#Damn. This woman is beautiful. I need her so badly. She may have a drinking problem but that's not important right now. She's so nice.

[a-gay-bloodmage]

Day 20: To The Nosy Persons It Totally Concerns

(Sera & Mallory Trevelyan)

In a dirty hideout in Val Royeaux, the Red Jennies receive a letter from a Friend about the new Inquisitor. The Friend is convinced that this “Mallie” is almost too good to be true. She’s a looker, though.

Written for the @loveofdragonage event!

Read on Archive of Our Own Here!

[067supremacy]

Ok! This has been a loooong time coming, but I finally got round to finishing it. This may have some mistakes in it as my lazy ass didn't check through, lmao. Anyway! I hope you enjoy :)

Her Maiden - Alcina Dimitrescu

Tw: Smut, smut, and some more smut.

18+!!

The dark halls of the castle stretch for miles; the place was a maze, but you had it memorised like the back of your hand. A cool chill runs down your spine, causing you to shiver and rub at the exposed skin of your short-sleeved arm.

You hurry along the stone flooring; the click of your heels do little to mask your panic, but when it came to this family, you knew better than to keep them waiting. You can already hear the impatient call of your name from the leader herself. Fear strikes you as you wonder if today was the day you received a punishment.

The thick red liquid you carry is heavy. The sloshing drink was a request from Lady Dimitrescu, which you immediately tended to. However, there had been a delay when you accidentally collided with one of the daughters. Your life flashed before your eyes, but to your surprise, they were lenient with you. They even went as far as to allow you back on your way without as much as a threat, which you had witnessed many times for far less.

As you enter the master bedroom, the place of rest for Alcina Dimitrescu. She exhales the smoke she was holding in and stands from her colossal seat. Her face doesn't look impressed, and you weigh the options of getting punished or running there and then. But you had heard the stories of others who ran; it became a game, almost like cat and mouse. The girls would chase and hunt you down until they could squeeze out every last drop of your blood.

"My dear, you had me worried that you would never come back, " Alcina Says in her sultry voice, the same voice that could run a chill down your spine every day of the week. Alcina seems surprised to find you panting and sweating from the effort you put into making it back on time. Seeing you like this brings other kinds of thoughts to her head; she was thirsty, that's for sure, but it was no longer for the wine; she wanted you. And what Lady Dimitrescu wants, she damn well gets. Not that you wouldn't accept what happens just shortly after this encounter.

"You have been such a good maiden, recently. How about a reward for my favourite pet?" Alcina struts to your position, eyeing you from head to toe; she loves your shy behaviour, and under her lustful gaze, you certainly feel shy. She takes the wine from you and takes your hand in hers. She kisses your hand and leads you to her bed; that candlelit room provides a romantic atmosphere. Alcina's sweet perfume is just the right amount to keep it from being too overpowering.

"Do you want this, pet?" Lady D breathes out slowly and takes a step back to admire your beauty and give you the required space to say no if necessary. But no wasn't an option; you wanted this, you want Alcina.

You nod in response, but that isn't enough for Alcina. She prefers to hear this type of thing, almost as much as she will love to listen to your whimpers when they arrive. Alcina tuts her disappointment at you shaking her head playfully while she is at it. Her long slender fingers rest at her hips, but how you long for them to be wrapped around your neck or maybe touching you in a place so sacred, you can only dream of the sensation.

"Tell me what you want, pet, " lady Dimitrescu whispers as she pours some of the wine into her crystal glass with the Dimitrescu emblem glossed into the side.

The way she intimidates you is the most attractive part. A woman of class and with great style. Her choice of music was always a pleasant one. The different types of perfume she wears are always delightful on your nose. She is beautiful from head to toe, and there is a lot of her in between. You weigh up the options you have, but the one thing you can't do is leave her waiting. Your answers run through your mind like a marathon runner, but eventually, you land on one that is sure to please the lady of the castle.

"I- I want you." you nervously say; you begin to play with your fingers and divert your gaze in any direction that doesn't include Alcina. Your speech was low, Alcina heard what you said, but for the prospect of bothering the game at stake, Alcina asks you to repeat what you had said.

"I want you," you say again, this time with more force behind your voice. You still hesitate to look her way. Soon, that isn't an option as she places a gloved pointer finger under your chin and raises your head to look her dead in the eyes. The eyes that hold so much passion, but something else twinkles in the depths of her eyes, love.

She softly coos while lowering herself to become face to face with you. The position seems uncomfortable for her, but for you, it was pushed aside immediately without a second thought. You are confident that if someone walks in now, they will find this picture highly amusing, although you doubt their eyes would remain in their sockets should they say anything.

It's the softest pair of lips you can imagine that make contact with yours, a feather flowing through the gentle breeze of a dream location. You sink into a place of bliss; all your worries disappear at the touch of her cherry red lips on yours. At first, you stand stiff while trying to figure out what was happening, but you relax and begin to kiss back as eagerly as Lady Dimitrescu is.

Alcina swipes her tongue along your lip, she doesn't beg for anything, but this was as close as it got. She so badly wanted to taste you on her tongue, a particular taste could wait, but for now, the tip of her tongue drags along yours as they meet in a glorious kiss. You moan slightly at the sensation which is captured in Alcina's mouth; the two of you move in sync with one another; Alcina is gentle, something you appreciate immensely, given her reputation. You feel her hand glide up your leg agonisingly slow; you throb with need, and Alcina can sense this, but the game is all too amusing now. Her hand was entirely up your dress, and her fingers reached the hem of your underwear.

"I could smell you, now I can feel you." Lady Dimitrescu whispers against your lips as she runs her index and middle finger over the damp fabric of your underwear. She teasingly massages you; Alcina soaks up every little sound you make as this gives her the ultimate pleasure. She can feel your blood heating up deliciously, something she takes a strong liking to.

"m-miss, P-please." you whine into the crock of her neck where she holds your head.

Alcina retracts her fingers at your beg, taking her gloves off to show this is moving forward and holds her two digits in front of your face; she taps your lips, and you instantly know what she is asking for. You open your mouth and willingly let her two digits rest on your tongue. You encircle them in the heat of your mouth and lathe your tongue around them; when you make eye contact with Alcina, she almost breaks face and crumbles in front of you, but she wills through your seductive actions.

Eventually, she pulls her fingers from your mouth and sets about going to her actual destination. With your spit slicked on her fingers, she pulls your underwear down and finally places them at your entrance. Alcina pushes into your tight hole; the tall woman is careful; she treats you like a fragile vase, but seeing you in pleasure rather than pain, she moves slowly, letting you enjoy the drag of her fingers against your sensitive walls.

"Fuck, t-that feels s - so good." you whimper out as her thumb plays with your clit. Her head moves to place her mouth on your neck; you know how dangerous this situation is. She could bite into your neck at any time, but being overwhelmed with pleasure makes the worry subside before it even starts. Her tongue swipes up the centre of your neck, making you shiver; she makes your body feel electric.

"Don't be quiet; make me proud, pet." Alcina husks into your neck. The more time goes on, the harder she pumps her fingers; the soaked sound emitting from your downstairs region is enough to make Alcina growl; she loves the sound of getting you closer and closer to your high. You don't disappoint the lady. You let out various high pitched moans to tell her that the spot she was slamming into was just right. You feel a heat rising in your stomach, a bubbling feeling that builds like a pressure gauge. The higher it gets, the better you feel. Your legs begin to shake, and Alcina's name sprays from your lips uncontrollably. Just as you are about to tip over the edge, she pulls her fingers from your soaked pussy and chuckles to herself at your need to be fucked.

"Oh, honey. Not yet, I haven't even got to taste you yet."

Alcina brings out her steel claws; much to your surprise, for a split second, you worried about your life. However, she gently places the tip of her blade at the neckline of your dress and slowly slices down. She is cautious in this process, always making sure the dress is slightly lifted from your skin. She finishes her masterpiece; you lay there completely naked, sweaty and panting from the adventures, you spread your legs to give Alcina the best view, you see her lick her lips at the sight of your needy behaviour, how she loves this more than life itself.

With your dress cut in half and spread on either side of your body, you make the mistake of reaching your hand down to touch yourself. This wasn't well-received by the leader of the Dimitrescu bloodline. She quickly slaps your hand away and places a large hand around your throat. The look in her eyes had changed; this was a predator vs prey situation, and you knew your role in that. Her eyes were pitch black with lust but jealousy of the thought of anyone-including you- finishing you off. Your airwaves are trapped for moment, but Alcina knows what she is doing. It's just the right amount of pressure not to harm you but add the effect of danger. Retracting her claws, she gives your breast a harsh slap before soothing it out with her mouth. She sucks, licks, and nibbles, much to your pleasure. You throb with need; the wetness between your legs begins to drip down the curve of your ass.

Alcina takes pity on you, her needy little maiden. Still choking you slightly, she kisses down your perfect body until her warm breath is on your centre; she starts with a kiss, coating her lips in your juices; you chance to look down and catch a glimpse of her licking her lips.

"Mm, divine, my sweetheart." Alcina moans before licking your pussy with her enormous tongue. You fall into complete euphoria. Alcina is amazing; her tongue laps up your juice before entering your heat, the slurping sounds from down your body has your back rising as far as it would allow. Alcina places your legs over her shoulders to get the best angle for you and places both hands on your hips to steady you; from here, she shows no mercy. Fucking you like only she could, and God, does she fuck you. From quiet whimpers to loud screams, you put a smile on the cherry red lips of Alcina. Chants of her name echo around the room, and most likely the entire castle, it doesn't take much, but you are back on the edge you were hanging off of before.

You cry out what is to come, Alcina is far too aware of what is building inside you, but she wants you to let go. She sticks to her task, and before you know it, a burst of ecstasy shoots through your entire being; you shake like a leaf in the arms of the woman who took you in. Lady Dimitrescu builds her way up to your face, leaving kisses along the way. She pulls you into her chest and relaxes you completely. The last thing you hear before drifting into a deep sleep is, "I want to be the lady of this castle with you by my side."

[goldentournesol]

Operation Make Believe

(Spencer Reid x Reader)

The one where Spencer and Reader go undercover as a couple at a fancy restaurant to catch a prolific unsub.

Length: 5k 

A/N: enjoy this lil fic while i take a short break from my series :D

masterlist

“Okay, so we’re looking for a guy who targets rich heterosexual couples.” Morgan stated from his seat at the round table. Looking at the photos almost made Y/N sick, she nervously twirled one of her rings around her pointer finger.

“He’s quite violent, too. Removing the men’s fingernails and chopping off the women's’ hair? That’s a pretty specific signature.” Emily spoke, glancing at the file.

“So let me get this straight, this man has killed 7 couples and we’re hearing about this just now?” Rossi questioned with indignance.

“Unfortunately, local PD has found it incredibly difficult to track this unsub down. That’s why we’re being called in.” Hotch replied, without even a twitch to his brow.

“So the guy’s good, how are we gonna get him?” JJ asked, leaning back in her chair.

“We know he frequents the local high-end restaurants because that’s where he picks his couples, he almost always picks victims who have just gone to dinner together, judging by the contents of their stomachs thanks to the autopsy reports. We should canvas the restaurants first and ask waiters if they find anyone suspicious. After that, we are sending in two undercover agents to try and lure him out.” Hotch explained and then a short silence ensued.

Y/N looked up from her file to find most of the team’s eyes on either her or Reid, “What?”

“You and Reid are the obvious candidates.” Hotch put it simply. Y/N glanced at Reid nervously, who happened to look just as nervous as she felt. He cleared his throat.

“Can I ask why us?” Spencer inquired.

“You two are the most compatible, considering your friendship and how close you are in age, and it would look the most realistic. We need to be as realistic as possible with this unsub, he is extremely picky. Make it believable. Wheels up in 30.” Hotch answered, straightening the files on the table and promptly leaving the conference room.

Spencer and Y/N both flushed and avoided each other’s gazes until they were on the jet.

“Hey, are you sure you’re okay with this? I’m sure Hotch would understand if you’re not.” Spencer leaned over to ask softly once the briefing had ended and everyone settled in for the flight. Y/N looked from the window to him.

“No, yeah, yeah, I’m totally fine with it. I was just a little nervous because I haven’t gone undercover before, but how hard can it be, right?” She sent him a small smile and a shrug, hoping it would hide the nerves.

It turned out to be very hard.

Standing in front of a gross bathroom mirror in a police precinct, she analyzed herself in her fancy dress and elaborate makeup and some part of her found herself wishing it was real. All of it. She wondered what it would be like to actually go on a romantic date with Spencer. If she was being honest, it wasn’t her first time wondering that. Not long after she’d joined the team, she found herself growing more and more attracted to a certain endearing genius. At first it started as a normal friendship, but then he got too sweet, too good to be true. She found herself living in daydreams with him too often. Those daydreams never quite disappeared, they just seemed to permeate other aspects of her life.

Love made you stupid, she was aware. There was not a single moment that passed by that she wasn’t thinking of Spencer. She couldn’t help it, she was like a moth drawn to a flame. Except the flame was Spencer, and she’d never wanted to be burned so badly before. But she’d learned to suppress her feelings. They were coworkers and close friends after all. A romantic involvement could ruin both those relationships if it ended badly.

But now her team was depending on her to act extremely in love with Spencer and she wasn’t sure she could do it without actually raising suspicion to the fact that it was real the entire time. So it’s safe to say she was panicking a little.

“Y/N? We’re ready, you feeling okay?” Emily stuck her head in through the door to ask.

“Huh? Oh yeah, totally ready. I’ll be right out.” Y/N checked her makeup, made sure her earpiece was well hidden, and adjusted her fancy dress to hide her firearm one last time before stepping out. Across the room, Derek immediately finished up his conversation with one of the local officers just to walk over and provide her with a whistle of approval.

“Damn, Y/L/N! Looking good!” Derek outwardly announced, making her cheeks redden immediately.

“Oh shut up, Morgan, I’m still armed.” Y/N snapped back, although he was unable to take her seriously with her flushed features. He sent her a signature dazzling smile and she found it hard to keep one off her own face. 

She turned a little to see Spencer staring at her with wonder. He was dressed in a black three-piece velvet suit with a bowtie. He looked simply exquisite. They both smiled wide as they neared each other, Spencer extending his hand to her in the most gentlemanly of ways. She let her hand slip into his, somewhat glad for the support he gave her because of her high heels while simultaneously getting butterflies at the slight touch of his hand.

“You look beautiful, Y/N.” Spencer smiled and spoke quietly to her, proud that he wasn’t a stuttering mess just yet.

“And you look...expensive.” She let her eyes roam over his outfit before letting out a harmonious laugh. Spencer couldn’t help but grin in response as he adjusted his waistcoat with his free hand. They’d decided that Y/N would be the one carrying a firearm instead of Reid because her dress hid it better than his suit could have.

“Alright, kids, settle down. Now, let’s go over the plan. You’re going to go into the restaurant, sit at a table where you can be sure our unsub, George Mendoza, has a perfect view of you. You’ll have to make it super believable, he has to believe you guys are head over heels for each other.” 

Shouldn’t be hard, they both thought, sharing a glance even though they didn’t mean to. 

Morgan was really selling this. Y/N wondered if he knew…

But then again, if Garcia knew, Morgan knew. She also may have been forgetting that she was on the A team of profilers and just maybe the heart eyes she often gave Spencer gave her away already.

“Now, we know he corners his victims in the parking lot. We have to make sure he follows you out. Prentiss and Morgan will be by the door to follow you two out and hopefully ambush Mendoza.” Hotch explained and the two of them nodded.

“Got it.” She said, already shifting her weight from one foot to the other, the heels making her feet ache. Spencer noticed and dropped her hand, only to wrap his arm around her waist in hopes of steadying her and giving her the extra support she needed. JJ and Emily shared a knowing glance as they watched the subtle interaction between the two lovebirds. Y/N smiled to herself but avoided looking at him in order to keep the redness of her face at a minimum. 

Spencer led her to the black SUV parked outside and they both hopped into the backseat, with Morgan and Emily in the front.

 “Ready?” She asked, looking over to see a nervous-looking Spencer beside her as the car came to a halt in front of the restaurant.

He took a deep breath and nodded, “Ready.” He got out of the car and jogged around it to open her car door. She mirrored his actions and took a deep breath as well before plastering a huge smile across her features as she stepped out of the car. Morgan and Emily drove off to keep from blowing their cover. She and Spencer walked towards the greeter behind the podium, her arm tightly wound around his.

“Reservation for Dr. Reid.” Spencer spoke confidently. Y/N had to keep from biting her lip at how much she loved the sound of that. 

The greeter smiled, “Right this way.” he led them to a table and Y/N was in Mendoza’s direct line of sight.

“I’ve got eyes on Mendoza. He’s sitting with a woman and two bodyguards are guarding his table.” She spoke with a smile to Spencer and also to the team through her earpiece.

“I’ve got him.” Morgan confirmed from wherever he was, apparently he could see inside the restaurant.

Spencer turned to look ever so discreetly and pretended to be looking for the waiter. He noticed Mendoza ogling Y/N and it made him feel sick to his stomach.

“Do you wanna switch seats with me?” Spencer asked, visibly uncomfortable.

“What, why? Are you okay?” She replied.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m...fine, I just thought you might be more,” he cleared his throat, “comfortable if he wasn’t looking at you.”

Y/N’s heart fluttered in her chest for a moment before glancing over to Mendoza, “Well, I’m fine, besides I think it’s better this way..that I’ve caught his eye.” She said with a slight roll of her eyes, making Spencer break into a grin.

“Don’t switch seats, that’ll look suspicious.” Emily spoke into their ears, “Now, don’t be so stiff. Relax, order some food or some drinks, whatever.”

“Alright, alright...relaxing.” She spoke mostly to herself and looked up at Spencer. Somehow looking at him made her feel at ease. His soft brown eyes brought her the reassurance she needed. Her gaze was intoxicating and Spencer could feel his hands starting to sweat as he wiped them on his pants. 

 “So this place is really, really fancy.” She said as she looked over the menu, which she could barely understand, “Wonder why he likes it.”

“He has an intense fixation on rich couples. Perhaps he sees his parents in the couples he chooses.” Spencer said, looking over the menu as well.

“Stop talking about the case!” Morgan’s voice boomed into their ears.

“Right, right! Sorry!” She whispered, “Okay, okay. Spence, tell me about these dishes, I have no idea what to order.”

“Um, okay. Well, I think you’d really enjoy the gnocchi in roasted red pepper sauce, Rossi’d made the same sauce and you’d really enjoyed it then when it was paired with pasta. Also the flavor of gnocchi is pretty neutral so it pairs really well with pungent sauces. Did you know that gnocchi originated in Northern Italy because the climate was better suited for growing potatoes rather than grain?” he continued to speak about gnocchi and all the different sauces one could eat it with.

Morgan had every intention to interrupt Spencer’s ramble but then Emily noticed the heart eyes Y/N was giving him, “Wait, no stop. Look at her, she’s into it.” Morgan chuckled and shook his head at the couple.

“Sorry...you should have stopped me.” Spencer ended his spiel, shyly taking a sip from his glass of water.

“Stop you? Why would I ever do that, you know I love your little tangents. Being with you makes me feel smart, actually. Except when you go on about quantum physics, I cannot keep up with that no matter how hard I try, I’m sorry.” She laughed and Spencer felt his confidence returning, “I can’t believe you made gnocchi sound so good. Now, I have to try it!” She grinned at him and Spencer swore he saw her eyes twinkle.

“What will you get?” She smiled at him, playing with her earring, a nervous tick of hers. Was she really that nervous? Why did she look so good doing it?

“Spence?” She noticed him zoning out slightly but he zoned back in.

“Huh? Oh, sorry um, I was a little distracted.” He blushed a little.

“Oh, by what?” She glanced over her shoulder to see if there was anything distracting behind her.

“Nothing, you just look very pretty.” Spencer complimented and she could not control the intense rush of blood that raced to her face. 

Morgan and Emily both drew in breaths through their teeth, “Daaaaamn, pretty boy’s got moves.” Derek whispered to Emily, their mics off.

Y/N giggled bashfully and looked down at her menu, shaking her head. This is all an act, Y/N. Get it together! Spencer reveled in her flushed cheeks for a moment before glancing down at his menu again, “I’ll probably just get the steak.”

For the next hour, they both made small talk with more encouragement from Emily and Derek. When the food came, she leaned closer to him and he fed her a piece of his steak, completely overlooking the fact that he’d just shared his fork with someone else. The sight of the two of them acting so hopelessly lovesick nearly made Emily and Derek sick themselves. During dinner, Spencer had migrated closer to her and they could barely keep their hands off of each other without any prompting from their earpieces. Y/N now had one hand on Spencer’s thigh and the other was intertwined with his as he draped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer ever so slightly. 

Hey, he was probably never going to get to do this again, might as well enjoy it.

They giggled together over stories of their pasts, “I’m serious, my leg was on fire and Morgan had to put me out!”

“Oh come on, you expect me to believe that?” She laughed, her head leaning onto his shoulder.

“Yes!” He exclaimed, laughing. In the midst of her laughter, Spencer felt the overwhelming need to press a kiss to her wonderfully flushed cheek, so he did. He placed a soft kiss to the side of her cheek and made sure to linger enough to feel the warmth radiating off her skin. The feel of his lips on her cheeks almost sent her in a spiral but she refused to meet his eyes, knowing that her eyes would most definitely give her away. Give away the longing and yearning she felt. She almost didn’t want to catch Mendoza because she knew that meant she’d have to give this up.

“Okay, lovebirds, Mendoza is losing interest. You have to up the ante somehow.” Derek spoke into their earpieces. Y/N was a little confused as to what more they could do to get his attention back to them, but she could practically hear the gears turning in Spencer’s head. She suddenly felt him separate himself from her and get up to walk around their table to be on her other side.

“What is he doing!” Emily whispered to Derek and he shrugged.

“Spence, what are you doing?” Y/N asked as he stood before her, offering his hand just like earlier in the evening.

“Y/N, do you trust me?” Spencer whispered as she put her hand in his. She felt him tug on it for her to stand with him and she finally nodded.

