#4341

[tippysattic]

Check out this listing I just added to my Poshmark closet: VTG Fieldcrest terry grocery bag holder.

[damnfandomproblems]

Fandom Problem #4341:

Fandom on here would be a 1000x better if Tumblr didn't treat bullying people off their platform as an ok/"LoL sO qUiRky" thing to do

[exotic-indians]

[vash3r]

trying to download all my music but it doesn’t have metadata so i have to figure out how to do that ugh

[michaelgabrill]

Sols 4341-4342: A Bumpy Road

Earth planning date: Monday, Oct. 21, 2024 After Curiosity’s busy weekend, the team is ready for another day of planning. We are able to take advantage of the Earth-Mars time offset to full plan on both sols of our plan today. For this plan, I served as Mobility Rover Planner, and planned Curiosity’s drive.  The […] from NASA https://ift.tt/06ZQwge

[pesterloglog]

John Egbert, Jade Harley, Davesprite

Act 6, page 4336-4345

JOHN: oh man, rose and dave have sweet god tier pajamas like us! that's so awesome.

JOHN: haha, dave looks like kind of a doofus with that snug little hood.

JADE: i think he looks cool!!!!!

JADE: the cape is great, hes like a super hero now

JOHN: that's true.

JOHN: i still think i prefer my outfit though.

JOHN: look at all those trolls...

JOHN: there are so many trolls. the idea of meeting them all is kind of overwhelming.

JOHN: i wonder which one is which?

JOHN: i think that must have been karkat there. and that was probably his clown asshole friend he mentioned, too.

JADE: yup

JOHN: and that was definitely terezi, with the fancy glasses.

JOHN: not sure about the others... i wonder if vriska was there?

JADE: ...

JOHN: it's nice to see rose looks better.

JOHN: last time i saw her, she looked really grim.

JOHN: and also, dark.

JOHN: i was trying to talk to her, but she sounded like a babbling monster, so i couldn't understand her.

JOHN: it was really frustrating, and all of my nervous rambling probably made me sound like an idiot.

JOHN: and then when i woke up later, she was dead.

JADE: :(

JOHN: did you know...

JOHN: that i had to kiss her to make her come back to life?

JADE: !!!

JOHN: yes, it's true.

JOHN: it's kind of weird kissing a dead body, but i didn't mind.

JOHN: how did you feel about it when you kissed dave when he died?

JADE: ...........

JADE: how did you know about that!

JOHN: karkat told me.

JADE: oh

JADE: that figures

JOHN: do you think that all of our unbridled corpse smooching means karkat's silly shipping prophecy will come true?

JADE: umm

JOHN: i mean, the guy is really angry, and says fuck like in practically every sentence.

JOHN: but he does weirdly seem to know what he's talking about when it comes to romance.

JADE: yeah

JADE: i dunno

JADE: do you want it to come true?

JOHN: man.

JOHN: i don't know.

JOHN: do you?

JADE: hmmmmmm.....

JOHN: hmm, indeed.

JADE: i think i miss them already

JADE: and weve only been here for a few minutes :(

JOHN: yeah.

JOHN: there's a lot i want to tell them about.

JOHN: and a lot i want to ask them.

JADE: well

JADE: you could ask them now if you want

JOHN: really?

JADE: yes

JADE: in fact

JADE: you can hop right through me and join them

JADE: then you can travel with them to the new session if you like

JOHN: whoa!

JOHN: well, heck, why don't we do that then?

JOHN: it would probably be more fun with them than being on this golden battleship by ourselves.

JADE: it probably would!

JADE: but i cant go with you

JADE: i can serve as a gateway

JADE: but i cant travel to the sun myself, remember?

JOHN: oh yeah.

JOHN: dammit!

JADE: but its ok, really!

JADE: if thats what you wanted to do, i wouldnt mind

JADE: but whatever you do, you have to decide quickly

JADE: they will be departing from the sun very soon

JOHN: but i wouldn't want to leave you here all alone for three years.

JOHN: that would suck!

JADE: i wouldnt really be alone though

JADE: i have the population of five planets to keep me company!

JOHN: :O

JOHN: that's right.

JOHN: that makes it seem not so boring i guess.

JOHN: but still...

JOHN: i would feel really bad leaving you here, even if you do have a million salamanders and chess guys to keep you company.

JOHN: you are my friend and also my sorta-sister, and we just met for the first time ever a few minutes ago...

JOHN: i'm not going to be like, welp! see ya in three years jade!

JADE: awww :D

JADE: ok then

JADE: personally, i think this trip could be a lot of fun!

JADE: theres no pressure to do anything important or run around like lunatics anymore

JADE: we can just relax

JOHN: yeah.

JOHN: now that you mention it, i'm pretty beat.

JOHN: also... starving!!!

JADE: woof!

JADE: whoops

JOHN: heheh.

JOHN: i sure hope there are things to eat on those planets.

JOHN: there were a lot of weird glowing mushrooms on lowas. i dunno about those.

JOHN: i seem to remember a bunch of farms on the battlefield...

JADE: there should be lots of good stuff on the planets

JADE: also i would bet this ship is stocked with plenty of military rations

JOHN: yeah, probably.

JOHN: pff, hell, we could just raid all of our fridges and alchemize some tasty grub!

JADE: oh yeah!!!

JADE: durrr, problem solved

JOHN: ok, cool.

JOHN: but it would still be nice to say hi to everybody before they leave.

JOHN: just to let them know how we're doing.

JADE: yes

JOHN: like, one of the last things rose saw before she died was me dying...

JOHN: i wonder if she knows i'm ok?

JADE: im pretty sure she knows a ton of things now

JADE: considering she is a fully realized seer of light

JOHN: yeah, probably.

JOHN: then maybe i'll just hop over real fast, and give karkat a fist bump, and give dave a hard time about his hella tight little hood, and then hop back?

JADE: im sure that would be hilarious

JADE: but

JADE: if you go i dont think i can bring you back

JADE: i cant bring anyone or anything to here from there!

JOHN: aw man, really??

JADE: as far as i know...

JADE: if theres a way i havent figured it out yet

JADE: i am still kind of new to this omnipotence thing after all :\

JOHN: that's stupid.

JOHN: what is with all these rules!

JADE: i dont know!

JADE: im sure the rules exist for a good reason though

JADE: maybe to somewhat limit the power and reach of omnipotent beings?

JADE: if there are no limits at all, it could be especially dangerous in the wrong hands

JADE: like what happened with jack!

JOHN: isn't that a contradiction though?

JOHN: if there are limits to your powers, you can't exactly be OMNIpotent, can you?

JOHN: more like...

JOHN: semipotent.

JADE: then i guess thats what we are!

JADE: semipotent demigods

JOHN: demidogs.

JADE: woof woof woof!

JADE: dammit!!!!!!

JOHN: heh...

JOHN: can you not control the woofs?

JADE: i havent gotten the hang of the woofs yet :(

JOHN: so, the dog ears...

JOHN: is that a permanent thing now, or what?

JADE: i think so

JOHN: i like them.

JADE: i do too!

JOHN: you are like a furry now, but not really the weird kind that people on the internet like to have sex with in their imagination.

JADE: D:

JOHN: hey, can i at least send a message through?

JOHN: like a note or something?

JADE: sure!

JADE: better hurry up and write it though

JOHN: oh snap! ok, gotta think, quick...

JOHN: what do i write on?

JOHN: maybe the back of a movie poster or something?

JOHN: i don't think i have one captchalogued though...

JOHN: and now that i think about it, most of them were ruined by imps. :(

JADE: how about this one?

JADE: looks like its still in pretty good condition

JOHN: yes, that's perfect!!!

JOHN: everyone will love it, especially probably dave.

JOHN: i think i need something to fold it up and put it in though.

JOHN: i don't want to just like crumple it up and chuck it in there like some garbage...

JOHN: i could stick it in a book i guess.

JOHN: but i kind of don't want to part with any great reading material, especially since we're going on a long trip.

JADE: john you have to hurry!

JOHN: ok, ok, um...

JADE: here, will this work?

JOHN: oh, yeah. i guess that'll be fine.

JOHN: now, uhhh, what to write...

JADE: whatever you write just make it quick!

JADE: and tell everyone i say hi!

JOHN: ok, will do.

JADE: ok, while you work on that, i think ill bring up some friends

JOHN: huh?

JADE: you know, let some of our travel companions get acquainted with the ship!

JOHN: oh fuck, it's dave sprite!!!

JOHN: i forgot about him.

DAVESPRITE: yeah no shit

JOHN: how've you been, buddy?

JADE: shooooooooosh!!!!!

JADE: write now, catch up later!

JOHN: ok, i think this is a pretty good letter.

DAVESPRITE: let me check it out

DAVESPRITE: maybe ill humorously defile willis and afflecks dumb skyward yearning faces

JOHN: oh HELL no.

DAVESPRITE: come on dude hand it over

JADE: nooooo come on guys theyre about to go just stuff it in the bucket and throw it at me already!!!

DAVESPRITE: too late i already did it with sprite powers while he wasnt looking

JOHN: augh you bastard!

JOHN: wait a minute!

JOHN: i forgot, trolls hate cleaning products for some alien reason! shit, that's going to make everyone so uncomfortable.

JOHN: oh well, there it goes. too late i guess.

DAVESPRITE: ahahahaha you fucked up

[media-literacy-archive]

Media Literacy Article and Tool Links

Newslit.org

Center for Media Literacy

The State of Media Literacy - W. James Potter

Center for Media Literacy

[novy2sirius]

Hey babe,

What placements, aspects or degrees in your natal chart can indicate getting fame from your beauty?

