#𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥

[radiokill]

THIS PLAAAAAACE REEKS OF SEX

                   "There's  a  diiiiiildo  in  hereeeee.....and  I  barely  escaped  being  FUCKED  in  the  rear..." 

[dut0n]

kayce does not drink. this is canon, but they never touched base on why. we've seen the entire family indulge in alcohol and then there is kayce who doesn't, doesn't touch a drop. and there is talk about him having been in trouble a lot as a child, so here's my headcanon behind it.

in his late pre-teen/early teens, kayce got addicted to alcohol and drugs to cope with the memory of watching his mom die at the age of 7. he constantly got caught by the sheriff either drunk or high, and was put in rehab to get him sober, while getting away from drugs was easier, kayce would relapse when it came to alcohol and the night he met and hooked up with monica he'd been drinking and showed up home drunk, before being sent back to his most recent stint in rehab.

when he got out, he learned monica was pregnant, and offered to marry her, which in the long run is reckless for a recently sober teenager, but after john heard this he branded kayce as a final punishment. even though he wanted to drink, to dull the pain, he didn't. this led to him joining the navy SEALS.

[azaleakoneko]

Fat bottomed girls make the world go round?

What about the fat bottomed femboys 🤔

[messylustt]

౨ৎ ‧˚

𝐞𝐥 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨 (𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥) — 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬

miguel o’hara x fem!reader. 1.3k words

fic masterlist pt one next part

i’ve gotten some help with my spanish and have approved/fixed accordingly (if you have any suggestions on the spanish please speak up!); enemies to lovers trope; not obvious, but subtle jealous miguel; human(not spider-person)!reader; spanish term of endearment ‘chaparrita’ — miguel o’hara has never liked you—a human—joining the team as the ‘person in the chair’. he’s made his distaste for you clear. but when he speaks certain spanish words you don’t understand, he reveals that his annoyance of you is by the fact that you make him feel ‘hot’. soon, a deal surfaces, his promotion benefitting you both.

Miguel watches as you fiddled with the different tech machines, tapping with a focused gaze. He tilted his head, staying by the large spider, having spread out screens filled with the many mission's info.

He had a slight scowl on his face, his expression usually one considered moody. But this time he had a reason for it. You.

You were a pain to Miguel, far too nice to every spider-person. He hadn't liked having you here the moment a few of them recommended you. They described you as the 'person in the chair'. You were smart, sure, but Miguel didn't think you belonged here. You weren't a spider-person like the rest of them, you were human.

He jumped down, landing beside you. You look to your left, having to tilt your head up at his sheer height. You gulp. You've always been nervous around Miguel O'hara. You didn't think he once smiled, his gaze only seeming to harden, especially when you would speak.

So, you kept it minimal. Only talking to him when it was required. "O'hara." You nod, turning quickly back to your work. "Anything I can help you with?"

"Nothing you can help with, y/l/n." His small jab at your inability in many areas, such as swinging from buildings with web, made you straighten your spine.

You ignore his tone, again not daring to meet his gaze. "Then, I'm sure Jessica will be here soon to help with anything."

Miguel's eyes wander your stiff posture. He could tell that he made you nervous, and part of him relished in that. It helped him think that you knew your place.

When you noticed that he wasn't leaving, you go to say something else, when Hobie and Peter burst into the room. Both yours and Miguel's attentions shift. Hobie easily moves towards you, making you smile. He reached his hand out as you did what many would call a typical 'bro handshake'. But Hobie instead chose to call something far from normality, in his prominent british accent.

Hobie was one of the ones who recommended you for this job. And you've been beyond grateful since.

"How's ya bloody borin’ shit goin’?" Hobie asks, leaning down to see whatever nonsense you had typed up.

"Describe 'boring shit'." You say, your tone turning smug.

He scoffs, eyeing the screen again, before giving up and grabbing your chin to turn back to the tech. "Keep working."

You chuckle, just as Miguel speaks. "Aren't you supposed to be out?"

Hobie looks to Miguel, straightening his guitar strap. "What—should I start callin’ ya boss, and kissin’ ya boots?"

Hobie has always been one to 'do his own thing' and completely bypass the rules. Miguel looks unimpressed, as Hobie holds his hands up in fake innocence. Peter chimes in. "He doesn't wear boots."

Hobie glances at him. "Thanks Peter. I didn't know."

Peter doesn't have time to respond before he's running after his swinging daughter. "Just get back to work." Miguel says. "That includes you, Peter. And didn't I say not bring her here?" He sounds exasperated, as he pinches the bridge between his nose.

You spin in your seat watching as Peter sends back a 'sorry', as he disappears, running through the large exit door. Hobie is quick to follow sending you a nod and a smile.

You wave them off, feeling the tension flood back into the room now that it's just you and Miguel again. You swiftly spin back in your chair, your fingers going back to tapping, as your legs spread comfortably.

Miguel looks back at you, before running his hand down his face, muttering. "No abras las piernas como una invitación." (Don't open your legs like an invitation.)

You pause, glancing at him. "What was that?"

He glances back at you, eyeing your confused expression. You, of course, didn't know spanish.

He places his hands against the desk, leaning a fraction closer to you, his gaze fluttering across your features. "Podría decirte cualquier cosa en español y no sabrías lo que quiero decir." (I could say anything to you in Spanish and you wouldn't know what I mean.)

"You know I don't know spanish." You mutter.

"I know. And the thought of you being so unaware, makes me want to tell you..." He leans closer to your ear, making your pulse beat rapidly. "....cuanto me haces arder, cariño. (how much you make me burn inside.) And it’s beyond annoying.”

You sigh, pushing slightly away from him. "Look, I know you find me annoying." You begin. "That's fine. But just...can you at least give me somewhat of a chance?"

"Do to what?" He asks, crossing his arms, as he leans back against the desk.

"To prove I'm helpful."

"Helpful?" Miguel asks, tilting his head. "You want to be helpful?"

"Of course."

"Then find a more suitable job." He stands to walk away.

"If you want me gone, then why don't you fire me?"

He pauses for a moment. "Sadly, I need a proper reason for that. So, if you want to be helpful to me. Then fuck something up."

"But while you're here being useless you should probably learn spanish." Miguel says as he walks out the door.

You huff, staring after him, watching as his back muscles contracted in a way that made you look away, gulping. Fucking Miguel O'hara.

;;

You sit, feet up by the tech, as you tapped away on your phone. You got a congratulatory 'ding' whenever you got a word or sentence right, and a rather loud 'booing' sound when you got a word or sentence wrong.

Yes, you're trying to learn Spanish. You sadly hadn't remembered word for word what Miguel had said to you, so you couldn't put it through translation. He must have purposefully spoken fast so you wouldn't have time to catch each word and remember.

'Me gusta ir al museo.' Your phone spoke. It translated to 'I like going to the museum' You had gotten it wrong, putting ‘park’ instead.

You groan, your head knocking back as your eyes shut in annoyance. You were only smart in certain areas. You let your phone drop to the desk, as you stretch, keeping your eyes shut tight, as if you could find the Spanish language hidden behind them.

"Spanish?" A deep voice spoke, making you jump, swiftly getting to your feet and spinning.

Miguel stands in his signature spider suit, your phone in his grasp. "I didn't think you'd actually listen to me."

You snatch it back, switching it off, as you scratch the back of your neck. "I was just..." You drift off sighing. "I like this job."

Miguel watches you closely. "You're committed, I'll give you that."

You smile, the word 'progress' swirling in your brain. "I learnt a sentence." You say, brows creasing in remembrance. "Me gusta...ir al...musio?" (I like going...to the...musio?) You say this more so as a question as you meet the amused gaze of Miguel.

"Ir al museo." (To the museum) He corrects, knowing the generic 'hobbies' sentences most kids learn.

"…I was close." You say, smiling, before you realise who you're talking to, your nerves returning.

Miguel nearly kicked himself for feeling warm at the small smile that you gave. You were trying to learn spanish—loosely—for him. "Can I make you a deal?" He suddenly asks.

You narrow your eyes a fraction. "What kinda deal?"

"One where we can help each other." He mutters, stepping closer. "You want to stay, correct?"

You nod.

"Then you're gonna have to convince me that you'd do anything for a mission."

You straighten, eyes widening at the chance to prove your worth. "I lead most missions, so loosely, you'd have to do anything for me."

He's much, much closer, eyeing you. "But we can make this a ‘give and take’. Let me teach you Spanish—something you'll need working here, close by me, and in return for every lesson, you have to do something for me."

You eye him. "Like what?"

"Anything." He answers. "Because you'll have to do anything that's required for those missions. Call it practice, or proving your worth, chaparrita."

You lick your lips thinking. You can't see anything inherently wrong with this 'deal', so you nod. And that earns you the very first smile you've seen from Miguel O’hara.

i know this is short, but I just wanted to see if any of you guys would be interested in a full fic like this…

also if you would like to be in a taglist for this story — just comment

[dollwrites]

𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐭 — 𝐭𝐨𝐣𝐢 𝐟𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐨

𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 ∣ smut ( minors dni ), fem!reader, facefucking, deepthroat, it gets sloppy, toji’s mean, degradation, noncon, failed tap outs, suggested age gap, all characters featured are aged 18+

𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 ∣ i caved and finally wrote my first toji fic i know i’ve been teasing for a while. please reblog && leave feedback. not proofread so there’s probably mistakes. thanks for reading < 3

“What are you crying for, huh?” Toji’s vice on your hair was a tight fist, creating a makeshift ponytail so he could see your tears on your face. “You wanted to learn, didn’t you, girlie?” you could hear the amusement in his voice. the arrogance of knowing he was too much for you. too big. too rough. but uncaring. “Now you’re gonna boo-hoo about it?”

the best you could manage was a gargling whimper, your lips stretched wide around the thickness of his mighty cock. if your eyes crossed, you could see the shine from your spit and lipgloss smeared along the surface of his skin, giving each rigid vein a highlight. if you watched his inches disappear into your mouth, you got dizzy. the way he dribbled your head on his groin had your head spinning. back and forth, up and down, hard and fast.

“Just take it and stop whining so much, little bitch.”

Toji Fushiguro didn’t do soft and sweet.

you knew that, but you’d hoped he’d take a little more care than this.

you could feel the bones in his knuckles bat against the back of your head when he pushed you down hard, forcing the majority of him into your mouth, the girthy, reddened head threatening to push its way right down your throat, and when he yanked on your hair to pull you back, your scalp stung. you couldn’t help but whine and choke— he wasn’t giving you any choice. you’d forgotten how to stay calm and breathe through your nose, and instead twitched and squirmed.

