#BREED THAT OLD MAN AND ALSO THOSE ANIMALS

[impishtubist]

All this breeding talk makes me wanna see a fest of it 😂 omegaverse or anything really, the whole thing is very entertaining and hot, specially with marauders ( minus Peter but I guess ppl can count him in as well if their breeding taste swing that way )

Don't tell me such fest existed and I missed it. 😂 I need to write a whole bunch of prongsfoot for this anyway.

Maybe even jilypad because James deserves to be Sirius and Lily ' s boi toi , happily living and being bred 😂

Anything as long as Remus is not involved, I even accept prongsfoot/Crookshanks

Yes, I also need an omegaverse fest!!! Or a breeding fest of some kind lol. Keep James Potter bred 2023!

You did not miss an omegaverse fest (as far as I know), but we did run @hpknotfest a couple of months ago if that's something that interests you.

And I know she isn't here for Remus bullying like we are, but if we ask @theresthesnitch nicely enough about running a fest along these lines, I think she might have something related to this up her sleeve.......

[obsessivevoidkitten]

Animal Farm: Mondays

Male Yandere Harpies x Gender Neutral Reader (CW: Noncon, harpies, general yandere behavior, captive reader, spit roasting, cum in hair, aftercare, male harem, brief mention of being used as a cock sleeve by bull men.) Word Count: 500 (Here it is! I have had a solid wave of productivity lately answering old asks and now there is this, something I said I would do a long time ago. I said I would make a mini-fic/drabble with every group of monster men from my animal farm fic which can be found HERE.)

You sighed. It was early on Monday morning, the sun starting to stream into the window enough to disturb your sleep. You glared at your alarm clock and preemptively turned off the alarm that would go off at 10:00. It was 9:53. You wanted to cry. You had not fully recovered from Rory, Sev, and Bruc swapping you between them as a communal cock sleeve all day on Friday. You lamented your decision to be a monster man farmer with so many different species. You should have stuck to one or two. Oh well… no use crying over it now. At least you started the week off easy after your weekend break. The harpy men had pretty forgiving cocks. Ugh. Was that what it had come to? Judging how not awful your day was by the brutality of the cocks you were about to encounter? You scarfed down a quick breakfast then enjoyed your last few minutes before you were swarmed by the three harpies that called your farm home, Zan, Xilra, and Elry. They all looked similar, green and blue feathers in their hair, emerald green eyes to match, dark skin, with large angel-like wings sprouting from their backs and their legs ended in the way any bird of prey’s did. Sharp. Talons. When you stepped into the aviary your watch read exactly 10:30, you weren’t giving them a second more than you were forced to. It was like your one shred of resistance, even though it didn’t really matter very much. You also were too scared to be late after what happened the one time you were. You were sniffed out and fucked. Swiftly. As soon as you stepped into the large greenhouse-like domed building, it was like a miniature forest complete with all sorts of trees and plants, you were instantly pounced upon by the three monster men. They wasted not a single second in taking off your clothes and tossing them aside on the dirt while pinning you to the wall. “Hey come on! Those were just cleeeEEEEAAAAAANNNED. H-hey!” Two of them were biting, licking and nuzzling all over your neck while the third was using his mouth between your legs. “W-w-why do we always have to start the d-daaaay like thiiiiis??” “We love you little starling~” “Yes! And we must show you!” “We haven’t been inside you for a whole week love! It was torture~” “We must make up for the lost time sweet bird.” And that they certainly did. A week's worth of the pent up libidos of three tall harpy men unloaded on you and in you within hours. They spit roast you while you were on the ground before taking you in mid air. By the end of their breeding session with you you were exhausted. And this was supposed to be the easy day. At least they let you rest afterwards, washing the cum out of your hair and off your sore body before cuddling you and petting you while they sang sweet little bird songs and praised their darling little starling~

[yanoverload]

Yandere Cow Boy

Beau is my first Yandere Oc ever done. He's a few years old now, and he means a lot to me.

I apologize if the writing seems rushed. I am not a great writer, and English is hard. (Also can you tell the Pearl inspiration? Teehee)

"There are bonds stronger than those made by blood.... Or so granny has told me haha! Do you agree :) ?"

At first glance, you may think Beau is a sweet man that works in the bakery across the street, the one with the grandma that always seems grumpy? 

Well... 😬 

In his universe, a lot of animals have started to turn scarce with human greed. The solution? To make a mix of human and animal of course! So when they proliferate amongst themselves or with normal humans we don't have to worry about the shortage of materials :)

Except a lot of them aren't treated... That humanely.

Beau is a crossbreed experimentation to see if they could have a cow and a bull at the same time. He never met his parents. As soon as he was born he was taken along with his older sister (a failed version of the experiment) to a farm.

Farms that take hybrids receive help from the government, but the authorities don't care much about welfare, just make sure they don't die.

And that was the case. Since young, they milked Beau dry for his unique birth. Milk, breeding, meat? Of course! He is one of a kind after all! He can restore "most" of his organs!

His only shelter was his older sister. Motherly, caring, worried for him. He never understood what was happening at first, but she explained everything to him!

He felt awful about the situation. He didn't care much about himself at first, but he wanted to give his sister a better life as he grew. He made a plan with a new worker at the farm that felt bad for them: he would take both in the delivery cart at night and they would escape.

Or so he thought. The night he was ready to leave with his sister, he went to get her and she wasn't anywhere. Terrified the owners did something, he ran to where he was going to meet the worker to see.... Nothing, no cart, no one.

Well... Except a shotgun at his back.

The owners found out about the situation. But they weren't angry, oh no! His sister and the worker could leave, hell they could take some money too! If they left Beau. His sister was a bother, too much work for not a lot of stuff to sell and the worker talked too much. So they left.

They left.

They left me.

He was in such a state of shock, he says he didn't remember a thing....

The sun was rising, before he even noticed the mangled bodies of the farm owners. They were two old fuckers anyway. 

Oh! He found his sister and the worker not too far from there. The cart was on the side of the road, silent.

Traitors don't talk, after all. And they don't move anymore either.

He leaves on foot, since he doesn't know how to drive, and settles down in front of a closed establishment.

As soon as he wakes up, he sees a grumpy but worried granny, thinking the blood was his own. Her vision hasn't been the same, and we all know how hybrids are treated around these parts.

He can stay for now.... She is a bit lonely, and could use a hand in the bakery.

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚ Some more facts about him! ˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

Beau was treated like cattle, so he doesn't understand human structures and psyche that well. 

He wants to form a new family, have a new beginning.

One of his first meals at Granny was Neapolitan ice cream. He liked it so much he dyed his hair pink, now he is a Neapolitan cow :D

He works in the back, and takes the shippings.

Always raised by women, he likes more feminine things, but still prefers He/Him pronouns.

He has broken two beds because of how massive he is.

He never calls anyone by name, only "friend". Well... Except Grandma and Darling.

Height: 204 cm (6'8 feet)

[thehmn]

I’m planning on having a jotun character in a future comic and was trying to pull inspiration from mythology.

Something that comes up more often than you’d expect from a 1000 years old collection of stories is different races breeding with jotuns to achieve certain results.

Odin has sex with the jotun woman Jord (which means Earth) specifically to create Thor. Later he force himself on another jotun woman to create a god of hatred and vengeance (which also results in the gods banishing Odin from Valhalla for several years because a man would be punished just for touching a woman’s arm without her consent at the time and Loki later seems to claim Odin spent a lot of those years as a woman, birthing several children himself)

Jotuns also have a reputation for birthing monsters and animals but it mostly seems to happen when they breed with non-jotuns. Loki is half jotun/half Æsir and creates a eight legged horse with another horse, has normal children with his jotun wife, but also creates a giant wolf, a huge snake and a half-dead woman with another jotun woman. Then there’s the jotun king who gives birth to nine normal wolves after sleeping with a werewolf (they were together for years and it’s not made clear if it was a repeat thing where he birthed them one at a time or if he gave birth to a litter of pups all at once)

A jotun woman had three husbands, two jotun men and one Æsir god. She was the embodiment of night and he was the god of twilight and together they created the god of daylight.

Surprisingly a jotun man with a troll woman was considered the most ideal combination. One great warrior was described as beautiful and cleaver like his jotun father but strong and fierce in battle like his troll mother.

Because Loki himself was mixed race you never knew what you’d get from his “adventures” but otherwise it seems like you could expect some relatively predictable outcomes by mixing and matching jotun genes with other races.

[fatehbaz]

Travel back [...] a few hundred years to before the industrial revolution, and the wildlife of Britain and Ireland looks very different indeed. 

Take orcas: while there are now less than ten left in Britain’s only permanent (and non-breeding) resident population, around 250 years ago the English [...] naturalist John Wallis gave this extraordinary account of a mass stranding of orcas on the north Northumberland coast [...]. If this record is reliable, then more orcas were stranded on this beach south of the Farne Islands on one day in 1734 than are probably ever present in British and Irish waters today. [...]

Other careful naturalists from this period observed orcas around the coasts of Cornwall, Norfolk and Suffolk. I have spent the last five years tracking down more than 10,000 records of wildlife recorded between 1529 and 1772 by naturalists, travellers, historians and antiquarians throughout Britain and Ireland, in order to reevaluate the prevalence and habits of more than 150 species [...].

In the early modern period, wolves, beavers and probably some lynxes still survived in regions of Scotland and Ireland. By this point, wolves in particular seem to have become re-imagined as monsters [...].

Elsewhere in Scotland, the now globally extinct great auk could still be found on islands in the Outer Hebrides. Looking a bit like a penguin but most closely related to the razorbill, the great auk’s vulnerability is highlighted by writer Martin Martin while mapping St Kilda in 1697 [...].

[A]nd pine martens and “Scottish” wildcats were also found in England and Wales. Fishers caught burbot and sturgeon in both rivers and at sea, [...] as well as now-scarce fishes such as the angelshark, halibut and common skate. Threatened molluscs like the freshwater pearl mussel and oyster were also far more widespread. [...]

Predators such as wolves that interfered with human happiness were ruthlessly hunted. Authors such as Robert Sibbald, in his natural history of Scotland (1684), are aware and indeed pleased that several species of wolf have gone extinct:

There must be a divine kindness directed towards our homeland, because most of our animals have a use for human life. We also lack those wild and savage ones of other regions. Wolves were common once upon a time, and even bears are spoken of among the Scottish, but time extinguished the genera and they are extirpated from the island.

The wolf was of no use for food and medicine and did no service for humans, so its extinction could be celebrated as an achievement towards the creation of a more civilised world. Around 30 natural history sources written between the 16th and 18th centuries remark on the absence of the wolf from England, Wales and much of Scotland. [...]

In Pococke’s 1760 Tour of Scotland, he describes being told about a wild species of cat – which seems, incredibly, to be a lynx – still living in the old county of Kirkcudbrightshire in the south-west of Scotland. Much of Pococke’s description of this cat is tied up with its persecution, apparently including an extra cost that the fox-hunter charges for killing lynxes:

They have also a wild cat three times as big as the common cat. [...] It is said they will attack a man who would attempt to take their young one [...]. The country pays about £20 a year to a person who is obliged to come and destroy the foxes when they send to him. [...]

The capercaillie is another example of a species whose decline was correctly recognised by early modern writers. Today, this large turkey-like bird [...] is found only rarely in the north of Scotland, but 250–500 years ago it was recorded in the west of Ireland as well as a swathe of Scotland north of the central belt. [...] Charles Smith, the prolific Dublin-based author who had theorised about the decline of herring on the coast of County Down, also recorded the capercaillie in County Cork in the south of Ireland, but noted: This bird is not found in England and now rarely in Ireland, since our woods have been destroyed. [...] Despite being protected by law in Scotland from 1621 and in Ireland 90 years later, the capercaillie went extinct in both countries in the 18th century [...].

---

Images, captions, and all text above by: Lee Raye. “Wildlife wonders of Britain and Ireland before the industrial revolution – my research reveals all the biodiversity we’ve lost.” The Conversation. 17 July 2023. [Map by Lee Raye. Bold emphasis and some paragraph breaks/contractions added by me. Presented here for commentary, teaching, criticism purposes.]

[moonheavens]

moonheavens' (wolfstar) fic recs, Nov 24

hello! since my last list of fic recs is now over a year old (Aug 23), I figured it's about time for a new one, especially on the back of the recent discourse about shouting about work you love, which I'm always happy to do.

so without further ado, here are some fics I have "recently" read and loved and whose praises I'd like to sing, very loudly. please do note this only includes wolfstar or multi-ship Marauders fics.

authors, if you want to be untagged, have your fic removed or have the one line summary changed, just message me.

all recs with ao3 links below the break <3

WIPs

All's Fair in Love and Trivia, by @cancerravenclaw ~75k, Explicit, Muggle. exes to lovers years after a huge, painful break-up. I've been eating this up with a spoon and re-read multiple times so far, it's soooo good. really hot ex-sex, yet also handles the complex emotions beautifully, and I love the group dynamics.

The Labyrinth, by QuillNib ~45k, Explicit (check tags), AU. Sirius is forced to sign a contract with an A/B/O breeding facility. really interesting take on omegaverse dynamics, very handmaid's tale vibes. great writing and plot, and keeps you on your toes constantly.

How To Jeopardise Your Friendship With Remus Lupin, by @amberlink ~200k, Teen, Hogwarts. everything you could ever want from a Hogwarts-era best friends to lovers fic. beautifully written, amazing characterisations and also just super funny and sweet. I love this Remus dearly, and this is one of those fics where you drop everything else when the update email comes in.

A Song for the End of the World, by @wannabelilybriscoe ~200k, Mature (check tags), AU. zombie apocalypse wolfstar!! amazing plot so far that really keeps you guessing, with great links to canon yet entirely fresh and inventive. wonderful friendship dynamics and writing, and I would die for this Sirius (but also lowkey steal his man).

Shorter finished works (<30k)

back to the old house, by @saintlupin 20k, Explicit, First War. Sirius, Regulus and Remus get stuck in grimmauld place and have to deal with the tension between them. absolutely beautiful, and painful in all the best ways like only saintlupin can achieve.

Sirius Black and the "mystery girl", by Anonymous 30k, Teen, Hogwarts. the marauders try to guess who Sirius is mysteriously dating. this one is so much fun, really light-hearted and joyful and a great twist with the Lily POV.

What I Heard, by fishcommuter / @fishpilgrim 28k, Explicit, Hogwarts. definition of idiots to lovers; wolfstar acting like a couple and having to be told they're basically dating. light-hearted, sweet, and a lot of fun.

The Barista, the Burglar, and the Sofa, by orphan_account 21k, Explicit, Muggle. summary reads "the story of how Sirius tries to seduce a man by slowly furnishing his flat" and.. that totally checks out. absolutely hilarious and very sweet, and I too would fold if Sirius Black bought me a bookshelf.

Wishes on Stars, by Quietlemonhush and @theresthesnitch 19k, Explicit, AU. Remus makes a wish upon a star and gains a friend. without spoiling too much, this one is a wonderful journey - so sweet, so beautiful, so poetic, so heart-warming.

A Good League Hence, by @eyra 15k, Teen, Muggle. a country hotel in the wintertime. I could put eyra's entire bibliography here as they're incredible, but this is one of my favs. sweet christmas fluff with animals and eyra's ever-incredible writing, just perfect.

June: or how Sirius finally figured himself out, by MarigoldWritesThings / @marigold-hills 15k, Explicit, Hogwarts. does what the title suggests, and wonderfully so. I adore this version of pining yet oblivious Sirius, and the writing here is stunning. tender and heart-warming.

Just a Little Bit of Magic, by @cancerravenclaw 25k, Explicit, Muggle. music journalist Remus falls in love at first sight with model Sirius at a club. flirting ensues. one of my favourites ever - sensual, delicious, beautifully written. the kind of fic I'm grateful exists, and secretly wish I could write.

Tear My Chest Open, by @puuvillaa 22k, Explicit (check tags), Post-Hogwarts. Remus never goes to Hogwarts and meets Sirius, who is taken, in a writing class. complicated feelings ensue. this one was painful, but beautiful. a beautiful expression of care and tenderness.

nothing sweeter than my baby, by damagecontrol 7k, Explicit, Muggle. wolfstar dads on a date night at a Hozier concert, except it's mostly sex. ridiculously hot and sexy, yet sweet and fun. one of my favs if I want something nsfw.

Match Point, by @billspaid 14k, General, Muggle. wolfstar as husbands who are both tennis players, inspired by Challengers. exactly what you want from it; ridiculously fun. competitive yet sweet as they go head-to-head. a blast.

lunch poems, by aeridi0nis / @steelycunt 5k, General, Muggle. tourist Sirius bothers bookstore employee Remus into adoration. aeridi0nis and their gorgeous gorgeous writing never disappoints and this was so much fun. swotty Remus my beloved.

Three Card Monte, by @enjambament 14k, Teen, Muggle. I love heist AU's and this is one of the best ones out there. tensive and exciting the whole way through, and this wolfstar... I want what those bitches have.

The Right Reason, by softsilkentofu 11k, Explicit, Post-Hogwarts. wolfstar get married (as friends) to evade anti-werewolf laws. incredibly funny and heart-warming, with great writing, and a fun twist on fake dating.

Longer finished works (30k+)

Dunes and Waters, by MarigoldWritesThings / @marigold-hills 36k, Explicit, AU. curse breaker/convict Sirius is forced to work with ancient Egypt researcher Remus on a riddle. I loved the mythology aspects of this and the twist on canon, and it was beautifully written.

The Road to Sweetwater, by @euripidestrousers 57k, Explicit, AU. Wild West AU, with outlaw Sirius and bounty hunter Remus. I've been yelling about this one a lot recently - one of my all time favs, beautifully written and so brilliant. I'll be coming back to it for a long time.

