#Shout out to me finding a massive spoiler

[lovipop]

When you look up content for your f/o and find a massive spoiler

[zorobff]

how to disappear. (opla!zoro x fem!reader)

synopsis: joining luffy’s crew made you believe that you’d finally escaped your former pirate crew and nightmare of a captain for good. that is, until a certain butler starts looking a little too familiar. good thing zoro’s keeping a close eye on you.

warnings: opla spoilers (ep 3), some direct dialogue from opla, mentions of verbal/physical abuse, kuro is just a weirdo tbh, reader is called a bitch, protective zoro, for the sake of the story sham and buchie joined the black cat pirates after reader left

word count: 4.7k

“this guy is full of shit.”

you knock your shoulder into zoro’s wider one. “be nice. and so what if he is?” 

zoro gives you a pointed glare. “then we should turn around and look for someone who can actually help us find a ship.” 

“all business, as per usual,” you reply, with a purposefully dramatic sigh. “why can’t you have a little fun?” 

“what about this is supposed to be fun?” zoro spits out the word like it’s poisonous. “this is the blandest village i’ve ever seen.”

you scoff. “now you’re the one that’s full of shit. nothing’s ever bland with us and you know it.” 

the us in question was your newly formed pirate crew… if you and luffy could even be considered that. having left the ship you’d been on a few years ago, you were in search of a new crew. luffy was persistent and charming — when you’d crossed paths in shells town, it took little to no time for him to convince you to join his hunt for the one piece. zoro and nami, on the other hand, had yet to follow in your footsteps. 

“well, considering that we’ve only been traveling together for a day and a half and i’ve already escaped a marine base, defeated a marine captain, and fought a clown with devil fruit powers… i’d actually have to agree.” 

you can’t help but giggle at his sarcastic delivery. “be grateful, zoro. not many pirate crews are this fun to be on, trust me. oh wait, that’s right, you still haven’t officially joined—”

“tell me about your old pirate crew,” interjects zoro, your comment having piqued his interest. 

you notice that the playful atmosphere dissipates. “god, where do i even start?” 

zoro answers that for you. “why did you leave?”

“starting with the hard hitting questions, huh?” you joke, mostly to stall. you clear your throat before you answer. “well, it was different. nothing like what luffy has going on. he actually cares about his crew… and even those who aren’t technically on it.” 

at that, a smile tugs at the corner of zoro’s lips. even you crack a small grin. although as you continue speaking, it fades. 

“on my old crew, we were dispensable. anytime something went wrong, our own captain would threaten to kill us. it was… scary, to be completely honest. there were so many times when i thought i’d die with that filthy crew. and i never wanted that. so as soon as we docked at shells town, i left.”  

zoro’s jaw clenches as imagines the things you’d seen and been subjected to. “this old captain of yours sounds like a real—”

“he was a nightmare,” you tell him. “he didn’t care that i was the only woman on board, he treated me just as horribly, if not worse.” 

zoro stops so suddenly that it takes you a second to realize he’s not walking alongside you.

“what do you mean by that.” the way zoro phrases the inquiry doesn’t even make it sound like a question. more like a demand. his narrowed eyes are fixed solely on you. holding his gaze feels… intense. 

you can’t help but glance away as you answer him. “he was just a bit of a creep.”

before zoro has the chance to try and extract more information out of you, a familiar voice calls both your names. you’re not really sure when you and zoro had fallen behind but from where you currently stand, the rest of your group looks miniature. or perhaps it’s just the massive size of the mansion behind them that makes luffy, nami, and usopp look pocket-sized in comparison. 

“why’d you stop walking?!” your captain shouts, hands pressed on each side of his mouth to amplify his voice. “get over here, we’re about to go in through the top secret entrance!” 

you vaguely make out usopp gesturing for luffy to keep his voice down. you’re sure that would warrant another comment from zoro about his reliability but he’s too busy staring at you with that expectant look in his eyes. 

“we better catch up,” you tell him, heading in the direction of the deluxe home. 

he allows you to dodge the subject and sighs, walking in long strides to catch up to you.  

“i’ve never seen a house this big before,” luffy admits, admiring the mansion along with the wellkept greenery surrounding it. 

“awesome, right?” usopp gloats, walking around like he owned the place. “kaya’s given me an open invitation to drop by anytime i want.” 

“wow.” you’re not sure if luffy was just going along with usopp’s act or if he really believed him. knowing the devil fruit user, it was more than likely the latter. “all this for just one person?”

“well, she lives here with her butler and a few other staff,” usopp replies, leaning against the stone well that sat in the middle of the lawn.

“money really shows you who people truly are,” nami mutters, eyes scanning the property. “most people only care about themselves and what’s theirs.”

zoro is quick to throw the insult back at her. “sounds like someone i know.”

you roll your eyes at his comment, though you make no effort to disagree with him. nami was a little on the materialistic side. 

“and a small staff makes for easy pickings,” she continues, proving your point.

“we just got here and you’re already planning on robbing the place blind?” you ask though you already know the answer.

“at least a little blurry,” she smirks, following behind luffy and usopp who walk toward the entrance. 

you and zoro share a look. one that says disappointed but not surprised. 

going under a shrub shaped as an arch, you’re met with a beautiful pond. you admire the pink lilies that float at the top and the bushes that were intricately trimmed into the shape of various animals. even if the people that lived here were filthy rich, at least they had good decorative taste. 

“so if you have an invitation, why are we going around the back way?” luffy ponders.

usopp’s answer is nonchalant. “oh, i never use the front entrance. like i said, this is the vip entrance reserved for special guests.”

zoro scoffs. “this guy’s definitely–”

“don’t start,” you groan, cutting him off. 

abruptly, usopp freezes and spins around, attempting to usher your crew back. “you know what, there’s actually a more exclusive entrance this way–”

the sharp swoosh of a knife cutting through the air and burying itself in the ground between usopp’s feet cuts him off. from the direction the kitchen utensil was thrown stands a heavyset gentleman with his face wrinkled in anger. his demanding voice booms through the garden, “the hell are you doing here, usopp?” 

the dark-skinned boy fumbles over his word. “buchi, buddy, uh, kaya’s expecting me.”

“another one of your lies,” the man – seemingly named buchi – seethes, grabbing him by the collar. “you ain’t welcome here and you know it.”

“i know nothing of the sort,” usopp retorts, keeping his cool even when he was practically being lifted off the ground by his shirt. “i’m here to give kaya an extra special gift.”

before buchi can get another word out, a feminine voice calls out for your companion. coming down the steps is a frail looking girl in a pink dress. on her arm is a man dressed in a crisp suit, presumably the butler usopp had mentioned earlier. though, from where you stand you can’t see either of their faces too clearly. 

“what a wonderful surprise,” she exclaims, breathlessly. 

“kaya!” usopp exclaims, returning her enthusiasm. buchi has no choice but to let him go, begrudgingly. usopp makes sure to shoot him a smug look before walking towards the young girl. “happy birthday.” 

the butler clears his throat, not afraid to intrude on their special moment. “usopp, we’ve discussed this before. you mustn’t show up unannounced.” 

“nonsense, klahadore.” kaya smiles warmly. “have you come to tell me another story? i do love hearing about your adventures.” 

“i’ll do you one better,” usopp smirks with such confidence that even you’re left wondering what kind of surprise he has up his sleeve. “i brought some of my crew!” he gestures back towards the four of you, proudly. 

your excitement vanishes. “oh. the surprise is… us.”

“well, that’s boring,” luffy agrees, just as disappointed as you are. 

kaya, on the other hand, is none the wiser. “it’s so nice to meet you. you must all stay for dinner.” 

klahadore lowers his voice. “miss kaya, it is a bit last minute. i’m afraid the kitchen hasn’t prepared for any extra guests.”

“please,” begs kaya, softly. “it’s my birthday. can’t be too much trouble can it?” 

giving in, klahadore purses his lips. “anything for you, miss kaya.” 

luffy claps his hands together. “alright! when do we eat?” 

“you don’t. not dressed like that, at least.” the butler directs himself to a staff member with teal colored hair. “sham, kindly show usopp and his friends to the guest suites. you will bathe and change before dinner.”

she follows his orders and leads the way. luffy, usopp, nami, and zoro trail behind her and you go to do the same. however, all it takes is a quick glance to stop you dead in your tracks. usually, you weren’t one to stare but klahadore’s face. that stare. so dark and depraved. 

“yes, miss?” he asks, holding your gaze. “can i help you?” 

“n-no, i…” your throat goes dry as you attempt to recover smoothly. “i just wanted to, um, thank you for being so hospitable.” 

his lips curve upwards into a sinister grin. “the pleasure’s all mine.” as if to confirm your worst fear, klahadore uses his palm to readjust his glasses. his beady eyes gauge your reaction closely.

the familiar gesture sends chills down your spine. appearance-wise, he had changed drastically but his aura was still just as menacing as you remember it. he was still the corrupt pirate captain you used to serve under. you feel like a weak and helpless subordinate all over again.

“klahadore!” giggles kaya. “you’re smiling! that’s certainly a rarity.”

he hums. “i’ve simply come to the realization that having guests once in a while can truly be a delight.”

his sickeningly sweet tone makes your stomach turn. just the fact that you were standing in front of him – captain kuro – again after all these years was nauseating in itself. last you’d heard he had died at the hands of captain morgan. how was this even possible? then again, he wasn’t dubbed kuro of a hundred plans for no reason. he always had a trick or two up his sleeve. you assumed this was no different. 

“hey, you comin’?”

you turn around to see zoro waiting for you. he meets your gaze for a moment. the softness of his eyes is a stark contrast to kuro’s. it’s a breath of fresh air. he then shifts his attention to your former captain and you swear his eyes darken. 

“yeah, sorry,” you mumble, trying not to look shaken as you walk up the steps. 

zoro follows behind you, this time closer than before.

“why would anybody even need this many clothes?”

“it’s not about need with these people, luffy. it’s about want,” nami spits, thumbing through the various fabrics on the wall. 

“at least she’s rich and nice,” luffy replies, innocently.

nami rolls her eyes. “yeah, letting us stay for dinner must be her idea of charity work.” 

“what are we even supposed to wear?” luffy continues, uninterested in nami’s criticism of the rich. 

“anything you want. when are you ever going to get the opportunity to wear things this nice?” 

you step out from behind the changing board where you’d swapped out your old tee and cargo skirt for an elegant satin dress. it was a stunning shade of olive green and frilly lace decorated the edges. not to mention, it hugged your curves in all the right ways.

nami’s eyes widen. “see, she’s got the right idea. you look amazing.” 

you smile, bashfully. “honestly, i feel amazing.”

“you look the same to me,” your captain shrugs.

nami shoots him a death glare but you intervene before she can scold him.

“way to keep me humble, luffy.”

“no problem!” 

at that exact moment, a freshly showered zoro arrives donning a silk robe. he eyes the multitude of garments that cover every inch of the room, not particularly impressed. 

“there you are. don’t you think she looks nice?” nami asks him, gesturing towards you. she doesn’t notice how you shrink under zoro’s gaze. neither does he, as his eyes take their time raking over you, from top to bottom.

he hums. “suits you.” with that, he sets off towards a chair in the corner of the room.  

“seriously?” sighs nami, exasperated. “are you two physically unable to give compliments or something?” 

“hey, doesn’t that butler seem familiar to you guys?” zoro asks, promptly ignoring nami’s complaint. 

his question causes your breath to hitch. you’d pushed the kuro problem to the back of your mind while you were in search of a suitable dinner outfit. you figured that as long as your crew was by your side, he wouldn’t dare try anything. and even if he did… well, you’d seen what had happened to axe-hand morgan and buggy. 

“yeah, i think he was at the last dinner party i attended,” nami replies sarcastically, taking a handful of dresses behind the changing board. 

as he takes a seat, zoro grumbles, “i swear i’ve seen him before.” 

“where?” you can’t help but ask, fiddling with the lace on the neckline of your dress. 

“so far, i’ve got two suspicions. a wanted poster or funky bar on mirrorball island. you ever been?”

you know zoro’s teasing you, judging by the grin on his face. after all, funky bar was known to get insanely rowdy; never would he imagine finding someone as gentle as you there. but what he didn’t know is that it happened to be one of kuro’s favorite bars. per his request, you and the rest of the black cat pirates frequented it often, so he was more than likely right about having seen kuro there. he’d probably even seen you in passing, once or twice. thankfully, he doesn’t seem to have any recollection of that.

the thought of zoro knowing about your past forms a knot in the pit of your stomach. would he think less of you for having joined such a ruthless crew at one point in your life? what if it put a strain on the friendship you’d worked so hard to form? 

“i’ve, uh, heard of it,” you decide to reply, pushing down your worries for the time being. 

he tilts his head slightly, thinking out loud. “then again, i have seen a lot of wanted posters and bars in my time as a pirate hunter.”

you feel a grin creep onto your face. “probably more bars than posters, huh?”

zoro mirrors your smile. “shut up.”

by the time dinner rolls around, the entire crew is doing what they do best. 

luffy is stuffing his face, nami is attempting to swindle one of the staff, zoro is hanging by the drinks, and you’re hanging by zoro. 

“hey zoro, you gotta try this!” luffy calls through a mouthful of food.

“i’ve got all i need right here,” he mutters, taking a swig out of his champagne flute. 

“you know, i don’t think i’ve ever seen you choke down something that isn’t alcohol,” you comment, watching the way he downs the glass in one go. 

dryly, he replies, “that’s because i haven’t.”

“very on brand.”

“ladies and gentlemen,” calls out that voice from the top of the stairs. “may i present… miss kaya.”

arm in arm, kuro and kaya walk down the steps, all eyes on the birthday girl and her stunning gown. well, except you. your eyes never leave the so-called butler by her side. your jaw clenches when he has the audacity to meet your gaze and hold it. shameless bastard. 

once they reach the bottom, merry leads kaya to the guests while kuro takes his post at the bottom of the stairs… right next to the drink table. before you can think about steering yourself and zoro away, kuro speaks.

“forgive me if i am speaking out of line, madam, but i must inform you. you look positively radiant,” he purrs, soaking in your appearance. he looks ready to pounce.

you can’t stop your eyes from rolling. good to know he’s the same pervert he used to be.

looking between you both and sensing your discomfort, zoro steps in. “and you look familiar.” 

kuro’s head stiffly turns to face him, eyes peeling away from you. “highly doubtful, sir.” 

“funky bar? mirror ball island?” 

“funky bar?” kuro repeats, disgusted. “well, i can assure you i’ve never patronized that type of establishment.” 

while it was amusing to see your highly esteemed former captain lie through his teeth, the tension between him and zoro was unbearable. 

“well then.” zoro continues with his little interrogation. “ever been on a wanted poster?”

you cringe at his bluntness. sometimes it seemed like he had less of a filter than luffy.

kuro puts on a scandalized face at the question. “sir! such an accusation is highly offensive.” tugging on his collar, he goes to remove himself from zoro’s probing. “now, if you’ll excuse me, i’m going to help prepare the dinner table.” 

he leaves, en route to the dining room. zoro’s eyes follow his figure until he disappears, squinting as he racks his brain for any further recollection of this suspicious butler. 

you sigh. if zoro was going to continue being so relentless, you were sure the night would end in bloodshed and uncovered secrets. 

“keep this coming,” zoro demands, handing the empty wine bottle to sham. she takes it with a glare. 

“would it kill you to say please?” you ask, slicing the slab of fish on your plate into smaller pieces.

“the service here is shitty. why should i have to be polite?” 

you scowl. “remind me to never have dinner with you again.”

zoro turns to you with that cocky grin of his. “what if i asked nicely?” 

his quip makes your heart flutter but you manage to keep your composure. “you can try your luck.” 

before he can respond, usopp speaks up. “luffy, isn’t there something that you wanted to talk to kaya about?” 

luffy gesticulates enthusiastically with his fork. “oh, yes! usopp told me that you own the whole shipyard.” 

“well, actually, my parents founded the shipyard and merry’s been running the business since they… passed. but all that’s about to change. tonight, at midnight, i will become the sole owner.” she smiles somberly. 

“well, that’s great,” luffy says, raising his drink at her. “because we want to buy a ship from you.” 

“ah, i see. usopp mentioned that you’re sailors.” 

“nope, not sailors. we’re pirates!”

you’re certain at least three people at the table choke on their food, yourself included. 

“this ought to be good,” zoro mumbles behind his glass.

you’re too busy coughing into your napkin to chastise him for finding this entertaining.

“pirates?” kaya repeats, unsure of how to react. 

“yup! we haven’t sailed together for very long but we’ve already defeated an evil clown, raided a marine base, and taken down a captain with an axe! for a hand!” luffy holds up a fist, presumably to impersonate axe-hand morgan.

“sounds a lot like your adventures, usopp,” kaya says, turning to the brunette.

all he can do is laugh dryly. “yeah, that’s… that’s crazy.” 

“and we’re just getting started!” luffy continues, climbing up onto the table.

“someone put me out of my misery,” you mumble, looking down at your plate to ignore the secondhand embarrassment.

a tap on your shoulder answers your plea.

turning around, you find yourself face to face with kuro once again. “madam, a word please?”

“might i ask what for?” zoro cuts in before you can so much as think of a response.

kuro offers him the most forced grin you’ve ever had the displeasure of seeing. “i’m afraid that is between the lady and i.”

the swordsman turns to you, scanning your face for any ounce of discomfort. “you okay with that?”

you inhale, figuring it was finally time for you to confront the darkest part of your past. it was silly to assume you would be able to ignore him throughout your entire stay here. besides, you were sure zoro, just like the rest of your crew, would be on standby if kuro got brave enough to try anything. “sure. just… keep an eye out.”

zoro understands completely. truthfully, you didn’t even need to ask – he always looked after you. “got it.”

you push yourself out of your seat and smooth out your dress. you allow kuro to lead you to the doorway – he was smart enough to know that was the farthest you’d let him take you. 

“what do you want, klahadore?” you seethe, folding your arms.

he arches a brow. “why must you call me that? it’s ridiculous.” 

you tilt your head with faux innocence. “oh? is that not your name? must have misheard.”

he gives you an irritated look, dark eyes drilling into you.

“i remember that look,” you mutter, your memory serving you well. “it’s the same one you’d give me before you’d threaten to slice me to bits with your claws.”

kuro has the audacity to chuckle dryly. “but i never did, did i? although there were certainly times times where i should’ve.”

“what you should be is dead,” you hiss bitterly. “when i heard the news, i knew it was too good to be true.”

“you wound me, kitten,” he drawls, reaching up to fix his glasses. 

the condescending nickname makes your skin crawl. it carried so many awful memories of your time spent with the black cat pirates. it reminded you of just how weak kuro viewed you — nothing but a helpless, pitiful kitten in his eyes. typical of the man that abused his authority and treated you with not a single ounce of respect. 

he continues, putting on a sweet tone. “after all these years, stuck waiting hand and foot on that spoiled brat, there’s nothing i’d love more than to hear my favorite crew mate say my real name.”

you snap at him. “i’m no crew mate of yours.”

he sighs, dramatically. “sadly, you’re correct. after all, you did slip off the ship the moment we docked in shells town. locating you on an island crawling with marines proved to be nearly impossible. we had no choice but to leave without you.”

“that’s exactly why i chose to escape there.” 

“and to this day i can’t for the life of me figure out why you would ever do that. why would you want to leave us? leave me?”

you actually laugh right in his face. “is it really that hard to figure out? you were evil. you threatened and harassed me on a daily basis.”

“so your solution was to join that ragtag crew?” he glances at the table. “it’s pathetic, even for you.”

you lean into his face, lowering your voice down. “i’m happier than i ever was on your shitty crew. every day i wake up grateful that i managed to escape you.”

you see that vein on his forehead bulge before he’s gripping you by the chin. “listen here, you little bitch–”

the shiny silver of a sword slides between you and kuro, coming to rest against his neck. his adam’s apple bobs as he gulps anxiously, releasing you. thanks to zoro’s sword, it seemed as if he finally remembered where he was. you were no longer on his ship, he was no longer allowed to treat you like the dirt he walked on. not without someone noticing, that is. 

“why don’t you step away?” zoro offers simply.

that much was a kindness. usually those who found themselves on the end of zoro’s blade(s) weren’t lucky enough to receive a warning. however, the swordsman didn’t wish to cause a scene. at least not when you were right there and everyone was watching with shock from the dinner table.

kuro obliges, stumbling back. he meets kaya’s horrified eyes, feeling ashamed that he allowed his act to slip. surely this would cause some setbacks in his plan. with no excuse for his uncharacteristic behavior, the raven haired man scurries away and up the stairs.

zoro turns and locks eyes with luffy, giving him one singular nod. luffy returns it, jumping out of his seat and going after the butler. quiet murmuring breaks out at the dinner table, everyone surely confused. 

sheathing his sword, zoro directs his attention to you once more. “are you alright?” a calloused hand comes up to grip your chin, much like kuro had. however, this time, the touch is gentle. loving, almost. you welcome it.

“yeah, i’m… fine.” your heart is beating out of your chest and it has everything to do with your close proximity to zoro.

he tilts your face around, inspecting every inch of it. once he finishes, he pulls back. his demeanor goes serious once more. “we need to have a talk.”

you nod. “i know. i’ve been keeping some things from you guys and–”

“just tell me what’s been going on,” he demands. “and don’t overcomplicate it. you can be straightforward with me.”

his sincerity makes you start over, this time far more candidly. “klahadore used to be a pirate. i was part of his crew. he was my… captain.”

the shame in your voice pulls at zoro’s heartstrings. didn’t you know there was no reason to feel guilty with him? “is that it?” 

you open your mouth to speak but come up empty. all you can do is furrow your eyebrows at his unexpectedly dismissive reaction.

“i knew it,” zoro continues, annoyed. “i knew i’d seen him on a wanted poster before. just didn’t have any proof.”

