#& then it kinda being the moment she realizes this girlie shit ain’t for her

[grundpepper]

remember h ow i talked about Rika with her hair down ... ? so yeah 😳👉👈

[powerfultenderness]

Love's Philosophy/Secret

Title: Love’s Philosophy/Secret

Rating: T

Pairing: V/Reader

"Nothing in the world is single; All things by a law divine In another's being mingle- Why not I with thine?" (Love’s Philosophy, Percy Shelley)

I told my love, I told my love,  I told her all my heart, Trembling, cold, in ghastly fears.  Ah! she did depart! (Love’s Secret, William Blake)

-

You inwardly sighed as your eyes tracked the lean dark haired poet. 'Devil hunter.' You had to remind yourself. This was no man to casually crush on. 

Even if he were to notice you he'd simply assume that you were there on a job. You were a messenger, a courier, for Morrison. After the older man noticed how often the shop got attacked he decided it was best to send someone in his place. You weren't a fighter, but you were quick and needed money. 

'Besides,' you thought, 'any chance to see him.'

He seemed to notice you staring and you quickly shot him a friendly smile as a greeting and went back to discussing their newest case with Nero. 

“Sounds fun,” Nero grinned, cocky in his ability as a devil hunter. 

You smiled and turned back to V, who had been standing next to Nero listening to the job proposal. “What about you, V? You in?” 

You were always kind to him, making a point of keeping eye contact and smiling at him. He’d thought that was just the kind of person that you were, but now as he started watching your interaction with Nero he noticed the difference. You were kind to the other man sure, but you didn’t smile at Nero the same way you smiled at him. A part of him was warmed by this fact. You had a smile reserved just for him. 

V gave you a slightly lopsided smirk and inclined his head, leaning against his cane. “And, when night comes, I’ll go To places fit for woe.”

“Great!” You said, you smile widening even more because that meant that you’d get another chance to see him when the job was done. 

Wordlessly V left, presumably to get ready for the job, but what that entailed you didn’t know. You hadn’t noticed you’d been staring at V as he left with obvious longing in your eyes. That is until Nero, amused by your smitten state, whistled. 

“You got it bad for him?” 

“Am I into a man that waxes poetry like that? Hell yea. The guy is literally romantic.” You chuckled at your own joke, expecting to hear Nero’s laughter too.

Nero only shook his head slightly, eyebrows scrunched up a little, clearly not getting your joke. 

“V’s favorite poet to spout is William Blake. William Blake, one of the most prominent poets of the Romantic era?” 

He gave you a forced laugh, “Haha, hilarious.”

You rolled your eyes, “I bet he would have thought so.” 

“Then why don’t you just tell him?” Nero asked, starting to get annoyed with the conversation, even though he started it.

“As Blake, and probably V, would put it: “Never seek to tell thy love.”

Nero scoffed, “What? Why?”

It always seemed so easy to those already in relationships. You’d bet your next paycheck though, that he wasn’t nearly as confident about his feelings before it was clear that Kyrie returned them. So you continued Blake’s depressing poem. “I told my love, I told my love, I told her all my heart, Trembling cold in ghastly fears. Ah! she did depart!”

“Tch. Doesn’t he also say something about desires and restraint?” 

That actually snapped you out of your increasingly depressing thoughts. “Those who restrain desire do so because theirs is weak enough to be restrained.” Then a wide grin spread across your face, “Look at you, Nero! Paying attention and shit! V’ll make a poet of you yet!” 

“Shut up!” 

“I bet Kyrie would love it, actually!”

He sighed, “Get out of here!”

Your laughter echoed slightly as you left, trying to think of a way to tell V how you felt the next time you saw him. 

-

Nero was the only one around to collect the payment for the last job, much to your disappointment. So you didn’t get the chance to see V again for another two weeks. Luckily this gave you time to consider your feelings and how you would go about telling him (and what you were going to do if he rejected you!) 

It wasn’t quite an ideal situation, however. 

 “Shit! Shit! Shit!” You thought, pedaling as fast as you could. 

Yep. You thought you were fast enough to be a delivery person for Devil May Cry when you only had a bicycle. Usually it was no big deal, Nero and V, and Trish and Lady, were very good at handling demons. But today the shop was empty of friends and surrounded by enemies. 