“Fucking hell,” he grunted, and took a moment to exert his power on you, pushing you down until you kissed his broad base, the musky coarse hair tickling your nostrils and scraping against your plushy cheeks, “can’t even take a cock without being a drama queen. Stop moving around so damn much, let me get in that tight, little throat.” he held you there, trying to force his way in, but you couldn’t stop yourself from freaking out the second you felt him start to invade. bunching your shoulders, you push yourself up from where you were sitting on your calf muscles, both hands fleeing to pat and shove at his muscular thighs in a gagging attempt to tell him to stop. you felt the need to retch, and the sensation of having your air supply limited so drastically so quickly, and every alarm in your head went off to get off of him.

“What?” he barked, breathing ragged. “Want me to stop already? Can’t take it?”

you nod and Toji laughs.

“That’s too damn bad.”

for as much as you fought, Toji was stronger, and with a frustrated snarl, he grabbed your head with both hands, instead. gripping either side, he walked you backwards, mouth full of cock, until he pushed the back of your head against the opposing wall. his stance wide, heavy feet planted against either of your legs, he pinned your back to the wall. “Gettin’ real tired of your crybaby ass. Gonna have to teach you my way.”

his way was cruel, and you came to understand that as he jackhammered into your drooling, squealing mouth at a brutal pace, his heavy balls smacking against your chin. you can feel how the skin wants to stick to the gluey saliva dribbling from your sore mouth. your nails bite at his thighs, leaving angry, red scores, but he doesn’t ease up. he refuses to let you breath for even a moment, his large, hot palms clamped over your ears.

it was only after he’d battered the back of your throat and started to slip inside with each, merciless thrust, that you started to cluck, loud and helpless, squinting your eyes. even through the blur of your tears and the wincing, you could still make out his incredibly imposing, powerful figure casting a formidable shadow over you as he power fucked your throat.

maybe it was the subtle yet consistent bumping of your head against the wall, or the overwhelming scent and taste of his arousal enveloping you, overloading your senses, but you started to realize you weren’t struggling nearly as much. your hands, that had been desperate to claw your way to freedom, had ceased, your wrists going limp, as you slumped back against the wall to simply take him until he was done.

“That’s it, those are the sounds I like to hear, that feels fucking good,” he moans, baring his teeth. “Not much fight left in you now, is there? Still want me to be nice, still wanna stop?” for a moment, and much to your surprise, Toji withdrew his cock, allowing it to pop free from your abused, swollen lips. air flooded your lungs and you croaked on it, pushing globs of spit and precum out of the well to drip down your chin and stain your chest. your eyes widen, and you suck in every gulp of oxygen that you could, but you didn’t want to move, just in case he slammed your head into the wall again. weakly, uncertainly, your glassy eyes flicker up to the older man, and you give a defeated shake of your head. “That’s what I thought. You’re getting the hang of it.” he chuckled, hoarsely, running his calloused fingertips over your sticky, messy cheek before giving you a few, solid slaps of encouragement. or, perhaps, praise. you couldn’t tell. you didn’t care. you mewl and try to shy away from it, but he grasps your face hard in one hand and drags you back to look at him. “Now, sit pretty and be a good throat whore. This time, I’m not stopping until I shoot a load into your belly.”

[inknopewetrust]

𝐂𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐘𝐨𝐮

��𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲: 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐀𝐥𝐟𝐢𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐧𝐝—𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥 [𝐀𝐥𝐟𝐢𝐞 𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐱 𝐅𝐞𝐦!𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫] [𝐰𝐜: 3.5k]

𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: 𝟏𝟖+, 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐃𝐍𝐈, 𝐩 𝐢𝐧 𝐯, 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫: 𝐜𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤.

𝐐𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐬: 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 | 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒

The band had long ceased playing.

As the strings of confetti laid scattered on the floor and the lingering drips of spilled champagne stained the linens, the new year had rung in with a start. London was electric; buzzing in the underground of the darkest shadows—there was nothing more thrilling.

For a deal had been struck as smiles beamed.

And Alfie Solomons had never felt so alive when the guests dispersed and he sat at a vacant table in the golden light. A cigar burning in his hand, the man leaned back on his chair in victory.

The tendrils of smoke swirled in the air; dancing around his face and into the room. It carved him as a Prometheus of men—Camden’s king that gave and protected those who needed it most.

He intrigued you, Alfie Solomons.

A ruggedly handsome man with the mouth of a foul sailor. He had eyed every person in the room before they could clock him but he was never difficult to miss, not after how much Tommy had talked him up.

It would be easy, he said, charming the socks of Alfie to warm a deal between the two sleuths.

Easy was an understated word when the night had worn thin and all you had done from your table of rich ladies and their scrawny men was stare at him. He’d caught your eye one too many times as you tried to gain his attention throughout the night—but he never made his way to you.

You knew there was no doubting he knew you worked with Tommy, that you were being used in a way to sweeten prospects with batting eyelashes and a dress that dipped a little too low in the front. Alfie had seen that before. The desperate nature of a con too important to lose.

It was why when the guests had left the building and the music had stopped he remained. You’d left to powder your nose, he’d heard your excuse to a woman at your table who happened to be the wife of an employee. He sent his snakes far too. Tommy wasn’t the only one who played for keeps.

When you re-entered the space, Alfie sat at the table with the smoke billowing around him in puffs. His cane slanted against the table while his legs spread wide, thick thighs resting themselves on the chair in welcome.

He teased absentmindedly. He was erotic when he tried not to be, more so as you looked upon him from your perch in the hall.

You thanked Tommy endlessly for sending you. This line of business wasn’t hard work when the goal was a specimen like Alfie was. You stood in the doorway with confidence faltering under the surface and leaned against the wall as seductively as you could imagine.

Yet Alfie said nothing.

He continued to smoke at his cigar with the knowledge of you standing there. You felt your heartbeat pick up.

You shifted on your feet, crossing them together and pulling your hands behind your back. It popped your hip out to the side and for a brief moment, you swore Alfie’s chest lifted in a scoff but he sat too far from you. You truly couldn’t tell.

He smoked for another eternity, a minute perhaps before inhaling dramatically and blowing it out again.

“And to what,” his messy drawl was thick, “do I owe the pleasure of your company, Miss—“

“I think you know why I’m here,” you answered in kind. He shrugged his shoulder casually.

“Perhaps. But Tommy ain’t exactly a friend,” his eyes narrowed a bit. “If you know what I mean?”

“He’s not asking to be your friend, Mr. Solomons. He wanted to ensure the deal was final.”

Alfie stuck the cigar between his lips. “I see he won’t be doin’ that ‘emself now?”

“No,” you smiled abashedly. It was cute, he thought, how you played so innocently at this larger game. “He knew your interests lie elsewhere.”

The smoke blew once more. He put out the cigar on a glass tray on the table before beckoning you with two fingers.

You might as well have floated against the wooden floors of the room as you approached. Hips swaying, shoes echoing in the room. You traversed the tinsel and confetti and spilled champagne to meet his table and rest in front of him. Alfie was shameless in the way he let his eyes wander. Slow and unforgiving, he could see everything if he wanted to and this was a kind of gift from Tommy—you.

You were close to the operations of the Shelby’s. He had heard about this woman, as beautiful as you, being as ruthless in Birmingham as the brothers. He knew your name, your family, your history even if he played it off as not. A childhood friend, Alfie supposed, brought on to pull strings in ways only women knew how.

He imagined you like Polly—cunning with a tongue and if you let the slit in your dress draw apart, maybe with other bits of you as well.

“The word from Thomas?” Alfie asked gruffly. You set your small bag down on the table beside you and rested a hand on your waist.

“Three boats from Camden Yard every morning for a month,” you reminded him. The details of the deal were boring, listed off like a grocery list of things to do or get and the most relief you felt that entire evening is when you finally stopped talking.

“How does he plan to have the payment delivered?”

“Through me.”

Alfie hummed. He looked around the room, mind already aware of the deal being sealed and delivered to Tommy by one of his own men in that very moment. He’d sent one of his finest to Birmingham on the off chance the one Tommy had sent was less than capable.

Alfie could admit he was wrong in such an assumption.

“You know,” Alfie shifted in his seat to widen his legs. The expanse of his stance, the seat directed towards you had your eyes trailing his torso, falling square to his crotch and back up to him. His arms rested at his thighs. Hands flat and rough. “This is our new beginning, here in Camden.”

“Shana Tovah, Mr. Solomons.”

“Did he ask you to study? He knew it was a holiday. The Shelby’s aren’t Jews.”

“I think you underestimate our worldly knowledge, Mr.—“

“Alfie,” he corrected.

“—Alfie,” you repeated. “Birmingham isn’t a shithole all the time. We are cultured people.”

Alfie smiled slightly, turning his head away to gaze at the entry way. “Eh,” he grunted. “It’s all shit if you really think ‘bout it.”

You looked down at him as he sat and he peered back at you. His eyes shadowed by his hat in the shimmer of the light.

“Why you still ‘ere?” He tested. “I can’t imagine you sneakin’ around for some challah when the cooks have gone on home.”

You adjusted your stance on your leg causing your dress to ripple. His eyes flickered in the dark.

“Tommy send you to seduce me, treacle?”

Treacle. You’d never heard someone use that word before. You ran your tongue over your lip as it jutted out to clear the dryness that manifested.

You weren’t nervous, per se. But Alfie was a strong, loud man who was more than capable of sending a message to his friends, or enemies, without remorse.

It enticed you—He enticed you greatly. The danger, the selfless anger that rested under his thick skin.

“No,” you answered honestly. “I fear I may be doing that myself.”

“There ain’t anyone here any more.” Alfie only looked at you. His eyes underneath the shadows swallowed you whole. They drew you in and spit you back out.

“Oh?” You feigned obliviousness. You knew everyone had left as well.

Alfie rubbed his hands over his thighs in warmth. His fingers danced along the tops of them.

“Step closer,” he ordered.

Without hesitation, you stepped closer and closer until you stood between his open legs and you could feel the heat radiating off of him. You could smell the cigar, his scent strong and burly.

“I’m sure you’ve heard what kind of man I am.”

“No more horrible than the rest.”

“What would Thomas say, eh?” He leaned his head backwards to look up at you. His fingertips twitched against his pants in want. “That his little friend is so willing.”

“I didn’t say I was willing.”