“wait, so you don’t– you really don’t care?” you ask, still avoiding eye contact. “me being a former black cat pirate doesn’t bother you?”

he shrugs. “you said it yourself. ‘former.’ all that matters is that you got the hell out of there. and away from that creep. would he always put his hands on you like that?”

you blink a couple times, sighing. “his temper was really bad so–”

that seemed to be enough for zoro. “i’ll kill the bastard,” he hisses. “wanted to slice him to bits the moment i saw him grab you.” 

though it’s a violent threat, you can’t help but smile. the idea of zoro being so protective that he’d kill a man just for touching you made you blush. pirate love language, you suppose.

“well, i wouldn’t have stopped you,” you tell him, more than ready to see your former captain go.

zoro clicks his tongue. “nah. could’ve stained your new dress with his blood. i never would have been able to forgive myself.”

“so you do have a soft spot,” you tease.

“only for pretty things.”

“do you mean me or the dress?” 

now it’s zoro’s turn to become bashful. though, his lack of response is an answer in itself. you can’t help but giggle. 

a loud bang from upstairs interrupts your moment with the green-haired man. you assume luffy had gotten his hands on kuro… or vice versa. zoro must be thinking the same thing judging by the way he instinctively rests a hand on the handle of his blade.

“you should go up there,” you tell him. “i’ll stay with kaya.”  

he gives you a nod, though he doesn’t make any effort to leave. he stands there like he wants to say something… or do something. before you can think about it too much, you pull him in by the collar and crash your lips onto his. they’re slightly chapped and taste like the wine that’d come from the cellar – it’s pleasant. his large palms come to rest on your lower back; his hold feels tight and secure. 

when you finally allow yourself to pull away, you’re biting back a smile. “kick his ass for me.” 

“will i get more of that if i do?” asks zoro, wetting his lips. they now taste like the cherry lip gloss you’d borrowed from kaya. he takes a step forward, attempting to close the gap between you two once more.

you shrug, pushing him away by the chest. “go help luffy and we’ll see.”

you both know that means yes.

[taylorman2274]

We Care About You (Part V)

You are forcibly summoned to Teyvat via dream trawling for answers. A long awaited discussion ensues...

Content Warning(s): Xiao Story Quest Spoilers

Notes: SAGAU; GN!Reader;

Word Count: 1.4k

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Taglist: @silverstarred; @victoria1676; @angelofdarkness2; @areaderspov; @andromeda-gay; @ash1; @mercy-not-merci; @toodledoodl3; @jellyedkazoo; @namine123; @innuwu; @agaygothicmushroom; @tired-of-life-86; @fantasyhopperhea; @sweetsourbxtch;

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After you had decided you were no longer going to play Genshin Impact, you felt as if a massive weight was lifted off your shoulders. Had the past few weeks really taken that much out of you?

"I suppose it did," you assumed as you were playing another game with your friend group. "I haven't felt this relieved in a long while."

You and your friend group spent many hours talking, laughing, raging, and sharing memes. When you noticed it was just past midnight, you felt that it was the best time to get some sleep. You bid goodbye to your friends, closed your computer, and went to take a quick shower.

While in the shower, thoughts began to ruminate in your head. "It's gonna be hard for me to find another game that will get me addicted as much as Genshin did. But maybe something in my backlog might work for now."

The thoughts continued after the shower, after brushing your teeth, and after getting in bed. "I almost forget what game I was playing before I started Genshin. Was it something I finished? If not, maybe I should go back to that."

Before long, you fell asleep. However, unbeknownst to you, your computer mysteriously turned itself back on and began to launch a certain application...

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"Do I need to remind you again how to perform Dream Trawler?" Xiao asked.

"Nuh-uh," Paimon shook her head, setting down a Seven-Star Lamp. "Paimon has a great memory! First, we offer incense with respect for Rex Lapis. Next, we meditate and think of our target. Then, we shout 'Bring Forth Sin'!

"It's 'Devayaksha, Bring Forth Sin'," the Traveler corrected as they were adjusting the position of the censer.

"Right!” Paimon nodded, setting down another Seven-Star Lamp. “Lastly, we let loose a couple of arrows towards the two yaksha statues to... to uh... uhhh...".

"Tsk. Fools."

This conversation was taking place while the Traveler and Paimon were setting everything up for the Dream Trawler ritual. However, instead of going back to the two yaksha statues on the southern face of Mt. Tianheng, Zhongli suggested they perform the ritual at Luhua Pool.

"If my guess is correct, [Y/N] will most likely panic upon realizing where they are. If that's the case, it would be better for them if they weren't so close to the harbor. It's best if we do not attract any attention."

Both the Traveler and Paimon agreed. Neither of them wanted [Y/N] to be afraid. They only wanted to give them the warmest of welcomes.

"Are you two done yet?" Xiao asked, annoyed at how long it was taking to get everything set up.

The Traveler and Paimon walked up to Xiao. "Yep! Everything's set up just like last time."

Xiao nodded. "Good. Get ready to initiate the ritual."

The Traveler and Paimon nodded in return. They put the incense inside of the censer and began to meditate.

"Since we are dealing with someone from another world, I would imagine that a great deal of focus should be needed to summon [Y/N]. This is especially true since we have no idea what they look like. I'm sure Xiao warned you of the consequences this could cause should you not take this seriously.

Zhongli's words echoed in your mind as you put all of your focus towards [Y/N].

"Hmm..."

[Y/N], who has been with them since the beginning.

"Ohh..."

[Y/N], who has done their best to guide them along their journey.

"Ahh... Hmm..."

[Y/N]. [Y/N]. [Y/N]. [Y/N]. [Y/N].

"Devayaksha, Bring Forth Sin!"

---------------------------------------------------------

...

... ...

... … …

It's cold.

You shifted in your sleep and immediately felt the lack of bedsheets surrounding your body.

Instead, you felt... rock? Sand?

Slowly opening your eyes, you were met with the cloudy midnight sky, trees with orangish-red leaves, and tall, rocky mountain peaks.

"...Wait. ...Why am I outdoors?"

Your eyes slowly began to adjust to the moonlight.

"...And why does this look so familiar?"

You brought your hand to the ground to begin pushing yourself up, but stopped moving once you noticed the light blue glow surrounding it.

"What the hell?!"

Shocking the exhaustion from your body, you quickly rose up from the floor, nearly losing balance as you stood due to how light you suddenly felt. You looked around the rest of your body and found that you were completely surrounded by the light blue glow.

"This has to be a dream... This has to be..."

"My job is done. I'm leaving now."

Startled, you quickly turned around to find three familiar persons standing a couple of yards away from you.

"Huh? Why don't you wanna stay?" A floating pixie asked.

"...Paimon?"

A short, tattooed man with azure hair scoffed in response. "I don't deal with mortals."

"...Xiao?"

You let out a crazed chuckle. "I've got to be dreaming."

Paimon, oblivious to your decreasing sanity, shook her head. "Nope! We summoned you here via dream trawling. Isn't that great?!"

You were silent for a few seconds before you responded. "Dream... trawling...?"

Sensing that you were still confused, Xiao sighed in annoyance. "You are [Y/N], right?"

Hearing the sound of your name shook some sense into you, but you still involuntarily nodded.

"Good. When you're ready to send them back, speak my name." Xiao told the Traveler before disappearing.

However, seeing Xiao disappear right in front of your eyes shook you even further. "Woah...! That looked way too realistic."

The Traveler let out a small cough to grab your attention. "If you wouldn't mind, [Y/N]. We summoned you here because we've been wanting to talk to you for some time now. Please, grab a seat."

They gestured toward a stone table that was definitely not there the last time you visited. They then sat down on the stone seat facing you. When they looked up, they realized that you hadn't even moved as much as an inch. Additionally, you stared straight at them, yet still appeared lost in thought. Sensing that you may still be bewildered about your current situation, they spoke up.

"You don't need to worry about anything, [Y/N]. There is nothing around here that will hurt you," they gestured to the seat again. "Please."

Had they been unable to see your chest moving in and out, both Paimon and the Traveler would have thought you to be a statue.

"This is a dream. This is real. This is a dream. This is real. This is a dream. This is real..."

Paimon shared a worryingly glance at the Traveler before floating on over to you. You were too oblivious to your surroundings to notice her approaching, but when she finally reached out a hand to tap your shoulder, you flinched back. Hard.

"Wahh! Sorry! Paimon's sorry!" Paimon quickly apologized.

Meanwhile, your brain was working in overdrive to assess the situation. "I felt her! I felt her! I'm not dreaming! I'm not dreaming! This is real! This is real! THIS IS REAL!"

"Paimon get back," the Traveler commanded, standing up from their seat. "They're in shock."

"In shock!? What do we do about that?" Paimon questioned.

The Traveler didn't respond, instead, they slowly began to walk towards you.

Becoming more aware of your surroundings, you noticed the Traveler approaching and slowly began to back up, raising your arms in front of your body. "No no no no. Don't come any closer."

However, the Traveler continued to walk forward one step at a time. They raised their hands up in the air. "It's okay, [Y/N]. It's okay."

You shook your head. "No, it's not okay," you rapidly spoke, breathing loudly. "I'm not supposed to be here."

"Yes, you are. We summoned you here."

You backed up into a broken stone pillar. "Why?" you asked, looking behind you for a quick second. "What did I do?"

They stopped in place before a sorrowful gaze appeared on the Traveler's face. "You’ve done nothing wrong."

Silence hung in the air for an agonizingly long time. Finally, you spoke:

"...Nothing?"

The Traveler nodded. "That’s right. We just want to talk."

You slowly lowered your arms. "About... what?"

Both the Traveler and Paimon smiled. "About our future journey together."

Confusion set upon you once again. "What? But I… I said I was done."

The Traveler sadly shook their head. "We know, but we can't let you leave. Not after all you have done for us."

Paimon chirped in. "Exactly! You're our friend after all!"

Your breathing stopped upon hearing Paimon. After all that effort you put into making amends with them. After believing that it was all for naught.

"You... you see me... as a friend?"

The Traveler nodded, their smile growing bigger. "We do."

Silence fell upon the three of you once again. This time, it was the Traveler who broke it.

"I think it's time we all grab a seat. Shall we?"

---------------------------------------------------------

Author's Notes: I was originally going to make this longer, but I once again struggled at trying to write this scene out. It's hard trying to figure out how people should believably react to this scenario.

Because it's never happened before, duh.

Anyways, the next part will be the end of this series. Stick around for the ending!

[livesworthlivingau]

Behind the Vale Chapter 26

Spoilers for ISAT/Two Hats below as usual!

"Here, go find these." [The Kid commands flatly, handing you a slip of paper without even looking at you. The both of you and Nille were out in the market for a little bonding time, trying to find the rest of the supplies for them to prepare Nille's favorite recipe as a bit of a celebration.]

"Bonnie!! Ugh... I'll go look for them, you two play nice while I'm gone, alright?" [Nille sighs, snatching the list out of their hand. You feel your heart sink as she walks away, worriedly looking down at the Kid. They crossed their arms and refused to look at you.]

"... Sooooo... How has your journey been since the loops?..."

"'sfine..."

"... Right, right... I heard Stardust-"

"His name is Frin!! Siffrin!" [They shout at you suddenly, clenching their fists tightly.]

"S-Sorry!... Names are... very hard for me sometimes, it's a star thing, sentimentality and all~." [You try to deflect explain gently, kneeling down and smiling softly to get to their level.]

"Is that why you only call Nille by her name?"

"... Sort of, yes..."

"'sstupid."

"What, are you jealous you don't get a special nickname~?" [You tease a little, but their reaction tells you all you need to know, a slight pang of jealousy before getting defensive again.]

"N-No!!! That's stupid!!!"

"Is that so? What a shame... I had just the name in mind~." [They perk up, again quickly trying to hide it behind their anger.]

"S-So?! was probably stupid anyways..." [They mumble before kicking a rock on the ground.]

"Is that so... Little Flare~?" [They almost jump at the name, taking a moment to process what they were just called, then finally turning to face you.]

"What's that?"

"Well, you see the sun up there? That's actually a big giant star, kinda like I used to be. A massive ball of fire, floating in the sky!" [You start to explain, Little Flare staring up at you in wonder as you do.]

"And sometimes the fire gets a bit wild, and it escapes, lashing out in a beautiful display~! Those are called flares, and you my dear..." [You lightly boop their nose as you go on.]

"are quite the little fiery thing, aren't you~? Escaped from the very sun itself~!" [They continue to stare up at you in wonder, their eyes sparkling.]

"Woah... I'm a flare!!" [They proclaim with their fists raised in the air.]

"Haha! That you are little one~." [You smile softly, trying so desperately to fight the lingering itch inside of you, not wanting to ruin this moment. Their expression starts to fall as they look down.]

"... Frin told me... without you, they'd never have gotten out of the loops... Is that true?" [Your heart absolutely sinks at that question. Keep it together Vale... We have to keep it together, we can't ruin this... Do it for Nille blind it... You breath in deeply, then sigh it back out, helping keep yourself stable.]

"... I think it might be Little Flare..."

"Why though?! Why couldn't we help Frin?!... Why didn't they just talk to us?..."

"It's... complicated... Stardust has a lot of trouble opening up, or... well they did at least, I guess a lot can change in a few decades."

"... stupidfrin..." [You can't help but chuckle a little at that.]

"He was pretty stupid back then, wasn't he?" [They stand there for a moment, arms crossed, looking on the verge of tears. Suddenly then tackle into you, arms wrapped around you in a tight hug... You blink and stay frozen in shock.]

"... Thanks for helping them..." [You're still in shock for a moment, slowly realizing you should return the hug. Your arms slowly wrap back around them, holding them close.]

"O-Of course..." [Your cheek feels wet...]

"Glad to see you both are getting along better!" [Nille's voice startles you. You quickly wipe your face as Flare breaks the hug.]

"Nille! I'm a flare!!! I escaped the sun!!!" [They cheer excitedly, holding their fists up again.]

"You sure did, but what the crab are you going on about?" [She asks with a confused chuckle. You clear your throat to compose yourself better, standing back up.]

"Just a nickname I thought they might like, Little Flare~. It means some fire that escaped a star's form." [You smile brightly, trying to hide all the other emotions you were feeling.]

"Awww, now ain't that just the sweetest thing. My fiery little flare~." [She says, patting Flare's head through their big hat as they smile up at her proudly.]

"Thanks, Vay... I really appreciate you trying so hard." [She adds in a quiet voice as she faced you. Your smile cracks the slightest bit but you hold firm. You perk up as you feel Flare tugging at your sleeve, looking back down at them curiously.]

"Y-Yes?"

"Were you always a star?" [You freeze for a moment. Why are we so blinding bad at thinking of a cover story?! Just... MAKE SOMETHING UP!! They're a child, they'll believe anything we say!!]

"Y-Yes! Of course~! It was my job to come down and help all those little Flares like you that get lost on their way~!" [You wink, booping them on the nose yet again. They giggle some but keep looking up at you in awe.]

"Is that why you helped Nille find us?!"

"A-Absolutely~! How could I let my favorite one go without their dear sister for another moment~?" [You look back over at Nille. Her face holds such a bright, warm smile. You could swear you even saw some tears starting to well up. You feel Little Flare wrapping their arms around your waist, hugging close as they look up at you again.]

"Thanks for bringing Nille back... but does that mean you're gonna leave now? Aren't there more people to help?"

"Well... My star duties have been... 'put on hold' lets say. So I intend to stay, at least for a little while."

"Good!... Frin needs you here... and Nille too I guess." [They grumble those last words as you perk up, starting to blush the slightest bit and glancing back over at her, her face darkened as well as she looks away.]

"Come on, let's get the rest and head back to the house, I'm sure everyone else is gonna be real hungry!" [Nille remarks, trying to move the moment along quickly. You finish gathering the supplies on the list and make your way to return to everyone else.]

[thefandomenchantress]

Chapter 2 Episode 15 Spoilers below!

Since Ace being the culprit has brought about so much pain to ace lovers, including me, I figured I'd make a list of all the good things that him being the culprit brings to us. Even though Ace will (probably) be executed next episode, that doesn't mean that nothing good came out of this, right?

-Ace's backstory may be revealed much sooner than expected! Before we would've had to wait for chapter 3 or chapter 4 and so on, but since Ace will be gone soon, almost everything not revealed next episode will get told to us in a bonus episode! (I think every dead person gets one of those? Idk if that's officially confirmed). I doubt Teruko's gonna find, like, Ace's diary in chapter three detailing his life story, so if we're ever getting the Taylor Lore™, it'll be in a bonus episode! Plus, a bonus episode would come out a lot faster than the whole of chapter three, so more Ace content sooner no matter what happens in it! And there's always the chance he gets picked for an FTE, since dead people are on the list of options.

-Ace canonically has neat, fancy handwriting. Begone rumors of Ace having illegible, traditionally boy-ish handwriting, he actually writes like a 19th century scholar and I find this very funny. More evidence for my 'Ace likes reading and writing and wanted to become a romance author' crack theory, since he also reenforced his particularness about vocabulary in chapter 2 part 2. (Our only remaining question: Does Ace actually have terrible spelling ('responsibel'), or did he just think Eden would?)

-Ace is very good at being sneaky and often overhears things he shouldn't. I can't wait for this to be used as a plot device in numerous fics ("XANDER YOU'LL NEVER GUESS THE SHIT I JUST HEARD DAVID SAY ABOUT YOU WHEN HE THOUGHT HE WAS ALONE").

-Ace will have to be included in the dead (formerly a) trio posts forevermore. Get ready for Xander-Min-Arei-Ace shenanigans.

-Now that the cast has been forced to acknowledge that being dumb and angry aren't Ace's only traits and that he's just as human as the rest of them, Ace is much less likely to be seen as just those two things by the average viewer. Ace's popularity, or at least the amount of dislike towards him, seems to have shifted since the last episode, and I'm happy more people are able to enjoy what his character has to offer now. He's a cool little guy. I've literally NEVER seen the Ace Markey tag this busy before.

-We got so many cool Ace CGs guys. SO MANY. Including one where he's hanging upside down on the swing set and looks weirdly cute for someone in the middle of a murder plan.

-Also new sprites! The DRDTdev gave Ace a redesign knowing full-well that it would only get a singular chapter of use, and I massively respect that. We already got some new sprites in part 2 of chapter 2 so far, and I'm guessing next episode he'll probably have at least one more breakdown sprite before he dies.

-For someone who no one in the cast liked, he's definitely going to leave an impact. He's finally made at least some of the cast realize what happens when they ignore the issues right in front of them. Ace shouts about how everyone hates him and sees him as an insufferable idiot? Eh, probably nothing, we don't have to worry about that. Sure, multiple people told him he's gonna die next in here, and he almost got murdered, but that won't amount to anything. What's he gonna do, murder someone--WAIT SHIT Ace step away from the Arei I repeat step away from the Arei-- (plus Teruko parallels). I'll probably go more in-depth about this sort of thing in a different post.

-WE NEVER GOT TO SEE WHAT'S UNDER HIS GLOVES. Kyoko and Mukuro both had hand-related secrets that connected them to the plot later on, does that mean Ace will have some sort of relevance to the mastermind or overall lore later on? Like a Mai tattoo situation? (Or maybe it's another thing that may be alluded to or discussed in the bonus episode)(Or left to interpretation but I hope not because I have so many theories).

If you have any more suggestions for other good Ace-related things the culprit reveal brought us, let me know and I can add them to the list! We need as many good things as we can think of right now...

[loupy-mongoose]

*Ahem*

Happy Halloween!! ^w^

Bug Fables.

It's my current favorite video game, and actually, you can thank it for Linden Roots existing~

I'll explain, but in order to do so I have to dive into spoilers for one of my absolute favorite plots for one of my absolute favorite characters, so I need to slap on a;

MASSIVE SPOILER WARNING!

In my opinion, this game is best experienced SPOILER FREE, so if you haven't played it and want to some day, I recommend skipping my info dump below. (This info can be acquired before beating the main game though. :>)

You're okay with spoilers? Yes? Okay, carry on.

So.

Those who are familiar with Leif's story will probably see how Bug Fables influenced the creation of Linden Roots.

A long while ago, I mentioned Randy being inspired by my favorite fictional character.

That's Leif.

Leif is a moth who is ancient.

And dead.

Loooooong before the game takes place (I can't find an exact timeframe; it's like a generation or two), Leif went with a team of bugs to explore a cave, but ended up dying in there. In that same cave, a group of scientists later experimented on cordyceps. Now, as soon as they became relevant to the story I was HOOKED.

I learned about cordyceps as a kid, and they scared the crap out of me. But it also was one of those morbidly fascinating things I'd look into once in a while. (Before anyone tells me, yes, I know that's what's in The Last of Us.)

If you don't know, IRL cordyceps basically turn bugs into zombies.

Anyway, the scientists were trying to find a way to create eternal life (what else is new lol), and did this through cordyceps. Which, as one could guess when dealing with zombie fungus, ended up going badly for the scientists.

One of the "failed" experimental fungi was thrown out, and found its way to the deceased Leif, and brought him back to life. It took on his memories, and Leif woke up without knowing what happened, until you dig into his story during the game. So the "Leif" we know in the game isn't truly Leif, but is the fungus living as him.

Now... I'm sure that sounds a bit familiar...

This idea of a character being dead-but-not struck a chord with me. It fascinated me to no end.

But there's more to it.

As one might expect, Leif has some tragedy surrounding him.

While playing the game, you can stumble upon his decedents.

This here is Muze. With a 'z'

This is Leif's great great however-many-greats grand-daughter, who you meet in the game's present day.

When he was alive, he had a wife.

His wife was Muse. With an 's'.

We never get to see what Muse looked like, but he says in-game that Muze is a spitting image of her. Hence why Akoya is dressed as she is in my pic. She's dressed as Muse.