Willing your legs to pump faster, though they were already pushing as hard as they could, you barely escaped a swipe from a claw. “Ha!” You were foolish enough to cheer. Only to collide with a demon that appeared in front of you as you looked back. 

As your bike was stopped by the bulk of the demon, you went flying past it and its menacing claws and fangs. You managed to tuck in your arms and cover your face as momentum pushed you forward while gravity was determined to bring you back down. You let out a strangled choke as you were caught mid air by your shirt, just a few feet from meeting pavement. 

“At least you’re lighter than Nero, girly.” A sardonic voice said as he huffed and set you down gently.

“Griffon!” Of course you were familiar with V’s, well, familiars. 

“You’re welcome. Now stay back.” He didn’t stick around long enough for you to hug him, which you had been about to do, no matter how awkward it would have been to hug a big bird.

Griffon flew off towards V and Shadow, who were taking care of the demons with ease. With the addition of their avian ally, the rest of the demons fell and V finished them off with his cane.

With his enemies dead, V turned around to face you, no doubt about to quote some poetry or maybe even inquire about your health. But you didn’t quite let him. Quicker than he would have given you credit for, you lunged at him and wrapped your arms tightly around him. He was stunned, his words stuck in his throat as he realized that you were shaking. 

“Was that your first demon encounter?” His wrapped his left arm around you, resting his hand in the middle of your back. 

You shook your head against his chest, noticing that your face was met with both leather and skin, and started to relax now that you were in his arms. Safe. 

“First encounter I’ve been alone though. Usually one of the others is around and everyone kills them so quickly I never had time to be scared of them.” Now you understood why Morrison started outsourcing this job to you. 

With the way V was holding you, how everything was quiet and empty, it was the perfect time to confess. But you still couldn’t bring yourself to say three simple words. ‘I like you’. 

He called your name again, using the handle of his cane to gently tilt your head up so that you were looking at him. The intimate action and the concern that laced over his lovely face, that you heard in his perfect voice, was enough to make you swallow your fears. 

“And the sunlight clasps the earth And the moonbeams kiss the sea: What is all this sweet work worth,” you glanced around at the dead demons and the destruction the fight caused, “If thou kiss me not?”

His dark eyes stared into yours for a moment before they flickered down to your slightly parted lips. He considered your words, recognizing them as belonging to Percy Shelly, recognizing them as an admission of how you felt about him. And how he felt about you.

V dropped his right hand, holding his cane, and captured your lips with his own. That was all that was needed for pent up emotions to come forth. The kiss turned from nearly chaste to heated, a small nibble at your lower lip and his tongue meeting yours. You moved your hands from around his torso to grip the lapels of his jacket, clinging to him as you desperately closed what little space there was between you. His hands on your hips pulling you to him just the same. 

He pulled away first, a deep hum vibrating close enough to your lips to melt your will. But his eyes flickered behind you and he straightened. “I’m afraid, your bike didn’t survive the attack.” He said as he lifted his cane and pointed at your mangled bike.

Oh shit! You turned around, even though his left arm was still holding your waist, and frowned. “Aww man! What am I gonna do now?” 

He glanced around and pointed his cane at a payphone, “Help is always near.” 

You frowned and mumbled. “Yea but she might charge me for the ride.” 

V chuckled and led you to the payphone, not willing to relinquish contact just yet. “Worry not for the job isn’t done.”

“Huh? What do you mean?” 

He smiled at you as he called for Nico, luckily she wasn’t that far. “Those were Hell Cainas, which means a Judecca shouldn’t be far off.” 

“Oh cool. Sooo, we were making out while we were still in danger.” Actually, that was kinda hot, but you weren’t going to admit that out loud.

He chuckled, “You were never in danger. I can assure you that.” 

Though you wanted to kiss him again, it seemed like the right moment, Nico’s van sailed through the air and skidded to a halt just a few feet away from where you and V were standing.

“Hey there!” Nico called, hanging out of the window. 

V walked you to the van and grasped your hand in his, bowing while leaving a soft kiss on your knuckles. 

“Bid me farewell, and smile.”

