
Distracted, the slime rushes to the small woman to give one clean hit. Seeing the raised tentacles, you closed your eyes prepared.
….
The sound of a vortex is heard, lid slamming after. The sound of heavy breathing, the sound of heavy footsteps, to a pair of large hands cupping your face. “…You can open them now.”
With your vision returned, the feeling of your chest tightens.
Shaun is inches away from you, looking concerned. His eyes scan you until he spots the few on your leg. “Damn… it really got you bad.”
“What, happened?”
He says that he found another jar for emergencies in his projects. And this time, he made sure it was a very secure one.
You let out a sigh of relief. “That’s good to know… although”
You sock him in the ribs
The impact made him cough, “Ack! Ow, okay, yeah I deserve that.”
Even though your lives were in danger, it stop you laughing in the aftermath. It was a hellish experience but it’ll be worth the tale later on in the future. “This is nice and all, but I really need some patching up here.”
Shaun nods and lifts you to your feet, he plops you on an untouched table.
The sight of the scar makes him wince.
Med kit already in hand, he skillfully fixes the wound. “It’ll need to heal for a couple days,” he implied. “Right now, the slime only paralyzed your leg, it should be fine for you to walk around tomorrow.”
Oh
…
Oh!
That means you won’t be able to return to the palace tonight! If the servants notice you were absent, it’ll trigger a search.
….
At the same time though, you’re not really paid much attention to, the servants would probably not be bothered to report it. Huh? At least your reputation benefits you.
“Guess i’m sleeping over” you stretch out your arms to Shaun, with a tinge of red on his face, he lifts you and takes you around the house to assist with your night.
“…One bed?”
You turn to Shaun, already in sleepwear, he rubs the nape of his neck, trying to cool the blood rushing to his cheeks. “Yeah uh, if it makes you comfortable, I can just sleep on the floor”
You shake your head and disagreement, “No, no. It’s okay. I… honestly prefer that we share.”
A shy smile changes your lips. Repeating to yourself over and over that he’s just a friend.
…right?
*Holds out bowl* Tips and advice, please?
(Oh! Part 2??)
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
Summary: Shaun receives the best birthday present he's ever had (his words)
A/N: What's this? A fic? MY GOSH! Yes, I know it's been a while (a looooong while) since I posted anything, but it didn't feel right not to do something for Shaun's fortieth birthday. Hopefully, after January, once I've sat my final exams (!!) I can get back into writing more often (she says)!
“Of all the ways I imagined I'd be spending my fortieth birthday,” Shaun said as he read the instructions in his hand, “this was definitely not one of them.”
“What sort of things were you imagining, then?” you asked, sorting different-sized screws as you sat cross-legged on the floor across from him.
He smirked slightly as his eyes met yours. “I had hoped for something along the lines of how we celebrated my 30th,” he hummed, waggling his eyebrows at you.
You snorted and rolled your eyes. “Yeah, like I'm in any condition to be that flexible right now,” you said, rubbing a hand across your swollen abdomen. “Kind of hard to be when I feel like I've got a watermelon strapped to my middle.”
Shaun gave a small laugh before he leaned over to press a kiss to your forehead. “Just being with you is enough,” he said. “Anyway, let's get this crib built. No time like the present!”
The word ‘present’ suddenly jogged your memory. “Oh, wait, before we get started, let me give you your birthday pressie!” You gestured to Shaun to help you stand.
“I was beginning to think you hadn't got me anything,” he teased, earning himself a scowl.
“Don't be rude, you know I've got baby brain,” you huffed, finally on your feet. “Wait there, and before you ask, no, your present is not me with a bow on my head…not this year, anyway!” Shaun's laughter followed you as you headed into your bedroom to get his gift, carefully wrapped and hidden away.
You returned to find him already started on the crib’s construction, his brow furrowed in concentration as he studied the instructions in front of him. God, he always looks so sexy when he's focused, you thought to yourself, before willing your hormones to relax before you did end up attempting to celebrate this birthday in the same way as his 30th.
“Couldn't wait to start, I see,” you commented.
Shaun hummed. “The sooner it's done, the sooner we can go out and enjoy the day.” He looked up at you and noticed the gift in your hands. “Although I suppose I can take a moment to open my birthday present!”
“Of course you can,” you said, rolling your eyes and grinning as you sat next to him. “Here you go, but be gentle with it! Happy birthday, my love.”
Shaun took the gift from you carefully as instructed, turning it over in his hands. “Hmm, what could it be that needs such delicate handling?” he wondered aloud, examining the thin package.
