#Despite how disconnected we turned out to really be

[whatifsandspheres]

.

[jadeddangel]

can you do

angel x reader x husk poly

They neglect the reader, but with a good ending

"Not too important"

Husk x reader x Angel Dust

Summary: In which Angel and Husk struggle to balance their work lives and personal lives, leading to a mild argument and a struggled apology

Warnings: swearing, abandonment issues, talk of Valentino, talk of physical abuse

You, Husk, and Angel had been dating for a little over since the incident with Charlie and Angel getting into an argument, you didn't really know what happened since you weren't there but you could piece together that it almost got messy. The hotel had been growing steadily after the extermination so you, husk and angel struggled with making time for eachother, especially with Val trying to make angel "pay" for the incident at the club and for ignoring him. And due to the hotel gaining popularity, husk had been forced to work as Alastor's little errand boy for the time being. And then there was you, after zestial found out about carmilla's incident with the angels, zestial has been making you work like crazy, errands, working as a temporary bodyguard in certain rings, despite him not needing it. It was getting exhausting trying to give all of your energy towards zestial and having a good attitude while also remaining the hinge that really brought angel and husk's relationship, to say you were burnt-out was an understatement.

You had gotten home after a long day of errands and escorts. As you finally got into your shared room, you stripped out of the green and black cloak along with semi-formal clothes in a darker theme After a very much, well-deserved bath and some time to decompress, you headed downstairs in some more casual clothes. After seeing Angel sitting at the bar to talk with husk, you nearly skidded down the stairs eager to give your lovers the attention they deserved, you hopped onto the bar chair next to angel before wrapping him in a hug, " Angie! Oh, how I've missed you! How was work?" You nearly exclaimed in the poor boys ear. Angel's body went ragged as his muscles tensed and tried to relax, realizing it was just you but still didn't quite relax. Angel used his second set of arms to carefully remove your body from his tucking your arms into your lap and rolling his eyes exhaustedly, "It was the same as usual, long and hard, Val has a stick up his ass" Angel complained a bit, as you listened closely, his tone wasn't like how it usually was, and the lack of dirty jokes really made you concerned. You nodded a bit before turning your attention to husk.

"Don't think I forgot about my favorite little kitty. How are you doing? Alastor isn't being too much of an unbearable prick, is he?" You asked, taking notice of the alastor's lack of presence. Husk's body went ridged at the sound of alastors name causing him to overpour his glass over alcohol he was serving himself, Husk let out a hiss as he stepped back and away from the overflowing mess of his glass. "It's the same as it always is, Listen, Our days were hard enough, we don't need you and your peppy attitude to make it worse, you don't know what it's like so don't even try and act like you know what's going on." Husk hissed out through gritted teeth, narrowed eyes focused in on you, pupils forced into the shape of sharp slits.

Husk's words bounced around in your brain for a few mere moments before your body tensed as you tried not to take them to heart. You could feel your body relax as your mind disconnected from your emotions in order to protect itself. Your nails subconsciously dug into the hard linoleum of the countertop as you struggled to ground yourself, "Oh...." The sound fell effortlessly I the silent air as you struggled to find the right words, not caring how they hurt yourself or the people around you. "Right.... YOU both have had a bad day, and me trying to cheer you up makes me the bad guy? Get a grip, HUSKER... " You spoke monotonously aside from enunciating certain words. You pushed your chair back as a sickening crackle filled the thick air; your chair had scraped up a good amount of the wood, which would most certainly get you in trouble later.

Your blood was boiling in anger at his insensitivity as you "calmly" walked away from the bar to your room to get some space. You laid down face first in the cold covers. You felt the bed dip slightly and a cold, wet nose pressing into the underside of your forearm. "Hi fat nuggets.." You sighed s bit sitting up so you could pet Angel's beloved pet.

Time had passed rather quickly as you ranted to fat nuggets about everything that happened, avoiding using any slurs or cussing in front of the sweet animal. You had left your emotions calm down as you felt a familiar feeling of guilt from having acting that way. You may not hold grudges, but you weren't apologizing first. You were tired of being the bigger person in all of these situations, and it exhausted you. You let out a heavy sigh as you looked down at the adorable little creature that seemed to be hanging onto your every word, " I need to get some sleep now, zestial has me planned for an early meeting again.. never thought I'd regret selling me soul, " you joked while scratching behind Nugget's ear. Letting out an exasperated sigh, you picked the little pig up and laid down, holding him close to your chest for comfort. You heard the floorboards outside your door creak from weight as a long slender hand pushed open the door slowly, causing light to flood the room. You did your best to ignore it and stay still. The most you did was let go of nuggets, allowing them to jump into, presumably, Angel's arms.

Angel took a deep breath as he sat down on the side of the bed, "Muffin? It's Angie.. look, I don't know if you're awake right now, but I'm sorry, we're sorry, work has been stressful on all of us, and we took it out on you." Angel pressed into the sensitive matter carefully, "Husk is worried about you. Why don't you come down for a drink, huh? I can see your brow furrowing, " Angel teased. You hadn't even realized your expression had changed as you sighed heavily sitting up, "I'm not taking anything husk makes until he apologizes.." you muttered stubbornly. Angel let out a little snicker, "you both are so cute when your mad, cmon just one drink and if anything goes wrong you've got us," Angel tried to bargain, and so far, it was working. Angel put two of his hands under your arms to lift you while the other two set nuggets down. Angel soon managed to coax you out of bed, aka bribe and carry you, and helped you down stairs. The wood where the chair had scraped away was fixed along with the chair in its original spot. You hesitantly sat down with angels encouragement, Angel took his seat next to you and gestured to husk to say something. Husk took a deep breath and cleared his throat, "want a drink?" Husk grumbled as Angel let out a heavy sigh shaking his head as he set his forehead in his palms.

Husk poured you your usual drink as he looked at you with slightly pleading eyes. Husk has never big on apologizes but you could tell he was trying to apologize just... in his own little way. You grabbed the glass from him taking a big sip, "I'm sorry too, I didn't mean to hurt you, I wasn't thinking, ill accept your apology, will you accept mine?" You asked reaching for his paw with your other hand slowly allowing him to pull away if wanted/needed. Husk didn't as he held your hand tightly, "can we just rest after this drink? We've all had a shitty day.."Husk said in his usual husky voice. You and angel shared a look before letting out happy snickers and giggles, "definitely, mr.whiskers~" Angel teased in his usual tone. Husk let out a deep groan pulling his paw away "great now the moments ruined" Husk shot back just as playful as Angel. They were happy and so were you, so it worked out well, and you wouldn't change a thing

[dream-with-a-fever]

in defence of ginny weasley (ft fleur delacour)

never thought i would feel strongly enough about this topic to comment on it, but the ginny bashing in this fandom is just insane so i thought why the hell not. ginny seems to get hate for everything under the sun from being being a mary sue who can do no wrong in anyone’s eyes (meaning she’s boring and uninteresting as a character) to being a nasty bully responsible for hurting those around her (??? and they’re both completely contradictory statements btw). when the latter is brought up, ginny’s “terrible” mistreatment of fleur is always front and centre. ‘she’s nasty, she’s cruel, she is a jealous bully etc!’ and i just feel like we should put on our thinking caps and actually take a step back for a fucking second. people may disagree with me, but i think ginny’s reaction to fleur was totally understandable — and reminder, she is a TEENAGE girl, (not to mention both mrs weasley and hermione held fleur in the same regard but no one seems to focus on that side of things).

now in the books, we do see ginny mocking fleur, calling her ‘phlegm’ behind her back, imitating her gait and elegance, expressing her annoyance at her newfound presence in their lives.

let’s look at why she might have reacted that way. first of all, in general, we see that the w are a very humble and welcoming family; they don’t have much but what they do have, they are more than willing to share with others. their financial circumstance plays a massive role in how the characters in the wea clan react and interact with others (as seen with their refusal to accept money from harry etc). their sense of pride in that regard is also quite prevalent. we see that when harry first goes to the burrow, ron is slightly embarrassed by his home, painfully aware of the way many people in the wizarding community view/judge them. when harry goes on to say it’s best place he’s ever seen, we immediately see how touched ron is. ginny is the same in that sense — embarrassed that she has second hand robes & books etc, but at the same time she, like ron, is fiercely protective of what they do have, and what they as a family stand for. they are also very protective of people they love inside and outside of the family (see, ron with ginny, mrs weasleys with all of them etc).

this is relevant because one of the reasons ginny and in turn mrs weasley, have a problem with fleur is the way she talks to them. despite them inviting her into their home, fleur makes her distaste clear even if it is in small ways. she says it’s boring at their house as there’s nothing to do, she often talks disparagingly about how things are done in the weasley household, she loudly mocks celestina warbeck (who mrs weasley loves to play at christmas time) and insults her, she speaks badly about tonks several times etc. her words and mannerisms are also viewed by some (ginny etc) as very pretentious and arrogant — also rather posh, a sign of her family’s wealth (which might have been a sore spot for ginny also).

now don’t get me wrong. i love fleur as a character. i think she’s really cool, charming and brave, and i wish we got to see more of her honestly!! i think she makes a lovely contrast to the other younger characters, and i think she undergoes some nice character development in the books we do see her in. it’s also very clear to me, that when she acts the way she does, it is never out of malice or cruelty— it comes from a place of openness and honesty — which often comes across as quite blunt. it’s a cultural disconnect in many ways; when she inadvertently insults people throughout the books, i think it’s pretty obvious she isn’t trying to hurt anyone’s feelings. but i also think it’s obvious how this attitude might annoy those around her.

calling ginny is a big bad bully for disliking fleur (in the beginning), when her behaviour towards the weasley family would make anyone a bit frustrated, is a bit far. not to mention, her individual treatment of ginny is understandably annoying - ginny complains that fleur is very condescending when speaking to her (‘you’d think i were about three!’).

there’s also the fact that ginny is bill’s little sister. he is her favourite brother (as seen from the way she respects him and his opinions, looks up to him - she wanted to go to hogwarts ever since bill went!). ginny having a reaction to her brother’s new girlfriend is very normal - he’s her big brother! all his attention is now on his new girlfriend - who ginny finds to be full of herself, patronising & annoying. part of her may also be worried that fleur will end up breaking his heart in the end — because she’s protective of her brother.

add the fact that her brother and old crush and basically every man ever is drawn to her because of her godly beauty (as a part veela), her and bill’s wont to shower each other in public displays of affection (who wants to see their brother doing this!?) and the fact that ginny always gotten along with tonks (the person her and molly had in mind for bill’s future partner) has always treated her kindly and as an equal, and therefore would much prefer as a sister-in-law — it’s not that surprising that ginny feels the way she does towards fleur.

nevertheless, do i think this is something ginny would grow out of? yes, of course. we already see changes in their relationship in the final book. besides, a lot of this stuff is surface level, as ginny and fleur don’t know all that much about each other — i think fleur’s love for bill (especially shown in the hospital wing after he’s been attacked by greyback) definitely changes the way ginny regards her. i also like to think that they grew closer as they got older, as with age comes maturity, and with maturity comes understanding. i also feel that fleur was someone who really stepped up when it came to supporting the weasleys after fred’s death, something that ginny would have appreciated. i see them having a nice relationship later in life.

ANYWAY, this was an exceedingly long rant for which i apologise but i have often seen people talk about how nasty ginny is to fleur, and i think it’s so unfair to not look at the context which leads to her being a little frustrated at her future sister in law. plus, she is allowed to dislike someone who she does not get along with and who she finds unpleasant to be around. we all have people like that in our lives but god forbid ginny does…not to mention, ginny is never openly rude to her EVER, and she’s allowed to voice her frustrations to her friends/family. the fact people call her an outright bully for this is just insane.

people on here will defend so many other dubious characters but the second a teenage character with good intentions makes a mistake / doesn’t act perfectly (i.e ron, ginny), they are suddenly the epitome of evil in human form, i mean get a grip, honestly. also one last quick thing(!!!), i do note some people blame jkr for writing her female characters this way, as we’ve seen the way she seems to frown upon conventional/typical displays of femininity (lavender and parvati being seen as ‘silly’ girls with frivolous thoughts, cho chang as overly emotional - despite having a very rational reaction to the death of her boyfriend, fleur as overly feminine and therefore less serious/intelligent). her heroines are women who often conceal or discard these more feminine traits — and i will say that despite loving these characters very much, i do think some more nuance here, could have been very beneficial to the story, and to the message being sent to young female/female identifying readers. there is strength in femininity, and rejecting feminine traits does not make you more or less a person.

okay, rant over. if you actually got to the end, bless you, if not — well, that’s totally fair (lol). also please don’t kill me in the comment section if you disagree. this is just my two cents. ok that’s all.

[luciathcv]

network issues - jjk

summary: in which jungkook has been in a bad mood all day || warnings: jungkook is mad? || genre: angst, comfort, established relationship || word count: approximately 970 || a/n: based off this live

Jungkook was simply in a horrible mood today. Every little thing seemed to piss him off. Despite that, he did his best to refrain from taking it out on you. You hadn't done anything wrong, after all. In fact, there was really no reason for his bad mood today. It was just one of those days.

The house being a mess was only a contributing factor to his bad mood. He didn’t say anything about it, though. He thought it wouldn’t be fair since it was really his fault it was like this since you’d slept over at your friend’s place the previous two nights.

Despite his internal complaints to himself about it, he had no energy to clean it right now, telling himself that he’d just deal with it tomorrow.

Not only that, but he’d had to go to work earlier in the day for a meeting which was whatever to him but when he came home, the internet had been completely shit at his house. He hated when stuff like that happened and he knew it was annoying for you as well when you were home alone, bored.

“Why didn’t you tell me the network was being like this?” He simply asked, though his tone was tense, as he restarted the router.

“I figured it wasn’t that big of a deal.” You softly say, knowing he was in a bad mood, though, really, you were right.

He just groaned as he sat back on the couch and watching the router reconnect, his legs spread and his arms crossed over his chest as his tongue mindlessly prodded the inside of his cheek.

Later that night, he sat at the dining table with you after the two of you had finished dinner and he grabbed the remote, hoping to himself that there wouldn’t be a problem because all he wanted to right now was watch some TV and unwind.

Jungkook turned the TV on and you just looked at the screen as the network was once again disconnected on there.

“What is with the network today.��� He complained, mainly to himself. He shook his head lightly before sighing. “What’s wrong with this house?” He asks himself in annoyance. “With how much I pay for this place…” Your boyfriend trails off.

You just look at him, biting your lip mindlessly as you watch him groan before getting up and walking around your chair, going over to the TV and playing with some buttons.

“The network, the LTE, and the internet isn’t working. Are you serious?” He said before walking back over and sitting next to you again. He started to use the remote again to try and reboot the network on the TV. “Really?” He sighed.

“It’s okay. We don’t have to watch TV.” You comment, trying to make him feel better.

“Babe,” He sighs, taking a deep breath as he holds back on taking his frustration out on you. “No. If I want to watch TV, I should be able to watch some damn TV.” Jungkook says before looking back at the TV.

He clicks on the remote a few times but nothing happens. He then lifts his arm in the air with the remote, clicking it to see if that’d help but it doesn’t.

“Now the TV isn’t working.” He sighed. “What’s wrong with this house?” He groans.

I could tell he was getting stressed as he got up again and went over to the TV, trying to press some buttons on there again but it didn’t seem to be doing much.

“What’s with you..” He said to the TV in frustration before going back over to you and sitting down again. You just watch him quietly, figuring it was best if you didn’t say anything right now.

He uses the remote a bit more but it still says it’s not connected, “It’s connected. What’s wrong with you?” He sighs out.

He attempts to reboot again but to no avail. He frowns as his clicks the remote a bit more aggressively. You put your hand on his bicep and he stops, looking over at you, feeling bad.

“I’m sorry.” He apologizes. “This is just so stupid.” He comments.

Your hand drops from his arm, falling back into your lap. “I know.” You softly agree.

“I’m done.” He says as he turns the TV off, not feeling like putting anymore energy into that right now.

You’re silent for a few moments, “Are you okay today?” You ask. Obviously, you knew he wasn’t but you just said that so he could tell you himself and maybe explain a little.

"I just feel like shit today." He responds. "I'm sorry."

"Why are you apologizing?" You asked in a soft tone, trying my best to be consoling.

"I've been a shit boyfriend. I've been mean to you when you didn't deserve it." Jungkook explains his thoughts.

"You haven't been a shit boyfriend." You tell him, and you mean it. "You don't always have to be in a good mood, you know?" You then tell him. I mean, he was your boyfriend. Aren't you supposed to be together through bad and good?

He doesn't say anything in response as he looks down at his lap for a moment before using his fingers to comb his hair back and out of his face. You just watch silently.

Jungkook puts his hand on your thigh as he rubs it mindlessly, letting out a sigh. "I think I just need to go to sleep." He tells you.