You blushed from such a gesture, you really should have expected something like that from V, but smiled nonetheless. “See you later, V.” 

As he followed Griffon, whose complaints had been ignored, towards the demon summoner, Nico laughed. “Wow! Ain’t he romantic!” 

You gasped and turned to her, “That’s what I said!” 

[tenebris-melodiam]

Lucas Baker x Reader: Game of Life

Pairing : Lucas Baker x Reader/Female Protagonist (18+) Rating & Warnings : Vulgarity, death by electrocution

=7=

“Goddamn, girlie! You’re bein’ pretty fuckin’ mean to your opponent, there! How come ya don’t cut lil’ ol’ Clarice some slack, huh?”

The male voice that echoed throughout the small room didn’t faze you, and you moved another trump card in front of the four numbered cards that you possessed. Once the card was in place, you heard the bet counter tick several times as the number on Clarice’s side jumped from two to six. If you won this round, you would only need to win once more before the red tick marker on your opponent’s side came to rest upon the crimson skull—and that would mean that you had completed this sadistic game. You had won the three previous rounds without a hitch, and you most certainly weren’t intending to change that any time soon. Although you couldn’t see the face of the woman in front of you, the meager, whimpering noises that passed through the cloth covering her head made you realize that your offensive tactic was working. She was growing anxious that your cards would win the match, and it was successfully breaking her down.

“I don’t intend on cuttin’ her anythin’. I don’t know her, or her family, so why the hell should I care whether she lives or dies?”

You said these words softly, almost as though you were speaking to yourself, but you noticed your sentence had earned an intrigued hum from the man watching all of this take place. Inhaling a breath through your teeth, you turned your attention to the machine to your left, admiring the handiwork that it would have taken to get such a relic working once more. Knowing that prolonging the round would break down your opponent further, you cleared your throat before glancing over at the televisions that lined the room.

“Y’know, I’m kinda interested in how you got this thing workin’ again. I ain’t gonna deny that you’re pretty sadistic in makin’ us play a game like this, but goddamn… the fact you got this thing workin’ again shows that you’re pretty smart, y’know?”

You heard nothing but the gentle hum of the electronic devices littering the room for quite a while, but eventually you saw the largest screen flicker, and once more, the face of the man who held you captive came into view. There was an amused smile upon his lips, and he leaned back in his chair as his hands came to rest upon his midsection once he made sure that you could see him.

“If you’re tryin’ to give off some kinda faux compliment, I’d advise against. I-“

“Oh, it ain’t no faux compliment. I mean what I say; seein’ somethin’ like this is honestly really interestin’.”

You watched as the male on the other end of the television cocked his eyebrow curiously, his lower lip pursing a bit as he seemed to think over your previous words. He then clicked his tongue, his thumbs tapping together rhythmically as he eyed you through the camera.

“Alright then, girlie. You got my attention now.”

“Oh yeah, I nearly forgot. I’ll stay.”

Almost immediately after saying those words, the light upon Clarice’s side flickered to life, illuminating the cards that she possessed on the opposite side of the table. Now that you looked closely, you could see her body physically shaking, and you waited patiently whilst she decided on her fate. Hesitantly, she raised her free hand and hovered it over her cards, her reply indicating that she would stay with her current hand as well. Since Lucas now had his camera on and allowed you to see him, the grin upon his lips widened and he moved his hand off-camera to mess with something.

“Alright, you two. The winner is…”

Your (color) eyes stared at the television that showed two numbers, one being eighteen, and the other being nineteen. Whilst a victorious smile came to your lips, the woman across from you began to writhe and wriggle as she pleaded for help. The machine next to you whirred to life once more, the two prongs rising up before coming down to press into the skin of Clarice’s hand—the smell of charred flesh filled your nose, and the screams that came from her lips filled your ears. You watched as tiny bolts of electricity erupted from various parts of her body, the cloth upon her head growing darkened patches as the fabric burned. Once the device had done its work, the humming slowly died down once more, leaving the woman a sobbing, charred mess. For the first time since the beginning to the game, she finally managed to speak to you.

