tw // genocide, mentions of mass executions and ozai typical racism
Katara stands in the Fire Nation palace, some unimportant terrace that one of Zuko's guards guided her to. He would be meeting her here soon, though she wasn't so sure why. Urgent news, he told her, so soon after his coronation that they had barely even had time to pack up and head back to Ba Sing Se to figure out the rest of their lives.
Zuko entered, but Katara heard the sound of his robes shuffling against the wood floors before his footsteps.
"Katara," Zuko hadn't been used to talking so much, that his voice sounded gravelly, he had been overusing it. Katara remembered he sounded like this, too, after he had come back from his excursion with Aang, though she didn't like to admit to noticing it at the time. "I have news regarding the Southern Water Tribe."
Katara quirked a brow. "What? What happened?"
"Nothing has happened to the Southern Water Tribe itself, it is just that..." Zuko trailed off, and he placed his hands against the terrace railing. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, but his hands remained relaxed. "We found where they were keeping the waterbenders from your tribe."
"You... You mean...?"
"Yes... Where they were keeping Hama and the others."
Katara felt her eyes wet with tears before she could even breathe. She wrapped her arms around herself, as if to hug. "Where? Sh—She didn't tell me where they were keeping her, I—"
Zuko turned to face her, and upon meeting her eyes, his face hardened. "They had been moved following Hama's escape, and once again after Aang had been discovered. You know why they were keeping them, they didn't want the Avatar to be reborn into the Earth Kingdom..." Zuko bit his lip. "But after Aang's discovery, former Fire Lord Ozai intended to..."
Katara clenched her fist. Even after his imprisonment, did Ozai still intend to torment her? "Are they...?"
Zuko shook his head. "No, many of them are still alive. While it was the intention, they still had bigger fish, aka the actual Avatar himself, to fry." Zuko looked away, then, suddenly nervous. "Katara, I... Of course, I intend to free them. I was going to see to it myself, to be there for their freedom. And I was wondering... if..."
Biting her lip, Katara took a step forward, as if to urge him on... As if she knew exactly what he was about to say.
"You could come with me."
It was hard to smile, but also so easy, the thought of Katara being the last waterbender of the Southern Water Tribe for so long, and had Ozai's plans been seen to fruition, she truly would have been... The fact there were people out there, there were still waterbenders from her own village there, it made Katara want to go there herself, at this very moment.
"Only if we leave right away. Oh, and Sokka gets to come. It's important for him too."
A few months ago, Katara would've been the one to say— you all had such a long day, you need your sleep. They had been up since the sunrise with Zuko's coronation, with healing wounds and preparing themselves for their new dawn. It was night now, the moon was about to be at its peak, yet Katara had never felt more alive.
Zuko smiled. "I have ships at the dock waiting for us now." But then it fell, just a bit. "And Sokka can come if we can separate him and Suki."
Grinning, Katara reached out for Zuko's hand— gentle— he was still hurt after the lightning strike, and pulled him back into the palace, through the halls. Though tears still wetted her cheeks, she felt bursting with joy. Zuko's smile seemed wider than she had ever seen it before, which was definitely saying something... Considering it was Zuko.
"I'm almost surprised you asked for me to come, since... Well, I'm not like anyone special in your Super Important Fire Court."
Zuko shrugged. "It's important to you." And then, he straightened his robe. "It's also important for the world. To bring along the master waterbender who saved my life from my sister's lightning. Aang isn't the only bridge between worlds, we have to be like that too." He pursed his lips. "At least, that's what Uncle Iroh said."
Katara laughed, and wiped away her tears. "He's right. I'm just... glad you told me first."