The Spy Who Loved Him, by OptimisticDinosaur / @mostlyoptimisticdinosaur 35k, Explicit, AU. James Bond AU, with spy Sirius and 'man in the chair' Remus. intensely exciting and tensive, and so much fun. I really had a great time with this one.

an endless sky of honey, by @colgatebluemintygel 35k, Mature, AU. Greek mythology inspired; Sirius is a God, Remus is a mortal. that's all I'll say, you gotta go into this pretty blind, but it's just. incredible. toothpaste never misses and this one is really special.

through the gaps of sunlight, by grumposaur / @pancakehouse 48k, Explicit, AU. victorian era exes to lovers wolfstar with aristocrat Sirius... this one was so much fun, the yearning! the pining! the longing glances! I ate that shit up with a spoon.

The Waste Land, by afieryfox / @a-fiery-fox 51k, Mature, AU. Remus is a resistance fighter for the Order; Sirius joins the fight. brilliant wartime-wolfstar characterisation and a really tense and engaging plot, plus amazing writing. one of my favs of 2024.

love finds a way, by @littleoldrachel 60k, Mature, AU. Jurassic Park exes to lovers... who doesn't love dinos? Rachel always delivers with her writing and characterisations, and I'm obsessed with these nerdy, mopey versions of R & S.

Lie to Me (Another Secret), by Whoops_e 151k, Explicit, Hogwarts. Sirius is expelled from Beauxbatons and joins Hogwarts late. beautiful fic with a focus on mental health, with amazing dialogue and super tender wolfstar (one of my favs). the bathroom scene in ch40 is everything to me.

back when we were dinosaurs, by epicblueblanket / @kaaaaaaarf 37k, Explicit, Muggle. Remus and Sirius meet at their workplace, a museum in Toronto. paleontology!!! nerd Remus!!! sexy Sirius!! this has everything you want, just a perfect fic in every way.

Bonus recs that you've probably already read, and if you haven't you absolutely 100% should

Harry Potter and the Dog and the Wolf (series), by thewholeofthemoon ~605k overall, Mature. a retelling of canon (starting from POA) but with Peter captured and Wolfstar taking care of Harry, aka how we all wish canon had been. beautifully written and super original take on the story. it's long, but it's worth it for the wolfstar alone.

Hey, Sharpshooter, by @tortoisebore 200k, Explicit, Muggle. college, basketball player Remus meets figure skater Sirius. recently finished, and I couldn't not include it as this is in my top 5 most re-read and loved fics ever. it makes me want to pull out my teeth one by one (affectionately). they're engraved in my memory at this point.

on another ocean, by @colgatebluemintygel (WIP) ~133k, Explicit, Muggle. recently dumped Sirius drags Remus on a holiday across through Europe. if you haven't read this, please, please do. it's literally my favourite thing in the entire world. like, no competition. I would sacrifice my firstborn for this fic, and like, raze the city of Troy for this fic (my Helen).

Chimaera & The Wolf (series), by lostmy_keys / @lostmykeysie 337k, Mature, First War. Regulus and Remus work together to find the horcruxes. this one is popular, and for good reason; I devoured this, one of my favourite things I've ever read in my life. so exciting and tense, and the wolfstar is everything to me.

that's all, folks. this is just a small selection, I have read dozens more so if you want more you know where to find me. love always, Ames <3

[kxizoku-ou]

CP9 Cat Headcanons

This is... a very silly post. XD After seeing a similar concept on Pixiv (images 10–12 in this log) and critiquing the breed choices it used, I wound up writing my own take on it.

These are written with actual cats in mind (not my usual Hybrid Au), and the breed choices are just for fun— as in, largely chosen based on looks/vibes, not anything too serious. I was definitely channeling that early 2000s "characters are cats for some reason now" mini-genre, so these are pure fluff/comedy, for once... >3>

. . .

Lucci

(Bengal)

Serial toy murderer. Violently destroys any and every toy you give him within a matter of hours, days at MOST. 

Some of the things he’s done to his toys probably qualify as war crimes tbh. Likes to drown the catnip mice in his water dish. Also enjoys tearing things into ragged chunks/”gutting” the stuffing. 

Sometimes you wake up to him on your chest with a present. 

(A chunk of mutilated cat toy. He drops it onto your face.)

The most athletic cat you’ll ever know. There is no surface in your house he can’t reach SOMEHOW. Also can and will learn how to open doors, drawers, etc, and will use this unfortunate skill to get into everything if he’s bored. 

Affectionate, but only on his terms. You don’t decide when you’re allowed to pet him; when the mood strikes, he’ll interrupt whatever you’re doing and forcefully put his body in your lap. 

You’re not allowed to move until he decides you’re done. :) 

Has a surprisingly cute kneading habit. He’ll go Baby Mode and make biscuits for hours. Sucks on certain blankets too.

Kaku

(Devon Rex)

ZOOMIES TO THE MAX.

Seemingly never sits still. Will run from one end of your house to the other at all hours of the day. At night, you’re regularly woken up by the distinct rapid thumping of galloping kitty paws.

Likes high places and unexpected perching spots. This includes your shoulder— and he can make the jump on his own! 

Playful, but not prone to destroying his toys. Prefers batting hard objects down a flight of stairs to tearing the plush ones open.

Too brave (and curious) for his own good. Lacks any sense of danger when it comes to investigating something that’s caught his interest. 

This includes slipping through the front door.

Not super cuddly, but likes being near you/keeping an eye on what you’re doing. 

Has a squeaky “old man” meow. WEH!

Jabra

(Egyptian Mau)

Wild, playful, curious, and so very destructive. If he’s not kept entertained, your property will suffer for it. 

Requires FREQUENT play and attention, but fortunately, he’s not too hard to please. Throwing a squishy ball for “fetch” can keep him occupied for hours. 

The asshole cat who will make direct eye contact with you before (very deliberately) knocking something off a shelf, then sit there smugly while you try to scold him. 

Very talkative! When he wants your attention, he YELLS, and seeing wildlife outside always brings out that excited, bloodthirsty chitter. 

Taking him to the vet is an ordeal, for everyone involved...

Doesn’t mind being pet and handled. Pesters you for affection regularly, but gets bitey when he’s had enough. :/ 

Highly territorial. Will not tolerate other cats/animals near him.

Kalifa

(Turkish Angora)

Truly the embodiment of the “disdainful gorgeous fancy cat” trope. 

Her fur is incredible, due largely in part to near-constant grooming. Do NOT interrupt her washing. 

She’ll wash your fingers too if she’s feeling affectionate. Mlem mlem mlemmmm...

Likes to be involved in what you’re doing. The kind of cat to walk across your keyboard or loaf-sit on top of stray paperwork, seemingly oblivious to how badly she’s getting in the way. 

At least your “adorable secretary” makes for good moral support!

Not overly playful, but she can be a DEADLY hunter when the mood strikes— fast, agile, and with amazing reflexes no matter what kind of toy you put in front of her. 

Weirdly fickle about when you’re allowed to touch her. Will glare, hiss, and swat at fingers if you test those boundaries.

Blueno

(Norwegian Forest Cat)

The most quiet, low-maintenance, independent cat imaginable. You nearly forget he exists, sometimes.

Not much of a meower, but has a deep, calming, rumbly purr. 

Content to curl up on a chair or in a corner and let you go about your day! He’ll alternate between napping and silently staring in your general direction; the eye contact is a sign of affection. <3

Won’t seek out attention on his own, but also won’t fight it if you pick him up and carry him around like a plushie. 

...he stays limp and docile no matter what you do to him, actually.

Needs regular brushing, or his fur starts to matt. It’s pretty much the only “extra attention” he’ll require, though, and he’s (fortunately) cooperative about it. 

Learned how to open doors at some point. You don’t know how he managed that.

Fukurou

(Persian)

R O U N D (and it’s not just fluff)

Despite being shaped like a furry bowling ball, he’s quite playful, and way more agile/fast-moving than you’d expect. 

...that energy is much less cute when his full weight lands on your abdomen in the middle of the night, however.

VERY affectionate. Will take any opportunity to lay his chin on your palm, headbutt your shoulder/wrists, put his paws on your chest so he can try to lovingly lick your face, etc— purring all the while! 

Chatty cat!! Chirps and squeaks at you non-stop; if you “respond” to him, it turns into a back-and-forth conversation with his mrrep-ing. 

Fond of high places, like bookshelves and tall dressers. 

It’s unclear how such a heavy cat manages to get up onto them, but he usually ends up yowling for help when he can’t get back down.

Kumadori

(British Longhair)

A huge, massively fluffy mini-lion of a cat, with that “polite little gentleman” face common in his breed. 

Sheds. Sheds SO MUCH. All of your clothes are covered in his fur, no matter how hard you try to keep him thoroughly brushed. 

You cannot escape the fluff. 

YOWLS. The loudest, most determined drama queen when he wants something. Acts like he’s dying if his food bowl is empty for more than half an hour, non-stop howling included. 

Extremely cuddly; wants as much attention from you as you’ll give, and will flop his entire body into your lap to get it. 

Fond of jingly toys! The louder and more annoying the bell, the better. 

If you ever have to give him medicine (be it a pill or liquid), he’s utterly betrayed. Gives you the huge, sad, miserable scared-kitty eyes for the rest of the evening, and won’t let you touch him. 

(He’s over it by morning, and back to purring in your arms. Baby.)

Spandam

(Siamese)

The ugliest purebred imaginable, and his personality isn’t better. <3

Health issues. Skin/coat problems, numerous food sensitivities, arthritis, frequent UTIs, and a crooked tail from a past injury.

King of separation anxiety. If he can’t find you, he’s HOWLING, then finding a corner to cower in until his protector is back.

Truly the embodiment of the phrase “scardey cat”. Terrified of everything from the vacuum to rustling plastic bags. Huddles under the couch, trembling pathetically, after every little scare. 

...it is kind of cute when he runs to you to “save” him, however. 

This clumsy dumbass WILL get himself hurt (in incredibly stupid ways) if you don’t keep an eye on him. Utterly oblivious to real danger.

His distressed yowling is awful, and the attention-demanding yells aren’t much better. The classic So So Whiney Baby Siamese! 

NEEDS to be the only cat in the household— he’s violently territorial, but guaranteed to end up the other cat’s punching bag once he’s pissed them off enough. 

[kiwicopia]

🔞 MDNI | Kinktober: Double Penetration 🔞

🎃 Shark!Szayelaporro x Marine Biologist!Fem!Reader 🎃

TW: double penetration (vaginal), dubcon, creampie, rough sex (little pain), scratching, biting, licking, tiddy sucking, slight breeding kink, slight choking, blood, murder, some punishment, sex in the water, possessiveness, name calling (cock sleeve, whore), orgasm denial, belly bulge.

tags: @shes-so-insane @uzxotic

Five years as a marine biologist meant that you had seen quite a lot of interesting things. From the discovery of new flora and fauna to behavioral changes within various marine life, nothing really took you by surprise anymore. Or so you thought. There was the presence of something new in the area, an animal of sorts, yet no one knew what kind. Some folks claimed it to be a monster while others said it looked like the average shark. Either way, it intrigued both you and your team enough to try and find it for research. If only you knew better.

Finding the creature felt too easy—almost as if it was a trap—yet you thought nothing of it when swimming deeper into the underwater cave. Your partner trailed behind you, his waterproof flashlight shining along the inside of the cave walls. A few fish swam by, slowly, yet they quickly diverted off their initial course and swam in the opposite direction, as if to get away from something. The cave was too dark to see anything, despite having a light source, and so you never noticed the shadow that moved above you and your fellow researcher. 

There was a sudden whoosh as something swam past you, causing you to turn around as quickly as possible in the water. Your eyes widened when you didn’t see your partner behind you. Instead, his scuba mask was all that was there, slowly floating to the bottom of the cave floor. Your breathing quickened, draining a bit more oxygen from the tank as you panicked. The light from your flashlight followed the mask as it finally touched the cave floor, and your brows soon furrowed when small puffs of red got caught in the light. The color swirled around with the water, and you immediately knew it was blood. 

Another whoosh came from above you this time, and you quickly moved your flashlight upward, barely catching a glimpse of what looked like a tail—followed by the horrid sight of your partner’s severed arm. Blood wafted out as the appendage slowly sank to the bottom of the cave, and the sight was enough to make you swim back towards the entrance. Your breathing was frantic, taking in too much air from your tank as your legs kicked as fast as they could. You did everything you could to make it out of the cavern, only to feel a hand tightly grip your ankle before yanking you backward. The sudden action had you scream, which caused the mouthpiece to slip out from between your lips, and you desperately tried to grasp it—but to no avail. The last thing you saw before your vision darkened was pink hair—pink hair and a devilish smirk. 

You were no longer in the water when you came to. Instead, you laid on a makeshift bed that consisted of many different things—old blankets, tattered and soggy pillows, and human remains. A screech left your lips as your body jolted in fright, and you quickly moved away from the bed. Your eyes roved over the remains, taking note that they were both old and fresh—with the fresher one being that of your research partner. It was a disgusting sight to behold, and before you could even think about a plan to escape, you heard a sudden splash and small groan from your left. Coming out of the small pool was a man—no, a merman. Your brows furrowed as you stared at him, partially in fear while the other half of you was curious. 

Szayelaporro didn’t look like the mythical merfolk you read about in fairytale books. His body was slenderer, with salmon hair while the lower half of him resembled a shark—except his tail was an unusual pale pink. He looked incredibly bizarre, yet also interesting, but you were quick to ignore those thoughts when he caught you staring at him. The creature’s lips curled into a cocky grin, revealing pointed teeth in the process. “About time you woke up,” he said. Your eyes darted away from him before landing back on the bed, specifically the remains of your colleague. The shark took notice and chuckled. “Not much of a fighter, but he made a good snack.” 

Your chest tightened while your face scrunched up slightly in disgust at his comment. “Why?” You asked. The shark raised a brow, lips parted to speak until you beat him to it. “Why did you kill him?” 

“I was hungry,” he answered. The look on his face suggested that he believed his answer to be justifiable. He then scoffed at the forlorn expression on your face before rolling his eyes. “Don’t look at me like that. I’m not going to eat you. Yet.” You swallowed the lump in your throat and looked away from him. Your gaze found itself on the water, and it didn’t take long for your brain to come up with a plan of escape. Whether it worked or not, well, you decided to take the chance, even if the odds were against you. The shark raised a brow at you, studying you for a moment before he tried to crawl towards you—and that’s when you struck him. 

He hissed when a skull smacked against his head, followed by a ravenous growl as he watched you dive into the water to escape. Your little surprise hit gave you a slight head start, but it was all futile in the end. Once the shark dove into the water after you, it was over. A rough hand jerked you back by your ankle before the other latched around your neck, and his body pressed against yours as he pinned you against one of the cavern walls. Despite the urge to drown you for attempting to escape, let alone throwing the skull at him, he kept your head above the water to let you breathe. 

“Little bitch,” he growled. Szayelaporro moved his face closer to you, the tip of his nose touching yours as he growled again. His amber eyes bore into yours with hatred, yet you noticed the way they relaxed, almost as if he had thought of something. His lips curled into a devilish smirk before letting the hand around your throat squeeze a little, which brought forth a small whimper from you. “I was going to kill you,” he said, “but I have a better idea.” 

The salmon-haired shark slid his free hand down your body, letting his claws scrape against your wetsuit before ripping it at your hips. The clothing that kept your body warm in the water was now gone, and the coldness that replaced it caused you to squirm in his grip. Your movements only made Szayelaporro squeeze your neck a little more to keep you still. Only when you did what he wanted did his hand tear at your wetsuit a little more, watching the material give way to your tits. With his hand still wrapped around your neck while the other gripped your hip, he dipped his head down and let his mouth latch onto a nipple. 

Your eyes closed as a soft moan slipped out, which only served to entice the creature. He let his tongue swirl around the bud, hardening it just enough for him to pull at it with his teeth. Another moan fell from your lips as you leaned your head back against the cave wall, and he groaned when your hands gripped his shoulders. Szayelaporro didn’t mind the way your nails dug into his skin, and it only made him tug your nipple a little more. The shark kept you distracted with that while the hand on your hip slipped a little lower before ripping off the remainder of your wetsuit. 

The sudden coldness against the heat of your cunt made you gasp, and your hold on him tightened. Your reactions let him know that he made the right choice in not killing you—at least not yet—and his mouth soon relented with your nipple. The shark then smirked before pressing his lower half against you even more, and the slow realization to what you felt as he slowly rubbed himself against you only excited him. “Is that—.” 

“Yes,” he answered, cutting you off. The man’s eyes lowered as he watched another question form on your face. “There’s two.” His whisper sent a shiver down your spine. “And you’re taking them both.” You didn’t have time to protest about what he said before he flipped you around and pressed himself up against you again, pinning your front to the cave wall. Szayelaporro was merciless with his actions as he positioned both cocks at your entrance before sheathing them inside your heat. There was no preparation at all, and the scream that ripped from your throat echoed in the cave, but he ignored it. 

His thrusts were relentless as he pounded into you, stretching your walls to the point that you thought he wanted to rip you apart. Perhaps that was his intention, but it wasn’t as though you could do anything about it. Your nails scraped against the rocky wall as the sounds of water splashing and him growling filled your ears, and the way his cocks hammered into you brought forth a few tears. The shark knew it was painful for you, yet he believed it was fitting. Not only did you try and escape, but you wounded him in the process, and he couldn’t let you get away with that. 

“I won’t kill you,” he grunted. His face pressed against your shoulder blade for a moment before he let his tongue lick a thick stripe up your neck. The roughness of his tongue gave you goosebumps, and you let out a breathy moan as your body shivered. “I’ll keep you here, with me—as my little cock sleeve.” His amber eyes lit up when your pussy clenched his dicks, and he chuckled. You were enjoying this now. “I’ll fill you up. Over and over, using you like a whore.” The shark groaned in pleasure when your cunt clenched him again. 