Now, according to the developers, Muse was pregnant when Leif went into the cave where he died.

And he didn't know.

There are several moments in the game that show Leif's potential as a father, but one in particular stood out to me.

(Note for the images; Leif refers to himself as "We/Us".)

Oops, I forgot one. Vi finishes by shouting "I said it's not happening!"

The text in the last shot bounces/wiggles in-game, indicating playfulness or joking.

If you're familiar with Goombario and Goombella in the Paper Mario games, this dialogue is this game's version of that. You can have the main characters give flavor text on any area and most characters in the game. (And I recommend doing it often, as it adds SOOO much to the game! ^v^)

This bit takes place in the first room after Kabbu and Vi meet Leif. And at the end of the room, an event happens to change what's said for the rest of the game. Meaning, the only time you see it is RIGHT after they meet; He was getting playful with these two bugs he'd met only moments ago.

I'm sure it can just be seen as sarcasm, but having found this dialogue after learning about Leif missing out on raising a child, I saw it as a clue that he would've been a great dad. And it shattered me. ;w;

Randy and Akoya are wish-fulfillment. They're my version of Leif and Muse. They're my way of giving Leif and Muse what I'm sad they missed out on, while also keeping some of the angst, lol. Thankfully, they've evolved into their own separate characters that I feel I can be proud of, but Leif's story and tragedy still has a deep, well-protected place in my heart.

Anyway, thanks for checking out my ramble. I accept no blame for any potential spoiler you might've seen against your will. XD

[secretswiftymarvelfan]

The Demigod On Earth - Steve Rogers x Reader (The God of a Massive Pain in My Ass)

A/N: As soon as I watched the Loki Series Finale I knew I had to write this

Summary: A mysterious figure comes back from the dead... again.

Word Count: 2.2k

Warnings: Fluff! Light Angst! Loki Spoilers!

Dividers by @firefly-graphics

Masterlist / Main Masterlist

The God of a Massive Pain in My Ass

You smiled softly as you looked over your shoulder at JJ who was excitedly telling you and Steve about his day at school. The school had been visited by the local fire department for a fire safety talk and JJ couldn’t stop talking about all the cool things he’d learnt.

“They brought a dog too! It was a dalmatian!” JJ exclaimed.

“Oh wow, does the dog fight the fires too?” Steve asked as he glanced in the rear-view mirror. 

JJ laughed and shook his head “noo! They stay at the station to keep everyone company”

“Aw that’s very sweet” you commented, running your hand over your bump and returning your attention back to the front.

As Steve turned the corner someone stood at your front door caught your attention. Your blood ran cold as you instinctively reached out to grab Steve’s arm “Stop the car here” you told him.

Steve instantly did as you said “What’s wrong” he said, eyes wide with worry as he looked over at you. 

“Nothing, just take JJ to the park while I deal with something,” you said, not taking your eyes off the person at the front door. 

Steve followed your gaze before swearing under his breath “Right okay yeah sure” he nodded. 

“Thank you, I shouldn’t be long 20 minutes max” you tell him unbuckling your seatbelt. 

“Sweetheart” Steve said putting his hand on your arm as you were about to get out of the car “Don’t get too stressed” he reminded you his eyes dropping to your bump. You shoot him a look that had him immediately backtracking “But you know I’d say this is warranted”

“Yeah I’d say so, 20 minutes” you huffed as you got out of the car. 

You waited until Steve pulled away again and was out of sight before you turned around to face your visitor who had the audacity to wave at you. You clenched your fists before storming up to the front door. 

His mouth had barely opened when you swung and punched your brother Loki square in the face “What the fuck is wrong with you!” you screeched. 

Loki groaned, hand cupping his jaw “I deserved that” 

“Seriously what is wrong with you?! Do you get off causing pain to your loved ones? Do you not understand how horrible it has been to grieve you multiple times only to find out you’re fucking alive! You didn’t think to come back and help us against Thanos?!” you shouted at him hitting his shoulders and chest.

“I couldn’t” Loki sighed.

“Couldn’t or wouldn’t” you sneered. 

“I couldn’t because he did kill me, that was the moment I did die, or at least that version of me” Loki sighed with a sad look on his face. 

Your screwed your eyes shut and shook your head “What?” you said unable to make sense of what he was saying. 

Loki sighed “I can explain if you would let me” he said holding his hands up in a defensive manner. 

You took a deep breath before looking up at Loki, you could see the sincerity in his eyes, eyes that looked tired and like they’d seen too much “okay, but you only have 15 minutes now before Steve and JJ gets back and beware the dog” you said as you pulled out the key and opened the door. 

As expected Scout came bounding over and was his usual wiggly self. It was difficult to stop the smile that threatened to break out as you watched Loki try and negotiate the golden retriever. You led him through to the living room, sitting down as soon as you could because you’d worn yourself out already. 

As soon as he could Loki sat down on the opposite side of the couch, hands ringing together nervously “did Steve tell you about his time when he went back to get the stones?” Loki started, you nodded in response “well I’m the Loki who took the tesseract after Stark lost it” he explained. 

You hold your hand up to pause him “Wait, so you’re from 2012? So the dark elves and Thanos that’s not happened to you yet?” you asked.

“Yes, it’s technically my future, I’ve seen it all play out at the TVA” Loki explained.

“TVA?”

“The Time Variance Authority, they control the timeline and ensure everything runs correctly” Loki explained, you blinked in confusion so he explained some more “Me taking the tesseract wasn’t supposed to happen, by me taking it I became a variant and they arrested me” 

“So you created a new timeline and they arrested you to get rid of that timeline?” you guessed.

“Yes, exactly that! But there’s more to it” he said before recounting his story of the TVA and Kang the Conqueror. 

“So right now all the timelines are loose and it’s causing time to unravel and if you don’t stop it the entire universe will cease to exist” you said pinching the bridge of your nose and trying desperately not to stress out too much about it. 

“Yes, but I know what I need to do, and it will work. I just wanted to make amends because I won’t be able to visit ever again,” Loki sighed.

“Why not? Don’t get me wrong I’m still pissed at you but I just got you back” you muttered.

“Someone needs to hold all the timelines together once I hold on I won’t be able to let go again” Loki explained “There’s no other way, I wish there was but I’ll be able to see you, watch over this timeline, maybe there’s one where we were all still together, you, me, thor… our parents”

You let out a watery chuckle hearing that, after everything you never expected Loki to refer to Odin and Frigga as his parents again “that would be nice” you said wiping away a stray tear. 

Loki gave you a sympathetic smile which just made you cry even more, this was the brother you grew up with and you couldn’t believe he was back only to leave for good.

“Sorry, it’s all the hormones” you apologised as Loki wrapped his arm around you and pulled on in for a hug. 

“That is an exciting development, I saw a boy with Steve too,” Loki said.

“That’s JJ we had him a year before the snap, he’s Steve’s mini-me,” you tell him with a warm smile.

“Urgh another one” Loki groaned which earned him a punch to the arm. 

“And this one will be a little girl” you smile gesturing down to your bum. 

Loki smiled warmly “Well if she’s anything like you she’ll be a handful, you were a nightmare child” he smirked.

You gasp and shove his shoulder “Only because of your bad influences, I recall both you and Thor egging me on”

Loki just chuckled and shrugged his shoulder, his expression turned serious when you heard the car pull up outside “Can I meet JJ?” he asked quietly. 

You sighed “he thinks you’re dead, I don’t know how to explain all this multiverse stuff to him” you admitted shaking your head “It’s already been confusing enough that I came back but Nat and Tony didn’t”

“We don’t have to tell him, I can say it’s part of my powers that I’m able to visit” he suggested, creating a duplicate of himself across the room which said “Just this once… please”

You let out a long sigh but there was only one answer. How could you possibly take away the opportunity for JJ to meet his uncle. The brother who meant so much to you growing up. 

“Okay we’ll see how he is but if he gets upset or confused” you warned. 

Loki held up his hands “Then I’ll go and keep watching on from afar” he promised. 

You smiled softly before standing up to go greet Steve and JJ. You spotted Steve was lingering by the car trying to stall until you opened the front door. 

“Mommy” JJ called out as he ran up the path to you “What’s going on?” he asked as he hugged your legs. 

“Nothing sweetie” you reassure him “We just had a surprise guest, one who would like to meet you if that’s okay?” you asked him. 

Steve arched a brow as he walked up to join you so you gave him a reassuring look to say it was all okay. 

“Okay” JJ nodded as he took your hand. 

“Good, he’s very excited to meet you” You smiled softly as you led JJ inside the house towards Loki. 

To your surprise, Loki was pacing back and forth in the living room, but as soon as you walked back in he spun around and smiled proudly back at you “Hi” he said his voice catching slightly. 

“JJ, this is your uncle Loki,” you said introducing him. 

JJ tilted his head as his brows pinched in confusion “I thought you were up in the stars?” he asked. 

The corners of Loki’s lips twitch upwards “I am, but I have special powers that allow me to visit you, only this once though” Loki explained as he took a few tentative steps towards JJ. 

“Powers?” JJ asked. 

“Yeah, look at this,” Loki said as he knelt down and created a bright green bunny to appear in midair, you bit back a laugh as you recalled him doing similar tricks when you were a child. 

JJ’s eye lit up at the fake bunny, you smiled as he rushed over to Loki to get a better look. Steve moved to stand in JJ’s place beside you, wrapping his arm around you and pressing a kiss to the side of your head.

“You feeling okay?” he asked softly. 

You nodded your head watching as Loki and JJ got to know each other “yeah, he’s not back for good but I’m glad I’m getting to see him one last time” you admitted quietly. 

“How is he back?” Steve asked. 

“He’s the Loki who stole the tesseract when you went back for it, but by doing that he created a new timeline and this is a variant of the Loki we know, but he knows what happened to our Loki” you explain “Apparently all the timelines are loose and unravelling at the moment but it's okay because he’s going to go back and hold them all together” 

Steve blinked a couple of times, his mouth opening and shutting as he tried and failed to comprehend what you just said. He finally shook his head and let out a long breath “I’m glad we’re retired and don’t have to deal with this anymore” he muttered.

You snorted “You can say that again, although it is interesting to think of all the different timelines out there, how different our lives might be in them”

Steve shook his head “they wouldn’t be any different, I would have found you in every universe and timeline” he said. 

You smiled softly up at him “I love you”

“I love you too” Steve smiled as he leaned down and kissed you softly. 

A short while later Loki stood up from where he’d been hanging out with JJ “I think my time is running out and I have a few more places to visit”

“Aww can’t you stay?” JJ complained. 

Loki smiled softly “unfortunately not, but I’ll be watching over you so I’ll never be far” he said gently ruffling up JJ’s hair. 

JJ still pouted but stepped forward to give Loki one of his bear hugs “Bye Uncle Loki”

“Bye little one” Loki smiled softly as he hugged JJ back. 

“JJ why don’t you and Dad go make a start on your homework while I walk Uncle Loki out” you suggested. 

“Okay say hello to Auntie Nat and Uncle Tony for me please” JJ pleaded. 

“Consider it done” Loki promised “Now get on with your work, intelligence is your best weapon”

JJ grinned back up at him before making his way over to Steve to make a start on his homework. You and Loki made your way back outside, pausing on the front porch neither of you really wanting him to go. 

“Are you going to see Thor?” you asked.

Loki chuckled “Yes, got any tips?” he smirked. 

“Take a shield, he’s got a mean axe now” you warned. 

“Any chance I can take Steve’s?” he asked hopefully. 

You laugh “Oh so it’s not too patriotic for you now that you need it?” 

Loki shrugged “I might change up the colour scheme, green and gold might look good” he smirked.

You snorted and shook your head “Well you’re out of luck because he gave it to Sam when we retired”

“Damn, I’ll think of something” Loki sighed.

Silence fell between the two of you “I wished you didn’t have to go” you sighed. 

“Me neither, but that's the hero gig right?” Loki said. 

You chuckled “Yeah it is, I’ll miss you” 

“I’ll miss you too, but as I said to JJ, I’ll be watching over you, being a proud big brother as your family grows” Loki smiled, resting a hand on your shoulder “I need to go now”

“Okay,” you muttered, your voice thick with emotion as you stepped closer to hug him tightly for the last time. 

Loki hugged you back, pressing a gentle kiss to the top of your head before stepping back. You watched him walk down the path towards the road. He looked back once before an orange doorway opened and he stepped through, disappearing for good.

“Goodbye brother” you whispered.

Sharing is caring so please reblog if you enjoyed this and maybe even leave a comment to make my day!

I have no schedule, please don’t ask when I will be updating!

Masterlist / Masterlist

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[user220811]

Not sure if you take like request or anything but I just read your lo’ak crush/bestfriend headcannons and they were so cute could you maybe do how lo’ak reacted to having to leave the jungle and leave reader behind because the sully fam had to go ask the Metkayinas for help? So reader had to go back to the labs and live there for a bit, and maybe how reader goes to visit him after a few days. This is a lot to ask so if you wanna take any parts out that’s fine I love your writing ❤️

Lo’ak having to leave his human!bestfriend behind in pandora

Lo’ak x fem!human!reader headcannons+ imagine (angst/ fluff)

Thank you so much for your request! Still trying to get the hang of full length imagines, so for now I hope you enjoy this!

Requests are open!

MAJOR AVATAR TWOW SPOILERS

Headcannons

→ When Lo’ak found out you couldn’t go with him, he first felt heartbroken, but then became angry. He shouted at his dad as to why you can’t go with them, but you knew it was best, and deep down so did he.

→ On the last day of being in pandora, he only wanted to spend it with you.

→ You both spent hours running freely around the forests, laughing with eachother, and enjoying eachothers company.

→ But when the final realisation hit the both of you, sadness once again washed over, and you both just layed beside eachother on the ground, taking in the last of each other’s presence.

→ Jake finds you both later that night huddled together, Lo’aks tail resting over your lower thigh, your head turned in towards his neck and his body securely turned in towards yours.

→ He brings you both back to the haven, where you both stay sound asleep.

→ When the time arrives in the morning, he does not want to leave you. But you reassure him its for the best.

→ “You cannot stay here for me”

→ “But I want to”

→ “Go, Lo’ak, I will come find you”

→ Lo’ak eventually goes with his family, knowing that you will stick to your word. You will come find him.

→ At first arrival of the Metkayina, Lo’ak felt unsafe without you.

→ He was at unease, and his family could tell.

→ Throughout his stay, from learning to control his lungs underwater, to losing Neteyam in the fight against the colonel, he needed you.

Short imagine

Lo’ak felt lost. After laying his brother with the ocean na’vis ancestors, he knew it was his home. It was a quiet day, him and his parents sitting in their home, as kiri and tuk played in the water.

As Lo’ak sat beside Jake, he saw something appear in the sky. It was a helicopter, from the labs back in pandora. Jake and Neytiri stood up, pulling the attention of the girls away from the water, and towards the sky.

Jake and Neytiri made their way to the shore, where all the clan were stood about cautiously, some with weapons raised. Jake nodded at Tonowari, and he ordered for his clan to lower their weapons. Lo’ak was still confused, and then it hit him.

You had come to find him.

Jake smiled down at his son with his hand on Lo’aks shoulder, as you stepped down from the helicopter, scanning the crowd for Lo’ak. Lo’ak swiftly pulled away from his dad and sprinted towards you at full speed.

Before you even had a chance to really look at the boy, he had you in his arms, his grasp tight around your body. He swung you around, not wanting to let you go. You laughed as he placed you back on the ground, you finally being able to look at him in the eyes, your hands placed loosely on his waist, his clinging to your forearms.

“You found me” Lo’ak said with a smile

“I found you” you replied

You gaze turned to the rest of the sully family, as Tuk ran towards you, Kiri not far behind.

“Y/N!” They both shouted, tackling you in a massive hug. Lo’ak is quick to put his arms beneath you to stablise you from the two excited girls, Tuk wrapping her arms around your legs. You softly smiled at Jake and Neytiri behind the girls heads, them smiling back.

Alternative endings, one may hurt more than the other

1. Once the girls got their hugs in and you were greeted and welcomed by the clan, Lo’ak pulled you away, to show you your new home. You were able to stay with them due to new technology that had been developed back at the lab, and he, and you, were both finally at peace.

2. You scanned the crowd of people once more, past Jake and Neytiri, your eyes failing to fall on the one person that was missing.

“Wait, where is Neteyam?”

[oxymorayuri]

𝐶𝘩𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝟷𝟸

𝑇𝘩𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑇𝑎𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑎 »

𝑇𝑟𝑎𝑓𝑎𝑙𝑔𝑎𝑟 𝐷. 𝑊𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟

𝐿𝑎𝑤 ✘ ♀ 𝑅𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟

𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐒𝐓: 序川_

Story: The princess of Tanata

(Long Fic)

➽ Click on this link to see all chapters.

Spoiler: Mention and explanation about the Haki. Some of it is true and could be a spoiler but I had to add some fiction to make it fit my story :3

Warnings: NO PROOFREAD. sorry I just wanted to post before I go to work.

slowburn with plot

Wordcount: 3142

Text in italics emphasizes the reader’s thoughts

Bold and italic text emphasizes Law's thoughts *~*

Tagging: @slytherinambitious - @sassyyassi - @norasincubi - @cottoncandyloverrrr - @one-piece-frvr7

"Alright little princess, are you ready?" The broad grin on Zoro's face looks almost crazy. His eyes narrow with confidence as you walk back onto the ground.

"How impatient Mr. Swordsman."

You give him a quirky grin, finding it funny how eager he is to fight you. He's very much like Ambrosios. If you don't consider their appearance, they could be siblings…

Maybe they're soul mates? lol.

Before you enter the field, you walk over to the others and Ambrosios who is lying on the meadow with his eyes closed. As you reach for his sword, he quickly grabs your arm, still with his eyes closed.

"What are you doing, my princess?" he looks at you with his one eye open.

"I need a sword, what does it look like, you dummy?"

The huge man straightens up and shakes his head slightly.

"No, no, no. Princess. That sword is far too heavy for a delicate woman like you…"

What? He treats me like a princess, of course, but he has never doubted my strength...

"Tzz a delicate woman like me can still be as strong as a man!" A little offended but with a grin on your lips, you swing the broad sword in the air and spin it like a basketball on your finger.

He doesn't answer you, he rather confuses you with his laughter as he leans back.

Around you, you hear the people express their amazement.

"Woah y/n, you're totally the surprise! And your outfit too." Nami gushes at you. You blush a little as you look down at yourself and sink the sword, which is actually as big as you are, into the ground. No one has ever complimented you on how you look in your training outfit.

Of course, people admire you for your beauty and you hear this so much, that it makes you sick…. But you're much happier to receive a compliment when it's about clothes you like, than the compliments you get when you wear tacky dresses.

"Okay, I bet y/n wins!" she adds. Luffy growls in disbelief that Nami isn't betting on Zoro… After all, they are a crew.

She just shrugs her shoulders and everyone starts laughing when she said, that she has to bet on the safe horse.

Finally, you and Zoro face each other. His stance is firmer than when he fought Ambrosios and for a while, you stare into each other's eyes.

Ambrosio's sword lays casually in your hand, leaning over your shoulder. You will not be the first to attack. Will he?

Without even taking his eyes off you, he draws his swords. His blades flash at you, but you wait.

"Oiiii Zorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrooooooooooooo!!! GO!" Shouts the strawhat impatiently.

Since you're so easily distracted, you look over at the boy.

A mistake.

The green haired man takes advantage of your carelessness and rushes towards you. Much faster than before.

Caught off guard, you look him in the eye when he is just a few centimetres in front of you. You barely manage to block his attack, but you quickly catch yourself.

It's still no trouble. All it takes is a snap of your fingers and you disappear right before his eyes.

Puzzled, he looks around but there is no sign of you.

"Up here, swordsman!"

His gaze went straight up and there you are, flying towards him like a falling comet. In mid air, you strike out and swing the massive blade. The force of the sword triggers a powerful shockwave that could shred everything. But Zoro is quicker and manages to dodge. The pressure from the impact spreads through the surrounding area, even the spectators have to hold on tight.

No problem. I still have a few aces up my sleeve.

You think to yourself as you watch him try to gain distance.

Over and over again, your swords were clashing. Zoro would never admit it, but he definitely underestimated you. His face shows the struggle.

But you also have something you would never admit. Ambrosio's heavy sword is slowly getting on your arms.

You wanted to use your skills as little as possible, but Zoro also had a few tricks up his sleeve that you didn't expect. Zoro is definitely too close for you, you're not much of a close range fighter and need distance. With a snap, you again teleport away from Zoro, but it doesn't take Zoro long to figure out where you are. He has realized that you can teleport in seconds, if not faster he guesses, but your range is not very wide. He quickly changes direction when he sees you and comes running towards you.

"Cut!"

You take a swing with your sword and an invisible cut races across the meadow. Possibly faster than a cheetah. Zoro makes the smart move and dodges. If that cut had hit him, he would have instantly froze, just as the plants froze when the blade whipped across the ground.

But Zoro doesn't allow himself to be defeated and uses another remarkable attack.

He creates a whirlwind in which he catches you and you cling to the hilt of the sword in panic. You can't see anything around you, your hair swirls around and into your face.

With your eyes narrowed you try to catch a glimpse of Zoro but to no avail. With another cut, you slice the tornado in two and the tornado freezes as well. You let yourself fall and see Zoro jump up to you while you are still falling.

While you were in the tornado, he seems to have released another attack, because it looks like he has three heads, six arms and nine swords. You squint your eyes to check if you are still dizzy from the tornado but when you open your eyes again you still see him in this form.

His body language is menacing, tickling a murderous grin inside you.

He respects me.

Then show him everything he wants to see!

You teleport again, but this time directly into the tornado and thrust a dagger into it so you don't fall.

