#And second was a little thing i had sketched this week when the heat was awful in class

[vazaez]

Two unrelated (and inconsistent) wips/doodles bc ive been rotating these two in my brain lately and i'm desperate for content even if i gotta make it myself

[coeurify]

hear me out…. bumping into ellie wasted at a nightclub dancing makin out then she recognises u irl a week or smth later n it is on!!!!!!

ok.. this took a turn to be more post makeout fluffy loser ellie so.. yea!

Ellie was not someone who made out with girls in clubs, drunk off of whiskey she only ordered to try and show off to Jesse and Dina. Sure, she saw it happen— it was normal. But no, Ellie definitely did not.

Ellie never called herself a pussy, she would never admit that. But Jesse had no problem snickering it whenever her freckled cheeks were painted red after a girl looked at her at a bar or club. She didn’t usually do anything about it. Hell, the last time Ellie got laid it was because a girl had straight up asked her. Ellie just was not the best at all that.. seduction shit.

Nor was she good with no strings attached shit. That one-off hookup turned into a situationship that she couldn’t let go of. Ellie also had a tendency to pine over the most minor interactions with people. Once, a barista handed her a straw and after their fingers touched, she convinced herself it was the love of her life for the next week. So.. one night stands or messy kisses in the dim lights of clubs were not exactly her thing.

Except for once. Last Saturday, 12:07 am. Not that she had memorized it or anything. Totally not. She definitely had not scorched the night’s memory (of her hands against hips, lips that tasted like the cranberry juice mixer against her own, soft hands pulling her bun out to run fingers through it) into her brain. No way.

What Ellie will admit she remembers was the embarrassment that singed the baby hairs on the back of her neck as Dina slapped an arm on her back, the three drunk young adults clambering out of the tightly packed club close to 1 am. “I knew you had it in you! You totally rocked that girl’s world. Jesse, you owe me five bucks.” Then Dina had stuck an expectant hand out to Jesse, causing a short offended gasp from Ellie. “You made a bet on me?”

They did. Ellie’s own best friends had no faith in her ability to have quick and fun hookups like everyone else their age. But she had proved them wrong! She had made out with a really, really pretty girl.. no strings attached.

She didn’t even know your name. Not that she had to. You were both all too happy to skip the pleasantries and get straight to having your hands on each other. It wasn’t like she was wondering what your name was, and if she could find you somewhere on social media the entire walk home that night.

Definitely not. She convinced herself of this every day since then. Every time she saw a flash of hair that looked like yours around, or when her brain went a little haywire, and she came back to the messy sketch of your eyes on her notebook.

Within the week, Ellie had forced herself to get a grip. It was just some random making out, for fucks sake. She had no reason to daydream about how you had keened into her when she bit at your bottom lip. No right to be squeezing her eyes shut to remember how it felt to have your hand slip up the loose material of her shirt, heated touches against her stomach.

No, those flashbacks started to settle simply from the pure stubbornness of her own brain, which shot scoffs and head shakes straight out every time one popped up again.

But now, with her back pressed to the uncomfortable metal of a cafe chair, flannel pushed up to her elbows as she tilted her head back to enjoy the breeze from the sky, she started to think again.

Dina was leaning over a menu, biting her lip as she tried to decide what drink to order. It had been Dina who suggested they sit outside, at this particular cafe, so maybe El should blame what happened next on her.

The soft sound of the door swinging open sounded, bringing the auburn-haired girl’s face down from where it tilted into the sky.

For a second, she thought she was hallucinating. Really. Maybe something had been slipped into the water next to her, or maybe Dina had like— poisoned her for calling her annoying earlier. Because certainly, this was not real.

Your hair, the one she had brought her hands to tug at the other night, was on full display, your head tilted down as you rummaged through an apron with the cafe’s name printed on it. Ellie knew it was you right away, and blinked a few times to ensure this was not some evil hallucination.

The auburn-haired girl sat up a little straighter on the chair, causing an awfully loud screech against the cement. Your head came up simultaneously, the pen now in hand.

“Sorry,” you apologized, flipping to an empty page in your little order book. “Had to find a pen. What can I get you guys?”

You smiled, just like you had under the flashing lights of that club, and it was just as pretty as Ellie remembered. But when your eyes met hers, that smile faltered slightly. The pen slipped from your grip, clambering right onto the table with a very annoying ping sound.

Dina reached her hand to grab it, but Ellie was faster. As if was some competition, she leaned slightly over the table and wrapped her fingers around the pen, holding it up for you. “Here,” she mumbled, trying to keep any voice crack to herself. “Thanks..” you hummed, sniffling.

Dina eyed between the two of you, slightly convinced she had just been forced into the middle of some awful cheesy romcom, something that would be promoted with big blocky letters like ‘cafe meet cute!’ She cleared her throat, breaking the weirdly tension-filled stare down happening between the two of you.

“Sorry—“ you apologized, throwing on another cheery smile as you looked at Dina, “what can I get you?”

Ellie doesn’t even hear Dina’s order, and she also doesn’t prepare hers. She is too busy nervously twisting a finger between her other hand in her lap, sneaking very obvious glances at you, and then back down to the menu that looks like pure gibberish.

“Cool! And for you?” your voice questions next, smooth and sweet in a way that had the film reel of Saturday playing in Ellie’s head all over again.

“You can kiss me, you know?” you called over the loud music of the club, ignoring how bodies bumped against you every other second, sending you stumbling further into Ellie, who you had flipped to face, her hands still gripping your waist. Your eyes blinked slowly at her, glossy lips twitching up, head dizzy with the vodka and cranberries you had. Ellie wasted no time after your request, pressing forward harshly to capture your lips.

Ellie cleared her throat, “Uh..” great, she had totally no idea what to order. “Honestly, I’ve never been here... I’m not sure what I’d like. What’d you recommend?”

Dina didn’t even hold back the scoff from the other side of the table, because, really.. that was Ellie’s line?

You seemed to find it endearing, though, meeting her eyes again as you suggested your favorite sandwich and drink, pointing toward it on the menu.

“Cool…cool.. I’ll try that,” Ellie nodded, leaning back into her chair again. The sandwich you recommended had tomatoes, and she hated tomatoes. But it was fine.

You nod one too many times before turning on your heel and speed walking inside.

Dina started immediately. “Why the hell did you just eye fuck our waitress?” she accuses, leaning in to squint her eyes at you. “Also, you are fucking ass at flirting. Staring at someone with those freakily green eyes just doesn’t work.”

Ellie frowned, “fuck off, Dina.”

She waited to speak until she was sure you were inside the cafe again. “That’s the girl I made out with at the club,” she muttered, flushing slightly.

Dina’s mouth dropped open, “You’re shitting me.”

Auburn hair shook slightly out of place as the other sighed. “Nope. It’s totally her.”

“Damn… maybe you’ve got some weird curse on you that, like.. bans you from having one night stands.”

Ellie only scoffed in response. It didn’t feel like a curse, maybe more like a blessing to see you again.

“Hey, you can go two for two with shitty lines for waitresses and put your number on the receipt.”

Ellie rolled her eyes like it was a bad idea, but she definitely would do it.

[h00nerz]

spots on!

FORTY-TWO / a little bit

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warnings: none i don’t think

word count: 1.9k

YOU THOUGHT YOUR HEART WAS GOING TO BEAT OUT OF YOUR CHEST. It had been over a week since the last time he had appeared outside your window, and honestly, you weren’t expecting it to happen again. But, you caught his glowing green eyes staring at you through the glass, and you knew it was him.

With trembling fingers, you slowly pulled open your sliding door. There was a soft breeze outside, creeping into your small apartment now that there was no barrier to keep it out. It felt nice, especially because your skin was burning hot under his gaze.

“Yeonjun.” You spoke his name quietly, watching him with wide eyes. You were still having a time believing that the man in the cat themed suit was actually Yeonjun, but now that you were staring right at him while he was in action, it was starting to make more sense.

“Ladybug.” He replied, and though he was barely visible in the darkness, his pearly white teeth were illuminated when a cheeky smile crept onto his lips. “Is it okay if I come in?”

You nodded. “Yeah.” It’s always okay. As embarrassing as it was to admit, you had missed him appearing on your balcony in the late hours of the night.

You took a step to the side so he could come in, and it was then you remembered how much of a disaster your apartment was. For the last week, you’d been working on a big project for one of your design classes, which resulted in every inch of your space being covered in fabric, sketches, scissors, etc.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, it’s such a mess in here.” You quickly apologized, darting over to the couch to pick up some things and make room for him to sit.

“Don’t worry about it. Actually…” He cleared his throat as he watched you, and even though his mask made it difficult to read his expression, you could tell he was nervous. “I was thinking… We could go out. There was something I wanted to show you.”

“Oh.” You dropped an armful of fabric, nodding. “Y-Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. Should I…?” You gestured down to yourself, hoping he would catch your drift without you having to come out and say it.

He hummed in a questioning tone, but then it dawned on him. “Oh! Yeah. Unless you want me to carry you.” He spoke flirtatiously. “Just kidding! Joking!” He seemed to immediately regret it, then turned around to face away from you.

You rolled your eyes. There was no reason to turn around, since it wasn’t like you had to undress to transform, but you found his attempt at manners endearing nonetheless.

Transforming in front of other people was new for you—especially in front of Chat Noir. The only time you’d ever done it was in front of Sieun once, when you’d been in a rush to get transformed and go handle an Akuma. This felt entirely different than that—it felt more… Intimate? That seemed like the right word.

With a deep breath, you called out the key words, (“spots on!”), and within a few seconds, you had been metamorphosed into your superhero alter-ego, Ladybug.

You cleared your throat, and Yeonjun—Chat Noir—turned around to face you. He stared at you for a moment, then let out a nervous laugh. “You know, now that I know you’re Ladybug, I can’t believe I didn’t see it sooner.” He said, his bright eyes taking your polka dotted figure.

Heat spread across your face. “Yeah. I can’t believe I didn’t see it either.” You said, reaching up to scratch the back of your neck. “Umm, shall we go?”

He nodded, and the two of you disappeared out your window.

Ever since you were first granted the power of the Ladybug Miraculous, and first met Chat Noir, you had found yourself soaring above the cityscapes hundreds of times. But, even though you’d done it more times than you could count, tonight felt like it was the first time all over again.

When you risked a glance over at him, you didn’t really see Chat Noir anymore. But, you didn’t really see Yeonjun, either. You saw somebody completely new, that you couldn’t wait to get to know. And he was beautiful, especially with the moonlight illuminating his features and the wind combing through his dark hair. Beautiful.

A warmth spread through your chest when you looked over at him. A different kind of warmth from when you used to look at him—both as Yeonjun and as Chat Noir. It was a brand new kind of feeling, and as much as new usually scared you, you knew deep down this was a good kind of new.

You followed him across the city, leaping from rooftop to rooftop and using your yo-yo to swing through the air, until finally, he came to a stop on an unfamiliar rooftop.

“Ta-da!” He announced, turning to face you and giving you jazz hands.

You raised an eyebrow. “Uh, am I supposed to know what this place is?” You asked cautiously, glancing around to try and find any indicators of where you were.

He deflated, his hands falling to his leather-clad sides with a thwap! “Are you serious? You really have no idea?” He frowned.

You shook your head. “Nope. No clue.”

He sighed. “Okay. Before I tell you, let me explain.” He took a step towards you, and judging by the shakiness in his breath, he was growing nervous. “When we were at the launch party… I know you were there to talk to some designers, but our dumb friends kind of ruined it… So, I, um, showed my dad your portfolio, and he showed it to some of his friends…”

Your heart soared. “Yeonjun, you didn’t—“

“And a designer he’s close with, Bae Irene, was really interested in your work, and you’ll probably get a call from her tomorrow, but she wants you to go intern at her studio for the summer.”

“Oh my god! This is—This is the Bae Designs building!” You suddenly realized, turning to get a good view of the city streets below you, and Yeonjun laughed.

“Yeah, I thought you’d know, since you’re a fashion student and all…”

You couldn’t believe this. Irene had always been one of your fashion heroes growing up, but she was also one of the most famous designers in the whole city, so you never dreamed of working with her. But, thanks to Yeonjun, your hard work had paid off, and she wanted to work with you!

“Yeonjun, this is…!” You couldn’t find the words as you turned back to face him, your heart racing a million miles a second.

He smiled sheepishly, reaching up to rub the back of his neck. “I was worried you might hate me, after everything that happened… I wanted to make it up to you, and Y/N…” He stepped forward again, and this time he was close enough to take your hands into his.

“You were never just a game to me. I was never playing you. Everything I ever said to you was true. You’re incredible. Smart, hardworking, funny, beautiful… Whether you’re Ladybug, or Y/N, I think you’re amazing.”

You were so overwhelmed with the hundreds of different emotions coursing through your bloodstream, you were thankful you were wearing a mask to hide the tears slipping out of your eyes.

“You thought I would hate you?” You laughed, then sniffled. “You could have a million different secret identities, but I would never hate you, Yeonjun.” You told him, and you wrapped your arms around his neck to pull him closer to you.

“You’re the funniest, sweetest, most attractive person I’ve ever met. And the fact you did all of this for me just proves that I was right in feeling that way.”

His own arms were now wrapped around your waist as you poured your heart out to him, a nervous, breathy laugh escaping his lips.

“I know this might sound crazy, and I might be ruining everything and scaring you away by saying this, but…”

You stepped on your tip-toes, so your gaze was level with his. He was staring at you with wide eyes, his lips slightly parted as he anticipated what you were going to say.

“I think I might be a little bit in love with you, Yeonjun.” You whispered.

“Really?” He asked breathlessly.

You nodded.

“Well, that sucks. Because I think I might be a lot in love with you.” He whispered back to you, and leaned toward to bump his nose against yours.

You giggled. “You’re such a nerd.” You told him.

“I know. But this nerd is all yours.”

The two of you moved in unison as you finally crashed your lips into each other.

All the tension that had been building between the two of you for years finally exploded into a red-hot, fiery ball of passion that had you overwhelmed with emotion. You found yourself clawing at his back, desperately trying to pull him closer to you, like he might run away and leave you forever if you let him go for even a second.

You knew you were on a rooftop out in the open, and it was only a matter of time before someone snapped a picture and sent it to the Ladyblog, but you didn’t care. In that moment, even though you were donning your superhero suits, you weren’t Ladybug and Chat Noir.

You were just Yeonjun and Y/N. Two stupid people that spent way too long finding your way to each other. Two stupid people that could have been together a long time ago if you had just opened your eyes and paid more attention.

But, even though lots of tears were shed, and there were so many messes that could have been avoided, you wouldn’t change anything about the way the two of you had gotten together. You wouldn’t change anything about your story with him.

After what felt like an eternity of passionately making out on that rooftop, you finally pulled away for air, resting your forehead against his as you took a moment to catch your breath.

“Can we go back to my place? So I can finally kiss you out of these stupid costumes?” You asked between breaths, laughing at your own stupid question.

He chuckled as well, then went back in for one more soft, feathery kiss. “We can do whatever you want, Y/N. I’ll follow you wherever you want to go.”

You playfully rolled your eyes. “You’re so cheesy.”

“Don’t pretend you don’t love my cheesiness!”

“I don’t, I really don’t. It’s the only thing holding me back from being a lot in love with you.” You grinned as his face was lit up with fake hurt.

“Rude, Y/N! I don’t know how comfortable I am going home with someone who’s so mean to me.” He pouted as you finally broke free from his embrace.

“Are you sure? I mean, I’ll just go home by myself. Maybe I’ll call Mark.” You teased while you started to stretch out your limbs.

He gasped loudly. “Hey, no! I’m joking! Let’s go, right now! I’ll even carry you!” He exclaimed, rushing over to your side.

You giggled, and leaned over to kiss him one more time. “You’re so cute, Yeonjun. Anyways, last one there is a rotten egg!” You shouted, and before he had time to protest, you were zipping away.

“Oh, you’re so on, M’Lady!” He yelled after you, and the two of you chased after each other into the night.

Yeah. You wouldn’t change anything about how the two of you got there.

authors note: hahahaha heyyyy~~ it only took a million years but here it is!!! i love these 2 and i’m so sad this smau is almost over but i’m also glad so you guys don’t have to keep suffering waiting for an update hahaha. only 3-4 chapters left it’ll probably finish just in time for freefall dropping next week !!

tag list: (closed) @therealhyunjingf @jakeshands @impureperhaps @mazeinthemoon @tyunlatte @loveliii @exohclipse @17szn @txtbrainrot @bubblytaetae @serafilms @iirene304 @snowfalltxt @choistick @lost-leopard-beanie @taekwondoes @captivq @aestheticsluut @surshica @suburbiataehyung @cecedrake2217 @omiomipepperoni @ttyunz @stellz581 @cher-bears @tyunner @eggomi @rikismiel @vianna99 @certainyouthpeanut @cookiehaos @90sni-ki @http-gyu @iad0ru @viagumi @reverbtunes @fatoompie @ka143 @sserafimez @hoonjjun @ahnneyong @cutiespaghetti @wonioml @emohazuzworld @taylvvrr @cowsmicwu

[nut4shuri]

Mkay very random but like college setting where Reader meets her new dorm mate the Princess of Wakanda herself. And starts to fall for her but tries to hide it very horribly because Shuri found out within a week but kept teasing and pushing the reader to see how far she would go, leading to a night of smoking(If ur comfortable with that), shotgunning and the readers loud moaning. Just the dirtiest shit you could ever write 🤌

DORMMATES

(18+)

shuri x You/Reader

Warnings : Smut Smut Smut Dirty Shit Nasty Shit Unholy Shit,Provocative Language,Slight Cringe (some errors most likely because im to lazy to proofread)⚠️

THANKS FOR REQUESTING BAEEESSSS!!💓

I love yall.

~

Smiling lightly you pulled your luggage behind you as you grabbed your ticket from the hands of the perosn behind the desk.

"Room 234"she spoke suddenly and looked up from her computer and smiled at you.

You began to drag your luggage behind you as the lady behind the desk yelped.

"oh and you have a doormate. I know you requested a single but they all where taken up,sorry."

Your smile admittedly dropped,your wasn't no bougie bitch but you knew you needed your privacy,you couldn't do roommates you couldn't even share a room with your siblings let alone a random starnger.

You thought as you pulled your luggage alone up the stairs, and sighed as you walked down the hall.

Just fuck it and go home.

You dont need collage.

232,233,.."234." You said and huffed.

Turning the nob slowly you opened the door up to an empty,clean and quiet dorm.

Their sat boxes on the bed,and electronic like gadgets on the opposite desk from yours. Posters of neatly sketched out figures where on the wall also, and the shower was running.

You didn't know whether to leave or not so you just sat your bags down and began to unpack.

Not accomplishing the whole "unpack" thing you just gave in and flopped on your bed.

Till you heard a ding ans turned over searching for the sound,it was coming from a bracelet laying on your roommates dresser.

It glowed up a little before a voice sounded out.

"Princess shuri you are requested at the palace immediately." The voice sounded out.

You where taken aback at first.

"Am i tripping,maybe its the weed.." You sat and took a step back you didnt even hear the bathroom door open as you bumped into something.

You jumped then turned and their stood the Queen/Princess Of Wakanda herself,THEE black panther stood in your door room in only a towel.

You held your breath for second,and just smiled.

Her wet & curly hair dripped and draped over her face,her skin glowed as water dripped from her body she smirked at you.

"12 seconds in.You checking me out ma?"she said and you didnt know what to say.

"No..." You said as your breath rushed you stepped back and rushed out the dorm.

~

Its been 2 days since you've been doormates with Shiri and you had got to know her allot. Its very hard because she's so fine,you love everything about her especially her demeanor,the way she carried herself even the way she talked.

She was sweet,and nice,and had a way with words. She always had a way of teasing you without and you didn't even notice her smile each time,and even though you didnt know she knew you liked her,or felt some kind of way,but she kept teasing you ever chance she got. She loved the way you lit up and the way your body heated up against her.

She would grab your waist from behind and whisper in your ear just to tempt you. When yall studied together she would lightly tap your upper thigh when you got an answer incorrect just because she liked the way you where so reactive towards her.

Would bite her lips while looking at you,just to let you know she was checking you out.

She wanted you in every way possible and you didn't know.

~

"Look Dray,i don't want this anymore im tired ok. Im tired of you and your lies and your cheating and hiding.. I don't want it anymore"

"Look Y/N baby i know you don't mean that girl" he said grabbing your waist slightly pulling me you in.

You pushed back as he grabbed you more gripping your ass and agressively kissing you.

Breaking free you smacked him harshly which caused him to stare at you with wide eyes.

"Look y/n baby im sorry i-"

He started to apologize but you just walked away.

~

"Hey shuri-"you spoke entering your dorm room a couple hours later as you eyed the girl sitting beside shuri on her bed.

"Hey."she spoke driley,as she groped at the girl's chests and the girl planted kisses on her neck.

The rest of that night shuri was really rude,she had an aggressive toan when speaking to you and even sat and made out with the girl in front of you.

"Uhm shuri did you get the homework for cal-"

"find that shit on your own."she spoke nonchalantly.

After the girl left shuri tried to talk to you but you continued to ignore her.

In the middle of the night you got up and took a long shower,after getting out you pulled a big white shirt and some small black shots on wrapping your damp haur in a smalled white towel.

"I need to smoke" you said as you whipped your hands over your face.

Walked outside the room you looked over at shuirs sleeping body and sighed.

Walking over to your draw you grabbed your rillows and your small black pouch within your bag,taking it and tossing it to your bed as you walked to your door to insure it was closed,lighting an candle and placing it by the door hesitantly.

As you where rolling up you listened to shuris faint groans in her sleep,making you look over at her as her eyes began to flutter open.

You continued to lap at the blunt in your hands tucking it tight and grabbing at your hellow kitty lighter on your dresser.

She just layed their looking at your for a moment,her big btown eyes staring you up and down watching you like a hawk making you heat up inside.

"Y/N.." She began to speak as you placed the blunt to your mouth.

Inhaling slowly an pulling it back.

"Im sorry about earlier...."she slurred out completely.

You took a minute,then repsonded.

"Its alright its not like you owe me any loyalty anway,your not my girlfriend."

"But i want you to be.."

You stopped inflhllaing before turning over to look at her.

"What?"