"Okay, let's go to sleep." You agree, getting up and holding your hand out for him to take.

He puts his hand in yours and stands before the two of you head to your bedroom, heading to go to bed so he can sleep this mood off.

ᥫ᭡ link to my masterlist

[vigilskeep]

now that you finished inquisition, what did you think of it? like favorite things, least favorite, etc?

oh man okay

things i love about dragon age inquisition:

capturing the specific feeling of bonding with a group of people you have absolutely nothing in common with because u all had to go through something long and specific together

the maps can be so pretty and in places really calming and lovely to spend time in. it does make me want to explore and i have no explorer’s instinct

i love the war table and judgements i think those are really fun features

i like that approval for many major decisions applies to everyone regardless of who you bring to specific events/quests. it feels a lot less like you have to manage that really hard, as you sometimes do in the other games and also really noticeably to me in something like baldur’s gate 3. it’s irritating when i have to plan ahead and can’t take who i want to hear from

i like how attached you can get to little npcs who wander around

i loveeeee fighting dragons and how beautiful they all are

little puzzles <3

the collectibles are also mostly fine by me i am a magpie by nature. as long as i can find them, obviously, bc if i can’t they suck and this whole game sucks

the templar specialisation is fun and i enjoyed that part of combat a lot. wrath of heaven/spell purge combo is a power trip

i thought my character was pretty :) i defeated u in the end dai character creator. may you be as merciful when we meet in battle once more

i’m not a huge crafter but being able to tint things is rlly nice

blackwall’s romance is good

vivienne is there

they let me briefly tame a dragon at the end there

things i don’t love about dragon age inquisition:

some genuine cruelty in writing the dalish in a way that feels shockingly callous to the real world cultures the writers took inspiration from

never giving the dalish or the rebel mages any kind of voice of their own and making the player do all that work if they care, which i also feel limits my roleplaying creativity

refusing to let you challenge any of the often overwhelmingly conservative views expressed by other characters without receiving only derision and disapproval. inquisition is a game that punishes you at every turn for having your own opinions, in a way that could be interesting if it was willing to truly let you develop complex or antagonistic relationships with those characters, but ends up mostly just feeling mocking when nobody ever even tries to see your side, while simply agreeing with these people always rewards you with content. origins was capable of letting you engage in discussion, and da2 let you form rivalries that mattered; inquisition, despite starring some of the most intentionally controversial characters, does neither

the game engineering conflicts against groups like the freemen of the dales or the avvar that mean nothing to the player and range from vaguely to seriously upsetting in their assumptions about who it’s normal to just start killing en masse. it’s both boring and distressing

odd, for lack of a better word “casting choices”, like having the fantasy impoverished racial minority all be white within the party while the wealthiest and most privileged are characters of colour, or for a more in-world example having the elves express the most distaste towards elves and the mages express the most caution about mages. i don’t know that i quite have the vocabulary to fully discuss why these weird me out, but it all feels... disingenuous? and chosen to forestall criticism based on real world comparisons in a game series that i wish had the nerve to openly confront what it’s talking about if it’s going to try to make any of its conflicts feel relevant

most of the companions, and indeed most of the quests and time spent playing the game, feel disconnected from the main plot. it’s hard to feel any pressure when the game tells you we need to deal with the main plot “right now!” and “get there before corypheus!” when the bulk of the game is doing other things while you’re supposed to be doing that. the majority of companions could be cut without changing anything. and when you finally want to deal with the main plot you just click to start it. it’s not engaging

the game fails to fully expand dialogue for the player character options it provided, particularly notable with its confusing chantry focus when you’ve said for the dozenth time you’re not andrastian

the 2-handed weapon whirlwind ability sound effect is an exercise in creating the worst and most grating sound effect for someone to constantly hear

they didn’t let me romance vivienne

they killed my dragon :(

[kamotecue]

caught red-handed ꕥ a. russo

pairing: alessia russo x reader

summary: after a long gym session with the team, alessia decided to bring her (secret) girlfriend to a storage room, little did they know they’d get caught.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ ⋆✦⋆ ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

you were busy finding the word ‘pineapple’ in the crossword puzzle book, the topic was fruits and you still struggled to look for it.

you felt someone sit in front of you, as you gazed up to see alessia who looked at you with a soft smile. you returned it, giving your girlfriend a soft look as she hummed.

“busy, n/n?” alessia asked as you gave her a shrugged. it had only been a day since the team travelled to germany to visit and train at adidas’s headquarters.

“not really, less. just passing time, why?” you called each other by nicknames that the team knows so it wouldn’t be suspicious. even until now, no one has a clue that the two of you were dating.

you played against each other in college, you played at stanford while she played for the tar heels. college lessi was way different than the one now, however you had fallen in love with both versions of her, and will continue to fall for the different sides.

“let’s go somewhere?” less asked, as you tilted your head. you were busy looking through paper works, it wasn’t easy being a business woman.

you contemplated before standing up, stretching as she saw your exposed stomach as your shirt had ridden up.

“let’s go then?” you asked as you brought your arms down, less lead you to a hallway. as she opened a random door, pulling you into a storage room as she closed the door behind you.

“a storage room?” you asked, as lessi gave you a soft nod.

“what are we teenagers? we aren’t going to snog in a-“ you didn’t complete your sentence as alessia softly pushed you to the wall, your hands made their way to her waist as she put her face closer to yours.

“we certainly acted like it when we were in college, sneaking out of the locker room after our school went against each other.” lessi said, as you flushed. you didn’t even deny it as she had a small smirk on her face.

“you forgot to mentioned that you acted like a teenage boy-“ you didn’t even continue your sentence as she wrapped her arms around you, placing a soft yet gentle kiss on your lips.

you had a hand on her stomach as you felt her kisses start to be a bit rougher. you didn’t notice the steps that were heading closer, but when the door swung open, alessia had disconnect her lips from yours before moving away in a rush.

“oh? interesting.” you heard leah say, her voice was filled in amusement as you groaned. you were never going to hear the end of this.

“how long has this been going on?” lee asked, as you kept silent, catching your breath as you watched as alessia turned a bit red.

“second year of college.” less said, as leah’s eyes quirked in surprise.

“that’s quite a while less, i’m surprised this has been kept a secret.” you fidgeted with the end of your shirt as leah gave you a soft smile.

“well, this is certainly a cute pair. however, you’d be telling me the story of how you two, follow me.” leah said, as she gestured for you two to follow her.

you both settled in an open room, there were a few bean bags as you settled on the purple one. lessi gave you a soft smile before moving hers closer to yours.

she interlocked your hand with hers, putting it on her lap as she gently caressed your hand with her thumb.

“well, go on then.” leah said, as you gave her a look to which she just winked to. she tossed you a bottle of water, as you caught it, quickly taking a sip.

“it was in our second year of college? we played against each other in the ncaa.” less said, as you hummed.

“in the middle of the game, i had tripped on the pitch. y/n had caught me despite being on the opposite team, she swore it was because i could’ve gotten injured.” you chuckled as you never really told her the reason why.

“it’s because i had my eyes on you during the game, less. what can i say, your unc era was the best.” you winked as leah jokingly gagged at how sweet this was.

the story continued with you listening while alessia was the story teller. you had corrected her a few times, to which she gave you a soft smile.

[to the anon who requested this, i accidentally posted your anonymous request so i deleted it in a rush. i really hope you liked this].

[theemporium]

39 pls

this is just a tester...unsure how i feel about it...i just kinda wanted to see if i could write him or not...anyways!!🤠

39. "everything is going to be okay" kisses

.

It was stupid. Or at least, you felt pretty damn stupid over the whole thing.

It was stupid because the whole damn thing was so predictable, and therefore, avoidable. It didn’t have to work out like this. Your day didn’t have to start like this. There were so many other—and better—things you could have done and yet, just like an old habit you couldn’t quite shake off, you gave in. 

You answered your mother’s phone call despite knowing better.

For a short moment, you thought it could be different. You thought that, for once in your life, you could have a civil conversation with the woman who gave birth to you like any other child should have been able to do. But that thought lasted a total of three minutes before the snide remarks began and the rest of the pieces fell into place. 

The little comments about your life. The way you moved away from home like you were better than the rest of your family. The fact that your dreams and goals never quite aligned with the ones she painted out for you the day you were born. It went from your lifestyle to your job to your appearance. She covered every base, every single detail of your life that she thought you were undeserving of.

Not that she would say the words so bluntly. No, they were firmly hidden under the guise of a mother concerned for her daughter.

You were near tears by the end of the call, but by some stubborn save of grace, you had managed to hold it in until you muttered out a lame excuse and quickly hung up. But the second the soft beep of the phone disconnecting echoed through the room, the sobs started and you couldn’t really stop them.

You didn’t even hear Oscar come in before you felt his body sliding onto the bed in front of you, his warm palms resting on your shaking arms. 

“Baby,” it was uttered in such a soft, worried voice that you couldn’t help but let out a choked noise of guilt. 

He was a blur of coloured blobs through your teary eyes, whilst you probably looked like a mess with puffy cheeks and a red nose. But that didn’t stop him from moving his hands up to engulf your face, his thumbs swiping over the apples of your cheeks to wipe away the falling tears.

“Tell me what’s happened,” he murmured, soft yet demanding. He wanted to help. God, every cell in his body was practically twitching to help you but he couldn’t do it if he didn’t know where to begin. 

However, as it would turn out, words wouldn’t be necessary as your gaze fell down to your abandoned phone across the bed and the rest clicked in his head. 

“Oh baby,” he sighed softly before his arms were around you, pulling you onto his lap as your limbs wound around his torso. 

He didn’t let you go as you cried. He kept your body pressed against his, chest to chest with both your hearts thumping wildly. His fingers aimlessly traced random shapes along your spine, anything to help ground and soothe you until the blubbering sobs stopped and it felt a little easier to get air into your lungs.

“I shouldn’t have answered it,” you sniffled, your face buried into the crook of his neck. “I know I shouldn’t of—”

“But she’s your mother,” Oscar finished for you. “And despite everything, a part of you will always hope that she’s changed.”

“Does that make me stupid?” You wondered out loud.

His arms tightened around you. “Not at all, sweetheart.”

“Feels like it,” you admitted to the boy.

He pushed you back a bit, just enough for you to lift your head from his shoulder despite the whine you let out. His hands were encompassing your face again, his brows furrowed together as he took in your tear-stricken face. 

“She doesn’t know you—the real you. And maybe she never will. But the people who do know the real you love you, and we always will,” Oscar spoke in a soft voice. “You hear me?”

You nodded. 

“Good,” he murmured before he leaned forward, his lips pressing against yours in a gentle but firm kiss. Nothing crazy or passionate or racing for you to be pulling off his clothes, but more than enough to feel the love and admiration melting off him. That little reminder that regardless of everything, you’d always have him in your corner. “What do you think about a pick-me-up?”

“This is more than enough,” you assured him as you leaned into his hold on your face.

His lips twitched upwards. “So no ice cream?”

“Woah, slow down, Piastri. I never said that.”

.

[vettelsvee]

EACH OTHER BEST KEPT SECRET | Sebastian Vettel

f1 masterlist | wattpad | ao3 | requests or let's talk!

sebastian vettel x carlos gf!reader

summary: seb's is feeling like shit and the only thing that will make him feel better is having a one night stand with carlos sainz's girlfriend

word count: 4328

warnings: cheating, y/n is carlos sainz's gf and seb is married to hanna (pls do not cheat to your partners!). smut (oral, both female and male receiving; fingering, p in v). curse words. slight degradation. narrated on seb's pov. use of y/n y/l/n.

© VETTELSVEE (2024). please, do not steal, copy or translate my works. thanks for reading!

Mick was by my side with a drink in his hand. He was constantly smiling despite getting a worse result, which only made me feel worse. I had dragged myself here so as not to look bad, and all I felt was that I was letting him down and had become more of a burden to him.

How could I enjoy this crappy party when all I wanted was this season to end when it just started?

"Do you really think bringing me here would help me?" I asked him as I waited for the seventh drink I thought I had taken. "I'm not in the mood, and I'm too old for this."

"I know you're not feeling well, Seb, but you need to disconnect a bit. Trust me, you will feel better.”

I reluctantly agreed.

I tried to smile at everyone who greeted or simply looked at me. I even tried to mingle among the bodies swaying back and forth, as drunk as I was, but it was impossible.

I was disappointed with myself. From being a threat on the track to seeming like a rookie.

"You don't look like a rookie, Seb. At least, not like me."

The voice of the recent Haas addition snapped me out of my thoughts. Had I said that out loud?

"Remember why you started all this, Seb," the boy continued. "The passion you have is still there. What's different are the results you're getting."

"Did I speak out loud?"

"This is the definitive sign for me to realize you’ve had enough alcohol today,” he pointed at my glass, filled to the brim with gin and tonic. "That's the last drink you're having. I don't want to drag you to your room. What would Hanna say if she saw you like this?"

She'd probably want me to have a good time, for sure.

"That I should stop drinking, or what?" I replied to Schumacher.

"Exactly. Don't let the pressure collapse you, Seb. You don't deserve that."

After talking a bit more about the disastrous first race of the year that we both had, Mick dragged me to the center of the dance floor. I refused several times at first, insisting that I wasn't one to let loose in front of others, but the boy was so enthusiastic, and I was so wasted, that I decided to go along with him and the atmosphere.

I moved not as timidly as I expected to the rhythm of the music, setting aside my worries and, above all, starting to care less and less about what would happen from now on with every drop of alcohol I ingested.

I noticed how suddenly Mick stopped. His gaze was fixed on a girl who passed next to us and who, undoubtedly, looked quite attractive, at least that's what the blond's looks confirmed. I also stopped my body's dance and turned to her, but it was quite difficult to recognize who she was among the crowd. Her dark green sequined dress and her raven hair, falling in waves over her back, were, at that moment, the only things that seemed to stand out from her in the dimness of the nightclub.

Who the hell was the girl who seemed to have caught my eye?

"Seb, are you coming?"

Mick's shouts over the music briefly made my eyes divert to him, then quickly return my attention to the stranger. She was now moving quite sensually with who knows who, somehow making me, Sebastian Vettel, married and a father, start to get excited.

"You go ahead, Mick. I'd rather stay here for a while."

My answer, barely audible, was a complete lie.

Of course, I wanted to go with him. What I didn't want was to once again succumb to temptation as I did with Astrid a few years ago.

"Wait, Mick!" I shouted, approaching the boy enough to grab him by the bottom of his shirt and pull him back to me. "Who is she?"

"Don't you know her? Seriously?"

I denied it too many times for him not to understand.

Did he really think that if I knew who she was, I would be asking him?

Mick, with a mischievous smile, finally understood that I was more confused than I would like.

"It's Y/N, Y/N Y/L/N. An influencer. She makes TikTok videos and all that stuff," the blond whispered in my ear. "She's also Carlos's girlfriend, in case you're interested to know."

I tried to remember, but the drunkenness prevented me from recalling any kind of connection or image of that girl. Y/N Y/L/N, Carlos's girlfriend... Sainz? Of course, it had to be Sainz, there was no other Carlos on the grid... that I knew of.

"Oh, yeah, of course," I lied. The last thing I wanted was to admit that right now I didn't remember anything about that girl. "Carlos Sainz dad or son?" I added, then laughed.

Mick looked at me, raising an eyebrow. Clearly, my last comment didn't amuse him.

"You seriously don't remember her?"

"Well, I talk to too many people throughout the day, and I have more important things on my mind than that girl whose dress gives her a perfect ass, you know?" I tried to excuse myself.

"If you don't know her, as you say... Why don't you go and say hello? It never hurts to socialize, and maybe it'll help you forget all the birds you have flying around in your head," the boy insisted, ignoring my previous comments.

I felt a mix of shyness and concern invading me. If I approached the supposed girlfriend of Sainz, not only was I letting down my wife, but also a colleague. I didn't know who could be around here or what might happen if we were seen talking.

I was sure that if I approached her, there were two options: either I made her uncomfortable, or everything was misinterpreted, and we both got into trouble unintentionally.

"I don't want to overwhelm her, Mick," I replied. Right now, I couldn't think of coherent excuses, but any seemed good to me. "What would I say? 'Hello, Sebastian, how are you?' Come on Mick, we're not kids anymore."

Mick crossed his arms. His eyes revealed amusement, and there was no doubt he was enjoying this.

"Seb, you're at a party. Talking is what you do at a party, not talking about cars all the time, that's what briefings are for."

"But..."

"Stop being silly. Go and say hello. You'll see she doesn't bite."

I loved Mick Schumacher like a son and like a little brother, but moments like this were when we seemed like teenage brothers fighting over control of a video game.

"Fine, I'll go say hello," I finally relented.

"You won't regret it, you'll see."

I was sure I would regret it.

I was drunk, and I could barely remember my own name.