“H-how can you… be so fuckin’ heartless…? I have a family… a h-husband…”

“I told you. I don’t know shit about you. I ain’t got no sob story about how I got a family, or about how I got anythin’. Only one of us is gettin’ out of here alive, and it ain’t gonna be you.”

You heard an amused coo come from the speakers within the room, and Lucas moved himself closer to the camera in response to what you had previously said to the woman in front of you.

“Man, I think I can feel the temperature droppin’ in here! Such harsh words!”

You stupid as it was, the words that Lucas spoke brought a slight smile to your lips and made a quiet laugh escape your throat. This seemed to catch his attention, and he hummed to himself before pushing something off-camera once again. The cards in front of you dropped into a slot within the table, and you heard the dealer whir to life as the cards were shuffled within it. After a while, it spit two cards in front of you, and two in front of Clarice. This was it—it appeared that she didn’t have any trump cards that lowered her bet, since she didn’t use any upon her last round, and that meant if you won, she would die.

You glanced down at your cards, flipping the face-down one up towards you to see what number was scrawled upon it: eight. The other card you had received was a nine, so you started off with a relatively good hand. You sighed quietly as you watched Clarice weakly look at her cards, and then mumbled that she would stay. You blinked, rather confused as to why she would do such a thing with only two cards—it was then that you realized what card was face-up on the table: an eleven. You resisted the urge to frown, and then glanced down at your own cards; did you want to stay, or did you want to risk drawing another card? If Clarice had a perfect twenty-one, then she would win the round, and you would receive your first shock.

You eyed the woman in front of you, trying to find any evidence that she was bluffing. A twitch, a finger movement, anything at all to help you—unfortunately, you found nothing. To try and remedy this, you grabbed a trump card and placed it upon the table, lowering your bet down to zero. Once you had done this, you said you would stay with your current hand.

With the light now illuminating the woman across the table, she released a long breath of air before making her move. She placed not one, but five trump cards upon the table, each one raising your bet by two. This earned an amused coo from Lucas over the intercom, and you glanced over at the television to see him still grinning at the whole predicament. You heard your ticker click several times as it changed your bet number to ten, and you couldn’t stop your heart from leaping into your throat. If you lost, you were going to die. You now realized why Clarice had never used any trump cards—she was saving them for this very moment.

“Well, shit! Looks like ol’ Clarice ain’t gonna go down without a fight! Oooooh, this is so fuckin’ intense… I love it!”

You swallowed nervously, your (color) eyes darting between your cards and Clarice’s. You had no more trump cards to lower your bet, so your life, quite literally, was in your cards. You raised your hand, ready to call for another card and take what could possibly be the last risk of your life, but suddenly stopped—it was then that you heard a weak, almost inaudible whisper come from Clarice’s side of the table.

“Take it.”

You noticed Lucas staring intently at you through the television, and you took a deep breath before moving your hand slowly to hover over your cards. You immediately saw Clarice’s body tense up, and you said that you would stay. Lucas’s lips cracked into a wide grin, and he folded his hands together before placing his chin atop them as he leaned over the table.

“The winner is…”

You stared at the television screen, and when the numbers popped up, Clarice immediately cried out and broke down into sobs. A loud cackle came from over the intercom, and Lucas spun around in his chair before pressing down on something to activate the device beside you once more. You had been right in calling her bluff; her unknown card was only a one, which gave her a grand total of twelve. You stared at her as the device came down upon her hand, and surprisingly, she wasn’t even able to bring herself to scream in pain. Nothing more than gurgling came from within the cloth that covered her head, her body writhing, twitching, and wriggling as electricity ravaged it. Finally, her body went limp, and all sounds ceased from her; she was undoubtedly dead.

By the time you opened your lips and went to ask if the game was finally over, you saw that Lucas was now gone from the room he had previously been in. You furrowed your brows, but turned your attention to the metal door that was now opening beside you. You squinted as blue light flooded your eyes, and you felt the straps that previously confined your body come loose. Your hand was now free from the mechanical deathtrap as well, and you felt fingers wrap around your hand before tugging you up out of the chair.

“Y’know, I’ve seen all kinds of reactions from people playin’ this game… but I ain’t ever had someone laugh with me. I also ain’t ever had someone be so ruthless in tryin’ to beat their opponent.”