"Let me see that" She said standing up her musle shirt tight to her chest and her curls ran crazy over hear head,her hair was more fuller and longer and she had a tatto on her upper arm.

You eyed her as she stood standing over you her hand moving to your chin pulling you in.

"I dont ever wanna see you with that dumb ass nigga again. Do you hear me?" You knew what she was referring to.

"Yes.."

"Yes what?"

"Yes Shuri."

She let out a hmm and smiled at you lightly.

"Who was that girl.." You said turning your head to the side.

"Some girl,agreed to be my study partner the finals. But its clear she just wanted this strap" she replied cheesly.

Making you cringe and roll your eyes.

Shuri has a big ass ego i could tell you that. But boy was she right.

She showed you the strap,teasing you with it,poking you all over your body. Sometimes she would purposely leave it out so you could see.

It was really hard for you to contain yourseld.

"y/n..ive been watching you.."

"Really?"

"Yeah..ever since ive met you."

"yeah.."you added on watching her pull the blunt to your mouth letting you inhale.

"i know you want it just say it baby.."she said whispering in your ear.

your cheeks flashed red as hell as you palmed your knees in your hands

"shuri-"

Placing the blunt down she stood up walking over to her drawn pushing it aside to reveal a button behind it.

You bit your lip in curiosity as she looked back and smiled pushing the button.

The bed mad a creek like latching sound and began to hover to the side a bit and Shuri walked back to the side where it was visible to you.

Pulling out a draw hidden underneath the bed she smiled at your reaction.

"Shuri whats in it.."

"patience,baby."

She opened it smiling at you realving all types of hand cuffs,toys,vibrators,blind folds,bondages...etc.

you then realized the princess of wakanda was a kinky mf.

you sat in silence for a second then stood up walking over and picking up the pink toy from the box..

"Have these been in-"

"Hell no,why on earth would i want to use toys on you that have been in other woman."

"Y-you want to use them on me?"

Shuri smirked lightly.

"Would you let me?"

You stiffened up for a sec you weren't sure if this is what you want.. Or maybe it was the weed.

"Yes."

Shuri smiled.. Walking over to you slowly like a lion getting ready to attack its prey.

She picked you up aggressively pushing you against the wall and pressing her lips against yours,their was no room for you to move as she pushed her body against yours grinding her hips into you and beginning to run her warm hands over your clothed nipples.

You gripped tightly on her hair making her groan and bite your bottom lip,her hand gripped at your figure.

Kissing every part of your body she flicked your nipples and continued to grind against you. As she tossed you on to her bed.

Ripping your clothes from your body she kissed at your neck and massaged your chests,all your sinful moans encouraged her to continue on.

She sucked one of your nipples and massaged the other one,breaking away to give the same attention to the other one.

Moving down slow and teasingly she grabbed both your thighs and spread your legs and continued to move down.

You bit your lip throwing your head back,gripping her hair and trying to forcefully push her down to where you wanted her.

She groaned smacking your hand and landing a harsh slap on your pussy making you whine out.

Walking to the box she pulled out two pairs of hand cuffs.

Unsure of what she was about to do you kept quite and watched as she skillfully cuffed your hands and used the other cuffs to cuff the chain of your already cuffed hands and cuffed the opposite part to a pole on her bed.

She smiled at you and kissed your lips.

"are you comfortable?"

"yes" you croaked out.

"My impatient baby" she said as she looked you in the eyes her hand ran down your body and to your wetness.

She massaged over it and ran her fingers over your clit collecting all your wetness...

Placing her fingers in her mouth she sucked soflty.

~

Lapping at your clit she aggressively pushed the vibrating toy in and out of you at a fast pace,causing the vibrations,and sinful sounds to sound out into your bed room.

"please please"

"please what baby" she said as she wrapped her lips around your clit sucking softly loving the feeling of your lit throbbing in her mouth.

"please don't stop sh-shuri"

she began to thrust the toy into you even faster as your high began to approach.

your breath quickened as your eyes rolled back and you let out a moan of relief.

Turning off the toy she pulled the toy out of you and walked over to her dresser pulling a blunt from it and sparking it up.

She leaned against the dresser and smiled at you,walking over she pressed the blunt to your lips allowing you to take a couple puffs as she began to remove her clothing in the slowest way possivle way,taunting you as you whined.

~

Her hands grasped at your sides as you bounced up and down on her lap making her throw her head back and groan.

Her hands massages your nipples softly. Making the sensation much more better.

she groaned and continued to groan and moan after each thrust,the strap twitched inside of you as you bounced upward.

"please y/n baby don't stop"

You held onto her shoulders,aggressively attaching your lips to hers.

You just wished this ecstasy could last forever.

mmm. this has... HOMO written all over it.😏

[lovelynim]

TickleTober2023/Day 07 - Playtime

Genshin Impact - Aether x Albedo

Aether supported his head with his hand as he leaned over the table, staring into nothing as he lazily spun a pencil between his fingers with his free hand. He was starting to understand why Klee liked to see things go “boom” after times like this.

Letting out an unamused sigh, the traveler looked to his side with the corner of his eyes, noticing how abducted by his sketch Albedo was. Sitting like an actual prince, with good posture and legs crossed with one knee over the other, the chief alchemist continued to gently brush the pencil over the paper sheet, one line after the other, making his drawing look more and more realistic.

“Is something wrong, traveler?”

The blonde snapped back to his senses as Albedo’s words reached him. Blinking rapidly a few times, Aether was met with the confused, but gentle gaze of his partn- ahm, friend.

“A-aha, sorry, I just got… a little distracted.”

“I see,” Albedo continued, placing down his sketch and smiling at the other guy next to him. “This might not be as entertaining to you as I imagined, I apologize.”

“W-what? No, pfft,” Aether scoffed, already feeling guilty for making Albedo think about something like that. “It’s just… that I had something else in time when you invited me over to ‘help you study’, you know?”

The alchemist tilted his head, feigning confusion when he knew the intention behind those words. “And what would it be?”

Aether felt the heat reaching his face, faking a cough while he promptly averted his gaze. “Y-you know, why don’t we have a break?”

“Hmm, that could be of some use. I… no, we have been studying for quite a while, so there shouldn’t be any harm in having some playtime.”

“Good,” Aether said, eagerly placing his empty paper sheet away and snatching Albedo’s sketch from his hands seconds later, “because I’m really needing it.” He grinned.

Barely having time to process what was happening, the last thing Albedo remembered was the traveler tackling him down in his seat, taking both of them down, and a pair of hands latching onto his sides. Truth to be told, he should’ve seen something like that coming.

“A-Aehehether! Wait! Ahah, y-yohou’re gohohoing to mahahake us fahah- ahAHah!” Albedo chuckled, battling the urge to press his arms against his torso to protect himself from the tickling just to keep holding the traveler, trying to make sure none of them would fall off his seat. “Stohohop it!”

“What? No way, Albedo ~” Aether teased, pinching right over his ribs and making the alchemist scrunch up his shoulders as he giggled. “You said it yourself that we could use some playtime, so don’t take it from me now!”

“AhAHAH, n-nohoho!” He laughed, managing to look up to see the traveler grinning down at him while making him cackle like a maniac. Was that his concept of “playing”? 

Regardless, Albedo didn’t try to make it stop. If getting tickled was the price he needed to pay in order to see the traveler smiling, then he was willing to pay for it.

A/N: Aaaand, with this one, we finish our first week! I'm so excited for the upcoming days and I hope you guys are too, heheh ~

[ronearoundblindly]

Evil chuckles *rubs palms together*

Sorry I can't help it!

Imagine his coworker, Bailiff Bucket Barnes, notices that Steve seems to (unintentionally) put a little more detail into his courtroom sketches when reader is in them.

Ohhhhh let the teasing commence 😏

- 👜

court sketch artist!Steve Rogers x lawyer!reader drabble

[super short, just trying to get back into the swing of things. No warnings.]

Steve uses his middle finger to smudge the line of your leg just as the judge adjourns the court for jury deliberations.

It's not quite perfect, so he focuses on fixing the exact angle of your bare calf in those delicate heels.

"Punk," his friend rumbles from the doorway, securing the emptied room, "kinda missed your cue to leave..."

Whoops. Steve hadn't even sketched the judge behind the bench yet.

"Right. Sorry, Buck. I'll get out of your hair."

"Don't bother," Bucky says, stopping Steve's hand as it rushes to replace the charcoal in its tin. "Not expected to take long for a verdict."

The bailiff adjusts his uniform tie and takes a seat next to Steve.

"Ohhh," he coos with a craned neck, "I see why you lingered. 'Bout time you asked her out, ya think? You've been pining over her for six months."

"Have not, jerk," Steve practically squeaks.

Bucky puts up his hands in defeat. "You're right. You're right. It was this time last year that she started with the DA's office."

"I'm not...pining," Steve muses, running a nail through some black buildup on his thumb. "She's just photogenic."

"Then take a picture. With your phone. And then put us out of our misery and use that phone to get her number."

"Us?"

"The poor stenographer lost her bet in the fall. She was so sure you'd make a move after the Kinsey case."

Steve shrugs shyly. "Nah, that was such a big win for her. I bet the office took her out right after--had a party maybe."

"So? There are seven nights a week, big guy. Court is closed two of those days, too."

"Buck, I'm not gonna--"

"Bud, I'm gonna die of old age waiting for you to get your ass off this pew. Shit, my hair will be down to here--" Bucky gestures to below his shoulders "--by the time you--"

"Language," Steve warns.

Bucky relents and settles on a judging look.

After a long pause, he shrugs.

"Fine. Maybe I'll ask her out. She's got great legs."

Steve's head whips up so fast that his blond hair falls across wide eyes. "You wouldn't dare," he bites back.

Another shrug is his only answer.

A door at the back of the court creaks open.

"Barnes, call them back in."

"Damn," Bucky cards his fingers through his dark locks and whistles, "my girl's fast."

Heat flares across Steve's disbelieving frown.

Bailiff Barnes stands up with a chuckle.

"See, when you recreate that look at home, the color you're gonna wanna pick is Fuschia."

No sooner has Bucky opened the double doors than you flit past him and down the aisle.

"Barnes," you nod politely before your eyes meet Steve's.

Your head cocks to the side in surprise. "Mister Rogers."

It's a split-second in time, but Steve loses all ability to form words. He had no idea you knew his name. The smile you flash over your shoulder after setting your briefcase down, too, isn't just a polite smile or a confident 'I've won this case' smile. No. That smile is just for him.

Steve gulps, letting that gleaming gesture sear into his brain so he can sketch it later.

He plucks out his charcoal again.

At least he has this chance to draw the judge behind the bench...and put all the others he forgot on the page, too.

[Main Masterlist; Light Masterlist; Ko-Fi]

Oh boy. Yet another mini-series taking up real estate in my mind... Hopefully, none of you guys are taking bets about how long all these things are taking me!! Luckily, this one is pretty straight-forward fluff--which is, of course, how Threadbare started and that ended up ::checks notes:: at 20,000 words... Whoops, indeed...

@supraveng @1950schick @patzammit @whiskeytangofoxtrot555 @yiiiikesmish @ashesofblackroses @bucky-fricking-barnes-reads @fallinallinmendes @deandreamernp

[acourtofwhatthefuck]

Fireleaf (Part Six)

Lucien Vanserra x Reader

Hiiii! Here's Part Six. Things are heating up! As always, I'm so, so grateful for all the help I get from @greeneyedivy...this chapter has been a long time in the making, and so much of her brilliant brain and time went into helping me with it! 🤣💋

Warnings: SMUT! 🌶️🌶️🌶️

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Russet eyes stared at the page, not wholly seeing the words.

The same page Lucien had been staring at for the past half an hour. He nibbled at the callused skin of his thumb, brows furrowing as he drank in the second paragraph. Again.

The tempered glow of moonlit skies

Sketched waltzes in his lover’s eyes

And no immortal heart did dance

The way his did, so thoroughly

He glared at the words. Breathed in. Out. And slammed the book shut.The Mother damn it. For once, he didn’t feel like reading. Didn’t feel like anything besides pummelling his fist into one of the nearby trees—

His eyes flickered up. Immediately found that tree, the dent in the bark and the faint smear of blood. He sighed at himself. Tried to rein his thoughts back in, away from straying in that — her — direction, again.

He didn’t know when he’d become so pathetic.

This wouldn’t do. Sitting and ruminating would not do. He’d managed to avoid running into her over the week that had passed since the masquerade; part of him wished he’d stayed in the Spring Court longer than one night. His thoughts were clearer there, the air not so tinged with…with fresh cotton and honeysuckle—

No. He pushed to his feet — kicked a smattering of leaves for good measure — and grabbed his book. Began to drag his feet back the way he’d come.

He could take the short route back, straight across the footpath — end up back inside the warmth of the estate quicker. But in the depths of the trees, the natural scents were stronger; most smells got buried beneath the aromas of pine and bark and earth, no matter how much those smells had shoved their way up Lucien’s nose and made a home there. So he stuck to the densest areas, nearer to the outskirts of the estate.

He heard them before he saw them.

Two pairs of feet, he thought. And Barric‘s voice — crisp and clear.

“One male has reportedly died,” His father’s advisor spoke quietly, gently. “Perhaps more — the fire hasn’t been contained yet.”

A soft, feminine noise came in response — one of distress — and Lucien knew, immediately, that the second pair of feet belonged to his mother. He frowned, not stopping to wonder why, in the damn Cauldron, his mother and Barric had sought such privacy to speak. He was already pushing through the brush, and beholding them where they’d stopped at a wide, towering tree.

“What’s this?” He demanded immediately.

The Lady of Autumn was the first to look up, her wide, brown eyes watery and her pale skin seeming ashen and wan. It made the stark red of her hair stand out even more.

Barric pivoted on the spot and studied Lucien. “You shouldn’t be snooping on conversations.”

Lucien cocked an eyebrow. “I’d hardly call a stroll through the trees snooping. What’s this about a fire?”

The Lady of Autumn wrapped her arms around her slender body; like she was trying to comfort herself. “The little hamlet an hour east — a fire broke out in the early hours of this morning. It seems as though it’s already ravaged half of the houses, and they can’t get it under control.”

Lucien felt his blood run cold. He knew that hamlet — had passed by it multiple times on his travels. A small community of the Lesser Fae lived there; good, hardworking people who didn’t have much to show for all their toil. And for the little they did have to be destroyed before their very eyes—

“We need to inform father,” He was ready, right then, to jump into action. To do…something. “We need to send aid right away. We can contain the fire with our magic, prevent any more loss of life—”

“Lucien.” His mother said softly. She was trembling, her hands shaking as she held herself. “Your father already knows.”

Barric nodded in confirmation. “He was informed. The decision has been made not to send aid.”

Lucien stopped dead. Stared between them. His mind was reeling too much, currently, to consider the anomalies right in front him. How unusual it was for Barric and his mother to be talking about this — and so privately, too. He felt anger flicker inside him as he drank in the timid sight of his mother. The set, unflinching sight of Barric — a male who was content with a decision made.

“Why the fuck not?” Lucien demanded. “If one person has already died—”

“The High Lord has decided not to get involved because the fire was started deliberately.” Barric said. “It’s said that there’s been some unrest throughout the area. Land disputes, or something. Your father is busy enough without having to involve himself in the petty squabbles between the Lesser Fae.”

And there it was. Lucien scoffed incredulously. Such blatant, cold disregard for the people the High Lord deemed beneath him, unworthy of him.

“Petty squabbles?” He gritted out between clenched teeth. “Their livelihoods are burning right before their eyes. They’ll need help. Our help.”

Barric didn’t so much as falter. “The High Lord’s decision is made.”

“Screw this.”

He turned, kicking through leaves and dirt, shoving through the thick brush. He’d kept quiet about his father’s prejudices for far too long, bitten his tongue too many times—

“Lucien.” His mother called behind him, soft, pleading. “What’re you going to do?”

“What he’s too much of a damn coward to do, mother.”

He didn’t give her a chance to call out one more word as he stormed through the trees and headed straight for his father’s office.

⤲

The two guards stationed outside his father’s office door were a sure indication of an important meeting being had inside.

Nox and Auster, their names were. Lucien knew most of his father’s staff by name — had grown particularly fond of these two, in fact. Good, honest young men.

Their faces were grave. Sallow. Nox’s in particular. A cold sheet of anger lay beneath the fear.

He’d grown up in that hamlet. Still had family living there.

“Is he in there?” Lucien nodded to the door, already knowing the answer.

Auster dipped his head. “He’s holding a meeting.” It seemed an effort for him to force out, “You know we can’t let you in.”

“You don’t need to let me. I’m his son.”

The fact that neither of the guards put up any real fight showed exactly how they were feeling right then — uncaring if Lucien did interrupt the High Lord’s meeting. Hopeful, in fact, that he would. He was the only Vanserra that had ever bothered to strike up conversation with them, to get to know them and ask questions. The anger they saw in his eyes, right then, was identical to their own.

They weren’t going to stop him from storming in there. Not really.

And they didn’t, as Lucien flung the door open, causing Beron to falter mid-sentence.

He sat at his desk — and in front of him, Lucien’s four brothers were each perched, listening to their father speak as though none of them had a damn care in the world.

Lucien didn’t care that he hadn’t been invited to whatever this meeting was. Didn’t care that his four brothers had turned in their seats to stare at him. He didn’t bother to glimpse Dion’s concerned expression, or Eris’s inquisitive one, or the glimmering flash of excitement on Jareth’s and Rian’s faces, like they eagerly anticipated a showdown.

He merely stepped into the room. Clenched his jaw and ground out, “Why aren’t you sending aid to the hamlet that is burning down as we speak?”

Beron’s dull eyes were liquid ire as he beheld his youngest son. “You’ve no right to burst in here—”

“Why. Aren’t. You. Sending. Aid.”

“Why should I?” The High Lord shrugged. “Why should I expend my resources and my staff and reward people for acting like brutes?”

“Saving lives is not rewarding people.” Lucien snapped. “They’ll be losing everything right now whilst you sit on your ass—”

“I urge you to watch your tone.” Beron’s voice rose. “If the common folk are unable to behave in a civilised manner, I refuse to get involved. They can sort it amongst themselves.”

The brutality — the utter malice of it…it damn near winded Lucien. Damn near choked the words from his throat. He’d always known that his father was a ruthless, spineless bastard, but to be so uncaring…

“There are children that live in those homes.” Lucien spat. “Innocent children.”

Beron sat back. So casual. So unbothered. “Well. Perhaps the brutes should have considered that before they decided to raze those homes to the ground. Are you done?”

Lucien’s eyes shot to Dion — the one brother he’d always had a quiet respect for. The one who had always seemed to care. “And you’re alright with this?”

Dion’s eyes seemed to flash with…something. But he merely swallowed. Inclined his head. “Father has made his decision.”

Lucien couldn’t…couldn’t stay in this office, this estate, any longer. Not without tearing the whole place apart. He turned on his feet, shaking with rage.

Beron merely called after him. “I’ll hear no more said on the matter, Lucien.”

Lucien didn’t bother with a response – because that was fine. He didn’t want to say anymore, either. He wanted to do – to act.

Whether his pathetic excuse for a father liked it or not.

⤲

He was halfway to the stables when he heard his name being called. He turned, finding both Nox and Auster hot on his trail.

“Don’t even bother to try and stop me.” He gritted his teeth at the two guards. “I respect both of you, and I don’t want to fight—”

“We’re not stopping you.” Nox fell into step with him. “We’re helping.”

Lucien stilled for just a moment. Stared between them. To not only abandon their posts, but to go against their High Lord’s word— “You’ll get into trouble.”

Auster shrugged, his expression fierce. “Then so be it. We trained as Guards with an intrinsic reflex to protect. That doesn’t discriminate. Even if you just need us to stand guard while you help…”

So sad, that the two of them had shown more courage in ten minutes than he’d ever seen from his father, his brothers, in his whole life. Lucien didn’t know why he was still surprised; he’d learned long ago that he, for some reason, seemed to be cut from a different cloth to the other males of his family.

He dipped his chin and nodded. “I’m going to contain the fire with my magic. I’ll need both of you helping with getting people out. With any potential injuries.”

The admiration — and gratitude — that shone in Nox’s eyes was almost too palpable for Lucien to look at. He was one of the newer guards, less hardened by years around brutality. And these were his people that Lucien was putting his neck on the line to save.

“Let’s go.” Lucien squeezed his shoulder. “We’ll do what we can.”

The three of them were nothing but steeled determination as they tore into the barn, damn near startling the stableboys out of their skin. There was no time for his usual pleasantries as Lucien readied his horse. Too much going inside his head. Too much to focus on.

Perhaps that was why, as they mounted their horses and set off like a brisk, relentless gust of wind, he didn’t notice that Dion’s horse was already gone.

⤲

The smell tinged the air from what felt like miles away. Smoke and heat and…something else. Pungent enough to sting all three of their noses. As they grew closer, thick, black smoke billowed up into the sky and shrouded above them like great, winged creatures.

Lucien dreaded considering what the sight of it might be like…such a tiny, modest area engulfed by flames. But they kept the horses galloping and schooled themselves into the calm they needed to face it.

There was no moving fast enough, every movement feeling sluggish as he considered how many more lives may have been lost, how much had already been destroyed. When the hamlet came into view, it was an effort not to stop and gape.

Half of it had been ravaged already. Cracking and popping and shouting rang through the air, and what had once been a home to a small community of hardworking people had been reduced to…to pure chaos. So many people running around, carrying children away from the danger, trying to move the injured, hauling buckets of water back and forth.

Lucien dismounted his horse. Tried to gather his thoughts. Nox and Auster followed suit.

“I need to get straight to the fire and stifle it with my magic,” He turned to the two guards. “Check in with the locals. Find out how many injured we have. And if there’s a healer on site.”

Nox nodded — but Auster was frowning. Frowning over Lucien’s shoulder, as though he couldn’t quite believe what he was seeing.

Lucien clasped his shoulder. “I know it’s awful. But we need to keep our heads clear and—”

“That’s…” Auster peered past him. “…Is that Lady Y/N?”

Lucien whipped round so fast, he lost his footing.

His heart thudded an erratic tune as he took in the sight before him. And sure enough — there she was.

Dressed in a loose shirt and breeches, her hair ripping out of an untidy bun at the nape of her neck, she was coated in soot and sweat, her mouth barking stark demands at people as she hauled buckets of water back and forth. She didn’t hesitate – not even slightly – to charge towards the burning buildings, just about managing to keep the water contained in the bucket.