I wasn't sober, and I knew I was about to make another mistake, one I didn't know if I would regret as soon as I woke up.

I was Sebastian Vettel, and, of course, adrenaline and the forbidden attracted me.

I had done it once before, and everything had stayed between Astrid and me, so... why not do it again for a second time, and let everything stay between Y/N and me?

"This place is too packed."

Y/N turned around, our chests almost touching. I immediately lowered my gaze, and it was difficult for me to look away from her cleavage, quite revealing.

"I hope it is not full of idiots like you, Vettel. My face is up here, not between my tits."

Shit.

"Sorry," I said, rushing. Did I really have to screw it up now?

"Do you need something, Vettel?"

"Do you want to go out for some fresh air?" I asked without even thinking. "The music is too loud, so it's going to be hard for me to hear you."

Y/N seemed to consider it for a moment. Her expression betrayed indecision and, at the same time, I would dare say curiosity. After a brief silence that felt like an eternity, and where I was praying that she saw me with the same eyes as I saw her, she agreed.

We walked outside, she in front of me and me acting as if I were doing something completely normal. I sat on some steps far enough away so no one could see us; to my surprise, she sat next to me closer than I expected.

"Well, Vettel, what's the reason for wanting to talk to me so badly?" the young woman demanded to know.

I'd like to tell her that I'd like to fuck her tonight, but that wouldn't be very polite of me.

"Well... I don't know. I saw you and I said, 'Oh, it's Y/N, Carlos's girlfriend,'" I emphasized the last part to see if she reacted. There was no reaction on her part, so I counted it as a win. "I wanted to say hi."

"Did your nerves also wanted to say hi?"

I said nothing.

"From the little we've talked you seem like a nice guy, Sebastian," she continued speaking, calling me by my name for the first time. "But today it seems like you're especially quite interested in talking to me. Do you have something else to tell me, or is it just a feeling I have right now because I've been drinking?"

"Maybe."

I tried to keep my composure, but her getting even closer to me, and starting to caress me in a way that sent shivers down my spine, and leaving her hand on my thigh, too close to my member, made all the hair on my body stand on end.

She smiled, and then I knew I had achieved my goal.

"Why don't we go somewhere more private, Seb?" she whispered in my ear. Her index finger traced my arm, while her right hand began to undo a few buttons on my shirt. "It would be great if we continued this conversation without any chance of being interrupted."

"Do you think you're going to talk a lot tonight? The only thing coming out of your mouth is going to be you moaning my name, Y/N."

"Are you sure you're going to get what you might want, Mr. Vettel?"

God. I didn't expect her to play along, but now I was sure I was going to need more of that.

"Sure, as long as Carlos doesn't find out," I said, deep down, with concern.

"Well then, let's get out of here then, as long as Hanna doesn't find out..."

She nodded with a playful smile, and immediately, I forced myself to get up and find a taxi.

Of the thousands that seemed to be around, I decided to stop the only one that was moving towards us. When it stopped in front of us, I opened one of the back doors for Y/N and settled in next to her, putting on my sunglasses to avoid being recognized.

"To the Grove Hotel, please."

No need to say anything else because, in an instant, the driver set off.

As the vehicle moved through the night streets of Bahrain, Y/N and I seemed to become one. Her hands grabbed the collar of my shirt and she pressed her lips against mine. Even knowing that we were taking a risk, I decided to undo her seatbelt to position her on top of me, where I had much greater access to her entire body. The kisses became faster, more aggressive, and I felt my erection growing at a dizzying speed.

"Is your friend happy to see me, Sebastian?" the girl asked, rubbing herself slowly and torturously against my bulge.

"You'll see him as soon as we get to my room."

I couldn't say much more because my hands acted for me, grabbing her neck and starting to bite it, sucking, and surely leaving a few marks that I didn't give a shit if they showed. Her moans grew louder and louder, begging me for more.

We were lucky that our journey had ended because I was more than convinced that if we had continued like that, I would have fucked her right there.

We got out quickly, trying to act as if nothing had happened, but once we were in the elevator we acted the same way again. Torturing each other seemed to have become the main game of the night, caring less and less about being discovered. The forbidden seemed to excite us more, and I didn't blame the Spanish woman: after all, it was me who had started everything.

When we reached the door of my room I forced myself to stop kissing her. Y/N, however, stood behind me on tiptoe, wrapping her arms around my neck. I turned around and wrapped my arms around her waist, pulling her closer to me and searching her eyes to see if she wanted the same thing I did at that moment.

"Do you want to come in?" I asked in a soft, husky voice.

She nodded, and with a movement that seemed memorized, I swiped the card through the reader, opened the door, and forced her to step inside.

Once I made sure I had locked the door, I knew everything was done.

She wearing only her black lace underwear, threw herself into my arms to continue what she had been doing on our way here. I lifted her astride me, her legs around my waist, and leaned her back against the wall, continuing to kiss her fiercely while she finished unbuttoning my shirt, throwing it somewhere as soon as she finished her task.

"Y/N..."

"You're horny, aren't you, Sebastian?"

"If you know I am why the fuck do you ask?"

My reluctant comment made the young woman hit my ches. I knew she wanted to go down, so I let her down and, as soon as her feet touched the carpeted surface, she got on her knees and started to unfasten my belt, then the button of my pants before pulling them down.

She left a trail of kisses on the lower part of my stomach and on the beginning of my groin, playing at the same time with the elastic of my boxers and my member.

"Let's see what we have here..."

She pulled down my underwear in one swift motion, leaving my cock, fully erect, exposed.

Her right hand wrapped around it in an instant, moving it up and down too slowly for my liking. I began to sigh, but I refused to beg her to speed up, hoping she would realize it herself. Soon enough, her tongue started to lick my tip, and pre-cum appeared as if out of nowhere; before I knew it, she was sucking on it like a child with a lollipop.

"You look so good like this, Y/N. I know that having another man's cock in your mouth, not your boyfriend's, turns you on more than you might want to admit. You must be fucking wet..."

I couldn't say anything else, but my moans seemed to say it all. My hands were on her head, indirectly urging her to go faster because I was getting closer and closer to what I hoped would be the first orgasm of the night. She listened to me: at least that's what she seemed to understand when a much greater sense of pleasure invaded me as her tongue began to make circular movements on my glans while she continued to suck without stopping and masturbate the part that wouldn't fit.

I came in her mouth without warning, and she swallowed everything without a word, moving her tongue over her lips to finish taking the remnants.

She got up and the only thing I could do, almost powerless, was throw her onto the bed and position myself on top of her to undress her and finally make her mine.

After unhooking her bra and being just about to start taking care of her lower part, my cell phone began to ring.

"Damn it..."

"Pick it up, daddy," she demanded. "We don't want anyone to find out about our secret, do we?"

Having her beneath me, teasing me as if she were an innocent schoolgirl, when all she was doing was provoking me even more, got me even hornier.

I picked up the phone and saw who the call was from.

Hanna.

"It's my wife," was all I could say. The annoying ringtone kept on, but I didn't dare to answer the call.

"Why aren't you answering?" 

"I'm with you, darling. Let it wait."

"What if we do something better?"

The girl sat up a bit on the bed and moved to the edge of it. The call seemed to be continuing, and my unease grew. Did Hanna imagine what I was doing right now, like this, with Y/N? Did she even consider the possibility that I might be unfaithful?

"Sebastian," the girl spoke again, "eat me while you talk to your wife."

"What?"

"Don't you want to play?" she asked. Again, that playful tone that turned me on so much came from her lips. "Well, let's play, but let’s do it my way."

I hated being challenged, and it seemed she knew it perfectly well.

Great. Did she want to play? Well, she was going to get it.

I got on my knees, still holding the phone in my hand. Hanna had already hung up, but that didn't mean I couldn't do things properly.

I selected her contact and put the call on speaker, leaving the device on the bed. I grabbed Y/N by her thighs and dragged her a bit further onto the surface, aligning her pussy perfectly with my face.

I yanked her panties off and the girl let out a surprised scream that coincided with my wife answering the call.

"Seb, are you okay? Is something wrong?"

And indeed, something was wrong, but Hanna Vettel wasn't aware of it, nor could she be.

"Yes, yes..." I replied as calmly as I could while I began to play with a finger between the girl's folds, spreading her wetness all over her pussy to lubricate her well. "It's just that I had to come to the bathroom because it was too noisy, and,you know how people are... having sex in stalls where barely one person fits."

Taking advantage of the fact that now it was my wife's turn to talk, I began to entertain myself with the girl's clitoris, who was ending her moans by putting a hand over her mouth.

"Do you remember when we used to do it?" my wife exclaimed excitedly. "We should do it again next time I come to see you."

"Damn it, Seb!"

"Honey, did I hear someone say your name, or am I just imagining things? Please tell me I'm not going crazy."

Shit. Sticking two fingers inside Y/N without warning hadn't been a good idea.

"No, no, no! There's another guy here named Sebastian. He met a girl named... Y/N, and look, now he must be doing something good to her for the girl to have screamed," I lied the best I could.

"And you're doing it really well," Y/N whispered so that only I could hear. "No wonder Hanna wants to do it with you in some disco bathroom. Who wouldn't fuck you anywhere?"

I took the opportunity to spread her legs even further and sliding my tongue, flat, over her entrance, moving up slowly enough to make her desperate, all the way up to her clitoris. Her hand was on my hair, gripping it tightly so that I wouldn't stop; I quickly moved it away and nodded towards the phone, where Hanna was still on the line.

"When are you coming back, Seb?" my wife spoke again. "The girls are asking more and more about you, and I don't know what else to tell them to make them stop."

"Well..."

Shit. Y/N had to stop arching her back, tilting her head back, and massaging her right breast because all that did was let me know that she was about to come, and for now, I didn't want her to reach that point.

My goal at that moment was twofold: to prevent Hanna, my wife, from discovering what I was doing, and to prevent Y/N, who seemed to be my new lover, from coming, no matter that three of my fingers were entering and exiting her at the same time as the tip of my tongue moved quickly over her clitoris.

"Seb? Can you hear me? Do you have coverage?"

"Yes, yes!" I hoped I didn't have coverage. "Although it's getting worse every time I think.”

The Spanish girl was close, I could feel it in the contractions of her entrance around my fingers. I wrapped my arms around her thighs and pulled her even closer to me, if that was even possible. I placed my right hand on the lower part of her stomach, forcing her to stay still.

"Hey, Hanna, I'm going to hang up because I think my phone is running out of battery," I lied again. Now, my only goal was to eagerly lick my new girl, not to talk to the woman I had been sharing my life with for years. "How about we talk tomorrow? I'll call you before I'm at the airport."

"Sure, Seb. Take care and don't do anything crazy, okay? And take care of Mick too, I don't want him doing anything crazy either."

I didn't give her time to say anything else because I pressed the red button at the same time as I withdrew from Y/N.

"You're a son of a bitch, Sebastian Vettel," was all the young woman said. I knew she wanted to kill me at that moment for leaving her on the edge of ecstasy.

"You know as well as I do that you'll thank me soon when I make you mine. The next time you fuck Carlos you regret it’s not me making you feel wanting to be fucked like the slut you are."

I put on the condom as quickly as I could and forced her legs to wrap around my waist.

I entered her abruptly, and now I was convinced that her scream had gone beyond the four walls surrounding us.

"Oh God, Sebastian. Don't stop, please."

"I hadn't planned on it, angel," I replied as best I could. Pleasure had invaded me too quickly, and I was quite surprised.

Why was the forbidden so tempting?

Her back arched again as my thrusts increased in both speed and depth. Her legs seemed to give way because I knew it would be difficult for her to hold out without coming after having been so close before; I kept them on my waist with one of my hands, while the other began to rub her most sensitive spot relentlessly.

"Look at me."

My voice sounded too demanding, but I didn't care.

"Look at me right now, angel," I repeated after seeing that she hadn't listened to me.

I felt her walls surrounding my penis as if her insides were on fire. Her gaze tortured me; her teeth biting her lower lip made me want to put her in a thousand more positions, to keep going with her until we both died of pleasure.

My hips increased in speed when I felt the nervousness in the lower part of my stomach. Then, I forced her to lie down more to start kissing her neck desperately, licking and sucking her nipples, making her sighs increase and forcing me to forget all worries.

Was it the same person who just a few hours ago was crawling around the corners because she had stopped being who she was a few years ago?

If having sex with Y/N would make me forget everything, I was more than condemned to madness because that was what I intended to keep doing if she allowed me.

"Seb..." the girl gasped. I felt her nails digging into my back. The pain that on another occasion would have seemed unbearable was now giving me pleasure.

I was desperate to come. I felt like I was about to explode, but I controlled myself because I didn't want the night to end so soon.

My hands went from holding her lower extremities to massaging her breasts, so big they didn't fit in my hands. I forced myself to stop giving her hickeys on her neck to lift myself up a little and enjoy the sight in front of me. My cock entered and exited Y/N constantly, more regularly even though I couldn't take it anymore; her breasts moving so irregularly because self-control was impossible, and her hand massaging her clit forcefully to come once and for all was an absolute damnation.

"Sebastian!"

I watched her squint her eyes after her shout because she wanted to see herself reach what we both had longed for that night. I followed her with a guttural sound and my semen filling the condom as my hands gripped her hips for as long as I was coming.

I stayed inside her long enough to realize that it had been real.

Meanwhile, silence had taken over. The only thing that could be heard was our breaths, agitated and synchronized with the rhythm of our chests.

I ran two of my fingers over her entrance before lying down, and without me telling her anything, she took them in her mouth, savoring herself. She did the same when she kissed me again, now lying on top of me.

"I want to keep going like this, Sebastian," she whispered, kissing me again in between. "But neither Carlos nor Hanna can find out."

"That's fine with me, angel. From now on, we're both each other's best kept secret."

[magicalbats]

Kinktober 2024 Day 3: Al-Haitham x Reader

Rating: R-18+

Word Count: 6757

Warnings: Afab!reader, gendered language, power dynamics, petplay, collaring, predicament bondage, spanking, vaginal fingering, tail butt plug, object insertion

A/N: A few people asked for a follow up to Al-Haitham's piece from last years Kinktober and I'm personally always glad for any excuse to write about more petplay scenarios, so here we are! I hope everyone enjoys! 🫣

⭐

“So,” He intones, casually slouched to one side so he can brace his shoulder against the door jamb. With his arms crossed over his chest he looked the picture-perfect image of idle, confident arrogance standing there before you in the faint glow of a nearby street lamp. It was enough to almost make you sick. “You really decided to muster up the courage and come here after all. Consider me impressed.” 

Hands balled into tight, sweaty fists in the front of your breezy skirt, you pointedly keep your eyes downcast so you won’t have to look him in the face. Damn Al-Haitham and damn you for being fool enough to go through with this stupid idea. Hadn’t he humiliated you more than enough the last time? 

“Is that alright? I could always come back some other day …” 

“Don’t be ridiculous. You’re already here, why send you away?” Straightening up, Al-Haitham shifts to the side to unblock the entrance to his home and grant you entry despite looking anything but welcoming. “Come in. And try not to look so scared.” 

You can feel your cheeks quickly growing hot enough to fry an egg on but you stubbornly shove aside all the uncertainty and ill opinions you had of the scribe in favor of focusing only on your objective. Of course that was in many ways exactly what had gotten you into this mess in the first place, yet it seemed you still hadn’t quite learned your lesson. You wouldn’t have shown up at his doorstep like this otherwise. 

Steeling yourself, you stiffly move forward to shuffle past him to stand just inside his foyer while he closes the door behind you. His home isn’t particularly large but it's finely furnished and surprisingly quaint in its own way. You wonder at that as you take in the decor, noticing an odd disconnect between one piece of furniture or knickknack and the next. While some of it was quite stylish other bits and bobbles leaned more towards an eclectic taste that didn’t seem to match. 

And then your eyes land on the neatly lined up row of shoes just off the main entrance. 

Two different sizes. 

“Don’t worry. My roommate is out on business tonight.” He says, supplying an answer to the unasked question, and you bring your head up with a quick snap. 

“I didn’t know you had a roommate.” 

His hand is suddenly right in front of your face when you turn towards him, making you startle, but he merely slips those long fingers underneath your chin to further nudge your attention up at him. Verdant gaze studying you closely, Al-Haitham searches your expression for a drawn out beat — for what, you do not know — before deigning to speak again. “Well, I do. Have one I mean. He won’t be bothering us any time soon though, so tell me what it is you want.” 

Your natural disinclination for him quickly rears its ugly head, and you narrow your eyes up at him in annoyance. “How do you know I want something?” 

“Please. You wouldn’t have come here if you didn’t. Now spill it.” 

Clicking your tongue, you irritably pull away from him and take a step back to put some distance between you two. Hopefully that would be enough to give you a chance to think straight, even though it was clear you hadn’t been doing much of that at all recently. “Look. I know you and I don’t exactly get along even under the best of circumstances but … do you recall what you said to me back in the Grand Sage’s office?” 