The main indications of fame from your beauty

— personally from what i’ve seen it’s mostly venusian, martian, and neptunian energy which also makes sense astrologically speaking

the most common ones i’ve seen

• | aries/taurus/libra/pisces sun

• | sun in 1h/7h

• | aries/taurus/leo/libra/pisces ascendant

• | aries/taurus/libra/pisces midheaven

• | black moon lilith in 1h

• | lots of 1°/5°/9°/25° in chart (especially if it’s the sun/venus/neptune)

placements

• | sun in 1h/2h/7h/12h

• | aries/taurus/libra/pisces midheaven

• | aries/taurus/libra/pisces ascendant

• | venus/mars/neptune in the 1h/5h/10h

• | aries/leo/pisces venus

• | chart ruler in aries/taurus/libra/pisces

• | chart ruler in 1h/10h/11h

aspects

• | mars/venus/neptune to sun

• | mars/venus/neptune to midheaven

• | mars/venus/neptune to ascendant

• | venus to neptune

• | venus to mars

degrees

— in my personal opinion i think the numerology degrees are more accurate but it’s up to personal interpretation

• | aries degrees (1°/13°/25°)

• | taurus degrees (2°/14°/26°)

• | libra degrees (7°/19°)

• | pisces degrees (12°/24°)

• | 1°/10° - according to numerology

• | 5°/14°/23° - according to numerology

• | 9°/18°/27° - according to numerology

other

• | black moon lilith in 1h/7h/10h

• | venus/mars/neptune dominant

• | aries/taurus/libra/pisces dominant

• | born under the goat/tiger/dragon vietnamese zodiac

• | born on a tuesday or friday

astrology behind this

• | sun = how we can gain fame

• | venus = beauty/attractiveness

• | mars = sex appeal (which most models have)

• | neptune = higher octave of venus/ethereal beauty

• | ascendant = what we’re known for in general

• | 2h = face (some astrologers disagree)

• | 7h = attractiveness

• | 10h = fame/what we’re known by the public for

• | 12h = ethereal beauty

• | lilith = related to sex appeal

honorable mentions

• | moon/pluto in the 1h/10h

• | sun/moon/uranus dominance

• | aphrodite asteroid in 10h/12h - code: 1388

• | poseidon asteroid in 10h/12h - code: 4341

• | leo/pisces aphrodite asteroid

• | leo/pisces poseidon asteroid

- novy2sirius - plz don’t copy me word for word

[y2sims]

Four Hairstyles in The New Hair System.

colors by pooklet.

textures by remi (straight) & poppet (wavy).

binned, familied, tooltipped and compressed.

all four colors are in one .package file.

all the meshes are included.

butterflysims & peggy hairs were requested!

Butterflysims 064

all ages

15.7k~ polys

mesh edit by @profesionalpartyguest (incl.)

DOWNLOAD: sfs // mf

Hezeh F1

all ages

10k~ polys

mesh conversion by @powerpcinside

DOWNLOAD: sfs // mf

Peggy 4341 - unisex

all ages

8.9k~ polys

cf mesh edit by nekosayuri, m conversion by yuxi

originally retextured by aliksims, i just recolored

DOWNLOAD: sfs // mf

ZY Myra

all ages

14k~ polys

mesh conversion by powerpcinside

DOWNLOAD: sfs // mf

[xoxoavenger]

How to Break a Heart

pairing: Luke Castellan x Fem!Aphrodite!Reader

summary: Y/N's mother gives her a deadline on when she needs to break her first love's heart, but Y/N isn't in love. Luckily Luke has a plan to fool the goddess; they'll pretend to be in love, and Y/N can break his heart. But these plans never go accordingly.

word count: 4341

warnings: betrayal, no comfort but there is still fluff for most of it

notes: luke castellan has taken over my life i have like 9 drafts so we'll see how this goes (i'm always scared to post for a new character so any love is appreciated greatly)

part 2

masterlist

"How did it go?" Luke asked as Y/N walked out of the Aphrodite cabin. Her mother had requested an IM with her, and Luke had waited outside for her. Y/N didn't look too happy, but she never did after a talk with her mom.

"She thinks it's time." Y/N said, and as much as he wished he could read her mind, he had no idea what she was talking about.

"For what?" He asks, following as she begins to walk into the woods. It's clear she just needs to be on a walk to be away from everyone else, but she's letting him tag along.

"She said it's an embarrassment that I'd become an adult and still hadn't broken my love's heart." She says. "But I haven't fallen in love with anyone yet, and I don't wanna break some innocent person's heart." She stops talking when they reach the river, sitting on the wet ground. He thinks about his pants real quick and then sits next to her, wanting to give her his support.

"She gave you a time limit?" Luke asks, knowing the answer. The Aphrodite kids didn't usually go on quests, but this was a quest of its own. She knew the gods couldn't resist making things more difficult.

"Yeah. Four months. As if I could fall in love with someone in that time, let alone here." She grabs a rock and throws it into the current, the splash barely touching them.

"Maybe you don't have to." Luke whispered, looking at her. She turned to him, brows furrowed as she rested her head against her bent knees.

"I don't think my mom is gonna let it slide any further than she already has. The truth is, I've been putting this off for years. She's wanted me to break some pour soul's heart for two years now. Every time she's visited me, it's always 'what about that Hephestas boy?' or 'that Apollo kid looks so nice now.' I don't wanna know what she'll do if I disobey." Y/N admits, taking a deep breath.

"That's not what I meant." Luke smirked, causing Y/N to frown.

"What are you talking about, then?" She asks, sitting up and looking at him face on.

"If we pretend that we're in love - I mean, put on a whole show that convinces the whole camp," Luke says it quietly, as if Aphrodite may be listening to them right now.

"Then I can 'break' your heart and please my mom without actually hurting anyone!" She says excitedly, watching as Luke nods. "You're a genius!" She cried, throwing her arms around Luke. She was so happy to have this weight lifted off her shoulders. He held her back, and it felt nice for a moment.

"So, what's the story?" Y/N asked, leaning back and pulling her knees up and leaning on them gently now, instead of hiding behind them.

"We just have to pretend to be dating. I invited you over here to ask you out, so we'll walk back to camp holding hands." He said it so simply, she just nodded.

"What about kissing? Won't they get suspicious?" She asked, making Luke chuckle.

"We can figure that out later." He told her, and she just nodded. "For now, we only have to convince our friends."

"And the olympians." She shrugged.

"Only your mom. The rest of them won't care." Luke told her, standing up. He reached out a hand to help her up, and she took it. He then switched hands to hold her's, interlacing their fingers. Y/N had held hands with many boys, being a daughter of Aphrodite, but for some reason Luke's felt different. She was holding the hand he used to fight with his sword, calloused but somehow smooth. She looked at him, and for a moment she wondered if this would work. It was crazy to lie to a god, even if the goddess was her mother. Could she really pretend to be in love and break his heart? Would they still be friends afterward?

Luke squeezed her hand and smiled, and she felt relief flow through her. If there was anyone who could pull this off, it was Luke.

"We got this." He told her, and she nodded.

They walked to camp, hand in hand, and Y/N knew immediately that this idea would work.

"Oh my God!" Her sister Silena called, immediately seeing Luke and Y/N. "Uh, I knew it!" And Y/N pushed down the urge to roll her eyes. She could have come out of the woods with anyone and Silena would have claimed to have seen it coming.

And just like that, everyone knew they were together.

For about a month, they got away with just hand holding, hanging out a little more than regular, going on a couple night walks. But on one of their night walks, Luke brought up what she had been thinking.

"We have to kick it up. If we want people to think we really fell in love in four months, we have to be inseparable." He told her.

"Silena has already caught on. We have to make it look like we got caught doing something." She had been thinking about it, not wanting to go there, but they both knew there was no way around this. They had to make it believable. Everyone had to believe them for this to work.

"The Hermes cabin." Luke nodded, but Y/N furrowed her brows.

"But your cabin is like, never empty." She told him, concerned.

"Anyone who finds us in the Hermes cabin will tell everyone immediately. And we will get found basically as soon as we're in there." He had definitely thought about this.

"We'll get in trouble." She tells him, looking to the side at the water.

"Us getting in trouble for getting caught in a cabin alone together?" He smirks, squeezing her hand. "Yeah, I'm sure your mom will be really angry." When she turned to him he was smiling, and she couldn't help but smile back.

"You're a genius." She almost kisses him, because that's what she would do in the situation, but then she remembered they're not actually dating. She was almost embarrassed, but then she realized.

"We can't do this without ramping our relationship up a bit." She tells him, and he thinks for a second. He turns to the trees, and the smile is on his face once more.

"The younger kids are watching." He whispered, making her blush. Of course their younger siblings would be watching their romantic walk. "If it's okay with you," He mutters stopping and turning to her. He takes her other hand. "I can kiss your cheek. Or we," She drops is hands and grabs his face, bringing his lips to hers. She knew they'd have to kiss in front of everyone sooner or later, and clearly Luke was freaking out a little bit. She felt his hands go to her torso, high above her waist but just a little below her bra line. It made her heart race just a little bit.

Their lips moved in tandem, much more than any first kiss she's ever had before. She forgot everything as one of her hands slipped from his face to his chest. One of his slipped to her lower back, the other going to the back of her head. They broke for one second to reposition, but for some reason it was too much for her. She curled her fingers into his orange Camp Half-Blood shirt and brought him closer once more. She could feel him smile as he curled his fingers in her hair to position her better.

All too quickly, they separated. Y/N blinked a couple times, trying to clear her brain.

"I think they got the hint." He tells her, and she could only stare at him and try to figure out what he just said.

"Yeah," She whispered, realizing he was talking about their rouse. Of course, the only reason they had kissed was to get the camp talking. "They'll definitely be talking about that."

She didn't want to think about how upset she was, or why she was upset. This was fake - everything with Luke was fake.

"We should head back before Chiron comes and puts us on probation or something." She said, watching him nod. She let him lead her back to her cabin, where he gave her a kiss and a wink outside her door.

She was in trouble.

~

The next day, they met up to watch the kids make friendship bracelets. Luke had already made a deal with Travis, and no one noticed when the two left.