“Of course I do.” She whispered back, glancing around at people’s gazes who were now stuck on them.

“Then just go with it.” He smiled mischievously as he knelt down onto one of his knees. Y/N immediately caught herself hoping that it wasn’t the knee he injured before she realized what was happening. Her hands flew to her mouth in genuine shock. He was proposing, well, not actually proposing, but still! In his hand, Spencer held the ring she usually wore on her pointer finger, he must have taken it off without her noticing.

“Y/N, I have never doubted for a second that I want to spend the rest of my life with you. From the moment I met you, you consumed every piece of my mind, body, and soul. And at first I was afraid at how willingly I’d give it to you, but then I realized that there is not another person on this planet that I’d rather have my soul. You are the light of my life, Y/N. When I wake up in the morning, you’re the first person I think of and when I fall asleep, my thoughts are only occupied by you. There are around 170,000 words in the English language, and no matter how hard I try, I will never be able to express to you just how much I love you. Y/N, will you marry me and make me the happiest man alive?” Spencer stared up at her, hoping the weight of his words would somehow reach her through the guise of the assignment.

Y/N stood there, tears gathering in her eyes from the sheer overwhelming-ness of it all. Never had she imagined (because she has imagined it, if we’re being honest) that the day Spencer Reid would propose to her, it would be fake. The tears slipped out, she felt like sobbing at the artificiality of it all. Luckily those tears were in her favor to sway external witnesses. She suddenly remembered that he’d asked her a question.

“Yes! Yes, a million times yes!” A heavy sob escaped her and Spencer quickly slipped the ring onto her finger. Spectators clapped wildly and cheered for them. That definitely caught Mendoza’s attention. 

She threw her arms around his neck while he hugged her waist to lift her off the ground slightly. Spencer momentarily allowed himself to believe that this was real. In a moment of giddiness, he set her down again on the floor and pulled her in for a celebratory kiss by her waist. It took her a moment to realize what was happening, but soon reciprocated the tender kiss. Although it was short, it was unlike any other kiss she’d had. They pulled away from each other when the clapping and commotion had died down. Spencer had smiled graciously at people who were congratulating them, while she was still completely dazed from the kiss. They both went back to their respective seats, Spencer now back across from her rather than beside her.

Emily had lowkey been hitting Derek’s arm as they kissed, a moment she and JJ were surely going to tease Y/N to the ends of the Earth about.

Y/N had just barely composed herself enough to wipe the remnants of tears from her cheeks which resulted in a low whisper coming from Spencer, “Are you alright?” She nodded and flashed him a smile, one that told him just how not fine she was, but Spencer decided to let it go for a moment. He hoped he hadn’t crossed the line with the kiss.

“Good job, kids. You are definitely back on Mendoza’s radar.” Morgan spoke into both their earpieces.

They waited another 10 minutes before making their exit, their meal already paid for. Spencer had his arm tight around her shoulders as they walked out of the restaurant and pretended to wait for the valet. Derek and Emily still had eyes on Mendoza inside, who waited exactly one minute before he and his bodyguards were on the move.

“Mendoza’s on the move. Y/L/N and Reid, get ready for the signal.” Emily spoke, still in their hiding position.

Y/N took her gun out of her thigh holster and kept it out of view. She felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand as Mendoza approached them from behind.

“Congratulations to the lovely young couple. Can I just say how well you two suit each other?” Mendoza’s slimy voice began and it made their skin crawl.

“Now!” Emily spoke and both she and Morgan emerged with their firearms raised at the three men.

Y/N swiveled around and aimed her gun at him, “FBI, hands up, now!” She yelled and Mendoza’s men came forward to attack the two of them when they all heard the clicks of Emily and Derek’s guns from behind them.

“Uh-uh, I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Derek taunted. Mendoza visibly deflated and Spencer was quick to cuff him and read him his rights.

“George Mendoza, you are under arrest for the murder of 14 people…” Spencer went on as Emily and Derek cuffed the other two men. Y/N took a deep breath as she watched her teammates stuff them into police cars. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Hotch.

“Nice work, Y/L/N.” He gave her an approving nod and led her back to one of the SUVs. She immediately relaxed back into the seat and took off her heels.

On the jet back to Quantico, Y/N was teased quietly by Emily and JJ but they could tell that something was off about her. She wasn’t as bright as she usually was. Her eyes didn’t shine with the triumph that came with solving another case. Instead she was reserved and proceeded to retreat into herself when the teasing had stopped.

Oh how she wished it was real. She found herself keeping the ring on her ring finger rather than returning it to its rightful place on her pointer finger. She wanted to live in the daydream for as long as she could. Spencer’s words swirled around in her head with no shame or trepidation. She didn’t have an eidetic memory, but she would remember those words forever. Hearing them over and over seemed to have cracked and broken her heart and she was frantically trying to piece it back together. On the far side of the jet, Spencer was in a pool of regret. He wouldn’t have kissed her if he knew it’d make her uncomfortable. She has barely spoken to him since they closed the case and it didn’t seem like she would be talking any time soon. 

Hotch had given them two days off to cool off from the case and get some much needed sleep. Y/N thought that spending time away from Spencer would somehow heal the cracks in her heart, but they only seemed to make it worse. She knows she shouldn’t have cried into that tub of ice cream, but she couldn’t help it. She thought back to her friend who’d just gotten engaged the previous month and while she was never the jealous type, she found that feelings of envy were inevitable. She wondered if Spencer had meant anything he’d said. What did it mean if he did? No, no, she wasn’t even going to entertain the thought that he might feel anything for her. That would only lead to false hope and possibly deeper heartbreak.

But…

The way he’d looked at her when he said he loved her. That couldn’t be faked, right? She was a profiler for goodness’s sake, she should have been able to tell, but it was abundantly clear that her feelings for Spencer got in the way of her profiling skills.

Going back to work was relatively easy, except for the fact that she couldn’t look Spencer in the eye without hearing the words he’d said to her. It was ridiculous of her to even consider the fact that he might have not been just acting. She’d spoken barely two words to him and Spencer was itching all day to speak with her, but he just couldn’t. They were both avoiding each other for the wrong reasons. Unfortunately, their coworkers noticed the obvious shift in behavior. It was so unlike the two to be so awkward around each other. JJ had even caught Spencer doing a 180 and returning to his desk as soon as he saw Y/N at the coffee machine.

Something must be done.

They’d all decided to leave quietly 15 minutes early, minus Hotch and Rossi who were already cooped up in their offices. They hoped the empty bullpen could give them the privacy they needed to talk about whatever they needed to.

“Hey, Em, could you look at this for me? I think--” Y/N trailed off as she glanced up from her paperwork to see an almost completely empty bullpen, “Oh, where did everybody go?” she asked herself and technically Spencer, who also seemed to be totally engrossed in his work.

“Hm, I think everyone left already.” Spencer stood from his desk, bones cracking as he did so.

“That’s weird…” she shrugged and tried to get back to work.

“Um, so what did you need Emily for? I could take a look at it if you want.” Spencer offered, walking over to her desk and leaning on the side of it.

“Uh..y-yeah, sure.” She stammered as she looked for the file she just set down, having him in close proximity was making her mind go numb for a second, “Here, um...I think it was filed in the wrong folder. I’ll just--uh..give it to JJ tomorrow or something.” She swallowed, avoiding his eyes as she showed it to him. 

“Hold on a second, I think...this...goes in here with this case…” he trailed off as he grabbed a folder from his own desk.

“Huh, someone must have accidentally placed it on my desk instead of yours.” She nodded.

“It was probably Anderson.” They both said at the same time, making them both laugh.

 It felt right to laugh with him again. Spencer’s heart skipped a beat when she finally looked up and grinned at him. He felt like the air was somehow restored to his lungs. He watched as she shyly looked back down and tucked some hair behind her ear. He cleared his throat and fumbled with the file in his hand.

“Hey, I--uh...never got the chance to apologize...for uhm, how things went when we were, y’know undercover.” 

Wow, real smooth Spence. Great job.

He watched as her brows furrowed together, eyes lifting to meet his, “What do you mean?” 

“I...shouldn’t have...kissed you, I’m sorry. I just thought...I don’t know, it seemed like most couples usually kiss after proposals and I thought if we didn’t kiss it would have looked weird. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable, Y/N.” He apologized and Y/N’s heart might have definitely exploded in her chest. Here was this sweet, sweet man who was apologizing because he felt like he made her uncomfortable, as if that’s the reason she’d been acting weird.

“No, it didn’t make me uncomfortable at all!” She laughed it off, shaking her head. My God, Spencer Reid, there really is no one else like you. 

He fought off a relieved smile, “Oh, it didn’t?” She shook her head, laughing wholeheartedly now.

“No, on the contrary, I quite liked it, Dr. Reid.” She rolled her eyes, still giggling.

“Why have you been avoiding me and acting all awkward then?” He laughed with her.

“God, Spencer, did you really think I was being awkward because you kissed me?” She spoke, her arms lifting up and coming back down in disbelief.

“Yes!” he nodded, crossing his arms and shifting as he leaned on her desk, “I thought I’d made you uncomfortable…”

“No...Spencer, that’s not it at all…” She smiled softly but it began to fade as she stared at him.

There are around 170,000 words in the English language, and no matter how hard I try, I will never be able to express to you just how much I love you.

“Then what is it, Y/N? What’s going on?” He pursed his lips, wanting to absorb any and all the pain she’d ever felt in her life.

She had to know.

“The things you said...while you were uhm...proposing. Did--did you mean any of them?” She looked up at him with the largest doe eyes he’d ever seen. Her eyes began to shine with tears as her shoulders tensed with anticipation.

He shifted again uncomfortably at the question and her unfaltering gaze, “I--uh, I did, actually.” The heat rushed to his face and ears, “I definitely did mean them, Y/N. Does--does that make you feel weird?”

“No, no, not in the slightest,” her face broke out into another grin, this one with hints of relief, as she stood up from her desk chair to be at eye-level with him, “actually, if I’m being honest, I wanted you to mean them.”

Spencer smiled as he uncrossed his arms, “Is that right?”

“Mhm.” She hummed, placing both her hands on the sides of his neck, his hands now resting comfortably on her waist. She watched as his gaze never left her lips.

“Can I kiss you?” His eyes briefly flickered upwards to hers for permission.

“Please do.” She smiled before he connected their lips.

It felt right this time. She knew it did because she could finally savor the feeling of her stomach doing somersaults. She knew because she could finally know the feeling of his large hands roaming the expanse of her back in efforts to pull her closer. She knew because she could finally feel the incredibly soft tufts of hair at the base of his neck as she weaved her fingers through them.

In the distance, Hotch and Rossi simultaneously checked the bullpen through the blinds of their offices at the suspicious silence. Both of them shook their heads and laughed at the blooming of young love.

[dudeandduchess]

Yakuza!Kyōjurō x F!S/O: Sugar and Spice (Mafia!AU, Modern AU, NSFW Series)[Chapter 8]

Summary: Kyōjurō and (Y/n) meet at a party, only to find out that their lives would change forever— since they had been arranged to be married.

Note: I have nothing against McDonald’s; I love some of their things (Nuggets!!!). It’s just that the contrast between what (Y/n)’s mother had always had, compared to something so normal makes me laugh.

Warnings: Smut, Making Out, Candy Swapping, Semi-Public Sex (Private Beach), Teasing, Champagne Blowjob, Cum Swallowing

||Sugar and Spice Masterlist||

***

It had been a couple of days since the pleasurable incident at the Rengoku clan’s mountain home and, for the life of her, (Y/n) couldn’t get it out of her head. Especially at night, when she begun fantasizing about having Kyōjurō’s hands all over her again, with his chest pressed flush against her back.

She would never admit it, but she was addicted— after only the barest taste of him.

And she would have devised a plan to wring the same pleasure from him again, had he not called her the following morning to say that something had come up in Osaka. That would have been find, if it only took a day to fix it. But, apparently, it was going to take a few days.

(Y/n) had tried not to let her disappointment show in her tone, but Kyōjurō must have picked up on it, since she had gotten the most beautiful bouquet of pink and white hydrangeas— as well as one of Kyōjurō’s button down shirts— a mere hour after they had said goodbye to each other.

The card had even held the sweetest inscription she had ever received, which she quickly used to cover her face— as she raced back up the stairs to get back to the privacy of her room.

At that present moment, with her already done getting herself ready for the day, she took a brief moment for herself and sat down on the edge of her bed; taking the card where she had left it on top of her nightstand, and biting back a smile as she read her fiancé’s writing.

‘You are much like hydrangeas; Beautiful, but selfish with your love. I hope that I can take a piece of your heart while I’m gone, And I hope that someday I’ll have your love, (Y/n).

P.S. I’m giving you my shirt, so that it will keep a little bit of me with you.

Forever Yours, Kyōjurō’

(Y/n) couldn’t help but bite down on her lower lip, if only to bite back the giggle that threatened to spill from her lips. She had been reading the card frequently, yet it still managed to elicit the same reaction from her; as if she were a lovesick teenager.

It was very unbecoming for her; especially over someone whom she was still getting to know.

Kyōjurō was going to become her husband, that was a fact, but there was a tiny voice in her head that always warned her to not get too close. Thankfully, it had been small enough to bury beneath all of her foremost thoughts; yet when she was alone— like at that moment— it gained enough momentum to make itself known.

And the smile on her face, which brightened up her features, turned down into a barely perceptible frown. It was dangerous for her to fall so easily for a man; especially a man that she knew was still keeping his cards close to his chest.

She knew that; after all, she wasn’t that far gone in her blossoming feelings for him.

It would have been so easy to keep herself in check, to guard her heart and keep herself sane… if only he didn’t make her feel like throwing all caution to the wind so she could jump and fall right into his arms.

Just like he had told her that she made him happy, Kyōjurō made her feel the same; along with feeling protected and appreciated.

Before (Y/n) could delve in deeper into her own thoughts however, she quickly shook herself from her reverie and placed the card back down on her nightstand. Then, she got up from her bed and straightened herself out; after all, Rin hadn’t been coming to her room to pester her about attending events in her parents’ stead.

Now that she thought about it, she hadn’t been tasked to attend any political functions ever since Kyōjurō had warned her mother to lessen her tasks. It gave her enough time to actually relax during her break, and it felt amazing.

She had to remember to give Kyōjurō a kiss once he returned. And if she were to be honest, she would say that she missed him.

“You’re too invested, (Y/n),” The young woman muttered to herself with a playful scoff, before shaking her head and making her way down to the dining room. It was time for breakfast, after all; her most dreaded part of the day, since she had to sit there and take all of her mother’s ill-concealed jabs.

Her tasks may have lessened, but her family life sure hasn’t improved.

With all her apprehension about going to see her mother, (Y/n) even dawdled a little bit during the walk downstairs; purposely taking her time to admire some of the paintings that caught her interest, until she arrived at the doorway she was trying to avoid the most.

And with a deep breath, she stepped through and expected her mother’s mildly displeased expression to greet her. Only, the first face that she saw had her immediately brightening up; especially when those lips that she missed tilted up at the corners to give her a handsome grin.

“Kyōjurō!” (Y/n) breathed out, just as a wide smile colored her expression. And before she could help it, she already found herself practically skipping over to where he now stood— only to freeze when she saw her mother’s narrow-eyed gaze boring right into her.

Immediately, the arms that wanted to wrap themselves around her lover froze at her sides; while Kyōjurō engulfed her in a tight embrace, before pressing a chaste kiss to her lips. “Did you miss me, princess?”

“I… I did.” She admitted, her smile almost faltering once, as she felt her mother’s glare boring right into her back. However, she was shielded by Kyōjurō’s face, so she allowed herself a little bit of rebellion and leaned in to peck his lips— all while her hands lifted themselves up and settled themselves at his sides in a pseudo hug.

As her mother had kept repeating to her while she was growing up: it was unbecoming of someone of her social status to show too much emotion to anyone, as it gave people a leverage over her. And it was obvious that it had stuck to her, since she could only act normally whenever she wasn’t around any people who gave a damn about who she was.

Thankfully, she was shaken from her reverie by Kyōjurō guiding her to sit down on the empty chair next to where he sat. “Go and eat, baby. You need your strength for today.”

Kyōjurō’s words were innocent enough, but they didn’t fail to make goosebumps raise across her skin. They were so laden with hidden meaning, at least in her mind, that she couldn’t shake the warmth that pooled at the pit of her stomach.

With those words hanging in the air, she turned her full attention to the food set out on the table— holding back a surprised expression when she saw that it was laden with carry-out boxes from McDonald’s. A laugh wanted to bubble free from the sight of the lavish table paired off with something so… common, yet (Y/n) could only purse her lips together as she grabbed the laid-out silverware to serve herself a pancake.

Breakfasts used to be such a droll agenda whenever she was at home, but Kyōjurō had managed to spin such a humorous twist on it that made her want to kiss him.

The best part? Rengoku Kyōjurō had practically forced her mother— the wife of the Prime Minister, and the prissiest woman to ever live— to eat an Egg McMuffin.

(Y/n) would never forget the undernoted look of disgust that she kept shooting the blond at her side; the very man whom, she was naught to admit, was starting to become such an essential part of her life.

“How’s your McMuffin… okaa-sama?” Kyōjurō asked quietly, looking so regal even with a paper cup of coffee in his right hand. And (Y/n) could only get swept into him even more, when he turned to her and gave her the most attractive wink; one that had her heart practically skipping in her chest.

***

When (Y/n) had heard that she should keep her strength up for the day, she had expected so much more than just going to the beach— which Kyōjurō’s family apparently bought a few years ago— and being told that her fiancé only wanted to relax.

If she were to be honest, she would say that she expected to get railed so hard on the blanket. After all, it was why she had worn the sundress that she was sure accented all of her curves; one that would entice Kyōjurō into doing just what she wanted him to.

There wasn’t anything wrong with hoping to get fucked by such a sexy man, but it had been a few days, and she was sure that he was trying to put on a show just to tease her. That was the problem: he wasn’t giving in to her.

He merely laid down next to her on their blanket— in all his shirtless glory— while he kept eating that goddamned hard candy that was in the glass bowl next to him. And to make things worse for her, he looked so attractive— especially with his abs out on display, and his sunglasses framing his face so perfectly.

She would have long straddled his hips and slipped his cock inside her, had she been that shameless of a woman.

It wasn’t much of a statement coming from her, based on how they had first met, but it was different because they were out in the open; where anyone could happen by and take pictures of them humping like rabbits on the beach.

That wasn’t a headline that she wanted the entirety of Japan to see, even if she knew that the property was as secluded and secure as it could be.

Still, Kyōjurō was making it so hard to resist him. And he knew just how badly he was affecting her.

“Do you want to eat something, baby? Maybe a drink?” Kyōjurō asked softly, raising his sunglasses to the top of his head while he turned to look at (Y/n)— whom was no longer scrolling through her phone, and was blatantly ogling his body.

He would be lying if he said that he didn’t like that, or if he said that that wasn’t turning him on.

In fact, he had wanted to push her down on the table at her house, had her mother not been there to keep giving him ill-concealed glares. But he had to keep it in his pants, since he wanted to see how she would react with a little bit of pushing from him.

After all, he could make her so needy for him that it would make for the hottest nights of their life; especially if he kept on teasing her bit by bit until their wedding night.

It was too little too late, after he had already had a taste of her tight pussy, but it only made things much more exciting for him. If only he wasn’t constantly close to asking her to fuck him.

“A glass of champagne would be nice…” (Y/n) answered softly, the flush on her face getting more evident in the shade, especially when her eyes flickered up to meet his own. They were so intense with need that Kyōjurō couldn’t help it…

He cupped her face with one hand and pulled her in to his face, as he sat upright to meet her halfway.

The first touch of his lips to hers had his entire body tingling with warmth, as if it was coming alive under her touch. And it was only made better when their slow and tentative kisses slowly escalated to open-mouthed ones; ones that had him feeling himself getting hard.

Especially when she reached down and cupped her hand over his hardening cock.

A smirk tugged at the corners of Kyōjurō’s lips then, as he got it in his mind to push the piece of candy in his mouth into hers.

(Y/n) was clearly surprised at first, tensing up the tiniest bit, before getting swept up in her fiancé’s pace. His tongue kept prodding at hers, trying to pull the candy back into his own mouth, which she complied to.

Gingerly, she allowed him to take the sweet from her mouth, instantly missing its sweetness, before it was gently pushed right back in— so warm and a little minty, with a hint of something that was uniquely Kyōjurō.

Or maybe that was her lust addled mind talking.

However, before things could escalate further, the blond pulled away with a grin— his candy back in his mouth. “I’ll be back with your champagne, princess.”

To say that she was shocked and feeling cross with him was a total understatement. She was feeling so irate that she wanted to get some sort of revenge on him— which had been fueled by her less-than-innocent searches while he was gone.

So, she stewed in her own impatience— even sitting up on her knees— just so she could take him by surprise when he came back.

Thankfully, Kyōjurō didn’t take too long with getting her drink; grinning right at her even if she could see the obvious bulge in his swim trunks. It provided the perfect opportunity for her to get back at him, at least even a little.

And when he got back on their blanket, giving her the glass of champagne before making a move to sit back down, (Y/n) got up on her knees and placed a hand on his right thigh— looking up at him and licking her lips, before sliding that hand up to cup his hard-on once more.

“You look uncomfortable,” The young woman whispered, as she slowly undid the tie to her fiancé’s shorts and gently pushed them down his hips; much like how she pushed her own trepidations aside, and threw all caution to the wind.

She was on private property. And she trusted, deep down, that Kyōjurō would protect her and her reputation if it came down to it.

So, she let go of her inhibitions— especially when she was greeted by her fiancé’s hard cock in front of her face. It was thick, and long, and a little bit curved— which had her pussy getting so wet already.

Remembering how amazing he felt inside her even had her squeezing her thighs together, if only to alleviate the lust that she felt bubbling within her.

Gingerly, she took his cock in her right hand, pumping it slowly, and using her thumb to spread the precum that beaded at his tip. A low groan was her reward for that, which only spurred her on even more— especially when she saw his eyes close in pleasure.

