#He's not worried about the others in regards to this because Dust has never had a problem disobeying him

[somegrumpynerd]

-Okay but some of the fears that Color has are in fact the same fears that Nightmare has when it comes to Killer.

Like, Color is worried that Killer's so blindly loyal to Nightmare for whatever reason that he wouldn't even think of complaining if he hated it. And at the start that was something Nightmare probably expected. His henchmen should be loyal and obedient and not ask questions nor complain. But now, after years of learning and bonding and softening up significantly he wonders sometimes if that's still the case.

Nightmare knows Killer well, perhaps better than most, but he's not exactly an open book. Especially when it comes to his own wants or needs. More often than not when he makes a request it's intentionally silly or unreasonable for laughs, like asking if they can take Dust to the nearest pet store and try to trade him in. Very rarely does he want something strong enough to make it known, both to himself and others, like asking to keep the first cat he found.

So.

If he hated this. If he truly struggled and fought and agonised with himself about the position he's in and the work he's doing and the life he leads.

Would he say it? Would he realise that was how he felt? Would he even consider saying no was an option?

If Nightmare asked him to do something he really genuinely did not want to, would he just do it anyway because he doesn't believe he has a choice in the matter?

The only way of finding out (besides making a blatantly difficult request of him, which Nightmare is not willing to do) is to simply wait and trust that Killer will tell him if something is wrong. Which... is not exactly foolproof or easy.

But it's part of why Nightmare hates to be around Color too much, because deep down he's more than a little worried that Color could be right and he doesn't know how to fix it.

[nouearth]

red right hand.

pairing. henry cavill x male reader.

word count. 7.3k.

summary. if there was one thing to give your dad credit for (other than helping create your very existence), it was that he has an insanely hot best friend. it was a universal admiration your neighborhood shared with one another. though, how many actively feasted upon their fantasies regarding that hunk of a man? probably only you, because mr. cavill was more than a crush, he was an addiction. and on one summer day, mr. cavill realized that so were you.

content warning. college!reader, dad's best friend!henry, neighbor!henry, age gap, blowjob (r!giving), degrading, throat-fucking, choking, gagging, spitting, kissing, humiliation, body and muscle worship, rough-play, size difference, dirty talk, verbal, praising, size kink.

The warm wind fanned the sweat off your forehead when you slid your window open. The ledge stained your fingers with particles of dust. Grimacing at the fuzz and simultaneous stickiness, it also provoked a storm of laziness as steel reminders from your dad got caught up in the commotion: CLEAN THE HOUSE.

CAR MAINTENANCE.

STOP ORDERING TAKE-OUT AND COOK.

SORT THE ATTIC.

TIDY GARAGE.

CHECK STOVE IGNITIONS BEFORE LEAVING THE HOUSE.

LOCK THE DOORS.

Ya-dah, ya-dah…

Honestly, how could you check-off any of these tasks with this heatwave currently going on? You were sweating bullets, been sweating enough to bathe in your own salt for days now—which you technically were already doing. It was summer, the long-awaited season after the agony of allergies. A temporary relief to your studies as well, until the humidity hit you like a truck and made you realize that living back in a dorm wasn’t so bad. 

At least the building had a functional air-conditioner. 

“Uh-huh, yep.” Your dad’s voice was going in one ear and out the other as you rummaged through your cabinets for a snack. Cereal; stale. Canned meat; too heavy. Potato chips; not heavy enough. “Dad, you know you’ve gone on business trips before, right? This isn’t the first time I’ve been alone.”

“I know, but I’m just making sure. It’s a new house, and I’ve been watching these true crime documentaries about men leaving clubs and—“

“Well, the first mistake was going to a sketchy club in the first place…” You muttered, peering into the fridge, and then lingering, because refrigerator air has never felt so cooling against your skin. You duck your head to puzzle yourself into the cold box, dumbfounded that the heat had gotten you irritated enough to claim a bag of deli meat as your bunkmate for the time being. The sound of your dad’s frustrated sigh on the other line curled your frown into a smile, and you laughed, “I’m a big boy. Stop worrying, and go enjoy—Ow!“ You bumped your head against the door on your way out.