Zuko smiled, warm, tilting his head to the side slightly. "I'd be an idiot not to."
a/n: ty for reading! i def want to make this into a bigger thing buuut i didn't have enough time and wanted to post at least a smaller insight into my bigger ideas based on these prompts. i had this idea independently, but upon researching, i saw that zuko actually did find the imprisoned waterbenders and freed them! so even though this was my idea, i'll say this is sort of missing scene jbc i think he would 100% want katara to be part of it, especially if she told him about hama (which she def did during TSR idc). this is def supposed to be romantic-coded but you can 100% read this as friendly, their friendship means so much to me and i can't foresee them being together straight after the events of the series anyway. hope you enjoyed! i have a juicy one for day 7!
༺ waltz ‘til you’re sore baekhyun / jongdae 【 M 】 — ongoing, 3/?, 14k words
Every five years Baekhyun is met with his greatest enemy and soon-to-be husband... And at the age of 21, he is to teach him how to dance. [HIATUS]
# arranged marriage # royalty!au # hate to love # growing up together
༺ broken glass luhan / jongdae 【 T 】 — 19.9k
A conspicuous glass bottle on Luhan's dresser, and a letter inside from a man twenty years in the future.
# science fiction # epistolary # time travel-ish
༺ royal flush chanyeol / jongin 【 E 】 — 3.2k
Well, this was a bad idea. Chanyeol blamed the finished bottle of rosé, and not his poor decision making. It was the only way he could save his broken pride, and his flaccid penis.
# oh my god they were roommates # strip poker # plot what plot? # blow jobs
༺ slide in chanyeol / jongin 【 E 】 — 10.5k
Jongin welcomes his lost dog back into his home on a rainy night.
# human x werewolf # forced proximity # exes to lovers # breeding
༺ like peaches chanyeol / jongin 【 M 】 — 6.5k
Jongin, as a nymph, has always been told to never leave the small village he had always grown up in, in fear of the outside humans taking advantage of his inherited powers as a dryad of peach trees. When Jongin escapes one night to explore the forest, he runs into a group of hunters who chase him down. When Jongin is injured, he finds himself losing consciousness... And wakes up inside of a small cabin with a tall man Jongin had seen the few times he had been outside of the village as of late, a man he affectionately calls "Evergreen".
# nymph!jongin # meet cute # minor violence
༺ you’ve got a way with words chanyeol / jongdae / jongin 【 E 】 — 9.0k
Chanyeol finds himself in love with probably the worst thing ever: a mated omega.
Awkward silence filled the cracks of their relationship. Or maybe it was just awkward for Luhan. Awkward for him because he was the one who showed his true self first when they ended things on that Neptune military base they were stationed at.
# science fiction # post-war # exes to lovers # fluff and angst
༺ warm-ups chanyeol / jongin 【 E 】 — 4.1k
Asshole. Jongin thought, bringing up his number by two decimals, and yes, Chanyeol was paying attention. Jongin didn’t even know what brought this on, but the two of them were pushing the numbers up and up until they reached 12 and the two of them were racing to an imaginary finish line.
# gym rivals # plot what plot/pron without plot # top!cy / btm!ji
GG FEMSLASH
༺ divine loona ; jungeun / heejin 【 G 】 — 13.2k
An upcoming war is looming over Anool’s head and Princess Heejin is given the duty to seal the evil. She is struggling with unlocking her power and feeling inferior is a given. What doesn’t help is that she is given a personal knight, who is too caring for Heejin’s liking. [HIATUS]
# botw/legend of zelda au # royalty au
༺ not for me, for you wjsn ; exy / bona 【 T 】 — 2.2k
Sojung stays with Jiyeon on the night Sojung's boyfriend breaks up with her.
# post break up # friends to lovers # hurt comfort
Tzuyu, living completely in her head, creates elaborate worlds surrounding the girl in her second-year English class. With a head of ever-changing styles and colours, Tzuyu longs for the day she will speak to her.
She doesn't expect the day to come when she is missing her sketchbook full of drawings of her crush, fretting over the girl finding them and ruining Tzuyu's image.
However, when the girl with flaming orange hair returns the sketchbook without much of a word, Tzuyu can't help but wonder:
"That's it?"