Lucien found himself running after her. Didn’t glance back at Nox or Auster even once as he raced in her direction. She was already disappearing out of sight, and he…his breath hitched as he pushed his legs faster, trying not to run straight into fleeing residents as he searched for where she’d dipped around the side of a building.

He reached the building just as she re-emerged – the bucket now empty – and ran straight into him. Her eyes were so wild, so panicked, that she didn’t seem to realise what she was seeing straight away.

That he, too, had gone against the grain – had decided to come here and help.

Panic was a surprising, feral thing inside of him. He found himself studying her, checking for burns, for anything untoward.

“What in the Cauldron are you doing here?” He blurted, the words emerging from him far angrier than he’d meant. “Are you out of your gods-damn mind?”

She seemed to blink – just for a second. And then she was sidestepping him, using her forearm to wipe sweat from her brow as she hefted the bucket beneath the other arm. “What does it look like I’m doing, Lucien? I’m helping to put out this damned fire!”

Her voice was croaky, raspy; Lucien wasn’t sure whether that was from shouting at the top of her lungs or coughing around the billowing smoke. She continued past him, and he was hot on her trail, making a grab for her arm.

“It’s dangerous.” He snarled.

“Get off your fucking high-horse,” She snapped, ripping away, “And grab a bucket, would you?”

She fell into a run, panting and glistening with sweat as she headed back towards the water pump at the top of the street. And Lucien…Lucien was trying to force his brain to work. Trying to tear his gaze from her. To stifle the bleating panic that was rising in him, urging him to grab her and get her far away from the danger.

He didn’t follow her. He pivoted on the spot, grimacing at the heat that breathed out at him. It seemed to speak to his fire magic, to coax him towards it, like calling to like. He didn’t need buckets of water to contain the flames ravaging the buildings. With one flicker of his magic, entirely self-taught, he could stifle them as easily as he could summon them. He zipped past the building, right towards the heart of the inferno–

“No!”

There were footsteps, a clattering sound – and arms were looping around his waist; arms that felt dainty against the broad expanse of his muscles. But they may as well have been an ironclad grip with the force with which they managed to move him, like he was no more than a light breeze. He was yanked backwards, and he just about managed to glimpse a discarded bucket of water spilling onto the street, and Y/N attempting to keep them both upright as he faltered and fell into her, the breath immediately being knocked out of her.

“Faebane,” She gasped, attempting to move from beneath him. She coughed, her voice sounding even more raw as she managed to choke out, “The fire is infused with Faebane. You can’t…you can’t use magic. Need water.”

“Fuck.” He hissed, hauling himself off of her. He yanked her up in one fluid motion, concerned eyes flicking over her.

So many things were warring in his mind. The first – to get the water; as much of it as possible. But Faebane…that had been the underlying scent mixed up in the smoke and ash that stung the air. He’d not identified it at the time, but…it seemed obvious, now. Its stark, cloying smell.

But not just anybody had Faebane. Certainly not the members of a Lesser Fae community who had zero power and barely two coins to rub together. The chemical was hard to come by, unless you were somebody untouchable. Somebody who could get what they wanted with a few sharp words.

Somebody knowledgeable enough to know that it rendered a person’s powers useless. Rendered them unable to quickly put out a fire before it caused too much destruction.

He shook his head. Tried to block the thoughts out. He couldn’t stand and speculate right now, not with him unable to use magic to help. It’d have to be the longer, harder way.

He was still holding onto her as he grabbed for the bucket and hurried to the water pump. Still gripping onto her hand.

He didn’t know why.

⤲

It was perhaps the most civil they’d ever been with each other.

There was no choice to be anything but as they worked together, hauling bucket after bucket back and forth, dousing the flames in water, helping trapped residents to freedom. Without the help of Lucien’s magic, hours passed by of the two of them working side-by-side, joined by Nox, Auster and the gathering of the hamlet’s residents who took orders and did whatever was needed of them. Day dwindled into evening, taking the light with it — along with their energy, their strength.

The sky was nearly darkened by the time only smouldering cinders remained. The smell in the air was still pungent — the Faebane seeming to be the strongest odour. And aside from the hissing that the burnt, sodden wood gave off, and the low murmur of bleak conversation between the owners of those homes…a heavy, eerie stillness settled through the hamlet that felt like a potent silence.

Lucien collapsed against one of the untouched buildings, scrubbing his hands over his face. He stared through tired eyes at the chaos that lay before them; the blackened, ashy remains of buildings and the smoke that still snaked out of them like shadows. The only mercy was that there were no more lives lost — a small glimmer of positivity that barely held up against the hammering of his weariness. Not just physical exhaustion, but…mental, too. There were a lot of things he needed to work through. A lot of things hammering his brain.

He didn’t like the panic he’d felt — panic over one person in particular. That panic couldn’t mean anything good.

That first glimpse of her earlier that day…when he’d seen her hauling the buckets of water and running towards the threat…he didn’t know how he hadn’t gone to his knees. Didn’t know that he was capable of such…cold anxiety spreading through him.

Even now, his gaze flicked over his surroundings in search of her — even though he was well aware that she was helping the healer with the injured in the inn at the top of the street. He still felt that itchy restlessness to make sure she was unharmed, that she wasn’t forgoing medical treatment that she may need, in favour of helping somebody else. Because she would — she absolutely would. He didn’t know why he hadn’t realised it sooner.

His eyes darted to Nox. Nox, who had shown an unflinching bravery in the face of such terror; something that Beron Vanserra had never done. Auster was currently standing over him, tending to a burn on his arm, and Lucien…Lucien understood the contained worry in Auster’s eyes. The panic over a realisation that it could have been far, far worse. Such a relief, that Nox’s entire family had gotten out safe.

He couldn’t stop himself watching as Auster clasped Nox’s face between his hands and pressed their foreheads together, his worried eyes fluttering shut. Couldn’t stop himself from watching the soft, gentle kiss that the two guards shared; the physical reassurance they needed from each other that they were both okay.

Lucien found his hands clenching at his sides. Like…like he needed that reassuring touch. Needed to know that she was absolutely—

“There would have been further casualties if you’d not come.” An exhausted voice ripped him from his thoughts. The male that stood before Lucien looked as though he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders. He bowed his head. “You and the lady, and your guards. We cannot thank you enough.”

He’d been one of the residents that had taken orders and worked alongside them, even as the weight of exhaustion began to drag him down. One of the good, hardworking people that the High Lord looked down upon.

Lucien dipped his chin. “I only wish I could have come sooner.” He shook his head. “Is there any idea as to who would do this?”

The male’s eyes shot to the ground. “…I wouldn’t like to speculate…”

Something about his tone made Lucien bristle. He watched him — the clear indication that this was far bigger than land disputes, as Beron had claimed. “What is it?”

“…There was some…unrest…being rallied by the locals, after the Harvest Festival. People who didn’t appreciate your father’s…dismissal, of their hard work. There was a discussion of riots, and…well, it’s probably unrelated, but…”

But he didn’t need to finish the thought. Because Lucien wouldn’t put it past his father, for one second, to punish people for even thinking about revolting against him. His father, who Lucien knew had a hidden cache of Faebane.

Beron had probably known all along that Lucien would defy him and help those in need. Had probably wielded the Faebane to ensure that Lucien would be unable to quickly put the fires out — unable to limit the damage.

He felt himself go cold under his sweat-coated skin. Felt sickness unfurling inside of him—

But movement lurked in his periphery, and he looked up to find Y/N approaching. She looked just as downtrodden and exhausted as Lucien felt — worse, probably. She wrapped her arms around herself…as though she was trying to hold herself together.

“The healer has things under control.” She rasped, glancing between Lucien and the male. “What do we do now?”

“We—”

Every last one of them was too exhausted, too distracted — too done-in to sense the threat before an awful creaking sound broke through the night, of splintering, breaking wood.

Lucien wasn’t even thinking. He didn’t recall giving his body any direction before he was launching himself into Y/N and knocking her to the ground. The two of them rolled out of the way just as a wooden beam broke from a scorched building, falling right to the spot in which Y/N had stood seconds before.

She groaned — or maybe it was him — and he allowed his body to shield hers for a moment longer, just to check the coast was clear, before he hauled her up with him. Set her on her feet. Checked her over. Apart from having the air knocked right out her, and a streak of blood on her arm that may or may not have been hers, she seemed to be otherwise alright. Still, Lucien held her up.

She just stared at him. Swallowed. Wanted to thank him, to say…something—

“You’ve done quite enough.” The male behind them tore his weary gaze from the fallen beam, long enough to face them. “We can handle it from here — you need to rest. All of you.”

“I can stay.” Y/N stepped past Lucien. “Just tell me what you need, and—”

“Lady,” Boldy — so, so boldly, more than he ever would have dared before — the male grasped her hand in his own, “We’re grateful for your kindness. But the last thing we need is any of you collapsing from exhaustion. You’ve done more than we possibly could have asked. Rest.”

Y/N glanced up at the sky, dark and filling with stars above her. The prospect of washing the grit and grime off of her, of collapsing into bed…she almost went to her knees then and there. But to face the long journey home…what awaited her at home—

The male seemed to read that very thought on her face. “My lodgings are about two miles down the road. I’m staying here to help, but…by all means, the four of you are welcome to spend the night there. It’s the least I can offer you.”

She almost sagged with relief. Two miles — she could handle two miles. Probably.

Lucien stepped up beside her, dipping his chin. “Thank you. For your generosity.”

And the male’s eyes, as he met those of the youngest Vanserra, were entirely unguarded. Every grateful, admiring thought shone earnestly in them, and Y/N knew what he was thinking in that moment — that Lucien had behaved like a true High Lord.

“No, Lucien.” He inclined his head. “Thank you.”

⤲

The four of them turned out to be the two of them.

Nox and Auster insisted on staying, on securing any more buildings threatening collapse. And after, they’d said, they would return to the Vanserra Estate, no matter the hour. They wanted to face Beron’s wrath head-on.

And so it was just Lucien and Y/N alone who travelled the two miles silently on horseback, not even sharing a glance as they kept an eye out for the male’s lodgings.

The lodgings, it turned out, was a gamekeeper’s cottage tucked into the forest that outlined the sprawling landscape. Certainly private and secluded. Certainly a place for them to rest.

But a strange sting of tension had bloomed between them on their silent journey. Y/N could feel Lucien’s heavy, pressing gazes. Like he was trying to stop himself from saying something. How tightly he clutched at his horse’s reins, his knuckles turning white, was indication enough that he was biting his tongue. Gone, clearly, was the solidarity they’d shared during the day.

They didn’t utter a word as they secured the horses outside the cottage and traipsed inside. But both shared the same thought as they stopped, studying their home for the night.

It was…small. The barest necessities, Lucien supposed, for what a gamekeeper might need. One open-plan area with a bed, an armchair, a basic kitchenette and a fire. He could only assume that the one other door to his left led to a cramped bathing room.

“I’ll sleep in the armchair.” Lucien said tersely, before Y/N could speak. “You can have the bed.”

There was no room for arguing — that much was obvious, as she studied the way he avoided her gaze. He brushed past her, tying his hair back as he went.

“I’ll get the fire going.” He murmured.

She knew he was merely thinking aloud — not really talking to her — but she nodded, all the same. And found her eyes lingering on him, watching him, as he knelt before the hearth. It took her a moment to rip her eyes away.

She cleared her throat, striding over to the kitchenette and quietly muttering, “I’m thirsty.”

Lucien didn’t deign to respond. He poured every morsel of his concentration — what was left of it — into getting the fire going. Even though he wanted to snuff it straight back out — even though he’d seen enough fire, in one day, to last him a lifetime. It was far too cold a night for them to forego the heat it offered.

Only when it was breathing warmth into the room did he stand. He turned, eyes immediately landing on Y/N.

She stood at the sink, seeming deep in thought as she scrubbed her hands clean. Lucien could only stop. Stare.

There was blood on her arm — hers or somebody else’s, Lucien didn’t know; he felt his stomach twist, felt a deep impulse to stride over and inspect it. But he rooted his feet to the floor. Waited for her to finish. Why…he didn’t know.

He didn’t know anything, right then. Like why he couldn’t stop his eyes from travelling every inch of her. Her dirtied, crumpled clothing and her hunched shoulders. Her hair had come completely loose from the bun she’d thrown it into, once again falling around her face and forming a curtain that hid her expression. Still, Lucien stared.

He could feel it — the urge to stride over and brush that hair away. That hair that always looked so silken, so soft, be it tied up neatly or flowing about her shoulders. He’d found his eyes lingering on that hair one too many times. Found them lingering now.

And there was that tiny, little braid again — every damn day, she wore one single braid in her hair, no matter the style she’d opted for. He didn’t know why. He’d noticed it before — multiple times — namely when she’d helped him from the ground after their sword fight, when her hair had swayed towards him and pushed her honeysuckle scent to him. That single braid had dangled down, and he’d wondered what the little decoration would feel like between his fingers. How soft it might be as he fisted her hair in his hand whilst she panted into his mouth, his hips—

She swivelled to face him. Lucien blinked out of his thoughts, praying that the nature of them didn’t leave a dusting of pink on his skin. If the change in his scent was obvious…

She pressed her back against the wall. Stared at him. He stared back.

“Well?” She shrugged. “Out with it.”

Her tone was…strained. Confrontational. Had she sensed Lucien looking at her? Sensed, maybe, the direction of his thoughts?

His jaw ticked as he ground out, “What.”

“Whatever it is you’re dying to say.” Her arms folded across her chest. Wrapped around herself again — she seemed to do that a lot; a comfort mechanism. “You glared at me practically the whole way here. Pray, tell, what have I done now?”

He had glared at her. And she’d noticed. But hadn’t discerned that his tension, his ire, was made up entirely of concern. Worry. Panic.

His eyes darted to her arm. “You’re hurt.”

“I caught it on a piece of jutting wood.” She clasped a hand over the wound. “I’ll live.”

Gods, she was so fucking infuriating. So damn oblivious to what was at stake, what lay at her feet. Reckless and careless and stupid.

“If that’s all, I’m going to bed—”

“Why didn’t you come find me?” Lucien blurted. “When you learned of the fire. Why didn’t you come and ask for help instead of running off on your own?”

She blinked at him, her mouth falling slightly open. Pure incredulity showed on her face as she looked him up and down, and barked a humourless laugh.

“Why should I come and find you?” She demanded. “I did ask for help. I asked Dion, and he refused to go against your father’s word, so I took it into my own hands.”

Lucien clenched his teeth so hard, it was a wonder they didn’t break. He hated every damn bit of her response. The way she referred to him — merely as you, as though he was nothing. Dion’s gods-damn name on her tongue. Her recklessness—

“Even if nobody else would help,” He spat. “Surely you would have known that I—”

“Known what, Lucien?” She interrupted. “Known that you’re a good, noble male who would have dropped everything to offer your aid? You’ve been nothing but an asshole to me.”

“I—”

“No one at that gods-damn estate listens to me. I’ve been nothing but suffocated since I got there. And not by my own choosing, I might add.”

True. She was speaking such truth, and yet Lucien couldn’t bear to acknowledge it. Couldn’t bear to acknowledge that perhaps he’d got things so, so wrong. It was far easier to become the sneering asshole that she’d pegged him as.

And he did just that.

“You don’t seem,” he snarled, striding over to her, “to be complaining much about the luxuries my family’s estate affords you. You’ve had no problem embracing them.”

“See, there it is again!” She snapped back. “You know nothing about me, because you haven’t even deigned to step out of your privileged viewpoint and consider that we don’t all have the freedom of choice, Lucien. I was brought here as nothing more than a damn bargaining chip! I don’t have the freedom to speak my own mind, or to take a walk throughout the woods without an escort, or do anything I want to do, because from the moment I arrived at that fucking estate, my freedom was taken from me!”

Lucien had fallen so preternaturally still. He blinked at her, utterly stunned. Her words sinking in—

“Your assumptions about me have been entirely wrong and I’m sick of it,” She continued, shaking with her anger, her hands balling, “You assume I’m the privileged, stuck-up one. But you? You have it far easier. I don’t have the option to go and fuck someone against a bloody tree in the orchard or to be consumed by the passion, because the next person I’ll have to let touch me is your bro—”

Lucien struck.

He couldn’t stomach it. Couldn’t bear even the idea of anyone but him touching her. Couldn’t stand the thought of anyone tasting her the way he…the way he wanted to. He needed rid of that thought, to banish it—

He was nothing but pure, carnal need embodied as he grabbed her face between his hands and kissed her.

His lips slanted over hers, and he felt her gasp against him. That first taste of her threatened to undo him then and there. He’d thought about this taste, wondered about it. Fisted his cock and spilled all over his stomach as he imagined it — more than once. He groaned against her lips.

He wanted to taste her all over, to devour her—

She gripped onto his wrists. Pulled away. Blinked up at him. He blinked back.

Neither said a word. Their heavy breaths filled the space, and they stared at each other, wide-eyed. Lucien’s eyes fell to her lips once more. Hers fell to his.

They both surged forward again at the same, their mouths meeting once more.

⤲

It was a harder kiss, more brutal, a heady meeting of lips and teeth.

Lucien gripped onto you so hard, you knew — hoped — it would bruise. His hands fastened on your waist as he shoved you against the wall, pinned you there with his own hips, and slid his tongue into your mouth.

It wrapped around yours, teased the roof of your mouth, and your tastes invaded each other. You wanted this. Wanted him. Had wanted him from the first moment you’d seen him reading poems and sonnets beneath a tree. No taste would ever, ever be enough.

You bit down on his lip, fisting your hand in the loose ponytail his hair was tied into. You tugged, tugged hard, and Lucien groaned.

“You drive me mad,” He growled, his hands roaming your body. “Always, always on my mind.”

The words sent a thrill through you, but you didn’t stop to consider them. What they meant.

“Show me,” You gasped, kissing him hard. And said again, “Show me.”

You knew — and so did he — that there was no amount of restraint that existed to make him refuse. A delicious snarl ripped from his throat, sounding more animal than man, and his hands found their way to your breeches.

Too many buttons, too many laces. Pure, feral noises sounded from deep in his chest as he gripped the front of your breeches and tore them apart with his hands, the brutal action in itself causing wetness to pool between your legs. He shoved them to your feet, yanked your undergarments down, and then he was slanting his lips over yours again. His nostrils flared as your scent hit him.

“I need to be inside you.” His voice was guttural. “Now.”

“Yes.” Was all you managed to gasp out. “Yes.”

You were aware, as his mouth coasted your jaw, your neck, of the sound of his belt hitting the floor. He breathed heavily, his hands moving between you. And then he shoved his breeches down.

His cock sprang free, and there was no chance for you to so much as look as it as he gripped his length in his hand. Used the other to heft one of your legs up, around his waist.

You felt the head of his cock brush through your wetness. Felt it tease your entrance. You gripped his shoulders.

And then he was pushing into you.

The slight pinch of pain was delicious, incredible, as he thrust in. A moan fell from your lips as he filled you, and he swallowed it with a kiss, his lips once again finding yours.

He pulled out to the tip. Slammed back in to the hilt.

And then unleashed himself on you.

There was nothing slow or gentle about it. Not as he thrust and thrust and thrust into you, skin slapping skin, your breaths and moans the only sounds filling the space, alongside the relentless thud, thud, thud of your back hitting the wall.

Lucien tore his lips from yours, burying his face in the crook of your neck. A deep groan came from him as he reached up and grabbed your breast.

“Oh gods,” He gasped, squeezing hard. “Why does it feel like this? Feels too good, I can’t…”

Words failed him — and failed you, too. But words were unnecessary as your uncontrolled moans took over, your head falling back. Your fingernails dug into his shoulders, his back, and you knew you would leave marks as you gave over to the sensations in your body. As you became his pleasure, and he became yours.

“Fuck,” You manage to bite out. “Oh, gods.”

Never had you felt so damn good. His thrusts, somehow, picked up, the noises he emitted becoming deeper, gruffer, as he hit that sweet spot inside you. You could feel yourself clenching around him, feel yourself about to come undone completely.

And when he reached down and pressed his thumb to your clit once, you lost it.

Your scream caught in your throat as released barrelled through you, and you clenched around his cock hard. Lucien grunted, thrusting those capable hips again, again, again — and then he was following you straight into that release. Spilling inside you.

The feel of him, the warmth of him inside you…you couldn’t bear it. You went utterly weak against him, your gasped moans trailing off into soft, staggered noises.

Lucien had stilled against you. He didn’t move, his body still pressed to yours as his breaths slowly evened out.

And then he pulled his hand from your breast. Slid out of you. Stepped back.

He blinked at you. Studied you all over, like…like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Couldn’t believe what he’d just done.

He swallowed, russet eyes looking utterly shell shocked as he leaned down and yanked his breeches up. You’d never seen his golden skin so pale. Never seen him tremble like he did now, as he fastened the buttons on his breeches.

You needed to speak, to say something — anything. You opened your mouth—

Lucien turned on the spot — turned away from you. His shoulders were hunched as he stalked to the door.

He didn’t look back as he stepped out. As he left the cottage, left you alone, the door slamming behind him.

All you could do was stare at the door. Gape. You were still pressed against the wall, your trousers and underwear pooled at your feet. Your body still trembling. Lucien’s seed dripping out of you, down your legs.

You blinked. Touch your fingers to your lips. Your legs shook as you slowly pushed off the wall and pulled your breeches back up.

You couldn’t…you’d just fucked Lucien Vanserra.

Not the Vanserra you were marrying.

An iciness settled inside you as you moved towards the bed. It felt like wading through mud, pushing your body to co-operate.

You collapsed down onto the mattress. Blinked up at the ceiling. The silence was deafening.

Lucien had fucked you and left.

You’d had sex with Dion’s brother.

You couldn’t bear it…couldn’t allow one more thought to pass through your head. The day had been too much, too pressing.

You’d swapped a good deed with a terrible one.

A terrible one that had felt so, so brilliant.

You rolled over, burying your face into the pillow. And you wept.

⤲

You didn’t sleep, and Lucien didn’t return.

Where he’d spent the night, you had no clue. You tried not to think about it as you rose early the next morning and climbed straight into the bathtub. You’d scrubbed your skin until it was red-raw, smothering Lucien’s scent with so much soap, you were sore afterwards.

