#Hazbin Alastor x Reader
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jeannyjaykaydeh · 2 days ago
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Merry Sinsmas
Alastor x Reader
Just a little thought I'd like to share with you because I’m in the Christmas mood.
I hope you enjoy reading it and if you celebrate Christmas: I wish you a Merry Christmas. And if you don't: I hope you have a great few days anyway. :)
And to all of you: Merry Sinsmas. :D
Warning: I hope you don't mind that this short story briefly mentions that you are from Germany. If you can't identify with this, just see this sentence as a joke to wriggle out of a situation.
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You're standing in the hotel lobby with a clipboard in your hand, working through a to-do list. You are in the middle of your Christmas preparations. Charlie and Vaggie are busy decorating the big tree in the centre of the lobby next to the stairs, Niffty is cleaning and judging by her crazy laugh, she's in a very Christmassy mood.
Lucifer is tending to the fairy lights, Husk is making punch for everyone and Angel and Cherri Bomb are getting the sound system ready.
As you stare at your clipboard, thinking about what you could do next, you notice out of the corner of your eye a shadow rise from the floor and stand next to you.
You don't even have to lift your eyes to realise that it's Alastor, standing so close to you that his large body is pressed against you.
You hear a snap of fingers, but you skilfully ignore it.
You're too busy dealing with the fact that the radio demon is invading your comfort zone - as he so often does.
It doesn't take long before he clears his throat meaningfully, inviting you to give him your attention.
So you raise your eyes and suppress your annoyed expression as best you can.
You look at him expectantly. What does he want?
He looks down at you with a mischievous smile. Then he takes a quick look at the ceiling before his eyes wander back to you.
You look up and see a sprig of mistletoe hanging directly above you, obviously conjured up by him.
You sigh slightly.
So he wants to be kissed.
Alastor is really trying everything he can to get to you. You realise that he's been trying to make advances to you for months and win your heart with small - and also very large - gestures.
What you keep to yourself the whole time: He won your heart a long time ago. But you don't want to admit it.
Yes, you fancy Alastor - oh, you're so in love with him!
But your fear of commitment and the fact that he's one of the most dangerous demons here in hell stop you from getting involved with him.
Much to the displeasure of your friends, because the tension between Alastor and you has left its mark on them too and now they really want to see you two as a couple.
"Hahaaaa, there's a little green branch hanging right above us. What funny coincidences there are, aren't there, my dear?" he says euphorically in his radio filter voice.
"Real coincidences, yes," you reply sarcastically and leave it at that. At least that's what you try to do, but there's no way Alastor will let you get away with it.
He steps closer to you - it's hard to believe that's still possible - leans forward slightly and says: "You know I'm a man of tradition. In my day, we followed every custom without even batting an eyelid. It would be a shame for me and my inner well-being if you didn't appreciate my traditions, sweetheart."
You give him a wry, cheeky grin. Then you turn away from him and say: "Well, it's just a shame that I'm from Germany and this mistletoe tradition isn't practised there."
You move away from him and leave him standing there in his indignant static noise.
"OH NO, DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!" Angel suddenly shouts across the lobby. He jumps up from his chair and stomps angrily towards you, grabs you by the shoulders, spins you around and pushes you back on your heels under the mistletoe, where he sets you down right in front of the radio demon.
He grumbles: "We're not in fucking Germany here, we're in hell! And here ya don't just kiss under the mistletoe, here ya even fuck when ye're standin' under it! So do yerself and us a favour and respect our traditions! Ya kiss that creepy man now, understand?"
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redfoxwritesstuff · 3 days ago
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AN: As we countdown to Christmas, I want to remind everyone once again to be the type of person you wish there was more of in the world. We as a whole decide what is acceptable within our fandom.
CW: Oral sex, voice kink, dry humping, Alastor has hooves, rough sex
Summary: You and Alastor never had the same taste in books but that was alright. You prefered romance of the reather spicy kind. It was never a difference in taste that impacted your days or nights... until you walk into the shared bedroom to find Alastor sitting with your book in his hand and orders ready on his tongue.
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Alastor never really understood the appeal of the books he would often find you curled up in the reading chair absorbed in. They were love stories, and he was your love story. What more did you need? It wasn’t something he argued about with you. Just a passing confusion that would linger. 
Alastor would walk in, find you with your book and walk by, a small smile on his face as he shook his head. You didn’t debate or defend your books. They were not something Alastor would like and so you left it be. 
That’s why you were ever so surprised to walk into your shared bedroom to find Alastor sitting in his reading chair with one of your books in his hand, reading the back of the cover. You glanced at him, eyebrow raised as you made your way to the dresser. 
He was humming as he flipped through the pages of the book, finding a general theme of the story from the random pages he scanned as you changed from your day dress to the silky nightgown you favored. The cool fabric skimmed the top of your thighs as you switched your panties out for the silky short shorts that matched it. 
“Alastor?” You called as you walked over to him. “Are you going to join me in bed, or will you be up for a while?” 
Alastor’s red eyes flicked up at you as he opened the book to page one. “Why don’t you sit with me for a while, darling? I’ll read to you for a bit.” 
Your eyes landed on the title of the book in his hands as you settled on the floor in front of Alastor. It wasn’t uncommon for him to read to you, sitting in your reading chair or in his. 
Mostly, he’d sit in his chair and you’d find yourself in his lap, head tucked against his shoulder as he lulled you to sleep with the smoothe sound of Alastor’s voice. Sometimes he would take up residence in your chair, though. 
On those nights, you would sit on the ground at his feet, legs tucked under you as you rested your head against his knee. It was usually on those nights he wasn’t in the mood for a lot of physical contact. Your head against the side of his knee was a compromise you eagerly accepted. 
That was the position you took now, preparing yourself to listen to him read not from one of his books but from yours. Your heart pounded in your chest as you relaxed against the soft chair. 
Alastor started reading and mentally, you followed along. The book he had chosen was one of your favorites, well loved and reread many times. Your mind raced as you mentally counted down the pages until the first filthy scene would begin. 
Surely, Alastor would stop when he realized what kind of book it was. You were so convinced that he would that your heart nearly stopped in your chest when he kept reading. He read about the characters fucking, seeking pleasure from eachother in the most explicate detail as if he was reading the newspaper. 
The sound of his voice, narrating your book, was bringing a flush through your veins. Desire built inside you as he said the most filthy lines. Your thighs rubbed together as his voice continued on, unphased by what he was reading. 
You jumped as Alastor ran his fingers through your hair, reminding you he was still there, as if the sound of his voice allowed you to forget. He read on, each word flowing from his lips as you struggled to keep your body under control. 
“You seem to enjoy this,” Alastor teased as the chapter ended. “Is this why you like these books so much?” 
You looked up at him, face hot while you tried to put on a mask of innocence. He had caught you. While you did not favor or partake in visual phonography, you, like countless other women throughout history, read it in inconspicuous books. 
“I don’t-” You were not sure what defense you were going to go with or why you felt so ashamed in the first place. 
“You’re rubbing your thighs together the same way you do when you watch me undress at night.” Alastor left you no room for argument. You were aroused, and he knew your tells. Hell, he didn’t even need to. His sense of smell was powerful, taking after his deer like nature. 
“It’s fine,” you laughed, waving off your obvious condition, “I know you’re not really-” 
Alastor patted his knee and ordered you to look at him. It was the first time you had done so since you had settled at his feet. His erection tented his night pants, straining against the fabric.
Your eyes lingered on it before you ran them up his torso, taking in the black button up night shirt he wore. It was a habit from life he struggled to let go of. He slept dressed unless the two of you had made love that night. 
“Do you want me to keep reading?” Alastor asked. “Answer honestly, dear.” 
“Yes,” you whispered timidly. “But only if you want to.” 
“Care to make a deal?” Alastor drew out the last word, ears flicking as he spoke. 
“What?” You hesitated, as anyone would when faced with such an offer. “What sort of deal?” 
“Well,” Alastor shamelessly pulled the top of his pants down, letting his considerable cock spring free. If you want me to continue reading, you better make sure it’s entertaining for me, too.
“You- You want a- a handie?” You chuckled nervously, confused by the sudden change from what level of touching you had expected from him. 
“No,” Alastor said after a pause. “I want you to put that pretty little mouth of yours to work.” 
“Oh,” you shuffled around in front of him. You rose up on your knees, wrapping your hand around his cock, and looked at him for approval again. Alastor was ever so fickle when it came to touch. When he nodded, you wrapped your lips around his cock, running your tongue over his head in soft, wet strokes. 
Alastor started reading again as you worked yourself over him, slowly taking in more and more of him as your saliva lubricated his shaft. You breathed long and slow breaths, taking in the scent of his musk. 
You worked him over eagerly, listing to the sound of his voice reading out the most debauched things. The book he had picked was by far one of your more spicy selections. Sex scene after sex scene seemed to flow as your jaw quickly started to ache. 
Alastor’s cock fell from your lips as you gasped for air, moving your weight from knee to knee, seeking any sort of stimulation. Your hand left his shin as you reached for your shorts. 
“Nu-uh-uh!” Alastor said in an eager, singsong voice. 
“What?” Your jaw ached as you formed the simple word, his length and girth making for a challenge to take into your mouth. 
“You don’t get to take breaks while I read,” Alastor patted the top of your head with the back of the book. “I read and you suck. That’s the deal. I didn’t say you could touch yourself while I’m reading.” 
“Alastor,” you whined as he smiled down at you. “You can’t expect me to sit here and suck your cock the whole time? You’re so thick, it’s not like you’re easy to suck.” 
“Tell you what,” Alastor grabbed your chin as he leaned forward, kissing you softly for a moment before continuing. “You can take a break between chapters.” 
“So generous,” you teased him for a moment before realizing he was serious. He intended to read to you until the book was done or it was time to retire for the night. 
“Ha!” Alastor laughed, loud and eager, as if you had made some sort of joke. “I am! I’ll even let you take care of yourself… with my hoof.” 
“You can’t be serious,” you whispered. 
“I am!” Alastor laughed, guiding his cock to point at your mouth, waiting for you to wrap your lips back around his shaft. 
You did, timidly, and were rewarded with his voice, reading once again. You thought yourself to be too good to grind yourself against his leg, his hoof, but as the first chapter finished and the second began, you found yourself straddling his leg. 
You closed your eyes, enjoying the heavy feeling of the head of his cock resting against your tongue. You sucked at him, running your tongue up and down his slit as he read on. His voice continued, steady and unaffected by the ministrations of your tongue. 
You sucked him deeper, trying to get some sort of reaction from him. The tip of your tongue swept under his glans, urging him deeper. Blowjobs were not something you typically enjoyed giving for extended periods of time but for Alastor… you couldn’t say no to him. He so rarely had sexual requests.
The sound of his voice, filthy words dropping from his tongue, filled your mind. “You’re such a hussy,” Alastor growled the words out, putting his own gravel into the dialog written in the book. “Eager for any man’s attention.” 
You moaned around his shaft, fingers wrapping around his calf as you worked your way up and down his cock. 
“Careful Cher,” Alastor said, looking from the book to you. “Don’t get too eager. I didn’t say you could make me cum and I certainly haven’t said you can either.” 
You moaned in agreement, eyes looking up at him pleadingly. You wanted more, to hear him read more, to feel more of him. Alastor waited a moment before directing his attention back to the novel, set in the time he lived and detailing the scandalous relationships of a radio host.
“You will get that when I decide you’re ready,” Alastor read the words in the book, voice steady and not showing a hint of embarrassment. “And not a moment before.” 
You ground your core down on the wiry fur that covered his lower calf, rubbing your silk covered folds against the joints that made up his ankle. Alastor read of a man slapping a woman’s cunt as you rubbed your folds over the ridge where the hard surface of his hoof began. 
All you could think of was the sound of his voice as your saliva ran down his shaft. Alastor read as if he couldn’t feel it drip down his balls or soak into the fabric of his pants. He seemed unbothered as your tongue ran up and down his veins. 
Your jaw ached as you swallowed around him. What was worse, your cunt ached from the need for him. The hardness of his hoof, shiny now with slick that had soaked through your shorts, was unforgiving against the softness of your folds. 
“Each blow to her cunt was followed with a stroke up, running his fingers over her sensitive clit.” Alastor read as you eagerly choked yourself on his cock. “The moans leaving her lips were more and more shameless.” He said easily as you moaned around his shaft. “There was no show now. Each heaving breath, whine and moan was honestly earned.” 
He was driving you insane. Each word that left his mouth rich and wrapped in warm honey made you want him more. You ground your clit against the ridge of his hoof as he spoke, trying to find satisfaction. 
“You like this,” Alastor read, eyes focusing on you, ensuring you knew the words were as much directed toward you as they were toward the story. “You like it when I slap your wet clit, don’t you?” 
Your jaw ached as you slurped around his cock, tongue working to find the vein and trace it. Need for him burned inside you, threatening to burn away at your sanity. There was nothing more you wanted than for him to bend you over the arm of the chair and fuck you until you couldn’t remember your name. 
“You like it,” Alastor read as his cock twitched in the warmth of your mouth. “Knowing they can hear your moans. Do you want me to fuck you?” 
You moaned again around his shaft, eyes watering as you looked up at him as he continued reading. 
“Do you want to put on a show for them? Let them watch me slap your cunt? Let them watch you scream?” Alastor read as you whined and whimpered around his shaft. “Do you want them to see how wet this delicious,” Alastor paused, watching you as he finished. “Sweet cunt gets from pain? I’ll show them.” 
You sucked eagerly on him, enjoying the taste of his pre-cum on your tongue. You bobbed your head, fully engrossed in the task as you went. Slick glued your shorts to your folds, soaked through the fabric. It spread against your thighs, shining in the dim light of the room. 
“I’ll let them watch as I fuck that tight cunt. Watch my dick sink into you. I’ll have you screaming my name until the whole town knows who you belong to.” Alastor read on, voice tight as you ran your tongue over his slit before swallowing him again. “They’ll watch you lick my cum from me.” 
The book slammed shut with a snap before Alastor threw it aside. Your eyes fluttered open as he leaned forward, the book landing dangerously close to the fireplace. 
His cock pushed deeper and deeper into your mouth as he moved forward on the chair. You choked on him as he forced his way into your throat. Fingers wrapped in your hair to pull you off of him, throwing you onto your back. 
Alastor poured from the chair as he climbed your body. His hoof scraped against the wooden floor as he ripped your shorts from your body. He was on you in an instant, hot saliva coated cock pushing into your needy, unpropped hole. 
You moaned, body tense from how close you had brought yourself to orgasm as you rode his hoof. He was unrelenting as he pushed himself deeper, sheathing himself fully in your wet heat. The head of his cock reached deep inside you as he sighed, finally home inside you. 
He indulged in the feeling for a few short seconds, not giving you anything more than those to adjust. Hot fire spread through you as he pulled back, grabbing your thigh and hiking it high along his side before slamming back inside you as he leaned forward, capturing your swollen lips in a hungry kiss. 
You moaned into him as his cock pushed against your walls. Each thrust was punishing, brutal, and wild. He fucked you with the same force you knew the man in the book was going to go on and fuck his darling. The only difference was that he took her on the top of a table inside the speakeasy and Alastor was fucking you on the floor of your bedroom. 
Did he know? You felt too good to care. 
“Fuck,” you moaned, only to have the word choked off by Alastor’s tongue sweeping into your mouth.
He shifted, taking your legs and resting them on his shoulders as he folded you in half. All of his weight slammed down on you, driving his cock into you with all the force he could manage as he swallowed your cries. Your clit poked out between your folds, framed by them as his pelvic bone slapped it again and gain. 
You struggled not to think of the way the man in the book slapped the woman’s clit. Did it feel the same? 