Normally the tornado is just air, but anything that comes into contact with your ability changes its physical structure. The cracks in the tornado caused by the dagger flash golden and shimmer as if you had cut through space and time.

You know that Zoro will follow you…

You seize the moment before Zoro appears and let your sword disappear into your space and time dimension, before teleporting it back.

Zoro breaks through the frozen tornado and a few sparkling fragments fall to the ground.

He pauses for a moment as he sees you dangling around without your sword, but your knowing grin causes him to charge at you again. Maybe you've lost it?

You snap with your free hand, but instead of teleporting, Zoro's tornado disappears into thin air. This, of course, means that you have no more support and you fall into the depths. As you fall down, you pass Zoro and wave cheekily at him.

He looks at you in surprise but follows you into the depths.

Just before you hit the ground on your back, closely followed by Zoro, you teleport in the air again, but this time with your sword in your hand.

Zoro reacts in a matter of seconds on the ground, which collapses around his feet, looking straight up into the air as if he had sensed you appear above him.

His gaze narrows as he looks up at you.

Once again you take a swing with your sword but let it go. Zoro tried to block it, but before his blades can block Ambrosio's sword, you froze it. Zoro didn't seem to expect it and that's exactly what you were hoping for.

With the surprise comes your victory. You take advantage of the brief moment of carelessness and surprise. A victorious smile forms on your lips.

"Fast forward." You speak confidently.

The sword moves towards Zoro with lightning speed, so fast that it can barely be seen with the naked eye. Zoro doesn't stand a chance and Ambrosio's sword hits him on the cheek. Light as a feather, you land on the ground in front of him. With a casual expression, you approach the green haired man, who stands before you with his mouth wide open.

You close his mouth and heal his wound before he fully comes to himself.

Zoro accepts his defeat and bows slightly to you. He is aware that you only injured his cheek because it was a friendly fight… You certainly could have hit him directly and killed him on the spot.

You enjoyed the fight very much and return the bow. Together you walk back to your audience, which is visibly stunned. Only Thalia and Ambrosios cheer like crazy cheerleaders. Okay, only Thalia cheers like a cheerleader, but Ambrosios applauds and gives you a knowing nod.

A little out of breath, you sit back down with your friends. Of course you didn't have to exert that much force, since you only fended off most of Zoro's attacks, but all that freezing is sapping your powers.

"Woah, y/n you're so fast… well apart from your teleporting thingy…." Nami gets close to your face. "You don't have a single bead of sweat on your face!" she adds, surprised.

You laugh nervously as you look at the broken Zoro, lying on the grass, regulating his breathing.

"Yes, because I've hardly done anything…." you confess in a shy voice…

"Hardly done anything?!" Zoro looks at you weirdly, his voice a little shrill at the end as he's still struggling with his breath.

"Yeah… no wait, that's not what I meant." You collect yourself for a moment. Sure, you clearly won because you're stronger, but that's not what you were trying to say.

"I meant to say that I didn't really do anything physically. I can handle a sword, yes, but I'm definitely not as physically strong as Ambrosios or my uncle." - "Oh come on my princess, you're great with a sword and strong." - "Stop always praising me like that, just because I'm the princess Ambrosios!" you stand up angrily and find yourself quite puzzled when you realize how startled the others look at you. Only Thalia and Ambrosios look at you with gentleness in their eyes.

Urgggh don't do that!

Frustrated, you sit down again, you know he only means well, as this has always been a point that made you question things… Why are you the only one? That's a question you've always asked yourself.

"The Taimutaimu fruit only gives me an obvious advantage… but you are indeed strong. Your willpower gives you a strength that I can only imitate." You wrap your arms around your legs, smiling a little as you realize how envious you sound, but you don't mean it in a bad way, you just envy it. You admire it.

"What do you mean y/n?" Nami asks you a little confused, having trouble following your monologue.

"She means the haki." Ambrosios answers for you.

You don't look up… your eyes remain fixed on your feet, which you rub together a little nervously.

"Ahh the Haki." Robin intervenes.

"So you know it?" She nods at him.

"Good… There are three different types of Haki that can be used and two of them are trainable since everyone has Haki. The Kenbunshoku, Busōshoku are trainable and the untrainable is Haōshoku."

"Haōshoku? So the Conqueror's Haki?" - "Exactly." nods Ambrosios to Law, who was leaning against Bepo, listening intently to the conversation the whole time.

"Everyone on Tanata can use all three Hakis, it's never been the case before but y/n can't even learn the ones, that everyone can learn…. y/n has no Haki in her body."

The mood became serious but it's nothing new to you, it's just a little uncomfortable how all eyes are on you.

"No Haki?! But how is that possible?" Robin asks somewhat perplexed, the usually calm woman seems to be interested in this unusual phenomena.

"We don't really know ourselves, because y/n has a very strong will and her soul is pure, otherwise the oracle wouldn't have predicted that she would become the devil fruit user…." The Tanata warrior is suddenly interrupted by the blonde who pushes herself into Robin's field of vision

"Okay Ambrosios, that's not entireeeeeely true." Her eyes and yours meet, she waits for your approval before continuing.

You have no problem with that and nod at her. They already know so much now, and if you're honest, you'd think it's unfair to leave them to their own curiosity now.

"There was a 'Chosen One' a few centuries ago… He was soooo strong that he was somewhat feared, but since the user of the Taimutaimu fruit has a pure soul, they never gave in to the fear." Thalia speaks the words like a little story, the others listen intently, Luffy lies on his stomach and dangles his legs in the air.

"Go on, tell the story!" Ikkaku shakes Thalia. You have to laugh even if it makes you sad.

"Even if the user of the Devil Fruit can't become king, he did. But he wasn't a king, he was a tyrant and the worst years in Tanata's history followed, until his long awaited death." - "Oh my God how dramatic." Nami is stunned and drinks some wine to calm down.

You hold out your empty glass to her and, without looking away from Thalia, she pours you some.

"Oh yes… After his death, the oracle never again predicted who the next user would be and for aaaall those decades there was no one to fulfill Tanata's task." - "Tanata's task?" Law interrupts your friend but she shakes her head

"That's information that none of the citizens of Tanata know. Only the oracle, the devil fruit user and the royal family know what the real purpose, for example, of y/n is." - "We can't reveal it, I'm sorry." You confirm Law.

He seems a little disappointed, but he shows you his understanding.

"I understand, everyone has secrets they don't even share with their closest ones." His eyes pass between you and Thalia.

He's right, not even Thalia knows it… who usually knows EVERYTHING. Not even with her you've shared this knowledge.

Thalia clears her throat before speaking again.

"At that time, people said it was the punishment of the gods that no new devil fruit user is predicted anymore, because the oracle receives a vision purely by chance. She does not see the user but scrolls and the current oracle confirm that they hear a voice telling them very specific details of the devil fruit user. If another person were to eat this devil fruit, he would die on the spot, because the gods only want someone with a pure soul to be the bearer." - "And that's the point, that's nonsense!" Groans Ambrosios, annoyed.

"People say the gods punished us back then? For what? For choosing someone who didn't have a pure soul? That's not our fault and ESPECIALLY not y/n's!".

Ambrosios seems a little upset and if you look at it that way it sounds logical, but Tanata is a very religious country.

"But how come you can't use Haki?" Nami doesn't understand the context.

"Probably so she doesn't get too strong…" Law recognizes the big picture.

"Exactly." Ambrosios and Thalia speak at the same time.

"Woah woah woah, it's all pretty complicated…" Nami holds her hand to her temple "...So to recap; there was an evil devil fruit user, the gods were pissed off about him, didn't choose anyone for years and then?" - "And then there was a prophecy that shook up the kingdom." Thalia takes over the conversation again.

"It was predicted that Hera would give birth to a child, one that would never learn Haki, and this child would be allowed to use the devil's fruit."

All eyes are on you. A mixture of wonder and pity spreads across the faces of the others.

The history lesson is a little nerve wracking for you and you groan a little.

"Yup, and that kid was me. The gods must have realized that the task had to be performed again, so they chose me with restrictions."

Silence fell for a while….

"Hmmmmmmm, I don't think you seem that restricted!" Luffy's boyish manner made you and the others laugh, Zoro grinned at his statement and nodded at you.

That gave you the feeling that he wanted to tell you that the strawhat was right.

"I think you could be even stronger than that guy back then." Your eyes quickly go over to Law, who is still leaning against Bepo and looking up at the blue sky.

"Thinking about how you use your ability, I can tell you that strength isn't everything. You are smart and use your power well. I don't believe in gods but I think you do, so let me tell you one thing…" You swallow a little hard, your heart beating faster as Law took his time to say the next words.

"I don't think the gods wanted to punish you, I think they wanted to give you the opportunity to awaken the full power of the Taimutaimu Fruit without being blinded by strength." His gaze continued to look upwards.

His words make you feel quite different. The blush rises to your face, as well as the tears. You feel a little stupid, but you are still happy about his words, because it doesn't sound that implausible.

Maybe the gods just didn't want you to be distracted by strength. The meaning of the Taimutaimu fruit is so much more than just power and strength. You're just so ashamed that you've never thought of it that way and still let it affect you, that you're not as strong as the others.

"I've never thought of it that way." You say, almost happily, as the tears roll down your face.

The girls around you rush straight to you to comfort you. Even Law took his eyes off the sky when he heard you sniffle softly.

"You know princess-ya, I think the gods want you to be the wisest, not the strongest."

A sentence you will never forget.

A/N: Wheeeew… I think writing about fights is kinda dull and hard. I'm glad it's over. lol.

The rest made me a bit emotional.. you know? about being the wisest and not the strongest. My heart - urksss.

See you next time, kiss kiss ♡

➽ Next chapter

[rohirric-hunter]

Fall

I may have told some people that Léonys "escaped" very quickly after being brought to Umbar. That's certainly one way to describe it.

Follow-up to this, and also the explanation for why Azagath freaks Léonys out so much. Although this takes place earlier, it has spoilers for The Song of Waves and Wind 7.4 in it. Also massive trigger warning for a suicide attempt. Nothing out of line with what you would normally find in fantasy and even in LotR. But it is super explicit.

~*~*~*~

Azagath Sea-shadow is tall, almost as tall as Aragorn, you think.

He looks at you, but without really seeing you. Perhaps it is just the thought of Aragorn that makes you think that, though, for the King of Gondor always seems to see more than what he is shown.

Something about him makes you think of Karazgar, too, and perhaps that is the tug of uneasy familarity you feel, for you think you have met few people so unobservant and naive as the Weeping Warrior.

"Nakási," he says, and his voice is briny and dangerous as the sea, "Who are these people?"

"Hostages from Gondor," Nakási says. "The child is the son of one of their lords, and this woman is a close friend of King Elessar."

Azagath looks at you again, with more interest this time. He stands near an open window in the wide hall you and Thorongil have been brought to, and though it is dark outside, the stars are bright and you can see them reflecting on the ocean far below, choppy in the harsh wind. The smell of salt, so pervasive aboard the ships, is faint here. You must be in the citadel you had seen on a lone island as the ships had approached the city, for nowhere else was so high up and so close to the water.

"This could jeopardize everything, Nakási," Azagath says. "I do not want undue attention from Gondor, not now. Where is Tumúldo?"

Nakási's face darkens. "He was murdered," she says. "Gondor must pay for his death. He must be avenged!"

"I see," Azagath says, and he turns back to the window. "A hostage could be useful. But we only need one. The boy is worthless next to a friend of Elessar's. Kill him, and take the woman to —"

"No!" you shout, cutting him off. You try to step between him and Thorongil, but your arms, which Nakási's sailors had bound behind your back before you were led out of the hidden harbour below, through secret passageways and finally up a flight of stairs to this place, are easy for the guard behind you to grab and hold you still.

Another grabs Thorongil and pushes him towards Nakási, who draws her sword. "I'm not afraid of you!" he shouts. You try to stomp on the foot of the guard holding you, but if he even notices your heel sliding off of his armored boot, he does not show it. And even if you do get free, what then? How long can you, alone and unarmed, defend him from the innumerable enemies that surround you? The door you entered by is locked and barred and guarded by two more guards — there are other doors in this room, but you do not know where they lead, or what is behind them. You suffer under no delusions of being able to evade your enemy for long in their own home.

"The King will not negotiate with child murderers!" you say. "If you kill him a hostage is useless to you!"

Azagath looks at you again, stepping away from his window for the first time. "I think he will," he says, quietly, dangerously, and you aren't sure what he means by that, but you shrink away from him, into the guard holding you.

"Let go of me!" Thorongil protests, and your heart rises to your throat. Azagath cannot truly think that Aragorn will negotiate for any hostages, not if it puts Gondor at risk — but he seems convinced. Under other circumstances you would be glad of this, for it would buy you time, time to think of a way out of this, and time for the rescue to arrive. There will be a rescue, you have to believe this, but when it comes, what will it find? You, alone and broken, having failed to protect Thorongil as you set out to do? Indeed, it seems your presence here has put him in more danger, for if Azagath had only one hostage then he would not be thinking of killing him.

Your gaze strays to the open window. Azagath has stepped away from it. You had not considered it as a possible means of escape because you know how high up you are. As Nakási and Tatháta had brought their ships to harbor under the cover of night, they had passed close enough to the south side of this island that you had seen the rocks jutting from the cliff face near the water.

If Azagath had only one hostage, then he would not be thinking of killing him.

You take a deep, trembling breath and hope it doesn't hurt. That is odd, some detached part of you thinks. Before the walls of Minas Tirith, you do not remember caring much whether or not it hurt.

Nakási raises her blade. "Don't!" you shout, and she pauses, looking at you with dislike in her eyes — dislike she has had for you since you foolishly mentioned Hathellang where she could hear, and she realized that you are, to him, what was taken from her. Well, this ought to please her, at any rate.

You lift your left leg and swing it back and upwards, as hard as you can, and it connects where you knew it would. The guard releases you as he keels over, his stoic mask finally broken, and you sprint — not for Thorongil, as the other guard clearly expected, as he releases the boy and moves to intercept, but not far enough. And not for Azagath or Nakási — you see both of them brace for an attack and take some small satisfaction in it. You sprint for the window, and leap, and feel the sill beneath your feet even as Azagath realizes your intent and calls out, and then leap again, as far away from the building as possible, whether to stop anyone reaching after you from catching you or in some vain hope of clearing the rocks below you are not sure.

The night seems darker, now that you are out in it, but as you fall you see the stars reflected in the ocean below growing closer.

~*~*~*~

Obviously Léonys will survive this. But that's a story for another oneshot.

It's kind of ironic that despite how dark things got for Léonys in Léonys of Rohan, where she was for some time quite suicidal, she never actually tried to hurt herself. But now that she's reached the happy conclusion of that story, and moved on, and is no longer suicidal, she finds herself in a position where she feels like it's her only option. It's going to freak her out a lot, when she finally has time to sit down and think about it. I don't think she was really aware of just how close to the edge she was during Léonys of Rohan. That knowledge, combined with the fact that Azagath forced her into that position, make for a fun little cocktail of bad associations and fear surrounding Azagath for her.

The decision had already been made, to have Léonys captured and brought to Umbar alongside Thorongil and Corudan, by the time I got to the point in the story where it was revealed that Thorongil was as good as dead the moment Azagath thought he had a more valuable prisoner, so long as Belondor was not in the room. So I found myself faced with the option of either completely reworking Belondor's character arc to happen earlier, which I didn't want to do because it's really good, or to have Léonys deal with it somehow. And this was the way, she insisted. "No obvious escape? I only have as much time as it takes Nakási to get to Thorongil to come up with something? Well, even if he only wants one hostage, that's still one hostage he wants. Limit his options. I know it's not a survivable fall, but I'm not standing here and watching them kill a child." It was a very interesting moment. I feel like I learned something new about her.

[anonymouzee]

AMARANTHINE - Dr. STONE

sum☆: "ᵉˡᵉᵍᵃⁿᵗ! "𝙰𝙼𝙰𝚁𝙰𝙽𝚃𝙷𝙸𝙽𝙴 (adj.) undying, immortal, eternally beautifulIn which Stanley Snyder, Xeno Houston Wingfield, and (Y/N) Ambrose were trapped in an unexpected stone world that had been petrified 3,700 years before. However, they were 'infiltrated' by some foreign brats all of a sudden.Of course, they don't give up without a fight, do they?

warnings:. all characters are 18+!!! violence. language. FICTION!! don't like it? scroll away!! first ever post on this app. english is not my first language, so ugh.(Dr. Stone x Reader)(Dr. STONE : New America City Arc) MANGA SPOILER

(CHAPTER 6) Z=154: Spy vs. Spy

"we'll find the enemy science leader...

"...and capture him!!"

"<...and to assassinate him!!>"

Senku and Dr. Xeno exclaimed in unison, while the troops of the enemy kingdom and the other members of the kingdom of science were now exploring the forest to complete their respective missions.

The rhythmic crunch of leaves underfoot was the only sound breaking the serene tranquility of the forest. Stanley and (Y/n) were deep in thought, their minds racing with the complexities of their mission. Suddenly, a faint rustling sound caught their attention. They turned to see a young woman dressed in a striped dress, her footsteps trailing behind them.

"<So, can we trust this Gen guy?." she asked, her voice carrying a hint of skepticism.

(Y/n) glanced at Stanley, her eyes seeking his opinion. "<Luna,>" she began, addressing the woman, "<Xeno entrusted you with infiltrating the enemy's ship. Do you think you can handle it?>"

Luna nodded, her expression a mixture of determination and nervousness. "<Of course, I can,>" she replied, her voice a bit shaky. Even after all these years, she still found it difficult to converse with (Y/n) without feeling a sense of anxiety and intimidation. Despite her fear, Luna admired (Y/n) deeply, seeing her as a role model.

"<I wish you luck then,>" (Y/n) said, turning her attention to their weapons. As she prepared for the mission, Stanley responded to Luna's question about Gen.

"<Trust?>" he scoffed. "<Anyone who trusts an enemy who just double-crossed his own people needs an appointment with a head doctor.>"

"<We'll pump him for intel, but keep him at arm's length otherwise,>" Stanley continued. "<Odds are he's a spy.>"

Luna agreed, her voice a bit more confident this time. "<Right, sure. I mean, duh. Obviously! I realized that too. That was me testing you, Stanley. I didn't think you'd get careless, but I had to be sure!>"

In the distance, chaos began to unfold. (Y/n) climbed a towering tree, finding the perfect vantage point to observe the enemy's base. She brought out her binocular telescope and began scanning the area.

Meanwhile, below, Carlos and Max were expressing their loyalty to Luna. "<No way, Miss Luna! I'll carry every last one if I have to!>" Carlos exclaimed, his voice filled with determination. Max echoed his sentiment, eager to impress Luna with his bravery.

"<What? Now you're up for the job? Why don't you take a nap while I carry the cargo?>" Carlos retorted, his competitive spirit ignited. Max, eager to impress Luna, joined the fray, and soon the two were engaged in a heated argument.

"<You're not carrying a thing, Luna,>" Stanley's voice cut through the bickering. He lit a cigarette, a calm demeanor contrasting with the chaos below. "<And that's non-negotiable. Not a thing. That heavy stuff could leave marks on your body, and you've got a job to do.>"

Just then, (Y/n) shouted from above, her voice echoing through the trees. "<You four there, quit talking and come up here!>"

Stanley, Luna, Carlos, and Max scrambled up the tree to join her. As they reached the top, Carlos's eyes widened in astonishment as he beheld the massive enemy ship.

"<So that's the enemy ship?>" he asked nervously.

"<KAHHH! IT'S HUGE!!>" Max exclaimed, his voice filled with awe.

"<Wow, this other science-pro isn't half-bad,>" Luna said, her admiration growing. "<Of course, he's nothing compared to Xeno!>"

(Y/n) handed Stanley her binoculars, allowing him to get a closer look at the ship. "<I think this is a perfect spot,>" she said, as Stanley taking the binoculars from her hands then kissing them.

"<So, we should begin measuring and not waste time,>" (Y/n) continued, pulling out thermometers and weather vanes and handing them to Stanley. Stanley picked up the weather vane and lifted it into the air, placing it on the top of a tree branch to begin taking measurements.

"<Do these... measure temperature and humidity?>" Luna asked, holding her own thermometer.

"<They're made by Doc Xeno, who tends to be overly helpful,>" Stanley replied. "<Despite my insistence I could figure out that stuff using my senses. Well, extra data'll only help with accuracy, I guess.>"

"<And is that a weathervane?>" Carlos asked, his curiosity piqued.

"<Kah kah kah! Why take all these readings? You playing weather reporter?>" Max chimed in.

(Y/n) answered their questions, her voice calm and authoritative. "<It all affects bullet velocity.>" The other three were taken aback by her explanation, realizing that Stanley was carefully tracking the environmental conditions to ensure the perfect shot.

"<No way... from this distance?>" Luna looked at Stanley with a mixture of awe and apprehension.

"<I'll snipe the enemy science leader... with a rifle made by Xeno's science,>" Stanley replied, his voice filled with determination. He positioned himself on his stomach, finding a clear view of the ship through his scope.

"<We've got a glimpse of the area via spy plane. This is the optimal firing position,>" he said, remaining still.

"<We... we're gonna kill them...?>" Luna looked up at Stanley and (Y/n), her eyes wide with uncertainty.

"<Just their science leader,>" (Y/n) replied, preparing her own gun and reloading it.

"<Isn't that kinda awful?>" Luna asked, her voice trembling slightly.

Stanley's glare was immediate, silencing Luna's question. "<Just kidding! Just making sure that those two wimps don't try to chicken out of this! That's part of my job!>" Luna exclaimed, her panic evident as she averted her gaze from Stanley's intense stare.

"<That's our Miss Luna, cool as a cucumber!>" Max and Carlos exclaimed, their admiration for Luna growing.