When you stepped out of the front door, his horse was gone. Just Dion’s horse — the one you’d taken — waited. Waited for you.

You were exhausted. Haggard. But you didn’t want to linger there a moment longer. Didn’t want to glance back at the wall that you’d been slammed against as Lucien thrust into you—

No. You needed to forget. To send it far, far from your mind.

And so you set off. Away from the gamekeeper’s cottage. Past the ruined remains of the hamlet. Your surroundings were nothing but a blur as you rode, only just keeping your wits about you enough to travel in the right direction. Back to the Vanserra Estate.

You felt…empty. Hollow. Exhausted.

Perhaps that was why you didn’t so much as flinch at the sight of the Vanserra manor. You knew Beron’s wrath awaited you inside, and yet you couldn’t bring yourself to care.

You returned Dion’s horse to the stables. Scarcely managed a greeting to the staff you passed as you traipsed to the front door with heavy feet.

Dion was waiting for you at the top of the stone steps.

He was tense. Guarded. But his eyes swept over you once, and whatever he saw seemed to soften him slightly.

“You’re back.” He said, watching you carefully as you approached him. “I was getting worried…”

“It was too late to travel back, by the time the fires were out.” You didn’t recognise your own voice. “I take it your father wants to speak with me?”

Dion nodded, somewhat apologetically. “He does. I’ll come with you.”

“I don’t need a bodyguard.”

You brushed past him, into the house. He was hot on your trail as he fell into step with you and took your arm.

“I understand why you’re angry with me.” He lowered his voice, lest the servants hear. “But I couldn’t go against my father’s word.”

You stared forward. “Those people needed help, Dion.”

“I know. I know they did.”

You didn’t offer him another word as he led you through the manor. No sign of Lucien anywhere. You wondered if he’d returned, or if he was still out on the road—

You shook the thoughts from your head as you came to Beron’s office. You knocked once.

“Come in.” He said immediately, like he was expecting you right then.

You pushed into the room, Dion following you inside. He shut the door behind him, pressed his back against it.

You turned to Beron. Couldn’t muster anything but indifference onto your face.

He sat at his desk, wearing an expression of pure ice. His eyes flicked over you, a sneer curling his lip. You knew you must have looked awful.

You opened your mouth — to say what, you didn’t know. But he slammed his hand down on the desk, hard enough for it to jolt. You flinched.

“Do you have anything you’d like to say?” He hissed.

You stared at him with vacant eyes. Found yourself shrugging. “I like your paperweight.”

Behind you, Dion emitted a vague noise of distress. And Beron…Beron rose from his seat. Clenched the edges of his desk so hard, his knuckles turned white.

“Do you think it’s a joke,” he hissed, “to undermine me?”

You lowered your gaze to the floor. “Not a joke, no. But I did deem it necessary.”

“I am your High Lord. What I say is what goes.”

“You are their High Lord, also. Those people who just lost everything. They needed your help—”

“How dare you deign to tell me how I should run my own court? Do you truly believe I’ll take orders from a silly little girl?”

“I—”

“Father,” Dion cut in softly, gently. He came to stand beside you, lightly touching your arm. “Y/N didn’t mean anything by it. I don’t believe she meant any harm. She wouldn’t have realised she was doing anything wrong.”

You wanted to turn on him — on both of them — and argue that you knew full fucking well what you were doing, and none of it was wrong. But Dion met your eyes with a fierce look, a subtle shake of his head. And then Beron was stepping around the desk. Stalking slowly towards you.

You watched. Watched every one the High Lord’s movements as he stopped before you. Inches away.

His eyes were shards of ice as they stared down at you. His jaw clenched.

“You are the daughter of a good friend of mine.” He said quietly, dangerously. “And I do not wish to cause upset between our families. But let me make something very clear to you.”

You lifted your chin. Met his gaze. He hated every second of it.

“You are walking a very fine line, girl.” He murmured. “I’m willing to overlook this incident as an innocent error of judgement. But I will be watching you. And if you ever, ever undermine me or disrespect me again? I’ll make sure you regret it.” His eyes flicked over you. “Are we clear?”

You didn’t want to respond; didn’t want to give him the satisfaction. Your shoulders hunched, and you knew Dion was holding his breath beside you.

“Are we clear?” Beron snapped.

Dion nudged your arm with his own. A warning.

“Yes, High Lord.” You gritted out. “We’re clear.”

Beron appraised you again, disgust muddying his eyes. “Good. Now get out of my sight.”

Before you could say anything, land yourself in any more shit, Dion was gripping your arm and dragging you from the room. He shut the door behind him, turning to face you.

You didn’t care to hear a word he had to say — not right then. You were too mad, too disgusted — with him, with yourself, with Beron. If you didn’t walk away right now, you would lose it.

“Y/N.” He said, but you were already turning your back on him.

“I want to be alone, Dion.” You shot back. Every bit of your exhaustion showed in your voice.

Perhaps that was why he didn’t say another word as you walked away from him, and went to succumb to another onslaught of tears in your suite.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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[loungemermaid]

No.1 Everlark Shipper

for @jhsgf82, based off this post by @goldrushenthusiast and some of the tags/replies I left on there. crossposted to my ao3!!

We’re standing in the disgustingly hot July heat, the sun beating down on us, already burning the tops of our noses. Really, for the sake of all us Townies, the town square should be covered. I’m pale enough, but some of these kids, like little Lottie Sayers over there, are too white to be outside now. She looks like she’s going to burst into flames at any second. I look around at the sea of sweaty necks and brows, looking for a dark braid instead a blonde one. Not for me. For my idiot brother. Everdeen has her hair up in a crown of braids today, and she’s in a pretty little dress, shows off her little waist. The hair and dress make her look sweet, maybe flirty, but she’s (as always) scowling. Can’t imagine why Peeta likes her. She looks fuckin’ mean. Stuck up. Also, the fact she can kill things and drag ‘em through town? Something tells me you’d have to make sure you toed the line with her, or else. Kinda like how Mama is to him. Well maybe that’s it then.

I have heard about Everdeen for comin’ on Eleven Goddamn Years now. I know everything there is to know about this chick that can be known without actually saying a word to her, because he’s never said a word to her. I’ve seen the sketches, the letters, the truly awful attempts at poetry, the (admittedly, pretty good) pencil drawings that took weeks for him to finish scattered across our room for Eleven Years. I’ve heard the soliloquies(see, Mrs. Marks? I’m payin’ attention) practiced in the mirror, the grand planned gestures, the paper flowers and ribbons gathered and then abandoned after Sweetheart’s Day, every instance of young tender love and I could not be more sick of it. It ain’t-isn’t. Isn’t real. Not a lick of it. If it was, he’d talk to her. If she’s too scary, which again, she sure as shit looks that scary, maybe move on? Maybe pick someone different? Hell, it can even be another Seam girl, if that’s what he’s into. Leevy’s got that same little tits and long legs thing. And she actually smiles. But whatever. One day something will break it, and then I won’t have to fuckin’ hear it ever again. 

That weird Trinket woman is just about to pick the girl’s name, and I’m still wondering what it takes to get someone’s hair that big, that pink, that shiny when she reads out the slip. Primrose Everdeen. Well. Shit. I don’t know what this is gonna mean, when her little sister dies. When her dad died, Peeta talked for months about how we needed to help her. I kept telling him it wasn’t the time or place, that the last thing she needed was some over-enthusiastic Townie meddling in her shit. She already had it rough enough. We could tell she was taking care of everyone now. That her mama wasn’t doin shit, and she was the breadwinner now. I remember thinking it was weird, and how I couldn’t imagine it, then I thought about how that’s just what older siblings do. That that’s what Rye does for Peeta and me. A buffer for when Mama’s on the war path. Even when she ain’t-isn’t. Isn’t coming after me, he protects me all the same. She usually doesn’t come after me, and that somehow feels worse. I owe ‘em both a lot of beatings. Rye used to take the blame sometimes, but we all kinda quickly realized I could get away with significantly more than he could, and especially more than Peeta could, poor fucking kid. Never understood why she hates him so much.

There’s some screaming and shuffling, and I look over and there she is, her face showing real emotion for once, screaming that she’s volunteering. I can’t imagine that. How would you ever do that? And then it sinks in. Shit. Everdeen is gonna die. I look over at Peeta, who looks like he’s gonna spew. Shit. What am I even gonna say to him, when this is over? While we walk home?  Happy fucking birthday! That girl you’ve been obsessed with your whole life is gonna get gutted by some teen-freak Career. It’s too awful. I just sigh and brace for the boy’s name. Almost over. One more year of it for me, two for him. 

And then that pink and green bitch calls his name. I’m shocked. I can’t move, or see, or hear anything, and then it’s too late. He’s up on the stage and it’s too late. I can’t volunteer, can’t save him, can’t fix it. Once again he’s getting more punishment than his fair share. This kid that cries when he sees a hurt wild dog. That cried when he learned we ate our baby pigs. That’s been in love with the same girl for eleven years. The girl that’s going in with him. Shit!!! She’s going in with him!! They’re gonna die in there together. Well, I think darkly, they’re gonna have to talk now. 

I go and look for Rye, and we both just stare at each other. He’s not saying it, but he’s thinking it. “Yeah, I know. I should’ve. I… I couldn’t make the words come.” I hate myself.

I’m expecting him to scold me, to yell. Being the parent’s favorite makes me the least favorite brother. They neither one like me much. Well, that ain’t-isn’t true. They like me just fine. They’re just very jealous. I would be too, if I was-were gettin’ beat for minor shit that don’t even matter, and someone else wasn’t. I don’t expect him to hug me. He does, pulling me in close, even kissing my forehead like he did when I was little. I don’t even wipe it off this time.

“Hush. It isn’t your fault. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t do anything right neither.”

He smiles a little. “Either, you mean. But it doesn’t matter. It’s going to be okay. Besides, I think she’d kill him, if you went in instead. It wouldn’t be a good sacrifice. She’d hate him even more, especially if you didn’t come back.” He shook his head. “God help me for what I’m gonna say, but it’s better this way. If he comes back, JoAnn won’t think he’s worthless anymore. If he doesn’t”, his breath shudders, “if he doesn’t, well. Then she never touches him again.”

I swallow around the lump in my throat. The one thing she only did to him. Rye got beat, sure. But he didn’t get touched like she touches Peeta. It… it’s not that she straight up sleeps with him. But it’s…uncomfortable, to even watch. Humiliating. Can’t imagine what it feels like. “Right. Well, ready to say” Oh I can’t say goodbye. I blink some rogue tears. “To send him off?”

“Yeah.” He says gruffly. “Yeah.” I can tell he’s thinking what I am. This is gonna be a shitshow.

It’s worse than I thought it’d be. We’re all standing there and not saying anything. Rye at least held him while he cried. JoAnn is world class, says something truly evil. Says she’s rooting for Everdeen, and if there was any fondness I ever had for that woman, it’s done. She runs out, even though all the rest of us are begging her to not. I scoff, but Peeta is laughing, no, cackling. Like nothing has ever been so goddamn funny. 

“Love you too, Mama! Hope I get to see you again!” He yells out, voice hard and bitter. “God. What the fuck?” He scrubs at his face, leans back, screaming and laughing and sobbing into his hands. 

Rye runs after our useless fucking parents, trying to talk sense into them. It’s pointless. Anyway, we’re almost out of time. Almost out of time. I can’t fuck it up again. 

“I know it ain’t great timing to be asking you a favor, but do one for me anyway?”

“God, Soren. What?” He sighs, clearly not in the mood for whatever he thinks I might say. I sit down on the saggy sofa, clapping his shoulder.

“I need you to tell her. Please. She deserves to know.”

He huffs, rolls his eyes. “It’s all a bit pointless, ain’t it? Nothing either one of us could ever do now.”

“Yeah, but I know you. You’d never be able to live with yourself if you never told her. So you’ve gotta. Find some way. Do one of those grand gestures you’re always planning. Or, fuck, I dunno, do it private. Over coffee or whatever. But tell her, little bun.” I’ve never called him that. Not sincerely, anyway. That’s what Dad and Rye(mostly Rye these days) call him. But, it felt right. “I’m really sorry I didn’t”

“Don’t be.” He cuts me off. “I get it. Don’t be sorry. In fact, promise me. You don’t get to feel guilty about it.”

I swallow hard again. The Peacekeepers are coming to take me away. I clap him on the shoulder one more time. “Alright. I love you. Uh, good luck and all that. And happy birthday”

It gets him to laugh, even if it’s just a dark laugh. “Thanks. Uh…see…mm. See you later.”

“Yeah. See you later.” I don’t know if I believe he will, but I know he can win this. I hope he does.

I try to keep my promise, of not feeling guilty, for not stepping up and going in for him. It’s not easy. Suddenly our room feels too big, too empty.  Rye and I haven’t moved a damn thing. There’s still a half finished drawing on the desk, a pair of silver eyes. I wanna puke everytime I see them. I do my homework downstairs in the bakery now. 

We’re closed on the day of the interviews. We close a little more now, though not as much as I thought we would. Dad hides, crying in long showers or disappearing on errands, and JoAnn, Rye and I are stuck in the bakery together, avoiding curses and rolling pins being hurled at us. Now that Peeta isn’t here, I’m getting on her nerves more. I’m sporting black eyes now too, though I don’t let them show. I can’t cover them like Peeta does, and I’m a little paler than him anyway, but the little tube of concealer he left behind does fine enough. 

We all sit on the couch, pretend to be a family over some tea and cookies. We’re eating more fresh, a result of the sympathy money. People have been spending a lot on baked goods here lately. The mayer orders a cake a week. Madge must know we’re feeding Prim and Mrs. Everdeen(Mama does too, and she hates it. Dad catches an ashtray to the nose for it). She likes Katniss too. 

Anyway, my baby brother is talking to Ceasar Flickerman, and they’re playing off each other like they’ve been co-hosts for decades. He’s charming. Affable. He could make this a career if…when he wins. And then Ceaser asks about a girl, his whole body shifts. He gets a little nervous, a little small, tries to shift the conversation but Ceaser ain’t having it. He pushes Peeta again. Say it say it say it, you little dork, or I swear to god. I’m staring at his face in the tv. Maybe if I think it hard enough he can somehow get it. You promised.

He clears his throat. “Well, there is this one girl…”

I sink back into the couch with a sigh of relief. There you go, bro. Took you long enough.

She even goes for it. When they change the rules(which I still can’t get over, but maybe young love is more exciting than child murder for those people.((if that’s the case, can we make it a matchmaking game? I’ll volunteer. I’ll host.)) I just don’t know if I trust it) and she’s up in that tree, screaming his name, I know it’s over. She likes him too. She tears through the Arena just to find him, looking very camouflaged and very dead by the river. He flirts, and she giggles and blushes. What? Maybe she’s just soft for him. Good. It’s what he deserves. Hard for everyone else but soft for him.

For a few days I’m worried I’m gonna have to watch my baby brother lose his virginity on national television, but as cuddly and kissy as Katniss is, she’s clearly not very experienced. She won’t change around him, she blushes every time they kiss. She’s actually sweet. A giggly, nervous, even precious little thing. She looks even tinier next to Peeta, so short and thin and fine boned. They fit each other. They’re striking together.

It’s all anyone can talk about, but for the first time I don’t mind hearing about it all. I join in at school, spilling all the secrets I know. It’s a little shitty, but I can’t help it. It’s so…excuse the dopey ass phrasing, but as one teacher said, life affirming to see. My homelife is worse, but if they really can win and win together, it’ll be like a real life miracle. Hard proof that not everything always has to completely fucking suck, all the time. That sometimes, good things happen to people. Sometimes good things happen to the people who deserve it the most. 

The berries give me a heart attack. I’m on the edge of my seat and I don’t think I breathe the whole time. I don’t know what to expect. Are they gonna let them live? Are they gonna blow them up? Send in mutts again? Let them live and torture them on the air? I almost shut my eyes, bracing for the canons, but instead Templesmith is shouting, telling them to stop, that they both won, and he did it. He actually did it. I’m jumping and screaming and laughing and we’re all hugging even, because he fucking did it. He won, and he got the girl of his dreams. This one time, it actually works out for him. This time, Peeta gets what he wants.

[puddingvalkyrie]

It's May Soon

  “I can’t believe it’s May soon.” Will looked up suddenly from his book.

  “Oh. Yes, I suppose it is?” Tyrian looked up from his bedside desk, where he’d been scribbling down some plot ideas, and the odd actual policy that was his actual job. It was Lumtide here. Fairies had been much more aware of what month it was on Earth before the lock out – there were traditions to keep up, after all - but not so much any more. Some still kept up the practice of riding out on Midsummer’s Eve and Samhain, but it was never a yearly thing.

  “Can’t believe it’s been a year.” Will looked up at the ceiling, but he was staring into nothing.

 “I’d say what a year it’s been, but...” If Tyrian weighed it up, more good things than bad had happened - a net gain, you could say - but the bad things had been SO very bad, after all.

  “My contract will be up soon.”

  Tyrian’s quill left a crooked line and an ink blot across the page as the king’s hand tensed, quite ruining a nice little sketch of an emblem he’d been working on for the school. “Oh. Yes. So it will.”

  “I’ll have to think about that...” The jester tapped his fingers on his book as he thought aloud. “It’s probably too late to apply for uni... But I might just about get away with it, and clearing is a thing...”

  So. Will was going to leave, after all. He’d known this day was coming. Will had come to Fairyland for a gap year. A YEAR. And now that year was almost over...

  Tyrian got up, carefully placing his quill on the desk, and turned abruptly towards the door. “I’m going to get a drink.”

  “Are you thirsty...?” Will asked. “I’m good? I’ve been safe for a week.”

  “Not blood, just water.” Tyrian clarified. “Maybe some coffee.”

  “You’re not supposed to have caffeine this late at night, you know,” Will cautioned him. “I guess I have no idea if bumblebean coffee actually has any in, come to think of it. I don’t suppose you know?”

 “I am not entirely sure what caffeine is, Will.” Some sort of magical component that Earth plants still had somehow, from what he could tell. “Do you want anything?”

 “No thanks.” Good. “Are you okay?” Not good.

  “I just have a bit of a headache. Shouldn’t draw with my nose to close to the parchment, probably. I might be dehydrated.”

  “Okay...”

Tyrian went down to the kitchens. No-one would be there at this time of night. Maybe Louis, getting a midnight snack. It wouldn’t be so bad to see Louis right now. He could use someone to talk to... Then again... No. NOT Louis. Louis would take this PERSONALLY.

  He got himself a cup of water and sprinkled some dried camomile in it, too distracted to find a sieve. He wondered how long he could stay here without arousing suspicion. He waited a minute or two and took a sip. Terrible.

  Ah. Right. The water was supposed to be HOT.

  He’d never tried heating water before, but he knew how to freeze it. Could he just do that in reverse? He put his hand over the top of the cup and tried to imagine channelling fire into it. He left it there for a few seconds. The cup split; the water ran across the table and dripped onto his lap. It was still cold. There was a black ring on the table where the cup had stood. He’d have to apologise to Babs in the morning. He pursed his lips. No, that wouldn’t do. He’d made the mess, he would fix it. And if nothing else, it was a good excuse.

 ‘I broke a cup and had to clean it up, that’s why I took so long,’ he rehearsed in his head. It took him some time to find which cupboard the cloths were in – right before he noticed one on a sink – but he mopped up the water and scrubbed at the black mark on the table. It wouldn’t come off. He was cursing under his breath when he suddenly felt a presence behind him.

  “Will said something’s wrong, but you don’t want to talk to him about it, so I should have a go.” Aurelia looked askance at the cloth, before noticing the burn mark. “What did you do?”

  “Chamomile is supposed to be soothing, so I was trying to make an infusion,” Tyrian explained, pouting. “I was in a hurry so I wouldn’t look suspicious, but... Well.” He rinsed the cloth in the sink and hung it over the side. He filled a small, leather cauldron and set a fire. Aurelia merely sat herself at the long dining table, waiting.

  He sat opposite her with a sigh. “Will’s contract is almost up.”

  Aurelia tilted her head to one side. “And?”

  “And he said something about going to university.”

 “And?”

  “And so he’s leaving soon!” Tyrian leaned on the table, putting his head on his arms. “I don’t want him to leave! But he SHOULD leave! He should be free, like the little bird he is!”

  “I don’t think Will is a bird,” Aurelia mused. “Some kind of ferret, maybe.”

  “Doesn’t really change my point,” Tyrian mumbled into the table. Moving his head so she could hear him properly again, he continued, “I knew this day was coming. But I don’t want him to leave. But he loves travelling. I don’t want to be like Rosa.”

  “Rosa?” Aurelia frowned.

  “Ex-girlfriend of his,” Tyrian explained. “She didn’t want him to go travelling, so they split up.”

 “Sensible.” Aurelia nodded approvingly. “And... You’ve talked to Will about it, have you?”

 “I hadn’t thought about it until he mentioned it, what, thirty minutes ago?” Tyrian waved a hand. “I mean, I had, briefly, but I always pushed it away. I didn’t want to think about that on top of everything else.”

  “Do you not think you’re jumping to conclusions?” Aurelia suggested. “Why are you avoiding asking him about it?”

  “I don’t... I don’t think I can without... without... sounding manipulative, or, or, something.” Tyrian sat up and forced himself to sit straight, clenching his hands on his lap. “He must make his own decision. If I let him know how sad I am about it...”

  “Communication is the cornerstone of a good relationship, is what I’m saying here,” Aurelia pointed out. “I get where you’re coming from. But... and this is my professional opinion as your ex-fool... you’re being dumb.”

  “I’m not being dumb, I’m being... considerate!” Tyrian protested.

  “Tyrian.” Aurelia took him by the shoulders. “You are being dumb. You are practically walking into one of those Earth stories where someone says something vague and there’s a WHOLE THING that could be solved in two minutes if two people would just frikking talk to one another. We are not doing that, do you hear me? And that’s both an earnest request from your wife, and an ‘I will kill you if you make this worse’ from your best friend. Got it?”

  “I’m not ready!” Tyrian blinked back tears. “I’m just not ready to talk about it!”

  The yokai stood up and marched around the table. “Tyrian. C’mere.” She reached out and pulled him into a hug, leaning her head on top of his and running her fingers through his hair. “I really don’t think Will is going anywhere,” she soothed. “If he is, he’ll be back. You know he loves Fairyland. You know he loves us.” She paused. “Okay, maybe not Louis. But he definitely loves you.” Aurelia managed to sit on the bench, and still cradling his head, they stayed there for a while.