“Cher,” Alastor groaned as he kissed your neck, pushing your knees lower still. “Baby, so good. You’re going to cum for me?” 
“Ah- Al-Al!” You couldn’t form a word, could hardly form his name as each thrust knocked the air from your lungs.
He continued, body crashing into yours as each muscle pulled tighter and tighter. He watched as your toes curled and your ankles shook. Drool ran from the corner of your mouth. Lips, bright red and puffy from being wrapped around his cock for so long, parted, falling open in a gasp as the dam broke.
He could feel each shudder run through your body. Your walls rippled around him, strong waves begging him to fuck into you harder, faster. Who was he to deny? The sound of your cries of his name mixed with his panting breaths and the slapping of his body against your soaked cunt. 
He came with a roar, shadows dancing around the room and fire surging in the fireplace. His power surged, as did his cock, as his punishing pace grew irregular. Hot ropes of white shot out from him, painting your welcoming walls white, rewarding their embrace with his essence. 
His elbows gave out, pushing your legs to your shoulders more as he crashed down, mouth latching on your shoulder as powerful shudders ran down his spine. He ground his pelvis into your core, cock twitching as he emptied the last of his seed deep within you.
You gasped for breath, fingers running through his hair as one leg slipped off his shoulder, receiving the ache in that hip. The cold, hard floor was unforgiving under your back but you struggled to get the motivation to tell Alastor to get off of you. Instead, you both lay on the ground, tangled in each other as you both twitched with the aftershocks of your lovemaking. 
If Alastor was going to fuck you with such feral passion, you wouldn’t mind him reading your dirty romance books to you more often. 
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luna-naoffcial · 3 days ago
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【 ✦ 𝐌𝐲 𝐂𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 ✦ 】
【 𝐒𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐖𝐎: 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 】
【 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 】
|| 𝐎𝐍𝐄 || 𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍 || 𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐄 ||
─────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───────
✦ 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 ✦
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𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐧.
"𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠?" 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮.
𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝, 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦. 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐠𝐚𝐳𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐮𝐬𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝.
"𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝?" 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐚 𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐩 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝.
"𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐦𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐫. 𝐒𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐮𝐬," 𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐝, 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬.
"𝐇𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠?" 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝, 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐮𝐬𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧.
𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐧𝐨. "𝐁𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐧𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐚," 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐲.
"𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝, 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬?"
"𝐀 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐬," 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐝.
𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭. 𝐈𝐟 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐞, 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞.
"𝐌𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐫, 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐭?" 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐝.
"𝐈 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭, 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥... 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐭."
𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞.
"𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡, 𝐦𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐫," 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝, 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜.
"𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐮𝐜𝐤, 𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 ��𝐨."
𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡.
"𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰... 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐦 𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐭. 𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐮𝐧𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝, 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐢𝐟 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞-𝐚𝐧𝐝-𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐈 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞. 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟, (𝐘/𝐍). 𝐈 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐲 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞."
𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬. 𝐀𝐬 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐩𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐧 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡. 𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐥, 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚 𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐠𝐨. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐡 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐥. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐭, 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐝?
"𝐈... 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐀𝐥, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐈'𝐦 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐚𝐝. 𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐈 𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝. 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥... 𝐈—" 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐩𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝, 𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡.
"𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐈 𝐝𝐨. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧'𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐦𝐩 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭. 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐭, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐈 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐬𝐤. 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐈 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭? 𝐎𝐫 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞?"
𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐬 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐚 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐟𝐟, 𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥. 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐚𝐥, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐚𝐲, 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟔𝟔𝟔 𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐬.
"𝐈 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐈 𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐈 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐨 𝐢𝐭, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐈 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐈 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫... 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧. 𝐈𝐭 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞, (𝐘/𝐍). 𝐈𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐝. 𝐌𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐈 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝. 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐈 𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞, 𝐈... 𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈..."
𝐇𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡, 𝐬𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐞𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐥𝐲.
"𝐈 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞... 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝..."
𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩. 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞�� 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐫.
"𝐈𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭, 𝐬𝐨 𝐈 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐲 𝐟𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐬. 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬... 𝐬𝐨 𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐥𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝. 𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐚𝐰, 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞. 𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭... 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐲. 𝐈 𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐲... 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞, 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐲 𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝟐 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮," 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐯𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝.
𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐞𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧, 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐲.
"𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮..."
𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐠𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚 𝐬𝐚𝐝 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞.
"𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞, 𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮," 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭.
"𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐨 𝐢𝐭. 𝐈 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐭."
"𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧'𝐭... 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧'𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭. 𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐮𝐬, 𝐀𝐥."
𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭.
"𝐁𝐮𝐭... 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐕𝐨𝐱 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥. 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝. 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬."
𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡, 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭. 𝐇𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐭-𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐕𝐨𝐱 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭.
"𝐖𝐞'𝐯𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲... 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬. 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐩𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧, 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞... 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈... 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐦𝐞," 𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐝.
"𝐀𝐥, 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧. 𝐈 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐩𝐥𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩, 𝐰𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬."
𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬.
"𝐈'𝐦 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐨 𝐥𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐲 𝐰𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐠𝐨. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞."
𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞, 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦, 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲-𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 (𝐞/𝐜).
"𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮, (𝐘/𝐍), 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭."
"𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫. 𝐈 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐢𝐧... 𝐨𝐤𝐚𝐲?"
"𝐎𝐤𝐚𝐲," 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝.
"𝐈𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐭?" 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝. 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮.
"𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐝, 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐈'𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐝𝐞. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠," 𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝.
𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭, 𝐧𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐨𝐰.
𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐬 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝𝐥𝐲.
"𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭!"
"𝐈'𝐦 𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐖𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐧𝐨𝐰. 𝐈'𝐦 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐤," 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐝.
𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝.
"𝐖𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜?" 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮.
"𝐇𝐦𝐦."
𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝, 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐧.
"𝐖𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐌𝐫𝐬. (𝐋/𝐍) 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐞?" 𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞.
𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝, 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐥.
"𝐇𝐦𝐦, 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞? 𝐎𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐟𝐟?"
"𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐈'𝐦 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐧, 𝐡𝐦𝐦?" 𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭-𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐞𝐝.
𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫.
"𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭," 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩.
"𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲?"
"𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠," 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐝.
"𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐞."
"𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝, 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐛𝐮𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠."
"𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭, 𝐦𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐫. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲. 𝐈 𝐨𝐰𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮," 𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞.
𝐀𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐮𝐬𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟, 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐦 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭.
𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭.
𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐩
𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐠𝐚𝐰𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐞𝐲𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐕𝐨𝐱 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐰𝐨.
"𝐇𝐦𝐦, 𝐥𝐞𝐭'𝐬 𝐭��𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐞." 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝. 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐳𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐠𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐭.
𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐫𝐮𝐠 𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮. "𝐇𝐚, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐰𝐞'𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬?" 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝, 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐛𝐨𝐱 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐦𝐬.
𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬. "𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐭𝐨𝐲!" 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝, 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮.
𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭, 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐥𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐚𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭.
𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐱.
"𝐖𝐨𝐰, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝟓 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐬. 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞?" 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐝.
"𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐞𝐫����𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐭?" 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞.
𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐚 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐩𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐲. "𝐇𝐦𝐦, 𝐥𝐞𝐭'𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐞, 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐦𝐲 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐝 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐭, 𝐰𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭?" 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐰 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐦. "𝐈'𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝, 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐈 𝐠𝐨 𝐨𝐧?"
"𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐲, 𝐭𝐨𝐨." 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡.
"𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭?" 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐝.
"𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐲... 𝐥𝐞𝐭'𝐬 𝐠𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐲."
𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐫, 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐟𝐥𝐲 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫.
"𝐈𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝, 𝐰𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟." 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞.
𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬.
𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐱 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐭, 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐭.
"𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞?" 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞.
"𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐦𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐫." 𝐁𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬.
𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐫𝐦 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐫𝐦, 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞.
𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐟 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬.
𝐒𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐥𝐲, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐧𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐡 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮.
𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦, 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧.
"𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬, 𝐦𝐲 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞, 𝐬𝐨 𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡��𝐬 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬." 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝, 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐭.
𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐟 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐢𝐱𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐠𝐚𝐳𝐞 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐭. 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧.
"𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐨𝐤."
𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐞𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐚𝐳𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭.
━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━
"𝐀𝐥," 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐝, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐦. 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐬, 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐤.
"𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐨 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐩𝐲?"
"𝐈'𝐦 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐭. 𝐈 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐭." 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝𝐥𝐲, 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐮𝐬𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬.
𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐡𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝟐𝟓 𝐧𝐨𝐰. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐨𝐭, 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐰𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝.
"𝐆𝐨𝐬𝐡, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐬𝐨 𝐡𝐨𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬." 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐝𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐭. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬, 𝐭𝐨𝐨, 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞. 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐭, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠.
━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━
𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠.
𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝, 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐩𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫, 𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭.
"𝐀𝐥..." 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭.
𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦, 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭.
"𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧'𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐭, 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮?" 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝, 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐦.
𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐬.
𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦, 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟.
𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐫𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠.
𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝟑+ 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐬
��𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫, ��𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐲𝐧𝐜 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮. "𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠... 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞..." 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭.
𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬.
"𝐎𝐡 𝐧𝐨..." 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐥𝐲.
"𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞..." 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝, 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐧.
"𝐈 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐬." 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲.
"𝐖𝐞'𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐮𝐫𝐤𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐈 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐭." 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞.
"𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐨?" "𝟏𝟎𝟎 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐦 𝐈 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠?" 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬, 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.
𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞.. "𝐈'𝐦 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐭..."
𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢���� 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬, 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬. "𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫," 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝.
𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝, 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐛𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐛𝐞𝐝. 𝐇𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧, 𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮.
"𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐕𝐨𝐱. 𝐈𝐟 𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐭..."
"𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭. 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐮𝐬. 𝐖𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐥 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐨𝐤?"
𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐨𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭. 𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐥, 𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐱 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐥.
"(𝐘/𝐍)? 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫?" 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐮𝐭. "𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞, 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠."
𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦. "𝐀𝐡, 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞! 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐈 𝐝𝐨 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮?"
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐩𝐲 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐝, 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐠𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝟑 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐬.
"𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐢𝐟 (𝐘/𝐍) 𝐨𝐤..."
"𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐬. 𝐒𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐦 𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐡, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐞𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐞. 𝐌𝐲 𝐩𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐤, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐥𝐥."
"𝐀𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐨𝐤𝐚𝐲." 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐟. "𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐀𝐥? 𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐛�� 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞."
"𝐀𝐡, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐟𝐮𝐥. 𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐭, 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬."
𝐀𝐬 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦, 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦, 𝐨𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫.
𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐚, 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐝.
"𝐈𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐨 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠?"
"𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐨𝐟." 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐝, 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐞𝐝, 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠.
━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━
"𝐏𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐜𝐫𝐲, 𝐦𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐫, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐰𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝. 𝐈𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐚𝐲. 𝐈 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭."
"𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞?"
"𝐌𝐲 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭?" 𝐇𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐥𝐲.
"𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐬 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥," 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝. 𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐜𝐤, 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐢𝐥.
━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━
𝐒𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐥𝐲, 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞.
𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐧. "𝐌𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐫, 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫?"
"𝐀𝐥, 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞?"
𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐜𝐤 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐦.
"𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭... 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐢𝐭." 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐬. 𝐇𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝.
"𝐈 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐈 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥, 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐬." 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐲. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲. "𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫!"
"𝐇𝐞𝐲, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐈'𝐦 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠."
"𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫, 𝐈 𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐈'𝐦 𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐚 -" 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐦𝐢𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐩𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡.
"𝐆𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭?" 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐧.
𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐰𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬.
"𝐍𝐨𝐰, 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭." 𝐇𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲. "𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮," 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐛𝐨𝐰𝐥.
"𝐍𝐨, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭." 𝐇𝐞 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞.
"𝐈 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭." 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐚��, 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐠𝐚𝐳𝐞.
𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞. "𝐂𝐚𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐞. 𝐈 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐈'𝐦 𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐛𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈'𝐦 𝐞𝐱𝐡𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝." 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐝.
"𝐂𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐥𝐲, 𝐦𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐫. 𝐈𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐲." 𝐇𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝𝐥𝐲, 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞.
"𝐌𝐫𝐬 (𝐋/𝐍), 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐠𝐞?"
"𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬." 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐬 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫.
─────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───────
𝐀/𝐍: 𝐇𝐞𝐡𝐞, 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐦𝐮𝐭 ✨
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hishumanbelle · 18 hours ago
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You were sleeping peacefully that night, much more peaceful than usual. You were lost in the emptiness of your mind, abandoned to your most hidden dreams and kept in the remote corners of your mind, segregated there by your earthly life. You didn't know that Alastor was next to you, in your bed. Alastor, that night, decided to share the night with you. It was something he had never done, but he found himself increasingly obsessed with wanting to spend his time with you. He remained in your bed attached to you, his body resting on your back with all his warmth. He was completely intoxicated by you that he didn't even realize that he was holding you impossibly; he was "glued" to you with every fiber of his being. He held you to him possessively, intensely, to the point that he could almost break you, until his static sounds filled the room to the point of making it annoying. "Hmmm", you whispered without opening your eyes, still unconscious. Alastor pressed himself even tighter to you, his arms wrapped around your chest. His head was resting on your cheek and his neck was pressing against yours. His heat penetrated your skin. His breathing was a fast and heavy rattle. Only heavy growls came out of his throat. Another "hmmm" escaped from your lips… and Alastor could no longer control his body, nor his erection. His hips rubbed and moved, pressing against your buttocks hard, leaving no room for your bodies. His warm and tense body wrapped you completely. His arms that were tightly holding your chest squeezed tighter and his hands began to explore your ample breasts. "Hmmm, Alastor" you said stretching. His body tensed at the sound of your lips pronouncing his name with that sweet gasp. He wondered if you also desired what was going through his mind at that moment. His erection, as you moved against him and touched his body, had become enormous. Saliva began to drip from his mouth, his tongue stretched out seeking your neck, licking and sucking it delicately leaving bruises and signs of his presence. "What is happening to me?" the demon asked himself fighting his primal instinct to take you, holding on to the only shred of rationality left. "What am I doing?" and at those words, you turned towards him; your amber eyes were open, awake, and yet you were not afraid of the situation nor of him, the overlord of the supreme underworld. In your heart and somehow you knew that he was there and in your subconscious you wanted nothing else. Your fingers ran along his abdomen, leaving a trail of electricity until they reached his chest. Alastor's body was increasingly tense and spasming, his eyes became quadrants and dazzling red, his breathing increasingly labored. Your scent clouded his brain and by turning you had given him the final blow; your smell intoxicated his senses, intoxicating him. "Deborah…" he repeated, unable to form other words. "Yes, Alastor?" you said as your hand rested on his face, hoping not to wake you from that dream. "If I can't have you, then no one can", his eyes lit up green and his entire figure was surrounded by yellowish flames. His hand pressed on your bottom but not in an invasive way, his face a few millimeters from yours, you could feel the tension and the heat that emanated. "Say it", he said imperatively. "Say that you are mine, and that you will be for eternity. Say it", "what do I gain by saying it?" you asked frankly and with a hint of provocation in your gaze, but Alastor was truly desperate and was serious. "Me, my complete devotion. I allow you to possess me".
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silkythewriter · 11 months ago
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Vox and alastor with an undeserving to be in hell reader!
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Warnings!:non!
Fandom!: Hazbin hotel!
Author note!;I THINK TUMBLER ACTUALLY HATES ME (メ﹏メ)(。•́︿•̀。)it keeps not letting me edit my drafts, it’s happened like 3 times already this week alone!,…BUT ANYWAY I LOVE THIS IDEA I REALLY HOPE YOY ENJOY!!!!♡´・ᴗ・`♡
Summary!: alastor and Vox x reader WHOs I. Hell for a minor sin/crime
❤️Written by silkythewriter do not steal or repost any other platform please! <3❤️
ఌ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★ఌ
“Each time I find myself
Flat on my face
I pick myself up and get back in the race!”
ఌ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★ఌ
!📺✨Vox✨📺!
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When you first admitted what you did that counted as a “sin” he was flabbergasted! He thought they must’ve made a mistake. All be it one that was in favor since he got to be damned with you. But still!
Out of every monster known to man kind one who’ve committed acts that are despicable. You, one who can barely hurt a damn fly get sent with them?
At first he thought you were genuinely just joking. And he actually laughed! Like audible chuckled before waiting for the actual reason, which never came, and he soon realized you were being serious!