"<I've got goosebumps!>" Max added, his voice filled with excitement.

"<So what's the job of mine you two mentioned before? And why am I wearing this striped outfit...?>" Luna asked, her curiosity piqued.

"<Each stripe is five inches,>" Stanley answered.

"<You'll be our yard stick, Luna,>" (Y/n) finished.

"<By matching up with my crosshairs, I can calculate the distance to the target,>" Stanley added.

"<You're about as young as they are, Luna. So they're less likely to see you as a threat. Board their ship, and find Dr. Taiju, their science leader,>" Stanley instructed.

"<(N/n), help Luna get close to the ship, will you?>" Stanley requested (Y/n), who nodded and began to descend from the tree.

"<No need to ask twice, captain~ Come on now, Luna,>" (Y/n) purred, motioning for Luna to follow her.

"<Ri-right!>" Luna replied, her voice a bit shaky. With an awkward silence, (Y/n) guided Luna towards the lair near the ship.

"<luna, dear>" (Y/n) called out, her voice carrying a sense of urgency.

"<Yes...?>" Luna responded quietly, her attention drawn to (Y/n).

"<Xeno and Stanley may not know this, but I have a feeling that Dr. Taiju is not the science leader...>" (Y/n) revealed, her voice filled with a hint of intrigue. Randomly telling Luna her suspicioun despite not being close with the younger woman.

"<Huh? How so?>" Luna asked, her curiosity piqued.

"<Just a feeling. Anyway, word of advice, trust your instincts,>" (Y/n) replied.

"<Huh... right...>" Luna nodded, her mind racing.

The two came to a stop at their intended spot.

"<I suppose here is fine. Good luck,>" (Y/n) said, bidding Luna farewell.

Luna watched (Y/n) walk away, her heart filled with admiration. She was truly her role model. But then, remembering her mission, she immediately began to mess herself up to look as if she had been harassed or hurt.

'I'm Luna, the smoothest operator! Luna, the capable gal!!' Luna exclaimed in her head as she emerged from her hiding spot, tears in her eyes and her appearance disheveled. How could anyone not help a poor girl in such a state?

Ryusui and Senku noticed Luna's crawling figure on the ship's ladder.

From afar, Stanley observed the scene with interest.

'Sailing out to sea could've saved them, but they're staying put because... they're reluctant to abandon an ally. Lucky these kiddies are so naïve. And softies like that... won't ignore a girl crying for help,' Stanley thought to himself.

Meanwhile, (Y/n) decided to return to the factory, knowing that Stanley and the others could handle the mission properly. She decided to accompany Xeno, who was 'tormenting' Gen.

As (Y/n) walked away, she glanced back at Luna, carrying out her mission.

'You sent a spy into our ranks? Well, here's our counter-op. Two can play at this game,' she thought as she continued to walk away.

"Help me please! I'm desperate to run away from that horrid Dr. Xeno and his kingdom!!" Luna cried out desperately, her voice filled with emotion as she pleaded for help from the crew of the Perseus.

Mozu perked up, his attention drawn to Luna's appearance.

"Hm? She's cute," Mozu mused, his eyes lingering on Luna. However, his comment was quickly met with disapproval from Kirisame.

"Not the time nor place, Mozu," Kirisame admonished, her voice stern.

Senku stepped closer to Luna, his presence drawing Ryusui's attention. Ryusui couldn't help but smirk, his mind racing with possibilities.

'Hmph. Tough call here,' Ryusui thought, his suspicion of Luna growing. 'Of course, I want to help her... but we can't take her at face value.'

Luna looked up as she heard Senku's footsteps approaching.

"Are you hurt, miss? Have no fear, you're safe now! Please, come onto our ship," Senku offered, his words laced with charm. Luna couldn't help but blush at his kind demeanor.

"Th-thanks..." Luna replied, her voice a bit shaky.

"Let's get you some first-aid below deck!" Taiju said, offering to help Luna. Kirisame took Luna into her arms, carrying her towards the ship to tend to her wounds.

"Turning on the charm, huh?" Yuzuriha sweatdropped, amused by Senku's actions.

"Really, Senku...?" Kinro echoed, his expression a mix of surprise and amusement.

Meanwhile, at Tsukasa's group, they were discussing their strategy.

"We only have a general idea of where Chrome, Kohaku, and Gen went," Suika said.

"Right, we need intel," Ukyo added.

"Capturing their science leader will allow us to seize the initiative. Yes... any information about the enemy would be helpful at this point," Tsukasa concluded.

Back on the Perseus, Luna internally decided to fulfill her mission while most of the crew remained suspicious of her.

"We're really letting some suspicious girl board the ship?" Nikki asked warily.

"Who cares? She's cute," Mozu replied, his admiration for Luna unabated.

"Senku's a man, if you know what I mean! And maybe doe-eyed blondes push all the right buttons for him!" Yo exclaimed, teasing Senku.

"Naw, this isn't what it seems..." Yuzuriha countered.

Senku smirked mischievously. "Ku ku ku... we'll extract all the info we can outta this girl and send a coded message to Tsukasa and the special forces." He added with a devilish grin, "It's spy versus spy! Black-hearted schemers. Trying to outfox each other! I told'ya it wasn't what it seemed!"

At the same time, (Y/n) returned to the factory, eager to report on the ongoing mission.

"<Ah dear, you came back earlier than I expected,>" Xeno said, noticing (Y/n)'s arrival. He snatched her hand, pulling her closer to him and grabbing her waist delicately.

Gen stared warily at the two, his eyes darting between them as they swayed around the room, creating a peaceful yet suffocating aura. For him, it was a suffocating moment, but for the two, it was a peaceful one.

(Y/n) noticed Gen's stare, her eyes meeting his. She held Xeno's hand and her other hand on his right shoulder, returning the stare with a cold look.

"<Yes, Luna successfully infiltrated the ship, and at this moment she's looking for the science leader. But I have a feeling... that their science leader, Dr. Taiju, is only a decoy,>" (Y/n) said, her voice filled with conviction. Gen's eyes widened slightly at her statement, but he managed to suppress his reaction.

"<Oh~ is that so? Mind telling me more, dear?>" Xeno asked, his eyes sparkling with interest.

"<Well, to begin with, I doubt that our foreign guest, Mr. Gen, would have promptly told us his previous science leader's name,>" (Y/n) continued. "<As a result, I thought he might be using a fake name or another name as a cover-up to avoid being caught. Second, he claimed to be a magician, is that correct? According to what I've known, magicians can use psychological tricks to hide their true identities. I'm not sure, but I have a feeling that Mr. Gen might also be what is known as a 'mentalist,'>" (Y/n) concluded.

As (Y/n) spoke, Gen couldn't help but look at her in horror. This woman is really dangerous, he thought. But he managed to maintain his composure, looking at (Y/n) as if he were unaware of her accusation.

"<We-well, how can you say that, Miss (Y/n)? I'm sure it's just a suspicion, right? Ye-yes, I'm a magician, but I'm an inexperienced one, you see... I-I mean look at me, I'm weak and helpless..., and plus, you don't have concrete evidence...? R-right?>" Gen defended himself, his voice trembling slightly as he tried to portray himself as a vulnerable and naïve person.

"<Hmm... I suppose you're right about that. I apologize for my false accusation,>" (Y/n) said, her voice filled with sincerity. However, her true intention was to expose him to Xeno, who was now deep in thought about her earlier statement.

"<Oh, it's alright, Miss (Y/n)...>" Gen responded, his nervous smile masking his relief. He sweatdropped, still shaken by her revelation.

"<Hmm... I suppose you're right, dear, but first, let Stan and the others finish their mission so we can discuss this later. I'm sure Stan will like to hear your thoughts,>" Xeno said, kissing (Y/n)'s hand and releasing her from his embrace.

"<I guess...>" (Y/n) replied, her expression neutral.

Unbeknownst to the two, Gen continued to stare at the group in the distance, his mind racing. 'Crap..., it seems this mission is more difficult than I expected, especially with this very observant lady on their side. She might expose me at any moment! Miss (Y/n) a woman you are!' Gen shuddered at the thought.

[evannakita]

I made a crossword puzzle!

It's June 24, 2024, and I'm the constructor of today's daily crossword on Puzzmo! It's my first-ever published crossword, and I'm extremely excited for the public to check it out!

Below the cut, I've written out some fun tidbits about the puzzle and the process of making it. That being said, SPOILERS follow—only read further if you've already completed the puzzle!

Hi again, I hope you had a fun time solving the puzzle! I certainly had a fun time constructing it. I’m incredibly grateful to Brooke for organizing Puzzmo's Open Submission Week, for giving me a second chance to submit after the theme of my first submission wasn’t a good fit for Puzzmo, and for helping me throughout the process of theming, filling, cluing, and hinting.

This puzzle began with the idea of using a diagonal to spell out something that actually is diagonal. As a public transit enthusiast, I’d initially thought of [FUNICULAR]. But the idea quickly expanded with the decision to also include horizontal and vertical answers corresponding to horizontal and vertical things. And since [ELEVATOR] was by far my favorite possible vertical answer, that left [ESCALATOR] as the obvious choice for the diagonal. Initially, I’d planned [CONVEYOR] for the horizontal answer, but Brooke pointed out that conveyors typically aren’t used to carry people the way escalators and elevators do. The next option I proposed was [TRAVELATOR], but I ended up liking [CORRIDOR] more, because I wanted the puzzle to have diagonal symmetry if possible.

Already, I had a ton of constraints for filling the grid—each letter of [ESCALATOR] had to intersect not one but two other answers, which would have been tricky even before adding in two other theme answers and diagonal symmetry. So I ended up spending countless hours testing out possible grid layouts in order to try to get a good fill. At first my idea was for all three theme answers to intersect at the bottom right, but I chose the current layout to represent how escalators and elevators don’t actually go between the same two points, meaning that when a train station is designed around escalators; [ELEVATOR] users are forced to also use a [CORRIDOR] to cover the horizontal distance. (Here in NYC, that makes for inconvenient wheelchair access to the fancy new platforms at Grand Central Madison, and it also means the planned accessibility upgrades at the Broadway Junction subway transfer will be a massive undertaking.) I personally find designing efficient train station layouts to be a lot of fun, and so I greatly enjoy the game STATIONflow, and I thought it’d be appropriate to shout it out in this puzzle’s title!

I did end up eventually managing to get a fillable grid (thanks to Ingrid and Spread The Wordlist—oh hey, yet another thing Brooke deserves major kudos for!), but due to all my self-imposed restrictions I had very little flexibility in what the non-theme answers would be, meaning I was stuck with some tricky ones like [SIDE A] and [ALDIS]. But honestly, I think the limited flexibility made cluing more fun than it otherwise would have been, since I now had the challenge of finding fun clues for answers I didn’t pick. I got to revisit some happy memories in 4-Across and 18-Across, I got to shamelessly plug my DeviantArt in 11-Down, I got to shout out an incredible activist in 19-Across, and I got to be unreasonably proud of myself for coming up with 10-Across. Some of my original clues were too long and confusing for Puzzmo (I was slightly sad to shorten my original description of a [T BAR] as a “low-budget chairlift alternative that’s basically an anchor that hooks around your butt and pulls you up a hill”), but Brooke was a tremendous help with capturing the spirit of my clues in fewer letters. And a couple clues were straight-up Brooke’s ideas, including 1-Across, 5-Down, and notably 17-Down—I hadn’t heard of Ayra [STARR] before but her music is excellent and I am very glad to have learned about her through this.

Brooke was surprised I wanted to hint my own puzzle, and I get why—hints aren’t meant to be entertaining, and coming up with good ones can be quite challenging. (Shoutout to Matthew for being an absolute hinting MVP!) I actually quite enjoyed all the lexical games, though—the “mancala” anagram for [ALMANAC] was a very satisfying find, and I was quite proud of how my hint for the crossword staple at 27-Down was able to match the Minecraft theme of the clue. (Of course, the flipside was that some hints, like the one for [KORRA], had to jump through a lot of hoops to get to something coherent.)

I realize this is probably way longer than it needs to be, but making this puzzle was just such an experience. I’m absolutely going to keep making puzzles, and that’s all thanks to Brooke and Puzzmo.

[bisexual-horror-fan]

Through The Heart Is The Only Way. Chapter Nine: "Stay." Poly!Chiffany X FEM! AFAB! Reader.

Well here we are! This might very well be the LAST fic of Multi-May! Can you believe it?! This month has been insane, I mean just look at all I accomplished! With this fic it brings the total up to 12 fics and one update of my current long fic, the total word count of all of these even beating the amount I wrote for Kinky December back in 2020! I might get one more thing out before the month is out but maybe not, don’t hold your breath, a few things I received during this month will still get written though! So if you sent in a request but didn’t see it get done, don’t give up hope! It might just come out a little later. Now, I have been writing this chapter update on and off all month between my other projects, it is a massive labour of love and I hope you all love it too, this is a DOOZY of an update. Massive shout out to @eggsandbeer who proofread this! A very long time coming in many respects, so let’s not waste any more time and let’s finish this month off RIGHT! Masterlist for the whole series is found, here.

—

Rating. Explicit. Length. 12K. (I KNOW! Okay I know!) Charles Lee Ray X Tiffany Valentine X FEM! AFAB! Reader. She/Her Pronouns. Warnings: Masturbation. Softness. Fluff. Big Emotions. Spoilers For Night Of The Lepus AND Stand By Me. Cuddling. Kissing. Making Out. Smoking. Alcohol Consumption. Grinding. Dirty Talk. Taunting. Voyurism. Teasing. Banter. Lingerie. Multiple Orgasms. Vaginal Fingering. Hand Job. Blow Job. Eating Out. Vaginal Sex. Safe Sex. Threesome. Cum Swapping. 

—

Normally waking up to a sink full of dishes that you neglected to do the night before would start your day off on the wrong foot, but the following morning after your date hosting Chucky and Tiffany? It feels like nothing could sour your good mood, almost as if the sinkful of sticky and stained porcelain and utensils was an old friend you were excited to see.

Okay that might be a small exaggeration but fuck it, you were happy, you allowed yourself to be a little silly, a bit giddy over how well it went. So with the radio on and coffee brewing you are soon elbow deep in hot soapy water and scrubbing grease laden plates and the heavy bottom frying pan you used last night, humming all the while.

You keep playing last night, particularly the end of your date, over and over in your mind. God, it was such a good time, you were genuinely very excited for your next date, curious what you would do. That kept on occupying your thoughts, every date had been pretty different so far, you wondered if they were going to call you up with a plan all laid out or what. Once the dishes were done the rest of that day was spent pretty typically. After the dishes and some breakfast you find yourself retreating back to your bed, you thought about them so much previously and didn’t satisfy yourself last night so before starting the rest of your day proper you got that out of the way, twice. It isn’t like it took long while you thought about the taste of him thick on your tongue and Tiffany touching and encouraging you the whole time. 

Next you did some errands, some self care, went to work, and it was a lovely day with you in such a good mood, totally in your element, tips flowing well for a normally not great night for them spelling out just how happy you were. Logan and Marcy commented and with a shrug you just told them, “I dunno, lucky night I guess.”

The pair scoff, unconvinced, “Uh-huh, sure.”

For some reason they didn’t believe you that you were simply just that happy to be at work but thankfully they didn’t pry as much as they had previously. 

You don’t let them bother you either way. As excited as you are for this next date, whatever it will be, you were still more than willing to be patient, secure in the knowledge that they would get back to you when they could just as they said.

You continue on living, a night out with co-workers here, working there and finally you get a call a week after your last date. When the phone rang you jumped slightly before hopping to rush and grab the phone, picking it up with a hopeful, “Hello?”

And then you hear her voice, “Ahhh there you are, hey, I’m glad I caught you.” 

You hold the phone closer, a soft sigh, your other hand on the table top as you feel yourself sink into the warm honey of her voice filling your ear, you slide down into the corner of the couch next to the end table you kept your phone on. “Tiffanyyy, how are you?”

“Good, very good, how are you?” She asks and you hum out, “The same, good, been busy at work, waiting for your call.”

“Sorry for the wait honey, what Chucky and I had to do took longer than we were expecting.” You didn’t think she needed to apologise but it was still appreciated, especially when she said it like that. “Oh no worries, I kept busy, it wasn't like I was just sitting by the phone.”

She laughs, “No way, I could never imagine you doing that. You? Spending a whole week sitting alone at home every night?”

You giggle along, fingers instinctively go for the phone cord and curl around the coil as you respond, “You’re right, very much not like me.”

“Oh yeah, total party animal.” She agrees and you say after a moment, “I’d call myself more of a zoo keeper.” 

“A zoo keeper?” She inquires and you respond, “Yeah, I corral and control the party animals and keep 'em in check when I’m working.”

She laughs again, you love the sound. “Cute! That is very cute but still, you should be partying it up when you aren’t corralling the wild animals you feed drinks to night in and night out.” You take that as your cue, “So you got some big party animal plans for our next date then?” 

“Well about that…We were feeling so bad about us taking longer than we were thinkin’ it would, that we wanna make it up to you and wanted to ask what do you want to do?” 

Tiffany was so sweet, offering for you to pick what you would all do was nice, offering to host since you did last time was even better. You want to see her and Chucky sooner rather than later, you are off tomorrow and then not for days and days, thus, you don’t want to wait almost another week. So you ask, “Are you both free tomorrow?”

“Short notice, but let me check.” You hear her pull the phone away, she calls out, asks something to who you assume is naturally Chucky and the phone is brought back, “We are wide open.”

Success. 

There is one hurdle however. You’d been keeping an eye on the weather as you always did, considering you either walked or relied on the subway system to get basically anywhere, you had to be aware of what you were stepping out into and sadly, even though it is late into March they are calling for a snowstorm tomorrow. It wasn’t supposed to be anything nuts but enough that going out would be a bit of a pain. You had been working hard all week and so the idea hit you and you said, “How about we rent some tapes and have a date night in?”

She lets out this pleased hum and you grin as she says, “Oh that sounds perfect, I hear it’s supposed to be miserable out tomorrow. How about you come over here and we host you since you had us over last time?”

“You wanna check with ol Chuck first? How is Chucky anyway?” She told you how she was but not how he was, she says, “He’s fine and I am sure he will be alright with the idea of you coming over to us and him not having to do a thing.”

Fair point, you laugh at how easily she dismissed your worries. “Rent whatever you want and come by at about four tomorrow before the snow starts?” 

Sounded perfect. “I’ll be there, can’t wait.”

“Me either-” And then she said something that you were thankful she chose to do over the phone, if she would have said it to you in person you might have just died, “-I missed you.” 

“You missed me?” You asked, slight disbelief and she corrected yourself, tone quieter, as if she was trying to hide it from a certain redhead. The image of her turning her body, both hands cradling the phone, a smile on her face that could almost be read as shy as she makes the small confession, floods your mind. “Well, WE missed you but he wouldn’t ever say that out loud.”

Oh you were sure that was the case, you were also sure you’d wear him down eventually and get some semblance of softness out of him. You hadn’t thought that was possible previously but with how this is all going, you think it might happen eventually. You could see it when he was with her, the intimacy, comfortability, the closeness and how he didn’t lean away from it but rather to it. The fact you were allowed to see that, given that little peak in makes you wonder, were you special? Or is she too alluring and makes him react like that even when he rather wouldn’t expose himself in that fashion? 

“Oh my God, you’re getting soft on me!” You exclaim and she says, “What? You think I can’t be soft because I look this tough?

“Yeah the gothy exterior is real misleading, hm? You totally suckered me.” You claim and she laughs, “Hook line and sinker.”

You hear another voice and then Tiffany saying in an annoyed but amused tone, “Alright, alright, here-” And then his voice is in your ear, also sounding very amused, “What is so fucking funny that you all keep laughing over?”

“Awe you feeling left out Chuck? Don’t worry about it, I’ll be there before you know it and her and I can fawn all over you.” The promise seems to please him, “Now that's what I like to hear. Haven’t been too bored without us?” You can picture how he looks too, leaning over the back of their couch, right next to Tiffany, that cocky smile you have gotten to know as he talks into the phone, the occasional glance to her as he does so.

“Hardly, I was just telling your lovely girlfriend that I’ve been keeping myself plenty busy but I can admit that shit is much better with you both around.” Your fingers had been getting tangled in the phone cord during this conversation as you played with it and now you were unwrapping them as he responded, “Naturally, course it is, we’re the best.”

“Mmm you sure are, and now I hate to cut this short but I gotta start getting ready for work tonight.” He groans, “Booo-”

You hear Tiffany, she is still close by just like you thought, “What?” He fills her in, “She’s gotta get ready for work now.”

Tiffany echoes his sentiment, “Boooo-” It sounds like he is holding the phone so they can both hear and respond to you now. 

“You remember where our place is?” He asked and you hummed, “It’s tattooed on my brain.”

You could hear the beginnings of Chucky complaining and you cut him off, “C’mon, less than twenty four hours, I’ll be at your place, think you can live until then?” 

“I’ll do whatever I have to make sure he is alive for your arrival.” Tiffany promises and Chucky jokes, “Anything? Even mouth to mouth?” 

You hear the sound of a playful smack and a quiet, “Ow-” Laughing you tell them, “See you both soon, bye.” 

“Bye.” Comes the call in unison out of the phone, before you hang up. Getting off the couch you make your way to the bedroom to get yourself together for your shift and start to think about just what to wear to their place and what just to watch. Work flies by, you look cute and Logan gives you minimal shit and before you know it, you are back on the walk to the train station with Jackson, deep in conversation.

“So you got the day off tomorrow, what are you getting up to?” He asked and you still weren’t at liberty to give the whole truth, but you could say something, “Oh not much with the storm that is supposed to be rolling in, think I am gonna have a night in, rent some tapes.” 