# university!au # crushes # anxiety
OTHER
༺ the heir jongin / soojung & seulgi / sehun 【 T 】 — 12.6k
Following an alternate version of what we know and love to be Hogwarts, Kim Jongin, Kang Seulgi, Jung Soojung, and Oh Sehun are faced with the everlasting classism and prejudice against each house. The Gryffindor, the mighty and the annoying within the castle create conflict and take advantage of their long-winning House and Quidditch Cup. The other houses are not as rambunctious and hearty, though when a surprising attack on the Gryffindor that point fingers all towards the Slytherin house, it is up to the Head Boy Jongin and Head Girl Soojung, as well as the house representatives, Seulgi and Sehun, to figure out who attacked Gryffindor and why. [HIATUS]
# hogwarts / hp!au # school # magic
༺ in your fantasy baekhyun / taeyeon 【 M 】 — 2.9k
Breaking the rules is just something Baekhyun likes to do, and seeing his ex-girlfriend he hadn't seen since his mission back in the 1300s, is definitely breaking every kind of rule.
# time traveler # assassins # vampires # exes to lovers
༺ day of reckoning chanyeol / wendy 【 M 】 — 6.1k
Seungwan returns to the ghosts of the graveyard she left behind. In their wake, she meets the one who burns of divine light to guide Seungwan to the truth.
# sci fi # mecha / nge au # major character death kinda # alien invasion
Aang is stuck in a time-loop during Crossroads of Destiny, forced to relive the moment of choosing Katara over the Avatar State and dying because of it over and over and over. Can he rewrite his fate? How can he do so, without giving up his love for Katara? Can he even do that?
But what Aang doesn't know, is that Katara is living through that day too.
Forced to live through finding Zuko and Iroh in the tea shop, forced to live through being captured by the Dai Li... Forced to live through connecting with Zuko in the catacombs, forced to offering to heal his scar, forced to live through him betraying her and killing Aang...
Over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over.
But she has no way to stop it. Because it's not something she can fix. Only the Avatar can.
shalvis week day 2 — modern AU / university!au — wc: 2.7k
Fiora was clear— do not stand anywhere NEAR her unless Melia was next to her. She didn't want anyone to get any weird ideas.
Shulk understood the sentiment, after all, they were a team-costume for Halloween this year. But if just Shulk and Fiora stood next to each other then it would be quite... Fiora and Melia didn't particularly care if people thought that Shulk and Fiora were a couple. Before Fiora came out as a lesbian 5 years ago, everyone in their small town thought the two of them were going to be married. And sometimes, to protect her own sanity, she wouldn't correct people if they thought Shulk and Fiora were together, and Melia wouldn't either, especially if the three of them were at some creepy party and some guys were hitting on them. Shulk wasn't the scariest looking guy, but he could hold things off until Reyn came around.
No, what Fiora cared about was the implications behind their costumes.
That being, that Shulk was dressed up as Ikari Shinji from Neon Genesis Evangelion, and Fiora was dressed as Asuka Langley Soryu, and Melia as Ayanami Rei. Of course, this thorough introduction was mostly unnecessary, even the smallest of British towns where they lived had been touched by nerds such as themselves. Which is exactly why Fiora didn't want Shulk to stand next to her.
"I don't want people to think we are wearing a couple costume of them." She reiterated on the street of the party they were going to. "It'll make us look like... We are super straight or something!" Fiora clenched her hands into fists and shook them towards the house, like a curse. "Like at that point we may as well go as the main characters from Darling in the Franxx, or something."
"And you have nothing to say against me and Melia standing next to each other?"
Fiora shook her head. "People don't think you and Melia are a couple."
"Maybe they wouldn't think we were ones either, if you didn't use me all the time when we go to clubs and stuff."
"So much for girl power, Shulk! What happened to you being an ally? I need the male protection in this current world we live in! At least long enough for me to get my knives out."