He always questioned why you use to refuse to kill, or at least scare people into respect. But then you explained how you refused to be like the rest of the sinners.
He utterly dumb founded you made it this far without spilling a bit of blood, at least for survival!
He becomes more overprotective as if he wasn’t before, good luck with that!
Cause now he knows your rules, he knows you won’t budge. Nothing would get you to change your mind. So he made sure to keep eyes on you 24/7, you may be nice, but the other sinners in this damned place definitely aren’t. And he knows that from experience
Would neither confirm or deny he put a small tracker in an item you carry every where.
This man has enemy’s as you’ve seen, demons, overlords, rival company’s, it’s a headache an a half for him. Not that he hates protecting you and your values! No never!, but the nerve of the people who think they even have a chance to lay a hand on you.
Gives you the lastest phone from his series, and yes he will text you and blow up ur phone up if he can see you through cameras around the city.
Even if you put it on silent he wouldn’t put behind himself to over load it and just show up on your phone screen.
Sometimes he’s just so confused how you can be so nice, or at worst passive to those who are poking at you. He thinks your a saint, even if you aren’t, an maybe you have a short temper still the way you hold yourself form blowing up is astonishing!
Sometimes he jokes about how if you were to go to Charlie you would be redeemed in a day. And at night sometimes he thinks about it and it scares him to know there’s a possibility for you to go where he will probably never be able to follow you too
He loves you to the depths and the crooks of hell, and he’ll be damned again if he lets anyone hurt you. He sees you as a small soft light in the red cover world, and he will do anything before anyone can put out that light.
He makes sure to keep a good distance between you and Val, a BIG distance.
He’s always on the edge about people around you, how can’t he? He can’t trust all these “disgusting and repulsive” sinners in hell around you. The thought alone cringes him out and stresses him.
He knows to some degree he isn’t exactly better then them sin wise, but he makes sure to do his best for you while infornt of you, he cares about his image, and wouldn’t be afraid to scare someone into discipline. BUT he will tone it down, just for you ♥(⸝⸝´꒳`⸝⸝)♥
He has you under wraps, from the public eye in this case. As much as he’s one to show off his earnings, he loves you a little to much and knows well people will use you as a advantage. He loves to show off but you something just for him behind close doors for now before he can work something out
NOW if the public were to already know, he show off by showing how untouchable you were, demons knew better to approach you seeing as how fast he is to get rid of those stupid enough to try something.
Overall he respects your morals of not wanting to stoop as low as other sinners. But it dose make him more protective of you, your like a rare gem. There’s only a handful of people like you, and even then the numbers decrees daily, so he dose his most to make sure you safe and happy <3
ఌ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★ఌ
!🎙️✨Alastor✨🎙️!
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Like Vix he humors it at first! Playing around with it before Laughing with his usual staticky voice as he stared at you with his unnerving smile. You guys quite literally stared at each other for a hot minute waiting for the other to say something.
It took you clearing your throat for him to realize you weren’t just trying to get a chuckle outta him.
And for the first time since you met him you caught a hint of confusion, making you explain that it was genuinely what you did.
He quite literally burst out laughing, you, someone who probably did something everyone did once is in this horrid place stuck with the horrid monsters ever! Just for that single act alone.
He will admit he found it a bit amusing how you refused to kill or lay a hand on anyone. Refusing to stoop to other people’s levels. Now that for him is pure gold of entreatment! He’s seen people like you, say the same exact thing then crumble when backed I to a Corner.
But for the first time, for all the decades he’s been damned here, he’s seen you stick to what you’ve stated. You were very much quite a spectacle!
Now finding new amusement, he decided to protect you, cause someone like you were sure to be a one time experience. Aside from loving you of course
Now with your name being accosted with him alone is a shield in if its self. Barely any one approached you, aside from those playing with their afterlives of course.
If you ever feel a looming shadow or presence it’s most likely one of his shadows. Like Vox he is gonna have his eyes on you almost always
Although he loves you he will play around to get a reaction out of you. All for the fun of it!, he knows you cringe when he talks about his cannibalism tendencies he just loves seeing your cute little face scrunch up!
Even though with all of that he is a gentleman and will make sure no one is to bother you.
He’s quite impressed you made it this far without getting killed, I mean of course you have him but if you arrived to hell and didn’t met him immediately he’d be quite impressed and surprised one you both do meet
He indulges himself in the horrible aspects of hell, with no remorse or shame what so ever either. So although he dose respect your wishes he won’t stop or calm down his tendencies.. (;へ:)but on the bright side he’ll make sure your far away or he goes off to other part of the city and do whatever he wishes. But your likely to see on the news either way… ( ̄▽ ̄💧
He dose enjoy the more civil and nice talks he has with you though! He finds it nice to take a break from all the crude talk on the street from other sinners and have a nice conversation!
Great listener let me tell you, he’ll happily sit there as you explain your day away! He honestly enjoys hearing you genuinely happy!, although his a chatter box himself but he enjoys listening to you more then anyone or anything else!
Watches you be nice to the most repulsive, and rude demon like it’s nothing. Even when disrespected you find a way to calm down the situation and nicely at that. Of course the demon doesn’t live long once their out of your sight, but still! He’s pleasantly surprised.
He finds it rather weird that your nice just for the sake of being nice but still it’s definitely a nice refresher from all the horrible people down in hell!
You catch his eye rather quickly with how you stick out from others (in a good way! ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ) and his eyes end up on you, you mainly have all his attention almost always if he isn’t off doing something!, your his light just live Vox he’ll make sure you’ll shine bright as ever and won’t go out.
Not everyone can catch it but in some rare moments he’ll be seen just staring at you as you happily talk away to Charlie. And for the smallest second you can see his unnerving smile turn into a soft smirk, eyes only on you and his mind filled with only you. This happens on the regular, it’s just he’s quick to cover up so no one sees!
Overall he loves you, even with some differences between your views he’ll still do his best to make you comfortable. Aside from teasing you here and there! But other then that he’ll protect you, your one of kind. And he loves having things no one else can.
ఌ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★ఌ
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AHHHH HELLOOOOO OH GORSH I MADE IT JUST IN TIME THIS TOOK SO LOBG TO DO CAUSE I KEPT HAVING TO DELETE AND REWRITE ON A NEW DRAFT AUGHHH I HOPE TUMBLR FIXES THIS BUG, BUT ANYWAY TYSM FOR REQUESTING PLEASE COME AGAIN!!!\(^ヮ^)/’
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jazzmasternot · 8 months ago
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He’s a red flag but red means good fortune and love in my culture 😘
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voxsremotec0ck · 10 months ago
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𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐒𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞.ᐟ
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⋆。゚You, new to Hell and clueless about everything, pass them on the street and give them a polite smile and wave ゚。⋆
— Lucifer, Alastor, Vox, Angel Dust
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Lucifer watches as you shine your sharp teeth at him in a genuine smile with furrowed eyebrows. When he noticed you waving, he awkwardly waves back with his cane and watches you walk away. After his years of isolation, his name has definitely lost a lot of weight, but still sinners don’t just casually wave and smile at him. How odd.
Alastor meets your smile with his own, although it’s his default expression, it does grow at the sight of you. What was someone so cheery and naive doing in Hell? And smiling at him of all Demons, like he was just any other sinner? Oh you might just be a perfect asset for Charlie’s hotel.
Vox flashes you his signature showmanship smile, but pauses when you just walk past him. Normally when someone smiles and waves at him, they want something. Either information about VoxTec or the Vee’s plans, he was always selling something. Yet you waved and kept walking, like you didn’t even know who he was. It was interesting to say the least.
Angel Dust is used to attention, wanted or otherwise, so random Demons waving and smiling at him were normal. What wasn’t normal was the lack of malice behind your smile, and the fact that you kept walking instead of trying to buy him for the night. He watched you continue down the street and wondered just how soon Charlie would snatch you up.
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First time writing for these characters so I hope it’s okay
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tojirights · 11 months ago
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bro i’m going absolutely INSANE over alastor 😻😻
so, how about when lucifer comes by the hotel, he subtly flirts w alastors girl. alastor is on the verge of going apeshit and almost leaves charlie fatherless.
instead of murdering anyone, he decides to take his frustrations out on his darling, leaving bite marks and hickies on spots just visible enough for lucifer to notice next time he comes by..
a/n: im OBSESSED 😍😍
alastor immediately recognized lucifer as competition on multiple fronts. obviously, the king of hell was a threat in terms of power level, and alastor hated that. but alastor also quickly hated how charming the devil was.
upon meeting you, lucifer takes your hand and bows, placing a kiss on your hand as well. alastor's eye twitches, watching someone else put their dirty little hands and mouth on what is his. "my, what a pleasure. you're helping charlie? that's lovely! means i'll get to be seeing you around more, huh? she didn't mention such a pretty little thing was her hotel manager." lucifer speaks to you, a cool smirk on his face. he's clearly interested in you, and while alastor can't blame the man, he's seething with rage. clearing his throat, alastor takes a step towards you and reaches a hand out to lucifer in an attempt to shift his attention.
"alastor." he speaks, barely containing the anger in his voice. "it truly is an honor to be meeting you, sir." you raise a brow at the tense interaction going on in front of you but pay it no mind. lucifer gives alastor a tight lipped smile and shakes his hand. "ah, you as well. charlie has talked about you." you notice the way alastor glares at lucifer, yet keeps a smile on his face the entire time. lucifer turns back to you, putting a gloved hand on the small of your back. "now how's about a tour, hm?" he leans into your ear to whisper, causing goosebumps to rise on your skin.
behind you, alastor's horns grow and eyes redden, ready to risk it all in a fight with the devil and take out this whole god damned hotel if it meant lucifer never touched you again. "o-oh um, that's typically done by-" you start, but suddenly, charlie is running down the stairs with a panicked look on her face.
"heeyy dad! let's go this way, towards your room! it's late, you should rest." her smile is clearly fake, and you see her eyes dart from you to alastor and back to you. luckily, alastor reeled in his rage when the princess showed up and was back to his normal self on the surface. you can feel the energy coming from your partner, malicious intent painted all over his aura and you gulp. "al, c'mon... charlie's right."
alastor doesn't speak, but he follows you to your room for the night. the door is barely shut before alastor is lifting your legs and tossing you onto the bed. "care to explain why the fuck that little slimy king of hell was all over you?" he doesn't give you another moment to process before he's tugging your shirt over your head. "it's just harmless, al. you know i don't want anyone but you." you assure him, but alastor's teeth find your neck.
"i may trust you, darling, but i do not trust lucifer." his voice has a low growl to it that ignites your core. "but-" you gasp when alastor's mouth closes on the skin behind your ear, nipping it with sharp teeth. "no, because he and everyone in this place will know who you belong to." you shudder underneath of him, slight tinges of pain shooting down your spine at every nip and pull of your skin. alastor moves down your neck, leaving a trail of angry red and purple spots in his wake.
his tongue circles every bruise in an attempt to soothe your inflamed skin, but the marks just darken by the second. you hands dive into his hair, holding onto the silky strands. you feel alastor's body shudder as you circle the tufts of hair by his ears, making him press his hips to yours. "everyone in hell, my dear, is going to know that you're mine. not a single soul will ever try to touch you again." his breathing hitches, grinding his quickly hardening cock against your leg. you whimper when his teeth latch onto your collarbone, sucking hard and adding another welt to your skin.
"i want him to hear you." he hisses as he tugs your pants down over your ankles. its hasty, the way alastor frees his cock and pushes into your pussy, but you were more than ready for the intrusion. you cry out, suddenly being so, so full and alastor groans. "yes darling, just like that." your legs wrap around his waist, forcing every thrust just a little further until he's pounding at your cervix.
"d-don't stop sir." you gasp, eyes rolling into the back of your head while alastor's mouth latches onto the other side of your neck this time. "who do you being to?" he asks, hot breath fanning your skin. "y-you, alastor!" you whine, flexing your hips up to his in an attempt to build friction. "please, make me cum. only you feel so good." alastor peppers you in soft kisses now, ever grateful that you're willing to entertain the idea of letting lucifer know just who makes you feel like this.
alastor sneaks a hand between your bodies to rub skillful circles around your clit until your legs start shaking. "good, good girl. scream for me." he smirks when your tone shifts and he can tell by how tight you squeeze around his cock. "a-alastor fuck!" your body spasms, waves of pleasure rolling over you as you cum. alastor's orgasm follows shortly after, his teeth finding your skin once more as he spills deep inside of your pussy.
you have a brief moment of embarrassment when you think about just how loud you just were, your hand flying up to your mouth. alastor just laughs, placing a kiss on your forehead. "don't panic, my sweet. i think this little display will prove quite effective in keeping lucifers grubby little hands off of you." alastor pulls out slowly and carries you to a nice warm shower before tucking you in for the night.
---
"jesus christ, did you get into a fuckin' fight with a bear?" angel laughs when you walk into the kitchen the next morning. you were covered in hickeys all the way down your neck, and you were barely walking straight. lucifer refuses to make eye contact with you, especially after alastor walks into the room shortly after. "good morning everyone!" alastor chirps, smirking at lucifer who rolls his eyes and sips his coffee.
"well, there's the bear..." husk mutters, earning a cackle from angel.
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velvetydream · 11 months ago
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꒰ :🥀 [ Like a deer in headlight ] ”♡ᵎ꒱ˀˀ ↷ ⋯
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Summary : After finding out that Alastor indeed had ears atop his head, it was now time for round two of your game - his deer tail.
Pairing : Alastor x Reader
Word count : 3313 Words
Genre : Fluff, Suggestive(?)
Warnings ➵ Possessive and out of character Alastor,
he accidentally hurts and scares Reader
a/n : Continuation of my Alastor x Reader story, > Deer in headlight < , got asked for this by a few people, so here ya'll go! Hope it's as good as the first one!♡
┌───────────────────────── ·  ·  ·  · ♡
It had been a week since you had discovered Alastor's ears and he had let you touch them for the first time. Sneaking on him a few times to caress or play with them, maybe even a little tug or kiss to them when none of the others were looking. The relationship between you two also changed to something different, you couldn't exactly put a name to it, but it was more than friends, but definitely less than lovers. It confused you. Alastor confused you. Once he is nice to you, cooks you dinner, and lets you play with his ears while he writes a new script, the next time he rather distances himself from you, makes jokes here and there as if he himself didn't know what to do nor how to act.
The others also had picked up on the change between you two, Angel was teasing you about it a lot, Husker just warned you to be careful, Niffty was herself like always and Charlie was super happy about how close you two seemed to have gotten now.
So now to your new mission at hand, round two of your self-proclaimed game. Figure out if Alastor has a tail and if yes, get around to touch it! But this time it seemed to be harder than before, Alastor had his guard up a lot around you now, even when he let you play with his ears. Every time your hand wanders away from his ears down to try and peak under his coat, his hand either guides yours back up to his head or he entirely gets up and leaves, making sure you cannot find out if he has a fluffy little tail.
So now you were sitting at the bar, head resting on the counter as Husker slid your favorite drink over to you. "No look yet huh sweets? Was surprised you even got around to touching his ears without injuries." Angel now sat down beside you, softly patting your back as you let out a tired groan. "I just don't get it! I mean he saw that in the it wasn't that bad when I touched his ears! So why is it so bad now if I figure out if he has a tail too!" Pouting, you sit up a bit now taking a sip from your glass. "Maybe he doesn't have one, none of us ever saw one at least. Or maybe if he has one it's a different feeling for him than his ears?" Husker was cleaning a glass now as he spoke to you. Maybe he was right but.. you really wanted to know if he had a cute matching tail. Eyes going around the foyer now as you notice Alastor making his way up the stairs.
