Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

The trek back to their airship was definitely a lot smoother than expected. It was easy enough to take care of the few monsters that they ran into along the way. The undead seemed uninterested in giving them any more trouble. Taehyung was grateful for that. He didn’t want to see another zombie or ghost again for a really long time after his last encounter with them. Puff, the dreamhare, was also fast asleep in his arms, and he didn’t want anything to wake her up.

On their way back, Hoseok wouldn't stop talking about how much he loves the airship. He talked about the airship like he would talk about a person and Taehyung could respect that. To be fair, he was actually very interested in what the other had to say.

Hoseok tells him that the Chimera is his pride and joy. He'd been riding on her ever since he was a child. She used to be his mother's, but it was given to him when she retired from being a sky pirate.

“She's made of scrap airship parts, but she works just like any other airship, if not better.” He puffed out his chest with pride, a tiny smirk appeared on his face as well.

“I help out with her maintenance and upgrades too!” Jungkook chimed in.

The sky pirate smiled a little and ruffled Jungkook’s hair. “Yeah, Kookie’s really good at working with machines. The Chimera has never been in better condition since he joined us.” Jungkook smiled sweetly at the praise, his bunny teeth showing. Taehyung found himself smiling as well. Jungkook is very cute.

They continued talking about the airship for a while, until they reached a clearing in the fen. That's when Taehyung saw her.

“Oh my Gods,” Taehyung whispered, both impressed and intimidated by its size. He opted to compliment the airship’s beauty rather than comment on how huge it is. “She’s absolutely breathtaking, Hobi.” It might look like a mess to most people, but Taehyung couldn’t resist its unique charm.

Just like Hoseok described, the Chimera was gigantic for a ship made of scrap parts. It had four decks while most other scrap ships only had two. Each deck was haphazardly plated a different kind of metal, which made it look unsafe but Hoseok and Jungkook swear by it's security.

The decks were lined with windows of various shapes, except for the top deck, which was open and had no ceiling. He was pretty sure that none of the windows were the same because they were all different shapes and sizes.

The most impressive parts of the airship however, were the wings on its sides. They resembled two pairs of bat wings, the bigger pair spanning more than twice the width of the airship itself.

Taehyung took a little too much time admiring it, because someone had to jostle him back into focus. Yoongi playfully pushed at his shoulder. “We know. She’s beautiful, but you have to see the inside too if you want to fully appreciate her.” Taehyung nodded dumbly, still taking it all in.

Hoseok pulled out a remote from his pocket and pushed one of the buttons. Taehyung could hear the machinery whir from the inside, and seconds later a hatch on the side of the airship popped open.

“Well, come on then! Dilly-dally, shilly-shally!” Hoseok beamed excitedly, already running into the airship.

It was he walked through the airship that the reality of his situation really began to dawn on him. This was really happening. He was leaving the Tramdine Fens to go on adventures with a clan he’d barely gotten to know about a day ago. He should probably feel scared about that, but he couldn’t help but trust them. If anything, he was more scared about getting lost in the vast expanse of the Chimera. He’s actually terrible with directions.

As they walked through the hallways, Jungkook briefly pointed out where everything is. The decks had specific functions for the sake of organization. The red mage explained to him that the decks were labeled from A to D, with A being the top deck and D being the bottom. Since they came in from the bottom of the airship, Jungkook started explaining from there first.

Taehyung was told that the deck D was just where all of the important airship mechanisms were, and that Jungkook usually stayed down there for maintenance purposes. Seokjin also mentioned that the red mage had turned the storage closet into his second personal room.

“You know, Kookie has a room all to himself. But now he’s made the closet his second home! He even spends more time in there than in his own room” Seokjin wasn’t really complaining. His tone of voice and the laughter give it away.

Deck C was used for recreation, while deck B functioned as their living quarters, save for the kitchen that resided on the same floor. Jungkook mentioned that they had a small library, a lab for Yoongi’s research and a dance studio for Jimin.

“There are a few extra rooms that are just collecting dust at the moment. We’re not quite sure what to do with them just yet”, Jungkook added.

Lastly, they reached the top deck. It was surprisingly barren. Most of it was an open space, aside from a set of worn out chairs and a table. The wooden floor had scratches and burn marks all over it as well. There wasn’t much to see here, so they ushered Taehyung into the bridge. The ambiance made a warm feeling spread throughout his chest. He felt like this was the center of everything.

It felt like this was the center of their home.

Aside from the machines used for navigation, he could see few chairs strewn about in different places. Next to him was a notice board, which was actually labeled ‘Notice Board’ in bold yellow paint, but it seemed to used for a bunch of other things as well. Pictures of the group were pinned onto the board, showing them practicing magick, eating together, and just generally having a good time. There were also a few notes on the board that made him giggle.

‘Namjoon, please clean up after yourself. Your room can’t be another library. -Yoongi’

‘The pantry is missing some sweets. I’m looking at you two, Hobi and Jimin. -Jin’

Namjoon’s original note was scribbled out, but Taehyung could still read it.

‘Has anyone seen my practice sword? -Namjoon’

The updated note now says: ‘My practice sword is exactly where it should be, for some reason. This is weird.’

