#//a LOT of them are frustrated with their leaders or most of the other vampires in their specific line

[mechahero]

//screw it. one complete vampire type entry for you :>

[saltyowlets]

BG3FICFEB DAY 1: What was Tav/Durge doing when they were abducted?

Summary: Olive doesn't like asking for help, but maybe after almost killing a certain elf of the night in his sleep, it's kinda time to get some answers. Begrudgingly

Pairing: Astarion x Fem!Durge (named) 

Word count: 2879

Ao3 Link: [x]

Tags: Canon typical mention of gore, Durge Quest Spoilers, Act 1 and 2 spoilers

Halsin didn't know whether to politely ignore Olive or to call her out. On one hand, Olive looked distressed, pacing back and forth in the middle of camp, her hands ruffling her hair. He could hear her grumble to herself, a habit of hers Halsin figured out very early on in their journey together.

The druid had once asked the other camp members about it, whether he should come help her in her frustration. Most of them casually told him to just let their leader tire herself out. Olive may give herself grief every now and again but given time, the tiefling knew how to solve her problems. Halsin wondered if that's why she was made leader. Despite the insistence that she wasn't or rather she never wanted to be, Halsin could see how well Olive handled the dire situations they were in and made calls, even if tough, that benefited the team.

Although goblins were not the most organized group, a horde of them was enough to upturn a whole village overnight. Even now, Halsin still couldn't believe such a small tiefling made an escape plan for him, strategize an attack on the whole goblin camp, and save the Grove all with just a handful of companions. Even more incredulous, all Olive had to say was it was mere coincidence that her goals aligned with saving the Grove but Halsin knew better. He had seen the softness in her eyes when she came back to the Grove, with tieflings giving her teary thank yous and blessings.

No sane person would jump into the maws of the Absolute cult by mere coincidence. No sane person would walk into a camp of goblins and decimate the camp with just barrels of wine and a flame. No sane person would break into a prison to save simple tieflings and gnomes. And no sane person would pace for a whole 2 hours, well longer than she ever paced herself. Olive’s stomping caught the attention of the whole camp, even Laezel seemed troubled when she would have wholeheartedly ignored Olive's reoccurring self conflict. Halsin gave a quick look at Astarion, usually the cause of Olive’s ire for better or worse. All the vampire responded with was an offended look at the druid’s gall to blame him.

Taking one for the team, Halsin strolled up to Olive, who didn’t take notice of him until he called her name 5 times and managed to put his hand on her shoulder.

“Huh wh- oh, hey Halsin, what is the matter? Do you need help with anything?” Halsin gave her a soft chuckle.

Olive always seemed so intuitive to everyone’s needs except her own. She read people like pages of a tome, observing small nuances to expressions, voices, body language. Sometimes, Olive's observational abilities unnerved those not familiar with her, especially how her fully black eyes made no indication of where she looked except straight at another. Halsin knew those eyes well enough now to know that they never look in scrutiny but mere curiosity. Right now, they looked at Halsin with warmth but hints of a distraction tugged them at the corners.

“No, I’m perfectly content, but I gather you do not feel the same?” Olive gave him a weird look, her head shifting away and her ears twitching nervously. Halsin could see she was ready to scurry off. Olive knew how to confront others on the good and the bad but heavens forbid she do the same for herself.

“What makes you say that?” Halsin’s eyes went from her tousled dark moss hair to down to the ground where a literal indent of where she had been pacing. Olive let out a nervous laugh, not making any eye contact with the druid.

“Oh yeah, uh a lot on my mind. Or rather the lack thereof,” Olive muttered.

Halsin recalled from Shadowheart's admittance of not being the only one who didn’t have any memories. Initially, Halsin thought that maybe the tadpole cause the memory loss, similar to how some of the infected gained or lost certain abilities. Yet, Olive’s demeanor, when discussing the topic, told all Halsin needed to know of the doubts in the theory. He had offered Olive to help, but with every instance, she pushed the notion down, stating that she didn’t want to bother him over something not as dire as what was already in her head.

However, as of late, Olive’s demeanor had gotten worse. Halsin could see the dark circles under her eyes and lack of attention to camp conversation. Astarion knew something, that much Halsin could tell. He had seen the pale elf give questionable, borderline tense, looks at Olive whenever she was lost in thought. During meal times, Olive would abruptly leave her food left barely touched much to Gale’s initial indignation. After a few moments of her absence, Astarion would walk off, claiming he needed something fresher with a sharp smile.

Halsin knew, the camp knew. Olive's absence troubled Astarion, well enough for him to blatantly show concern over Olive. Halsin had asked Astarion before but the pale elf would always tell Halsin that it wasn’t his business to know or Astarion’s to tell. If it weren’t the subject at hand, Halsin would have complimented him for his show of loyalty that Halsin admittedly didn’t think the elf had.

“Do you remember what I told you when I first stayed in this camp and you were worried about our journey to find your cure?” Olive gave him a questioning look. Halsin smiled, again Olive blind only to herself.

“I can be your eyes when you cannot see, your ears when you cannot hear, and your arms when you cannot hold any longer. If you need counsel, Olive, please do not hesitate. “ Olive opened her mouth to speak but held her tongue as shadows of thought brewed in her eyes. Halsin noticed her head shifted away to take a quick glance at Astarion who, despite looking as though lost in the book he held, was well aware of the conversation, indicated by the twitching of his pointed ears. His mouth clenched into a thin line, apprehensive and waiting. It amused Halsin, Astarion’s own affection for their leader, even if he wasn't so well aware of it himself.

Olive looked up at Halsin with a determined look, her black eyes right at Halsin’s. He wondered if this was what it would feel like to have a warm embrace from the abyss.

“Halsin, I need help…with my memories. I can’t remember anything. Not how I got on the nautiloid, how I got captured, who I was when I got captured. But I know it isn't good. I wasn't good,” Olive confessed as she bit her lower bit nervously. “You know I do not like having to come to others about this, but….stuff has happened where I think it's worse if I choose to ignore it. If you have something, anything, please let me know.”

Halsin nodded and put both hands on her shoulders, leaning down to look straight at her. Olive’s eyes looked back with uneasily attention.