“My office, at least for the moment, and yes. I said a great many things to you that day. Which are you referring to specifically?” 

“Gods, you’re such an ass.” You murmur, wondering why you’d even come here when you knew good and well how he was. It’s much too late to start giving this second thoughts though, so you lift your chin in defiance of his surly attitude. “Correct me if I’m wrong, Acting Grand Sage, but I believe you told me I could come to you if I ever wanted a refresher course on our last — lesson. Does that offer still stand?” 

“Oh?” Looking really quite smug now, Al-Haitham allows his roguish mouth to curl into a brief smirk. “Is this supposed to be your way of asking nicely for something? Gotta’ say, your methods could still use some work but I can see we’re making progress. It’s better than the last time, at least.” 

“Are you going to answer the question or not?” You demand, feeling your jittery nerves start to get the better of you. 

If you’d had any other option here you would have gladly taken it before ever subjecting yourself to this particular man’s presence ever again but you just couldn’t seem to stop thinking about the time you’d spent with him in his office. By the end of it you’d been all but preening at his soft spoken praise only to then be cast back out into the real world where people in polite society didn’t talk to each other like that. It was maddening in the worst possible way. 

Worst of all, he still hadn’t signed off on that damn expense sheet even after saying he’d give it another look and yet that seemed to be the farthest thing from your mind anymore. The only thing you really wanted at this point was to experience the same warm buzz of satisfaction you’d felt when he spoke to you in that uncharacteristically soft, doting manner as before. Was that seriously too much to ask for? 

“Just relax. We really need to work on that impatient streak of yours.” He says, evidently recognizing the frazzled look on your face for what it is. “And don’t worry, my offer still stands. I’ll play with you again. Good timing, actually. I recently bought a few things at the bazaar that I think you might like.” 

“Huh?” You blurt, turning to follow him with your eyes when he brushes past you into the rest of the house. “Don't tell me you actually knew I’d come here like this?” 

“That’s a bit of a stretch. All I did was calculate the odds that you would eventually decide to seek me out again, so the expense was justifiable despite being preemptive. Get undressed while I grab everything and wait for me until I get back.” 

And just like that he’s gone, disappeared down the hallway into a room on the far end of the house by the sound of it. 

For a long moment you just stand there, too stunned at Al-Haitham’s gall to take action. You weren’t sure who he thought he was but as usual it was already giving you a headache. Nothing ever went as you hoped it would whenever he was involved. 

Rousing yourself though, you quickly get to work. Far be it that you were any more comfortable with the thought of being naked in front of him than you were the first time, but you’d known what you were signing up for when you chose to come to him like this. And you’re glad to find it’s a little easier without him standing there, looming over you like some scrutinizing gargoyle while more and more of your body is slowly revealed to him, so there was that perk. If anything you were just glad he hadn’t sent you away. 

But once you find yourself standing nude in his living room some of the uncertainty starts to come back. Just what the hell were you doing here? And how were you supposed to position yourself, should you sit or stand? Did he expect you to seamlessly fall into the role of obedient dog again even if he wasn’t there to guide you through the process like before? 

There was no clear cut solution to any of these problems you now faced, and you at last decide to err on the side of caution. You would prostrate yourself for him, since he seemed to get so much satisfaction out of that, but you’d wait for further instruction before doing anything else. It was undeniably silly, but you didn’t want to seem too eager. 

Thus when Al-Haitham returns after another moment or two, he finds you kneeling on the ornate rug laid out across the floor with your legs neatly folded underneath you. He noises a soft sound of acknowledgement as he strides across the room and you attentively zero in on the wooden box he’s got in his hands. 

“What’s that?” You chance to ask, earning a quick, vaguely amused look from him. 

“I wasn’t aware dogs knew how to speak to ask such questions of their masters.” 

Flushing all over again, you breathe out a soft huff through your nose but remain otherwise silent. You’re much more interested in observing him anyway, particularly when he sinks down to sit on the nearby sofa before placing that mysterious box next to him on the cushions. 

Then the full brunt of his attention is back on you. “Come here.” He commands, indicating the spot next to his feet. 

You catch yourself starting to prickle, your pride almost getting the better of you once again, but you quietly remind yourself that this was what you’d wanted. After being hounded by indecent thoughts for weeks now, all of them revolving around the scribe, there was no point making any qualms about it or pretending otherwise. 

So you somewhat grudgingly shift forward to brace on your hands and knees before crawling over to him. You’re acutely aware of the sway of your breasts while you do so, particularly when he was watching you do it and no doubt seeing every little detail of your body in this humiliating position, both the good and the bad. The crippling note of self consciousness that shudders through you is not nearly enough to douse your anticipatory excitement though, and you hesitantly tip your face towards him as you shuffle up to the sofa, earning a nod of approval. 

“Sit.” 

Obediently plopping your ass down on the carpet, you make a point of straightening your back for him to push your bare tits up and out. You felt incredibly foolish for being so concerned about his opinion of your body but that lingering sense of stubborn combativeness quickly fades when he reaches out to pet over your head with an indulgent gesture. 

“Good girl. I have something for you.” 

Feeling fuzzy and warm, you blink up at Al-Haitham through the growing fog as he reaches for the box. That he makes a point of opening the lid towards you so that you can’t see what’s hidden inside almost manages to annoy you but you quickly stamp it down in favor of simply watching him. With a faint rustle, he lifts what you immediately recognize to be a collar from inside and silently presents it to you, just observing your reaction. 

The flustered look on your face must be an interesting one though, because he chuckles a brief laugh only a moment later. “Do you know what this is?” 

Reluctantly nodding, you shoot him a wary look. 

“Excellent. Then I shouldn’t have to waste any time on explaining it.” 

His large, dexterous hands get to work on unfastening the little eyelet so he can pull it open while you frantically try to rationalize this in your mind. Unaware of how hard your heart is pounding in your chest, he leans down to wrap the surprisingly thick band of leather around your throat so he can secure it into place at the back and you just sit there as if in a numb stupor while he does it. 

You couldn’t believe this was really happening … 

“As long as you’re wearing this,” He drawls, still fiddling with the catch to ensure it was sufficiently snug on your neck. “You’ll be my pet and I expect you to act accordingly. I won’t hesitate to punish you if you misbehave but … I also won’t hesitate to reward you either. We can play this game as long as you’d like, and when I take this off we’ll go back to our usual roles. No questions asked. Does that sound fair to you?” 

You slowly nod your agreement, suddenly finding it incredibly difficult to even think a coherent thought. As if being collared by him had effectively pulled a hazy, disarming shroud over your head, you were struggling to formulate anything at all in your mind when the only thing you could seem to focus on was the brush of his hands against your skin, the smell of him. The domineering way he’s leaned over you from his elevated position and the close proximity that came with it. You’d understood on some innate, instinctive level that you wanted him to subjugate you to his will again but you hadn’t expected it to have such an all encompassing effect on you. It was as if your higher functioning ego was slowly slipping away, like sand through your fingertips. 

And when he at last deems the collar to be adequately secured, leaning back to look at you with an unreadable expression, you positively quake under the spotlight of his attention. Al-Haitham may have been able to irritate you far beyond what any other person had ever accomplished, but when he looked at you like that … Archon’s, you would have done anything he asked of you if it only meant he’d praise you for it. 

“You’re certainly being good this evening. Guess you must have really needed this.” His eyelashes drooping to attractive half mast to mirror a very small fraction of the anticipation you were currently feeling, he reaches out to casually flick at the metal ringlet attached to the front of your new collar. “It’s just as I thought. Pink really does suit you. That being said, you have no idea how long it actually took me to find one of these in this color. You should probably thank me for it.” 

You shoot a quick, hungry look at his lap, the muscles in your legs already bracing to lean forward and put your mouth on him, but he stops you in your tracks with another quiet chuckle. 

“Not like that, though I do appreciate your enthusiasm. As long as you continue to be good for me I think we’ll be just fine.” Straightening up from his comfortable slouch, Al-Haitham then reaches back into the box to dig for something else. The sound of metal clinking together makes your heart skip a beat and you anxiously fidget there on the floor while he pulls out a long, complicated string of chains that all seem to connect in the same spot. 

Having no idea what to make of it, you blithely glance up at him in question. 

“This is to help you stay in position. Think of it like a training aide.” 

Evidently that’s all the explanation you’re going to get and you swallow hard, nearly choking on your nerves, when he leans down again. With a simple gesture of his hand, Al-Haitham secures the topmost latch to the front of your collar. The links are slight enough that it doesn’t add much additional weight to your neck, which you’re rather grateful for, but you can tell that they’re still sturdy enough not to break easily.

You start to understand what’s happening in a far off, dreamy sort of way when he reaches for one of your hands next. Directing it up to about chest level, he makes quick work of securing the thin cuff on one of the other trailing chains around your wrist to keep it elevated, lest you pull unnecessarily on the collar should you try to bring it back down again. He repeats the process on the other side to leave you in an approximation of the same begging position he’d made you assume last time, and you just let him do it because … you have no idea why. 

By all accounts this should have been setting off every single alarm bell in your head but it just doesn’t. If anything, your fast thrumming excitement only ratchets up another notch to leave you all but vibrating there at his feet. 

And when he finally settles back to take up the last chain, this one longer than all the rest, you immediately recognize what it is. A leash. One that he wraps the excess length around his knuckles before slowly tugging on it to pull you up to your knees. A shuddering moan slips out as you rock forward under the steady guidance of his gentle yet insistent pulling with your hands uselessly restrained in front of your chest. This was so incredibly dehumanizing … 

“Good girl. You look lovely like this.” His mouth faintly curling again, Al-Haitham reaches out his opposite hand to casually flick his finger back and forth over one of your tightly coiled nipples. “Feeling comfortable?” 

Helplessly mewling, you force your sluggish head to bob in agreement. This was too much and yet somehow not nearly enough at the same time. You felt like you were going mad. 

“On the floor then. All the way.” 

Tense and shirking, you slowly ease back to sit on your haunches before carefully leaning forward to brace your arms on the rug. You have to go slow or risk yanking on your collar, and the insidious nature of this set up quickly makes itself known. Not only were you effectively restrained and at his mercy like this, but the short length of the chains forces you down close to the ground to leave your backside pointed up in the air. Completely defenseless and vulnerable. He could have done anything at all to you in this position. 

The thought alone is enough to make you tremble uncontrollably, and you suck in a deeply frazzled breath when you feel him lean over you again. His hand finds your ass to smooth over it before giving you an encouraging pat that only seems to rush straight to your slicking cunt, making you whine low in your throat. What was he going to do to you when the possibilities seemed limitless and each one made you feel that much more desperate than the last? 

You soon get your answer when he silently withdraws his palm only to bring it back down on the meat of your backside in a stinging, hard handed swat. The suddenness of the slap shocks you more than the actual sharp burst of pain does, and you rock forward with a startled squeak. But he’s quick to do it again, targeting the other cheek this time, to make you mewl and fitfully squirm on the floor. 

“Don’t move.” He warns, giving the now aching skin a mean squeeze. “I’m just going to get you warmed up first before the main event, but if you decide not to be good for me I’ll have to really punish you. Surely you don’t want that, do you?” 

Half delirious, you slowly shake your head and the resulting clink of the chains rattling with the motion further highlights your position here. Even if you’d wanted to fight it there was nothing you could do with your hands secured as they were, nowhere for you to run when you were stark naked and effectively trapped in his home. All you can do is kneel there and take it, feeling your ass jolt in the air when he brings his hand down again to spank across your sit spots in rapid succession before focusing back in on the fattest part of your behind. 

What was initially a briefly sharp starburst of pain quickly morphs into a constant, throbbing sting that seems to spread across your whole backside while he peppers back and forth between your cheeks over the next some odd minutes. It seems to stretch on for an eternity but, logically, you knew it must have only lasted for a short while. Just enough to warm up the skin and leave it tender in the wake of his hand. That’s what he’d said, anyway. 

And you’re so far gone in the hazy stupor you’d slipped into that you couldn’t even fully grasp just how humiliating this really was. Being forced into such a position with your ass shamelessly presented for him to do whatever he liked and yet he chose to spank you. You’d probably be furious with him later on, and rightfully so, but in this particular moment the only thing you can bring yourself to care about is how turned on it was making you. 

The single other instance you could recall where you’d been quite this worked up was the last time you and him had played this game, sequestered away in the relative privacy of the Grand Sage’s office. Never before and never since. 

Here you had real privacy though and a much smaller chance of discovery, particularly if what he’d said about his mysterious roommate being out for the night was true. And it’s clear Al-Haitham plans to take full advantage of the freedom allotted to him by doing this in his own home, because no sooner does he finally pull his hand from your throbbing ass do you feel his fingers descend upon your cunt. 

Yelping a mindless sound of startled delight, you eagerly arch your spine and rear back on his hand in humble supplication for more. He laughs a low, rumbling sound at the display even as the rough pads of his fingertips skirt down the seam of your labia to rub sedate circles over your clit. The gesture quickly makes you realize exactly how soaked you are with copious arousal when he smears it across your pussy lips in the process, making an even bigger mess of you. 

Bless the gods, but you were going to cum in record time. 

“I wish you could see yourself right now, trembling like that with my handprints all over your ass. If it weren’t for your usual attitude I’d even say you look like you were made for this. Do you enjoy it when I touch you here?” 

You let out a needy, faltering groan and jerk your head in a quick nod, making the chains jostle again. 

“Then let me hear you, darling girl. Speak.” 

It’s a real struggle to think clearly when he was still intently drawing his fingers over that sensitive pleasure button but your cotton stuffed head somehow manages to parse what he was asking of you. It was the same as last time. The same ‘trick’ he’d taught you in his office. The memory of idiotically barking like a dog had kept you awake many a night since, and not for the reasons you would have liked … 

You absolutely hate how much it excites you, your cheeks flushing incomprehensibly hotter even as you hang your head low and force out a weak, “Wh - woof!” 

“Oh? Is this not to your liking? My apologies then. Perhaps you want it here instead?” Abandoning your clit, Al-Haitham trails his fingers further up to your entrance where he quickly sinks one of those sinuously long digits into your cunt, forcing the inner sleeve of your body to stretch open around him. 

Stiffly lurching at the unexpected penetration and the jolt of friction that comes with it, you desperately ball your hands into tight fists against the rug in an attempt to ground yourself. “Woof! Woof wh - oof! Ahhn!” 

“Mmm, pretty sounds for a pretty girl. And so tight too. Don’t tell me you haven’t been playing with yourself at all since our last session? Too embarrassed or … were you just waiting for me to be the one to play with this needy little pussy for you?” 

You try to bark again, knowing he was likely to stop if you didn’t, but you can’t quite seem to find enough oxygen to do so. Your lungs were constricting much too tight with the short, labored gasps you rapidly suck in as the tension inside your cunt dizzyingly swells to near discomfort. You were beyond soaked, and the sticky wet clicks he pulls from your shuddering body when he adds a second finger only attests to that. The obscene schlucking sound that starts up when he begins to fuck you with them seems to echo in the space between your ears, adding to the total onslaught to your senses. All you could do was squeal helpless, dire tinged animal noises into the static charged room while he mercilessly pounds into you from behind. 

“Are you going to cum for me already, sweetheart? Gonna’ squirt all over this carpet just like you did on the one in my office? Huh?” 

He doesn’t give you a chance to respond, neither slowing down nor ceasing his ministrations for even a moment, and your eyes soon begin to roll back when your impending orgasm suffocatingly bears down on you. The building pressure was too much, the deliberate jabs of his fingers far too concentrated on that receptive bundle of nerves within you. Your body simply couldn’t take it even as you continue to gush excessively around the intrusion, and then all at once the scales seem to tip. 

You cum with a shuddering jerk, frantically wailing in pleasure when you feel your pussy give out to release a fresh deluge of slick. Screwing your eyes shut, you deliriously ride out the juddering waves of pleasure that sweep over you in a torrent as your squeezing cunt uncontrollably erupts around Al-Haitham’s fingers, having once again expertly coaxed you to this unseemly state. It was like being stretched too thin on such a bone deep level that by the time you finally start to come down from the reeling high another moment later you barely even know who you are anymore. 

All that seems to register in your punchdrunk mind is his unmistakably masculine presence hovering over you, his hand slowly withdrawing from your cunt with a messy wet slurp that makes you sensitively twitch. The smell of him, his taste on the back of your tongue. In retrospect it was no wonder just that one fateful encounter with him had ruined you so irreparably. 

How in the world had you not seen it sooner? He was the singularly most infuriating man you’d ever met, yes, but he was also the only person you’d ever known who seemed to understand you better than you understood yourself. You hadn’t even thought you were capable of squirting before this. Damn him. 