  “Aurelia...”

  “Hmm?”

  “...Why did you quit being my fool? It’s... it’s always bothered me.”

  “I overheard your granddad saying you’d suck at being king, and I was hopping mad.” Aurelia shrugged.

  “That... that’s it? That’s the reason?”

  “I mean. I sort of agreed with him,” Aurelia admitted. “In a way. You can be irresponsible. You avoid things and you get like this and you let it affect your work.”

  “Oh.”

  “Yeah.” She leaned down and kissed his forehead. “Don’t get me wrong. We’d much rather have you than him. Much rather. You just need someone to balance you out. Everyone does.”

  “Is that why you married me?”

  “Yes? I thought you understood that already. I wasn’t going to marry for love, was I? Not the romantic kind, anyway. Really feel like I’ve dodged a bullet there.”

  “Watching my train wreck of a love life is enough to put anyone off, aromantic or not,” Tyrian remarked.

  “If you’re making jokes, you’re probably okay to go back to bed.” Aurelia let him go and stretched. “You should. Will will be worried. And what are we going to do when we get back to the bedroom?”

  “I’ve got a few answers, none of which are the one you’re looking for,” Tyrian replied.

  “Tyrian.” She gave him a Look.

  “I’m just not ready.” He rubbed an arm. “Just... Give me a little more time. To process it.”

  “You don’t know what you’re processing,” the yokai chided. “You’re going to worry over nothing and you’re going to make Will worry over nothing.”

  “I’m not saying the whole month, just a few days... A week, at the most.”

  Aurelia clicked her tongue. “If you insist. But if you don’t have a proper conversation with him by then, I’m dragging you both in a room and making you do it, like I did with Victor and Lucinda.”

  “Alright.” Tyrian blinked. “Wait, you did WHAT?”

The time limit was almost up. Tyrian was in the throne room, anxiously awaiting for the consultation hours to end. It had been quiet today. Aurelia took a lot of these things, and she was so much better at dealing with nonsense than he was. The problematic nobles had realised they weren’t going to get anywhere and had given up, leaving more time for the actual problems to get addressed. Speaking of addressing problems, in came Will.

  ‘This is it,’ Tyrian told himself sternly. ‘You are going to have a sensible, grown up conversation with your grown up boyfriend, and he is going to leave happy with no regrets over his decision, whatever it may be, and you’re not going to cry.’

  “So I think today is the last legal day I can renegotiate my contract,” Will started as he approached the throne. “I know you probably don’t really care, but Fairyland and all, and I should stick to the rules.”

  “Mmhmm.” Tyrian responded.

  “So, I think we should just rip it up, to be honest? Like, not renew it.”

  Tyrian just nodded.

  “I feel like the cat’s out of the bag on our relationship now, and I’m living here for free anyway... I think I’d rather earn stuff outside the palace like everyone else. Bartering, washing dishes, etc.”

  “In...deed??”

  “Like, I guess we should probably find some kind of title for me that’s not fool, but I think I’ll keep wearing the stripes if it’s okay, it’s a great deterrent.”

  “I thought you were going to university?” Tyrian asked.

  “I mean... I still might, but I can’t decide what’s best to do. I thought maybe I should take tourism to help you with the tourism thing here, but Earth tourism is going to be pretty different than Fairyland tourism BUT tourism can actually be really bad for places, so maybe I SHOULD study it to avoid that... but then I’d have a student debt to deal with, and I can’t really be bothered to lie to the government about where I’m living for the rest of my-”

  “Will,” Tyrian cut him off.

  “Yeah, sorry, what?”

  “You’re not leaving, then?”

  “No? Unless you need me to?” Will frowned. “I guess I can keep being a fool if it’s politically more convenient?? I just kind of feel like it’s ridiculous to pay me for doing what I’d happily do for free. And I might kind of need to get a part time job on Earth for a bit. But I was hoping I could live here and just commute. What with Hel’s Map and all.”

  “Commute?”

  “Yeah? Oh. It means travel from here to a job or school somewhere else.”

  “Ah. Yes. So... You were planning to... commute... to university from here?”

  “Yeah. It would save me a lot of money and there’s still a bunch of stuff you need help with here, the magic school and all.” Will rubbed his neck. “I kinda might decide against university for the reasons I mentioned, but, I should at least study online instead or something if I don’t go to uni, but I need Earth money for that, hence the part time job... Is that... okay?”

  “Of course it is.” Tyrian slumped on the throne, very nearly sliding off the thing. “I thought you were going to leave once your contract was up?”

  “Well, that was the plan, originally... but, well, plans change?” Will smiled awkwardly. His smile turned to a frown as he studied Tyrian’s face. “Did you think I was just going to leave? Like, leave leave??”

  “Yes,” Tyrian admitted. “It’s been a... rough year.”

   “Yeah...” Will agreed. “You can say that again. Thing is, when I got here, it was something to tick off my bucket list. I mean, it was THE thing. The main thing. Everything I did for years was to set me up to come here to Fairyland. But I had no idea what I was gonna do afterwards.”

  “And now you do?” Tyrian prompted.

  “I don’t know exactly, but I know I don’t want to leave,” Will reassured him. “The idea that I could stay... it just didn’t occur to me.” He laughed. “I’m still in shock I got through the first day. Imagine, just turning up somewhere thinking you’re funny enough to get a job as a professional funny person, just, like, on the spot. The nerve of me, really. Don’t know how I got away with it.”

  “You were cute and charming  and you stood up for yourself and you spouted some wonderful nonsense and I thought someone was setting me up,” Tyrian replied.

  “You did?”

  “Oh, absolutely. I had to check with Aurelia.”

  “Did you... check with Aurelia that night you suddenly starting acting weird?”

  “She said I was being stupid and I should talk you like a normal person and she was 100% correct.”

  “I seriously thought both of you might eat me, my first day.”

  “You still came back the second day.”

  “I’m not easily deterred.” Will walked up onto the dias to hold Tyrian’s hand. “Try thinking about that, next time you think I’ll leave.”

  “I don’t really want to think about all the bad things that have happened to you this year,” Tyrian protested. “But I know what you mean.” He leaned over to touch his forehead to Will’s.

  “...You gonna stay on there all day?” Will asked. “Consultation hours are over. Let’s get out of here. Drusilla’s tea house?”

  “Drusilla’s tea house.” Tyrian agreed.

They walked out hand in hand.

---

I don't think I have the energy for comics but this is okay, I hope.

I haven't written anything focusing on Tyr and Will in a while and I miss them so here you go.

Originally Will was supposed to leave after his contract was up.

But Will does what Will wants, so yeah, he's not going anywhere, not for long, anyway.

[influencermagazineuk]

Tottenham Boss Vows Improvement After Brighton Blow

Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou has been forthcoming after the upset at the hands of Brighton & Hove Albion in which he has spoken to his players about issues in the team, conversations that will take place during the international week. It was particularly galling given the fact that Spurs had been able to create a healthy two-goal cushion at the end of the first 45 minutes only to surrender all three points after the restart. Postecoglou said it's hard to try to forget the past loss for two weeks, especially when there is an international break and added that gave him time to reflect and get ready in presenting his feedback to the team. Кирилл Венедиктов, CC BY-SA 3.0 GFDL, via Wikimedia Commons "It's hard," he said. "But it's not about me. It's about what we're trying to do to make ourselves the football team we want to be." The manager emphasized taking a balanced view towards their games, even addressing the imperfections in the second half while appreciating their team's excellent performance in the first. "Time allows you to reflect a little bit better," he said. "You can't dismiss the first half. You can't just focus on the second half. It gives you perspective to then look at how I'm gonna… one thing is to say 'I'm angry, I'm disappointed', whatever. But how are we going to help the players that next time that happens, we deal with it better?" Postecoglou said statistics came to his aid during post-match analysis, but a heavy head showed the visitors dropped their intensity significantly during the second half.". "The stats indicate we were very passive in the second half, even from a physical standpoint," he explained. "We pride ourselves in being the fittest team, the most intense team in the comp and our physical stats nosedived at the start of the second half." He attributed this to a misplaced attitude of complacency. "I just feel we went out there with the kind of attitude of 'We'll weather a bit of a storm and then finish strong and then the game is over done with' because we were so dominant in the first half." Postecoglou said such an approach is not sustainable at the highest level. "Elite sport you can't do that. You drop one or two per cent and you're dropping off a cliff. Your performance doesn't drop a little bit, you drop (considerably)". The gaffer picked on the fact that Brighton capitalized on Tottenham's loss of focus and implored his players to take more responsibilities on the pitch. "We didn't handle it well and stopped doing the things that fundamentally are the foundation of our football," he said. "It's not me saying we weren't competitive or didn't look like we didn't have any effort." Postecoglou rebutted the idea that leadership lies solely with a selected captain or even senior players. "Part of the feedback to the players is, 'If you feel it happening out there, the best way to arrest that is individuals to take action, to know what to do, he explained. "When people talk about leaders they think it's the captain. But that's where you fall into the trap because it might be the captain who is having a bad day." He believes any player on the pitch can show leadership. "Leadership can be shown by the youngest player out there," he said. "Every individual has the capacity to show leadership. Leadership is in that moment taking ownership of something. We didn't have anyone who did that through that time." Postecoglou acknowledged some players aren't the types to vocalize their thoughts, but leadership can also occur through actions. "For me, leadership is action," he said. "It's what you do in the heat of the action. Where the instincts are to do something about it but for some reason you don't. Because you don't feel it's your place or you don't feel confident enough. That's leadership." He sketched out plans to foster a more responsible culture among the squad. So you say, okay, you're not going to talk, but you know what, next time there's a 50-50 go and win it. And that's going to inspire everyone, he explained. The defeat at Brighton wasn't the first time that Tottenham have let a lead slip. The same thing happened at Southampton earlier this year, prompting a scathing attack from then-manager Antonio Conte on the players and the club. Postecoglou vigorously dismissed the idea that this was somehow a part of the club's DNA to do this, that such collapses are some kind of inevitability. " Mate, if I accepted that what am I doing here?" he responded. "Seriously - if I accept that this somehow is impossible to change I am really stealing a living. I don't believe that and I never have." The manager remains steadfast in. Read the full article

[rubyinasnuggie]

Random Headcanons No One Asked For:

-Both Ruby and Weiss are left handed

--Yang was 100% prepared to tease them about it when Blake very pointedly uses her left hand to write something

--Blake is ambidextrous

--which makes Yang the only right-handed one on the team

--until the fall of beacon oops

-Ren is fully color blind

--once baby Nora figured that out, she made it her mission to explain to him what colors are based on other sensations (sue me I love this trope)

--she describes pink as the quiet comfort they share in each other's presence

--Ren finally sees color for the first time when his semblance upgrades, and he can finally see the pink petals with Nora

-Blake likes to climb on things and find random nooks and crannies to read

--it turns into a game of reverse hide-and-seek when someone needs her: depending on how urgent it is the entire squad will drop everything and look for her

-team STRQ won the Vytal tournament their first year, specifically Summer was the champion

--Yang was more upset about the disqualification than she'd ever admit, because she secretly imagined Summer was out there somewhere watching the tournament, proud of her babies

-Tai pulled himself out of his depression by gardening: having a routine helped him, so he encouraged baby Ruby and Yang to get similar gentle hobbies

-Ruby raises chickens at home

--she very lovingly feeds them corn and calls them her ladies

--Yang affectionately calls them creatures and cluckers and other such rude things to get a rise out of Ruby

-Ruby deeply wants a cow

--this is her one and only retirement dream

--although honestly she can never imagine herself living past her 20s

-Yang struggled with picking a hobby, she gets bored easily and hates the expected

--its only post-Beacon that she understands the benefits of a routine

--thats why she ends up with a ton of chores, just some structure to help her through the day

-Ruby will drink any type of milk, but Strawberry milk is her favorite

-Sun is allergic to bananas but he doesn't know

--he thinks bananas are supposed to be spicy

-Weiss loves sour apple

-Pyrrha loves chocolate almonds

-Yang thinks fish are creepy, she just generally doesn't love the ocean

--she thinks Neptune is a little clown though

-Oscar gets dressed by putting on his left sock, left boot, then his right sock and right boot

--RNJR made it their mission to interrupt him during this just to see him walk around with one boot on

-Ruby likes to bake, it's one of the few solid memories she has of her mom

--one night Weiss was feeling homesick and Ruby taught her how to make mug cakes

--"its probably not that good compared to your cake butler, but it's pretty simple, and I like them!"

--Weiss secretly makes them at least once a week, even back home in Atlas

-Weiss has taken flight lessons, at one point Ironwood really pushed for her to become a pilot in the military

-Blake has a field journal of the different types of Grimm she's encountered

--team RWBY & JNPR have spent several nights sitting in a circle talking and adding to the journal

--while traveling across Anima, Ruby sketched and took notes on all the Grimm she saw, just in case she ever found Blake again

-Weiss collects rocks

--no, not crystals. actual rocks

--shes rarely spent time in the real outside, but whenever she has, she picks up little rocks and puts them in her pocket before anyone can see

-Jaune never actually stopped writing left and right on the bottom of his shoes actually

-Weiss had never been allowed to paint her nails as a kid, she'd always get weekly French manicures instead

--by the second semester at Beacon, Ruby, Weiss, Nora, and Ren would have weekly manicure nights where they'd paint each other's nails

--there were several times they'd rope the rest of the teams into it, especially during the Vytal tournament where they'd write team names on their nails

--during the singles round they'd write Yang on one hand and Pyrha on the other

--"we couldn't make it fit without cutting one of the R's!"

-Pyrrha and Weiss became each other's default plus one's for fancy events, to the point people began to speculate that the two were dating

--Jaune was somehow jealous of them both and it was very confusing to him since he had poor self awareness

-Yang cuts Ruby's hair, but after she lost her arm she lost the fine motor skills to do a good job, so Blake started to do it

-Blake is always there to help Yang with her phantom pains and residual limb pain

--she helps massage Yang's arm while leaning close and purring

--Yang cried the first time Blake did this because she's not used to being taken care of

-Nora never gets sick and is the designated nurse when a bug goes around the teams

--the electricity incident was the first time Nora has ever been bed-ridden

-Weiss took ballet as a child

-Jaune is actually pretty good at the guitar

-Pyrrha is not musically inclined at all its a miracle she managed to do the iconic JNPR shine dance

--jk but actually she's a decent dancer when she has the steps choreographed for her but she has no natural rhythm

-in the last few months before Pyrrha's death, she and Jaune would waltz on top of the roof together

--there were several almost kisses

--maybe a few successful kisses who knows

-there are occasions (obv extremely rare) when Ren actually takes the bulk of the energy from Nora

--this leads to thrilling game nights where Ren makes multiple 40pt remnant-equiv-of-scrabble plays while Nora naps

-Oscar is the only person who can beat Ren in scrabble, although it's very closely matched

-Oscar is amazing at chess and will play it against himself like a little square

-Yang and Ruby are experts at the tabletop war game they play in the library

--9 times out of 10, the winner is one of them

-Oscar is the only one who also knew about Compost King, which was very exciting for Jaune

--Compost King is a common game night activity while they were in Haven because its so hard to say no to Oscar

-Yang is a straight-A student and has always been

-Blake never had any formal education and she finds a lot of the classes incredibly dull or ineffective at teaching the material

--she's always the one convincing Yang to skip a class and lie in the sun-warmed grass with her

--she still gets Bs easily

-Oscar is a very fast reader and will devour any book he's given

--his aunt would frequently bring home books from town just to keep him entertained

-Ruby has suffered from migraines and nightmares her entire life, post-Beacon they only got worse

-Weiss shops at local dust stores whenever she can, even though she could get shipments for free

--however she does have Ron Swanson's "I know more than you" energy when she's shopping

-Blake and Ren will sometimes take naps together

--not cuddling, just occupying the same general space

--wake them up at your own risk

-if Ruby isn't engaged with something, she can start to scatter and dissolve into rose petals

--its a very slow process and someone has always snapped her out of it before she's fully vanished, but Yang is worried about what would happen if no one caught her in time

-Ren is afraid of horses

-Blake hates being cold

-Yang naturally radiates heat cause semblance duh

-Weiss glued the tiniest gravity crystals to the underside of Ruby's bed to ensure it never falls

-JNPR likes to push their beds all together so they can sleep in one big pile

-Nora can only sleep if she's holding someone's hand

Hope u guys enjoyed! These are in no particular order, sorry that I kinda jumped around a lot 😅

Feel free to reblog and add your own ideas and headcanons! ❤

[tobesoalive]

rises the moon (Josh Kiszka x Reader)

here’s a fluffy smut pice for y'all about the hottest man alive, Josh Kiszka! Let me know if you like it and want to see more of this stuff, I had a lot of fun writing it! Anyways....enjoy!

WARNINGS: smut, oral (f receiving), fingering, the usual 

“C’mon babe! Let's celebrate a little!” you nagged your sweaty, grinning boyfriend. Josh Kiszka was the love of your life, and had been since you met three years ago. It was a warm August night and he had just gotten done performing his first show in months.

“I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to let loose a bit” he replied with a grin. “I’m kinda tired though so do you mind if it’s just the two of us?”

“I guess I could tolerate that” you tease.

After about another hour of hearing people congratulate the boys and helping pack up it was time to go. You were able to make it to the car without being swarmed by fans, but still stopping for a few photos. You offered to drive so that Josh could sleep for a little bit. Finally you pulled up to the little bungalow you and Josh had started living in a few months ago. It only made sense for the two of you to live together since you were practically inseparable.

Entering through the garage you kicked off your shoes as Josh questioned what you had in mind.

“Well I was thinking we could put on a record and maybe cook some food? Maybe even enjoy a glass of wine if you’re feeling wild”

“You know me baby, I’m always wild!” he responds, doing a weird voice that you rolled your eyes at, but deep down you loved it.

“I think the term feral suits you better” you quip, pulling him in for an embrace.

He rests his head on your shoulder, nuzzling his face into your neck, breathing deeply. You know how stressed and anxious he has been these past few weeks leading up to the show, and it made you so happy to see him finally relaxing. Silently your bodies part ways and he makes his way over to your extensive vinyl collection in the living room. He’s flipping through records when you run up to your bedroom and come back down the stairs, hands hiding behind your back.

“Hey Frodo, I have a little surprise for you”

“Oh boy what could it be, a sacred ring or some shit?” he says without looking up, putting a Fleet Foxes record on the turntable.

“Sorry for calling you a hobbit, I just wanted to make sure I got your attention.” you say as he finally makes his way over to you.

From behind your back you pull out a single joint and a lighter, one you had hand decorated with little stars and a moon. On it you had written in gold Sharpie “You are my sun”.

“Babe this is so amazing!” he says while taking the lighter in his hand and flipping it around. Josh was always keeping your sketches and random doodles that you thought nothing of, so you thought you’d put them on something he’d get use out of.

“I’m sorry I know it’s small, I just wanted to give you a little something to say congrats.”

“Are you kidding mama?! I love it, you didn’t have to do anything!” he assures you before pulling you in for a kiss.

“I will definitely be putting this to good use, but I think we should break it in now” he says before pulling you over to the couch and putting the joint between his lips.

He passes it to you and you inhale deeply, letting the sweet smoke fill your lungs. This was an activity you and Josh liked to partake in when you had a stressful day, or when you were going on an adventure, or anytime really. Not that either of you weren’t already very laid back and silly.

After a few minutes of the two of you passing the joint back and forth it was gone, and you ashed it out in the tray on the coffee table, setting the lighter to rest beside it.

“God that was a really great present actually, I just wish there was a way I could repay you” Josh says turning to face you.

“It’s a gift, you don’t need to repay me!” you tell him, starting to feel the effects of the weed.

“But you see I’m just a giving person, and what I’d like to give to you right now is a mind blowing orgasm” Josh says, and you can’t help but burst out laughing. You cover your face with your hands before facing him and saying “Kiszka you are such a dork, you’re lucky I find you so attractive!”

Both of you are grinning as your lips collide and after a minute of making out you pull back.

“After some deep consideration, I’ve come to the conclusion that that is an offer i just can’t refuse”

“Oh my love you are in for a treat!” he tells you before pulling you onto his lap.

Your hips start to move against his involuntarily, and you can feel him growing harder beneath his shorts. You tug at the hem of his white shirt and he lifts his arms up so you can pull it off him. Once again you break the kiss to move down on to your knees, ready to tease him with your mouth.

“Oh no princess, none of that tonight. All I really want to do is taste you so you better get your ass on this couch” he says with a small laugh.

You giggle as you get back on the sofa, barely able to contain your excitement. He unbuttons your pants and awkwardly yanks them off, causing you both to laugh. Quickly, his face becomes more serious as he concentrates on running his fingers up and down on the inside of your thighs, lightly ghosting around where you need him most.

“Joshua please” you whimper as you throw your head back, becoming more and more frustrated by his teasing.

“Sorry baby, I was just admiring how wet you already are. Was it from me?”

“Mhmm” you moan in response, tilting your head back down to make eye contact with him.

“Well I suppose I could treat you, since you’ve been such a good girl” he smirks before pulling your panties to the side, running his middle finger up and down your slit.

His teeth bite at his bottom lip as he darts his eyes from your wet center and back up to your eyes. You’re unable to take your eyes off of him, the sight of him alone is enough to make you come.

Slowly, he pushes his middle finger in, down to the last knuckle, letting it sit there a moment before he starts to pump it in and out of you at a lazy pace. Your walls contract around him as your eyes start to tear up, desperate for more.

“Josh more please” you plead with him. Instantly he attaches his lips to your clit, the motion all too familiar to him, the hairs above his lip and on his chin adding extra sensation. He swirls his tongue around the sensitive bud as his finger speeds up it’s pace. You can feel the heat start to pool in your stomach as he continues his actions. He adds a second finger, taking a moment to pull his mouth away and use his free hand to pull your panties to the side more. He dives back in, more concentrated than ever, fingers curling up to hit the delicate spot inside of you. You can see him rutting against the couch and it’s enough to make you throw your head back and let out a loud and rather pornographic moan.

“I think I’m gonna-” you start to say as the fire in your belly builds.