Shulk stopped in his tracks. "Don't you dare bring them out again today. We got kicked out last time because of it."
Fiora turned her head and scoffed. "Only if those brutes keep their hands off of me and Melly."
They continued to the party, meeting up with Melia outside. Their costumes were all the skin-tight EVA suits, Shulk originally wanted to go for the typical white shirt Shinji wore, but Fiora only said he could if Shulk also wore a brown wig... And considering how much Shulk hated the feeling of fake, prickly hair on his head, he would have to pass. Fiora had already predicted this would be the case.
"Melia!" Fiora called out and gave her girlfriend a quick kiss. "If you hadn't already sent me a photo, I would've thought you were the real life thing!"
Even in the dark, Shulk could see a blush creep up Melia's face. "You did most of the work making it, Fiora."
Fiora grinned, and linked arms with Melia. The three of them made their way inside.
Melia and Shulk didn't drink much alcohol, usually Melia would nurse a single can of beer through the night and then entertain herself with something a bit heavier before it was over. Shulk was admittedly a lightweight, so it didn't take much for him to get pissed. He had his limits, and Fiora and Reyn were always there to enforce it. Shulk wasn't crazy as a drunk, not that he could remember, but he usually liked to wail. Which was just upsetting for everyone involved.
Fiora on the other hand, she was all muscle and protein, could drink a pint or two and barely feel it. Most of the times she just got drunk off of everyone's energy. She was probably the most fun person to be around, if you didn't know her, and she didn't know any embarrassing secrets about you.
Reyn had joined them not so long after, he had no desire to dress up like anyone from Evangelion, but wanted to be part of their nerdiness, so he opted for Jet Black from Cowboy Bebop. Reyn and Fiora loved putting a ton of effort into their costumes together, which Shulk helped out in, especially if the costume required some... Extra wiring.
"Hey, looking good guys!" Reyn grinned, resting his prop laser gun on his shoulder. "If Shulk wore that wig, you guys would look perfect!"
Eyes narrowing, Shulk pursed his lips. "I just hate the feeling of the wig cap, the hairline against my head, it always gives me such a headache, and then the fake prickly hair against my head and neck, and..." Shulk shuddered. Even imagining it, he wanted to tear his own head off.
Melia laughed. "Oh, Reyn, did you see Nia? I wanted to give her my early birthday gift for her."
Looking around, Reyn nodded. "Yeah, you'll probably see her polycule before you see her. Her girlfriends have some crazy costumes on. These girls from this game called Xenosaga or something."
Fiora gasped. "What!? Kos-mos!? I wanted to go as her this year too!! Oh, I'm suddenly glad I went for a more safe option now..."
Nodding her head in thanks, Melia grabbed Fiora's hand and led her through the house party.
"So, whose party is this? Fiora didn't tell me." Shulk cozied up closer to Reyn, he had to, as he was getting pushed aside more and more. At this rate, Shulk worried that he would be whisked away from Reyn forever. Seems like these people were popular.
"Oh, it's Nia's girlfriend's house. Yeah, she lives here with her brothers or something." Reyn nodded, taking a sip of his beer. "I had an arm wrestle with their brother, earlier. Name's Malos or something."
"Did you win?"
"Well, whether I won or not is neither here nor there, really." Reyn shrugged. "Although actually, I did end up losing..."
Shulk laughed, something like a guffaw. Well, he'd definitely have to see whoever kicked Reyn's ass in an arm wrestle. He'd only ever seen one other person do that and win, maybe Reyn would want to do it again just so Shulk can film it and send it to Fiora's brother, Dunban.
"Oh, Shinji! Nice!" A girl walked past, arm in arm with another guy. Shulk flushed and muttered a small 'thank you', but she continued before he could really get it out. "Oh, your boyfriend over there looks pretty drunk. Maybe you should check on him."