“How can I not worry when you just referred to yourself as a ‘big boy?’ Not even a man?!” You never realized how theatric the man was. It was like his presence never left the house, exaggerated hand movements and all wafting the smell of his homemade meals whenever he would scold you in his favorite place: the kitchen. You smiled at the fond memories.

“Good point—“ Though they were made at your old house, you were sure that once he’d returned, your dad wouldn’t be opposed to creating new memories of scolding your ass off on whatever trouble you’d get into. If you do, that is. You’ve grown since then, finding yourself too tired to socialize.

“Remember, spare key’s in the birdhouse. There’s a compartment at the side of it. Hopefully birds haven’t evolved enough to pick it open.”

“If they have, they’d be picking at our locks right now to kidnap me and probably feast on my body.” Luckily, the fridge was stocked before your dad had left. You crucified him for being overly-prepared at times, but for this month, it was an exception. You picked at a slice of deli meat and cheese, and stuffed it down your mouth.

“Not funny, (M/N).”

“I’m kidding, Dad. Lighten up! I know you’re nervous about presenting, but they invited you to talk to an audience for a reason. They like you. Just be yourself, and remember not to speak so fast. Have some water on standby too.” And speaking of the devil, you gulped down a glass of iced water to cool down your body as your dad chuckled in your ear.

“I know, I know, thanks.” A muffled sound on the other end filled the silence, sounds of people passing and cars honking passing through your ear. “Alright, my ride’s here. I’ll call as soon as I get to the hotel, okay? You better answer—Oh! I forgot to tell you! Henry’s coming over later to look at the car.”

“Henry—Oh, Mr. Cavill? He’s in the neighborhood?” The name rattled a familiar feeling inside of your stomach. Something rather warm, suddenly ravenous when you thought about the last time you saw him.

“Actually, he was the one that told me about this house! He lives down the street. But tool’s in the garage if he asks for them, okay?” 

“Y-yeah, okay. Got it.” You hadn’t seen him many times. Only when you’d come home from semester breaks, yet the mere mention of his name had you flustered as if he was a long-lost friend or something. 

“Okay, gotta go. Love you, and remember, lock your doors! Bye!”

“I will! Bye…” Your phone blinked back to your previous app after ending the call.

You knew he was your dad’s best friend; a divorced father and a bachelor unsurprisngly made a match in heaven.

He was someone that shared your father’s interest in tabletop games and comic books. A replacement for yourself you thought earlier on, but he was way more knowledgeable about those interest than you ever were. You grew up on your dad’s nostalgia. For Mr. Cavill and your dad? These memories altered them who they would be in the future.

He was a friend that would help your dad out on building projects, like that birdhouse he had mentioned. He was a charming man that built the PC you currently use after hearing you complain about the previous laptop you had. And best of all, his looks were as abundant as his kindness. Standing over six feet tall, with a chiseled face that matched an equally sculpted body; he’d been a little crush since you first met him, being the only man who was capable of rendering you utterly speechless.

And in present, the only man who had the power to tighten your briefs and shorts with only a passing thought of his body; muscular and athletic in all the right places. If only your dad could somehow muster up a beach day before summer ended. Either way, the image of his bare body excited you, the blood flow immediately rushing south in agreement. Your dick kissed your shorts at the thought water cascading off his hulking body like meltwater over an ice shelf, freezing you in your place to not-so-subtly gawk.

“Jesus…” Your body couldn’t catch a break, could it? With the ramping heat and the constant sweating, your erection only added fuel to the bonfire that was the pores of your skin. Your cock pulsed madly within the constraint of your briefs, teasing yet begging to be released, to be sheathed from its slick, because it knew you had the key to its relief.

Or rather, Mr. Cavill did.

It was pathetic. You’d been at this for a year now. As much as you were unfamiliar with Mr. Cavill’s disposition, it was certainly the opposite regarding his physical appearance. Though it hadn’t exactly occur to you when this crush of yours had been tiptoeing along the lines of obsession. 

Wait, was it an obsession..? No, no, it was just a crush. 