"We have a couple minutes until everyone comes in." He tells her, and she nods. He walks over to his bed, the single one in the corner of the huge cabin. Y/N has never seen it completely empty, and when she looks around it seems too quiet.

"How do you wanna," She mutters, heart pounding. She's nervous, and it's obvious.

"Hey," His voice is quiet, and she looks over at him. "We don't have to do anything that you don't wanna do." His hand goes to her har, pushing her hair out of her face a little bit. She had to force herself not to look away.

"We have to." She mutters, a sad frown on her face. They both knew she didn't have a choice for this.

"But we can just get caught alone." He assures her, sitting back on his bed. Y/N stays where she is.

"No, it has to be more. We have to convince everyone." She is convincing herself too, that she has to do this. She doesn't go on quests, and this isn't even courageous. This is something her siblings do for fun. She can do it for her mother.

"Okay," He tells her, grabbing her hands. She's about to ask how they should be set up, but then there's footsteps on the stairs. Before she can think, she practically pounces on Luke. She's straddling him, pressing him against the bed. Their hands became untangled and his go to her waist, lower than their first kiss. She hears the door open, and her heart freezes.

What are they doing?

Before she can mess up the entire plan, Luke leans up and presses their lips together. She doesn't know what to do with her hands, just letting them hold her up while Luke's venture under her shirt.

"Oh my gods!" Y/N and Luke separate with wide eyes. They were planning on getting caught, but not by her.

"Annabeth?" Luke whispers, turning to see his sister in the doorway, hand over her eyes.

"Shit," Y/N curses, getting up. She realizes her shirt is all scrunched, so she pulls it down.

"What a weird camp." The kid next to Annabeth says. Y/N notices him for the first time, a short kid that looked like he was enjoying this drama. He has to be new, because she's never seen him around and definitely never with Annabeth.

"This is strange." Ananbeth crosses her arms and squints. Y/N feels like she can see right through them.

"Oh, Chiron is not gonna be happy." The kid says, smiling. Before Y/N can argue that neither of them would tell the centaur, he walks up behind them.

"That assumption would be correct, Mr. Jackson." She has to remind herself that this was the plan, that they wanted to get caught.

"Chiron," Y/N says, looking up at him as he walks into the wide door frame. Annabeth and the kid move to let him in, also showing Y/N and Luke the amount of people behind him, waiting to see the

"This is unexpected from you two." He says, and Y/N can feel herself second guessing this plan. She doesn't like to be scolded by Chiron. Luke grabs her hand as if he knew what she was thinking.

"We're sorry, Chiron." Luke started, taking a deep breath.

"But we're not kids anymore," Y/N starts, the confidence coming from no where. "And sometimes we need time on our own." She can feel everyone's eyes on her, including Luke's.

"We can talk about this in the Big House." Chiron was clearly peeved, but she knew he couldn't get that mad. Everyone knew why Luke and Y/N stayed even though they were the oldest campers; they would be dead in the real world.

"You're up to something." Annabeth says as everyone leaves.

"I'm always up to something." Luke smirks before looking at the new kid. "I'm Luke."

"I'm Percy." The kid says, looking over at Y/N.

"Y/N." She nods, a small smile on her face. She looked at Annabeth, who knew something was up. She had to ramp it up.

She put a hand on Luke's shoulder and kissed his cheek, squeezing his hand and leaving. It had to be enough for now.

~

As it turned out, Annabeth went on a quest a couple weeks later, so they didn't need to worry about convincing her. But Luke was practically sick with worry for her wellbeing, and Y/N wasn't much better. Her deadline was coming up, and she was actually dreading it.

She was enjoying Luke's presence, enjoying the touches and the attention. She knew it was her mother's powers making her feel this way, but part of it was just her. She actually looked forward to waking up and going to see Luke. She thought about the night that they had fallen asleep in the warm sand, his chest cushioning her head. His arms were around her, and when they were caught in the morning she didn't even care about Chiron's second warning. Luke had snuck them desert anyway.

It helped calm her down from worrying about the kids on a quest, the fate of which would in turn decide the fate of Camp Half-Blood. She hated the feeling of war in the air, the campers fighting. Luke's comfort helped that situation as well. He would always grab her close, making her anxiety calm down and her mind quiet. She had taken to hanging out with him away from everyone's eyes, aside from plans to get caught. They would lay in the strawberry fields, looking at the clouds. Sometimes she would fall asleep, giving away the fact that she couldn't sleep in her own bed at night. As soon as Luke realized this, he made the Aphrodite cabin swear to secrecy when he would sneak in. They were great at keeping secrets when it helped their sister's love life, and her health. She had gotten so used to Luke sleeping in her bed, it was weird to think there was a time when he wasn't.

The first time it happened, she had almost jumped out of her skin.

It was right before the kids left, when everyone started to get uneasy about the Lightning Bolt. She had made a random comment that day when her and Luke were sitting on the dock, because she was too tried from her lack of sleep. They had been 'dating' for two months now, and even before she would tell him these things as his best friend. She had almost fallen asleep with her head resting against his shoulder, and he had shaken her awake. She stumbled to her cabin, not even wanting to tell her siblings about the night, but she couldn't sleep.

Everyone knew she had problems sleeping, so they tried to be as quiet as possible. They let her keep her window open, even though it dried their skin. And though her body was absolutely begging her to sleep, her mind wouldn't turn off.

She jumped out of her skin when she heard Luke's low voice.

"Thank the gods your window is already open." She shot up, heart racing. She looked over to see Luke climbing in. "And also thank the gods you live on the bottom bunk." His voice was so quiet she could barely hear, but at least she knew her siblings wouldn't hear. She knew they would never tell Chiron, since they loved a good relationship.

"What are you doing?" She asked, eyes wide and a smile playing on her face. His scar shown in the moonlight as he sat on the windowsill, taking off his shoes. He handed them to her, and she put them down gently on the ground before lowering himself down on her bed.

"I'm gonna help you sleep." He told her, looking at her in a way that made her heart race just a little. Even in the little privacy, where no one could see them, he was caring for her.

"You don't have to." She turned her head down, feeling self conscious in her bonnet. He smiled at her.

"I want to."

The two settled in, Y/N lifting up the covers for Luke to come under. They switched positions so she could sleep next to the wall, his arms around her immediately. She felt so secure and safe in his arms, more relaxed than she had felt in weeks. He settled his face against her head, giving the softest kiss to her forehead. So soft she was questioning it as her mind drifted away.

When she woke up, she was in his arms. The sun was up, and it was much later than she had woken up in the past month.

"Tell him I went on a walk. And she's sick." Luke was whispering, his voice rumbling in his chest that Y/N was laying against. Given the small size of the bed, they were entangled. Her legs were fused with his, her torso stuck between the wall and Luke's body. Her hand was entangled into his sleep shirt, and she didn't untangle it because that would have given up that she was awake. And she wanted to stay like this a little longer.

And she was enjoying the warm light and the nice morning.

"You know he'll come in here anyway." A boy was saying, but Y/N didn't want to listen. Without thinking, she rubbed her face into Luke's shirt, trying to get more comfortable. She rubbed a leg against his, shifting and sighing.

"If you wake her up," Luke's voice sounded venomous, and it made her start to smile a little. Her head felt so light but also so heavy in a good way. She didn't think she could feel that way.

"Fine, I'm gone." The guy said, and Y/N heard his footsteps walk away. She stretched for a second, settling down so that her leg was thrown over his and she was more on top of him than against the wall. Her hand relaxed, still holding onto his shirt but not as tightly.

"You awake?" Luke whispered so quietly for a moment he didn't think she heard him.

"No." She said quietly, feeling her breathing even out.

"Alright." He brushes his hand against her back, soothing her even more. "Let me know when you're awake."

~

All the Aphrodite kids were working overtime to make sure that Chiron never found out that Luke was sneaking into the cabin and also to keep the Hermes cabin from snitching. And also from keeping the harpies from killing Luke. 

It was a full-time job. 

They usually slept in Y/N's bunk, because her siblings just wanted her to be happy. They all knew that she was supposed to break someone's heart, but they tried not to talk about it. No one else knew about the deadline. 

"Can you tell me how you got your scar?" Y/N asked one night, tracing the mark as they laid in bed. She had been getting so much sleep with him that she was able to stay up a little bit with him now and whisper low enough that no one else could hear.

"You don't wanna hear about it before it before you go to bed." He whispers, eyes going dark and hand grabbing hers, stopping her from touching it. Her heart drops, and she feels like a little kid scolded. 

"You never told me." She mutters, not wanting to push but wanting to know. They'd gotten so close now that she wanted to know everything about him before she no longer had an excuse to be around him all the time. 

Oh gods, how was she going to sleep without him? 

"You're already overthinking." He whispers, and she just huffs and tries her hardest to turn from him while his arms are around her and she's also stuck between him and the wall. For a moment she thought about throwing herself over him and getting up, just to prove a point, but she knew that was taking things a little too far. 

"I just wanted to be there for you like you are for me." She knew that didn't have nightmares like most demigods did; at least, if he got them, he hadn't had any since he'd been with her. But she also knew no one could deal with everything on their own, and if he wasn't telling her, who else was he telling? 

"I'm okay." He tells her, settling in and making her start to get comfortable again. She stretched, leaned against him and let her eyes close, trying to forget about his scar. 

Something about the conversation rubbed her the wrong way. 

~

The kids returned and the war was avoided, and now Annabeth seemed to have her own relationship problems. It made Y/N relieved, then sad, because she remembered that her own relationship was fake. In a few short weeks, she would have to 'break' Luke's heart. But that was in the future, and she could put it off as long as she could. She didn't want to have to break his heart, because she had a feeling it would only break her's.

Everything had been going great until her mother showed up.

This time, it hadn't been an IM. This time, her mother was waiting for her in the strawberry fields where she was supposed to meet with Luke.