"M—My, boyfriend?" But she was gone, barely paying attention to any mind. So Shulk looked to Reyn. "What is she talking about, Reyn?"
Reyn shrugged. "Beats me. Maybe she's mistaken you for someone?"
"I suppose..." Shulk murmured. "Well, maybe we should check on whoever this guy is."
Reyn nodded, and they made their way through the party. Shulk had no idea who this guy was that this girl was talking about, but the party had only started an hour or two ago, so people weren't completely smashed yet. So long as they found some drunk guy, that would warrant a stranger telling who they thought would be his boyfriend, well...
But, it didn't even need to be just some drunk guy, and Shulk almost knew immediately why she thought Shulk and him were dating.
The man had white silver hair, to the point it almost looked natural, and he was wearing a similarly skin tight suit with details of armour around the chest. Before Shulk could really register the man's face, he realized oh— Nagisa Kaworu. That girl must've thought the two of them came as a couple's costume... What a crazy assumption.
Reyn must've caught on too, as they made their way over to the man. He was on a couch, sitting on the arm rest and laying back, sleeping. Shulk approached, quietly, as to not alarm him.
"He's definitely asleep." Noted Reyn, crossing his arms over his chest. "I bet if you poked him, he wouldn't even budge."
Shulk frowned. "I'm not touching someone who's passed out."
Shulk went a little closer, but couldn't note the scent of alcohol coming from the man. Well, the smell of alcohol was everywhere, but from someone so drunk they pass out during a party, it should've been pervasive. "Um, hey..." Shulk tried. "Wake... up?"
He didn't have anything to be ashamed or embarrassed about, yet Shulk still pulled away... Blushing, and looking anywhere but at the sleeping man. Even though he was passed out, he really did just look like he was sleeping.
And suddenly, Shulk felt a hand on his shoulder, pressing into the thin fabric of his costume. He nearly jumped out of his skin because of it.
"Wah!" Shulk pulled away, and noticed the man's eyes open, and hand stretched out from where it must've made contact with Shulk's shoulder.
"Shinji," The man whispered, just audible enough above the music. "You came."
Was it hot in here? Shulk was starting to feel hot. He reached out his hand and took the hand that touched his shoulder and shook it, like Shulk was making a reluctant car deal. "Um, Shulk. It's Shulk."
"Shulk," The man repeated, and it was almost worse hearing Shulk's actual name come from his lips. "It's nice to meet you."
"Yeah, uh, you too." Shulk scratched the nape of his neck nervously. "Are you okay? Do you need like... Water, or something?"
The man shook his head. "No need, I am alright. I would appreciate it if you could assist me to my room, though."
"Ah, he must be Malos' brother or something." Reyn spoke up, as if he was actually there the whole time and Shulk didn't almost forget about him. "Maybe we can get Malos for you? He should be outside or—"
"No, I'd prefer if Malos or Mythra didn't see me like this." The man smiled, laid his head back, and closed his eyes. "Though, I wouldn't mind just staying here..."
Shulk bit his lip, but nodded. "Here, I'll lend you my shoulder." Before the man could truly fall asleep and Shulk would have to rescind his earlier rule, he reached out for the man's arm and slung it around his shoulder. Though the man was heavy, pliant in Shulk's hold, he still helped himself a bit. "You'll have to show me the way." Shulk murmured, trying to ignore the overwhelming scent of earl grey tea wafting from the man, instead of what he expected to be the liquor stench. Shulk's favourite tea.
"Uh, Shulk—" Reyn started, nervously shifting on his feet.
"Let Fiora know where I am. I'll be down once I make sure he's doing okay." Shulk furrowed his brow, and hoped that he could convey the message to his childhood best friend— tell Malos, but make sure he doesn't come up. He didn't know why the man would trust a complete stranger like Shulk, but he knew it would look suspicious if he dropped the man off in his bed... So Shulk wanted to ensure that Malos, and maybe even Mythra, would know where their brother was.