You hadn’t done anything wrong. All you had done was browse through his social media—he did follow you, and you mutually pursued—and stalked—no—scrolled through his posts. Thank god, he was an avid poster. Pictures of his selfies, his knack for grilling, his love for his pet dogs, his pride over his geeky hobbies, his friendship with your dad and mutual buddies—all of these pieces attributed to allowing you to get to know him more as you were rotting away on campus, missing life back at home. Like clockwork, looking at his feed brought a sense of comfort, a hope that maybe you could be part of his life as well.

“God, what I’d do to ride that mustache…” You blurted out your thoughts, hyper-aware that you were alone in the house. You’d been waiting for this. You’d been surrounded by your roommates 24/7, and then once break started, your dad wanted to insert himself into your schedules as much as he could before the next semester starts. 

As much as you loved them, you needed space. A space bigger than the privacy of your own room. You deserved the whole house to yourself after enduring months of agony from overdue assignments; stress from bickering roommates that led to chaos within the dorm. You haven’t jerked off properly in months, often resorting to a quick session that comforted you on the occasions you’d have to pull multiple all-nighters to get a project done.

You needed relief.

You needed pleasure.

“Fuck,” Your eyes had been fixated on Mr. Cavill’s social media feed as you stripped yourself free of clothing. On one hand, it helped your body cool off from the heat building in the house. On the other, you felt vulnerable, like someone could walk in on you any second, and god, was that a turn-on. 

A grid of his life displayed happily before you, and your thumb scrolled aimlessly in pursuit of multiple pictures ingrained in your brain that had your cock throbbing in your palm. You laid flat on the couch, earbuds fit snug in the canals after briefly switching apps to play your favorite porn in the background of your search. Your stomach sunk deep when the man began moaning in your ears. Hot like the blistering sun outside; you can imagine Mr. Cavill breathing against you like that, as you took his cock in like the video you had playing. Your balls pulled when the man grunted, “Right there,” and you couldn’t help but pull at the ache of your cock, then at your balls to fondle at the loose stretch of skin.

“Right there,” you repeated when your thumb paused at the desired video of Mr. Cavill. Another major part of his lifestyle was working out. Strength training, cardio, marathons. You name it, Mr. Cavill did it all, exceptionally well, and the crème de la crème of it all was that he bared his torso for most of his videos. “Fuck, you’re so big… Fuck, fuck…” 

It was like watching a warrior prepare for battle. Sweat dripped off the holiest parts of his body as he pumped his muscles with heavy weights. Grunts, heavy and lewd sounds filled your ears while Mr. Cavill powered through his body’s resistance. You wondered to yourself if he could take you like that. Force you to take him with brute strength like the weights in his muscular, veiny hands. You were stroking yourself to him, every part of him, palm slick with sweat and spit. Two fingers would get the job done, stretching you out in preparation for his cock. Though, you knew deep down that it would take more than that. Three, or maybe even four, considering the hunk of a man was seemingly built from metal. The video replayed multiple times before you remembered that he had more than enough content for you to jerk off to. You were barely five minutes in, but this was already more pleasurable than whatever you had endured back at the dorms. Your cock felt pleased, spitting out dribbles of thick pre-cum that loosened the stick of your palm as donation to your generosity.

“Fuck, Henry…” You rarely referred to him by his first name. It felt unusual. You were much younger than him. Addressing someone closer to your dad’s age felt rude, like you were trying to assert your dominance despite your age difference. You were many things, but disobedient was not one of them. However, you couldn’t lie. His name felt polishing to your tongue, something that could improve the taste of dreadful meals if one were to whisper it before taking a spoonful.

His name felt like a miracle.

Your sexual appetite was nourished by the frames of Mr Cavill’s second video. He was completely unaware he was bulging, free-balling in his sweaty shorts while he pursued his vitality through jumping jacks, lunges, toe-touches—cardio galore that made his heavy cock bounce in rhythm. You could tell he was large, gifted with insane girth to the point where you could make out the shape of his cock just from him stretching. And the smell; sweat sticking on thick curly hairs on his chest, and a happy trail that seemed to promise a world of musk if you ever had an opportunity to endeavor upon your curiosities. You were practically salivating for him, saliva pooling where your tongue sank, while your cock leaked. You pumped yourself quicker and harder at the frustration that your desire to taste Mr. Cavill’s cock would remain a pipe dream.

All that left you was your imagination, and your own musk. Pulling up at your glans, you squeezed out thick loads of pre-cum before swiping it with your thumb and tasting it off with a suck. Salty, bitterly pleasant on your tongue, and satiated enough to not let your libido falter at the disappointment that it wasn’t Mr. Cavill’s pre-cum, but rather smolder.

“Oh, fuck my mouth… I need that cock, Mr. Cavill. Please—“ The frames of the third video showcased him flexing his arms and torso. His body bursted with pride, veins surging through every fiber of muscle like they were charging him and his very existence. It was veiny too, wasn’t it? His cock. Large and veiny, like how you’d like it. You would struggle fitting him inside of your mouth while his cock veins pulsed with great pleasure knowing that it was Mr. Cavill’s kink that you couldn’t take him. 

No one could.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck—“ Your eyes rolled back. The slurping sounds from the porn increased by tenfold as you pumped the volume by a few decibels. Lewd, slick sounds you wished you could perform on Mr. Cavill himself violated your ear drums. Pleasure him. Thank him on your knees for being so kind to your father. For building your PC without compensation. For providing you temporarily relief while you were away on campus, and could only jerk off under the blanket. You were grateful for him. For Mr. Cavill. For his thick arms. For his veiny forearms. For his dashing good-looks. For his muscles. For his strong cock. You’d give yourself to him if you could. Worship every inch of his step, every inch of his body, and that still wouldn’t be enough to show your appreciation towards him. 

Your fist tightened. Your other hand had grown limp by now, dropping your phone to the floor by mistake, but you were too fixated on the pleasure your cock was receiving to retrieve it back. You could watch it from where you were laying, just like this, slickly twisting and pumping your cock to the sound of the porn, to the sound of Mr. Cavill grunting simultaneously as if his thick cock was being feasted on like a hungry beast. “Mr. Cavill, please—I’m going to—“

One earbud slipped from the sweat building on your body, but you were close. So fucking close to coming. And when you do, you’d come on your phone.

All over Mr Cavill’s pecs. His abs. His crotch. His face. Anywhere, as long as it was your friendly neighbor, because—

“Enjoying yourself, (M/N)?”

A voice from behind you alerted your body to jolt and whip around upon instinct to defend yourself. Naked or not, you weren’t going to die, not in the hands of a burglar.

Though, as soon as you did, you regretted it. You felt like stone. Cold, hard stone as all signs of life seemingly felt like it had been sucked dry out of your body, with your erection taking up most of the produce surprisingly as you confronted the intruder.

The six-feet, muscular, handsome, and familiar man of an intruder. 

“M-Mr. Cavill?! What—When did you—“ You were flustered. Radiant heat blooming like the season of Spring across several patches of your naked body. It also didn’t help that your porn could be heard from earbuds once you took the remaining one out, albeit a bit muffled. And your phone, it was facing the ceiling, looping the video of Mr. Cavill training over and over again. Right before him.

Your body was shaking, physically evident despite your efforts to conceal the tremors as the man stared you down, unfazed by the drama of it all. “Fuck—“ You didn’t know what to turn off first. The porn? The video of him working out? Or maybe dressing yourself should be a priority because—Mr. Cavill was still staring, blues lingering on your naked body, seemingly outlining every drop of sweat that followed the contours of your figure. There was movement that naturally caught your attention. 

It was his hand, large and muscular over the center of his shorts. Rubbing, squeezing, fondling at an evidently large mass that made you dry-swallow. You mustered up the courage to finally pause the porn, then clicked your phone off. “H-how long have you been watching?”

“Since the beginning.” He chuckled, stating matter-of-factly. “Your dad told me to come look at your car. Your garage was open. Thought you did that for me, but I guess you really just forgot about closing it considering…” He nodded towards your cock, licking his lips when it acknowledged him with a throb. “Was coming to get you, and I found you like this.”

“And you just watched?!” You sputtered out in distress, hastily dressing yourself back into your clothes, stumbling over your feet in the process. Sweat always made it more difficult to put on clothes.

“Well, I did call you for while I was coming in. You didn’t hear me over your video, and…me, I suppose.” It was smug. Amusing to him that you were in this state of embarrassment after being caught red-handed. You groaned, burying your head into your knees after sitting back down on the couch. The heat was unbearable, but to face Mr. Cavill after being caught jerking off to his videos, you were overcome with horror at the ghastly spectacle of the situation.

“Don’t tell my dad about this,” Your fingers scraped through your scalp out of frustration, but also to keep your head pressed to your knees as they interlaced around you. You refused to even spare one more glance at the man when you felt him practically hovering over you, a gentle smile riding along the coattails of his composure. “…please.”

“I won’t,” Mr. Cavill’s voice sounded clearer, closer than before. Right above you, but still, you maintained your position despite the pleasant scent of his cologne almost breaking away your focus. “Just as long as you suck me off.”

Those final words hit you like a truck. 

You were astounded, confused by the turn of the situation. It felt like a taunt, and it was treated as such because it worked. You whipped your head up upon Mr. Cavill’s demand, almost insulted because it was how guys on campus used to taunt you.

What you expected to grace your eyes with was his face; charming as ever with a mustache that was reliable in stirring immense feelings inside of you.

Instead, you were met with a face full of flesh, Mr Cavill’s heavy and large cock. It sported a strong curve, throbbing veins to prove its accelerating lust, with thick balls swinging low to entice you into a hypnotic state. If someone was to grade you upon your predictions, you’d score a perfect mark, because god damn, he was huge. Hairier than you’d expected, though just as arousing, if not more, because this was unexpected for Mr. Cavill as well. He would’ve cleaned himself a bit if he had a plan to meet you under these circumstances.

“I—You’re serious?” With the string of thick pre-cum dripping from the very slit of his head, it seemed like your question was answered. You could smell him. The musk of his pre-cum. It tingled your nostrils, enchanting you akin to what fresh pastries would’ve done for you on normal, non-libido provoking circumstances.

“Does it look like I’m kidding? Come on, I’m waiting. You didn’t even say ‘thank you’ to me in person when I built you that PC for Christmas. It’s the least you could do, right?” Without warning, he took ahold of his cock and tapped the center of your lips with it. Your orbs shook as you looked up at him, hesitant through the tremor of your lips as Mr. Cavill stared back, determined for you to accept his plea offer with some kind of answer—with your mouth preferably. “Been teasing me for so long… Think I didn’t notice the way you looked at me whenever I came over? How you kept massaging your cock under the table during dinner? Always in those shorts too… God, you were begging to be fucked with your thighs showing like that.”

“No—I-You’re my dad’s friend, I can’t—“ Your hand said otherwise with your fingers taking initiative on their own, wrapping over his large cock, right above Mr. Cavill’s fist. It was a two-hander, a fucking two-hander, yet your fingers struggled to close around his girth. “Fuck, you’re so…”

“Your dad doesn’t have to know, right? I won’t tell. You won’t either. We don’t want to hurt him, right?” One of his hands found its way to the back of your head while he took a step closer, bringing his cock closer to your face. Before you could pull away, there was true grit to the palm of Mr Cavill’s hand as he applied pressure to the back of your head, pressing your cheek flush to the underside of his cock. “Look at you, you don’t have the heart to say no, do you? You’re obsessed with my cock, aren’t you?”

“Y-yes, Mr. Cavill…” You were under his control. Locks of your hair bundled under a grip while he ground his cock against your supple skin, making you smell him; his musky cock, the sweat buried in the deep hairs of his pubic area. It was a glorious scene that returned your cock back to its original state of arousal by tenfold. 

“You’re going to be a good boy and suck my cock off, right?” Almost in your mouth. You parted your lips open to trap his cock into your mouth with the way he maneuvered your head like a rag doll, a brute strength your nape now, pulling and pushing your head as his cock rubbed against your face, but Mr. Cavill pulled at the last minute, right when you were one lick away from tasting meaty flesh. “Close your mouth. You will open your mouth when I tell you so.”