Namjoon notices what Taehyung is looking at, and rushes to rip his note off the board. “Well, that probably gave you the wrong impression of me, didn't it?” He murmurs, then he crumples up the paper and tosses it into the trash bin. It misses.

Taehyung laughed. “Don't worry about it. Even I can be a little bit forgetful sometimes. I used to forget where some of my potion materials are.”

He snorts as he remembers a particular instance of such a situation. “I was trying to put together a serum to help with plant growth, but I was missing some clear sap. I spent about an hour looking for it, until I realized I’d already put it in the pot.”

If Namjoon’s chuckle was anything to go by, Taehyung would say that the other was amused at the very least.

“That definitely happens to me a lot more than it should,” the parivir agreed.

After a brief moment of silence passes, Namjoon clapped his hands together. Puff stirred in her sleep. Taehyung sent a half-hearted glare his way and Namjoon quietly says an apology in response.

“Anyway,” Namjoon’s voice now a hushed whisper, “I think we’ve shown you the whole airship. All that's left is to show you to our room.” He smiled. “I hope you don't mind having me as your roommate.”

Namjoon liked to call his room an organized mess. Taehyung would disagree because Namjoon didn’t seem to know where most of his things were. It looked like a tornado tore its way into his room and Namjoon just decided that instead of cleaning up, he would remember where the tornado moved everything. He wasn’t very successful.

The elder stared at the mess in deep thought, his eyebrows creasing as he scanned the room for the best possible plan of action.

“Okay, how about this, you help me clean this up and I’ll help you unpack,” he suggested.

Taehyung couldn’t help but tease, so he mimics an expression of disbelief. “Incredulous! Moving the books? We will upset the delicate balance that belongs here!”

Namjoon shook his head, but he didn’t seem upset. “Oh very funny, let’s just get this over with. We might be a while.”

If they were going to sort everything out, they were going to sort it out right. At some point, it felt like Namjoon was digging through a treasure trove and Taehyung just came along for the ride. Puff had also woken up to take part in this ‘adventure’.

Many lost socks had been recovered, and many misplaced books have been rediscovered. Even Puff pitched in to help move some of the books around. Except, the pair stopped working to watch the cute little dreamhare trudge around the room carrying books and setting them neatly on top of each other. They couldn’t help but coo, because every time Puff would move a particularly heavy book, she would yip happily. She looked so proud of herself.

Halfway through the cleaning process, Puff found a soft coat that Namjoon had buried underneath the books and stuffed herself inside it. She was already pretty tired, so she just sat in the coat, watching them work in near silence. She occasionally yipped happily when they stopped working to pet her.

Taehyung had also found some pretty interesting books lying around. Namjoon had a surprising amount of books on basic black magick. He thought just having one book would be pretty straightforward, but after seeing the titles evolve in terms of how basic it could get...he was beginning to have second thoughts.

‘Black Magick 101’

‘Black Magick for Idiots’

‘Black Magick Made Simple’ and its second, more worn edition ‘Black Magick Made Even Simpler’.

And his personal favorite, ‘A Fool’s Guide to Black Magick’. This particular book was interesting because it was the most used book in the collection. Burn marks littered the leather cover, the pages were mostly dog-eared, and some torn.

He directed his attention to Namjoon, who is currently sweeping the dust out of the room. “Hey, Namjoon. Do you have a problem with black magick or something?”

The parivir is severely startled at the question. He lost his balance and latched onto the broom for support, but he still tripped and fell anyway, straight into a few stacks of books. Taehyung winces inwardly as he watches their work fall into disarray.

The man in question quickly picks himself up off the ground. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he denies.

As if on cue, Yoongi walked by their room and saw Taehyung holding the book. “Ah, that reminds me,” The seer turns to Namjoon. “We should get back to those lessons of yours soon too. You could join Kookie and I tomorrow. The gods know you need all the help you can get.” Then he continued walking down the hallway.

Taehyung was trying his damned hardest to stifle his laughter, but the whole world has it out for Namjoon today. It will not let the poor guy live. He’ll remember to try to be nicer to him after today.

He tries to console the sullen clan leader. “It’s okay if you have trouble with magick, not everyone is good at it.”

Namjoon’s frown deepened. “I know, I know, but I shouldn’t even be bad at black magick to this degree. It’s so simple and yet I can’t get right.”

The younger chuckles. “I haven’t known you for very long, but you don’t seem like the type to give up easily. I think you’ll get there someday, Namjoon.” Puff yipped loudly, and they both thought it was a yip of support.

The other’s frown turned into a wide grin, making his dimples show. “Thanks, Tae. I appreciate it.” Taehyung returned the smile. Then he glanced down at the new mess they made.

“We still have to clean this up though.” He said.

“And the closets,” Namjoon added.

Taehyung groans loudly. “Ugh, and the closets…”

It was no surprise to either of them that the task took nearly five hours to complete.

“Holy shit, we’re done.” Taehyung gave the room one last look, and he’s impressed. This room had gone from a tornado wreckage, to a nice, clean and ordinary room. His bags were unpacked, Namjoon’s personal books had been rearranged on the shelves, and the books that didn’t belong there had been moved back to the library. The beds had been made, and everything was spotless too.