Issuing a groggy groan into the rug, you slowly begin to stir from your semi comatose state. You weren’t sure when exactly you’d pressed your cheek into the floor but you force your head up as primly as you can manage given the circumstances. And still trembling with the lingering remnants of your release, you shoot a cautious look underneath you only to grimace when you spot the telltale wet stains bleeding into the carpet. Unfortunately you’re not allowed much of a chance to recover or find your bearings though, and you give a faint hiss when Al-Haitham nudges your attention up at him with a firm tug to the leash. 

That he still looks frustratingly cool and collected despite everything that had just transpired bothers you a great deal but you stubbornly keep those thoughts to yourself. He was going to get an ear full from you later. The least he could have done was put a towel down instead of purposely embarrassing you like this again! 

“Doing good so far?” Luckily he seems to take your nod at face value, and he reaches out to brush a bit of hair away from your face with an unexpectedly tender stroke of his hand. “Good. I’ve got something else for you, if you feel up to it.” 

Rousing from your hazy delirium a bit more, you somewhat roughly clear your throat after not using your voice for so long before venturing to speak. “I know I’m supposed to be playing a role here but I have to ask. When exactly did you find the time to plan all of this? You seem suspiciously well prepared.” 

“It’s not so much that I planned it, but rather I simply followed through on an idea that already existed.” He says, earning a skeptical lift of your brow, and he quietly clicks his tongue when he realizes he’s going to have to offer up a better explanation than that. “You seem to remember everything else I said the last time so I’m surprised you don’t recall this. I told you if I’d had some warning beforehand I would have purchased a few things in advance. Well, I decided that I wouldn’t be caught unawares again. If you came to me I  wanted to be ready.”

“The collar.” You murmur, idly reaching up to touch it with a brief rattle of the connecting chain. “You did say that, didn’t you? What else do you have in there?” 

“Want to find out?” 

Shooting him a wary glance, you consider your options here. It sounded like he’d let you go if that was what you wanted after already having gotten off once, which was unexpectedly conscientious of him, but … were you really satisfied with just that? You’d thought about this almost nonstop for weeks and now that you were in front of him, collared and kneeling at his feet, you weren’t so sure you were ready to call it a night just yet. 

Besides, he still hadn’t made any attempt to see to his own needs and the low simmering pulse in your cunt hadn’t been fully satiated. Perhaps if you played along a little longer he’d stretch you out and stuff you full with something hopefully a bit more substantial than his fingers. A girl could certainly hope, at least. 

“Alright. I’m listening.”

“That's a good pet.” He murmurs, sticking his hand out to lightly palm over your head and you don’t stop long enough to reconsider it before nuzzling into the gesture with a soft purr. It seemed your earlier impression was correct. As long as he kept praising you, you’d do anything he wanted. 

Pulling back, Al-Haitham directs his attention back around to the contents of the box again. You listen to him dig for something, wondering how many items he’d actually purchased for the sake of being prepared, but you can’t quite see what he finally pulls out from your position on the floor. Even when you try to crane your neck up for a quick look the only thing you can make out is him fiddling with something. 

“This might be a bit cold at first.” He warns. 

That’s all the notice you get before he leans over you, hand stretching out on a sure and steady trajectory towards your backside, and you outright squawk when you feel him smear something sticky over your asshole. He does it so casually, such idle surety in the motion, that it sends your heart shooting up into your throat. 

Mewling a soft sound of confusion, you shudderingly try to twist around on the floor to see what he’s doing but he just follows you when you angle away. His ministrations don’t even falter while he continues to smear that mysterious wet goop over your puckered hole to thoroughly coat you in it, your uncertainty growing by the second when understanding starts to dawn. 

Surely he wasn’t — 

“Don’t tense up. You need to relax.” He murmurs, slowly rubbing over your ass with concentrated strokes now to encourage the muscle to loosen. 

Oh, he most certainly was. 

“W - w - wha - -“ 

“No words now, pretty girl. Unless it’s to tell me to stop and that you don’t want to do this anymore, I’m not interested in hearing it. You’re going to be a good pet for me, aren’t you?” 

Whimpering, you screw your eyes shut and try to focus on your breathing. That was easier said than done though, of course. You weren’t used to being touched like this and the prospect of having something inserted up your ass makes you far more nervous than anything else he’s done to you this evening. But it’s clear that was what he’s working his way up to, especially when he starts to carefully prod at the center wrinkle where the tight muscle begins to slacken and give way. He only taunts you with it though, never quite fully slipping his finger inside to penetrate you, and instead he focuses on merely teasing around the interior rim. 

You quickly realize he’s making sure you’re as well coated with that slippery lubricant on the inside as you are on the outside, and it becomes that much harder to keep your head on straight. 

Positively squirming when he at last pulls away some time later to leave your asshole sticky and loosened, you seethe into the rug while you listen to him dig something else out of the box. You have a few guesses in mind, naturally, but nothing quite prepares you for when you crack your eyes open at his behest only to find him dangling a long, fluffy tail in front of your face. 

Attached to the other end is what you can safely assume to be a plug based off the smooth, rounded tip that widens out into a bulbous base before then narrowing down to a thinner stem. The faux fur appendage dangles tauntingly from the bottom of it, and you softly groan at the full bodied shudder that tears through you. He really was going to put that thing inside your body. 

“Take a deep breath for me and let it out slowly. That’s it. Again. Such a good girl you’re being. I want you to focus on relaxing into it and bear down when I tell you to, alright?” 

At your faltering nod of understanding, in far too deep to back out now, Al-Haitham scoots to the very edge of the sofa and leans over you again. Using one hand to spread your sore cheeks open, he brings the plug close with the opposite to gently touch you with it. You jolt at the contact like he’d electrocuted you but quickly still again with an anxious little sob. Helpless to do anything else, you just kneel there at his feet and accept what’s happening while he lazily draws the toy through the excess lubricant he’d smeared all over you. 

When he finally starts to push in on the slackened pucker after another drawn out moment you go stockstill at the unfamiliar pressure, gasping roughly into the carpet. He softly tuts at you, encouraging you to calm down with soft words of praise, but it’s hard. Almost impossible when this was completely foreign to you and the slow stretch of yet untested muscle seems so debilitatingly sharp even in your punchdrunk state that you don’t know what to make of it. 

It doesn’t hurt though, you’re quite relieved to find. Just uncomfortable and more than a little strange, particularly when you could feel your asshole slowly losing the fight. There was too much lube for you to reject it and keep him out, the plug sufficiently smooth to make the penetration more of an easy glide than you’d expected it to be. In tortuous slow motion, he makes you take one millimeter at a time until your hole is stretched wide around the thickest part before gradually pulling back to repeat the process. 

Again and again, he makes your body open up to him before at last issuing the command for you to push. You almost don’t do it, unsure if you even could when the once tight ring of muscle felt so horribly strained, but with a low groan you comply. At the same time you bear down on the intrusion he gives it a quick push, and all at once the whole thing slips inside you straight down to the base. You rock forward with a haggard gasp, mindlessly jutting your ass up in the air as you weakly squeeze around the narrow stem only to realize that it was already too late. 

The toy was firmly wedged inside you now and taking up space that only seems to highlight how very empty your pussy is. He pulls back to admire his handiwork, letting the long tail settle against your soaked cunt with a faint brush of the fur. Trembling almost violently, you dig your toes into the rug and nudge your pelvis up as if you were little more than a bitch begging to be mounted. 

You really didn’t want to think about how apt that comparison actually was right now. 

“Just look at you, darling girl. I can tell how much you’re enjoying this from here,” He says, breaking through the delirium just enough for you to pick up on the vague note of satisfied awe creeping into his voice. Like he couldn’t believe you’d really allowed this to go so far, or maybe he was just finally starting to notice the effect this was having on his own body. It was hard to say with him. 

Groaning fitfully, you press your hot face into the ornate rug and give your ass a brief, supplicating shake. The tail shifts with the motion where it dangles down between your legs, brushing your pussy just so, but it’s not nearly enough to feel good. If anything it just makes you more desperate for his attention, his hand, his cock. Whatever he wanted to give you would have sufficed.

But of course Al-Haitham doesn’t relent and give you what you want. He never does, not directly anyway, and you seethe through your teeth when you feel him stand up from the sofa to loom over you. 

“Sit for me.” 

Blinking through the disorienting fog, you gingerly comply. Push up onto your forearms and get your knees adjusted under you before slowly sitting upright even when you dizzily sway with the motion. The change in position seems to make the plug feel even bigger where it’s keeping your ass stretched open around its width, and you faintly groan at the sensation. 

Al-Haitham is as unreasonable and demanding as ever though, and he barely allows you enough time to get situated in front of him before issuing his next command. “Good. Now beg.” 

The mere thought of assuming that position again makes you wince, your body already a mess of aches and pains, and throbbing arousal, but you comply with this too. It takes a bit of effort on your part to get your legs to cooperate but you eventually manage, somehow. 

And once you’re squatted before him, precariously balancing on your toes with your hands securely fastened up by your chest, you look to him for his next order. You no longer have any wherewithal left to feel at all embarrassed or ashamed of having your cunt on display like this, nor do you have it in you to second guess any of it. All you knew with certainty was that you were drowning in it, this hazy feeling of absolution that seemed to rend you to pieces and mend you back together again in the same breath. Perhaps it was a bit fatalistic, yes, but you’d never felt quite so sexually satisfied in all your life. 

Especially when he smiles, pinning you with one of those exceedingly rare, genuine little tugs of his mouth to indicate that he was pleased with you. It’s fleeting and short lived but you don’t miss it by a long shot as he proceeds to gently pull on your leash to make sure he’s got your attention.  

“Wag for me, pretty girl? Think you can do that?” 

You don’t stop to rethink this either. You just do it, struggling to shake your ass in this awkward balancing act to feel the tail swishing back and forth on the floor underneath you. It’s humiliating and dehumanizing in equal measure, but you would have gladly done that and so much more just to earn another doting pet of his hand, another soft word from his mouth. 

Al-Haitham had awakened something inside you that day in his office, and now you were his responsibility. For better or worse, he was your master and you his obedient, loyal pet.

⭐

Crossposted: here

[scribblestatic]

Eyo, back on my amputee!SY agenda bullshit

Lesgo.

Prev: Part 2

---

When Luo Binghe married Shen Yuan, he was named the First Husband. But now, with his new crowning, he'll become the Empress, a position given to none of Luo Binghe's wives, not even in PIDW. Though, he's already come to terms with the fact the world isn't the same as the book.

Mostly. It's still perhaps a bit too easy for him to suggest torture for someone despite his modern world sensibilities because it's easier to think of anyone facing against his husband (AAAAAAAAAA) as some no-name NPC rather than someone with a whole life full of experiences.

But anyway, he's becoming an empress. Which is wild to him.

And it dusts up a lot of his insecurities. And not, like, the kind where someone asks their significant other if they would still love them if they were a worm. No, it's more along the lines of, "Hey, would you still love me if it turned out my soul wasn't transmigrated at all, but was simply, like, disconnected from itself and I really am Shen Jiu, but I also lived as and firmly feel like I'm Shen Yuan, but some piece of me really had done all those terrible things to make your innocent life more miserable?"

He pops the question while Binghe's combing oil through his hair, his left eye gazing anxiously at the bronze mirror to look at the demon emperor's expression.

Luo Binghe thinks, humming a little as he doesn't falter while combing his hair.

"...Would Shizun love me if I killed some of my wives?"

"Huh?"

"Would A'Yuan love me if I killed some of my wives?"

"I mean...sure? I'm sure you'd have a reason for it."

"Then, would A'Yuan hate me if I killed and ate demons in the Endless Abyss?"

"What? No. Survival was extremely difficult. You only did what you had to do."

"And if I still had a taste for demon flesh?"

Shen Yuan's face scrunches, but his response is still immediate.

"Then, I suppose we could find which ones you liked? I mean, I don't think I could do it with you, and we'd need to respect their personhood. So, maybe we could find a group where cannibalism is a norm for them? I think that'd be difficult...ah! We could also see if the Red-Dipped Manfruit could be bred to taste like the demon's flesh. Demons that eat humans use it for minor sustenance when natural human flesh isn't available, so surely--"

Ah, his expression had scrunched more with thought than disgust. Luo Binghe doesn't interrupt as he goes on his continued tangent, smiling as he listens. He only speaks again after he seems to be trailing to another subject.

"Then," he pauses, leaning forward and looking down at Shen Yuan, "if A'Yuan can love this one as I am, even at my ugliest, how could this emperor not love my A'Yuan at his most beautiful?"

Shen Yuan stares up at him, his lips slightly open as he listens, as he sees the depths of the light and love in Binghe's dark eyes.

"Even if you are Shen Jiu, back then, this disciple wanted the affection you now freely give. I have always cared for and about you, for better or worse. And your attention was always on me, for better or worse. This Binghe likes to think that, now, we care for each other, not just for the better, but for the best."

"Ah..."

Shen Yuan stares up a bit longer before he quickly turns away. Binghe puts the comb down as he hears a sniffle, and when he kneels beside his seat, he pushes the long, inky black hair away from Shen Yuan's eye, catching sight of his ruddy cheeks and the mistiness in his eye.

"...Shameless."

"Indeed, I am. A'Yuan should punish me."

He just shakes his head, and he doesn't lean away when Binghe leans forward and kisses his lips. They linger softly, pulling apart slowly as they share each other's breathes. Their faces remain too close for them to see each other properly, lips still just barely touching.

"...Then, I'll only kiss you two more times," Shen Yuan mumbles.

Luo Binghe chuckles.

"How cruel."

They only remember to get back to combing Shen Yuan's hair several minutes later.

--

The remains of Cang Qiong Mountain Sect had not been invited to Shen Yuan's crowning ceremony, but they still heard of it happening regardless.

Demons, previously unaccustomed to some of the more casual aspects of living with their means more easily available, and humans, always seeking new methods of entertainment, became very entranced with the gossip surrounding Demon Emperor Luo's harem. The fact pieces of it were steadily dissolving had originally been a gripe against him, as though he was losing his touch. However, when some of the wives were members of their own race or species and they returned without harm and with a hefty sum of money, well, the bridges hadn't been burned, and suddenly, "losing his touch" simply became "being less loose" or "finding lasting love."

So now, with the crowning ceremony ramping up, of course the gossip mills were churning at rapid speeds. Eventually, word of who would become empress despite the emperor's known track record of wives was absolutely scandalous.

"His shizun, of all people?"

"The one he had imprisoned, even."

"Must've driven the man mad."

"I don't know... I saw them recently. Shen Qingqiu looked quite sane."

"He has no limbs and is missing an eye, he can't be that sane anymore."

"He certainly wasn't groveling. If anything, he seemed quite untouched. Save for...well..."

"His eye is quite sharp, and he is quick-witted. I don't think he would be bad for an empress."

"The cultivation sects are going to implode."

And, just like the news of the crowning ceremony spread around, so too did the news that Cang Qiong Mountain Sect sent a letter to Demon Emperor Luo, demanding an audience in light of his proposal to a lord from their sect.

It was, to many demons and a few humans, a wasted, and perhaps misguided, effort. Yet, they wouldn't protest against the meeting.

It would be incredibly entertaining, after all.

---

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3: here Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10

Part 11+: links on Part 10

AO3

[kazutora-kurokawa]

Cheater!Bonten!Mikey x Fem Reader

♡ NSFW obviously, Reader is Mikey's assistant and sidepiece, Reader is kind of a homewrecker, Mikey is married to a random woman, long ass fic because this idea was driving me crazy last night, also thinking about making a taglist but I'm not entirely sure ♡

❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀

~I wonder if she knows it ain't your sister that she's sharing all her time with. She may do the cooking and the cleaning, but that's my dick~

❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀

It was a marriage of convenience. She didn't really love him, all she cared about was the power he held in the palm of his hand. At least that's what he told himself. Repeating it in his head like a mantra, as if saying it enough would make it true. But in reality, she did love him. That didn't really matter to him though, not right now. Not with you underneath him, looking so beautiful. Every inch of your body on display for him and only him. You were all his and despite his marriage he was yours.

He didn't plan to cheat on his wife, but there was something about you he just couldn't resist. He hired you as his assistant 5 months ago, but your relationship quickly escalated from professional to romantic. He always seemed distracted when you were around, and you took notice. You weren't the only one though, the Bonten executives could see it too. They felt the tension in the air when you two were in the same room, the sweet tone in his voice when he talked to you, the way his eyes undressed you. They all know about your relationship. They also know to keep quiet about it if they want to stay on his good side.

They couldn't help but feel sorry for his wife though, imagine how heartbroken she'd be if she found out about you. The way he talks to you, the way he looks at you, the way he fucks you. If only she knew how he flaunted you around town. Taking you to the most expensive restaurants, sitting in the VIP sections of Bonten's clubs. And she'd just die of a broken heart if she knew that he's brought you back home and fucked you in the same bed she sleeps in. Filling your pussy with his cum and your head with promises of leaving her and becoming your husband.