“Oooh, cosy, sounds good, smart too, not trekking out in that shit.” Jackson says with a nod up to the cloudy sky. “Right, you have fun braving the last vestiges of winter, solo.” You tell him and he groans, “So mean.”

“I’m no meaner than you deserve.” You tease. You wish you could be fully honest with him, but hopefully one day, Jackson takes your hand and you let him, fingers lace and you rest your head on his shoulder as you wait on the platform for your respective trains in comfortable and companionable silence. 

What does one wear to a mostly meant to be casual date in watching movies? That is what you kept asking yourself and ultimately, after much rifling through your drawers and closet you settled on a comfortable sweater and jeans, you didn’t want to look too try hard and this was supposed to be low key after all. 

Now the implication of this was clear, being alone with them in their place like this, you didn’t want to make assumptions but you aren’t dumb, it could very easily get physical again and God after how the last date ended you were liking your chances and hoping that was the case. So with all that in mind, you might have dressed up a little more under the wool and denim. You catch a last look at yourself on your way out the door and yes, you look really fucking cute, you didn’t go as heavy on the make-up as you do when you are at work but you hope Tiffany likes it all the same. Coat pulled tight around yourself and bag over your shoulder, you head out into the late afternoon chill, first stop was the video store.

You stand in front of shelves, eyes scan over vhs cases and countless titles, you are seriously considering what would be entertaining, what would they like? You wander between the aisles and then it hits, that first date you had, the movie that ended up being pretty bad, and all the fun you had ripping on it afterwards over dinner. You found the perfect movie on a bottom shelf, near a corner, it was dusty, you wondered who rented it last and maybe if it had been forgotten about. You selected one other tape and after paying the rental fee you were back out the door, another stop had you then heading for their place, a plastic bag in each hand, one with the movies and the other loaded with snacks. Soon you are inside their building and knocking on their door with a well manicured hand promptly right when you said you would be there, four o’clock on the dot.

The door swings open to see Tiffany there, gorgeous as ever, even in what you assumed were her own more casual and comfortable clothes, the grey sweater she was wearing was big, hung loosely off one shoulder and the spandex showed off what you could see below the hemline of said sweater, very well. 

“Look at you! So punctual as always.” She praised and you said, “Oh I know I couldn’t keep Chucky waiting much longer or he would be totally insufferable.”

She held the door open and let you inside, “Trust me, I can handle him. You look fantastic again by the way, adorable sweater.” 

You came in and set the bags down so you could take off your boots, “Awe thank you, same for you, looks like you could be in a hot chocolate commercial or something, so comfy.” 

In the process of being half bent over you get a look at the fact Tiffany is wearing some very fuzzy and soft looking slippers. Your boots off you stand back up and she is smiling, you tell her, “Cute slippers.” 

A glance down and she asks, “You like em?” 

“They look comfortable but leopard print?” You ask and she laughs, “What? It isn’t like they are made of real leopards.” 

You laughed loudly, “I know that!” Tiffany’s hand rests on your shoulder and she leans over, presses a kiss to your cheek before asking, “So what’s the problem then?”

My God, even that, the soft and small press of her lips to your cheek makes warmth spread through you along with the smear of gloss she left and all complaints and issues are forgotten. You sigh out as she squeezes your shoulder, “None, not a damn one.”

Caught up staring into her eyes for a moment then that familiar voice is cutting in, “Are you not telling me when our guests arrive anymore?”

A look over your shoulder to see him coming into the room, definitely the most dressed down you had seen him, also looking comfortable and at you, relief washes over you, glad you took it easy and didn’t overdress. “You know I think you can get away with wearing t-shirts more often.” 

“Right? I keep telling him that all the time.” Tiffany agrees as her hand leaves your shoulder and he grins, “Starting on the praise already, making up for lost time?”

“Can you blame me?” He was close enough now that you opened your arms, invited him for a hug, he took you up on it but asked, while you were in his arms, “I know what this is really about, she is just tryna keep you all for herself and distracting from that with the sweet talk.” 

“Heaven forbid I want some solo time before you get your grubby mitts all over her.” Tiffany taunted and he laughed, “Yeah, you weren’t complaining they were grubby earlier.” 

She scoffed and he ignored her in favour of asking, “And what? No kiss hello for me?”

You exhale amusedly and roll your eyes, you are sure if any other guy said that to you the urge to clock them in the jaw would overwhelm but with him, saying it in that teasing tone, you can’t help but want to oblige. You pull back, hands remaining on his arms and you lean up and do just what he wanted. It wasn’t especially long but it didn’t need to be to have an effect on you just like hers had earlier. When you broke that kiss, back flat on your feet Tiffany had picked up your bags that you brought in, “Look at all the goodies you brought along!”

“Sweets for the sweet and all that.” You muse before telling them, “I made some guesses on what you both like for movie snacks.” 

“Oh well we will have to grade how you did.” Chucky said with raised eyebrows as he pulled away and all of you moved into the living room, you threw your hands up, “Oooh scary.” 

You had the chance to really take in their apartment, the last time you were sufficiently distracted but now you could really see it. The couch was comfortable looking, lower lighting provided by the few lamps scattered around, and facing the couch, a low coffee table, end tables bracketing said couch, a few windows and something you didn’t expect, plants. A few well tended potted plants were around of various types, you couldn’t place them but they looked nice, definitely added to the space, the lush pops of green are welcome after so much winter. Tiffany patted the spot next to her and you took it, Chucky sitting beside you before turning the bag upside down onto the coffee table. 

“Milk duds? Hell yeah.” Tiffany praised as she plucked up the box and Chucky said, “Junior mints-”

“You got something against chocolate and mint, Chuck?” You cut in and he was already opening the box and popping one into his mouth, “Hardly, I think it’s an underrated combo, but telling that I open my mouth and you think I’m gonna be critical and complain.”

“Well when you do it so frequently-” Tiffany started and he bit back, reaching over you to playfully push her shoulder, “Shut it.” 

“Awe, I thought you liked me with my mouth open?” She asked and he agreed and corrected her with a well timed raise of his eyebrows, the innuendo clear, “Open yes but full preferably.” 

You cut in and ask, “So we making this popcorn I brought or what?” Tiffany picked up the package, dropping the box of candy for the moment and said, “Of course, on it.” 

“Need any help?” You ask and she said while patting you on the shoulder, “I think I got it covered, but thanks honey.” 

You could get so used to her calling you names like that. You watch her go and you are on the couch with Chucky alone, turning to him you asked, “So what did you and Tiff do that ended up running long? You never said.”

“Oh didn’t we? Nothing major, a work thing.” He shrugs and you realise at that moment that they had never told you what they did for work. How has that happened with how long you have been seeing them? It hits then, whenever you are making plans to hang out it is all centered around your work schedule with very little issues from either of them on their front, weird. 

“You know you and Tiff never shared what you do for work.” You said and he asked, in a seemingly uninterested tone, “Didn’t we? Coulda sworn we did.” 

“No, pretty sure you didn’t.” And after he didn’t say anything further you prompt him, “Soooo, what do you do?” 

He glanced over to you, tipping the box over and letting a few more junior mints fall into his hand, “Freelance work, it’s real open ended and flexible, which is nice for us, gives us a ton of freedom.” He said it so easily and you had no reason to not believe him, before you could pry further into what KIND of freelance work Tiffany was coming back in, bowl of popcorn and a bottle of wine, “You opposed to a few glasses?”

“Oooh not at all!” Tiffany grabbed wine glasses next and sat next to you again on the couch, she started to pour and Chucky asked, “So what did you rent anyway?”

“Two movies-” You reached out and snatched up the other bag, pulling one VHS tape out, “-Night Of The Lepus is up first.”

“Night of that what?” He asked as he took the tape, as if the clear plastic case would give him a better indication of the movie’s content and you said, “Lepus, Chuck. Night Of The Lepus.”

“The fuck is a Lepus?” You laugh and pluck the tape back out of his grip, “Guess you will have to just watch the movie and find out.”

“Yeah sweetface. I am sure it is going to be good if she picked it out.” You leaned over, a kiss to her cheek, “Thank you.” 

“Anytime.” She coos and in short order the tape is put in the VCR player and the three of you settle in to watch. You liked this, being between the pair of them, sinking into the cushions of the comfortable couch, ample snacks, a drink in your hand and casual points of contact. This feels right. Your thigh was against hers as she leaned into you and Chucky had his arm over your shoulders, his hand playing with some of the loose hair at the base of Tiff’s neck and you felt as relaxed and at ease as you do in your own apartment. 

The movie is rolling and as expected for your little group, there was easy conversation and riffing about what was happening on screen. 

The newscaster on the screen is speaking at this moment, “-it’s difficult to conceive that such an innocent furry rabbit, scientifically known as lepus, can be so destructive.”

“Oh so that is what lepus means? Rabbits?” Tiffany asks and Chucky chimed in, confused tone, “This movie is about what? Mutant bunnies?” 

“Mutant killer bunnies. And yeah! Just wait, trust me, it’s to your taste.” You assure and he decides to but not without a roll of his eyes.

As the movie goes on Tiffany is very into it, when the scientists are capturing bat specimens she is even happier, “Bats AND bunnies? So cute.” Chucky smiled as he said, “You are just in heaven, aren’t you?”

He starts getting into it too, the jokes flow more, conversation more fast paced, Chucky pointing out, “They just blatantly re-used that news footage from the opening-” 

“I like rabbits, mommy!” Exclaims the girl on screen which has him abandoning his original thought to say, “Yeah something tells me she won’t by the end of this.” The tone he says it with almost makes you choke on your sip.

“Wow those sure are some zoom-ins.” Tiffany said and Chucky asked, “What do you think they put on the rabbits faces for the blood?” You offered up, “Jam? I think it's probably jam.” 

“Growling, the rabbits are growling.” You say and Tiffany laughs, “Did you hear that scream?!” Chucky himself laughing, “Like it came from 12-year-old, so high pitched-” You all on cue at the same time mocked it together before falling into another laughing fit.

“These rabbits just do not stop growling.” You say later on and Tiffany says, “I know they are big and bad and we are supposed to hate them but they are just still so cute!”

It is quiet for a moment before Tiffany asks, “Hey sweetface?” 

Without turning his head he says firmly, “We are not getting a rabbit.” She pouts, “Oh why not?” He turned towards your direction, a hand landing on your knee as he said, “You did this, I’m blaming you.”  

You put your hand on his knee in kind, leaning in closer as you say, “I’d apologize and say I’m sorry but It’d be a fat fucking lie, Chuck, so I’ll spare you.” He deadpans, “I love your honesty, it's so sexy.”

And more towards the end of the movie, you had an arm around her, saying, “They aren’t really dying Tiff.” She pulls her glass back from taking another hearty sip and says, “I know that but it looks so convincing, you know?” 

Later still Chucky is saying, “They are talking about the railroad a lot.” And once the movie reached its finale, all the massive nearly car sized bunnies being electrocuted at the railroad trap that was set up he said, “Oh. Well fuck. It was important.”

Once it wrapped up Tiffany was still going on, “They are so big! Do you think I could ride one?” You ask, “Like a pony?” She excitedly agrees, “Yeah like a pony!”

“Well I gotta admit, for a dumb movie about killer bunnies, it was pretty entertaining.” Chucky said, giving it up and you say, “The jokes and drinking helped I am sure.” 

Tiffany leaned over, a quick hug as she said, “The company did too.” 

“Mannn, between this, the slippers, loving the bunnies, you are getting soft.” You tease and she lets you go, “Insulting me in my own home. So rude.” 

“We gonna do some dinner before the next movie?” Chucky asks and you perk up, “Oh that sounds great! What are we thinking?”

“I pre-made a lasagna earlier in anticipation for this, can just put it in the oven and mid-way through the movie when it’s done I can serve it up and we can eat.”

“Look at you, thinking of everything.” He praised as she got up and with a big smile asserted, “Someone’s gotta.” 

You got up, had been on the couch the whole time the movie was on, you stretched and asked them, “Where’s the bathroom?”

“Oh down the hall there.” You thank him and head off where he directed. When you were washing your hands you turned your head to look out the window and the whole thing was covered with snow. After you dried your hands you figured you should check this out further, you opened the window, took more force than you thought it would, the thing was practically frozen shut and when you got it open you were greeted with pure white sleet so thick you couldn’t see more than a foot in front of you. The chill was bitter, the wind biting and it had you slamming the window closed with a shiver, hands brushing over the front of your shirt, wiping away the snow that had stuck to you in the ten seconds you had the window open. 

The weather channel lied. The storm has evolved into an all out blizzard and it is bad, the worst one in a long time. You come back outside and ask, “Have you seen outside?”

“No, why?” He got up and went over to the window and looked out, “Holy shit, it looks fuckin’ nightmarish out.” 

“Yeah. Maybe I should uh get out of here before it gets worse?” Tiffany and Chucky shared a look before she looked back over her shoulder at you, “No way are you going out in that mess!” 

“Yeah you should spend the night.” Chucky offered, and you asked, “Really? You’d be okay with that?”

“Duh of course. No way should you be out walking in that, we wouldn’t even drive you in it-” Tiffany said and you asked, “Wait drive? You guys have a car?”

“We do. We don’t drive her much in the winter in the city, that much salt you are just asking for rust problems.” Her, the car is a her, he is one of those car guys, you bet “she” even had a name, it was weirdly endearing, and also opened up lots of possibilities too for future dates. “Does he care for the car more than you?”

“Sometimes I wonder.” She muses, “And besides we still have another movie and dinner too.” She makes a good point, you don’t want to leave yet and it would be stupid and dangerous to try and brave that blizzard. The care and concern is sweet, you say, “Thank you both.”

Chucky waves you off, “Don’t even mention it, so how about that next movie?” 

The oven had been preheated, dinner was in and going, drinks were refreshed and at that time Tiffany was asking, “And what is the second movie exactly?” 

You snatched up the bag that had been pushed to one of the upper corners of the coffee table and brought out the second tape, “Stand By Me.” 

“Oh, never seen it.” He admitted and you said, “Me either but I have read the original story by Stephen King.” 

“What is it about?” She asked and you filled them in, “It’s about four twelve-year-old boys and this adventure they set out on to go see a dead body.”

“This is your follow up to giant killer bunnies?” Chucky accused, thoroughly amused and you laughed, “What? I thought it was a good follow up, much more mild, less nuts and out there, a palette cleanser if you will-”

“Just a weird double feature is all.” He says, hands up and Tiffany hums, “Unconventional certainly but I am more than willing.”

The VHS was slid into the VCR and the positions had changed on the couch, you were at one end, back against the arm rest, legs stretched over Tiffany’s lap she is leaning against Chucky as he is resting against the other end of the couch. You feel even more at ease, knowing you were spending the night, having your first sleepover with them, movies and dinner and drinks was the perfect recipe for relaxation.

You felt good, not really tipsy or even buzzed but rather light, happy, the wine they selected was great. 

Chucky spoke up first, the same pattern as the last movie, talking about it as it went on, “These kids got some good insults.” Tiffany exhaled amusedly, “Yeah you really have to step it up.”

“Can’t be outshined by a gaggle of twelve-year-olds in the fifties, think of your rep Charles.” You tease and he gags, “Ugh, can we not?” 

“What no Charles?” You ask and he says, “I’d rather we didn’t.” 

“Touchy, touchy. But fine.” You conceded.

It was quiet for a while until he spoke up again. “Christ, everyone is doing it in this damn movie, I want a smoke.”

Tiffany carefully moved your legs off her lap, “Me too, open the window.” He gets up and goes over to the window and does so carefully, it is still coming down so he opens it just enough for a small crack to blow smoke out of. Both he and Tiffany have a smoke while standing on either side of the window, still in view of the tv. 

“Train dodge?” Tiffany asked, shocked as three out of four friends tried to get the last one off the tracks, trying to explain why attempting to dodge the train was a terrible idea, and Chucky laughed on the exhale, “Oh this kid is gonna die.” You agree with a chuckle, “One hundred percent.” 

You all watch as Chris manages to yank him off the tracks before disaster can strike and Chucky’s hands cup around his mouth as he calls, “Booooo, you shoulda let him try.” You laugh, “Is the body they are going to see not enough?”

He is musing as you all watch, “You know I’ve always wanted a dog-” Tiffany cuts him off, “So no pet bunny but we can get a dog you can train to bite balls off, real fair.” You are laughing hard, “My God what a sentence.” 

“You would do that.” Tiffany said and Chucky asked, “Spit in your face? I mean, only if it got you off.” She bit back with, “Like it doesn’t get you off.” Causing Chucky to say, his fingers brushing over her cheek, the action soft and in no way matching his tone, “Never said it didn’t, I was only concerned for you.” 

“Mmm real concerned, I’m sure.”  Said Tiffany. Those moments you see between the pair of them are some of your favourites when sharing time together, the easy air and banter they share is amazing, you hope to reach a similar level one day. 

You speak up, “You think the body is gonna be gross?” Chucky responded in turn, “I mean we can only hope.” 

While watching the older group of guys in the gang carving into each other, Chucky asked Tiffany, “Should we brand each other?” She laughs as if the idea is hilarious, “Yeah, I’ll get your name right over my heart, how’s that sound?” You all share a laugh over that.

You mused after a while, during a lull with a sigh, “Bull-true. I love that.” Chucky asked, “That gonna end up in your daily lexicon?” You say, “It might.” He takes the chance for the joke, “Bullshit.” Tiffany groans with a roll of her eyes as he is busy snickering over his own quip. 

The scene where the boys are crossing the train tracks over the river, nowhere to jump off without falling one hundred feet into the water you speak up, “You feeling this tension or just me?” 

Chucky responds with a nod, he is sitting more forward, eyes locked on the screen, “No, no, I'm feeling it.” And when the train actually did show up Tiffany was gripping your arm hard, pretty manicured nails biting into your bicep through the wool of your sweater, “Shit, shit, shit, fuck! Are they gonna make it?!” The level to which Tiffany is into the scene playing on screen makes a smile break out on your face even with all of the previously commented upon tension, she is so cute.

They manage to but just barely and you exclaim, “God, that was so good.” Tiffany gets up, “Stressful more like, I need another smoke.” 

The next few scenes were watched with them both at the window, indulging again. She says easily at one point between drags, “The word of the movie is sincerely.” He nods in agreement, “Seriously.” 

Watching the kids around the fire, you speak, asking, “I don’t smoke so I don’t get it but is a smoke post meal really that good?” Chucky and Tiffany moan in unison just as he is closing the window and they have finished their second smoke of the movie, “Ohhh my Godddd-” she calls and him following up with, “Yes, yes yes-”

Their impassioned reaction gets another laugh from you, true you didn’t get it first hand but they sure got the point across. 

Dinner was finally ready and you all ate in front of the tv as you did so, not wanting to interrupt the movie. It was really fucking good, you were impressed at the skill she displayed, you wished you knew how to make something this good. The fact she liked the dinner you made for them made you happy considering her own cooking ability. “Tiffany this is fantastic, and you just did this today?” 

She shrugged as if it was no big deal, “Yeah this afternoon before you got here. I can show you how sometime, maybe have a date cooking together.” Chucky piped up, “I’m all for it.” 

“Pfft, no shit, we do the work and you get to eat.” Tiffany laughed.

As the boys finished crossing the river, Tiffany groaned, “Oh nooooo, not leeches.” And Chucky states firmly, “This is why you will never, ever catch me swimming in a river.” 

And finally the boys had reached the end of their journey and you spoke up, “Woah.”

Chucky was setting his plate aside, getting ready for that aforementioned post dinner smoke and his third of the movie, as he said, “There he is.” Tiffany asks, “What do you think? Worth it?” You shrug as you say, “I think it’s one of those things where it’s more about the journey than the destination.” 

A mutual hum of agreement as the pair are lighting up.

It is silent during Chris’ comforting and Tiffany said quietly, “This kid is a good friend.” Something you and Chucky both agree with.

When the ending finally comes there is much exclamation, “Chris became a lawyer oh my God-” And very shortly afterwards, “And he dies?!”

“You show us this movie, get us all invested and Chris bites it?” Chucky asked and you defended yourself, “Yeah years later-” He presses on, “The point still stands!”

The credits roll and as Tiffany is collecting up plates as she says, “Still hurts either way.” 

“That is the point though. This movie is like life, it’s happy but sad, funny but tragic, you know?” She concedes to you on that. Chucky turns to you, “These are the two weirdest movies you could have ever picked for our date night.” 

“But?” You ask and he follows up, “But so fun.” Tiffany calls over her shoulder as she carries messy plates to the kitchen, “So fun!”

“Seriously you should pick for movie nights more often.” He praises and you ask, “We wanna do this a lot more then?”

He shrugs and says easily, “Shit, I mean why not?” 

Why not indeed.

“Sooo the movies are all done, what do we want to do now, since I’m staying?” You ask and he says, “Cards and some tv?”

Sounded good to you, it was still a little early and so you all ended up sitting on the floor around the coffee table, some made for tv movie you didn’t care about providing background noise as you played. There was more conversation flowing over all manner of things, everything and nothing and whatever in between before another few hours later the decision to get into bed for the night was made. Tiffany loaned you something to sleep in, a rather large t-shirt that was warm and comfortable.

You were feeling tired but once you saw Tiffany’s choice in pyjamas, a tank top and short shorts you felt significantly more awake, looked like she had this set for a few years and it was criminally tight. You sat on the edge of the bed and joked, “So you saved the better pyjamas for yourself, I see how it is.” 

“Ha, hardly, you look good, really cute.” She said easily, she was putting her hair up as she sauntered over to you and keeping eye contact was difficult, something she picked up on as she said, “You know you can look, right? It’s kinda what I am hoping for when I wear something like this.” 