Namjoon was also quite pleased with the result. He glanced out the window and sees that the sky has turned dark, but the sun hadn’t quite set just yet. “Hmm, it’s a little late, but not late enough for dinner. I’m gonna go head to the kitchen for a snack. Should I bring you something too?”

Taehyung’s ears perked up as he nodded eagerly. “Yes please, I’m starving.”

And with that, Namjoon gets the snacks.

When he returned, he saw Taehyung’s magick at work. His elementalist magick was bending a small log into winding branches, resembling a bird’s nest. However, this bird’s nest was more defined and eventually looked more like a small woven chair with a hollow in its seat. Once Taehyung was satisfied with the design, he turned around, and was surprised to see Namjoon holding a tray of small pastries.

“What’s the tiny chair for? It doesn’t even have legs.” Namjoon asked, as he held out the tray out to Taehyung. Taehyung thanked Namjoon and took a piece. He bites into it and a sweet, fruity flavor fills his mouth. They’re jam buns, nice.

“Oh, it’s a bed for Puff,” he replied. Taehyung gobbled up the rest of the bun, and then grabbed the old coat Puff was laying in. He put it inside the bed, which Puff happily hopped into. She already loved the bed.

“It’s very well made. Did you do this kind of thing often back in the fens?”

“Yup, I made a lot of the furniture in our hut. It took me a lot of practice to make anything with designs.”

They continue to converse whilst eating their jam buns, talking about anything under the sun, until the day ends.

The next morning was much more dramatic than Taehyung expected. If anything, he expected to not be woken up at all. Boy, was he wrong.

“Taehyung! Get up! Now!” Namjoon screamed at him. The parivir shook him out of the bed until he ended up falling to the floor with a splash.

Wait, a splash?

Then he noticed the room has been flooded in with water, and more water was gushing in through the space under the door.

“Just be ready for the flood to come in by the time I open this door. We have to get out there.”

Even in his groggy state, Taehyung nodded. He was somewhat aware of the situation he was in. He understands that a flood was happening right now, and that was bad, but he didn’t know how or why the flood happened. All that mattered for the moment was getting out of here to investigate.

“I’m going to open the door on three, okay? One...two...three!” Namjoon opened the door and a torrent of water came rushing towards them. The water was now knee level, and Puff was in the corner, squeaking in concern. Her bed was on the floor, initially untouched by the flood, but was now nearly submerged. She hopped to safety, in this case, Taehyung’s arms.

“We should go check on the others and see what the heck is going on,” Taehyung suggested. Namjoon was already on it, his boots making large splashes in the flood, so Taehyung was keeping a good distance away from him. They didn't need to go very far, because the others were either by the stairs leading to the top deck, or by the stairs at the other end of the hall leading to deck C.

“What the hell is going on?!” Namjoon voice boomed loudly. Taehyung was positive that anyone in the hallway would be able to hear him just fine, viera or not.

Yoongi was the first to speak up, he seemed just as frustrated if not more than Namjoon. “The spell went wrong, and the flood was a lot more powerful than I originally intended it to be.” He grumbled, “My first tries usually don’t turn out this bad.”

Namjoon just rubbed his temple in exasperation. “Can everyone hear me right now?!” He shouted again. He received confirmation from everyone else, even from all the way at the end of the hallway. “Then please come to the other end of the hallway!” There’s no verbal response, but they heard a loud series of splashes getting closer.

Once the group is all in one place, Namjoon started giving out orders.

“Everyone should split into groups. Anyone that can cast magick will create ice walls to keep the water from getting to any of the other decks. Those who can control the flood will try to move it back up to the top deck to minimize the damage. Anyone left will try to save anything important on this deck.” He paused, a brief moment later he asks Hoseok, “Are we on autopilot right now?”

“Yeah, we’ve been on autopilot since last night,” Hoseok replied.

“Well we need to park the ship so we can dump the water somewhere. Could you handle that?”

Hoseok grinned. “With pleasure!” The sky pirate opened the door leading to the top deck and scurried away. The others all ran off in different directions as well. Jin and Jungkook go to the other end of the hallway to work on the ice wall. Jimin and Namjoon ran off into the other rooms to move the furniture around. Yoongi and Taehyung were unfortunately left to their own devices.

“So, do you know how to control the flood?” Yoongi asked, who was already trying, and failing, to get the water to move back up to the top deck. He was waving his rod around in different directions hoping to get a reaction. Taehyung observed that the flood moved a little bit each time Yoongi waved his rod. It was just enough to create small waves, but not enough to stop the water from flowing.

Taehyung shook his head. “I’ve controlled rain before, if that counts for anything.”

Yoongi shrugged his shoulders.“Counts for something. Either way, we'll figure this out.”

Note that a rain spell was a lot less complicated than trying to control an entire flood, so he would have to change his mindset. He stretched out his hands above the flood and muttered an improvised spell, hoping that it would work. To Taehyung’s surprise, it worked pretty well.

Some flood has begun moving backwards from the bottom of the staircase. It disappeared beneath the door once again, but it was taking all of his concentration to keep it there.