Alfie’s smile barely ghosted his face. Amused, he flicked down to your breasts and back up to your face.

“Your body says otherwise, love.”

He could see your nipples pert against he fabric of your dress. Your chest rose and fell erratically.

“Tommy sent me to ensure the deal was final, that is all, Alfie. I do not need to entertain you to see it through.”

“But you chose this beautiful dress,” he lifted a hand dramatically. It grazed the side of your body to feel the silken fabric that laid over the parts he wished to see further. “And these women,” he motioned to the empty room, “don’t dress like you.”

“Well they follow a different code than I.”

“And what else does that code allow?”

Alfie had yet to drop his hand. It played at the fabric that hung at your hip. He pinched it between his fingers and tugged gently.

“It depends on what the caller is asking of her,” you proposed and took his other hand into your own.

His hands were bigger than yours by a mile. Rough and calloused from his life, Alfie allowed you to overturn it and caress it in your touch. He watched your eyes, not your motions as you dragged his hand up toward your body, resting his hand not tightly gripping your dress on the space on your chest not covered by clothing.

Your skin was hot to the touch. It burned him as he felt the softness so different from his own.

“I do feel a bit cold, yeah?” He questioned and in an instant brought you down onto his lap and in a scramble of legs to straddle him.

Legs now on either side of his thick thighs, you sunk to rest your core where the zipper of his trousers began to bulge.

Alfie breathed you in deeply. His gripped turned bruising as you wrapped one arm around him and the other hand reseted on his chest.

“Why Mr. Solomons,” you snickered, “this is a bit forward.”

“Says you.” His hand slipped from you uncovered chest to one of your breasts and squeezed then soothed over the pebbling bud. “Don’t know the game your playin’, love. It’d be a dangerous one for a girl like you.”

You smiled at him. Tilting your head into his, you shuttered a breath as he slipped the dress from your shoulder and let the fabric fall to reveal you to him. You shifted your hips on top of his to feel his growing sensation.

“I know my game, Alfie,” your lips barely grazed his. He chased it, nipping your bottom lip and for a moment you thought yourself crazy for acting such a way with a man like him. “Do you know yours?”

Alfie responded by meeting his lips with yours abruptly. The hand on his chest cupped his face while his simply wandered along you. His beard was long and tickling your skin as he begged to dominate your mouth with his own. You tipped his hat off and laid it on the table before pulling away with a pop.

“My God, woman,” Alfie mumbled. You rolled your hips against his softly. He moved both of his hands to grasp the sides of you and encouraged you to grind against him. Your dress fell further down your chest and bore your luscious tits to him.

You entranced him with your movements. The roll of your body, the jiggle of your breasts as you moved. He grew hard under you and his palms wandered further to gather your dress at your waist.

“You were prepared, eh?” He commented lowly at the absence of your underwear.

“I took my chances.”

One of his thumbs met your core and found your clit quickly to rub circles at the pace of your thrusts. Your body jolted at the feeling. You were out of your mind, letting him pleasure you. Yet you didn’t say no. You couldn’t say no when you were so enraptured by his entire presence.

He was thick and heavy in his trousers which only stirred you further.

Alfie circled your clit ferociously. Meticulous and rapid, he wound up the coil within you to the point of no return. His thumb gathered the wetness greedily. You cupped his head, nearly swaying him as you lost yourself and inclined your head backward as your eyelids drooped.

“Alfie…” your voice was barely above a whisper as it hitched. He had found a good spot. One so tender and reactive. He grinned slyly.

You moved to undo the belt of his pants and slid it out from the loops the best you could. He hadn’t worn suspenders or an absurd amount of vests to add to the layers. Fingers deftly popping him open and carving the lines of his cock with your hand, you worked him out of the trousers and into your palm.

“You feel plenty warm to me,” you suggested with a purr.

Alfie sat up straighter. The advantage catching the back of your neck and drawing your lips to his again. You groaned into his mouth; savoring the feeling of your lips on his as his breath mingled with yours.

You stroked him lazily in your hand while he was more deliberate in pleasuring you.

Alfie’s mouth trailed along the sides of your neck. He left foul, bruising kissed on the column as he made his way down to your tits again and took a nipple inbetween his mouth. He pulled back, gently biting it between his teeth and letting go with a tug.

“You were right, Alfie,” you breathed in heavily. Rolling your hips against his hand, you had the sudden urge to have him inside of you. “I have heard the stories about the kind of man you are.”

“And? I don’t suppose you give a fuck about them now, love.”

“No,” you smiled shyly. “But I would be lying if I wasn’t interested in the things I’d heard.”

Your ran you thumb over the head of his cock to wipe at the cum that had leaked out of hum. Smoothing it over and down his shaft, he might as well have shivered at the sensation.

“I am more interested in the man I haven’t heard about. The one like this.”

Alfie quirked a brow and stopped his movements. He helped lift you slightly, taking control of his dick as his hand replaced yours and ran it along your slit.

“You wanna be my lover? A gy—“

You shushed him with a kiss. “I didn’t say that, Mr. Solomons. It’s not something anyone needs to know of.”

“Too dangerous, treacle.” He swiped his cock’s head along you clit and you could feel the blood rushing, the heartbeat that pulsed as hard as the one in your chest. “I’m not in the business of leading women as beautiful as you to an early grave.”

You shook your head gently. “I don’t believe you.”

Alfie hummed and with it, pushed the head of himself into your aching pussy that had been warmed by his previous ministrations and he was taken by the way your mouth fell agape. Shoulders relaxing and falling as you took him in as much as you could before pushing further; further and further until there was nothing more left to take of him and you took him fully.

“No,” Alfie said deeply. His chest rumbled with the word and echoed as far into the room as it could reach. He didn’t allow you to adjust yourself on his cock. Alfie held your hips down and made you sit there, still.

“I don’t believe myself either.”

He relished the way your cunt swallowed him. Alfie’s mind wondered if all of your holes could take him the same and in the times you’d come to Camden to collect the payments on behalf of Tommy, he’d be able to explore all the scenarios that plagued his mind as you clenched down on him and gripped him tightly. So warm and inviting, he could stay like that forever and if this was the feeling of your first meeting, he wasn’t romantic enough to consider how he’d feel after your tenth, twentieth, or more.

Alfie’s mind traveled to you kneeling under his desk and taking his cock in your mouth; feeling you spread out before him on a table in the distillery room and watching you gush around him. He could see himself under covers in the dark pleasuring you with his mouth and the taste of you on his tongue. In the tub with your back against his and the water splashing over the sides and if he was lucky, as the sun broke the horizon in Margate in his house by the sea.

As he let you sit on him and rake your fingers through his short hair, he caressed your sides and backs of your thighs as the muscles trembled.

“When you collect the money,” he whispered as much as a man like he could, “come straight to the bakery. Go to the office and if I am not there, do not let anyone in who knocks.”

“Afraid of what your men will do to me?” You questioned and his grip tightened.

“They’d be fuckin’ idiots to try.”

You learned quickly that Alfie Solomons loved to kiss you. He enjoyed the feeling of your lips on his and the selfless way you let him take control of you. He pushed the boundaries of comfort and with his cock still inside of you hard and pulsing with want, it was hard to imagine letting another man touch you in the same way.

“You come straight to me. You take the money and I’ll leave you walkin’ funny till you return to those fuckin’ Shelby’s so they know who you belong to.”

You pulled Alfie in close around his shoulders. He loosened his grasp on your hips as you lifted yourself up. His cock coated in your slick slid along your walls and before you lost him completely, you sunk down on him again and he guided you with ease every bounce you made.

You barely squeaked as his dick filled you. Thick and long, he was exactly as you’d imagined him to be based on the man you’d heard so much about. His large thighs supported your weight and he complained not about any part of you that you’d deem less than perfect.

Letting Alfie maneuver you, you leaned back onto his thighs and your hands placed themselves on his knee caps and allowed the space between you to be viewed completely by the man. He watched you sink onto him. Watching as you took him with languid rolls and calculated moves that barely drew a sweat on your brow. He held onto you tightly and helped speed up the movements as he pulled you into him once twice and then repeatedly.

The sounds of your pleasure were lewd. For anyone could waltz in and see you both openly fucking in the dining hall of the beautiful building but they wouldn’t. The sun had long set, the doors long had been locked and all that was left was you and Alfie left to settle a score.

And it was building rapidly.

Too much. It was overstimulating—the force of his actions and the long drawl of his cock against your plush walls. You were soaked. Soaking him and his trousers that were barely pushed down enough to set him free. Your body trembled as the quick revelation of your orgasm approached. Gripping his knees so tightly your nails dug into the caps, you couldn’t help the yelps turned into weak, whimpering moans that spilled from your lips.

Alfie muttered words of mere nothing at the quake of your thighs. Your stomach’s muscles tightened and with a jolt, you lurched forward and clung onto his shoulders as your release reached its peak. Your pussy clenched down on his cock with all the strength it could in the moments between your tremors. Alfie sore disorienting profanities as your orgasm threatened his own.

He wanted to pull out. He didn’t need more on his plate than what he already had and certainly not any child that bound him to the Shelby LLC for eternity. Alfie huffed, breathing through his teeth as he lifted you up slightly and barely managed to empty himself onto your stomach and bits of your dress.

You watched as his release waded down your body and his hold loosened greatly at his finish.

“So,” Alfie spoke lowly. “Do I have your word?”

“Of what?” You responded breathlessly. He grinned at your fucked out face. The way you could barely hold yourself upright even if it wasn’t the most intense fuck either of you had ever had.

“You come straight to me, got it?”

And well, Mr. Alfie Solomons didn’t have to ask twice.

Happy almost end of Kinktober! I’m trying my best to get all the fics out that I’ve promised. I’ve never written for Alfie before but I love the character so much that I’d thought I’d give it a try. As always, it is so much appreciated that you leave a like, a comment OR a reblog (I like the last two the best!) thank you for reading and free to check out any of my other works.

[2-dsimp]

I would like to ask Frederico with a reader who has a generally calm, cheerful and kind personality, but when she gets angry she becomes aggressive, merciless and violent, she really loves him a lot and is very protective of him, in addition to being incredibly strong.

[🅵🅴🅼! 🆁🅴🅰︎🅳🅴🆁]

𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 D𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐛𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞’𝐬 𝐬𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐡𝐢𝐦.

𝐀𝐥𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠, 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞’𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐛𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐲. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐛𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐛𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥. 𝐇𝐞’𝐝 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞’𝐬 𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐧 𝐬𝐚𝐝, 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐞 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐲 𝐛𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐩𝐮𝐭.