Just the faintest of touches and he was already like that. She couldn’t wait to see what his reaction was going to be when she set her plans into action.

And when she leaned forward to suck on the tip of his cock, she felt confidence flaring up within her when Kyōjurō moaned aloud— with his right hand making its way into her hair.

It was hot, but she was not going to get swept up in his pace again.

So, before he could try to give her a nudge to take more of him in her mouth, (Y/n) pulled the head of his cock out of her mouth and took a big sip from the champagne flute in her left hand. And with that, she set the drink down on the blanket— hoping that it wouldn’t topple over.

She kept the cool and bubbly drink in her mouth— looking up again at Kyōjurō, whom was watching her with such a lust-filled gaze— before taking his cock in her mouth once more.

That time, however, Kyōjurō actually cried out in pleasure; hips bucking involuntarily as he felt the champagne’s bubbles teasing his cock. Partnered with the coolness of the drink, and the warmth of (Y/n)’s mouth, the blond was on his slow descent to thinking that he was going crazy with pleasure.

His head was already spinning from the sensations, and she had barely even taking his cock.

But when she swallowed around his tip, before circling her cool tongue around the crown of his cock, he felt his fingers curling into her hair. Hell, he had barely even managed to look up at the security camera perched on a light pole, as a warning for whoever was watching to turn away at that moment.

Slowly, pleasurably, (Y/n) kept taking more and more of Kyōjurō’s cock in her mouth— until she was all the way down to the hilt, with her nose pressed against his trimmed pubes.

And he thought that it couldn’t get any better than that, until she took the hand that was on his thigh to cup his balls and start fondling them.

His eyes almost rolled back into his head at that moment, as he threw his head back and lost himself to the heady feeling of her sucking him off; trying to bring him to the most intense orgasm that he was ever going to get from a blowjob.

Instead of trying to prolong his pleasure though, Kyōjurō began to gently rock his hips into (Y/n)’s face; breathing heavily and moaning aloud as he felt his orgasm crawling up on him.

“I’m cumming,” The blond whispered breathlessly, close to outright fucking his fiancée’s face, when she pulled his cock out of her mouth— leaving just the tip inside— before jerking her off with one hand.

All while the other one kept fondling his balls.

It was so heady that Kyōjurō could only cry out “Fuck, baby! Fuck, fuck, fuck!” as he spurted thick ropes of cum right on her tongue. She was white hot pleasure personified, and he was sure of it at that very moment.

Maybe he really couldn’t wait until the wedding night to have her again.

Especially when she made a show of popping her cock out of her mouth, and sticking her tongue out to show him his cum— before closing her lips and swallowing his thick seed.

“How did I get so lucky, princess?”

[music-of-dragons]

Here's part three!

Loose Key for organization:

● Summary ○ My thoughts

AGOT Dany III

● This chapter begins with Dany looking out over the Dothraki Sea with Jorah by her side, he is explaining the types of grass that grow. ~"Down in the Shadow Lands beyond Asshai, they say there are oceans of ghost grass, taller than a man on horseback with stalks as pale as milkglass. It murders all other grass and glows in the dark with the spirits of the damned. The Dothraki claim that someday ghost grass will cover the entire world, and then all life will end." That thought gave Dany the shivers.~

○ The description of the ghost grass and the Dothraki prophecy are very similar to that of the Others and the Long Night. Directly after this imagery Dany shivers, which is associated with being cold or frightened. I believe that the Stallion prophecy is the Dothraki version of Azor Ahai. 

● Dany is enjoying the beauty of the day when the rest of the Khalasar begin to approach, Viserys with them. Dany, slowly learning to embrace her own agency and power, tells Jorah to command the Khalasar to stop so that she could ride ahead and not hear Viserys's complaints.

 

● Dany reflects on her first days with the Khalasar and how tough they had been. Khal Drogo ignored her during sex and she would cry from the pain, she was racked with saddle sores and blistered hands. Dany decided that she would rather kill herself than continue on, until she had a dragon dream. Viserys is not in the dream this time, only her and the dragon. "It's scales were black as night, wet and slick with blood. Her blood, Dany sensed.~

○ Just as Dany's thighs were slick with blood in her first dragon dream, the dragon is now covered in her blood. This is more birth imagery! Babies are born covered in their mother's blood, so Dany will birth the dragons, and her blood/sacrifice will be needed for the ritual. Viserys disappearing from the first dream then not appearing in this dream is a sign that Viserys will have to be gone/die in order for Dany to become who she is meant to be and hatch the dragons. When the dragon breathes flame at her, she feels no pain. Her body is cleansed by the fire and it helps her feel stronger and more fierce, this bled into her reality.

● Dany noticeably changed after her dream, her handmaid even asked if she had gotten sick. ~"I was, she answered, standing over the dragon's eggs that Illyrio had given her when she wed. She touched one, the largest of the three, running her hand lightly over the shell. Black and scarlet, she thought, like the dragon in my dream."~ The egg felt warm to Dany, though she dismissed it. 

● Dany feels that her horse knows her moods and that they share a single mind, Irri may be teaching her Dothraki riding but the silver is her true teacher. 

○ This connection that Dany feels with her silver, I believe, has some magic involved. It may also be foreshadowing her warg-like connection with Drogon. Dany thinks to herself that she had never loved anything so much.

● Dany, still reflecting, thinks about how she began to appreciate the beauty of the world around her; her soreness after riding was welcomed, her nights with Drogo were more pleasurable, and every day she is eager to mount her silver and ride ahead.

○This is a direct result of her dragon dreams and coping mechanisms. She is slowly growing from a meek little girl to a strong young woman, she is handling the Dothraki lifestyle better than her "dragon" brother.

●Dany makes it to the bottom of the ridge and hears Viserys shrieking at Ser Jorah, so she plunges deeper into the grass. Dany feels a sudden urge to feel the soil between her toes because she feels happy and at peace in the grass. She dismounts and is removing her boots when Viserys is on her, rearing his horse, screaming. Viserys tells her to look at herself, dressed in Dothraki clothing and Viserys dressed in soiled city silks and ringmail. 

○ This difference between the two of them is important. Dany's ability to adapt to the culture around her is what allows her to survive, while Viserys separates himself from those he deems beneath him and it will eventually lead to his downfall. This is humility vs superiority at its finest. Dany is making the most of a situation her own brother placed her in, doing everything he commanded of her, yet he is enraged by her power as a Khaleesi. 

● Viserys makes a grab for Dany's chest and twists at her breasts but she pushes him away, this is the first time she has stuck up for herself, and she knows that Viserys will hurt her badly for it. Before Viserys can continue, Jhogo's whip coils around his neck and saves Dany from further harm. Despite all that he's done to her Dany refuses to have him harmed. She thinks to herself that he looks pitiful on the ground, sobbing and sucking in breath. ~He had always been a pitiful thing. Why had she never seen that before? There was a hollow place inside her where her fear had been.~

○ Dany is no longer taking Viserys's abuses lying down. She is finally coming to realize that Viserys was never truly a man to fear, his power over her was an illusion that he created by conditioning Dany with abuse and "waking the dragon". However, despite all this, Dany still loves her brother which will be demonstrated by her actions and thoughts later. 

○ Dany commands Jorah to take his horse, she has learned more of Dothraki ways and knew that taking his horse would shame him in the Khalasar. He would walk with the women and slaves instead of mounted. She literally gets him off his high horse! 

●Viserys commands Jorah to kill the Dothraki dogs and hurt Dany. He looks at her with her bare feet and oiled hair, then at Viserys in his soiled silks and ringmail, and decides ~"He shall walk, Khaleesi."~

● Dany and Jorah have an important conversation about Viserys and the Smallfolk. When she becomes afraid because of what she did to Viserys, he tells her Rhaegar was the last dragon and that Viserys was less than the shadow of a snake. The smallfolk don't care who sits the Iron Throne, they just want to be left in peace. Dany is shaken by his words, but she hears the truth in them. He even gets her to admit that Viserys would not be a good king. When asked about home, Dany envisions Westeros and Dragonstone, all with red doors. 

○That is what Dany desires most; a home with safety and comfort like the house Ser Willem raised her in. She believes that she will find that home in Westeros.

● She admits to Jorah that she knows Viserys would never take them home, even with an army. Later, Dany has a mini vision after seeing a dusty finger of light touch her eggs, a thousand droplets of scarlet flame, she blinks and they are gone.

○ This, again, is her subconscious leading her to the magic needed to hatch the eggs. Dany feels the eggs and they are warm, but she convinces herself they were warmed by the sun. She knows that the stone eggs shouldn't be alive with heat and is trying to rationalize it by continuously making excuses because she's not ready to hatch them, not just yet.

○ Irri hops in the bath with Dany, she has no problem bathing with her and is very close with her handmaids. She never treats them harshly even though they are slaves of the Khalasar.

○ In the next chapter, Dany is called "Moon of my Life'' by Drogo while she calls him "My Sun and Stars". The story that Doreah tells Dany while bathing consists of the moon wandering too close to the sun and cracking, pouring out dragons, then they drink the fire of the sun. I think this story is a hint that Dany, the moon, will hatch dragons herself, and they will be given life by Drogo, the sun. 

● Dany spends time with Doreah learning to pleasure Khal Drogo. She takes him beneath the stars for all to see ~For the Dothraki believed that all things of importance in a man's life must be done beneath the open sky.~ It is Dany's 14th nameday when Jhiqui tells her she is with child. ~"I know."~ Dany tells her.

○ Dany has finally completely adapted to the life of the Dothraki and is more comfortable, brave, and happy than she ever has been. She has agency and power so long as Drogo allows it, and her relationship with him has improved. She isn't suffering in the shadow of her brother any longer. 

Dany IV up next!

Art by Ted Nasmith

[shirophantomvox]

Hold My Hand- Illumi x Reader

OMG thank you! My first international fan! Thank you for this wonderful prompt! This was requested by @illucilfer .

Summary: Today’s story takes place in a 1950s diner by a frequently used Interstate; Interstate 95. We know this dinner for its delicious hamburgers, hot dogs, milkshakes, and jukebox records, but every night one Patreon never returns home. A few men who were angry about your recent arrest have shot you both. As you both stare at each other exchanging mental signals, everyone around you tries to help you to the hospital. Y/N is narrating the story. I seem to have fewer grammar errors that way. FYI, Bold and italicized font will reference a thought or flashback.

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The leaves have turned bright yellow and orange, fluttering every second to the ground. I could hear little children a while away laughing and playing in the community park; throwing up the leaves, jumping into piles, and throwing them at each other. The smell of freshly baked donuts brightened everyone’s mood. All you had to do was take one bite and your face would brighten and crack a smile. Dining at Cupid’s Kitchen will always have your heart and interest.

Interstate 95 was always heavy with traffic during this time of year. The folks of Dallas celebrated mulch annually. The “Mulch Fest” was a street fair that stretched 1.5 miles to the east that contained music, drinks, farmer panels, homemaker Q&A, and other activities that southerners enjoy. Illumi and I are only here because of an unfinished assignment. We have worked night and day for countless days trying to catch Jack “Da Hamor” Gilberton, but he was nowhere to be found. Eventually, I allowed my anger to get the best of me and made the executive decision to take a day off. I barred Illumi from searching, tracking, or any form of hunting for our target. The life of a bounty hunter and an assassin can thrill, but it can drive you insane if you allow it.

Ironically, Illumi and I both enjoy fall. It is perfect for cuddling (although he acts as if he’s too good to cuddle), wearing creative hoodies, going to pumpkin patches, and attending apple orchids. I tend to “lose my cool” when we have dates there. When I was a child, my family did not go on trips like these because they were over an hour away from our home and I had 5 siblings. But once I made money for myself, I made it my mission to go to one at least 5 times out of the year. Illumi enjoys the different fudge, hot cider, and candy apples. He almost broke a tooth on one!

“Say cheese snag-a’-tooth!”

“Stop it. It’s not funny!”

“It is! Could you imagine if you lost your two front teeth? You’d look almost adorable as you did in the 1st grade!”

“How did you know about that?”

“Duh! It happens to everyone, but your mother showed me the pictures, of course.”

“Curses!”

Illumi’s sweet tooth is just like Killua’s; both have a weakness for chocolate. Except, Killua will admit defeat while his older brother keeps denying it.

Cupid’s Dinner has been in Dallas for over 55 years. A black woman established it in 1945 by the name of Mary-Lou Benson. Since then, Mary’s family has been running the shop, making sure all of her customers are happy with the service. During the turn of each season, Cupid’s Dinner gives its customer's food options based on the season. The fall options include donuts, candy apples, different flavored cider, fudge, and hot coffee specials. As much as everything looked appetizing, I could not order it all. Our server, Little Ben, placed our drinks in front of us and handed us the menu. I could tell he was happy with his line of work, just as I was to be with Illumi.

“You all take your time. I’ll be back in five.”

Ilumi glanced on both sides of the room, scanning for Jack Gilberton, already forgetting the agreement we established.

“Illumi, what are you doing?”

“Huh?”

“You keep looking around like you’ve seen Da Hamor. Eat your donut and relax, sweetheart.”

“I cannot relax. I must stay on alert.”

“If I can relax, so can you. It’s not that hard.”

“Fine. If I die, it’s on your head… literally.”

The jingling bell rang almost every second when a customer walked in. It was a joy to everyone's ears; the spirit of Mary Lou-Benson was alive and well. An overwhelming feeling of love seemed to have overtaken the diner. After examining the bistro for quite some time now, each customer had been using their cellphones at the table instead of chatting with their families. Many traditional families hated that about this generation but they should be open to new traditions forming. Illumi dislikes using cell phones or tablets at the table unless we use them for missions. He has emphasized how rude it is to be surfing the web about utter nonsense while someone is speaking. This is a pet peeve of his, something I’ll never step on his toe about. Although I think that is overdoing it, I respect it.

Little Ben served our table quickly, leaving us with two dishes of a classic chicken sandwich, kettle chips, one chocolate, and vanilla milkshake. Milkshakes were my weakness; I nearly foam at the mouth when I see one. When I found out that Illumi had NEVER had a milkshake, I almost fainted.

“No. I’ve never had a milkshake.”

“Huh? You’re missing out, pal.”

“What’s the big deal? Isn’t it frozen milk?”

“Not just frozen milk. You can add many flavors, toppings, and whip cream!”

“Well, then. You’ll have to show me sometime.”

We thanked Little Ben for his service as he clocked out for the day.

“I have to admit these sandwiches look very appetizing.”

“You can say that again!”

Before I nibbled on my sandwich, I wanted to take a moment and adore the man before me; Illumi Zoldyck. A man full of mysteries, professionalism, skill, and talent. His enormous eyes were immersed in the large pieces of chicken in between the sourdough bread. He licked his index finger vigorously; allowing the homemade honey mustard to drip enough from the bread to the plate in between licks. Just the sight of him actually relaxing for once has blown me away. For once, Illumi Zoldyck could be himself and I had the privilege to witness it.

“Um�� why are you staring at me? Do I have food on my face,” he asked; violently wiping his mouth off with a provided cloth napkin.

“Oh! Ha, ha; no reason. I wanted to see your reaction after drinking your milkshake. That’s all.”

“Why? It’s just a drink.”

“Whatever you say, babe.”

“Babe? What happened to LuLu or Illumi-Lu?”

I gasped and pretended to be surprised… although I was a little.

“I did not know that you liked those pet names. I assumed it mortified you.”

“Who told you that? That never rolled off my tongue. “What I said was” — He bent closer to the table and to me; glancing both to the right and left to ensure no wandering ears were around — “I prefer Illumi-Lu to be said in the bedroom and LuLu when we’re alone, like how we are right now.”

“Aww…. ok,” I yelled in excitement.

“Don’t blow it out of proportion, alright?”

“Yes, sir.”

As we ate, Illumi hummed along to the tune that played a few times on the restaurant's jukebox. Illumi and I were born in the mid-90s, but listening to 50s music was a part of his aesthetic. I was told that he had an “old soul” which sounds romantic at first until you realize how men were during that era. His raging temper was a noticeable toxic trait, but it has drastically improved. Nonchalantly sipping on his milkshake and then eating more of his chips, he grazed the soft part of his left hand over mine as he continued to hum.

“What’s the name of this song? You seem to know it rather well.”

“Put your head on my shoulder, a famous song from the 60s. I heard my parents sing it once and since then, they have addicted me to it. Do you like it?”

“Yes, in fact, I love it. All of this is—”

“A surprise to you? Well, enjoy it while it lasts because once I find Jack Gilberton, this side of me will hide for a while.”

“Understood.”

Damn! I was just feeling connected to him again!

The music swelled; everyone seemed to be happy. Not an evil spirit insight to disrupt this beautiful moment. For once in my life, my raven-haired beauty actually held my hand tight, stole a few of my barbecue kettle chips, and gazed into my eyes harmlessly. His lips brushed against both of my hands, ever so lightly placing kisses on both sides of them. Illumi’s gentle smile warmed my heart as my lingering thoughts of hope stayed intact.

The welcoming bell jingled again. Two men in black leather jackets, stone-washed blue jeans, and tattooed all over their arms came into the diner. The men seemed to be bikers who had just left their own “spot” but one thing struck me as they continued to walk towards the staff. They both wore sunglasses when the sunset for the day. Not to mention that the lights were not dim in the diner and the moon was as bright as ever. The second man had his eyes glued in my direction. My heart beat faster as I wondered if Jack Gilberton had found us. Could you imagine?

Put your head on my shoulder

Hold me in your arms, baby

Squeeze me oh-so-tight

Show me you love me too

I am used to coming in contact with enemies on my hit list, but given Jack’s criminal history; I felt like I may not survive his attacks. Illumi will survive, but just barely. Both men approached the checkout, crowing over Little Ben’s sister. She was a short woman but full of might, and I could tell by the shakiness in her voice she was frightened. I wanted to step in so badly, but I didn't want to blow my cover just in case it was, in fact, Jack Gilberton. After I assume, ordering food, both men stood by the entrance, blocking it from others from entering and leaving. The sound of their old, beat up-lighters crackled as one lit a joint and the other lit a cigarette. This horrid smell ruined the atmosphere because they were not in a designated area and it drowned out the lovely aroma of the food being served.

“If you gentlemen would like to smoke, you need to go outside. There is no smoking in here.”

“What? You think you’re better than me because you don’t smoke?”

“Huh? I never said that, sir. I asked for you to go outside. Not all of our customers can deal with it.”

They did not move a muscle. The sound of their mucous laughter made everyone’s stomach turn. They laughed at the young girl and called her many slurs. Little Ben’s sister didn’t flinch, nor did she cry; she remained still, staring at the men. I had just enough of their obnoxious behavior.

“If you do not leave, I will call the police.”

“The hell you won’t.”

Put your lips next to mine, dear

Won't you kiss me once, baby?

He drew a gun from his left side. He aimed it at Little Ben’s sister and demanded that she emptied the drawer. She refused. Her stone, iron will reminded me of Illumi; no matter the circumstance, they remained intact, determined to fight until the end. Bravery is always encouraged, but too much will cause your life to be taken away. Little Ben’s sister grabbed a fake till that they kept under the real one and threw it at both men. Fake money fluttered everywhere in the small diner, mimicking confetti. Gunshots rang in all directions as the imbeciles recklessly shot, aiming for Little Ben’s sister. Everyone threw themselves on the ground to avoid being shot, but luck cannot spread itself throughout an entire room of people. A young child, an older man, and another worker were shot in their lower leg. Blood reflected from the ground as it continued to seep. Ignoring injured civilians is a jackass move and continuing to deny the fact would prove that the oath I pledge to meant nothing. Sure, bounty hunters must remain hidden, but if someone is injured, I must help them.

The child was lying lifeless on the polished marble floor. He would not respond to my shaking or my silent whispers. When I rolled him over, my heart broke into a million pieces. This child had no chance of survival; a few bullets struck his chest, one just inches away from his heart. A tear rolled down my cheek.

“Why must the good die young,” I whispered to myself.

“... Because snitches get stitches.”

Before I could gain sight of who stated this utterly corny response, I felt an overwhelming amount of pain in my lower back. It felt like a million tiny needles were jabbed so far through my skin that they entered my intestine. I could still hear, but my body would not move. I tried and tried, but my brain would not signal my legs.

Move! Move, damn it!

It’s odd; I could hear myself talk, but my body would not move at all. The sound of another thudding body made my mind jump. My heart had already been pounding enough to try to resuscitate my organs to move, but a familiar semi-blurring sight of none other than Mr. Illumi Zoldyck cleared my sight. My brain went wild. I didn’t know if Illumi died or if he became paralyzed, but one thing is for sure. We finally made eye contact that felt special; something I hadn’t felt since the day I met him. Our contact felt like magnets; an unbreakable bond. Suddenly, my icy hand felt warmth around my palm and fingers. Illumi simultaneously fell in a way that connected our hands. Our unbreakable bond, the warmth of his fingers laying on top of mine, and the gaze we shared somehow made me feel like it was just the two of us alone. I could hear his thoughts loud and clear; thoughts that came from the heart.

“Please help me. Before it’s too late, LuLu,” I cried, thinking I was going insane. “I don’t want to leave if it means leaving you behind.”

“I’m not going anywhere. Not without you.”

“Please! I want to live a life. Life as a bounty hunter, build a support system to our children, and a good lover is all I want to be.”

“You are a warrior and so am I. We have been through worse. This is nothing.”

Mere eye contact is all we need to exchange wandering conversations. The bond that we’ve created is something so strong that I haven’t realized it until now. The warmth emitted from his loose grasp seems to lose its effectiveness. It blurred my vision beyond recognition, leaving Illumi as a near figment of my imagination.

“Oh no. I guess this is it.”

My vision darkened. Illumi was slipping away as my lingering thoughts almost made my heart give out from exhaustion. I was ready to accept my fate, but it seemed like fate had other plans. My vision was still darkening by the second, but my sense of touch remained there. Smooth fingers outline my arms, torso, and chest. I heard muffled voices yelling and screaming about calling for assistance, but I didn’t care if they came or not. I made peace with my life’s end. Bit by bit, my breathing slowed down, but my sense of touch remained heightened. I felt a rubber glove touch my face and neck, examining it for any damage.