However, it’s difficult to concentrate when you’re trying to fight back shivering from the cold. The pajamas he’d put on the night before were soaked all the way through, and the draft coming from the vents wasn’t helping. The dreamhare in his arms wasn't doing very well either. She looked like a wet cotton ball. His heart wrenched when he heard her weak yips of complaint.

This was one hell of a morning. Taehyung just wanted to have breakfast with everyone, maybe have another jam bun and relax. He’d planned to explore the other rooms right afterwards, but he knew for a fact that this was going to leave another mess that they would need to clean up.

Then he would make sure that Puff got a treat after this. No, several treats. She deserved a fruit platter after the nonsense of the past two days.

Anyway, back to the task at hand. Yoongi was still having trouble with his control, but he was doing much better than earlier. He’d managed to move more of the water back behind the door.

“You're controlling it a little bit better now. What do you picture when you try to get it to move?” Taehyung asked.

The seer quirked up an eyebrow at his question. “I think about moving the flood back to the top deck. Isn't that what I'm supposed to do?”

“You're not wrong,” Taehyung hands began to falter from the effort, “but maybe focus on the entire flood and not just a portion of it.”

The hinges of the door audibly creaked. One of them popped off and hits Yoongi in the cheek.

Taehyung couldn’t help but giggle, but he was reminded that this was a pretty serious situation when yet another screw popped off. “Also please try soon, please. I'm actually kind of bad at this.”

Yoongi looked unsure of himself but managed to get a good amount of the flood back out under the door. Eventually, after several trips to each of the rooms, and to the end of the hallway, he cleared the deck of the flood.

“Awesome, you did it! Great job Yoongi!” Taehyung praised. He would have given Yoongi a high five, but his hands were still busy.

Yoongi smirked, satisfied with the outcome. They were both holding the water back now. All that was left was to move it off the airship.

Suddenly, the ground shook briefly, signifying that the ship had landed somewhere. Wonderful.

Seokjin and Jungkook returned from the other end of the hall, both panting.

“This hallway feels a lot longer after you use up a lot of your energy on magick,” Seokjin heaved. Jungkook was also out of breath, a little bit worse compared to Seokjin. He was hunched over and resting his arms on his knees, taking in deep breaths of air. It didn’t seem like he has the energy to speak. Seokjin rubbed the younger’s back soothingly.

“Jungkook had to run down to the other decks to freeze the flood that made it past me. I couldn’t help him because I had to keep the ice wall up.”

“Ugh, I’m sorry. This is all my fault. I really thought I could handle this spell.” Yoongi hung his head in shame, unable to do much else because they were still holding the flood back.

Taehyung nudged Yoongi with his foot. “Shush, it’s fine. I’m sure no one else minds. We should just focus on getting all this water off the airship first.”

The seer opened his mouth to protest, but shut it almost as quickly as he’d opened it. He understood that Taehyung was right. His own frustration was eating away at him, but he redirected it at the flood. Determined, he opened the door leading to the top deck. Taehyung was startled and his control over the flood weakened.

Luckily, there was no reason to be concerned. The flood didn’t budge at all. The water was so still; it was as if it was trapped behind glass. Yoongi’s air of confidence was practically palpable. He didn’t do anything but point his rod in the direction he wanted to flood to move in. He walked with conviction, and swung his rod about to gather the water together. From where Taehyung stood, it looked like the water was walking with him.

The seer continued to make similar motions with his rod until he reached the edge of the deck. With one final flick of the wrist, the water dispersed and flowed over the railing, creating a waterfall that drenched the ground below.

“Thank the gods, it’s over!” Yoongi cried out triumphantly, dropping to his knees from exhaustion seconds later.

It would have been a good moment to celebrate, but the three clan mates behind Yoongi were much too tired to do anything other than weakly cheer. Jimin and Namjoon heard their mini cheer from within the rooms they were rearranging, so they let out a tired ‘woo’ of their own.

Hoseok, bright and bubbly as ever, found out the news a little bit later than everyone else. He’d just seen what had happened from the bridge, so he was now flailing his arms about and cheering loudly.

Taehyung flopped down onto the ground himself. Puff did the same, except she was lying on his chest.

Ah, what an eventful morning.

Taehyung’s mood was ruined by the events of this morning. It was nearly noon by the time they’d finished dealing with the flood issue. He’s not even mad at Yoongi. He’s had similar experiences with his own magick, so he couldn’t hold it against him. He was just a little disappointed.

The elementalist also knew that he was pretty awful when he was in a bad mood. He didn’t want to sit with the others for lunch because he was worried that he would spoil the mood. Becoming a burden on his second day of being on the airship was the exact opposite of what he wanted to do. The compromise he came up with was that he would take his lunch up to his room to eat together with Puff.

Once Taehyung finished eating, he immediately wanted to busy himself with something. If he started working, his bad mood would eventually dissipate.

A brilliant idea struck him. Some of the furniture on this floor was still damaged from the flood, but they could probably be salvaged. It wasn’t like he could do much else since he couldn’t work on his potions or tend to his garden like he normally would. He might as well spend his time doing something productive.

So he did. Puff accompanied him as well, but she seemed to be more interested in watching him work rather than helping him out. He didn’t mind, at least he wouldn't be alone.