"Al! Wait up!" Jumping down from the barstool to follow him up the stairs, he waited for you on the stairs before walking up beside you. Eyes glancing over to him, he looked calm as always, his signature smile adorning his face, staff clutched in one hand as he walked alongside you. "How can I help you today dear?" Looking over at him now, you simply followed him to where he was going. "Are you doing a broadcast today? May I listen again?" Raising an eyebrow slightly Alastor looks over to you, nodding in agreement as he leads you to his radio tower. Over the last week, you had listened to his broadcast live two times already, which made you happy that he allowed you to join him. Opening the door for you, you enter first as you immediately take a seat at the table, Alastor had put up a second chair for you. Still, you noticed how his eyes had a glimmer of suspicion at how you suddenly wanted to listen in today.
Waiting for him to start the broadcast, your head was leaning on your hand as you watched Alastor with a smile. Suddenly an idea came into your head, trying to suppress the grin that was threatening to grow on your face. Alastor was focused on his broadcast, talking about something you weren't even listening to anymore. Reaching your hand over now, your fingertips softly graze his ears, as Alastor lets out a surprised yet quiet yelp, before turning his head to you with a warning glare. Returning his gaze with a smirk now, as you stand up from your seat and slowly walk over to him, he was glaring at you now. You were so close to fucking up, but this was a chance. Reaching your hand out to the back of his coat to pull it up. Quickly the > On Air < sign switched up, as Alastor grabbed your wrist in a rather right grip. Turning his head to you now, his antlers had grown in size, a red X on his forehead, and eyes turned to dials. You definitely fucked up now.
"D̷̢͙̟̼̘̊̒̑͑͝ë̸͇͍͓̲͇͂̾̓͝a̴͙̻̞̫̞̾̑̈́͑̕r̸̖͎̼̳͍̀̉̌̉̒ ̶̜͉̦͔̒̋̌̒̕ͅw̵̛̲̭̰̼͒̑̎͝ͅh̴͚̮̬̜̔̉͗̀̅ͅa̴̭͖͍̩̣͐̀̇͂̿ţ̷̛̪̣̥͓̓̆̕͠ ̴̂̀͋̀͘��̢͓͙̯w̵̘̣̫͚͛̋͛̊͠ͅë̴̢̡̛̥̦͇́̄̉̈ř̶͓̜̗̻̓̊̐͘ͅẽ̷̮̻͈͕͎̓̌͐̈ ̵̠̝̫̺̲̑́̍̈́̈́ÿ̴̳̩͍͎̙́̌́̿̈́o̶̰̭͎͈̣̅͛͑̌͘u̶̢̝̥̞̪͋́̒̎͝r̶ ̵͕͉̫̻̤̎̐̋̾͘į̴͕͈̮̅̎̈́̀̌ͅn̸̠̳̮̤̻͆͛̔̎͋t̸̖̻̲̘̭̐̎̂̏̕e̵̞͎͎̭̗̓̍̓̉̈́n̶̬͈͎̤͉̈́̈́̈́̇̾ţ̶̱͓̥̲̅̔͋̀̚i̶̡̲͕̤̩̒̏͐̈́͝ǒ̷̗̰̯̩̻́̔̄́n̸̡̧̞̩̥̔͆̎͆̅s̵̪̣̱͔̎͒́̽͠ͅ ̷̝͍͈̥͌͂̿̏͘ͅr̶̹͚̦͉̞̈́̈́͂̋̀i̶̡̨̛͉͇͇̾͐͊̍g̸̨̛͉͎̰̖͋̒͒̓h̴̜̫͕̪͊͊̈́͝͠ͅt̷͉̳̩̰̜͗̈́̓̽̒ ̴̨̬̱̰̠̒͂̍́̏n̸̬͍̬̣̗̿̃̅́͑ǫ̸̠̰̈̊͌͗̚͜͜w̴̧̜̺̖̓́̎͗͆ͅ?̴̠̖̯̤͚̓̀̎̂͆"
Gulping once, you try to pull your arm back from his grip, which just makes him tighten it. Hissing lowly, you squeeze your eyes shut, it was slowly stinging a bit from how tight his grip was. "Al.. You're hurting me!" Alastor finally turned back to himself, letting go of your red wrist now, a print of his fingers visible as you cradled your hand against your chest. "I'm going to leave for now.." Head down as you hurriedly leave the room, closing the door behind you as you dart for your room, ignoring Angel's calls who just walked past you. Throwing yourself on your bed now, you looked at your wrist scared now. He had never used his demon form for you, there was no way of denying that he had scared you. Closing your eyes to push away the tears that were slowly building up in your eyes, as your consciousness drifts away.
"Dear, wake up." A hand on your shoulder was softly shaking you awake, lifting your head to take in your surroundings before meeting Alastor's eyes. Sitting up quickly, you scoot a bit away from him as you watch him with wide eyes. "Alastor..! What are you doing in my room?" Watching him now, as he takes a seat on the edge of your bed, making sure to not make you any more uncomfortable by getting too close to you. "I'm sorry about back there, I lost it a bit, I shouldn't have." Despite smiling, you noticed that Alastor was genuinely apologizing to you. "I'm sorry, I crossed a line there, I used your trust in me listening to your broadcast live, I'm truly sorry." Laying your hand near his own carefully, letting him decide if he wants to be touched right now. Looking down, he softly takes your hand, as he presses a kiss against the red fingerprints he had left behind. His eyes were closed right now as his lips linger a second longer than they usually do. "I'll make it up to you, I promise." Raising to his feet now, he gave you a soft smile, before leaving you stunned in your room.
Laying back down against your pillows, your gaze was on the ceiling as your cheeks became a soft shade of red. What was he thinking? Turning onto your side now as you hug your pillow against your chest, looking to where Alastor sat just a few minutes prior.
The next day arrives, as you make your way down the stairs to the others. Charlie was right now explaining something to Angel and Husker, hyper as always. Vaggie was simply sitting on one of the couches with a book right now, while Alastor was nowhere to be seen. "Hey Vaggie, have you seen Alastor?" Leaning over the back of the couch now so the girl could see you as she looks over to you. "He went out rather early today, saying something about Overlords meeting and visiting a friend in Cannibal Town." Raising your eyebrows slightly at that, friend in Cannibal Town? Definitely Rosie. He probably decided to tag along with her a bit after the meeting, as she was also an Overlord. Thanking Vaggie, you go over to the other three to let Vaggie read her book in peace.
"Okay and then when Heaven agrees we could- Oh good morning!" Waving to you immediately now as Charlie noticed you coming over. Greeting them all with a smile and good morning now before Charlie starts to ramble on about her plans. It was nice seeing such a hyper and happy girl in hell, it was definitely a change to how people normally were down here.
"By the way sweets, would you mind tagging along to the city today? I wanted to go visit some clothing stores you would definitely like!" Angel laid his hand on your shoulder now as he asked you, before even thinking you agreed. It had been a while since you had last been to the part of Pentagram City where all the clothing stores were located. Besides Alastor isn't here today to try any of your attempts to see his tail nor to play with his ears. After quickly getting changed, Angel led you to the stores he was talking about. And he sure was right, you found so many good clothes to your liking in many different styles. One thing hell didn't lack was good fashion, probably thanks to Velvette from the Vees.
Leaving the store now with a lot of bags in hand, Angel decided to pull you to his favorite > cheap yet delicious < restaurant as he called it. While looking around a bit, you couldn't help but notice a certain red-haired demon walking down the streets, alongside Rosie, as their arms were hooked together, laughing. You knew they were simply good old friends, yet you couldn't do anything about this weird feeling bubbling up in your stomach. Reaching your hand out, you softly tug on Angel's shirt, head hung low. "What's it, sweets? Ya suddenly don't seem so good." His hand softly raised your chin now to look at you, noticing your pained expression. "Are ya hurt?" Taking a good look at you to make sure you weren't visibly hurt anywhere. Raising your head again, your eyes on the two other demons, Angel's eyes follow yours before letting out a sight.
"I know they're only friends but.. I feel weird seeing them I don't even know why myself!" The bag you were holding dropped to the ground, before hiding your face in your hands. "Sweets, if you ask me that sounds as if ya're jealous.." Angel's hand softly patting your head now as you raise your head, eyes meeting his. "But.. That would mean.. And he would never reciprocate.." Tears were building up in your eyes, before you knew it Angel pulled you into a comforting hug, softly patting your head. "It's going to be okay sweets." Staying there for a good minute or two, before you calmed down again. What you didn't see was a certain dial eyes watching you, as Angel had his arms around you and your body against his chest.
Deciding to head back to the hotel for now, Angel said he would take you to the restaurant another time. Back at the hotel you for now decided to head back to your room for a little rest. The shopping bag is thrown onto a chair before flopping down on your bed. A sigh leaves your lips. The last few days really weren't the best for you and were slowly wearing you down.
"Say dear, I thought we had a deal of you not touching others~" A radio static voice suddenly sounded through your room, sitting up you looked around frantically, eyes stopping on a dark corner of your room. Red eyes watching you, a shadow figure beside them grinning at you. Before you could know it, your body was pressed to the bed with Alastor on top of you. "W-What do you mean!? Angel was simply comforting me! Besides you were also all over Rosie!" Thrashing around now, as you try to push Alastor off of you, but he was simply too strong for you. "Oh, so you're jealous sweetheart? Was that payback then?" Alastor head was lowered as he whispered those words into your ear making your eyes grow wide. "He was comforting me because I was crying! Which I by the way was because of you!" Staring into your eyes now, Alastor was at a loss for words. You were crying? Because of him on top of that? Before he knew it, he watched your eyes fill with tears again daring to flow over. Now he had fucked up this time.. Again.
"D-Don't cry! Dearest I'm sorry." Scooting off of you now, he sits beside you not really knowing what to do, he never had to deal with someone besides Niffty crying. And Charlie, but that was a different story. Your hands rubbing over your eyes now, trying to get rid of the tears. Before you knew it, the culprit of your tears grabbed your hand, leading it to his head. Alastor wasn't great with words to comfort you, but this was his way of trying to comfort you after screwing up, which you deeply appreciated. Looking up at him now, eyes red from crying, as your hand starts to softly rub over his ears. "I meet up with Rosie to ask her for advice on what to get you as an apology for last time." Pulling out a little box from his coat now, he hands it to you. Sitting up, you take the red box from his hands, opening it slowly. Inside was a gold necklace with a red pendant in a tear shape. "It's beautiful.." You were at a loss for words right now, you didn't think he would get you something like this as an apology. "Let me put it on you dearest, turn around." Moving yourself now that your back is to him, you softly move any hair out of the way so he can put the necklace around your neck. Hand reaching down as you take the pendant between your fingers. "Thank-" Your words were interrupted by a soft kiss being pressed to your neck, but as you turned around, Alastor was gone, and only caught a glimpse of his shadow disappearing. Hand reaching to the place you had felt him kiss. Did you only imagine that? No, he definitely kissed your neck.
The next day you wanted to ask Alastor about it, but he was nowhere to be seen, as if he was avoiding you, which made you a little bit sad. Did he regret it?
Till now you also were not able to accomplish your victory in this little game. Making yourself question if you were ever going to figure out if he had a little deer tail. Turning around now, you caught a glimpse of red hair disappearing, making you dart right after him. So he truly was avoiding you! Before he could close his door, you put your foot between the door and the doorframe. "Open the door, I won't go away!" It took almost a whole minute for him to open the door, entering the room, the door is closed behind you. Crossing your arms in front of your chest now, you turn around to face Alastor now. "Are you avoiding me?" Static radio error. "Of course not dear! Why should I?" He was obviously more than nervous to be talking to you right now. "Oh, I don't know, maybe because since yesterday you've been running away from me and not shown your face once?" Looking at him skeptically now, he tried to look composed as always with his smile, but you noticed how his smile was slightly strained and his hand clenched just a bit tighter around his staff. "If this is about the kiss and you regret it just say it please, I won't be mad at you." Your eyes were avoiding his now. Oh if only you knew it was the complete opposite.
"Listen dear, it's not that.. It's.. How do I say, rather the opposite? I have been feeling rather drawn to you, wanting to get closer but.. I don't quite know how to handle these emotions." For once Alastor looked nervous, something you had never truly seen on him, he seemed so unsure. Holding out your hand, waiting for him to perhaps take it, which he did. Eyes locked on your hands, as he was softly playing with your fingers, slowly linking them together. "Listen it's okay, take as much time as you need to figure this out okay?" A soft smile was on your lips now, trying to reassure and calm him, but it had quite the opposite effect on him.
"May I kiss you?" Blurting those words out without even thinking about it, both of you were staring at each other with blown eyes now. You question yourself if you heard correctly and Alastor questions his sanity by asking you this, was he completely going crazy now? "If you want to, I allow you to do anything you want, I trust you." Now this surprised him, he indeed wanted to try this but.. he had never kissed anyone before. Not while alive, and certainly not while dead. Slowly his hand lays on your cheek as he pulls you closer to him, angling your head so you are looking at him. Your hands softly grab onto the front of his coat, eyes closed to give him full control. Alastor could either take his time or pull away entirely, it was all up to him, you let him go at his own pace.
And before he knew it, he was leaning down to capture your lips in a soft kiss. It felt different than he had imagined, it felt warm and comforting. It was a simple soft peck, nothing too spectacular, but for both of you, it was something special. When he pulled away again and you looked up into his eyes, you noticed movement behind him, your eyes lowering and noticing something moving under the backside of his coat. Eyes glancing with interest now, Alastor's eyes following yours to what you were looking at, a sigh leaving his lips. Before you knew it, Alastor was shrugging his coat off, his shadow hanging it somewhere in the room. And there it was, a fluffy deer tail, that was right now softly swishing from side to side, it was adorable. Alastor was a sight right now. His ears were pointed towards you, a blush over the bridge of his nose while his tail swished from side to side.
Reaching out your hand to touch his tail with sparking eyes, his hand stops yours as he watches you. "Once. It's different than my ears, one pat and that's it darling." Nodding in agreement, he turns around a bit as your hand softly pats over his tail once. It was soft just like his ears. Looking up with a smile now, his head was turned to the front, but his ears were turned to your direction, which looked super adorable. "Well since I was only allowed to pet your tail once, I would like to pat your ears again!" Smiling up at him innocently now, he exactly knew how this would end.
And he was correct, he was now lying on his bed with you, his head on your stomach as you were contentedly playing with his ears. Even though it would probably take a while till both of you knew how to call this relationship, you were more than happy that your one hand was busy patting his ears, and the other one was softly held by the red-haired man. You could get used to this.
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Taglist :
@mysticwitchcraftco @biromanticboba @yellowelectroslime
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cinnamon-galaxies · 2 months ago
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Alastor: *holds up the piece of fabric Pentious ripped off his coat* Ah-ho! Not many people have been able to take even this much off me! It must have meant quite a lot to you...
Y/N: *leans over to Angel* Well, I managed to take everything off him.
Angel: *chokes on his drink*
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activesplooger · 4 months ago
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| 𐂂 | 𝐑𝐮𝐭 𝐒𝐳𝐧 | 𝐃𝐨𝐞!𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐱 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 | 𝐇𝐚𝐳𝐛𝐢𝐧 𝐇𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐥 | 𝐒𝐌𝐔𝐓 | 𐂂 |
𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬: FINALLY LMFAO. sorry for the wait i got a wee bit busy and took a break so yeah! here you go. btw i suck at smut! enjoy :]
𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲: Your boyfriend enters his season! He's constantly in heat and stubbornly won't give in to his desires. As his season ends, you enter estrus, causing a hot sticky mess for the both of you!
𝐂𝐖: breeding kink behavior, possessive behavior, p in v sex, no protection, rough sex, idfk horny-ness 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 3,617 𝐒𝐌𝐔𝐓𝐒𝐌𝐔𝐓𝐒𝐌𝐔𝐓𝐒𝐌𝐔𝐓 𝐌𝐃𝐍𝐈!