The jukebox continued to play Illumi’s favorite song, Put Your Head on my Shoulder. I remembered the day I laid my head on his shoulder; boy, what an endearing moment that was. It was something I took for granted, something I should have savored, for I never knew that this moment would have happened. The song grew muffled by the second verse. That verse repeated every time I tried to force myself to take what felt like my last gaze at my raven-haired beauty.

Just a kiss goodnight, maybe

You and I will fall in love (you and I will fall in love)

-FIN.

A/N: Since you’ve made it to the end, I’ll say something. The reader did not die in the end. They were later revived at the hospital.

[castleshadows]

A Deeper Form of Hunger

The scene where Casteel goes crazy from blood deprivation from his perspective.

18+ Content: Smut, Non-Consensual

Written March 23, 2021

“Here take him, just spare me!” Shea shoved my weak body towards the Ascended, and in that moment I knew that she wasn’t here to rescue me. It may have started out that way, but first they took Malik because of her, and now I was going to be taken back to that cage, where I would be cut and raped and mocked until the end of my days.

I knew that this woman behind me no longer loved me, maybe never loved me at all. I could feel my heart breaking, which was absolutely ridiculous, because a heart could be squashed, a heart could be torn out, a heart could even be ripped into pieces. But, a heart couldn’t break, not like a bone could. However, looking at Shea behind me, feeling my limbs starting to give out, seeing the Ascended reach for me with bloodthirsty eyes as the woman I loved prepared to run, something in me snapped, and I was pretty damn sure it was my heart.

I heard screams, wild, roaring screams that may have been coming from me. Something feral in me came to life, something that had been present for five decades, but never consumed me in this way. Everything darkened as I leaped for my fiance's throat —

There was movement, jerking me from the dream, and into a brighter, more colorful world. One I did not know. The movement happened again, more sure this time, and I rolled on instinct, pinning the wriggling creature beneath me. I gave a growl of warning. The woman under me yelled something, her eyes wide with surprise. Some deep part of me recognized the word. Some part of me tried to struggle to the front at that sound. I knew this woman. I didn’t care.

My hand moved to her neck, pressing down and causing her to let out a woosh of air. She swung her arm at me, trying to break my hold, but I easily pinned it down by the wrist, holding her down even as she strained against my grip.

I could smell her. I could feel the blood pumping through her veins. I wanted that blood. I wanted to sink my teeth into her neck. I wanted to drink her blood until it filled my veins. I was hungry. No, I was starving. And here was my meal.

The woman said something again, the same word. Less hostile this time, and again that deep part of me tried to push to the front. I shoved it down once again, snarling.

She stilled, and I felt her heartbeat slow beneath my fingers. I still wanted her. I could still smell the blood in her veins, waiting there for me to take, but the feeling was less consuming.

There were more words that I didn’t care to listen to.

I trailed my gaze down her body, and a different scent hit my nose, something I hadn’t noticed before. It was strong, and sweet, and utterly enchanting. It smelled like… honeydew. I inhaled it, letting the scent fill my mind and body until I felt something twitch to life in my pants.

I shifted my hand, removing it from the woman’s neck, and towards the source of that intoxicating smell.

She moved as well, reaching her hand behind her to grab something. I paid no attention, too distracted by the way her robe was parted revealing her beautiful leg, and the crease that pointed right to where I wanted my mouth.

The honeydew smell was growing stronger by the second, and I lowered my head, my chin brushing her stomach. I needed this, I needed her. I needed to taste her until she screamed. I needed to devour her until there was nothing else but honeydew, and this curvy, beautiful, woman, with red hair like fire, and a scent that consumed me.

I lowered my head further, prepared to do just that.

Something cold and sharp pressed against my neck. I ignored it. It pressed in harder.

I couldn’t stop now. I wouldn’t. I needed this. She needed this. The scent was too strong, and something primal in me kept me moving. I moved the robe out of the way to look between the woman’s legs. I growled in appreciation, the scent growing stronger the close I got. My breath ghosted over her thighs, and she seemed to clench, her breathing growing heavier.

She started to say something again. That word I knew was in there, but it was easier to ignore with my face so close to her.

“Or we will find out what happens to an Atlantian when their throat gets cut.”

The sharp thing pressed in closer, and it took everything in me to drag my gaze away from between her thighs.

I stared at her, her eyes wide and a beautiful shade of green that was almost as captivating as her scent.

She said something else, that I wasn’t able to pay attention to. The moment of clear-headedness was gone.

My all-consuming hunger had taken hold of me again. It was a different kind of hunger this time however. Less for her blood, and more for her.

This woman was everything I wanted. Even in my fuzzy state of mind, I knew she wanted this as much as I did. I could still smell her, and each moment that my mouth wasn’t between her legs, devouring her flesh, each moment I couldn’t bury my face in her neck, biting and sucking until her blood flowed into my mouth was torment. Pure torment.

The hunger wasn’t just in my stomach, it was flowing through my body. I felt it in every nerve and bone, every piece of me, wanted her. In more ways than one.

The woman was still looking at me, her gaze wide and searching, as if looking for something that didn’t exist.

I didn’t feel anything except the pain and hunger. I didn’t know anything other than this woman and her scent. I needed her. Badly.

She tugged on her arm, the one that I still had pinned beneath my hand, and I let go, my thoughts more on what was emitting from between her thighs than whether or not she was pinned down.

My head moved almost of its own accord. My chin grazed the crease of her thigh, the scars that I didn’t bother to pay attention to.

There was that blood scent again, though it didn’t overpower the honeydew I was so focused on. I knew a major artery waited just beside my jaw. Just a small tip of the head, and I could have satisfied my hunger right there and then. But, I didn’t. I didn’t sink my fangs into her leg, no matter how much I wanted to. There was something else that demanded my attention right now. Something else that so utterly… utterly intrigued me.

The honeydew scent was going stronger, refilling my senses, after the momentary distraction. The sharpness at my neck trembled, and I growled again, a primal sound that I hadn’t even realized had come from me until seconds later.

I dipped my head, instinct taking over.

The sharpness left my neck, freeing me to lift the woman’s hips, and spread her thighs.

Moments later my mouth was on her, and I forgot all about my hunger.

My tongue sliced between her legs, and I found that this woman tasted just as good as she smelled. Even better. I slid my lips across her folds, devouring her, savoring the sweet taste of her on my tongue.

Each stroke, stoked the fire inside of me even more, and I found myself pressing in harder, spreading her legs further apart to allow for better access. The taste of honeydew invaded my senses, and I knew nothing except for this woman. This woman that I could feast on for the rest of eternity, and never grow tired of her taste and smell and the moans I could hear coming from her mouth.

She tried to move, to thrust her hips against my tongue, but I held her in place, pressing down on her legs to keep her from interrupting my ministrations. Her legs shook, and I felt her hands beside my head, gripping the sheets like a life-line. Some part of me felt almost smug. I could make her feel like this. I could give her pleasure, and make her scream, and only me. This perfect woman.

Her wetness coated my lips and mouth, and I knew that her flavor would be stuck on my tongue for many hours. I didn’t know how I had ever survived without this, how I had gone even a few moments since waking up without devouring this beautiful creature.

I could feel her hips stuttering, and I knew she felt pleasure from this. I knew that she was moments from coming apart, and sure enough, several seconds later, a loud scream when up, filling the room. I continued to lap at her, lightly grazing my teeth across the little bundle of nerves to prolong her pleasure. I never wanted this to stop. I never wanted this feast to end, but I lifted my head, catching sight of this glorious creature. Her hair, even messier, her face pink, her mouth open and chest heaving.

She blinked open her eyes, locking them with mine.

My hunger was sated. At least one part of it.

I parted my lips, moving forward, reading to sink my teeth into her pretty little neck—

There was someone else in the room.

A door had been opened to my right and a gust of wind was flowing through the room, cooling my heated skin. Footsteps, and then an abrupt stop.

I was going to kill them.

They spoke, and I shook with anger.

Swinging my head around I snarled, the noise promising death. Whoever had barged in, had just offered themselves up as dinner.

It was a man. Tawny-skinned with dark hair, that was long and coiled on the top, and trimmed close on the sides. His ice-blue eyes tugged at my memory, but I was too far-gone in my rage at being interrupted to pay much attention to it. The walls were about to run red with blood, whether I knew this man or not.

The woman was still lying beneath me, and I knew that this man would try to take her from me. That would not happen.

“Shit,” the man said, stepping forward, “Cas, my brother, I warned you this would happen.”

That world sounded familiar. Cas. The first part of what the woman said to me.

The woman repeated it

I ignored her, snarling at the man, and baring my fangs. Dead. That was what he was.

There was an exchange between the two. The man and the woman, talking as if they knew each other. I didn’t like it. She was mine.

But, something he said made me pause for a split second.

“...Poppy…”

I recognized that.

“Casteel.”

That… I recognized that too. I didn’t want to recognize either of them.

The woman reached out and placed a hand on my arm. I didn’t think much of it, not until the feelings started.

One moment there was only the hunger and rage, the next an onslaught of love. With each wave, the monster receded just a little bit. Every second I became more me.

Casteel. My name.

Poppy. The woman I was hopelessly in love with.

The man across from me was Kieran. Worried for me. Worried for his best friend.

The monster still held on a little. Still had it’s claws dug into my shoulders.

The woman, what was her name?

“It’s okay Hawke.”

Hawke.

My mother called me that.

The woman used to call me that.

I missed it.

I wished she would call me that more.

My entire body jerked, and it was like I had been set free.

Poppy removed her hand from my arm, sitting back. I looked down to see that the robe was still parted, and I saw the place where her legs met, still completely exposed.

I looked up, embarrassed, scared at what I would see in her face. Scared of what she now thought of me. How could I do that? How could I have let it get like that? This was all my fault. She would never trust me again, and for good reasons.

Poppy’s eyes were wide, her gaze filled with surprise and… and fear. I looked down, unable to stand it any longer.

She was still exposed, in front of both me and Kieran. She was probably uncomfortable. Ok, after what had just happened, she was definitely uncomfortable.

I tugged the two halves of her robe together, covering her upper legs and between them. The taste of honeydew was still on my tongue, still covered my lips.

“Honeydew,” I whispered, unable to stop myself. “I’m sorry.”

I was sorry. Gods I was so sorry.

I walked past Kieran, not strong enough to look at the expression on his face, and did the only thing I knew how to. I ran. As soon as I exited the terrace doors, I broke into a run, past servants, past those I had traveled to Solis with, sparing none of them a passing glance.

I turned a corner, my mind set on finding the nearest bucket of water to clean myself up. Poppy would probably be embarrassed if she knew I was running around with her release all over my mouth. Thankfully, one of the servants was walking up a flight of stairs to my left, carefully carrying a bucket of water and a sponge.

I nodded politely towards her, asking if I could use the water. She bowed leaving me with the bucket and sponge to clean myself up.

I stepped into the nearest empty room, striding towards the bathing chamber with the water. Making quick work of my face, I shaved as well, using the complementary razor left in a shelf by the sink.

I avoided looking in the mirror, knowing that what I would see, was not something I currently wanted to be seeing.

It didn’t take long for me to find my clothes and boots from last night, which had been washed and set out to dry the evening before. The boots had apparently been washed on the inside as well and still slightly damp. I cringed as I pulled them on, ignoring the way they squelched.

I knew breakfast was just starting, and I should probably go eat some real food, but I couldn’t make myself face either Poppy or Kieran, who would probably be there by now.

There was another kind of hunger, one that consumed me like it had this morning. I hadn’t taken any blood in a long time. Not since we were in Masadonia, and Naill had offered me his wrist. I was starving for it, and I knew that if I went to any Atlantian here, they would be more than happy to give me their blood, but the thought disgusted me.

I couldn’t possibly take blood from someone else, when my mind was so utterly focused on Poppy. It was too intimate a gesture to even consider doing it with someone else. But I knew damn well I couldn’t take Poppy’s blood either. I was too close to the edge, and I could hurt her. No, I wouldn’t ask her to do that. I wouldn’t add her blood to the ever growing list of things I’d taken from her.

Instead I headed towards where I knew Alistir waited. I would talk with him, find out how many would be traveling with us to Saion’s Cove, and in how many days we would leave. I would distract my mind from Poppy, and ignore my hunger. Because that was the only thing I could do, if I was going to keep from breaking apart.

My dream from earlier came back to me. I had never told Poppy about Shea, though she knew that I had been in love before. I didn’t want to talk about her, ever. I shoved those thoughts to the back of my mind, and stood up, preparing myself for yet another day.

[pennyserenade]

TINY DANCER 

tags: javier peña x female oc, javier peña, rockstar!au, fluff  rating: t ( teen ) (for now) warnings: language, alcohol  word count: 1.6k+ summary: a band of young men from laredo, texas are on the verge of rock’n’roll stardom and anita rodríguez is the woman who follows them into it. a story of rock’n’roll and all the fluff that follows notes: this is very self indulgent and heavily inspired by the movie almost famous, as well as whatever fleetwood mac had going on, and the book daisy jones & the six. as you can tell, this is a genre of fiction i favor heavily, and i’m more than happy to make this everyone’s problem. thank you for baring with me

Summer time has never tasted so sweet on the tongues of these impassioned young men from Laredo, Texas, she bets. Perspiration covers their foreheads as they stand under the much too bright colored lights, and the crowd before them cheers them on with an eagerness that belongs only to those who really loved music. And they respond like men who really love music—all smiles and grins and heavy panting from giving their young bodies away to it. One might even say their souls.

Even from behind the curtain, she can feel the wave of electricity that rolls off of them. It is a beautiful thing to hear after suffering under the heavy blanket of Texas heat for her own performance.

They had liked her alright, responded about as warmly as they could for an opening act they hadn’t really known, but they turn these young men into Gods. She feels it tight in her stomach, that everlasting and endless excitement reserved for falling in love, not with people, but with moments. Even if it’s all for not, this little musical and spiritual journey she has partaken on, she will at least have been there for the moment these men had exhaled themselves into true and complete stardom.

Not bad for a band called El Fuego, she thinks.

“My God they’re something, aren’t they, Anita?”

Her sister holds aside the curtain to make room for herself. “The one in the really tight jeans was talking to me during your performance. He’s beautiful, I swear it. Just godly.”

Anita smiles. “You can’t fall in love with rockstars, baby sister, it’s unethical and impractical. Have your years with me taught you nothing?”

“Yeah, but those rockstars were a dime of dozen and tight jeans looks like sex out there,” she whines. Anita scans over the men, trying to decipher whom she might mean. That’s when she catches Tight Jeans’ eyes. She gives him a grin and without missing a beat, he gives her a charming wink. A wink reserved for a man on top of the world.

“What’s his name?” Anita asks.

“Javier Peña,” she responds. “He’s just gorgeous isn’t he? They all are.”

All Anita can do is grin as she continues to watch the rest of their performance.

****

This isn’t her first rodeo. This isn’t even her second or third or fourth. In fact, she’s lost track of the times she’s been led back to hotel rooms with a slew of people she doesn’t know, swept dangerously up in the shared euphoria that is the after show comedown.

In her hand she holds her second drink of the night. It’s a concoction she’d mixed for herself, made up of too much juice and too much alcohol, but she deserves it, she reckons. She’s opened for a damn good band and she’s a pretty damn good singer most of the time, and that Javier guy has been looking at her all night, despite the group of women that surround him. He has a good way of being present with them and present with her, too, genuine grins and attention for all to spare. Like the charming and humble lead guitarist he is, he strums idly at an acoustic guitar while he speaks with the women.

She’s been standing in the same place for too long, drinking the same second drink, listening to the beginning of songs he starts before he falters off into the next one. Even over the light hum of chatter and the radio nearby, she can focus on him. She watches his fingers as they strum—watches the way he doesn’t need to look down at them to keep them steady and trained. He’s a professional musician, through and through, even if he may just be some guy from Laredo to most individuals in the world. His manager had been so brave to wager that they were going to hit nationwide success by next week when one of their songs got radio air. She asked if she could keep opening for them, when they got big. All he did was grin. She likes to think it’s a yes.

“Hello.”

Coming back to earth, Anita finds Tight Pants in front of her. Not starling close, but enough to elicit something ghastly in her.

He smells of leather and good cigarettes, and her baby sister was right, he does look like sex. He’s all lean muscle, and though the perspiration has gone from his forehead, she bets if he were to lean in close and press his lips to hers, she might be tempted to taste the residue of it in what would become haste and passionate kissing.

“Hello,” she responds.

“I’m Javi, from Laredo.”

He extends his rather large hand for her to take, and she does. She wonders if this is the approach he uses with a lot of women. He’s good looking enough to be dangerous, but then again, she’s smart enough to understand where the line between fun and serious ends and begins with these men. She’s a rockstar too, privy to sex and drugs just like the lot of them, even if she is just a one man band.

She puts her hand in his and he gives her a firm shake. “Anita,” she says, then inspired by the liquid courage in her, she adds, “From somewhere warm, but hopefully headed some place better.”

He gives her a laugh and she finds that unfortunately, it’s the sort that makes one’s own lips tug upwards.

“You sounded good tonight. Did you write that song?”

“Yeah,” she nods. “You sounded good too. I mean, you probably know that already, but.” She smiles. “Who writes for you?”

“Graham.”

“Graham’s the...”

“Lead singer. Dirty blonde over there talking to your—“ He looks at her. “Sister?”

She nods. “Yeah. She said she had talked to you earlier.”

“Yeah. We talked about your someplace warm. California, is it?”

“Cali indeed.”

“I’ve never been.”

“Well, Javi, I’m sure you’re about to.”

His dimple appears for her. He looks at her like she wishes he wouldn’t, because it makes her badly want to stick to his side for the rest of the night. And on his lips.

Even more unfortunate for her, he rummages in his pockets and pulls out a packet of those good cigarettes that make up his aroma. He opens it and takes one out for himself, sticking it between his lips, before offering her one.

“You smoke?”

She takes one. “Sometimes,” she nods. “Are we allowed to, in here?”

Javi shrugs his shoulders as he lights his. “Dunno,” he responds. She leans forward so he can light hers too. “Suppose we should go sit on the balcony on the off chance that this is the one hotel in America that doesn’t allow it?”

****

“You know Me and Bobby McGee, Laredo?” she nods down to his guitar.

The air outside is just cool enough to be comfortable in, so, despite that their cigarettes have long been stamped out and the party inside awaits them, they stay on the patio, rooted to the furniture. He hasn’t made any moves on her, a fact which takes her by surprise, and so they’ve lulled into a comfortable ebb and flow of natural conversation.

He tweaks his fingers on the neck of the guitar before he begins to strum the strings of it . His hair, overgrown in a way that suits a man of his occupation, cascades over his forehead as his brow becomes pinched from focus. In an instant, from his fingers comes the tune of her desire. He looks up at her, grinning, once he gets into the flow of it.

“¿Hablas español?” he asks, over his guitar.

“Un poquito, but not much,” she tells him. “Why?”

“No reason,” he dismisses, “Can you sing Me and Bobby McGee?”

“Sí.”

He laughs. “Well, put on a show then.”

***

She sobers up halfway between the sun tucking itself into the sky and the sun peeking back out from the horizon, but she can’t remember when. They’d played a lot of songs and her throat feels hoarse, but she can’t recall any one song that had felt particularly clear. It all sort of blended together up until this moment.

Javi lays, back rested against the chair, looking tired. His guitar now rests beside him, quiet, and he stares out at the city below them.

There’s a soft hum of normal people doing normal things below them; the horn of an eager taxi driver, the breaks of a bus, the chatter of patrons going in and out of the hotel.

They sit in the comfort of this city’s morning routine while she smokes his last good cigarette. “I was never much for staying up all night,” she tells him, passing it over to him.

He takes it between his lips and nods. “I was never much for sleeping all night.”

“And why’s that?”

He shrugs, exhaling the smoke. “Don’t know. Sometimes the past haunts me, sometimes it’s just too fuckin’ hot, sometimes it’s the company.”

“Mm,” she hums. “I must admit, I didn't peg you as the get-to-know-me-in-the-early-morning type. Thought you’d be content just charming me with your guitar for the rest of eternity.”

“Well,” he passes the cigarette back to her, pushing his digits against her own in the process. “I’m not, really, but we’ve talked about our favorite songs all night and you’re our opener for the rest of this tour, so why not?”

She takes a drag off the cigarette. “I’m not the opener for the rest of the tour.”

“No?” he asks.

“No,” she shakes her head. “This was a favor, I think. A very kind one.”

He looks out in front of him, falling into silence. Thinking.  Then he says, “I think I’m in the position to call in some favors right now if you’d liked to be. The opener, I mean.”

She lets the smoke out from the side of her mouth, which has risen up into a wide grin. “Javier from Laredo, I think I could kiss you right now.”

He takes the cigarette back from her fingers, offering her his own grin. “I think I’d like that,” Javi says, tone soft. Genuine.

She swings her legs over the side of her lawn chair, and holds herself up just far enough to press a chaste kiss to his cheek. He turns though, not entirely on purpose, she thinks, and their noses brush against one another. She rises from her seat when he leans down and fills the space between them, resting against his own chair as his lips move against her own.

No tongue, though. He pulls back after a few seconds, brown eyes full of warmth. She’s surprised by the amount of control he has over himself. Surprised that he wants to use it, too.

“I better go check on my sister,” she breathes out, resting her hand over his chest.

“Okay,” he nods. “I’ll see you in the next city, Anita.”

“Yeah,” she smiles.

“Look for me?” he asks.

“Yeah,” she promises.

She likes this man and his tight jeans, she’s decided. Likes him a lot.

EVERYTHING : @astroboots , @frannyzooey , @wyn-n-tonic , @rosiefridayrogersunday , @melaniermblt , @theorganasolo​ , @amneris21​ , @honestly-shite , @over300books , @elegantduckturtle, @pbeatriz , @pretty-brown-eyess , @brcwneyes  ,  @chronic-nosebleed

JAVI :  @wyn-n-tonic , @rosiefridayrogersunday , @disgruntledspacedad , @melaniermblt , @walt-breslin , @theorganasolo , @amneris21 , @hb8301 , @penajavier , @darnitdraco , @over300books , @dobbyjen , @paperbag33 , @rebel-fanfare , @p3dr0pasca1lov3r247

TINY DANCER : @itssmashedavo (just because i thought this might interest you)

[darkacademicfrom2021]

Away. So, so far away.