“It’s okay baby, you can do it, cum for me” he says, flashing his gorgeous smile quickly before returning his lips to your clit, moaning around it, sending delicious vibrations through your body. Your fingers lace through his curls as his fingers pump at an insane speed, sending you over the edge.

Your body shakes as stars form behind your closed eyelids, every part of you basked in complete euphoria, oblivious to everything around you. After a minute you open your eyes as you whimper at the feeling of Josh dragging his fingers out of you, but the feeling of his breath still hot against your clit.

You look down to see Josh with his eyes closed, partially hunched over as his hands rest on his knees, your juices gleaming on his tan skin.

“Wow, I owe you one, that was fucking amazing” you sigh.

“I’d love that, but I’m gonna have to take a rain check, seems my problem took care of itself” he says, cheeks turning red.

You look down to see a dark spot on his green shorts, realizing that he was experiencing just as much pleasure from pleasuring you.

“Joshua Michael Kiszka, that is the hottest thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life!” you say before pulling him into a kiss, the taste of you lingering on his lips. The thought of him getting off from eating you out alone drove you wild, he really fucking loves you.

“God I’ve never been more tired and content in my life” he says as his arms find their way around you, head burying into your neck.

“Well my prince, why don't you go upstairs and get in bed while I get you a glass of water and a snack”

“Oh my god, how did I get this lucky?” he says

“I ask myself the same thing everyday” you say before giving him one last kiss.

“You are my moon”

“And you my sun”

And you meant every bit of it.

[bestiesenpai]

Area 51 - Nanami Kento

This is for @natsuonii’s creature feature collab! :) It’s got alien!reader, scientist Nanami and a whole lot of weird shit I’d say. Femme reader...there’s alien pussy lol 9.8K words

link to the collab!

Content warnings: sex pollen, alien heat, reverse knot, daddy kink, blood + needle(it’s brief I promise) and random medical terms and fake science shit lol don’t look too deeply at it

“This...this is the best scientific breakthrough we’ve ever had.” Nanami was at a loss for words, watching as decked out military men brought in case after case of wreckage from a shot down spacecraft. Working at a highly secure government facility sure did have it’s perks, and being one of the first people to know about all this was certainly the biggest one.

Nanami had spent so much of his life studying and clawing his way to the job he was at now. He’d sacrificed so much in the name of science, in the pursuit of finding extraterrestrial life forms no matter how small and insignificant, and it was finally paying off.

“Doctor, we’ll take the embryos to your lab.” One of the men said, quickly walking away tailed by people holding glowing blue cases. He hadn’t really been briefed on what all was coming in and what exactly happened to get it here, but he was sure he would find out soon enough.

“Careful!” Another person shouted and he was pushed out of the way. Coming in through the large steel doors was what looked like a four armed monster strapped face down to a flatbed. Markings went up and down his face and body and there were an extra set of eyes staring at everyone as it was wheeled by.

“What is that creature?” Nanami mumbled, clutching his clipboard tightly. The creature was breathing hard through its nose, nostrils flaring dangerously wide and a light growl rumbled from its chest.

“It appears to be the leader of the spacecraft, we could only get the creature's name, nothing else: Sukuna.” Someone answered him, but Nanami didn’t acknowledge, he was unable to take his eyes off Sukuna.

“Incredible.” His mouth hung open like a fool, unblinking as he watched Sukuna be wheeled past him and to the elevator shaft. “How far down are they taking him?”

“I heard the chief say as far as they could. He’s highly dangerous, it was a miracle the team was able to get the upper hand.”

“I’ll have to pay him a visit soon.” Nanami had enough security clearance to go anywhere in the building, but something was telling him he’d have to ask for a lot of permissions first before making contact with Sukuna. Nanami learned quite early on that the deeper underground you went, the more power you needed to be there.

Once the final bits and pieces were brought into the facility, Nanami peeled himself off the wall and made the way to his own lab. With his badge hung proudly from his shirt pocket, Nanami made the descent and as the elevator went floor after floor and the numbers got higher and higher, he let some excited exhales out.

Going down the metal corridor, he came to his lab to see it teeming with people. Nanami often worked alone on things and to see so many people milling about in his space made him a little nervous.

“Tell me about the embryos.” Was the first thing he said when he entered, donning the white lab coat he’d left hanging by the door. Walking over to the giant test tubes lining the back wall, he peered into one of the open cases.

Nestled inside atop a pile of hay were glowing blue orbs, some too bright to look at directly. They had a light blue smoke coming off, gradually spilling out the sides of the case and if he looked hard enough Nanami could just barely see the outline of a creature inside.

“They were on the spaceship Sukuna came in on. He was hellbent on protecting them, killing five of our people right off the bat.” The military man he’d spoken to earlier was here, answering right away.

“Were they in a case like this?” Donning a pair of gloves, Nanami picked one up. It was cool to the touch and quite heavy, making the muscles in his arm work harder than expected to stay upright.

“No, he had them suspended in some type of thick goop, like clear maple syrup.”

“How scientific, thank you.” He snorted, setting the embryo back down. “Do you have any of this ‘goop’ left?”

“Only this, sir.” Holding up a capped beaker filled halfway with the fluid, the man let out a defeated sigh. “Sukuna actually swallowed most of it, I guess trying to keep the embryos from us any way possible. This stuff is crazy acidic though, it’s melted almost everything it comes in contact with.”

“This should be enough…” Already making calculations in his head, Nanami took the beaker and walked to the control panel of the test tubes. “Load up the embryos and I’ll try to mimic the solution they were in. In the meantime, I’ll put one in that should be similar enough to keep them alive for a while.”

Pressing a few buttons on the panel, the test tubes began to fill with a murky pink liquid, filling the air with a pungent aroma. The embryos were loaded in quickly and the tubes sealed off. Watching them as he walked over to a table full of supplies, Nanami grinned slightly at watching them float.

It took him little time to come up with the properties of the amniotic fluid the embryos had been in. Making slight adjustments to the formula, he watched the liquid go from murky to clear, with only a light pink tinge left.

As the days wore on, Nanami studied the embryos intensely, opting to sleep in his lab instead of the barracks provided so he wouldn’t miss a single change should any occur. Going days without sleep, a week went by without any significant change.

A soft tapping on glass roused Nanami from an impromptu nap. Drawing his head up from where it was nestled in his arms on the metal table he was slumped over, he rubbed his face roughly and looked around.

“Who is it?” He called, assuming it was someone at the door. But when no answer came and the door wasn’t opened, he fully sat up and looked around. “Where the hell-” Cutting himself off as he looked at the test tubes, Nanami almost fell out of his stool.

In the seven test tubes lining the wall, there were three embryos that had come to term. He knew some would fail, resigning himself to the possibility that all of them would, but to see three newborn aliens was beyond his wildest expectations.

“Oh my god.” Snatching his clipboard off the table, Nanami rushed to the test tubes. He was writing furiously, capturing every single detail he saw about them and even making quick sketches of what they looked like.

There were little nubs right above their behinds, what looked to be the beginnings of a tail. All of them had two sets of eyes, unopened and tiny on their infantile faces, faces that were beginning to bear the same marks Sukuna had.

The tapping on the glass, Nanami quickly found out, was from them floating freely in the tubes, softly knocking against the glass as they hung suspended in the fluid. Nanami couldn’t see any kind of umbilical cord or method to get them the possible nutrients they needed to stay alive. So he just had to hope that they woke up soon to tell him what they needed.

The babies rapidly took shape after coming to term, morphing into a human-like form right before Nanami’s eyes. It seemed that with every couple of hours that passed they grew more and more. Fingers, webbed toes, tufts of hair and tails all appeared.

“So when do you think they’ll be able to come out?” His supervisor asked, nearly a month after the first encounter. The aliens under Nanami’s care looked like full fledged adults, ones that you could see out in public and - despite a few glaring differences - not pay any mind to.

“I don’t know, ma’am. I don’t know if they can survive out here.” In the month that passed, the facility wasn’t able to get any intel from Sukuna about the embryos or why he chose to come to Earth. All he did was snarl and growl, slurring a few death threats when he could.

“Take one out and see.”

“What?” Gasping loudly, Nanami’s eyes went wide. Surely his boss didn’t mean for him to sacrifice one of them? They were too precious of an asset to possibly let die like that and Nanami was ready to put his foot down.

“Don’t worry, doctor, Sukuna’s told us a bunch of times that more of his people will be coming, and I’m willing to bet they’ll have more embryos for us to study.” Giving him a swift pat on the back, his boss turned on her heel and started to walk away. “The usual assistants will be here to help you should you need anything and don’t feel bad if they all die, that’s just how these things go.”

The parting words were less than heartwarming. Letting out a rough sigh, Nanami turned to the team of people behind him. They worked with him before, most of them idolizing him with a gleam in their eyes.

“We’ll wheel in the examining table and take them out one by one. If there’s any adverse reactions, I’m sure we’ll be able to handle it. Get the usual supplies ready, we’ll start in ten.” Giving the group a curt nod, Nanami turned back to the test tubes. Pressing his hand onto the glass of one, he closed his eyes. “God, I really hope you all don’t die.”

In ten minutes, Nanami was dressed in full hazmat gear and so was his team. The crinkling of plastic suits was loud in the otherwise deathly silent room as everyone held their breath. Draining the fluid of the first tube, Nanami swung open the door.

“Let’s take a look.” Nanami said as the body was lifted onto the table. It had no external sex organs to speak of, not even a hole for a cloaca. Cool to the touch, Nanami waited for it to show any signs of life.

“It’s not moving.” Someone called out after five minutes, scribbling it down on the notes. They’d tried everything, strapping an oxygen mask over the face, chest compressions and returning the body back to the fluid it had previously been in, but it was no use.

“Take that away to Getou’s lab, he’ll dissect it.” Waving the first body away, Nanami looked up at the second. “We need to instill a gradual change in environment or else the same thing will happen.”

“Should we try to set up a feeding tube or an IV?”

“IV, yes.”

The second attempt went marginally better than the first. Slowly shifting the fluid to one of a normal human amniotic fluid seemed to work. The alien twitched and rocked side to side, seemingly waking up from its slumber.

Drawing it out from the tube, it appeared to be just fine. Gasping for air, fluttering eyelids and squirming limbs - all things Nanami wanted to see. What he didn’t want though, was for the creature to lash out with unexpectedly sharp claws, cutting through the sleeve of his suit and drawing blood.

“Holy shit!” Stumbling back, Nanami watched in horror as the creature licked the blood from its nails. Smacking its lips together, the creature pointed at him. It was rapidly losing the color in its cheeks, struggling to form whatever words it needed.

“Blood? Do you need human blood to survive on this planet?” Nanami shouted, scrambling away from the table he’d flung himself onto and holding out his arm. “Take it! Quickly!”

“Doctor no!” A few of his assistants tried to yank him away from the examining table. They didn’t want to see the blood get drained from his body or him possibly get eaten by the creature.

“Stop it, let me do this!” Struggling with them, Nanami watched in rapt horror as the creature nodded slowly before fully collapsing on the table, drawing it’s last shaky inhale before falling limp entirely. “You fucking idiots, we just lost another one!” Pushing the people away, Nanami banged his fist angrily on the table.

“Doctor, we couldn’t let you do something so dangerous! You’re the most valuable scientist here, we can’t lose you!”

“Bullshit! I don’t care if the next one wants to swallow me whole, you let it!” Glaring at all the people in the room, Nanami began to rip his gear off. “And if it dies for any reason, I’m going to make sure none of you ever find work again.”

With the threat hanging heavily in the air, Nanami stormed over to the control panel one last time, punching in the codes needed to change the fluid on the remaining test tube. His arm was slowly leaking blood and he could feel the warmth drip down to his hand.

“Get me an IV, I’m going to give this last one a blood transfusion.”

“Doctor, are you sure you-”

“If you question me one more time I’ll cut your tongue out. Now do as I say.” Pulling up a chair, Nanami sat down and leaned his head against the cold glass of the tube. None of this was going as he wanted; Nanami didn’t plan to lose two out of three creatures, nor to give blood to the last one.

Hooking up an IV, Nanami watched the blood drain from his arm, flowing up and into the top of the test tube where there was a needle inserted into the last alien. Trying not to get too woozy as he was drained of blood, Nanami pressed his forehead to the glass and squeezed his eyes shut.

“I don’t believe in you but God if you’re out there, please make this work.”

“Doctor?” He wasn’t sure when he passed out, but when Nanami came to, he had a crowd of people gawking at him.

“Yes? What?” The IV was out of his arm and there was a blanket over him and as he tried to get out of his chair he nearly fell.

“L-look behind you.” Pointing with a shaking finger, the assistant that woke him up turned him to face the test tube.

“Why do you all look so-” Turning around, Nanami stumbled back, for once grateful to have someone else in the lab to catch him. “Scared?” Whispering out the last word in a high pitched voice, Nanami couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

The once nondescript alien in the tube was now a fully fledged human being. With complete and fairly dark markings on their face, breasts and a vagina, the creature before him could be mistaken for any other adult.

And the thing that was most shocking was the way all four eyes honed in on Nanami, tracking his every move. Pressing it’s forehead and hands to the glass, the creature turned as Nanami walked side to side.

“It’s been watching you since you passed out.”

“How long has it been like that?” He asked, getting closer to the test tube.

“It just suddenly changed shortly after you lost consciousness. A flash of light went off and poof, it looked like that.” Pressing his hand to the glass, Nanami let out a breathless laugh as the creature scurried back only to return in mere seconds.

“Open the tube, we have to let it out.” Unable to take his eyes off the creature, Nanami could hardly wait for all the fluid to be drained before opening up the test tube and helping the creature out. Surprisingly steady on its feet, Nanami barely had to help it stand upright.

“Hello.” He smiled, shrugging off his lab coat and placing it over its shoulders. “Welcome to Earth.”

“Hello.” You said back, attempting to smile as well. “Welcome to Earth.”

When Nanami first got the embryos, he wasn’t expecting anything to come out of them. The most he thought would happen was possible growth but never any of them coming to term and certainly never of them to actually be able to communicate.

It appears you were destined to prove him wrong, however. Nearly the moment you stepped out of the test tube, dripping in fluid and with a long tail you couldn’t quite control, you exceeded all of Nanami’s expectations - not that he even had any to begin with, especially not when it came to taking you out of the tube.

The first hour, you were sitting perfectly still while the team ran tests on you. Pressing a cold stethoscope to your chest, a few of them got a giggle out of the way you gasped and squirmed. Nanami watched it all happen, taking calculated notes and even doing some of the tests himself.

“What’s your name?” He questioned after another hour of hearing you repeat the phrases around you. Staring at him from the stool you were perched on, you tilted your head. It was only you and him left in the lab now, he sent everyone else away, wanting a chance to study you on his own.

“What’s your name?” You parroted back, mimicking the way Nanami had his arms crossed over his chest.

“My name is Nanami Kento. What’s yours?”

“Nanami Kento.” He made a disgruntled sound in the back of his throat, rolling his eyes at the giggle you let out. He understood he was dealing with an alien, one that might never be able to fully communicate the way he desired, but he wanted to get somewhere.

“What’ll it take for you to stop copying me?”

“Reading a book.” He’d meant it as a rhetorical question, and hearing your voice form a stilted sentence all on it’s own was a big surprise. Nodding curtly, Nanami walked over to a set of bookcases and grabbed a thick dictionary and a thesaurus, placing them onto the table next to you. Flipping open the first page of the dictionary, Nanami pointed at the words.

“Can you read these?”

“Mhmm!” Leaning over, your eyes scanned the script.

“Good, read all of it and tell me when you’re done.” Setting up a chair on the other side of the table, Nanami fixed a pile of notes and other documents he needed to work over. He could take time to catch up his reports while you-

“Done!” Slamming the dictionary closed, you picked up the thesaurus. “I have to read this too?”

“Y-yes.” Nanami’s mouth hung open slightly as he watched you speed through the second book. He expected this whole process to take an hour at least but you were done with both books in just a few minutes.

“All finished.” You were still a little unsure of forming sentences, lifting your voice in slight question at the end.

“How did you do that so fast?”

“When Mother made us, she gave us all the information she could on this planet, including rudimentary language. I just needed a way to conceptualize actually speaking on my own.”

“Who’s Mother?” Grabbing his pen, Nanami began to scribble down what you were saying.

“Mother is the one that made us. All of us, me, my companions, and Sukuna too.”

“Right…” Nanami’s hand hesitated at the mention of Sukuna, drawing inky swirls in place of words. “Then Mother is the one who sent you here with him?”

“Yes! She said that to take over this planet, we would need to assimilate to the environment and that we’d need a strong warrior to protect us.” You had a dreamy look in your eyes, no doubt thinking about Sukuna. “So far I like this-”

“Hold on, take over the planet?”

“It’s what my people do: we come to a planet, impregnate the population and take over.” He was sure there was more to it than that but for his own peace of mind Nanami didn’t question it further. For now, he wanted to focus on the positives, mainly the one of you finally speaking on your own.

“So…” Nanami struggled to find the next topic of conversation.

“Oh, I remember my name now! It’s (Y/N).”

“Did Mother also give you that name?”

“She did!” You truly looked overjoyed to be talking about all this. The smile on your face led to Nanami being able to see the sharp canine teeth in your mouth, akin to a set of teeth he’d find in a vampire movie.

“So (Y/N), I have a question. I gave you my blood so you’d be able to live on this planet.” He paused to make sure you were following along. “I want to know why you’re a female when you received male donor blood.”

“Mother determined which gender would be useful for me to have on this planet, so all I needed was your DNA to complete the transformation and become a human.”

“Mother thinks humans have those extra eyes and a tail?” Nanami snorted at that, there were too many things to give away your unhuman origins that couldn’t be ignored.

“Sukuna is supposed to teach us how to hide them until we need them.” Your shoulders visibly slumped and you looked around. “Where is he? He was supposed to be here when we woke up.”

“He’s somewhere else-”

“Where? Where is he?” Putting both palms flat on the table, you leaned forward. You seemed desperate, your brows scrunching together as you worried your lip. “I can tell he’s close, but where is he exactly?”

Nanami heard what you said. He knew exactly the words that were spoken and their meaning. But he was having a hard time thinking of anything as he suddenly became aware again of the fact that you were still naked, the lab coat you had on falling open to reveal your breasts.

“How about we talk about that while you get dressed in something more appropriate?” Clearing his throat roughly, Nanami pushed away from the table. His cheeks were getting a bit warm and he didn’t want you to see.

“No, tell me where Sukuna is!” Slapping your hands loudly on the table, you glared sharply at Nanami when he tried to come closer. “I don’t want to be alone any longer! My companions didn’t make it, he’s all I have!”

“(Y/N)...” Sighing softly, Nanami didn’t know what to do. If he tried to raise his hand, you growled at him, flexing your fingers as if you were going to strike him. He couldn’t tell you where Sukuna was, no matter what. “You’re- you’re not alone.”

“What do you mean?” Your face softened just a fraction, and you leaned back as Nanami lifted his hand slowly, placing it on the table near your own hand.

“You have me.” Nanami felt something odd twisting his stomach, something that told him this simultaneously was a good and bad idea. It wasn’t wise to say this to you, to try and build some kind of relationship beyond a scientist and his test subject, but what did he have to lose? You were the first alien he’d ever come in contact with, there were bound to be some risks he’d have to take to keep you happy.

“Really?” Relaxing your body, you let your hand get closer to Nanami’s.

“Really.” Fully grabbing your hand now, Nanami tugged you from the stool, craning his head away to avoid looking at your open chest. “Now follow me, I think there’s some scrubs in one of these drawers.”

“Nanami, I’m hungry.” After finding you a set of clothes buried in a drawer and cutting a hole in the bottoms for your tail, Nanami was greeted with the sound of your growling stomach.

“What do you eat?”

“Whatever you eat.” Taking up residence on the singular fold out couch Nanami used to sleep on, you watched him pick up the phone on his desk.

“Let’s have some pasta then.”

While Nanami preferred to cook his food himself rather than ordering it from upstairs, he didn’t have the heart to tell you that the cafeteria food was less than ideal. You seemed to love the dish he gave you, eating it with no hesitation and a smile on your face.

“Is there anything else you can tell me about your kind?” Picking over his food, Nanami watched you finish eating in record time and pushed his plate over to you.

“Like what?” Tilting your head to the side, you gladly took his food.

“Anything that comes to mind like cultural things, maybe you celebrate holidays?”

“We do! I was created to leave the planet, but others get to stay and cultivate life there. We have something close to what you call Christmas and others for things you wouldn’t understand.”

“Really? You’ll have to write them down for me later.” Nodding to himself, he made the mental note to teach you how to write. Glancing down at the two now empty plates before you, Nanami flicked his head toward the phone. “Fancy some more?”

As it reached midnight, Nanami became starkly aware of the fact there was only one place for the both of you to sleep. He wasn’t sure how much sleep you actually needed or if you needed any at all for that matter, but he knew for sure that sleeping on the same fold out mattress with you would be crossing a line he wasn’t ready for. It was already too short to hold his entire frame, and putting two bodies side by side wouldn’t be a good idea.

“(Y/N), are you tired?” Standing up from the couch, he motioned for you to stand as well.

“Yes.” Your voice was chipper as ever, not a hint of exhaustion heard. You watched with rapt interest as Nanami unfolded the mattress and set it on the ground.

“Alright, well you’ll be sleeping here and I’ll be sleeping in the barracks.”

“I’m going to be alone?”

“Is that a problem?” Quirking a brow, Nanami glanced at you.

“Well not necessarily but I- I don’t want to be alone. Not on my first night, at least.” Curling your tail on the ground, you worried your fingers, claws clicking together as you did. Nanami could feel his resolve wearing down, the nervous look you tried to hide made his fingers flex; he felt an overarching urge to protect you.

“I’ll grab another couch from the lab next door.” Turning on his heel, Nanami took deep breaths as he left the room. Forcing his head to get clear, he drug another couch into his lab, setting it up across from the first one.

“Is this what you call a sleepover?” You asked, watching Nanami set up both couches with blankets and pillows.

“You could say that, yes.” A strange giggle left your mouth and it made Nanami pause and look at you. “What was that sound?”

“A laugh?” Dropping your face in confusion, you looked him straight in the eye. “Is something wrong?”

“No no it’s just-” clearing his throat loudly, Nanami rushed out the next words, “That was the most beautiful sound I’ve ever heard.” At his admittance, you giggled again and he had to bite his lip hard from audibly swooning.