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It was no secret that your boyfriend is in his heat season. This became apparent when you were woken by the screeching sound of antlers rutting against the bark of a tree. You look around, the bluriness of the room fading as you wake up a bit more. Lifting your hands to your face, you rub your eyes and groggily turn towards the noise. Your eyes flicker to the bayou section of Alastor's room. Immediately, your previously groggy state disappears, eyes widening at the sight before you. "KRRRRRRRRK KRRRRRRRK KRRRRK KRRR-" "Alastor!" The scraping comes to a sudden halt as you speak. Alastor still had his back facing you hunched over beside the tree, antlers just barely inches away from the torn bark. Nearly every tree in the bayou was scraped bare of its bark, how long had he been doing this for..? Realization hits you like a truck, "Ooohhhh you're in-" "Not a word. I can control it", The Deer demon curtly states, "Go back to bed." You knew he didn't mean to be dismissive, but that didn't prevent the pang of sadness that tugged your lips downward. "Aren't you gonna come back to bed?" Alastor sighs and turns to face you, his hungry eyes boaring into yours. "Go back to bed, I'll join you later.".
Without a word, you lay back down and sigh, trying to go back to sleep without the embrace of your partner. Alastor’s expression softens, he needed some time to work through his season, he never meant to distance himself in the process.
“Goodnight, darling. I love you.”.
A smile spreads across your face, those three little words were all you needed, “I love you too, sweet dreams.”
Despite what the demon said, he was anything but in control of it. Alastor desperately tried to remain celibate the next few weeks of his heat season. Which, confused you because it’s not like you hadn’t had sex before or anything. And while it happens sporadically, this seemed like a good occasion to do it. All he’d have to do to get rid of his pestering urges is to fuck you, yet he remained stubborn. What’s holding him back?
When you asked him, he rambled about something along the lines of wanting his desires to be on “his terms”. In other words, he just wanted control. You rolled your eyes at this. All this trouble because of reluctance to give in to an easy-to-fix solution? ‘Whatever, it’s just a few more weeks of this…’ you thought to yourself. He hated how much he needed release, how much he craved and yearned for it. Alastor needed to be the one to decide when and where he’d want to have sex. However, with his current irresistible urges, he needed sex everywhere, all the time. As a result of this, Alastor decided it would be best if he slept in a different room for the time being. Which, again, didn't make any sense. Why couldn't he just fuck you and get it done with? But, nooo he had to be in control 24/7, leaving you lonely in the large desolate bed. You never complained, of course, despite how much you wanted to. It was frustrating sure, but, you know what it's like to be in your season so you kept your mouth shut. It had put some strain on your relationship, however, you knew it would only make things worse if you argued with him. He's tense enough already. Besides, it's only a few months out of the year! You can argue for the rest of eternity after said period. --
As time passed, the deer’s strained behavior only worsened. His animalistic instincts were kicking in and intensified. Let’s be honest, Alastor’s hygiene wasn’t the greatest (especially when it comes to dental hygiene). But, it got exponentially worse when he started smearing mud on himself to 'enhance his scent'. You knew it was all typical heat season behavior, but still, gross.
Possessiveness was another unfortunate symptom of the season. If Alastor saw another male just simply looking at you, he’d take it as a challenge. Large black tentacles would stretch out and slam whoever you were with into the nearest wall. And while, yes, it was nice to have a protective boyfriend, it certainly wasn't nice to have a daily hospital visit and apology card to whoever Alastor felt threatened by. Luckily, the season was almost over! No more hiding from Alastor when talking to another guy and having a smelly boyfriend! Yay! Everything seemed to be clearing up on its own... that was until you entered estrus.
“No no… Nonono…”. You mutter as you pace around the room. Just as the season was about over, you just had to enter estrus. Great. Now, not only did Alastor have to suppress his urges, you did too. Not because you wanted to, but because you didn’t want to tempt Alastor anymore than he already was.
Facing a large full body mirror, you try to to cover up any possible signs that your in your season. Your tail lays flat against your backside, and while that wasn’t the most obvious trait, you knew Alastor would figure you out easily. Pheromones were being released in heavy doses, a scent that could attract a buck from miles away. Luckily for you, Alastor’s taking a visit to the doomsday district to “Blow off some steam.” Phew.
Frantically rummaging through the closet, you look for something, anything that could hide this for him. You didn’t really have anything large enough to hide your tail, and if you did, the imprint of your tail would stick out of the fabric from the back and make it obvious. Crap.
A spare of Alastor’s coat hangs teasingly against on the other side of your shared closet. Temptation sweeps over you, making you realize just how horny you were. Hesitant hands reach out to grab the soft fabric and lift it up to your nose. ‘Fuck… Am I a pervert? Oh well.’ you think to yourself as you inhale Alastor’s scent through the fabric. Bourbon and vanilla scent hits your nose, sending shivers down your spine.
Suddenly, an idea pops into your head. You slip your arms into the coat and walk towards the mirror. The coat perfectly hid your tail and Alastor’s lingering musk on the fabric masked the scent of your pheromones. For once in your life, being kind of a pervert paid off! __
Currently, you’re sitting at the bar nursing a drink, trying to ignore how badly you want to be fucked so hard your organs rearrange. As far as hiding your physical symptoms went, it was pretty easy. But the internal turmoil was eating you alive, and not in a sexy way. Every position, sound, scenario, and feeling was being conjured in your mind as you sit there “calmly” on the barstool. Your mind was so preoccupied that you didn’t notice Alastor approaching you.
“You know darling, if you liked my clothes so much you could’ve just said so.” The deer jests.
The sudden noise startles you, snapping you out of your thoughts. “AH!” you practically jump out of your seat before realizing it’s just Alastor, “Oh! Hello love. How was the doomsday district?” His shoulders bob up and down, a soft grin on his lips, "It was fine. Very effective. Perhaps I'll be able to join you in bed tonight.". Fuck. If he slept in your room tonight, the coat will have to come off and all will be revealed. "O-Oh! Are you sure? I don't wanna pressure y-" "Nonsense, dear!" The deer interrupted with a smile, "I've had quite enough time away. I'm sure I'll be fine for a night!" "Yes, but, honey... What if your instincts take over?". You hesitantly try to put the thought of not sleeping together in his head. Alastor waves a dismissive hand, "Nonsense, dear! I'll be alright." "Honey, I don't think this is a good idea-" You stated firmly. His smile strains as his eyebrows furrow, "Why? Is there something you're hiding from me?". "No I-" "Have you grown accustomed to sleeping without me?" he accused. "No, no... Al," you reluctantly begin, "I'd love to sleep beside you again... I just wanted to be sure you were okay with it.". Lies. Well, partly. You did want to cuddle with your partner just... not with the current 'circumstances'. But now you had no choice but to find some way to hide your growing urges and instincts. -- The door shuts behind you as you walk into your room. You feel your heartbeat pick up as your palms start to moisten. 'Deep breaths, Y/N," you think to yourself, 'he won't find out... Just stay calm and act normal.'
The two of you get ready for bed: brushing your teeth (well, you are at least), washing your face, and are currently putting on PJs. You changed in the closet, away from Alastor, which he thankfully paid no mind to. After putting on a lacy nightgown, you hastily throw the coat back over your shoulders. In hindsight, this was definitely a dead giveaway that you were hiding something. But, what choice did you have? Putting on a tranquil facade, you enter the bedroom. Alastor's sitting at the edge of the bed when you walk in, finishing buttoning up his nightshirt. 'Damn, even in pajamas he's still hot as fuck' you think. You ogle at your boyfriend for a moment, heat rising in your chest. "Ah ah, dear, don't look at me like that" He playfully reminds you. His words snap you back into reality, you smile softly at him. "Sorry, sorry!" you stammer. Walking to your side of the bed, you stare directly at the floor as to not get distracted by your growing arousal. 'Keep it together Y/N!'. Alastor's eyebrows furrow, "Darling?". "Yes?" you respond. A sharp red claw gestures to the coat, "Why are you still wearing that?". "Oh!" beads of sweat form on your forehead as you clammer to find some sort of excuse "I justtttt.... get a little chilly at night! Yep, just a case of uh cold-ness... yeah...". 'God damn it... Am I fucking stupid? "Cold-ness" isn't even a word!' you mentally berate yourself. Your boyfriend turns to fully face you on the bed, "And why does it have to be my coat, hm? Can't you use one of yours?". Fidgeting with your hands nervously, you reply, "Well I just like yours! It's nice, it reminds me of you.". "Pray tell, my dear," he begins, "Why must you be reminded of me when I'm right beside you in bed?". You take a deep breath, "Well, in your... 'condition'-". "Watch it, Darling," he warns. "Right right," you sit up straighter as you become more confident in your convoluted excuse, "I just figured you wouldn't be able to handle cuddling me. In fact, you’ll probably just stay on your side of the bed all night. Hence why I wanted the coat". You feel a little prideful at your on-the-spot reasoning… until you see your boyfriend’s expression. Yeahhh, he looked pissed. Alastor's wide grin twitches, "Excuse you, Darling! I am perfectly capable of controlling myself for one night!”. “Well, then why didn’t you sleep in here for a month?!” you retort, immediately regretting it. You weren’t actually mad, just defensive. Oh well, no going back now. "That's it!" He reaches for the sleeve of your coat, pulling on it roughly. "Hey!" you exclaim. Trying (and failing) to yank the sleeve back, the coat flings off your shoulders and into Alastor's tight grip. He discards it on the floor beside the bed. Luckily, he wasn't in a position to notice your tail, however, that didn't affect your boyfriend's sense of smell... Holding his nose high in the air, he takes small quick sniffs near you, his ears twitching at the smell of your pheromones. His pupils dilate to the size of quarters, any restraint he had before was now completely gone, "My dear," He crawls toward you on all fours, making his way across the bed, "I've spent the past few months aching for release, but I've restrained myself...". You inch backward away from him, "Alastor... Be rational... You've tried so hard, I don't want you to regret this.". As soon as you finish speaking, you inch too far off the bed and suddenly fall back, eliciting a yelp. A slender arm reaches out to grab yours, lifting you up and saving you from the fall. Alastor pulls on your arm, lifting you up so that your faces were inches apart. He takes a deep breath in, the scent of pheromones filling his nose. His eyes bore into you with a hungry, desperate, gaze, lips slightly parted as his breath grows heavier. “My dear… I would never regret making love to you… If I did have any regrets, it would be that I didn’t do this sooner…”.
Half lidded eyes meet his lustful gaze, “Your sure about this?”. Alastor’s eyes linger on your lips as he speaks, his voice low and raspy, “I’ve restrained myself for far too long… I would hate to you holding back as well. This has been a long time coming, darling, and now…”. Reaching over, his lips teasingly brush against your ear as he whispers,”I’m taking whats mine.”.
You cradle his face in your hands, thumb brushing over his flushed cheeks. Suddenly, he captures your lips in a firm kiss. The tender kisses turn sloppier, his tongue swiping past your lips asking for entry. As soon as your lips part, his long slender tongue slides against yours. You moan against his lips at the feeling which only fuels his desire more. Intertwining your tongue with his, his hand cards through your hair at the back of your head, pulling you closer. The kiss deepens, drawing out a stifled moan from Alastor. You position yourself so you’re straddling his lap, his boner poking against your thigh.
As the two of you make out, you slowly roll your clothed core against the tent in his pants. Alastor pulls back from the kiss, his head jerking down into the crook of your neck. “Darling,” his large hands grip your hips, keeping them from moving, "I have a better idea...". He lifts his head back up and instantly closes the distance between the two of you. Your tongues intertwine and sloppily kiss one another, your lips lubricated with his saliva.
He moves his hands to the straps of your nightgown. The thin silky straps gently pull off your shoulders. Alastor places his palm under your elbow and pushes up gently, a silent way of asking you to put your arms up. You oblige and lift your arms followed by Alastor briefly breaking the kiss and slipping the nightgown over your head. His eyes rake over your almost naked body. One of his large hands reaches out to cup your breast. The sudden contact sends a shiver down your spine. His thumb brushes over your nipple, the bud hardening at his cold touch. Meanwhile, his other hand travels down your body and hooks his finger under the lacy thong. Stretching the lace strap, a soft hum escapes his lips. Your breath quickens as you eagerly await his next move, needing his touch and release.
Unhooking his finger, he moves his hand to the damp spot on the underside of your thong. A breathy moan escapes your lips, "Fuck, Alastor... Don't tease.". Removing his hands, he holds them up in a gesture of surrender, "Can't handle a bit of foreplay, darling?". "Hush" you reply, your hands working to unbutton his nightshirt. Once unbuttoned, you toss the shirt off to the side and gaze at his toned torso. "See something you like?" he jests. You playfully roll your eyes and get to work on sliding off his pajama pants. Once his pants are off, his aching member frees the confines of the fabric, his tail twitching in anticipation. Alastor shudders at the cold air hitting his throbbing, erect cock. Your gaze tears away from his dick and meets his face. His eyes are half-lidded with a deep shade of pink dusting his cheeks, mouth slightly agape as he pants heavily. "What? Can't handle a bit of foreplay?" you tease.
Alastor's eyebrows furrow, a tight-lipped grin forming on his face, "You know what? No, I can't.". In a swift motion, he grabs you by the waist and tosses you on the bed. As your stomach hits the cold dark red comforter, you make a small "oof!" sound. Alastor's hands slither to both sides of your waist and lift you gently, propping you up on your hands and knees. A slender finger slides against the drenched folds of your pussy, a single digit dipping into your tight center. You let out a soft pleasured gasp at the feeling. As much as you enjoyed this, it only made you crave more. He tantalizingly pulls out his finger and brings it to his lips, sucking your juices off it. Pulling the finger out with a satisfying 'pop', he leans over your body. His chest presses against your back as he whispers in a husky low tone, "My my, little doe... You taste divine.". A needy whimper escapes your throat as your dripping cunt aches to be filled.
He kisses his way down your back, leaving a final kiss at the base of your perked-up tail before lifting his head back up. Alastor gently spreads the beads of pre-cum around his dick for extra lubrication, not that you needed, it of course. Large hands clutch the sides of your hips, claws dimpling your supple skin. Pre-cum and saliva from his hands spreads onto your skin, the moist texture making your stomach flutter. -- Alastor aligns his shaft with your opening, gradually penetrating you. A choked gasp leaves your mouth as he stretches you out, filling your needy cunt. After a bit of getting used to his length, he slowly thrusts into you. "That's it, little doe," he coos, "taking me so well... You'll look great as a mother".