𝐎𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐡𝐞’𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭. 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚 𝐝𝐮𝐨 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐰��𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬. 𝐀𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐯𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐩𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐮𝐧.

[hot-astrology]

The Art Of Love

𝐀𝐫𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐥. 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐡 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐚 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐚 𝐋𝐢𝐬𝐚 𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐜𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐑𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐭 𝐍𝐚𝐯𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐞, 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭, 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞. 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐬𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧'𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞, 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐦 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭, 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐰𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞. 𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡, 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡, 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬, 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤, 𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬, 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞. 𝐀𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐞𝐞���� 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐮𝐫𝐚, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐮𝐠𝐬, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐬, "𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮," 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧, 𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭, 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐬. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐧𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐬. 𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲, 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐨𝐩𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐝𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞, 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐦 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐨 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐲, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐖𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐰𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐥 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐡 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐬. 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 , 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 "𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞, 𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞''.

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝟖 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞: 𝐄𝐫𝐨𝐬, 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐚, 𝐏𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐦𝐚, 𝐏𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐚, 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞, 𝐋𝐮𝐝𝐮𝐬, 𝐏𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐚, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐠𝐚𝐩𝐞. 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞. 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐮𝐲. 𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧. 𝐈𝐧 𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐢𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞.

Eros represents the kind of love that's based on passion and romantic feelings. Eros is a Greek god in Greek mythology. Eros can also be known as Cupid or amor. Eros is known to shoot an arrow of love into their heart's, this love is more lustful and based on desire/infatuation. This shows a sexual , and physical attraction to another. In astrology, this meaning is the same.

Eros 1h in your natal chart shows that you are who embodies the energy of eros. When others see you, they can feel as if they have been shot by the arrow of love. You can be someone who is romantic and loves pleasure.

Eros 7h synastry signifies a very sexuallly charged relationship without a doubt. The 7h person sees the eros person as very attractive. Sexual fireworks.... 🎆

Mania is just how it sounds, literally completely indulged into a person. Being locked and stuck on that person. This is infatuation and obsession. Think of a stalker, or kinda of a secret admirer. The perfect example of this is the show called "You" on netflix. In this show, the guy was obsessed and doing crazy things just so he could be with this girl that he was obsessed with. Some of us have been here, and many say that this isn't love, but it's just obsession. But at that time, and in that moment, it's what you know you love to be. This is not a healthy love 😐. Lovelock (51663) & Nessus (7066) are synonymous with mania love. Lovelock is less intense. It just shows love where you are locked on something and in love borderline obsessed with. Lovelock keeps coming around, and it shows where you don't want to give up on something that you love. Nessus takes the bait for mania, except this asteroid has not much to do with love but a lot to do with obsession & deviancy. Nessus is a lot of dark things but mainly we're focusing on obsession and desire. Nessus is in control and doing anything to get power. Nessus will and would do anything for something that it wants, whether it be money, love, etc.

Lovelock 1h in synastry shows that the lovelock person will be set on the 1h person. It will be hard for the lovelock person to move on from the 1h. The lovelock person will find themselves constantly thinking about the house person or even trying to find their way back into their lives. This can be bad or good depending on other aspects/overlays within the synastry & composite chart.

Nessus 1h/ conjunct asc, in synastry obviously this shows the nessus person will be very enamored to say the least by the 1h person. However, nessus will want control & power over the ascendant person. This is also an aspect that creates a STRONG, almost insatiable sexual attraction towards each other.

Pragma is love that feels committed, and it's love that is based on growth and stability. This is often seen between partners who have been together for a while, and you just begin to love them because of the solidarity and trust that is built. The asteroid I would associate with this one isn't necessarily love. However, it's Solidarity (8991). The name speaks for itself with this asteroid, which can give insight into where this energy may occur

For example:

Solidarity (8991) 4h in synastry: This shows that the solidarity person will bring great stability emotionally and within the home life. This is an indication of longevity due to the 4h representing roots and what feels comfortable. Therefore, this shows a very enduring familial relationship similar to pragma, over time of building, and becoming close. This can turn into a love that is very stable.

Philia is closeness. This is love between friends or siblings. This love is simply platonic. Compassion (8990) and Close (54902) are two great asteroids to explain this love.

For example:

Compassion 11h in synastry: Within this overlay what begins to unfold is literally compassion through companionship. The 11h person can genuinely become very compassionate and entrusting towards a compassionate person. Compassion in return gifts the house person with understanding through friendship.

Close 7h synastry: This overlay denotes a very close knitted relationship. The 7h person can feel deeply connected to the close person, and vice versa. There's an automatic connection and attraction, whether it be romantic or platonic.

Storge is an instinctual and parental love towards their children. This is love that just feels natural, not forced. You can't help but love them. An asteroid to be associated with this for us would be ceres. Ceres (1) is "parental love" known to be a motherhood asteroid, but we can see it being used for all parents since this asteroid also shows family relationships.

Ceres in 6h (natally) can indicate someone who cares a lot about the welfare of their children/family. They want to work and provide, and make sure the health of their children is good. They can make sacrifices just for their family and take on many responsibilities within day to day life. They want to be of service to others, and nurture others by doing this. Many sacrifices can be made for family.

Ceres in 5h (synastry), this is a very nice overlay to have. Firstly, this can boost fertility, and increase the want to procreate. Even if this is a romantic relationship, it's can show the 5h person has this strong love towards your children, and they feel very nurtured within this area of life because of you.

Ludus, it is the kind of love that is less serious - really, it's playful, it's cute like the 5h house. Its non committal, no strings attached. Ludus literally means "game", in latin, so this is very 5h coded. This is flirtatious and seductive. The kind of person you might only see once in a lifetime. Lust (4386) & Cupido (763) fit this perfectly. Lust is pure attraction and craving something or someone. Cupido is physical & playful attraction. This can be described as the first flicker of love. It's like, "I like you, but i'm not sure how far this will go," not saying it can't go past initial attraction.

Lust 1h in synastry shows an allure towards 1h person. They find 1h person to be the embodiment of hotness and can easily get turned on by the sight of them. It can feel uncontrollable....

Cupido 5h in synastry, this is cute. Honestly, perfect placement shows a definite physical attraction and sexual compatibility. Things get spicy, and Cupido and 5h are crushing hard on each other. Their bodies speak without words.

Philautia represents self-love, the most important love. You can only love others if you have COMPASSION, understanding, patience, and, of course, love for yourself first. This is about self care and your well-being. Philutia can turn into being overtly into yourself. Honestly, for this love, there's no asteroid we would associate with this. All love asteroids can be turned to be used within you. Venus within your own natal chart can show where you can practice self love, And develop philautia within yourself.

For example:

Venus in pisces may struggle with self-love. These natives need to spend time alone and get in touch with the soul. Their spirituality and creativity are great areas for them to cultivate and grow within. This mutable sign shows they need to get in touch with change and never get too settled. Stay fluid, and remind yourself you are young at heart. You have a gleam that is undeniable and otherworldly.

Venus in Cancer, self love comes from staying in tune with the feminine side of yourself. Simply put, you need to nurture yourself. As well as express your feelings. Reflecting on your past and roots for improvement is great for this placement.

Agape is a big favorite for us. This is unconditional love. It’s love for everyone without the need for anything extra. This is the highest form of love and is known as God's love. This love is sacrificial & selfless. Agapenor (5023) is the literal astrological embodiment of this. Within compatibility charts, this can show love that never fades because of the love on a soul level. And love for what the soul knows and recognizes within the other. This shows putting the other before yourself just because you genuinely want to. Another asteroid i would put within this category is the infamous valentine (447). This too, represents sacrificial love where you expect nothing in return.

Agapenor 7h in synastry: Unconditional love that is formed through the relationship. These two won’t forget about the other, it wouldn't feel natural to have ill will towards them.

Venus-Valentine synastry, strong deep loving connection. Willing to give it all up for love. Thid aspect within synastry makes you feel like you've been swept off your feet.

Copy & Paste:

433, 51663, 7066, 8991, 54902, 8990, 1, 763, 4386, 447, 5023

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐋𝐢𝐬𝐭

𝐏𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬

𝑶𝒖𝒓 𝑷𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒔: 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐳 𝐕𝐞𝐧𝐮𝐳 || 𝐌𝐨𝐨𝐧 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐢

[radiokill]

alastor x shutting the fuck up for five minutes PLEASE /lh

This  man  seriously  talks  nonstop.  It's  a  problem.  I  ship  him  with  shutting  the  fuck  up  for  five  minutes  so  hard.  In  the  Finale  number,  when  he  started  tweaking  and  singing  his  "I'm  gonna  be  pulling  the  strings"  bit,  I  literally  died  laughing.  It  is  the  most  unintentionally  funny  moment  of  the  show  because  everyone  is  singing  and  happy  and  having  a  groove,  and  this  man  takes  himself  so  seriously.  I  can't.  Like  girlie,  we  get  it;  it's  all  about  you,  Pookie.  Anyway,  I  love  him  all  the  same.  If  he  shut  the  fuck  up  for  five  minutes,  I  wouldn't  have  nearly  as  much  rp  material  and  the  fandom  at  large  wouldn't  have  enough  cringe  memes. 

[dut0n]

i'm at the scene where kayce and rip are fighting and kayce is struggling to hold his own.... kayce is an effing navy seal there is no way he'd have struggled as much as he did. the only way i could think he would struggle is if he was holding back (which is probably what would actually happen in my portrayal.

[verinarin]

𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐭𝐲 - 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐫 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐫 𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞.

𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐟𝐟 | 𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐫

𝐈’𝐦 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐬’ 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰, 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐭 (๑>◡<๑)

Perplexing, is a word he would use to describe her.

Completely and utterly perplexing, her every action bemuses him. It is so chaotic yet calculated that it would make one question the motive of such an act. To illustrate this, he draws an example from her exploits yesterday.

The sun graces its warmth towards the halls of the Intelligentsia Guild as he walks across the open corridor, structured with vines that wrap around its doric pillars. It’s common to meet a fellow scholar during the walk, then he sees her basking gracefully underneath the soft light that the sun provides.

Her delicate features complemented beautifully as she stared at something, something that he was eager to discover. Slowly he walks towards her, pondering on the endless possibilities that he could encounter. What renders one so much so that it left one’s lips slightly parted, a sign of astonishment.

He draws closer only to see that the object of your astonishment is nothing.

Literally nothing, the object that paints her face look so alluringly bewildered, is literally nonexistent.