<<Previous part Masterlist Next part>>

Word count: 2K

Warnings: Odin's A+ parenting (/s). Angst. Jealousy.

4

"This is ridiculous'', said Loki, pacing around the tiniest of the cells. Odin simply stared from outside. "I'm not one to step on this dungeon yet again".

"You must've thought about it sooner, Loki", beamed his father's voice. So calm and composed yet so imponent. Loki would've given everything on him to get out of that cell and rip his eye off. Monster? He might be one, but Odin… Odin was the true villain.

"You just want me here to have another excuse at Thor being the only heir to the throne. Your desperate attempts are pathetic".

"You should pay your respects to me, son. I'm the one assuring your… companion, if you may call that, is safe".

If you may call that. Odin had always accepted Thor's stupid fling with that midgardian woman and not once he considered her any less important than Thor's other asgardian acquaintances. Yet with you, he didn't know if it was because of the inherent strength you emanated —unintimidated by literal Gods, always up to a new challenge and not minding getting hurt in the process, whatever it takes—maybe that's something that attracted Loki to you in the first place; or maybe it all was because it was him. The frost giant that falls in love with a mortal and damned be him that would ever want or need to be loved, his heart of ice. Right?

He didn't deserve it and everyone knew it, except you. When will you know? When will you realize? He wondered over and over and over.

"Does they know where I am?".

"Of course not".

"Then you must grant me this one wish… this one need for them to know I'm not just off somewhere and getting off with someone else, or whatever they might be thinking now". He asked. He almost pleaded—begged. Begs are of no use. Odin smiled devilishly and said nothing. "Where is they?".

"Something similar to the healer's room they've got down there…", recalled Odin, and Loki almost raised his voice, panic washing over him.

"A hospital?".

"Yes. A bullet wound".

"A mission. I knew, I knew I couldn't let them go by themselves to that damned mission. Not now. Who's with them?".

"Loki, there is no use in you caring this deeply. The soldier is taking care of them. Something you won't be doing for the next few centuries".

"Get. Me. Out", his clenched jaw started hurting even more.

"Feel free to get yourself out, since you're so insistent on being independent".

"I'm a full grown adult God, I don't need to insist on being something I so clearly am".

"You're not a God".

And just like that, Odin left the dungeons. Loki's mind could only have one thing circling over and over, eating his brains alive. You. You. You. Hospital. Bullet. Soldier.

It wasn't wise of him to get worked up in jealousy while there were more important matters on stage, but he would never ignore Sergeant Barnes' looks over your body and —damned be him and your gorgeous eyes— the looks you'd give him back. You cared for a friend and Sergeant Barnes was very clearly looking for something more south.

And you now probably thought of him as a greedy monster—oh how he was. If he hadn't been so worked up over this idiotic idea of thinking he could ever be able to actually sit on a throne (a throne, any throne, anything at all), he wouldn't have gotten himself locked up and could've jumped in front of that bullet for you, or teleported you away, or ripped that gun's carrier to shreads before they could even touch you a hair.

"Hey, you", he called one of the guards. This one, he remembered. He feared him. Loki smirked.

"Your Highness".

Loki knew guards were idiots. But could this one be even useful?

"How much would you like to do a little favor to your prince?", and the guard swallowed.

"I'm not allowed to…".

"How long exactly have you been working for the dungeons?".

"I… uh… a couple of decades".

"Do me this one favor and I'll get you a better job once I'm out of this cell".

"I can't take you out, Your Highness", he looked apologetic. Norns, guards were so stupid. And this one was so submissive.

"I'm aware", he smiled with patience. "This is just so I can assure some visualization towards my little darling there on Midgard. Bring me something from my Mother's room".

"Sir, I…", he was about to decline, but Loki cut him sharply.

"It's Your Highness. Bring me a sphere. Do as I say".

Without further discussion, the guard left with a vow and came back very shortly later with that same magic sphere he had asked. His Mother wasn’t a witch, but she was raised by many. It was obvious she’d have one of those. He groped it around, passed his fingers all over it, trying to figure out exactly how he’d get the sphere to work. Finally, resigned, he sat on the foot of the bed and laid the sphere in there too, frustrated he couldn’t even get a spark out of it.

“I just wish you worked”, he sighed, looking at it.

The sphere glowed. He opened his eyes in surprise and realized it was through commands. He shifted his voice to resemble his mother’s.

“Give me a visualization on Loki's beloved”.

The sphere glowed even more, shone all around it and a halo of white lights that blinded him almost entirely made him frown in disgust. Soon, the sphere started making sounds.

“Oh, please! Just this one, I’m really begging. If I could stand up, I’d get on my knees and all”, it was your voice. He blinked fast and soon he could see you there, inside the center of the sphere, in a hospital gown and laying among cables and white sheets. He smiled at your sight and quickly frowned. You were trying to catch your laptop from someone’s hand.

Metallic hand.

Loki growled.

“No way. I’m supposed to make sure you don’t kill yourself over one simple mission. Come on, you can do this”, said the soldier, trying to get you to calm down. You were visibly upset.

“I can do what? What am I supposed to do other than the damn mission I came to do?”.

“I don’t know, doll. You’re not…”.

“Call me doll again and I’ll make actual dolls with your skin, Barnes”, you growled, and Loki chuckled. There was the sweetheart he missed so much. “That was rude. Sorry. I’m serious, give me the laptop, I won’t move a hair. I’m not even that badly injured”.

“Take this as a vacation, would you? Didn’t you wanna do something here? Climb that mountain?”.

“Oh, so let me get this straight. I can’t use my laptop, here, on my bed, because I’m supposed to bedrest and work isn’t resting. I can, nonetheless, climb a mountain”.

“Yeah. You coming or not?”.

“Sure”, you sighed, repressing a smirk. “But let’s bring the camera and take a picture at the top of it, so I can annoy Stark about it”.

“Deal”.

I've got a feeling called the blues, oh Lord, since my baby said goodbye. 

Lord I don't know what I'll do, all I do is sit and sigh.

"What's that?", asked Bucky as you sang under your breath. The music kept going in your earpiece, but he couldn't hear much. "Sounds familiar".

"Oh, it's Hank Williams. You surely must have heard it".

"Yes, when I was a teen. Damn, is his music still around?".

The mountain was relatively easy. Bucky knew that and that made him agree to climb it with you in the first place. But you loved it. You stopped every once in a while to look around and marvel at it.

That last long day he said goodbye,

Oh Lord, I thought I would die.

Bucky stared. Bucky stared while you stopped to drink water and when you did that thing with your hair, and Bucky stared so much you began ignoring it and singing. He didn't seem to mind.

"What do you think about this?".

"About what?".

"The whole thing. The mission. The year. Loki".

Bucky sighed everytime you mentioned him.

"Look, you made very clear it doesn't matter what I think about Loki to you".

"It does, but it doesn't mean I'll actually follow whatever you say. So, do you think something about it?".

"Of course, doll. I think something about everything. And especially about this whole thing, because Loki is clearly… you care for him and you're hurt".

"Well, yes. Oh", you said, stopping to grab a rock. "look. It's shiny". Bucky chuckled. "Sorry. You were saying".

"Well, I think it's good you're getting your head off him for a while now".

"What? I'm not".

"I thought that was the purpose of coming mission after mission. I don't think he… well, the way Thor puts it makes me think he… you know".

You stopped in place and frowned.

"You're not implying he's not coming back".

"That's sort of what Thor told me".

"What did he exactly say?".

"He said…", he sighed and looked around. "Look, I don't want to cause trouble. I think you should talk directly to him".

"He doesn't talk to me".

He'll do you, he'll do me, he's got that kind of loving,

But I love to hear him when he calls me sweet baby, what a beautiful dream.

"I think he's off with someone else. Thor said, quoting exactly, trouble is in his nature, and he's tried to make sure he could have a throne. He couldn't with them because of the whole not wanting kids matter", Bucky explained, imitating Thor's accent. You would've laughed. You would've, if it weren't for the knot in your throat. "I think he's done with you, doll".

James pulled his sincere face. He wasn't saying it because he had an interest in you, as Tony kept saying, but because he cared for you. He hated to see you under so much pain for something he couldn't quite finish understanding —why would you care so much for someone who leaves with no warning and makes no effort to communicate?

"He's not. He's not done with me. He wouldn't do that".

I hate to think it all over, I've lost my heart it seems.

I've grown so used to you somehow,

Well, I'm nobody's sugar baby now.

And I'm a lonesome, I've got the lovesick blues.

You kept walking, this time faster. Bucky grabbed your arm a couple of times to let you know you should slow down and take it easy.

He wouldn't do that, right? He wouldn't just leave. You've been through enough together to know he wasn't one to do that. Yes, you fought. Yes, he left. But he always came back. And when he came back, he was sorry and he cooed your cries and kissed you and hugged you all night, until love outweighed whatever reason got you like that.

He always came back.

Cause I'm in love, I'm in love with a wonderful guy,

That's what's the matter with me.

Cause I'm in love, I'm in love with a wonderful guy, but he don't care about me.

He cares, you thought. And with that though, you kept climbing. You went up, to the top, and stared at the immensity, at the whole place. The whole city.

You really wanted to think about something else. But that bad feeling you had… if he wasn't leaving you for someone else, then he was in trouble.

You could only hope he was actually with someone else. Not dead. Not hurt.

Please, don't be in pain.

And I tried and I tried to keep him satisfied, but he just wouldn't stay.

And now that he is leaving, this is all I've got to say.

(Taglist: @lucywrites02 , @louieboo87 , @the-departed-potato , @jesuswasnotawhiteman , @idontknow296 , @beksib , @spythoschei , @geekwritersworld , @whatafuckingdumbass , @mysticunicorn7 @shadowolf993 , @joscelyn02 , @t00-pi , @selfship-mishaps , @sallymagnoliaposts , @deadgirl88 , @enderslove, @theonewiththenerds)

[sleepysnk]

hello guys! this wasn't a request, but it is a small gift for @kwnblack ! i decided to make a third and final part for the two previous Zeke scenarios i wrote! i hope you enjoy :).

Zeke x Fem!Reader: I Promise

Warnings: slight manga spoilers and slight angst

Part 1 Part 2

It had been about a month or so since Zeke had his last encounter with (Y/N). After that night, he left the island, and (Y/N) had no idea. She woke up the next morning, and notice he was gone. It confused her that day. Where the hell did he go?

She spent that whole day after searching for him. She went around Marley, but she never found him.

As the weeks went on, (Y/N) began to not feel like herself. She felt sick all the time, and she was very tired. She always blamed it on stress, but a few of her friends were concerned with her behavior. They didn't like the way she was acting. (Y/N) never looked good either.

After some arguments with friends, she decided to just finally go see the doctor. She explained to the doctor about her symptoms, he was concerned with how sick she was, and how she was fatigued most of the time.

"I'm going to run a few tests (Y/N), we should figure out what's going on" he said.

(Y/N) had multiple tests run on her, and what the doctor told her was shocking.

"Congratulations! Your expecting a baby"

Those words made her whole world stop.

She was pregnant? She never imagined in her entire life she would get pregnant, even with how young she was. (Y/N) knew who the dad was, it was Zeke for sure. She was the only man she was intimate with, but where was he?

The doctor explained her options. He explained that if she wanted to terminate it he could, but she insisted that she wanted to keep the baby. (Y/N) didn't want to let the opportunity slide, so she decided to keep it.

Her friends were extremely supportive of her and the baby. Thing was, they weren't exactly happy with who the dad was. They all shamed Zeke for leaving, in a way, her friends made it seem like Zeke only wanted to have sex with her. Nothing more than a one-night stand.

This made (Y/N) extremely emotional.

Many questions ran through her head during that month. Did Zeke only want her for one thing and one thing only? Did he lie about how he felt about her? So many questions with little answers.

Zeke on the other hand, had no idea she was pregnant. The time that they met fell at an unfortunate time, he had to head back to Paradis to obtain Eren. (Y/N) had no idea about these plans, and it sort of slipped Zeke's mind. His intention was to never leave her like that, he didn't have a choice.

She had some support from her best friend Mia (random name). Mia helped a lot with anything that she needed, and (Y/N) was extremely grateful for her. Without Mia, (Y/N) probably would have been so lonely.

"Imagine if it's a girl (Y/N)! A little you running around" Mia said.

Mia had been more excited than (Y/N) was for this baby. She dreamt about her best friend having a baby, and becoming an aunt or a God-parent.

As much as (Y/N) was excited, she couldn't help but feel those dark thoughts sometimes. She always thinks about Zeke, and she feels so much sadness run through her whenever she does.

"Are you thinking about him again?" Mia asked and looked at her.

(Y/N) nodded. "No! I'm fine, I just feel really moody right now. This pregnancy has made my hormones go all over the place" she replied and tried to seem convincing.

Mia had to deal with so much when it came to her best friend being pregnant. The mood swings, cravings, constantly peeing, and constant sleep. (Y/N) was thankful though, without Mia, she would have been stressed out to the max.

"I'll rip his damn head off (Y/N). You know I'm capable of that" she said and looked at her friend.

(Y/N) chuckled. "You won't need to do that. I think I want to nap being honest, so you can go if you'd like" she said and smiled.

Mia stood up. "Alright, well you know where I'm at if you need me" she said and made her way towards the door.

She watched as Mia exited. (Y/N) felt a sad wave hit her all at once, the emotions she felt were the usual. She felt tears fall down her cheeks as she thought about Zeke again. Was she really just a one-night stand to him? A woman who he got in bed just for one night?

(Y/N) went to her bed and began to sob. Her emotions running wild, and coming out once again. She's had countless days where she'd cry about it, who could blame her? The woman was pregnant and all she had was her friends.

All she had was the memory of him.

As the weeks went on, she began to feel a bit better. She actually put on a genuine smile, and she wasn't faking it. Her friends told her to not stress, it wasn't good for the baby. She had to take that in. (Y/N) was feeling better about herself, she went out with Mia and looked at different baby items that would be needed.

She had gotten a few items. (Y/N) was quite prepared for her baby, and she was very careful. Even being only about 2 or 3 months along.

But she was in for quite the situation.

(Y/N) stood looking outside her window. It was a warm and sunny day, she missed the summer breeze. It always reminded her of how beautiful the world was. She noticed some people beginning to run in the same direction.

"They're back!"

"Do you think they got him?"

(Y/N) was confused as to who was being talked about. She began to follow the people, and she noticed a pretty large crowd formed.

She noticed Mia was there. "What's going on?" (Y/N) asked.

She looked back at her. "I'm not sure... I'm just as curious as you are" Mia replied.

That's when she felt time stop.

Zeke was standing there with Reiner badly wounded. What the hell happened? As much as she wanted to run up to him, she knew she couldn't. Reiner and Zeke looked horrible.

"Where is Eren!?"

"Yeah! You promised to bring back the founding titan!"

Zeke just stood there quiet. The mission was a failure. Bertholdt was dead, and Paradis now had his power.

His eyes scanned the area as he noticed a familiar (h/c) haired girl standing there. (Y/N). Zeke noticed how upset she looked, he wasn't sure why, but he wanted to know.

"Let's go (Y/N)" Mia said and grabbed her arm.

She lead her away from the crowd. "Mia, what the hell happened? Who is Eren? What do they want with him?" she asked.

Mia sighed. "Couldn't tell you, all I heard was that they went with each other" she replied. "I guess we know where Zeke went after all this time..." she added.

(Y/N) looked down and stood by her friend. She didn't want to face him right now, it would be too much for her.

Zeke had been taken to the infirmary along with Reiner. Both were injured and needed to be checked on.

"Your injuries are minor, but it'll take you awhile to heal.." the nurse said and looked at Zeke.

He nodded. "May I request a visitor?" he asked.

The nurse furrowed her brows. "Are you sure about that? I can get someone to do that" she asked.

Zeke ran a hand through his hair. "Yes I'm sure, please get me (Y/N) (L/N) please" he replied.

She nodded. "Very well, I'll be right back" she said and exited the room.

Zeke waited as his heart began to race, he wanted to explain everything to her about the mission. She never knew about it, he didn't want her to worry that day, so he kept what he was doing out of it.

"Zeke?" The nurse said and entered the room.

He looked up and noticed she wasn't with the nurse. "Where is she?" he asked.

She sighed. "I'm not sure why but (Y/N) refused to see you. I can't force her, I'm sorry" she replied.

What the hell was up with her? She was avoiding him now? He knew leaving her so fast was kind of not a good idea. Zeke needed to talk to her as soon as possible.

Three days had gone by, and he hadn't seen (Y/N) around Marley. She had been a ghost. He wasn't sure where she could be, but he wanted to know.

(Y/N) did her best to avoid him. She did her shopping at odd hours, or she would make Mia do things for her. Mia completely understood, but she didn't want her to run away forever.

Mia sat in a bar by herself. She wanted (Y/N) to come for some company, but she was having morning sickness, so that was a huge no.

She noticed Pieck enter the bar. She had her crutch with her, since she spent so much time in her titan form, she forgot how to actually walk like a human.

"You look like you've seen better days" Pieck said and sat next to her.

Mia looked over. "Same to you" she replied and took a sip of her drink.

Pieck never knew Mia well. "Well.. when your mission becomes a total failure, you feel like shit so" she said and shrugged.

Mia laughed a little. "Hm... it can't be as bad as your best friend being a pregnant hormonal mess" she said.

The dark haired girl nodded. "Ah pregnancy huh? Why bring a child into this world" she said and leaned against the table.

"Not sure but it happened, (Y/N) deserves better though" Mia said and shrugged.

Pieck stopped. (Y/N)? She had heard Zeke talking about her during the mission, and pretty recently. Was that the girl he was trying to speak to? She heard his constant rant about this woman ignoring him.

"Excuse me.. I need to leave" Pieck said and began to make her way to find Zeke.

Mia found it odd how quickly the girl left. She shrugged and kept drinking. Pieck rushed as quickly as she could to find him.

"Zeke!" she yelled as she saw him talking with Reiner.

He furrowed his brows noticing her quick pace. "Something wrong Pieck?" he asked.

She looked at him. "Do you know (Y/N)?" she asked.

Zeke looked at Reiner and back at Pieck. "Yes... why?" he asked.

She nodded. "Did you know she was pregnant?" she asked.

His mind totally stopped when those words came out of Pieck. She was pregnant!? Maybe that's why she was avoiding him.

"I had no idea... excuse me, I need to go" Zeke said and began to make his way to her house.

(Y/N) sat in her home exhausted. Her morning sickness was horrible, so she spent most of the day in her bed and napping. She heard a knock at her front door. She assumed that it was Mia.

"Mia I-" she opened the door and saw Zeke standing there.

She stood there for a moment in shock. "(Y/N)... can we talk please?" he asked.

She sighed. "Come in.." she replied and moved so he could come in.

Zeke entered her home and watched as she shut the door. "Why didn't you tell me?" he asked.

She furrowed her brows. "About what? What is there to talk about!?" she asked.

He rolled his eyes. "That you're pregnant!? What else?!" he replied.

Silence flooded the room between the two. "So you do know.." she said and sat down on her couch.

"I don't understand why you never told me. I've been here for days" he said.

She felt anger rushing through her. "Tell you? Why would I? You left me that day. You left me after we had SEX Zeke! You know how that made me feel? You made me feel like I was a one-night stand. I never knew you were going to leave like that" she yelled.

Zeke looked at her. "I'm sorry (Y/N). I should have told you that I had to go, I didn't want to worry you. Everything was at the wrong time" he replied.

She crossed her arms and shook her head. "You worried me 10x more when you left me that day, again" she said.

He felt horrible in the moment. "I know... I wanted to tell you" he said.

(Y/N) ran a hand down to her belly which was slowly getting bigger. "So why are you here?" she asked.

He looked up confused. "What? That's a stupid question. I'm here because I know I got you pregnant, who the fuck do you think I am (Y/N)? Some guy who bangs a girl, gets them pregnant, and then leaves? I care about you that's why I'm here. I want to be here for OUR child. If I didn't give a shit, I wouldn't have bothered showing up here" he replied.

She fell silent as he spoke, she didn't know what to say. "I'm about 3 months.." she said and looked down.

Zeke nodded and stood up. "I'm sorry for leaving you that day. Please forgive me" he said and held her hand.

She bit her lip and looked around. "I can forgive you Zeke, but how do I know you're gonna leave again?" she asked.

"I'll be more honest with you. This mission came fast and there wasn't much I could do to stop it" he replied.

(Y/N) nodded. "I see..." she said and looked at him.

He ran his hand down to her belly. "May I?" he asked.

She shook her head. "Yes" she replied and lifted her shirt a bit.

Zeke looked at how big her belly had gotten, it wasn't huge, but it was noticeable that she was bigger. He lied his head on her belly, and pulled her hips closer to him. The sight alone made her heart flutter. She ran her fingers through his hair.

"I can't wait to meet them, I don't have much time left" he said and looked down.

She nodded. "What do you mean?" she asked and furrowed her brows.

Zeke felt a bit emotional in the moment. "Curse of Ymir remember? I don't have much time left (Y/N).. I want to make it worth it for you and them" he said and stood up.

She noticed the tears in his eyes. "Zeke.. don't worry. I'll make sure it's worth it for you and the baby" she said and smiled a bit.

He wiped his eyes a bit. "I'd love that (Y/N), I promise I won't leave you ever again" he replied and hugged her.

She put her head on his chest. "Promise?" she asked.

He smiled. "I promise" he replied.

[xxtraord1nary]

His Kiss of Life

Fandom: Open Heart

Pairing: Ethan Ramsey x f!mc (Charlotte West)

Word Count: 3.3k

A/N: My preferred genre is smut and I’m okay with that. THIS IS A REPOST!