“You've helped me with Thaniel, the Shadowcurse with no doubt, no hesitation. Let me do the same for you.”

~~~~~

“Um, why are we all here and uh- even better question, why did Astarion tie Olive up?” Karlach questioned, her heart illuminating the concern on her brow.

Bright stars filled the dimming sky tonight with barely a sound save for the rustling of the wind blown trees and the crackling of the blazing camp fire. Everyone sat circling around the hearth, called upon by Halsin who then passed tin mugs to each along the way.

“Man, don’t tell me it's some weird thing you guys have going on? Keep that in your tents, not my eyes!” Karlach whined. Olive let out an embarrassed shriek and a groan as she burrowed her face into her knees. Astarion had the gall to roar with laughter. Halsin shook his head, a smile on his lips but his eyes remained troubled.

“Olive requested I help with her memory loss. After some deliberation and study, I may have found a possible solution, but it involves some if not all of you. From what I remember you telling me, connecting each of your’s minds comes with memories and even emotions, is that correct?” Shadowheart was the first to speak.

“You want us to all connect to Olive’s mind and hopefully find some answers to her predicament.” Halsin nodded. He noticed some shifting from Laezel, not surprising considering how adamant she was towards using the tadpole. Olive gave them all a look they knew too well. A look Olive gave whenever a tough call had to be made, one that depended on their lives.

“This is only a request, not a demand. I do not have any right to even bring this issue to you all. If I were you, I wouldn’t take this risk, but Astarion-,” Olive glared at him, “-said it was best to let everyone know and have a chance at endangering yourselves.”

Astarion dramatically waved a hand in her direction, a toothsome smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Oh please darling, we both know you would have done the same for us, Miss Jump-from-a-10-meter-cliff-to-kill-some-goblins. Risking your life is what you do best, dear,” Astarion cooed.

Olive grumbled something along the lines of ‘it was only two times’ but didn’t say much else. Even if Astarion had joked about it, Olive’s habit of literally jumping into danger became a point of contention between the two, mostly because the times she had done so were on Astarion’s behalf, whenever he found himself surrounded. As much as he appreciated Olive’s loyalty, something he had been exploiting for, the carelessness to herself didn’t sit well with him.

Wyll looked at the mug Halsin handed to them. “So Halsin, I’m guessing this isn’t beer we are partaking in.” Halsin nodded grimly.

“It is a concoction I made, used to help with easing the mind, making things, well, easier to dig. A modified recipe from what drows use to break their victims during interrogation. And no, I will not explain that right now. Just know no harm shall befall you from drinking the brew,” Halsin replied as quickly as Wyll opened his mouth. “This is all voluntary. You do not have to participate but know that by drinking the brew, you are willing to search Olive’s memories. So volunteers?”

With barely a hint of hesitation, Karlach and Wyll down the drink as though it was a competition. Gale took a moment to sniff the drink, swirling the mug. His own hesitation wasn’t from the task at hand but from the aroma of the mug. Still, he downed it all, albeit with some complaints about the taste. Shadowheart took hesitant sips first but eventually drank it all, making no effort to hide the disgusted look on her face and a mention of wine.

Laezel gave much more pause, her face scrunched in contemplation. She took one look at Olive, who had turned away to look at the fire, but her shoulder’s weighed down heavily, clear that Olive wanted nothing more than to leave from here. She didn’t want to use her teammates to help her own problems but there was no way she could be free from the fog unless some action was taken. Laezel’s harden face soften just a small bit, remembering how much Olive had done in her stead, defending her against Shadowheart, provided an ear whenever Laezel had praised Vlaakith and now when Laezel damned Vlaakith. Laezel didn't make sacrifices unless it benefited her and her alone, but seeing how put down Olive was, maybe its time she put a leg out for someone else for a change. With a determined roar, Laezel downed the draft and tossed the mug to the grown. Halsin gave them all a smile, proud of everyone.

Gale took one look at Astarion and raised an eyebrow.

“Soooo... I’m guessing our pale friend here isn’t participating? I’m not sure if I’m shocked.” Astarion lazily sat down next to Olive, leaning back with one arm behind him, the other hand patting on Olive’s head, much to her annoyance. Olive's tried to push back his hand with her ram horns but Astarion kept his palm in place.

“Oh don’t worry about dear ol’ me, bookworm,” Astarion gave Gale a smile but the way his teeth glinted, it felt more like a threat at the accusation. “I have my own job to do. Let’s just say our friend here has a habit of biting so I intend to bite back if and/or when the time comes” Gale gave Olive a questionable look but she shook her head, eyes pleading that he didn’t ask further. Gale let out a breath and nodded.

Halsin clapped his hands together in attention. “Alright, now I want you all to focus on digging through Olive’s mind, should not be hard with the draft. Olive, I want you to relax your own, let it drift. If you feel something move in there, do not resist.” Olive gave Halsin a nod, a mix of emotions on her face but when Astarion’s own hand found hers, Olive felt a small inkling of hope.

As everyone closed their eyes and connected their tadpoles to Olive’s, they were surprised to find how easy it was. Olive’s mind was usually guarded, much more difficult to look through but this time, the tadpole connection felt softer. There were cracks and crevices that their minds slipped through like oil, no resistance to be found. Maybe it wasn’t just the brew, but rather Olive herself who seemed to finally give in to laying herself bare to them all. If it wasn’t for their vampire and his unique way of getting on her last straw, the team probably would not know as much as they did of their leader. It wasn’t that she didn’t care, that was obvious, but Olive’s stoicism left nothing for them to grasp.

From keeping her tent way far from the camp to not actively participating in conversations. Make no mistake, Olive talked and shared, but you had to push her to share, let her know that they wanted her to talk. She was guarded, for their sake, not hers. In different circumstances, this would have felt rewarding, Olive letting herself be vulnerable to them.

As they searched in her head, memories of their journey together began to appear. Killing goblins, setting up camp, partying with tieflings, shared laughter among themselves. They can feel the hesitation, the worry Olive had, but they could also feel the small sense of comfort which, unbeknownst to them, was thanks to Astarion. The vampire had let Olive’s head rest on his lap, hand on her head, every so often stroking her hair, very much like how she would for him on many nightly occasions. Olive could not make out what he whispered in her ear, but it was enough to ease her nerves and let herself melt into his rare warmth.

Digging deeper in Olive’s mind became sluggish, even with the concoction. They could tell it wasn’t Olive’s doing, but something else, something older, darker. The team finally reached the beginning of it all, when the nautiloid came to their plane of existence. They push beyond that, their minds scrounging around the memory for clues of their companion’s origins. Right as they reached what looked like the moment Olive entered the pod, their tadpoles started screeching in their heads, wriggling in defiance. Their minds tried to push, grab hold whatever secrets in the fog they could muster. Flashes of red, walls of mucus and flesh, screams of pain, which they realized were her own.

They felt the pain, the white hot pain in her head as it had been cut, stabbed, treated like rotten meat for a beast to play with. Nothing of hers was hers now, just flesh to experiment and play with. The terror and fear she felt were nothing compared to hatred and fury. She demanded to be set free, break her bonds and kill those who dared to put her here. She had slain so many in the years she had lived. How did she allow herself to become the same trash she loved to gorge on. No, she won’t let this be, they must suffer. Rip their throats with her own teeth and claws, gouge their eyes and crush them between their fingers. Stab her bare hands into their stomachs, tearing organs as they scream. She wants it, she demands it.

Let her out, let her out LET. HER. OUT.

Another shriek of pain which everyone realized was from the Olive they knew before them. Her wails pulled them all out, their minds pounding from the pain and adrenaline that Olive’s left marked on their own. Olive was shaking, sobbing as she struggled in her bonds. It didn’t matter she was nearly dislocating her wrist from struggling so badly. It didn't matter that she was spitting blood from her own mouth as screamed.

Astarion’s hands flew to her binds, cutting the rope from hurting herself any further. She scooted away from the fire, from her companions, hugging her knees close to her chest so hard she could barely breathe. Astarion held out his hands, slowly stepping his way to the terrified tiefling, his face with a look of concern no one had ever seen before.

“It's alright, you’re alright. I’ve got you, my dear” Olive’s teary eyes stared up at Astarion who could see the terror in her eyes, pleading for something as questions filled the air. Her other companions gave her varying looks of fear and worry for their leader, their friend. What they saw, what they witnessed, they knew it was nothing compared to what Olive, caring and kindhearted Olive, felt right then and there. Olive let one last sob before running off to the lake, soon the sounds of her own retching echoing back to them. Astarion gave an indescribable look to the group before running off to Olive’s direction.

Notes: A bit different approach to the prompt. Like how do you write something different from an established backstory that hasn't been said? By making it more traumatic for everyone OuO Haven't made a fic in long so forgive any mistakes along the way. I doubt I'll make the other chapters as long as this.

[siriannatan]

Hidden Talent - Wither Husbands

Well. Funny where procrastination leads you. For example, creating Star Rail Alt, and seeing Kafka mock play violin what leads to a random one-shot. I might have also wanted to write more half-dragon Sausage.

While fWhip would usually just send a messenger to his allies tonight he found himself in Mythland. Apparently, Sausage's court did not appreciate having to talk to him through messengers even if their king did not mind in the slightest. It was not the easiest for fWhip to visit his allies, being a vampire and all that made travelling slightly inconvenient.

For example. His current trip. As much as he enjoyed Sausage and his company, the half-dragon king was, unlike what most thought, an excellent conversationalist. And didn't mind fWhip being a vampire. Even Gem was a bit weird about it and she was his sister. Back to the topic, as much as he liked Sausage and his company he did not like that he was stuck there nearly four nights. And he didn't even get any good official greeting. Just a couple of courtiers came out and showed him and his entourage to the prepared rooms and not even hiding their annoyance at the late hour.

Wasn't Mythland the most devoted to the Blood Sheep out of the whole Alliance? They should be excited that someone blessed by her with vampirism was visiting. Sausage was certainly excited about the whole thing and very eager to help fWhip with getting used to the change. And now he wasn't even there to greet him. Not that fWhip was offended. He understood Sausage was probably busy the whole day and was too tired to stay up and wait for fWhip and his entourage. His court though, should have prepared a proper greeting for the leader of the alliance.

Not that any of it really mattered. The talk about trade routes and protecting them from bandits was much more important. Even the Blood Sheep Festival Mythland wanted to introduce to other empires of the WRA was more important. But he was still a bit disappointed he didn't see Sausage and his dumb smile and dark green scales and his tail smacking his advisors when they said something their king did not like. His solution for his frustration, since he could not tinker and the castle library was closed, was walking around the silent castle with moonlight as the only source of light.

About half an hour of just walking past portraits of former kings he heard music. It was nothing new for Mythland. Sausage inherited his ancestors' love for grand balls with live orchestras playing and many sweet snacks fWhip would miss for a very long time. But a lone violin at midnight? That was very new so he focused his enhanced hearing and made his way to the source of it.

What he found was a small - by Mythland castle standard, playroom open to the rose garden. Summers in Mythland were warm even during the night. And of course, he also found the source of the music. King Sausage himself. Dressed down from his usual multi-layered robes, instead dressed in simple pants and an off-white shirt with a long dark green sleeveless cardigan. Humming along as he played a soft and mildly sad, from what fWhip interpreted and knew about music, song.

While fWhip knew better than most that Sausage was more than the braggadocious king they knew this was very known even to him. So new in fact he didn't know what to do. He really, really didn't want to offend his friend by just standing there like a creep, he also really would like to listen to him play more. A performance like that no doubt took a lot of practice and talent. But he had no idea how to announce himself without startling the other ruler. So he just stood there thinking about what to do until Sausage was done and set the violin aside. And...

"Agh, fWhip... umm. I had no idea you arrived already, the courtiers were supposed to let me..." Sausage instantly straightened up and put himself between the violin and fWhip as if to hide what he was just doing.

"No, no, that's fine, we arrived rather late. I should be apologising for sneaking around your castle," fWhip stopped him with a toothy grin. Sausage's blush was really making him wonder is it okay to think if it okay to think about asking my best friend if it'd be okay if we kissed..." And he said it out loud... "I apologise I should go," he quickly said.

He was about to leave as quickly as he politely could and maybe start trying to figure out how to damage control that random thought slipping out. But he was stopped by a strong arm with some red scales poking out from under an off-white shirt pulling him up close to Sausage. "You meant that?" the king asked as he buried his face in fWhip's coppery hair. What was he supposed to say? If he had a beating heart it'd be beating out his chest at the moment. But he was technically dead so no heartbeat going out of control for him or blushing, speaking of.

"What if I say 'yes'?" fWhip asked, ready to turn into a bat and flee faster than polite. All the way to Grimlands. Hide in his workshop and never leave. Rot there until everyone else dies and is replaced. A couple of times. Maybe five hundred years would be enough. Maybe thousand?

"Then I'd say it's perfectly fine, and ask if maybe you'd accompany me for breakfast," Sausage said, slightly tightening his hold on fWhip. "And if you still want that kiss after that, then you can have it," he added. fWhip would swear Sausage placed a kiss on the top of his head. No time for that at the moment. For now, he needed to string together an answer.

"Sure..." he mumbled. All his eloquence and education have apparently decided to leave him. He understood that decision. If Sausage wasn't holding him he'd run away ages ago... "I had no idea you play the violin," he rambled as Sausage remained silent.

There was no answer for a second until soft snoring... How long did Sausage stay up waiting to be informed fWhip has arrived? With a sigh, fWhip freed himself from Sausage's arms by turning into a bat and back. Catching his friend and easily picking him up. He more or less knew where Sausage's bedroom was. And was strong enough to carry both him and his instrument. And even leave a note promising he'd be there for the breakfast.

He would never say how happy his entourage was when he told them where he was going in the morning.

End Note: This might be a good reference to what Sausage plays.

[calvatier]

no rest for the wicked or whatevaaaa,,, Carrion,,, they're so sick and twisted,,

I thought ABT their backstory a lil more along w some world lore,,,,them and Marth being teenage sweethearts is still so 😞😞SIGHH they could've been so good tgt

Ramble

So Marth came from a clan of orcs/half-orcs and he was the son of the chief but he naturally had a more gentle disposition as compared to his father and most of the clan. At first, his father thought he'd grow out of it but Marth continued to get softer and softer and he couldn't risk letting the heir of his clan be weak.

The clan occasionally sends their strongest orcs out to do mercenary work to earn some money for trading. The chief thought that sending Marth out there with a few clan members would toughen him up. Marth went but reluctantly, he did his missions but they weren't too difficult for him (as in morally/ethically, they were fine) and deep down he wanted to make his father proud as well. During this time that he was sent out (which was about 6 months to 2 years) Marth met Carrion who was a local townsfolk at the town that he was looking for work in. They got along well and he would occasionally invite them back to his camp to talk, the other soldiers didn't dare to object because he was the chief's son and they didn't mind at the time. They got very close over the period of time and Marth would often confide in Carrion about how he wants to make his father proud as an heir but he doesn't want to be a violent leader. Carrion would always assure and support him in his goals and how he's a gentle person.

Yapapapa they get close and one day Marth agrees to take Carrion to see one of his final missions but the mission was sabotaged after Marth made a bad choice with his planning and caused a lot of destruction. Carrion was trapped somewhere and Marth had to make a choice. To save the cargo/mission or to save Carrion.

He loved Carrion but he wanted to be redeemed in his father's eyes as well. He couldn't choose to he tried to do both which caused him to put his clan members, himself and Carrion at even more risk. In the end, he couldn't save Carrion and had to stick to the mission. But when he returned to the clan, his misdeeds were told to his father and after hearing what he'd done, his father couldn't handle anymore of Marth's so-called 'inadequacy' and was ashamed to call him a son. Putting his own clan members at risk and even thinking of putting another person before his own family was something frowned upon. After so many years of tolerating Marth's gentle nature, his father finally grew frustrated with him and decided that he didn't want to associate with Marth anymore. He was branded as a failure to his clan and exiled. He lost his people and his love.

Meanwhile, from Carrion's POV, it seems like Marth abandoned them for his own selfish needs. As they were about to die, someone offered them help. Clinging onto that last hope, they accepted it and was made into a vampire spawn. At first, Carrion tried to understand Marth's decision but they quickly grew bitter under the mentorship of their master who seemed to use Carrion's fragile mental state as a way to manipulate them to do his bidding. Carrion started to gain questionable morals and opinions about people and even started carrying out gruesome and immoral crimes against others

[sebastiankicksrocks]

Meet the warriors

The warriors are a group of individuals who protect the town of Lotville (set in the state of Arizona) from more supernatural dangers that the authorities are less likely to believe in, they plan to branch out across the entire world but at the moment there are about 50 members of the warriors (these 5 being the main characters of the story), not because people are hesitant to join but because most of them die

The warriors has been a thing since the mid 1960s, the current leader being Duke Banks (Aiden's father), lets have a deeper look at these characters

Krista Eriksson

Krista is the newest member of the warriors (joining about 3 years prior), she is a hard worker but can be a bit too overconfident and dare I say a bit cocky at times. She often overestimates her strength, she is quite strong but compared to supernatural enemies such as aliens, vampires and ghosts she needs more than just strength, she still has lots to learn in terms of using tactics and not just violence to get past enemies

She has a rivalry with Aiden, they don't downright hate each other and they go out for a drink every once in a while, but they definitely compete a lot while training and throw banter at each other

The reason Krista joined the warriors was at first unintentional. Krista has an older sister named Eva who joined the warriors when she was 20 and Krista was 17, though she made it seem like she was studying in America. Soon after Eva went missing, the police kept bringing up the idea that she had just ran away but Krista knew Eva wouldn't do that, so she left Sweden to go find her. Thats when she found the warriors, they explained Eva had joined the warriors but then went missing when investigating a supposed vampire cult but she hadn't been confirmed killed, so Krista decided to join the warriors so she can find Eva and possibly beat the vampire cult

Aiden Banks

Aiden is the son of Duke Banks, the leader of the warriors, he's been training alongside the warriors since he was about 7 and his father plans to make him the next leader when he passes away. Aiden was born in New Zealand and lived there when he was a baby before an unknown incident occurred that ended in his mothers death, which caused Duke to move to Arizona (presumably because he knew about all of the supernatural activity in Lotville)

Aiden gets frustrated easily and hates when people (such as Krista) don't take their jobs as warriors seriously, though this is because he's scared of all the pressure that is being put on him as the leaders son as well as the pressure that will be put on him when he becomes leader, he feels this whole warriors thing has been pushed on him and that he never had a chance to grow into his own person, but since he's 26 there's no turning back now and he may as well pretend that this warriors thing is the most important thing ever

Nathan Meyer

Nathan was inspired to join the warriors when he was 16 when he was involved in a supernatural incident, it was a normal day, he was walking along the townsquare where there was many other people, then something golden crashed down from the sky, it caused a huge explosion, destroying everything and killing nearly everyone within at least a mile of it, Nathan survived though (this was because of an encounter he has with another character named Uriel but this will be touched more on in another post) but he was in tons of pain, soon after the warriors arrived and concluded this golden thing that caused the explosion was some sort of supernatural entity that had fell from another dimension

The warriors looked for survivors and found Nathan, but Nathan felt guilty that he was the only one who survived, he felt like he was just a generic person with zero talent, even though he didn't know anyone who passed away in the incident he felt at least one of them would go on to do something better in their lives than he ever would and that he didn't deserve to be the sole survivor

Because of this, he decided to join the warriors, and I guess as some sort of trauma response he became obsessed with explosions, from the little tiny sparklers to the big nuclear ones, this is why he carries a bazooka on his back all the time

Sasha Koslov

Sasha was born in Russia and she lived a relatively normal life until the age of 10, unbeknownst to everyone in her family, her father had made a deal with a demonic entity, a deal he failed to complete on his end, so one day the demon showed up and took Sasha away

The demon literally dragged her across the globe, dragging her for days on end, until they made it to a forest in Arizona, where somehow she was able to escape, she didn't use any physical violence, but she managed to trick it by throwing away this purple jewel that the demon seemed to be obsessed with, the demon left Sasha and mindlessly chased after the jewel

After that she wandered through the wood until the morning, looking for a sign of any living person to help her, and she did, she found the warriors a then 17 year old Aiden was there with a few others, they took her to their base and helped her

After finding out what happened, the warriors raised her (she did not want to go back to Russia because she knew about that deal her father made and was scared of him now) though she didn't join in on their training, at least not yet. Behind the scenes Aiden and Duke were arguing, Duke wanted Sasha to join the warriors in return for her living there, while Aiden argued against it as she was just a child who needed a home

When Sasha was 13 she decided she wanted to train with the warriors too, making her the second youngest person to train with the warriors after Aiden at age 7, Aiden was reluctant but if thats what she wanted he would support her

While Sasha is very muscular she isn't that good at fighting (as in she doesn't really understand how to fight well and what the best stances to take are) but she's good at outsmarting her enemies, she tries to teach Krista this because like mentioned before Krista isn't that good at the tactical side of the training

Anong Anurak

Anong was born and raised in Thailand, when she was 9 she and her family moved to Los Angeles for her Dads job as a movie director, when Anong was 17 something terrible happened

So there's this other character named Penelope whom I will make another post on, but long story short she's a famous actress with a dark secret, a really dark secret that anyone who finds out should immediately be killed in her eyes

Anong's dad found out about this dark secret, but since he was currently directing the movie Penelope was in, she knew people would be suspicious of her if he was killed or went missing, so she decided to blackmail him, she showed him this power she had, and said she'd use it to kill him and his whole family if he didn't do what she said

So since that day Penelope has been ordering Anong's dad around making him do things he certainly does not want to do, Anong doesn't know exactly what happened but she knows something sinister is going on under the surface, she can always tell when something like that happens

So when she was 19 she moved to Arizona and decided to join the warriors to uncover this secret as well as help people, Anong is also a massive enthusiast when it comes to knights and medieval stuff so that's why her outfit looks like that of a knight

[cantfightmoonlight]