Reyn nodded, and made his way through the party, opening up a path for Shulk to carry the man through. The man was able to walk, though he dragged his feet. He had all the signs of being drunk, yet, no smell of alcohol on him— not even something like weed, and Fiora reassured Shulk that no hard drugs was allowed here. So, what was it?
The man pointed Shulk to the stairway, and they climbed their way up. Shulk was suddenly glad that he at least spent once a week at the gym with Fiora and Reyn, otherwise this whole thing would've had to have been handed off to Reyn instead.
With a few more directions, Shulk pushed open the door into what he presumed was the man's bedroom. He still had no name for the man, and Shulk really only remembered that once he placed the man down on his bed, laying on his side so wouldn't choke on his own tongue or vomit or something. Shulk really should ask for his name.
"Um, so, what's your name?" Really, Shulk? You couldn't think of a smoother way to ask?
"Alvis," The man— Alvis— answered, snuggling into his bedsheets. The room was nice, it had a lot of plants, many of which Shulk recognized himself. It was clean and tidy, save for the giant stack of papers on the desk, identical ones to it strewn across his desk... Wait...
"Wait, Alvis?" Shulk snapped to attention, looking at his sleepy companion. "You mean... Dickson's TA? For BIO 314?"
Alvis nodded. He seemed very... cat-like, in this moment. "I don't show up at the classes or the labs... But Dickson talks about you a lot. His favourite student."
Shulk flushed. So that's why Alvis must've... Trusted him.
"Huh, so... I guess I'm surprised you have this party, considering we just had that midterm."
Alvis sighed. "I've been up for a few days grading the papers. Dickson had to go back on a family emergency, and the other TA got the flu that was going around." Alvis yawned and pointed to his desk. "Yours is in Dickson's office, so, you can't peek."
"I would never...!" Shulk tried to sound offended, but he laughed instead. Alvis eyes opened slightly, a smile on his own sleepy lips. "So, that's why you passed out on the couch then. You're not drunk, just sleepy."
Nodding, Alvis turned over onto his back, and Shulk let him, no fear of choking on his tongue now. "I don't really drink alcohol. I only came for the party because Mythra wanted me to show off the cosplay I made for last year's AnimeCon. Otherwise I'd be in here still, grading those midterms."
Shulk nodded, face warm, a feeling in his chest like he wanted to keep laughing. But there was no reason for him to do so. "Well, um, I should let you sleep, Alvis."
"Have fun at the party, Shulk." Alvis smiled again, and closed his eyes.
Shulk stood, and walked to the door, catching a peek at Alvis, who got himself comfortable, hugging one of his pillows, and if Shulk really focused... Was already snoring lightly. Shulk tried not to look too giddy, and closed the door.
When Shulk entered the party again, it was Fiora who came up to him, grinning, holding a medal in her hand. Before she even said hello, or asked him any questions, she placed it around Shulk's neck.
"What's this for?" Shulk asked, face still warm, that light giddiness still in his chest.
"Oh, didn't you hear?" Fiora was barely able to hold back a giddy laugh, too, but Shulk could've figure out why. "You and Alvis won Best Couple's Costume!"
"We—What?"
Behind him, a girl appeared, golden eyes and a cat-eared headband atop her grey hair. She had a shit-eating grin on her face. "Hahah! Blame Pyra for noticing you guys and putting KawoShin on the ballot! You guys won by a landslide!"
Fiora crossed her arms over her chest. "Melia and I were sort of hoping we could get AsuRei to at least place but alas, this whole house is full of fujos." She glared at the girl with the cat ears. "Especially you, Nia."
Shulk must've been the colour of a beet, his face felt so hot. He hoped everyone was drunk enough to forget this.
—
Two weeks later, Shulk arrived at one of Dickson's office hours, questions for one of the papers they were assigned to write. Before Shulk could get even a greeting out, Dickson interrupted him.