“Well, I'm no expert, but if you open it, you might find out!” You smiled innocently at him when he narrowed his eyes at you in response to your sarcasm.
“Even on my birthday, I don't get a break from your sass,” he huffed as he began to unwrap his present.
“Please, you'd think I didn't love you if I didn't sass you at least once a day,” you said with a chuckle. “Anyway, you're one to talk!”
“I haven't the foggiest idea what you're on about, I am always perf-” Shaun stopped mid-sentence, eyes wide as he stared at the item in his hands he'd finally unwrapped. “Oh, my God, is this what I think it is?”
“If what you're thinking is ‘is this an incredibly rare original pressing vinyl of Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys?’, then yes, it is what you think it is.”
Shaun didn’t say anything. He just sat there, staring at the vinyl in his hands. He'd been a fan of The Beach Boys since he was a child. It was something he and his father used to share, and even now, you'd sometimes find him working away with their songs playing, or singing one softly to himself.
“Where, um, wh-where did you get this?” he asked quietly, finally finding his voice again.
You shrugged. “Well, to be honest, I don't remember where I got it.”
Shaun looked at you in confusion. “What do you mean you don't remember? Is the baby brain that bad?”
You rolled your eyes. “No, it's not baby brain, not this time. I don't remember because I bought it for you back in 2014.”
Shaun's jaw dropped. “You've had this for eleven years?!”
“Yep, eleven years,” you confirmed, “I can't remember exactly where I found it, but I know it was when we had some downtime. It might have been when we were in Norway, actually.”
Shaun stared at you for a moment. “We weren't even a couple when we were in Norway. What made you buy this?”
“Oh, well, that I remember. When I saw it in…wherever I got it from, I remembered you once mentioning that it was your favourite album of theirs, so I thought it would be a nice gift to get for you. When the guy selling it told me it was a rare copy, well, I just knew you’d love it.” You sighed before continuing, “I had been waiting for the right time to give it to you, but then…you know, with everything that happened, there never was a right time. I obviously stored it with my things and then forgot about it. It was only recently that I found it again, when we were clearing out things to make room for Pipsqueak. It made sense that your birthday would be the perfect time to finally give it to you!”
Shaun didn’t say anything for a moment. He just kept looking at you, an odd look on his face.
“My God,” he finally said, a small smile on his lips, “I can’t believe you were in love with me back then.”
It was your turn for your jaw to drop. “Excuse me?!” you spluttered, affronted. “I was definitely not in love with you when I bought that. I just…saw something I thought my good friend Shaun would like!” Shaun was right, of course, but you weren’t about to let him know that.
Shaun burst out laughing at your outrage. “Oh come on, you vividly remembered something I had no doubt said in passing, and then proceeded to spend what I can only imagine was a fair amount of money on an item for me, just because you thought I’d like it? No, you were definitely in love with me. You were probably too stubborn to admit it to yourself.”
“Okay, yes, I was in love with you then but wouldn’t admit it to myself,” you conceded, “I bet you were the same!”
“Oh, I was definitely in love with you back then,” Shaun said casually, “I’m fairly certain that I fell in love with you after our first mission together. It just took me a while to realise.”
Hearing that brought a wide smile to your face. “I’m not surprised that’s what made you fall in love with me. How could you not have? I saved our lives, after all,” you said with a giggle, scootching closer to him to rest your head on his shoulder. “Should have suspected something with the way you carried me back to the van.”
Shaun chuckled, wrapped an arm around your shoulders and kissed the top of your head. “Thank you for this. It’s the best present I’ve ever received, and that’s including the time my parents bought me the Thunderbirds Tracy Island playset.” He kissed you again before standing. “Right. Let me put this on, and then we’ll get this crib built.”
Moments later, the opening chords of Wouldn’t It Be Nice began to play, and Shaun returned, singing along. Maybe it wasn’t the fortieth birthday he had in mind, but there was no doubt in your mind he’d consider this birthday one of his best.
Another day, another hyperfixation. I'm down bad for SWWSDJ, on my fucking knees for these men. Naturally I'm open to write about them, I take requests and will be posting my own pennings as well. Writings will be primarily "x reader" and OC inserts or additions will be very rare.
I'm open to writing troubling content at discretion- trigger warnings will be used when applicable
I write NSFW (obvi with this game) & sfw, nsfw will be states and put under cut
Headcannons, scenarios, fics/blurbs, reactions--down for all of it
Multiple characters per ask is allowed
Write for: Jack, Joseph, Ian, and Shaun, or to the best of my ability
Also down to RP, shoot me a dm. Or just to chat.
I'll update this with housekeeping if needed but that covers the broadstrokes of it.