Taehyung lugged some of the damaged furniture along with some lumber from storage into the extra room on deck C. The room was completely empty, save for the lone window on one of the walls. It didn’t show any signs of use either. The walls were pristine, as white as the day it was painted. He was going to change that very soon, especially if he was going to experiment with designs.

Several hours later, a lot of the wooden furniture had been repaired if not improved. Using his magick, he bent the lumber to his will and combined or replaced the damaged portions of the furniture. He remembered who owned each piece of furniture and tried to repair it with them in mind. The designs he added were based on his impressions of them.

After that, he added his own personal touch. He magickally engraved different patterns or pictures onto them. Detailed depictions of vines and leaves now covered most of the damaged areas. His favorite engraving was the one he added to a particularly wide table; it was a Chocobo.

Taehyung really liked those tall birds. They were adorable and often friendly. They came in different colors, and their abilities depend on their breed. Most tamed chocobos were used in transportation or battle. Tamed ones were nice and all, but they seemed happiest in their natural habitat.

Chocobos that lived in the fens also liked to visit the hut because of the garden. Normally, he would be mad about anything being stolen, but he just couldn’t find it in his heart to get mad at such cute birds.

Aside from that wide table, he also repaired his room’s bedside table. The bottom-most drawer had gotten completely soaked through and fell apart as soon as he removed it. Meanwhile, drawer above it was barely holding itself together. There was no hope for this table. It was time to build a new one from scratch.

Building a new table is difficult, but a lot more fun. He gets to take his time designing it and moving around the wood accordingly. Soon enough, he had a well built table. It’s stable and looks great to boot. Instead of having two drawers, he settled for just having one. The legs of the table resembled flower stems, leaves included. Other than that, it was a regular table. All he had to do was paint in the details.

Taehyung found some spare paint cans in the storage area and hoped that no one would mind if he took them. It's not like he used up all of the paint. There was a lot left over by the time he was done painting. That particular table was the last thing he worked on since it was really late at night. He took a lot longer than expected. He hadn’t even noticed when Puff left the room.

When Taehyung went to look for Puff, his stomach started growling. His legs unconsciously took him to the kitchen, where he found Puff sitting on a counter, nibbling on a carrot. Someone must have helped her get some food because there was a plate next to her with even more carrots. There was also a lidded plate for him too. A note is attached to it.

‘We know you were busy, so we didn’t want to disturb you. Here’s some of the dinner we left for you! Eat up and then get some rest.’

A smile formed on his lips. Taehyung was touched. He felt incredibly welcome, even if he hasn’t spent any proper time with anyone yet. That’ll have to wait until tomorrow though. It was way too late to do anything about it tonight. His droopy eyelids and constant yawns are a testament to that.

The dinner left for him was gone in a matter of minutes. Puff finished her dinner just as quickly. She’s also kind enough to push her plate into the sink. Taehyung rewarded her with a few head pats. She yipped contentedly, then he scooped her into his arms. He went back to his room, and isn’t surprised to see Namjoon still up, writing something on his desk.

“Hey, I’m back.” Taehyung announced. He laid Puff in her bed before flopping down onto his own. It’s so soft. The pillows were heavenly and the sheets were so fluffy . He’s not going to be up for much longer.

Namjoon stopped writing to face him. “Welcome back. What have you been up to all day? Everyone’s been dying to hang out with you.”

Taehyung felt a mixture of both guilt and happiness pooling in his stomach. He was guilty for being away for so long when the others actually wanted to spend time with him, but the joy he felt for simply knowing that they wanted to hang out outweighed the guilt.

“Ah sorry,” a yawn crawls out of his throat to interrupt him, “I’ve been repairing the furniture.” He snuggled closer to his pillow, finding it softer and softer by the second.

“Oh, okay. So that’s where everyone’s stuff went.” Taehyung faintly heard papers being shuffled around. “Were you in one of the extra room on deck C?”

“Yup,” Taehyung mumbled. He can barely keep himself awake at this point. “Anyway, I hope you guys like what I did. I’m not sure if my style of decorating is okay.”

The sound of Namjoon scribbling on paper resumed. It’s surprisingly soothing. “I’m sure it looks great. Especially if it’s anything like the bed you made for Puff,” Namjoon said.

“Thank you. I’ll be sure to move everything tomorrow…” Taehyung’s voice trailed off. His consciousness slowly slipped away. He was soon fast asleep. The other noticed this and got up to tuck him in.

“Good night, Taehyung. Thanks for all your hard work today.”

Waking up the next day was a pleasant experience. Taehyung felt well rested and ready to take on new day. He just had to waddle out of his room and adjust his eyes to the light first.

First task: Move the furniture back.

It was going to be tiring for sure, but the others are probably wondering where there stuff went.

Except, Taehyung also wondered where the furniture went. When he checked the room he left them in, they were all gone. Panicked, he searched the other rooms, unsure of where they could have gone during the night. Had they been robbed?

None of the furniture was in any of the rooms on this deck, so he went upstairs to check there. Frantically, he burst into Hoseok and Jimin’s room, scaring the life out of them.