You suddenly realized who was speaking, and now that your eyes were adjusted to the new light within the room, you saw Lucas standing in front of you.

“I’ll admit, I wasn’t so sure you were gonna call her bluff or not. But, a deal is a deal. I normally wouldn’t let ya go, but… you amused me. So ya earned it.”

Lucas expected you to run for the hills after hearing his words, but instead, you did something that honestly astounded him. You moved over to the device within the room, tinkering with it for a moment before looking back at him.

“Why would I leave? You still ain’t told me how you got this thing workin’ again.”

“Now, now… hold on. You wanna stay here? You’re playin’ a dangerous game…”

You stared at him for a moment, and then a smile crept across your lips. You figured someone as smart as he was would have figured it out by now, but apparently he was still rather clueless. So, in an effort to make him understand, you spoke.

“You think I don’t know? It takes one to know one, ain’t that the sayin’? I’m a sociopath, and you’re a psychopath… and I think we’d benefit from stayin’ together.”

=Fin=

Author’s Note (1): This was a commissioned piece—all ideas and writing were given/approved by the commissioner, and permission was granted to upload publicly.

[mama-ghostie-61542]

Just Fishin’--Chapter 1

If you recognize it, it ain’t mine.

Rated M for bad language and sexy stuff later.

Chapter 1           

            It was about 4 when I rolled out of my bed, my head pounding with too much to drink last night while I was hanging out with my ‘friends’. Those girls have not a clue how to drink. They were drinking all sorts of frou-frou girlie drinks and there I sat with my Jack and Coke (heavy on the Jack).

           The more we drank, the louder they got, the less booze Des put in their drinks. I love going to bug Des at Bad Weather. He’s sweet and young, but very married. Been there, done that, ain’t gonna do it again.

           When I got there, he gave me a hug and said, “Hey, Sugar. I heard about the Pink Party tonight. Any special requests?”

           I smiled, “Yeah. Start me out with a Jungle juice then switch to TriWhiskey’s. After two of those, switch me to Fat Jack’s .And PLEASE, don’t use anything stronger than 100 proof for their shit.  Really don’t wanna have to carry them home. As it is, I am gonna pickle my liver. Have I told you I fuckin’ hate pink.”

           He laughed, “Sure have. Want me to sneak ya out, Sug,” and went to mix my drink.

           Before I could nod, the girls all came in. of course they had to put a sash and shit on me. Don’t even want to know where they found the crown that said ‘SINGLE’. I guess it’s the drawl back of being the only divorcee in our little group. That’s another sticking point. They can never understand why I hunt and fish…or why I always put in for out of state tags and go back to my hometown in Illinois for two weeks a year. The last time I went, he went off on me and tried to kill me. I let him have it. I’s finally done with his shit after 2 years of it.

           These citified girls were the only friends I was allowed to have. He pushed out all my hunting and fishing buddies. Still don’t understand why he was afraid of Charlie. Charlie is my brother Cody’s husband. I taught him how to make the world’s best stink bait and Charlie taught me the right way to clean an Asian Carp. I could always count on Charlie.

           Then it hits me why. Aw, fuck. Now I really gotta get up. Not only do I need to pee, but I need to clean my brain out. I showered, downed an aspirin, got my coffee, and looked out the window; it was kinda overcast and drizzly today-perfect fishin’ weather. After eating a couple pieces of toasted homemade bread and homemade blackberry jam, I grabbed my phone. No doubt my quasi adopted dad was awake, and if I was gonna surprise Red today, I’d need to clear it with Pop. I dialed him up and hit the send button before I could stop myself.

           “Jessie, this had better be good.”

           “Um. Hi, Pop. Can I surprise Red with fishin’ today? It’s perfect weather for it. I understand if there is something you want him to… ,” I was cut off by his reply.

           “Jessalyn!”

           “Yes, Sir,” I immediately countered.

           “It is fine with me. And, Jessalyn, how many times have I told you not to call me Sir.”

           “Too many to count, Pop. Sorry, Pop.”

           “Better, Jessie. When should I expect you?”

           “20 minutes, tops.”

           “See you then, my dear.”