Alastor pants heavily as he continues to rut into you, his pace picking up as he reaches closer and closer to a climax. Sparks of pleasure hit your core and he enters you at a rough tempo. "Mmph~ Al... That's it- D-Don't stop." you whimper. "Stop?" he begins, sliding into you at a more rigorous pace, "Wouldn't dream of it... After all, I couldn't leave my precious doe without filling her properly couldn't I?". Pleasure clouds your mind, all you can respond with is a cry of satisfaction. "Ah ah ah, use your words dear. Tell me how much you crave my seed.". "Need you to fill me... Need it so bad... Please..." you mumble, focused more on your approaching climax. Your words encourage Alastor further, thrusting into you deeper and hitting spots you didn't even know could be reached. His pelvis slams against your clit, sending sparks through your already trembling pussy. He speaks through strangled grunts and pants, "That's right, my doe, I'm gonna fill you over and over until you're filled with my fawns...". His large hands travel from your hips up to your chest, cupping your breasts in his hands. Mewling at the added pleasure, his thumb and index finger rolled the sensitive buds in his hands. "These would look so nice and pretty when they're swelled with milk, don't you think?". His dick slams into you at a ruthless pace. The sounds of skin slapping against skin along with moans and grunts of pleasure filled the air. Alastor takes a deep breath in, inhaling the scent of pheromones. His pupils widened further, his primal instincts kicking in. Releasing your tender breasts, he lifts your thigh up over his shoulder to get a new angle. His cock drills into you at a ruthless tempo, "Gotta - Nnnph~ make sure my seed's deep inside you... Gonna- load my fawns into you...". You feel your stomach tighten as you reach your release, "Al- M'gonna-". As your orgasm washes over you, hot loads of cum fill your greedy pussy. Your cunt clenches around his drenched cock as he rides out your orgasm. His pace gradually declines as the pleasure begins to fade. Alastors upper body goes limp from his climax, torso resting against your back. The two of you take a moment to catch your breath, panting heavily as he remains buried inside of you. After taking a beat, he pulls out of you. Cum spills of your cunt, loads of semen dripping down your folds and onto the bedding below. "You've made quite the mess my dear." he jests breathlessly, plunging a finger into your pussy to keep the seed from spilling, "Though, we can't let this go to waste, hm? I wasn't joking when I said you'd make a lovely mother.". You chuckle wearily and plop onto the mattress.
Rolling over onto your back, Alastor grabs the discarded clothes and helps you put your pajamas back on. He slips the silk gown back on you and presses a kiss to your forehead, "You did so well, my beautiful doe...". A smile stretches across your face at the praise. Returning the favor, you help him dress as well - buttoning up his night shirt and sliding his pants back on.
His arms wrap around your stomach as he pulls you into a loving embrace. Alastor bundles the two of you in the dark red comforter, spooning you and nuzzling his face into the crook of your neck. "I love you, Alastor" you whisper. "I love you too, darling. Sweet dreams.". With a final kiss pressed onto your cheek, you both drift off to a pleasant slumber.
YAYAYAYYA i tried rlly hard so if u dont like it then FUCK U (jk). but yeah i hope u like ittt. pls leave feedback guys :,) good or bad idfc but i rlly wanna improve and feedback is important for that!!! i hope u liked it :) i meant for the smut to be longer tbh, sorry if it wasnt as long as u were hoping. im still new at this so I tried to keep it short and sweet. I felt as if i kept it too long the quality would decline and that sucks so :/ hope u liked ittt!!!!! also i didnt edit this bc im tired lol but if u see a mistake point it out
𝐁𝐔𝐓: 𝐅𝐔𝐍 𝐅𝐀𝐂𝐓, 𝐈𝐍 𝐀 𝐑𝐔𝐓, 𝐁𝐔𝐂𝐊𝐒 𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐎𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒 𝐉𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐌𝐀𝐊𝐄 𝐒𝐔𝐑𝐄 𝐒𝐎𝐎…. 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐀𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑 𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐖𝐀𝐊𝐄 𝐔𝐏 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐃 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐑 𝐀𝐆𝐀𝐈𝐍??? 𝐋𝐌𝐊
__
𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓: @l3rittany, @sirens-and-moonflowers, @ratsematary, @reath-solia, (if i missed anyone I'm so sorry)
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lustylita · 8 months ago
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Alastor sees someone doing something stupid: "My, what an idiot."
Alastor then realises that it's Y/n: "Oh no, that's my idiot."
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carame1bunny · 8 months ago
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𝕭𝖊𝖘𝖙 𝖔𝖋 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖘𝖊𝖆𝖘𝖔𝖓
note: this is the part 2 for this, but you can read it individually too:) I know they can’t reproduce in hell, so let’s pretend that they can! And thank you so much for all the support, really means a lot to me!🤍
Pairing: Alastor x fem!doe Reader
summary: Alastor, nor Y/N can’t resist against their instincts anymore
warning: SMUT (minors dni), heavy breeding kink, impregnation kink (i’m not sure if this is the right term, but you know what I mean:)) biting, knotting, primal stuff in general, dirty talk, like a lot of dirty talk, ooc Alastor, (forgive me if I forgot anything pls)
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Y/N got back in her room as soon as she could. This was her first heat, who knew they were this tiring? Especially given to the fact that she did absolutely nothing. Her daily mating season routine consisted of: sleeping, eating and masturbating. Therefore, she didn’t know the power a male deer could have over her, especially a male overlord demon deer. She wasn’t this down bad for him until he gave her a command, that made something click within her. Her hands were shaking and her mind was chanting.
Bigger nest, bigger nest, fawn, fawn, fawn, Alastor.
Her mind kept on repeating these words while she clawed her dresser open to take every soft thing out, to make her nest bigger.
When she finally made it twice as big, she curled up in there and tried to wait patiently for Alastor, although her body craved him more instead of the sweets. She felt the shiver crawl up and down her back, the hot feeling in her lower tummy made itself known harder than before.
Fuck it. She couldn’t wait. She needed release now.
She rolled on her back and spread her legs, her fingers were under her dress not even a second later. She was unbelievably wet, the crotch of her underwear was soaked, her body was ready to be mated, to be bred. She huffed in disappointment, her fingers weren’t enough, she needed more. So her firmest pillow was snatched and she began grinding down on it, yeah, this was way better. She couldn’t help it, she kept on imagining that it wasn’t a pillow that she was riding on, but Alastor.
She suddenly got a whiff of his musky scent and her hips dug themselves deeper into the pillow. Seconds later, she heard the locks clicking and the door opening…
Alastor could smell her arousal the second he stepped back in the hotel. A sweet scent coming from her room, she was more aroused than ever. While he was out of town, he caught a few scents of does in heat, but they couldn’t even come close to Y/N. He felt lucky that he was alone in the parlor, he could have felt ashamed, it was obvious that everyone left so the two deers could do their thing. But, shame was the last thing in his mind. All of his senses were occupied with Y/N. He felt the fabric of his pants becoming tighter, his breathing becoming heavier. He needed her. Now.
As he was on his way to her room, he was in and out of his demon form, desperate to feel the worked-up doe. Her scent was more intense, it fogged up his mind, making all of his thoughts circle around her. His knuckle ghosted over her door, but in that moment, knocking seemed useless and stupid. One of his shadows creeped under her door to open up the locks, when the door creaked open, he stepped in.
She was halfway on her stomach, one of her thighs was lifted and across the pillow, her needy pussy making a mess on the side of the pillow. There it was, the door opening. She blinked twice and Alastor was looking at her from the door. He still looked put-together, but his hair showed that he was running his fingers through it a lot.
Her big doe eyes were nearly in tears at the sight of him, she was relieved. She sat up on her knees, her dress was disheveled and her hair was messy.
“Alastor…?” She whispered, her eyes were hypnotized by him. His musky scent mingled with her sweet one, creating a new one that was them.
The desperation evident in her tone. Alastor got him coat off and went down on one knee before her. His clawed fingers reaching out to caress her blushing cheeks, she of course, nuzzled her face into his gentle touch. “Oh, you poor thing. Suffering all by yourself, hm?” He felt proper sympathy for the doe before him.
“Please, help me.” She purred into his hand, then she straightened her back out to rub her cheek against his. “I need you, Alastor, only you.” He almost didn’t notice how she managed to sneak his kneeling leg between hers and began grinding down on it. But he did know that he was about to lose his goddamn mind. This is music to a bucks ears, a pretty little doe begging for him and telling him that he was the one she needed, it is an honor really.
He put both of his hands on her face to make sure she looked into his eyes. “There, there. Don’t you worry, I’ll help you.” She squeaked in joy, she was about to crawl on him, when he stopped her. He got her into his lap and stepped inside her nest, sitting down with both her legs around his waist. “But… If you and I do this, there is no going back. This won’t be a one time thing, where we fuck just to get through our heat. No. You and I will be mates.” His demon form started to show slowly, his antlers growing, his smile getting bigger and his form getting taller. “No other bucks. You will bear me fawns, and I keep you safe and loved. Understood?”
There was a few second silence before she smiled and reached out to gently pet his ears and antlers, which went right back to it’s normal size. She was petting him in his sensitive spots, only a bucks mate was allowed to do that. He got his answer, but she spoke.
“I want that. I want you, Alastor, I really do. But… Are you sure? If you are to become my mate, I want you to know that I’ll need you around, all the ti—-“
Alastor chuckled and pulled her into a deep kiss, her tense body instantly relaxed. Their lips were dancing together, with every second they somehow mushed their bodies closer together. “I promise to give you everything you could ever need, want and more, my mate.”
They both gave themselves to the primal desire. They undressed each other in a hurry, or more like, Alastor sloppily removed his clothes, and tore Y/N dress in half. “Hey!” She shrieked, with a giggle.
He shushed her with another heated kiss. “I’ll buy you a thousand more, but not too soon, you won’t need clothes for a while.” His static voice slipped into an even more dominant one, a command.
He gladly acknowledged that she wasn’t wearing anything under her dress. She looked perfect. Her usually slender frame had some extra pounds, in all the right places. He flipped them around, so his mate was right under him, on perfect display for him. His lips wandered from hers and down to her neck, his tongue marked the spot where he would leave his bite on her, before continuing his journey lower.
He stopped at her chest, his fingers pushed one of her breasts to the side, so he could lightly bite into the flesh. Her nipple poked out from between his fingers, they were firm and begging to be sucked on. “What gorgeous breasts, my doe. My babies will have the finest to feed from.” He started sucking on her nipple, while pinching and kneading the other. He switched to the other one, and suckled. He did that until both her tits were covered in bite marks, her nipples were hard as rocks and the skin around nearly crimson. “I can’t wait to see them full of milk, I’ll have my lips around these beauties all day, before our little fawn arrives. Can’t have you feeling uncomfortable from all the milk your body is preparing, now can we? Daddy is going to help mommy out.” His dirty talking got her even more worked up, every single nerve in her body was aching for him, and for the baby that he’ll give her soon enough. He went lower, stopping at her lower belly and hips. “Would you look at that!” Both his hands smoothed themselves from her waist to her hips, gripping the fat on her hips. She didn’t even have time to fall into insecurity because of her slight weight gain, before he spoke. “You really are perfect. You were made for me. Made to bear my offspring, my gorgeous darling.”
He couldn’t help himself, he had to leave a few bite marks there too, then he completely got on his knees before her spread legs. He buried his face between her thighs, the source of her heavenly scent. His nose accidentally poked her already puffy clit and her whole body jolted. He decided to just bury his face into her, his tongue and lips were working in unison. Her moans made him go harder and faster, just like her delicate fingers that were gripping into his antlers.
One of his hands sneaked up her thigh, only to slip into her wet entrance. “Oh~ Alastor!” Her back arched.
Alastor looked up at her, half his face was covered in her arousal, a string of slick still connected his lips to her pussy. “I know, I know. Give me a second.” He made his shadow throw both her legs over his shoulder and arch her hips upwards, which made her a bit confused. “What are y—OH FUCK!” She felt his finger press into a spot deep inside her, her g-spot.
“Found it.” He chuckled smugly, bastard.
He went on like that for a while, bringing her to an orgasm over and over again, until she was begging.
“Alastor! Please, fuck me. PLEASE!”
He crawled up her body, now being face to face with her. His lips were swollen from literally making out with her pussy. “What was that, my dear?” He straightened up so he could begin unbuttoning his shirt, which he usually wouldn’t do, but he knew that his mate would need skin to skin contact, it helps them bond more.
“Fuck me. I am begging!” Her fingers reached up to help him with the buttons, small gestures, but oh so lovely!
“Excuse me, I can’t seem to he—“ he took himself out of his pants, before she grabbed onto his antlers and pulled his face beside hers, so she could whisper into his ear.
“Fuck me, breed me, knot me! I-I need you to finish inside, I’m more fertile than ever. Let me give you everything!” She started grinding against his hard and heavy cock, which stood proudly between them, impossibly hard for her and her warm cunt.
Alastor turned his head to seal their lips together, while he guided his cock inside of her.
They both sighed in relief, it felt so damn right for them to be connected like this. No wonder they were getting dizzy from each other’s scent, they were meant to be. She felt him nudge at her cervix, and curving right into her special spot.
He wrapped his strong arms around her, completely enveloping her, while pounding into her with no mercy.
“See what you do to me? The second I stepped into the hotel, I felt you. I have felt you for days. I have felt you every single time your curious little fingers sneaked under your dress, every fucking time.” His head was right next to hers, nuzzling his skin into her soft hair, finding comfort in it.
“I-I always had to do something down there wherever I felt your scent, I couldn’t do it if you weren’t around.” Her hands petted his ears, she was still gentle with him when his hips snapped into hers constantly. “I had you on my mind, when I was nesting. I wanted to show you, so you could be proud of me. I made it for you. Soft and warm… for you.” What a lovely creature she was, so kind hearted.
“Oh, my darling doe. You will make the greatest mother to our fawns. You will take care of them as much as you’re taking care of me… My sweet love, the sweetest mother to my children. I will be there for you, always. How could I ever let you go after this? My mate, I would hate to cause you the slightest pain, but I have to bite you… To bond us together.” He buried his face into her neck, licking at the spot he was eyeing earlier.
“I know. Do it. Bite me, and give me what we need. Give me our little fawns.”
He positioned her into a mating press, both of them moaned at this new position. His cock was nearly up in her womb. He reached down to stimulate her clit, he needed her to come, so he could fertilize her egg better.
“I will make your belly swollen, every part of your body will be swelling with my child.” His primal instincts were consuming him. “You will have a piece of me inside you. All. The. Fucking. Time. And everyone will see. Everyone will see how good my mate is treated, how good I fuck her. Everyone will know that I impregnated her. I will fucking breed you!” He felt his balls tighten and the base of his cock swelling, he was about to cum. Luckily she…
“ALASTOR! I’M ABOUT TO—-OH~”
He felt her clench around him, milking him for all his worth. He bit down hardly on her neck, leaving his bite mark that would always grace her skin, making her his forever. It was like marriage, but with deers.
She moaned loudly when she felt him fill her up, and it just kept on coming. He really set his mind into knocking her up.
Even when he stopped pumping his sperm into her, they were still stuck together. They kept each other warm in their embrace.
Alastor suddenly felt her shiver, so he flipped them to the side, so he could completely shield her from everything in his arms. He reached for a blanket and tucked her and himself in. Even after his swelling went back to normal, they still held each other tightly.
He kept looking down at her, admiring her, and gently caressing her skin.
“My beautiful doe, my gorgeous mate… You did so well. You’re my good girl.” He whispered to her, but her energy was down low. Her body was tired, and her mind was fogged. He reached over to grab the sweets that got them in this position in the first place. He started feeding her, before rocking her side to side to calm down her wildly beating heart.
“Thank you, Alastor… For everything, and more.” He could see the admiration in her eyes when she looked up at him with a smile. “I am proud to be your mate.” She looked down and palmed her tummy, caressing it with love. “I really hope we did it. I cannot wait for us to have our own little baby.”
“Me neither, my doe, me neither. But… If you didn’t get pregnant now, I’ll make sure that you get pregnant in the next few days.” He kissed her all around her face, making her giggle. “Now, sleep. I can’t have you tired tomorrow, we’ll have a lot of mating duties together.”
She grinned up at him. “Do we now?”
“Oh, yeah. We have to make sure that your womb will bring us a fawn soon. We have a lot of breeding and fucking to do.” He chuckled with her. She then snuggled into him, falling asleep, in the radio demon’s protective embrace.
Her mate’s embrace.
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Taglist: @jyoongim @lovingyeet @adamwarlockislife-blog @that-dumb-bitch @midorichoco @alastorswifeee
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luna-naoffcial · 1 day ago
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【 ✦ 𝐌𝐲 𝐂𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 ✦ 】
【 𝐒𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐖𝐎: 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 】
【 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐄𝐍 】
|| 𝐎𝐍𝐄 || 𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐄 || 𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍 ||
─────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───────
✦ 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 ✦
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𝐀/𝐍: ✦ 𝐓𝐰𝐨 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐈𝐧 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐃𝐚𝐲 ✨ ✦
𝐀 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐳𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧.