Oh, he was going to have fun with you. Szayelaporro wasn’t about to let you leave, not ever. You’d stay with him, and he’d use you every day, filling you up until you were swollen with his pups. The idea of such a thing excited him, and he continued bullying your tight hole while digging his claws into your hips. You whimpered at the painful sensation, but it was quickly overshadowed by the pleasure that overtook you. 

The way his cocks inched deeper and deeper, pushing up against your gummy walls as the tips repeatedly kissed your cervix was enough to make you come undone. Almost. The shark wouldn’t let you have the satisfaction of cumming. Not yet anyway. His hips continued slamming against your ass, stuttering slightly as he felt himself getting closer and closer. You felt it too—the way his cocks twitched every few seconds inside of you had you clawing the cavern wall. Your forehead leaned against the rocky surface as he plowed into you, faster and faster, his growls constant in your ear. 

It wasn’t until he slammed into you one last time that you moaned loudly, body trembling as his cocks filled your heat with his cum. It was hot and felt like too much, considering your stomach bulged slightly from the sheer amount he unloaded into you. Szayelaporro moved his face closer to your neck again before suddenly sinking his jaws into the flesh, causing you to scream in surprise. The bite wasn’t too painful, but it drew a bit of blood, which he quickly lapped up with his tongue. His actions didn’t make sense until your head was clear enough to think. He marked you, and you now belonged to him—forever. 

[entelodante]

Wanted to expand on some domesticated animals of Mirum. These are basically cat-dog birds, ranging in size from cat to medium sized dog. Still need a name for group over all, suggestions appreciated! In depth info below the cut! 

1. The OG This is the wild ancestral form, basically the wolf to the dog. They are from the grass/shrub lands of Mirum and spend most of the year scrounging around for food until the end of the wet season. Once the floods are over they pop out babies like nobodies business while feeding on the debris left by the flooding. By the time fire season rolls around their numbers are pretty scarce. They travel in little groups with multiple hens and one big buff man! But this man does not necessarily need to be a male, or a bird even! They were the first species domesticated by the chimera and the only one to leave Mirum with them.  The ‘Natural’ Breeds These are just the morphs bred into these fellas without any magical manipulation involved, so they still look relatively close to their wild ancestors.  2. The Cupid  These are purely pets, originally kept just for eggs they lost that purpose as more efficient birds came around for that. Now they just make docile lil lapbirds. Though inattentive owners will find old eggs hidden throughout the house if they’re not careful. Most of the time though they tend to stay by their owners ankles.  3. The Ruff Fluffy lil guys who make for great pest control, they’re a very sporty breed despite everything and need a lot of energy to stop them from destroying their surroundings out of boredom. Will do well with another ruff or dog of similar size, though they can be a bit of a bully in the care of a lax owner. 4. The Gallop Literally just made for running, can keep up with a chimera at full sprint and at a normal long distance run. For those with a more active lifestyle. Though they will just as happily laze around all day, just happy to be included honestly. These are also the best swimmers of the natural breeds with their extra oily coat.  5. The Dome This is a purely ornamental bird, stocky and colorful they are the most relaxed of all the birds. Most prefer chimeric company to that of other birds and have a habit of separation anxiety when not with their owner. In line with that, these are the most accepting of chimeric ‘talk’ with most quickly getting accustomed to projected commands. Though please don’t overwhelm your bird, casting the full range of sentient experience unto lesser beings CAN and WILL cause them existential distress! Not to mention your personality may displace your pet’s. 6. The Fluff  The original pillow stuffing. These guys feathers are softer than any other. Keeping a mostly downy ‘undercoat’ for their whole life. That being said these guys can get absolutely RANCID if not kept clean and tidy. Only for the most advanced and attentive of owners unless you want an unholy dingleberry beast skulking around. They also are VERY bitey.  7. Crested These are historically for eating, but have grown to be a very pish posh fancy breed. Most are pure white, thanks to inbreeding, and albeit are not the sharpest tools in the shed. But if you are looking for a bird who may just ignore your commands but love you eternal, this is your bird! 

That’s them so far, will make the magical monstrosities later. Also wanted to try a different lineart style. Thin is nice but I miss my chunky brush. Glad to have tried it though! 

[ravenmacduff]

To those Pokémon leaks and the specifically the myths. People do know that the moral of all those stories is that humans can be cruel?

In each one we have humans being the aggressors, that includes the Typhlosion one.

In the Ponyta story, it’s the rival eastern hunter who disrespects Pokémon, and hunted female Rapidash Ponyta. Specifically targeting the young, and his actions angered Rapidash and eventually led to his death at the hands of the western hunter. And I think the other point of this myth is to act in a sustainable way. Male Rapidash can breed with many females, but the females can’t, if you want to protect the population, you hunt the males. It’s why in real life, hunters are given a certain amount of “antlerless” moose tags.

For the Octillary Story it’s pretty cut and dry, human cruelty. Reading closely I’m not actually sure if the sex between the father and the Octillary was consensual or not, since the Octillary didn’t verbally consent, but it kept returning to the same spot perhaps to see the man? Regardless it’s sketchy as hell. The Son is where things are definite. The son was cruel to the Pokémon around him, injuring and maiming them for no other reason than his own enjoyment. He wasn’t hunting them for food, he was slaughtering them because he felt like it (tbh this reminds me a lot of big game hunters, who don’t intend to eat what they kill, who get the thrill of the hunt and a trophy. Which I believe disrespects the animal). The Son was also very much given a chance to repent. To forsake his old violent ways and become a better person but he refused and in the end it led to his death.

I would say the Slakoth story was very similar to the Octillary story in that we have a human being needlessly cruel to Pokémon to animals. And in having a child who was the same as the people she hurt she learned just how cruel she was. And the other women learned the same lesson when they killed her child, and she committed suicide. I get the vibe that this story has an anti-bullying message. To be honest it shouldn’t take having a child to realize one’s wrongs, but there it is.

And lastly we come to the Typhlosion story that everyone has been obsessing about. In a lot of ways it resembles old Japanese tales. I’ve read one in the past where a man meets a beautiful woman, and cheats on his wife with her, ending up married to this woman and having children. Eventually something breaks the spell over him and he finds out that he was living with a vixen underneath his own porch tbe whole time. The Typhlosion one follows a similar beat, that a woman stays with a man because he looks after her and takes care of her. She eventually finds out he’s a Typhlosion but she decides to stay with him in that moment instead of fleeing. The child they produce may or may not be out of rape, but reading the story it doesn’t seem like that. The way she sees the Typhlosion as her husband suggests that it was more consensual. When she wanted to return to the human realm and live as a human once more, she tried to shed her old life, but she wasn’t able to. And the humans saw that she was changed forever and were cruel to her and her child. Even her own family drove her out.

I guess one thing I want to say before I end this is. It seems like people here and on other places on the internet seem to take these stories as literal. Instead of what they’re supposed to be, which are myths. Myths and tales didn’t necessarily happen in the way told, or happen at all. The point of myths and tales is to provide insight into the world, to provide a story with some sort of lesson. It’s clear from the final version of these myths present in the DPP games that they reduced these myths to their base element to give the player an idea about the world. And myths make a world seem real.

[mjrtaurus]

Even when they were separated, Crocodile was on edge every time he heard Dragon was spotted in or near Big Mom's territory. He had the misfortune of sailing with that woman for years, so he's very familiar with how she treats rare races and animals like collectible dolls. And of the three races who don't live in Tottoland, one of them is the winged humans. If she ever got wind of Dragon being Shandoran, she'd either try to stick him in a giant bird cage or throw half of her daughters at him to get him to marry into the family.

Linlin always said she'd contribute to the Revolution's cause, but Dragon could see right through that shit. Frankly, she's almost as bad as the Celestial Dragons in his eyes. A spoiled child who never grew out of her bad behavior because everyone around her enabled her worst traits, only with the added caveat of being so physically strong that people were afraid to contradict her.

(Also it seems heavily implied, at least to me, that whatever is going on with Big Mom's hunger pangs is connected to the giant kids at Punk Hazard who had those same rage episodes when denied NHC-10 laced candy. This woman was potentially born as a result of gigantification experiments and suffered from untreated hereditary chemical dependence and was later almost trafficked to the same organization who caused her condition before eating her whole family due to said condition, holy SHIT, Dragon did not think the World Government could continue to sink so low).

Charlotte Linlin… to this day the name still sends an unpleasant shiver up Crocodile’s spine.

There comes a certain point in the life a person who refuses to acknowledge that they are sick in the mind that they can very easily transfer over to the role of an abuser. This was the case with Charlotte Linlin.

He is loathe to admit it, but her dream grew twisted and ugly in much the same way his had, but that is where the similarity ended. He was still a conniving, cold-blooded old bastard, don’t get him wrong, but at least he wasn’t hoarding people like shadowbox curios under some shoddily applied veneer of peace. He had standards.

Not many, mind you, bit he did have them.

The idea of Dragon being put in a not-so-gilded cage and treated as little more than breeding stock for her perfect little candyland flavored hellscape was enough to have him burning through his cigars like more of a madman than he already is.

They were long estranged, yes, but he still loved the man, dammit! That was the father of his child!

When they eventually reconcile, one of the conditions of that reconciliation is that if Dragon is ever, ever having to be in or near Big Mom’s territory (he’ll only ever be convinced that the witch is dead if someone brings him her head, and even then he’ll still have his suspicions) that he will call before he goes in and after he goes out.

He is not losing him to that berserking old hag.

[kengan-daddies]

You and Me Raian Kure

Anime : Kengan Ashura

Character : Raian Kure

Warning : Graphic Description of Violence, Gore, Bodily Fluids, Choking, Fingering, Deep Throating, Hair Pulling, Spanking, Shower Sex, breeding kink

18+ MDNI RAIAN KURE 18+ MDNI RAIAN KURE 18+

18+ MDNI YOU RAIAN KURE 18+ RAIAN KURE 18+

You sat on the bed, your legs crossed, your arms laying on your lap as you sat there in your and Raian's shared room, he was out on a mission at the moment, he left 2 weeks ago, and you've been waiting since. In those two weeks, you've been thinking of your and Raian's relationship, it was never established, yet you both acted like a couple. You slept in the same bed, you cuddled, you fucked, you ate together, you sometimes bathed together, you were a couple in every sense, and yet it's never been spoken of. Raian never cared to talk about it, every time you brought it up he'd either completely ignore you, get irritated, or just leave.

It was getting old, and quick, you wanted to get some closure to it, because you didn't want to be wasting your time and feelings on a man who was just going to replace you in the end. You put so much time and emotion into him, so much blood and sweat, you gave him your whole heart, body, mind, and soul. You refused to let this go to waste. You'd sometimes have doubts and worry. Doubts about his feelings for you, and worry for a new woman walking through that door.

'Raian always takes about a week to 2 weeks to complete a mission, so he should be home sometime today or tomorrow.' You thought, determination flooding your body as you kept pushing down the worry in your twisting gut. You were nervous, you were ready. The sound of heavy footsteps sounded through the halls making your back straighten out. 'Here we go.' You thought as you swallowed. The footsteps stopped in front of the door, blood seeping in under the door. 'He must be drenched, the savage.' You thought as the doorknob twisted and the door opened revealing Raian.

He was wearing a casual outfit, a black shirt with some black pants and shoes. 'The purpose of the black clothing is to hide the blood that may get on his clothes... but... he's such a savage, till that ideology goes straight out the window... he's soaked.' You thought as you observed his appearance. His hair was pretty much all red, streams and trails of blood covered his whole body, his clothes clung to his body like a second skin, seeming like he was drenched in water, just standing in one spot and the red liquid was making a pool around him.

In his hand he held a brown sack, good sized lumps could be seen pushing up against the fabric, as it too was soaked with blood at the bottom of the bag, leaving its own trail behind. 'Heads.' You thought as you gazed at the bag. He dropped it carelessly by the door, splashing the blood around it, he smirked at you. "Hey, hey, hey~! Did you miss me~?" He teased as he kicked off his bloodied shoes. His socks were black as well, along with also being soaked. He peeled off his bloodied shirt, dropping it next to the sack, it sounded like a soaked rag when it hit the floor. You stared at him with an almost bored look, his pale skin covered in blood, you'd be lying if you said it never turned you on.

Seeing him come home, looking like a savage beast who just slaughtered a whole village without care... It was sexy, and it was exciting, to know that you shared the bed of a killer. You stood up from the bed, your arms lazily crossed over your body as you stared at him. "You need to shower, you smell and look like pure shit." You said making him chuckle. "What? Don't like the smell of iron? I personally don't mind the smell, I find it... comforting." He said as his smirk became vicious. 'I can't imagine how the poor saps felt when they saw him, towering over them. Imagine the last thing you see is this fool.' You thought. You looked at him a little longer before you walked over to the bathroom door.

He watched you, like the predator he was, open the door to the bathroom. You looked over at him as you pulled off your own shirt, dropping it on the floor before you walked into the bathroom. He chuckled before he kicked the door behind him closed and stalked after you into the bathroom. He stood in the doorway, admiring your body as you stood there in your underwear, he watched as you turned on the shower getting it nice and warm for the both of you. He personally liked it to be scolding, but he didn't feel like getting fussed and cussed out, he hadn't seen you in 2 weeks, and he wanted you to be pleased and not upset with him.

Usually, he'd do pretty much anything to see you fired up and annoyed with him, it was sexy, but he'd never admit it, but he liked having you in his arms when he came home from a mission. He didn't even know when it started happening, he just knew that he started craving your attention whenever he was gone too long on a mission. Before he met you, he'd take his time on a mission, stretching them out to nearly a month, but now that you were in his life, he tries to end it as fast as possible. The sooner his mission is over, the sooner he can come home to you. He didn't like thinking about it, he didn't even like feeling the way he felt, but he couldn't control his heart, not when it came to you. He was weak against you.

You were staring at the water, watching as it went down the drain in a constant cycle. 'Just like me and Raian... Ring around the rosie, we all fall down.' You thought as you put your hand out, feeling the water hit your hand, feeling the temperature. The feeling of hands gently running up your waist almost made you jump, if you weren't aware of Raian being in the bathroom with you, you would've sworn it was someone else. 'This gentle touch, that's a another reason why I want to have answers... This is the touch of a lover.' You though, as you felt his hands trailing up your sides, slowly caressing over your clothes chest. "Pretty jumpy, aren't we?" He teased, you rolled your eyes as you unconsciously arched into his hands. He chuckles as he closes his hands around your breasts, gently squeezing them till it hurt before he released them and he'd do the same thing again.

You lightly moaned at the feeling as your hands pressed against the shower wall, you were pretty much just leaning against his hands, but he didn't seem to mind. As soon as you noticed steam coming up from the shower, you pushed his hands off you roughly and he chuckled at you. "Shower's ready." You said as you began undressing completely. He smirked at you, a knowing look in his eyes as he crossed his arms over his chest, satisfied with just watching you undress completely. You ignored him as you stepped into the shower, closing the glass door behind you as you slicked your hair back from the water, you picked up your body wash, squeezing some in your hand, you rubbed your hands together, getting them soapy before you rubbed them over your body slowly.

You knew he was watching, so why not put on a show. You already took a shower earlier today, hence why you didn't need a rag or anything, you just wanted to tease him. Rubbing your hands over your arms, breasts, shoulders, stomach, thighs, ass. You paused for a moment, the feeling of being watched like prey making you hesitate, but not in fear... in excitement. You stepped back under the water, letting the suds get washed away. A Hand suddenly slammed into the wall in front of you, making you jump. He chuckled in your ear as his other hand rubbed up your side and over your stomach. "Quite the show you put on for me, I usually don't get such a sight, must be my lucky day then." He said. You huffed as you leaned back into his chest. "Please, don't get ahead of yourself." You said.

He just smirked, as he ran his hand up your stomach and over your breasts, the pad of his fingers running over your nipples a few times before he suddenly pinched one harshly. You threw your head back as you hissed, in pain and pleasure. "Asshole." You grunted out. "Heh, what happened to that tough act, ha?" He asked, amusement in his voice. You scoffed but you didn't say anything. His hand on your breasts ran up further till he suddenly shot his hand up and he gripped your throat. You gagged at the sudden choke as your reached up to grab his arm, his grip tightening, you gasped for air while his other hand went straight for your twitching core, he ran his fingers over your clit roughly making you whimper.

He smirked as he chuckled in your ear. "From tough girl to a whinny whore, oh how the mighty have fallen." He taunted. You grunted in irritation at his words. "Shut... up... cock sucker." You retaliated, he chuckled. "Still got air to talk shit huh? Well, let's fix that." He said as he tightened his grip on your throat. Your toes curled and your pussy pulsed. "Ugh...." You moaned out, you nearly squealed when he suddenly pushed two of his fingers into you. Your pussy pulsed and twitched to the sudden stretch, the pain making your eyes roll and flutter, your saliva mixing in with the water as it went down your body, mixing in with the constant red that spiraled down the drain, his fingers pushed into you quickly, in and out, in and out, in an out. Your stomach flexed as you humped his fingers.

"Look at you, damn near falling apart from just my fingers alone, how fucking pitiful." He chastised as he pushed in a third finger, you whined as your nails dug into his arm, as your core twitched and spasmed, your eyes fluttering close. 'I'm gonna cum...' You thought as you gave a shuddering sigh, but it all came crashing down when he suddenly released your neck as he pulled his fingers out. You threw your hands out in front of you quickly, catching yourself on the wall. Your legs felt weak as your knees tried to buckle under you. 'I refuse... I'm not gonna fall on my knees.' You thought, your pride keeping you from doing so, but it was all in vain when he suddenly pushed his foot into the back of one of your knees, making you fall to your knees. You hissed in pain when your knees hit the shower floor.