             I hung up and headed to the extra room where my gear was stored. After 5 minutes of rummaging, I gathered up my chest waders and my rods. I made sure to lock my door on the way out as my ex had gotten in a few times. My tackle box and stink bait were always in the tool box in my truck. I stopped at the only bodega in Manhattan that carried chicken livers and grabbed a box. Just after I got down into the sewers, I stopped to throw on my chest waders.  

           Two minutes after I started toward the lair, I was met out in the sewers by a very groggy and grumpy Leo.

           “I don’t like you at the moment,” he grumbled and looked at my waders confused.  “What the hell are you wearing?”

           “Chest waders,” I smiled as I snapped the top of them. “Takin’ Red fishin’ wit me taday.”

           “For what?”

           “It depends on what’s biting.”

           “Not surprised. It’s you and fishing.”

           “Yet ya never complain when I hunt and tag out.”

           “Hell no. That is a shit ton of fresh game. I don’t think any of us would complain,” he paused. “Hey, do you remember that log of elk salami I hid?”

           “Yeah. Why?”

           “Mikey found it. I caught him merle-ing it like a cigarette.”

           All I could do was laugh. The mental image of Mikey with a log of salami hanging out the corner of his mouth while he was playing video games was just too funny. Soon, Leo’s chuckle was added to my belly laugh.

           When we got there, I snuck into Raph’s room and kicked the end of the bed. “Get up, Raph. WE are going fishin’.”

           He peeked back over one heavily muscled shoulder and grumbled, “Fuck you, I’m sleepin’.” Then, he proceeded to bury his head under his pillow.

           I noted that one massive bare foot was hanging out of the blankets. In retaliation, I smiled and barely grazed my nails along the sole. It was funny as shit to watch him jump.

           “Stop that,” he half whined as he jerked his foot back under the blanket.

           I moved up next to him and sat down, then laid back over his shell. “Come on, Raph! The weather is perfect and the fishies is bitin’,” I said in a half sing-song voice.

           “Stupid fish,” he growled from under his pillow.

           I slid off of him and down to the floor. I leaned over the edge of the bed by his muscled arm and whispered, “Get up. Get up. Get up.”

           After a few seconds, one bronze eye rolled open. In its grumpy depths, there was exasperation, mixed with a good bit of curiosity, and the barest hint of mirth.

           I grinned. “You love me!”

                         Raph’s POV

           The second I caught sight of those blue green eyes shining I knew I was done.

           “Unfortunately,” I growled and rolled over, pulling the blankets back up over my head.

           Inside, I was secretly fangirling over those eyes. They start out darker blue green around the edge and they have flecks of yellow and brown all the way to the pupil. The color turns to a pretty spring green the closer ya get to the pupil, too. All of that is encased in that amazing almond shape with naturally long lashes. Her pretty eyes crinkle at the corners when she smiles. I have never seen her fake one yet. But when she smiles, those dimples come out and I have an awful time trying to act like a tough guy; she turns me into a puddle.

           In less than a second, she had somehow wedged herself between me and the wall. She sat there, hanging on to my arm and half shaking me and nearly sobbing that the fish are gonna go back to sleep if we don’t get moving.

           I couldn’t help it, I started laughing. “Alright. I’m up. Stop it, Woman.”

           Before I could blink she was in the door way. “C’mon, Raph, we’re burnin’ daylight!”

           “Ah, Babe, it’s still dark out.”

           “Yep.”

           “Then…Nevermind.”

           “We leave in five minutes!”

           In four minutes, I was waiting for her to finish going to the bathroom so we could go. As we got closer to the truck, I could smell the stink bait. I know it’s her great granddads recipe, but it reeks. The stench alone could probably take the finish off of a Buick. However, I am lucky in that even though my snout is slightly more sensitive, I live with Mikey, so terrible smells come with the territory.

           I had a good laugh watching her climb up in that jacked up old Chevy Scottsdale. This thing is sweet. It has a lift kit and super knobby tires. It also has a snorkel package and a brush guard. I thought it was dirty, but when I got closer I realized it was painted to look like Realtree camouflage.

A/N--Inspired by Maddie and Tae’s ‘Shut Up and Fish’