𝐈𝐧 𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐲 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐛𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬.
𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐲, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤, 𝐠𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐞.
"𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫, 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐨𝐤?" 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐥𝐲, 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞.
𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐟 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐚𝐳𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬.
"𝐈'𝐦 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐫, 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐭..."
"𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧, 𝐀𝐥."
𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡, 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐤.
"𝐈'𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐲 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭." 𝐇𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝.
"𝐀𝐥 -" "𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐭, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐈 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝. 𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐤." 𝐇𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐮𝐩, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐧𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐲 𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐩, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐝, 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧.
"𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞𝐭𝐲, 𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐰𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞." 𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞.
𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭.
"𝐈... 𝐜𝐚𝐧'𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧. 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧'𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥."
"𝐖𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥, 𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐚𝐰 𝐮𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦?" 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐝.
𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐲, 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.
𝐀 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬, "𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮." 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫, 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞.
𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐭.
"𝐍𝐨, 𝐍𝐎 𝐍𝐎!" 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦.
𝐇𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞.
"𝐋𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐦𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐞́𝐫𝐢𝐞." 𝐇𝐞 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝. 𝐀𝐬 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭, 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.
"𝐍𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜."
𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭.
"𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐈'𝐦 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐭, 𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐞." 𝐀𝐜𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝.
"𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐦 𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐦𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐫." 𝐇𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞.
𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐱𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐝, 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠.
"𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠." 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐜𝐜𝐮𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐧𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐮𝐧𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬.
𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐟𝐥𝐲, 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞.
𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦.
"𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐠𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐱. 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞." 𝐇𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝, 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭.
𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐡, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟, 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐀𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞.
"𝐇𝐞𝐲, (𝐘/𝐍)?" 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐫.
"𝐘𝐞𝐬, 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞?" 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲. "𝐈𝐬 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭?" 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞.
"𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬." 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞. "𝐋𝐢𝐚𝐫." 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐬𝐮𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤.
𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬. "(𝐘/𝐍), 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐝, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧. 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬, 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐧𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥. 𝐍𝐨𝐰, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐮𝐧𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠... 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐮𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥."
𝐎𝐡 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐫, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐝. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐚𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐝.
"(𝐘/𝐍) 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 -"
𝐁𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐚 𝐭𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐥, 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐛𝐲 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐫. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝.
"𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭?" 𝐕𝐚𝐠𝐠𝐢𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐬, 𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫, 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐤, 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐚 𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐫𝐮𝐛𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮.
"(𝐘/𝐍)!" 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐝, 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐦. "𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭?"
𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫, "𝐈'𝐦 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞," 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐝'𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐧. 𝐇𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐥𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐝.
"𝐈'𝐦 𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬." 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐞𝐝, 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐥𝐲.
"𝐖𝐚𝐢𝐭, 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫," 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐚 𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐤 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐭.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐮𝐧𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐞𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭.
"𝐈𝐭 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐬, '𝐘𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐚𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞, 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫," 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧.
𝐕𝐚𝐠𝐠𝐢𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐞𝐝, 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐢𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞.
"𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭? 𝐈 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞, 𝐢𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞." 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐫𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐝.
𝐇𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠.
"𝐌𝐲 𝐝𝐚𝐝?" 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐝. "𝐀𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐈 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞." 𝐇𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞𝐝.
"𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞?"𝐈 𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞... 𝐀𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧."
"𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐮𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐮𝐥𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟐 𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞."
"𝐊𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧, 𝐭𝐨𝐨." 𝐇𝐞 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐝.
𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐟𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫. 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐞?
𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧.
"𝐎𝐡... 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐧." 𝐇𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐲.
"𝐀𝐥? 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐭?"
"𝐑𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧?"
"𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐡..."
"𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐫, 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐞𝐱-𝐛𝐨𝐲𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠."
𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝. "𝐏𝐚𝐮𝐥... 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭?"
"𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐈 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐠𝐨. 𝐀𝐬 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬, 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐈 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐩𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐟 𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝐢𝐧. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐱 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐡."
"𝐇𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐋𝐢𝐳𝐳𝐲... 𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝... 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞?"
"𝐁𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐬 𝐦𝐞, 𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐈 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟."
"𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐜𝐤?" "𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐞. 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭!" 𝐇𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐝.
𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡.
"𝐈'𝐦 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭." "𝐃𝐢𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭?" 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐞𝐝. "𝐓𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭."
"𝐈𝐭 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬." 𝐇𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲.
"𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐝, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐝, 𝐈 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐭."
"𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫, 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐥 𝐧𝐨𝐰?!!" 𝐕𝐚𝐠𝐠𝐢𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬.
"𝐎𝐡 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐬𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐚 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐧 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐧𝐨 𝐛𝐢𝐠 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥..." 𝐇𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐝.
"𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐬𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐕𝐨𝐱 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫?" 𝐕𝐚𝐠𝐠𝐢𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞.
"𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐈 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚 𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧. 𝐇𝐚𝐡𝐚𝐡𝐚!" 𝐇𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞𝐝, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐜.
𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭.
"𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐈'𝐦 𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐤. 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐫" 𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰.
𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨���𝐤 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐭 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮.
𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐧. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐬 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐤𝐢𝐭.
"𝐌𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐫, 𝐈 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐈 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠," 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞.
"𝐈 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭... 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞 𝐀𝐥...."
𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐰, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐚𝐳𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐱𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐧.
"𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐞, 𝐦𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐫?" 𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐚𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬.
"𝐀𝐥, 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲," 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲, 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲. "𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐢𝐧 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥. 𝐌𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐲, 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐈 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭."
"𝐘𝐞𝐬, 𝐦𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐫." 𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐤. "𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲, 𝐢𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬. 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐥 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠," 𝐇𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐤.
"𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭? 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭." 𝐇𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐧. 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞.
"𝐌𝐲 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐰."
𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐱𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐟. "𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞𝐭𝐲 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡." 𝐇𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟. "𝐈 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞, 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞." 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐬 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐛𝐝𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧.
"𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐢𝐭!" 𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐝, 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐣𝐮𝐦𝐩 𝐚𝐬 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞.
"𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨, 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬." 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲. 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞. "𝐀𝐡, 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞, 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐬𝐨 𝐞𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬' 𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐬." 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝.
𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐲.
"𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝, 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫. (𝐘/𝐍) 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐈 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞. 𝐈 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐭𝐬," 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝, 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟.
"𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐈 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐰𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐫 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧." 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞.
"𝐖𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐢𝐟 𝐈 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫. 𝐖𝐞 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐠𝐞. 𝐖𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐭." 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝.
𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞'𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐟𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝, "𝐎𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐞... 𝐇𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫!" 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭. "𝐎𝐡 𝐦𝐲 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠! 𝐖𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞?"
𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥. "𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐲?" 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐝. "𝐀𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐞, 𝐰𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐞𝐞."
"𝐅𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡." 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐫𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐝.
"𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭, 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐲 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫."
𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝, 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐬𝐞𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤. 𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫.
"𝐀𝐡! 𝐈 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐦𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐫." 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡, 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤.
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"𝐇𝐞𝐲 𝐓𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐬, 𝐟𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐇𝐮𝐬𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈?" 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐚, 𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤, 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧.
"𝐈'𝐦 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝, 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬." 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤.
"𝐇𝐮𝐡, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟑𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐯𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭." 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐮𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬.
"𝐈'𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞." 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐡𝐫𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐝.
"𝐋𝐢𝐞𝐬! 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐧! 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐝 𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐥. 𝐘𝐨𝐮'𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐇𝐮𝐬𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈!"
𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐝, 𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐛 𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐰 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝.
"𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐦 𝐈 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞?!" 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐝. 𝐎𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞, 𝐚 𝐛𝐚𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐞𝐫𝐮𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐚𝐟𝐢𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐇𝐮𝐬𝐤'𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩.
𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐧, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐭, 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐞 𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮.
"𝐆𝐨𝐝𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭, 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐈 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥?!" 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐝, 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐬𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮.
"𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐧𝐨 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐲 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐚 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤!!!"
"𝐇𝐞𝐲, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐮𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐬." 𝐀𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐡, 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐥𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐥.
"𝐎𝐡 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐭!" 𝐇𝐮𝐬𝐤 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐝.
"(𝐘/𝐍)!" 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥 𝐠𝐚𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧.
𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐚𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐜𝐤, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐤. "𝐇𝐞𝐲 𝐤𝐢𝐝, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝?" 𝐇𝐮𝐬𝐤 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝.
"𝐍𝐨, 𝐇𝐮𝐬𝐤. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬. 𝐈 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐥 𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲. 𝐏𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞..."
𝐇𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭.
"𝐋𝐞𝐭'𝐬 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐚 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞." 𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥. 𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐫𝐦, 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐛𝐝𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧.
𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐥.
𝐔𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐛𝐲, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐬, 𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧.
"𝐍𝐨." 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝. "𝐏𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞... 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭..."
"(𝐘/𝐍)?" 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥.
"𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐜𝐤 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝?" 𝐕𝐚𝐠𝐠𝐢𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤.
"𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐫... 𝐰𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐡..." 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐝, 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥.
𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐮𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐫 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲.
𝐇𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐩𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐣𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐧𝐨𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡.
"𝐀𝐥, 𝐈 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐝..." 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲.
"(𝐘/𝐍)!" 𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐰𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞. 𝐌𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐮𝐬𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐬.
"𝐀 𝐛𝐚𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲, 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐭. 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐡, 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐥," 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞.
𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐱𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝.
𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭, 𝐚 𝐧𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐲 𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐛𝐝𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧, 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐰. 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲.
"𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐭��𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭," 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐝, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫. 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐰 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐭.
"𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫! 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐞!" 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐲 𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐬. "𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐞!" 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲. "𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐮𝐥𝐭! 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐈 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦!" 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝.
𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐥 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐜 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞. "𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭?" 𝐕𝐚𝐠𝐠𝐢𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧.
𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐬 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩, 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐚 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮.
"𝐎𝐧 𝐚 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝟏 𝐭𝐨 𝟏𝟎, 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠?" 𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝. "𝟕," 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝, 𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮. "𝟖," 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐚𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐝, 𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐡.
"(𝐘/𝐍)... 𝐢𝐬... 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐭." 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝. 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞'𝐬 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝. "𝐖𝐚𝐢𝐭, 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭?" 𝐕𝐚𝐠𝐠𝐢𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝, 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫.
"𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐜𝐤..." 𝐇𝐮𝐬𝐤 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝.
"𝐎𝐡 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐭..." 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤, 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐨 𝐨𝐮𝐭.
"𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫..."
"𝐘𝐞𝐬..." 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡.
"𝐋𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮!" 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.
"𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭-"
"𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬, (𝐘/𝐍)!" 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐧𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐧.
"𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐝𝐨... 𝐛𝐮𝐭... 𝐢𝐟 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞. 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝."
𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐚𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐮𝐬𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝'𝐬 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐬. 𝐃𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐠𝐚𝐳𝐞, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡.
"𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐞."
𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐟, 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐨𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐢𝐭.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐢����𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝.
"𝐋𝐢𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧," 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝, 𝐥𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐚. "𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐰. 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬, 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦 𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐧𝐨 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐖𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞𝐭𝐲. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲'𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐬!" 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭.
"𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥." 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝, 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞.
𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐝𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐦, 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧.
"𝐀𝐥, 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐰𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐤𝐧-" "𝐘𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥. 𝐎𝐫 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫!" 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐞𝐝
"𝐀𝐥, 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐧𝐨𝐰. 𝐒𝐨 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐨𝐧. 𝐖𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫..." 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐝.
"𝐌𝐲 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐰?" 𝐕𝐚𝐠𝐠𝐢𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝. "𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐞." 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤. "𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭, 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥!" 𝐕𝐚𝐠𝐠𝐢𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠.
𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬. "𝐈𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 (𝐘/𝐍) 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐚 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐞'𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬. 𝐓𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠."
"𝐇𝐮𝐡, 𝐬𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞?" 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐝.
"𝐍𝐨, (𝐘/𝐍) 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧. 𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐮𝐬." 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝.
"𝐒𝐨... 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭?" 𝐇𝐮𝐬𝐤 𝐢𝐧𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝. "𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐟 𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐬, 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐭?"
"𝐈'𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐫𝐲, 𝐇𝐮𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐫." 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲.
"𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥... 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐦! 𝐎𝐤𝐚𝐲?" 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭.
𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝.
─────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───────
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the-xolotl · 7 months ago
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Sweet, Soft Shadow Man
Alastor x gn!Reader & Al’s Shadow
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♡ Itty bitty snip
♡ a/n: i feel like i’ve only been writing smut recently so here’s something soft
summary: Alastor’s shadow adores you, because Alastor adores you, but he’s a lot more reserved with his feelings. His shadow on the other hand has little qualms about showing affection or responding to yours, and maybe Al feels a little jealous.
♡ TAGS: sfw, domestic fluff, slight jealousy, some banter, no use of y/n, latine coded reader lowkey.
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One thing to get use to as you and Al had begun dating was his shadow constantly hovering around you anywhere you went where Alastor himself wasn’t. At first it had felt smothering, like he didn’t trust you alone or like you couldn’t defend yourself, when you in fact very much can. You’d roll your eyes every time you caught the shadowy figure out if the corner of your eye or even tried to get it to go back to Alastor but of course it only listened to its master and would stare at your blankly with the holes that are supposed to be his eyes.
However, as you got to know it and Alastor you realized it wasn’t that that your lover thought you couldn’t look after yourself. No, what you came to realize (and kept to yourself because it’s much too precious) is that Alastor is a proud man ok not that, you knew that very well but that he has his peculiar way of showing affection, one way was to keep his shadow with you when he himself couldn’t. His pride got in the way of him being outwardly affectionate towards you even after courting, properly asking you be his partner and all the time spent together, he still kept to himself a lot simply reciprocating what you initiated. But having the one thing that’s an extension of himself guard you and keep you company was one of the first tokens of care he’d given you.
Thereafter this discovery you didn’t mind it as much, in fact, you even gave it a name; Sombra. You grew very fond of the curious creature that mostly kept itself to surfaces or even in the silhouette of your shadow. It made you giggle every time Sombra did, because you could feel an odd, ghostly weight on your person when it did despite being in its intangible form. Sombra,you also found, is very animated with you. It showed a lot of emotion: joy, sadness, excitement etc. And it didn’t always smile like Alastor did, it could frown, or have a neutral expression. The more you got to know it, the more you became attached to it and it to you. Where to even without Alastor sending it to you, Sombra came to you out of its own accord or even when you called it.
While not entirely against it, Alastor found it a little irritating that literal part of him spent more time with you than he did sometimes. After all he’s an Overlord and the manager of the Hazbin Hotel with the Princess of Hell, he’s a busy man. And the fact you named it, like a pet. His shadow was wrapped around your finger the same way Alastor was, but at least Alastor didn’t show it so forwardly. This fact made Alastor a little bashful the first time you had revealed this to him, all of the little things his shadow did for you.
For example it would bring you little gifts, either from Alastor… Or its own. Small trinkets, flowers (not even store bought just wild flowers off the streets) or even limbs. You didn’t question the limbs even if they put you off at times. Sombra became very cuddly and liked to follow you around even when you only did mundane things. Like today, you’re in the kitchen making a dinner you had made Alastor promise to be there for. He’d been unusually busy recently and as much as you love Sombra, you miss your significant other. You had been prepping the ingredients for a special dish you wanted Alastor to try, that while not entirely southern food, it’s very similar to something like gumbo, when out of the corner of your eye you saw a flash of a black figure. It disappeared as soon as you turned to look in that direction, so you shifted your focus back to the food.
A few times more this happened before a menacing shadow loomed right over you as you threw chopped vegetables into the pot of already boiling water with salt and other seasonings on it. It made half the kitchen dim and it seemed to swallow up its surroundings. You smiled wide giggling looking up at the ceiling, “Sombra~” you sing-song, greeting the ghostly silhouette, “Want a taste?” you offered one of the still uncooked pieces of red meat. It shrunk down to its usual size on the wall taking the offered food. Chuckling at how the meat hovered in the air before it disappeared as Sombra put it in its mouth. The shadow smiled wide giving you a thumbs up as it watched you add herbs into the cooking pot.