You snatched your head around to glare up at him, and he smirked down at you, unfazed by your harsh glare. "Damn, if only looks could kill, right?" He teased as he stared down at you. You huffed in annoyance as you moved to stand, but he pushed his hand down on your shoulder keeping you down on your knees. "Let me up, asshole." You barked, he simply chuckled at you as he pushed you around, the shower floor making it easy to spin you around to face you towards him. He gave you a knowing smirk and your eyes slowly trailed down until they landed on his hard cock. It was always a sight to see. The thick vein that ran up the side of it, the bulbous head red, the foreskin pushed back, the slight throb of it. It was beautiful. You looked back up at him before you sighed. 'Might as well try not to act like I don't want it, because we both know the truth.' You thought as you reached forward and you grabbed it.

Your grip was tight, just how he liked it, you saw when the head slightly twitched from the throb you felt it in your hand. 'If it's not his heart, soul, and mind I have control of, then it would be his dick.' You thought as you flattened your tongue and you licked the head roughly. He gave a sigh as his hand on your shoulder moved to the top of your head, his fingers pushing into your wet strands as he tangled his fingers into it. You kept your tongue flattened as you continued to lick over his head, it didn't take long before the taste of precum hit your tongue. Your hand slipped lower as you sucked him into your mouth, inching him in little by little, you scrapped your teeth along his cock as you'd always bite down some on the head before you'd suck him back in. Learning how to give Raian a blowjob was a task of its own. He never explained what he liked, he just acted when it wasn't enough.

He was like yourself, a masochist but he was also a sadist. Your hand cuffed his balls gently as you sucked him down your throat further as you got used to his girth, before you pulled back, scrapping your teeth along his shaft as you'd bite down on the head before you'd do it all over again. His head was thrown back as he gave long groans of pleasure, his hands tightening in your hair as his hips bucked suddenly making you nearly choke, your hands came up to his thighs, trying to have some form of control. 'One buck usually leads to many.' You thought, and you were right, because the one turned into two and two into four and four into a constant repeat. You kept your throat open as you allowed him to use your throat, as roughly as he'd pleased. His balls slapped the underside of your chin, your saliva leaking down, causing new strands to form each time you'd pull away.

He groaned loudly as he shoved his cock deep down your throat, and he just held it there. 'Son of a bitch.' You thought as your brow twitched, you looked up at him, and your glare hardened when you saw that shit-eating grin on his face. "You like choking on cock, right?" he taunted. You groaned in irritation. 'Cocky bastard, all because I came the one time he choked me on his cock, not my fault I wasn't in my right mind.' You thought. He pulled back slowly until he was completely out and you coughed some, the pent-up saliva in your mouth poured out with his cock, getting washed away down the drain. "Nasty bitch." He said as he grabbed your arm, hoisting you up from the floor, you stumbled some, your legs numb from being on your knees for so long, but he kept a strong hold on you.

He pulled you close to his body, your hands coming up to rest on his chest when he did. "But I like em like that." He said, as he roughly pushed his mouth against yours, your teeth clashed together making you moan from the pain but it was forgotten when his tongue came to dance with yours. Your slimy tongues danced around one another as you both fought for dominance, you almost never won, but you didn't mind it. Your body was pressed tight up against his, your arms slowly going up and around his neck, while one of his arms circled around your waist while the other reached down to smack your ass. You jumped at the sudden impact before another slap came down just as hard as the first one, you moaned sweetly into his mouth.

Your muffled moans became loud once he pulled back from the kiss, another smack and you hissed while he kissed down your jaw towards your neck where he latched onto your skin. Another smack, a hiss, and a bite. You grunted from the sudden pinch of his teeth on your neck, another smack this time you moaned, another pinch from his teeth, another smack, a painful suck. Your arms tigheten around his neck as your head threw back giving him more room to leave more marks. You whined, moaned, groaned, and cried as he abused your ass with hard slaps while he littered your neck with bites.

Then, the pain was gone, and in its place was a tongue and a soothing hand. You held onto him tightly, your mind hazy as you leaned against his body. 'He wasn't usually like this... Usually by now... He'd be plowing me, not caring about how much pain I was in... I grew tough from it... And now... He's suddenly different... Taking the time to smooth over my small wounds, almost as if to say 'I'm sorry.'... I don't know this Raian but... I also don't mind it either... It makes me feel... Special.' You thought. His hands suddenly trailed down to your thighs as he hoisted you up, your legs wrapping around his waist.

He guided himself into your core, slowly pushing in, you moaned at the slow entrance, only for it to get slightly louder once he bottomed out. You whimpered once he fully entered, your face hiding into your folded arms, he just gave a small chuckle at your noise before he lifted you up and let gravity do its job while he thrusts forward. You both moaned at the action his dick seemingly going deeper when he did that. It didn't take him long before he found his rhythm, your body bouncing against him every time he thrusts forward.

'This is different... Way different... He should be ravaging me, taking me by force like an animal... A man without a conscious... So why?... What's causing this sudden change?... Is it me?... Is it Ohma?... Is it someone else?... I need to know... I need to know, Raian... Tell me...' you thought as you lifted your head up, your arms unwrapping around his neck as you tangled your hands into his hair. He stopped his movements when he saw the look in your eyes. "Raian... Be honest with me... Do you love me?" You asked him, his eyes slightly widened and his smirk slowly died down some.

He stared at you for a moment, not saying anything. The shower was the only noise you could hear. His eyes relaxed before his smirk widened once more, he didn't say anything as he turned off the water, opened the door to the shower, and promptly walked out of the bathroom. You were still in his arms, dick still inside, as you stared down at him in confusion. " Raian?... Raian answer me... I deserve an answer damnit." You demanded as you glared at him. He didn't say anything as he suddenly bent down your arms tightening around his neck before your back met the bed.

You stared up at him, you couldn't process anything as you watched him place his head on your shoulder, his arms tightening around you. "You want my honest answer?" He said, his voice low, you nodded your head. "Ha, so do I." He said. Your eyes widened as you looked at him, but you never got a chance to question him before he began thrusting. Your head went back as you moaned at the different position, his tip scraping your g-spot just right, your toes curling and uncurling as your arms tightened around his neck, your fingers digging into his back, your legs loosening from around his waist, he took advantage of that as he quickly grabbed your legs, bending you into the breeding position.

You whined at the sudden change you arms falling next to your head, your body moving with his thrusts. "Remember...What I told you?... About this position?" He suddenly said, you almost didn't hear him, your cloudy brain looking for an answer before your eyes widened. He smirked. "I'll only do that position with a woman, who I can see myself spending the rest of my life with." You said, repeating his words from long ago. He chuckled. "Does that answer your question?... Honest enough for ya?" He asked.

You stared at him, seemingly numb for a moment, before you placed your hands on his arms, and you smiled. His brows slightly twitched at the look in your eyes. It was always there, he could see it everytime he looked at you. That soft look in your eyes that he used to hate so much, he used to despise it... Thinking it was you pitying him, looking down on his strength... But he's grown addicted to the look... Possessive even... He noticed it was a look you only reserved for him and him alone. That was his special stare, and he intended on keeping it like that.

"I love you, Raian." You said, everything stopped. He stared down at you, shocked. The tender smile on your face, thoes pretty eyes full of love... Did he love you back?... Could he even love?... He had favorites... But someone he loved?.... He supposed so... He wanted to spend the rest of his life with you... He wanted you by his side forever. He never wanted you to leave, he needs you, to keep him grounded. He smirked. "Then, in that case... Let me fuck you like a lover." He said.

Your eyes widen, not expecting him to... Recuperate your feelings... In his own way that is. His thrusts suddenly picked back up in speed, as he bent over you making your body curve up slightly more, your knees on side of your head, one of his hands pressed into the bed next to your head while the other held the back of your knee. Your moaned in time with his thrusts, your hands curling into the sheets below, your eyes getting cloudy as they fluttered close. "I'm gonna fuck a baby into you... Showing everyone who you belong to... Just the thought of your belly swelling up is enough to make me cum." He said

His thrusts getting harder, deeper, faster. His balls slapping your ass, your slick pouring out, making the underside of his balls shiny as they left strands of your slick, making a white paste. Your back wanted to arch, your fingers found his thigh as you dug your nails into them, wanting something to ground yourself with. His hand suddenly grabbed your hair, puking it back harshly. You hissed at the pain, you almost thought he snatched you bald, but he didn't, he wouldn't, he likes your hair too much to do that... Plus he didn't wanna hear you bitching about it for days.

Your core tightened, the feeling of your release coming made your eyes roll, your stomach tighten and just like that, your world went hazy as you nearly yelled out your orgasms, Raian chuckled at you, watching you twist and whine as he helped you ride out your high. The twitching of your pussy along his cock made his spine twitch. "I'm gonna make you into a mother, have you carry my children, walking around with that swollen uterus." He said, he could already see it, your little waddles, your swollen ankles, your weird ass cravings, your mood swings, your swollen breasts, leaking milk for his baby. Just as he said before, just the thought of it was enough to make him cum.

He pushed all the way in, his cock pushed in completely. You could feel him twitching, his cum spilling into you, filling you up, his ball tightening up and he gave a groan as another spill came out. You could feel his seed, filling you up. He laid his forehead on your shoulder, as your hands came up, running your fingers through his hair and on the back of his neck. You both lay there, tired, sleepy, hot, sweaty. He didn't even try to slip out, as he flipped you both around. He laid back on the bed, sighing as he felt his body finally relax after his long mission. You lay against him, the sound of his heart beating made you calm down. You felt his hands rubbing up and down your back, lightly tapping your ass on occasion.

You opened your eyes, staring at the bloodied sack with the heads of a family of 9 in it, the blood had long since stopped pooling around the bag, you sighed as your eyes slowly drifted close, he refused to exit you until he felt his seed had taken root. And you were okay with that, if it worked, then a new chapter of your life can begin, and this time, you'll be with your other half to live it out.

[ladiemars]

I love Nor and her giant sad puppy eyes, I would love to know more about her

thank you!! have a hastily drawn nor ft. her giant sad sopping wet puppy eyes:

+ a giant nor lore dump below the cut જ⁀➴

➸ her whole character was inspired by that one textpost that’s like, “characters with both the abject terror and desperation of an animal that knows it is cornered and destined to be eaten. you just can't get that kind of angst out a successful hunter” and this quote by james harriet: “if having a soul means being able to feel love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals are better off than a lot of humans.”

➸ she’s is the product of a union between a drow woman and a deep imaskari man. for those who don’t know, the deep imaskari are a human subrace (from 3e) that have stone-like skin and hair that’s white or black. because that’s nor’s human half, most people assume she’s completely drow upon meeting her, since did not inherit any features from her father that would make her look less like her drow mother.

➸ the deep imaskari live longer than other humans—up to 550 years—so nor ages at a rate more akin to drow and elves than half-elves or humans. nor believes she’s currently around seventy years old, though she could be off by a decade or two. she’s not sure when she was born and has long periods without human contact. she really isn’t sure how much time has passed.

➸ she has no given name, but eventually ended up going by the name ratcatcher, which is what the locals in baldur’s gate called her. halsin is the one who names her nor shortly after they meet, which is the elven word for “passion” and also “run.”

➸ this excerpt from one of my fics sums up her urchin/orphan to urban ranger/beastmaster pipeline pretty well:

➸ around the age of twenty, nor grew to resent humanity so much that she decided to leave baldur’s gate and live in the forest with only animals for company for half a century. (this is when she lost track of time completely.) in the forest, she became an expert in survival, attuning her ears to the slightest twitch in the air, to every noise and smell. she lived in a cave and slept curled up beside velvet on a bed of willow leaves. the events of baldur’s gate 3 is the first time in decades that she’s had social interaction.. and it shows.

➸ she has a little wolfdog companion named velvet. (i’ve drawn him and her and halsin and scratch here). he was another half-breed who didn’t quite being anywhere, so they bonded very deeply. (fun fact: velvet killed the elder brain in my first playthrough as nor. he’s a legend in faerun now.)

➸ laezel is her bestie. they are ride or die. neither of them understand a damn thing about faerun or its inhabitants. but that also means they don’t judge each other for anything, cause they both just kind of assume what the other is doing is normal

➸ a big part of her character is her dynamic with the emperor. she gets manipulated by him so bad because he tells her everything a forgotten, unloved creature wants to hear: i need you, i’ll protect you, you’re not like other people, we’re a team, you can trust me, i want you to join me, you aren’t alone. it’s not until he begins to pressure and compel her to become illithid against her will she starts to fear him and his power over her, and after certain revelations she realizes he was using her and turns on him altogether.

➸ obviously she romances halsin. i love the dynamic of beastmaster/druid. they’re extremely well suited because they’re both such inherently good people and they bond a lot over their love for nature. they are also the only two people who can really understand each other’s animalistic quirks.

i’ve written some fics with her that you can read here if you’re interested. >:3c

[zweetpea]

Zhongli x reader The Dragon of Geo (Spicy, no smut)

Summary:

The classic tale of a young lady and a dragon, but with a twist. AU no deities, or Tevat (I’ll still use Liyue and the Qixing just for convenience), no Archons. And I made Shenhe an Adepti because I thought that thematically it fit better. Also female reader.

Notes:

Warning: not for the kiddos! Has foul language and mentions of heat and breeding. And if you want me to write you smut based of the sultry scene feel free to ask.

Feel free to request any genshin ideas

Ao3 version here

Once upon a great beast roamed the sky. His scales, as brown as mud yet they sparkled like crystals. His hair as thick and shiny as gold yet it was softer than silk. His claws as sharp as rocks yet somehow held a gentleness reserved for the mortals of his land. And did he ever love his mortals. Hewent by many names, Rex Lapis, The Great One, Mighty Dragon of Geo, the children often called him Zhongli, but my favorite name for him has always been Morax. Something about it just presented power and authority. To me it screamed “I am your protector! You are mine to love! Though the seasons may change and life caries on for mortals, I will be here to protect you always!”

But those were the foolish wishes of a young girl who knew nothing of the world. A girl who was enchanted by the glimmer told to her as a child to keep her innocent.

He protected us for a millennia, but a century ago he decreed that unless he was given a bride by sunset he would ravage the land. The Qixing gathered everyone together to see if there was anyone who was willing to go. In the end they had to draw up a lottery since no one volunteered. Five years later he demanded another girl. And another after another five years. Some mothers or sisters left instead to protect their family, some had to be carried away screamed and crying. When I was fifteen years old I even witnessed a girl ask that she be escorted there in a carriage with a beautiful white dress. She was convinced that she was going to die and wanted to be pampered and treated like a princess in her last minutes.

I was never convinced that he ate them. I thought that they were a part of his harem and he got bored with them eventually. But it was undignified and unlawful to let a woman marry a man after she had been deflowered, lest she be a widow.

Anyway, it’s now five years later. Liyue is waiting on a letter from one of the four Illuminated Beast. This time 15 years ago Xiao came. He was a beautiful black and teal eagle (A/n: Don’t question the animal forms). 10 years ago Yanfei a lovely salmon pink deer came. 5 years ago an adorable little blue goat named Ganyu arrived with the letter. So this year should be the elegant white crane Shenhe.

Right on time she flys down with the letter in her mouth. I inform her of my name, how I knew her and the other Adepti’s name. “Don’t worry Shenhe, there’s is no need to go back to the others. I’ve been informed that I should wait here until the letter arrives and if it never came I was to return at the end of the day. I am the new bride of the dragon of Geo.”

Well truth be told the reason that I didn’t want to go back to the others was because I had a plan to stop all of this. In the back of my traditional dress I hid a dagger. I’m not much of a fighter but I figured... someone had to try? I guess? I dressed modestly as I figured that he would like it enough to not eat me immediately. If I died in battle I was going to take down Rex Lapis. I don’t need the praise, and I just want my people to live peacefully oblivious lives. In a few centuries this nightmare will become folk lore. A cautionary tale to spook children into being good. It’s finally going to end. I wonder if they’d get most of the details accurate, maybe they’d try to scope out the cave to try and find more details.

We walk out to the middle of the wild and into the mountains. The cave of the beast. Surprisingly it had doors. They’re beautifully sculpted and chiseled with various pattern that made me stop and gape at them in awe.

“This way, young one.” Shenhe motions with her wing. The doors open slowly and I enter the unnatural dark cave.

Once they close lanterns illuminate the corridor and standing before me was a gorgeous woman with long white hair that fades to black at the end, tied in a beautiful braid. “Who...?”

“Right my apologies. It’s still me Shenhe. In the cave myself, Xiao, Ganyu, and Yanfei take on more human characteristics. Come on, we mustn’t keep the master waiting.”

She leads me to the end of the corridor and into a large room. It looks like it had to be a thrown room due to the throne at the far back on top of a short flight of stairs but it feels as if someone could throw a party in here.

“Shenhe. You’ve returned earlier than usual.” A deep voice from behind a burgundy curtain called. His glowing gold eyes peer through the semitransparent cloth. She kneels to him once we reach the bottom of the stairs.

“The mortals came prepared, this time.” She informs the man on the throne. Gold and brown plush pillows surround him as he lay there waiting for his next plaything.

I kneel too to show him that I am as loyal and docile as his servants. “Shenhe you are dismissed.” She exits the room and he rises from his throne and draws back the curtains. “Rise my bride. Rise and look at me.” I do as he commands. I gape with wide eyes at the man before me. Long thick black hair pulled back in a ponytail, he had on a strange white outfit that showed off his chest and yet was like a skirt at the bottom. His arms were black at the shoulder and gradients to a yellow at his hands, I wonder if that was natural or part of his clothes. He starts to descend towards me as I’m standing there like an idiot. He chuckles, his voice even more sultry. “Like a little bunny caught in her predictors sight.” In the blink of an eye he’s behind me, holding my dagger to my throat. His hood most likely fell off as he dashed for me. “You are the only one who has ever tried to kill me. Others have begged or tried to bargain. Some I’ve even fed to Xiao because they only cared about the prestige of becoming my wife.”