“Holy hell, Taehyung! What’s gotten into you?” Hoseok asked, looking more concerned than mad.

“Where did all the furniture go?” Taehyung panted, out of breath from running. Wow, he’d been running a lot these past two days.

Taehyung glanced around the room and sees that some of the furniture he’d worked on were back where they belong. “Oh thank the Gods, they’re here. I was so worried we’d gotten robbed in the middle of the night.”

Jimin laughs good-naturedly. “Sorry we didn’t tell you. Namjoon told everyone about what you did, and we wanted to spare you any extra trouble.” He paused to admire Taehyung’s handiwork, “By the way, you’ve made them look amazing. Everyone agrees.”

Taehyung felt his cheeks heat up at the praise. He sheepishly scratched the back of his head, “Ah, thanks. Glad you like it.”

Taehyung is also urged to stay in their room to hang out. They talked about whatever was on their minds for a few minutes. Afterwards, they played card games. The rules were briefly explained to him, and he could barely remember the rules. He can’t even remember the name of the game. And Hoseok appears to be an expert, because he’s kicking both of their asses.

Jimin threw his hand onto the floor in surrender. “Hobi, how are you so good at this?” Jimin groans, flopping backward onto the floor. “You always beat me,” he pouted.

“Hey, you lasted a lot longer than Taehyung at least. I’ve never seen anyone lose in the first turn before!” Hoseok had the gall to laugh. To be fair, it was kind of funny. Taehyung had a really bad hand and they took advantage of that. He was also very new to their made up game, so he was fairly unfamiliar with the rules.

“Did you guys want to play another game?” Hoseok asked, already resetting the deck just in case.

Jimin, still on the floor shook his head. “I’ll pass. I think we’ll end up with the same result anyway.”

“Ditto,” Taehyung agreed.

Hoseok put the deck away in his desk drawer and shrugs. “Fair enough. But what are we going to do now?”

“We could just go back to talking,” Taehyung offered.

Jimin sat up, immediately interested. “Sure thing. I’ve been meaning to ask you some stuff anyway.”

“Shoot.”

“Who are you most comfortable around so far?”

Taehyung isn’t actually sure about how to answer. He hasn’t known anyone for very long and he’s barely talked to most of them. Namjoon was the person he’s spent the most time with, so he went with that.

“Namjoon, I guess? He’s my roommate. We also cleaned up his so called ‘organized mess’ together.”

Hoseok’s eyes widened at the response. “No way! You guys managed to clean up that mess? It looked like it would’ve taken weeks to clean up.”

“Yeah, I thought so too, but we had to get it done. Otherwise I’d never be able to unpack.” Taehyung moved to grab a pillow from Jimin’s bed. He gives it a gentle squeeze. It’s just as soft as the pillow he has in his room.

That’s it, this airship is officially the best airship ever. Good pillows and even better friends, the best combination.

“Puff helped out too. She was really eager.”

“Oh that reminds me!” Jimin turned to Taehyung. “Kookie said he was going to make some doors for Puff so that she can get into the rooms on the airship. Did you want to go check up on him?”

Taehyung grinned, already excited by the idea. “Yeah, I’ll go do that now. See you guys later!” He got up from his spot on the floor, and walked off to meet Jungkook.

“Hey, don’t forget to stop by sometime! We’re not done talking,” Jimin called out.

“Of course!” Taehyung then promptly shut the door behind him.

Taehyung figured that Jungkook was on deck D, since Jin mentioned that he spent a lot of time there. He wasn’t sure where anything on this floor, so he just opened the first door he saw.

The first thing he heard when he opens the door his a surprised ‘Kupo!’. That’s strange. Was there a moogle on this this airship? He didn’t see one in the room. Jungkook was the only one there, seated in front of a desk covered in blueprints and papers.

“Hey Jungkook, where did that ‘kupo’ come from? You guys didn’t tell me there was a moogle on the airship. Oh, also sorry for not knocking. I guess I was just excited.”

“I-it’s fine,” Jungkook replied weakly. His ears were folded downward and he was hiding his face in his hands.

“Did I scare you? I’m sorry.” Taehyung was about to start spouting apologies, but Jungkook shook his head lightly.

“Yeah, but it’s okay. I don’t mind.” His ears returned to their natural position, then he saw that Jungkook was blushing. “Oh man, I’m so embarrassed. Taehyung, there aren’t any moogles on the airship. That was me,” he confessed. Jungkook’s blush deepened as soon as he finished speaking.

Gods, really? That’s so cute. Jungkook is cute. Then he realized that Jungkook accidentally said ‘kupo’ when he got scared. What was that all about?

“Why did you say it anyway?” Taehyung asked.

This time only one of Jungkook’s ears flopped down on his head, but he was still clearly embarrassed.

“Don’t be embarrassed, Kook. I won’t hold it against you. It was actually kind of cute.”

Jungkook can’t handle the compliments so he just rested his head on his arms. Once he collected himself, began speaking.

He explained that he was raised by a family of moogles in Goug, and so he picked up some of their speech habits. That was also the reason why he knew so much about machines and such. Moogles in Goug were famous for that kind of thing.