"Mom?" Y/N asked, not sure if she was seeing correctly. Her mother's beautiful face brightened, and Y/N just blinked. She had never met her mother in person.

"My favorite child." Her mother said, making Y/N's eyes widen. She thought Silena was her favorite child. "I am so proud of you."

"What?" Y/N had been planning on talking to Luke about their breakup tonight, but her mother thew her off.

"You've broken the most talented swordsman's heart! The pain, oh, it almost breaks my own heart." Aphrodite put her hands over her own heart, and Y/N just furrowed her eyebrows.

"But, I haven't broken Luke's heart yet." Y/N says, thinking about how weird Luke had been acting when he asked to meet her there. She thought it was about them breaking up, but what if it was something else. Could he tell that she had fallen?

"No?" Her mother looked genuinely confused. "I sense such distress, such a hole of love in his heart." Y/N had never seen a god confused, and she didn't like this.

"Something's wrong." Y/N muttered, flinching when fireworks began to be set off.

"Yes," Her mother said gravely, grabbing her daughter's hand. "I will help you find him and set this right." She said it as if Y/N was supposed to break his heart over the pain he must've been feeling. Before she could protest, her mother was teleporting her. She ended up in front of Luke in the forest, her mother no where to be found. Luke looked angry, his sword was pointing right at her. It was actually pressing lightly into her chest, which made no sense. Luke would never do that.

"Y/N?" He asked, eyes widening. The anger melted away a little bit, but he still didn't look like the version of him she knew.

"What are you doing?" She asked, watching him lower his sword but not his guard. His eyes caught on something behind her, and she turned.

Percy was standing there, eyes wide and scared. He had his own sword in his hand, arms lifted in defense.

"Get out of the way, Y/N." Percy said, sounding older than his twelve years. It scared her, seeing this kid forced to mature.

"What are you doing?" She repeated, turning back to Luke. His expression had hardened slightly, but it still wasn't as angry as he had been when she first showed up.

"You don't want any part of this." Luke's voice was deep and dark, and Y/N felt her heart drop to her stomach.

"What have you done?" She rephrased, eyes wide as the fear sprinkled through her body in cold waves.

"What I had to." Luke said, as if that explained everything. "The gods are against us. They need us, but they don't care about us. I mean, have you ever even spoke with your mom is person?" He was trying to use her, and it hurt her feelings.

"I just did." She said quietly, turning fully to Luke. "And she told me you were heartbroken." She reveled at the shock that washed over his face.

"She must have been feeling someone else." Luke answered, and Y/N just shook her head.

"Luke, please." She walked toward him, grabbing his free hand. "We had something. We were pretending to date but you can't tell me you were acting the whole time." She felt tears in her eyes now. "Luke, I love you." She whispered finally. Filling the silence was the wind in the trees, the distant sound of fireworks. But not Luke's voice. He stayed quiet for a moment.

"It'll pass." He tells her quietly, tilting his head.

He might as well have stabbed her, the words hurt so bad. Using her shock, he threw his sword up, and not even letting go of her hand he caught it the opposite way, using the bottom to hit her head and send her to the ground.

"Goodbye," He muttered as he let her hand slip from his, stepping over her to face Percy.

Y/N could hear the breaking of her heart as she let her eyes close. 

//

tags: @avada-kedavra-bitch-187  @one-sweet-gubler

[a-d-nox]

aphrodite (1388) persona chart observations (part 2)

welcome to my mini valentine's series on the goddess of love and beauty - this month 4 observations will be released regarding the aphrodite persona chart! all observations are in reference solely to aphrodite persona charts. these observations are completely hypothetical. they are based on my (the those closest to me's) experiences with each aspect/ placement! please don't take everything i say as predestined, astrology is possible outcomes not guaranteed ones. this is just a starting place for when examining singular objects in an entire galaxy (these are not the only asteroids in affect for you). take what resonates and leave what doesn't!

♀ venus negatively aspecting anchises (1173) people tend to not flirt well? like its always over the top or not obvious at all

♀ venus-aphrodite (1388) people are very dominant in a room - they appear to be very comfortable in their skin, wear the perfect clothes for them, and tend to be confident in their skills surrounding charming others

♀ earth and fire mars people may be dominants, while air and water mars people are submissive; switches may have the mixture of these (see degree and sign)

♀ mars positively aspecting moon may indicate liking feminine qualities in a partner or liking a partner who is sensitive towards you and your needs

♀ mars-pluto people have REALLY high sex drives.

♀ people who can destroy a reputition with drama or gossip tend to have mars-mc or mars-pluto aspects

♀ mars-nn people with positive aspects may find they hook up with a lot of people, while negative aspects do not; they could be on a life journey to learn about levels of intimacy

♀ mars negatively aspecting poseidon (4341 / h47) people could lack authority/dominance in a relationship

♀ air and water jupiters are more likely to question their self-worth; especially, if aspecting the ruler of and/or being in the 8h and/or 12h

♀ water jupiters (this includes those with water degrees or aspects to the moon) tend to be the tate langdon of the chart group: "i would never let anybody or anything hurt you... i've never felt that way about anyone..."; your loyalty and promises run very deep into your person

♀ you may have great legs if you have sagittarius (9°, 21°) or capricorn (10°, 22º) jupiter

♀ jupiter-uranus people may experience fluctuations in their weight

♀ saturn negatively aspecting the moon may indicate feeling insecure over breast size; you could have been bullied for being "flat"

♀ people with saturn negatively aspecting the moon and/or venus tend to be the first ones who are ridiculed for betraying other feminines (could be through cheating, bullying, turning their back on them, not protecting them when they see injustice (i think of those social experiments where a guy takes a picture up a girl's skirt and then everyone around her just stands there without saying anything having seen the whole thing go down OR like serena joy holding down june in handmaid's tale), etc); the positive aspects tend to be the advocates and allies for women rights and justice

♀ saturn negatively aspecting venus and/or pluto could indicate shyness or insecurity over your yoni - i feel like these people are either like olivia from sex education where they think their yoni is ugly and/or they may be the type to cry / get stressed at the gynecologist's office because they feel ashamed or vulnerable in their chair

♀ saturn with negative aspects to mars, venus, and/or pluto may be in denial of their sexual preferences especially that of who their partner is or isn't (aka their character)

♀ saturn-neptune people tend to be comfortable naked, but i feel like there is slight over-awareness of clothing like a "does this look right on me?" type moments or "damn i should have worn a bra, i feel like everyone is looking at me" type deals

♀ saturn-pluto people either aren't satisfied with their sex life or they are rather kinky... or both

♀ saturn-aphrodite (1388) people may struggle with loving themselves or finding qualities they admire about themselves

♀ uranus-mc people are mass manipulators that can "brainwash" whole societies (steve jobs had a quintile between these two planets and now everyone is compelled to own his products - donald trump also has a quintile)

♀ uranus-hestia (46) people are often traditionalists who are opposed to divorce

♀ uranus-psyche (16) people could have some really twisted relationships in which no one knows who manipulated who

♀ pluto-poseidon (4341 / h47) people tend to be extremely lustful

♀ scorpio-influenced (8°, 20º) and/or neptune-pluto people can be super seductive and possibly are in the adult film industry

♀ cancer (4°, 16°, 28º) vertex and/or moon-vertex may indicate relationships with feminines or becoming a better person when emotional intimacy occurs in your relationships

like what you read? leave a tip and state what post it is for! please use my "suggest a post topic" button if you want to see a specific post or mythical asteroid next!

click here for the masterlist

click here for more greek myths & legends

want a personal reading? click here to check out my reading options and prices!

© a-d-nox 2024 all rights reserved

[l0velyblu3]

Loving Him (K.S. x Reader)

Pairing: Kim Seungmin x GN!Reader)

Summary: You've had feelings for your best friend for a while now. Seeing him continuously go on dates pains you, wanting it to be you instead, but you don't do anything about it. Why do anything about it if he doesn't feel the same....or so you though

Warnings: Swearing, Angst, Crying, (not properly proofread) that's all I can think of! Let me know if I missed something

Requested: no

Word Count: 4341 or so

Photo credit: 𝐖𝐀𝐗𝐈𝐄 ✦ 𝑺𝑲𝒁 𝑾𝑨𝑳𝑳𝑷𝑨𝑷𝑬𝑹𝑺 "𝗔𝗧𝗘 " 🥠

(the way i'm so obsessed with this photo of him i- skjghsdiopghogp)

You knew you never should have harbored those feelings, you knew it. Especially because he was your best friend and he would never find any interest in you. You knew it was a dangerous game but you still played it. You knew you shouldn’t like him, you couldn’t, but how could you not? 

His eyes would always look at you with such kindness and sincerity when you felt low. The way his hair was never super messy or super neat, it was perfect for him, perfectly Seungmin. The way you guys would tease each other, throw insults, but then throw flirty comments at each other, only to say it was because you guys were ‘platonic’. You wish those flirty comments were real so you didn’t like him. No, you loved him. You loved him more than anything, but you knew he would never love you back, at least not how you love him. 

There were nights that you cried and prayed, asking ‘Why me?’ over and over and over again. It wasn’t fair, nothing ever was, and there was nothing you could do about it because you weren’t going to confess to him and ruin one of the best things that you have in your life, it wasn’t worth it, especially when you knew the answer. Seeing him was painful because it was only a reminder of what you could never have, but it was especially painful since he was your roommate, you saw him every. Single. Day. There wasn’t any alone time till you guys went your ways and went to bed, but even then you had to be careful how loud you cried.

It was one of those times where you kept yourself up to the late hours of the night crying. At least you could cry alone since you didn’t have to worry about being too loud. He was out with a date for the evening which is the reason why you’ve been crying for a good hour and a half. How you wish it could be you, going on dates with him. But it never would be, you’ve accepted that much, but it didn’t mean that it still doesn’t hurt like hell.