“Your eyes... the legends and one own imagination cannot do them justice. I’ve imagined them thousands of times. How could I have hated these beautiful ambers for five years?” I looked up at him as he leaned over me.

“Excuse me? Did you just ignore what I said? Maybe I wasn’t clear enough. Women who try to seduce me are fed to my servants.”

I’m off in lala land and can’t fully register his word. “My father’s probably told me your legend 100 times when I was younger. If you’re going to kill me please let me die with your eyes being the last sight I see.”

“100 times? I could never fathom hearing something 20 times let alone that many.”

“Ironically I am your 20th bride.”

“Do you think that makes you special?”

“That’s for you to decide. Are those horns real?” His horns came up from his head and slanted back then curled back towards the front. I turned around in his hold.

“Yes they are, and they’re vERY—” He cuts himself off as I grab his horn. He groans at the contact dropping my dagger, it clangs as it reaches the ground. “—Sensitive.” He grabs my hips and nearly grinds our waists together. He breathing is heavy as he layers his head on my neck and guides me up the stairs. I almost trip a few times as I have to walk backwards. “If you ever do that again, you won’t be walking for a week.” He pushes me down on his throne. He pins my hands above me.

“Was- was that supposed to be as erotic as you made it sound?” My face feels hot and is undoubtedly red.

He looks at me surprised and then angry. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t take you right here, or better yet call in the Adepti to watch as I fuck you dumb on my cock like the whore that you are?”

“Morax, I know that you probably won’t care but I’d like to ask you a question before you deflower me.”

He looks a bit surprised, probably because of the name I called him by. “... this better be good.”

“Why did you ask for a bride?”

“Why? Why?! I don’t have to tell you anything!!”

“Okay. I’m ready.” I say nonchalantly. This caught him off guard.

“Excuse me.”

“You granted me my question, and from the stories I’ve been told Morax keeps his word. You told me you were going to torture the poor Adepti by forcing them to watch us propagate.”

“Do you just believe everything that you’ve been told or read in a book?” His face like the fabled Jueyun Chili’s.

“I was actually also wondering about those stories. But you’ve only permitted me with one question, so I guess I’ll never know.”

“If you were so curious about me why’d you try to kill me?” He lets me sit up.

“I mean, you are quite well known for your brides going missing and never coming back. It would be stupid not to have some kind of protection, whether or not it would work is a whole different argument. I figured that if for some reason I changed my mind I should still have some protection.”

He smirks at me. “I don’t think that’s you wanting to kill me is the truth. Not anymore at least. You wanted to convince yourself that you would be the hero. But what you really wanted was answers. Answers to the questions that you’ve been tossing and turning in your sleep about. I can see it in your eyes. The was they sparkled when you went to grab my horns. The way you looked over my body as I came closer to you just a few minutes ago. The way you were ready to use your last boon on something that should be so innocent, just so that you could get the answers that were just eating you alive.”

Could he really read you like an open book? One with the letter printed big and bold? “Okay, you forced me to face a truth I really didn’t want to confront. What does this mean now? You know that I won’t try to kill you, you know that I don’t want your power, and you know that I’m not gonna beg for my life or try to bargain for the sake of Liyue. So what will you do now?”

“It’s been a long time since I’ve had someone who’s interested in history and my stories stumble into my life. I’d like to keep you around for now.”

“What happens when you don’t want me anymore?” He walks back to where he dropped my dagger and comes back with it. He makes a slit on his palm and smeared the golden blood on my forehead in a single line.

“I make this contract to you that should I get bored of you that you may leave this place and never return. Once you wash off my blood the contract with solidify.”

(A/n: just go with it)

“Well what happens if you take my virginity then get bored of me? It wouldn’t be proper for me to marry another.”

He makes another slit on his palm as the first healed already. Then drags another line across my forehead. “If I am to take you, let our first contract become null and void and I will make you my wife.”

“Does this mean that I may ask you anything that I want?” My eyes widened probably sparkling.

He chuckles. “How about you go explore while I um... ahem, straighten up.” He gestures to the tent in his pants.

I blush and look away. “Right! So Um, bye!” I run from the room to the door on the left of the main entrance to the throne room.

<><;><><>

I didn’t see him again until dusk that same day. I got well acquainted with the rest of the rest of the adepti in their human forms. I also found water to wash off his blood. He found me wandering around and brought me to a bedroom.

“This will be your room. Mine is just across the way if you need me.”

“Thank you.”

“Think nothing of it. This is my only article of clothing and if we were in the same room then I’d be too overwhelmed by that little body of you little bunny to resist.”

“Um, will I have more than one piece of clothing?”

“I’ve already asked Shenhe to get your clothes from your father. I believe that some of the other citizens have given you presents as well. Something about this being a change for the better.”

“They probably think that if I’m moving my clothes here that you’ve accepted me and won’t seek another bride at least for a few decades.”

“By then who knows what invention they will make to stop me. I might be done for.”

“I don’t think so. You’re the oldest documented creature in the world!”

“And yet you still wonder why I want a bride.”

“Your lonely?” He goes into his own room and closes and locks the door. “But what about the Adepti!”

“Good night bunny.” He says through the door.

“That not my name!” I shout my name to him.

<><;><><>

3rd person POV

When Shenhe reached Liyue she was confused about the what the people were doing. Most were celebrating. But there was a lone man in the background shaking and trying to stay calm. When she arrived the celebration stopped dead in its tracks and everyone looked panicked.

“Where is the new brides father?” No one new who she was talking about so she informed them that a new bride had offered herself up. The brides father steps up to Shenhe and asked what happened to his daughter. She asks for your clothes and tells everyone that the girl was alive and well.

After that everyone ran back to their homes and grabbed something nice to give her for the new bride. They all tagged the gifts so the bride knew, who gave her what.

<><;><><>

1st person POV

I found the gifts in my room. Very pleasant silk clothes and finely made hair pins, combs and brushes. A few even sent toys. ‘Wait, they think...’ I thought as my face heated up. ‘No, no. Get those disgusting perverted thoughts out of your head girl! He’s just keeping you around for entertainment!’

<><;><><>

The next day at breakfast I started asking him questions.

“So if you only fed a few to Xiao what happened to the rest?”

“Well I either got tired of their nonsense and killed them or they ate a Jueyun chili and died. The ones I fed to Xiao I turned into mice first. And the rest of them who left behind bodies were buried.”

“They’re real? Jueyun Chili’s I mean.”

“Of course.”

“Are they really as hot as a thousand fires?”

“Oh no, it’s more like ten thousand.” He chuckles.

“Are you making fun of me? I really am curious!”

“I know. You’re just too cute Little Bunny.” He smirks. “They are spicy enough to kill a mortal with a single bite. Even the smallest nibble would kill a fragile soul.”

“Are you going to set a limit to how many questions I get to ask you per day?”

“Why would I do that? That would just restrict my fun!”

“I just don’t want to make you annoyed.”

“You are very interested Little Bunny.” He chuckles again, as I blush.

“Are your arms... naturally like that?”

“Yes.

...it’s how I look because I my dragon form.”

“Right, Shenhe mentioned that in this cave you all transformed into human like beings. Why is that? What is it about this cave that allows you to transform.”

“I was the only one able to shape shift. They all longed to have the ability to have a human form. I carved these halls and cast a spell over this place that allows them to transform into whatever human form they desire.”

“I’m happy for them!”

“As am I.”

<><;><><>

After a four months I was still living with them and it was reaching near my birthday.

“Hello Morax! Do you want to know why today is so special for me!”

“I’ll bite, why?”

“I’m 21 today! It’s my birthday!”

“Birthday?” He looks confused.

“Well yeah! Mortals have this tradition called a birthday where we celebrate the day that we were born and how many years we’ve been alive!”

“Well good Birthday to you then.”

“Silly! Mortals say happy birthday and whoever is having the birthday receives presents. So can yours be you telling me stories from the millennia that you protected Liyue? Please?”

He looks at me like I’m crazy. “You are certainly interesting. You can ask for anything and you ask for that?”

“I wasn’t sure that if I asked any other day that you would tell me stories.” I look down in embarrassing.

He pulls me onto his lap as he sits on his throne. “I’ll tell you anything that you want if you tell me what else you want for your birthday.”

“Um, well I guess... the only other thing that I’d want is to maybe go outside. Only for an hour or two. It’s just, I haven’t been out since I moved in and I’d like some natural sunlight.”

“I’ll do you one better. As long as myself or one of the Adepti are with you, you can go out anytime.”

“Really?” My eyes shine brightly. He nods. “Thank you so much!” I squeal and hug him, as well as giving him a kiss on the cheek.

“Do you want to go now?”

“Just let me hug you a little longer.” I request a bit embarrassed.

<><;><><>

It’s getting close to a year now and I’ve noticed that Morax seems withdrawn from me.

“Hey. Morax? Rex Lapis? Zhongli? Are you okay?” I knock on his door and don’t get a reply. Xiao is walking past when he decides to pull me away from his masters room. “Hey what was that for?”

“You’ve made it farther than most. Except for one. Guizhong, the first bride.”

“What happened to her?”

“The legends you’ve been told are wrong. Guizhong offered herself to the master. She was much like you. Curious, fearless, trusting but not naive, but the biggest difference is that she could tell him to back off. You just let him tease you like a masochist.”

“Okay so why isn’t she here?”

“He had never had a lover before, he was possessive over her. And as time went on she started to hate him. And she flung herself off of the balcony in his room.”

“Oh my goodness, poor Morax.”

“On top of all of that she was his first love.”

“Xiao please, help me get in there! I want to let him know that I won’t leave him! That I want to stay with him!”

“Luckily I have the only other key to the masters room. I have to warn you though, he’ll be in his dragon form but it’ll be only a tenth his true forms size.” He unlocks the door and I rush in to the lavish room. It’s the most beautiful room in his palace. He lays motionless in his dragon form. Around his bed. In this form he huge. 50 feet long, brown scales, gold locks and curly horns. The legends really don’t do his majestic beauty justice.

I rush to his side and hug his head in my arms. He’s very thick though so I can’t get my hands all the way around. “I’m here, and I’m not going to leave you. You’re stuck with me whether you like it or not.”

He lets out a small roar, something akin to a whimper.

<><;><><>

I’m in my fifth year staying with Morax, and I’m madly in love with him.

On this wonderful day all of the Adepti are running around the hall in a panic.

“Ganyu what’s going on?”

“Well um... maybe you should stay in your room for a few days to about a week... and lock the door... and hide if someone tries to come in.”

“Ganyu, where is Morax?”

“Please for your own safety stay away from the master this week.”

“But-” before I could ask her anymore questions she rushed off. ‘Morax what are you hiding?’ I thought. I know that it’s rude to go into someone’s room without their permission but I am supposed to be his bride so surely an exception can be made just this once.

I slip through the door and the room is almost pitch black save for a few candles. His balcony door is closed and his curtains are drawn. I hear rustling around the room and feel arms snake around my waist. “What are you doing here, my cute little bunny?” Morax’s voice sounds strained, and yet hungry. Husky and low and so sultry. As he spoke that into my ear his hot breath hitting the shell I almost melted right there.

“Morax? What’s going on?”

“Seems there are stories that even my little scholar doesn’t know. Once every 100 years or so I go into heat, it’s a time period called breeding season. You seem so ravenous right now.” He groans in my ear and suddenly I feel my underwear becoming damp. “Don’t you know how rude it is to enter someone’s room without knocking? I think that you need to be punished.”

A small squeak was all I could muster as he threw me over his shoulder and walked me over to his bed. He dropped me down onto it and made quick work in getting rid of my clothes, leaving me in only my underwear.

“Naughty little thing aren’t you.” He teased as he felt my slit through my underwear.

“Morax, please. Stop teasing me, and just fuck me.” I whimper.

“Eager are we?” He smirks.

“I really love you and I want this. Please, let me help you. I want to help you, I want you!”

He blushes at my confession and gently smiles at me. “Whatever my love wants, she will get.”

<><;><><>

“Do you think that I’m pregnant?”

“I’m not sure. I fucked you good though.” He teased.

“Yeah and I can’t feel my legs.” I deadpan.

“What a shame. Looks like you can’t leave then.” He snuggles closer to me as the week of his breeding period is over.

“I love you.” I tell him.

“I know you’ve practically chanted it this entire week.”

“Well you better get used to it because you promised to marry me if we had sex.”

“I’ve known for a while now that I wanted to marry you.”

“Does that mean that I can touch your horns whenever I want?”

“Didn’t you get enough of that this week?”

“I like your horns, I find them very cute and so smooth.” I smile as he flushes red.

“Given the chance to become immortal and live with me forever, would you take it?”

“Staying young with you forever? Yes please, where do I get this immortality?”

“The Valberry. A single bite will give you keep you young forever and you will get to be with me, forever.”

“Really? Screw til death do us part! I want you to myself forever!”

<><;><><>

“Do you Rex Lapis, The Great One, Mighty Dragon of Geo, Zhongli, Morax, take this woman to be your wife for eternity?” Yanfei asks.

“I do.”

“And do you-”

“I do!”

“She doesn’t even need to think about it, that’s what I like to hear! I now pronounce you husband and wife.” We embrace is a long loving kiss.

All of Liyue cheers at the sight of their protector finally being satisfied.

After the wedding we went back to the palace and Morax lays me down on our bed and crawls on top of me.

“I hope you’re ready for me to fuck a baby into you.” He licks his lips with his long dragon tongue.

“We don’t have to rush anything we’ve got all this time in the world.” I smirk at him.

“I am your protector. You are mine to love. Though the seasons may change and life caries on for mortals, I will be here to protect you always. I love you bunny.”

“I love you too Morax.”

[soaps-mohawk]

so we got what animal would 141 men be, now it’s time for 141 boys + omega with pets- cuz why not?

Omega : A rabbit. It sorta represents omega in the way that their only defense mechanism against predators (and enemies) is running. But omega and bunny are sensitive too. Mega would buy it a cute lil harness with leash and spend 98% of her time with it, if she’s not with the boys. (Cue everyone in the barracks dying of cuteness overload)

Johnny : a parrot 💀👍. Man would probably teach it to draw like those peeps on tiktok. BRUV would also not watch his mouth around it so now everyone is jumping out the fucking nest cuz someone (or something) decided to have a sailors mouth at 2 am.. (HC that Simon wants to throttle the bird)

Gaz: a cat. He strikes as a clean and decent guy so a cat would be nice. It cleans up after itself so Gaz doesn’t have to worry too much about it. Man would probably dress it up with bows ‘n shit..I think that the breed would be British short-hair, since Gaz won’t have the time to clean up if the breed was a longhair (eg: Maine coon). HC that cat is overprotective of the bunny-😫

Price: Old-school, gets a goldfish. Man does not have the time to spare to take care of it, just dumps the damn fish in the classic round bowl before working. But he does manage to take decent care of it, cleaning the tank regularly and feeding. Adds guppies and snails to give it company. (Doesn’t acknowledge it but bro actually gets fond of the damn thing)

Simon: this man, dog. No other animal for him than dog. I like to think that the pack gave it to him as a birthday present and…It’s a German Shepherd!! Omega found a bunch of cute bows to put on it, (Simon hates but keeps it for her sake-). They prob call it “Riley 2.0”. That dog goes everywhere where Simon goes. Bathroom, training area, outside. God forbid that you mention a walk. But like how it’s similar to Simon, that means it’s a guard dog. Follows omega and bunny everywhere, if ain’t with Simon. (HC that omega ‘n bunny get shit scared bc of the scary guard dogs hovering over them-💀👍). (Pic credit: svenny_boy on tt)

(fun fact: the rabbit pic is acc mine, it was my old rabbit who passed after 5 months due to a heat stroke in my country.)

I agree with all of these 100%

'mega having a bunny (she's so bunny coded) yes ✔️

Johnny having a parrot that curses like a sailor? Yes ✔️

Price having a fish that he's secretly fond of? Yes ✔️

Simon having a guard dog? Yes ✔️

I love all of these so much, thank you for this!!! 💚

[afreakingdork]

Weak Spot - Chapter 44

RotTMNT Donatello x Reader

Okay yeah, I'm looking at this week’s chapter art by @garbagemilkshake

Warnings: Aged-up Turtles, Romance, Meet Cute, Villain Donatello, Cussing, Crushes, Xenophobia, Fear, Intimidation, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Hurt/Comfort, Love, AFAB Reader, Vaginal Sex, Sex Rough, Sex, Penis In Vagina Sex, Creampie, Teasing, Scent Kink, Sexual Tension, Breeding Kink, Multiple Orgasms, Cunnilingus, Fellatio, Marathon Sex, Somnophilia, Bondage, Feral Behavior, Feral Donatello, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Public Sex, Dom Donnie, Human/Turtle Relationships, Turtle Noises

Synopsis:  A love story of villainous proportions! Though it hadn’t come easily, as these things rarely do, you found yourself in a whirlwind romance with a handsome and mysterious mutant. His idiosyncrasies had been easy to ignore as attraction grew into something more. However, will love endure when the unknowns about him end up being far darker than you ever considered?

Also available on Ao3

First 💜 Previous

You were awake and mobile, which, given the hour, might have been a triumph in and of itself. Sadly, the reason for which had been you royally screwing up your sleep schedule. Since working the two shifts, your body had seemingly given up its fight to keep you in line. Now, you simply woke up at whatever hour your alarm clock went off. The trade-off came, as these things usually did, in that whatever exhaustion you were meant to feel would carry on like a candle at the very end of its wick.

Still burning, but with flickers that said it would perish at the slightest gust.

Thankfully not feeling quite that unstable, you slunk along with a rhythmic thump at your hip. Street lamps lit your way as you moved closer to your destination. As you closed in, a few blocks away, you caught those dressed similarly to you. There was a man, just up ahead, who turned out from a side street with perfect posture. His antithesis happened to be across the street and lagging behind. Regardless of their state, both earned their own merits for simply being here just as you were sure they granted you the same.  