Summary: A tedious work gala takes a sensual turn and becomes a hot night filled with passion and heated restroom affairs.

Warnings: Cursing, Spanking, Dirty Talk, Rough Sex.

Taglist: @katkart122 @missmiimiie @maurine07 @romewritingshop @custaroonie @lucas-rennells @omgfheishot @schnitzelbutterfingers @openheartfanfics

Charlotte and Ethan and the rest of their colleagues had to attend a mandatory work function and make “connections” for better funding for the hospital much to his dismay. He wasn’t particularly in the business of begging old stuffy socialites for money but Charlotte on the other hand was an absolute pro at it her charisma and beauty truly entranced the crowd that had formed around her as she retold a comical story of her youth involving her brothers and something about a spray paint can. Unfortunately on the other hand for Ethan he couldn’t focus on anything but the long slit going up her exposed toned mocha thighs and the open back of the form fitting midnight black dress she donned exquisitely. It was gorgeous on her and may have been seen as a little much from the scowls of some of the bitter women at the bar but it truly was elegantly sexy. The way it came down over her natural flared hips and flowed gracefully at her feet made her look as stunningly unreal. She was truly an ethereal and rare beauty and it was known by not just him but everyone in the large tastefully decorated ballroom.

Nursing his scotch by the bar he continued admiring the woman who haunted his dreams with her dark eyes and bright smile he watched on as the crowd dispersed and his lover secured more than enough pocket books to make up for everyone’s lackluster excuse for trying to do what she did. He could tell from his place a bit away leaning against the wet bar that now she was bored she always loved socializing till her “social battery” ran out as she called it and that was obviously the case right now. Ethan really tuned in at this point because she’d surely find a way to entertain herself and that had him on the edge of her seat; unpredictability was who she was after all.

As if she could feel his focused gaze burning into her more than generous backside she sensually turned and sent him an just as intense look with a slow smirk rising to her full crimson painted lips she made her way to the table where she’d left her belongings. As she picked up her phone and typed something presumably a message she couldn’t help but to hold eye contact between them not awkward at all but filled with unbridled lust. His phone dinged with a notification and he nearly jumped as it shaked him out of his stupor he almost didn’t break their gaze till another ding caused him to grab his phone annoyed at their “moment” being interrupted. That was until he saw the message was in fact from her.

Charlotte: Guess what I’m thinking right now. Okay, I’ll give you a hint. It involves my tongue and you naked.

Charlotte: I feel like something is missing from life. Namely you between my legs.

Ethan was a man of confidence and in his every move always oozed self assurance but now he was a blubbering mess of a man at a complete loss and his mouth had never been dryer. As shocked as he was, he had to admit this was such a Charlotte thing to do, and he meant it in the nicest way possible if that could be said but this woman was truly a freak. He couldn’t bring his fingers to type anything back, what the hell does one even say in response to this.

Charlotte gentle mohogany eyes held a tone of mischief and her misleading smirk was one of amuesement she always felt the best part of their relationship was tipping the scales and really keeping him on his toes. She almost felt bad at his flustered state but quickly shook it off it was too comical seeing such a composed man be left to no more than a heated mess of lust and wanting, teasing was truly her speciality. After all the chase was the best part. When she once more caught his eye she held a air of sensuality around her and decided that she needed to take things a step forward, she knew well he wouldn’t. With confident long strides she made her way to the bar “Red.” she told the bartender settling herself right in a seat next to a still stunned Ethan Ramsey. Sipping slowly from her glass he couldn’t help but be entranced by everything she did and followed every move of hers. Determined to take it a step further she caressed his hand left on the bar top with her long manicured to perfection ivory nails that contrasted beautifully with her smooth brown skin. The simple touch sent sweet shivers through his body and he longed for more once she withdrew and resumed her drinking.

“Rookie-” he started before she looped her nimble fingers through the belt loops of his slacks and pulled him with a purpose. “I know what you’re gonna say, and truthfully I don’t care.” she muttered into the crook of his neck where she left a chaste kiss and a small bite that made him wince which she soothed with her warm tounge. “God she was forward” he thought. And he’d be a damn bloody liar if he said he didn’t love it. Prior to meeting the temptress Ramsey was used to always being in charge in the bedroom no matter his partner, man or woman. He took control but Charlotte West was a wildcard and he’d soon learned he never truly knew what he was going to get and the spontaneity turned him on more than he could ever begin to describe.

“I’ll tell you how this is gonna go alright Doctor.” He groaned at the use of his title tumbling from her sweet full lips that he wanted so badly to have on him, every part of him. “You are not gonna give me that halfhearted lecture, you are going to keep me entertained. Okay?” She asked detaching her lips from his tender neck and staring him in his indigo blues. He could do no more than nod at a loss for words, or his brain simply couldn’t compute at the moment. “Meet me in the restroom in ten, your choice of course.” And with that she sashayed away with a small inconcealable smirk painted on her beautiful face as she knew he’d be there in five.

Left at a loss Ethan’s heart finally stopped its mission on trying to burst of his hard chest and his brain finally made sense of the situation and locating a clock on the wall he counted down the minutes. Back in the luxury restroom that could have been a swanky living room with a toilet and a sink. Not even three minutes late of her arrival she heard a two small raps of the hand against the large wood door. Swallowing her newfound nerves she carried herself to the door and opened it to reveal a stone faced Ramsey jaw muscles flexed in sexual frustration. “Look what we have here.” She pulled him inside by the lapels of his suit jacket and brought her silk like lips to whisper into his hear “I’m so glad you came, although I knew you would.” He couldn’t help the choked moan that struggled out of his throat as she ran her small hands up and down his toned abdomen and soon landed on his bulge that was almost bursting out of his black dress pants.

“Not more than me.” He rasped in a way that had her soaked and anxious to have him out of his pesky clothes. He finally got what he wanted most as he gripped her by the way back of her neck and wound his fingers in her mane of unruly coils nearly getting them stuck, but Charlotte couldn’t care less as he violently claimed her lips with his and sucked her bottom lip into his mouth with vigor. Her tounge made its way into his warm mouth causing him to moan aloud shamelessly as his hands made their way down to her backside and palmed with open hands all he could grab. In their heated passion she somehow had half the mind to push him backwards towards the fancy Italian leather couch settled against the wall.

His hands soon found their way under her dress palming her bare ass till he froze with realization, she wasn’t wearing anything under. He couldn’t believe it, almost as if she had planned this he chucked at her antics and she smiled knowingingly and a few giggles slip. “Dr. West you are surely one naughty girl.” He said whilst stroking her sensitive bud and spreading her wetness. This caused her moan aloud and in a sexy whisper,

“Punish me then.”

And that he did and by the seventh spank on her full backside she was a moaning mess wetter than before if possible she ground her hips into his generous hard on relentlessly poking her and much to her disdain he tossed her to the side of the couch but she soon perked up as she watched his impatiently snatch his belt his off and yank at his pants she happily took the place of his frantic hands and slowly worked his pants down along with his boxers. Sitting herself in a semi comfortable kneeling position she began to drag her nails down his thighs and ghosted her fulls lips right over the head of his throbbing member as she shamelessly admired her lover in all his naked glory. “What a view.” She thought to herself as she continued her perpetual teasing but Ethan didn’t mind he was drunk on a salacious high he never wanted to come down from.

“You know, I really like seeing you like this. All hot and bothered for me.” He moaned with satisfaction as she kneeled firmly gripped his pulsating member and stroked him slowly while placing chaste sweet kisses along the column of his neck he groaned when she sucked and bit as she went determined to mark what’s hers. As she should of course. Growing tired of the lack of not feeling more of her he shoved on the couch bringing a pleased grin to her face, she liked a rougher Ethan and he knew well as his cobalt blues to glint in mischief. He leered over her meager frame that in comparison to his was quite small. Winding his hand in her hair he pulled harshly and she soon found herself in his lap once again and it wasn’t long before her tight form fitting dress was stripped forcibly from her body “Take it off.” He rasped and she happily complied in the removal he once again claimed her lips roughly while tugging on her flaring hips. As much as she was enjoying the dominant and demanding Ethan she didn’t like the shift of control so quickly and looked for an upper hand.

But before she could even think of anything her thoughts were cut off with a strangled moan as he plunged himself deep inside her gripping onto her shoulders for leverage as he relentlessly pounded her into oblivion. She couldn’t even form words as he took her more than generous breast in his hands and kneeded one whilst suckling like a man starved on the other. Obscenities flew from Charlotte’s lips as she continued to be intoxicated by the ministrations of his blessed tongue and soon enough felt so hot she began to pleasure herself snaking a hand down to do so only to be stopped by a slap to the wrist. Her eye jerked open and sent him a fiery glare for not only stopping her but removing himself.

“You don’t get to do that, bad girls don’t get to pleasure themselves.” She was shocked to say the least but turned on all the same and couldn’t even begin to explain how good she felt at his words that almost made her moan all the while being scolded. “Well if I’m such a bad girl-” she cut herself off mid sentence and brought him in for a lip bruising kiss that left her shivering and him with numb lips from all the biting and sucking and finished with, “punish me then.” Before she could take a minute to gauge his reaction he began to leave welt raising slaps to her rear that left an excruciating stinging pain but just hurt so damn good she couldn’t help but to choke out a moan mixed with a sob.

After what made have been the twelfth slap, she didn’t know for sure the only thing she could focus on what the pleasureful sting she felt, she had no time to collect her bearings before he rammed himself mercilessly inside her with a low growl that made her want ride him into oblivion. He ran his free hand down her breast to her lower thigh and gripped all the brown skin and savored in the beauty that was her round and gracious behind and the beautiful glittery stretch that adored it perfectly. His other hand wound in her mane of unruly tendrils gripped for leverage as he lifted his hips to ruthlessly pounded into her so much so she felt, although the impossibility of it, that she’d leave this restroom with a rearranged cervix.

“God your perfect.” He groaned landing misplaced chaste kisses anywhere he could reach on her sweat glistening chest. “I bet.” She confidently responded with a smirk amidst her harsh pounding which only caused him to grin in response and pull harder on her crown of curls and if humanly possible enter her even rougher and harder. “That shut her right up.” he thought triumphantly. She hasn’t noticed it before but it was there a large vertical mirror with a perfect view of the ethans thrown back in ecstasy head and her body on full display. And there is truly nothing more erotic than watching yourself be brutally fucked by the man or your dreams and fantasies. Her chest shined with a sheen thin layer of sweat and she almost glowed from elation, thank god she went for a natural look involving only mascara and lipstick as she was a hot mess and could use a small touch up. But Ethan couldn’t care less he adores unruly sex hair that he couldn’t refrain from pulling and her mouth constantly wide open as the most alluring moans, groans and whimpers tumbled from his lover.

She watched on as she bounced on top of him and she’d be a damn liar if she said she wasn’t wetter than ever from the sight as she watched him and herself in such an intimate moment. Her nirvana was cut short by a sharp rap of knuckles against the large oak door separating the two passionate lovers from their dreary work function. Ethan’s calculated and punishing strokes never ceased much to Charlotte's dismay, he was shameless. He couldn’t possibly be turned on by the idea of being caught as he was the one that prided himself on his carefulness and keeping their relationship concealed. But maybe the older attending has been keeping some things to himself.

In particular a little fantasy exhibitonism. The idea of marking his territory with an audience was as enticing as ever as he watched the haughty stuck up socialites flirt shamelessly with his woman. Charlotte really should have known, he’d grown particularly fond of fucking her against his large floor to ceiling windows.

In response to the unsuspecting stranger Ethan hurriedly switched their positions into a kneeling one upon the couch with his front to her back and grabbed her arms from behind and again began to ruthlessly continue his assault. God he was amazing. Charlotte wasn’t a liar, she did have a little thing for older men. Not daddy issues or something but she just preferred experience and skill only a certain knowledgeable possessed. And that man was Ethan, this man scared her as he had successfully ruined her for any other man and weirdly she was okay with that.

“Hello, is anyone in there?” Came a smooth accented voice from the other side and although muffled Charlotte understood it perfectly. “Bryce!” She mentally cursed her horiness and the dilemma it got her in. Her attention snapped to Ethan as he too realized just who was at the door and he quieted her with an index finger to his lips but even then didn’t stop his stroking which slowed down to long and deep ones rather than hurried and brutal. After calling a few more times the sound of footsteps became few and far between indicating her good friend and ex-lover had left. Ethan, aware of the past relationship was glad at this and also a tad relieved he didn’t see a tinge of regret on his rookies face.

With a few more punishing strokes it was inevitable that they both climaxed and as they did her world went white and she gasped with pleasure while he could barely breathe as she gripped his neck for grounding and he quite liked the intoxicating feeling. Coming down from the high the gravity of the entire feverishly consuming ordeal at finally set upon them and unrestrained giggles flowed freely through her trembling body as she leaned forward and Ethan took the opportunity to just embrace her following their passion. “I can’t believe we had sex in a public restroom.” She sighed blissfully in his neck, chuckles from her warm breath tickling him every few seconds, she rubbed her hands down his abdomen feeling his toned pectorals all the way to his abs. “You surely are a wildcard, Dr. West.” he muttered, placing sweet kisses on the side of her beautiful face. How she could go from a complete sensual vixen to a adorable little teddy bear he would never know but was grateful all the same for his position. Here right now and just everyday with her in general.

“And you love it, Dr. Ramsey.” She knowingly grinned.

“That I do, rookie.” He sighed nuzzling her neck.

Eventually the two lovers knew they’d been gone far too long and they soon had to try and sneak back into the main hall and with that he got up and went to her purse where she always kept wet wipes and cleaned her up and with a strong calloused hand helped her to her feet and swayed her in the direction of her long abandoned gown and to the best of his ability helped her redress. Even in her tattered and wrinkled dress with wild coils adoring her head she still looked like the most flawless woman in the room.

God he was so whipped. And he truly didn’t mind.

She decided to go first and once bombarded with questions of her whereabouts for the past hour and a half by her roommates, or particularly a smirking Bryce and a worried sienna Ethan couldn’t help but chuckle at the fact that the scalpel jockey had probably a good idea at exactly what happened in that restroom. Ordering another scotch from the bar he absentmindedly stuck his free hand in his pocket and felt something unfamiliar he on instinct grabbed it out only to be stunned to silence once again by the woman so much so he almost choked on the burning liquid not so smoothly running down his throat.

He couldn’t believe it. Her racy black g-string was right in his hands and she had to have snuck it in his pocket when she handed him a fallen suit jacket. Once coming to term with what he was holding he quickly stuffed it in his pocket being reminded of the situation and setting. He looked up to meet her eyes across the large dining hall only to find her smirking devilishly and sending him a sultry wink.

A damn wink. She winked at him.

It was then they both realized, Ethan Ramsey was truly a damn goner.

Fin.

Thanks for reading.

[njeancastro316]

The Night we met

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

Ooops I did it again another little snippet. Not much sense but I wanted to give it a try .

Warnings: Nothing much swearing , fluffy and funny.

Bold italics mean my female reader’s thoughts .

Today I was inspired , felt the vibe , procrastinated a little bit but got it done, Im a libra ♎️ go figure🤪. Reblog, like , comment. 🤗😘

Remember english is not my first language yada yada yada.

Elijah was playing the piano alongside the jazz band . He smiled , he really truly was happy when he was playing music. After the song was finished he went to the bar for a drink and in came a gorgeous woman dressed in green medical scrubs. She made a beeline to the bar and signaled the bar keep for a drink. She was petite , athletic ,equipped with the biggest pair of dark brown eyes and a smile that could brighten the darkest room.

“What will it be my dear” ? the bartender asked “Bourbon and make it a double please and thank you”. She spoke sweetly smilling at the bartender.

Elijah couldn’t resist talking to her . “Rough day I presume”? Y/N turned her head towards the very pleasant voice . Her ears felt hot and she thanked God that she decided to straighten her hair today before her was a man that she could’ve swore was made by the gods. ‘Lord Jesus help me’ she thought before speaking. “You have no idea”she downed her drink with one gulp hissing as the warm liquid burned her throat. “Oh dear , that bad huh”? He smirked .

She sighed as she spoke “Haven’t you ever thought about giving up on something? , Something that you wanted badly”?

“Once or twice I must admit”. He bit his lip as if deep in thought. “Thinking about quitting your job”? He questioned quickly dismissing the sadness that suddenly took hold of him.

‘Damn... he bit his lip and did his tongue just swirled around it?, Stop,Christ Y/N stop looking at him like that and answer’. “What makes you think that”? She clear her throat. She signaled the bartender for another drink.

“Well... one must conclude that by the way you are going through those” he gestured to her second bourbon “and they way you are dressed it must be job related am I correct?”

‘Well I’ll be damned am I projecting my misery that bad .FML’

She ran her finger through the rim of her now empty glass “You are right , I have thought about quitting, its just” .. she paused, “ I love my job , I would gladly do it again if I had the chance to choose but sometimes it’s very frustrating”.

“Then why haven’t you?, if I may ask”.Enticing a look from her big doe eyes.

“Because I love to help people and even though the system is broken , to me the very definition of broken suggests that something can be fixed , don’t you agree”?She spoke softly.

His eyes widen in surprise he nodded .

“Its my incurable disease” she face palmed herself. “People tell me I should just work ,do what I can and go home. You know be selfish and think only about me and I just can’t , its not in my system . Im the shoulder that everyone leans on but where’s my shoulder. I often have asked myself if there is something wrong with me” she lowered her eyes to the empty glass and ordered another.

Elijah was baffled to say the least this woman not only was beautiful but kind hearted and his mirror image in every way.

Her frustration and sadness was tangible and he suddenly felt the need to comfort her.

“There is nothing wrong with you , you are just doing what it is in your nature to do . You are a healer and I think that you are an exquisite rare find” he said making her gasp.

‘Thats the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me’

“Thank you” she whispered while tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear. Totally forgetting that they were beet red.

“Here you go dear”the bartender gave Y/N her drink and she down it quickly hissing again.

Elijah smiled again she was simply adorable blushing left and right “I think that’s enough for the night” he signaled the bartender to not serve her anymore making the old man smile.

“Yeah me too” she conceded , “Sir ... How much do I own you ”? 

“Nothing dear , its been taken care off” he winked at her.

“Did you do this” ? she asked Elijah.

“Maybe” he gave her another smile.

Could this man be more gorgeous ,how was this possible he seemed nice and into her but , that couldn’t be it now could it? He was well...he was freaking delicious and she was nowhere near his league. She grew impossibly nervous.

Elijah felt her sudden distress, “Are you alright” ? concern showing on his chiseled face. 

“Yes I can’t be here with you err I mean ,I need to go home” . Y/N went to get out of the stool when the drinks kicked in and she felt dizzy. She tripped on her own feet brazing herself for the embarrasment of the century but it never came . She was pulled impossibly close to his chest were she looked up at him . “Im sorry ... I’m a bit clumsy” he smelled so so good ‘was that cologne or did he smelled like that naturally’.

“May I escort you home?”He held onto her waist to steady her footing.

‘God yes , you may’

“Oh god no ... I mean its ok , I’m alright you dont have to” .She answered quickly cursing herself in her head .

‘Fuck I’m so retarded’

Elijah took her chin on his hand and lifted her face so he could look at her in the eye , “I insist, I want to make sure you make it home safely”his knuckles graced her cheek. She swooned.

‘ Yes .. baby take me home ... Oh god so much for alcohol encouragement’

“Thank you , really ,but its not necessary”. She suddenly felt like the room was small .

“It was a pleasure meeting you , thank you for the talk , for listening , for everything... uhhh yeah” blushed again .

‘You’re spiraling stupid , he’s way out of your league, walk away now and preserve your dignity’ She turned to walk away . When his voice stopped her again.

“Im Elijah by the way” he out stretched his hand for her to shake his. Once she did he took her hand and brushed his soft lips against her knuckles “Elijah Mikealson and the pleasure was all mine” he finished with a smirk.

“Holy fuck I’m never washing this hand again”

Completely speechless she nodded, turned and walked away from him towards her car the quickly .

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

I couldn’t think of a title 🤦‍♀️help me, please. (Goes to hide while people read)

@elejahfanfic @eternityunicorn @hellotvshowtrash @elijahs-wife @ronniemikaelson @svnkissedskies @elijahmikaelsontvd-blog @idkhaylijah @kaiiiiiiparkerismyhusband @soul-revoir

[unloved-cadillac]

My Heart’s First & Last.(Dabi x Reader)

I’m just a quirkless cop who’s in love with a villain.

𝖶𝗈𝗋𝖽𝗌: 1.6𝗄

Being a quirkless cop was one of the worst jobs you could ever ask for. Not only were you looked down because you were quirkless, many people made fun of the idea of a woman being an officer. But I rose from those ideas. I overcame the looks, the comments and became a sergeant in Mustafa police station at 25.

There were many villains roaming the town around this time of day. Luckily, today I wa son patrol with my partner, Koshi. We were on our way to a sweet store when we heard people scream and yell, “SOMEBODY HELP!!” We turned around and this person, or thing rather, pushed past us and ran. “Koshi, get around the building. Use your quirk and try to overtake him!” I order him and sprint towards this villain. He was fast. He turned and saw me running towards him and he spat some kind of fluid into the floor, but I luckily dodged it and pulled out my taser gun. Shit I mumble and run as fast as I can to get a good shot, but the villain is suddenly knocked onto the floor, dropping all of the stolen goods that he had. I catch my breath and look at Koshi, who was shaking off the pain of his arm he used to stop the guy. “Good job, Koshi,” I say and walk to the villain. “Thank you, mam,” he says and picks up the goods. “You’re under arrest,” I tell the villain as I lift him off of his ass and handcuff him. “Damn you.” He says and I chuckle. As we walk back to our patrol car, a woman walks up to us. “Oh my. Thank you so much, Ms Police officer. You saved my things,” she says gratefully and Koshi hands her her stuff as I put the villain into the car. “It’s no problem. If you don’t mind, my colleague here will take your statement about the situation that occurred,” I tell her and she nods. “Yes. Yes of course,” she smiles and begins speaking. I look around and sigh. Damn, what a nuisance.