“May I ask what has garnered your interest so much that your lips parts themselves?,” he asked her from behind, keeping a close yet respectful distance. She turns her face around, a zephyr gently caresses her hair as she looks at him with the same expression she had.

“Hmm, I was just admiring the lighting,” she stated like it was a simple concept to grasp. But not to him, not in the slightest.

“Pardon ?,” he pressed further to the stranger, ignoring his crass behavior.

“I was just lost in the scenery, is there anything wrong with that ?,” she asked with her fingertip pressed against her lips, inadvertently showcasing how soft and plump it is.

“A quite wasteful use of time,” he argued, she simply replied with a soft laugh as she extended her hand and introduced herself. Her name suits her, he thought to himself at the time.

He shook her hand as he introduced himself, “Veritas Ratio,” she restated his name, somehow the way his name leaves from her lips sounds like an attempt to seduce him. He knows it wasn’t, but he can’t help but to catch it that way.

“I read about you a week ago. Wow, a famously well-decorated scholar has found interest in my usage of time, how peculiar,” she teased, from then on she had unintentionally bewitched his heart.

How vexing.

[luna-naoffcial]

Ohhhh, yes! Yesssss!! I love the idea! Thanks Anon!

─────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───────

【 ✦ 𝐑𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐲 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 ✦ 】

✦ 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫 𝐱 𝐘/𝐧/𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 ✦

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐏𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦 𝐂𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐜𝐨𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐦 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞.

𝐀𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐥. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐝𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐲. 𝐈𝐧 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲'𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐚𝐥. 𝐌𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬. 𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬, 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐝 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧, 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐭��𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧…𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫, 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬.

𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐧 𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚 𝐝𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟, 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐞…𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐰. 𝐈𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐝𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐏𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦 𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐥’𝐬 𝐬𝐤𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲.

𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐲 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐚𝐳𝐛𝐢𝐧 𝐇𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐥 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐥’𝐬 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐭.

𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧—𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐝. 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐭. 𝐀𝐜𝐢𝐝 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧…𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡. 𝐔𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝, 𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐝 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐡.

𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐝 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐝 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐬. 𝐅𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐥.

𝐀𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐩 𝐚𝐭 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐝 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐡 𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐫𝐚𝐰 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐝.

𝐔𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐧. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝 𝐠𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧.

“𝐎𝐰! 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐲 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞!” 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐬, 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐭, 𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐛𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐥𝐞, 𝐝𝐨𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬.

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝, 𝐚 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐚 𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐭.

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧…𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫.

𝐀 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥—𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐥/𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧, 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐥, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞, 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐡𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐚𝐳𝐛𝐢𝐧 𝐇𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐥.

𝐒𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥…𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐇𝐄 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐲.

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫. “𝐈-𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐬𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐨𝐨𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲, 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬. 𝐈-𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈—”

“𝐎𝐡, 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮.” 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐬𝐡 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞.

𝐇𝐞’𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐥—𝐡𝐞’𝐬 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐟 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐞𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟, 𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫. 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐎𝐅 𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐋— 𝐀 𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧’𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝.

𝐀 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐟 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐮𝐠𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐬, 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐭. “𝐍𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐦 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞, 𝐘/𝐍,” 𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐬 𝐚 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤’𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐭𝐡. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐚 𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐭.

“𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐚���𝐦 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞,” 𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐲𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰-𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬. “𝐈 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐧𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐡 𝐦𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐰𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧.”

𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐩𝐢𝐝 𝐣𝐨𝐤𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐞.

𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫.

“𝐎𝐡…𝐧𝐨, 𝐧𝐨 𝐘/𝐍 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐤𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠!” 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐬 𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐰𝐤𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐥𝐲. 𝐅𝐮𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐣𝐨𝐤𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐦. 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐖𝐇𝐘 𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐓 𝐒𝐎 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐓𝐎 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐌𝐔𝐍𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧’𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐮𝐛𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐬?!

𝐒𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐬𝐞, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐮𝐭. “𝐒𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲. 𝐈 𝐮𝐡…𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐣𝐨𝐤𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧’𝐭 ��𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐲.”

𝐒𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐥𝐲, 𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐚 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐭, 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝. 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐮𝐩, 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐰𝐨. 𝐀𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝, 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧’𝐭 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐦. 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐚𝐧…

𝐌𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭…𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝. 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐰𝐚𝐲. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫’𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰. 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫?

“𝐈𝐭’𝐬…𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭.” 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐝𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐝𝐚𝐲.

𝐁𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭, 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐲 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲…𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚 𝐧𝐮𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐭𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐫𝐦, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐬, 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐡𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐭. 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐃𝐚𝐦𝐧 𝐢𝐭. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐟𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐬…𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐧𝐨 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐝 𝐢𝐭.

𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐤𝐲. 𝐒𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬, 𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫. 𝐀𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐟…𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐛𝐛𝐥𝐞.

𝐈𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐣𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐬. 𝐁𝐮𝐭, 𝐩𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐣𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐱𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡, 𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐬 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧, 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮.

𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐢𝐳𝐳𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧.

“𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚?” 𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐬. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝.

𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐝𝐨. 𝐇𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐛𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝. 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞.

𝐒𝐧𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐚 𝐰𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞—𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐡—𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬. “𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩,” 𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧.

𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥, 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐳𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬, 𝐚𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐥𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤.

𝐐𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐲, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐟 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐝 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫’𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬—𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐰 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲—𝐢𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐥𝐲.

𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞…𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐦. 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝. 𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐚 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬. 𝐔𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝𝐥𝐲, 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐮𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥.

𝐇𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐲, 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐤𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧. 𝐘𝐞𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮…𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐭. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬.

𝐀 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐬. 𝐇𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐧𝐨 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬…𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐛𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥.

𝐒𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐝, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐭𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬…𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠’𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬. 𝐈𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦. 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤-𝐭𝐨-𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬…𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥? 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐞, 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥, 𝐰𝐡𝐨’𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐥?

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠…𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐝 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧. 𝐀𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝…𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧’𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥. 𝐀 𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐰𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫.

𝐈𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐞, 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐭𝐨.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐲, 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫’𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐚𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐡 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐦. 𝐇𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝, 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐬𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞—𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮—𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝— 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠.

𝐒𝐡𝐲𝐥𝐲, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐮𝐜𝐤 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐚𝐫. “…𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮,” 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫, 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐝𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐬. 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐦, 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐬𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐭𝐡 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮.

“𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞,” 𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐬, 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲, 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬. 𝐈𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐬 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐚 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭 𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐤.

𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐥𝐲, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫—𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐠𝐨—𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧. 𝐇𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬…𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞. 𝐇𝐞’𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞, 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠—𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐰𝐤𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞—𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐨𝐤𝐚𝐲, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞’𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐩 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐧.

𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐞𝐭…𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝-𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞. 𝐇𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐮𝐛𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐬, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐆𝐨𝐝’𝐬 𝐬𝐚𝐤𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐋𝐮 𝐋𝐮 𝐋𝐚𝐧𝐝. 𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥, 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐤, 𝐬𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐮𝐜𝐤?

𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝-𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞, 𝐡𝐞’𝐬 𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝, 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫.

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐬? 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐋𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐦. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐭, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐋𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞…𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐝. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐋𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭…𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬.

𝐈𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐞, 𝐢𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐲. 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐛𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐬. 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞…𝐋𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡.

𝐒𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐥𝐲, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐫, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐩 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐛 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫’𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐭.

𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐜𝐤 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫’𝐬 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐥𝐭, 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐬 𝐰𝐫𝐚𝐩 𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤. 𝐃𝐢𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡?

𝐂𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲, 𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐚𝐳𝐞 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐞𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬. 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬…𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐲𝐞𝐭…𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞𝐭𝐲. 𝐈𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞.

“𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝?” 𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐬, 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐝.

𝐒𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐲, 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐬. 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐧 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞, 𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬, 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝, 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮.

𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐬 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫’𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐰𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐜𝐨𝐨𝐧, 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬.

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥…𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐦…𝐬𝐨, 𝐬𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐦…𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬.

𝐒𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐲, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐮𝐭, 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐭, 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐚𝐫.

𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫’𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞…𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐦. 𝐈𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬. 𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐭…𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬. 𝐇𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝…𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝…𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧’𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡.

𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐩 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧, 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞…𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐮𝐥, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞.

𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐬 𝐮𝐩 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫’𝐬…𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐬.

𝐃𝐚𝐦𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟…𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐲. 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐚𝐳𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐰𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐟 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭.

𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐛 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐣𝐚𝐰𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞, 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐬, 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐨 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐥𝐲…

𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐤𝐞.

“𝐖𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮…𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐟 𝐈 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐩𝐢𝐝?” 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬.

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝. “𝐈-𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝…” 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐝, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐮𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥.

𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐦…𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬. 𝐀 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐦, 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐭, 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬, 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐬 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐤.

𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬’𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬, 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐦…𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐨𝐝…𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐨…

𝐀 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭 𝐞𝐱𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐡𝐞’𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐬.

𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠.

𝐀𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐨𝐧, 𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫.

𝐀 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐤 𝐬𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫’𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐦…𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬.

𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲, 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝…𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩?

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐝, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫. “𝐈—”

𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐮𝐭𝐬 𝐚 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐬, 𝐬𝐡𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮. “𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞,” 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐰, 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞, 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮.

𝐇𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐬. “𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐰,” 𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐫𝐦, “𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐥?”

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐨𝐝. “𝐘𝐞𝐬…” 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐱𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐞, 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐜𝐤 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐥/𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫.

𝐈𝐟 𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐬, 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐲𝐨𝐮…𝐢𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐰.

𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐚 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞…𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐦, 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐬.

𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐧𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐦 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬, 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐦.

𝐇𝐞’𝐬 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐝, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞. 𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭…

𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧!

[muzansfangs]

Bloodstain.

Starring: Aizen Sosuke x f!reader; Shuhei Hisagi x f!reader; Shunsui Kyoraku, Ichigo Kurosaki, mention to Isshin Kurosaki, Urahara Kisuke and Kensei Muguruma;

Format: multi-chapters story;

Warnings for this chapter: language, mention to sex, mention to choking and creampie, altercations, alcohol consumption, hidden jealousy, past resentment and family issues, fear and solitude in Hueco Mundo, making-out in public places, undefined relationships, mutual pining;

Plot: Overburdened with the responsibility of becoming the ‘guardian’ of the infamous special threat, you assured your friends and your brother you could deal with him. Convincing Shuhei everything was completely under your control was hard, though, especially when Sosuke seemed determined to overshadow your long overdue chit-chat.

MASTERLIST | PREVIOUS CHAPTER | TO THE NEXT CHAPTER

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𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥.

Out of everything that could have ever happened to you, sharing your flat with Sosuke Aizen was surely something not even your feverish imagination had ever depicted in your mind. Shunsui Kyoraku was a dead man walking. A backstabber, indeed. Then again, what he had said made sense. If there was someone in the entire universe that could deal with Sosuke, well, it was you. You two had had your disagreements, naturally. Fighting on opposing sides, wanting nothing more than watching in glee how you both raised and fell. But beside your sister instinct to protect your brother and your sisters, even your father, from him, you had no real reason to hate his guts. On his behalf, he never nurtured hatred towards you. Or that is what he claimed. Sosuke had never wanted to harm you. Not even when he held you captive in Hueco Mundo.