Otherwise, why would anyone go out this early?

Moving with a lack of coordination as you imagined came with a variety of aged zombies, you clutched the strap of your duffle. Not out of fear, but as a lifeline, you were holding the pressure to make it bounce with each step. As if to further birth the cacophony, it abysmally failed at keeping time with the sound of your sneakers hitting the pavement. It was a form of communication that could only be interpreted by these two men, in this exact moment before the sun rose.  

Approaching the glowing beacon on the otherwise dark street, you watched the first man slip right in through double doors. Your little merry band immediately dispersed, you felt a moment of slight as he let the door close right behind him. Suffering the sort of wound reserved for wordless comrades, the second man continued to counteract the first by being far too kind. Hitting the entrance at nearly the same time as him, you both did the awkward polite shuffle of who would grab the door.

Eventually moving first to relieve him of civil duty, you waved him through before following with a squint. Fluorescence too bright and music too loud, you let the stale air of the gym wash over you. A specific scent that seemed a mix of sweat-dried mats and day-old rubber, it was the same one that had taken over your gym bag. No matter how many washes, it clung to the interior where you knew your water bottle and a few other objects to be.

Passing a teen guard who probably worked this shift before school, she didn’t even look up as she tacked away on her phone. Knowing that this was all an act and if you tried to get by her without scanning in then she’d be animated like an awaiting animatronic, you dutifully swung your phone up to the awaiting red light. A beep said you were good and you hushed your phone to enter the space.

The hour meant there was no need to bother with a locker. There would in no way be too many people to trip over your belongings and that was one of the few benefits of the time. Another was a near open floor plan to execute your routine. One created as a mish-mash between your gym-obsessed friend's recommendation and videos you had seen online, you were meant to focus on chest and arms today.

Standing at the jungle gym of a functional trainer, you spied the first man already doing cable chest presses. He was yanking with a sort of rhythm that trailed you up his arm. Finding buds in his ears, you mentally excused his earlier rude behavior and instead applauded his foresight. For the change in your schedule, you had not been near as omnipotent and were now at the mercy of whatever amalgamation setlist was crafted in an attempt to please all gym goers.

Switching out handles, you set yourself up for downward cable flyes and didn’t bother counting. A warm up after the stretching you’d already done before the walk over, you’d become accustomed to this routine. After moving into apartment six, you’d found this gym as a little oasis. Walkable in a comfortable sense, it acted as both preparation and cool down each time you made the trek.

Switching arms at the first sign of fatigue, you worked your non-dominant hand. More of a struggle, you kept more of a time with this one as you ruminated, once again, over the owner. Whoever they were, you always pictured them as some yoked-up elderly person. That figment not only had the vision to own a gym, but open it up to all manner of beings. The layman’s way of saying this business was yokai and mutant friendly, the owner also charged a fair price considering the city. Adding to the narrative, you imagined they had had some luck in stocks back in the day. Set for life, they made it their aged altruistic mission to help others in wellness.

That’s what kept you entertained through a grueling cover of an 80s song at least.

Moving to lat pull downs, you felt pride as, after the first tug, you then needed to up the weight. Things were becoming easier as time went on in a way that enforced the age old sayings about practice. Consistency had been your mission above all else and that had been an odd key to your success. After that it was strength and stamina. Cardio was still lacking in the latter category, but your boudoir romps were something you jokingly said made up for it. In practice, going up stairs said that wasn’t the case, but you were a work in progress.

Having moved a needle, a pride surged in your chest as the bar came close to it. The next song on was one you sort of enjoyed and you resisted humming along as you did your set. Alternating with a few rests and drinking in an opportunity to sit, you finished up and moved to work with dumbbells. It meant moving over to the mirror and confronting its second surface. The panes didn’t quite match up and the first man you’d seen was currently doing reps in one front of one panel. Thankful for the space, it meant you weren’t stuck on the barrier between them and had an obscured view in the second. Checking your form, you started with some external rotations.

Feeling it in your rotor cuff, you glanced up at the clock to get an estimate of how long to be at each station. You’d be here for about an hour and a half before heading off to grab breakfast with your phone obsessed friend, Eugene, who had been tracking some burrito truck around the city. If all went well, you’d be back just in time for the real reason you’d planned today out just so: couple’s yoga with Donnie.

As silly as the whole thing seemed, when you’d gotten the notification about the new class, you’d passed the information on to your partner who had taken it with surprising gravity. Signing up immediately at his interest, you’d snuck glances at him studying up on the activity. Though you hadn’t actually seen his shopping cart, you just knew he bought clothes and you could only imagine what the internet had told him was appropriate. Based on his lake day attire, it was bound to be something functional, while also skirting the line of comical.

Giggling to yourself at the thought, you switched to bicep curls at nearly the exact moment someone behind you slammed their weights. Hearing the then approving grunt, you glanced into the reflection over your shoulder. Lifting out of a hack squat machine, you saw green elbows flex akimbo from a blue shell. Loosening your grip momentarily, you white knuckled the dumbbells as the figure then turned with a swish of a tank top barely holding on from where it’d been torn to near uselessness.

Passing a glance in the mirror as he turned, Leo froze while rolling his neck.

His face warped into one of sheer horror.

You met it with the dullest stare you could muster as you moved to preemptively re-rack your weights.

“No!” He shouted clear across the gym for all to hear.

You sighed as you turned to face him.

“No! No! No!” Leo repeated with each stomp as he pointed an accusatory finger at you.

“Leo.” You gave a flaccid greeting.  

“Get out!” His jaw wound around the ‘T.’

“No.”

“This is my gym!”

You had to cover your stomach bottoming out. “My… membership begs to differ.”

“I’ve never seen you here in my life!”

He couldn’t be the owner.

“If you just joined, cancel!”

He would have seen your name.

“Go somewhere else!”

You had to be flagged.

“I’ll cover your month!”

There’s no way he would have let you join.

“Just go!”

That was an expression.

He closed in with his looming height as if to intimidate you.

You’d had more than enough of that.

“Shoo!” When he realized towering wouldn’t work, he limped his fingers and swung them to usher you away. “Go on now, git!” 

“Would you-?!” You pinched the bridge of your nose.

“Would I what?!” His hackles went up in an obvious way because he was barely wearing anything.

It was the same with his supposed hero suit.

“Well!?”

He would be some gym bro. “You don’t own the place!”

It was a chance.

It was more of a wish.

You were manifesting.

The way he inhaled said you were correct.

It was an offense to his very being, but you hadn’t been wrong.

He didn’t own the place.

You had a one win notched on your belt.

It felt reductive as you’d been set at least 30 paces back by running into him in the first place.

Washed cold yet again, you berated yourself for feeling secure enough in Splinter’s deal.

Why wouldn’t Leo find some way to break it?

Some way to continue his obsessive stalking.

Why would he?

Stuck on many presumptions and with little basis, you took him in.

Patched cutoff sweats hung from a tight knot at his waist and the silly tank top bowed around the same area. Past his face’s obvious layer of impatience then came one of disgrace. It held a shame as if you’d marched into a sacred dojo with muddy shoes on. Staring further into his furrowed brow ridge, you caught a sullen fear beneath it. Something more intangible, the faded sweat on his chartreuse skin didn’t all look as though it was from the same workout.

He was nervous.

He was also still irritating as hell. “I’ve been going here for months!”

His snout scrunched up with confusion. “Yeah, right! I’m here every day! I would have seen you!”

“What time!?” You quacked and saw the first man, the one you’d logged as some kind of safety buffer, leave as he continued his routine.

Leo similarly glanced at the guy before returning his ire to you. “Now! Obviously!”

“Then that’s it!” You flicked a wrist at him before moving toward the weights. If you couldn’t take comfort from another being privy, you’d at least grab a weapon. “I don’t usually come at the crack ass of dawn!”

“Then go back to your time slot! I can’t deal with this.” He rounded you to stand in the way. “This is my sanctuary! Mi casa! My me time! Mi tiempo! Mine!”

“Then go! Go back to your machismo weight slamming bullshit! I’m not stopping you!” You glowered up at him.

“You can go anywhere! Anytime!” He threw his head back as he began to pace. “Do you know how many mutant-friendly gyms there are in the city!? 10! For the whole city!!!”

“Leo.” Ruffled from the exchange, you waited as he moved right and cut through before he could head back.

When he turned to make the next round, he jumped away from you like a cat surprised by a cucumber.

Even if he wasn’t exploiting some loophole around his dad, he was at least clearly afraid of leaving a scent trail.

You could work with that.

“I’ve got seniority! I’ve been going here for years! If they had platinum members I’d be one! Guild my app because I’ve got diamond status!!” He roared up to the ceiling panels.

Ignoring his rant, you grabbed a dumbbell.

He was white noise, same as the music.

Adjusting your posture, you carefully rolled the weight over your shoulders to do tricep extensions.

Doing your first rep, he curiously stopped.

Glancing at his face, you watched his eye twitch.

“You really think I’m just going to stand aside and let you do that?” He grumbled, stepping closer.

“Leo, I’m not above ratting you out to the front desk kid.”

“It’s your form! It sucks!”

“My-!?” The weight slid awkwardly and he shot forward.

Wincing at the speed, you waited for contact, but nothing came.

Cracking an eye open, you found him supporting the dumbbell with an open palm. “Why don’t you have a spotter?”

“Schedules don’t line up. Let go.”

“Fix your grip.”

“You’re holding it!”

“I’m keeping it steady so you don’t sprain your damn wrist!”

“I can feel you-!”

Making a noise of pure irritation, his other hand covered yours.

Ready to spit in his face, he was lightning fast as he moved all your fingers into a new position before shooting away as if he knew your intent.

Elbow still bent behind your head, you begrudgingly felt this new grip was more secure. Scowling all the more for it, you did an extension and felt how it moved the proper muscle groups.

“Lean back, you’re hunching forward…” He folded his arms and took a stance from the safe distance of several feet away.

Sending him another daggered look, you reluctantly squared your shoulders. Another immediate fix, you continued through the set under his watchful eye before you rolled the weight off to the side. “Had enough?”

“What’s next?”

“Leo!”

“Don’t ‘Leo’ me! Look at you! It’s sad! If this is how you do one simple exercise, how do all the others go!? I can’t just leave you like that! You make us all look bad!”

“It’s not your job!” You took a threatening stomp towards him, but he clearly felt secure in his safety bubble. Giving a bitter exhale, you put your dumbbell up before stomping over to a Smith machine.

You didn’t even have to look over your shoulder to know he’d trailed behind you.

“It’s gonna be like this, huh?”

“I just want to see your form.” He appeared in your periphery, still a distance out.

You were torn.

Part of you wanted to just grab the bar and go into your upright rows.

Another said that you were about to be painfully scrutinized if you did.

Usually not giving a shit, especially from the current party, you just knew it was going to make you all sorts of nervous.

Even if you did it perfectly you were going to second guess yourself.

He was going to humiliate you either way.

You grabbed the bar which had been left level with your chest and leaned your body into it before turning towards him. “What’s the plan here?”

“Make sure you don’t hurt yourself or badger you until I can work out in peace.”

Your head raised as you hadn’t expected such straight honesty. “Okay…”

His eyes were glued to the bar.

“So there’s no chance you’re going to leave me alone?”

“Nope.”

Could you beat him at his own game?

You glanced over the machine and assumed a stance.

No, in that way he was like Donnie.

As much as you hated to admit it, he was like Donnie in a lot of ways.

Stubborn, self righteous, astute, and trapped in his own toxic headspace.

It just so happened that with Leo, none of those comorbidities happened to align with your interest.

Bobbing to attention, you looked over your shoulder.

“What?” He did the same, trying to trace your gaze.

Just like Donnie.

You had to play your own way.

“I left my bag.”

He perked up and you watched him hone in on where it was over by the racks.

His shoulders then dropped as he was caught.

Civility said he should go and grab it, but the thought of touching your possessions gave him the willies.

“Wonder what you’ll do?” You gave him a knowing glance as you stepped away from the machine to go grab it.

Watching the sliver of him reflected in the mirror, he waffled.

Taking your time, when you reached your duffle, you laid out the straps just so before lifting. Coming up in a rotation, you pivoted to find Leo standing at frustrated attention next to the Smith.

He’d held your spot. 

You very much wanted to laugh, but you had something else planned.

He looked away with creased lips.

You set your bag off to the side and knelt down to ruffle through it.

The action caught his attention and you could see him trying not to obviously look in your periphery. Shaking your head at it, you unearthed your phone and walked it over to him as you navigated your apps. “Hey, Leo, question?”

“Hm?” You had his wary interest.

You tapped your screen. “You said you weren’t going to leave me alone?”

“Not until you leave.”

“So no.”

“No!” His head lolled to the side.

“Good.” You nodded.

You sensed him puff up with irritation.

You swiped your finger a few times before hitting play and holding the phone out to him where the recorded conversation played.

He gave a sharp exhale before glowering at you. “What the fuck!?”

“There’s your bug.” You waved your phone and then pulled it out of reach at nearly the same time he tried to swipe it. “Only he’s almost 7 feet and green with gaudy stripes.”

“Gaudy my ass!” He nearly snarled and you stepped away as he attempted to take your phone again.

“So you’re saying yes, you are a bug?!” You teased, ducking under the bar to put it between you.

He fisted the thing like it had caged him. “Are you still recording?!”

“I need evidence, don’t I?”

“I’m not doing anything! You encroached on my space!”

“How about a trade?”

He didn’t drop his anger so much as he traded it for severe attention. “Figures.”

“If that’s a backhanded comment about Donnie, I’m already withdrawing.”

“Just a backhanded comment about you.” He gave a grin that had far too many teeth.

“You are such a bitch!” You mistakenly pointed with your phone.

He yanked it out of your hand.

“Leo, you fuck-!” You caught the bar the same time he let go and were about to slingshot yourself when the attendant appeared right behind Leo.

Not seeing her, he could do nothing as she picked your device out of his hand. “Alright you two, that’s enough.”

If she had gum, you thought this was the perfect time for her to pop a bubble.

Leo shrank down at the sight of her. “Ingrid!”

She didn’t glare at him so much as she flicked her dead gaze up. “Three people now have come to say you two were fighting over the equipment.”

“Fighting?!” Leo spoke too loud and tried to blow the volume away with a raspberry. “You know me! I would never!”

“Why are you stealing phones then, Mr. Hamato?” She waved the device.

“I wasn’t-”

“Right out of my hands!” You spoke, finally clearing the bar.

Ingrid continued her stare down.

“Please don’t report me again!” He dropped down to his knees and begged her with an offered conjoined fist.

“Ugh, you look extra old when you do that.” She sneered with the most emotion you had seen yet.

At the word ‘old’ Leo looked as though he’d been stabbed through the heart and fell back.

“Here.” She held out your phone and you snatched it.

“Thanks!”

“Don’t thank me yet.” She barbed, not letting go.

Stuck with it strung between you, you stared at her with wide eyes.

“You have a guest coming and a scheduled class.” Ingrid responded calmly.

Your eyes widened as you realized she hadn’t been ignoring the complaints, but instead gathering ammo to come unload on you both.

“We reserve the right here and I will cancel both.”

“Yes’m.” You lowered your head.

“Guest?” You heard a wisp of Leo even though he was still on the ground.

“What’ll it be?” Ingrid let go of your phone.

You pulled it into your chest with a little too much force.

Leo dragged himself upright.

She watched the both of you with disinterest.

“Not another word.”

“It won’t be a problem.”

She continued her lengthy stare until both of you were absolutely sweating. She then sighed and turned away, heading back to the desk. “One peep and you’re out!”

You both watched until she got all the way back to her destination before wilting.

“Kids these days are scary!” Leo threw his head back.

You could only nod.

Quiet resumed and you gave your phone a calculated toss back into your bag.

You listened as Leo gave a grunt, getting back on his feet.

He then stood there with his weight awkwardly off-center. “Why didn’t you rat me out?”

“I told her you took my phone.” You turned, just drained enough to start back up your exercise.

“We both know that wasn’t the bigger of my threats.”

You shrugged as both a response and to adjust your shoulders as you grabbed the bar. “Only 10 gyms sucks.”

Leo quieted further as you started doing upright rows.

“Where’s the next closest?” You asked without any real thought.

You heard Leo’s stare before he gave his answer. “35 minutes from here.”

“Sewer 35 or ground floor?”

He gave the faintest puff of laughter. “Up top.”

You felt your form slipping and racked the bar to adjust.

“Good.” He murmured more to himself.

“Do you instruct?” Why were you asking?

His lips flapped around a sudden exhale. “Yeah right.” Why would he respond?

You gave him a glance before finishing up your set.

He shuffled his weight to either foot in case you were going to leave.

You rounded the machine to grab a weight.

He blinked to attention and grabbed the same for the opposite. “You were warming up.”

“I’m not the newbie you were making me out to be.”

His gaze lowered as he held the plate.

You were slow to walk back to the bar.

“I’m sorry.” He spoke without bringing his eyes up.

“Not enough to leave me be.”

With his head lowered, he shot you a look against his lids. “You pay attention to all the wrong things.”

“Beg to differ.” With the bar now weighed down, you approached and made sure your grip was firm before you eased it off its safety latch.

“If you really wanted me to leave you alone, you would have told Ingrid what was up.”

You sighed which messed up your breathing, but you refused to let it affect your stride. “You’re on a first name basis with the staff, Leo. What do you want? If you keep badgering me, I’ll reconsider.”

“It just doesn’t make sense.”

“And it’s not my job to teach you!” You dropped your voice to a harsh whisper to keep from shouting.

Your chest throbbed with familiarity.

You really hated that.  

As if that was the first time anyone had ever uttered those words to him, Leo stalled out.

You got through another set before you stepped back.

As if needing to fill the void you watched Leo add a plate.