He just can't help himself. He's just so... obsessed with you. He doesn't just want you, he needs you. He'd rather die than not be able to feel you gripping his dick with your tight cunt. He loves you more than he'll ever love her, so it's not hard to grasp how truly relieved he is when his wife gets home early from a shopping trip. The clunking of her designer heels stops at the bedroom door. Mikey knows it's over, so he doesn't bother stopping. Why would he when he knows how close you are? Your breath hitches as the doorknob slowly turns and Mikey deepens his thrusts, hitting every spot you like. There she is, his poor, heartbroken wife. She drops the bags she was holding in shock and covers her mouth with her hands. The tears start flowing as he looks over at her. Your hands disconnect from his shoulders, yet his hands still gripped your waist. He seemed annoyed at her presence.

"Manjiro... how could you do this to me?"

He thought for a second before he responded.

"We might be married, but I'm not obligated to stay faithful to you. Especially when I'm not even in love with you."

She looked at him in disbelief, then at you. You looked away, not because you felt ashamed for sleeping with her husband, but because of the secondhand embarrassment you got from her crying. She turned around, stumbling out of the room and out of the house. Mikey looked away from the doorway and down at you. He leaned down and kissed your forehead before whispering in your ear.

"Now I'm all yours."

[sebstanaddict]

The Prettiest Girl

Sebastian Stan x Reader One Shot

Summary: When you interview Sebastian Stan but all he wants is to flirt with you 🤭

A/N : I've been wanting to write this for a while. It's just a little something I wrote for fun. Hope it brings a smile to your face 😊

Warning : just pure fluff and maybe A Different Man spoiler although the movie isn't even out yet, so 😆

Word count: 2.9k

My other one shots >

---

Soho, New York - November 11th 2023 - 3.50 pm

—

Millions of soft icy particles fell from the heavens down to the earth on that fateful Saturday afternoon in Soho, New York. They covered everything from trees, buildings, pavements and the top of people's heads. Some had stuck on one particular window of an apartment and created beautiful patterns.

Y/n looked out the window and smiled. It had been snowing all day and it didn't look like it was going to stop soon. Everything looked white and the atmosphere felt serene and beautiful. Despite the cold she had always loved looking at snow and playing with them. She couldn’t wait to go out and make some snow men at the nearest park once the snow had stopped falling. But now she had a job to do.

She sat at her working corner in her bedroom and turned the laptop on. Moments later she opened the zoom application and started setting up her webcam so it showed her clearly with one of the walls in her bedroom as the background. She tidied her hair a little and fixed her white buttoned up blouse so that she looked presentable. Satisfied with how she looked, she entered the empty virtual room in the zoom application.

Her heart rate started to rise as she looked at her laptop screen. As a senior editor at one of the world’s top entertainment media, she was used to interviewing many celebrities. But that afternoon she was scheduled to interview the Hollywood A List actor and Marvel star Sebastian Stan, someone whom she had been in love with for quite some time. Despite having worked at the entertainment media for ten years, it was the first time she got the chance to interview Sebastian and she couldn’t help but feel very nervous about it.

She picked up the paper which had a list of questions she was going to ask him as well as some facts about his upcoming movie. Yes, one of the reasons for the interview was for him to promote the new movie. She had seen the movie and it was quite an interesting movie. She couldn’t wait to hear from him more about it.

She was re-reading the third question when the screen in front of her flickered and Sebastian’s face was shown on the screen.

“Hello!” Sebastian smiled wide and greeted her, making butterflies fly around in her stomach. How could someone look so gorgeous? She pondered as she stared at the screen and admired his beautiful face. Sebastian had let his hair grow but not that much. It was short but fluffy at the top. He had a very light layer of stubble like he just shaved yesterday. But of course it was his ocean blue eyes that mesmerized her the most.

“Hello Y/n.. earth to Y/n. Can you see me? Can you hear me?” Sebastian asked and she blinked several times, finally snapping out of being drowned in his gorgeous eyes.

“Yeah, yeah, I can see you. I can hear you. Sorry.” She blushed as he smiled again at her.

“Oh okay, that’s good. I'm sorry but I'm currently traveling and I'm stuck in traffic right now. So if I get disconnected or something it's ‘cause I'm on the road.” He said as he turned his camera around making her see that he was in a car.

“Oh okay. You know if it's a bad time, we can do this later.” She suggested.

“Oh no, it's okay. I mean as long as it's not two hours long. You know.” He chuckled.

“Oh of course not. Depending on your answers this could take half an hour to an hour at most.” She replied.

“Alright. I'll try to keep my answers short.” He said.

“Well, if you need to elaborate please feel free to do that.”

“Yeah.. yeah.. of course.” He smiled and for a second she could see like he was really seeing her for the first time.

“You look great by the way.” He winked and she felt like her heart leapt out of her chest.

“Uh.. thank you.You look great yourself.” She blushed yet again that she was sure she looked as red as a tomato.

“Oh, thank you.. “ He smiled shyly and she could see that he was blushing too. She loved how he could sometimes be uncomfortable when people compliment him. It was so endearing to her.

“Anyway, how are you? How is Atlanta?” she asked. As it happened, Sebastian was in Atlanta to shoot the next Marvel movie.

“I’m good, thanks. Atlanta is, well, it’s been cold but not that cold. We’ve been shooting indoors a lot with wires and stuff. It’s been hard and exhausting. But, you know, I shouldn’t complain. I really shouldn’t. It’s been great fun.” He replied.

“Can you tell me if Anthony is there?” she asked with a small smile on her lips.

“You know I can’t tell you that. I signed an NDA! I can’t.” He chuckled.

“But.. maybe off the record I can tell you. Later on.” He winked again and she felt butterflies yet again. She couldn’t believe how flirty he was to her.

“Okay, anyway, are you ready?” She asked.

“Yes, of course. Go on.” He smiled and she felt butterflies again in her stomach. Maybe this was a bad idea. She thought as she tried to compose herself.

“Good afternoon, Sebastian.” She finally greeted him after hitting the record button and smiled at him.

“Good afternoon!” He answered, smiling wide at her.

“Thank you for doing this for us and giving your time amidst your busy shooting schedule.” She said.

“Oh no, thank you for allowing me to do this.” He said and she nodded.

“So, Sebastian, you have a new movie releasing soon called A Different Man, directed by Aaron Schimberg starring yourself, the Norwegian break out actress Renate Reinsve and the British actor Adam Pearson.” She said and this time he nodded.

“I had the privilege to see it yesterday thanks to you and the director Aaron, and I must say that it is a very interesting and out of the box movie. Could you tell me how you got involved with it?” She asked.

“Oh yeah. My agent sent me the script and I think it was such an interesting script. I mean, it’s very rare to see movies with this subject matter. The director Aaron had done another movie before this called Chained For Life that had a similar subject matter. In that movie he also cast Adam. And I watched the movie and I fell in love with it. The way Aaron told the story was very unique. I haven’t seen anything like it in a long while. And yeah, I thought that the movie was something that I would love to be involved in.”

“Aside from being the main actor, you are also a producer in this movie. Is that correct?”

“Yeah I am. It’s the first movie I ever produced.”

“What made you decide to be involved not just as an actor? But also as a producer?”

“Well, I’ve been thinking about producing for a while but never got anything I was excited about until this one came. Aaron needed some help and seeing his talent and his previous work I decided to jump into it and help him out.”

“I see. So, in this movie, you play someone with neurofibromatosis, and you had to change your face completely. How did it feel to be under all those prosthetics and looking in the mirror and saw a completely different version of you?”

“It felt surreal of course. It took a long long time to get the prosthetics on correctly the first time. I think it took almost a whole day. But then they figured it out and the next day I basically just had to put on like a mask and then they added some more stuff on my face to blend it in.”

“Oh, that’s really interesting. I’m sure it helped a lot in your performance looking completely different.”

“Yeah, yeah. It helped a lot in that I just needed to look in the mirror and just like that I felt like a completely different person.” He said as he snapped his fingers.

“And it showed. Being someone who have seen your work a lot over the years, I must say you have done the best job of your career.”

“Oh my gosh. That’s.. really?” He asked, his face reddened and he put one hand on the side of his face.

“Yeah. Really. It was your best work in my opinion and I wouldn’t be surprised if you get an Oscar nomination for it. I really wouldn’t.” She smiled.

“That’s.. wow.. it means a lot, coming from you. Really.” He smiled and she couldn’t help but blush again. She couldn't believe he would say something like that.

“Umm.. yeah. Anyway, could you tell me how Adam and Renate got involved?” She asked, deciding to ignore what he said. She was just going to cut that part out and pretended he never said it.

“Oh yeah, with Adam it was a no brainer really. Aaron had cast him even before I got involved. Adam was actually involved waaay before I did. As for Renate. I had seen her movie The Worst Person In The World and I loved her performance in it. It was so real and raw. I knew when I read the script I wanted someone like her to play Ingrid. So I suggested her to Aaron and he agreed and I sought her out and well, the rest is history.”

“I can see why you wanted her to play Ingrid.”

“Yeah, she possesses this instinct as an actor that I haven't seen in a while. It was really a pleasure to work with someone who can keep up with you and even challenge you in their own way. You know. It was very rewarding as an actor to be able to work with someone like her. She was really something else. Kind of like you.” He winked.

“Excuse me?” She couldn't believe what she was hearing.

“Yeah.. I'm sorry but.. umm.. I really have to say this. I have never seen any girl looking as pretty as you are, especially when you blush. You’re quite literally the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen.” He said and her heart seemed to leap out of her chest as she heard him. Once again she couldn’t believe how flirty he was to her!

“Oh stop it, Sebastian. I will definitely edit this out.” She chuckled as her face continued to redden.

“Oh no, don’t. I want people to see that.” he teased again.

“But that has nothing to do with the interview so I will definitely edit it out.” she insisted.

“Fine, I’m just gonna repeat it along the way, on the record and off the record, later on.” he winked and she just shook her head.

“Okay, back to the topic of your movie.”

“You’re so serious. I like that about you.” He teased her again and she felt herself blush yet again.

“There it is.. the blush. I love it.” He chuckled.

“Sebastian, please.”

“Please what, Y/n?” he asked as his voice suddenly changed to be huskier, as much as she didn’t believe it.

“Please stop flirting with me. I’m trying to do my job.” she protested.

“I'm sorry. I'm being really unprofessional aren't I?” He sighed and she nodded.

“Okay, I'm sorry. I'll try to be more professional as long as you promise me something.”

“Okay.. promise you what?”

“That you'll go out with me.”

Her heart seemed to stop as she heard him. This couldn't be happening, she thought in disbelief.

“You're in Atlanta and I'm in New York. How are we going to do it?” She asked, suddenly feeling courageous enough to tease him back about it because she was certain he was just joking with her for whatever reason.

“You know I go back to New York every weekend. So, we can go this weekend!” He said excitedly.

“Okay. Sure. I need to ask my husband's permission first though.” She said as an idea popped into her head and his eyes widened.

“Your husband's permission? I should have known someone as gorgeous as you is already taken. I'm too late aren't I?” He said dejectedly and she couldn't help but chuckle. He looked so cute pouting like that.

“Well.. yeah. You are too late. I'm sorry. But, he's quite an open minded person so maybe I can ask him.“ she said teasingly.

“Oh good! Where is your husband? Let me ask him myself.” He challenged.

“Wait here.” She chuckled and she stood up. She went to her bed and picked up a life size human shaped pillow with Sebastian's face on it then brought it back to her working desk.

“There he is. Sebastian say hello to pillow!Sebastian.” She said, showing the pillow to the webcam and the real Sebastian on the screen threw his head back and laughed.

“Oh my God! Hello pillow!Sebastian! I would like to ask for your permission to ask your beautiful wife out, please. I can't stand looking at her being so pretty like that. I must have her. Please. Could you do me a favor and divorce her?” He asked and she laughed.

“He said over his dead body.” She replied after her laughter subsided and he pouted again, making her laugh again.

“Hey pillow!Sebastian, I literally bought you for her and now you have the audacity to steal her from me?! Unbelievable!” He protested.

“He's sorry but he said he loves me and he can't divorce me.” She teased him again and he pouted yet again.

“Sweetheart, listen to me. I can’t do this and sit here miles away from you when you look so amazingly beautiful like that just teasing me with your pretty face. You have no idea what I'm imagining right now.” He said, gazing at her with eyes full of love and dare she said it, lust.

“Oh, what are you imagining?” she asked. Despite knowing this was very unprofessional of him, she couldn't help but be curious about it.

“I'm imagining being there with you and placing my hands on the sides of your face and just.. kiss that pretty lips of yours.” he said slowly, his voice low and husky.

She shivered as she listened to him and felt butterflies again in her stomach.

“I miss you, sweetheart.” He continued, staring at her with longing and she smiled.

“I miss you too, Iubirea mea.” she replied, making him smile.

“There it is. I love when you call me that.” He smiled.

“I love calling you that too.” She smiled.

“So, go out with me this weekend?” He asked and she of course couldn't answer with anything else.

“Sure. I'd love to go out with you, my darling husband.” She winked and he laughed.

“Glad to hear that my lovely wife.” he replied making her smile.

Just then his camera shook and he turned to the side.

“Oh, great! We're here!” He said excitedly.

“Sorry, I have to go, sweetheart.” He turned to her.

“Oh okay. Yeah. I'll talk to you later?” She asked.

“Wait.” He said as the camera continued to shake. She could hear the sound of a car door opening and closing and then the camera turned to show the sky as Sebastian continued to move.

“Seb? Sebastian?” She called out.

It seemed he didn't hear her as his phone's camera continued to shoot at the sky and then it showed a ceiling as Sebastian seemed to be entering a building. She studied the ceiling and thought that it looked familiar. Then it seemed like he was entering an elevator. A familiar ding could be heard as the elevator stopped and Sebastian got out of it. She continued to watch with a smile on her face as Sebastian seemed to be walking. Then he stopped and turned his phone's camera back on his face.

“Sweetheart. There's a surprise for you at the door.” He said with a twinkle in his eyes.

She laughed and immediately ran out of her room and towards the front door. She opened it wide and there he was, Sebastian Stan, staring at her like he saw the sun for the first time.

“Hi.” He smiled as he switched his cellphone off and put it in his pocket.

“Hi.” She smiled back, her heart beating so fast in her chest.

“I was right.” He said as he walked slowly closer to her.

“About what?” She asked, feeling like she was going to faint seeing him so close to her.

“You are.. literally.. the prettiest girl.. I've ever seen.” He smiled as he gently placed both hands on the sides of her face and gazed at her with longing.

“Oh shut up and just kiss me.” She said and he laughed.

And with that he pulled her closer to him and gently kissed her lips, causing fireworks to explode in her chest. She pulled him into her apartment and closed the door behind him as her plans obviously changed that afternoon. Interviews can wait. Snow men can wait. At that moment all she wanted was to be with him. Sebastian Stan. The love of her life.

[chiriwritesstuff]

'Love, Joel'- a 'The Girl in IT' Companion Piece - Pt. 1 - 'The Tornado Watch'

A Boss! Joel Miller x IT Specialist F! Reader AU

Chapter Rating: T

Chapter Preview: "Joel?" your voice calls out, followed by a knock on his window. "What the hell are you doing here? The news issued a tornado watch. You shouldn't be here," you say, frowning. Despite your concern, Joel can't help but smile at the sight of you. Your hair is tied into a messy bun on the top of your head, and your oversized sleep shirt falls off one shoulder. If you weren't frowning at him, he swears the mere sight of you would knock him off his feet. His hands itch to reach out to you, pulling you into his truck so he can kiss that frown off of your face, wishing you a good morning. He imagines his fingertips grazing the skin of your bared shoulder, pressing a kiss on your skin as your head tilts in pleasure-

Chapter Warnings and Tags: Strong language, Joel is an idiot who disregards weather warnings, please be smart and shelter if caught in a tornado warning!, no beta we die like men!

Word Count: 2K

A/N: ... and here it is! Part 1 of my 500 Follower Celebration, 'Love, Joel'- a look behind the 10 years of Joel's pining for our favorite girl in IT, Sugar. I thought it would be really fun to see what happened in the span of those 10 years, where Joel worked his ass off trying to feel worthy of our girl! Thank you so much for all of the love and support you all have given me and this little fic of mine, words can't describe just how much it all means to me!

Remember when Sugar asked Joel about the moment he realized he was in love with her and he mentioned something about a Tornado Watch? This is that story.

The National Weather Service in Austin/San Antonio has issued a Tornado Watch for Travis County until 5pm... please do not attempt to leave and find shelter-

"Dad, are you serious?" Sarah's voice echoes through the phone in disbelief. "The entire campus is on lockdown, and I'm stuck in a basement with 50 other panicked girls. Why in the world are you heading to work?"