You sigh and wipe your face, finally calming down from the breakdown. You stand up slowly, being careful so you don’t end up passing out, and leave your room to go to the kitchen to grab water.

You grab a cup from the cupboard and fill it with water from the tap. You gulp down the water, not realizing how dehydrated you have been from crying all of the liquid out of your body. You stand there for just a bit, staring into nothing, it feels good. But you must’ve been standing there for too long because the sound of the front door opening to your apartment suddenly snaps you out of your trance. The shock from the noise quickly settles into the realization that he is home and your face is still swollen and red from crying, you’re sure of it. So you keep it your mission to keep looking at the wall behind the sink so he doesn’t see you, the last thing you need to happen is to be questioned by him. But of course that wish doesn’t come true, because why would it? 

“Y/n? What are you still doing up?” he asks in a calm tone. You stand there for a moment, depending on whether you can trust your voice “I just came downstairs to get a glass of water, that's all” you reply back. That was a reminder that you still had the cup with water in your hand so you took a sip of it, releasing a sigh after swallowing. You hear rustling in the background, you assume he was putting his things down and taking his shoes off, but you were wrong. He had been slowly shuffling towards you, but you had been too busy finishing your glass of water. It’s only till you feel a hand on your waist do you become startled by his presence. 

In shock, the cup slips from your hand but you are lucky to catch it quickly, however, this strange behavior doesn’t go unnoticed by him. “What’s going on with you Y/nnie? You usually don’t act this weird” he lets out a small chuckle, which in return you would usually make a remark to fire at him but you don’t have the energy. “I’m fine, just tired, I was gonna head to bed after finishing my water,” you say before taking the last swig of water in the cup, then gently placing it in the sink to clean it later. 

You turn around, trying to maneuver around Seungmins's figure, and make a beeline for your bedroom before he asks any more questions. But you weren’t that lucky because he had grabbed your forearm before you could make it too far. He gently tugged you towards him, hoping to get a response from you. “Seungmin, please let go of me, I would really like to go to my room and go to bed, please.” you practically begged. You hid your face from him, not wanting him to see it. But he tugs you again, but harsher this time, “Whoaaaaa, what’s with the full name? You never call me by my full name. Ever.” he tugs you one last time, succeeding in turning you around to face him. Before you could look down, he had caught the sight of your face, and by his expression, you could tell that it worried him.

Look, Seungmin can be an asshole, a tease, and a brat at times, but when it came to something serious, he knew when to be serious. It was another thing you loved about him. 

“Hey, hey, hey, what’s the matter?” he grabbed the sides of your face to look at you better. He started scanning your face, your eyes, your nose, and your cheeks, they were still red and puffy from earlier. You sniffle and move your arm to rub your nose, “Nothing is wrong, just let me go '' you say in a whisper-like tone. You truly were tired, between the crying and confrontation of him, you just wanted to escape and sleep it off and try to forget it, but he wasn’t going to forget it. “No, something is wrong, tell me please.” he looked right into your eyes. Oh boy, he was serious, which meant he wasn’t going to let you go anytime soon. You sigh out of frustration because you can feel a new set of tears starting to build up. And of course, he notices, why wouldn’t he? He moves his thumb to wipe away the fresh set of tears that have started to slowly make their way down your face. “Seungmin, please just let me go, I’m so tired,” you say, your voice cracking on some words. Instead of doing anything he brings you to his chest and holds your head there for a bit. You inhale his scent, forestry with a hint of citrus in it. It made your head spin but in a good way. 

Eventually, you start pushing away from him, trying to get away, wanting to avoid confrontation. But he knew what you were doing. “No Y/N, you’re staying here with me.” the use of your full name sent chills down your spine, not used to him saying it. You don’t stop though, in fact, you continue to push away, in hopes of getting away from him. You somehow succeed in getting out of his arms and waste no time getting to your room and lock the door before he tries to come in. Which is why it doesn’t take you by surprise when you hear a light knocking and a few light ‘Y/n’s’ coming from the other side. Instead of answering the door, you just huddle in your blankets on your bed, face the opposite way of the door, and close your eyes, praying that this all would stop. 

The knocking eventually stops after a good ten minutes. You assume he has gone back to his room to go to bed. 

Still laying in the huddle of blankets, you are so suddenly very aware of the feeling of having to go to the bathroom. Cursing at yourself for drinking the glass of water earlier, you lug yourself out of your bed and go to your door to exit to go to your bathroom that was to the left of your room. When opening your door, you fail to see a sitting Seungmin to the side of your door-frame, so when you suddenly feel a hand on your wrist, you practically scream bloody murder. But you stop when you realize that it wasn’t a stranger ready to kill you, but only Seungmin. You look down and see him rubbing his eyes with one hand while the other hand is still on your wrist.

“Jesus Seungmin, what the fuck is wrong with you,” you grab your chest while trying to slow your breathing down, “I thought you were a strange ass person, you’re lucky I didn’t smack the shit out of you.” “We both know that isn’t true, whenever you see a bug you need me to come and kill it for you, let alone could you smack the shit out of me.” You roll your eyes, glad to see his sass was still intact. 

He slowly rises up from the ground, hand still on your wrist. You realize this, yank it from his grasp also giving him the stink eye and walk towards your bathroom. However you don’t get too far before you feel a hand on you, this time on your waist and pulling you backwards. You let out a yelp of surprise before he comes into your line of vision, “Are you ready to talk to me yet?” he asks. You only look at him, giving no response and trying to escape. Not only because you want to escape the situation, but because you feel like if you don’t go to the bathroom within the next few seconds you might just combust. “Seungmin please let me go, I really need to go to the bathroom.” You plead with him, “Why is it so hard to tell me what’s going on. We’re best friends, we tell each other everything.” he lets out, sounding confused and...kind of hurt? The word best friend hurt you though. You feel the tears start to well up and you begin pleading to him to let you go to the bathroom, trying to divert from the situation. He lets you go and you run to the bathroom, immediately closing the door and locking it. 

You rest your head on the edge of the sink and take in some deep breaths, trying to calm yourself down. 

Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. You tell yourself. You’re going to have to tell him eventually

and this realization makes your blood run cold. If you don’t tell him, it might make things awkward, and might drive you both nuts. But if you tell him how you feel… that wasn’t an option, and it never will be one. 

You eventually do your business, wash your hands, and put your hand on the door knob, but it stays there, it doesn’t move. It felt like if you opened the door things would turn into a mess, you weren’t ready for that, but in reality, whoever was ready? You take a deep breath and open the door, bracing yourself to be confronted by him, but it never came because he wasn’t there. You let out a confused hum and look in the hallway, never seeing him. You stay there confused for a few seconds and that’s when you hear sounds coming from the kitchen. You immediately assume it's Seungmin cooking something since you could hear the clanging of pots and pans being shuffled around. You exhale, letting go of the breath you held in earlier and decide to go to the kitchen. 

You have decided that you were just going to ignore everything that was happening, that seemed like the best thing to do for right now. 

Mhm. yep. Totally. 

You walk to the kitchen and sit at the little bar area and you watch him cook. Finding it attractive, making your heart flutter. You watch him chop vegetables and put them in a pot. You watched him boil water and put noodles in a pot. You watched him clean the counters and wash the dishes. And you watch him put a bowl of ramen right in front of you. 

Wait, what? 

He had made you food, at 12:06 in the morning is what the microwave clock had said. Your mouth was open in shock, you looked at the bowl and at him back and forth. He had turned around with a bowl of ramen himself and started eating it. “I never got to tell you how my date went.” he said through a mouthful of noodles. You slightly cringe, but you nod, encouraging him. “How did it go?” you take a bite of the ramen, continuing to look at the bowl, not wanting to look at him as he spoke. “It was okay, the girl was really nice, but I didn’t find any interest in her, she wasn’t the one for me.” he shrugs, slurping on some noodles. You look at him puzzled, “Wait, wasn’t she the one you went out with the last couple of times?” you ask. “I thought you really liked her?” you look at him, waiting for an answer. Even though it would probably hurt hearing the answer, you were still curious. You were confused. He just shakes his head, “just not interested, I have someone else better in mind. She’s really awesome, kind, and really fucking beautiful.” you felt like you were just gutted. 

Is he fucking kidding me right now? 

You look at him, feeling tears once again. You place down your utensils into your bowl and mutter “i can’t fucking do this.” You push away from the counter and get off the stool. You hear Seungmin let out a confused noise, followed by the noise of a clank, assuming he also put down his utensils. “Y/n, where are you going?” he follows you. 

You go to the front door, putting your shoes on and throwing a hoodie on as well. He has an expression of panic on his face. “Woah woah woah, hey what’s wrong? Where are you going? Why are you leaving?” you don’t answer him and he pouts at you. You were about to grab your keys, but he was able to beat you to it first. You look at him, he held the keys close to his chest with and exasperated look on his face. 

“Seungmin, give me my keys please.” you plead. He shakes his head and backs away from you. “Stop it.” “Stop what?” “Stop calling me that name.” he says. You look at him, “But that’s your name Seungmin.” you follow towards him, trying to get your keys back from him. “No. You call me Minnie, MinMin, or Seungie, o-or-or Babes even, never Seungmin.” He continues to back away and you continue to follow him, eventually it leads into a semi-chase around the living room couch. “Seungmin, just give me my keys back, this is childish.” you let out a tired sigh. You just wanted to leave, to escape for a bit. You needed to clear your head. He shakes his head back and forth. “No, not until you tell me what’s going on.” he says. 

Both of you are still going around the couch. “Seungmin, there is nothing going-””Bullshit Y/n! You’ve been acting weird ever since I got home!” he raised his voice a bit. You roll your eyes, “Drop it, I’m fine, I’m not being weird, now let me have my keys.” you beg, reaching for your keys, but he pulls back and it causes you to fall on the couch. You let out a grunt and get up. 