"With all due respect, Ms. Beck, every choice, even the most obvious or difficult of them, is still a choice. To say otherwise would be undermining your own freewill and agency," She pointed out, not exactly accepting the fact she had 'no choice' as an answer. Sure, Meena may have put the situation into perspective for Bexley, but Bexley could have chosen to walk away and not have a conversation with her if she would have preferred and Meena didn't exactly see it as an unreasonable request to hear the person whose fundraising event you wanted to volunteer for out if you were going to be working along side them. But, even if had been, Bexley acting like she had no free will in regards to her own actions just seemed to confirm for Meena that Bexley hardly wanted to take any accountability for their own actions.

"No I threatened you," A light laugh escaping her lips at the thought, not bothering to deny it. "And anyone else who wanted to attempt to disrespect me and the clan by proxy. But, threatening and lecturing aren't exactly synonymous now, are they? The word lecture implies that I would be speaking down to you which I've have yet to do. Threat on the other hand means that I view you as someone capable of understanding the situation at hand and what may happen if you disregard the boundary I was setting forth," She offered up with a small shrug, having a nearly perfect memory herself and being more than capable of recalling what had occurred as she imagined Bexley was as well. "You may not have intended to, but if I recall, you said specifically, 'she's part of your clan and you're going to send her to potentially die? Again?' That statement seems like the epitome of questioning me as a leader if I've ever heard one, as well as implying that either I am somehow at fault for her dying the first time or at fault for her being kidnapped to which she almost died. Either of which seem a bit uncalled for if I do say so myself and, while I understand that you wanted to help and didn't want to see Aaliyah get hurt, there are repercussion for our actions just as there are choices we each make. You chose to question me if front of the entire town and, as a leader and the Mayor, I couldn't exactly let that slide even if I would have wanted to. Not when half the room was ready to point fingers at one another and us remaining on track with the task at hand was already teetering on a very thin thread. If I allowed you to continue to openly cast your frustrations towards me, I would have been not only risking one of my vampires who were currently being tortured's life, but the potential for a room of already heightened emotions to fall into civil unrest. So, I chose to shut it down with a threat. You took your anger out on me. I threatened you. Cause and affect."

"It's not that you can't have an opinion or frustrations to grieve. As I said, there was validity to your point about sending Aaliyah in. I simply feel that there is a time and place to grieve them and a way to state your opinion so that a room full of frustrated individuals such as yourself will be willing to hear you out," She offered up with an eased shrug as she moved to sit down on the park bench they had been standing beside, crossing one leg over the other as she leaned casually back against the seat.

"You don't like when people spend their money frivolously with little disregard for others," Meena pondered, watching Bexley curiously as the made note of the way the other scoffed. "I understand. I used to hold a similar mentality. But, for better or worse, I grew tired of trying to fight the system. I figured if I couldn't beat it? Might as well join in and make it work for me. It's why I may seem as frivolous and vain as the lot of them, but as I've promise you, I rarely act without thinking things through. But, I appreciate the apology. And you are entitled to feel bitter. Taking it out on others won't exactly help garner their favor, but I understand it ever still," She said simply, only as Envy went out to speak on what she knew of the two of them, Meena felt the need to intervene. "See, right there, is the problem. You place me up on a pedal stool while you disregard yourself. You expect me to go out of my way to make you comfortable and yet you feel offended when you are regarded in the same manner you've regarded me in. You singled me out, so I returned the favor. An action you took personally when it was never intended to be and, yet, after Valentine's Day, rather than coming to speak with me about it to air your grievances or make peace directly, you apologized to everyone else and, when I tried to make peace, you act as though I forced your hand to even have a conversation. Why?" She asked curiously, tilting her head to the side as she starred Bexley up and down. "Was if because you were sorry towards them and not me up until this point? Or were you, maybe subconsciously, hoping to garner their favor and have them agree with you? I want nothing more than for you to feel comfortable in this town, love. But, I also have a hundred other residents to concern myself with and a murderer on the loose. So, while I hope you and ever resident feel safe and welcome here, your individuals qualms, albeit important, can't exactly be my top priority. So what is it you wish I would have asked you exactly? To elaborate while people were dying? Or to come talk to you after the fact like how I am doing precisely now to which you've made it clear you feel as if you have little choice to be here?"

"With all due respect, Madam Mayor, it wasn't much of a choice at all," Bex said. She chose not to elaborate, figuring the statement itself was enough. If it was between setting aside her discomfort to help people in need, then of course she would choose that. It simply wasn't a choice at all. Bex looked up at her, then away again. "And you did threaten me. Maybe in the moment you didn't mean it as one, but it sure sounded like one, felt like one." Bex remembered perfectly, after all. She'd had a knack, ever since she was a child, to be able to recall memories with perfect detail, no matter how old or new they were. Whether or not people believed her, though, was a different matter. "Either way, I guess, when I did what I did, I never meant to...question your authority." Not that she'd ever been given the chance to explain that. "Or your vampires' strengths and abilities. I was just...seeing people suffer hurts. Not just emotionally, physically sometimes." She'd never thought of why, but maybe that, too, was a side effect of her magic.

Bex could feel all the tension and anger dissipating in her body. She'd always had a hard time being angry, let alone staying angry. Instead, she just felt bad. "I know it wasn't my place to say anything, I didn't know anything about this world, I still don't, not really-- I just felt like I had to. Which isn't...really any better." It was just her desperate need to do good and be good and prove to herself that she was good. That she wasn't just a burden, that she wasn't just going to hurt everyone around her.

She couldn't help but scoff a little. Not at Meena, no, but at the stupidly absurd ways rich people spent their money. Not just rich people, but those who thought themselves better because of their money. "Trust me," she mumbled, "I know." She understood just how frivolously politicians spent their money, throwing it at supporters to help bolster their ratings.

Bex let out a breath, chewing her lip a moment before looking back up at the mayor. "That's-- reasonable, yes. I-- I'm sorry. I shouldn't have called you or anyone out like that, it just-- and I'm not trying to excuse it-- I just can't help but feel...bitter about that." She folded her arms over her chest in a rather subconsciously protective manner, making herself smaller. "I don't...the thing is, you don't really know anything about me, and I don't really know anything about you. Except that you're a vampire and the mayor and you run the clan. And I'm just...a witch. Not your problem, like you said. But you are the mayor, and I do live here now, so I guess that does make me somewhat your problem. So it all felt so...like I was being singled out. I'm not asking for handholding, all I want is a place to belong. It felt like you were trying to take that away, and maybe that was just a me thing, but I wish...I wish you would've asked me first, too."

(@cantfightmoonlight)

[fearlessleaderslove]

Can You Do A Vampire Raph x F!Reader But In Bayverse And With Prompts And Can You Do It In A Lemon 🍋

123. “Don’t hold back.” 58. Turtle bedroom 89. Mating season 151. “Do you know how a turtle takes his mate?” 132. “Argue all you want, we both know you belong to me.” 5. “MINE.” plus 142. “Bite me.” and Turning into a vampire

⚠️MINORS DNI MINORS DNI⚠️

So first things first, I have never really written out vampires before so honestly I dont know a whole lot about them. So for context:

I think that everyone has there own scent when it comes to their blood (I think I read it in a book somewhere? idk) and everyones is different

The brothers dont have the power to turn others. They're something like less vampires whereas greater vampires (like OG coven leaders) can.

They brothers have their own 'covens' but its more like harems.

Raph would be EXTREMELY gentle when it comes to initiating their mate into the 'coven' or if its their first time.

Raph and the F!Reader are WELL over 18 in this fic so without further delay, enjoy you sinners ❤️

WARNINGS: Blood and mentions of blood, Stalker behavior, Swearing, NSWF content (i.e. sex, mentions of sex, sexual acts)

Sweet Night

Fuck.

Raph wasnt one to move so quickly into choosing mates, especially for his coven. He liked to observe his potential wives/husbands before making the commitment and following through. It was the one thing he and Leo had in common when it came to their covens. But this was…different. A stirring in his stomach and the deafening screaming of his instincts told him that he needed you. And Raphael was betwixted and between something as cliche as “love at first sight” or just the mating season that had just begun.

It didnt matter either way, the young turtle patiently waited until the streets had become less crowded and problematic to make his move…

Its not a secret that creatures of the night like himself were attracted to certain…smells. Particularly the way blood smells. Everyone has a different scent, some smelled like mint and some smelled like sweets. Raph was never a big fan of coffee save for his ‘morning’ cup but you…you smelled like freshly brewed coffee and sweet, warm vanilla shortbreads. God he was getting impatient, hiding himself in the darkness of the alley, waiting to reach out and whisk you away.

The day had been long for you and all you could think of was your cozy bed. It didnt help that you had been just slightly…frustrated as of late. And while most times in the past you could satisfy yourself this time was different. Somehow, it just wasnt enough now.

As you pondered and mulled over more possible ways to sate your needs, it had not dawned on you that the streets were now starting to dwindle in population. And from the shadows two large hands sprung forward like a silent, well placed trap and pulled you into the shrouded alley. One hand around your waist and the other covering your mouth and chin but not your nose. The next thing you knew you were standing on a secluded rooftop away from the hustle and bustle of the city with a large dark figure.

You should be terrified right now, right? You should want to scream! Run! Anything! And yet...your legs wouldnt move and your body felt like it was weighed down or stuck underneath sand. And the dark figure? He (you assume it was a he) just stood there and stared. Stared with beautiful eyes that illuminated a brilliant gold in the darkness.

There was a strange force drawing you to him, not fear or curiosity, but something else. As your eyes bore into each other the mysterious figure spoke in a gravely, heavy voice, snapping you back into reality.

“Ain’t yous gonna scream? Or run? Aint ya scared of me?” He asked you in what seemed to be confusion.

“No…I’m not afraid. If you were going to harm me or kill me, you would’ve done so already.” Was all you could say until he started to move closer and into the soft light that hung on a wire overhead. He was large to say the least and was a…turtle? A mutant? You had heard rumors and stories but never thought you would encounter one.

“Whats ya name, kid.” The mutant demanded as he crossed his arms, looking ya up and down with those vibrant eyes.

“Its Y/N…Do you have a name?” You asked the large mutant and copied his action, a slight heat raising to your cheeks. He was amazing. Gorgeous green skin and scales, his height was astounding, his tattoos looked like they could tell stories, and he looked like he could bench a BUS if he wanted too.

“Names Raphael. Imma be straight with ya, Y/N, I aint ya average mutant. I’m more than just a turtle…” Raph said as he slowly approached you as to not scare ya or make you bolt. Once he was a mere two feet from you, you could feel it again. That strange force was drawing you closer, wanting to know more. See more. Feel more.

“Imma vampire, too. An’ I want you.” He husked out softly, “What’d’ya say, Y/N? Wanna know how a turtle takes his mate?” His whisper was enough to send an electric tingle up your spine and unexpectedly, you nodded your head slowly. “Yeah…I think I wanna know.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well…You didnt expect to be taken underground and end up in this large turtles lair. The Neon signs, the skateboards, all of the different personalities combined into a smooth flow. Through the lair Raph escorted you, saying that his brothers shouldnt be around tonight.

His room had a theme. Red. Which explained his red mask. And workout equipment like weights, jump ropes, and other assorted dumb bells.

“So are you, like, gonna bite me? Turn me into a vampire too?” You asked him as you looked around his bedroom, hearing him laugh at your question. This made your cheeks blush and puff, your eyes casting to the side in embarrassment.

Raph hummed and reached his hand out, gently grabbing your chin to make you look back at him. “Aw, c’mon Y/N, dont be mad. I didnt mean ta laugh. It’s just it dont work like that. See, only really powerful vampires can turn humans or mutants into vampires. I aint so sure what theys called but me and my brothers dont have that kinda power.” He chuckled before he tipped your chin up more, exposing your neck.

You could hear your heart beat loudly in your ears and your body started to tremble, which made Raph pause. He drew closer, placing a soft kiss on your skin before he pulled himself away.

Fuck this was bad. Raph could hardly keep a grip on himself and the way you looked right now…innocent and vulnerable. Gave him the overwhelming urge to not only ravage you but protect you. The hell were you doing to him… “Ya sure you wanna do this, Y/N? It aint too late ya know…” Raph asked you, still close enough that you could feel his hot breath on your skin. His question made you think for only a moment. Your life was dull, uneventful, and boring. It was the same thing day in and day out and you started to wonder if there would ever be a change. And as strange as it was, you felt an undeniable attraction to Raph. You both only just met, however, and you wanted to get to know this confident turtle. What made him tick? What was he like on good days? On bad days? You wanted to know it all. “I’m sure, Raphael. Please…Dont hold back.” You whispered back to him.

As soon as his name left your lips Raph scooped you up into his powerful arms, pinning you to one of the cold concrete walls of his bedroom as he feverishly kissed your lips in hot desperation. His large calloused hand felt its way up and under the soft fabric of your shirt, caressing the warm skin underneath. Raph was never the patient one though…

The red banded turtle only ceased his barrage of kisses to lift your shirt over your head, throwing it randomly to find later. His lips trailed across your cheekbones to your ears, nibbling them teasingly before he laid you on his bed. Even the sheets smelled like him…

“Fuck…ya gorgeous Y/N.” The terripan husked softly before starting to shed his gear and clothes until all that remained was his red boxes. He was absolutely stunning. Raph crawled over your body, leaving a trail of kisses as he tugged off your pants and panties.

Once you were laid bare to him he sat up, marveling at your now vulnerable body. “Raph…you’re making me blush.” You cooed out to him, your arms trying to cover up what little they could though that didnt last long. Firm yet gently he pulled your limbs away.

“Can’t help it. Ya driving me nuts, Y/N…I can smell ya blood and excitement.” Raph gave a toothy grin before he pushed you a bit further up the mattress, spreading your pretty thighs apart. A deep churr thundered through his chest and it sent a shudder down your spine. You heard him curse under his breath before he dove down, licking and slurping at your sweet nectar. Your hand shot to your mouth to suppress the loud moan escaping your lips, your back arching up in pleasure

“If you know whats good for ya, you’ll take that hand away from yer mouth. I wanna hear ya moans. I wanna hear ya screaming my name, Sweetheart.”

Raph growled, his tongue slipping its way into your pussy, massaging your sensitive walls. After a few moments of him sucking, slurping, and devouring your juices Raph pulled away and gave your clit a small flick with his tongue. A chuckle rolled from his chest when that earned him a twitch from your hips but he wasnt finished. In one quick motion the large mutant bore his fangs into your thigh, making your gasp and yelp out of pain.

Ever so slowly Raphael lapped and suckled down a little of your blood, his breathing starting to quicken. You tasted just like you smelled, sweet and warm like shortbread with a hint of bitter coffee. It now became the barra turtles mission to leave you so marked up that there would be no question who’s mate you were.

A small whimper came from you, grabbing Raphs attention. He pulled away from the punctures, pressing a kiss to them before his gaze was on you. Small tears burned in your eyes and you couldnt help but to look away, trying to hide your face from him. In seconds Raph was hovered over you, his hand cupping your cheek.

“Hey, hey…I’m sorry, Y/N. ‘M sorry…I got carried away. I promise ya I’ll be more gentle, dont cry Sweetheart. I aint gonna hurt ya.” He reassured you, giving you a sweet and gentle kiss. “Ya gotta relax for me, aight? ‘M uh…pretty big. It might hurt a little at first.”

You nodded and took slow, deep breaths, wiping the tears from your eyes as your passionate turtle stripped himself of his boxers. And he wasnt kidding…he was BIG. You swallowed hard and glanced at Raph nervously and he nodded, grabbing both your hands only to pin them above your head.

With his free hand, Raph rubbed the head of his cock against your drenched pussy, making you quiver with anticipation. He prodded and poked the head in and out, flicking your clit to get you more excited and relaxed. With one thrust, Raph shoved himself completely in, kissing you at the same time to muffle your pained moan.

After letting you adjust for a few minutes as well as madly playing tongue hockey with you, you broke away from his lips breathlessly. “I’m okay now, Raphie. Please…please move.” Your voice begged him as your hips bucked, the lust and desire rising.

Fuck how did you know about his nickname? How did you know it would drive him utterly and wholly up a wall? Raph used every ounce of control to set a deep yet steady pace, small grunts and moans filling the space between you and him. This time though, Raph was careful when he let his fangs sink into your now sweaty skin, tenderly placing kisses onto the wounds once he finished sampling your blood again.

Your body moved with his in a fiery rhythm before the mutant began to thrust fervently, the hand that was pinning your wrists down now moved to your hips. He gripped at your flesh tightly, making you mewl his name in throws of pleasure. And you can bet that he’s now left bite trails on your neck, shoulders, breasts, and even your collarbone.

“Fuck, ya amazing. Ya taking almost all of my cock. Tell me ya want more, Y/N. Call my name.” Raphael whispered in your ear, encouraging you on.

“Raphael! A-aaah, please! M-more…I need you to fuck me more…” You whined, bucking your hips down onto his. In an instant you felt your head get fuzzy as your turtle thrusted into your pussy hard and fast, earning him your screams of pleasure as your orgasm quickly approached.

“C-cum! G-g-gonna cum-!” Was all you could manage you moan out before your entire body convulsed, your legs snapping shut around Raph as your pussy squeezed his cock like a vice.

“F-fuck, Y/N!” Raph groaned loudly before pulling back as far as could, slamming himself as deeply as he could reach. Both of your bodys twitched as the impassioned terrapin emptied his seed into you in long bursts. It took a hot minute for him to completely finish and he pulled you in close to his chest, cradling you.

“Ya MINE now, Y/N…Mine ta me. And Im gonna make sure you know that every chance I get.”

[volturiwolf]

Soulmates - A Demetri Volturi x Reader Imagine

A/N: This is the first imagine I finished and uploaded, and it came quite unexpectedly while talking with @volturidoll13 who suggested a Demetri Volturi one-shot where the reader would follow Bella and Alice to Italy and would accidentally say “wish he’d choke ME” out loud (see my post for reference). So, here it is. Also, I’m sorry if something doesn’t make sense. English is not my first langage. Enjoy :)

No of Words: 5749

Mentions of: Swear Language, Anxiety, Panic Attacks, Dying/Death, Killings, Self-doubt, Self-consciousness, Kinky Choking, Sexual Arousal

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I think I had enough of Bella. No, I know I've had enough of her. She may be my best friend, the one who truly understood me the moment I stepped foot in Forks High School, beginning of last year, but this was just too much.

I have spent countless hours trying to support her when Edward Cullen left her, 5 months ago. I was there to be her emotional support, and even spent time with Jacob Black, an old friend of Bella's, who stayed at the Quileute reservation.

Jacob seemed kind of polite, although his attempts to flirt with Bella whenever he could were cringy, to say the least. But I supported her then too, trying to be sort of the third wheel / the one who tried to show Jacob she wasn't really interested in him that way.

His friends, Embry and Quil, were as nice and polite as they were beautiful. When Embry abandoned Jacob and Quil, Bella and I were there to support him. When Jacob abandoned Bella, I was there to support her. 

Even when Bella was sad, angry and desperate to know what happened to Jacob, I was there to calm her down. I was there when she went to see him and he turned her away. I was there when she slapped Paul in the face. I was there when he turned into a huge wolf, and I couldn't help but scream.

Jacob explained everything about the wolves to both Bella and I. He told us how it's part of their DNA; how they are meant to protect the tribe from dangerous outsiders; how the metamorphosis from human to wolf can be somehow controlled over time, with practice and persistence. THAT I could understand.

What I couldn't understand was how vampires existed in this world! It wasn't Bella the one to reveal that secret to me, rather Alice, Edward's sister. Apparently, she saw Bella dying, the day she supposedly went cliff-diving, which I told her not to, having a severe fear of heights myself.

Bella took the risk, and if it weren't for Jacob, she would most likely be dead by now. That's what Alice said she "saw" - she explained to my incapable self that, as a vampire, she had a gift, the gift of predicting the future, based on others' decisions. 

All this information was overwhelming me. I could swallow the harsh reality of wolves existing, but vampires, too? It seemed too much for me in such a short period of time.

Alice quickly explained some basics to me, like the fact that the Cullens were vegetarians, but the majority of their kind fed on human blood, as well as the fact that they even had a sort-of-government of vampires, residing in Italy, the Volturi.

She then turned to Bella to scold her about her recklessness and how she was prone to "life-threatening idiocy". I couldn't agree more with the short brunette right now. Bella has been nothing but reckless the last few weeks, and she was putting her life in danger for no reason.

They were talking about Edward or whatever, but I wasn't paying any particular attention until Jacob showed up. I decided to give them some space to talk, and Alice followed behind me, stepping out of the house.

Her face was a mix of disgust and worry, not paying any particular attention to me, probably trying to hear Bella and Jacob's conversation from the kitchen. After a minute or two, I heard her taking a sharp breath, her eyes fixating on nothing in particular; they were just staring ahead of her.

She took a sharp breath, as she regained consciousness, stepping quickly into the house. She walked in quite wide and quick strides, considering her miniature figure, and, though taller than her, I had some trouble following behind her.

She ran directly to the kitchen. "Bella. Bella, it's Edward. He thinks you're dead. Rosalie told him why I came here."

They both looked at Jacob; Bella practically screaming to his face, accusing him of not giving her the telephone to speak with Edward herself.

"Bella, he's going to the Volturi. He wants to die, too." The small brunette continued.

Within a minute, Bella made her decision: she was going to Italy to save her ex-lover. She promised us that she would just make sure he lived, and then, she would go back to her "boring" life.

Alice ran outside, starting her car immediately, as Bella was followed closely by Jacob, who tried to convince her not to go, pleading with her, all in vain. Bella was as stubborn as she could get, and nobody could change her mind. 

I turned to Jacob, without really thinking about my next words. "Don't worry. I'll go with her. I'll make sure she's back safe, okay?"

All Jacob could do is nod at me, though his face was full of concern, frustration, and he was clearly distraught by Bella's decision to leave him and save Edward. As if all this time she, Jacob and, sometimes, I spent time together meant nothing to her.

I jumped in the back seat of the car, not waiting for either Bella's, or Alice's approval. I knew it would be a huge risk for me to go to the vampires' lair, but I also knew that Bella could use all the emotional support she could get. 

As much as I hated Edward for what he did and said to her, I knew that he was everything to her, like her own little haven. Her own little oasis, which I guess felt more like a tundra, compared to Jacob's flaming hot desert. I rolled my eyes at my embarrassing thoughts, but I assumed that's how she thought of them.

The drive to the airport felt like a ton of weight crushing my shoulders. I had no place to follow them to Italy, as it was truly none of my business. But I promised Jacob, and though Bella could make me so frustrated with her lack of self-confidence and self-respect, I liked her company a lot, and I needed to make sure she was alive and safe.

In the couple of months that she came out of her apathetic state, we reconnected again, reminiscing about our unorthodox friendship, both of us being new to the town, shy and not particularly sociable.

However, Bella was the ideal friend to keep you grounded and connected with reality, which I, sometimes, had trouble with; my mind was running wild and free most of the time, while my mouth was staying shut. 

So, I was willing to go across the ocean for her, to an unknown place, in a castle full of bloodsucking vampires. I wasn't pleased, but I was willing. Willing to help her save her stupid ex-boyfriend, and hopefully not get killed in the process.

During the flights, Alice tried, more or less, to explain the dynamics of the vampire world; the Volturi, being this sort of government-slash-royalty of the vampire kind, were tasked with imposing their laws over the other vampires. Their most important law? Don't expose your existence to humans, unless you want to die. Well, there goes that! 

Alice had already talked to me about their kind; Bella knew through her association with both Edward and the rest of the Cullen family. The chances of any of us making out of there alive seemed slim to none. I was literally flying towards my death. Cool. Cool. Cool. Cool. Cool. Cool. Cool. 

I was trying to calm down my nerves, which did not work at all, when all I could think about were those Italian vampires. Alice told me that the vampire Kings, especially Aro, who seemed to be their leader, were interested in collecting talented vampires. 

So, it was pretty obvious that he would, most likely, get rid of Bella and myself, and would gladly keep Alice and Edward, who, as Alice told me, has the gift of reading people’s minds. So, we were actually doing that Aro guy a favor there; bring him the “talents” and get rid of the “intruders”, the humans. Great. Just, great.

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We were currently on our way to Volterra. Alice had stolen a yellow Porsche from the airport’s parking lot, which neither Bella, nor I opposed to, for now. It was a fast way to get to Volterra, plus I’ve never actually been in a Porsche, and I felt pretty amazing. Alice seemed like a skillful driver, and drove pretty fast, which I liked, especially if I was the one driving. Bella and Alice’s conversation interrupted my thoughts.

“What? What do you see?”

“They refused him.” That was good, right?

“So..?” Bella knew there was something else behind Alice’s vision.

“He’s gonna make a scene. Show himself to the humans.” Why the hell, Edward?!

“No! When?”

“He’s gonna wait until noon, when the sun’s at its highest.” Bella seemed more and more worried and anxious, and I heard her heavy breath, which seemed like she was starting to go on panic mode. I stroked her shoulders lightly, trying to calm her down. As much as she deserved to get worried, given the events that led us here, this was not the time to panic.

“There’s Volterra.” Alice pointed to her left, at a beautiful, picturesque town that looked as if it had jumped out of the Renaissance era. The scenery of Tuscany was beautiful, and it had always been part of my bucket list to travel across Tuscany in a small rental car. That was not how I pictured that trip, or how I pictured my last day on Earth.

Alice was running through the city’s narrow streets by now, never stopping to honk at people passing by, who moved left and right, trying to avoid the “crazy driver who decided it was a good idea to drive a sports car through such a city’s small, narrow, occupied streets”; at least, that’s how I saw it.

Alice did not back down, and continued driving skillfully through the city’s small arteries. It was odd though, the fact that everyone around us was wearing red capes, red clothes, everything was red. Bella questioned it out loud and Alice informed us that today was the celebration of Saint Marcus’ Day, the day that the Saint expelled all vampires from the town. The irony.

Bella was experiencing a full on panic attack, as we were only 5 minutes away from Edward’s shenanigans. Theoretically, everything was in order, until the moment we were stopped by the local police who refused to let us go any farther. Bella opened her door. She would go on foot, to find Edward before he exposed himself. Alice would park the car somewhere outside of the town’s walls, and we’d then go and find them.

I turned around my seat, to watch Bella running through the streets, to the plaza where the clock tower, which Edward was going to expose himself from, was located. Alice left the car outside of the walls, but still, close enough to have easy access. 

For me, it was quite easy to walk around now, as my skin was not sparkling like Alice’s was. Alice had to wrap herself around a coat, a long, thick scarf and gloves, and wear sunglasses to protect her identity even more. I was walking in the middle of the streets, watching around carefully, as good as my human eyes could see, trying to help Alice go unnoticed, as she pushed herself more towards the buildings’ walls, trying to avoid the sunlight. 

That went on for a while, until we were close enough to the clock tower, where Alice took my hand on hers and, with long strides, walked towards the main entrance, which was, thankfully, shaded enough for her to walk through. 

She must have heard the conversation inside the building, as the moment we stepped in - Alice breaking the lock that kept the door momentarily closed, she started talking to the others, who I mistook as being Bella and Edward. As another sign of my unluckiness in life, she was actually addressing two other vampires, a tall brunette and a shorter blond.

They both looked gorgeous, but they could probably kill me as easily as it was for me to blink. I instantly became stiff, and Alice must have felt it, but she kept on holding my hand, trying to play it cool in front of the others, while trying to get rid of her disguise with her free hand at the same time.

“Come on, guys. It’s a festival. You wouldn’t want to make a scene.” She tried to play it nice and cool, though I knew she was just as worried being here as the rest of us.

“We wouldn’t.” The brunette vampire responded, now looking at me, who, by now, I have lost all my confidence in coming to Italy to help Bella.

I caught the blond vampire looking me up and down my body, and felt rather self-conscious. I didn’t have the best relationship with my own body and my own self; I didn’t like what I saw in the mirror, most of the time. So, I made up for what I lacked in self-confidence with sarcasm, bad humor, honesty and snarky remarks. I would be really going off of him right now, if I wasn’t shaking.

Though beautiful, the blond vampire also scared me, just as much as his brunette partner. I stared back at him, looking at his confident stance, one hand behind his back, and a smirk across his face. 

When my (Y/E/C) eyes met with his red ones, I started shivering even more, holding on Alice tighter than before. I felt my heart beating faster, my breath became both sharper and deeper, and I felt as if I would cry, right then and there, in front of everyone. I saw the blond becoming a bit stiff, his jaw clenching, swallowing deeply, but he still wouldn’t take his eyes off of me.

Alice and Edward exchanged some looks, as if they knew what was happening, but chose to not tell anyone else. The scene in front of me was interrupted by the clicks of heeled shoes, and a blonde girl came into our view. 

“Enough.” Her voice was stern, and her stance was stoic as she came closer to us.

“Jane.” Edward recognised her and lowered his head towards the ground. He didn’t seem scared before, when it was just the two vampires in front of us, but the small woman now seemed to have him terrified.

“Aro sent me to see what was taking so long.” She looked between the two vampires of her coven, as if she was criticizing them for their incompetence to bring us all before Aro. Then, she turned to us, looking us straight in our eyes, or rather our souls, probably to warn and scare us at the same time, before walking back to where she came from. 

Alice turned towards Bella and I, the only humans there, who clearly looked more terrified than she and Edward did. “Just do as she says.” She simply said and we followed behind the girl, with the other two vampires closely behind us. 

The blond one was so close to me, I could feel the coldness radiating off his body, making me shiver. The brunette gave Edward the red robe I didn’t notice he was holding before, probably to cover himself in front of the Kings. The blonde girl moved between Bella and Edward, and Alice and I. Edward was trying to comfort Bella but I couldn’t exactly make out what they were saying, my mind making all shorts of scenarios about how the vampires would kill me and the others. The more I thought about it, the more I was shriveling on Alice’s side. 

We reached an elevator - I never thought vampires used elevators, but maybe it was for the humans around? The brunette and the blond entered first, as the blond turned around to stare at us, turning his gaze at me afterwards, before fully stepping in. Then, it was time for Edward and Bella to get in, followed by Alice and I. The blonde girl stepped in last, before the elevator’s doors closed shut.

The elevator music, an operetta, was supposed to calm peoples’ nerves. Yet, in this tight box, it had the opposite effect. Surrounded by vampires, vegetarian and non, the music was just creeping me out. 

The fact that the blond vampire was merely two inches away from me was making my knees weak and my heart pounding, though I, myself, didn’t even know if my own body was reacting out of fear or attraction towards the blond vampire. I felt him leaning closer to me and barely heard him sniff around, but I clearly saw Alice turning her head around and giving him death stares, to which he retrieved back to his original position.

The elevator stopped and we all stepped out. We walked past a receptionist’s desk, the woman standing up, smiling and wishing us a good afternoon - based on the few Italian that I knew. From what Bella and Edward said, the receptionist was a human, wishing to become a vampire, like the others.

“And so she will be.” Demetri smirked, looking at me, who I still haven't abandoned Alice’s hand.

“Or dessert.” Jane interrupted, and I felt myself losing consciousness for a split second, before I felt the blond vampire grabbing my arm to stabilize me. His hand was cold and his grip tight on me, not leaving me even after I looked at him with wide eyes. He just smiled and continued walking ahead.

Jane opened the doors in front of her, leading us to a massive room, made out of marble, and decorated with Roman columns and scriptures on the walls. Surprisingly, it was well-lit and bright, compared to the dark halls that we passed through just a minute ago.

“Sister. Send you out to get one and you bring back two. And two halves. Such a clever girl.” A brunette boy, a bit taller than Jane, called towards her, as she walked by his side.

The blond vampire let me go and walk farther into the room, still holding Alice’s hand like I was holding on her for dear life. The blond vampire now stood a few feet behind us, next to the tall brunette one.

A black-haired vampire, who seemed a bit too excited, started walking towards us. “What a happy surprise! Bella is alive after all. Isn’t that wonderful. I love a happy ending. They are so rare.” He was talking with fake happiness in his face, as if he was reading from a script, grabbing Edward’s hand in the process.

“La tua cantante.” Your singer. The vampire seemed to know how much Edward craved Bella’s blood, and questioned how Edward could do so easily. 

“Aro can read every thought I’ve ever had with one touch.” Well, that explained a lot. And now I placed who Aro was within the Volturi.

I now learned more about Edward’s gift, which was more similar to Aro’s than anyone else’s, but he couldn’t actually read Bella’s thoughts. Aro requested if he could test his own gift on Bella, probably hoping that he could read her thoughts and brag about it. But when Bella offered her hand, which he took too willingly, his face was unreadable and then, disappointed and angry, not being able to read her either.

Then, he turned towards me, still by Alice’s side. His red eyes were cold and hostile, and his face uninviting. I felt small and vulnerable, exposed, in front of his critical gaze.

“Dear (Y/N), excuse me for the waiting. Edward has presented me a very..intriguing image of you. Could you offer me your hand? I would like to get to know you, as well.”

My lips were trembling, not being able to say a word, and my eyes were glistening. Please, don’t cry. Please, don’t cry. I knew that whatever Edward had shown him I couldn’t avoid. So, I took a step forward, leaving Alice’s hand and extending the other one towards Aro. I felt a breeze behind me, as Demetri came to stand on my right side, looking closely between Aro and I.

The mind reader took my hand between his hands, and I felt my thoughts being examined and tossed around my head, like a small whisper trying to cast a spell on me. The vampire looked at me, deep in the eyes, and his face was filled with fascination for whatever he saw inside my head.

“Fascinating, indeed, dear. Your mind is just filled with thoughts and images, though they are not very distinct. You are not an easy book to read. I still haven’t figured out who you really are. Although…”. He looked at the vampire standing beside me, motioning for him to give him his hand.

The blond obeyed his master. Did he have any other choice? Probably not. Aro took the blond’s hand, and his wicked, sick smile came back.

“Oh, this suddenly became even better than I would have expected.” He turned towards the vampire sitting on the throne, looking sad. Marcus? The vampire in question nodded, and Aro turned around in an almost theatrical move, with open arms, for everyone to see. 

“It seems that our dear Demetri has finally found his mate in (Y/N). I’m so happy for the two of you!” His face was smiling, but his voice sounded as fake as ever. 

I didn’t know what “mates” meant. Alice didn’t have enough time to explain every “vampire term” to me, so I was clueless regarding this part. The blond, who I now knew as Demetri, must have seen the confusion in my face, as he leaned slightly towards me and whispered “Soulmates” in my ear. My eyes widened and he giggled lightly.

Whether it was how close he came near me, or his giggle, or the fact that we were “soulmates”, my heart responded immediately, thumbing faster in my chest, and I felt my cheeks burn - I was clearly blushing in front of everyone, as if I couldn’t be any more awkward than I was before.

Aro interrupted my embarrassment, as he turned once again towards Bella, wanting to test if she was immune to the others’ gifts as well. He turned towards the blonde girl, Jane, asking her basically to show off her own gift. Edward ran forward to stop whatever it was going to happen, only to end up in pain, writhing in an inaudible pain, as Bella was practically screaming to stop.

I honestly didn’t mind Edward suffering, even if it was for a few seconds, considering that Bella had it worse for over 5 months. He finally dropped to the floor, as Alice ran to his side, and the blonde girl’s brother ran to grab Bella, to stop her from going by her lover’s side.

I had no idea what was happening. I was just looking around, shocked and scared, as all these unfamiliar things were taking place in front of my untrained eyes. I felt a hand stroking my arm up and down. I turned around to see Demetri smiling slightly at me, trying to calm me down. I sighed a bit and felt my heart slightly at ease.

That was until the Kings decided that Bella was a liability - I wasn’t? - and Aro called out for Felix. I turned around and saw the tall brunette smiling evilly, while the shorter brunette turned Bella around and left her there, exposed, in front of the giant. Edward seemed to know what it would be happening, as he immediately stood up and ran by Bella’s side to protect her.

He immediately ran forward, attacking the tall brunette, and knocking him down. Alice ran towards Edward to help him out, but she was immediately stopped by Demetri, who I didn’t notice had left my side, grabbing her by her neck and immobilizing her, dragging her away from ever reaching her brother. 

“Alec!” Demetri shouted towards the brunette boy, who had just left Bella at Felix’s mercy, pointing towards me with his eyes. The boy, Alec, came by my side, and practically dragged me farther from the scene that took place in front of me. His grip was a bit too much as he squeezed my arm, making me slightly cry in pain. Demetri growled at him, and Alec’s grip loosened significantly, but he still kept his hand on my arm.

Felix was pissed by now, as he immediately started fighting Edward, pushing and slamming him around the room. However, I couldn’t focus my gaze on them; not because they were fast, but because I was focused on watching Demetri, and how he was still holding on Alice’s neck tightly, never letting her go.

Watching Demetri’s hand around Alice’s neck should have made me feel appalled and sorry for the small brunette girl, but it didn’t. On the contrary, I felt rather aroused, watching his strong hand wrapped around the brunette’s neck. 

Honestly, I felt a wave of jealousy and annoyance hitting me. That should have been me! Only I was worthy to be touched by this sort of demon who masked his true identity with the facade of an angel. It should be me! I couldn’t help myself, my jealousy building up inside me. 

“Wish he’d choke ME!” I told myself, getting more frustrated by the minute.

“Patience, cara mia. All in due time.” Demetri smirked at me. I did not realise I said that out loud, until Alec started snorting beside me, clearly laughing cheekily, and Felix started bursting in laughter, his grip tight on Edward’s jaw by now.

I had embarrassed myself in a room full of vampires once again, the majority of them being part of the Volturi coven. If the Earth opened in half and swallowed me, I would pretty much welcome it at that point.

Bella brought me back to reality, as she was practically screaming, begging the vampires to let go of Edward, as she looked clearly distraught and upset. She even offered herself instead of Edward! Why, Bella? Just why? I have understood by now that they were mates and they’d do anything for each other, but she would sacrifice her own life for Edward?! That didn’t make sense to me.

Aro seemed to agree with me, but he thought more of the “soulless monster” perspective, while I thought more of Edward’s character, and how much his absence had scarred Bella. Alice told me, on our way here, that he thought he was doing everything to keep her away just to protect her, that being close to him put her in danger. But, from my own experience with Bella, she was suffering more away from him than he thought she would.

Aro looked disappointed between Edward and Bella, wishing he would give her immortality, which he did not seem willing to do. Aro moved menacingly towards the terrified girl, prepared to end her life. I fell forwards, attempting to reach her, to move in between them, but Alec’s grip tightened, keeping me back, both of his hands on my arms now. Aro was basically licking his lips, when, suddenly, Alice stopped him. 

The small brunette confirmed that Bella would become a vampire like them, and that she would even be the one to change her, as she saw in her vision. Aro called her forward, and Demetri let her walk towards his Master. 

He then moved towards Alec and I, replacing the brunette boy, but, instead of grabbing my arms like Alec did, he embraced me tightly, not letting me move away from my position. His cold embrace sent shivers down my spine, but, surprisingly, I let myself relax in his arms, feeling safe, and like that was where I belonged. I felt him smiling and relaxing, as well.

Aro seemed pleased with whatever Alice had shown him, and intrigued by her own gift of predicting the future. Alice had told me that her gift was subjected to the decisions people made, and the future could just change at any point. However, if Aro believed that her vision would eventually come true, we had no reason to tell him otherwise. 

Aro turned to Bella. “Your gifts will make for an intriguing immortal.” He whispered as he touched her face, Bella clearly feeling uncomfortable under his touch. I would, too - Aro seemed creepy in his own way, his behavior and movements just as unpredictable.

He then told us to leave, and prepare for Bella’s transformation, and Felix let go of Edward. Marcus told everyone that a woman named Heidi would be coming soon and thanked us “for the visit”, as Aro said his goodbyes. Demetri walked towards the exit, me still in his arms. Edward grabbed Bella by her hand and Alice followed them behind.

As we were walking through the corridor, a beautiful woman walked past us, many people - they looked like tourists - following behind her. She had long, wavy brown hair and purple eyes, which could only mean that she was most likely wearing blue contacts over her red eyes. Her aura was full of confidence and power; she knew what she was doing and she took her job seriously.

“Nice fishing, Heidi.” I heard Demetri addressing the woman from behind me. So, that was the Heidi Marcus was referring to. Wait.. Nice..what?

“Yes, they do look rather juicy.” The beautiful woman replied, eyeing between Bella and I, as she continued leading the tourists down the hallway.

Demetri must have seen her reaction, as he brought me closer to him. I was in shock, and started trembling more than before. These people, these poor people would be the vampires’ snacks in a few seconds. Like Bella and I could have been just minutes ago. I tried to not think about it, but the screams that echoed through the hall would probably haunt me for the rest of my life.

Demetri opened another door as we approached the end of the corridor, and we found ourselves back in the reception area. The Italian woman greeted us once again, but I didn’t listen to what she said, still in shock, just waiting to leave this horrible place as soon as I could.

“Just wait here. You will be able to leave in a few hours, when it’s dark outside.” Demetri instructed Edward and Alice, and took his arms away from my body, turning to look at me. “Wait here, cara mia. I’ll be back soon.” I nodded, not being able to say a word.

Demetri turned and ran towards the throne room. I knew he left to feed, and I just couldn’t bear the thought of him killing innocent humans. I couldn’t keep myself from crying, as I started trembling and losing balance. 

Alice came by my side, trying to stabilize and calm me down, while Edward tried calming down a hyperventilating Bella. We were both losing our sanity, not being able to keep up with the Volturi’s lifestyle, as it seemed. I was craving Demetri’s touch but, at the same time, I couldn’t stop the human in me, the logic, the sense that said that I should stay away from the vampires who killed people. 

I heard Alice and Edward talking with the receptionist, but I couldn’t make out exactly what they were talking about. Alice, slowly and carefully, with her hands still on my arms, led me to a nearby bench, as the receptionist walked away. I was rocking back and forth, trying to calm down, realizing that we are still alive. I saw the receptionist coming towards us, offering a glass of water to both Bella and I.

“Grazie mille.” I thanked her, my voice barely audible.

“Prego.” She smiled at me, and walked back towards her desk.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I didn’t realise how much time passed, until I heard footsteps coming towards us. I was way more calm by now. Lifting my head towards the direction of the footsteps, I saw Demetri and Felix. I shyly smiled at Demetri, and he smiled back, with a smile wider than mine, a smile that warmed my heart.

“Hello, again, amore mio.” I felt as if my heart stopped for a split second upon hearing the words he used to address me. I would still be weak to my knees, if I didn't already sit down.

Felix was the one to inform us that we were allowed to go now, being way past nighttime. I stood up, and attempted to walk forward, towards Bella and the two Cullen siblings. I intended to leave with them, but I was stopped by Demetri’s hand on my wrist.

“Where are you going, cara?” He looked at me, knowing why I was attempting to walk away.

“I.. I thought we’d.. be leaving? That I’d be leaving? With the others?” At least, I was hoping I would be leaving with them. 

“I’m sorry, amore. I can’t let you go, not now that I found you. You’ll be staying here, with me.” Demetri sounded so natural and serious, and I could only stare at him, my mouth agape.

“But.. I thought it was okay for me to leave. I have a life behind, you know. I have a school to finish, I have my family, I have things to do.” I still looked at him dumbfounded, waiting for him to allow me to go, just for now, just for a few months at least.

“I’m sorry, (Y/N). But I cannot risk anything happening to you. I will make sure you are safe and protected here. We will arrange everything with your school and your family, and whatever else is needed. Please, stay.” Demetri’s eyes were pleading, and a shiver passed through my body, just by looking at him and hearing him talk.

It took me a few minutes to respond; nobody said a word all this time. “Okay.” I said faintly. “I will stay.. here.. with you.”

Demetri’s face lit up, and he leaned closer to me, wrapping his arms around me. He was careful to not hurt me, and I knew, at the moment, with my heart full of love and affection for that man, that that was where I was supposed to be. With Demetri. For as long as it lasted.  

[lubdubsworld]

Insatiable  ( Jungkook x Oc ) Chapter 8

Pairing : Jeon Jungkook x OC

Rating 18+

Genre : Vampire Au!!!! , DILF! Jungkook ! Bodyguard AU! Babysitter OC!   Age difference!!!

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3   Chapter 4 Chapter 5   Chapter 6  Chapter 7

Chapter 8

“Heartbreak looks good on you...” My sister commented impishly, watching me slip the teardrop earring into my lobe, the ruby red stone glinting in the dimlight of the bedroom. 

It was a couple of weeks since my uncle had come over and today, all the important clan leaders from around the country would be heading over to pay their respects to him. As one of the oldest surviving vampires, he commanded a lot of respect and no one really wanted to be on his bad side. 

Which just made me love Jungkook all the more because I couldn’t forget how he’d literally thrown himself in between us that day. I wanted to give him  everything  in return but apparently, all i was allowed to give him was space. 

My father had visited me everyday , giving me a very cryptic, ‘ I’ll make sure the two of you get your happy ending, dearest but you need to trust me and stay away for a while. Just a while. ’. 

But it seemed so impossible, so far away and just so unlikely that I was beginning to lose hope. 

It didn’t help that I hadn’t actually seen Jungkook in these two weeks . Namjoon took his place and my only connection to him was Joowon , who told me his father was busy ...that he stayed with Hwasa most evenings . I felt jittery and nervous and even more so today because of the lavish party being hosted in the Grand Ball Room, which was easily the biggest room in the entire estate. The last time it had been opened was for my parent’s wedding a whole two centuries ago.  

For once I couldn’t hide in the daycare in sweats. My uncle apparently insisted that i be present for the party tonight. 

It only made my anxiety skyrocket. 

I was a mess when it came to formal parties with century old vampires. I had all the formal training of course, but still the etiquette lessons were long forgotten and lot of those cranky old bats had very archaic ideas about what was allowed and what wasn’t. 

I  didn’t want some entitled century old vampire pawing at my neck for a drink tonight. I really didn’t. 

But i had done my part. Put on a red dress, the backline dipping all the way down to the base of my spine , let one of the make up artists in the clan have a go at my face and even put on blood red lipstick. 

I grunted , trying to yank the small lace and leather garter up my thigh. It had a holster for a dagger, the small ornate silver one that all the women in the clan carried. The dagger was crafted with the Hwang crest on its handle and I carefully sheathed it in, patting my thigh to make sure it wouldn’t slip down my limb. 

“Don’t make fun of my misery.” I glared at her and she actually laughed. 

“Sera, you feel too much too deeply. Jungkook isn’t going anywhere. He’ll come around. “ She said gently.

I shook my head.

“I don’t want to wait though. I... I don’t know why I hate waiting but I do..”

“He looks like a kinky bastard. Tell me, did you guys try anything ...I don’t know..risky?”

Nothing riskier than getting edged in front of a whole hotel full of guests and then getting fucked in the back of a car. Oh, did I tell you he spit in my mouth? And I loved it.

“Not really.” I lied but I could feel my face heating up as I turned around, back to the mirror as i felt my ears burning.

My sister shrieked so loud I jumped, nearly knocking over the bottle of perfume on the dresser.

“Oh my God, Sera, you naughty little bint! Tell me now!!!” She screeched and i flushed.

Like hell i was telling my sister what we had done.

“It’s private!!” I hissed when she tried to yank me and she laughed. 

“You’re shy... aww that’s cute. But that’s just because you recently got un-virgined . Bet you  can’t wait for him to desecrate your special place again, huh?” She waggled her eyebrows. 

“That is the single most disgusting thing you’ve ever said.” I gagged.

She laughed again. 

“Relax. He was your first. Happens . But like I said, don’t worry about him being serious about this. I think he is. You guys had sex and dad knows that. And yet somehow he’s still walking around with his had attached to his shoulders. Do you really think father would have let him live if he didn’t have feelings for you?”

I frowned.

“That’s not fair. It was consensual. He didn’t force me into anything or tell me he had feelings ....”

She scoffed at that. 

“Please tell me you still don’t think he hasn’t got feelings for you. He went batshit-crazy when you went on that date with Yugyeom. Jimin thought he was having a stroke or something. Dude’s so gone for you it isn’t even funny.”

“ Fat lot of good that does me! ” I snapped. “ If he doesn’t acknowledge those feelings he might as well not have any. And so far he’s made it abundantly clear that he’s not going to act on them. Ever.” 

“Because he’s clearly involved in something dangerous.” She said easily, making me blink.  “I’m not supposed to be telling you this but I’m kind of sick of you moping around like the world is ending and I’m just going to trust you to be smart about it.”

“What do you mean dangerous?” I whirled around to glare at her, pulse racing. 

“I have no clue. Dad and Jungkook are working on something.  But they’ve been huddled in the administrative building for three days now and no one has seen them . So i don’t really know what it is they’re planning. But I’ve always wondered if Jungkook was hiding from something. It would explain why he’d work as a bodyguard...with his skills he could be so much more.  ”

Frustration bloomed,  this time laced with worry. I wanted to know what was going on. God, if i could only see him. A glimpse would be enough. Just to make sure he was okay. Just to hear from him that he was okay. That he was going to be safe. 

“Think he’ll be at the party?”  I asked softly, feeling a whole lot pathetic at the way my heart lurched hopefully. 

My sister gave me a very mischievous smile. 

“Maybe . Maybe not. You look ravishing by the way.  And everyone out there wants you. Literally. Don’t forget that. Don’t be easy. Make him beg a little. ” She winked. 

I frowned. 

“He won’t beg. He’ll turn the tables around and make me cry.” I shuddered.  . Which really wouldn’t be that hard . I felt like I was always on the verge of tears these days. 

The knock on the door made us both look up. 

“Who’s escorting you tonight?” My sister asked gently. 

I shrugged. 

“No one. I’m just gonna walk in there by myself because I hate all of you. ” I grabbed the small bejeweled clutch from the table and hesitated just a second. 

God , I had no strength for tonight but there was a possibility that Jungkook could be there tonight. And I wanted to see him, if for no other reason than to kick him in the teeth. 

 I slipped into the strappy peep toe heels, stumbling a little because i wasn’t used to them. 

Swearing at the sharp pain shooting up my heel and shin, I wrenched the door open. Ignoring the simpering man on the other side, i stalked right past him. 

It was going to be a long , long night 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The ballroom looked ....for lack of a better word : overwhelming. 

Whoever was in charge of the decoration had clearly taken the budget, quadrupled it and then pretty much ordered one of everything. I stared at the sheer overdose of satin and gauze and felt myself shuddering. 

Red and black was the theme for the night and I half wished I’d chosen to wear something in turquoise blue just to give my eyes some sort of relief. But there was no denying that it looked especially lavish, the huge hall big enough to fit a dozen foot ball fields, the high ceiling that seemed to stretch right up to the heavens and the million candelabras and chandeliers hung all over the place. 

The carpeted floors felt soft under my foot and it was still early, only a few pople flitting about while the ushers and helpers rushed about, tweaking deatils, rechecking placement charts, placing refreshments on the table. Small bottles of blood arranged neatly on the table and I rolled my shoulders, eyes darting around to find someone familiar. 

Kim Minjae and Kim Mingyu were just entering the hall and I grimaced. God, no. But i watched as they casually posed in front of the blood red backdrop, while cameras flashed and i frowned. Were supernatural tabloids really that starved for material? 

“Sera, go on, you need to get your picture taken too!” My aunt materialized out of nowhere , dressed in a puffy red gown with ruffles and I shook my head. 

“Later... i need a drink.” I said quickly, escaping her clingy fingers and rushing away . 

As the only human in the entire damn place, I would have to walk all the way to the bar on the far corner of the ballroom to beg for a drink. 

I was half way there when a commotion at the door made me look up. My father had arrived with him a majority of his counsel and a bunch of other guests as well. I stared, my eyes zeroing in on a very familiar figure , my father’s arm wrapped around his shoulder.

Jeon Jungkook stood right next to my father dressed to the nines and with a dazzling smile in place. 

I gawked at him. 

Trying to process what it was that I was seeing. 

He was smiling. He had the audacity to smile after ignoring me for two whole weeks. 

I took a deep breath.

“You better have a pretty darn good explanation for the radio silence you treated me to the past two weeks. “ I intoned dully to myself , trying to ignore the way he looked, completely at ease in the spotlight. 

He turned a little to the left and his gaze caught mine. I watched as he smiled and shook hands with the people around him before whispering something to my father. 

I dug my heels into the floor, glaring as he extricated himself from the elite crowd and slowly began walking over. God, i wanted to kick him so bad. 

He stopped in front of me, looking expectant and my anger merely doubled in intensity. 

“Anything you wanna say, Jeon?” I snapped. 

“You’re beautiful. Breathtakingly so. Red is your color, angel. I wanna see you in it more often. “ He answered at once. 

My mind went distressingly blank for a whole thirty second. 

“ Did i fucking offer? ” I demanded , angry. “ I’m not dressing up for you. Ever. You ignored me for two entire weeks Jungkook! i didn’t know where you were...what you were doing...” 

“Sera, I’m sor -” He began but I squawked in disbelief, shoving him away hard. He stumbled, more in surprise than from the impact but he looked surprised .  

I felt myself shaking in anger. How dare he?

“Oh, no. No. You do not get to waltz back in with a simple sorry.... not after treating me like shit the past two weeks...Absolutely not.” I snarled, shoving him again but this time he didn’t budge. Ugh. 

I made to move past him but he grabbed my elbow , yanking me back till I crashed into his chest. It was humiliating , the way my body practically vibrated with pleasure from being near him. His arms around me felt like heaven and I’d spent two whole weeks in purgatory. 

“You need to stay with me Ms. Hwang. I’m your bodyguard, remember?” He whispered, lips pressing against my neck, breathing in my scent  and I glared at his arms.

“No you’re not. Namjoon is!! Where is he?” I asked angrily , but he pulled me closer, hands resting on the bare skin of my back as he hugged me tight, lips latching onto my neck, breathing deep and my knees buckled. i had missed this. So much and even if this was all i got, I wanted to savor it. Savor it even if I hated him for the way he treated me all the fucking time.  

“Missed you.” He whispered, lips wet and wanting , damp on my skin as he pressed kisses along my shoulder. I loved it but I knew he was going to leave me again and that just made me angrier. 

“You’re a liar.” I choked out. 

“No. I’ve lied about a lot of things but never about how you’ve made me feel, Sera. You set me on fire.”

I choked, anger and affection flooding my senses, confounding me because it was like being caught in an endless game of push and pull. 

I trembled, fists punching his shoulder in protest but he didn’t move. I could feel eyes on us and it made me flush. How dare he... How fucking dare he. 

“Let go of me! You said you don’t want me so let me go!” I said petulantly and he made a small noise of protest. 

“That’s not true angel...you know it’s not. I want you... Want you so damn bad , i ache with it.” He whispered the words into my skin and I bristled. 

“Fucking liar, let go of me!” i was going to cry. Actually burst into tears in the middle of the ballroom. 

He didn’t let go of me. 

Instead his fingers fluttered down my bare back, feather light and maddening , tracing a path down my bare skin and I gripped is jacket at the electric contact. 

i trembled, my thighs shaking but I couldn’t give him the satisfaction of knowing how much I wanted him. I swallowed, shaking my head. 

There was no music and we weren’t even near the dance floor. I couldn’t imagine how we must look to the people around us. But it was hard to think of that when I could feel him all over my body, could feel his heartbeat pulse right against mine and when his arms felt like an anchor , grounding me . 

“You think I need you.” My voice shook a little, “ I really fucking don’t Jungkook and I want you to remember that. I don’t need you. I don’t need to touch you . I’m fine with you never touching me ever again. ” I lied, gripping him harder. 

My words didn’t match my actions at all and he seemed to realize it, chuckling lightly and letting me press myself closer into his warm, solid body. He kept his arms around me, waist pressed into mine and thighs hard and solid against mine.

“I know that... i need you far more than you need me.” He said sweetly, kissing my brow and stroking my hair. He slipped his fingers into the strands, running the silky length between his fingertips , his voice brimming with fondness . It hurt, the fact that I couldn’t have this all the time. 

That somehow I was only offered glimpses of this Jungkook. Little snapshots of a what our life together could be but when I tried to draw closer, he always pulled away. 

I glared at him wanting to demand more answers 

. And then my eyes fell on the small dagger sheathed into his belt. My sister’s words floated into my mind. Was Jungkook running from something? 

“Are you in danger?” I whispered, softly. “ Darling, i need to know if you’re in trouble. I need to know.” 

He trembled a little at the endearment. 

“Baby, I’m going to be fine. Don’t worry about me alright. It’s important that you stay safe. “

The words brought no comfort of any kind. 

I stared at him. 

“What is it with the people around me spewing platitudes in my face without telling me what is going on! Do you just not trust me?” I asked desperately, hurt blooming. 

Jungkook swallowed.

“i trust you with my entire life Sera. But, I just don’t want you to get hurt.” He said gently.

I rolled my eyes. 

“Please....you’re five centuries old , so can you leave the whole cliché knight in shining armor back in the dark ages and just treat me like your equal? I’m not a helpless damsel in distress Jungkook...!!” 

He nodded, reaching for me again but I pulled away, wrapping an arm around myself. He hesitated, hands stretched out to touch but hovering a few inches away . 

“you’re right. I was out of line. But to be fair your father was very firm that I had to stay away from you...no contact of any kind till tonight. “

“And what’s so special about tonight.?” I asked , upset at how little i knew about what was going on. Jungkook’s gaze softened, and he pressed a palm to my cheek, thumb tracing circles on my jaw, before pressing a gentle kiss to my lips. 

“ You’ll see. “ He smiled, “ And as for the rest of it, we’ll talk about this . I promise. We will....tonight after everything ends. I need to go now. Your father’s waiting for me,” 

I clung to him, feeling abandoned all over again. 

“What are you guys upto?” I grabbed his arm but he gently pulled my fingers away. 

“I’ll come find you. “ Was all he said before moving away and I groaned in disbelief. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Uh oh. I can recognize that look. On a scale of one to ten , how much trouble is Jeon Jungkook in?” Namjoon asked gently, watching me glare daggers at the man in question as he hung around near the front of the hall, surrounded by clan leaders.

 He was meeting everyone, apparently a social butterfly and i couldn’t fathom it. The last time we’d had a party he’d sneaked off to get laid with Helena. 

Speaking of who,

“She’s going to castrate him. I can feel it.” The sultry eyed vampire, sat next to me, her long nails tapping the scarlet drape of the table as she watched me, eyes heavy and hot, gaze trained on my neck.

 I’d never felt more like prey. 

“ Nice to meet you Helena.” Namjoon said casually taking the seat next to me. Great.  I was caught between two vampires that knew exactly how gone I was for Jungkook and exactly how ....not gone he was for me.  The night just kept getting better. 

“Always a pleasure daddy.” Helena said , eyes dancing with wicked mischief and Namjoon choked on his wine, spewing it all over the table. I stared at the pair in disgust. 

“Disgusting.” I snapped. “Look at him. He hasn’t looked at me in an hour. How am i supposed to believe that he wants me so much I set his skin on fire.” I demanded shrilly. 

Both of them went quiet. They looked very uncomfortable and i felt myself flush. 

I glared at them , self conscious. 

“What?! Jungkook said so himself.” I protested. 

Both of them began guffawing. 

“I’m never letting him live this down.” Namjoon chuckled and I rolled my eyes. I could feel eyes on me, everywhere. Everyone’s gaze flitted to me every few minutes. Some of the younger vampires hovered a discreet distance away but had their gazes trained on me . 

Everyone looked at me except Jungkook. There really was no justice in this god forsaken world, was there? 

Did he really think I was weak and harmless? I suddenly felt foolish . I wasn’t weak. I wasn’t powerless. 

So , so far from it in fact.

I didn’t use my abilities because of how morally ambiguous they were. My father had drilled it into my head, right from childhood, that I couldn’t use my powers without explicit permission from him and I had listened to him. 

Had played the role of the harmless human who just happened to have really intoxicating blood inside her veins. 

But somehow that had ended up with me being pushed out of the loop with the man I loved. Jungkook thought I was some kind of helpless damsel he needed to keep safe and it just...it irked me. 

It was laughable that he thought something could be dangerous to me. 

It was laughable because I  was  easily the most dangerous creature in this entire room. 

i pulled my phone out, texting furiously.

 I want to see you. 

 I stared at Jungkook waiting for him to see. He pulled his phone out read the screen and to my utter chagrin he slipped the phone back in without answering.

 All right, That’s it.  

I stood up slowly, Namjoon stiffening next to me. 

“Where are you going? “ He asked warily. 

“To mingle.” I said casually. “ you can stay here, daddy. I’ll be fine by myself. “

He spluttered again and Helena laughed lowly. 

“I like her. “ Her voice rang out and i smirked, making a beeline to wards the front of the room, where Jungkook stood with a few other vampires around the same age as him. They all straightened at the sight of me, lust evident in their eyes and I saw Jungkook go a little stiff when he noticed I was alone.

“Where’s Namjoon?” He said shortly. 

“With Helena.” i said with a shrug.” Evening gentlemen.” I smiled softly, parting my lips lightly, letting my tongue dart out and wet them before leaving them parted, tongue peeking out. 

Jungkook pressed in closer, arm darting to wrap around my waist but he seemed to think better of it, pulling away again. 

“Sera...” He began warningly but i cut him off. Jungkook didn’t know what he had. 

And I was too fucking beautiful to be ignored tonight. 

“Isn’t someone starting the music? What a terrible bore this party has been...” I said loudly and the men scrambled closer, almost tripping over each other. 

Pathetic really but at least they served their purpose. 

“Should we get you another drink, Sera?” One of them said. 

“Let me go find that Dj...” The tallest of the lot wandered off. 

“You’re right..are you hungry..? Where’s that waiter?” The one right next to me lifted a hand, waving the nearest uniformed helped and I smirked at Jungkook. 

“Having fun?” I asked. 

“You need to go stay with Namjoon.” He said stiffly.

“where’s the fun in that? “ I hesitated, locking my eyes with him and lightly lifting my heel up to rest on the chair right next to him. The slit in my dress fell open, exposing the entire length of my leg, especially the red lace of my garter. 

Jungkook’s eyes narrowed as he stared at the dagger strapped to my thigh, the red and gold stark against the milky white flesh. I rand a forefinger up from my knee to the top of the garter belt, lightly circling the tip over the sharp edge of the dagger. 

“Don’t...” He growled. I smirked.

“Don’t what?” I whispered. 

“Don’t fucking do it, baby... I’ll be really , really mad if you do. “ He was almost shaking with the effort to not grab me and i could feel it. Feel the urge to put me in my place, simmering beneath his skin but he was helpless. 

Any wrong move on me and he would have a dozen daggers in his heart within the next second. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about .” I feigned ignorance, purposefully pressing the thick of my finger into the edge of the dagger, gasping as it broke skin, tearing my flesh and drawing out my blood. 

A collective gasp ran through the crowd around us and it was quite the sight, an entire group of century old Vampires going stiff as boards,  nostrils flared pupils blown wide open as they all stared at me .

 I smiled wide, trying to inject a note of contrition into my voice. 

“Oops. That was clumsy of me. .” I giggled, holding my finger up. the blood beaded over and spilled , trickling down my wrist and I locked my gaze with Jungkook’s, bringing my arm up, licking the scarlet fluid up, tracing its path with my tongue all the way to where the dagger had nicked me before sticking the finger into my mouth with a lewd pop. 

A vampire, about three feet away from me was breathing heavily , grabbing the chair next to him and sinking into it. His fangs were out and his breathing was erratic. i watched his eyes flash red and I laughed.

“I’m sorry. “ I said sweetly and he gave me a blank smile.

“That’s alright, my lady . “ He was almost choking from the effort to stay composed. Poor thing. I let my gaze flit back to Jungkook who had a terrifyingly blank look on his face. 

“You little whore.” Jungkook whispered softly and i lurched. 

“Yours . If you want me. But if you don’t...then anyone’s really.” I shrugged unrepentant. 

“Really? You think any of the vampires here’s gonna want you after the stunt you just pulled? No one wants a needy little slut.” He said casually but I could see him shaking a little. There was a teeny tiny crack in that cocky attitude and I’d never wanted to stick my fingers in something so bad. 

I felt myself grin in anticipation. 

“It’s not about what I think, Jungkook. Its about what I  know.” 

He stared at me. 

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“You think I’m helpless, Jungkookie.... But the truth is... I can turn every single person here into my own personal  marionette if i wanted to. “ I shrugged. 

Jungkook’s eyebrows lifted, lips parting in surprise. 

“I’m listening.” 

I moved to the table in the corner, patting the chair next to me. He took the seat next to me and I smiled. 

“Now watch....” I snapped my fingers, signaling the waiter with the glass jar of lemon soda  and vodka in his tray. 

“Can you let my father know I want to leave the party early with Jungkook here?” I asked gently. The waiter flushed, but nodded and I casually slipped my finger into the lemonade jar, dipping lightly in the fluid.

Jungkook grimaced . 

“That’s disgusting.” 

I laughed. 

“Now let’s see who gets to drink it.” I followed the waiter as he moved around stopping in front of a group of very young vampires, about four or five of them. Two girls and three guys. They all took glasses of vodka from the waiter and i sighed.

“You know what makes my blood so powerful Jungkookie? “ I said softly. “ It’s the fact that it is  sentient.” 

Jungkook went stock still still next to me, lips parting in shock.

“What?” He croaked. 

I nodded.

“My blood is sentient. It can feel and see and control. If my blood mixes with yours, it will dominate your thoughts and feelings. I will literally take over you. But it also needs my instruction. So it’ll put you in a trance..... Leave you feeling boneless and disoriented , easier to manipulate. People think its because it tastes so good and they enjoy the feeling. They don’t know what the fuck they’re opening themselves up to...by letting me inside. “ I wrapped my arms around myself. 

“I’m painted as the beautiful, kind and precious human who needs to be protected....only because I am anything  but. In this room, Jungkook....I’m probably the one capable of wrecking the most havoc.” 

“Sera...”

“Nobody knows except for my father and I because...well... just the scent of it makes people chase me down. Can you imagine what they’d do to me if they knew the true extent of my powers.” I said bitterly. I let my gaze shift back to the kids with the drinks. The drinks that were tainted with my life essence.  

I watched them take sips of their drink and felt the mild tingling in the back of my head. Like a gossamer thread forming and wrapping around me and I swallowed. It was easy to ignore and I never had any trouble ignoring it when I let my family feed from me. Because I trusted them. 

But these kids though. My body thrummed, focusing on one person. 

The girl in the red halter top. 

“See the girl with the red top and black skirt....” I swallowed. “ She slit the throat of an old woman on her way here.” 

Jungkook swore next to me. 

“I can see the woman... she’s on her knees , begging for her life. She’s really old.” 

That wasn’t all. i could feel the grip of the dagger, the push of the blade against skin, the pull as the flesh gave in, the blood spurting out onto my fingers the scent of death as she bled out. 

I felt nausea bubble and I severed the connection forcibly. The girl’s pretty face didn’t match her filthy insides. i couldn’t stay in her head. The tendrils began wrapping around my head as  the four of them took more sips. 

“When I want... i can influence their thoughts. It takes more effort but it’s possible. it’s why my father wanted to make sure you actually wanted to be with me. He thought I’d coerced you . which I can . if I want. But I didn’t. I don’t do that ever. ” I shook my head. 

Jungkook’s brows raised. 

“By coerce you mean....”

“It can be as simple as influence your decision... but if I really put in the effort, i can make people physically do what I wanted. “ 

“Physically?”

I smiled.

“Remember the boys from my college ? the ones who nearly drained me out?” 

He nodded. 

“My father didn’t have them defanged. They did it to themselves. Literally stuck their own hand into their mouth and ripped their fangs out . Because I wanted them too.” 

Jungkook looked like he’d stopped breathing. 

I swallowed.

“You don’t have to say anything. I just wanted to tell you that if you’re trying to protect me by withholding information, its kind of unnecessary. I can take care of myself.” 

“Alright. What do you want to know?”

“Just tell me what’s going on  “ I sighed.  Jungkook gave me a piercing look. 

“Remember Joo Won’s mother?” 

“The witch you killed?”

“Her father’s out for my blood. He doesn’t know where I am as of now. Your father thinks one of his lackeys must be in attendance today so he’ll know where I am.... and  he’ll come for me. And when he does... I’m going to end it .”

I stared at him.

“ Okay. “ I swallowed. “ How dangerous is he?” 

Jungkook laughed without mirth. 

“I’m not sure if I’m coming out of this alive.” 

Blood rushed to my ears, so fast I felt momentarily lightheaded. My entire body rejected the mere idea of Jungkook getting hurt. And to hear him talk of it so lightly, it messed me up badly. The fragile hold I had on my mind snapped. 

“No.” I said angrily. 

Across the room, the girl in the red halter stumbled,  clutching her head .

  Anger and the urge to hurt clawed up inside me and I tried to get it under control. 

Fuck, I had to sever the connection fully before i did something terrible to her..

 But it wasn’t happening, 

In fact the more i tried to get away the more her conscience seemed to be wrapping around mine., 

 Distance. I had to put distance between us. 

I need to leave now,  I pushed the thought in through the connection and  i watched her as she stumbled away from her friends, hands buried in her hair.

“Sera what the fuck... “ Jungkook grabbed my arm, eyes wide and panicked and I trembled. 

I felt guilty and scared because there was a reason i didn’t do this and the reason was quite simple. This power...or whatever you wanted to call it, It was bigger than me. I couldn’t control it . 

My blood was sentient and sometimes it could control me , just as easily as it controlled others. 

“She’s just leaving... I just made her leave because I’m not .. I can’t. ...fuck...” My head swam as I tried to get my bearings. 

“ okay that’s it...we’re getting out of here.... ” Jungkook stood up, reaching for me and I blinked, disoriented and dizzy. “Come here, baby I got you...” 

I let him wrap his hand around my waist, half lifting , half dragging me out of the ballroom and into the hallway. I gripped his chest, stumbling. I wasn’t tired, just struggling to get my head on straight . 

But the scent of him calmed me. 

“I need you.” I whispered. “ I need you to be safe Jungkook. I’ve spent too long pretending to be something I’m not but with you... I’m.. You... You make me feel human. Truly human. “ 

“Fuck... hang on. I’m gonna take you to my cottage.”

I blinked

“your what?”

“My cottage. Hang on...”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

By the time Jungkook opened the door to the cottage, I felt a little like myself again. But my body thrummed , my skin on fire, my fingers trembling with adrenaline. 

“you look like you need to lie down.” He said gently.

I glared at him. 

“The last thing I need is to lie down.” I snapped.

He held his hands up.

“Alright. Calm down, baby..... Why are you so upset?” He asked soothingly and I scoffed.

“ You fucked me in public and the next day  you looked like you’d been handed a death sentence, when my father suggested that you court me and then... you disappeared for two whole weeks....and now you turn up and tell me that your life is in danger. You do all this shit and I’m  not allowed to be upset? ” I said angrily.

He hesitated. 

“I merely meant it would be dangerous. I am not actively trying to die.” He said softly.

“As for the rest of it.... I’m not the same person I was a month ago Sera.... You.. You’ve managed to claw you way into my heart and the only reason I didn’t want to court you was because of what I was involved in. I told you that...the baggage I’m carrying is too much for me to even think about being with you.... That’s the only reason. “

I stared at him. 

“Are you telling me you fell for me too?”

Jungkook smirked a little.

“You were fucking me all the time without touching me. How could I not fall for that utterly shameless gaze of yours. You were your heart on your sleeve and your heart is always filled with filthy thoughts about me Sera. You make it way too obvious. “ He said teasingly. 

“I don’t want you to die.” I said petulantly. 

“That makes two of us. “ He smiled. “ What do you want, Sera?” 

“Want you.” I said automatically, too raw and upset to think too much about it.

“You have me.” He stepped closer, hands resting on my shoulder, eyes earnest and i hated how much I wanted to believe him . But heartbreak after heartbreak after heartbreak had taught me that it was all a lie. I didn’t have him and now ....there was a possibility I could never have him. 

“No, I don’t.” I shook my head, angry. “ Don’t lie to me. I don’t have you.” 

Jungkook made to touch me again but I shoved him away, hard.

“you’re angry. “ He said thoughtfully. “ I understand that. You have every right to be angry. And I’m sorry I can’t tell you what you want to hear right now...Not until this whole debacle ends. But Sera...look at me...”

I bit my lips staring at him.

“I’m here. Now. I’m not going anywhere. It’s just us. You and I. Don’t worry about what happens next. Don’t. Let’s not worry about any of that. I’m here and I’m telling you I’m yours. You have me now.” 

I stared at him, tilting my head as I took him in. 

He didn’t move , merely staring at me evenly.

“You know.... you aren’t the only one who hates being ignored.” I said softly. 

I felt weird. 

Different. 

None of the usual nervousness or anticipation but instead a sort of burning need to  take. To reach out and pin him down , force him to follow through on his promise that I  had him. 

“ I’ve been giving too much of myself to you, Jungkook ...for way too long. I think it’s time I get something back.” I whispered. 

His lips curled in a small, impish smile and he looked a decade younger. His eyes flashed with mischief and anticipation. He looked eager....desperate even and I wondered if this is what I looked like all the time with him. 

“And what would that be...my queen?” he whispered meekly. 

“You. “ I said simply. “ All of you. Your words... your pain...your pleasure... your moans and your very breath. I want to take all of it.” 

I could see his pupils dilating even from the distance between us. 

“Its yours, sweetheart” Jungkook  bowed his head gently, holding his arms out. “Tell me where you want me...how you want me...” 

I glanced around the room. Not the bed. Not yet. 

There was a very sturdy looking chair in front of the small table in the corner. 

“Put that in the middle of the room and sit down.” I pointed at the chair. 

He smiled.

“You want me to stay dressed?” He asked carefully and I nodded. 

“Very well.” He moved to get the chair, placing it in  front of the bed. He sat down carefully. 

“Anything else?” He asked gently.

I narrowed my eyes at him 

“Yes. Keep your mouth shut unless I ask you something.” I said with a smile. His eyes widened in surprise. But he didn’t protest. 

I took in the sight of him on the chair, dressed in his perfectly fitted tux , legs spread and hands on his knees, eyes wide and alert as he stared at me. Pretty red mouth shut obediently. 

I moved closer till I was standing right between his thighs. His hands came up to grip my waists instinctively and I glared.

“Hands’ to yourself Jungkook. You don’t just get to treat me as you fucking like and then touch me without my permission.” I snapped. 

He lowered his hands , letting them rest on his knees again.

“Do you want to touch me , baby?” I whispered pressed my palm to his face before letting my fingers trail up to his hair. it was soft and silky to the touch, the strands like fine silk. 

“Yes.” He answered simply. 

“Then you need to earn it.” I threaded my fingers' into his raven locks, gripping hard and yanking his head back . i stared, fascinated by the ivory length of his neck, the little mole there and i pressed a kiss to his skin. I let my teeth sink in , just a little and then a little bit more. When he shifted, I pulled back, licking the skin to soothe the sting.  His breath caught and he gasped, eyes widening a bit and a small, ‘ fuck’ leaving his lips. 

I pulled back , keeping my fingers in his hair , gripping lightly, before reaching down with my free hand. 

“You have such a pretty neck and it make me wonder what it feels for your kind...sinking your teeth into people and feeding from them. Too bad I don’t have fangs. But you know what I do have?” I winked . 

I brought my leg up, the front end of my shoe resting on the small empty space on the chair , right in the V if his legs. If he moved even a little, my toes would brush the straining length of his cock visible even through the black of his slacks. He was so hard I knew it must’ve hurt. 

I gripped his hair harder and tilted his head down to he could stare at my thighs, specifically the dagger in my garter. 

“I want a taste . Of you. Can I?” I asked gently staring at him, fingers fiddling with the dagger and unsheathing it. 

He nodded. 

“Words. Please.” I smiled.

“Yes...fuck yes.....please...Sera...” 

“Good boy.” I winked, bringing the dagger up to his neck. It was really sharp and I used the tip to lightly draw a small dash, an inch below his ear. I watched the blade tear through the flesh, light and delicate, the skin cleaving and scarlet liquid bubbling up. I chased the flow with my tongue, licking it into my mouth and Jungkook trembled in the chair, jerking forward.

The movement jolted my foot onto his crotch and he grunted, grabbing my ankle when I made to move it away, keeping my heeled foot on his clothed cock. I swallowed,  little out of my league but i stared at him, at the sheer intensity of the desperation in his eyes and I inhaled ....before gently bringing my toes down to press into his cock. 

He moaned, thighs trembling and I  dropped the dagger to the floor.

I slipped both my hands into his hair, holding his head in place as i bent low to capture his lips with mine, sticking my tongue inside his mouth while grinding my foot down into his cock. I licked into his mouth, chasing the warm heady taste of him, my fingers tightening in his hair for leverage and I wondered if he was wet.... If his cock was weeping precum, dribbling into his slacks .

I pulled back to stare into his eyes but he had them shut.

“Look at me.!” i demanded,”  wanna see you...” 

His eyes fluttered open, doe- like and warm and swimming with pleasure and I’d never felt more powerful in my life. I moved my foot slowly, in small controlled circles for a few seconds. 

“You wanna cum in your pants like this? Rutting on my foot like a little mutt? Or do you want to get on the bed and touch me like you wanted to...?” I whispered softly. 

Jungkook swallowed and his fingers tightened on my ankle. . 

“Wanna cum like this.” He said taking me by surprise. I raised an eyebrow. 

“Really... then what about me...?  I want to get fucked too Jungkook ..? How’re you gonna do that if you cum so fast.....” I snapped, gripping his hair harder and he groaned. 

“I... I’ll fuck you again... i promise.. I’ll fuck you hard and make you feel good... just..let me cum...please.. It fucking hurts...” The way his voice cracked a bit on the last few words made my heart jerk inside my ribs. I found myself fighting the urge to give him everything. 

I smiled instead, kissing his lips again.

“Thank God for fast refractory periods huh, my big bad vampire?” I bit his lips, tugging it between my teeth , before reaching between us and slipping the shoe off my foot. Jungkook trembled, gripping me for support when I pulled my foot away and I let him cling to me for a second, before dropping the shoe down and pressing my bare foot on his erection. I spread my toes over the head, pressing down just a little and he inhaled sharply when i circled my toe on the wet patch . 

“Go on them. Make yourself cum.” I whispered, leaning down and kissing him again. He grabbed my ankle with both hands, rutting up into the balls of my feet, hips thrusting up and I let him lick into my mouth, messy and wet as he chased his pleasure. 

I felt him stiffen underneath me, followed by a wash of dampness under my sole and I wrapped my arms around him, holding him close and letting him bury his face into my neck as he trembled through the aftershocks. He gripped my waist, hands shaking as he held me and i waited, worried if I should take my foot off or not. I could feel my legs beginning to cramp and I swallowed.

“You okay?” i whispered.

“Yeah.” He grunted. “ Fuck..that was...” he laughed a little. 

“We’re not done.” I said pressing a kiss to his cheeks and stroking his hair back gently. 

He hummed, gently gripping my ankle and lifting my foot off his crotch. I brought my leg down, wincing a bit. 

“Should we get on the bed?” He whispered. 

I nodded, yelping when he stood up with me still in his arms, he carried me over to the bed, dropping me lightly. 

“Strip.” I said quickly. “ All of it. Want you naked and stretched out on this bed for me.” 

He moved quickly, stepping out of his clothes with ease and I sat on the edge of the bed, grabbing the black tie he discarded. I took off my panties, leaving my dress and the garter belt on. 

 Jungkook naked was a sight i could never tire off and I watched as he climbed into the bed, lying down in the center, legs splayed slightly and hands by his side. 

“Bring your wrists together up over your head” I said quickly and he moved his wrists up , letting me tie them to the head board with his tie as i sat straddled on his chest. I was wet, sopping wet and I felt the trail of dampness I left on his rock hard abs. 

“I’m gonna sit on your face and you’re gonna make me cum. And then , I’m gonna ride you .” I whispered. 

“Fuck.” 

“That’s the plan.”

I scooted forward, resting one knee close to either shoulder before gripping the head board with one hand and the hair on top of his head with the other. Tugging him closer, I lowered my pussy onto his mouth, groaning when i felt soft pressure of his tongue against my center, licking tentatively. 

Jungkook knew what he was doing, and he licked into me with practiced ease tongue slipping into my slit, curling against the walls, before tracing circles around my clit. He used his lips to suckled on the hardened nub , following it up with quick little licks and i slipped a hand between my legs, stuffing three fingers into my cunt to get myself off faster. 

“Oh...fuck... I want... “ I could feel myself shaking and he sped up his movement, licking my lit in quick little strokes and my orgasm hit me like a wave, drowning me in pleasure. I scooted down before losing my strength, collapsing on top of him. The orgasm having knocked me right out of my headspace. I was trembling and shaking, lethargic and completely out of it. 

”Baby...you okay?” Jungkook’s concerned voice came from above and I whimpered. 

“I’m... I’m sorry.... I’m so tired... I...” 

“Don’t worry baby .. i got you. “

I heard the sound of wood splintering and blinked, glancing up. Jungkook had tugged his hands free from the restraint, breaking the headboard in the process. 

I gawked at the scene in disbelief. 

“Did you just....?”

He grabbed the hem of my dress, ripping it up and off me quickly. 

“Fuck..... want to pound you into the fucking mattress my little princess... Such a little tiger aren’t you kitten... so fierce and hot... i loved it baby...you were so good to me ...made me feel so fucking good...” He maneuvered me onto my back and i felt myself blushing at the praise, face heating up as i gripped his shoulders. 

He grabbed the back of my thigh, spreading my legs before lining himself up against my pussy. 

“Fuck...” He slid right in , knocking the breath out of me and i clung to him, whimpering as he pounded into me, hips working so fact I was sure I was going to have trouble walking for a week after this. 

I could feel my orgasm build from the sheer intensity of the thrusts, the hard thick length of his cock pounding into my cunt till i felt swollen and bruised and tender and when it finally tore through me , i was drooling a little, eyes damp with tears and fingers numb from gripping him too hard. 

Jungkook fucked me through the orgasm and chased his own each push of his hips leaving me battered and I bit my lips to stay conscious . When he finally stilled, his cock throbbing as he came for the second time, filling my insides with the wet warmth of his cum, I felt myself shake like a leaf caught in a  storm, my entire body ice cold and trembling. A thin layer of sweat coated my body and I was pretty sure I wouldn’t recover from this for a really long time

“My pretty pretty queen....” He whispered , pressing kisses all over my face as he hugged me closer and I mewled at the warmth of him. 

“Don’t leave me .” i whispered, unable to fight the tug of sleep and exhaustion. 

“I’m right here, baby.” His voice was soothing against my ear as he held me closer. 

Maybe I could have him after all. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Author’s note : okay. well. that happened.  if you don’t give me feedback this will be the last smut scene. 

jk

but please do give me feedback . i love hearing from you guys. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Taglist. : @ladyartemesia        @veronawrites   @alpaca1612     @bonyg    @unseejuice21  @sppvjj     @ggukkieland     @tae-by-tae      @blr1004      @yoongichild    @stussyjeon  @jellybearo  @sumzysworld   @carolsummerlove@bunniechoon  @unicornbabylover @preciouschimine    @baekhyunatthehaunted-house @craztextae@nikkiordonez12 

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[cantfightmoonlight]

“They could have felt pressured into it, sure, but they still did have the ability to say no. They still had their own agency in the situation and, regardless of how they became an advisor, they are one now. Wouldn’t not hearing them out be to actively deny them the opportunity to do their own job properly and, in turn, yours?” Meena countered, understanding where Poppy was coming from, but also knowing first hand how frustrating it could be when your leader purposely left you out of the conversation. “I disagree, but I also didn’t select an advisor with the intention of having a confidant in mind? I chose the advisor I did, because he was, at the time, the one clan member who seemed most likely to openly disagree with me and, whether I choose to listen to my advisor or not, how can I properly weigh out my options without hearing out the other side?”

“Listen, Poppy, I’m not going to tell you how to lead. I know you are more than capable of doing that all on your own, but as someone who used to be an advisor themself, I have to ask, what are you so afraid of?” She ask Poppy genuinely. “Poppy, I know I can be difficult. You don’t have to try to assure me I’m not, but you are right that you made a lot of assumptions, and maybe, hear me out on this, but maybe it could benefit you to hear Nesrim out too, rather than assume that she doesn’t want the responsibilities of the job?” She said softly. Only for a laugh to break from her lips at the mention of tolerances. “You’d be surprised. There are plenty of drinks that can do their fair share of damage, even on a vampire,” Meena noted coyly. “Ha, I happen to like Puck’s Luck thank you very much, but good to know Starlight Bar may be safe to come back to,” she teased. “And oh gosh. Far too much. Where to begin? What would you like to hear about? Work? Life? Love?”

─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Poppy wanted to have a relationship like that with Nesrim but maybe it was the fact that she hadn’t picked her that made Poppy feel like she couldn’t lean on her or bring a touch call to her. In fact she tried to keep Nesrim out of all things involving The Council, maybe in fear that one day the Ancestors would realize they picked wrong and want Nesrim or just to not complicate Nesrim’s life further. “Did they? Or were they forced into it because the Coven wanted them or Briar as the supreme and welp. Considering Briar would be a conflict of interest….” She trailed off as she explained the coven politics. “I think it’s different when you pick your advisor like you because that way you know they’re truly in it to help you.” While she knew that Nesrim loved the coven she couldn’t help but wonder if given the chance of Nesrim would take supreme from her. Giving a laugh at Meena’s words before raising her drink to the other woman. “Truth.” Returning the smile. “I know it ended in this but you know i s till would do it all again, well obviously differently but still. You might think you’re difficult, but you’re really not. I’m just an idiot and didn’t bother to get to know you. I assumed which was my downfall.” She’d been trying to work on that since Meena even though it was still second nature to her. “With your tolerance I’m not sure there’s enough drinks that could make it go by in a blink of an eye.” She teased. “I mean if you want to try it though you can always go there and take off my ring. See how long it takes you to get bored of it.” Lowering her sunglasses as she looked over at Meena with a smirk. “Plus spending time with me is way more fun than some lame casino. Now I don’t even steal glasses anymore so it’s like an upgrade.” Adding with a loud laugh that echoed around them before she took a sip from her drink. “So in the spirit of not assuming anything what’s been going on in your life lately?”

[ratsoh-writes]

Oh man I got another one- say everyone is monster hunting (like Bigfoot or mothman- whatever you like) who’s the one who hears a sound and just books it? Anyone have a fight reaction and start swinging? AKSKJFJAJDH WHOS THE ONE TO TRY TO RUN AFTER IT WITH THE CAMERA ALL UP IN ITS BUISNESS AKSKJDJSJS

I don’t know how you want to format this- so if you just want to put them under categories- superb; longer version? Dealer’s choice

Here’s how everyone reacts/roles during monster hunting:

Sans: in a monster hunt, he’s the guy who stays in the van to “keep watch” on all the electronics. Instead sans falls asleep of course and misses all the action. His team could straight up see a ghost and he won’t believe them lol

Papyrus: he’s more likely to go Bigfoot hunting then ghost hunting. And for some reason papyrus brought a metal detector like that’ll help? It doesn’t but he also found two dollars in lost coins so he counts it as a win.

Star: he uses superglue to line a butterfly net with salt to catch the demons in. It doubles as a blunt weapon if they fight back.

Honey: he’ll break off from the group and wind up getting lost in the woods. He’s the guy who actually meets moth man and gets directions back to the campsite from him. It’s not till days later that honey realizes that moth man wasn’t actually another monster from the underground

Red: he also stays in the van, except red is watching those radios like a hawk. He’ll be extremely disappointed and relieved if nothing happens.

Edge: he calls everyone else an idiot for going monster hunting, but winds up leading the group instead because no one else is qualified enough for it. Every sound edge hears is just a raccoon. There’s no other explanation and you can’t convince him otherwise.

Mal: he decided to wear all silver jewelry today just in case! No vampire is taking a chunk out of mal! Plus this is his sharp set of rings so it doubles as a shank.

Cash: he’s the one who breaks from the group and then terrorizes them with mysterious noises and throwing pinecones. Until something grabs cash’s shoulder, and when he turns, there’s no one there. Now he’s sprinting home.

Oak: out of everyone he’s the most likely to get possessed. Oak will freeze, loose the red eye-light, and utter some creepy-a*s prophecy before coming to. Then he just keeps walking. He didn’t even notice lol

Willow: he’s not taking this seriously and will be enjoying his nature walk until his brother gets possessed. Now willow is taking it very seriously. And they’re leaving Right. Now. Heaven help the ghost if they try that crap again. Willow will exorcise them.

Charm: he really really really hopes they find a vampire. A vampire hickey would be the ultimate trophy!! But if the vampire is a jerk, charm can always throw the garlic salt he bought at Walmart at them.

Sugar: he genuinely does not want to be here, but someone’s gotta keep charm alive. Besides, call him racist, but sugar isn’t comfortable with a vampire getting cosy with his brother. A werewolf is fine though.

Lord: he genuinely does not want to be here, but once again wine and mal have dragged lord into the strangest kind of trouble. Sneaking into a government building is more expected by him than monster hunting. Oh well, at least he knows wine is the monster guru. If they ever find one he’ll know what to do.

Mutt: he came into the forest with friends to find Bigfoot, but left with four baby raccoons. Mutt is praying to the stars that lord will let him keep them.

Wine: HE IS READY. Wine was made for this day!!! He already has survival kits, flashlights, a bible and silver cross, extra batteries in case the flashlights go out, and like 30 disposable cameras. If anyone is going to find a cryptid it’ll be him!

Coffee: he was the one to scare cash. Cash was bugging the old lady squad, and coffee didn’t want his brother to get mad at his friend. Plus it’s always fun to get one on the other prankster.

Pop: he takes to the trees. But unlike in movies, the tree branches move a lot each time pop jumps on one. With all the racket he’s making, no wonder he never gets to meet mothman.

Rhythm: it only takes one loud noise for rhythm to run all the way back home. He’s too easily spooked. You might want to pick someone else for this.

Pluto: he doesn’t believe in the supernatural at all, but pluto does believe in science! He brings a pocket guide on local rocks and plants and will turn the monster hunt into a lovely treasure hunt. He finds a pretty quarts right add to his collection

Jupiter: he’ll take to the sky as his buddies walk. If there’s anyone Jupiter is the most likely to go monster hunting with, it’s Star. Both of them have almost endless energy which can be a problem. They end up exploring too far and will be exhausted by the time they circle back.

Peaches: he’s very superstitious and definitely believes in ghosts and such. And ghosts terrify peaches. He’ll be hanging off of ranchers arm all evening. If anything pops out of the bushes, peaches will shout and start running.

Rancher: he’s ready. Rancher is equipped with a metal rod, his shotgun, his most aggressive pig, and some salt and garlic to make peaches feel better. Rancher is gonna find that thieving coyote if it’s the last thing he does.

G: he likes to tell people that he’s met ghosts during his late night drives. In reality, they were the drunk college kids who party in the woods, but ghosts make a cooler story. G is unphasable and will have a grand time telling scary stories during the hunt to rile up his teammates.

Green: he’ll absolutely refuse to go cryptid hinting in the woods. Not because of ghosts or Bigfoot. No, green isn’t scared of those at all. You see, it’s the spiders. If he walks into a spider web he’ll literally die. Green is a total arachnophobe

Snipe: occasionally Don will kick snipe out to go on a manhunt so he can get some fresh air. He usually takes butch with him on these because ace is a jerk who likes playing mind games. He’ll always convince snipe that there’s a ghost about. Anyways snipe doesn’t like ghosts

Bruiser: he’s super down to go cryptid hunting until he hears it’s in the forest. You see, bruise knows the city like the back of his hand, but the forest is uncharted territory. Bruiser will be super clumsy and steadily more and more frustrated as the night goes on. If he actually meets a cryptid, he’s real likely to fist fight it right now

Ace: he loves ghost stories and the supernatural. I’f ace was invited on a ghost hunt, he wouldn’t be able to keep himself from scaring everyone else with his creepy stories lol.

Slim: as the only papyrus who can shortcut, slim loves to use and abuse that privilege. And use it he does. The second he hears a suspicious noice, slim is grabbing his favorite group member and blipping away. This is a good way to tell if you’re the favorite friend. If it was between his brothers, he would save boss

Butch: he ain’t afraid of no ghost!! Ghosts are just floating souls right? Then all he has to do is grab them with blue magic and yeet them right back into the afterlife. Butch is disappointed in everyone who hasn’t thought of this yet.

Boss: oh hell naw. Boss absolutely is terrified cannot stand all this talk about things that don’t exist! He’ll be staying right here until you guys start to come crawling back.

.........

Maybe on second thought he better come with. You guys might get mugged or something. As a leader he has to protect his friends of course!

Rust: and chance some creepy pedo ghost trying to haunt his daycare. No thank you!

Noir: rust never pulls the big brother card, but if noir started messing with the supernatural, you bet he would. Besides noir is more then happy to play the “my legs hurt” card that get out of it. Monster hunting isn’t really his thing.

Lilac: he so very wants to keep up with Star and Jupiter, but there are some things lilac can’t do with his prosthetic leg. It would be too dangerous. Instead he mans the campsite, keeping watch for any suspicious activity and the cops.

Basil: the supernatural is one thing that basil has zero fear of or belief in. He’ll come, and just to be annoying he brings backups of everything. Flashlight keeps going out? He’s got two more and extra packs of batteries. Strange animal noises? Let’s see them make that after his dog whistle. Getting colder? Basil is ready for extra scarves for everyone

[carllisle]

What do you think are little things Esme and Carlisle love about each other but also don’t like?

aw this is so sweet im so soft

little things they love about each other 

carlisle loves how soft her hair is. he likes to play with it when she’s close to him and he runs it idly through his fingers, and sometimes they will lie together and read the same book and she turns the pages and he strokes her hair. he thinks it’s very pretty in the sun, too, when it is a thousand shades of blonde and ginger and shining in his hand 

esme loves how he looks in casual clothes. he is often very well dressed, wearing shirts and ties to work, wearing suit jackets and button up shirts in his down time. often, he only wears more casual clothes like joggers and jumpers when it’s just the two of them and she thinks he looks so different, she likes it a lot 

esme also likes seeing him in more formal attire, too, and when emmett and rosalie have their weddings they are usually very formal events when carlisle wears a full morning suit and looks very old world

equally carlisle loves to see esme dressed to the nines and with alice’s help, over the years esme gets more bold and confident with her formal attire and sometimes sports sprawling ballgowns of stunning colours like royal blue, emerald green, scarlet red. he loves how she hates the spotlight but at the same time adores the approving looks of others

esme likes watching carlisle at conferences or events when he has to speak publicly. it makes her heart full to see him captivate a room or hall or amphitheater. she loves most of all when he’s at the climax of his speech and through all the crowd he finds her face and holds her gaze. she loves that even in a room with hundreds of others, he makes her feel like the most important 

he loves her sweet dimples. god, he’d DIE for those dimples, he LIVES to see those dimples because those dimples mean she is SMILING and her smile is everything to him, everything 

she likes that he always bids goodbye to her with a kiss on the forehead. even before they were married, he kissed her on the forehead before going to work, and she would greet him at the door when he came home and she would take his coat and hat and hang them up 

he loves her ability to make anything feel like home. even if they are in a rental on holiday, she brings a blanket or their pillows or some photos, some books, some flowers, and she makes it feel like home for them both 

she likes his humour. she likes that he makes himself laugh, and that despite his age he doesn’t take himself or other things too seriously, unless they need to be taken very seriously (remember when he saw xrays of Bella’s skull and made himself laugh by wondering how many times Rene dropped her ghfdjkghdf mans got bare jokes even if they're silent) 

he likes that she is very self aware. she doesn’t have the same level of control as some of the others and she finds being around humans quite challenging - but she doesn’t beat herself up about it. she accepts it as part of her and spends time away from humans when she feels like it. when she is at college completing degrees, or working in close proximity with humans she knows her limits and is very responsible and she doesn't try to push herself. he admires that a lot because she accepts herself as she is! that’s a very powerful quality to have and although it took a long time, she loves herself as fiercely as she loves her family. he adores that about her 

he loves hearing her hum or sing. it’s usually very quiet but often when she’s doing a reno and has the property to herself she’ll bring a speaker and blast some music and sing along loudly, she’ll dance around as she’s whacking a sledgehammer through walls or ripping piping out with her hands. carlisle likes to watch her work when she’s in a good mood like that because it’s completely infectious 

things they don’t like about each other 

carlisle can be patronising. he’s improved a lot since esme and edward came into the picture, and the rest of the family, but he still has his moments 

he is also pretty old school about social issues. he is compassionate and caring, yes, but with human issues, he often isn’t proactive in seeing a person’s point of view unless it’s explained to him. esme finds this frustrating and although he understands once it’s put to him a certain way, she can find it annoying to have to explain it 

esme is reluctant to express negative emotions when it comes to herself - she can defend and stand up for others, but she can’t for herself. this also means that if he has done something to annoy or upset her, she finds it very difficult to communicate it because, often, she feels like she isn’t entitled to negative emotions. in the long run this can really weigh her down and carlisle has to be very careful and gentle when coaxing it out of her. this doesn’t irritate him, per say, but it frustrates him that she feels this way (he’s not frustrated with her, just with the circumstances that have made her feel this way). in general she isn’t good at talking about her feelings or when she disagrees with him about something big, and although he tries not to take it personally, sometimes he can’t help be hurt by that. of course, they have discussions and make decisions together but if carlisle is set on something, she finds it very difficult to disagree with him 

esme also often finds it belittling when carlisle is referred to as the head of the family, or assumed to be the leader of the coven. in a practical sense, she has as much responsibility as him and yes, they are a family who live under his name, but she is not some planet orbiting him as if he is the sun - she is his partner in every sense of the word. he might be the mouthpiece for the family but that doesn’t mean she is not the leader alongside him. this isn’t a frustration with him, just with circumstance. 

esme doesn’t like that he does not wear his wedding ring at work. although he does wear one outside of work, for hygiene purposes he doesn’t wear it in work. this leads to lots of crushes and flirtations and he is charismatic and sometimes he finds himself flirting back, not maliciously but just because that’s who he is - often easy-going, he can pick up on other people’s moods and reflect them. it’s a habit and of course it’s just a fleeting moment that doesn’t matter, and esme knows that, but it sparks jealousy in her. she knows it’s an overreaction because she probably does the same without realising, but she always wears her wedding ring so it feels different. it’s more superficial jealousy, though, not anything that really matters 

carlisle doesn’t like how esme can put their children on pedestals. whilst carlisle likes to believe in the good in people - almost anyone (because how else would he maintain good relationships with vampires who feed on humans?) - he finds it unhealthy how esme idolises especially edward. he doesn’t often say it, but he doesn’t like how clouded her vision can be when it comes to their family. 

[loudstan]

Epiphany

A collection of  NCT werewolf AU stories.

Doyoung (pt.1) (p1.2)  (pt. 3) (pt. 4)

Summary: The wolf population kept decreasing and those who were left had a hard time trying to fit  into society. Sure, people didn’t consider them as dangerous as vampires, but wolves could still sense some hostility every time they did as much as go for a walk in a public place. Thanks to wolves’ natural magical abilities, NCT (one of the remaining packs) found a safe place among witches in a town where no one knew their secret, allowing some members to finally get a job, study and interact with others without fear of being rejected.

Life seems to finally be peaceful for them… except that wolves have needs, and one of those needs is finding their mate.

Pairing: Werewolf! Doyoung x Witch! female reader

Warnings: Eventual smut, Doyoung being stubborn, a bit suggestive at the end of this chapter.

Everyone knew Doyoung had had a bad day as soon as he walked into the house and slammed the front door. At times like these, most members shy away from even making eye contact with him, and then we have fearless  Chenle, following Doyoung on his way to his room and asking all types of questions that would make him snap anytime soon.

“Aren’t you moodier than usual?” he dodged a pillow Doyoung threw his way and ignored the other members’ alarmed expressions as he continued. “Is it hard making friends with that personali-” before Chenle could finish that question Kun lifted him from the ground and carried him away reminding him that he needed to work on his timing when giving his opinion.

 Doyoung paid no attention to them as he continued looking for something he was sure he had left on his nightstand. He ran his long fingers through his hair and pulled it a little, frustrated with everything and everyone.

“Where.the.FUCK.are.my.suppressants?!” he roared at the few members who were still standing by his door. Immediately, everyone ran away except for Taeyong.

“You gave them to Haechan last month when he presented,” he replied calmly, arms crossed, leaning against the door frame as if he wasn’t facing the wrath of a wolf in pre-heat. “You can take mine,” he added and walked away.

 Doyoung sighed and followed his leader to the kitchen, where he was waiting for him.

“Sit down,” Taeyong said gently but there was no room for disobedience. “Here you go. You know my suppressants are a bit stronger than average, so next month you need to use yours.”, he offered him a small jar of pills. Taeyong’s heat was impossible to control with regular suppressants so he had these made especially for him. “And drink this. It will help you ease the pain,” he added handing him a glass of a sparkling potion.

 The leader sat down in front of Doyoung and stared at him attentively as he swallowed the medicine. Doyoung noticed the house was suddenly very quiet and he wondered if he had scared everyone to the extent they had to go out and leave them alone. To be fair, they were more afraid of Taeyong so it was probably his dominant presence and pheromones while trying to put Doyoung in his place that made everyone feel threatened. 

 “I’m sorry,” the black haired wolf finally said.

Taeyong nodded, his fingers tapping on the table and his lips pressed together becoming a thin line as if he wanted to say something but couldn’t find the right words.

“What is she like?” he finally asked, leaning forward, his eyes never leaving Doyoung’s.

“Who?” Doyoung replied but, unlike his leader, he looked away. Taeyong scoffed.

“Your mate, Doyoung,” he smirked and lowered his voice even though there was nobody else around. “The reason you are going into heat early. Your heat isn’t due until the end of next month.”

“...Do you keep a track of everyone’s cycles?” 

“Don’t you?”

“No?” 

“Hm… It comes naturally, it’s like remembering birthdays. Don’t you remember all of our birthdays?” 

“Only the members that are not annoying. That’s like three birthdays.” replied Doyoung, glad that they were changing the topic.

“Don’t change the topic,” it was like Taeyong could read his mind. “Who is she?”

Doyoung sighed exasperatedly. The older wasn't giving up.

“She is a freshman law student,” he finally said, choosing not to talk about how good you smelled and how he wished he had taken you right there before the other students arrived. “And she doesn’t know anything yet.”

“I can’t believe you are the first one to find his mate. You are so...self-controlled, so disciplined,” Taeyong’s eyes were shining because of how excited he was. One of the members of the pack had met his mate, which meant there was probably someone out there for each of them. “I guess I just thought someone more in touch with his animal side would be prone to  go through this first.”

 “Yeah,” Doyoung agreed, not as enthusiastic as the leader. “Me too…”

“So...How will you approach her?”

“Oh,” Doyoung looked at his now empty glass and whispered, “I wasn’t...planning on approaching her.”

“Excuse me?”

“I just don’t think...it’s the right moment.”

“The right moment?” Taeyong was astonished. “The moment your mate shows herself to you is the right moment, Doyoung. There is no way back, it’s either her or living a life of solitude.”

Doyoung looked up into Taeyong’s eyes, confirming that a life of solitude was exactly what he was thinking about.

 “Is she really that bad?” Taeyong couldn’t believe someone would throw away an opportunity like this.

“No. Well, I don’t know. I don’t really know her,” Doyoung’s head was spinning because of the heat symptoms and all the information he was processing. “I just never thought about this type of situation before.”

 Taeyong seemed to take pity on Doyoung’s poor state. “It’s a lot to take in, isn’t it? You should go take a rest. The suppressants should kick in in the next twenty minutes,” he gives Doyoung a sympathetic look  as the younger walks towards his room. “You need to remember something though; once a wolf finds his mate, the suppressants become less  and less effective  until they are completely useless. I can’t guarantee they will work next month.”

 “...Yeah, thanks.” Doyoung replies before closing his door. Suppressants were meant to help wolves who didn’t have a mate yet to go through their heats, but they could never compete with the pheromones gone wild when their true mate materialized. He knew that much, which made the situation more annoying.

 He took his shirt off , turned the AC on and laid down on bed trying to sleep. He was aware suppressants needed some time to work but he was feeling so hot it was unbearable.

 It was all your fault. That dumb freshman who couldn’t wait one more year until he graduated to enter university. Stupid girl. Stupid Y/N… 

His eyes snapped open. How did he know your name? You didn’t get to introduce yourself… Oh, right. He heard a guy, another freshman, call you that when he was asking you to join him for lunch.

 “Y/N…” He purred as his hand traveled down his abdomen absentmindedly. He repeated your name louder, this time his back arching and his hand tugging insistently and he knew he was screwed.

[thenixkat]

HCs and OCs for a fic

Toyomitsu family: Descended from one of the first giant mutants in Japan. Tend to have monster or animal related transformation quirks in addition to being huge. Own farmland and forested areas all over the Kansai region. The family founded the Devil’s Market yakuza group which has been extremely long-running and focused on buying and selling illicit goods, general goods, and general supplies and labor for larger people. A Toyomitsu has been either the boss or first lieutenant of the Devil’s Market for as long as it’s existed. They had to move out of their Osaka base when All For One set up shop, their current main base of operations is in Esuha city. The family also runs a franchise of butcher shops across most of Japan under the name of Oni Meats which carries a vast selection of animal protein from around the world. Nearly all members of the family have prey drives from their monstrous transformations.

Ma- Manami- (Quirk) Bugbear- transformation quirk. If the user is sufficiently fat then they can transform into a hybrid bear/reptile monster. Has great senses and night vision as well as enhanced strength. Can induce fear by staring someone directly in the eyes. -->Prefers not to be involved with the less legal dealings of the family and Devil’s Market. She’s more than capable of being as much of if not more a terrifying mob boss than her little brother. She just likes farming better. -->Generally doesn’t look people in the eyes unless she doesn’t like them b/c her terror-inducing power stays active regardless of her form. She prefers not to scare folks who don’t deserve it. -->Gets on very well with her sister-in-law, if she wasn’t married she’d steal her brother’s wife. -->Met her husband in a fighting ring. She eviscerated him with her claws and he broke one of her arms and several of her ribs. They started talking while getting patched up. -->Is about 7’10” and built like a well-padded brick house. -->Is the one who judges new recruits into the gang. Tends to have them do farm work for at least a month to get a bead on their personalities.

Pa- Noel ‘Blue Devil’ Diablo nee Toyomitsu- (Quirk) Energy absorption- emitter quirk. Can absorb, temporarily store, and redirect kinetic/thermal/electric energy. Too much energy kept in the body for too long causes reckless and impulsive behavior and hyperactivity. Devil- mutant quirk. Has devil-like horns and a tail. -->Used to be a nomad b4 settling down with his strong beautiful wife. Supported himself on his travels with fighting, gambling, handyman skills, and musical skills. -->Brings nothing to the table in his household other than his good looks, good nature, and knack for fixing things and a broad range of skills. -->Holding in excess energy makes him glow blue, especially his horns. -->Loves his family just so much. Is the goofy dad and great flirty husband. -->Loved to carry his kids until they got waaaay too big for him to pick up. Stands on a char to talk to his kids and wife on their level. B/c they are just so damn tall. -->Is 6 ft tall with a strong build with very little body fat b/c of a side effect of his quirk. He gets cold easily b/c of this and it bothers his joints.

Grandpa- Ryuji ‘The Dragon/ Dread Emperor of Giants’ - (Quirk) Dragon- transformation quirk. Can transform into an eastern dragon or humanoid eastern dragon with the severity of the transformation depending on percentage of body fat. Can also control the weather. -->Controlling the weather means that his farms never have a bad year. He does sell this service on the black market through the Devil’s Market. -->Wanted to be a hero when he was young and stopped when his mom got sent to jail for vigilantism and murder for stopping a serial killer from preying on women in the community -->Retired after a betrayal from some too ambitious underlings lead to a crippling knee injury. Still acts as a source of wisdom for the family and the gang. -->Is the go-to babysitter. -->Prefers to be in his transformed state and hates the anti-public quirk use laws with a passion. -->His full dragon form is as long as a bus and can fly. His humanoid dragon form/human form (sans antlers) is 8’5”

Grandma- Akane- (Quirk) None. -->An ex-mercenary who beat Ryuji in his prime AND in his full dragon form with nothing but some rope and her bare hands. -->Very good with guns and knives -->Takes advantage of the fact that as a plump quirkless woman she tends to get overlooked by people with powers to end fuckers. -->Was the one who got rid of the over-ambitious underlings who attempted a coup against her husband. -->Is about 5’10”, very chubby, wears glasses, and is rather soft-spoken. -->Is an icon to the quirkless members of the Devil’s Market and teaches them how to fight people with powers.

Uncle- Wani ‘The Butcher’- (Quirk) Crocodilian- transformation quirk. Similar to grandpa but crocodile instead of dragon. Has a great sense of smell and hearing as well as night vision. Is bulletproof at full strength. -->A strong proponent of community defense to the point where more people came to him about community issues than go to police or heroes. He gets problems handled permanently. -->Also heavily invested in technology and occult studies to see if there was a way to make life easier for people -->Also prefers to be in his transformed state -->Caught and ate 3 quirk diagnosing doctors in the area who were trafficking children into human experimentation. Managed to rescue most of the kids. -->Was arrested and sent to Tartarus for a string of killing corrupt cops and heroes fucking around in his neighborhood. His family often visits him. -->Fell for his wife when she bet him she could drink him under the table with the loser paying the tab. She won. -->Is about 8 ft tall and at least half as wide b4 going to jail. In prison he rapidly lost weight, the family is planning a jailbreak.

Auntie- Jay ‘Jaybird/Hummingbird’ Johnson nee Toyomitsu- (Quirk) Fast Twitch- emitter quirk. A speedster type. Can move and think at superhuman speeds for a few minutes at a time every hour. Has a very high metabolism and needs to consume large amounts of food in general. -->Was a villain before settling down. Still pulls off a robbery every now and then and has a fondness for gems. -->A Black American who came to Japan to hide from law enforcement after a heist gone wrong. -->Thinks that the way people throw the word villain around to just about any fucker committing any kind of crime while using a quirk really dilutes the word. Thinks that villains need fun costumes and proper themes and intent. -->Her sister-in-law was one of the first women she’s ever met who never criticized her eating habits and she would kill for the other woman. Ride or die friendship. -->Is constantly hungry due to her speedster metabolism and has to eat a lot. -->About 5’8” and leggy with plenty of visible muscle.

Sister- Onini ‘Oni/Gargoyle’- (Quirk) Gargoyle- transformation quirk. Can transform into a stone-skinned gargoyle with the severity of the transformation being dependant on amount of body fat. Heat Sink- emitter quirk. Can absorb, store, and release thermal energy. -->Tried to become a hero but was bullied out of school -->Named after one of her mom’s friends -->Considers cousin Kenji to be effectively one of her brothers -->Became a firefighter and uses her quirks on the job even tho it’s illegal. Not like the people she’s saving are gonna complain. -->Tends to flirt with strong women. -->Actually tends to stay partially transformed b/c she likes having a tail and passes herself off as a mutant -->If she gets too hungry and loses control she can become a heat vampire and freeze things to death while feeding on their body heat. -->Spends a lot of time helping out on the farm and her mother is most likely to pass ownership of the family land to her once she retires. -->The most likely person in her generation of the family to have biological kids. --->Keeps teasing Fatgum about when he’s gonna officially adopt his interns. -->Is about 7’5” and technically is too heavy to fly but she glides pretty well.

Cousin- Kenjiro ‘Kenji/Ken/Shuten’- (Quirk) Fast Oni- transformation quirk. Can transform into an oni with enhanced speed and strength. Transforming causes his metabolism to speed up and he burns fat to stay in oni form. Has a speedster metabolism in regular form, if he doesn’t eat a substantial meal every 5 hours he starts losing weight (fat and muscle) rapidly and is consequently always hungry. -->Would love to stay in his transformed form but can’t due to the timer. -->Is jealous of Taishiro’s height and metabolism so he makes fun of the way Tai’s face looks when he’s transformed. Also jealous of Onini’s ability to not be constantly hungry. -->Is constantly hungry from the day his quirk came in and had to take appetite suppressants during puberty to keep from losing his head and chowing down on anything and anyone in reach during his growth spurts. -->Has been mistaken for Fatgum more than once due to their similar-ish size and clothing choices. It frustrates him to no end b/c he’s way darker than Tai and prefers wearing blue or white. -->Has intentionally eaten people. Most notable example being him ending a war with a rival yakuza group by capturing, butchering, and cooking the rival leader and openly serving him for dinner at the peace treaty/gang merger. -->Strongly supports Fatgum as a hero and the two combine resources to help the community whether that is through funding housing for the homeless or getting a very good tailor the resources to make clothing for specific clientele or sending the other to deal with a situation appropriately. -->Brings a knife to a gunfight b/c he’s a superstrong speedster and a gun ain’t go do shit if you ain’t got no hands. -->Thinks Overhaul is a stupid asshole b/c it’s not that hard to get blood out of a kid or train a kid to be ok with it. -->Is about 7’10” and has heard every short joke under the sun from Tai

Fatgum-Taishiro ‘Tai’- (Quirk) Fat Absorption- Transformation quirk into an uncanny valley cartoony blob man that is as strong as the amount of body fat he has. Can absorb, neutralize, or release kinetic energy. Eyes glow in the dark like a cartoon when his quirk is active. Has a great sense of taste and is incapable of feeling sated/is always hungry. Also has an extremely efficient digestive system that breaks food down in seconds. Can also convert fat into muscle as well as generally having enhanced strength and speed while transformed. -->Was a late bloomer. His quirk didn’t start coming in till he was 8 and it took a while b4 he was fat enough for it to have notable effects. -->Preferred being in his skinnier form during middle and high school due to bullying and self-esteem issues that he didn’t work through until his early twenties. -->Started high school at 5’7” (170 cm) at 14 yrs old and was 8’2 (250 cm) when he graduated at 18 yrs old. Puberty was hell and pants were his enemy. -->Had a friend in hero support who took it as a personal challenge to make him clothing that he couldn’t destroy, that would grow and shrink with him, and that he couldn’t outgrow heightwise either. Ended up inventing ‘indestructible pants’ and making bank. -->Does not have canine teeth due to a mutation related to his quirk. Does have several rows of teeth that can replace themselves like a shark’s due to the same mutation. The fuckery of his mouth is only really noticeable if he’s ‘stretching’/pushing his transformation to its fullest extent or if someone’s feeling around inside of his mouth for whatever reason. -->Does not have a gag reflex -->Has been constantly hungry since his quirk emerged and like Kenji had to take appetite suppressants during his growth spurts to keep control of himself. An asshole classmate once replaced his appetite suppressants with appetite stimulants to see what happens. Several people ended up hospitalized, Taishiro still has nightmares about it and said asshole student actually managed to get expelled. Has a restraining order against said asshole classmate who fucked off to England to be a hero there. -->Is so glad he’s done growing. Went through clothes like water when he was a teen. -->Going several days without getting enough calories in tends to activate his prey drive and he really doesn’t like that b/c heroes shouldn’t murder or maul people. Figured out this aspect when he mauled a bully after his quirk just came in and later during a survival training exercise in hero school in which he ended up eating a live bear after several days of living on trail rations (scared his teammates for life with that one). -->A lot of aspects of his costume with the bright colors and friendly mannerisms is to reduce the intimidation factor/terrifying aspects of his appearance. He is aware that in his transformed state he’s a giant uncanny valley cartoony egg man monster that can fucking absorb people into his body. -->While transformed his limb, mouth, and eye proportions are extremely fluid and change nearly at will. If he wants to his face can be entirely mouth, which he knows is terrifying to other people. His arms and legs can rubber hose it though they aren’t as strong when he does that, does mean he can grab from angles that shouldn’t be possible. -->Was bullied as a kid for being ‘quirkless’ b4 his quirk manifested and then he was bullied for being fat. It did a number on his self-esteem as a teen leading him to prefer using his thinner form as his default. -->His thinner form was considered a heartthrob in school to his frustration. Didn’t mean he didn’t take advantage of the fact people found him hot to make money or flirt a free lunch off of someone. Was in a hot guy calendar made and distributed by one of his classmates. -->It absolutely gets on his nerves when people only find his skinny form attractive. -->After graduation, he lost muscle b/c that starter hero paycheck ain’t shit and the Hero Commission refused to let him write off food costs as business expenses. Had to save his food money for patrols leading to him losing weight. -->Participated in underground fighting rings to both make some money on the side and get better at using his quirk -->Has tried Trigger b4 and carries a small vial of the good version of it just in case he really needs it one day. (Listen, you ain’t finding shit trying to pat down fucking Fatgum) -->While transformed the absorbing things into him thing is automatic, put too much pressure on the flabbier parts of his body and you’ll just sink in. It takes effort to release things and took him a while to learn how to do this as a kid. Before he learned how to release things, he’d just turn off his quirk to get things out of him. -->Was blackmailed into working for the cops after getting caught during a raid of one of the fighting rings he was participating in. Decided to be a double agent and give away info on cases to the Devil’s Market to help them stay ahead of the cops. Also blew a decent chunk of the Osaka police force’s budget on his feeding since they wanted to use him. Ultimately this is what caused the police to break their partnership with him b/c he was too damn expensive to keep on the payroll. -->Once he became decently popular he and the Devil’s Market started funding a superhero trade school to get people who otherwise wouldn’t be able to get into hero schools for various reasons trained up and educated enough to get a hero license. -->As a hero he just doesn’t enforce the dumber laws like anti-public quirk use laws b/c who cares if people use their quirks if they aren’t hurting anyone. Also prefers not to label criminals as villains unless they’ve done some truly heinous shit b/c he knows that villains get harsher punishments in the justice system. Is also a strong proponent for rehabilitation for criminals. -->Once got caught in a scandal where he and a close friend and classmate managed to get a quirkless friend of theirs enrolled in their hero school with the help of a hacker. It took months for the school to catch on, during which said quirkless friend excelled in the hero classes. Fatgum and his friend nearly got expelled when caught. Later he helps that quirkless friend get a provisional hero license to become Japan’s first quirkless hero. -->From his family history, to his accent, to his size, to his ancestry Fatgum got torn apart by the media when he first started making waves. It took years but his image as a fun friendly beloved hero won out over ‘loose canon with criminal ties who’ll probably turn villain any day now’ -->Most of his sidekicks are folks he knew in his underground fighting days or rehabilitated criminals. Sidekicks and interns from actual hero schools are picked based on both potential as well as ‘how well can you bend the law/see in shades of grey instead of black and white?’. Essentially interning with Fatgum is a long process of unlearning propaganda and a practical application of morality on a case by case basis. -->Is aware of the hornier corners of his fandom and doesn’t know how to get them to understand that death via snusnu is not a way they want to go out (“How do you know this?” “...No comment.”) and telling them that they would def either die or require medical attention only makes them hornier. He finds it distressing and tries to avoid these people. -->Only found out that his name and birthday were puns when he was in middle school. He was not pleased. His parents had a blast since they were waiting for him to figure it out. -->When transformed his face, hands, feet, knees, and elbows are the most vulnerable parts of his body. Hence the leg armor (and occasionally arm armor). -->Due to his size, he’s got a few glaring blind spots, the main one being that he simply can’t see past his belly when looking down. He has tripped over short people b4 b/c of this. At least one of his friends from school would take advantage of this when he was in his larger form to sneak up on him.

[nerdierholler]

Wayhaven Frights Day 7: Isolation

Pairing: Ethan Langford/Adam du Mortain Rating: G Words: 1925 Warnings: none Ethan's been shut up alone inside his apartment dealing with the flu and Adam comes to check on him. It's flirty fluff, mostly on Ethan's part. Even sick he's absolutely incorrigible. Also you can read it on AO3 here.

Isolation

Fevers and chills had racked Ethan’s body for several days now. At the first sign he was feeling under the weather, the captain had ordered him out of the station, something Ethan resented in the moment but was grateful for by the time he’d collapsed into bed later. And in bed was where he’d stayed for most of the last 48 hours. It had taken him 10 minutes yesterday just to get the pot of soup Tina left on his doorstep and put it away. Afterwards he slept for 8 hours from just that small amount of exertion.

The buzzing sound of his phone grating against his nightstand woke Ethan up. He rolled over, grimacing as he peeled himself away from the sweat soaked sheets. If it was Douglas calling to check on him yet again he was going to strangle the kid as soon as he could hold his arms up for more than a few minutes. He looked at the caller ID. It was Adam.

“Hey,” Ethan croaked, the first word he’d spoken in days.

“You sound terrible.”

“I feel terrible.” He let the phone drop onto the side of his face, too tired to hold it up. “Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, can I go back to sleep?”

“Agent Langford contacted me. She’s concerned about your illness and wanted to check in on you.”

“You checked, I’m still alive. Goodbye now.”

“In person.”

Ethan groaned. He was an adult, not a child, he didn’t need his mother trying to babysit him just because he had the flu.

“Since catching your illness isn’t a concern, I offered to stop by after my patrol.”

Normally, Ethan’s heart would be fluttering at the rare moment of concern from the usually stoic leader, but right now even the opportunity of having Adam alone in his apartment wasn’t enough to overpower Ethan’s desire for rest.

“Fine.” Even if he had the energy, he knew there’d be no point in arguing if both Adam and his mother had conspired against him. “But don’t expect me to get the door, just let yourself in and try to be quiet.”

In the brief silence that followed, Ethan could perfectly picture Adam about to protest against just waltzing into his apartment and somehow invading his privacy. “I’ll be there shortly,” he said finally.

“Okay.”

“Goodbye, detective.”

“Yeah,” Ethan mumbled. Rolling over, he let the phone slide off his face and onto the pillow. In a few moments he was asleep once again.

Several hours passed before Ethan opened his eyes. When he did, he could just make out the faint traces of sunset shining through the curtains. Adam must have come by while he was sleeping. At least he didn’t wake him up in the process. It felt like that last bit of sleep might have been what he needed to start turning the corner. At the very least it meant he woke up feeling well enough to make it as far as the kitchen for some water.

He swung his feet over the side of the bed and sat up, allowing a few moments to adjust to the change in position before attempting to stand. His knees didn’t immediately buckle, so that was a good start. He shuffled over to the door, holding onto the frame for support as he opened it. And on the other side was Adam, sitting on his couch with a book, green eyes darting up to look at him.

Ethan would be lying if the thought of standing in front of Adam, clad only in his boxers, hadn't crossed his mind before. This just wasn’t how he imagined it playing out. There was usually a lot more lead up to this point and a lot less body odor on his part. As it was, the most he could manage was a lopsided grin in apology for his current state of existence.

“Shouldn’t you be in bed?”

“Don’t worry, I’m heading back shortly, just getting some water. Maybe food and a shower too, but let’s not get carried away just yet.”

Adam watched him closely as he made his way to the kitchen. Ethan had no doubt he was ready to jump up if he showed any sign of trouble. Briefly, he considered faking a stumble just to see what Adam would do but decided against it. There was too great a chance of his fake attempt becoming a real one.

Ethan filled a glass from the sink and drained it in one long gulp. Filling it again, he leaned back against the kitchen counter and closed his eyes, partially to avoid looking at Adam, but mostly because even the short walk across the apartment had made his head start to spin.

“Are you sure you’re alright?”

Adam’s voice was just a few feet away now. He must have gotten up after Ethan closed his eyes. “I’m fine.” There was a huff of disapproval from nearby. “Or I will be. It’s just the flu. A few more days of rest and I’ll be right as rain. Don’t worry about...” the last word hung on Ethan’s lips as he opened his eyes and found Adam standing right beside him, brow knotted with concern. Raising the glass to his lips, Ethan took another long drink.

“May I?” Adam asked as he lifted a hand towards Ethan’s face,

Ethan could only nod silently, not sure of what to expect next and half wondering if maybe this was all just part of some fevered dream. Adam placed his hand on Ethan’s forehead for a few moments, the touch making his whole body tingle. He made a mental note to hide the digital thermometer that was currently sitting on his nightstand.

“I don’t feel any fever but that doesn’t mean it won’t return. I think it would be best if you returned to bed as soon as possible.”

Part of Ethan wanted to immediately protest, an unfortunate side effect of having spent so much time with the vampire. In this instance however, there really wasn’t a reason for them to butt heads. It wasn’t like Ethan had been planning on going for a long evening stroll or something. “At the very least, I’m going to take a quick shower,” his stomach gurgled, “and maybe eat something, then it’s back to bed, I promise.”

That answer seemed to satisfy Adam and his face softened with relief, apparently not in the mood to fight either. “Is there anything I can help you with?”

“In the shower?” Ethan raised an eyebrow, “I’m sure I could think of something.”

Adam folded his arms across his chest, “That was not what I meant.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Ethan waved a hand dismissively as he made his way to the bathroom. Flirting with Adam when he was standing in his underwear was probably a bad idea anyway. “I’m fine. I’ll deal with my own messes in a few days, there’s nothing that can’t wait.” He turned back to Adam with a genuine smile, “Thanks for offering though.”

The hot water running over Ethan made him want to melt into the drain at his feet. If he had a list of top ten showers he’d ever taken, this would have been one of them. He didn’t have a list, but his mind quickly started to form one before he stopped himself. Adam was still in the other room and while some of those might be pleasant memories to revisit, now was not the time.

He stood there for longer than he’d intended as the aches in his body slowly dissolved until he felt blissfully limp and relaxed. He dried off and wrapped the towel around his waist then opened the door. And immediately closed it. Right, Adam. Ethan looked down at the boxers in the hamper, he really didn’t want to put them back on, even for just a few minutes to get to his room. He cracked the door just wide enough for his face to peek through.

“Hey, Adam? Can you do me a favor?”

Adam eyed him cautiously, unsure of what kind of favor the detective might ask, “Yes?”

“Bring me some shorts. Middle drawer, any pair is fine.”

For the briefest of moments Adam’s face blushed with realization at the request and Ethan couldn’t help but wonder how much Adam enjoyed the mental image that must have just passed through his mind. He hoped it was quite a lot.

In half a minute, Adam returned, holding out a pair of shorts, which Ethan quickly grabbed and put on. Finally emerging from the bathroom, he looked between the kitchen and his bedroom. Despite how much he’d slept recently, floating back into bed seemed too irresistible given his relaxed state.

“Alright, I’m going back to bed, I’ll worry about food the next time I get up.”

Instead of seeming pleased with this announcement, Adam frowned instead. “When was the last time you ate something?”

“Umm,” Ethan ran his fingers through his wet hair in thought, “I think I had some crackers yesterday, maybe.”

Adam’s frown deepened, “Last time I checked, humans required regular meals.”

“I thought you wanted me in bed?”

“I do,” Ethan quirked an eyebrow at Adam’s words, causing him to pause and clear his throat. “That is, I think you need more rest in order to recover. If you want to lay down, I would be happy to bring you something.”

“If you insist.” Ethan started to head back to his room, “Tina brought some soup by the other day, it’s in the big green dish in the fridge, just put some in a smaller bowl-”

“I remember how to make soup,” Adam interrupted.

“Two and half minutes in the microwave should be enough. Do you know how to work the-”

“Yes, I know!”

Ethan chuckled to himself as he pulled back the duvet and slipped between the crisp sheets. This felt heavenly, hopefully he could stay awake long enough for Adam to bring him his soup.

Wait. Ethan rolled over and sniffed his pillow. These were clean sheets. Had Adam? While he was in the shower? Ethan closed his eyes with a happy sigh. As frustrating as it could be trying to figure Adam out, there was nothing in the world like those times when he showed how much he cared.

“Here, it’s hot,” Adam said, as he set the bowl down on the side table.

Ethan sat up and grabbed it, enjoying the feeling of warmth in his hands. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Adam’s voice was surprisingly soft and the smile that played on the corners of his lips didn’t escape Ethan’s notice.

“I really appreciate you coming by. I don’t think I realized how nice it would be to see someone again.” To see you again.

“It was no trouble, Ethan. I was glad to be of assistance.”

“Care to fill me in on what I’ve missed that last couple of days? Just while I finish this,” Ethan added, “then I’ll be a good boy and go back to sleep.”

The smile Adam had been trying to suppress finally broke through and he leaned against the dresser, telling Ethan about the latest news from the warehouse. Ethan wanted this to last, the comfortable conversation. He ate as slowly as possible and the last few spoonfuls were cold by the time he got to them. But try as he might, his body got the better of him and it wasn’t long after Adam carried the empty bowl away to the kitchen that Ethan was fast asleep once more.

[paint-lady]

hey, if you don't mind, i want your advice: i'm going to be running a chronicle set in chicago (i am using the chicago by night 5e book) for players who are new to vampire for the most part in a few days and i can't For The Life of Me to come up with an interesting chronicle hook (yeah i have read the hooks in the book). any ideas/suggestions/general advice?

Hiya! I could talk your ears off on how I write my chronicles- so hopefully I have taken all my processes and reduced it down to a lovely World of Darkness jam. 

Here are two good hooks I just came up with- feel free to use them! The third is what I got for my first chronicle, and I just think its a narrative that works very well for new players.

>Option 1: Guilty Until Proven Innocent ”Chicago is a series of paradoxes and transitions, of ever changing paradigms and whimsy,” (CbN 47). Have your coterie be newbies to the city. Ask why they have come to Chicago. Power? A new start? Perhaps this is a political arrangement between the clan of one city with another. Whatever their reason, they have arrived right when a Primogen vanishes- and guess who is first on the suspect list? The fresh faces on the streets >:) The coterie, having barely settled, has to suddenly prove their innocence. And finding evidence lets them uncover something much more sinister....

This one is ideal for new players as it sets everyone on an equal footing. Even if they create a character that has been a vampire for 50+ years and has amassed several dots of influence, herd, status- whatever, they are still new to the city. And being new means you have to start all over again. (This may be frustrating to a player that invested all those points at character creation- but it is on you as the ST to make sure they have opportunities to use those dots and on them as a player to think cleverly.)

Starting the tale off with defending their innocence is actually a very engaging questline. It effectively sets the stage for the political powerhouses. It lets new players know there are rules- and those in power are watching. It also sets the consequences for failure. Understand that the Camarilla probably isnt going to outright kill the coterie if they fail- always make the punishment just harsh and grueling enough to make final death feel like a mercy. Failure isn’t the end of the story.

For new players- I would be lenient with the time it takes for them to find evidence. But within reason. Think like your Prince and Seneschal. Do you really want this coterie running around for a full week, unsupervised, making more messes? No. You don’t. (You might wanna send an npc with them to watch and keep em out of trouble. Your npc is also able to vouch for them.)

This story lends itself to be a Camarilla Chronicle very easily. You can go Anarch, but an Anarch leader suddenly vanishing and blaming the newbies is much more quickly going to end with blood spilled. Thank your local sweeper.

> Option 2: Containment Breach Blacksite 24 (Loresheet on page 264) was temporarily occupied by Operation Firstlight. It has now been transformed into a medical research facility. While most kindred of Chicago know of Blacksite 24, they have zero clue what happens inside other than bad news for them- the less they know the safer they are. The chronicle opens with a car crash. The captured soon-to-be coterie was in transit to this feared medical facility. The crash did kill the driver and the agent in charge of transporting them. The crash did not fully break their restraints, but it did enough damage that first responders are freaking out. They are all at hunger 3. The chronicle is a hunt. The coterie should have some knowledge of what had happened to them and how lucky they are to have escaped. Operatives are already on their way to recapture them. They must hide in this city- and do their best to survive and stay out of sight.

The point of this story is to invoke dread. I highly recommend one player either being a thin-blood (or an npc) with the Daydrinker merit, or a player to have a ghoul. If they decide to not have a daywatch, they increase their chance of being found.

This story also sets up a feeling of desperation. They would be willing to take shelter from anyone- anyone. Eventually the other kindred will catch on that these guys are on the run from something. Any sane kindred would toss them out to protect themselves. A compassionate kindred who takes them in will suffer the final death as a compassionate fool- or join them in captivity. 

This story lends itself to be an Anarch Chronicle much more easily. This is the time the Camarilla will likely be a bit more paranoid and bloody. While they might not outright kill the coterie- they will send them somewhere that is a death trap. They wont dirty their hands with this. After all, you do not want any evidence to fall into the hands of the SI if you hired the hit.

This story is ideal for newbies without background merits. No allies, no influence, no herd. Let them take more mythic merits such as bloodhound and unbondable (Consider finding some from V20 too! There are some really awesome supernatural merits!). These powers would certainly be more fascinating for a medical team to study- not how many instagram followers they have. This kind of story also lets your players feel more powerful- but out of the loop. It lends itself to them forging alliances and getting caught in one-sided favors a lot more quickly. 

The challenging aspect of this story is that is starts with a masquerade breach. New players may not know how to handle such a blatant breach and thats okay. I would let the crash slide- and the Camarilla in the background handles it. Breaches after the crash need to be handled with proper consequences. 

> Option 3: New Blood This is what my storyteller did to me and my first time players (and its also very close to the plot of CoNY). We were shovelheads. Embraced to make a huge mess for the Camarilla and die quick deaths. We were all thin-bloods. The last thing the pcs remember is the sweet rush of ecstasy washing over them, before clawing out of the earth and driven mad by an insatiable hunger. The thrill of the hunt, and the sweet, warm blood on their tongue, nothing was going to be better. All three will awake next to each other, surrounded by the corpses they drank dry in their frenzy. What a way to play the name game! The players have three nights were they figure out their new condition or coverup their tracks (if they think to do it). They contend with their hunger and hatred of sunlight, wrestle with accidentally drinking their family member dry. After three nights, the Scourge comes knocking. Rather than outright killed, they are dragged to Elysium. For some reason, they are adopted by an upstanding member of the Camarilla- or the Prince orders a political rival care for them (hoping they fail). The players are the errand childer of this kindred, and slowly they figure out what they have been gathering through all these errands....

This one lets the characters all have the moments where they discover their disciplines and powers- and bestial tendencies. It naturally flows to allow players to slowly discover the rules and mechanics as well. All players must play fledglings for this tale. 

This story is much more a personal tale than a political one. Eventually politics makes its way in...but it does not have to be a focus. 

This story has less of a hook and more of a “Figure it Out” survival mode until the errands begin. The story is how the character’s react to their condition. It very quickly lends itself to a narrative of finding your own path in the night, rather than mindlessly obeying.

So here are a few questions that I ask myself when crafting a chronicle story:

1. What kind of story do you want to tell? Not asking for a plot hook, I’m asking for a general concept. Is it a tale of good triumphing over evil? (Not necessarily a wrong answer, but if you wanna play good guys...vampire is not the best game for that). Is this a chase? Is this a race against time? 

2. How do you want your story to make your players feel? Do you want to tell a story that invokes as much dread as possible in your players? Do you want them to feel ultra powerful? Vampire is both a power fantasy and a dread inducing game- it can do both. 

3. If you don’t know what kind of story you want to tell, switch gears to worldbuilding. CbN has so many NPCs with the rumors already written for you. Its your setting, perhaps switch two rumors around with prominent NPCs. Decide which ones are true in your setting- Maybe Primogen Annabell did kill her predecessor. Perhaps the Lasombra are attempting to infiltrate the Camarilla as everyone fears- but no one is able to prove it or stop it. Deciding what is true, false, and undetermined usually blossoms into hooks and stories worth investigating.

4. What is a historical event of the city that the Vampires would have endured/ scars would have remained? For example, in my chronicle set in Richmond, the tale of the Richmond Vampire is true. Depending on who you ask, it is the Camarilla’s best or sloppiest cover up. Have the chronicle coincide with the events and the coterie live through them. No one said this must take place in 2021- you can do 2015, 2008, -hell go back the 1990s. Its actually super fun if you set your chronicle in the 90s and your Malkavian is using phrases from 2020.

5. One of my things I do when writing scenes and moments is play Dread by myself. Dread is a role playing game played with jenga. There are no dice rolls, if you want to attempt something, you have to pull pieces from the tower. If the tower falls, you die. If there is a moment where I really really really dont want to pull from the tower, though the reward for succeeding is so so sweet- I keep the moment. If its really easy to shrug and go eh, I can live without performing that action- go back and rewrite it. If you have no incentive to pull from the tower, why would they?

6. Examine your player’s desires and ambitions- and do not neglect them in your chronicle. The plot wont magically allow all of them to achieve their ambitions. However, provide opportunities for them through the plot. Its on them to strive for what their character wants- its on you to make them struggle but have the path to get there. For example, if a player wants to become a Baron, provide a political opening. Perhaps then by announcing their power, they have made a bigger name for themselves and it has become harder to hide. Perhaps by doing this, the kindred they owe a favor is suddenly much more vocal about it. 

Here are some suggestions for handling new players:

> You are going to have to handhold them through some things. New players to vtm won’t be able to see the cascading political web and how the consequences of their actions will ripple into waves. I like to use Wits+Insight and call it Common Sense. Common Sense was a merit in V20- and damn is it WONDERFUL. All they need is just 1 success (they can take half) to have you explain how whatever plan they just thought of is actually a TERRIBLE idea. 

> Do your RPG consent list. Know what is safe to discuss and what is off the table. I highly recommend utilizing something my Storyteller used for my first chronicle, and subsequently I use for all my ttrpgs now: Invoking the Veil. The metaphor is that you are slowly lessening the intensity of a scene- as if raising the opacity or looking through layers of fabric. Eventually, there is too much fabric and you can no longer see the scene. If something is too intense, the ST or the player may announce they are invoking the veil. Reduce the scene by lowering music, speaking in third person, or avoiding heavy descriptors. You can reduce it further to just dice rolls. Role play stops, and the consequences of the scene are solely dictated by the dice. Or fade to black. If a player is repeatedly fading to black on something- ask to talk to them about it. Clearly something is too intense and they are not having as much fun as they can. Debriefing after a session is also a good idea. Do something silly! Share and check all the memes in the discord chat. Its important to make sure you and your players know that at the end of the night- its all just a game.

> I find the sabbat and new players don’t tend to mix well. You may absolutely still use the sabbat in your chronicle! But the dogma and philosophical ideals of the sabbat can be offputting and downright upsetting to a first time player. You may absolutely build to it- that’s what I did to my players. And in the moment of the truth, they chose to cling to humanity. 

> The taking half mechanic is your friend! V5 says players may announce how many dice they are rolling- and if the dividend is greater than the DC- they auto succeed. This streamlines play. Of course, you as the Storyteller may say this is a roll they are not allowed to take half on. Usually these are contested rolls (combat).

> The three turns and out rule keeps combat intense but not too lengthy. It actually streamlines encounters super super well. 

> My ST used a phrase, “The quickest way to kill Cthulhu is to give it a healthbar.” If Methuselahs and Elders are involved in your game- avoid giving them stat blocks. This cultivates a conflict that new players must find a way to overcome without brute force combat. It makes them think critically and defy these super old antagonists through narrative means. This also gets the notion out of your and their heads, “if they die, its over.” Its never that easy. Never.