"The weather lady mentioned it's just a tornado watch, not a warning," Joel defends.

Sarah sighs on the other end of the line. "I really think you should turn around and head back home, you know, like a rational human being."

"Can't do that. The project is already behind, and I can't afford for it to fall even further behind. Plus, I owe Tommy money for all the overtime he's been putting in," Joel explains, a touch of frustration evident in his voice. "I'm already in hot water with the client as it is. You know how it is, baby girl."

"I'm pretty sure this client of yours is sitting comfortably in their own shelter in that big house of theirs. The actual nerve—"

"Sarah, I get it, okay? The moment it escalates to a warning, I'll come down from the roof and join them in that cushy shelter, okay?" Joel reassures, attempting to ease Sarah's concerns.

"Promise?" she asks softly, and Joel envisions the hint of a frown in her voice. "Or else I won't come home over the weekend."

"You're going to come back home this weekend?" Joel's spirits lift, a grin playing on his face as he heads towards the job site.

"Promise me, Dad!"

"Cross my heart," he assures, turning into the driveway. "Need a ride, or you're good to make it back yourself?"

"I think I can handle an hour drive." She replies with a small chuckle. "I don't have a good feeling about this, but be safe, okay? I love you."

"Love you too, baby girl. Go shelter with the other girls now, ok?"

"Ok dad, bye."

"Bye," he says absentmindedly, the phone already disconnected after Sarah hangs up.

Joel turns off the ignition, a deep sigh escaping from his chest. He gazes into the distance, the burden of the tornado watch weighing heavily on him. He should be at home right now, preparing by filling water bottles, checking for enough batteries for lanterns and flashlights, tuning into the television for weather updates, and patiently waiting out the storm.  

Instead, echoes of his client's disappointed voice from yesterday's confrontation linger in Joel's mind, questioning why a 'simple roof repair' is stretching beyond the agreed-upon month.

"I paid you good money and took a chance on you, and you can't even deliver..."

What haunts him more is the image of you in the background, concern etched across your face.

"Dad, you can't blame him for the crappy weather we've been having! Of course, the project would be delayed," you try to reason, awkwardly placing a hand on your father's shoulder in an attempt to soothe his frustration.

"Is it your money that's paying for your mistake?" your father snaps back, shrugging off your hand. "Or do we need to revisit why you thought mounting an antenna on the roof was a brilliant idea? Who do you think you are, concerning yourself in an adult conversation?" he chides, crossing his arms. "Go back inside and help your mother with breakfast!"

Offering Joel a weak smile, you nod, turning back towards the house. Joel smiles back, the sight of your concerned face pulling at his heartstrings. His hands itch to push the errant stray hair away from your face, his hands grazing the softness of your skin spanning across your face-

"Well? What are you doing just standing there?" your father snaps. "Don't you have a roof to fix?"

Just a few more days, Joel. You can do this, he reassures himself. He idles in the car for a bit, observing the darkening grey sky.  At least Sugar should be home, maybe she'll keep me company...

"Joel?" your voice calls out, followed by a knock on his window. "What the hell are you doing here? The news issued a tornado watch. You shouldn't be here," you say, frowning.

Despite your concern, Joel can't help but smile at the sight of you. Your hair is tied into a messy bun on the top of your head, and your oversized sleep shirt falls off one shoulder. If you weren't frowning at him, he swears the mere sight of you would knock him off his feet. His hands itch to reach out to you, pulling you into his truck so he can kiss that frown off of your face, wishing you a good morning. He imagines his fingertips grazing the skin of your bared shoulder, pressing a kiss on your skin as your head tilts in pleasure-

"Hello? Are you even listening to me?" your concerned voice cuts through his reverie, snapping him back to the present. "Go home, Joel. I'm sure Sarah is worried sick-" you bite your lower lip, your lips wobbling a tiny fraction. "-and I don't want you stuck here if things take a turn for the worse," you insist, a hint of worry in your eyes. 

Joel opens his truck door, shaking his head. "No can do, Sugar. You heard your dad yesterday; I need to finish this job and get out of y'all's hair. I've already overstayed my welcome." 

"I don't give a fuck what my father says, he's just being difficult as fucking usual. He's already up in arms fussing around about the watch, i'm pretty sure he's not concerned whether or not you'll show up or not," you say defiantly, frustration flushing your face. "I swear, if you don't go home, I'll force you to shelter with me!"

Well, Joel muses, the corner of his mouth rising in a smirk.  Now that's an idea I wouldn't be opposed to-

"I'm a big boy, Sugar. It's just a tornado watch, no need to worry about little ol me, okay?" he smiles, cupping your cheek.  Fuck, her skin is soft-

you lean into his touch, your eyes closing in resignation.  

"Okay Joel," you whisper, your hand meeting his.  "The moment Nancy over at KXAN mutters anything about a tornado warning, I'm climbing up that fucking ladder myself and dragging your ass to shelter, okay?"

Joel gives your face a small squeeze. "Deal."

A few hours later, as Joel continues on working on the roof over your bedroom, you stick your head out of your window, calling out to him. "Joel? The news said that a lightning storm is going to be rolling in soon. I think it's time you should head out-"

Joel stops hammering a shingle, steadying himself as he peers at you from the roof. "I just have a few more shingles to go-"

Your eyes narrow in irritation. "Joel, no. Get your ass off of the roof this instant!"

"Baby-" he breathes, kicking himself for letting the endearment he calls you in his dreams from leaving his lips. "I can't afford to lose this job, your dad is already pissed as it is-"

Your face contorts into something resembling sadness, and if he focuses on your face hard enough, he swears he sees the tears forming on the corner of your eyes. If it were a different time, in a different place, where Sarah's mother's body replaced yours, he would imagine he wouldn't even be having this conversation, having been forced to brave worse conditions before.

"How am I going to expect to survive if you don't go into work?" she would spit, shaking her head and glaring at him as Sarah wails in her booster seat at the table in the background. "It's bad enough that you basically trapped me, do you need to be here to make sure I stay? What's a little lighting storm gonna do to you, huh Joel? We need to eat!"

"Trapped you?!" he replies angrily, his hands clenching, knuckles white. "I didn't force you to stay, it's not like you're happy to be here!" He motions over to Sarah, his eyes narrowing. "Our daughter is crying out for you and you can't even be assed to comfort her!"

"I don't want to do this right now, just go Joel. You think about your attitude while you work in the storm!" she shouts, harshly grabbing Sarah from her seat and slamming their bedroom door.  

It was her cruelty and selfishness that turned Joel off from dating and finding someone else, the weight of her absence proving to be a heavy burden on him as a single father once their divorce was finalized. Sure, there were women, attractions, and occasional one-night stands, but nothing more than that. Joel could count on one hand just how many women, in the last twenty years, had stayed the night, and to be completely honest with himself, it didn't bother him in the least. He had Sarah to raise and raise right, a wayward, careless brother he had to bail out of jail when he drank just a little too much, and a business to run. He didn't have time for casual, and he didn't have the desire for anything long term. Things were going great, even if his business was barely off of the ground and he was starting to slowly swim into the depths of debt. He didn't need to add anyone else into the equation.

And then you came along.

... with your fucking smile and your bright eyes and the way that you laugh - with your entire body - as he cracks a dad joke so bad he could feel Sarah cringing all the way from her college dorm room. How instead of living your life and being a twenty-something doing something fun with friends, you would rather spend your time with him, sitting on the edge of your windowsil asking him about anything and everything, genuninely interested in what he had to say. How you would bravely climb up his ladder even if you shared that you're afraid of heights to pass him a water bottle, concerned about potential heat stroke. He wasn't used to anyone besides Sarah or Tommy fretting over him, he wasn't prepared to be completely overwhelmed by your sudden presence in his life. He wasn't looking for anyone, and yet-

You took his breath away like a hurricane, and he finds himself ready to be swept away by you and you alone.  

"Joel!" you shout suddenly from below him, your foot already on his ladder as you brace yourself, the tears flowing freely down the slopes of your cheeks. "Please, Joel, just come down! It isn't funny anymore!"

"Sugar! just stay down there, let me just finish, it'll only be five more-"

"NO!" you scream, the sight of your tears making him halt in place. "Stop FUCKING AROUND, JOEL!" you cry, shaking your head in defiance.

Joel drops his hammer and quickly jumps on the ladder, skipping a rung as he hurriedly makes his way to you. "I'm coming baby, just hold on!" he yells as he descends, the need of your body in his arms too strong to deny.  

"You fucking idiot!" you shout, practically barreling into him as his feet touch the ground. His arms instinctively wrap around your shaking form, your small fists beating on his chest as you sob into it, your tears soaking flannel. "What were you thinking, risking your life like that? No one is worth you risking your life for some fucking roof!"

Joel cradles your head as he places a soft kiss on your hair, his hand rubbing your back as he tries to settle you.

"You're wrong, you know" he whispers, his eyes closing as he tightens his hold on you harder. "There is someone risking my life for," he breathes, his mind coming into a realization.

I fucking love you, Sugar, he thinks, biting his tongue from saying it out loud as he loses himself in your embrace, wishing that the moment would never end.  I can die right here and die a happy man, he muses.  Just as long as I get to hold you like this. 

One day, he thinks.  One day I'll be able to tell you this out loud.

[randomshyperson]

Messy Hearts - [HS Challenge]

Summary: When your unhealthy habits grow out of control, your girlfriend finally brings you an ultimatum. [Requested]

Warnings: angst with a hopeful ending, explicit mentions of unhealthy coping mechanisms, depression and grieving, end of an established relationship, innuendos at the end but nothing explicit | Words: 1.709k

General Masterlist | Wattpad | AO3 | Holiday Season Masterlist

-&-

A deal is a deal.

So when Wanda arrives home from an exhausting 12-hour mission only to find that you've barely moved from the same place she said goodbye to when she left, there's a broken agreement and irritation exploding in her chest.

The room is dark and stuffy and you haven't even noticed her yet. Completely focused on the electronic game in front of you, which seems to be in full swing judging by the commands you give into the microphone and the rapid movement of your fingers on the controller.

Wanda pulls the curtains open and you squirm like a vampire.

"Jesus Christ, what... Wanda!" But your complaint is completely ignored - your girlfriend makes a simple movement with her fingers and all the wires are disconnected at once, scarlet sparks vanishing into thin air for a moment. With the screen black and the connection interrupted, you let out an indignant exclamation and get to your feet. "W-what? Why?"

She crosses her arms. "Are you serious? Do you even dare to ask? Did you at least drink any water in the last few hours?"

With an indignant grumble, you threw the controller down on the table and glared at her, ignoring her question as you rebutted; "That's so disrespectful of you! I was ranking and now I have to start all over again-"

"Oh, but you won't!" she interrupted in the same tone. "Go eat something and take a shower. We've been over this, Y/N! We have an agreement-"

You huffed, turning your back on her. Wanda saw red and followed you at a brisk pace across the room to the bathroom.

"I don't want to talk to you, just leave." You retorted with your back turned, but as you tried to open the bathroom door, the handle remained stuck and you only had the choice of facing the angry witch behind you.

"Are you really going to act like I'm the wrong one here? After you've been playing non-stop for 12 hours?"

With an annoyed sigh, you cross your arms defensively. "That's not your problem, you're my girlfriend, not my mother."

"Wow." She raises her hands in a defeated but hurt look and you flinch. 

"Wanda, I didn't mean to-"

"No, do whatever you want." She interrupts you, pulling away when you try to touch her. "I'm tired of this. I'm tired of taking care of you when you clearly want to carry on with this  self-destructive lifestyle bullshit you decide for yourself." She turns around suddenly, only to throw the golden ring in your face. You catch the item just before it slips to the floor, and Wanda storms out of the room.

Instead of heading for the bathroom, you return to your chair with an irritated sigh.

Less than ten minutes later, you're back online and the voices of Kate Bishop and Peter Parker are asking you about your sudden disappearance.

"Wanda dumped me again." You comment, that despite holding the control stick, your fingers were twirling the matching ring. 

Kate is the first to speak: "Do you want to know my opinion on the matter or are you going to be grumpy if we take Wanda's side?"

You chuckle briefly, trying to control the urge to cry. No matter how many times this happens, it hurts just the same each one.

"Shoot, Bishop." You grumble.

Your longtime friend pauses as if gathering her courage to speak. "We love you because you're our best friend and all, but honey, Wanda is doing holy work here." Kate comments. "If I had to babysit my girl to make sure Yelena was functioning like a human being, I'd have severe stress problems. But I think I'd do it anyway because I love her and she can always count on me. You know what I'm trying to say, right? Wanda works as a superhero full time and when she should have some peace, she still has to monitor whether her girlfriend is eating. It's not an easy situation, and I think you should try harder for that girl." 

You sighed. "Wow, Kate, you've really made your point now." 

"I love you but you needed to hear this."

Peter murmurs in agreement before adding: "We're here for you, always. Just sort things out with your girl first."

You left the ring on the table, and thanked the other two, muttering that you'd take care of everything before turning off the computer.

But Wanda needed some time to let off steam, so instead of looking for her now, you stopped resisting the urge to sleep.

-&-

The two of you have been through worse. Wanda knew this, just as she knew that there was no place for anyone else in her heart, not really, not in the same way.

You were undeniably the most important person in her life. Her best friend, her teammate. The person who helped her deal with the loss of Pietro, and the person who has stood by her side without hesitation ever since. 

But while you pulled Wanda out of self-destructive grief with surreal ease to create warm moments that made her hopeful again, Wanda failed to do the same for you.

Because your sister Natasha was gone, along with half of the Original Avengers, and with them, a part of you was buried too.

Even if the Tower remained standing, and the compound and the Team, now bearing the title of Young Avengers, had been rebuilt, part of you didn't stand up with them.

And Wanda has tried everything, between the exhausting routine of being one of the few Avengers still active, she kept trying to get you out of your room, feed you, and make sure you didn't join Natasha of your own free will.

It was difficult, but for you, Wanda didn't hesitate to do it at any time.

And yet, perhaps because Thanos stole five years off your maturity, you were still fighting like teenagers. Arguing and throwing rings even though in your hearts, the will was to go on forever.

Wanda couldn't relax after the discussion. She only slept because she was exhausted from work, and was lucky enough to be dismissed the next day. Perhaps Sam already knew about the break-up, she imagined so, from the way he looked at her when he commented that he was going to rearrange the demands among the others.

Then Wanda retired to her own room with a breakfast tray that she barely touched. 

A knock during the fifth episode of the sitcom she chose to watch to distract herself made Wanda look at the door. She wasn't surprised to see you, but she was certainly pleased to realize that you had just stepped out of the shower, and were also carrying a tray with enough lunch for the two of you.

"Hey."

Wanda could be resentful too. Stubborn. She just grumbled back, without smiling. You didn't mind, closing the door with your foot and moving slowly across the room. You left the tray on one of the tables and approached the bed.

"Can we talk?" You ventured. Wanda sighed, without taking her attention away from the TV show.

"I'm listening."

You smiled briefly, putting your hands in your pockets. You continued to stand in the room, even though your (ex) girlfriend was pretending you weren't there.

"I spoke to Bucky earlier today." You begin. "I got his therapist's phone number, I'll start next week." Wanda looks at you in surprise, but you sigh heavily and look away. "I did what you asked too. Shower and food. And I put my computer and video game away in their boxes."

"You didn't have to." She interrupts, but you chuckle sadly.

"I did." You insist. "And there's something else. Something you're not going to like."

Wanda frowned, turning her body completely towards you. The forgotten TV show next to her.

You swallowed dryly before taking courage. "I'm in a really bad place right now, and I... don't want to take you with me." You say. "So I think, at least until I feel better, this time it's going to be serious. This time, we... should stay apart."

Wanda could feel her throat closing with the urge to cry. She could see the tears in your eyes too. But she also knew that everything you said was true and that you meant it.

So all she could do was sigh and get up to go towards you, to wrap her arms around your shoulders. "I love you." She whispered as you slipped your arms around her. "I'll always love you."

"I'm sorry for being rude and mean last night-"

"Shh, it's okay." She hugs you tighter, tightening her embrace. Why did it seem like forever since she'd hugged you like this? This was so incredible. "Now say it back, please."

You chuckle shyly but nod. "I love you, Wanda Maximoff."

She broke down to smile at you. "And don't you forget." She warns in a casual tone, sharing a short chuckle with you.

Still holding her, you rest your foreheads on hers and rub your noses together affectionately. "I never want to be away from you." You confess with a sigh, and Wanda sniffles softly.

With a tearful voice, she nods. "The feeling is incredibly mutual, darling. Even when you're being a total pain in the ass." Wanda is trying to joke because you're hurting and she loves you and wants you to get real help and not feel so serious about the break-up. This is temporary. You'll get better, and she'll marry you one day like she always dreamed she would.