Mutual respect and rivalry. Probably, also some dulled sexual tension, but none of you two had ever dared to change things.

Now, though, there was something different between you two. You had crossed a line. You had undressed each other, you had slept together, you had let him ruin you. Things would have never been the same. Ignoring him would have been impossible. But, above anything else, what made your stomach churn in apprehension was: how were you going to explain that to your family?

Losing your privacy sounded already dreadful. Having to face the consequences of filling your family up with the unexpected news was even worse. You could figure something out to persuade your brother things would have not degenerated and that your forced cohabitation with Sosuke was not that big of a deal. Trying to make Isshin accept this new situation, though, was not going to be easy. He was your father, after all. Your age and independence did not matter to him when your safety was involved. Still, you had time to talk to him. Right now, you had other things to do, other people to confront.

Now, back at the Inn, you were almost done getting ready to leave. Looking at yourself in the mirror of your small room, you stared at the purple marks on your neck, fingertips grazing the bruised skin as you tried to push away the memories of how Sosuke’s teeth bit onto the flesh, marking it, sucking on it to give you something to think about for years to come. You could not let other people know about that, especially Shuhei, who was the very person Sosuke seemed to be so hostile to without any apparent, valid reason. Now, grasping a silky lilac foulard belonging to your late mother, you carefully wrapped it around your neck and made sure the thin fabric covered up the bruised area. At least, now you felt better in your fresh clothes and it was time to go back home.

“Let’s get the Hell out of here” you muttered then, grasping your bag and striding hastily towards the door.

A new chapter of your life was beginning inevitably. Living with a man loathed by the world, a terrorist, a fallen god even, was most likely something that would have dismantled your projects for the near future. Who else could do it, though? When you had confronted Shunsui in a rather heated argument, you had asked him why Sosuke could not just spend the rest of his immortal life in the Soul Society. According to the Captain Commander, in the deal the Central 46 had made with the former Captain of the Fifth Division, it was specifically said Sosuke had to be banished from the Seireitei until proved to be collaborative. The World of the livings had always been the only practicable option to send the special threat. The Soul Society had allies living in there. Still, they were obviously not enough to control him, considering the visceral hatred between them. At first, the Central had apparently suggested to send Captains and Lieutenants to support the watchers in the World of the livings. But it was way too risky, considering the Soul Society needed their assistance twenty-four hours a day. With you, though, the problem was solved. Or that is what Kyoraku claimed. Sosuke Aizen was a liar, a manipulator, a traitor and a cold-blooded murderer: no one was safe around him.

No one but you.

He had never left a single scar on your body, he had slept next to you without killing you. Long story short, you were the perfect candidate for this role. Shunsui’s answer had left you skeptical, but accepting it sounded better than throttling him with your bare hands. You were selfless, after all. As you walked out of the Inn, you tried to convince yourself this thing could actually work, if you made compromises with Sosuke. You could involve him into mundane activities to keep an eye on him. Yet, the more time you spend in his company, the harder it would have been not recalling how he had you screaming his name as if your life depended on it. Not to mention that your social life would have been completely screwed up by his presence. No boys over, no nights out with your friends. Because, how were you supposed to invite him to the club with you? You could not really imagine Sosuke sipping on a drink, while dancing to a remix of ‘Bloody Mary’ by Lady Gaga. No, you simply could not.

Now, standing a few feet away from the three people in front of you, you took a deep breath and marched up to join the conversation. After the recent events, seeing Shunsui, Ichigo and Sosuke having a relatively polite conversation was not a bizarre sight anymore.

While your brother had a grumpy expression plastered over his face, Shunsui was offering your soon to be housemate a flask of what you assumed was saké. The evil mastermind, arched an eyebrow unsympathetically and raised his hand dismissively to indicate his refusal. Well, maybe they were not ready to have a convivial chit-chat around a bonfire, but they were not trying to kill each other. You wondered how things would have escalated, upon telling your brother that, whenever he was going to visit your flat, he would have been forced to sit on your couch next to Aizen Sosuke.

“Well, good morning” you chimed, greeting the group with a constrained smile, careful not to meet Sosuke’s eye.

In your peripheral, you caught a glimpse of his sardonic smirk. He was right, you had already shared your greetings earlier in a more inappropriate way, but you could not let your brother catch on your shenanigans like that. Not when he was about to have a stroke anyway.

Ichigo’s eyes darted on you, arms folded over his chest “Ah, there you are. Do you mind telling me why Kyoraku and the freak have sent a stupid hellbutterfly to wake me up?” your step-brother asked you, tilting his head to the side expectantly.

Shunsui sighed, your eyes searching for his in what you supposed was emotional support, but all he did was showing you his flask and silently asking you if you keened to take a swig, before answering your brother’s question. Mouthing a ‘no’ at the Captain Commander, you then cleared your throat and decided to be direct with Ichigo. Straight to the point, no hesitation, no fear. Just the plain truth.

“Yeah… Well, starting from today, Sosuke is living in my flat” you blurted out, watching your brother’s eyes gradually widen and his lips part in disbelief.

He blinked “What?”.

“Ichigo, please. You heard me”.

“Are you kidding me? Did you bang your head on your way here, or what? Is this idiot using Kyoka Suigetsu—…” he then quipped, jabbing his finger at Sosuke accusingly, who scoffed and stared him down in disdain.

Shunsui’s laughter made you roll your eyes, as Sosuke slapped Ichigo’s hand down “Do that again and say goodbye to your fingers” the brunette said, his caramel eye darkening, as he cut your brother off dispassionately.

A fight now was not exactly what you needed. Before your brother could fire something back, you stepped between them. Locking eyes with Ichigo, you shot him a grave look and obscured his view on his opponent. Men were just taller versions of babies. This whole situation was already stressing you out and those stupid folks were not helping you coping with it.

“Oi! — you interjected, placing a hand on Ichigo’s chest to make him take a few reluctant steps back — Stop it! That’s a shitty situation, I know, and you have all the rights in the world to be mad. But I am not asking for your permission, Ichigo” you stated, your tone of voice sharp as your brother scowled and threw his hands in the air.

It was predictable. You could not deny it.

“Are you serious? Do you even realize what you are asking me to accept? — Ichigo countered back, taking a step closer to you — How am I supposed to go to sleep at night, when I know he is in your flat? Do I have to remind you of who he is?! Did you forget what he has done?” he asserted, his almond eyes boring into yours as if he was looking for your sanity.

However, you were not mad. You had simply run out of patience and you had no time to deal with your younger brother. You perfectly knew what to say to shut him up.

You narrowed your eyes, mouth opening to hurt him “Really now? You’re going to sleep as peacefully as you did back then! He hasn’t killed me in Las Noches, has he? And I don’t remember you coming to my rescue for quite a while” you punctuated, causing an eerie, awkward silence to swallow you all of a sudden. There, you had said it, you had hit a nerve.

You would have never told him you had hoped day and night for your brother to come to your rescue, after you had audaciously swapped places with Orihime. You had restrained yourself form telling him how you had felt so alone and betrayed for a long time. Why? You hated hurting your brother. Although you loved him, Ichigo had factually hurt you. Still, it was the sense of loneliness he had made you experience back then that had honed your skills and personality. If you were a strong and independent woman now it was thanks to him.

You had learned how to be your own hero, because no one had answered your cry for help.

Ichigo clamped his mouth shut, his fists clenched down his sides as you felt Sosuke and Shunsui’s gazes boring holes on your back. They had not dared to say a word, merely observing the Kurosaki silblings argue.

“Ichigo, I—…” you tried to apologize then, but he shook his head.

“No, you’re right. — he stated, eyes downcast as he gained back some self-control — I should have not even let you go to Hueco Mundo alone, let alone leave you there. But I did not stop you back then. I knew you could survive, somehow, but I’ve been selfish. And, fuck, I know that you can do this too, you’re my … My insufferable, incredibly stubborn, big sister, after all. But it doesn’t change the fact that I care about you” he reasoned, finally flicking his gaze up to meet yours. He was clearly worried and no one could blame him for that, not even you.

“That’s understandable. — Shunsui interjected, leaning his back against the wall — But she’s not changing her residence. Checking on her will be just as easy as it was before, right? And let’s not forget that Urahara Kisuke lives a few blocks away from her flat, if I am not mistaken. She can rely on him”.

At the mention of Kisuke’s name, you saw Sosuke glowering. His upper lip twitched, tempted to disclose his lips to probably spit venom on the shop-keeper. You did not know why, or how you felt confident enough to do that, but you tapped on the top of his shoulder with your index and let the angles of your mouth turn upwards in a simpering smile.

“Rule number one of living with me: if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all” you seethed, blinking a few times as Sosuke stared daggers at you.

“I see you learned something from this wretched Society: cancelling whoever thinks out of the box” Sosuke coldly replied, tilting his head to the side as you snorted and refocused your attention on the two other men in front of you.

Ichigo seemed to be observing your interactions with untainted curiosity, pleasingly surprised that albeit you were bickering you had not thrown hands. You would have loved to kick Shunsui’s ass for snickering at the sight. It seemed what had just taken place before his eyes was the proof you were the perfect match for Sosuke. He was right. You could read his pride all over his face, as he subtly winked at you.

“Did she just quote ‘Bambi’ to a mass murderer?” Ichigo uttered, scratching his head perplexedly. The tension had miraculously dissipated.

Sosuke and Shunsui stared at your brother in confusion, clearly not knowing what ‘Bambi’ was and you palmed your forehead in distress. This conversation had lasted way too long for your likings, it was time to wrap it up and leave the Soul Society behind you for a while.

“Okay, fine, it’s getting late and I have tons of things to do. — you fretted, glaring at your step-brother warningly— I need to meet up with a friend, before leaving. See you at the Seinkaimon” you said goodbye to the small group, having all the intention of leaving Sosuke with the two men for a while. After all, there was no way in Hell you were going to have a private conversation with Shuhei while feeling his breath on your neck.

Not when he had told you he wished he could literally make him taste his sperm in your pussy.

You had barely turned your back at them, when you heard Ichigo’s voice piercing your ears. Obviously, he was talking to the hot jailbird who was bound to be your shadow for only God knew how long.

“You better keep your hands to yourself. If your fingers—…”.