“Oh I know just what you mean.” You get bold and take what she said as an invitation to open your legs as your eyes drag over her curves. Your hand dropping down, you pull up the bottom of the t-shirt she loaned you and show off the frankly gorgeous lace and silk underwear you picked out hoping to impress her. Eyebrows raised and she says, “Yeah that is the kinda thing you wear when you wanna garner certain kinds of attention.” 

She finishes putting up her hair and you ask, “Well do I have your attention?” 

In place of a verbal response she leans down, hands rest on your thighs and she kisses you. The speed with which you return her affection is impressive, your hand lets go of the shirt and you reach out, hands on her biceps as you deepen the kiss and she hums into it. That is the moment you hear him come in, “Starting without me again. Is that the theme for tonight?”

You and Tiffany break the kiss with a laugh, big smiles as you look over Tiffany’s shoulder and she does the same, “You were taking too long and she showed me what she has on under this-” She pulled on the sleeve of the t-shirt you had on, “-and what am I supposed to do after that? Not kiss her?”

“Yeah, you snooze, you lose Chuck.” You tease and he comes over, “Apparently, and what exactly do you have on under this?”

He sits next to you on the bed, side saddle, one hand meets your knee and he makes a move to open your legs to get himself a peek and you forcefully keep your legs closed, pretending like you aren’t dying for him to see, “Ooh I dunno-”

“Tease.” He scoffs and Tiffany leans in again, she turns your face back to her, breaking the eye contact you had with Chucky and kissing you again, you melt in short order and focus on her instead. He is able to open your legs easily and when the fabric is pulled up he says, “Christ you weren’t kidding. How can any sane person with a heartbeat not want her after seeing that?”

The kiss was forcefully broken when he pushed you over onto your back and he climbed onto the bed. The action is surprising and honestly much too arousing, you like when he takes charge, the confidence works on him and you are into it. 

He is moving closer as he is talking, “You know, we kept on talking about you while we were away.” He leaned down and you asked, “Yeah?”

“Could not stop thinking about how that last date ended.” He admits and Tiffany agrees, her hands hadn’t left your thighs and they were moving upwards now. “You were too hot for words.” 

Her saying that about you? As she is bent at the waist, her finger starting to dip below the edge of your t-shirt, her ample cleavage on display from the angle, biting her bottom lip and that mischievous glint in her eyes, you think that “too hot for words” fits her much, much better. You still graciously accept the compliment on your oral skills and apparently how good you looked while doing it. 

“I can’t stop thinking about it either.” You divulge as their hands start wandering quickly, her fingers run over your hips before beginning to move back down and his hand is sliding up your side, thumb tracing the curve of your breast and you say, “I want to do more too if you both do-”

“You think we can resist when you are spending the night in our bed, especially wearing something like this?” Tiffany asks as her fingertips brush over the soft edges of the delicate material that was currently encasing your quickly dampening cunt. He was so close now as he told you, “Yeah c’mon, we are only human and we can only show so much restraint.”

Thank fucking God, this has been coming for way too long and with it being so explicitly stated means all bets are off, you can hardly wait to indulge but that doesn’t mean there is any reason to rush. 

You tell him, “So stop holding back.” Before your hand is on the back of his neck, leaning up the last bit, you kiss him, and even though you initiated that kiss, he is soon the one taking over and leading it. 

He clearly takes what you say to heart, they both do, because clothes are coming off in between heated kissing, his shirt and her shorts, and you take off the shirt Tiffany had loaned you, all in all you ended up wearing it for less than ten minutes and when it was taken off both of them pause. The bra was part of a set, it sat on your body beautifully but didn’t leave much to the imagination since the cups were sheer, intricate lace that matched the panties curling around the edges and framed your nipples. “God, she is asking for it, isn’t she?” 

You were.

Tiffany didn’t give much more than a hum with a nod in response, she was on her knees, kissing up your leg as her hand found its way in between, deft fingers stroke up and you arch into her touch. You were plenty warmed up, her fingers slide back down, more pressure and it draws from you a quiet exhale, head falling back and he takes the opportunity to kiss up your neck one of his hands feeling up your chest. His fingers get greedy, dipping into your bra, blunt nails catch on your hardening nipples and the small edge of pain the action provides makes the pleasure radiating out below your waist increase. Tiffany was very into her current task, head resting on your inner thigh, fingers touching, rubbing consistent and steady circles through the satin like fabric over your clit, taking in every reaction of your body as well as watching the sight of the wet spot steadily growing. 

“You good down there?” The question is spoken into the hollow of your throat, another kiss ending his sentence and making your breath stutter as her fingers press harder, she speaks, “So good.”

“I bet.” You feel his smile against your neck, fingers squeeze your nipple and he continues on, “Little known thing about Tiff is she looooves lingerie-”

“Really?” You ask breathlessly with a big smile, the wash of pleasure increasing between the pair of them working you over, “Guilty.” She sighs. 

“Maybe we should go lingerie shopping together sometime.” You suggest absentmindedly, the friction of the thin layer of fabric between your clit and her fingers is making it hard to breathe normally and Tiffany perked right up, fingers slowly slightly, “Oh you mean it?” 

“Yeah, I am sure you have all kinds of things you want to see me in.” You tease and Chucky chimes in, “Think we both have lots of things we want to see you in.”

Tiffany agrees and you ask, “Like?”

He huffs, teeth grazing your pulse point before he asked, “You want to keep talking or do you want to get fucked?” 

She was moving your underwear out of the way, fingers hook in the wet material and she pulls, her thumb stokes over your clit and you gasp out the answer they were hoping for, “Fucked, definitely fucked.” 

“God I cannot wait to see that.” Tiffany’s voice, Christ, it was enough to do your head in on an average day, but like this, almost naked, their hands all over, and the tone she spoke in, it clued you into how desperate she was for it, clearly she was being genuine. You had the smallest wondering if she had masturbated to the thought, the idea of her doing that at all, thinking of you getting railed by her boyfriend or otherwise has your hips bucking to get closer to her touch. Her other hand is on Chucky, nudging him and he takes the hint, he is still close to you but more on his back, his hands abandoning you for the time being, she is helping him out of the rest of his clothing. Her touch on you at this moment is light, rocking gently, you get lost in the feeling and before you know it he is completely naked. 

Your attention is drawn to this because of the groan he lets out, your eyes start at his face, the expression he is wearing is betraying what is already going on, but still you take your time to see it for yourself. You treat it as if it were something you had been greatly looking forward to, which to be honest, you had, allowing time to indulge, not wanting to ruin it by taking it in too quickly, appreciating it. Your eyes are raking down his chest and stomach to then see it live and in colour, Tiffany with one hand around his shaft and the head of his dick between those pretty kissable lips of hers. This is still so new but you sincerely doubt you are ever going to tire of seeing the pair of them be physical with each other. 

Now that she is in a good rhythm with him she picks up the pace on you once more, you had no idea that she was so good at multitasking. Between the pleasure she was foisting on you and the view and sounds of Chucky you can’t take it, you need more, you reach out, a hand meets his cheek and you bring his face over to you, initiating a deep kiss that both of you moan into. It continues on like that, the energy is impressive, all of you are feeding into each other, Tiffany’s tongue flicks over his tip and the inhale is draws from him makes more heat spark inside of you and kiss him deeper, the brush of his own tongue on yours makes you moan and causes her to redouble her efforts and it just doesn’t stop. In between kisses you ask, “How do you stand it?”

“Mmm? What you mean, ugh, her?” He laughs a little breathlessly, a groan spilling out after that and you nod, “Yeah, exactly, her, she’s too much.” 

Tiffany pulls up, he leaves her mouth with a wet pop and she teases, a call back to a previous joke he had made on your last date “The most.” 

You love this too much, the way that even with the hot and heavy atmosphere, feeling this good, you can all still joke around and keep it light. Your forehead leans against his as you snicker, “And funny too, you got yourself quite a catch.” 

“Yeah we lucked out big time.” He agrees, his mouth is back on yours and you feel yourself melting. 

“You flatter me so.” She sighs but your mind is caught up on the “we” still. You wonder if it was an accident or purposeful but him saying we in this context isn’t a small thing. No time to follow up or question however, Tiffany has two fingers sliding into you as she is back to sucking his dick and you are moaning with a grind of your hips to increase the feeling she gives. Between the hot and heavy make out you keep on stealing glances at her, whenever you and he break apart your eyes are drawn down to see how she is taking him nearly to the base with no issue. Her hand and mouth moving in tandem, you notice too that when she takes him as deep as she can that is when she curls her fingers into you, her thumb swirling over your clit while she pulls him out, the level of control she has over you and him is enough to leave you speechless. 

Unlike before you are leading the kiss now, keeping it fun, playful, ample moans and when you can manage to get the words out, scattered praise  for Tiffany is spoken until she is the one who can’t take it anymore, she is the one to push it further. She slides him out of her mouth, resting her head on his thigh, her hand still stroking him and her fingers curling into you again, “Are you both ready?”

“Oh you all needy, hon?” He asks with a surprisingly lack of condesension and a smile, she nods, “I want to see you fuck her.”

Heaven above how she says that, you clench on her fingers, speaking of his fingers, they brush over your cheek and while catching your gaze he asks, “Well? You ready?”

A bite of your bottom lip before you practically moan out, “God thought you’d never ask.” 

You were dying for this just as much as they both were, is it possible to be so hot and bothered that your own blood can threaten to boil you alive in your veins? You have no clue but the culmination of all this time with them about to come to a head, to get fucked by both of them, in their bed, a total dream come true, soaked and more than ready you don’t need the rest of your clothing.

Her hands slip away and his hands are on you, he helps you, taking care of your bra and you sliding your panties off, now completely bare and then he is helping move you how he wants.

Repositioning you is easy, you wonder if they had planned this because they both seem to be on the exact same page about just how they wanted to have you, not like you have any complaints about that. You are on your side, Chucky is behind you, his back practically to your chest  as Tiffany is getting onto the bed, taking her tank top off as she does so and now she is in just her panties and your eyes are wide, “Holy fuck-”

His chin on your shoulder, looking over to see the view of Tiffany in barely anything and he says, “I never, ever get tired of seeing that. Her body is fucking insane, those tits? I mean come onnn-” His hands are on you, the small shake as he moans that out makes you giggle. 

She is throwing the garment aside with a fond roll of her eyes and a smile on her lips, one hand in his hair, an arch of her back pushing her chest out further and she asks you softly, “You wanna touch?” 

You tell her, “If I ever say no to that I think you can assume something is seriously wrong with me.”  She scoots closer as she says with a smile, “Well go ahead.” 

You do as she encourages, one hand cupping her and she is impossibly soft and incredibly warm, she sighs, leaning more into your touch, eyes falling closed and your thumb circles one of her nipples. All of the nice tits comments and filthy compliments aside that you could tell her, instead you utter completely sincerely,  “You’re fucking beautiful. Just my God, Tiffany, you’re stunning.” 

Her smile widens and she looks almost shy? As if she wasn’t expecting you to say that, and certainly not so sweetly and earnestly, you sound practically awed and that gets to her. Makes her heart beat faster, she wonders if you can feel it as you explore. Shocking Chucky doesn’t make some kind of comment on this but you do feel him grind against you, his enjoyment of the view more than apparent.

You vaguely register him pulling away for the moment and hearing the sound of the nightstand drawer pulling open and snapping closed, Tiffany has gotten more comfortable, she is on her side in front of you, she had initiated another kiss as your fingers carefully pinched her nipple between two fingers and rolled it. His hands are on you once more and his hand is between your legs, starting to move, you take the hint, moving with him so he is holding your leg out of the way, your other leg resting tangled between his, chest to back and you feel him there, hard shaft grinds over your lips and you moan into her mouth. 

You break the kiss as his mouth is next to your ear, warm breath sends a shiver up your spine he is grinding against you, wetness from you spreading onto him, head of his dick bumping over your clit. Eyes flit down and you manage to catch a glimpse and the view is hot, you also realise why he leaned away before, while caught up playing with Tiffany he’d grabbed a condom. You were glad you didn’t have to ask, this was still so new, the first time you were doing this so of course it was a necessary precaution, who’s to say it will always be this way, if it is just you and Tiffany being with him there isn’t a reason to not feel him bare. 

It’s just another fun thing to look forward to honestly, this is just the first of many.

He doesn’t need to ask because you take the initiative, reach down, fingers meet his shaft and you tilt your hips back, the position just right you push back as he moves forward and finally starts to sink inside. Your eyes close with a sharp inhale, it doesn’t hurt, far from it with how prepared you are, the stretch of him sliding halfway in on that first stroke feels exquisite. You can feel Tiffany’s eyes locked on the point of connection between you and Chucky, his grip on your thigh near the back of your knee tightens, he pulls out most of the way before driving back in, deeper, causing you to take more and you moan his name softly. A few more purposeful rocks of his hips and he is completely inside, he exhales heavily into your ear, you feel his forehead rest against you, both soaking in the feeling for a moment before Tiffany’s hand on your cheek snaps you out of it. Your eyes open to see her right there, so close you can feel her body heat and she asks, “How’s it feel?”

You don’t know if it is meant to be directed at you or him but you both answer anyway. First you, choking out, “So good, so full-” and then him, “Tight, wet, amazing.” 

A steady pace is started, not fast or slow, a good even tempo that has you wanting to go limp in his grasp. One hand still occupied with holding your leg out of the way, his other arm was hooked around your body, over your shoulder, hand resting over your breasts, the extra point of contact makes it easier still to maneuver you, pull you down as he fucks up. Tiffany is watching intently, her bottom lip is tugged between her teeth, flushed cheeks and eyes flitting over, trying to capture every moment and movement and detail. She is really into this, you knew she would be but this is still a pretty big line to cross, fucking her boyfriend in their shared bed right in front of her, and there seems to be not a single hint of jealousy, no she loves it, that helps you sink even further into it. A turn of your head and you manage to catch his lips in a sloppy kiss, you start to move too, desperate to make this better, increase the feeling as you rock together. 

“He’s being so nice to you.” She praises and you break that kiss with a laugh, asking, “Is he us-usually me-an?”

He exhales amused and thrusts harder into you, “I can be.” He breathes that to you in a way that makes you clench around him, maybe you’d like him being mean to you. 

“M’ sure he won’t be able to be on his best behaviour forever.” Tiffany tells you and you want to sigh out, “Promise?” But instead an incoherent moan leaves you because Tiffany’s hands are getting back to work, fingers press to your clit and swirl making the euphoria spike aggressively. A weakened and hiccupping moan of her name as your movements become sloppy, trying to buck back onto Chucky is becoming more difficult with both of them so focused on you. 

“Fuck Tiff, keep going.” Was he reading your mind when he said that because you were about two seconds from begging for that yourself, his breathing is as laboured as yours. You didn’t think you’d last much longer like this at all and the small fact of that, of getting close makes it worse, unable to keep any of the sounds inside, moaning openly. Tiffany’s fingers working over your sensitive flesh as he continues to fuck into you, steady and deep strokes you are panting, your head raises from where it had been laying on Chucky’s arm that was still hooked around you, managing to catch his gaze. The eye contact is intense, the shared heavy breathing, bodies moving together and consistently getting better, adjusting and figuring each other’s bodies out, your eyes break away only for a second to catch Tiffany’s, she presses harder and you whine out that you are getting close. It is only a few minutes into this and you are threatening to fall apart between them, your hand catches the back of Tiffany’s neck, you pull her close, kissing her, tongue in her mouth and she returns your affection with a groan of her own. 

“Shit, you’re too hot-” Chucky pants out, his grip on your leg just might leave bruises, you don’t care as he fights to keep pace, “-practically stranglin’ me, so tight I can barely fuck-ing move.” 

You are right there, on the very edge, your mouth slips from hers, face buried in her neck and with the combination of one more purposeful thrust from him and a move of her hand you gasped out a pathetic warning of, “-cumming!”

“Yes, fuck yes, come on.” His encouragement fills your ears and makes your skin under his touch tingle. Before it happens, you slip and ecstasy overtakes, body tenses further, trembling as the weight of the feeling threatens to crush you, no real coherent sound, just pitched fluctuations of your breathing and murmurs that could be read as curses if you squint hard enough. You don’t think, you just feel, completely given over to the moment and to them. Her touch only begins to ease when your whimpering sounds like it is beginning to border on painful, he doesn’t relent though, it draws the remnants of your orgasm out for a long time, eventually you do regain some words, mostly it is his name, muttered between kisses you laid on Tiffany’s throat where your face is still buried. You can’t see but you are positive she is touching herself now, the way her moans are mixing with yours and his, how her body shudders, your tongue darts out and tastes the salt of her skin and she arches closer to you. 

Chucky’s entire body is nearly pressed to yours, he is talking again, fractured praise, “So good, I knew you would be but fuck, you-you’re-” His sentence trails off with another groan as his hips slam into yours but you don’t care, even without finishing the compliment it effects you deeply.

When she moves away you want to question it, want to ask what she is doing but it becomes clear in short order, she sinks down. Her hand that isn’t between her own is on your inner thigh, she managed to get in just the right position and she moved in, her lips press gently and carefully to your straining clit and your body reacts as if shocked, spasming with a cry, he must feel it too from the hiss he lets out. “Goddamn you just clenched so hard-”

Tiffany listens, her own fingers are moving quickly between her legs but her mouth moves faster, pretty pink tongue licks up over and over a few times, pulling delicious sounds from you whenever she does before her lips lock around the throbbing nub and she sucks. This one has very little build up, it seems one minute you aren’t and the very next you are, as if she forcefully dragged you to the edge and threw you over the cliffs edge into heaven in a few short minutes. You are calling her name, fingers tangled in soft blonde hair as you ground on her tongue and just when you’re orgasm is at its peak you push on her head, she doesn’t relent, she forces you to feel every single bit of it and only leaves you when she is satisfied with her work. 

You are still shaking, trying to breathe through the aftershocks when three last hard thrusts cause your whole body to move once more with his spell Chucky’s end, your name staining his tongue as he drives that last time to the hilt and holds as he spills into the condom. You feel him slightly trembling through his high and that makes you smile dreamily, feeling powerful you were able to do that, he released this huge breath and sighs as his body starts to go slack, “Jesus, holding out till you were done was practically torture.” 

You clear your throat, finding your voice you say, “M’ sure it’s the kinda torture you’ll happily come back for a second helping of.” 

He laughs breathlessly, “You’re not wrong.” 

The sentiment is nice, him caring enough to make sure you got yours before getting his, he slowly pulls out with a grunt and he lets go of your leg, your hand comes back, you rub your hip as you close your legs again, you feel incredible but this wasn’t over yet. He is on the same page as you because now that the condom was thrown away he was moving closer to Tiffany. She just did a ton of heavy lifting for you both, helped make the first time he fucked you incredible and saw to it that you and he came insanely hard and the only thing on both yours and his minds were returning the favor. You realised she was still wearing those panties and you had to do something about that. Your fingers hook into the sides of the thin material covering the last part of her and you begin to move it out of the way, sliding them down her thighs and exposing her to you. 

Keeping your mouth closed was impossible, it is involuntary, your lips parting slightly as seeing her totally bare and Chucky laughs, you look over to see him, head pitched forward, shaking his head slightly, fuck, his hair was a mess from how your hand was buried in it at one point while he fucked you. “What is so funny, Chuck?”

“Nothin’ just-” His hand runs through his hair before popping back up, sideways smile, as he says, “-I had that exact same look first time I saw her naked.” 

“Only the first time? Try every time.” Her tone is light but at the same time it is undercut with clear need, “Can you blame a guy? You look like you were ripped right outta a magazine.” 

He leaned down, a kiss to her forehead and you reached out, your hand touched down and her legs jerk at the feeling, she was drenched, absolutely soaked and as you learned within a minute, very responsive. You had just cum twice in pretty quick succession, you felt totally satisfied but she was changing that. He was kissing her, hand stroking over her neck and moving to play with her ample chest, you got more comfortable as you used your hands, your head was swimming, finally touching her after so long, hearing the sounds she made, how different touches made her react, you ended up pressing your thighs together when your fingers slipped into her, she gasped your name into his mouth and fuck, you did that. 

She felt incredible inside, slick, pulsing, tight, if it feels this good for your fingers to be inside her you can only imagine what it is like for him to fuck her. He is pulling away from her kisses to ask, “How’s she doing?”

“Amazing-” She sighed that out, lips parted and eyes half lidded in bliss, and he is ginning, “Yeah seems like.” 

He looks over to you and then sits up again, he motions for you to come closer, you do so, leaning nearer and not stopping touching, he whispers to you, telling you, “Make it like you are crossing your fingers like you’re lyin’, twist em back and forth and then curl them up and press hard.” 

Your nose wrinkles in confusion but you do as he suggests, upon you following his instruction,  her whole body bows and she cries out louder than you have ever heard previously, your eyebrows raise in shock and he teases, “Told ya.” 

It turns out that she didn’t need long, between him pinching her nipples, whispering more commands on just what to do, she is cumming on your fingers loudly within five minutes. You wished you looked half as good as she does when she cums, you are totally captivated, the way her body rolls and the moans she lets out, it’s nothing short of pure art. 

Her hand locks on your wrist and she begs, “Please, stop, fuck-”

You do, you’d been so caught up in her that you hadn’t let up for a second, overstimulation must have been setting in hard, poor thing, you slowly and reluctantly pull your fingers out. Before you get the chance to taste her he is pulling your fingers into his mouth and your mouth drops in shock, “You asshole! I worked hard for that treat-”

Your fingers pop out and he says wetly, “You want it? Come get it.”

“You’re such a bitch.” You sighed but you still pulled him nearer and kissed him either way. Sharing the taste of her when you kissed him might just be one of your new favourite things. When the affection finally reached a natural end, Tiffany said, “My legs might not be working right now but don’t leave me out.”

You and Chucky oblige. You both kiss her, one after the other and wrap her up in your arms. Sweaty and tangled limbs all cuddling on top of the messed up sheets as you relax and breathng slowly starts to even out. "That was-" You start, voice trailing off.