They also talked about their respective lives back in their old homes. Jungkook talked about how his home was originally very small because only moogles lived there. It wasn’t a problem until he got older. Then they’d had to remodel the entire house to accommodate Jungkook’s height. Even then, Jungkook didn’t seem like he was going to stop growing any time soon.

Meanwhile, Taehyung talked about the chocobos that visited his gardens sometimes, and how he lost an entire section of his garden to them at one point. Jungkook’s ears immediately perked up at the mention of chocobos. His eyes sparkled with interest.

“Chocobos? What color are they? Are they nice or hostile?” Jungkook was firing questions away at such a fast pace that Taehyung wasn’t sure if he could keep up. He did try his best though. The younger seemed satisfied with his answers, so that was good.

Jungkook laughed after all his questions have been answered. “Sorry about the onslaught of questions. I just really love chocobos. The red ones are my favorite,” he finished with a smile.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s really fun to talk to you.” Taehyung gives him a genuine smile of his own.

“Yeah, same to you. I don’t usually warm up to people this fast. It took me a really long time to get used to the others.”

Taehyung was glad Jungkook could open up to him like this. He knows the value of comfort in a closed off setting like this. It was just him and his grandmother back in the fens, so he didn’t get to interact with many people. He’d only really talked to the villagers that lived nearby, and it took a long time for him to warm up to them. His natural disposition made him try to be as friendly as possible. Being on people’s good sides was really important to him, since connections meant a lot back then.

Now, he was just grateful that he’s as friendly and as open as he is now. It’s not like the others were difficult to get along with, so he didn’t have to fake anything. All of his feelings were genuine, and things were probably going to stay that way.

A few days later, Hoseok informed Taehyung that they need to touch down for a supply run.

“It shouldn’t take too long, about 3 hours at most.”

They’d flown further down west to Loar, specifically the region of Camoa. Camoa is a magnet for adventurers, since the market was well-stocked with loot and gear from all around. The only problem was that bandits often roamed at night, and if not bandits, then mercenaries. Taehyung didn’t feel particularly concerned. The city’s famed clan, The Camoa Braves, pride themselves on their ability to keep their city safe.

When everyone had gathered outside, Seokjin started sending out people to get different things. Taehyung didn’t get to hear where the others went off to, because they took off as soon as they were given their tasks. All he knew was that they were headed to the heart of Camoa; the marketplace.

The stalls were divided into sections and each of them were decorated to attract their targeted customers. Food stalls were covered with vibrant draperies to entice customers, while the equipment stalls made a point to showcase as much merchandise as they could.

All kinds of people gathered around here as well. He’d never seen so many races in one place. It was especially pleasing to see them interacting with one another. Bangaa and Gria chat merrily as they go about their day. There’s even a Nu Mou elder telling stories to a group of Hume children.

“Tae, you’ll be coming with me. We’ll be getting foodstuffs,” Seokjin said.

The assassin led Taehyung through various stalls to buy foodstuffs, most of which he didn’t recognize. Seokjin had only made him carry the bags, since the other took care of all of the negotiations. Taehyung was surprised to learn that the elder drove a hard bargain, using his charms when an opportunity presented itself.  

Sometimes, Seokjin didn’t even need to try. By the time they’d finished doing their shopping, Taehyung’s armed were covered in their shopping bags. Most of which were freebies that Seokjin had managed to coax out of the merchants.

“Wow, you really have a way with words, don’t you?” Taehyung said as he adjusted the bags on his arms.

Seokjin’s expression turned smug as he took a few of the bags from the younger. “I like to think I do, but sometimes I think it’s because of my unbelievably good looks.” Taehyung can’t help the laugh that rises from his throat. He agreed that Seokjin was indeed good looking, but he wasn’t expecting him to be so forward about it.

They finished much earlier than anticipated, so they took a walk around the stalls one more time. Although, this trip around was mostly window shopping. Still, the pair had fun, commenting on items they found interesting.

“Hey, doesn’t that bookshelf look strange to you?” Taehyung pointed to a bookshelf in the distance. “It’s moving weirdly.” The bookshelf he was referring too was moving back and forth and tilted oddly, and he didn’t see anyone moving it.

Seokjin’s face paled as soon as he saw the bookshelf.

Taehyung’s brow creased with worry. “Is there something wrong?”

“No no, not at all. It is indeed a very a strange bookshelf,” he chuckled nervously. “Did you want to go see anything else?” Seokjin grabs the other’s shoulders and pushes him in the opposite direction of the bookshelf.

“Do you not want to see the bookshelf up close? I know I do.” Taehyung wriggled out of his grasp and sprinted towards the strange bookshelf, which continued to move further away from them. The bags he was carrying before were now discarded and left on the ground.  

Startled, Seokjin’s reflexes act on their own and so he immediately picked up the bags. He then realized that Taehyung had run away. “Taehyung, wait!” He called out, but the elementalist was already far ahead of him.

The moving bookshelf didn’t exactly move very fast, so it was easy enough to catch up to. When Taehyung does catch up to it, he figured out how it moved.

Jungkook and Jimin were carrying the bookshelf from a weird angle, making it difficult to balance. They were carrying it from the back alone, placing most of its weight on one side. This explained the weird movement patterns.