When we returned to the station, I went to my desk and checked my phone for some new messages. I widen my eyes when I see this:

Unknown

Something is going to happen at Meta’s Ramen Store tonight. Be ready.

I sigh and wake up to go to my boss’s office. “Sir?” I call out and he turns to look at me. “Yes, L/n?” “I was wondering if tonight I can go on patrol again?” I ask and he furrows his eyebrows. “Why?” He asks. “I just...have a feeling something is gonna happen. May I?” I lie and he scratches his head. “Well, I always told you guys to trust your instincts. So go on patrol. And take someone with you,” he tells me and I nod and go out to find Koshi. “Want some extra pay, Koshi?” I ask him while he drinks his water. “Yeah..,” he says eyeing me. “Good. We’re going on patrol tonight.” I tell him and go back to my desk.

Later that night, Koshi and I drive around our district until I see the ramen store. “Stop the car, Koshi.” I say and he parks it off across the place. “What is it?” I stay silent and watch the ramen shop. Nothing happens for almost half an hour, but my eyes widen when I see people in hoodies walk into the shop. “Koshi, let’s go,” I tell him and hop out of the car. We walk up and down the store, casually. Nothing seems to be happening out of the ordinary so far, but it was until I heard screaming did I grab my gun and walk back to the store. Koshi covered my six while I walked into the store. One of them had a shotgun and the other held a bag. “I’m not gonna ask again! Put the money in the damn bag!” I hear them scream and the old man was shaking. “Hey!” I yell out and they look at me, one pointing his gun at me. “Who the fuck are you?” “I’m a cop. Drop your weapon and nothing needs to happen.” I say, gripping my gun. “Fuck you.” He says and points the shot gun at me. Suddenly, I shoot his leg and the other bolts out the door, pushing me. Luckily I tripped his leg and he fell, face flat on the floor. Koshi walked into the store and cuffed him while I cuffed the other after I bandaged his leg. “Up we go,” I say lifting the injured man, “let’s go.”

God, this is gonna be so much of paperwork. As we make our way to the car, a flash of blue fire was fired in the distance. As well as normal fire. “Looks like Endeavor’s working too, huh Serge?” Koshi says and I chuckle. Yeah, someone else too.

When I went back to the station and all of that shit was sorted out, I go back to my house. All I wanted was a nice, long, hot shower and to have some food that I made yesterday. I go upstairs and strip from my uniform and go into my shower. I washed your hair and dried myself then changed into my shorts and shirt.

After putting my gun in my safe, I go back downstairs only to hear my back door open. I wasn’t scared nor did I find the need to go and get my firearm. I turn to the door to see him taking off his shoes and shrugging off his jacket. He looks back up to see me and broad, handsome smile displays on his burnt face.

“Hey beautiful. Sorry I’m late.” “Touya.”

I say and walk up to him. “I saw you today,” he says while holding my hands. “Really? Where?” I ask. “I saw you take that guy down after he stole that old lady’s stuff. Pretty badass, Y/n,” he chuckles and I smile. “Koshi stopped the guy. I saw that you were busy too. Flashing your flames everywhere,” I smile and he leans down and kisses me. God, I missed him so much. I haven’t seen him in almost three days and my house, OUR house, felt so empty. He pulls away from me and rests his forehead on mine, while staring into me with his deep, serene blue eyes. “I missed you, baby.” He softly says and I hum. “And I’ve missed you.”

We both walk to our kitchen where I warm up our food while Dabi sits by the counter, watching me. I feel his eyes on me and I turn to look at me. “What are you looking at?” I ask and he scoffs. “What, I can’t stare?” He asks and I blush slightly and turn back around to cook. I hear his chair scrap and shortly after feel his body pressed against my back. He leans down and grazes his lips against my neck. I tilt my head so he could have better access and he hums in approval. Dabi ghosts his lips on the outer shell of my ear and teasing bites it. “Touya~” I breathe out and he chuckles. “God, Y/n. I need you so badly,” he whispers, slightly grinding into me. I quickly shut off the stove and turn around and leap into him. He wraps his hands around my ass then lifts me up, making me lock my ankles around his waist. Dabi moves his lips from mine to my neck and walks the both of us upstairs to our bedroom. He lays me down on the bed and we indulged in each other, making up on lost time.

After our activities, I fell asleep for a while but woke up when I felt Dabi’s hand run up and down my bare back. I open my one eye and look at him as he propped his head on his hand. “Hi,” he says softly. “Hi.” He moves hand from my back to move my hair away from my face. We stayed in silence for a long time, just enjoying each other’s company. He sighs and moves onto his back while still looking at me. “What’s on your mind?” I ask and he closes his eyes. “I just...” he begins, “really wanna fucking marry you.” Dabi says, with a voice that I haven’t heard since the first time he proposed.

“I can’t leave the League. I can’t marry you. There’s so much of shit that I can’t do and I fucking hate that,” he says putting hand over his face. I sigh and move to lay on his chest. “Tou, it’s alright. There’s just so much happening now and marrying each other just doesn’t seem like the right thing to do now,” I say and look at him. His hand was still on his face and I move on top of him and moves his hand away, but his eyes were still closed. “Look at me, baby.” I tell him and he slowly opens his eyes to look at me. “You’re mine and I’m yours. Forever. You feel this,” I take his hand and place it over my heart, “This beats for you. You were my hearts first and you will be my last. We don’t need any document to say that we belong to each other. I already feel married to you. And that’s my favorite feeling in the world.” I pour my heart out to him and he leans up and captures my lips with his and we melt into each other. Dabi flips us over and breaks the kiss. “I love you much, Y/n L/n” he tells me as I cup his cheek.

“And I love you, Touya L/n.”

———————————————————————

“Credit to @bnhacaps for the Dabi manga panel”

🖤🤍Thanks for reading🤍🖤

-Caddy.

[thefloorisbalaclava]

pragma - part sixteen

Pairing: Frankie “Catfish” Morales x F!Reader

Warnings: none. its just a little cheesy

A/N: This is a pretty easygoing chapter. I can’t write anything too angsty especially with what’s going on. I just want happy stuff and this chapter is just that.

Summary: Frankie suggests going out and you end up meeting the last person you’d ever want to but he fixes things in his own Frankie fashion.

pragma masterlist

For the first week he was back, you two hadn’t left the house. You spent the days in bed holding each other and making love or doing things around the house. He cooked dinner while you made dessert, you watched old movies, danced around the house, sang songs together (badly), and just enjoyed having each other back.

There was no separating you two, just like old times, but now that you both were older you seemed to appreciate this time together more. And you had never said the words ‘I love you' more. It was something you never got tired of hearing or saying.

You were happy. Frankie was happy. Today he decided to chase you around the house for taking one of his shirts. When he caught you, he only picked you up and kissed you and told you it looked better on you than it did on him anyway.

“Let’s go watch the sunset,” he suggested as you held him on the couch. His favorite thing was lying between your legs with his head resting on your stomach.

“Okay.” You both went upstairs and dressed quickly before walking out to the lake and sitting together.

“Did you look at the moon while I was away?” he asked.

“Every damn night,” you admitted. “Did you?”

“When I tore my eyes away from your picture long enough, yeah.” He looked back out over the lake and slowly moved his hand so your fingers would touch. It was almost exactly what happened the first time you two sat by the lake.

“I wasn’t gonna ask but…I noticed the scar on your cheek. Should I even ask what happened?” You played with his fingers, not sure if you really wanted to hear the answer.

“The helicopter I was flying crashed and--"

“What?!” Your voice carried out over the lake and echoed. “You crashed?” You were gripping his fingers now without noticing.

“Uh…yeah.” He seemed nervous about continuing.

“Well, what happened?”

“The cargo…it was too much and I couldn’t keep her in the air.”

“Jesus Christ,” you whispered, closing your eyes.

“But all I got was this little scar so…” He was trying to cheer you up but all you could think about was the crash.

You ran your thumb over the scar then kissed it. “Thank god you’re back safe. I dunno what I’d do if you--"

“Don’t finish that. I never want you to finish that sentence, you understand? I’m back and I’m never leaving again so you don’t have to worry about that.”

“Okay. I’m sorry.” You kissed his hand and he relaxed.

“No, I’m sorry. I…need to calm down.” He sighed and looked at the setting sun. “A fucking drink is what I need.”

“Wanna grab some beers from the fridge?” you asked.

“Let’s get a little wild and head to the bar. How about it?”

“Okay but let’s wait until the sun goes down.” You just wanted a nice, quiet moment with him. It’s not like you haven’t had any since he’s been home but you wanted another so you held his hand and watched the sun set.

*

The drive to the bar was fun. Frankie had the ability to make the simplest things fun for you. You sang badly and loudly together and laughed till you couldn’t breathe. When he finally pulled up to the bar, you both were in tears over a stupid joke he had made.

“Doesn’t look too busy tonight,” you pointed out.

“Probably because it’s Wednesday,” he said.

“It is?” you asked.

“Yeah. What day did you think it was?”

“I don’t know. My boyfriend kept me in bed so much that the days started blending together.” You kissed his cheek and got out of the car.

“Your boyfriend?” he whispered. “I think that’s the first time you called me that.”

Was it?

“Is that okay?” You nudged him as he walked beside you into the bar.

“Sure is…girlfriend.” He winked at you and walked to a table to pull a chair out for you. “Ma’am.”

“Thank you, sir.” You watched as he walked up to the bar to order your drinks then walked back, looking at you and immediately smiling. “Do you smile at every girl that way?” you teased.

“No other woman makes me smile this way so…no.”

“So, if we didn’t know each other and you saw me you’d look at me and just start smiling like that?” you asked.

“Yup. And you’d smile back and we’d fall in love. The end.” He nodded and sipped his beer.

“Happily ever after, huh?”

“Of course. Is there any other way to be when I’m with you?” He had such a charming way of saying things. It was that same boyish charm that pulled in years ago. You put your hand over his and smiled.

“I love you.”

“Oh, but I love you more so…” He winked at you as he lifted the glass to his lips. You stood and he put the glass down quickly. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Going to the ladies’ room.”

“Okay, well, hurry up. I kinda miss you already.”

“Gosh…you’re so fucking cute.” You weren’t one for a lot of PDA, but you lifted the bill of his cap so you could bend and give him a quick kiss. “Be right back.” You held his hand as long as you could while walking away.

In the bathroom, you looked at yourself in the mirror and smiled. You were ridiculously happy and in love and Frankie was back safe. Thinking back, you don’t think you’ve ever had so many reasons to be happy.

After washing your hands, you walked out, smile still on your face, but that changed when you saw the woman standing at your table talking to Frankie. She pulled on the bill of his cap and giggled loudly. You stumbled to a stop and took a deep breath before walking again and forcing yourself to smile. Frankie spotted you and stood so quickly his chair almost fell over.

“Frankie…” you started.

He moved to your side and pulled you close. “This is my girlfriend,” he said to the woman. She knew who you were now but you still had no idea who she was. Her eyes looked you up and down but not admirably. She made a face then gave you a fake smile.

“I’m Frankie’s ex-girlfriend. Yeah, we dated a while back.” She sipped on her drink and you felt Frankie tense beside you.

“Oh…that’s nice,” you lied, looking at Frankie who seemed to be avoiding both of your gazes. His face was hidden by his cap but his body language told you everything.

“It was very nice. Right Frankie?” She smiled sweetly in his direction. He kept his head down.

“Okay. It was nice meeting you.” You tried to give her a hint but she still stood there.

“Aren’t you gonna buy me a drink, Frankie? For old times’ sake,” she asked and if she wanted to get a rise out of you it was working.

“No. No, he’s not,” you responded for him. She had the nerve to look offended.

“Wow…,” she began.

“Please understand that I’m trying to be nice but if you say another word, I may not stay that way.” You felt Frankie move and you knew he was looking at you. “I’m trying to spend time with my boyfriend so if you don’t mind…”

The woman scoffed then walked away and you moved away from Frankie to sit. He sat quietly, staring at you. You couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

“She’s pretty,” you said before finishing the rest of your beer.

“What?” He seemed to be in a daze.

“I said she’s pretty.” You put your hands on your lap so he wouldn’t see the way they shook.

Frankie shook his head and cursed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think--"

“How were you supposed to know she’d be here?” You looked down at your hands, trying to avoid the pang of jealousy that flowed through you. She really was beautiful.

“Look at me,” he said and you slowly lifted your head. A smile bloomed on his face slowly. A real smile. “You see? You’re the only one I smile that way for. You’re the only one who can make me smile this way.”

You smiled sadly. “Okay.”

He stood and held his hand up. “Gimme a second.” You watched as he walked over to the jukebox and scrolled through the list of songs. The opening chords to Still The One by Orleans began to play as he strutted over to you and held out his hand.

“Francisco…” You looked around shyly. “Everyone is gonna stare…”

“Let them. Come on, baby.” He pulled you to your feet and to the middle of the bar, holding you close and swaying with you. He sang along with the song, giving you little kisses between lines. “I never danced with anyone the way I dance with you.”

“I love dancing with you.”

“I never liked to sing with anyone…until you.” He kissed you. “I was never myself with anyone until I was with you. You let me be myself.”

“Why wouldn’t I? I fell in love with Francisco Morales. That’s you. I don’t want anyone else. I want you and all the stuff that comes along with you…good or bad.” You looked around and giggled. “We’re dancing kinda slow for this song, aren’t we?”

“Who cares?” He hummed along to the song a bit before speaking again. As John Hall sang ‘you’re still the one that makes me laugh…still the one that’s my better half…’ Frankie smiled and closed his eyes. “No one makes me laugh the way you do.”

“I mean…I do tickle you a lot so…” You shrugged and laughed when he made a face.

“Do you get what I’m trying to say?” he asked. “You’re the only one I have eyes for. You’re the one I love.”

“Don’t you dare make me cry in the middle of this bar, Francisco.” You sniffled quietly and hid your face but he dipped you as the song ended making you squeal. Some people applauded and whistled as he stood you up straight.

“Isn’t my girlfriend a great dancer, everyone?” Frankie asked loudly and you covered your face. You pulled him back over to the table and sat down.

“I can’t believe you did that,” you laughed.

“I’m spontaneous. Isn’t that good for relationships?” he asked, leaning in so you could hear him.

“Have you been reading my magazines?” you joked.

“Maybe.”

“Hey lovebirds!” a waitress called as she walked over to the table. “The nice guy over there bought you two a round.” You both turned to the man and raised your glasses to him. You both thanked her then looked at each other.

“Maybe we should come here every day and dance if it gets us free beers.”

“I would dance with you even if we didn’t get free beers…but it is a plus.” You raised your glass to him. “To us. Always and forever.”

“Like music to my ears. Always and forever.” He gently tapped his glass to yours and drank. “Wanna get outta here?” he asked.

“Yeah, let’s go. There’s a hot guy I wanna take to bed.”

“Oh really?” He stood and took your hand, walking out the door into the night air.

“Yup.”

Suddenly, he picked you up and spun you around before kissing then nuzzling you. “I can’t let you miss out on that.”

“You really can’t.” You looked up at the moon and smiled. It was full. You thought back to the time he was away and remembered that there was no full moon. Even the moon knew you two were together again.

“Uh oh…full moon. You know what that means?” Frankie put you down.

“What?”

“I might get a little…wild,” he warned.

“Wild how?”

“You’ll see. Let’s get out of here.”

*

As he pulled up to the house and parked, you turned to him. “Are you gonna show me this wild side now?” He got out of the car without a word and you followed.

Suddenly, he growled and held his hands up like claws…you guessed. You stood there and stared at him. “Uh…you’re supposed to run. I’m a werewolf. The growling. The claws.” He snarled and you scoffed.

“You’re not that scary.”

“I’ll give you a headstart,” he said then howled at the moon.

“That was actually pretty good.” You began backing away before breaking into a full run. “Still not scary though!” you yelled behind you.

“Ready or not, here I come?” he shouted and you screamed as you ran around the side of the house.

He chased you until you couldn’t run anymore, carefully pulling you to the ground with him.

“I didn’t know my boyfriend was a werewolf. That’s pretty cool,” you said breathlessly.

“Yeah, it is.”

You both rolled onto your backs and looked up at the stars, lacing your fingers together, the full moon shining down on you.

We’re still having fun and you’re still the one.

[seventeen]

Tags: @cable-kenobi @saltywintersoldat @ahopelessromanticwritersworld @pedrosdoll @psychobillybunny @behindmyeyes-insidemyhead @keeper0fthestars @mrsparknuts @thinemineours @huliabitch @synystersilenceinblacknwhite @lavenderl3mons @mrscrain-x7 @fioccodineveautunnale @gooddaykate @themilkface @tiffdawg @ms-dont-care @mus1caln0tes @awesomefandomsunited @seawhisperer @virtualxjournality @badassbaker @demigod-dragonrider-schoolidol​ @lokiaddicted @forever-rogue @sloantravels @javier-djarin

[sweeethinny]

The One - Chapter 2

ok, this one I took a LOT to update (I won't lie, I gave up, but someone asked me about it, and I came back)

part one for those who don't even remember

tw: drugs and alcohol (I do not encourage or support the use of any of these substances :))

‘’May I know why we’re inviting my sister to drink illegally with us?’’ Ron asked as soon as he entered Harry’s room, throwing himself on the bed and looking at the ceiling. The boy finished putting on his shirt, buttoning his muggle jeans and trying to straighten his hair

''Because she is alone, and it would be nice'' Harry shrugged, pretending that it was normal for him to be wearing a lot of perfume and worrying about the look ''I didn't force you to call her, I just commented. You who invited her’’ Ron groaned in disapproval, running his hand over his face and ruffling his hair

‘’You’ll take care of her if she gets sick’’ The redhead pointed a finger at him, trying to be threatening

''Okay, I already took care of you'' Harry shrugged, sitting in the armchair that was nearby, stretching his feet on the open window sill ''Mione coming?'' He raised his eyebrows maliciously, just licking his lips to provoke Ron. Which worked, since he had turned red like a chili

'’Shut up, Potter. Of course she comes, you invited her’’ Ron countered

‘’But you were the one who insisted .. maybe today you’ll take courage and kiss her’’ Harry commented happily, enjoying the discomfort of others

‘’In the same way as you did with Cho? What did it take? A year?’’ His friend had his point, Harry knew that, but it was still embarrassing to remember that

‘‘Fuck you’’ He threw the pillow at the redhead, making him fall down again, laughing at his misfortune.

‘’But seriously, if Gin wants to come, we’ll have to take care of her. Mom would kill me if something happened to her precious girl’’ Ron continued to lie down, hugging Harry’s gray pillow, but looking serious

‘‘I’ll take care’’ Harry said, not wanting to show much enthusiasm ‘’My dad will send us to the basement as soon as Sirius steps in here, so we just left there after a few good hours’’ He smile excited.

The basement was an activity that had started a few years ago. Since the first year of Hogwarts, when the holidays came, Ron and Harry would take shelter for a few hours to talk or play the muggle video game that his mother had given to him. Then they added horror movies. Then, it became the place where they kept seeing magazines that clearly weren't for their age, commenting and making stupid jokes that 13/14 year old boys make. Finally, it became the place where the two spent hours when there was a dinner that Harry wanted to escape.

Lily worked as a healer at St Mungus Hospital, while James was in the Ministry, and for two years he was Head of the Department of Magical Sports and Games, so it was common for dinners to be held with friends from work, or just a meeting of the Marauders. And as much as Harry loved his mother's food, and the stories from school time, he was a teenager who preferred to stick in the basement with his friend, and not have to care about etiquette or any of those things.

The increment of drinks, had happened in the Easter vacation of last year, when Harry stole one of the liters of mead that the father had kept in the office. He and Ron were lying on the old sofa that his mother left there, drinking and watching another horror movie, during all the hours that dinner with his mother's co-workers (The Girls' Night, as she liked to call it) 

‘’Today’s what night? Men’s Night?’’ Ron asked, throwing the pillow up and then picking it up, Harry continued to look at the trees in the back of his house, wondering if Ginny would be too long to come ..

‘’Something like that, I think other guys will come too ..’’ Would she wear skirts? Girls were fucking hot in skirts…

‘‘I find it kind of impossible that they don’t suspect a bit of what we do down there’’ Ron sighed ‘’Your dad isn’t stupid’’

''I bet they think we’re dating each other'' Harry said, laughing and winking at Ron, who looked at him like he was the craziest person in the world ''Mom has already commented that it's okay if I'm gay .. Not that I'm despising you, but you're not my style.'' His friend hit him with the pillow, fighting back the last attack, and Harry laughed out loud at his fury.

‘’As if I would want to be with someone like you .. What’s your problem with redheads?’’ Well, Harry thought, it isn’t all the redheads.

‘’Boys?’’ His mother’s low voice came from the other side of the door, and the boy almost laughed when he saw Ron adjust himself on the bed. The woman came in, smiling at them, waving to the redhead ‘‘Hello dear .. Are you going to stay in the basement?’’

''Yes, I think Mione and Ginny will come too'' Harry knew in that second that he should have shut up, just from the look his mother had given him, he knew he would probably get one of those shameful sex conversations soon ''Nothing confirmed!'' He raised his hands, almost begging her to forget the slip.

‘’I’ll leave you enough food. Have fun!’’

[...]

‘’Mom almost didn’t let me come’’ Ginny said, sitting next to Harry on the old light blue sofa, folding her legs and smiling at him, who should be looking at her like he was an idiot.

Ginny was… pretty would be an understatement. Her pants were made of red plaid, gloriously covering her thighs and tightening at the waist with the help of a black dragon leather belt. The top showed a piece of skin on her belly, it was white and looked as if it had been cut and sewn to give her the thin straps and straight neckline that showed the entire bust covered with freckles, which had been very present in the boy's imagination since he had seen one of the afternoons they swam together. The red hair was tied in a high ponytail, leaving the whole neck exposed. And Ginny had gained a few inches in black sneakers.

‘’Maybe it’s because you forgot the rest of the fabric on the shirt?’’ Ron pointed at her bust and her belly shows. ‘’It’s a respected house, girl!’’ He joked, but if Harry was sincere, he couldn’t care less.