You were tired of this, you just needed your keys. You needed to leave, you were scared you would act irrational and ruin everything. “Give me my keys please.” you say sternly. “No.” you exhale. Asking again, “Please. Give me. My keys.” “N. O. No.” He says. You shake your head and pinch the bridge of your nose, deciding whether or not you were going to do what you were going to do. And you did. You jumped off the couch and onto him, grabbing your keys and running out the door. Well, that’s how it played out in your head. 

In reality, when you jumped onto him, you both fell onto the ground, letting out a synchronized huff. 

You laid there on top of him for a few moments, enjoying being in his embrace since he didn’t voluntarily hug you often, you would take what you would get. And that is what you were doing. Until you felt him starting to shift around did you realize where you were. 

On top of him. 

Your eyes widened and you immediately moved away. You push away until your back hits the edge of the couch and you stay there, just looking at him. He eventually moves to sit up, also looking at you. And both of you just stay there, looking at each other, until he breaks the silence. “Please Y/n/n. I can’t take not knowing, you know that.” He pleads. You would be lying if you said this entire thing didn’t break your heart, but you couldn’t. You couldn’t truly say what was bothering you. It would fuck everything up and you couldn’t risk loosing him, it would hurt too much. 

You bite your lip, feeling tears drip down your face, and you shake your head. You look away from him. You couldn’t face him. You hear the sound of scooting and then a hand on your face, wiping away your tears. You look at him. He was touching your face and wiping away your tears with a sad expression and tears in his eyes as well. It hurt. You’ve never seen him so hurt before, in fact you rarely see him cry. And right now realizing you were the cause for his pain hurt like a bitch. You let out a sob and lean your face into his hand, enjoying the comfort it offered. Your body racks with sobs. You couldn’t stop it and he realizes this, scooting himself closer to you, putting his arms around you, caressing your head, and shushing you. It made you feel better but it also made you feel worse. 

“I can’t do this anymore.” you whisper out. You feel him freeze and let out a “what?” and you repeat yourself. “I can’t do this anymore Seungmin.” you sniffle. He grabs the sides of your face to make you look at him. “What can’t you do anymore y/nnie?” he asks. “This.” you respond. Fear and panic flashes across his face. “Wh-why?” You shake your head. You were going to let it out. This is what you feared, that the truth would come out. 

“I love you Seungmin.” He gives you a confused look. “I love you too?” he answers. You shake your head again. You reach your hands to where his hands were and pull them away. “No Seungmin, I love you. I have feelings for you. I love you so much that it hurts me.” you let out in a whisper, looking into his eyes. He looks shocked, but he doesn’t say anything so you keep going.

“The reason I was acting so weird was because it hurts seeing you go on dates. It hurts because I want that to be me. I want you to take me on dates, I want you to love me like I love you.” you keep going “I want you to talk about me the way you talked about that girl earlier. How pretty and kind she was. I want that, but I know I can never have it because I know you don’t love me in that way.” you look at him, and he’s looking at you still, nodding, encouraging you to go on, so you do. “I haven’t said anything because of the thought of losing you in any way? It hurts. The thought of not having you in my life was scarier than confessing to you, so I never said anything.” You let out a small laugh. “Well, it all just went down the drain.” You smile a sad smile. Letting tears fall. Accepting your fate. He wasn’t going to love you the way you loved him-

There were lips on yours. They were soft and wet and they were gone as soon as they came. 

He pulled away and put his hands back on your face. “Oh y/n.” he gives you a sad look. “Look at me baby.” The name gave you butterflies but you looked at him. “It’s you. It has always been you. The girl I was referring to earlier? That girl is you.” he looks at you with so much love. But you're confused. He’s never shown any interest. And what about all the dates he goes on? You sniffle and then wipe your nose, “but what about all the dates you go on? And the amount of times you would start pursuing a girl?” you ask him, searching his face. He lets out a huff of a laugh, shaking his head. You glare at him, not really finding this funny.

“I was trying to get you out of my head. I was convinced you never loved me back so I tried to move on, but that clearly never worked out, huh?” you look at him, processing everything. He loved you. He thought you didn’t love him so he went out with other women to get you off his mind. 

“You love me?” he nods. You still aren’t convinced. “For how long?” you question. “Almost two years now. I realized it when we were hanging out with the guys and you were on Hannie Hyungs’ lap.” he let out a giggle and continued, “I felt so jealous that he was holding you and I wasn’t.” he shakes his head, laughing at himself. You thought about that moment. You came to realize that he has loved since you started having feelings for him as well. 

You start laughing. It comes out slowly, and then suddenly you can’t stop and he looks at you weird. “What’s so funny?” he raises an eyebrow at you. You rub your eyes, wiping away the tears, “Because we’ve loved each other for the same amount of time and neither one of us did anything.” You keep laughing, it almost becomes uncontrollable, “And now we’re here on the living room floor after I was just scared to confess to you.” 

At this point a new set of tears is running down your face, but this time, they were happy ones. You hear him let out a scoff and then he’s pulling you into his lap. You let out a gasp of surprise not expecting it, which cuts off your laughing fit. 

He lets out a low laugh and he wipes your face with his sleeve. And then he just looks at you. He keeps the eye contact going and all of a sudden you feel shy so you look away. 

“No, keep looking at me. I want to keep looking at my girlfriend's beautiful face.” he grabs your face and makes you look at him. “Girlfriend?” not used to hearing that term. He nods his head, “Don’t you want that? For me to be your boyfriend and you to be my girlfriend?” he tilts his head. You stutter, your face flushing with warmth. “Y-yes, I just wasn’t expecting it.” your voice was low. He giggled at you, adoring your antics. “Does this mean you will go back to calling me Minnie now?” You chuckle at this, “You saying Seungmin over and over again scared the shit out of me.” he fake scolds you and you start laughing again and this time he starts to join you. You nod your head, agreeing. “Yes, I can definitely do that. It felt weird saying your actual name.” “Yah! How do you think I felt about it! I thought you were going to kick me out! Only to find out you couldn’t contain your undying love for me!” He actually scolds you this time and you let out a scoff, “Excuse you? You couldn’t contain it either! You were jealous of Hannie, who I might add is the clingiest member!” you scold him back. 

This banter goes back and forth for quite a bit, like it had been before this, and eventually the two of you stop and just look at each other. 

You keep looking at his eyes and then his lips, he notices this. “If you want to kiss me you can just ask.” he breaks the silence. It scares you for half a second, having gotten used to the silence. Your face flushes with warmth once again and you let out a small ‘oh’. He giggles then leans in, but not quite kissing you. Your lips were less than an inch apart. He was waiting to see if you would make a move and initiate the kiss. And you do. You make the move and put your lips on his. This time the kiss was longer, and you could feel the emotions that were being conveyed; love. 

This time you pull away and look at him. There was love written all over his face. 

You were finally happy. No longer scared of him. No longer scared of confessing to him. You felt calm, excited for this new chapter in your life, and it would have him in it, but not just as your best friend, but as your lover.

[damnfandomproblems]

To Fandom Problem #4341:

That's why I hate Kung Pow Penis. When people found out that they can't do that shit anymore they whined that "It might have been the CEO who initiated this, because he has thin skin and is a horrible person waaaaa!!! Muh freedom to bully!!! It's just a meme!!!"

While this whole shit began because a bi guy in 2018 posted that people on tumblr should spend more time with straight men and they would stop treating "straight men like incels treat women." This got posted on a discord group, and those fuckers began to harrass him not just on tumblr but EVERYWHERE. They stalked him, sent death threats to him and everyone who was affiliated with him.

The best thing? The one who was leading this massive harrassment campain turned out to be an actual pedophile. It seems like the loudest people have the most things hidden.

I don't care that the bullied guy had stupid takes this is still disgusting.

https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/kung-pow-penis

Posting since this is a response to a previous problem.

Clickable link for the URL.

[puuvillaa]

What's on the Cards for Us?

Sirius Black/Remus Lupin

explicit

4341 words

non-magical AU, modern AU, university AU, female Remus, female Sirius, bisexual Remus, insecurity, cunnilingus, vaginal fingering, getting together

Written for @ficwip's 5k

Sirius is thrilled to be spending time with her uni acquaintance, Remus, but she’s not thrilled when Remus takes out a tarot deck. What happens when Remus does a tarot reading for her?

Read on ao3

[kiltedveteran]

I have been seeing this meme going around and I want to clear some things up with it. 1. E9 is NOT the highest rank in the Army, but it is the highest enlisted rank. Now even though Walz was in a sergeant major role he retired as a master sergeant because he had not completed the requirements of a command sergeant major academy. 2. Sargent Major is a rank but he would have held a different MOS where 13B – a cannon crewmember 13Z -field artillery senior sergeant 11Z—infantry senior sergeant 71L—administrative specialist. 3. Vance's awards are not all listed here and a number of them are the Navy / USMC corresponding awards to the Army. To include: USMC Good Conduct Medal Navy / USMC Achievement Medal Iraq Campaign Medal Sea Service - Deployment Ribbon Global War on Terror Service Medal National Defence Service Medal Letter of Appreciation (5) Meritorius Mast Certificate Expert Rifle (2) Expert Pistol MOS 4341 Combat Correspondent 4. Vance's DD214 is under the name Hamel, which he legally changed to Vance. As stated in his autobiography.

Here is the thing, for 4 years of service Vance has done a lot. I know some that did 2 years and got out to do better things, some come back some don't. I have been in service for almost 21 years, and have seen all types. I don't care if your service was 42 years (mandatory retirement is 60 years old) or if you served 2 years. If your service has been honorable and you did your job then that is all I ask of you.

A number of items would also be cleared up with Walz NGB22 the national guard version of a DD214. It would list rank, date of rank, schooling, awards (federal and state), qualification, etc. If he was placed on active duty as a National Guard soldier he would also have a DD214 for that time. I know this because my record has 6 DD214's from my service.