"So, you and Alvis won Best Couple's Costume, eh? Something about Kah-wohh-Shins? Do I have to worry about you getting an unfair grade?"
Shulk turned on his heel and left without another word.
a/n: okay, i just wanna give a quick shout out to the inspiration behind the idea to use kawoshin as their costumes— @/roonab's beautiful fanart of shalvis as kawoshin, i thought it suited them perfectly! this was an idea i had for a while, but was finally able to execute it kinda through shalvis. genuinely had no idea what to do for modern au until this suddenly came to mind ghfjkds can't say it's my most superb work since i made it in such a rush, but hey, i'm proud of it nonetheless! hope you enjoy it!
shalvis week 2026, day 3 — angst, "why didn't you tell me?", forever-dreams
You trudge up Valak mountain, mom's hand in yours, the only child to be brought onto the excursion because you just had to see the crystals— at least according to her.
Shulk trudged up Valak Mountain, Alvis' hand in his, his feet steadier on the snow than Shulk who had never really seen such a phenomena before.
things you said when we were the happiest we ever were…
𓂃 summary: "No, Jongdae-" Baekhyun panted, loosening his grip on Jongdae to bring him closer, press their chests together, hugging him against his body. "I don't want to hurt you, what if I hurt you-"
"You won't, Baekhyun..." Jongdae kept repeating his name as if to bring him back down. "I trust you... to not hurt me."
𓂃 a/n: i originally wrote this back in 2021 as part of a drabble ask meme thing whatever, and it’s also posted on ao3 here. i just edited it to make it all pretty and shit for tumblr. enjoy!
𓂃 credits: divider by @uzmacchiato and ty banner by @strangergraphics
"It's okay, Baekhyun."
Jongdae's words grazed over Baekhyun's dampened neck, fingers pressed harshly into his shoulder. Baekhyun gripping the sheets enough to rip them and break into the foam, but Jongdae, for once, couldn't find it within himself to care. The strength it must've taken for Baekhyun to hold himself back, to keep away from Jongdae as the other ran his fingers through his rain, sweat-dampened hair, coaxing him into focus, relaxation. It must've been difficult, when Baekhyun's eyes clouded with blood red, a vignette halo around Jongdae.
Baekhyun closed his eyes harshly, trying desperately to hold onto himself.
Baekhyun brought his arms around Jongdae's waist, holding him tightly, enough to make Jongdae whine. It spurred Baekhyun on even more as he pressed his face into the crook of Jongdae's neck, inhaling the sweet scent of him.
"Baekhyun," Jongdae whimpered, nails starting to dig into his shoulder, but Baekhyun couldn't even focus on that. "It's okay, I want you to-"
"No, Jongdae-" Baekhyun panted, loosening his grip on Jongdae to bring him closer, press their chests together, hugging him against his body. "I don't want to hurt you, what if I hurt you-"
"You won't, Baekhyun..." Jongdae kept repeating his name like a chant in a calming ritual to tame a beast. "I trust you... to not hurt me."
Jongdae was by no means stronger than Baekhyun, or even close, but he still managed to push Baekhyun away slightly, to look him in the face. Jongdae remained calm. Though he was trembling, his face had a small but comforting smile. Warm like his touch, warm like his skin... "I wanna spend the rest of my life with you, Baekhyun. Before it's too late."
Vision blurry, Baekhyun couldn't see Jongdae's own eyes starting to tear up. Still, Baekhyun couldn't see the sadness in his eyes, not when Jongdae had been so... happy these days. Since Baekhyun returned. "I don't want to do this to you..."
"I don't wanna live without you, it's... I've already tried once, I can't... Not again. Please."
Baekhyun bit his lip. "Jongdae..."
He felt Jongdae's squeeze on his arm, comforting, safe.
Throwing his reasoning to the wind, trusting Jongdae— and himself— holding onto Jongdae's waist once more and sinking his teeth into the expanse of his neck, piercing his fangs into Jongdae's vein.