“That’s not a pet, you know that right darling?” Alastor’s unfiltered voice came from the door frame as he entered unannounced. While his voice had its usual uppity lilt his tone came a little annoyed. You had reach to hug and pet Sombra like you always do to welcome it, you thought Alastor wouldn’t come for another while longer so you indulged the little servant before its master arrived but you got caught right in the act. It retracted to Alastor’s side like it always did as he threw it a sideways glance.
“Of course he’s not. But its cute, in its own way,” you smile. “Welcome home, my love,” smiling at the radio demon you gingerly made your way to him wrapping your arms around him with a tight hug. He did the same, planting a soft kiss on your forehead, your smile widen. “I missed you,” you whispered looking up at him with big doe eyes. Because you did. You really, really did. You didn’t want to say it outloud but you almost thought he wouldn’t show or he’d be late. So it made you exceedingly happy he had already arrived. “It’s almost ready, why don’t you go sit at the table.”
From his seat, he watched you prepare the side dishes as the pot on the stove simmered, however his eyes more than fixating on you, they followed the movement of his shadow standing next to you at all times. Handing you things, making you laugh and giggle with little actions. And of course it’s his shadow he could feel how giddy your attention made it. Every time you said thank you, every time you gave it a compliment or whenever you pet it. He felt it’s eye twitch seeing Sombra lay his transparent head on the shadow of your shoulder and you didn’t bat an eye. Part of it is guilt, guilt that he had been so absent and distant for weeks, because he’d been too preoccupied with other responsibilities, and jealousy. The jealousy is what bothered him the most. That damn shadow had been hoarding all your attention even as he’d been sitting in the same room with you.
Alastor wouldn’t admit it’s his fault, of course. So instead he gets up from the table again coming up to stand behind you, long arms wrapping around your middle. It surprised you a little, making your stutter the rhythm of your stirring. Alastor rested his chin on the same shoulder Sombra had, making direct eye contact with the sentient being and intimidating it into moving away from you. If it could hiss, it would have. But it moved away without you noticing. Alastor’s arms tighten around you for a second before speaking softly, “I apologize for neglecting you, or if you’ve felt lonely in my absence, darling,” his words were sincere. Alastor didn’t like being away from you very long, didn’t like having to go places filled with people he couldn’t care less about and having to deal with others he disliked. But duties are duties and work is work, he’s a man of principle.
But that didn’t mean he didn’t long to be with his beloved, and he know he’s godawful at telling you. Part of the reason he’d kept his shadow with you, in hopes to keep you solace, and company when he couldn’t. But seeing you grow closer to the creature and pouring all the affection you couldn’t give him made his chest tighten, a feeling that crawled under his skin and bothered him in ways that shouldn’t matter to him. You were his. Yet, here he is, acting childish even if you are probably mostly unaware. Or he hopes you are. Because this is embarrassing, it makes him feel embarrassed deep down. His ears twitched in annoyance as the thoughts swirled around his mind trying to push them away but failing.
“I know you’ve been busy. I wouldn’t call it neglect really,” you answer back, relaxing into the embrace and tilting your head so that you can press a soft kiss to his cheek then nuzzling him, “But you are gone too often, I had meant to talk to you about it but I didn’t really know how to. I guess I also felt a little bad asking you to give me more than you already do,” you chuckle unhumorously. Alastor did give you everything, hardly ever did he tell you no and did what he could to make you happy. Your relationship had been very rocky at the start. Both of you had to learn to make your relationship work and meet in the middle on a lot of different things. Alastor had to re-learn what it’s like to love someone, you had to adjust to his own way of loving and take baby steps, slower ones than you were used to. Both of you accepted the flaws that came with the other, you were in hell, he wasn’t the worst out there and you weren’t perfect.
“And you don’t have to be jealous of your own shadow, Al,” you quipped, a grin tugging the edges of your lips. You had to press your lips into a thin line to keep yourself from giggling at the flare of radio static around you after saying that. But he didn’t really refute it.
“Very funny, darling,”
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© 2024 the-xolotl — all rights reserved. do NOT alter, translate, or repost my works on any platform without my consent, do not claim my content as yours.
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beejunos · 8 months ago
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UNKNOWN TO ME AND YOU | Alastor x reader
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Summary: As Alastor's shadow starts to act strangely, hidden feelings are brought to light.
This wonderful story was written from @lustylita's wonderful idea! The story is completely theirs; I just had the pleasure of putting it into words. Their original post can be found here.
Tags: Alastor x gn.reader, hidden feelings, angst
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The last couple of weeks have been very strange to you. 
Well, stranger than the hotel usually was. 
Over the past few weeks, you have helped your best friend, Charlie, with her little passion project. The Hazbin Hotel - your only chance at redemption! 
While you couldn't say that you inherently believed in her dream, you would have been a poor friend if you hadn't tried to help her—emphasis on tried. Growing up within Hell's elite, where someone always handed you everything on gold platters, didn't foster any usable skills that could help run a severely understaffed hotel. The very thought of having to clean your own room had almost immobilised you.
Did you really need to vacuum the walls and the ceilings every week? How did the cleaning staff back at your parents' manor even do it? The manor was huge! 
Thankfully, you had not been forced to clean for long because shortly after Charlie had opened the hotel for business, an unwanted guest had come knocking at the door. Alastor and his somewhat reluctant companies, except for Niffty, who seemed to thrive in the chaos, quickly made themselves at home in the hotel. 
The same night they arrived, you and Vaggie had sat Charlie down in their room and begged the princess not to let the radio demon stay. After all, the tales of his deeds had even reached your family's manor in the Envy ring of Hell. But Charlie had been persistent, saying that maybe by staying in the hotel, she could change his ways. You loved your friend; you really did, but sometimes you wanted to shake some sense into her violently. 
There was nothing you could do about the radio demon and how he just took over many of the work duties you had at the hotel. Waltzing in as if he owned the hotel, he had taken one look at your work and deemed it unsatisfactory. 
"No, no, let me do it, doll!" he would say condescendingly, making rage lick up your spine, "We would want this to be done well for Charlie, now, wouldn't we?" 
You had lost count of all the times you fantasised about grabbing a chair and introducing it to his face. 
He made you feel incompetent, and worst of all, he was right. Most of the work you had done that he had redone was of better quality, more detailed, and better planned. If you had been a weaker demon, you would have given up, apologised to Charlie and gone home to your parents, but so, if the heavens would be your witnesses, you were going to crush that smug little bastard of a sinner! 
And so began your imaginary battle with Alastor about who could be the best executive producer. If you had asked Alastor, he would not have had any clues about what you were doing, only that it finally seemed like you were taking your job seriously. That said, he still did not like you. You were a spoiled little demon brat who had never worked a hard day in your life, and worst of all, you were sloppy with your work. 
But time kept ticking. The days passed, the hotel was filled with new residents, and somehow, you and Alastor were able to work together. Nevertheless, you only managed to do it by never being near each other, which worked wonderfully for you because the man could actually be quite okay when he was silent and on the other side of the room.  
You could have continued to live like this for as long as Alastor decided to live in the hotel. There was just this teeny tiny thing that perplexed you. 
Alastor's shadow liked to be around you. 
It had begun quite innocently with the shadow coming over to you one night when you were sitting in one of the armchairs by the fireplace with yesterday's newspaper in your lap since you had started to do the crossword puzzle on the back of the paper. You had been staring at the same clue for what felt like an hour, and you just couldn't figure it out. Out of nowhere, a shadowy finger had tapped on the clue to get your attention, and when you looked up, two empty holes for eyes had looked back at you with the biggest twisted grin full of teeth you had ever seen. 
"Fuck! Don't do that!" you whispered forcefully, not wanting to disturb the peace and quiet that finally had fallen over the hotel lobby. "What do you want?" 
Prepared to be bothered any second now by the radio demon, you got even more confused when the shadow started doing pantomimes. Why in the seven Hells was it swimming across the wall?
You looked on as the shadow began to swim back to you, tapped on the clue and started to swim again.
"Swimming? But it has nothing to do with activities! It is something about effort," you said as the shadow returned to you. Since it could not speak, the shadow just started to nod its head and tapped on the clue again. 
"Is it a word derived from the word swimming?" you asked hesitantly as the shadow continued to nod. 
You turned back to the clue before you—a word for no effort needed and swimming.
"Swimmingly?" you asked the shadow, who gave you an even bigger sinister smile and nodded again before it disappeared up the stairs. Again, you were left in the lobby with only the crackling fire as a company, looking over at the stairs after the strange entity that was Alastor's shadow.
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The next couple of weeks just grew more and more strange with every day. Out of nowhere, Alastor's shadow started to just interact with you. It began as innocent waves to you behind Alastors back, and at first, you wouldn't wave back, but when you saw how sad the shadow got if you didn't return its greeting, you started to wave back to it. On a few occasions, Alastor had caught you in the act, which quickly prompted you to swat the air around you as if you were trying to get rid of a fly.
When the waves weren't enough for the shadow, it started to appear around you, helping you in various ways. Once, it even helped you find some important paper you needed for your job that you were convinced Alastor had hidden from you. 
It turned out that Alastor's shadow was much more pleasant company than its physical part, and you often welcomed the shadow's help with your crosswords during the evenings.
However, you were again thrown for a loop when the shadowed behaviour started to change. It began to interact with you even more, seeking you out during the day and staying for long periods at a time, just hanging around you or observing what you were doing. 
One day, it had even brought you a blueberry muffin from the bakery you liked across town. You had no idea how it had even done that. For all you knew, shadows were not physical things and could not interact with the physical world. However, you were promptly proven wrong when Alastor's shadow took your own shadow's hand and pulled you down the hallway to show you the roses that had started to bloom outside of the hotel. 
It was a paradox, a mystery that intrigued you. Alastor's shadow, a creature of darkness, was surprisingly sweet, charming, and, at times, downright romantic. How could such a lovely thing be attached to such a vile being?
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It had been like any other day. Alastor's shadow had found you in your office early in the morning, going through all the paperwork that needed to get done that day. In its shadowy hand, it held one blueberry muffin and your favourite coffee mug with a sleepy bear on it, along with the text Bearly Awaken written underneath. 
The coffee had been divine because, somewhere, the shadow had learned to make a cup of coffee exactly how you wanted it.
You continued with your day in the presence of Alastor's shadow, walking together down the corridor, through the lobby, and out the front door as you chatted with the shadow. You had gotten quite good at interpreting its pantomimes and overexaggerated emotions and often found yourself laughing at any antics the shadow pulled. 
It followed you all day as you walked around the city, picking up the materials Charlie needed for her next exercise with the hotel residents. The shadow even helped you pick out the colours for the ribbons and paints. 
At one point, the shadow's long finger had brushed against yours. It had been a cold sensation, almost like being touched by mist, but that had not mattered to you as you blushed before looking away. Missing how the shadow practically folded in on itself when it saw your reaction. 
Was it possible to date a shadow and not the being it was attached to? 
The sun was setting when you and Alastor's shadow got back to the hotel. The lobby was almost empty except for Husk, who was polishing martini glasses by the bar. As soon as he saw the two of you enter the hotel, Husk leapt over the bar and rushed over to you. 
"I don't know where the fuck the two of you have been, but you need to leave now before he finds out that your back," Husk whispered to you as he gripped your arm to turn you around towards the door. 
"And you!" he said towards the shadow, "What the fuck do you think you're doing?"  
The shadow made a high-pitched whine as it stepped closer to you. You were about to ask Husk what he had meant when a loud voice boomed inside the hotel.
"Where are you?"
Husk's hand tightened around your arm as he started to pull you towards the door. You followed after him, paralysed by action, as a stone of fear got stuck in your throat. The shadow looked at you, then back at the stairs and then back at you again with anxious eyes. 
Loud steps could be heard from the hallway above the staircase, and Alastor's shadow began to be dragged towards the stairs as if by an invincible force. It desperately dug its claws into the ground, and the shadow let out a wailing scream as it looked at you with big, pleading eyes. 
Alastor was calling his shadow back to him. 
The shadow continued to fight the force of its master's call, leaving deep claw marks on the floor, and, as if a gunshot had been fired at the room, the force wholly let go of the shadow. The shadow rushed back to you, where it clung to your body like a second skin. 
"Get back here, you disgraceful thing!" Alastor could be heard shouting as a massive hand gripped the hallway doorframe and pulled itself forward. It was the hand of Alastor's most demonic form. 
Beside you, Husk had begun to shake as his claws dug into your skin.
"You need to run. Now!" he tried to push you towards the door, but it was too late. From around the corner, Alastor stepped from the dark into the light, but as he stepped forward, he shrank in size. Still, he looked terrifying. 
His eyes were a deep red with volume controllers as irises, hiding any emotions he may have had. His antlers had grown in size, sharp and imposing, making the sinner look almost regal as he sauntered down the stairs. 
"Thank you, Husker." he said, his voice dripping in venom, "I can take over now." 
Husk was about to protest loudly when he disappeared in a puff of red smoke, and you were left alone with the enraged sinner. 
"What do you think you are doing?" Alastor snarled as you started to shake where you were standing. A small whine could be heard beside your neck as the shadow clung closer to you.  
"I don't know..."
"I'm not talking to you!" Alastor's look silenced you but confused you for a second before you saw his eyes drop down to your neck, where the shadow hid. 
"Come back here and stop resisting," Alastor snarled again and stepped towards you. The shadow gave away a low whine as it clung closer to your body, and you realised it didn't want to return. In a fit of temporary insanity, you placed a protective hand over the arms of the shadow around you and stepped away from the sinner.
"No!"  
"What do you mean no? It's my shadow," asked Alastor as he looked back at you in confused rage.
"He doesn't want to be with you anymore," you snapped and turned your nose up. You stepped to the side to walk around the sinner, effectively walking away with his shadow, but as you walked past Alastor, his hand shot out, and he tried to grab your arm. But you were faster; with your other hand, you slept Alastors hand away from you and the shadow.
"Will you stop it! Don't you understand that we want nothing to do with you, so just leave us alone!" 
With determined steps, you started walking over to the staircase to get as far away from the deer demon as possible. However, you didn't get far until you felt the shadow clung even more to you as it let out a pitiful sob. Its head had fallen over your shoulder as it looked up at you with longing eyes—a gaze it shouldn't be giving you since you had just saved it from its cruel master.
"What's the matter?" you asked it as you tried to caress its cheek, and out of the corner of your eye, you saw something that you never thought you would see. 
Without a smile and ears hanging low against his head, Alastor looked at you with the same miserable longing that the shadow looked at you with. And that's when you remember something your mother used to say to you when you were a child, a long time ago. 
Our deepest desires, our most precious wishes and longings, hide in our shadows. Everything we want follows us within our shadows as the weights of our souls.  
You wanted to kick yourself for being so foolish, for not understanding until now. Maybe a small part of you had always known, but it had been easy to ignore in your imaginary rivalry with the sinner. But a shadow never lies. Even the ones who can think and act on their own. They will always mirror their owner's heart's wishes and act upon them when the host won't take charge of getting what they desire. 
"You're in love with me," you whispered. It was not a question but a statement—a statement that seemed to hang in the air for an eternity but not long enough. 
“How? What? When?” you asked, desperate for answers.
Alastor walked hesitantly towards you, looked you deep into your eyes and did something you never thought he would do. He kissed your cheek. 
Your breath hitched in your throat as his warm lips softly touched your cheek, and when he pulled away, you could still feel their presence against your skin. As if you were branded by their sweet touch. 
"Come now," was the last thing he said to his shadow as he walked around you and back up the stairs. Alastor's shadow made a melancholic chirping noise before it let go of you and followed its master.
You were left alone in the big hotel lobby. Wishing that it was your lips Alastor had kissed and not your cheek.
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PART 2.
I really hope it lived up to the expectations, but I loved writing it! It got a lot more angsty than I first intended...
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