[coltermorning]

Of Love and Loss Ch. 9 (RDR2 Fanfic, Arthur Morgan x F!Reader, 18+)

Summary: A pack of wolves descend on the camp when you and Arthur are least prepared for it.

Author’s Notes: Chapter nine of this one.

Tags: Arthur Morgan x reader, high honor Arthur Morgan, minor character death, loss of parents, blood and injury, grief/mourning, survivor guilt, strangers to lovers, slow burn, eventual smut, graphic depictions of violence

AO3 Link

~

Of Love and Loss

Nine: Warm Embrace

Word count: 4341

You awoke to the sound of a man’s voice. A yell. Then a horse’s screaming terror. Before you could pick up on anything else, you were on your feet.

You made to grab your rifle, but instead, a sidearm lay at your feet. Arthur’s revolver. You would wring that man’s neck. As soon as you had the thought, you heard a noise that sent cold fear sliding down your spine and made you lurch for the gun anyway—a snarl. That was no man-made sound.

You burst out of the tent and nearly fell backward in retreat. There were six wolves closing in on Arthur and the horses, the two mounts squealing and trying desperately to pull loose. Arthur stood firm with nothing but a knife. Nothing but a goddamn knife, because the fool had given you his gun. You couldn’t do a thing beyond stand there, absolutely stunned. He was going to die.

“Stay back!” Arthur yelled at them, but it was useless. The animals knew they had the advantage and crept forward still. Before you could think to shoot, the one closest to the horses bound forward, causing your horse to swing around and kick out. Another wolf joined the first, jumping high enough to sink teeth and claws into the animal’s rump. You had to fight the urge to cover your ears from the resulting sound that came out of that horse. Pure agony.

“Throw me the gun!” You met Arthur’s eye, and the second it took for him to spot you cost him whatever had been holding the other wolves at bay. The nearest leapt, and Arthur went down. You couldn’t pull the gun up fast enough, like the seriousness of the shot was slowing you. You sent up a prayer that you wouldn’t hit Arthur and shot into the mass of fur and teeth that stood atop him, all while he stabbed at its throat, trying his best not to have his own torn out.

You missed them both.

Another wolf joined the first, going for Arthur’s leg, but he kicked out hard enough that it whined in pain and retreated a step. The last two wolves joined in on the horses who were putting up much more of a fight, but you couldn’t care about that, couldn’t take in the terrible noise of violence and death that resulted. Not when there were two on top of the man who was your only chance at survival.

“Shoot them!” he yelled, the sound muffled from under the massive animal.

You brought the hammer down and shot again, aiming as best you could. You missed the closer wolf but hit the other this time, right on the shoulder. It yelped and turned, biting at the pain under its skin. Arthur thrust his knife up and gutted the wolf atop him in nearly the same moment, and you knew without having to know he had killed it. He was throwing the wolf off of him and yelling in less than a heartbeat. “Give me the goddamn gun!”

You did as he said, tossing it to him as he rose, retreating father against the tent at your back. You had to cover your ears, couldn’t look at what the other wolves were doing to the horses. Not with those horrible sounds coming from them.

Arthur immediately turned and shot the wolf you had in the head, then shot the one he had stabbed for good measure before reloading quick as lightning. He rounded on the other four. Alone.

You stepped backward into the tent. Cowardly. Covering your ears, closing your eyes, knowing he would get himself killed. He would die, and the horses would suffer, and you would get eaten alive. What was worse? Would you rather have died before, falling into nothingness? When the first shots began ringing out, you had your answer: absolutely. Because then you wouldn’t have to bear the pain of losing not two people that meant the most to you, but three.

More shots rang out until you were sure it was six, the revolver not having capacity for more. Then there was nothing but silence, and you started sobbing, knowing what came next. They would find you in here. They would maul you like they had him. Maybe they wouldn’t if you surrendered to them. Did animals recognize submission? Mercy?

The tent flaps rustled and you braced yourself for death until you felt arms folding around you, warm and gentle. Your sobbing turned to broken heaving as you took in the only scent you ever wanted to smell again.

“Shh, it’s okay. They’re gone. I got ‘em.”

You could do nothing but cry into his chest. You should have lost him. Should have died.

You moved your hands until they were grabbing at his coat, pulling him closer, needing to feel the life beating through him.

“I got you,” he said softly. “I ain’t gonna let anything happen to you.”

You pressed your forehead against his chest, his warmth the only tether you had to sanity.

“We’ll be all right,” he said, rubbing a hand up and down your arm to get warmth back in you. Or maybe life back in you. “My horse got away. We’ll be okay.”

That broke through your shock like a slap. You pushed back and looked at him. “And mine?”

He hesitated then shook his head. Dead then. The horse that had carried you miles and miles. The stubborn thing that you hadn’t given much thought to, all because you were too worried about what you had already lost. Just like Arthur. You couldn’t take that. You pushed Arthur back and got up.

“I wouldn’t go out there,” he warned. “Ain’t too pretty.”

You disregarded him and wiped your tears on your coat sleeve so you could see, stepping outside. They continued to well up anyway, your vision blurred and stinging as you took in two dead wolves. Then you turned and saw a sight so grizzly as to make you nearly lose what little you had in your stomach.

Four dead wolves, one dead horse. If it could be called that. It wasn’t so much something that had just been living as it was pure carnage. You were suddenly glad for your blurred vision. Seeing it clearly would have broken you.

You looked away and stepped back, needing a moment. Arthur was just behind you, and you felt the urge to cry into his chest like a child again but fought it off.

“Can you…” You sniffled, letting out a strangled breath. “Can you cut his tail? Bring me his hair?” God knew you couldn’t do it.

“Sure,” Arthur said. He didn’t hesitate, walking over like the scene before him was something he saw every day. Maybe it was.

If he thought the request odd, he didn’t say anything. It was something your parents had taught you. The good horses had their tails cut, their hair saved and braided and used so there was always a piece of them left behind. You felt guilt swallow you over not doing the same for your own two horses back at that cliff, but you had other things to grieve then. This horse had likely saved your life. You had escaped death a second time. And all you could do for it was trudge back into the tent and cry until you didn’t have any tears left.

~

Goddamn wolves. Arthur was finally starting to see the woman who had existed before the death of her parents. But that woman was gone again. Holed up in a tent for the better part of an entire day. Apart from bringing you that horsehair, he didn’t have the heart to go in and talk to you. He didn’t know what to say. And, lest he forget, it had been his fault you hadn’t had your rifle and he hadn’t had his revolver. You could have taken those animals on together no problem if you had.

Arthur spent the early hours of the morning finding his horse and cleaning up. He dragged the wolves off and skinned the ones worth skinning, taking meat from one. He looked over the damage done to his bedroll and knew there was no fixing the thing—the wolf had shredded it in an attempt to shred him. He tossed that away too. The dead horse was too heavy for him to move. He didn’t have any way to tie it to his own mount for her to drag it away either—it was torn into too many pieces. It would leave the place looking worse than it had been. So he left it, deciding when and if you ever reappeared, he would lead you straight south out of camp so the few trees could block your view of the damage.

He was now plagued with the thought that he had narrowly escaped death and that he had gotten too reckless in leading you. He knew how to survive on his own no problem, but you were distracting him. He had gone to sleep unarmed for christ sake. It was time for him to quit fooling around and do his job.

When Arthur ran out of things to do beyond keep watch, he checked himself over for wounds. His adrenaline wore off a long time ago, and he ached all over from the fight with that monster. He could be hurt anywhere and wouldn’t really know it. He was covered in blood from what he had managed with his knife, so he shed his coat first, seeing what damage it took. There was a gash in one of the arms, the fur along the inside showing. He looked to his arm and saw the resulting scratch cutting through his shirt, but it was shallow. Not warranting stitches. He looked and looked but didn’t find anything else. He was nearly untouched—a goddamn miracle.

He walked to his horse and gave her a few loving pats, glad she had gotten away. She was the best mount he’d had in a long time. He gave her a carrot and checked her over too. She must have gotten away before he had finished his own fight with the wolves. She was unharmed. He would never forget the sight of those four wolves eating the other horse alive though. On its back, on its legs, under its belly. Ruthless animals.

Arthur retrieved a cloth to clean his wound and coat with, pouring water over it. He shed the right half of his shirt from his arm, and the moment the damp cloth touched his skin, he winced. It was so cold he couldn’t feel the pain of the cut, just the frigidness of it. He could sense it now, how low the temperature was dropping. He just hoped the rain that would inevitably turn to snow would hold off.

He finished cleaning the shallow wound then redressed, deciding to stitch up the coat and his shirt later. It was too cold to be without them. He wiped the blood off his face best he could, doing the same to the front of his coat. Cleaning away all the evidence. The blood would just make him hard for you to look at. Well, harder. He weren’t exactly a pleasant sight to begin with.

Satisfied that things were as good as they would get, he went back over to your horse and took everything of value off it. The saddle was scratched to hell, and you wouldn’t be needing it anyway. Boadicea could carry you both. So he left that, digging through the saddle bags. There wasn’t much of anything beyond a few supplies and treats. You must have had that journal of your father’s on you. He did take your rifle out of its scabbard, knowing you could use his, but he was guilty enough over taking it. The least he could do was give you this one back.

He carried the rifle over to the pile of wood that had once been a fire and sat. There was nothing else to do. He could build another fire but didn’t want to leave you long enough to get more wood. All that was left was to wait. The two of you did need to get going soon. All that blood would draw unwanted attention from the local population. He just hoped there weren’t anymore wolves about. He would give you as long as he could, then he would pack up the tent, and the pair of you would move on. Putting all this behind you.

When the snow began again, Arthur cursed it. The weather had been delaying your travel every chance it got. He knew this wasn’t a good time of year to be going so far, but he had still hoped for better than this. The only positive that came of it was your attention, as you soon peeked out of the tent into the dim-lit evening to confirm it was snowing. And from his vantage, he saw that you had braided a piece of horsehair into your own, almost hidden under the shadow of your hat brim. Having your hat on meant you hadn’t been sleeping. Arthur felt the same guilt rise up within him. It was time.