“Oh, come on, now. — Sosuke cooed, his tone infuriantingly soft — What can I do with my fingers? Are you afraid I am going to wrap them around your sister’s throat? Are you scared I am going to choke her?” he stated, making your blood run instantly cold. Sweat was beading your forehead and you halted, frightened at the thought things could escalate and your dirty secret be exposed like that. Your hand reached up, fingertips brushing against the silky fabric of your scarf. You still could feel Sosuke’s hand around your neck, you could still remember the way your pleasure was amplified, when he choked you.

No, you had to do something before it was too late. You had no other choice. Sosuke had to accompany you to your encounter with Shuhei. You had no idea how you were going to handle the situation, yet you had to sacrifice your privacy not to witness to a murder now.

You twirled around, clearing your throat to mask your panic “Aizen Sosuke, come with me. I might actually require your assistance” you yelled out, faking the best smile you could muster, as Shunsui nodded his hand and swung his arm around Ichigo’s shoulders in a friendly manner. You were honestly glad he was finally stepping in to save your reputation and the day. Maybe he was not that drunk yet.

“Yes! I guess it’s time to prepare the Seinkaimon anyway! — the Captain Commander announced — Let’s go, Ichigo, I’ve wanted to ask you a few questions about the World of livings for a while now… Tell me, are women standoffish there too?” he asked then, flashing you a knowing smile as he began to nudge your brother towards the main road.

Ichigo narrowed his eyes, shrugging the man’s arm off of his shoulders, but he did not make a fuss about it. Waving his hand at you, he obliged Shunsui’s request and followed him. Not without glaring one last time at his former enemy, though. Hearing him trying to avoid Shunsui’s questions about women in the World of the livings on their way made you feel better, though. Once they were gone, you released a breath you did not know you were holding. You tossed your bag onto the dirty ground, hands onto your hips as you stared up at the light-blue sky. For a few seconds, nor you, neither Sosuke seemed interested in striking up a conversation. He just stood a few feet away from you, arms folded over his chest, hands tucked into the sleeves of his grey haori. His face almost apathetic. Alone again with him, out in the public for everyone to see. It was not going to be an unsual sight from now on. A weird pair of people, once trying to kill each other, now barely keeping their hands for themselves.

Without saying a word, you then bent down to pick up your bag again and you resumed your walk, not bothering to tell him it was time to go. Sosuke’s baritone voice, though, cut through the air like a sharp blade.

“Aizen Sosuke, huh? When did we go back to such algid formality?” he inquired, making you furrow your eyebrows.

“Really now? How did you expect me to call you? Cutie patootie? Cupcake?” you sassed, eyes scrutinizing the horizon rather than darting on him, who was now glued to your side again.

He snorted and you could practically feel him smiling, when he said “Oh, actually, I was thinking about something like ‘daddy’. Let’s be real, I think I earned that title after yesterday night. — he crooned, knowing damn well he was going too far — For instance, though, I think it would be better to stop using that nickname with your father at lunch. Can you imagine the embarrassment I’d have to go through, if I passed you the salt, when you called for him?” he stated, his tone dripping sarcasm as you balled your hands up into fists down your sides.

This side of him was kind of a revelation, you had to admit it. Then again, he incarnated the example of someone who would have done anything in his power to sow dissension. If this was a glimpse of what to expect from your cohabitation, you were going to lose your mind for sure.

Turning towards him, you blocked his path “Let me get this straight. If you think I am going to let you screw up my life, you are terribly wrong. My house, my rules: stay away from my family” you dryly stated, pondering each and every word coming out of your mouth carefully.

“You have already let me screw you, darling. Would it make that much of a difference, if I interfered with your family affairs?” he taunted you, leaning down towards you so that your eyes could not stray away from his.

He had a point and you hated how good he was at playing with words. He almost made you sound stupid, it was downright frustrating. You huffed, pinching the bridge of your nose, inhaling sharply to calm down and search for your rationality. There was no way in Hell you were allowing him around your sisters and father.

“Yes, it would. You are already ruining my life. I don’t want you to mess them up as well” you declared, watching him straighten his back once again, going as far as to nodding his head in a condescending way.

He was dying to reply something to rile you up, you could see it in the way he was constantly clenching and unclenching his jaw, eager to toy with you as he had always done. But, as much as your body had loved letting him play you like violin, your brain was not going to grant him the chance to do further damages. The silence swallowing you two for a few seconds reminded you of why you had taken that avenue and you quickly began to walk again. Shuhei, Shuhei was a good guy. Handsome, sweet even… Naturally, he had his edges too but who did not have flaws? The Soul King had them too! And you were not exempt from being a messy person as well. After all, who would ever copulate with an enemy, instead of spending the night with the right guy whose love they should cherish? You were so upset with yourself, you almost felt ashamed of meeting up with him now.

The moment you sensed his reiatsu, you halted and turned your head towards the special threat “I need you to wait for me here. If you could possibly abstain from murdering people in the meanwhile, it would be great. Can you do it?” you cautiously said, watching a shit-eating grin cross his face.

Sosuke leaned his shoulder against the wall, arms folding against his chest “Do you honestly believe someone would even dare to walk down the street, upon spotting me there?”.

He had a point, yet you needed to be sure he was not going on a killing spree while you were distracted by the Lieutenant of the Ninth Division. You did not even want to consider the possible consequences you were going to face, if he went back to killing whomever stood in his way while under your watch. You cared about yourself and life enough to grip the hilt of your zanpakuto and wriggling your eyebrows up allusively to make him understand you were not fooling around.

“I will be on my best behavior. — he reassured you — Just hurry up. I would very much like to leave this place” he told you, his tone of voice flat as he motioned at your back with a dispassionate nod of his head.

You stood there for a few more seconds, watching him with a conflicted expression plastered over your face, before you ultimately decided to finally turn the corner. Standing close to a drinking fountain, Shuhei was holding a small bouquet of white roses in his hand. You blinked, sauntering towards him with a bashful smile on your face and your heartbeat notably increasing against your will.

Upon locking eyes with you, his smile broadened “Hey” he greeted you, handing you the flowers he had just purchased.

You sighed, accepting the kind gesture and delicately holding the roses in your hands “Admit it, you bought me flowers for getting that kiss you wanted yesterday night” you teased him, bringing them up to your nose. The bittersweet scent made you let out a soft sigh, your smile softening as he ruffled your hair.

“Probably. — he did not bother denying — But, now that you make me think about it, may I have that kiss? Or shall I find a dragon to slay to prove myself worthy?” he joked, as you shook your head and tiptoed to him.

Shuhei wrapped his arms around you firmly, protectively, and you could not help yourself when you remembered how Sosuke had embraced you the night before. There was a possessive undertone behind his gesture. Sosuke had held you in his arms with the same confidence of a man who did not bother questioning your likings, or asking for your permission: he knew he could do that. Shuhei, on the other hand, was almost scared of hurting you. He handled you with care, the same way a lioness protects her cubs. Comparing them was the worst thing you could possibly do in a moment like this and you cursed yourself for that.

Swinging your arms around his shoulders, you planted a kiss on his cheek. His grip on you tightening even so slightly as he buried his nose onto the crook of your neck.

This was healthy. This was not something to throw away.

“Are you leaving?” he asked you, his voice muffled, as his lips indulged onto your shoulder.

You felt your stomach twist and turn, as you nodded your head slowly, not daring to let go of him “Yes, I am. — you whispered, scared of telling him the catch about it all — And there is something you should know about it” you finally stated, breaking the embrace and clutching the bunch of roses to your chest.

Shuhei cocked his head to the side, visibly concerned by your sudden signs of agitation “What’s wrong?” he asked, hand cupping your cheek gently to show you empathy.

You shivered, half-lidded eyes meeting his ones as you looked for the apt words to explain your bargain with the Central 46 “I have been chosen to watch over Sosuke Aizen in the World of the livings. He is going to live in my house for … Well, no one knows for how long” you stated, watching Shuhei scowl and shaking his head unbelievingly. This was half expected, but it was something you ought to tell him in person.

“If this is a joke, this is not funny” he nervously said, his other hand joining the other on your face, cupping the free cheek, as he leaned down to look deeply into your eyes.

“Shuhei, I’m serious”.

“No! That’s absurd! I’m not letting you alone with that piece of shit!” he snapped then, squeezing your cheeks for a second, before taking a few steps back and running his fingers through his hair in exasperation.

“Shuhei… Listen, it’s okay, I can handle it—”.

“No, you can’t! Is Kyoraku that out of his mind to throw you to a beast? How can he allow something like that?” he reasoned, turning around to facen you again.

You had rarely seen him that concerned in your whole life. You walked up to him, settling the small bouquet on the edge of the fountain as you grasped both of his hands in a futile attempt to soothe his nerves “Kisuke doesn’t live too far from my flat. If something goes wrong, he will surely come to my rescue” you said, only for Shuhei to hook his hands underneath your thighs and sitting you onto the top of a nearby perimeter fence.

You gasped, his hands cupping your cheeks as he pressed his forehead against yours “Kisuke is not enough to reassure me. I will ask my Captain to stay with you, I need to know you are fine. Visits are not enough” he deadpanned, making your small heart skip a beat as you closed your eyes to enjoy this small moment between you two.

He was a fool. Even if Kyoraku demanded Kensei to let him join you, the Central 46 would have not allowed that.

Disclosing your lips to tell him that, you were stopped by his lips capturing yours in a gentle kiss. Slowly, his tongue lapped at your bottom lip, politely asking for access. It was the same kiss that had led you to sleep with him that night. The same kiss that had been the eye of the storm causing a turmoil of emotions within your heart. You trembled, kissing him back, but the moment you did something felt off. Why did his spiky hair feel so soft, silky at the touch? Why did his tongue feel voracious? Why did his pectorals feel firmer under your palms?

Why did you want to feel these sensations and not what you were actually experiencing?

You broke the kiss first, breath slightly labored, as you looked away from him. Shuhei cleared his throat, stepping back to give you some space. Slower. You had to take it slower.

“I’m sorry, I should have not kissed you out of the blue… But I could not resist. The thought of that scum and you together is making me vomit” Shuhei explained and you flicked your gaze up towards him again.

You wanted to reply, when someone spoke out somewhere behind the Lieutenant’s back, causing the colors to drain from your face.

“There’s a bush behind the corner. If you need to throw up, I suggest you to go there. Be careful not to step on mine, though, I puked there as well thanks to this hideous show” Sosuke commented, making Shuhei reach for his zanpakuto. He was so tense you thought he was going to pop a vessel.