‘’Shut up, Ronald’’ She said, rolling her eyes and smiling at Harry ‘‘So, drinking illegally huh?’’ Her red eyebrows rose maliciously as she licked her pink lips ‘’Since when do you do this? And why was I never called?’’

‘‘Because Ron worries that you’ll see him vomiting all over the place’’ Harry teased, dodging the pillow his friend threw at him, and laughing along with Ginny.

‘’Watch out Ron, Mione doesn’t like disgusting boys’’ She warned him ‘’She’s coming, isn’t she? Her mother said she was coming’’ Harry nodded, stretching his feet on the coffee table, not wanting to pay much attention to the contour of her breasts or her neck, using all of his brain power to turn on the video game.

He would be a dead man if he let his other head command him.

[...]

‘’Do you think they’re kissing?’’ Ginny asked, sitting across from him on the floor, looking closely at his fingers rolling the joint

‘’No’’ Harry continued to concentrate on work ‘’Ron isn’t too drunk to offer this’’ She laughed, shrugging her shoulders and slightly denying it, making him lighter and looser. He could even look at her neck without thinking how good it must be to put his mouth there.

‘’Since when do you do this?’’ She took the joint in her hands, still curiously evaluating it ‘’And what’s the fun of smoking?’’ Harry took it again, not wanting to pay much attention to the shock that burned his nerves

''You will see .. Mione must have curled up with my mom'' He said, looking at the stairs and not listening to any steps that indicated his friends were returning from the task of getting more food ''She is more nervous than me when we need to lie''

‘’This is’’ Ginny looked at him provocatively ‘’Every time you get together?’’ Harry laughed, amazed at how beautiful she looked in the yellowish light and the purple and blue reflections on the TV

‘’Almost always .. And we started last Easter, along with Seamus’’ The boy lit the joint, inhale it under Ginny’s steady gazes, almost cutting it in half. He even thought he was going to choke on her attention. ‘‘Want?’’ Harry hoped she was just going to take - or refuse - where she was, but the redhead moved out of her place to stand beside him, placing the pillow dangerously close and taking the joint from her hand

‘’How do that?’’ She raised the cigarette to look at it better before putting it on her lips like Harry had done, making him feel things he normally felt when he was alone at night.

‘’Gulf and .. this... how do you know how to do it?’’ He laughed, seeing her cheeks flush almost immediately, the hot smoke rising from her lips and her eyes getting slightly lighter, shining in the light

''Instinct, I guess?'' Ginny laughed, returning the cigarette to Harry and looking at him ''That's good'' Her brown eyes looked like the caramel candies he ate, so sweet they would give him teeth pain if concentrate too much. ‘’It’s fun’’ Her freckled nose wrinkled, a lovely smile on her face.

Harry didn't know if it was marijuana thinning his neurons or if Ginny was really approaching and looking very close to kissing him, with parted lips and the tip of her tongue showing. He wanted to do this so badly, and it only took a little movement to make it happen like in the perverted dreams he had of the night.

‘’Very good’’ He said, not sure if he was saying about marijuana, proximity, or her entirely.

When Harry thought about making the move, grabbing her right there, the noises on the stairs rumbled throughout the basement, the voices of Ron and Mione filling the room and making her jump back as if she had just seen a dragon or worse.

‘’Hey you… oh, have you started without us? Damn man, I thought we agreed’’ Ron threw himself in front of them, dropping the packages of chips, cookies and pieces of pie on the table

‘’Are you two okay?’’ Mione asked, looking closely at them and stopping at Ginny ‘‘You look like you did the wrong thing’’

‘’I just smoked weed in a cellar, Hermione’’ The redhead said, laughing quietly as she took her piece of pie ‘‘Of course I look like someone who did the wrong thing’’

‘’If you say...’’ Hermione said, shrugging ‘’Gin, and Michael? I heard you were very friendly on the train’’ Harry’s chest seemed to wither like an old bladder, feeling kind of stupid for believing she wanted to kiss him

‘’Michael? Which Michael?’’ Ron asked, passing the cigarette back to Harry, who swallowed it with pleasure, wanting his mind to stop working on making him feel pathetic.

‘’ Corner...Ravenclaw.'' Ginny replied, laying her head on the sofa and looking even more flushed than before ''And we weren't friendly on the train, he just sat with me'' Harry never thought he would be envious of one of the Ravenclaw students, as he felt now, which was quite depressing if you were to analyze.

Maybe he had just imagined that whole moment when she looked like she was about to attack him.

[popculturebuffet]

Blacksad: Arctic Nation Review: Digging Two Graves

Welcome you beautiful technicolor rainbow. And today I continue my black History Month coverage, this time with one that was suggested by Kev, my patreon on patreon and the blog’s biggest supporter, who sent me a bunch of things I could review for Black History month and, loving this comic and feeling given the events of last year with George Floyd that have had rightful shockwaves ever since, it was perfect.  

For those needing a refresher Blacksad is a spanish produced french released comic series about John Blacksad, a grim private detective in a 1950′s set world full of anthromphized animals. It has gorgeous art, endless atmosphere and utterly captivating stories. Last month I covered the first story, Somewhere in the Shadows, since this one was only number two and I could track the series evolution better, and I loved the series and could make room on the schedule so there was no real reason NOT to do it. And since i covered most of the series background that time, I can dive in quicker to this one. So join me under the cut to see how the series evolves and to see a black cat take on white supremacists with the help of a smelly weasel. 

First things first.. the cover, which is from the original version and was lovingly reprinted in my copy, is goregous and simple: John grimly and camly carrying a scared child through a bilzzard past the wreckage of a plane. It’s instantly eye catching, our black furred hero in a bilzzard of white.. and also serves as a great metaphor for a story dealing with white suprmacy as well as our hero trying to find the child he’s trying to keep safe on the cover. It’s just perfect. 

We open in the Line, a city in the arctic, with Blacksad morosely narrating how one day he’ll write his memoirs, as he figures they’ll sell well given the public’s grim fascination with murder. We soon find out why tha’ts on his mind as the comic “pans out”... to show a black bird with a long neck horrifcally and publicly hung in a hate crime. It’s an utterly ghastly sight I will not be sharing, but needless to say it sets the tone and the setting in one horrific image. 

John’s interuptted though by the introduction of Weekly. Weekly is a local journalist who true to his name, only takes a bath once a week and immidetly pisses off john by being nosey, assuming john is also a journalist and casually remaking about this horror show being a hate crime. Despite this terrible first impression.. Weekly goes on to be John’s best friend and sidekick, providing some levity in his grim world for the audience, while as we’ll soon see being FAR more useful and competent than his demeanor and lack of hygine lets on. 

For now though, John has to go meet his client: Miss Grey, a schoolteacher whose hired John to find a missing girl, Kaylie, one of her students. Those around the neighborhood are relcutant to look into it, including Kayle and the police, who as we’ll learn very soon are white suprmacists, simply blame it on the Local Black Claws gang. Miss Grey also fills us in on the line’s backstory: it was once a propserous suburban place.. until the local plane plant closed down, leading to a rise in crime and unemployment with the place slowly but surely falling into decay.  Despite this she’s determined to stay and fight.. and John is touched by her noblility and tells her he will do everything he can. And while that’s a natural thing to tell your client.. it feels genuine, that John senses this woman’s deep resolute will to keep going, and feels for her as the ONE PERSON who cares a small child went missing and isn’t either ignoring it or simply being a racist dickhead about it.  John may hide it under lairs of cynsim and grumpus... but he’s good man and as we see he’ll go to hell and back to do the right thing. 

We soon properly meet the titular Arctic Nation... who are as you would expect, a white suprmacist group, calling yesterday’s lynching a necssary thing and spouting your usual horrifying rhetoric about a white world and stuff. The Arctic Nation are also made up almost entirely of Arctic Animals.. and honeslty that’s a way to do a white supermacy metaphor I never thought of, simply having the fur be black and white, and using the fact most arctic animals are by nature predators to give us some naturally intimdating looking antagonists. One of them also is clealry not Happy John’s around, nor that John rather than be afraid or look nervous in the slightest... is simply pissed as he should be and simply dosen’t give a shit.. and given assholes like this love attention and pissing people off, it probably makes him even madder. Good. 

John runs into Weekly again, and while still not happy to see him, Weekly is nothing but friendly and offers peace and a warm drink in a cold land.. and John takes him up on it noting in narration that since they are clear outsiders here... why not? Any port in a storm and given the blizzard of white supramcey just outside, John can’t help but take refuge in a diner. There’s also a really nice touch in  their drinks with John having a simple .. alchohol ( I don’t drink sue me) and Weekly having something called a burobon mlikshake . Weekly outlines that the Line is about to explode with racial tension with two diffrent suprmacist groups: The arctic nation , who he freely and rightly mocks and the aformentioned black claws. 

Before they can continue though two of the goons from outside come in and harass an old black bird at the counter, saying can’t he read the sign.. before he’s revealed to be blind. They confront John next... who gloriously takes NONE of thier shit, wirly pointing to his patch of white fur, which indicates him as mixed race in this unverse and says does this count. 

The racist asshole dosen’t take the hint that maybe this isn’t going to work and tries provoking john by threatning ot turn him into a coat.. and john insults his, and his whiteness and we cut over to the head of the white suprmacist rally asking the owner to call the police, the owner only relcutantly agreeing when we see the supremacist asshole fly into the bar. 

So naturally we next see our heroes in the office of Karup, the local police chief, polar bear and not even hiding it white suprmacist who talks proudly about his confederate saber on the wall and asks if John knows who it belonged to. His response is priceless. 

Damn.. it takes balls of fucking platinum, on both of them, to be called into an unapolgetic white suprmacists office and roast him to his fucking face. It’s what we should all do granted but still, props to both of htem. it also shows Weekly, desipte being kinda sketchy.. is every bit as brave as his friend, and takes these fuckers every bit as seriously. That is to say they both KNOW their in danger.. they just don’t CARE, feeling rightly that simply cowtowing to Karup like he wants is not worth thieir damn time, and that he deserves no fear, no respect and nothing he wants. Just mockery for clinging to an outdated and horrific set of ideals like all white supremacists then and now. Karup is forced to let htem off with a warning as his wife shows up.. and Weekly wolf whistles at her because awesome he may be he is not a class act and this is still the 1950′s where that was okay for some reason. 

We next catch up to John that night where he’s taking in a driving movie involving giant ants. 

He’s naturally here not to take in a good b movie, nor is he being forced to watch it by mad scientests, but here to find Kaylie’s mother Dinah, who agrees to talk to him after her shift.. and John grabs a peak at her ass while she walks away.

Dinah has good reason for not calling the cops though... as she puts it, she has no faith in white justice, and given the police chief had a fucking confderate flag in his office, and many STILL do today, yeah fair point. We also find out she used to work for Karup, so she knows damn well he won’t be helpful at best or use looking for as an excuse to lynch more innocent black men at worse. Of course John, while symaptehtic brings up something about Oldsmill, and gets rightfully slapped for it. 

We next see John talking to weekly, who he’s just kind of accepted is his sidekick now. Their grocery trip is interupted by the claws, who show up, beat up the racist shopkeep.. and then harass our heroes, beating up weekly to get him to say their innocnet of the kidnapping. This however.. shows that while not AS bad as Karup, clearly.. their still not good people. Weekly GLADLY would’ve printed what they asked if they’d actually asked, and instead they beat him up to do so, and the person who did so dosen’t endear himself further by asking john “What happened to your snout brother?”. As with last time, his response is fucking perfect

He wisely backs off though is still confrontational about it. Weekly wonders if john really was going to shoot him, and my response is...

He absolutley would’ve. John asks if he’s really going to print that crap.. and of course Weekly is. That’s where the story is, and he points out he’ sa star reporter and his name apparently comes from coming in with a big story once a week. John isn’t amused.. but could use Weekly’s help and tell shim to keep an eye on Karup’s household for him since he can sneak in there and be far less notecable. And he agrees. I’ll go ahead and say it.. weekly was an invaluable addition to the story and a missing peace for Blacksad they needed: like robin to batman, he provides someone for him to talk to, a bit of badly needed levity, an dprovides blacksad an ally no matter the case or situation, and one who has every reason to help both because hteir friends.. and because it’ll get him a good story, and his background as a reporter gives good reason as to why he’s good at this.

Something else to note is John has also taken on more of a sarcastic streak as you can tell and I love it: instead of being grim all the time it gives a human touch to him.. while still making him utterly badass as he usually uses it to disarm an asshole flexing their power over him. It simply adds some shades to his already wonderful personality. 

We finally meet Oldsmill who denies having anything to do with it, as the rumor is his heavily inbred son is Kaylee’s father and Oldsmill belivies it was karup since he was apparnetly married to a black woman once. Oldsmill is also a racist ass blaming the downturn in things on black people instead of you know, the plant closing. John has what he needed.. and has a good shot at oldsmill pointing out if he actually mixed races his son might of turne dout okay instead of a braindead inbred moron. 

Weekly hides in the bushes at karups.. and soon finds his wife plowing the head of the arctic nation we met earlier,  huk, behind his back. “I love this job!”.... dude.. no just.. no. Don’t watch people have rough sex that’s just.. no. But he found out more as tailing them afterwords, he found them at a table with Kaylee’s mom, clearly wanting her to keep quite for some reason with Dinah not wanting her to suffer. Naturally she’s John’s next stop.. but instead he finds her brutally murdered, her body twisted and him lamenting that someone so full of life.. has lost hers and even if he achieves his goal now.. Kaylee lost her mother. And involved in whatevers’ going on or not.. she clearly loved her kid and whatever she got caught up in she died.. simply for proioritzing her daughte’rs own saftey and wellbeing over it. She was also stabbed with what John suspects to be.. a saber. Hmmmm.

John has no proof.. but decides fuck it, and goes to confront Karup anyway. His wife speaks up against him as does Huk... but given Weekly told john about her taking Huk in through the back door yeah... that dosen’t go great. And after Choir practice, Karup beats the every loving piss out of Huk for it, and tells him before that that, now weekly's’ actually printed the story he said he was going to, it’s open season on him and blacksad. 

So unsuprisingly, Blacksad suspects he’s been kidnapped when we catch up with John and interogrates the blind bird from earlier, whose trying to sell weekly’s camera, and successfully batman’s him into taking him to where Weekly is. Menawhile Karup confronts his wife.. who mocks him and has no sympathy and accuses him of being a pedophile like everyone else has. He takes it badly and tells her to get out and to no one’s suprise.. has an arctic nation flag in his drawer. I do not get what this was supposed to prove as we know he’s a white suprmacist piece of shit and that previous scene with Huk showed that he’s directing the nation from beihind the scenes. 

While the Bird brings john through and John laments his time as a vetran,  we find their headed for a nation meeting, complete with Klan style robes.. and Karup getting ambusehd. someone having put bloody children’s clothes in his trunk. Karup is hunt and while he clearly IS innocent, given Huk both presented the evidence and let’s face it it was either him or Karup’s wife jezebel, and I have no sympahty because not being a pedophile does not make him any less of a horrible abusive piece of  shit. 

Someone we DO actually care if they live or die next is weekly, whose terrified, the defiance from earlier gone.. which is fair as he knows he’s about ot die and dosen’t know John.. is right there, revealed via his paws as he prepares weekly to escape and has infilrated the nation in the robes. John’s next action is also utterly badass as he SWINGS FROM THE NOOSE, KICKS OVER THE BURNING CROSS THE NATION SET UP. 

Huk escapes and unsuprisingly is behind the kidnapping.. and the Magpie from earlier knew it and tires to stop him and gets shot. John kills one of the white suprmiacists and makes his wya out, finding Weekly, who escaped as john instructed and the two find the bird man.. is not dead and he takes htem to Kaylee. He dies in a really tearjerking scene, clearly senile and clearly talked into this. 

Naturally the next day, John reveals via narration that the Line’s remaining police didn’t give a shit about what happened, a racist paper actively comended it as “how justice should go” and that Huk escaped... and naturally John isn’t going to let that shit slide down the glass. Huk however is dead when he finds him having gotten his but clealry this dosen’t quite satisfy john. 

John listens to the song “Strange Fruit” while dressing up all fancy and looking damn good I must say. He’s preparing for a funeral and Weekly tries to help his pain.. by offering him the shots of Huk and Jeezebel.. only John spots something and tells weekly to get all he can on Karups first wife. 

Turns out the funeral is Karups... and John confronts the widow who tries to brush him off.. before tearing her shirt open to reveal a black spot.. which while a neat reveal.. GOD that’s fucking creeptastic. Seriously while this story is moving, brilliant and all sorts of things i’ll gush about.. it has some REALLY creepy undertones at times with John’s treatment of Dinah, Weekly taking pornographic pictures of two people without their consent, and now this.. I mean it’s not exactly unsuual for the time but you may want to not make your heroes look like sex monsters is all i’m saying. 

We finally get the full story: Dinah and Jezebel are Karups children the product of his first marriage that was geninely loving.. until Karup turned bitter and racist and upon finding out she was pregnant drove his wife out to the middle of nowhere in the middle of winter and left her to die. ...... sorry I was just fondly remembering him getting his neck snapped by the noose. Anywyays their mom did surivive long enough to give birth but the sheer pain of well.. everything collapsed on her and she eventually passed when they were young. Both sisters wanted revenge and since Jeez could pass for white, she married her own dad, and got some satstifactoin over not letting him touch her, and got Kaylee into the house. So she seduced Huk, even if clearly by the panel sleeping with that piece of shit greatly hurt Jez to do, and used him to set up the fake kidnapping scheme to frame Karup as a pedophile. 

As for why Dinah died.. if it wasn’t obvious by now Huk did it not realizing Jez and Dinah were sisters and took Dinah’s udnerstandable worry about her daughter.. as concern she’d squeal. His death and who did it should be obvious and given he’s almost as big a piece of shit as karup, only barely avoiding that because his murder wasn’t his own PREGNANT wife. Jez assures John it’s all over and her mother and sister can rest in peace.. but John cuts through this with one simple fact: “What about Kaylee?” Sure Karup deserved it.. but going so far int heir revenge cost a girl her mom, and the weight of this finally hits Jez who merley collapses saying “i’m cold” knowing that in the end.. her revenge wasnt worth it. And really that’s the center of the story: Revenge.. and how it’s ultimately hollow. To quote Mr. Miyagi from the karate kid on revenge, as I feel it’s UTTERLY relevant to this story “You might as well dig two graves”. The sisters COULD’VE had a decent life on their own, living as who they were in spite of karup, leaving the line behind when they could and taking Kaylee with them. Instead? While Karup and Huk rightfully died and those deaths are a good thing.. the arctic nation shows no signs of slowing down and likely didn’t losoe EVERYONE in the factory fire, a child is orphaned, Jez wasted her life as someone she wasn’t to get revenge on a man who didn’t even know she existed. While two very bad men died.. it cost two other lives and a child’s innocence to do so. 

So we close at Miss Greys, having taken Kaylee in for obvious reasons. John encourages Grey to keep going, that maybe with someone like her.. this region might get better. While the adults are lost... maybe the children can be better. Though John sadly looks at Kaylee, after she pelts week with a snowball, and i’ts clear from both of their faces the events haunt them. While john saved her.. he still couldn’t save Dinah. We end though on a very lovely scene: as John and Week prepare to get the hell out of dodge their job done, Weekly, seeing John’s very haunted by the events reveals the real reason behind his name: the boys only think he changes his underwear once a week. And this gets a hell of a laugh out of john... and ends a very dark story with a very grim resolution on a hopeful note: Things may of ended terribly.. but with the nation weak.. there’s some hope at least things might get better... and sometimes a little hope is all you need. It’s also a nice show of how far the two have come: From John really destesting week.. to the two being the close friends they’ll be from here on out, there for each other no matter what. And it really shows in the endings: Last album ended iwth John morosely sinking back into the shadows. Here while not much happier.. it ends with him at least.. not alone.. and with some hope things will get better. They have to. 

Final Thoughts:

Arctic Nation is a masterpice. While the sexist comedy bits have not aged well the story is THROUGHLY relevant, a story of revenge, prejudice and standing up to prejudice, and after the last four years of having a president blantly favor white suprmacists and corrupt cops while things only got worse.. seeing John stand up to that flavor of monster with bravey, wit and most importantly no fear, was UTTERLY cathartic. It’s a captivating story that keeps you hooked the whole time. 

And while on it’s own the story is very good and stands firm, as the second adventure for john.. it improves on somewhere in the shadows in every way except the art, which was already perfect last time and is just as excellent this time and is easily some of the best comic book art period. But the narrative is far more intresting this time going from a pretty standard noir setup to a fairly unique one as while “hero is stuck in a town where he’s an unwelcome outsider” isn’t new, having that blended with white supremacy is brilliant and provides an unyileding wave of tension over the story, as our hero is ONLY not lynched right away because his enimies are being careful and trying to appear resonable when their just bigoted bullies with delusions of grandeur like all whit esuprmacists. Our hero is not safe, he is not welcome, but he WILL NOT give up on a child whose been lost and needs his help. It’s a far more gripping setup and the payoffs including the awesome warehouse climax and the huge reveal at the end, all feel oh so worth it but the journey is never boring. THe additoin of Weekly was also easily the best move, as while he probably wasn’t intended to be permenant, his goofball demanour, skill beneath that, and great dynamic with John add some levity to the grim nature of blacksad’s world, and give him someone to work off of so we don’t get all the exposition via the narration, allowing it to breathe and come about when needed rather than be a constant presence. While Somewhere in the Shadows was good.. Arctic Nation is a masterpiece, and teh series would keep that level of quality and nuance from here on out. 

I’ll be taking a break from blacksad for a while, so I’m genuinely not sure when i’ll be getting to red soul as I have other projects I deserpately need to get back to in april first, but i promise he’ll return some day. For now if you liked this review, follow me for more including weekly reviews of ducktales and amphibia, a lena sabrewing retrospective and if you really like this you can chip in a buck or two a month on patreon. The more contirbutions I get, the more likely i’ll hit my stretch goals and I have some pretty neat ones so check it out, there’s a link on my blog. And  see you at the next rainbow.