“Uh, what are you guys doing?” Taehyung questioned. Neither of the two give him an answer. All they do in response is stare at him like he’d just caught them doing something terrible.

“Taehyung!” He heard another voice call out to him. It’s Hoseok, who was running towards them with bags of his own. The bags made clinking noises as he ran. “What are you doing here? Where’s Seokjin? He’s supposed to be distrac—” The sky pirate didn’t get to finish his sentence because Namjoon appeared behind him and cupped his mouth.

The elementalist was thoroughly confused at this point. He had no idea what was going on.

Everyone was acting weirdly, and they were clearly hiding something from him.

“What are you guys doing?” He tried again, but doesn’t get an answer this time either. Seokjin arrived at the scene as whisked him away from the others, rambling about things they somehow forgot to buy even after they checked the list twice.

Taehyung and Seokjin were the last to return to the airship, and the former was slightly peeved about the events that transpired earlier that day. He understood that they might’ve had things to do that didn’t concern him, but they could’ve been less awkward and just told him that it was none of his business beforehand.

Now they’re eating lunch together, and no one wanted to address the elephant in the room. Some of them had stark poker faces, but others were struggling not to look concerned. Let it be known that they all failed horribly at making Taehyung feel less suspicious of their actions.

After a few more hours of pacing around the airship and playing with Puff he’d given up on getting any answers from them. He spent the rest of the day reading books that Namjoon keeps in their room.

Taehyung assumed that there were things that the others would keep from him and that was fine. He wasn't very close to them just yet, and they were also entitled to keeping their secrets. It just left him a little bit bummed out that they didn't bother explaining anything to him.

Reading eventually took up his time for the rest of the night. It was about time that he got ready for bed. He was about to, until he heard a series of crashes and bangs followed by a loud shriek that sounded like “Namjoon!”.

He started to hear arguing coming from downstairs, so he decided to investigate. The voices grew louder as he approached one of the extra rooms on deck C.

Taehyung definitely remembered being told not to go in there, but he was concerned. He knocked on the door lightly the first time, which yielded no results. They probably didn't hear it.

He tried again with a bit more force. All of the voices suddenly stop, but the silence is followed by hushed whispers.

The door creaks open slightly to reveal Jimin, who is covered in paint splotches.

Taehyung raises an eyebrow. “Everything okay in there? I heard something crashing.”

Jimin nodded vigorously. “Yup, nothing to worry about. Namjoon just toppled something over again.”

Taehyung was skeptical, but he doubts he’s going to get any information from the other, especially since they’ve been withholding information from him all day. He suppressed a deep sigh. “Well okay then, just checking. You guys should rest up soon. It's late.”

“Will do,” Jimin assured.

He wasn’t going to question Jimin any further, but then a paint can fell from somewhere behind Jimin. The spilled paint covered their shoes in purple. Now he had to ask. Two perfectly good pair of shoes were just ruined.

“Is everyone else is inside?”

Jimin paused for a moment, his gaze warily shifted from Taehyung to the room behind him.

“Um, yeah.” He replied quietly. “Sorry for bothering you with the noise, you were probably trying to sleep.”

The elementalist waved it off. “It’s fine, don’t worry about it. Let me just say goodnight to the others.” He didn’t register Jimin’s panic and sputtering when he opened the door, because he ended up sputtering himself.

The room was definitely a mess, but he could tell that there were good intentions behind the mess. The first thing he noticed was the banner on the wall directly in front of him.

‘Welcome to the clan Taehyung!’  The message was written in big bold letters. There were also small details on the banner, like stars or swirls, as well as the occasional paint splatter.

In the center of the room was a large cauldron used for brewing potions. Surrounding the cauldron were three bookshelves which looked similar to the one Jimin and Jungkook were carrying back in Camoa, one of them had fallen over. Whatever was on it had fallen to the ground and subsequently broke.

An array of paint cans also littered the ground. In addition to the paint stains, there were also stains from spilled potion ingredients.

His clan mates stood around the mess, unsure of what to do with themselves.

Hoseok was the first to break the silence with an awkward cough. “Um, surprise?”

Of all the things Taehyung was expecting them to hide from him, he most certainly wasn’t expecting them to decorate a room just for him. All the experiences he had since he moved in were ones that he treasured. The clan members treated him so warmly too, so it’s no wonder that this place was starting to feel like home to him too.

But all of the effort they put into it was made his heart flutter. He swore he could cry.

“Oh no, Taehyung don’t cry! This was supposed to be a happy moment.” Seokjin rushes over to him to give him a hug.

Well, it turns out he was crying.

Taehyung giggled and wiped a few tears from his eyes. “No, this is a happy cry, a good cry. The room is a mess right now, but I love it all the same.” A chorus of coos resounded throughout the room, and seconds later he was enveloped by hugs from all sides.

“Thanks all for this. I’ll be saying that a lot until I get used to all the love, so you better get used to it.” He smiled brightly.

He could feel Jungkook nuzzling his back from behind. “It’s no problem. We wanted to do this for you.”

The moment is ruined when another bookshelf topples over, followed by a collective groan from everyone in the room.