Ready to stop him as you weren’t quite up to that, he rounded you wordlessly. Tracking him found him headed to the otherside where he equally distributed the weight. Sensing what was coming, you stepped off to where he had originally been standing so he could take the bar. He moved to it and did your same exercise with a furrowed brow ridge.

He moved the weight easily and, at almost the same time he hooked the bar back onto its latch, he stepped back and did a heel turn. There, he stomped a few steps out before returning with flapping hands. You watched the display with open curiosity as he then returned to the bar with a different heft bringing his brow down. With a flick of his hands, he freed the bar and did methodical reps.

Counting down for him, he then racked and gave a self-soothing exhale.

“You do this to release stress.”

His eyes widened and he turned as if he’d forgotten you were there. “Uh… yeah.” His gaze turned away. “Guess… I do.” 

You shouldn’t.

Not after everything.

Not after what an insufferable ass he’d been.

Not after he twisted every good thing that was offered into something decidedly not.

That, however, was just the thing.

It struck you to your core.

It was self sabotage.

It was borderline immolation.

In the name of all that was good, he was going to take down everything with him.

A raging inferno, he wanted to keep everyone else at arm’s length.

Concocting a lonely contradiction, he thought he was doing it for their own good.

While that was a problem in and of itself, it had also gone on too long.

Those people he’d kept at a distance had strayed.

They weren’t going to keep waiting.

They used their freedom to work on themselves.

Meanwhile his charred carcass continued to burn as he held back a now non-existence threat away from empty space.

You hadn’t realized you neared him until the tips of your fingers just brushed his bicep.

It was all too familiar.

All too real.

He flinched, barely racking the bar to look at you with fear.

Over a foot shorter than him and he was terrified of you.

“Leo…?”

“Yeah?” His eyes were squarely on where your digits just hit the curve of a yellow marking.

“Are you like… okay?” You looked up at him with all the honesty you could muster.

It was like no one had ever asked him before.

Not without a sense of judgment.

Not in a moment of weakness.

Not when he was truly being himself.

It broke him.

You had to rally yourself to not fill the air.

Above you, you imagined the frame of his features split like a shattered mirror.

The image stuck, the pieces fell one by one to give way to an original scene transition.

Only this wasn’t a movie and what painted his skin was slack.

No tears, just a slow descent of his inflated person.

A single laugh ripped from it.

You felt like it tore his insides and the internal bleeding should have leaked blood from the corner of his mouth though it stayed dry.

He then gave another until he had to cup half his face.

The shards you imagined were real to him as he had to hold them in place.

His mask in disrepair.

This was his gym.

It was also more than that.

This was where he could turn off.

Let himself go for however long he would allow.

How long the workout dictated.

You moved until your palm flattered against his arm.

“I’m… so… fucking… tired…” He wheezed out between hiccups of laughter.

You felt it.

Albeit, small, you felt bad for him.

In no way a competition, he was just as broken as Donnie had been.

Nearly the same, but completely different.  

Something Splinter said slid through your mind.

I have only ever wanted to… see you have a break… from your hardships.

It was time.

For all of them.

You stiffened your upper lip and went to where the plates were waiting. You could feel Leo’s weak gaze follow as you heaved one up and added it to the bar. Circling him on only a few strides, you hit the other and added its twin. Looking down three plates at his worn face, his eyes held heavy exhaustion while his lips were quirked into an odd smile.

“Add the 15s.” There was a comedy in his voice, but not for anything you’d done.

Giving a studious nod, you found one 15lb plate immediately, but another was scarce. You had to track back across the gym to get one, but running back felt like those fibers of cardio were teasing your heels. Hopping around the sensation, you added the weight and stepped back. “Should we clip it?”

“Nah.” There was more vigor in his voice as he did a side to side, getting into position. He then heaved the bar in a smooth inhale and exhale before he started to do reps.

You watched with bated breath until something small slipped out. It was something you hadn’t heard in years, but the moment begged it. You weren’t even sure what it meant, but it felt applicable. “You got this, come on. Si se puede.”

He fumbled the bar.

You waffled beside him, trying to remember how to best intervene in case he got crushed.

The anxiety of the moment made you forget the Smith had built-in safety and Leo latched it a few rungs further down than he probably wanted. There he bent over the secure bar, slamming the plastron around the waist with a clunk before giving another laugh. Different then the last, it still had that raw edge, but he sent it towards you as an offering. “What was that!?”

“I don’t know?!” You brought your hands up to prove your innocence.

“Si se puede. Si se puede!” Shedding the final layers, he then gave a bark of bright laughter.

You watched as he shook his head, mumbling something to himself as he went back to doing reps.

Whatever he whispered to himself was the length of a novel before he finally surfaced enough to look at you with crow’s feet peeking through his mask. "¿Quién crees que eres?”

Tilting your head, you knew he was talking about you, but not in what way. “You look better.”

“I don’t want to hear it.” He snuffed you with closed eyes and slow enunciation. “You think I’m ugly.”

It was your turn to laugh.

“My markings!” He clicked his tongue and stepped away from the bar. “I can’t help that I’m a red-eared slider!”

You laughed a little more as he shooed you to grab the plates. Circling to the other side of the machine, you watched him remove two with both his hands before setting them aside with ease.

Blinking off a moment of confusion, you moved to do the same.

Done, you waited for him to jump back on, but he instead waved for you. You’d almost forgotten you’d only got a couple of sets in and stepped up to do another.

“I can’t ask to start again.”

“I’ve already started.” You shot him a smarmy look, flexing your fingers as you slid the bar down its track.

He gave you a bored stare that was tinted with amusement. “I’ve got problems-”

“Everyone does.”

“Could you-!? For one second!? I’m really trying here!”

“I meant literally.” You slipped the safety onto its hook and held to look at him. “I mean yeah, everyone does, but I meant specifically you all.”

“And how many is that exactly?”

“More than I know about.” You began to turn the bar when he grabbed the end of it to stop the rotation.

He threw on the 15s in a few steps and waited for you to continue. As soon as you did, he spoke again. “I bet.”

He needed the safety of the workout.

For wherever he was now, it was the only way to keep his sanity at the same time as the honesty.

“Keep going,” you puffed out.

He chuffed and leaned back against the bar holding the awaiting weights with a smile. “Think we can get through it?”

“Temporary truce for the duration of the workout.”

“Minor jabs, but nothing below the belt.”

“I didn’t sign up for boxing.” You gave him a dry look.

His teeth showed in his smile. “A perfect example.”

“Then call it.”

“Truce.”

“Like I said.” Your arms fatigued and you stepped back to roll your shoulders.

“I’m not Mikey. I’m not Raph. I don’t want to be your friend, but tell me I’m not crazy that the markers for it are there.”

“You just sabotage it every time we start to become civil.” Needing your break, you went to rack up his amount of weights.

He mirrored you. “It’s not just you.”

You wondered if he was letting these things slip out on purpose. It almost felt like this place was where he redid his bandages. In the momentary exposure, his wounds could air themselves. 

He did a rep. “I’m so sick of my own shit.”

Up, down.

“I just keep performing.”

Lift.

“I don’t think I even know how to stop anymore.”

Lower.

“The lines were blurred and they pulled the curtain, but I got in front of it. My tight five has been going on for decades.” From where he was smoothly moving, he suddenly clanged the bar. “I can’t do this. Let’s go to the landmine.” Without waiting for you, he scooped up your bag as he headed for a corner.

Unable to match his strides, you reached him just as he slapped two plates on the bar. He then got into a squat position and you drained some of your water as you watched him wheeze through several reps too fast. “Leo-”

“Slow down.” He dropped the bar with a clang that made you jump. “No, you go.”

You made a face to the floor.

He didn’t seem to notice as he walked a short distance away with his carapace to you.

It wasn’t that you had a problem with landmine exercises, it was more a technical failing on your part.

No matter how strong you got, you had difficulty in raising the bar and pulling the plates off at the same time.

Now faced with two of them, you locked your feet into place to do the exchange.

The first came off with surprising ease and you let it roll away instead of properly setting it down in fear of messing up the next.

Just to scold you for improper gym etiquette, the second refused to come and you grunted as you tried to lift and tug at the same time.    

Leo immediately turned at the sound and the moment you waited for his barb felt like an eternity.

One that left you in stasis because he simply walked over and lifted the bar for you.

You yanked the plate right off and sent him genuine thanks.

He nodded, not meeting it and instead mumbling, “It’s about timing.”

You copied his ready position as you moved to the head of the bar.

“Look, no bullshit. I can’t… stand what you represent, but it’s not… you.”

Grabbing metal, you adjusted your grip over and over as not one felt right.

“I’m using you. No, I’ve been using you. You’re… the only chance I’ve got.”

“To understand.” You wheezed and heaved the bar high to do a thruster instead.

He was quiet and seemed to examine your form as you went through reps.

Lowering and hating how this particular corner had a drop ceiling which caused the fluorescent lights to bake the space, you set the bar down to get more water.

He picked it back up and did his own thrusters with one hand. “To understand.”

You lowered your bottle with a satisfied sigh.

“Which… isn’t your fault, but what the hell else was I supposed to do?” He switched to the other arm which turned him an angle away. “You think I can just pin down and interrogate Egregious Eggplant!?”

You snorted as you wiped your lip with the back of your hand.

He set the bar down and walked the same few paces. “You were an easy in.”

Your stomach tightened, but you buried its constriction into your core as you took your place at the bar. “A weak spot.”

There was a beat of silence where you lifted the bar before Leo turned with wide eyes. “Exactly! Oh, that’s great. The perfect name for it!”

He had no idea.

“Feet wider.”

You shimmied to keep the weight up and adjusted.

“I was so focused on that. On finally getting some answers, that I… forgot you were a person too.”

It took all your mental fortitude not to overextend.

“Look Todd is full of shit and I’m me.” He gave you the floor.

You lowered the bar to the ground in a squat before looking up at him. “A shit head.”

He gave a bow before coming up.

You’d give him his little injection of comedy. He was being so forthcoming you weren’t even sure how to handle it.

“I can’t offer anything that I won’t go back on. It’s like part of my DNA. I’m never going to let this go. Why should I? Why does he get off that easy? Why do I have to be the ��better person?’ There’s no better here! I need to bring it up. I need everyone to remember it happened. Why should he get off scot free after everything he did? Why-!?” Leo outright snarled before slapping his hands to his face.

You scurried around and lined three plates up at the bar, only feeling bad you couldn’t put them on.

Leo didn’t seem to mind as he kicked them into a better position before applying them himself. He then threw himself into the reps, starting too fast again before his increased heart rate rushed a much needed blood supply throughout his body. As if getting a jolt off the body’s natural system, he slowed until he was moving at a more sensible speed. He then lifted straight out of a squat into a rotating single-arm press. Sweat worked on his brow and dotted darker blue on his mask.

“It’s enough.” You offered, feeling it was time.

Leo didn’t nod and there was no exact point, but there was a change in his demeanor as he switched arms. “I have a problem.”

“I can’t tell if you want to talk about it or not.”

“I don’t and that’s kind of the thing? I’m stuck because I don’t want to talk about it. I haven’t really talked to anyone about it. I definitely don’t want to talk to you about it and yet the whole reason I keep blabbing is because I am talking about it!” He slid right back into a squat and his leg muscles rippled around his knee brace before he stalled. He gave a small grunt and set the bar down with the most care you had seen yet.

You thought quietly.

He fell back onto his ass and moved to adjust his brace.

You were passively watching all this occur.

Was that the right move?

You weren’t sure.

Part of you still hated this situation.

You didn’t want to understand Leo better.

You wanted to keep on hating him.

That was easier.

It also wasn’t quite honest.

You didn’t hate him.

Not really.

He brought on a rolling stomach and nine out of every ten things that came out of his mouth was garbage so foul you wanted to hurl, but even then you couldn’t bring yourself to hate him.

Knowing what they’d done to Donnie and what Donnie had done to them felt like a moot point.

None of it fair, none of it right.

You didn’t know.

He didn’t know.

The only thing you could do was change that.

“Questions.”

He looked up at you, his expression worn.

“Let’s go back and forth. Ask each other questions. Whatever is happening right now, it’s not… right. I can’t explain it, but you know what I’m sick of?”

“Is that the first question?” He pulled his good knee up to his body and laid an arm on it.

You shot him a dry look. That was the best you were going to get. “Not knowing. We both don’t know what this is, right?”

“That’s question two.” He held up his two fingers.

You stepped forward and kicked his hip lightly with your sneaker. “We’re not friends. I guess we should be enemies. We don’t technically have a relation, but we are something to each other.”

Leo openly thought your words over.

With another kick he got the message that he should move.

He also did so in the worst way possible by crab walking to the side.

You threw a hand up in confusion and he chuckled before falling onto the mat below. “Can I go twice?”

“Sure.” You stared down at the bar and its three weights.

“You got this, come on. Si se puede.” He rolled onto his side and held his head up with a craned arm.

You got down on your knees and began the arduous task of removing the plates. “Ah, the thing you said earlier was something like ‘what’s wrong with you?’”

“More like ‘who do you think you are?’”

You had to debate asking because it would tip the scales further, but you also needed to know. “Is that an accusation?”

“Are you my tio when I try to sneak into the kitchen and steal some mozzarella?” He chuckled.

You rolled your eyes, finally getting one plate off. “Obviously not.”

“Then you’re good.” You felt his grin more than saw it. “The guest is him isn’t it?”

“Donnie? Yeah.” You wiggled the second plate, making some progress, but inevitably set yourself back every few centimeters. “We’re doing couple’s yoga.”

Leo blew a raspberry that broke into laughter and almost knocked his head off his perch. “What does that even look like?!”

“I don’t know, but I wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity.” You smiled to yourself, gaining several long inches.

“You still get thrown off by him?”

That marked three, he was keeping track, which was very much him. “Of course. I feel like I could know him my whole life and he’ll still surprise me.”

Leo made a little noise that didn’t quite hit curiosity, but was spoken of something of interest.

“Was today really not a set-up?” The second plate was nearing the end of the bar.

“Here?! No!” Leo fell back onto his shell and stared up at the ceiling panels. “This is my sanctuary. I still feel violated. I’d never do that to this place.”

You studied the expression on his face. It was a disproportionate amount of dishonor tinged with serenity.

“Do you hate Mikey?”

You bobbed, the plate falling off with a loud thump.

Staring down at it, you felt Leo look over in wait.

“No.” You set the bar down and used one hand to slowly push the second plate away. “I’m still mad in a way, but he made the right move when you all kidnapped me.”

“A step in the right direction.” Leo posited.

“Kinda…” You got the weight far enough away before turning back toward your mortal enemy: the last plate. “You know, I’m sort of operating on a very, very minor scale like you guys; all the bad blood.”

Leo gave a disagreeing snort, but his following silence said you weren’t completely wrong.

Giving a small note of irritation, you began work on getting the late plate off.

“By like a million degrees of separation less! You’re talking heroes versus villains versus you versus.. us! I guess…” He sighed. “I see what you mean? All the interactions so far have been bad, so why expect anything else? Something like that?”

“Yeah…”

“How do you go from there?” Leo asked the air.

“Doing this, apparently.” You were losing steam and sat back to tug your bag over. Taking a swig from your water bottle, you lowered it and watched a bead of escaped liquid slide down the side. “Do you come alone because this place makes you vulnerable?”

“You…! Can’t do that! What’s wrong with you!? Talk about going zero to hundred!” His arms and legs shot out. “You can’t just go from ‘what’s your favorite color?’ to ‘how do you think humanity will fair in the inevitable heat death of the universe!?’”

You could only shrug against your hopeless smile.

His lower lip ate up his upper one and his eyes looked manic for a moment before he went slack. “Yes! Alright! Yes, fine! This is the one place I can be me and I don’t like others seeing me like that! The lipsticks off the pig!”

“The-what?” You laughed.

“I don’t know! I’m still upset that you think I’m ugly!”

“I never said that!”

“You said gaudy!”

“I said your stripes were!”

“They’re part of my skin! That’s like making fun of someone’s freckles!”

You puffed up with offense.

“See!” He pointed at you. “I bet you were a kid bully! That’s where you get the evil to stay with him!”

“I was not! I wouldn’t do that!”

“Bully, bully!”

“Ugh!” You yanked the plate halfway down the bar and marveled at the work.

“You’re welcome.”

“You were not faking all that just to get me mad enough to move this!”

“You’ll never know!” He faked a cackle and let his arm fall onto the ground. “Do you hate Raph?”

You looked at him with a tilt of your head. “No.”

Leo watched you, obviously hoping for more.

You curled your fingers into a hole in the plate. “He’s been the nicest so far. He’s like a victim of circumstance.”

“You’re not wrong.” Leo’s shell created an awkward curvature to his body, but he still sank back until his head hit the mat. “You asked me if I trained earlier. Not me. Future me, maybe, but not this me. That’s Raph. Doesn’t even matter what age. He’s good with kids. He’s good with the scary teens. He doesn’t even dodge the adults that always wanted to when they were young but never got the chance. He’s the sensei.”

There was way more there than you knew about. You were having trouble keeping track of your questions. “Were you faking?”

He pursed his lips. It was clear he had hoped that the bits he dangled in front of you would have thrown you off. “No.” He gave a loud sigh. “It does hurt my feelings, but not as much as I’m playing up.” His head rolled away from you.

You gave a small smile. “I’m sorry. For real. They’re bright, and along with your outfit, it’s all loud like your personality.”

He chuffed and you could sense his grin. “When you say it like that I kinda like it.”

“Your ego is enormous considering it’s apparently a put on.”

“’Fake it till you make it!’” He gave a big stretch that sat him upright. “Honestly satisfied with how I look overall. I lost track of the gimmick at some point.”

“Surprised you aren’t in booty shorts.”

He threw his head back with a chuckle. “I have some of those little athletic pinstripe ones. I was one of those hot 80s dudes for Halloween one year. I even had Mikey draw on a little bunch of chest hairs.” Leo reached up and traced curly q’s on his plastron.