“Mother made it special for me, she makes all her children special.” Mimicking the way Nanami climbed into bed, you laid down and stared at the dark ceiling. “Only some of us can laugh like that, and others have pheromones and what not to attract the native people on a new planet.”

“(Y/N), do you have special pheromones too?” Your casual mention of impregnating and taking over the whole planet flashed in his head.

“I think I do, why else would you have agreed to stay here with me?”

“Good to know.” Nanami would have to install a high tech air filter later, he didn’t like the idea of slowly succumbing to your desires. Fully laying down in bed, he drew the blankets up to his chin and tried not to think of it anymore. “Good night.”

For a month Nanami studied you nonstop. Gathering medical information, he discovered you had three stomachs and two hearts. Through plenty of trial and error you learned how to keep the swinging of your tail under control and not trip him anymore. He even learned your favorite foods and the relative location of your home planet in the galaxy.

When Nanami had to step out for meetings, he begrudgingly let fellow scientist Gojo watch over you. The best in his field and horribly obnoxious about it, Nanami tried to limit the time you two spent together. He didn’t need Gojo influencing you too much and ruining the work Nanami had put into acclimating you to society in an appropriate way.

“You’re back!” It was like he was coming home from work whenever you greeted him like that. You bounded over to the door from wherever you were and bounced on your toes, eager to talk to him about what he’d done while away.

“Mhmm. How’s it been with Gojo?” Nanami glanced up at said man, not liking the fact that he was lounging on the couch with his laptop perched precariously on his thigh.

“It’s great! He showed me something really interesting.” A shy giggle left your lips and you avoided further eye contact with Nanami.

“What is it?” Narrowing his eyes, Nanami began to glower at Gojo, who started to shrink under his gaze.

“(Y/N), don’t you have something to say first?” Gojo smirked, barely hiding a chuckle behind his hand.

“Oh, you’re right!” Squaring your shoulders at Nanami, you took a deep breath. “Welcome back, daddy!” Taking a brief glance at Gojo, you cupped your cheeks and stuck your tongue out, crossing your eyes for extra measure.

“W-what the fuck!” Scrambling back in shock, Nanami glared sharply at Gojo as a harsh red flush coated his cheeks. He was ashamed to admit he’d seen that face before, late at night when he was too restless to sleep and needed something to help soothe his mind.

“What’s wrong, Kento? Do you not like what (Y/N)’s doin’?” The dark chuckle behind Gojo’s words had Nanami wanting to throttle him. Of course he liked it, he was a grown man wasn’t he? Not to mention Nanami couldn’t remember the last time he’d laid down with another warm body like that and the face you were making was bringing several repressed thoughts to the surface.

Unable to form the proper words, Nanami side stepped you and went to his desk, placing files down that needed to be typed out later and trying to still his rapid heartbeat. The way you said that sentence so enthusiastically, saliva making your tongue glisten in the light - it was too much for him to deal with so abruptly.

“Why’d you teach her that shit?” Nanami growled, covering the lower half of his face with his trembling hand.

“(Y/N) deserves to know all aspects of human life, wouldn’t you agree?” Closing his laptop, Gojo stood up and walked to the door. “Besides Kento, I know you get lonely at night.” Smiling sweetly at you, Gojo left the room without any further comment.

“(Y/N).” With his back still facing you, Nanami heaved a sigh.

“Yes?” You said slowly, relaxing your body. The tension rolled off Nanami in waves, making the air thick and uncomfortable. It was hard to read whether he was angry or not.

“What has Gojo been teaching you?” The subtle sag in his shoulders isn’t missed by you, making you scramble to the desk and face him.

“I don’t know! He said there were some interesting things you’d yet to show me and he pulled up some websites and- and-” A bit of fear spiked in your head. You’d only gone along with what Gojo said was right, Nanami had entrusted you to his care after all and your whole reason for being on the planet was to assimilate. “Are you mad at me?” Rubbing at your four eyes to stem a sudden wave of anxious tears, you looked at Nanami, waiting nervously for his answer.

“Not at you. Him.” Sensing your oncoming distraught, Nanami shook his head and cleared his throat. “I want you to learn all the good things of human life and well-”

“Sex isn’t a good thing?” You gasped, leaning your hands on the desk.

“Did he teach you about sex?” Nanami nearly yelled back.

“He did! We read a lot of medical journals about it, it releases so many good chemicals into the human brain! And then Gojo went to this website called PornHub and-”

“He what?!” A heart attack. Nanami was going to have a heart attack.

“Let me finish! He showed me humans having sex and it looked like they were having a great time!” Your breath was coming out short and Nanami could hear the drag of your tail on the ground as you got worked up. “But it didn’t do anything to me, I haven’t reached that point yet!” He didn’t understand what you meant and while the urge to drown himself in the bottle of dark liquor he kept hidden away tugged at him, his pursuit for knowledge was greater.

“What do you mean you ‘haven’t reached that point yet’?” Collapsing into the desk chair, Nanami was more worked up than he thought. The shock of hearing you call him daddy, learning that you discovered what sex was and now he was going to know when you would begin to show interest in such a thing.

“Sexual maturity, I’m not there yet, so seeing that stuff didn’t do anything to me.”

“When will you be?” He pressed, grabbing a pen and getting ready to write down whatever you said on the corner of a file.

“It’s been a month since I’ve transformed, so in about a week or two.”

“That fast?” Nanami blanched, mind spinning at how he was going to deal with that. “Humans take years, though, shouldn’t my blood affect that?”

“No, my DNA only takes what it needs from yours. My base mechanics like lifespan and in this case sexual maturity are all hardwired by Mother. They won’t change just because a few drops of your blood mix in.”

“So...so what does that mean for you? Do you need some kind of special uh- a special thing or-?” His cheeks and ears burned fiercely and Nanami cleared his throat in the middle of the sentence. He knew exactly what he meant by ‘a special thing’ but he couldn’t bring himself to say it in front of you.

“I don’t know, actually.” Shrugging your shoulders, you sat on the edge of his desk. “Sukuna is supposed to tell me what happens and what to do after we pick out a suitable mate for me.”

There was that mention of Sukuna again. The creature buried so far underground some people wondered if he was passing the Earth's mantle. He’d settled down in the month since your arrival, seemingly knowing that you had emerged from the embryo and survived. He still refused to give any answers and you hadn’t mentioned him in nearly three weeks.

“You don’t need him. We can figure it out once it gets here.” Shaking his head, Nanami could feel himself getting a little high off your pheromones with you sitting so close. The air filter he put into the room could only do so much when your scent rolled off in such thick waves.

“Okay.” Sighing the word, you resigned yourself to playing with your fingers. Silence washed over the room, less tense than before but still tainted with an edge to it. Both of you were flushed from talking about this subject and Nanami was glad you had your back to him.

“(Y/N), I have another question.” A few minutes later, Nanami couldn’t hold back the question burning in his mind. You let out a hum of acknowledgement but didn’t face him. “What would be a suitable mate for you? What kind of human?”

He blamed it on your pheromones, he blamed every last less than professional thought in his head on your pheromones and what you did to him and he especially blamed Gojo for forcing this topic of conversation to come up. Nanami tried to reason with himself, put the narrative in his head that he wanted to know for science, but in the dark recesses of his mind Nanami wanted to know who your type was if you even had one.

“Well actually, a human like you is perfect.” Your back curved just a little to keep your face hidden as you spoke. The words hung in the air, leaving Nanami’s mouth hanging slightly open and his mind bouncing to a hundred different places at once.

“Like me?” He whispered, barely registering the words coming out of his mouth.

“Exactly like you.” This time you looked over your shoulder at him, your eyes narrowing as you took in his reaction. His shock seemed to be enough for you, your secondary eyes pinching closed as you smiled, and you turned back to face forward. “Nanami, I’m hungry.”

Having grown accustomed to your new home, you slid off the desk and to the couch that was yours. Nanami’s eyes were glued to your back, watching the way your tail moved on the ground as you walked. His throat was suddenly thick, there were plenty of things he wanted to say, things that would definitely violate his code of ethics.

“Nanami.” Your voice snapped him out of his thoughts, back to reality where you were far away from arms reach. The weight of your eyes bore right back into him and Nanami knew he’d been caught staring.

“Yes?” He forced the word out, his tongue feeling heavy and foreign in his mouth.

“Should we have pasta tonight?”

Nanami hardly slept at all that night, plagued with ideas of what you thought about him and less than savory images of you and your body. Shame settled over him like a second blanket as he tossed and turned throughout the night, trying to rid his mind of such things to no avail.

In the morning, Nanami got rid of the second couch and made the decision to sleep in the barracks when he needed to. While nothing inherently sexual had occurred, he still felt like he betrayed some sort of trust between you two, sullied the pure relationship you had together.

Ignoring your whines and protests, he also made the decision to get rid of Gojo as your babysitter. He didn’t want or need your mind filled with things he didn’t deem appropriate and Gojo was the main perpetrator of such things, and he was confident enough that he could leave you alone for a few hours and nothing bad would happen.

It almost hurts to leave you alone at night, the old ritual of slowly nudging you along your night time routine and laying down on adjacent mattresses was now replaced by getting you ready for bed but then leaving shortly after you were all tucked in. Sometimes you whined and wanted him to stay, claiming that you didn’t sleep as well without him there, and sometimes Nanami hesitated at the door before steeling his resolve and leaving.

He doubts he’ll ever tell you that he stopped sleeping as well too.

An abrupt evening meeting three weeks later called him away from you sooner than either of you would have liked. You’d developed a cough and a bit of a rash over the course of time and while Nanami was sure this meant you were reaching sexual maturity, he was still hell bent on finding some medicine to help you, not wanting to go to this meeting about another potential UFO sighting.

“(Y/N), I’m back and I-” Nanami all but ran back to his laboratory with some medicine he’d swiped from Gojo. He was worried for you, not just as a scientist but as a friend. Throwing open the door and locking it quickly to contain any possible airborne particles, Nanami was assaulted with the harsh smell of something sweetly floral.

“N-nanami!” His eyes immediately find you, writhing in what looks like agony on the mattress he’d pulled out for you before leaving. Walking quickly over to you, every inhale he made felt like he was breathing in a thick fog.

“Wh-what’s wrong?” Coughing and putting a hand over his face, he looked over you. It was normal for you to just wear a long, oversized t-shirt Gojo got you from a local thrift store to sleep and right now it was clinging tightly to your body from the sweat pouring out of you.

“Nanami!” Shaking your head side to side, he could see the tears leaking out of your eyes. Against his better judgement, Nanami crouched down on one knee and put a hand on your forehead.

“Shit, you’re burning up.” Pulling his fingers away, there was a light yellow powdery film left on them. “(Y/N) what is this? Has it started?” The substance tingled on his fingers, making them go slightly numb.

There was a pitiful noise from you as a response and a limp nod, and Nanami rushed to the sink to wash off his hands. The scent in the room was overwhelming, almost choking him with every inhale he made. Turning the ventilation system on as high as it could go did nothing and there was still pollen visibly floating in the air.

“I have to go, I can’t be here.”

“No!” You cried, falling out of bed with a loud thump and crawling toward Nanami. “D-don’t leave!”

“I have to, this stuff isn’t good for me.” Nanami kept his back to you, hastily trying to grab some things from his desk. His cock was already beginning to stiffen painfully and the sounds you were making were echoing inside his head.

“Wait!” Tugging on his pant leg, you dug your claws into it.

“(Y/N), let go.” He tried to shake you off, staunchly avoiding eye contact. The heat on his skin was rising and if Nanami were to look in a mirror he would see how red he was. You refused to let go, sitting up on weak knees and pushing your hand further up his leg.

“D-daddy, please! Help me!”

That was it. That was the moment that broke Nanami Kento. He knows Gojo has told you that he likes to be called that in bed, among other things. He knows that the pollen in the air is what’s making his head impossibly foggy with only one thing able to be focused on. Nanami knows that if he stays here any longer, he’ll do something that he won’t regret, but that might cost him his job.

“Daddy…” Emboldened by unbridled desperation, you force Nanami to face you with strength he didn’t know you possessed. Eye to eye with his cock straining against his slacks, you shove your face right into it.

“(Y/N)!” Your name comes out as a rough groan from his lips and Nanami’s hands fly to grab the back of your head. As he grips your head, Nanami makes no move to pull you away and doesn’t stop you from rubbing your face along his clothed cock.

“Please please please, just this once! I need to do this-” The pleading you're doing is muffled by your mouth running along fabric, words slurred and barely coming out properly. Just from this stimulation alone Nanami can feel his balls tighten like he’s about to cum.

“Sto-stop, stop this.” Nanami’s own sense of morals, his will to do anything besides being in this room with you was going to be torn to shreds the longer you touched him. And it was, as he came in his pants, rutting his hips like a pathetic teenager into your face.

He came but his cock was still as hard as before, maybe even more so. There was no reprieve from the painful need to be stimulated, to feel you touch him again and again and again. With a mangled groan, he shoves your head away and grabs his waistband.

Swatting your hands away that still rest on his hips, Nanami undoes his belt and shoves his pants and underwear down to the ground. His cock slaps against his dress shirt, glistening from the previous load of cum and leaking more like he’s never seen before.

“What did you do to me?” He asks under his breath, feeling sweat pooling on his skin despite being half naked. As he takes off his remaining clothes, Nanami can feel the tingle from the pollen settling all over him, sticking to his hair and to every crevice of his body.

“D’ya like it, daddy? That’s what M-mother chose for me, it’s a new- a new evolution we got from a previous planet.” It’s amazing that you can stand on your own feet despite the way your legs shake violently. Nanami can tell you’re in a sorry state, so he lets you lead him to the mattress and fall back onto it.

“Mother made you pollen? How interesting.” Somewhere far back in his head, he really did find it genuinely interesting. But right now he was merely making conversation, settling on the bed as you climbed on top of him and took your wet shirt off.

The rash that had been on your skin was now turning into powdery pollen before his very eyes, falling off and into the air like a flower's pollen would. Laying down on Nanami, pressing your breasts against his chest, you fell into a kiss with him.

Even though it was your first kiss, Nanami was the one left feeling inexperienced as you slotted your mouths together and slid your tongue past his lips. Even your saliva was sweet as it dripped it into his mouth and down the sides. Nanami’s hands roamed your body, pinching into your sides and squeezing your ass painfully tight. Surprisingly, your tail didn’t get in the way, just languidly swaying side to side and sometimes tickling his shins.

“Daddy, please- I want more!” You whined loudly, breaking the kiss to trail your lips along his neck and chest and nip at the skin every so often.

“Tell me. Tell- tell daddy what you want.” There was the slightest hesitation, a tiny tinge of shame for doing this with you that got washed away as quickly as it came up by your wet cunt sliding against his cock.

“I want you inside me.” Wrapping your fingers around his cock, you stroked it slowly, unable to focus on putting it in and kissing him at the same time. Giving up with a grunt, you settled for rubbing your cunt along his shaft.

“Shit, roll over.” Flipping you with ease, Nanami grabs onto your thighs and holds them apart. Staring down at your cunt, it looks just like any other human sex organ, giving Nanami some peace of mind that he wouldn’t need to do anything too complicated to make you feel good.

You whine again when he doesn’t immediately push himself balls deep into you, instead laying on his stomach and giving your inner thighs kisses. Nanami grabs your hands, silently telling you to hold your legs apart as he delves in deeper.

One lick up your slit and you fall apart so easily, gushing around his mouth so much Nanami is sure you just had an orgasm. Greedily drinking it up, Nanami can attest that this is the best thing he’s ever tasted. Burying his face into your heat, he can’t keep his tongue in one place for too long, torn between pushing it deep inside you and licking at your swollen clit.

You’ve given up holding your legs open a while ago. As Nanami sucked on your clit, your thighs clamped down around his head and your fingers threaded through his hair. The feeling of his mouth on you was the best you’d ever experienced in your short time being alive and it was one you’d think about forever.

“Oh my- daddy, I-” Your eyes were closed so tightly you were seeing stars and you were sure Nanami couldn’t breathe anymore from how tightly you squeezed him as you came. His head thrashed side to side, tongue swiping all along your sex and inner thighs to catch all of your release.

“This is the best scientific breakthrough we’ve ever had.” Wrenching his head away before he passed out, Nanami laid limply on the bed. As the words left his mouth he remembered all those weeks ago now when you first came to him as just a tiny, glowing embryo. He never would have been able to imagine that you’d be here, turning him to lay on his back and crawling between his legs.

Grabbing the base of his cock firmly, you gave one lick to the tip before engulfing it fully in your mouth. Nanami’s back arched high off the bed in shock, surprised at the lack of hesitation from you and how easily he hit the back of your throat.

“S-slow down a little.” He panted, trying to cup your face and get you to look at him. Swatting his hand away, you let your tongue loll in your mouth as you sucked him off, easily planting your nose on his lower stomach and swallowing around him.

It must have been the pollen in the air to make him cum so quickly, Nanami reasoned with a harsh blush on his face. That was the only explanation for why he was currently spilling a thick load of cum down your throat in less than two minutes of you sucking him off.

“You taste so good, daddy.” Pulling off his cock, you licked the sides and down to his balls, gently sucking one into your mouth and looking up at him. Despite just cumming, Nanami felt another orgasm wash over him and another wave of cum came out, dribbling down the sides of his cock and onto your face.

Slapping a hand over his face, Nanami let out a few moans he’d been holding back. There was no way he would ever be able to look at you the same way after seeing your face covered in his seed.

“C’mere.” Stopping you from your current ministrations, he pulled you to lay over top of him again. Grabbing your sweaty shirt from the ground, he wiped the cum off your face, kissing your skin after he wiped it clean.

“Daddy, will you put it in already?” You cried, smacking your ass against his thighs angrily.

“Be patient, baby.” Petting down your back, Nanami shushed you, giving your ass a quick pinch before gripping the base of his cock. Keeping a hand on your hip to keep you steady, he helped you sink down on his cock, easily all the way to the hilt.

Digging your claws into his chest, you let out a loud howl. Finally you were getting what you really needed, the feeling of Nanami’s cock hugged tightly by your cunt spreading a warm feeling throughout your body.

“Fuck, you’re so tight.” He hissed as you dragged your hips upward and back down again. Sure he’d been with other women before but none like this. Your cunt squeezed him incredibly tight, making it impossible for him to do anything other than lay back and let you move however you saw fit.

You weren’t shy in your motions either, riding his cock with a dizzying confidence and nearly fumbling down into a heap of loud moans on more than one occasion. Even with all the prep before your arrival to the planet and research you’d done about sex and the human experience, nothing could have prepared you for how good it actually felt during your heat.

Nanami was sure everyone within the compound could hear what was going on in the room, your noises were as loud as they’d ever been. The sound was as beautiful as when you laughed, hypnotizing him further into compliance.

“Shit!” He cursed harshly, nails digging into the flesh of your hips as he came. As his orgasm came over him, Nanami got no break from the pleasurable waves washing over him because you refused to stop.

“More, more!” You panted, working even harder to get him to cum again. With the added vigor, more pollen released into the air and Nanami breathed in a deep mouthful. Snaking an arm around your back, Nanami rolled you over, acting on pure instinct as he pushed and pulled your body into a mating press.

“You’re so- so demanding, baby.” The pet name came without thinking, not that Nanami was doing a whole lot as he pounded the full length of his cock into you. He wasn’t sure you could hear him, even while being face to face like this. There were too many sounds in the room, the moans that left both of you freely, the wet slapping of skin against skin and the creak of the old mattress springs.

“Please, give it all to me!” Throwing your head back, your cunt spasmed around Nanami’s cock for the umpteenth time, making another gush of your release coat everything within its reach.

Nanami was sure you’d have bruises later from how hard he gripped you but right now he couldn’t find it in him to care. The only thing on his mind was fucking you so hard you stopped babbling and crying like a baby for more of him. He wanted to give you all that he had and more until he himself collapsed as well.

Pushing a hand between your bodies, when he touched your clit Nanami briefly went deaf, unprepared for the incredibly high pitched moan that left your lips. His ears were ringing fiercely but he kept going, refusing to take his eyes off the way your mouth fell open as he rubbed your clit in quick circles.

“H-how many- how many times have you cum?” He gasped, feeling the very beginnings of a burn in his thighs.

“Not enough, it’s not enough.” Thrashing your head against the mattress, you wound your arms around his shoulders. “I need more, daddy.”

“I don’t have any more.” Nanami spoke around the smothering kisses you gave him.

“You do! Just- just a few more!” He wasn’t really in a position to argue with you, you were holding onto him with far more strength than he could ever hope to possess, and while the pollen on your skin had started to diminish there was still a lot in the air that refused to let him truly come to a stop.

As if on command, Nanami felt his balls tighten up and he came again. The arms holding him up broke down and he fell on top of you, burrowing his face into your neck and holding your hips up with his hands.

“Fuck, baby-” With his eyes squeezed shut, Nanami lost track of where he actually was. Nothing mattered except for the feeling of your body underneath him and your cunt holding him in a vice grip. There wasn’t any reason to keep track of how many times he’d emptied a load inside you, so when he did it again so soon after the other one, Nanami paid it no mind.

“It’s coming!” You gasped suddenly, cradling the back of Nanami’s head as your body suddenly came to a stop. Unable to stammer out a question as to what was coming, Nanami was met with the harsh shock of your cunt getting so tight he couldn’t move any further.

Raking your fingers through his hair, you sobbed openly, words slurring together. Nanami was only able to catch something about a ‘seal’ and how you were making Mother so proud for your first heat cycle on Earth.

“Baby, what’s going on?” Craning his head down, Nanami was just barely able to see the swollen flesh of your sex encompassing his cock.

“Y-you humans would call this a knot, right?” Shifting your hips a little, you slowly unwind your legs from around Nanami and let them lay on the bed. “I have to keep you inside for a while.”

“You’re going to get pregnant though.” With his mind still in disarray, Nanami found that he didn’t actually care. He knew that was why you came to the planet and he was willing to help you fulfill your mission.

“Not this first time, I’m only keeping it for later.”

“Of course an alien has sperm storage.” Mumbling to himself, Nanami felt the aches in his body finally starting to settle in as the rest of the pollen was cleared out of the air and the world around him returned to normal. Laying down as gently as possible, Nanami rolled you onto your side and hooked your leg over him. “How long will we be like this?”