But you don't laugh, instead, you put a gentle distance between your faces. Wanda almost thinks it's a new argument brewing, but when she meets your gaze, she understands that it's something else.

The tension in the room emerges with the blink of your dilated irises.

"My therapy doesn't start until next week." You comment. "We don't need to be apart right now..."

"You're such a dork." She snorts back an incredulous laugh, before grabbing your shirt collar. "Who says we can't have sex without commitment?"

"Jesus." You reply in the same playful tone, muffling Wanda's laughter with your mouth.

Yeah, you both missed that.

[candyeager]

𝐁𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐇 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐈𝐍𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐕𝐄𝐈𝐋

— gojo satoru x fem!oc

CHAPTER FOUR 2.5k words

short synopsis. in which her marriage to Satoru Gojo, the world's most arrogant and untouchable sorcerer becomes both a chain and a cure. warnings. graphic violence, murder, blood mentions, disorder eating, implied sexual threats, suggestive themes. tags. gojo x fem!oc, arranged marriage, angst with happy ending, eventual fluff, heavy pining/yearning, emotional detachment. oc is an empath.

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Satoru

Satoru carried Kurai into the sterile, dimly lit operating room and gently placed her onto the table where Shoko usually performed her healing work. Her unconscious face looked peaceful despite the chaos she'd left behind, a stark contrast to the bloodshed he'd just witnessed.

Shoko was already waiting, snapping on her gloves with the ease of someone who'd done this a thousand times. She glanced at him, her expression calm but with a hint of bemusement in her eyes.

"Don't look so grim, Satoru. She'll be fine. You know how this goes. Just another patch-up job for me."

Satoru shrugged, though the crease in his brow remained. "Yeah, I know."

He lingered for a moment, eyes trailing over Kurai's face, his mind replaying the scene he'd walked into. Kneeling, drenched in blood, surrounded by bodies she'd so easily dispatched. His mind buzzed with the disconnect between her serene appearance and the violence she was clearly capable of. He didn't really know her, did he? Not beyond their brief, transactional interactions as husband and wife.

Shoko snapped the rubber glove onto her wrist again, her sharp eyes catching his lingering thoughts. "Go on, don't hover."

Satoru blinked, then gave a half-smirk. "Yeah, yeah. Don't have too much fun without me."

He turned and made his way to the door, pushing it closed behind him with a soft click.

As he stood in the hallway, the image of Kurai vomiting in the middle of her carnage gnawed at him again. She wasn't just violent—there was something else.

Something unstable.

He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. He hadn't signed up for this level of unpredictability when he agreed to the marriage. What was happening to her? Or maybe, what had always been there, hidden beneath the surface?

Before he could sink deeper into his thoughts, he sensed a familiar presence approaching. Without even looking up, he knew who it was.

"Yoshida," Satoru said as the young man approached, the tone of recognition laced with casual disinterest.

Yoshida nodded slightly, his hands tucked into his pockets as he leaned against the wall beside him. "All the bodies have been inspected, just like you thought, sensei. The wounds on their necks match the weapon she had." He paused, then added, "Messy job, though."

Satoru gave a low chuckle, though it didn't reach his eyes. "My wife really knows how to make a mess."

Yoshida raised a brow, but didn't comment further. He pulled out a crumpled piece of paper and handed it to Satoru. "We found this on one of the thugs."

Satoru took it, glancing at the bounty on his head. The number printed there didn't surprise him, but it still annoyed him. He crumpled the paper further in his hand, irritated by the sheer stupidity of it all.

"A hundred million? Seriously?" He sighed. "You'd think they'd learn by now that going after me is a waste of time."

Yoshida nodded slowly, his eyes scanning the hall with disinterest. "They were just a bunch of wannabe bounty hunters. Couldn't even see cursed spirits. Kind of pathetic, really."

Satoru's lips twitched. "And yet they thought they could get to me by targeting her?"

There was a pause, the air shifting slightly as Yoshida's tone turned more serious. "We checked their records. It turns out they've got a history of violent crimes—rape, assaults, the whole sickening roster. From the state of one of the men... it looks like they were planning to do the same to her."

Satoru's eyes closed for a moment, his jaw tightening as an icy anger coiled in his chest. His wife. For a brief, intense moment, that thought made his blood boil. Despite the distance and indifference between them, she was still his—a part of his life now, even if it was arranged. The idea that someone thought they could lay a hand on her, thinking they could get away with it while he was around, stirred something possessive in him.

Yoshida glanced at Satoru, his usual casualness returning as he took the cue to leave. "I'll file the report. You'll take care of the higher-ups, sensei?"

"Leave them to me." Satoru's voice was  sharp, but his posture relaxed as he leaned back against the wall. "They'll understand it was self-defense. I'll make sure of it."

Yoshida nodded, dipping his head slightly in a gesture of respect. "Alright then. I'll be in touch." With that, he turned and walked away, his footsteps fading down the hallway.

Satoru was left alone, standing in the quiet hallway outside the operating room. His mind wandered back to Kurai, to the scene he'd walked into. He couldn't shake the sense of unease settling in his chest. She was becoming... something else.

He smirked to himself, though it was devoid of humor. "What a mess."

But even as he tried to shrug it off, the fury that had flared up inside him lingered, unsettling in its intensity. He told himself it was just his possessiveness. After all, she was his wife, and no one touched what was his.

Yet something told him it was more complicated than that.

Satoru stood in the dimly lit room, the flickering candlelight casting shadows that danced across the walls. The air was thick with tension, the kind that always clung to these secretive meetings with the higher-ups at Jujutsu Headquarters. Their presence was concealed behind heavy, ornate doors that circled him, voices disembodied and distant, yet cutting like a blade through the silence.

A voice broke through the stillness, cold and dispassionate. "We've received reports. Ten men—non-sorcerers—against one. Yet those men were slaughtered... by your wife. What do you have to say, Satoru Gojo?"

Satoru's gaze was calm, unflinching. He shoved his hands in his pockets, his posture relaxed, though there was a sharpness to his eyes. "What's there to say? It was self-defense. My wife was protecting herself."

Another voice, harsher, cut in without missing a beat. "Self-defense? It was a massacre. A butchery. She's lost control, Gojo. She's dangerous."

Satoru's lips curved ever so slightly, more a smirk than a smile, though the edge of it didn't reach his eyes. "Dangerous? You forget she was the one being hunted. They were after me, and she did what anyone would've done in her situation."

There was a murmur of disapproval from behind the doors, the sound low and simmering like a storm on the horizon.

"Those men were non-sorcerers," came another voice, steeped in bureaucratic coldness. "As jujutsu sorcerers, we are charged with protecting them. Not harming them. The human world will catch wind of this. The backlash—"

"My wife," Satoru interrupted, voice steady, eyes narrowing slightly, "is a non-sorcerer too. So, what exactly are you implying here?"

A heavy silence followed his words, the kind that swallowed the air in the room. Satoru's expression remained unreadable, but his presence alone seemed to weigh down the space, suffocating any challenge to his authority.

Another voice broke the silence, though quieter now, more measured. "So, will you take responsibility for what happens next? The families of the victims—"

"Will be compensated," Satoru cut in smoothly again, almost dismissively. "Generously. From my own resources. Their losses won't be overlooked."

A long pause followed, as if the higher-ups were recalibrating, weighing his words. Finally, one voice, firm and commanding, spoke from the shadows.

"Very well. But since Kurai Sanzu disobeyed the Ninth Memorandum by taking the lives of ten non-sorcerers, regardless of the context, we cannotoverlook this entirely. While her actions may be argued as self-preservation, she will face consequences. I hereby order the confiscation of the weapon she used in the killings. Furthermore, she will be confined to her home for fifty days, and her actions will be closely monitored."

Satoru's jaw clenched, but outwardly, he remained calm. His hand dipped into his coat, retrieving the dagger he'd found at the scene. The blade gleamed faintly in the dim light, similar to the weapon Kurai had gifted him during their wedding ceremony. He twirled it between his fingers once, then handed it over, his expression unfazed.

One of the higher-ups spoke again, their tone heavy with warning. "Monitor her closely, Gojo. If you fail... the consequences will be greater than you realize."

Satoru smirked. His voice, when he spoke, was laced with playful arrogance. "I won't fail. There's no one else better for the job than me."

The finality in his words hung in the air, the weight of his confidence undeniable. He turned on his heel, walking out without waiting for further dismissal, the door closing behind him with a soft thud.

Outside, in the cold corridor, Satoru's mask slipped, if only for a moment. He glanced down at his empty hand where the dagger had been, a brief flicker of frustration passing through his mind.

'Kurai', he thought, a faint smirk tugging at his lips. 'Still causing trouble after all these years, huh? Good thing I'm always around to clean it up.'

But even then, deep down, he knew this wasn't something he could control with strength alone. And that unsettled him more than any curse ever could.

Satoru strode through the veil of cursed energy surrounding his shared residence with Kurai, the air shimmering faintly as it parted for him. He barely glanced at it, more concerned with what lay inside. As he stepped through the door, Yoshida was already there, lounging on a chair, arms folded as though he'd been expecting him for hours.

"How did the meeting with the higher-ups go?" Yoshida asked, his tone light, though his sharp eyes didn't miss a thing.

Satoru shrugged, a faint smirk playing at the corner of his lips. "Nailed it."

He didn't stop moving, his gaze drifting to Kurai's bedroom door. "Is she inside?"

"Yeah," Yoshida replied, pushing himself up from his seat and walking over to stand beside Satoru. "We moved her into her room. She's still out cold. Shoko-sensei said it'll take a few days to flush all the poison out of her system."

Satoru nodded, his face unreadable behind his signature blindfold. He'd expected as much, but hearing it confirmed made the situation feel even more irritating.

"And the arrow?" he asked.

Yoshida's expression darkened slightly, his professional tone slipping in. "It was embedded with cursed energy from the Sanzu clan, laced with poison. But they're claiming innocence, saying the arrows were stolen, and their cursed energy was forged."

Satoru let out a small, almost amused scoff. "What kind of bullshit is that?"

"Right?" Yoshida allowed a half-smile to touch his lips. "But it seems like they think we can't do anything because, well, they're Kurai-san's family."

Satoru fell into silence, his hands sliding into his pockets as he stared at Kurai's door. Family. Right. They thought that would matter to him. They thought they had the upper hand because of something as flimsy as blood ties.

"Then they must be stupider than I thought," Satoru said finally, his tone as casual as if they were discussing the weather. "If they think I care about that. Family, connections... none of that means anything to me."

Yoshida chuckled lightly. "I figured you'd say that, sensei." He straightened, adopting a more business-like tone. "Also, they sent a request to visit Kurai-san."

Satoru didn't hesitate. "Tell them to wait until she's conscious. She's not going anywhere for a while. They'll have plenty of time to see her."

Yoshida raised an eyebrow. "And you, sensei? Are you going back to work, or...?"

Satoru stretched his arms above his head lazily, as if all of this was just a minor inconvenience.

"I guess I'll take that honeymoon break now," he said, a grin tugging at his lips.

Yoshida's smile widened slightly, amused by the entire situation. "Taking a break? That's rare for you, sensei."

Satoru let out a light laugh, his grin as cocky as ever. "Well, even the strongest sorcerer needs some time off."

But just as the humor settled, Satoru felt it—a faint disturbance behind the veil protecting the house. His eyes narrowed slightly, and he glanced toward Yoshida. Yoshida gave a small nod, confirming he'd sensed it too. Without a word, Yoshida moved first, stepping outside to check the source of the unwelcome presence. Satoru followed, his hands still casually in his pockets, though his senses were on high alert.

Once outside, Satoru saw them—a group from his own clan, the East faction, who had always opposed his marriage to Kurai. They were led by Osamu Gojo, an elder who had been particularly vocal in his disdain ever since Satoru was first betrothed. The moment the group saw Satoru emerge, they dropped to their knees, heads bowed low in submission.

"Satoru-sama!" Osamu's voice wavered slightly, as though he feared speaking yet knew he had to. "We beg you—please divorce Lady Sanzu right now! It's exactly as we feared... the Sanzu clan are dangerous, evil people. They've made deals with devils, which is how they acquired their cursed abilities, their mind-reading powers—"

Satoru raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. "You're still stuck on that old nonsense from years ago?"

Osamu hesitated but pressed on, clearly desperate. "It's not... There are legends, Satoru-sama! The Sanzu family has always been tied to bloodshed, and Lady Sanzu's thirst for violence must be even worse because of her ability to feel so deeply. She must be affected by it more than anyone else! She's dangerous—uncontrollable!"

Satoru let out a small, humorless chuckle. "Don't worry. I'm not afraid of her."

Osamu, visibly sweating now, continued pleading. "Please, for the sake of the Gojo clan, reconsider—especially after the carnage she committed—"

"Enough." Satoru's tone was sharper now, cutting through the elder's words like a blade. "I don't have any intention of divorcing her."

Osamu looked like he was about to protest again, but Satoru's gaze hardened, his smile never quite reaching his eyes. "One more word about my marriage, and I'll destroy you."

The air grew tense, the weight of Satoru's power pressing down on the group of people kneeling before him. But just as the pressure became unbearable, Satoru's expression shifted back to one of casual amusement, and he leaned in slightly, as if sharing a secret. His voice, however, was anything but quiet.

"Besides, you've got the wrong idea. I didn't marry her because she's a Sanzu." His grin widened. "I married her because she has a pretty face. And you wanna know what else?"

Osamu swallowed nervously, his face pale. "Y-Yes?"

Satoru's voice dropped, though it was still loud enough for everyone to hear. "She's really good in bed—just my type of woman."

A collective flush of embarrassment spread across the faces of the faction members, their discomfort painfully obvious. Osamu looked like he wanted to crawl into the ground.

Satoru straightened up, clapping his hands together as if the conversation was now over. "So, enough with this nonsense. Kurai Sanzu is one of us now, and I won't tolerate any more negative remarks about her."

He turned on his heel without another word, making his way back toward the house as the others scrambled to bow in his wake. Yoshida, ever the silent observer, followed closely behind.

Once they were far enough from the group, Yoshida broke the silence. "That was... unnecessary."

Satoru smirked, barely glancing over his shoulder. "I just need them to back off. Get behind her, you know? And..."

Yoshida hummed thoughtfully, unsure where the conversation was headed. "And?"

Satoru's grin widened. "My wife's really beautiful, isn't she?"

With that, Satoru turned, his hands still in his pockets as he sauntered toward Kurai's room, leaving Yoshida standing behind, shaking his head slightly, a faint smirk on his face.

< chapter four ends >

© CANDYEAGER. do not copy, repost, modify, or translate my works in any other platforms.

[ochrearia]

RGB Trio according to my Synesthesia

Been mentioning it on and off for a bit but I experience the world differently. "What is a Synesthesia Portrait?" Good question! I have synesthesia, specifically the one that connects hearing and sight called Chromesthesia. What that means is sounds/songs will trigger visions of shapes and colors for me whenever I listen. Due to this music is a super important part of how I process the world in general, and what I grew up learning was to perceive people's personalities as music too. Everyone has a song out there that encapsulates who they are to me! Even fictional characters if I know enough. So, I bridge the gap and make it so people/characters have these abstract portraits of themselves. Stylized, of course, in reality these forms are much more blurred together than crisp in lines. I just paint them in this way to make it a little more understandable.

I've been a little disconnected from making synesthesia art for some time and this is my way of getting back into it. Turning my blorbos into art because I'm cringe and free. "But they don't really have personalities in FNF" you underestimate my ability to derive pieces of people from the smallest "insignificant" actions. I pay ATTENTION. Here's their songs in order of BF, GF, and Pico-

BF, and I describe him as a goddamn tranquilizer dart to the head because it's correct. Despite being a gremlin piece of shit he's dedicated and confident and stupidly, brainlessly fearless. And his intentions can come off very sweet regardless of him being a menace. Dude's passionate about what he thinks is right and fights for it. Weird how he always seems to win like he overpowers everyone with his own sound, talks them down and placates them without ever needing actual words.

GF, because she may also be a bit (a lot) brainless but it's with an air of mischief and mysticism that feels like dancing a waltz. She seems like the sweetest and kindness person out there because honestly, she probably is. Despite being dumb she's definitely hiding emotional smarts in that pretty head. And she's strong too, strong within herself and strong because she's a demon. But no matter what and no matter how little we end up really seeing her she manages to capture the attention like the way a violin's strings pierce through any sound.

Pico, because he's lived through so much bad and maybe he might end up considering himself bad and unredeemable too. Playing into the idea he's a merciless killer who can be bought into doing anything terrible but he didn't pull the trigger when he was supposed to, twice. Loyal and moral when it comes to the people he cares about. Outwardly spiky and cold like a snowstorm but at the center it's only a soft flurry, lonely and wondering if he's really a lost cause or not. But it's okay, he's got friends that stick around and think otherwise.