Jongdae gasped, thrashed in Baekhyun's hold, but he just held Jongdae tighter. As Baekhyun took more and more blood, drinking it up and feeling the warmth in the pit of his stomach.
"I love you, Baekhyun," Jongdae spluttered out before his eyes flittered to a close. The heat in his chest made Baekhyun press even closer to Jongdae's limp body, blood now replaced by black venom.
It was horrific. How could Baekhyun bear to see the love of his long life like that?
𓂃 summary: "Why is it so easy for you to sleep like this?" Jongdae whispered to himself, staring at his travel partner who had a bit of drool rolling down his chin.
𓂃 content: only one bed, friends to lovers | word-count: 600 words
𓂃 a/note: i originally wrote this as a prompt from a moot back in 2021, which is here. i have some i still need to write but i def would accept requests if y'all have any.
The bed was small, even more so with someone's lanky body taking up over half of it.
Chanyeol had been pretty good at planning this trip, usually there wasn't any issues with how thorough he was sites to visit, places to stay, things to see, food to eat. That was his way of paying back a quarter of the trip's cost— planning so thoroughly that all Jongdae had to do was grab Chanyeol's hand as he lead him around the country.
New Zealand was a beautiful country, and that h asn't changed even when Chanyeol had spent most of his time documenting their every move. Jongdae was surprised when he saw the amount of memory cards Chanyeol kept in his bag, but now that they had been here for a week, Jongdae's chiding of "you aren't even going to use these!" was null.
That wasn't the end of Jongdae's scolding. Because Chanyeol was using a camera, he didn't take too many photos of himself. Partially because Chanyeol hated taking photos of himself, but mostly because he wanted to take photos of Jongdae. He took candid ones of Jongdae, making the shot either extremely blurry and stupid, or catching one of Jongdae's resting frowns. At this point, Jongdae had given up on smacking Chanyeol whenever he would take a dumb photo of Jongdae zoning out as he looked at the sheep in the distance. Which, given how many sheep were in New Zealand, was more than one photo.
Today, everything seemed to take a turn for the worse. The biggest inconvenience of this trip that Jongdae had to face was sharing a bed with a giant, Chanyeol's planning finally had a crinkle. The hostel was overcapacity, as there was only one bed being open for the next couple of days. It's not like they haven't shared a bed before, but it was usually a double bed at least. This time, instead, it was a twin bed, almost too small for Chanyeol by himself— but for now both of them?
Jongdae was finished his pouting as he rolled over, facing the sleeping Chanyeol. According to the digital clock across the way, it was 1:21am and Jongdae's fight with sleep was futile. He was too uncomfortable, hanging on the edge of the bed, jerking away from Chanyeol's limbs like he was being touched by fire.
"Why is it so easy for you to sleep like this?" Jongdae whispered to himself, staring at his travel partner who had drool rolling down his chin. Chanyeol was sleeping like a baby, back pressed against the wall and one of his long arms draped over the pillow, almost touching Jongdae's head. With a sigh, Jongdae scooted a bit closer to the other. If Chanyeol really hated cuddling with Jongdae, he would be awake suffering with Jongdae. He had no choice but to embrace the closeness, the touching.
His eyes followed the lines of Chanyeol's peaceful, albeit drooling face. He looked cute like this.
"What are you gonna do when you look through your photos tomorrow?" Jongdae brought one of his arms under his head, using it as a pillow, as he mentally traced over Chanyeol's visage. "Stare at my face for a couple of hours? Why do you want to take so many photos of me?" Jongdae reached out, emboldened by how deep of a sleep Chanyeol was in, and placed his hand on Chanyeol's that rested between their bodies.
"I wish I could take a photo of you right now." Jongdae murmured, the peace of the moment making his eyelids fall, sleep suddenly washing over him, his body tired. He would've missed what happened, had it been said a moment later, but he managed to catch the deep rumble of Chanyeol's voice.