“At least another five minutes.” Snuggling closer to him, you tucked your head under his chin. Taking a deep breath, Nanami felt around for the blanket you used that had managed to stay on the bed during all the moving. Throwing it over the two of you, he let out a sigh.

“I can wait five minutes.” No doubt there was going to be a lot of explaining to do on his part, and he could possibly get fired, but Nanami refused to think about that right now. He was far too tired, and the way you cuddled into him had not an ounce of regret or shame going through him. He would do it all again in a heartbeat.

“Nanami?” You whispered, fighting through sleep.

“Hm?”

“I love you.”

Did you know what love truly was? Did you have the capacity to love him like any other human, or were you thinking of a different emotion that you wanted to convey? Maybe you loved him in a way that he couldn’t understand and never would, or perhaps you were lying to further your agenda.

“I love you too.” Kissing the top of your head, Nanami pushed all other thoughts out of his head that could lead him to a negative outcome. Focusing on the sound of your breathing, he knew you had fallen asleep, and he kissed you again. “Yeah...I love you too.”

[slytherwrites]

Dedicated Interest - pt 1

Costume Innovation

The moment when a Class 1A member became interested in you would be days into the second year of school when you actually approached them after the second year lunch. With your notepad in hand and confidence spurred on from Power Loader himself supporting the redesigns, you head towards your target: Momo Yaoyorozu.

You’ve seen her fight—you’ve seen all of the future heroes fight. Support Class students are encouraged to watch Hero Course students in order to gain inspiration. Over the winter break, something in you had the urge to fix many of the hero students’ costumes—particularly the ones in Class 1A. They seemed to need your help the most.

The cafeteria is massive. But the tall girl isn’t hard to spot. With her long, black hair and confident, but charming voice, you’re able to locate her pretty easily. Getting her away from the girls she’s walked in with is the hard part.

But you don’t stop. In fact, you just go for it. It’s now or never, afterall.

“Yaoyorozu,” you ask, “can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Oh yeah, sure!” She replies, “don’t wait up for me guys. I’ll be there shortly!”

You lead her out into the hallway. The noise of the cafeteria can still be heard, but it’s muted enough so you two can clearly hear each other.

“Have we met before..?”

“Not formally,” you reply, “I’m one of the Support Class students, L/N Y/N. I was watching a bunch of the students compete and I was inspired to do costume redesigns.”

You pass her the notepad. A barebones sketch of her is underneath a more detailed drawing of your suggested hero outfit. With inspiration from both her summer and winter costume, it gives more strategic thought to her hero costume than there was before. There is an open back with an easily detachable front that can optionally be worn with a cloak. Elbow pads and knee pads provide joint protection, as well as shoes that’ll support her instead of the heeled boots she’d been fighting in. The cutouts are strategically placed, with spots on her thighs, lower legs, back and stomach. There still is an element of modesty, as her breasts aren’t halfway out all the time anymore and it’s all in her original color scheme.

“This is…” She pauses. You can’t tell what’s on her mind.

“Sorry if I overstepped my boundaries, I promise not to bother you anymore!”

“This is ingenious!” Momo replies, “Tell me, when do you think you could have this made?”

“Oh umm… I would have to get you measurements and source the materials, but that shouldn't take too long. A week, maybe two tops? Nothing new’s being innovated, it’s just a matter of taking it from my notes to an actual thing…”

“Sounds great.” She takes the pencil you keep clipped on your notepad and writes down her number, “I need to get to lunch but I’m free this afternoon for measurements. Text me!”

“I will!” You take the notebook, clutching it against your chest. Yaoyorozu was the right person to start with.

===

You immediately added Yaoyorozu’s number after lunch and now you’re getting a ping from it.

Yaoyorozu: Hey, I’m free anytime from 4:30-6:30pm. What time works best for you?

You look at your clock now. 4:30’s coming up soon. A number of your classmates are still in the 2-H Workshop, but it isn’t so busy that you wouldn’t bring in another person—that’s only when Hatsume’s working, as she’s a safety hazard in and of herself.

Y/N: Now’s fine! I’m in the 2-H workshop. It’s in the east wing.

The chatter of machinery and the lyrics to some pop song trail along in the background. You’ve mostly tuned it out, so Yaoyorozu has to tap on your shoulder to get your attention.

“Y/N?” Her calling you by your first name gets you out of your daze and you reply, “Oh, hi Yaoyorozu!”

You turn to face her. A bit of heat heads to your face as you see Yaoyorozu’s skin tight outfit. She certainly isn’t uncomfortable in her skin.

“You like my outfit? It’s designer—part of Mount Lady’s recently dropped workout line.” She replies, “I thought I’d wear something closer to my skin in order to get proper measurements done.”

“Oh yeah. That’s smart. Let me grab my tailor’s tape and a sticky note!” You rummage through your school bag for spare supplies, pulling it out and pushing your classwork aside, “Here it is! Now we’ll start from the top down, getting all of the measurements and then you can be on your way.”

“Sounds perfect.” Momo stands straight, arms and legs shoulder width apart. She’s obviously done this before.

As you hum along to the music, Momo watches you. You don’t notice, but she stares at you, dedicating every little detail to memory. Something in her wants to replicate everything you have for herself. Though, as you stand up and put your tape measurer down, she coughs and clears her mind of it’s racing thoughts.

“So… what were you working on?”

“Schoolwork, nothing much.” You admit, “Just some back to school safety briefings—as if most of us didn’t come in during the winter to continue our projects. You probably don’t want to hear about it.”

Momo proves you wrong, “What other projects do you have going on?”

“Oh uh… well, Power Loader’s gave us a robotics project to work on and I’ve been specializing in costumes so I’ve been trying to create a list of heroes and hero students to make improved costumes on. You’re the first I’ve actually been able to do hands-on work for though… That’s for this, by the way!”

“How could I refuse?” Momo asks, “Your improvements and overall design is better than what I could’ve come up with on my own.”

“I guess…”

“May I ask,” Momo says, “How did you come up with this design?”

“Mostly by watching your trainings, as well as current pro hero costume trends.” You repsponds, “Most female pro heroes have their legs exposed in some capacity, but don’t have any sort of knee protection—which I think is stupid. And if we do knee protection, we need elbow protection. And I’d advocate for more coverage in order to have protective plating underneath the suit, but since you need your skin out, I had to limit it to specific areas. And the cloak came really handy for that! Plus I could have it cover your back in order to let you conceal items you create and have you… I’m rambling, aren’t I?”

“No, no! It’s fine.” Momo replies, “I find this fascinating. Please continue!”

“Well… I’ve noticed that in a pinch that you’ll lose your top and then have to make yourself new clothes. But since your shirt is magnetic and can be put back together, you can save… materials as well as use that space for other things.” You continue with a laugh at yourself, “I don’t really understand how your quirk works, but I hope this costume will work…”

“I convert fat lipids into other atoms and release them from my skin.” Momo explains, “but I think your idea will work.”

“Let’s see.” You reply, “Well, I think that’s all I need from you. Thanks for sticking around and listening to my rambling, Yaoyorozu.”

“Call me Yaomomo. My friends do, anyway.” She tells you, “Text me anytime!”

“Oh uh, cool.” You tell her, “I will.”

She eventually leaves you to your devices, but you don’t leave her thoughts. In fact, you are steadily taking up a large portion of her thoughts as she contacts her house staff to start construction on a wing in the manor to give you the biggest, best laboratory possible.

[theyreonlynoodlesmike]

Dreams of Sunlight (Poly!Lost Boys x Reader, Paul-Centric)

Warnings: mentions of gore/bloodlust, tooth rotting fluff, conflicted emotions, yearning, slight angst

Word Count: 1k

May turn this into a series, may not :)

Paul hadn't felt the sun in over eighty years. It was soft and warm, like the lap he had his head in. Your lap, to be precise. You were petting his hair, running your hands through his long locks. Scraping your nails gently against his scalp in the way he always liked. It made him hum, and he peaked open his eyes to gaze up at you.

Paul never thought he'd miss the sun. But the way your face looked in the light? How it practically made your skin glow? How beautiful he thought it made you look? Perhaps he had been missing something after all these years. 

You smiled down at him, and a gush of warmth ran through his chest. He smiled back, letting his eyes drift closed as you stroked his face. He reached up, holding your hand to his cheek. Your skin was soft and warm, just like the sunlight casting down on his face. He turned his face to brush his nose against your wrist, trying to inhale the scent he'd memorized. It was only in these moments that he could place it. It was there, but it wasn't quite as strong. It was faint, barely there. He realized then that he couldn't hear the rush of your heartbeat, practically feel the drum under your skin.

He opened his eyes and looked up at you again. Glanced around for a moment. He was confused, but it only took him a second to realize what he should've realized immediately. He wasn't a vampire.

When Paul awoke, he let go of the pipe on instinct. He fell, but he caught himself. He hovered in the air, having stopped himself from face planting right onto the floor. He turned slowly, running a hand over his forehead and thinking about his dream.

He'd been having similar dreams for weeks. He didn't know who you were, and he always forgot exactly what your face looked like when he woke up. But he knew two things for sure.

He always dreamt that he was human, and he always dreamt that he was happy. It was a break from the things that usually plagued their dreams. Dreams of carnage and gore, of the blood-lust that would flare up the second they opened their eyes. The ever insistent need to satisfy their thirst, even if it only lasted as long as their meals did. These dreams were different, but they worried him far more than any of the others.

Paul wasn't surprised when he saw that Marko wasn't there. He was always up early, even before the dreams started. The second the sun fell behind the horizon, the curly haired blonde was awake. Paul left their little sub-cave, flying out to the main room and dropping to the ground. 

It was quiet in the cave. There wasn't any music playing, and the only sounds were the flutter from the pigeons, the echoing of the waves hitting the beach, and the slow, steady breathing of the two half vampires. There were a few barrels lit, illuminating the cave bright enough for when Star and Laddie would awake, but Paul wasn't looking for them.

His eyes quickly found the other vampire. He saw him sitting on the couch, a notepad in hand. Marko only glanced up for a second, and Paul asked,

"The dreams?" Even if Paul already knew the answer. The blonde sat besides him, peering at the notepad in his hands. Marko had been trying to sketch you. Trying to remember your likeness. But it was difficult, especially when the dreams didn't allow them to remember much. 

They never had the same dream. Paul watched as Marko drew a night sky, how the cliffs quickly came into view. He watched the scene unfold in front of him, even if Marko was grasping for straws when it came to the previously clear images from his dream. Paul stared at it, and Marko finally said,

"We were walking by the cliffs. I didn't wake up until I went to fly." He muttered, and Paul hummed, but he didn't press. He didn't want to. Paul was unusually quiet when it came to this. At first, the boys rarely discussed them. Rarely discussed what they assumed they all must've been experiencing, for fear that perhaps it wasn't universal. It wasn't until Paul had finally broke that they realized it was the same. In each of their dreams, they were human. And, for Paul, it was getting harder and harder to notice the difference between dreams and reality.

The cave was warm because of the summer heat, but the beach would cool fast. Paul reached up to touch his cheek. He hadn't even realized that he remembered what the sun felt like, and he felt stupid for not realizing the dream immediately.

"What happened in yours?" Marko asked, and Paul bit his lip. He was surprisingly reluctant to share. Markos eyes had left the page, moving to the taller blonde besides him. Paul glanced over at the other blonde, before brushing his hair out of his face.

"We were having a picnic, I think." Paul paused for a moment. If he closed his eyes, maybe he could remember the feeling of the sun on his face. Or the sun on your face. But, he didn't. He looked at the other blonde and said, "I woke up when I realized I couldn't hear their heartbeat." And Marko hummed back, returning his eyes to the notepad in front of him. He went back to his drawing, trying to capture the memories before they faded. Paul, on the other hand, let them slip away like wisps of smoke. 

He wouldn't tell them about the time he spent in the sun, or how it was getting harder and harder for him to tell. He wouldn't tell them that the dreams didn't scare him anymore. That perhaps they were nice. Perhaps he preferred them. And he wouldn't tell them that perhaps he didn't mind being human. At least, in his dreams.

[marauderundercover]

Taking Chances Chapter 6: Let’s Play a Game (Overprotection)

Prev

AO3

Marinette ended up not staying for dinner. She talked to Bruce for a little bit, but he had to leave for some WE emergency and Marinette wasn’t really up to bonding with the boys- her brothers- yet. But that was fine. It wasn’t like she was desperate to get to know the man and wouldn’t be able to after this trip because she had to stay in Paris because of Hawkmoth. No, she wasn’t upset. Not at all. It didn’t hurt her feelings. Nope.

---

Walking into Madame Soleil's Wax Museum with Adrien by her side, Marinette is hit with a major wave of deja vu. And not a good deja vu. No, the memories of the last time she was in a wax museum with Adrien were awful, humiliating and- feeling a hand wrap around hers pulls her from her spiraling thoughts. Glancing down, Marinette tries (and fails) to hide her grin. Adrien is holding her hand. Adrien is holding her hand!

“Hey Marinette!” A familiar voice calls, a hand squeezing her shoulder, making Marinette squeal and whirl around.

“Dick? What are you doing here?” She asks, frowning at the boy- her brother- as he stands there with a huge smile.

“Well I heard that a new wax figure is being revealed today, and I thought I might come and see it.” He says with a nonchalant shrug.

“Really? Who?” Adrien asks. Dick’s smile twitches slightly as he glances at Marinette, making her frown. Was he seriously about to play the overprotective big brother card? Really?

“Jagged Stone.” Dick finally says, glancing at their entwined hands. Marinette tries hard not to roll her eyes. Come on, her crush is finally holding her hand and her brother (who she’s known for a day!) is seriously trying to ruin that for her?

“Oh cool! Do you think he’ll come to Gotham to see it, Mari?” Adrien asks.

“I think he’s definitely scheduled to make an appearance in Gotham in the next couple days. He’s picking up his new suit in person.” She whispers, grinning at the idea of seeing her “Uncle” in person again. He’d been touring for several months and she hadn’t been able to see him for awhile, just the occasional video call.

“So! What figures did you guys want to check out first?” Dick asks, wedging himself between the two and forcing Adrien to drop her hand. Glaring at her brother, Marinette scoffs when Dick just smiles innocently.

“The hall of heroes and villains sounds cool.” Adrien suggests, looking around Dick to see Marinette.

“Hmm. Okay, but if the Nightwing figure is in his disco costume, I reserve the right to melt the statue.” She says, frowning at the choked noise Dick makes. “Are you okay?” She adds.

“Oh, uh, yeah, yeah I’m fine. What’s 1so bad about that costume?” He asks, a hurt expression on his face.

“Have you even seen it? The only worse costume is Riddler’s.” Marinette says, adding a shudder for dramatic effect. Walking past the local celebrities room and the pop stars room, Marinette’s eyes widen as their small group walks into the hall of heroes and villains. Walking away from Dick and Adrien, she’s almost instantly drawn to the Batman figure. She reads the little plaque about the artist and frowns, turning to Dick who had moved to stand next to her.

“I thought it’d be taller.” She says, scrunching her eyebrows in confusion when Dick starts choking on air, gasping for breath as broken chuckles flood out of him. “Ookay then.” She mutters, turning and walking back towards the villains. Nightwing was, luckily, depicted in his most recent costume. As was Robin. Which meant the only real fashion tragedy (besides the god awful helmet Red Hood wore) was the Riddler. Pulling her sketchbook out, Marinette circles the wax figure, occasionally making notes and sketching out slight adjustments to the man’s costume.

“His costume might be terrible, but it’s still better than half of the akumas.” Adrien whispers, leaning over her shoulder. Marinette looks up at him, eyes wide as her face heats up with a blush.

“I, uh, um, yes. Yeah.” She says, trying not to wince at her lack of speaking skills. “I mean, at least we can rule out any fashion designer in Paris as Hawkmoth. Because if Hawkmoth was a designer, that’d almost be a bigger crime.” She adds, smiling as Adrien laughs.

“Good to know you’re not moonlighting as Hawkmoth, m’lady.” He says with a mock bow. Marinette snorts, then covers her mouth, embarrassment rushing over her. Adrien just shakes his head, wrapping an arm over her shoulders.

“In case you forgot, we’ve definitely seen each other at our most embarrassing.” He says, making her groan.

“Oh god, no. I tied us up with my yoyo!” She moans, turning and burying her face into his chest so she doesn’t have to look at him anymore. Her face heats up more when she feels him chuckle and wrap his arms around her.

“I’ve always thought that was paw-sitively adorable.” He says, laughing when she groans again. She pulls away slightly, looking up at him with a timid smile. He smiles back, starts to lean forward and-

“Hey guys! I heard they’re about to unveil the Jagged Stone figure. Come on, let’s go! Don’t wanna miss it.” Dick says, grabbing each of their hands and pulling them towards the exist (and successfully separating them again). Marinette tries not to glare at Dick. She’s about to have one less brother.

---

Dick Grayson wasn’t used to having a little sister that he could protect. Sure, he had a little sister. Cas was awesome, but she could also kick his ass without breaking a sweat. No, he’d never had a little sister to protect. Someone he could watch out for and support. But now….now he has Marinette. And he’ll be damned if he lets some little punk take advantage of his little sister. Ignoring Marinette’s glare, he positions himself right between her and...the boy. He’d need to ask Timmy to do a background check on the kid later. Especially if he thought he was good enough for Marinette.

“So are you guys big Jagged fans?” He asks, trying to pull the two back into a conversation. He narrows his eyes at the smile the kid gives Marinette. It’s too...adoring. Too much. She’s only...what, fourteen? Much too young to date. Especially this kid.

“Mari’s a bit of a fan, I think. But, personally, I much prefer Jagged’s designer.” He says, and Dick turns to him, missing the way Marinette’s face turns bright red.

“Are you talking about MDC? I love them! Their work is amazing! And Jagged Stone says that he’ll never have another designer. I heard that there’s a possibility of them opening their commissions again. God, I hope they do. I’d do anything for something made by MDC.” Dick rambles with a wide smile, deciding to ignore the kid for a minute in order to ramble about his favorite designer. As the group walks into the pop star room, Dick steps back and glares at the kid. He’d stepped just behind Dick and was apparently trying to hold Marinette’s hand again. Not on his watch. No siree. No one’s gonna hurt his little sister.

---

Bruce sighs, running his hands through his hair. He’d been checking the street cameras in Paris, trying to figure out what time Ladybug and Chat Noir patrol so that he can set up a meeting. Try and offer help, or maybe even offer to take control of the situation. Anything to get rid of Hawkmoth. But instead, it was like the heroes didn’t exist. He’d read reports of the heroes patrolling before, so why were they so quiet this week? The only akuma from the past couple days wasn’t even taken care of by both of them. Ladybug did it alone, and seemed worse for the wear when she came out of the battle. Where was Chat Noir? And why did it seem as though they had gone into hiding?

---

Marinette was five seconds away from committing her first murder. Okay, probably her only murder, unless her other brothers decide to be as involved in her love life as Dick is. Because Dick won’t have the chance to be a problem for much longer. Because Marinette was honestly going to kill him. Right as she turned to finally yell at him, and tell him to knock it off, the lights flickered. She pauses her tirade, glancing to gauge Dick’s reaction to see if this is normal. And if his worried glances back at her are anything to go by, this is not normal.

“Let’s play a game! Solve my riddles and you all can leave freely, but make a mistake and someone will pay greatly! Take one out and scratch my head, I am now black but once was red. What am I?” A man’s voice asks, Marinette frowning as the Riddler walks in, a wide smile on his face. Ten goons walk in behind him, all of them carrying guns. She was used to the akuma attacks almost every day, but didn’t Gotham’s rogues have anything better to do than attack every place her class went? With guns? Come on. Riddler smirks and points at Adrien with his cane.

“A match.” She blurts out, ignoring Dick frantically shaking his head. If nothing else, she should be able to work with Adrien to get everyone out. But she knew his style. And riddles weren’t really his thing.

“Oh goody. We have a volunteer. Tell me, what has to be broken before you can use it?” Riddler asks, stalking towards her. Thinking for a second, Marinette tries to suppress a smile.

“An egg.” She says. Riddler narrows his eyes.

“I have 13 hearts, but no lungs or stomach. What am I?” He asks, Marinette frowns, running through possible answers in her head.

“A deck of cards.” She finally says.

“Buzzy, come over here and hold onto our friend.” Riddler says, gesturing to one of the goons. The man comes over and grabs Marinette’s arm roughly, she winces. That’ll definitely bruise.

“I answered your riddles.” Marinette says, deciding that now's as good a time as any to start distracting the man.

“And how did you answer them so quickly?” He asks, the frustration clear on his face.

“What do you mean? Were they supposed to be hard?” Marinette taunts, ignoring the choked sound Dick makes behind her. She knew what she was doing. She did. She had to.

“Why you-” Riddler starts, stepping forward and pulling his hand back as if to hit her. Squeezing her eyes shut, Marinette waits for the slap. The slap never comes. Opening her eyes, Marinette’s jaw drops when she sees the Riddler’s fist held tightly in Dick’s hand.

“Don’t. Touch. Her.” He says lowly, a dark look on his face. Well that was unexpected. Riddler opens his mouth, probably to start spouting more riddles or other nonsense, when the goons blocking the exits drop. Noticing Red Robin and Red Hood picking off the other goons, Marinette throws her elbow back into the gut of the goon holding her. Not waiting for him to recover, Marinette stomps his foot and twists out of his grip. Grabbing his arm, Marinette manages to yank the man off balance and toss him to the ground. A hand on her shoulder makes her jump back and prepare to hit the person.

“Whoa, whoa, it’s okay ma’am.” The voice attached to the hand says. Marinette whirls around, ready to tell off the person, but immediately stops when she sees Red Robin.

“Sorry!” She yelps, jumping away from him. And she was too. She was determined to hit the person who grabbed her shoulder, so locked into battle mode, but she had managed to stop herself. Glancing around the room, Marinette notices Dick talking to Red Hood, his usual smile back on his face. That’s good. That’s normal, that’s right. The sudden blaring of the akuma alarm makes Marinette want to scream in frustration. Really, right now? It’s definitely already dark in Paris which means- Chat Noir. Ignoring everyone else, Marinette runs over to Adrien and grabs his hand.

“Akuma?” He asks, his voice low. She nods and tugs him towards the bathrooms, unaware of the eyes following them out.

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