You bit down on a raspberry.

“I’ll send you pics-” Leo started off handedly before he seemed to realize himself. His gaze scanned towards his body where he pulled his legs up, self conscious. “It’s your turn.”

“Is your next question going to be if I hate you?”

“No, I was going to ask who approached who first.”

You blinked. “Were you going to ask eventually?”

“No.”

The nonchalance there bit you. “Should I… answer yours?”

“I’ll let you rephrase.”

“Why do you think you’re less than them?”

You watched the question physically strike him and he had to get to his feet. “Outside the game, what were you working out? I thought you were doing arms and back, but then you threw in some legs.”

“I wasn’t planning on doing this.” You gestured to the landmine.

“Ah…” He grimaced. “What was next?”

“Lat pulldowns.”

“Let’s go. I need to move.”

You gathered your bag and looked back on the fallen weights.

“Leave ‘em.”

“You are a menace.” You followed as he led over to the machines.

“I’m gonna be here awhile. I do rounds and pick everything up when I’m done. I have a whole system.”

Your lips fell as you should have figured.

He gestured to a pair of machines and took one.

You sat at the other and pinned an appropriate weight while he went straight down the stack for something that seemed absurd.

He was a brick wall in his own right.

Grabbing the bar, he pulled down with perfect form a few times before responding just as the bar headed towards a stationary position. “I’m nothing without my family.”

Where you were just about to pull down, you had to whip your head and gawk at him.

“Too honest?” He arched his brow ridge and continued to do reps.

“Kinda.”

“I’m not ashamed. I’m the face man. I’m the leader. I live for them. I don’t think I’m less for it.”

“Leo…”

“Whatever you’ll say is just going to be what I’ve heard someone else yak about a million times. I’ve dismantled them all. Might as well not bother.” 

You frowned and let the bar go up with the weight.

“’That’s not healthy.’ ‘You can’t think like that.’ ‘What about your life?’ ‘You can’t be happy that way.’ ‘It’s not sustainable.’ Round and round.”

You pulled, feeling the tension.

“I can rest when they’re safe. They’ll never really be so I keep going. There are moments. No one can really go 24/7 so yeah, that isn’t sustainable. That’s why I do 2-3 hours of this every morning at the crack of dawn. Gets my mind right or should I say shuts it up.”

You widened your hold to make the reps more difficult.

“Ugh I’m breaking my own rule. I always figured if I said it aloud, I’d break the spell.”

“Cinderella does wear blue.”

That got a smile. “The first time I did this, I was fresh off a night of hell. Probably had tetanus after a long fight at the junkyard. Was walking home separate from the guys because we’d gotten into it. I looked like hell and this buff old man approached me like I’m not 3 times his height and asks if I want to try his gym out for some promotion.”

You tried not to interrupt, but relished in the validation.

Leo passed you a single curious glance, but continued on. “I tried to argue with him. ‘I’ve got a home gym with weight limits your whole place couldn’t fill.’”

You imagined Raph lifted what had to be several tons as a warm-up.

“But how could I say no…?” Leo took on a faraway smile. “Within 30 minutes it stuck. It had to be here. I signed up and worked out for like 5 straight hours. Had some of the best sleep of my life. Missed my next patrol because I overtaxed my muscles. It was a whole thing!”

You took a rest and held your bottle instead of sipping from it.

Leo shrugged. “Go, go, I’m rambling.”

“It was me.”

“You in a limbo contest?”

You shot him a look of confusion.

“Getting laid is not about how low you can go.”

You chucked your bottle at him.

He caught it, laughed and kept his weights from slamming all at the same time. “Gross, though. Actually.”

“You asked!”

“Still trying to weasel out some answers.” With his long reach, he set the bottle by your side. “It’s my nature.”

“I love him.”

“If I’m Cinderella, which for the record is not my preferred Disney royalty, you’re Ariel.” His lids lowered as he stared at you without amusement. As soon as he saw he had your attention, he clasped his hands and fluttered his lashes. “’Daddy, I love him!’”

“I’m not 16 and trust me, we’ve been through it!”

Leo’s brow ridge shot high. “Do tell.”

“Hell no, you’ll use it as fodder.”

“Yeah, but, think, it may also get me off your back.”

“This.” You gestured between you. “Is not going to be a thing.”

“That’s for sure!” He shouted, eyes going a calculated sort of wild.

You scowled.

He bit down on a sigh and looked northward before returning with an open passivity. “You convinced Dad and Raph, so hit me with the pitch.”

“You’re not going to listen.”

“I’ve bared my soul! What more do you want?” He hid his expression in more reps, but his bulky arms could only cover so much. Each time his bicep lowered, you saw a blink of worry in his lips.

You watched until he seemed to calm down before you began. “It’s a pretty classic format with a twist. We meet, and then we meet again, and again, because we want to. He says he was just indulging me at first, but I wonder sometimes.” You looked up at your forlorn bar. “Not really love at first sight, but I think we both sensed there was something there. We keep seeing each other and… it’s tough. He’s an enigma. He won’t tell me things. I blindly accept it because puppy love is all consuming.” You dropped your gaze to your water and tapped it with your shoe. “We both mess up. We both hurt each other. We both try again. We want to. There’s more there and we cultivate it. By the time the while truth comes out, I’m ready to dump him and he knows it. He knows how badly he screwed up and yet he…” You glanced up at Leo.

The other turtle had stopped and was watching you with parted lips that he closed on contact.

“He tells me everything and plans to just let me go. Actually, full stop. No tricks and presumably he was going to retreat back into his shell, no matter how terrible of a metaphor that is.” You sighed and turned all the way in the little uncomfortable seat to face him. “And I find I don’t want to. I still want to be with him and maybe that’s stupid, but for every bad there’s been, there’s been a hundred rights and each time we get stronger and it’s scary. It’s a terrifying kind of love because you’re aware of how dumb it makes you. Of how much you’re willing to put up with. Of how much you shouldn’t but…” You have to look away as your throat tightens and your chest thumps with your heart. “And he smiles, open and free and it means everything and I know it wasn’t me, but in a way it was and I would chase that high a thousand times. Push the proverbial boulder up the hill even if I don’t get anywhere, just to see it again.”

Leo’s weights didn’t slam as much as they exploded.

Nearly falling out of your seat from the frightful jump, you watched as he stood up and stormed away.

Staring after his form, you then rotated back into position before reaching for the bar. Pulling down, you figured that this was the only way it could have gone. Leo was the most unreasonable of the bunch. No matter how cunning he was, he was capped by prejudice.

He also was completely right in having it.

His family was the definition of contradictions and you hated how it always seemed to surprise you. It was never clear progress and when it appeared to be, it was simply another con. They’d been tricking themselves for so long, they could no longer pick out what was real. It was exactly as Leo had said.

Your muscles burned as you just kept doing rep after rep.

You couldn’t fix them. As often as you said it wasn’t your job, it was also just a simple fact of the universe. You were only one person. You didn’t have the correct training to deal with this type of trauma. It was as unethical as it was unwarranted. Trying to pull them out of their individual abysses would be like them kidnapping you. You’d be fixing them for what was essentially your gain. You didn’t know what was best for them. You didn’t know anything about them.

You only knew how not to fall into their patterns.

“You know why I’ll never let it go?”

You stiffened, having not felt an ounce of malice until it towered behind you.

Turning slowly, you found Leo with a poised expression even though everything about his voice said he was falling apart.

Your fingers slipped and the weights slammed.

“We’re all we have.” He was right behind you, but still took a step closer. “Isolated for years. Sneaking up onto the surface to see our one, single solitary friend. We made the best of it. We had each other. Dad did what he could. To let us be kids when we weren’t supposed to. To keep us from the damned destiny that ended up repeating. Doomed to repeat! Sure, it fucking hurt that he’d mix us up. It felt like shit to be reduced to a color. I hated blue for years, but it was also all I had!”

You were trapped in a never ending slow turn.

“And yet he was so fucking different, wasn’t he? He had it so much worse! It wasn’t a contest! No one ever once compared our stories! No one!! Not even Mikey and he just says shit without thinking all the time! No one blabbed. No one even said the phrase ‘we understand.’ We didn’t understand him! We didn’t know anything other than he was fucking mean and he was supposed to be one of us! He was purple! He had our names! What else were we supposed to think!?”

Leo broke for a bleeding expression before slamming the mask right back into place.

“All we ever did was reach out! For years! In spite of everything! The death! The decay! I didn’t want that! The injuries! He hurt us and Mikey would lay there sobbing, holding onto me like I was the one standing in the way, begging me to try again. ‘He didn’t mean it.’ ‘He doesn’t know.’ ‘Look at Casey.’ ‘Look at Drax!’ It took years, years for them to unlearn their upbringings. Casey was literally raised in a cult, but woe is Donatello, right?!”

In a drop that you thought might be a full collapse, Leo slammed down to his knees.

It put him at an agonizing eye level.

You could almost see the youthful versions of them acting out his story in darkened pupils. 

“And he made his point clear! He lashed out until we gave up! He kept going after that to make sure we were good and done with him and then you…” Leo seized up. “You show up and that’s it? Everything’s different? You mess up and he doesn’t punish you? It’s not a fucking contest? When he always made it one? You don’t have to jump through any hoops? You’re good enough right away? You’re not perfect. You’re no angel. You’re a person! And just like that he’s over it? Good and well! All done! Peachy keen!”

Your lip quivered and you felt as though Leo might smack a hand over it, but he stayed in place.

“Love.” He spat acid.

Your eyes fell with your heart.

“There’s different kinds, but none of them are less.”

How did it go the last time he spoke about this?

“In case it isn’t obvious, you should know by now which is most important to me.”

It hadn’t been ‘we.’ 

“It was easy when he was just evil. I could write it off. Tax exempt, CPA certified. He’s unsalvageable. Call your dealer and put the lemon law into effect. That’s it.”

He’d put redemption on the others when he had held the same hope. 

“But it’s not. That’s why you… drive me nuts. Insane. I don’t get it. Because if love was enough…” You could hear him move.

Opening your eyes from where you hadn’t meant to close them, you found his hand inches from your face.

“If you were enough, then any of us could have been.”

Already collapsed, your expression plummeted.

“But we weren’t.” His finger retracted as if you ran hot.

That’s not true!

You wanted to scream it in his face.

You wanted to grab his shoulders and shake him.

You felt the same way.

You had for the entirety of your time with Donnie.

It was just a little different. 

Like everything else between the other turtles and you. 

You were a fluke.

You weren’t worthy.

Not anymore than them.

Not any less.

Leo had to know.

There were cracks in his story.

If they just knew both sides, then-

You didn’t know Donnie’s position.

Not really.

You knew white hot hatred and resentment.

You knew the mere mention of any of them would set Donnie off.

You knew the Donnie who openly spoke of their demise giving him closure.

He’d also stayed for Splinter to finish his coffee.

He always paid the check.

He’d learned his native tongue.

That hadn’t been for you.

That predated you.

He’d also called it weakness.

Your eyes widened.

“Leo.” Your voice was hoarse.

His head hung loose.

“Leo.”

“Sorry.” He mumbled so quietly it was nearly swallowed up by an agonizing pop medley playing on the speakers.

“Leo!”

It took a great labor and a deep breath for him to marginally bring his head up.

“I… can’t fix this.”

Shooting straight through antipathy, Leo gave warped confusion that begged you to explain why you’d wasted his attention.

“I-I I know what I said.” You couldn’t maintain eye contact. “I can’t promise anything, but things are already changing. They-”

“I won’t forget.”

“I’m not asking you to! I’m not saying it’ll be better. I’m not…!” You choked on saliva and turned your head away. “I don’t know what I’m saying, but things are happening.”

“You think I don’t know that!? What do you think I’ve been trying to do all this time!? I’ve been hell bent on figuring it out!”

“I know!” You returned to him. “I know… and I know you went about it the wrong way and it’s not the same, but!” You threw your head back and gave a frustrated yell. “I’ve had the same crisis. ‘Why me?’ I don’t know, but I don’t think it was me.”

This time the offense took precedent in his baffled features.

“Listen!” You snapped at him. “It was when!”

He held strong.

“I’m not saying I’m not worth something. I know I am now. I’ve gone through it and I’ll keep going through it and reminding myself of what’s real, but if I had met Donnie, I don’t know, even a day earlier, I don’t think it would have been the same. It had to happen at that moment, it had to-”

“Are you talking about fate?! These things don’t happen for a reason!” His teeth bared, sharp, in your face. “He made these decisions! He chose!”

“And he’s choosing again! And you can all choose! You always have a choice! One pick doesn’t have to live a lifetime!” You reached out and pushed both hands against his plastron. “As long as you’re alive you have an option! You can live!!!”

Instead of a physical blow, it was like the feather light tip of an arrow pierced Leo’s jugular. His Adam’s apple rolled around it, unable to swallow down the arrowhead as he fell back onto his ass and stared up at you.

“I can’t speak for him, but I know what he believed when we met. He thought of himself in exactly the way you see him. Written off! Evil! Unchanging! But he was wrong!” You didn’t chase him so much as you stood up. “He continues to be wrong about himself every, single, day! He hates it!” Happiness and tears collided for a grab-bag on your face. “That among a million other things is what keeps me guessing. No one knows what the future holds! Sure, a choice leads to many others, but that doesn’t mean the choices stop. They just…”

“… Keep… going…” Leo whispered and then broke away.

You watched as he curled up into himself, nearly becoming only his shell as he folded his limbs up against his body with his arms over his head. He yanked himself down into that position and rocked to self-soothe.

Feeling limp in comparison, you sank down, numb, into the machine’s chair.

Across the room, you could see Ingrid staring at the display with uncharacteristically wide eyes.

There was no way she was going to interrupt this. 

No one would.

Dropping your gaze to Leo, found him still shaking.

You opened your mouth to speak, but something came out of his tangle of limbs first.

“This is my gym.”

You almost laughed, but held back because that would have surely sprouted tears. “It is and I’m sorry I ruined our work outs.”

He gave a hollow huff that said his ducts were in a similar place before his arms dragged down his form. It revealed his head, where reddened eyes refuse to give any more away. “Don’t think this changes anything.”

“Hold onto it. You’re not wrong.”

“Couldn’t you have started with that?!” He gave a dry heave.

“I did!” You sounded similar.

“Fuck!” With his arms now free, he flapped his hands like he had earlier. “This is not the kind of catharsis you want at 7am on a Saturday.”

“Seven!?” You quacked and spun around to look at a big red digital clock.

“What are you worried about?” You could hear his legs fall to the ground. “Classes don’t start till 8.”

“I was supposed to meet a friend for breakfast!” You dove for your bag and fumbled for your device.

“Better be a light one. You do not want to do yoga on a burrito stomach. I would know!”

You shot him an incredulous look as you found at least a dozen messages from Eugene. “Ahhh!”

“You grab something quick-serve.” Leo’s gym clothes rustled, and when you glanced over, you found him standing. “I’m gonna go… climb the Empire State Building or something. Want to feel like King Kong. That’ll fix me. Temporarily at least.”

“Go and cry at the top of the world?” You managed a disgusted parting of your lips.

“Cry over this? When have I ever given you the impression that I’m some kind of mop?  I’m a man! My tears are reserved for breaks in toxic masculinity only!” He put his hands on his cocked hips. “That includes getting flamin’ hot cheese dust in my eyes and watching kid’s movies that send me into trauma spirals!”

“Go to therapy!!” You shouted to the ceiling.

Leo flip-flopped a limp hand that said he was fifty fifty on the matter. 

You rolled your eyes at him as you shouldered your duffle. Tacking out a short response to Eugene that should at least quell some of their concerns, you held your device to your chest to address Leo fully. “Text me the stupid Halloween costume.”

Leo’s brow ridge took his mask so high it almost covered his head. “You know I’m part of that, right? You think after one mind-breaking speech we’re gonna be all buddy-buddy?”

“Then don’t! I literally don’t care!” You moved past him, heading out. “Who says I’ll reply, asshole? Maybe I just want to roast you with all my friends or have a better pic the next time we play pin the tail on the jackass?!”

You heard him whip around. “You did what?!”

You didn’t turn and threw a dismissive hand up as you left his line of sight.

Hitting the chill autumnal air, you pulled your phone back up and silently apologized as you closed Eugene’s latest message barrage. They’d dropped a pin of their location and it was where you were about to head, but you needed to send a different message first. 

You: Forewarning, I’m going to smell like Leo

You: Wait

You: That sounds terrible!!!

You: Not like that

You: Never like that!

You: Excuse me gagging! Unsend!

You: Ew ew ew

You: Whatever focus okay

You: Ngl A LOT happened

You: It wasn’t bad and it wasn’t good, but I swear to you it’s not a cause for concern

You: You’re already worrying 

You: Go up two messages and read that one like 50 times

You: Oh and this next one

You: You don’t need to worry.

You: I will tell you absolutely everything

You: During yoga if you can’t wait

You: That’s totally fine

You: Right now I’m going to destroy myself with a burrito 

You: I really really ❤️ you, Donnie

You: Even more if you’re relatively cool about this

You: Which if you aren’t, again, yeah I WOULDN’T BE EITHER

You: I just…

You: No

You: No wait! 

You: No stipulations on my feelings for you!

You: Not my best message

You: My brains fried 

You: Ahhhhhh sorry so much adrenaline! 

You: This morning was insane!! 

You were ready to type another ten messages out when his response bubble appeared. Fully stopping at the sight of it, you stood in the morning air and waited to see what he would say.

Booty Shaker: I’m here for you, always. Whatever you may need. I’m on standby and await a lengthy debrief. Until then, you’re making it difficult for me to do your assigned reading amongst the message spam.

Your heart surged, but you could only think that you really needed to stop giving him stupid contact names.

NEXT

Even though they are so busy, my betas still make time for me so send them some love! @tmntxthings and @thepinkpanther83