"Is there no words, again?" Tiffany asks and you say, "Nope! I swear to God I have a good vocabulary, my brain just doesn't work after what you both do to me."

"Awe yeah sweet thing, you are real smart, we both know it." Tiffany praised. "Fucking you dumb is a good pass time." He muses as he presses a kiss to your cheek.

The come down takes a long while. The bedroom window is cracked the smallest amount possible because it got stiflingly hot in the room as well the snow still coming down so hard making opening it any further a stupid idea. The pair of them doing what you has to assume is their normal ritual post fuck, both lighting up for another cigarette. You were still naked but actually in bed now, under the sheets and just watching them. Sitting up in the low lamp light, easy conversation and joking between the pair, she had his shirt on and he’d tugged his underwear back on, both their hair a mess and you just felt happy. Really fucking happy. 

Nowhere to be, just soaking up the moment with them. He asks, “Is there any of that lasagna left?”

“What are you hungry at this time of night?” She asks on an exhale of smoke and he says, “Yes I am, all that really took it out of me.” 

“Sex like that is hungry work, I have to say I could do with a snack myself.” You say and between the pair of you she can’t say no. So at nearly three AM, smokes finished, the three of you are sitting up in bed and sharing a plate of lasagna, by the time you all do fall asleep it’s almost four and you are thoroughly exhausted and slotted between them, you are positive this has to be the best sleepover you’ve ever had. 

Would it be weird to send a thank you letter to the weather station for getting the forecast so wrong and making all this happen? Probably. And yet you were still considering it. 

[somethinglikethatyeah83]

HE GOT AWAY: Alec Hardy

Pairing: Alec Hardy x Reader

Warnings: Threatening, mentions of death, knifes and you get stabbed. Broadchurch stuff, I guess? Set during the Danny Latimer case so massive spoilers for season 1

Summary: You know who Danny's killer is, but only because he comes to have a word with you...

Word Count: 2.33K

Alec wasn’t home, still in the office. I’m still off after having Violet but Alec had wanted to get back to work as soon as possible for the Danny Latimer case. 

Which I think I’d just solved.

Joe Miller stood in my kitchen, a place I felt as a sanctuary, holding an eight inch knife pointing in my direction. I didn’t know if I would be able to step in this room again after tonight, if I got out alive. Joe, though, was nervous. Completely and utterly unstable as he shook in front of him. His interrogation against me was evidently unplanned, as I recognised the handle from my kitchen drawer. But his stance was wary, which meant I had a chance of getting out alive.

My gun was in the living room, on the highest bookshelf so Violet couldn’t get to it, but still in reach of me, just in case anything happened. I couldn’t get to it at the moment, though. The last time I used it must have been a good 6 months ago, and I couldn’t even remember if it had any bullets in it, but maybe that was for the best. A scared still hormonal mother with a gun? Never a good idea. And maybe just the notion of getting shot would be enough to get Joe to cave. If I could get a hold of it. 

“Joe-”

“Shut up!” He shouted, shaking the knife at me. He had tears in his eyes and that fearful look that scared me. He could do anything and I wouldn’t be able to stop him.

“Don’t make this mistake.” I warned, holding my hand out in front of me, a good distance. “You’re unstable and scared- I don’t blame you-”

“Scared and holding a knife, do you really want to take that risk?” He threatened, feet glued to the wooden floor, but staring at me with an intensity that only a murderer could have.

“Put the knife down, Joe.”

“Why should I?”

“Remember I’m with the police. I’m married to the detective inspector and best friends with the DS, your wife. You kill me, here, tonight, everybody is going to know. Alec will leave no stone unturned until he finds my killer and when he finds you, which you know he will, he won’t be merciful.” I tell him, watching as his face dropped and it clicked in his head what he was doing. Clicked that what he was doing made no sense at all. “You already have Danny’s life on your conscious, do you really want mine?”

He was so close to caving. To handing the knife in and letting me take him down to the station. But then the phone rang, my mobile sat on the counter, lit up with Alec’s number.

Joe’s face hardened. “Answer it, put it on speaker. Act normal.”

I reached down and answered it, hearing the chatter of the office, Alec’s voice calming me even though he had no clue that a murderer was in our kitchen, threatening to kill me.

“Darlin’, was there anything you wanted me to pick up from the shops on the way home?” He asked, from over the phone, in a moderately perky mood compared to how he would be if he knew. 

I stuttered, stumbling over my words and the nerves took a hold. Joe’s stare for worse. “We need tomatoes for dinner.” I told him, saying the first thing that came into my head because there was a murderer in my kitchen. 

There was silence over the phone, but only for a second. It would probably be the last thing I said to him. I probably wouldn’t make it out here alive and he would have no clue. I’d die here tonight and leave Violet without a mother, Alec without the love of his life, the one person he can tell everything and anything. 

What would Ellie think?

I hadn’t even thought of her. Her husband was a murderer, and she had no idea. Her husband, the father of her children, Tom and Fred, was a murderer. None of them had any clue. And if I didn’t get out here alive tonight, no one would ever know until Alec found out. Joe would walk free.

“You alrigh’, love?” Alec asked from the other side, his voice high and laced with worry. He knew something was wrong, and Joe would make me pay the consequences for that.

I swallowed, steadying my voice, my eyes still staring at Joe to make sure he didn’t move. “Yeah, perfect. Violet’s already asleep upstairs so we’ve got the evening to ourselves.”

“Lovely. I’ll text you when I’m on my way. Love you.” 

“Love you too, Alec, so much.” I tell him, and I could almost hear the smile on his face as he says goodbye again, and ending the call. 

I flip my phone over quickly, turning to Joe again who still has the knife pointed in my direction. He’s still scared but he’s managed to mask some of it. Definitely still unstable, though, and I still might have a chance to let him cave.

“You’re really going to kill me?”

“Why shouldn't I?” He negotiates, taking a step closer to me, which now has my back against the door. I want to stay as far from him as possible, but if he steps closer there’s nowhere else I can go. “You know what I’ve done. You’ll get me arrested. If I get you out the way, Tom and Fred will still have a father. Do you really want them to lose me?”

“Do you want Violet to lose her mother?”

“She isn’t my kid!” He shouts, making me flinch. He can’t control his anger, the tears of frustration falling from it but also a higher chance of another murder here tonight. 

I took a deep breath. “How would you feel if you lost Ellie, huh? It’s the same situation, Joe. How is she going to react to you killing Danny and me?”

“She’ll never find out.”

“You know she will.” I shook my head, swallowing and watching as he got closer. Closer to giving in. “You can’t just refuse it. You can either spend your life riddled with guilt for Danny and I, or you can go with grace and get better. Settle your mind.”

“No.”

“All you have to do is come with me. I’ll take you down to the station. You can confess and serve the time you deserve.” I negotiate, knowing I was helping. Knowing I was so, so close to getting him to cave. I had a chance to get a murderer off the streets tonight and I was as sure as hell going to do my best. “You killed a child, Joe, there’s no escaping that. You can at least go with some dignity, instead of making it worse.”

“No!” He shouts, his whole body shaking with fear, and confusion, and I know he knows I’m right, but he’s fighting it out of fear. He doesn’t want to go, and I don’t blame him, but he deserves it. 

He shakes his head, slowly taking small steps towards me. Each step has my heart rate speeding up. This was it. I was going to die tonight and there was nothing I could do about it. Alec and Violet would be left alone, without a mother and a wife.

“Joe, don't do this.

“You can’t stop me!” 

“She can’t.” Alec’s voice came from behind me. I hadn't even heard the door. “But I can.”

But it wasn’t quite enough. Everything happened too quickly after that for me to keep track. Joe grabbed my wrist and spun me around so I was facing Alec, and the cold metal of the knife was held up against the sensitive skin of my neck. Alec had his gun pointing at Joe, who I could no longer see, but feel his hand on my wrist.

“Joe, don’t do this.” Alec warned, eyes darting between Joe and I. “Killing a police officer is worse than murdering a child, the time you’ll spend in prison will almost double.”

“That’s all I’ve been hearing from her, ain’t it? For the past half an hour.” He sounds disgusted when he refers to me, looking at Alec. 

“Put the knife down.”

Joe didn’t say anything. The tension was too thick, the air was warm and the anger that spilled from Alec was worse than I’d ever seen it before. This could go either way, one would end up with me dead, or a murderer in prison. I knew which one it would be immediately.

And there it was.

An excruciating pain in my abdomen, blood in my ears and dripping onto the floor. There was muffled shouting, a deep Scottish shout and some smashing that resembled that of glass, I wasn’t paying attention. But it didn’t matter. All the chaos didn’t matter, not anymore. Because a murderer was getting away because I’d let him. Joe was getting away.

“He’s getting away…” I murmur, reaching my hand out to the window. It all felt so far away now.

Alec was above me, though, I knew that much. I could just about feel his hand in mine. “You’re going to be fine. Bob’s called an ambulance, we’re going to get you to a hospital.”

He was getting blurry, though, and slowly further and further away from my reach.  I knew I was about to black out but there wasn’t anything I could do about it. Joe was getting away and I was about to die. Alec and Violet would be left alone.

“He’s getting away…”

I could hear the heart monitor, and when I tried to move, a dull ache still throbbed in my abdomen. The smell of sheet vinyl and cheap PPE plastic overwhelmed me, but at least it told me where I was; a hospital. 

At least I was alive.

Part of me knew that wouldn’t let me die in our kitchen that night, but most of me knew that chances were I wouldn’t. Joe probably only just missed a vital organ, and I still could have died from blood loss.

But I didn’t. I was alive. I was alright. Alec and Violet still had a wife and a mother.

And there they were, sitting right next to me in the hospital bed. 

He sat bolt upright when he saw my eyes open, Violet cradled in his arms, sleeping softly. It was obvious the second I looked at him that he hadn’t had a wink of sleep for however long I had been out. 

“You’re awake.”

“I’m alive.” I told him. “That’s more important.” 

Alec nodded, shuffling closer to me in the hospital chair he’d been given. I reached out for him to pass my Violet but he shook his head.

“They’ve said you’re not allowed to hold her until the wound has fully healed. And no pressure on it at all, so when you sit down you have to sit up straight. And no work until it’s fully healed, too.” He lectured, evidently worried for what my reaction would be.

No work and no daughter? Now that was just cruel.

“Shit, seriously?”

“I’m sorry. As soon as you’re allowed, I’m sure she’ll be clinging to you.”

I shrug, looking over at her in Alec’s arms. She was so cute, asleep. Not knowing that her mother had nearly been murdered. By someone that had held her, someone that knew her. I hadn’t even thought about it.

“Joe. It was Joe.” 

“Aye, I know.”

I looked up at Alec who had a nervous look in those gorgeous eyes of his. “How could we have missed it? How could it be someone we know so well?”

Alec shrugged. “I don’t know.”

It was time to ask the question I’d been avoiding. “Have you told Ellie?”

“No.” He shook his head. “She wasn’t in the right frame of mind after she heard what happened to you and I wouldn’t want to make it worse. She had to be told in a civil place, where she can’t do anything to harm anyone or herself.”

“I can’t believe he got away.” I started unconsciously tapping against the hospital blanket I was shrouded in. I couldn’t believe that I had let him get away. I thought I’d either die in the room or a murderer would be off the streets, it hadn’t occurred to me that he could have ran away.

And what would Ellie think? She would find out soon enough and I really don’t think she would be able to handle anything like this at the moment. Tom and Fred would lose their father and Ellie would lose the man she thought she could trust the most.

“Don’t blame yourself.” Alec murmured, holding Violet with one arm and taking my hand in his spare one. “There wasn’t anything you could have done.”

I leant back against the pillow. “I know, I just- he was right there. If I’d had cuffs on me I could have arrested him there and then but I wasn’t at work. I don’t even think the gun has bullets in it.”

“If it hadn’t been for you, if you hadn’t kept him busy we wouldn’t know it was him. Now we know who to look for. We’ll find him soon.” Alec assured, squeezing my hand.

I looked up at him and smiled. He sent a soft smile back as my thoughts started spiraling again. “How did you know I was in trouble?”

Alec laughed slightly, a fond smile on his face. “You told me we needed tomatoes. You hate tomatoes. I knew you only would have said that as the first thing that came into your mind. I knew you were in danger.”

“Thank goodness you know me so well.” I smile. “I love you.”

Alec grinned down at me, nodding. “Love you too. And we’ll catch him, promise.”

[livesworthlivingau]

Behind the Vale Chapter 18

ISAT/Two Hats Spoilers as always! CW: Homoerotic fight scene What? Who said that?

"Hmmmm…" [You ponder deeply, looking over the collection of daggers on display at the town's blacksmith.]

"What's up? None speaking to you?" [Nille chimes in, noticing the look on your face. Does having a mouth again really make us that easy to read?]

"No, they aren't… I'm not sure a dagger feels right anymore."

"Oh? Well what else would you get? I can't exactly see your scrawny butt using a big hammer." [She teased with a smirk. You rolled your eyes some.]

"Riiight, and who destroyed that sadness standing over you when we first met~?"

"I had that under control! I was just making it think it had me!" [You both laugh, even she couldn't pretend that was true.]

"But to answer your question, I'm not quite sure, something agile still but…"

"How about a rapier?"

"NO! No no no! The Housemaiden uses one of those."

"… And?"

"… Just… I'd rather not… Have that constant reminder." [She rolls her eyes but drops it. It seemed the only thing preventing another talk was the fact you were in public.]

"Okay, uhhh... Oh! What about one of those?" [She asked, spotting a rack with several whips hanging off of them.]

"Oh… Oh yes, that actually sounds nice~." [You say as you walk over to it, glancing about at them all hanging, finding a lovely looking one with lightless and darkless diamond patterning across its whole length.]

"I think this will do perfectly~."

---------------------------------------------------

[The sound of 3 booming CRACKs sound out in a row as you try to snap your new whip across the practice targets setup. You manage to split the first in half, but your swings go wide on the follow ups, missing the other two.]

"Hey! Not bad! You're a natural at this!"

"Not bad?! I only hit one blinding target!"

"... Vale, have you ever used a whip before?"

"Not that I can recall, no."

"Uh huh, and you just expected to be great at it first thing?"

"I mean, I used paper craft pretty well first thing~."

"Well yeah, that was instincts. If you're a paper type now, that's gonna come a lot more naturally. Stress of combat and all, you don't think you just act."

"Hmmm... You make a good point... Maybe there's some more sadness nearby we could try and track down?"

"You wanna go hunting sadness' now?!"

"Well how else am I going to get better at this?" [Nille smacks her own face gently in a facepalm before sighing out.]

"Alright, alright, if you're set on this..." [She begins, placing a hand on your shoulder.]

"Now think fast!" [She shouts before using her other arm to scoop under your leg, suddenly lifting you over her head and tossing you over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes.]

"WH-HEY?!" [You cry out, tumbling across the grass and sliding to a stop. You look up at Nille, her hammer now out, playful grin on her face.]

"If you're so set on a fight, I'll give you one pretty Vay~!"

"N-Nille?! Y-You can't just toss me like that!!"

"Actually I can, pretty easily in fact!" [She beams with a bright laugh, your face burns in a fluster as you grumble, readying your new whip, holding your other hand in a paper sign.]

"F-Fine! But you asked for it!"

"Don't hold back for me now Vale, I won't for you!" [She remarked with a wink, then suddenly rushing towards you.]

[You step back in surprise, not expecting her to actually approach with such intent. She raises her hammer, preparing to swing. You finally snap out of it and bring your hand forward, summoning a shield like before. Nille's hammer swings right through it, dampening the blow but still sending it slamming into your side, knocking you over and tumbling a bit again.]

"Ack! H-Hey!!"

"Oh come on, you're paper type now, you barely felt that!"

"Y-Yes but STILL!!" [You shout, more so protesting about getting tossed around than anything else. She pays no mind to your pleas as she begins to rush at you again. You wonder how she's so blinding fast with that massive hammer.]

"Gonna have to go on the offensive soon~!" [She taunts at you. Alright, we can figure this out, there's got to be some way we can slow her down somehow... Wait, didn't Odile have a craft like that? Yes! We've seen it countless times! You take a breath for a moment, trying to replicate the ritual she performed when using it, sending a lethargic wave towards Nille to help weigh her down some.]

"Oooh, got some other tricks up your sleeve?" [She calls in surprise, though it doesn't seem to affect her as much as Odile's ability did. It would have to do for now, taking a defensive stance and flourishing your new whip. She swings high as you duck below, swapping her momentum to slam down before you barely manage to jump back out of the way.]

"C'mon! Go on the offensive Valey!" [She encourages, you snap your whip forward, coiling it around the neck of her hammer. With a heavy tug and pulling paper gesture, you manage to yank it free from her grip, tossing it upwards and spinning off behind you as you watch it fly overhead.]

"Hah! What are you gonna do no-ACK!!" [You begin to tease, turning back to Nille who was suddenly moments away, tackling into you and sending you both sliding across the ground, skidding to a stop. You stare up at her in stunned silence. She chuckles some, seeing your face.]

"HAHA! Here's a tip, Vay. Never let your guard down." [She teased... then perked up some, noticing your face with her own darkening, quickly getting up off of you... Our face feels hot. Are we blushing?...]

"Heh, uhh... Sorry about that, got a little carried away there." [She mumbled some, holding out a hand to help you up, taking it and easily getting lifted off the ground.]

"But good hustle! Seems like you got a few new moves to work with!" [Her face is still dark, she's trying to change the subject, you recognize this tactic... Why is our face burning?! You try to shake the sensation away.]

"R-Right~! Guess we won't have to worry much next time a sadness comes around~!" [You remark, desperately trying to slip the mask back on. You both stand in awkward silence for a moment.]

"... W-We should probably get back to the Inn."

"O-Oh yes! I'll uhh... meet you there, I wanted to stop by the local tailor first~."

"Oooof course you do."

Get ready for some new official outfit designs next Vale chapter~

[crying-fantasies]

The Second Unicron anomaly

Masterlist

Optimus, all my life since very young, has been the very example of selfness, sacrifice and that want to do better, be better, because he does so while dragging uncountable things he regrets but still keeps on going while trying to show the others that he is fine when he is anything but that.

G1 Optimus was a childhood crush of mine, I admired him so much, still do, every representation of him makes me believe that there is something worth fighting for.

So, when I started to write a little something about him, well, it's hard, because I've come to idealize him so much that now I realize it's hard to put myself or whoever next to him and not feel it strange (fuck).

Then, the answer comes in the form of Orion Pax.

Hear me out, first, everything and all my stories happen in the IDW1 universe/multiverse where, well, spoiler, Optimus dies to accompany and calm the pain of a grieving father for his child whom was taken from him by the very same war the Primes before Optimus started in an attempted take over of neighboring organic planets in their periphery, it ended catastrophically as for one, the entire population of that planet became dire wraiths, two, the planet itself bared the physical recreation of the mythical Unicron, the devil in cybertronian culture, in a very "fuck you" message for cybertronians in general, three, I know it was all Shockwave fuckery in the timeline but man, it makes you ask yourself that if this Unicron isn't THE Unicron, then where the fuck is he? (Maybe I digged a bit on the TFP and BV for this but we still didn't got there).

Well, long story short, Optimus Prime dies to protect his colony, colony the last of his people, friends and Allies can consider a safe haven, he is ready to do so to protect them and atoning for sins he did and the one he didn't.

It's a sad ending, but an ending nonetheless, just like Megatron on his trial, put to eternal suffering out of his frame.

I gave Megatron a second chance on my stories, of course I can let Optimus have one for himself.

So, Megatron is happy with the LL crew, and while they are in Cybertron something happens, as always, the starship seem to have a strange thing going on with it, the black hole result of Unicron's defeat at the hands of Prime opens, people start screaming when something is being launched out of it, big things get out of it and land on New Cybertron, most know as the free Cybertron or the Functionalism reality Cybertron, everyone believed it to be the mutated Maximals again, but what gets out is-

"Cliff? Cliffjumper is that you?", Bumblebee asks, fluid on his optics, looking at his lost friend, an also just returned Mirage just behind him with Hound, it doesn't take much before the latter drags his lost friends to him for a hug, full of relief.

More pieces start to fall, pieces soon landing around, more mechs, people, all of them are being returned, somehow, before the opening in the black hole ripped.

Carcer is back, with him, his whole crew, Elita One is the first to look at them in awe, she starts to shout, "Where is Unicron?!" when she just came from what was left of the devil itself.

Megatron is fast to search, some even questioned him for it when his own crew followed him, looking out for whoever came in those things, no one remembering what happened when they saw the massive frame of Unicron approaching.

Megatron, in all of this, notices their frames are good as new, no damage done, upgrades gone, as he searches in the many bodies coming back, the sparks reignited, mechs that welcome their loved ones back, faith restored in their optics as Tappet hugs as he can a very confused Hefter who ask where the enforcers are with a frightened face, screaming when he sees Velocitron appear before moving to a path back to it's previous orbital course, knowing where it belongs, followed by Caminus.

When Megatron finds the frame of who he knew would also come back he has to stop for a moment before finally presenting a helping servo to the bot trying to get out of the strange cocoon, who only looks at him, barely recognizing him, the Matrix casing put on him in desperate times gone, as the semi truck finally speaks at him.

"Megatron?"

And the one that asks isn't Optimus Prime, but Orion Pax, and Megatron knows, as this isn't the bot he knew like the back of his own coding, choosing to see this as a mercy more than a punishment when those clear blue optics look at him.

"You look different"

"I'm different, Orion, for good"

"Oh, did you get your work viewed?"

Megatron doesn't have the spark to tell him so, none of them does, not when Orion Pax smiles genuinely without his battle mask, trying to figure out who are the mechs in front of him.

"Yes"

"That's great, good to hear it"