“We better get going if you want to move camp.”

You just looked at him with that troubled expression, like your thoughts weren’t with him. Back to who you’d been before, unspeaking.

He stood, your gun and metaphorical hat in hand. “Listen I’m…sorry about the gun. I didn’t think-” That was it. He didn’t think. Why else did you keep guns at your sides at night other than to ward off trouble? And trouble had come, as deadly as it could have been. There were no more words for it, nothing that could fix what he’d done.

“Arthur?”

He looked at you, surprised to hear you speak. Surprised you had stepped out of the tent and weren’t building up that insurmountable wall within you he was all too familiar with.

“You ever do that again and I’ll shoot you. That’s a promise.”

He couldn’t help the smile that lifted the corner of his mouth.

“Don’t smile at me,” you quipped. “You aren’t forgiven.”

His smile only grew. He just knew you would retreat into that shell of yourself you’d been before. Not this. It made him giddy enough to put his foot in his mouth. “You will forgive me eventually though, right?”

“No shot,” you said, going back into the tent without taking your gun. That panicked him. This was a fine line you were walking between the person he had come to know and the one who was so overcome by grief. Exactly how angry were you?

“Wait, I…I mean it,” he said, making you stop at least. “I’m real sorry. That all this happened. That it’s my fault it did.”

You shook your head. “I don’t care about the wolves. They would have come anyway. But we could have taken them on easy if you hadn’t taken my gun. If anything, you owe my horse an apology.”

That cut him. The poor animal had fought a painful death and lost, suffered, because of him. He was just glad one of the two had gotten away, or the pair of you would have been soon to follow.

Arthur nodded, looking to the horsehair in your hair. He could never really make up for this, but he could at least keep his big mouth shut and keep from making it worse.

You went back inside the tent without a word. Arthur let you be and was surprised to see you come back out with bedroll in hand before starting on the tent. He wordlessly joined you in taking it down. It was the least he could do after all the drama that had begun with you hammering the stakes in.

After the two of you finished, he loaded up Boadicea and let you on her first. Then he mounted and went straight south as he had promised himself he would, avoiding any further thought of what you were leaving behind.

~

You and Arthur traveled through the snow for a long time. It wasn’t falling heavily enough to slow you down, so you rode right through it.

You missed your horse. Your backside ached, your back protesting all the same at the lack of a saddle. If you ever came across a town, you would get another one. You didn’t care if you had to steal it and the horse underneath it too.

At least one good thing had come of the tragedy those wolves had brought—Arthur was subdued. Whether from narrowly escaping with his life or regretting costing your mount his, you couldn’t tell. It was a harsh thought, but seeing him so reflective showed you a side of him you didn’t know existed, and you were glad it did. It certainly existed for you, and you didn’t want to be the only one grieving again. You didn’t want to feel like a child. The way you had broken down in front of him when you thought the wolves were coming for you was embarrassing enough, and you decided then you wouldn’t let that part of you resurface. You had come this far. You were healing. You weren’t letting those wolves take that away from you.

When it got dark enough and you ached enough for two, you broke the silence the snow brought. “Do you know if there’s a town anywhere near?”

You felt Arthur shrug against your hands on his sides, his coat rising and falling beneath your gloved fingers. “Can’t be sure. Usually there’s something this far down the trail. May not be a town, but something.”

That much was true. You could still see a trail to follow, so that was a good sign. The snow hadn’t covered it completely yet.

“Why?”

“Wonder if I can find another horse. Maybe a warm bed to sleep in for a few nights.”

“And here I thought you was a woman of the land,” he jeered.

You swatted him across the arm. He chuckled. “If there is one, we won’t find it tonight. I’d be able to see it from here.”

True again. The land was growing so flat that any settlement lit by lantern light would be bright as a beacon in the darkness.

“Let’s stop then,” you said, tired in more ways than one.

Arthur obliged you, and you were soon rebuilding the tent, tending a fire, eating a bite. Routine.

Arthur shed his coat and rolled up his sleeve, revealing a jagged line across his upper arm, no doubt from the claws of that wolf that had tackled him. You’d forgotten completely to ask if he had been injured.

“Where’d it get you?”

“Just here,” he said, tending to it.

Jealousy flared within you. You had a scar a mile long down your side from a fall. A fall, and Arthur had a full grown wolf try to eat him, and he only left with a scratch?

“How’s yours by the way?” he asked without looking up.

You had kept your side wrapped for about a week after the stitches came out, then had made sure it was clean but done little else. It was healing over now, all that was left a bit of tenderness and a scar that you would never rid yourself of, no matter how badly you spited the memory.

“Fine,” you answered flatly. Arthur’s eyes flicked to you then.

“I have you to thank, you know.”

Of course he did. But you weren’t going to rub it in.

“You hadn’t shot that other wolf and my leg would be dog meat.”

“Yeah, well. I wasn’t exactly aiming for that one but…”

“It don’t matter,” he said, rolling his sleeve back down, satisfied with the cut. He stood and donned his coat. “We’re alive, that’s all that matters. And I wouldn’t be without you.”

“You keep saying that,” you muttered, resentful.

“I mean it.”

“No, not that. You keep saying it doesn’t matter that I can’t shoot that gun. Well it does. It did. That was as close to dying as it gets, Arthur.”

He shook his head. “I’ll make sure your rifle’s close from now on, and you won’t ever have to shoot mine again. Don’t worry about it.”

That response was so typical of him you wanted to strangle him. He was so lax about life, so unconcerned. There was a such thing as learning from your mistakes, and it made you mad that he didn’t have to. Because he needed to.

“Forget it,” you spat, crossing your arms.

He smiled, and it only made you madder.

“I’m starting to think you like picking fights with me.”

“I don’t. You’re just easy to stay mad at.”

“Awe, you could never be mad at me, nameless.”

You flashed him a dark look. “Don’t call me that.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. What would you prefer I call you?”

You turned away, seeing red. Because he was right. He didn’t have a name to call you. But like hell would you surrender it now.

“It would have been helpful back there,” he said, stepping closer to the fire and crouching, holding his hands out to warm them. “Knowing what name to yell to wake you up so we didn’t both get eaten.”

That was something you didn’t want to dwell on. “We didn’t get eaten last I checked.”

His smile turned crooked it went so wide. So damn satisfied you wanted to wipe it off his face. “Exactly.”

Your eyes narrowed at him. Had he made his point? That you were alive and nothing else mattered? Yes. Were you about to admit it? Absolutely not.

You got up and stormed to the tent in much the same manner as you had the night prior, only rather than teasing you this time, he had made a fool out of you. So you didn’t regret it a second when you shut him out for the second night in a row, even if he was without a bedroll. The snow would be cushion enough.

When you’d finally shaken your anger enough to drift off, Arthur came bursting into the tent. It scared you at first, the memory of those wolves still fresh.

“What is it?” you rasped, shooting straight up.

“It’s freezing,” he said, his arms wrapped around himself as he tried to rub the cold away, his coat damp with snow.

You groaned in annoyance and laid back down. “I didn’t invite you in here.”

“Too bad,” he said as he knelt down anyway. “It’s my tent.”

“Well keep the cold on your side,” you argued, turning your back to him.

You felt something press against the exposed skin of your neck, so frigid you rounded on him. He had taken his glove off, purposely pressed an ice cold hand against you. “Excuse me!” you yelled, incredulous. Then he was laughing like a kid as he settled beside you anyway.

“Little cold ain’t gonna hurt you. Now move over or share.” Meaning your bedroll. The gall of this man.

“Absolutely not.”

He had a laugh on his lips as he said, “Don’t make me fight you, woman. We already seen I’ll win.”

Then his arms were snaking around you, pulling you into him so tight you could feel a heat sting your cheeks that had nothing to do with the temperature. Your heart started racing. You knew he would have been able to feel it had he not been shivering himself. But he was, his frame shaking against you. It thawed your annoyance some, though it didn’t stop you being struck with disbelief at him doing this.

“Just so we’re clear,” you said, needing to make it known lest he realize you weren’t fighting him. “I didn’t agree to this.”

“Like you wasn’t in here freezing your ass off too.”

You had been. You couldn’t deny it was much warmer lying against him. And worse, it was…oddly comforting. Kind of nice. But still your heart pounded, not knowing much, but knowing this was intimate somehow. The last time you had laid against someone this close, it had been your own mother. You didn’t want to think about how differently you seemed to react to it this time. To why. Instead, you let yourself be for a moment, ignoring what you should do, ignoring what was expected of a man and a woman who hardly knew each other. You allowed yourself the simple privilege of touch, something you had never had before. Even if it didn’t mean a thing to Arthur or to you.

After too little thought and lots of silence, you realized he was relaxed, his shivering long gone. You should push him away. Should take his steady breathing in your ear to mean he’d fallen asleep like this. But for some reason, you thought he was just as awake as you were. And that made your heart race even worse. Was he doing the same thing you were, holding you just because he could? Surely he knew better. You could claim ignorance, but he couldn’t. Not after how he had talked just last night.

Afraid he would feel your nervousness through your coat, you whispered to him.

“Arthur.”

He didn’t stir. Asleep then. You were overthinking it. And, like a true moron, you didn’t want to wake him. You realized with no small amount of embarrassment that you wanted to sleep like this too. You were just curious about it all, you told yourself. Nothing more. So you let him be and closed your eyes, melting into his warmth. It took a long time for your thoughts to stop lingering where they shouldn’t, and when they finally did, they didn’t improve much. You were left wondering why you had ever wanted to stay on the opposite side of the tent from this man.

_________

Chapter ten is here.

tag list: @tommys0not0beloved @ultraporcelainpig @photo1030 @spiritcatcherxo @calcarius445