Hopping down from the fence, you gripped Shuhei’s forearm, inviting him not to act on his instinct “Shuhei, it’s not necessary” you whispered, but Sosuke’s chuckle made your skin crawl.

“Necessary? The word you were looking for was useful” he countered, causing Shuhei to sprint towards him.

Before you could even register your own actions, you unsheathed your blade and flash-stepped in front of Sosuke, squaring up to parry the Lieutenant’s blow. You were protecting Sosuke, much to your dismay. Still, you were actually trying to protect Shuhei from him. If Sosuke wanted, he could incinerate him with his reiatsu alone. Letting this happen was not an option.

“Y/N! Move! What the fuck are you doing?” Shuhei yelled out, your swords clashing as you you firmly shook your head.

“I can’t! If you break those cuffs he is wearing, we are all dead!” you defended your actions, only to grit your teeth the moment you had to push harder against him to make him step back.

Shuhei stared at you hurt. His sword lowered down his side, as you did not budge to sheathe yours back in its scabbard. Well, the special threat had ruined your small reunion with one of the people you really cared about in the Soul Society.

A black hellbutterfly batting its wings erratically caught your attention, as you let it rest on your finger. The Seinkaimon was ready and you had to go back home. Suddenly, saying goodbye to Shuhei felt painful, as he turned his back at you and left wordlessly. A lump in your throat prevented you from calling out his name, whilst you reached your hand out to grasp the roses he had gifted you.

Sosuke did not utter a single word, following you as if he was your shadow as you two walked silently towards the Seinkaimon.

AUTHOR NOTE.

Hi there! I had so much fun writing this chapter. But I guess the best part is yet to come, because… Well, just imagine Sosuke in mundane situations, lol. Anyway, thanks for the positive feedback! I don’t mind constructive criticism, impressions, or opinions. I actually love it, when people comment! Do do not be afraid to express yourselves. I simp for the evil mastermind of the story, but I am really friendly! And… Happy belated birthday, Aizen!

TAGS: @pseudowho @seireiteihellbutterfly @onyxino @areyouflying @bakugosgirl01 @noirfan12

[nowfallc]

"𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧'𝐭, 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐛𝐢𝐠 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥. 𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠…"

-

Happy Wolfwood Wednesday !!! i wasn't able to decide wich one i wanted to post so heres the best ones !

[fl3shm4id3n]

Cᵣᵤₑₗ Wₒᵣₗd

𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲: 𝐌𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭. 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐬 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧, 𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐤 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐚𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭. 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬, 𝐕𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐦. 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰.

ᴘᴀɪʀɪɴɢ: ᴍɪɢᴜᴇʟ ᴏ'ʜᴀʀᴀ x ᴡɪꜰᴇ! ᴠᴇɴᴏᴍ! ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ

Tw: Death of a child, murder, gun/gunshot wounds, depression, emotional, mentions of gore? nudity.

A/N: I based this off the AU where Bruce's parents are Batman and The Joker.

Masterlist

The whole time you had been crying, begging that your baby was okay, you were still covered in her blood. You didn't bother to clean yourself, all you cared about was your daughter. When the doctors came to tell you both the news, you has absolutely lose it. You begged and screamed that they must be another thing that they could of done but no, Gabriella had died.

During the funeral, the whole time you had been hovering over the little casket, crying and begging that she'd come back. It hurt your husband seen you in this state, he hated seen you in such pain and distress. That night you didn't sleep in yours and Miguel's bedroom, you slept in your daughter's room, wishing and hoping that this was only a bad room and that your Gabriella would be in bed with you, but the next morning, she wasn't there, she was really gone.

For the last couple weeks not everything went back to normal, that night something had died inside of you, no longer did you smile or were happy ever. You were basically in your own world, forgetting that your husband was still in the picture, you loved him, you really did, but it was hard to look at him sometimes, every time you looked at your husband, you saw your little Gabriella, she looked a lot like her father. It hurt.

You went about your day, you woke up early or sometimes you didn't sleep at all. You did chores and everything that needed to get done in the house, then you'd do and hide in your daughter's room. You didn't do nothing in the room, but just lay in bed while hugging her soccer jersey, her scent was still on her clothes, it made you cry, you must have looked pathetic, but you didn't care.

This worried Miguel, you were getting worse instead of better, he knew that people mourned differently, but this was getting out of hand. He noticed a lot of unhealthy changes in you, he needed to help you. For a while he himself had also isolated himself, but now you needed him. That night he decided to talk to you, about taking you to go talk to a therapist, but you refused, you told him that you were fine and didn't need help, this lead to an argument. You both had began screaming at each other. Miguel had warned you that if you didn't go willing to the therapist, then he'll put you in a psych ward by force, when you heard those words, you got scared and basically ran out the door, scared that he might lock you up and claim you as crazy. He didn't mean for this to happen, he only wanted to help.

Miguel had thought you went for a walk for some fresh air, but those minutes became to hours, then those long hours turned into days. He had filed a missing person report to the police. While the police did their part, so did Miguel. He did everything in his power as Spider-Man to find you, but nothing, you had basically disappeared from thin air. He did not stop, no matter how long it would take, he was going to find you.

Years passed. Miguel has not found you yet, it killed him. He didn't know if you were alright, with good people, or if you were even alive. He remembers your screams, those same screamed haunted him at night. That night of the murder haunted him. Every time he closes his eyes, he sees you, holding the dying body of yours and his daughter, begging for her to keep her eye open. He remembers when you both rushed to the hospital screaming for help, when the doctors and nurses came to your help, you begged them to let go with them, in case your daughter needed her mama. he hopped that you were alive and well.

That wasn't the only thing he was worried about, some vigilante by the name of Venom had appeared. She was terrorizing the city and killing criminals from the streets, leaving some disturbing stuff that he felt disgusted to even mention behind to warn other criminals. He tried so hard to figure out who it was, but it was impossible, he had no clue on who could it possibly had been. Some people may find her acts heroic, but what she was doing was wrong, he was a vigilante himself, but he had limits. Someone needed to stop her before she does worse things.

Miguel was out on patrol, looking for any kind of danger or if anyone needed some help from Spider-Man, he was about to call it a night, but he hard screaming coming from an ally. So he decided to go check it out. The screaming got louder, he must have got closer, then he heard this kind of snarl and a demonic yet feminine voice. "Scums like you shouldn't be alive! You all should die!" she hiss at the man, who was pressed up against the wall, with her tight grip on his neck.

"Let him go Venom!" Miguel yelled towards the female, then the disguised woman looked at him, making her growl and gripping harder on the man's neck. "Why should you care to what happened to this low life! Him and every other criminal deserves to die!" she hissed towards the Spider-Man, she was about to snap the guy's neck. But Miguel had launched himself towards her, causing her to drop the guy, in which he ran away as fast as possible.

Then they both began to fight, they threw punches, kicks and threw each other around the ally. This went on for hours. "Just quit Venom!" Miguel yelled towards the woman, who was ready to throw another punch at him. "No! I will never stop! Until every criminal on the street is dead! They have to pay for what they had done!" she hissed, throwing herself back at Miguel, hitting him square n the jaw. Causing Miguel to hiss and get a hold of her wrist at in attempt to get her to stop.

"You think by killing them things will get better?!" he asked, while trying to restrain her but he couldn't, she manage to get away from him. "Yes, they took the most precious thing to me" she said, stopping her movements. "In this very ally, they killed my daughter!" she hissed, he could tell that she was in pain. He also couldn't help but notice the ally was the same exact ally where the murder of his daughter happened. But when the woman said the thing about her daughter, was what made Miguel freeze in his tracks.

"My daughter was shot here, and died in the hospital... they never found the guy that did it.." she said in tears. Miguel could see the tears streaming down her white wide eyes. "My daughter was my everything, she was the light of my life, but now she is gone.. and it's because of people like those scums that I do what I do.. so that no other mother had to go through what I did.." she admitted. No, it couldn't possibly be her. "I will do everything in my power to get every criminal off the street, even if that means killing them" she said.

The woman then brushed off her tears. "I'll have to kill you too, since you tend to get in my way!" she hissed as she lounged at him. This time Miguel had a trick up his sleeve. As soon as the woman got close to him, he manage to get a hold of her shoulder, then with his free hand, he got a needle shot which contained the venom from his fangs and injected the serum in her neck. Causing her to go weak. "What did you.." she wasn't able to finish her sentence. She then slumped forward towards him, losing conciseness.

Miguel then got a hold of the unconscious woman, he noticed how the black ink like skin of her began to disappear from her body. Revealing that she was naked underneath her 'suit'. Sadly he didn't have anything to cover her body, instead he used his big arms to hide her body. Then the black ink had dissolved off her face, revealing to be his one and only wife. The woman that he had been searching for, you looked so peaceful with your eyes closed as if you were sleeping. He sighed as he held your body close to him, pulling you into a tight embrace and tears forming in his eyes, glad that he had found you.

Taglist: @sorryi-mtrash, @call-me-nev

ₙₑₓₜ ₚₐᵣₜ

[inknopewetrust]

𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐉𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐰. 𝐏𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬.

𝐍𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭, 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞, 𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐀𝐈.

𝐃𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐝 𝐋𝐨𝐤𝐢 [𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐫��]

𝐈𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐥𝐨𝐚𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 | 𝟎𝟏 | 𝟎𝟐 | 𝟎𝟑 | 𝟎𝟒 | 𝟎𝟓 | 𝟎𝟔 | 𝟎𝟕 | 𝟎𝟖

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐧 𝐚 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝. 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐚 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬, 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 [𝟏𝟖+].

𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐁𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐬

𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐱 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐮𝐢𝐭.

𝐀 𝐒𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

𝐀 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫.

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐞

𝐒𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 “𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮” 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐲—𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡.

𝐀 𝐋𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐨𝐬

𝐀 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐟 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐝𝐧𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 [𝟏𝟔+].

𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧 𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐤 [𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫-𝐌𝐚𝐧]

𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧 𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐚 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐠𝐮𝐲… 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭, 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭?

𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐌𝐞

𝐀𝐬 𝐏𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐄𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐥 𝐤𝐢𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝’𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐚 𝐰𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐬. 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐲 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐩 𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐒.𝐇.𝐈.𝐄.𝐋.𝐃 𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧 𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐤 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬. 

𝐁𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐇𝐨𝐩𝐞 [𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐩𝐚𝐰]

𝐓𝐨 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐘𝐨𝐮

𝐉𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫? 𝐈𝐭 𝐛𝐨𝐢𝐥𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭.