#[ There was no sprite of her thinking of Froze with love ]

[redheadspark]

Hawuu could i request prompts 9. standing up for a loved one and 42.realizing their feelings for Druig (if two prompts aren't allowed you can pick 42) thanks

A/N - Hawuu! Thanks for requesting this, dear friend! I love this for Druig, and I'll do number 42 for you! Thanks again!

Hold

Summary - Druig had a hold on you, whether you knew it or not

Warnings - Just a hint of angst but mostly fluff

“Let’s go for a swim,”

“What about Ajak and her meeting?  And you know I can’t swim!”

“You can still put your feet in and sit near the edge, and that meeting is not for another hour or so, we can slip away for a quick swim at the lake, don’t you think?”

You grabbed your bag and followed Makkari out of the Domo, Makkari wishing to walk since running wouldn’t be as fun.  The weather was nice and too warm for your liking to hide away in the Domo all day long, and since there was going to do with the humans that morning the Eternals were a bit restless.  So Sersi and Ikaris went off together for a walk, Kingo went to the market to shop and mingle with the humans, Gilgamesh took Thena off riding along the riverbanks, Phastos worked on some inventions in his lab, and Sprite stayed behind in her room to read some of the books Makkari got her.  

Druig ventured off earlier that morning before the heat came in, which was coming for him since he was mostly one to be on his own and ponder his thoughts and predictions about the humans.  You knew he liked the solstice most of the time, but not always.  He was more hardwired to think deeper and more sensible when it came to the human race, not that the others didn’t.  But with how he would talk to you about wishing there to be peace, wishing to stop all the hurt that they would inflict on one another, you knew how deep his heart and soul was.  

It was so easy to fall into a friendship with him, yet in the back of your mind you wondered if it would go past that.

Makkari was humming along as you two were talking together along the that you knew would lead to the lake.  With the sun beating down on the back of your neck and the sweet smells of the wildflowers that already bloomed, you were looking forward to unwind. Some of the recent tasks and jobs you had to do for the humans in their city seemed a bit stressful and uneasy, especially with a couple of near death experiences with Deviants.  But thankfully, you were going to leave the city in a few days.  It was both bittersweet and celebrated since you all grew to love the humans there and some of the hidden gems.  

Including the very lake you are going to.  

Once the lake was in sight, you saw Makkari have a pep in her step as the clear blue waters was seen over the little hill.  You were revived too, thinking that a dip in the lake would be the best relief on a warm day.  Yet you never realized that you two would have company, since you froze in your spot on the path from seeing a singular person in the lake.  Instantly you knew who it was: the ivory skin was glistened in the water, the highlighted brown hair against a pale forehead, and bright blue eyes that almost mirrored the same shade of the. Lake water.

Druig.

He was still wearing his dark undergarment pants while he was swimming, his muscular back was on display as he was moving back and forth in the lake and going stroke for stroke.  Of course he was your friend, all the time he was your friend and someone you could rely on with your own troubles and needs.  Then again, you always had the small possibility of liking him as more than a friend.  

Knowing how massive his heart was, now kind he was to the humans that he spoke to, how self assured he was with his beliefs and how he felt about him, that were all great attributes that loved and adored him.  Plus it never helped that you saw him as handsome.  Even now as you were watching him swim, freely and with nothing hindering him, he looked almost heavenly in the blue waters.  

Did you like him?

“Hey!  You two comin’ to join me for a swim?” You were snapped back into reality as you heard Druig call out from his spot in the water.  

Sorry to break up your solo time, Makkari signed as she walked down the path to the edge of the lake Druig waving her off.

“It’s fine!  Come on in, the water’s nice!  Plus it’s the once place Ikkaris honest know about, get the golden boy can’t swim like you ladies can,” Druig joked as Makkari was now to her own undergarments.  You made it to the edge too, slowly getting down to your undergarments wig ease as Makkari was not waddling not the water.  You could hear her sigh in relief as she was getting now calf deep in the water and then to her waist.  Once you are down to your undergarments which included pants and a shirt, you dipped your toes in to feel the sudden chill of the water.  It made you shiver a bit, and you look out to see there was a massive shallow area in the lake before it dips in deep.

Druig was laughing while Makkari was swimming circles around him, her own smile was just as radiant as the lake water while you were going in a bit deeper and deeper, now about knee deep and right at the edge of the shallow area.  The small little dip that dropped off was right in front of it, and although you were an all powerful Eternal who had more strength in your fingers than any human, you were still afraid to attempt to swim.  After one nasty attempt to try and learn, all thanks to Kingo, you decided to wait to learn.  Sure it seemed childish, but you didn’t care, you weren’t ready.  Maybe you’re still not.

“Hey, want me to hold ya?”

Druig swam up to the small edge, hovering a bit in the water as he was looking up at you with his glistened hair against his forehead and his eyes beyond bright.  You blinked, fiddling with your fingers.

“What?” You asked.

“I’ll hold ya if you want,” He explained, sounding calm and gentle with you.  He knew you never swam and you had some fear swimming, he was even mad at Kingo for almost letting you drown when you were trying to learn from him, but Druig himself never pushed you into learning.  It was one of the moments that you never forgot about Druig, his heart for you and making sure you are okay.  This was the same way.

“Here, come sit,” he said, gesturing to the ledge that was under the water.  Carefully you sat, feeling the water now to your waist and your feel dangling over the edge and in front of Druig.  You felt your heart get quick, your hands shaking a bit from being on the top of the water.  Druig sensed it and moved, lacing your fingers together and being palm to palm.  Instantly, you felt his skin along yours, almost like his rhythmic heartbeat that he was pressing against your own hand.

“Look at me,” He said soothingly, your eyes going from his joined hands over him.  He was staring right into your eyes, looking rather calm and sincere with you as he spoke again, “I won’t let ya go, I promise.”

Nodding your head, you took the first moving and slid into the deep water.  Your heart plummeted and you were about to gasp out when an arm was instantly around your waist.  Your arm was along his shoulder, clinging to you for a moment since you were now hovering in the water and Druig was holding you up.  You should feel fear, genuine fear since the last time you tried this, you almost drowned.  But this was different, this was another feeling.

Safe.  You wee safe.

“There.  See?” Druig said as he was still holding you close to him and giving you a warm smile.  That’s when it hit you, in the right moment as you grinned back at him.  All of those fleeting feelings that you were harboring and wondering were true, all of those times you two spent together on the Domo or out with the humans, they were making sense now as Druig was helping you in such a vulnerable moment.  The fear was gone, the worry and wondering was non existent, what you were feeling for Druig was true.

That’s when it hit you: you did like him.  Really liked him.  Oh…

“Thank you,” You replied lightly, seeing him grin get a bit bigger in return.  Yeah, yeah you had it bad for the mind controller. 

A splash got on both you and Druig’s faces, you both looking over to see Makkari grinning as she waved.

“Aye, that’s not fair Makkari!” Druig said in a playful tease as Makkari rolled her eyes.  You had no idea that Druig was thinking that same thing as you were as he held you close, that he too liked you for so long but was trying to figure out his own feelings and where his heart stayed. If he could, Druig would hold you just a close for as long as he could since he knew you felt safe with him.  

And neither of you knew that Makkari already knew of your feelings for one another.  She simply rolled her eyes and swam away, wondering when you two will ever get together. 

The End

@a-lumos-in-the-nox @botanicalbarnes @heartofwritiing

[hannibals-favourite-meal]

What about I could do this all day but with Arthur curry, where he is being flirty and complimenting the reader all day, even she and others are like he can't keep going, and he does and maybe it ends with him taking reader out on a date and then she starts flirting with him all day

.⋆｡Keep Going｡⋆.

Arthur Curry x plus size reader

Sick of Arthur’s relentless flirting, you strike back.

Warnings: flirting, idiots in love, fluff, pick up lines are from google

WC: 730

Minors DNI

3000 Follower Celebration

He was desperate, charming, delusional and all around annoying but there was no way you could hate him, he was just too endearing. Arthur had been following you around the Justice League tower all day like a lost puppy, showering you with any compliment he could think of. 

“I’d bet you’d look great dressed in kelp.” You came to a screeching halt and whipped around, brow raised at the huge man who was walking behind you. “Y’a know when we get married, you’ll have to wear something seafood-like and I think kelp would compliment your skin perfectly.” Your face, which already seemed permanently heated from all the attention, got even hotter.

“Oh my god.” You groaned, hiding your face behind the file you were holding.

“Actually, I think coral might look better on you, maybe a starfish or two.”

“Arthur!” You hissed, hyper aware of the fact that you were in a building full of superheroes who did not appreciate fraternisation in their League.

But Arthur just smirked as he leaned against the wall only a few inches from you. “C’mon, just let me take you out already.” He practically begged, a stark contrast from his casual stance. 

As hard as you might try, you couldn’t resist those big amber eyes looking down at you like you were his whole world. Sighing, you gave him a nod. “Fine, one date! Just one!” Immediately his back straightened and he wrapped you in a tight hug, making you yelp.

“You better go put some socks on princess cause I’m about to knock them off!” And with that, he bounded away, chattering to himself about what kind of date he would take you on.

“Are you sure about picking that one? I know lots of better men and women that would do anything for a chance with you.” Diana practically materialised by your side, gazing disapprovingly at her teammate. 

You chuckled. “Well, he is kind of cute.”

——————

It wasn’t just one date, it was five. Barely 10 minutes into your first date (he brought you to the fucking aquarium) you were lost forever.

The flirting never stopped either, in fact, it somehow got worse. Every second sentence that left his perfectly kissable mouth was either a compliment or some lewd joke that was so bad it even made Batman blush. So you were expecting Diana to come crawling to you, begging it to stop for the sake of everyone else.

You started that morning, as soon as Arthur stepped from the zeta tube. You wolf-whistled and gave him a slow once-over. “Damn baby, if you were a Transformer you'd be Optimus Fine.” He froze comically, his eyes wide, his jaw dropped open in shock. He pulled himself together quickly and wrapped your wide hip in a bruising grip, smashing his lips to yours.

As Arthur scoured the fridge in the League kitchen several hours later, you walked into his peripheral vision and smirked as your own gaze fell onto his pert backside. “Do you drink a lot of Sprite? Because you look so-da-licious!” His head whipped around with a sickening click.

“What did you just say?” You shrugged.

“You heard me, sexy.” He groaned as his eyelids fluttered. You winked at him and turned to leave, abandoning Arthur with his little ‘problem’.

The conference room was dead silent as you all looked over your individual assignments with the occasional shuffling of papers or the sound of someone clearing their throat. Your new boyfriend sat beside you, one large hand planted firmly on your plump thigh, his fingers gently rubbing circles into the soft skin. 

Just as you finished off your reading a deafening sound came from the man beside you as he violently sneezed into his elbow. Immediately, everyone looked his way. “I would've said "God bless you" after that sneeze, but it looks like he already has.” Now all eyes were on you as you smirked evilly. They all groaned collectively at the bad line. 

Arthur’s hand tightened on your leg in warning. You squeezed his hand in return. “Stop.” He muttered under his breath as the others returned to their work, Diana smiling suspiciously.

“Stop what?” You asked dumbly.

“You will run out of pick-up lines eventually and when you do, I’ll be there.”  “Oh love, I could do this all day.” You retorted with a kiss to his bearded cheek.

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[ghxstfacesgf]

Liquid Courage: Ethan Landry x fem!Reader

Warnings: none really, slightly heated at the end

Note: I have not written anything in forever so apologies in advance. This was just a thought that I let spiral. Requests open <3

Part two here

•

“I think it’s going to rain tonight,” you said to the group of girls gathered in Sam, Quinn, and Tara’s apartment.

“Clear skies and 75, y/n. But nice try!” Anika quipped as she tossed you a vibrant orange top. You playfully gagged and tossed it back in her direction. The girls had somehow roped you into attending some frat party tonight. The weather was your final plea to get out of it. Did you absolutely hate parties? No, but tonight you just weren’t in the mood. You had been practically drowning in schoolwork and your job. All you wanted to do was crawl into your fuzzy bedsheets but, your friends wouldn’t allow that. “Ethan will be there.”

You tossed a glare in Anika’s direction. She loved to tease you about the fluffy haired boy and his obvious crush on you. You couldn’t deny Ethan was cute. There was just something about his dorky persona paired with how painfully adorable he was. But, he was a horrible flirt. In fact, he froze when around you. He wasn’t exactly the type of guy you went for. So you left it be. It was only a silly crush anyway and Ethan clearly wasn’t planning on pursuing it.

Finally you decided on some cargo pants (your favorite pair) and a slightly cropped black top. As you made the walk to the party you thanked yourself for choosing comfortable shoes. Once you arrived, the smell of alcohol invaded your nose. It seemed that you all arrived late considering the drunken state of just about everyone else. Mindy and Anika split off quickly from the group, while you followed Tara into the kitchen to get a drink.

“This is exactly what you need,” Tara stated as she poured what appeared to be Malibu in your cup. She topped it off with some sprite and slide the cup to you. She knew that as soon as you had some alcohol in you, you’d enjoy yourself. God you hated how right she was.

You took a drink and your face immediately twisted, “Jesus Tara, is there any sprite in here at all?”

“A drop or two.” She winked and you laughed. That’s when you noticed a certain pair of brown eyes on you.

“Making me a drink T?” Chad slide in right next to Tara, his arm around her shoulders. She replied with some sarcastic comment before placing a kiss on his cheek. You were more interested in the boy straggling in behind Chad. Ethan’s eyes stayed on you. Did he not realize he was staring? He didn’t, not until your eyes met his. Those puppy dog eyes darted down immediately as he pretended to fix his polo shirt. The bright lights in the kitchen made it so you could see the red hue cover his cheeks. A small smile played on your lips as you brought your cup to them again. Almost without realizing it, you were walking towards Ethan.

“Enoying the party?”

“I am now,” Ethan replied, and you could immediately tell Chad had given him a shot or two. He wasn’t drunk, but definitely had enough liquid courage to be flirting with you right now. With eyebrows raised, you took a step closer.

“Is that so? What makes it so much better now, Landry?” You couldn’t help but notice how cute he looked all red-faced. His curls were all disheveled and a few stuck to his forehead from the heat. Maybe this party could be fun after all.

Ethan leaned in closer to you, partly because the music was so loud and partly because he wanted to smell your sweet vanilla perfume, “no particular reason.” The smirk that played on his lips and also his tone made butterflies erupt in your stomach. You’d never seen Ethan be flirty, especially with you. His eyes flashed to your lips for just a moment and you thought he was leaning it when out of nowhere, Chad appeared between you.

“Dude, come on! There’s a girl over here I’ve been hyping you up to!” A look of annoyance spread on Ethans face at Chad’s interruption. He let out a few protests before a drunken Chad lead him away. You on the other had were left slightly annoyed and wildly confused at what just happened. You were also confused at the slight twinge of jealousy you felt when you saw where Chad was leading Ethan to. A beautiful brunette girl whom you’ve never seen before. You downed one shot and then another before setting off to find at least one of your friends. You definitely needed to get drunk after that encounter.

You ended up finding Anika and Mindy and decided on being a third wheel for the remainder of the night. It sure beats third wheeling with Chad and Tara, who were still with Ethan. The brunette lingered around him for the rest of the night as well. And as the night progressed she became more touchy. First his shoulder, then his arm, then his chest. And with every advancement you downed another shot provided by Anika. She asked you a few times what was bothering you and you wouldn’t dare tell her that you’re actually jealous over Ethan Landry. Denying your feelings had gotten you far enough. She could guess though, following your heated gaze over to Ethan and the brunette girl.

Finally, she was tired of your sulking and dragged you out to dance. Mindy didn’t mind as she herself was too high to move off the couch and she knew you and Anika had been close friends for years. You both pushed past the people around you, giggling out apologies. She grabbed your hand and you two began to dance. You’d almost forgotten about Ethan until your eyes glanced over and met his. He was staring right at you and this time, his eyes didn’t divert. In face they were darker now. The brunette girl still hung close to him talking about some nonsense that was he was not paying attention to. His eyes remained on you and only you. “Stop looking,” Anika scolded, spinning you around so now your back was to Ethan. A devilish grin grew on her face. “I knew you liked him, I KNEW!”

“I do NOT like him.” You said sternly, still swaying your hips to the music. Anika rolled her eyes. “Y/n.” “Anika.” “Y/n.” “Anika.” “Y/n.” “Anika! I do not like Ethan Landry!” Anika stopped dancing, her eyes flickering from you and then past you. You turned to see none other than the topic of conversation right behind you. When did he get there? Ethan chewed on the inside of his cheek, his eyes on the floor. You felt your stomach drop. He looked like you just murdered his puppy and you felt horrible.

“Ethan, I-“ you started towards him and he took a step back. He lifted his hand in the air before mumbling, “it’s all good y/n.” And with that he turned disappeared into the crowd. Great. You didn’t know what was going on with you. Maybe it was the liquor, but you couldn’t blame it on that completely. You’d been struggling with your feelings for awhile. In an attempt to save yourself from Anika’s “I told you so” speech you had hurt Ethan. All you wanted in that moment was to explain.

You searched the crowd and asked multiple people if they’d seen Ethan. You finally found Chad and he let you know that he’d seen Ethan rush upstairs. You followed. Just about every door upstairs seems to be locked until you got to the one at the end of the hall. You opened it slowly, not sure exactly what you’d see. You were relieved to find Ethan sitting on the bed, head in his hands. “Hey E…”

His head shot up at the sound of your voice. You could’ve crumbled right there at the sight of him. “Hey! S-sorry I ran off I just had headache. Never letting Chad make my drinks again,” he laughed shaking his head. You sat down on the mattress next to him. Allowing the alcohol you’d consumed earlier take over you started, “Ethan I was lying. I do like you.” You could heard his breath hitch, relieved and confused by your words. “You don’t have to say that to make me feel better, y/n.” He shook his head and started to stand up. You grabbed his arm to stop him. His was lot more muscular than you thought. Damn those butterflies again.

“I’m not just saying that. I like you, E. I like that you get all nervous around me.” You removed your hand. His eyes flickered down to you as he was still standing. “I don’t know what’s going on with me tonight but, what happened in the kitchen and on the dance floor…” you buried your head in your hands and sighed before looking up at him again, hands brushing your hair back. Suddenly, you were the one who felt nervous. The way he looked at you and you swear you saw a small smirk. The same one from the kitchen earlier. “Maybe I should just go, you obviously wanted to be alone and we’re both a bit intoxicated-“

You were abruptly cut off by Ethans lips on yours, pushing you both down on the bed. His lips tasted like a mixture of tequila and mint. The kiss was hungry and fast paced, you almost felt like you couldn’t breathe. You reciprocated, tugging at the curls at the nape of his neck. Desperately trying to bring him closer to you. Your bodies intertwined perfectly imperfectly, a mess of hands grasping at each other’s bodies. He pulled away slightly, his eyes dark like before. You’d never seen Ethan like this before but you certainly weren’t complaining. He examined you like the for a moment. Desperate for him. “Is this okay?” He asked breathily and you nodded, afraid to let any words out in that moment. His lips were on yours again and then they travelled down to your neck. “I like you too, by the way,” he mumbled into your neck. You giggled at the muffled sound before flipping over that you were on top of him now. “You’re such a dork, Landry,” you said in almost a whisper before leaning down slowly. He gulped, thinking of all the times he’d dreamt about this moment. You brought his hands up to cup your waist. Ethan’s grip immediately tightened before your lips met once again. This time it was slower, more passionate. And just as you both wanted more, the door swung open.

“Ethan! We gotta go, cops!” Chad shouted hastily before realizing Ethan wasn’t alone. “Oh shit… y/n? You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me!” Ethan grabbed the nearest pillow and threw it at Chad. “Shut up dude!”

Chad dodged the pillow and tried to calm him laughter down. “Well, lovebirds we have to go. Y/n the girls are looking for you.”

You sighed as Chad left the room. “Well we better go, I don’t really feel like getting arrested tonight,” you mumbled giving Ethan a small peck on the lips before hopping off him.

“I’ll take my chances. This is worth it.” Ethan grabbed your hips pulling you onto him again, smiling. The way that smile almost had you convinced.

“We can’t make out in jail, E.” You gave him one last passionate kiss, “we can resume this later.” And with that you practically pulled him out of the room and then the house. You met up with the group later and tried hard to avoid Anika’s incriminating gaze.

The party was most definitely worth it.

[messinwitheddie]

Little Flint fidgets in his seat as he waits for his tallest to tell him a story from his past.

Cini shifted uncomfortably. He struggled to think of an appropriate story to tell a smeet or even a smeet-appropriate way to go about telling a story...

The tallest exhaled a sigh of defeat. He decided to just improvise. This little Flint was mature enough to sneak past the smeetery staff and Cini's imperial guards to approach him for story requests. It was safe to assume Flint was mature enough to handle one of Cini's many personal stories.

"I almost diced myself into chunks on my own trapeze wire the night of my first big performance. This was quite some time before I was measured tallest. I was a cadet, still in the middle of basic training on the surface..." Cini instantly captured the smeet's attention and imagination.

"...Next thing I knew, I was ditching morning drills to practice at the civilian theater then evening drills. The stage called to me, so I responded. I ditched my post for a nearly a year!..." Cini paused. He winced, embarrassed. "Which you shouldn't do. You should never abandon your assigned post. It puts a strain on your fellow soldiers." The tallest explained.

"My training partner, Slaps, had been covering for me whenever I ditched our combat drills. When I spotted her in the audience, I thought she was finally through with my nonsense and was there to turn me in to our commander for abandoning my post. I froze upon eye contact and tangled myself in my own trapeze...

But at the last second, I managed to shift myself in a way to unravel my line and land the finishing move flawlessly!

When I took a bow, her applause roared over the whole arena. As it turned out, she actually bought a ticket to my show to find out why I was so obsessed with the theater. My act spoke for me; She loved my show. She became my biggest source of encouragement...

Slaps was my good friend. Now she's my best high general." Cini's amber eyes lit up as he narrated the memory. His smile looked much more natural and sincere. "Life is an unpredictable journey. You must be looking forward to graduating to cadet, hu sprite?" Cini inquired, looking down at little Flint inquisitively.

[eashmo]

7 minutes in hell, or is it heaven? Part 14

-Summer Love-

Warnings: smuty chapters, fluff, and lots of angst.

a/n: short chapter again.

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

*one year later*

*y/n pov*

It was the first week of summer break, and that means community pool days. I went with Robin on our days off from the video store. She was never amused because she knew the real reason why I went. But she always Accompanyed me anyway. I decided on wearing a black bikini that I just got pairing it with Billy's red button-up for a swimsuit cover.

"This is going to make him drool." I thought. He liked it when I wore his clothes.

We made our way through the crowd to find our seats, which happened to be next to the groups of moms. I took out a book as I waited. 

“Show time” one of the moms says, and on cue Billy walks out of the employee office door.

“Gross,” Robin whispers.

Rolling my eyes, hiding a smirk.

He blew his whistle, and everyone froze. “ Hey, lard ass, no running on my watch, i got to warn you again, and you are banned for life. You wanna be banned for life lard ass?” he snapped at a poor kid who shook his head “no” “i didn't think so” Blowing his whistle again, everyone resumed their activities 

He walked in our direction “afternoon ladies” he says 

“Afternoon Billy.” All the moms seductively said. 

“Dig the new suit, y/l/n” he says

‘Thank you, Hargrove, ' I said as I peered over my book, giving him a smile. Biting my lip as i watched him walk to the lifeguard stand. 

*small time jump*

“So you're just going to read all day?” Robin asks.

“I haven't been reading all day, Ro-Ro.”

“Staring and Drooling over Hargrove does not count, and you know it”

“Oh shut up” I smack her shoulder with my book.

“Lets go swim y/n, i know you want to show Hargrove your bikini fully” she smirks. 

“Fine, let's swim only because I'm dying in this heat.”

“Suuurrreeee” she says as she escapes my hands.

Doing a couple of laps I could feel a pair of eyes on me the entire time. I felt like I was on fire under his stares. It was becoming overwhelming, so I decided to get out of the pool while robin was already on her way to the snack bar. 

“Looking good out there, princess” I turned to see Billy walking up to me.

“Thanks” 

“Perfect form” he said as he handed me his towel. 

“Well we all know your form is amazing …….with swimming, of course.”   

He chuckles “you know i could teach you more if you like”

“Oh really?”

“I know all the styles, freestyle, butterfly…..breaststroke” his voice getting huskier, he puts a piece of gum in his mouth, suddenly i want to steal the gum from his mouth with my mouth. 

Dropping my towel from my daydream, we pick it up at the same time.

“i didn't think you taught adults”

“Well, I offer more, uh, advanced lessons to a certain girlfriend.” he smirks. 

Giggling “Well she must be lucky then.”

“Indeed she is, come to think of it. There is a good pool in her backyard. It's very quiet, you know, very private because I know for a fact that her parents aren't home” he says as he grabs my chin. His lips ghosted mine.

“hm” 

“Shall we say tonight? Eight o’clock?”

“Hm i'm sorry, i can't” i tease

“Cant what? Have fun?” 

“ i don't think i need any lessons”

“Oh, you see, I think you do, I just don’t think you've been practicing enough. It will be the workout of your life.” he smirks 

“See you later, kitten.” Billy purrs in my ear as he walks away, smacking my ass in the process.

Shaking my head “this man will be the death of me.” 

“You ok, y/n” robin comes into view with two hamburgers and sprite. 

“Just peachy” i laugh, making our way back to the chairs. Motherfucker made me hot and bothered in public.

Previous Chapter

Part 15

Masterlist

2023

[littlemissgloomexe]

Untitled bootleg game [a pokepasta]

Has anyone else ever played one of those bootleg Pokémon games? Well, I had a weird experience with one. My friend, Anu, and I bonded over our love for Pokémon and would take pleasure in finding knock off games, and laughing at how ridiculous they were.

On the last day of school, something happened that stopped me from wanting to play any bootleg games. When I was walking out of school I was stopped by Anu, they shouted my name while running up to me, waving their arm in the air.

“Sarah! Hey, Sarah!!” They grabbed my shoulder when they finally caught up to me. “OW-! Watch it, dude!” they awkwardly apologized to me after I yelled at them. “Before you leave, I wanted to give you this.” They handed me a disk and a sheet of paper, they had a devious grin on their face as they handed it to me.

Before I could thank them, they ran away. I sighed and shook my head, then I walked out of the school. I was staring at the disk the entire walk home, I was really confused as to what it was, but I was somewhat excited at the same time.

Once I finally got home, I called for my parents but they didn’t answer, I was home alone. I went up to my room and put the disk in my computer then read the note Anu gave me along with the disk. The note had some sort of directions, it said; “Yet another bootleg Pokémon game!!! Safe route: Name your character “Storm” DeadStorm route: Name your character “Trait” HAVE FUN LMAO” So I figured out that Anu gave me a bootleg Pokémon game.

Apparently it had two different routes? I just went with it and booted up the game. Weird, there was no title on the start screen, I shrugged it off. There was a character on the screen, it was a girl with fluffy black hair, there were pieces of hair at the top of her head that formed a triangle form, they kinda looked like cat ears.

I clicked start and entered the name “Storm”, I’m gonna assume the character’s canon name is Storm. The game started with this “Storm” character in her room, as any Pokémon game would, the only difference was that there was no intro, no professor giving an introduction explaining how Pokémon inhabit the world and all that shit. Much like the title screen, I shrugged this off, I thought maybe the game was unfinished, if that’s true, I wonder how Anu got their hands on an unfinished game.

Something cool that I noticed almost immediately was that Storm’s idle sprite was animated instead of it just being a static standing pose. There was breathing and blinking animations, Storm’s room had this whole gothic style going on, which was also pretty cool too. I walked Storm over to her bedroom door only for me to be interrupted by a dialogue box

“Well, I better get going!”

My eyes widened “Oh cool, The protagonist actual speaks! Maybe she’ll have an actual personality?” I started talking to myself about how I think I might genuinely love this game, another line of dialogue snapped my attention back to my computer screen.

“…”

“My neck itches.”

I squinted at the screen, “What…? Does that have some hidden meaning or something?” I said out loud to myself, I rolled my eyes and walked out of the room, it seemed like Storm didn’t have any parents as there was nobody downstairs to talk to her before she left. I just walked out of the door, nothing outside seemed strange or different, I decided to look at the menu hoping I’d find a little more information about the character I’m playing as.

I’ve gathered a bit of information about Storm: She has a Pokémon already, a female Mimikyu, so no choosing from a set of three starters, and Storm is 15 years old. That’s all I could find, as I’ve just started the game so everything else is just empty. I played the game like how you would with a normal Pokémon game and nothing interesting happened, I was about to close the game and shoot Anu a passive aggressive text until something interesting actually did happen.

As soon as I took the first step into a new route, the screen froze and turned completely white except for Storm’s sprite outlines, along with this, a loud buzzing noise played. I jumped at the sudden loud noise before leaning closer to the screen, I tried clicking the keys on my keyboard, nothing, until I hit enter, it brought up the menu for two seconds before the screen went completely black, white text slowly typed out on the screen.

“What are you doing?”

“What are you doing here?”

“You’re not supposed to be here.”

Then the game crashed. I ejected the disk then put it back in, and opened the game again. There wasn’t a continue option like I expected, I could only start a new game. I entered the new name “Trait” and loaded the new game. “What the hell is a DeadStorm route?” I said to myself while looking over Anu’s note. A few things were already different visually, Storm, or I guess “Trait” in this context, had a different hair style, the “cat ears” were gone and instead she had a weird antenna thing at the top of her head, along with hair tufts on the sides of her hair, one on the top right side, the other on the bottom left side.

Trait was pale, and her hoodie was a bit darker than the Storm sprites, the breathing and blinking animation was slower, and she had eye bags, she just appeared empty. I decided to look through her bag to see if anything changed, she had a few normal items, except for one, “Knife” I shrugged this off and walked Trait downstairs, she still had no parents

“I wonder where my family is”

I squinted at the screen, she didn’t say anything in the other route, the game definitely is unfinished, at least the first route is. I walked Trait outside and walked around her hometown, it was somewhat familiar, but that could just be me. Unlike I did in the first route, I went into other buildings in the town. I talked to the NPCs, who had nothing interesting to say, that was until I talked to the Pokémart worker.

She was a redheaded girl and she was referred to as “Ms. Rivers”. She had a long string of dialogue that I skimmed through, only catching a few words Rivers said, I stopped spamming enter when Trait had their own line of dialogue

“(She’s really starting to annoy me…)”

Then the string of dialogue ended. I jokingly said to myself “Well Trait…” I opened up the items menu “Why don’t you just kill her?” and I clicked the knife option, thinking nothing would happen, but I couldn’t be more wrong. The screen went black and then…

STAB STAB STAB STAB

A series of rapid stabbing sounds played before the black screen faded out and showed a detailed picture of Rivers dead. She was sitting with her back against the wall, her eyes wide open in shock and completely grey. She had stab wounds on her neck, shoulders and multiple wounds on her abdomen area, weirdly enough, the blood was pink rather than red and the image wasn’t pixelated.

The screen transitioned back to the overworld sprites, my jaw was dropped, I didn’t think this game would show gore. Another dialogue box appeared.

“…”

“I didn’t want to do that.”

Trait walked out of the pokémart without my control, like the game was playing a cutscene. When she was outside I could finally move her around again, she walked slower this time and people would actually try to talk to her, but her only response was “Not now please…”

“What the hell is going on?!” I said, my eyes were glued to the screen, I had nowhere to go but I continued to wander around the town. After I little over a minute of this, Trait stopped in front of a person, I couldn’t quite make out their appearance but I’m pretty sure they were a girl. An explanation mark appeared above Trait’s head and she ran away.

I was so confused, I texted Anu thinking they would’ve known something about this. They left me on read… of course. I looked back at the screen and Trait was standing in what looked to be an alleyway

“Please don’t make me go back there.”

“Please.”

“I don’t wanna go out there.”

At this point I just felt bad for Trait, I desperately tried to help them find a way out. Sure, I can be weird and feel bad for a fictional character. There wasn’t any other way out, the only way out was to go the same way Trait came in from. The same girl was waiting for Trait, she was carrying a machete and she walked closer to them and I pieced together what was about to happen. I didn’t want Trait to die, I spammed the “eject” button but my computer wouldn’t let me eject the disk.

Click click click click click

As the girl got closer

Click click click click click

But nothing happened. I wanted to cry, I felt so bad for this character. The girl stepped in front of Trait and one final dialogue box appeared.

“Look what you did. What have you done. Why did you do this to me.”

The screen faded to black and a cutting sound followed by a deep feminine voice grunting in pain played. Then a similar screen as the Rivers screen faded in. It was Trait’s headless body on the ground, front side down, and a pool of pink blood coming from her neck, her head was next to her body, a small amount of blood pooled from that too.

I felt sick. I covered my mouth with my hand. I wanted to cry. Then, the game crashed. I could finally eject the disk, I ejected it and put it back in hoping I could find a way to save Trait, but instead of the title screen it was just a black screen, white text appeared saying

“You don’t need to play this game anymore. You can stop now.”

And it crashed again. I immediately went to research the game to see if anyone could’ve known what this meant since Anu was no help. Not many people were talking about this game, but from the little information I’ve gathered, I’ve come to a conclusion; the creator of this game is most likely going through something awful and probably made it out of stress, but that could just be a stretch.

All I know for sure is… this experience scared me out of ever playing another bootleg game.

A/N: omfg what did I write. Thiz iz prob rlly lackluzter since I’ve never written a pasta before. If you read thiz far, firzt of all tysm, second of all I’m so sorry you had to suffer thru readin all of that </3 Your support iz highly appreciated!

[alacarhelsng]

The Ship (Cont. But again)

"Lonque," Alacar started." we're gonna need that distraction now." The only response they received was a ripple of lights turning off and then on way too brightly as a power surge ripped through the ship then a horrifying grinding and crashing sound. Whatever he had done seemed to pull the doctor out in such a rush that he left the door open for Vlad and Alacar to slip inside.

Just like that they were there, standing in front of a troll who stared vacantly at them, an odd green crust lingering on the ends of what was left of their legs and arms. Joy and rage played tug-of-war inside Alacar as he stared at his mate-sprite. They were alive but so very very fucked up. "Al…." Hearing Vlad say his name snapped him out of the mini trance he had been stuck in and they went to work, Alacar moving to the computer to release them from the machine they were being held in while Vlad braced himself to catch their form as they fell. "I got them, let's move." Alacar rushed over to help, placing one of their half arms over his shoulder to help them move faster. "Alright Doll, target's secure, lead us out." Alacar could barely believe that the operation was going so smoothly. Of course the moment he thought that the first problems began. "V, they're doing a radio check-in and with all these men tuckered out around me I'm going to need to ditch this position. Bea's going to have to lead you the rest of the way while I cut and run. I promise I'll only be a little pissed that you're listening to another woman." Vlad swore lightly and Bea's voice took over, leading them down a route that she could see. "Patrol is on the way! Hide!" The only location the three of them had to hide was the room next to them which they quickly slipped inside of until the footsteps faded away.

They were getting ready to walk out when a playfully sinister voice spoke to them and froze them in their tracks. "Well, well, well, what do we have here?" The three turned around and saw a troll holding a gun towards them. Waves of pink hair spilled down almost to the floor and would have if it hadn't been tied into two pigtails. Two horns criss-crossed above her head and a sultry and dark smile played across her face that made her finned ears tilt up a bit. They had been caught, by a high-blood. "Two reds escaping with the doctor's toy? Naughty boys." Alacar stepped in front of them, raising his hands up in surrender. "We don't want to hurt anyone we're just tr-" "Shshshsh. " The high-blood shushed him with an almost sweet sound. "Bad boys don't get to talk." Alacar swallowed and made a show of being intimidated because he was, but while she spoke he watched and waited for the moment that her soul was closest to the surface. "You see, I was just getting bored while I was waiting so I think I'm going to have some fun with you boys. OH I know let's play a game. I'll ask you a question and if you don't answer in a way I like I'll shoot you." She ended the sentence with a giggle though no one else found humor in what she said. "We'll start with you, the one that stepped forward. What's your name?" Alacar almost didn't answer, but getting shot would put a serious chink into their plans, and he needed to buy as much time as he could while slowly dragging her soul up. "I'm Alacar Helsng." "Good boy, and why do you want that broken doll over there?" He growled but answered her. "They are my mate-sprite… I want them back." "Oh that's such a pitiful love story, what a heartbreaking story. You must have gone such a long way to get them back. It would be a shame if this story ended in a tragedy." Alacar knew then what she was about to do, he could see the slight adjustment of her gun as she changed to aim at Calmet. He saw the smile slide from playful to predatory and he acted. With a violent flex of his will, he dragged her soul to the surface and squeezed. Applying crushing force until the fragment of soul that was her eyes violently crunched down and she began to scream. Blood gushed from her now vacant eyes and she crumbled to the floor, dropping the gun in the process "What's wrong your highness?! I thought high-blood didn't grovel before low casts like me?! WHAT'S THE MATTER?! WHERE'S ALL YOUR FUCKING POWER NOW?!" Alacar's face had warped into a deranged smile as he mocked the wailing and thrashing woman on the floor until Vlad placed a hand on his shoulder and pulled him out of it. "Al, we need to go, now." "Ugh, fine. You go ahead and make sure Harvey is safe, I've got Calmet from here." Vlad nodded to him and took off down the hall while Alacar lifted his mate-sprite and began to take her out of the room and down the hall after Vlad.

If he had been paying more attention he would have noticed the radio silence, the lack of input from anyone, but he hadn't. Instead, he was stopped dead as a figure walked out of the shadow and stood blocking off their way forward. Instinctively he knew who she was, in the pits of his soul he could feel the power that radiated off of the being before him and he knew without a doubt. "You really fucked up." Said the Empress.

[safyresky]

Winter's Rage Room

(aka, In Which Winter Invents the First Rage Room)

"What are you wearing?"

"Winter, you're not gonna believe this," Blaise said, turning on his heel excitedly. "It TURNS OUT when you let the royal tailor use her gift of future sight when making clothes, you get some really snazzy options. I mean look at this thing!" He said, whooshing his blazer out with an almost childish grin. "You love it, right?"

"You look sharp," she said, hopping down from the smooth, marble banister of town hall. She peeped up at him, smoothing the material on his shoulders. "And very attractive," Winter said, smiling when he flushed, a few sparks popping off of his fiery head.

"Don't think I haven't noticed your legs," he said, low, his breath warm on her forehead. "I see that you've also visited Sabine. What are you wearing?"

"She calls it a flapper dress," Winter said with a grin. "And I quite like it! It’s nothing like my usual cozy warm layers of skirts, but I thought it would be a fun change of pace. I mean, it’s not like the cold actually bothers me. And I was right! I feel fabulous. Look at the skirt! It's asymmetrical. And all of these beads!" She said, gleeful, plucking at one of several clicking necklaces hanging down her neck. "And it takes well to frost," she added, grabbing the skirt and pulling it out a bit. The frost she had added to the dress glinted blue in the sunlight.

"It looks great," Blaise said, admiring her. "You look great."

"Oh, stop it you," she said, with a little bit of pomp and a look that said actually, don't stop it, I quite like being fawned over.

"I will not," Blaise said.

"Good," Winter said, sizing him up. "So why red? It's not really your colour," she finished, finger on her chin.

"I know. I was impatient, and red was what she had on hand. There is an orange one in the works, though! And the shirt is orange too. I made do. But anyway, watch this. You're gonna love this. Ready?"

Winter blinked. "Sure."

Blaise's brow furrowed in concentration. The temperature went up quite a bit; and with a crack and a pop, the red of Blaise's blazer (ha) began to fissure, glowing a bright orange through the cracks.

"Ta-da!"

"Did you just lava your clothing?"

"Technically it's below the crust, so I think it's more magma right now, but yes! I did!" He said, fists on his hips, looking very proud of himself.

Winter giggled. Gently, she raised her hand, glowing white with her wintry magic, and touched a section of his jacket. It froze instantly, turning dark blue very briefly. There was a hiss, and a pop, and the ice melted off, the lava once more glowing on the jacket.

"Oh, that's rather fun, isn't it?"

Blaise threw his head back and laughed. "For you I imagine it's oodles of fun," he said, shoving his hands in the pockets of his pants. Pants that were tapered and fit well! No baggy pants covered by tunics, or worse, TIGHTS. No tippets, no boots (though he didn't mind boots all too much), his hair on FIRE and NOBODY telling him to put it out or else! "It's amazing, the things Sabine is creating," he said, starting forward again. "That everyone is creating. Together."

The town square buzzed. The magibeans looked so happy. They waved as Blaise walked by, sharing pleasantries and chattering amongst themselves. They were a colourful bunch; sprites with their hair elementally charged, giants in suits, a few fae breezing by in loose clothes that seemed to be one large swath of breezy material folded over itself creatively to create flowing, gorgeous, robe like gowns. Dwarves were taking kindly to a thing Sabine said were called jeans, excited at the prospect of a tough material to withstand the tough stuff they did—and that was just a smattering of the fashions that had begun to spring up all around the country.

Some magibeans carried various building supplies towards the hall; others rushed towards the shops with brightly coloured buckets of paint, chattering excitedly about how they were going to customize their storefronts, now that they could. Dryads and centaurs planted the most colourful assortment of plants you ever did see. Cobblestones were slowly being laid down, colourful as can be, the mist from the springs sparkling in the afternoon sun as it drifted through the city.

A weight, that the entire continent did not know it had been carrying, had been lifted. They could all breath again.

"You should see what my sisters have been doing in the new provinces," Winter said, following beside Blaise, her hands behind her back as she nodded politely at the magibeans walking by. Her head roamed back and forth slowly as she admired all the changes they had made since she had last come by to bother her partner after work. "Have you been south west yet?"

"No, not lately."

"Well, Spring and Summer have worked wonders on the border between those two provinces. The groves, the orchards, the fruit trees, the vines! Oh Blaise, it's gorgeous. And it's all over, too! The farmland in the east is suddenly flourishing; Autumn is beside herself with happiness! The scab is still scabbed, of course, but everything everywhere else is healthy and happy. Mother says that almost all of the vegetation on the continent seems to be flourishing, as are the people. Everyone is growing together. I'd almost say the entire continent is sparkling like it's a brand-new place. The Springs especially look as glittery as I have ever seen them. And we all have you to thank for that."

Blaise chuckled. "Well, it’s not just me. There’s a whole team of magibeans getting things in order. And…all of this? Well, it's the right thing to do," he said.

"Yes! It is! So why are you so sad?"

"Sad? I'm not. I'm not sad."

"Yes you are. I am very good at seeing sads, Mister Frost. I am an expert, after all."

Blaise stopped, glancing down at his feet, his face darkening. Winter stopped beside him, watching him carefully.

"They forbade her from using her future sight when working. Did you know that?" Blaise finally said, looking up in the distance at the springs.

"Oh."

"Queen Frost apparently had a certain aesthetic she wanted to keep to, and she made sure it was enforced." He huffed, steam coming out of his nose.

Gently, Winter grabbed his arm, hugging it tightly. She felt his muscles flex in her little arm embrace. She squeezed back.

"It seems there's quite a bit to unpack there."

"Not really. Queen Frost was always just. Like that," he said with a shrug, Winter releasing her hold on his arm. She rested her hands in the crook of his elbow, looking up at him. "What more is there to unpack?"

"Do you ever think about yourself, Blaise?"

"What d'you mean?"

"I mean," Winter said, letting go and stepping in front of him, a little hill of snow happy to come into existence and give her a boost so she could stare directly into his eyes. "You put everyone first," she said, smoothing the round lapels on his jacket. "Everyone. But what about yourself? When do you have time for yourself?"

"When I'm with you," he said, gently caressing her face.

"Oh please," she replied with an eye roll, gently taking his hand off of her cheek and holding it in hers. "We both know that you always put me first."

"I thought you liked being the centre of attention," Blaise teased.

Winter laughed. "Pish posh. I like attention, yes, but I like you even more," she said, booping his nose. "And that's why I waited for you after work today! I am taking you on a date," she said, confidently, crossing her arms with a satisfied smile.

"Oh really?"

"Yes," she insisted. "I even dressed for the occasion," she reminded him, readjusting her arms to make sure all the bracelets she was wearing clinked.

Blaise smirked. With a tap of his foot, the snow below Winter melted.

Her smug exterior dropped; with a cute little meep, she found herself stepping down rather forcefully. She grimaced, already dreading the horrid feeling in her ankles that would rattle around for a bit when she hit the ground.

But, before she could even brace for impact, Winter was suddenly engulfed by a pair of very warm arms right around her waist, and pulled forward. Unscrupulously twirled about, she found herself pressed into Blaise's just as warm chest. She looked up, ready to bite, Blaise's bemused look stopping her in her tracks.

"I'm sorry, was that a-did you just meep?!"

"You melted my snow step!" She said, flustered.

"That was the cutest sound I've ever heard!"

"Blaise, my snow step!" she said with a cute little pout.

"Gods above. That meep could soften the hardest of hearts!"

Pouting, Winter squirmed, pulling herself up and seating herself on Blaise's forearms. He adjusted accordingly, supporting her as best as he could while trying not to think of her...well. Butt. Her butt.

She crossed her arms, still pouting. "I'm trying to be all suave, like you usually are, and you are making it very hard to do so!"

"You think I'm suave?" Blaise asked, genuinely.

"I think you are many things," Winter replied, her gaze softening. "And suave is one of them. Smooth, too. And sculpted. And sweet and kind and caring and also, very annoying. That poor snow step never did anything to you!"

Blaise chuckled. "It got in my way of you," he said, placing her down gently.

She cleared her throat, flushed, and dusted off her dress. "Now then. May I continue?"

"Go right ahead," Blaise said with a wave, shoving his hands back in his pockets.

"Great, perfect, thank you." She shook her arms, the beads and bangles clinking back into place. "You look out for everyone, but I don't think you look out for yourself much. This latest undertaking of yours has been lovely! Very lovely. Look at how this world is breathing now! There's so much colour, and laughter, and freedom...but I'm sure it's been bringing up all sorts of feelings for you, and I have just the thing for processing them," she said, excitement lighting up her delicate little features.

Blaise looked down at his shoes, thoughtful. Dismantling the monarchy and the, frankly, insane rules they had enforced had been a very long road. A century in and they had barely scratched the surface; eager to breath new life into the city, Blaise and Mother Nature had decided to tackle the "etiquette" rules, for lack of a better term. The governors of the new provinces had agreed, and things were going swimmingly.

But Winter was right, though Blaise didn't want to say it. Saying it would make it all real, and he didn't think he could weather the emotions all of that would bring up. The LAST thing he needed was his political career tarnished by an angry outburst when it had only just started.

"How did you know?”

"Your shoulders," Winter said, tilting her head. "They're more squared up, as of late. And you've been clenching your jaw. And all of you is so tense. I mean, you are rather muscular—"

"Oh ho ho, am I now?"

"Shut up," Winter said, flushing and looking away.

"Muscular, sculpted—"

"Annoying," Winter reminded him, still looking away.

"Sorry, sorry. I'll...tone it down a notch."

"Not stopping, though?"

"Nope! Never."

Winter laughed. "Good. I like when you tease. Just not when I'm trying to be very very nice to you!"

"You're always very very nice to me."

"Well. You're worth it," Winter said with a little shrug.

Now it was Blaise's turn to flush and look away. He cleared his throat. Winter rubbed her arm. They glanced back at one another; opened up their mouths to speak. Realized the other was speaking. Laughed.

"You, uh, had something in mind?"

"Mhmm," Winter said, nodding a little too fast, fingers pressed together. "Come along with me?" she asked, holding out a hand.

"Always," Blaise replied, grabbing it.

"Excellent!" And, with strength he had no idea the season possessed, Blaise was dragged away from town, towards the North.

---

"So I started doing this thing, many many centuries ago," Winter began, running alongside the trees, dragging Blaise behind her, “when it all became too much," she finished. She stopped briefly, glancing around the snowy paths in the foothills, pulling Blaise along once more when she found the path she was looking for. "Though I barely recall it now, it was very hard after the Call to go from the life I knew to the life I have now."

Blaise tugged her hand, stopping her in her tracks. Squeezing it, he looked at her softly. "What was it like?" he asked. "I never...things didn't change much for me at all after the Call. I can't imagine what it was like…would’ve been like...I kind of envied you and your sisters, in all honesty."

"Oh?"

"Yeah," Blaise replied, looking away and rubbing the back of his neck. "I, uh. Well, you see what I've been doing. With everyone. And I've told you about my family. It's not that I don't love them, or anything. It's just. Not the same as what you have. I’ve always wanted that.”

"I can hardly blame you. Mother Nature is a wonderful mother, and I love all of my sisters dearly. Even Spring. I'd never consider them anything but. Nevertheless," she said, taking a careful step forward. "It was a hard adjustment to make, especially when you're so little and don't quite know what's going on."

"Tell me about it," Blaise said, genuinely, as they continued at a much more reasonable pace. "Please. That is, if it doesn't, ah. You know. Upset you, or. Or anything."

"Well, I can hardly recall them now, but I…I loved my parents. My mother was…she was as cold as her title, and she kept that cool facade up to everyone she interacted with. Except for my father. She let her guard down with him. He was rather silly," Winter said with a soft laugh. "My memories are so faint now, but I remember he'd do such silly dances, make such funny noises, and he'd have the most pointless spells at his disposal, that did nothing practical—but they made me laugh. They made her laugh. And I suppose for him, that was all he really needed.”

"He dressed silly too, if I recall correctly. I think he came to the castle more than once in slippers."

Winter laughed. "They were bunnies! With ears! The Snow Queen hated them. But I think that just made the Winter Warlock love them more! And I do believe that deep down, Bianca found everything he did endearing. Otherwise I'm sure she wouldn't have named me after him. It was nice, I think. I don't remember feeling not nice," Winter said with a thoughtful frown as the path twirled upwards, hand still clasped in his. "Not until after the Call."

She stopped walking, looking out at the valley below them. It sparkled in the sunlight, the snow fresh. The trees were weighed down with blankets of snow, bowing low to the ground as the wind whistled in that calm, peaceful way it did in the winter. Off in the distance, one of the four rivers that branched out from the Springs sparkled, ice chunks floating along it. Everything seemed so much more...beautiful, in the winter, Blaise thought, eyes settling on the top of her head.

"It was scary," she continued, taking a seat on the edge of the path. Gently, and quietly, Blaise sat beside her, squeezing her hand and paying full attention.

She smiled up at him, squeezing back. "Bianca carried me out of her castle so fast. Winter followed behind us. I remember watching the pink light hit our home, and the towers tumbled; my little room was gone in the blink of an eye. The pink light bounced off of everywhere. Winter hurried us along, but he couldn't keep up. Bianca tried to go back for him, but he wouldn't let her stop. It was the fastest goodbye I'd ever experienced with him. And the final one, to boot. Whoosh!" she said, lifting her hands. "Pink light engulfed him, and he was gone. Just like that." She sighed. "I hid in my mother's shawl the rest of the way."

"I'd be scared too, if I were you."

"Really? You'd be scared?"

"Uh, yeah. What, do you think I don't get scared?"

Winter tilted her head, surveying him with a mix of curiosity and thoughtfulness, the corners of her mouth twitching as she tried to hold back a smile, eyes alight with mischief. "Perhaps," she finally said, the grin peeking out.

Blaise laughed. "I've been scared before! Plenty of times! Honest!"

"I'm not so sure I believe you," Winter said. "But we'll dig into that later."

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Like what?"

"Like you can't wait to tear me apart, but not in a fun way! In a sort of I need to study you kind of way."

"Is that not fun?"

"Well, I don't know! I'm the one being studied! And not in the fun way!"

"Which is?"

"Y-you know," Blaise said, blushing. "Your place or mine? Let me get a closer look at your face? With my whole face? That sorta thing?"

Winter choked back a laugh, a hand covering her mouth, her face fast turning red. "Blaise! You absolute scoundrel."

"Thank you."

"That wasn't a compliment!"

"I take them as I go," he teased, squeezing her hand.

"Don't worry, darling. I'm not going to dissect you. As much as I love all your muscles, I quite miss the soft bits that are around when you're not holding a ton of tension in your everything."

Blaise sighed. "I know you do. So do I,” he admitted, scooting closer to her. Finding comfort in the cold press of her skin against him. “What happened next?”

"Hmm?"

"After your dad..."

"Oh! Right! Well, my mother brought me to the little hideaway they made for me, to keep me safe. You know, just in case. And she made sure I was cozy and set for the long term and, well, the Call caught up to us. She gave me a kiss, a smile, and uttered last words I don't remember because that's when it took her, too,” she said with a sigh, laying her head on his shoulder. “I was alone. And of course, after that, when the sky turned back to stars and the pink was gone, I wandered. Went back home—it was gone. Wasn't sure what to do until Summer started melting all the snow. Their snow, that I had watched them place down together. Helped them with, even. It was very upsetting, and I stopped Summer in her tracks and told her so right then and there! Her reply? ‘Oh snap! I found you! Let’s get going!’ And she brought me home to Tara and the other seasons, and now here I am, quite happy with Mother Nature and my sisters."

"But between that?"

"I was very unhappy. It was the very first time I ever experienced a frozen heart," she said. "I was sad. Sad that my parents were gone. I'd never see them again. And I resented them for it, the older I got. I was so sad, and post thaw I was so upset and angry, so...I found an outlet for it," she said, hopping up. “And that’s why we’re here!”

She stepped into the air, almost falling before ice formed just below her foot, stretching down the mountain. “Race you, hotshot,” she said, and down she went. "Try to keep up!" she shouted back, as she formed ice path after ice path, zig zagging down the mountainside.

Blaise grinned. He hopped up, took a few steps back and, with a running start, jumped, landing on the ice and sliding down just as fast as Winter. The pair laughed, twirling around one another until they landed in the valley, clothes dishevelled, hair windswept, and faces flushed.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine! I do this all the time! I’m the professional." Winter said. "Oop! Careful dear, it's slippery," she added, grabbing Blaise's arms.

"I'm good, I'm good," Blaise said, steadying himself and looking out at the wide valley before them, clinging to her forearms. "It's beautiful," he said, breathlessly.

"I know! I do great work and all anyone ever does is complain about how cold it is. Where's the respect for a season, hmm? My sisters don't get half the sleet I get!" she huffed, rolling her eyes. "Anyway, while the view is lovely as I do quite the amazing job, that's not why I brought you all the way out here. Watch," she said, placing a finger up in the air before Blaise could speak.

He let go of her arms, holding his up in surrender. Stepping back a pace or two, he gestured Winter forwards with a hand.

A grin, an absolutely feral grin that Blaise adored (he loved how unhinged she could be) slowly spread across her face. He stepped back again for good measure, watching as Winter cracked her knuckles, tilted her head side to side (cracks coming from her neck), and turned around, facing the pristine valley.

She stuck her arms out to her side, her fingers outstretched. She bent down a bit, her legs wide in the snow. She inhaled; held it, then exhaled. Her fingers curled in, hands glowing, and the ground below her began to shake.

The rumbling grew louder; the shaking stretched out farther and farther, until the snow all over the valley was bouncing around, the undisturbed blanket of white splitting.

There was a crack, and a shink; then another, and another, until the valley was echoing with low thrums and hums, and up Winter’s arms went, the snow exploding below her as giant pillars of ice burst out of the ground. They intersected with each other, tall and crooked, some forming arches with one another, others nearly colliding as they stopped moving, settling in their new places. Snow gently fell off the tops of the pillars, landing on the ground with multiple muffled plonks.

Winter turned around. "Ta-da!" she said, presenting the handywork.

"Look at that. Wow," Blaise said, with a low whistle.

"I know. I'm a gift to magibean kind and so underappreciated in my time."

"Not by me you're not," Blaise said, kissing the top of her head, and gazing over her at the mess of icy stalagmites, chin resting on her head, her shoulders trapped in a hug.

"So. Ah. An outlet, eh?"

"Big time," Winter said, squirming out of Blaise's embrace. "Watch and learn, hotshot," she said, skipping into the minefield. "I'd come out here, and I'd think of everything that had happened. I'd think of how rude it was that my parents just left me alone, how AWFUL it was, how they couldn't just say no to all of the stupid fae and their different factions and their dumb war, and I'd get all worked up and then, BAM," she said, with a flawless roundhouse kick into the nearest ice block. It cracked. "And then again," she said, kicking it with her other leg. The fractures deepened. "And then I'd finish them," she said, pressing her hands together and driving them right into the middle of the fracture.

In seconds, the ice shattered, fractals falling down to the ground. The top of the pillar came crashing down, shattering the little icicles that remained until it all fell into a heap, icy dust fanning out from the impact zone.

"Oh wow," Blaise said, his hair, embarrassingly, briefly flickering. He cleared his throat. "Is that how you got all, you know," he said, gesturing to Winter. "Slushy again?"

"Not at all. It's how I processed things," she said, grabbing the ends of his jacket and pulling him closer. "The slush was thanks to you," she said, booping his nose with hers and hopping backwards, leaving Blaise significantly flustered. She grinned.

"Oh," Blaise finally said, a goofy grin splitting his face. "Oh wow."

"So now it's your turn!"

"My-what? My turn? For what?"

"Property damage!" Winter said, chipper. "And I know just where to start," she said, pushing him towards the closest slab of ice. "Sabine."

"Sabine?"

"Yes. Royal tailor, gifted with foresight and forbidden to use it."

Blaise's face darkened again.

"Ou, yes, there we go. Tell me about that," Winter said, hopping up and sitting in the air, a pile of snow twirling up to meet her halfway.

Blaise placed a hand on the pillar in front of him, flat. He frowned at his reflection, looking away. He cleared his throat. "My brother and I were always held to such impossible standards. Exactly the same ones, too. And if I did something wrong, he got the blame for it too. And vice versa, though the former happened a lot more than the latter. And it’s not like I was doing anything wrong!” he said, smacking the ice below him. “I was just trying to be my own person, but goddess forbid I didn’t act exactly like my twin.”

“And then Sabine…”

“Yeah! The fuck!” Blaise finally said, the source of all magic choosing to ignore the swears sure to continue coming from this section of the country. “I thought it was just Pyros and I that had to keep up appearances,” he began, pacing back and forth, hands waving about as he spoke. “But apparently it WASN’T just us! It was almost the entirety of the royal court! And I had no fucking clue!” he said, a flaming kick shattering the icy pillar in front of him.

Blaise blinked, watching the pieces melt into the snow.

“Huh. That did feel kind of good.”

“Right?!” Winter said from her perch in the snow. “Keep going darling. The field’s yours.”

“Finding out everything my parents banned or forbade unnecessarily has been exhausting,” Blaise continued, pulling his hands down his face. “Sabine not being allowed to use her sight? Tip of the iceberg! Dave wasn’t allowed to float because goddess above forbid he appear higher than the King! And! Queen!” he said, both titles punctuated with a flaming punch, whoosh, CRACK, pop-pop-pop to the next pillar, the ice melting quickly and collapsing in on itself. “All sorts of magibeans employed within the castle weren’t allowed to do ANYTHING!” A hot slice through the air, the pillar beside him split in half, falling down on its now severed bottom half with a smack. It slid down to the ground slowly, in an almost comical fashion, landing on its side in the snow. “There was NO intermingling between stations and levels, no talking to the court unless they spoke to you first, and that was just within the castle walls, LADY of the Springs!”

One, two, three more icy pillars went down, the shards of ice hitting the snow with dulled thunks. Chest heaving, Blaise paused for a moment, back against a pillar as he focused on his breathing. “It was no way for anyone to live,” he said, quietly. “I know that because it’s how we were living! And just knowing that it wasn’t just us?” Blaise looked up. “It’s infuriating.”

Behind him, the pillar he was leaning on started to crack. It looked a bit shiny; wet. So did the ones beside it.

“How I was living,” Blaise realized. “Because that’s the thing, isn’t it?” he said, straightening up. “Pyros was fine with the way things were. I mean, you saw what he did! After I quit my studies, he just—he was fine. Just fine with the way they ran things. He saw no problems with it at all. But I did! But every time I spoke up or had a thought or reacted differently from Mom and Dad and my brother, it was an immediate lecture. That’s not how things work, they’d say. Or that’s just how it is. Or we do these things for good reasons. Like hell they did!”

He sprung off the slowly melting pillar really suddenly, his staff appearing in his hands. He stabbed it into the ground; it glowed brightly, and with a high-pitched squeal, a torrent of flames burst from the blue gem at the center, absolutely annihilating the pillars within its radius.

“Woo. Toasty,” Winter said, standing beside Blaise now. “I didn’t know staffs could do that!”

“They can do a LOT of things, when you’re actually allowed to experiment. Watch this,” Blaise said, pulling his staff out of the snow and giving it an exuberant (and definitely unnecessary) twirl. He grasped it by the base. The wood began to shift; slowly, it morphed, until it resembled a club.

“Oh, bravo!” Winter said, with a delighted little clap. “I bet you can’t get a hunk of ice across the valley.”

“Bet you I can,” Blaise said with a grin.

“Kisses if I win?”

“You mean when I win?”

“You can talk the talk, Mr. Frost, but can you hit the hit?”

“Isn’t it walk the walk?”

“Well, yes, but you will be hitting one of these lovely pillars, will you not?”

“Watch and learn, Ms. Winter.”

She stepped back, gesturing Blaise forward now.

With a grin, he hefted the bat staff in his hands, giving it a preemptive swing. Satisfied, he tightened his grip, and, bringing it as far back as he could, whacked the pillar in front of him.

It shattered; chunks of ice went flying. With another quick swing, Blaise hit one before it could fall. It went soaring across the valley. Shading his eyes with his hand, he watched as the chunk arced in the air, sunlight sparkling off it, before landing in a heap just before the riverbank.

“Boom,” he said.

Winter laughed, eyes crinkling at the corners, face flushed. Blaise shifted his weight; he watched her fondly, his staff returning to its default form just in time for him to lean on it as he watched the season laugh. She exhaled, finally, flushing when she noticed him staring at her.

Briefly, she looked down, smiling very big at the snow for a moment before composing herself. She cleared her throat, glancing back at the fiery man she absolutely adored, and tilted her head. “I know that what your parents did wasn’t fair to any of the magibeans.”

“It wasn’t. And I just let it happen,” he admitted, kicking a piece of ice that had settled by his foot. “And it wasn’t just within the castle grounds. It was the entire continent; every subdivision, every noble under their charge, they all had to adhere to these impossible standards, stifling their very essences just to keep two, quite frankly, useless magibeans happy! And I just let it happen.”

“Oh, Blaise. You are so very silly.”

“Excuse me?”

“What could you have done? You were so young, and as much a victim as everyone else was,” she said, stepping closer. “It wasn’t fair to you, either,” she finished, resting her head on his chest.

She could feel him sigh, the weight finally falling off of his shoulders. “It wasn’t.”

“And nobody blames you, darling! Nobody. You were just trying to survive.”

Dismissing his staff, he grabbed Winter, pulling her in tightly. “I know,” he said, trying hard to keep the tears out of his voice. “I know.” He gave her one last squeeze before breaking the hug, his hands resting on her shoulders. “But it still wasn’t fair. And the worst is, you know, they had the ability to make things fair for everyone! But they didn’t,” he said, his face darkening, his hair burning higher.

“But you do,” Winter said with a soft smile. “And you are. And it’s most definitely going to be a very long road ahead, but you’re doing what you can now. It is enough. I know you don’t feel like it is,” she continued, shrugging his hands off of her shoulders and grabbing them in hers, “but it is. I promise. So you should stop beating yourself up about it all, alright? And instead, beat up all of this,” she said, gesturing with both her hands and his, towards the field of half melted ice pillars.

Blaise smiled, squeezing her hands tightly. “You are so good to me.”

“I know,” she said, with a silly little grin.

Blaise laughed, sweeping her right off of her feet and pulling her into a tight hug. “Thank you,” he said, quietly in her ear. “And I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” she whispered back, pecking the side of his head (since that was what was closest to her). “I understand. And I’m here for you, Blaise. Always,” she said, giving him a little squeeze. “You don’t need to take responsibility for everything; you don’t deserve to. You deserve to treat yourself better.” She pulled back enough to look up at him and smile. “And you’re already working wonders, now that you no longer have to survive. Now that you have the opportunity to make a difference, and can make a difference, you are.”

“And everyone who can help is helping,” Blaise said. “It’s…nice.”

“It really is! We’ll all be okay, Blaise dear. You’ll be okay.”

“You think so?”

“I know so. And I’m always right,” she said, with utmost certainty. “Now then. Property damage?” she asked, gesturing out to the field of pillars.

“Property damage,” Blaise agreed, grabbing her hand. “Shall we go misplace a bunch of aggression?”

“I thought you’d never ask,” she said, taking his hand and launching them both into the field.

---

Time passed; hours, minutes, neither really knew. Time practically stood still when they were together. And certainly it felt as though it was now, as they lay down face by face in the snow, surrounded by tiny little beads of half melted ice chips. The moon glowed in the sky, the stars sparkling brightly. The once smooth blanket of snow was well trodden, now, flattened to the ground and frozen solid in some places.  

They had collapsed together, catching their breath as the remnants of the last few pillars melted away, feeling a lot lighter now that they had exploded a ton of ice while venting about everything that had happened. A shooting star passed high above them, chests finally slowing down as the pair caught their breath.

“I believe someone owes me kisses?”

“Oh yes! I do, don’t I?” Winter said, springing right up and throwing herself on top of Blaise.

“Oof,” he said, reaching up and pulling her in close. “You take my breath away.”

“That’d be the body slam I just did,” she said, kissing the tip of his nose. And then his forehead. And then his cheek. And then the other cheek, and then any itty-bitty speck of space she could find on his face. Nowhere was safe. Nowhere.

Not that he minded, of course; he only minded when she stopped her onslaught.

“Excuse me. I was promised kisses? Plural?!”

Winter laughed, crossing her arms on his chest and leaning on them. “I am aware.”

Blaise quirked an eyebrow, throwing his hands behind his head and staring at her, suspiciously. She was plotting; he knew it. “Well, where are they?”

“Hmm. Good question! Either at your place, or mine, I should think,” she said.

“OH! Nice throwback,” he said.

“Thank you kindly,” she replied, watching as his brow furrowed in thought for but a moment.

“Yours is closer,” he decided, hair igniting as, with a devious smirk, he grabbed her around the waist, wasting no time whatsoever in poofing them right into the pile of blankets and plethora of pillows that covered her bed.

---

(The next morning, he found himself awoken by Summer’s very loud barge into Winter’s room. His fellow summer sprite’s eyes grew wide when she realized he was right beside Winter, and she screamed, excited.

“Ou, Winter! You go girl! Get it!”

“Get out get out get OUT!” Winter yelled, throwing a bunch of pillows at her sister.

Summer cackled, running right out of the room. “WAIT UNTIL I TELL SPRING AND AUTUMN!”

“DO NOT!” Winter yelled back, hopping out of the sheets and giving chase.

Blaise chuckled. He loved staying over at Winter’s place).

---

I started writing this a month ago?? According to my drafts??? I was coping with some HORRORS and using Blinter to do it. Finally finished it today! It is DELIGHTFUL and I am HOPING that the horrors that INSPIRED this are finally finished for now. Or at least getting better. RELATIONSHIPS ARE HARD, ESPESH WHEN UR PARTNER IS VERY BLAISE CODED AND HAVING A ROUGH GO OF IT AND YOU CAN'T ACTUALLY MAKE A GIANT FIELD OF ICE FOR THE BOTH OF YOU TO SMASH UP BUT GOD YOU WISH YOU COULD!

Anyway.

This is roughly a century or so after the War of Succession (Millennia War, Civil War, I've given it like 70 names lol). So they've been together for a hot (pun intended) minute! I imagine they get hitched shortly after this and, well, you know, this happens >:).

Enjoy the fluff!

[thebigshotman]

Halfway from his usual dumpster, Spaul found himself doing a double check to make sure that all of the stuff-and there wasn’t much-from his living space was here with him while he stayed at Eileen’s. He was grateful he would be sleeping in a bed again, but still! Some of the stuff he kept in there had sentimental value to him.

His blanket, his pillow, a dirty photo of his Addisons from when he was still accepted by them…yep, that was pretty much all of the stuff he needed. Now that he had shoved them all back into his Inventory, all he had to do was make sure-

*Spamton G. Spamton!!!

The familiar, crackling like fire coals shout stopped the puppet in his tracks, and his sprite froze in place as it glitched in alarm. It wasn’t until they all mercifully stepped in front of him that he saw that it wasn’t just Clem that had come to finally give him his due for the chaos he had caused. The other three had shown up, too. And none of them-aside from a sympathetic looking Saffron-looked very happy.

*Where have you been?? We’ve been looking for you since the suit went down, but you were nowhere to be found! We thought you’d been mineralized, thank Her Majesty you’re okay…but-

*How are you still doing business out of that dump?! Has the money from our products not been helping?? For the Angel’s Sake, are you still living in a dumpster? Why haven’t you gotten your apartment yet?! The first floor is almost filled up!

*You better not still be fraternizing with that Lightner! God, Eileen seemed like the sweetest thing when we ran into her, and here you were making her life a living hell because of feelings you shouldn’t even be feeling! You’re a Darkner, Spam! What were you thinking?!

Spaul still wasn’t moving. Smile creased into something that could almost be considered a frown.

*Answer us, Spamton!! Are you still following that poor girl around?!

The puppet blinked, and marbles formed on his glasses that moved to look over at Clem accusingly.

*…Y3S. IN FACT I’M [[jet-setting]] T0 HER [[houses in the suburbs]] R1GHT NOW. C4USE SHE [[loves]] ME BACK.

*…What?! C’mon, let’s go take you to one of the Ambyu-Lances, Spam. Maybe some of the glitchy code from that suit is still-

*YOU’R3 NOT M4KING ME GO F[[ifty percent off!]] AN YWH3RE. I [[love]] HER AND SHE [[loves]] ME.

*Clem, back off and let him go to her. There’s nothing we can do; if they love each other-

*No!! I refuse to believe that he’s ruining himself like this again!

Stray bits of water went flying from Clem’s eyes as she pointed at Spaul, who continued to glare up at her.

*First with Mike, then with the suit! I’m not letting him run into another thing he knows nothing about and come out even worse than he was before! His sales are one thing, but his body and voice…! I…

It was then she became acutely aware of everyone, including Spaul, looking at her in concern. Weakly, her hand lowered and she looked around at all of them before resting at smallest salesman amongst them.

*I…don’t want to lose you again, White…

*[Hazelnut] S4ID THE SAM3 THING.

He walked up to her, but didn’t put a comforting hand on her or any other similar gesture. He just simply slicked his hair back as he continued to speak.

*AND YOU W0N’T. NO MOR3 GOING [[*unintelligible laughter*]] 0R [[filming monster movies]]. 1’M NOT LETTING YOU OR HER [[see it today!]] AT MY M0ST [*mocking laughter*] EVER 4GAIN. ALL OF THAT HAPP3NED BECAUSE OF [[unexpected snag in shipping.]] S0…let’s avoid that in the future, okay? All of you.

That last bit was more of a murmur, but everyone heard it. All of them were just so surprised that White Addison, the eager-to-please-and-apologize of the five, was saying and doing all of this. He knew the risks, he had to! And yet…

*S0, L1KE I SAID. I’M [[round-trip flight]] TO [Hazelnut]’S [[cozy cottage]] WHIL3 MY STORE [do you want to reset?]. COME OR DON’T. [[Help me…]] OR D0N’T. I’M SUR3 SHE’D [[heart]] TO SEE YOU ALL AGAIN.

No one moved.

*…Go on ahead, Spaul. The others just…need some time to realize you’ve changed. I’m sure you’ve noticed that already.

*We’ll be here for you whenever you need us. I will, at least.

*…THANKS, SAFF.

And so Spaul pushed past Clem and further into the alley ahead, towards the outskirts of Castle Town and towards Eileen’s house. Hoping all the way that what just happened wasn’t a repeat of what had gone down in the Cyber Grill 26 years ago.

*I hope he knows what he’s doing…

[sab3rto0thed]

i spent sixty-two days in the dark.

the first day was after i had knocked my brother into the snow. frost crusted his eyelashes. his face froze. his lips were blue. my glove might as well have been a handgun.

the second day was after the neighbor boy pulled me into the field behind his house and told me that my mother would be taken away if i did not kiss him.

the dark was a collection of my worst moments. being pressed down against my bed by unfeeling hands. twisted around in my sheets with a can of sprite resting against my temple. my body curled up on my bathroom floor, only a towel wrapped around my flesh. the glass shards stacked gingerly on my dresser, dusted down by the elements.

it was the blackest black. i could not see my hand in front of my face. the only way i knew i was alive was the blood. i bled all the time. i could feel it. i could hear it. i could taste it.

on day sixty-three, i thought i had died.

a square corner of light hit the space just above my eye. my eyebrow, a few wispy strands of hair.

please go away, i told it. i do not want to be here. i do not want to be anywhere. i cannot go over this again.

sixty-two days in the dark. a lifetime's worth.

for sixty-two days, no one had pulled me out. i was a liar and a fraud. i was a fake. no one could manage the task. they reached their hands in and winced. they only got up to their elbows. it stuck to them, it clung. my parents lost their daughter and they had no idea. i was a shell. i was walking through the kitchen on autopilot. that was not my body.

this time, someone pulled me out.

i struggled. i thrashed. i screamed, i bit, i scratched. i was like an animal, a dog that had been hit. i did not want to be touched. i wanted to retreat into my little corner and not eat again.

he had a wedding ring, the man that pulled me out. it was silver. he had a wife. he had a history. he had bad jokes, the corny ones that i had forgotten existed. he had too much compassion. he overflowed with it, like it was his very essence. he didn't mind the dark as much as everyone else.

he put his hand to my forehead. i am not mad at you, he said. we love you. we remember you. you are going to be okay.

i was very still. when they, the man and his wife, didn't move from the room, i began to regain feeling. it was hot, prickling needles. i was very angry at everything.

not them, though.

it's okay to be angry, they taught me. as long as you know that you're a person. and we were bragging about you yesterday.

me. i was soulless.

after that, i panicked. i choked on it. i didn't like this thing, this idea of a body. there was no blood anymore. i had a heart, and i didn't like my heart. it had never done anything for me. i did not want to love the man with a silver wedding ring and his wife with her soft, smooth voice. i wasn't good at loving people. i was going to be dumped into the dark again, and this time, no one would pull me out. i ruined everything.

i think you're going to be okay, they said. i kept slipping, but they didn't waver. i don't think they knew how to give up on someone. it wasn't in their blood.

i had been in the dark for sixty-two days. i did not remember how to believe in anything.

i believed in them, though.

i didn't touch the dark again, not too much. i skirted the edge of it. sometimes it clung to me, sticking with its infallible strands. but i had grown. i had people now. they knew all about the dark. they knew how to cut it down.

it wasn't always the man and his wife. often, it was not. but if it had not been for them, i would have suffocated. there would have been no lessons in growing up, because i would have had no body to grow up in.

the light is in my face now, in the space right above my eye. it illuminates an eyebrow, a few wispy brown hairs. when i crash through the floor and no one is there to grab me, the man and his wife always pull me back up.

i'm very fond of them. they're very fond of me, too. my heart, the foolish thing, knows at least that.

[docwritesshit]

Followers ignore this post please for the love of the gods

Semi spicy noodles fic but it's poly with friends oc and my OC calling Redson a dumbass

I just wanted a word vomit leav me alone

Word count: 1.5k

My OC: Ashra

Friends OC: Sol

This was not what Redson wanted to occupy most of his mind. He was supposed to be working his latest automobile, silently listening to the music Sol put on even after Redson’s protests that the tunes would make her brain melt through his ears. Sol just rolled its eyes and plugged in a speaker.

But Redson’s mind wandered as they continued to make adjustments to the engine. He kicked himself every time he thought back to brunette wielding Sun Wukong's staff, with the brightest smile on his face.

He didn't have time to reminisce back to the time he found him in the desert and noticed how his brown eyes turned to honey gold when in the sun.

Didn’t need to cringe at the time Redson got crushed by the thief when they first met and noticed how cute his frown can be when he gets confused.

He shouldn’t think about this. He shouldn’t. Why is he?

“Reds?”

The soft voice of his companion brought Redson back to reality. She looked over her shoulder to see Sol coming up behind her, red and white tails swishing behind him. Reds turned fully to face him, seeing his ears tilted downwards slightly. Reds smirked.

“I don’t think I’ve done anything worthy or worrying you sprite” She stated.

Sol raised an eyebrow, and pointed at the table where Redson was currently working on. Reds took a look at what it was pointing at, which caused her hair to start to combust.

“WHY IS THE ENGINE SMOKING??” They shrieked, quickly controlling the heat around them and lowering it to make the engine cool down. Sol stood with his arms crossed, watching Reds with scanning eyes.

Redson shrunk a bit under its gaze. Sol had a knack at telling when Reds was off for one reason or another. And he could definitely tell now. Redson sighed as she finished up, reaching over to her thermos and taking a sip as she walked away to cool off.

“Niu Redson.” Sol said. Redson froze. Even her parents never used her full name when they were in their murderous rampages. Redson didnt even do anything! At least to their knowledge…

“Who is plaguing your thoughts this time?” Sol grinned, trotting over with his mischievous smile spread across his face and tail moving side to side in a slow manner.

Redson stammered, stepping back from the closeness. She could feel her cheeks heat up more and more the longer Sol started at them for an answer.

“Wha-what? I am not thinking of anything dear!” Redson insisted. Sol tilted its head and raised an eyebrow.

“… It’s nothing for you my darling.” Sol sighed, leaning back again and crossing his arms once more.

“Y’know I don’t believe you, panda~.” Sol teased. Redson scoffed, pushing Sols face away from theirs. It has been a century since Ash gave them both those stupid plushies for their ‘meetaversary’, and Sol still hasn’t let the joke die.

“It’s nothing I swear. I can figure things out on my own Sol.” Redson stated, and strode away, effectively ending the conversation between him and his fox.

What Redson didn;t account for however, is the ally Sol had on speedial.

And so the ambush occurred as Redson exited his much needed shower, sitting himself in front of his vanity and reaching for his brush. Running the ornate brush through her hair. He sighed, taking a few moments to finally relax. He loved this ritual, the privacy of his quarters let him actually have his hair down, his guard down. Unsurprisingly, this let the walls around his mind down again.

Redson found herself enjoying the image of instead of herself brushing her hair, she saw the reflection of Wukongs successor brushing her hair in the mirror, smiling as he gently undid the knots and tangles that came with the hair of the heir to the Demon Bull lineage.

Redson could feel the smile stretch across their lips, but let it happen. They chided themself lightly but dropped it. The delusions were necessary at times to make her not lose her mind over the pining.

Ugh, such a demeaning word for it.

‘But isn’t it more demeaning that I]you fell for him?’

Oh shush.

Redson exhaled sharply, tossing the hairbrush back on the vanity. Maybe the thoughts became too self aware.

“You good scamp?”

Redson’s blood ran cold. Only one annoyance of his used the nickname. And it was the last one he needed.

“Ashra, who gave you permission to enter?” Redson sneered, staring into the mirror to meet the eyes on the warrior leaning on the bed. Ashra smirked, showing off her snaggletooth against her blue skin.

“Awwwww, is that a way to greet a guest? And Sol invited me in, thanks for askin,” She responded, walking up behind Redson and taking the brush in her own hands and continuing what Redson started.

“What are you doing?” Redson questioned. Ashra smiled, the tips of her pointed ears going up.

“Brushing you hair~” She replied. Redson eyed her as she hummed a tune, gently pulling at the red strands with the brush.

“Soooo…. A little fox told me someone is keeping their feelings bottled up again.” Ashra sang out. Redson hair started to steam, which made Ashra chuckle.

“Can’t hide shit from me boy.” She snickered. Redson grumbled, but let her continue work through their hair.

“It’s fine.” Redson insisted.

“Last time you said that, it was about Sol. Who is it this time?”

Buddha, why?

“No one”

“You’re steaming more dude.”

Shit

“…Fuck off.” They said, attempting to get up until Ashra pushed them back down.

“Don’t try that bad boy prince of edge persona on me, pretty boy.” Ashra said, putting the brush back down and sectioning Reds hair into threes.

“You don’t have to tell me, but you know you should at least tell Sol. You know how he gets when you hide something from it.” Ashra reminded them. Redson hummed in acknowledgement, agreeing.

“And talk it out. With full transparency might I add.” Redson groaned, but nodded.

“Great! Sol, get your ass over here!” Redson lurched in their chair as Sol scurried out from under the bed, leaping as it transformed into its human form, giggling as it sat on the vanity.

“Well?” Sol pushed, draping its tails over Reds lap. Redson breathed in and out slowly, tangling their fingers in its fur. They needed to do this.

“It’s… ugh, do I have to say it?” Redson pleaded. Both of the demons gave death glares to the prince. They sighed, and ran their fingers through the white to red coat.

“This feels like an interrogation.”

“Would you rather it be a therapy session?” Ashra quipped.

“…it’s noodle boy,” Redson whispered. Sols’ ears perked up at that, as well as a slight blush. Ashra pufferies her cheeks, holding back her laughter.

“…You too?” Sol inquired.

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN ME TOO?!?” Redson blew up, her hair bursting into flames. Ashra let out her cackles, holding her stomach as her snorts filled the room as well as the crackles of the flames.

“Well… he’s cute and he’s very enjoyable company while I work at Pigsy’s, and when we hang out.”

“I forgot you got a peasant job to get away from me,” Redson teased. Sol smacked them with its tail, but the blush persisted.

“Oh this is quality entertainment.” Ashra commented, taking a rubber band from Sol’s outstretched wrist.

“Like you're any better, Miss Pine.” Sol shot back. Ashra rolled her eyes, but the newly red tips of her ears gave away her emotions.

“I’m trying to move on, thank you. I doubt either of those simians would even go for me anyways. And we are focusing on you guys.” She pointed out.

“Alright, then lets.” Sol determined, “Reds, do you want to be in a relationship with MK?”

“I-I, um….yes? No? I don’t know!” Redson groaned, hair starting to smoke. Ashra sighed, and put her hands on the shoulders of the two lovebirds.

“Alright, let’s settle this. Reds, do you want to hold hands with MK?”

“Uhhh, yes. If he’s comfortable with it.”

“Sol?”

“Duh.”

“Ok how about cuddling?”

“Like how me and Sol do? I don’t mind.”

“Sol?”

“Me and MK do anyways, so yes.”

“Final question: Kissing. Reds?”

“I, uh. Ummm… yeah. Yeah that doesn’t sound too bad.”

“Sol?”

“I don’t mind!”

“Great! Then looks like y’all are in agreement! Now ask go MK!”

“WAIT, how do we know he likes us back?” Redson questioned. Ashra just smiled, ruffled his hair, and gave him this piece of advice.

“Ask him you dumbass. Good luck!” With that, she sprinted out the window into the sunset.

“… Does he like us?” Redson turned to his fox companion, who just looked over and shrugged.

“We’ll have to see.”

[sugoi-and-spice]

Chapter One - Game Start!

Pairing: Tomura Shigaraki x Fem!Reader, (3rd Person)

Rating: Explicit - Minors DNI

Summary: Tomura Shigaraki was her dad's boss's son. He was the creep that stole girls' underwear and tried to grope her in his room. But it's not like he could get her Dad fired just because she wouldn't sleep with him, right? ...right?

CW: Quirkless!AU, Explicit Smut, Dub-Con, Coercion, Blackmail, Cheating, Sexual Guilt, Humiliation, Unhealthy Relationships, Virginity Kink, Groping, Power Play, Hate to Love

A/N: My Tumblr debut on this account! I hope you all enjoy. This is a fic I started a couple months ago as just a one-shot, but became absolutely ADDICTED to the concept. Chapters are long, so excerpts will just be posted on Tumblr. But if you like my style, please please please give me a follow and a request. Looking forward to your thoughts! ^_^

Read Full Chapter on AO3

[EXCERPT]

All things considered, it was kind of strange how ordinarily this entire situation had started. It was a lazy Sunday — the first day off she’d really given herself in months between cram school, swim practice, and studying for entrance exams. She was just laying on the couch playing Animal Crossing on her Switch, when her Dad entered the room, oh so casually bringing up:

“You know the President of my company? He’s got a son that’s about your age.”

Oh no. She knew that tone of voice. That was the, “Let’s get excited about something awful” voice that made her Dad think he was so slick. The, “help me clean the gutters” and “you have an orthodontist appointment” voice. Indicating that it was something so supremely unenjoyable that he needed to trick her into thinking it was something fun or god-forbid cool beforehand.

“He even went to your school, isn’t that neat?”

She shot him a glare. No. No, that was not especially neat. They were a couple of rich kids that lived in the same commuter vicinity of a private school near her fathers’ company. A school that every employee of said company got a nice little stipend to send their kids to due to the large donations that the head of that company made every year. Of course they went to the same school. It was practically custom made for them.

“The President has expressed a lot of interest in introducing you two to each other. Thinks you’ll be a good influence for him!”

“Why does he even know about me? That’s a little creepy.” she joked.

Her Dad was less than amused, “Of course I talk about you with my coworkers. Not to mention you’ve met him at company parties.”

“Huh. I don’t remember.”

That was kind of a lie. She did remember. She particularly remembered that the company president liked to talk about himself and his visions a lot. To the point that she had started calling him “All For One”, in her mind and had completely forgotten his real name. But in all honesty, she didn’t really think about her Dad’s job — let alone his boss — unless she really had to, unless it was right in front of her. So maybe the more honest response would’ve been “I don’t care”, but that was pretty rude.

He reached over, forcibly pausing her game, “That’s because you always have your face buried in your devices, Peanut.”

She rolled her eyes playfully, unpausing the game just as quickly. “What’s his name?”

“Tomura. Do you know him?”

Her fingers froze, her little villager sprite swaying on loop as they waited for her to click forward to the next dialogue option.

Oh she knew him alright. Everybody at her school knew him. Tomura Shigaraki was a fucking freak. And not in the Judd Apatow, misunderstood renegade type of way — this guy was genuinely creepy. The type of guy that brought knives to school. That stole underwear from girls’ lockers (although this was never proven). One of the senpai in her club was convinced that Tomura was stalking her. And he was the type to get away with it all. And now she knew why.

Kamino High had universally let out a sigh of relief when the creep had graduated back in April.

“I think it’d be a good idea.” her father continued, “He’s a first year at Todai, now. Maybe he could give you some entrance exam pointers.”

“No, I think I’ll be okay.” she said.

“He likes video games.” her dad tried to sell.

“Most kids my age do Dad. It’s really not that big of a selling point.”

“What if you just—”

“Dad.” she sat up suddenly, “I really don’t want to.”

He looked at her genuinely surprised. This wasn’t like his daughter to so vehemently oppose him on something. Especially when he was making it clear that it was something important.

“Why not?”

“Because he’s creepy! I don’t like him and I don’t want to spend time with him.” she insisted.

He frowned, “Honey, how can you say that? You don’t even know him.”

“Yeah and I’d like to keep it that way.”

Her dad sighed, “Come on, kiddo. I thought I raised you better than this.”

She looked down to her feet, guilt making its way slowly but surely through her body.

“I’ve met this kid. Sure he’s a bit of an odd duck, but I don’t think he deserves to be called a creep for that. He’s just a little awkward and lonely. Honestly, I think he just needs a friend.”

“And his Dad thinks I’d make a good one…?” she muttered.

“I think you’d make a good one.”

He leaned over, pinching her cheek teasingly, “You’re my friend after all!”

She snorted, swatting his hand away lightly, “Oh god, please stop.”

“Just hang out with him one time, alright? Can you do that for me?”

She sighed, “Fine.”

Her Dad grinned, clapping his hands together excitedly, “Great! It’s a playdate!”

“Please don’t call it that!”

Continue on AO3

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[swtki]

Too Nice To Talk To - P.P

Masterlist

Pairing: TASM! Peter Parker x Fem! Reader

Summary: Peter loves her, the only problem is that she’d be in so much danger if he dare spoke to her

Warnings: Swearing, if you choose to listen to the song they do say the R slur in it. (it was the 80s), very dramatic Peter, mostly fluff, reader doesn’t know Peter is Spiderman

A/N: I love this song SO much

Too Nice To Talk To - Wha’ppen? - The English Beat

Its too late now, its twenty past two. I spent the night just watching you.

Making sure you were safe, that there wasn’t a single threat around.

I watched you every night, no matter where you were. You could be walking home with some girlfriends, and I was lurking in the shadows, making sure nobody followed you all. Or you could be home, dancing in her kitchen as you reheated last nights Indian food, butter chicken. The place downstairs from your apartment had the best butter chicken in Queens.

Now I think quite a lot as I stare at my shoes, About all these things that I put myself through.

Why do I watch you so intensely if I know I could never make you mine? I don’t know, Y/N. Theres something alluring about you. But ultimately, I know, you’re too nice to talk to.

I could never forgive myself if I hurt this ray of sunshine. Just by introducing myself as anything other than your friendly neighborhood spider-man could cause my enemy to pounce on you. To get to me.

One time, I did think about introducing myself as Peter Parker. We were in the subway, you were standing a foot away from me, and I glance but you just stare me through.

But eventually, I got my chance to talk to you. Unfortunately, it was because you were almost getting mugged. Of course, I stepped in right as the gun was pulled out. I knocked him out, webbing him to the wall. You looked at me, shocked. unsure of what to say. Finally, you spoke.

“Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it! What else is the friendly neighborhood Spider-man for?”

You smile and start walking away. I should have said something, I should have made my move.

So, I went back to watching you. Until I couldn’t. I tapped on your window one night, your fourth story apartment window. You look confused and then shocked when you saw my big white eyes staring back at you. You opened your window.

“Hey spider- man, can I help you?“ You were unsure how to feel about me.

“Patrol is a bit boring tonight, came to see if I could offer a pretty lady like yourself any flowers.” I pulled the bouquet from behind my back.

Your eyes widened and you froze. “How did you- why did you- what?” but nevertheless you grasped them in your hands and you welcomed me into your apartment.

“Sorry it’s not the cleanest.” You said, kicking a pile of clothes under the bed. I’d plopped down onto the plush floor and looked around.

“This is a very nice room.” You rolled your eyes and we walked out into the main kitchen and living area.

“So,” You pull a vase out of the cabinet, it’s purple, your roommates favourite color it would seem. “Do you make pit stops to give all the women in queens a bouquet of flowers, or am I special?” My face burned under my mask, you were looking at me, talking to me.

“Just you. There’s something about you, Y/N.”

Your eyebrows raised, and for a minute I thought I’d offended you. Felt such a fool I felt you knew, But you might tell me to go away.

“Do you, um, do you want something to drink?” You turned to the fridge and opened it. “I have beer, hard cider, Dr. Pepper, sprite?”

I laughed, “tap water, if you have it of course” You laughed back.

“Of course.” 

I wanted to throw myself at you, to kiss you right then and there.

This evening hasn't gone like I planned, Should I take the situation in hand?

Unfortunately, I chose the other end of the bad choice spectrum.

You handed the glass to me, to which I drank in one swift move.

“How did you know my-“ You started,

“Well, I should be going, thanks for the water!” I ran Out the window you might say I'm out of of my mind.

But you're too nice to talk to.

Too nice.

REBLOG IF YOU LIKE! REBLOGS ARE MORE HELPFUL THAN LIKES !!!

Taglist:

@mssbridgerton

@Katiekatbooks

@augustvandyne

@babyhoneymp4

@raajali3

@dreamy-clousds

[littlefreya]

Vanilla Milkshake

Summer: Henry and a long time friend hangout at their usual spot when things turn chaotic because of an innocent misunderstanding...

Prompted by:  

 Oooh Freyaaaa I just *need* some scene featuring Henry and ofc drinking milkshake. 

Pairing: Henry Cavill x Unamed OFC (no description of ethnicity or body type).

Word count: 1.7K

Warnings: RPF, major fluff, friends to lovers, sexual innuendo, mild seduction, sex talk, an unwanted boner, Henry being a boomer, Henry having a meltdown. 

*No permission is given for reposting my work, copying it, ideas or parts it and claiming it as your own.*

A/N: So, first thing first, thanks @agniavateira for quickly beta’ing my work! And of course thanks @the-soot-sprite for bouncing ideas with me and being an emotional support. Decided to go with friends for lovers because I live for that stuff. Also, I am aware that “Milkshake” can be interpreted in several ways but for the sake of the story I went with that particular reference. Divider by the lovely @firefly-graphics

Please comment and reblog if you enjoyed.  🖤

Title: Vanilla Milkshake

“I swear, this diner looks like Barbie had an orgasm all over the place.” A whimsical grin sliced between Henry’s marble cheeks. Eyeing the pastel-esque surroundings, he huffed scornfully and adjusted the cap over his nest of unruly curls. 

“Remind me again why we always meet here, young lady?”

Staring at the beastly man who barely managed to squeeze into the plastic-pink faux leather booth, she couldn’t help but chuckle. Henry carried himself with something that was both eloquent yet unmistakably feral, reminding her of a burly forest creature. Sturdy tree trunks stood for limbs, torso, and shoulders—the widths of icy mountains and a blanket of thick fur coated the entirety of his body, deeming him a dangerous bear. 

No wonder he preferred himself clean-shaven. The sharpened edge of a razor kept him a cut away from becoming ‘Henry the Barbarian’. 

Seeing him surrounded by pastel and sparkly fairy dust brought far more joy than she could ever imagine. The utter look of contempt gleamed on the surface of his shifty eyes. 

Oh, by God, how much he hated glitter!

“And what would you know about Barbie’s orgasms?” she teased with a crooked eyebrow and a comical suspicious glare. 

Readjusting his cap over the messy mane of chocolate curls, Henry offered a terrible wink and shrugged, “a gentleman never tells.”

Her fingers rapped on her thigh while she contemplated whether to allow this naughty joke slide, but then the urge to provoke him was far too great. After briefly chewing on the inside of her cheek, she broke into a wicked grin.

“Is that… like a role play you have with the missus? She’s Barbie, and you’re G.I.Joe? Because I kinda don’t want to hear about it, but then I kinda do.”

Henry’s smile gradually faded along with the playful glee in his eyes, his melancholic gaze dropping to the sparkly table. He slumped into a heavy sigh, “If by missus, you mean ‘Miss Hand’, then no… not really.”

Dumbfounded, she frowned at Henry with confusion when then it struck her; a sense of incredible embarrassment drained the blood from her head to her gut.

“Oh…”

“Yep.” Henry blurted and grabbed the menu, pretending to be incredibly interested in the kids’ meal options. 

Just in time to rescue them from a prolonged awkward silence, the waitress arrived with their order, serving Henry a hot cup of double espresso while she received a tall glass of a luscious vanilla milkshake. 

“Enjoy your drinks, guys!” the waitress smiled sweetly and kept her eyes glued to Henry as she walked away. But the gloss of the waitress’ flirtatious excitement was lost on him; drenched with greed, Henry’s blue sapphires were fixated on the generous scoops of ice cream and the dark chocolate swirls that decorated his companion’s dessert. 

“Henry, my eyes are up here!” she provoked and grabbed the straw between two fingers while throwing an amused glance at his simple cup of coffee. Henry followed her gaze and scoffed before raising the cup to his mouth and blowing to cool his drink.

The way his lips pursed together and his finger stroked the ceramic surface did not escape her observation. A sudden tingle swam down the length of her spine once it resonated in her mind that kind, charming, and beastly Henry was now single. Here they were, long time buddies, but now sitting together felt less comfortable than before. Her limbs felt like pins and needles while staring directly at his eyes was as risky as staring at the sun.  

“Cheers,” Henry mumbled and took a sip from his cup. 

Almost jolting in her seat, she stiffened and then grabbed her straw.

“Cheers.”

Giggles came from the other side of the diner. Among the retro gumball machines and rounded plastic bar stools, the waitress and a colleague leaned against the counter and stared at Henry, who turned his head for a brief moment and tipped his head.

Their giggles turned even louder.

She frowned. 

“So, have you been single for a while?” she heard herself asking with a rather urgent tone. Right away, a look of contrition crept on her face as she regretted her verbal onslaught and lack of sensitivity. 

Henry directed his gaze back to her and watched as she slowly sipped from the milkshake and then suckled the cream off her mouth. 

Absentmindedly, he licked his lips. “Since May. How about you, weren’t you with…?”

“No, ended, dodged a bullet.” she spat and pumped the straw up and down the thick beverage. “My milkshake brings all the boys… except it doesn't.” she sighed.

Henry frowned and shook his head with confusion. “What? You never told me you make your own milkshake. How come I never had some?” 

Her face abruptly froze, her eyes rounded with surprise before she snorted so loudly the waitresses stopped their whispering.

“Umm… Hen?” she called out, trying to hold herself from bursting into chuckles as her friend accidentally asked for a very sexual favour, “you honestly don’t know what ‘milkshake’ is slang for...?”

“Uh…”

“Omg, you’re such a boomer.” 

“No, I was born in ‘83! I’m a millennial. But please, indulge me.” he begged and crossed his arms together.

Clearing her throat loudly, she did her best to fight the wicked grin that stretched on her already painful cheeks and wrapped her fist around the straw. “So you know... how… certain male bodily fluids are sometimes white and creamy...? And when you perform a certain motion it’s like you’re shaking it…?”

Henry blinked and became silent. An unbidden rush of blood pooled at his groin as he watched her thumb graze over the tip of the straw and her fist pumping it into the smooth liquid in a slow, gentle motion. Wickedness glazed her eyes, but he tried to dismiss it as nothing but their usual playful banter; yet his adam’s apple bobbed up and down while his shoulder tensed at the oddly arousing sight of her performing a sinful act on a milkshake. 

There was an unmistakable stir in his cock and for once, he was thankful for narrow spaces as it hid his predicament.

Leaning forward, she opened her mouth and swirled her tongue around the straw. She went deliberately slow, making him watch while she playfully licked and suckled the tip until finally wrapping her lips around it and taking a generous sip.

Henry gawked utterly smitten, unaware that his jaw was nearly at the floor.

And to make things worse, she moaned—not too loud—but definitely enough to make his shaft harden more.

She wasn’t sure what stirred this whimsical boost of confidence, only that seeing the large, handsome man pale at her provocations made her feel like the most powerful woman on earth. She also gathered she’d regret it forever and a day once they’ll part ways, but it was too late for that now.

Gingerly she pulled back, though not before allowing a single drop of cream to trickle down the corner of her lips.

“Oops,” she smirked casually, wiping the cream with her fingertip and sucking it clean. 

“Please stop…” 

It was then when she noticed that Henry’s playful mien was all but gone. Far from amused, he glowered with a clenched jaw. “If you’re going to keep doing that, I’ll have to leave,” he stated matter-of-factly. 

A rush of panic made her freeze in her spot, the same needles that pricked her skin were now setting jolts of electric bursts. “I’m so sorry, I crossed the line,” she said and covered her mouth with shame, “did I offend you? Do you want me to leave?”

“What? No, no, not at all.” Henry’s voice softened right away, and he reached a hand in the air, as if trying to stop her from leaving. The last thing he wanted now is for her to think he is angry with her. If anything, he wished they could spend more time together, not because of his obvious arousal, but because for the first time in a long while, he was having fun.

Still, she looked at him so utterly distraught.  

“Then…?” 

Henry scanned the diner as if trying to make sure no one was staring or taking any photo and then shifted in his seat uncomfortably. His eyes altered between his spread thighs and her several times, trying to signal toward his… trouble.

“Oh...” she gaped. 

An odd sense of pride began to permeate her chest, battling over the burning embarrassment that flamed up her neck and cheeks. At this point, she wasn’t sure what she was supposed to feel, only that it was definitely the most awkward hangout they had to date. 

Problem was, she never knew when to shut up. 

“Is little Henry hungry?”

Hearing those words, his brows dropped to an irritated sulk. “There is nothing little about it.”

“Ha! Prove it!”

It was as if the entire diner and perhaps the world fell into silence. Had the clatter of the dishes being washed in the back kitchen not rung their ears, she would have thought she grew suddenly deaf. 

“I didn’t mean it… sorry, I’ll stop,” she mumbled slowly and pressed her fingers to her mouth while shaking her head at her stupid behaviour. That was it, this was to be the last afternoon she would ever hang out with Henry and right now, she couldn’t even bring herself to look at him.

Henry chewed onto the inside of his cheeks, trying to stop the words that came faster than his thoughts.

“You didn’t?... Because I’ll definitely be up for proving...”

She blinked at his words and tilted her head, hoping that he won’t notice the wild tremors that shook her limbs, “What was that?” 

“I... yes? No?...I… fuck!” 

Henry lowered his head and slapped his palms across his face, rubbing back and forth with an utter meltdown while mumbling, “Forgive me,” a couple of times. He couldn’t care less of what the waitresses or whoever was watching would think of him; all he cared about was to make her feel comfortable around him again and maybe… even make her like him?

“Henry?”

Soft and warm her voice called to him, slowly pulling him from his anguish like a sailor being rescued from a sunken ship. His blue sapphires shone, an ocean of confusion and anxiety still pooling within while he peered back at her face that was now smiling at him a mixture of comfort and exhilaration. 

“Would you like some of my milkshake?”

[melodylovesklitzy]

Heartbreak -Druig x Eternal!Reader

Druig x F!Reader

Druig x Eternal!Reader

Requested: YES!! <3

Warning: Angst (?) and fluff

Druig was heartbroken due to the ending of his relationship with Makkari and Y/n was the one there for him.

(THIS IS A MESS I'M SO SORRY)

Love is truly a complicated thing, even after all his years of being alive, Druig still didn’t understand it. He thought he had found his forever with Makkari, but she had decided that she wasn’t really into men. Druig felt heartbroken, all the years and decades they spent together, gone to waste. It hurt Druig the most over the fact that Makkari was most likely always uncomfortable in the relationship, Druig was the type to put his s/o above everyone else. He just wanted them to be happy, it broke him when he found out Makkari was unhappy with him for years.

Nobody in the village had seen Druig in months, since the breakup Druig had locked himself in his hut, some of the villagers had started a rumor of hearing him cry silently at different points in the day. Upon hearing the rumor, he cleared their memory of the day, hoping they would forget hearing him (trying to silently) sob. It worried the villagers, but nobody bothered to check on him, they were too scared to disturb him.

When the Deviants started to come back nobody knew what to do, but Sersi had the plan of getting all the eternals back together. It took a while, but when finding Makkari in the ship alone, everyone grew nervous, they all expected Druig to be with her. Thankfully, she knew where Druig had gone, but she had no idea if Druig would be happy to have visitors.

You and your fellow eternals walked through the damp forest, looking for the small village Makkari described to the group. Makkari stayed behind, thinking that if Druig saw her, he would refuse to help you.

Upon finding the village, Sprite was the first to speak to a villager, asking in spanish if they had seen Druig.

“Hello Sprite.”

All of the eternals froze in their spot, not knowing if they should continue speaking or wait for the man himself to come out. Lucky for the group, Druig slowly walked out of his hut, the dark circles under his eyes were evident. The group knew he was struggling with his breakup, and yet nobody went to check on him.

Expect Y/n.

Y/n was the first person Makkari had told about the breakup, and when she heard the news, Y/n booked the first flight she could to the amazon. Sadly, there were no available flights, so she had to convince Kingo to let her borrow his private jet, claiming it was a life or death situation. Due to Kingo’s soft-spot for Y/n, it didn’t take him long to cave into her pleading.

You had seen Druig in the worst state you’ve seen anyone, the man was absolutely and completely heartbroken. He had spent your entire trip with you, basically attached to your side, begging you to stay when you had to get up to get him some sort of food. The villagers were incredibly thankful for you being there for their leader. They provided anything you needed for him, and would drop any job they were doing to even make Druig a small bowl of soup.

Druig never would have admitted it, but you being there for him had helped him a lot. Most of the time he had spent crying was him crying over the fact that he missed you so much. You had also missed Druig, but you needed to return to work, otherwise you would be fired. Druig begged you to stay, claiming that he could build you a house there, and that you would never need to work if you didn’t want to.

“Y/n, I’m glad to see you’ve returned.”

“Hey Druig.”

While Druig was definitely not the type of person to enjoy hugs, when it was from you, he’d make an exception. So when you came up to him slowly and wrapped your arms around his torso, he gladly returned the hug. He even lightly squeezed you, and a small smile appeared on his face.

“What, what is this?”

“Is this new because I hate it.”

Pasthos and Kingo had to make small comments whenever they could, and they 100% would not let Druig or Y/n live this out.

Druig and Y/n let go of each other and Y/n slowly backed away.

“Ajak is dead.”

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

“So you’re telling me, you want me to put the celestial to sleep? Do you not know how difficult that will be?” He stormed out of the small church he had brought you all into, walking away and disappearing into the trees.

Druig had taken the information exactly how you all expected him to, and now the other eternals were expecting you to convince him to be on board with the plan. You let out a dramatic sigh before also running out of the church.

“Druig!”

You dodged and weaved through tree branches and bushes, looking for the angry brunette. You only managed to find him because you could hear soft sniffles close by.

Following the sound you discovered Druig, he was sitting by the river, looking into the water and letting some tears freely fall.

When Druig noticed you were walking towards him, he made a small effort to wipe away the tears, but ultimately gave up. You had seen him at his worst, he didn’t care if you saw him like this.

“I wanna help, I do, these people are everything to me. I can’t lose them, but I don’t know if I’ll be powerful enough for them.”

“Druig, we’ll all be there helping you, you’ll be able to use all our power too. I believe in you. We all believe in you.”

Druig lifted his head to look you in the eyes, his were his usual blue with some tears in them. It was always nice to look into his beautiful blue eyes, while his gold ones were gorgeous, you adored his natural eyes. They were a sea like blue, which matched him due to the fact that he lived closer to the ocean. Druig didn’t have to read your mind to know you adored his eyes, which made him use his powers less around you, just so you can see his natural eyes.

You were so different from Makkari, Makkari was never able to look into his eyes, and would avoid his gaze whenever she could. Druig was longing for these small parts of affection, and he was willing to do anything for them. He had spent so much time with you that when you continued to give him these small pieces of affection, he quickly grew strong feelings for you.

“Y/n, if we make it out, please stay with me in the Amazon.”

Druig’s eyes were filled with hope, hope that you would say yes. Say yes and stay with him. He would do anything for you.

“Druig, if you help us, I’ll do anything you want.”

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

Walking back onto the ship after not being on it for decades felt weird to Druig, but this feeling didn’t stay long. His body started to become overwhelmed with the feeling of nervousness. He would have to see Makkari after not years of not seeing her, and he was terrified of how she would react.

Y/n could sense his feeling of nervousness and gently grabbed his hand, squeezing it lightly.

Druig looked down at Y/n, she looked back up at him, giving him a soft smile before gently tugging him into the ship.

Makkari was in the main room, sitting on a sort of throne in the middle of the room reading a book.

Phastos quickly started signing at Makkari, asking how she managed to trash his work room so quickly. Makkari simply shrugged at him before slowly walking over to Druig. She kept her head low while walking to him, and Druig just continued to stare at her, waiting for her to make the first move. Makkari looked up at him, but wouldn’t make eye contact with him.

“I’m sorry I didn’t check on you Druig, but I told Y/n and I figured she would go and take care of you.” Makkari signed for him.

Druig sighed and gently pulled the girl into a quick hug, then signed to her, “It’s okay, I’m glad you’re okay.”

Makkari smiled at him and then looked at you, giving you a quick hug before walking over to Phastos, who was currently throwing the books she was reading around. You turned your body to look at Druig, “you okay?”

Druig nodded at you, and gently began to pull you towards his part of the ship. You didn’t fight him and went along with him.

Once in his more private room, his breathing began to become shaky. Y/n was at his side in a second, comforting him through this. It took a while but eventually Druig began to calm down, and buried his face into the crook of Y/n’s neck, breathing lightly on her neck. It was clear that he had fallen asleep in her arms. Something Druig had talked about before, saying he never felt comfortable in anyone's arms/ Yet here he was, sleeping soundly on Y/n while she gently brushed her hand through his hair.

He was definitely hers, no matter how much he wanted to ignore the fact. He was absolutely in love with the female eternal.

@giogiorabbit

[starryevermore]

the blaze of the sun ✧ ikaris

angst city™ library | send in a request (consult request faqs first)

request: Ikarus x reader (icarus?) idk I’m sorry: Him and reader having a domestic day and making brownies together and all that fluff then reader questions why and he has to tell the truth that the worlds ending in 5 days (but doesn’t say he murdered Ajak) and readers happy he spent time with her but he then kills her like ajak to not have a painful death then the ending happens and realises the reader could’ve been safe and alive if he hadn’t of killed her? Sorry for the long winded message. - anon

pairing: ikaris x fem!reader

summary: in which ikaris loved, and in which ikaris lost. 

word count: 2,497

warnings?: a teensy bit of fluff, major angst, major character death, assisted suicide (not explicitly described), not proofread

Ikaris once thought that he would never love again. After he and Sersi had separated, he never expected to find love again. And why would he? Of the Eternals, Sersi was the only one he would ever love. And of the humans...Well, he never cared for them the way that Sersi did. The only reason he was on Earth was for the mission. He was to fight the Deviants and to wait for Arishem’s orders to return home. He never developed an attachment to them like Sersi did. 

And why should he? The human life was fleeting. He knew he would outlive them. He knew that he would remain the same as they got older. It was not worth the ache or the pain to become attached. And when Ajak told him that their true mission was to ensure the Emergence of the New Celestial? He knew better than to even think of caring about humans beyond his mission. 

That is, until he met you. After he and Sersi separated, Ikaris spent a lot of time alone. He almost preferred being alone. If he couldn’t be with the woman he loved, why would he bother with anyone else? So, he traveled, explored all of the corners of the Earth. Eventually, he found himself a sleepy little town. There was nothing particularly exciting about it. Nothing that drew him in. But as he was beginning to leave, he saw you. 

He didn’t like small towns, if he was being honest. Though, if he was truly being honest, he didn’t like anywhere on Earth. The sooner he could leave, the better. But he especially didn’t like small towns. Nobody gossiped quite like people in small towns with nothing else to do and, even if he tried to blend in, he still stuck out like a sore thumb. It was best he leave before people got too suspicious of him. So, when he was sure that no one was paying him any attention, he got ready to fly off and find somewhere else to go. 

“Careful!” you said, grabbing him by the arm, tugging him out of the street just before a car he didn’t notice before came speeding by. 

Ikaris looked over at you and froze. Was this what it felt like to be human? To look at someone and think of everything you could have with them? 

“You could say thank you,” you said. Your voice, it was almost teasing. A soft smile, a sort of glint in your eye that made him want to stay and he wasn’t quite sure why. 

“Thank you,” he said. “I, erm, can I take you out for coffee? To thank you?”

And when he saw you smile, he understood why all of the poets and the playwrights wrote about love. “I would like that. I’m Y/N, by the way.”

“I’m Ikaris.”

“Like the guy who flew too close to the sun?”

He chuckled, remembering the story Sprite had told when they lived in Athens. “Yeah. Something like that.”

Falling in love with you was as easy, as natural, as flying. You were a writer, he learned. Preferred the quieter things in life. You lived on the edge of town, didn’t come out that often. You had a good heart, though. So when you saw what you thought might have been his death (even though he knew he would be fine even if he was hit by that car), you didn’t hesitate to save him. Maybe that was the beauty of humans. Or maybe that was the beauty of you. 

He couldn’t be alone anymore. Not when he knew someone as wonderful, as amazing as you. He fell hard, and he fell fast, and he was okay with that. 

And when you loved him too...It felt like everything would be okay, even if he knew that he would outlive you. He didn’t care, though. For the first time in a long time, it felt like he was living. And he didn’t ever want to let you go. 

But as time wore on, he knew he would have to say goodbye. He could only hope that that day came before the Emergence. That he wouldn’t have to lose you like that, knowing that succeeding his mission brought about your end. He wasn’t sure he could live with that. When Thanos snapped away half the universe, he was sure he wouldn’t have to see that day. Perhaps he could see you live a long, healthy life after all. 

After the Avengers defeated Thanos, though, and half of the universe returned, he knew that the Emergence would soon happen. He went to visit Ajak, and he learned that she, like Sersi, had developed an affinity for the humans. And he understood it, in a way. Maybe he would feel different if he felt as strongly about the human race as he did towards you. But...he still couldn't give up his mission. He had to see it through to the end. 

When he returned home, he decided that he would make your final days as comfortable he could manage. Make sure that you were happy. That you knew that you were loved. He couldn’t save you, but he could make sure you were at peace. 

He woke you up to breakfast in bed, making sure that he had made all of your favorites. Even went out and got a pretty bouquet of your favorite flowers. Pressed soft kisses around your face, punctuating each kiss with a soft “I love you”. 

As you ate, he couldn’t stop himself from staring at you. Every time you asked if there was something wrong, if you had something on your face, he would just say that he was admiring a work of art. He couldn’t tell you that he was trying to burn the image of you into his mind. 

After you got ready, he asked if you would like to make brownies together. It had been so long, and he missed the days where you would make a mess in the kitchen. Well, when he would make a mess and you would gaze over fondly, saying that he was an absolute menace with all the tenderness you could afford.

He almost thought you didn’t suspect anything. But, as he fed you one of the brownies, you pulled away from him, saying just above a whisper, “Are you going to tell me what’s bothering?”

“Nothing is bothering me.” He didn’t want to worry you. 

“I’m not stupid,” you said, frowning. “I know something’s on your mind. Did something happen when you visited Ajak? You’ve been acting different since you came back.”

And he couldn’t lie to you. Not when he was going to soon lose you. 

“I’m an Eternal. I came to Earth seven thousand years ago with the other Eternals to protect humans from the Deviants. We killed them all five centuries ago and have been waiting.” He didn’t like lying to you, because they hadn’t killed all of the Deviants. 

“Waiting for what?” In a world where there were super soldiers and wizards and aliens defending from the sky, it wasn’t a surprise to you that something like this would be real. But...You didn’t like the worried look it put on Ikaris’s face. 

“The Emergence. A seed was planted in Earth. Soon, the seed will hatch and a Celestial will be born.”

Your brows furrowed together. “But, if the seed must hatch...The planet will be destroyed.”

“And everyone on it,” he said. He looked away. It hurt to look at you, to know that he would soon lose you. But, he also wanted to relish the few moments he had left with you, so he looked back at you once more. “The Emergence is going to happen in five days.”

“And that’s why you’ve been so kind the last few days. Because I’m going to die in five days.”

He nodded. “I can’t stop the Emergence. No one can. But, I wanted to make sure that your last moments were happy ones.”

You reached up, taking his face in your hands. His eyes fluttered shut, leaning into your touch. He wanted to remember this. He wanted to remember how soft your skin was, how you smelled so sweet, how you always looked at him with pure adoration in your eyes. If he could remember anything about his time on Earth, he wanted to remember this. “Thank you.”

Ikaris leaned down, his lips brushing over yours. “I don’t want to lose you. Not like that.” He pulled away, feelings tears prick at his eyes. “I’ve known the Emergence would happen, but I...I hoped it wouldn’t be in your lifetime. I thought I would get to see you grow old. I hoped you would. I don’t want you to die like this.”

You didn’t say anything for a moment. Then two. Then— “You don’t have to.”

“You don’t understand. Nothing can stop the Emergence. Earth has to be destroyed in order for life throughout the universe to flourish.”

“I understand that. But...I don’t know. I can...die before then. It’s inevitable, isn’t it? I’m...going to die soon, anyways. But at least I could, I don’t know, take my death into my own hands. Go peacefully, or at least as peacefully as a person can when they know the world is going to end.”

“Y/N—” He didn’t want to do this. It already felt like he’d died when he killed Ajak. If he played a part in your death...He wouldn’t know what to do with himself. But, if it could give you peace in your final moments...It might be worth it. 

“It’ll be okay, Ikaris. It will.”

You laid together in bed, you nestled in his arms. He put on your favorite movie, but it was just noise in the background. You were looking up at him, a sleepy look in your eyes. You were going soon, he could tell. He couldn’t bear to tear his eyes away. 

“Tell me a story,” you whispered. 

“Once upon a time,” he said, “there was a man, who wasn’t quite a man. Not in the human sense, anyway. He was a very lonely man. For a long time, he only worked to complete a mission he was given. He didn’t for anything else. But one day, he met this amazing woman. She was everything he wasn’t. Kind, considerate, so full of love. And he knew that his life would never be the same. He fell for her, and for some reason, she fell for him, too. And, when he was with her, for the first time ever, he didn’t feel so lonely anymore.”

You had stopped listening, because you couldn’t listen anymore. As he heard your breathing slow, your heart coming to a stop, he knew that you were gone. He leaned down, pressing a kiss to your forward, a tear slipping out as he felt your skin already begin to grow cold. 

“I will always love you,” he whispered. 

Slowly, he unwound himself from you. But he couldn’t leave you just laying there. Though it didn’t do anything for you, he pulled the covers over top of you, tucking you in, pressing another kiss to your forehead. He gently closed your eyes, and he whispered his goodbyes. 

But as he began to walk out of the house, something caught his eye. You had been working on your newest novel, and you had kept the story very close to your chest. You wouldn’t tell him anything about it, saying you wanted it to be a surprise. But there on your desk laid a printed copy of the manuscript. Swallowing thickly, he picked it up and choked out a sob. 

Working Title: The Blaze of the Sun

He set the papers down. He couldn’t read them, knowing that you had poured your love for him into the pages. He almost felt like he didn’t deserve it. Not when it was his mission that killed you. 

He had to leave. 

Ikaris left for London to reunite with Sprite and Sersi. The Deviants were back, after all, and Ikaris had to make sure that all of the Eternals were ready for the Emergence to happen. 

But, the strangest thing happened. When the others learned of the Emergence...They wanted to stop it. They grew attached to the humans. They wanted to find another way. 

He couldn’t understand it. This was what they were made for. This was what their mission was. They all used to be so loyal to the mission, loyal to Arishem. What had changed in the thousand of years they had been separated? In the end, Sprite was the only one who stood by his side.

But, really, in the end...They did it. They managed to stop the Emergence. And he stood on the beach, looking at what they had done, it felt like his entire world was collapsing in on itself. 

They had stopped it. 

The world didn’t end. 

Humanity was saved. 

Humanity was saved, but you were gone. 

You were gone and it was all his fault.

He had killed you. He had told you there was no other way. You decided to die, because you believed in him and what he said. You didn’t know that he would be proven wrong. That the Emergence would be stopped. And he killed you. 

You could’ve been safe. 

You could still be alive. 

But he killed you. 

His mouth felt dry as he thought about it, remembering the way you had looked at him, the way you had whispered to him that you loved him. You thought so highly of him and he was the reason you were gone. 

Ikaris now knew that he could never love again. And he would never want to love again. Because he had loved and he lost it and there was no one left to blame but himself. 

He thought back to what you had written— 

There once was a boy who flew too close to the sun. Or, at least, that’s what everyone said. It was a cautionary tale parents told their children. Don’t fly too high, or else you might lose your wings and fall. But if you asked the boy, he would tell you that there was no better feeling than being enveloped by the blaze of the sun.

Maybe there was some truth there. Maybe there was some comfort still left to be found. 

And maybe he just owed it to you, to be able to say there was no better feeling than being enveloped by the blaze of the sun. And, if he was being honest, there was nothing left for him on Earth. Not without you. So, without another word, he looked at his fellow Eternals before flying straight into the sun. 

And so there he would stay until the ache of losing you dulled, if it ever would.