“I—I—Yes, please...” You were pathetic. He held you still, head tilted upwards to face the ceiling and his towering body while his cock and balls laid over your face like a table runner, a perfect heater to warm his meat. A t-shirt remained on his body, and that was a true testament to his appeal, being able to get you off like this half-naked. You reached down, back to fondling at your sore cock, at the blue balls you’d given yourself earlier, sniffing, inhaling the heavy delightful scent of his sweaty cock. Guess his house was having air-conditioning difficulties too.

“I can use your mouth however I want?” He dragged his cock over your face, the head leaking out pre-cum in midst of its journey to introducing itself to every one of your facial features, saving your lips for last. 

“Yes,” You gulped at his rousing speech, breathing in the drying musky pre-cum on the perimeter of your skin. “Please fuck my mouth, please—“

“If you’re good, then this can be a regular occurrence, yeah?” You slipped your shorts and briefs off again, jerking yourself off to simply the teasing taunt of his cock, tapping at your skin, brushing over your eyelids, pushing up against your nose. You felt humiliated. You’d been marked by Mr. Cavill, pathetically as it only took his huge cock to make you submit to him. “You’d like that? Sucking your dad’s best friend off?”

“F-fuck, yes…” His cock was a wand to your body. Every time Mr. Cavill was seemingly about to push into your mouth, you willingly opened it to no avail, even if it was obvious that he’d pull away. You could only get off on his scent for so long. He’d draw your tongue out when he squeezed pre-cum out the tip of his cock, right above your pink flesh. It would sink, drip, slowly like syrup, in thick strings, until it wasn’t anymore with the sudden obstruction of Mr. Cavill’s finger swooping in to nick the sticky web, and letting it waste away on the carpet. “Please, Mr. Cavill… I-I’ll be good…”

It was amusing to him, watching you desperately try to taste and watch him in any way you can, to the point of going cross-eyed as he would center his cock in your vision. He waved his cock like a flag as if he had conquered you. Humiliated you with several heavy slaps to your face, thick smacks that you took in whimpering grace because Mr. Cavill had stolen the resources to your insanity.

“That’s what I like to hear.”

Mr. Cavill didn’t waste a single second for you to prepare yourself. The pressure on your nape steeled, bruising to make you open your mouth and whimper, and maybe that was the point, because he seized the opportunity to charge his cock inside of your mouth without warning, making you gag on your own desperation. It was a forewarning. A brief prologue on how you should take his cock as he quickly pulled himself out to properly prepare yourself. In the meantime, he slapped your cheek multiple times with the spit you had already layered him with, cooing at how incredible hard and big he was against your dazed face.

“Fuck, your mouth is so warm. That’s it, you can take it. Good boy.” Saliva spilled out of your mouth like a popped water balloon when he pushed himself inside of your mouth again. You couldn’t control it. You couldn’t control what Mr. Cavill had stripped away from you with the strength he had on your neck. Not to mention, the mass of flesh gagging you into oblivion, leaving you completely incapable of stopping him, as if you wanted him to. “Come on, use your hands too. Don’t be lazy.”

“Mm-mmf…” A compliance that was muffled by a slur of slick sounds, but Mr. Cavill knew what you meant. Amusement played on the corner of his lips as you struggled to fit a hand around the base of his sticky cock, sloppily stroking what was left neglected by your mouth, or rather your inability to take in. You suckled on the head of his cock, plump and heavy on your tongue as it throbbed with every lick you provided him. Stroking its slit with the tip of your tongue, you then dug and slobbered over the salty taste of his pre-cum. “So big… Just like I’d imagined.”

You pulled away to marvel at the size of his cock, taking your time to lube his cock with your spit from tip to shaft before your fist flushed to his pelvis to slap his meaty cock on the pouch of your tongue, lewdly flinging your spit in the air. It was your favorite move, often reliable in coercing a reaction out of the men you’d sucked off previously. The roll of his eyes, the flex of his muscles, the grunt from his gut; you slobbered all over his cock, worshipping every inch with your mouth, polishing the cock knob clean with your tongue and stroking what you couldn’t with two deft hands. Mr. Cavill was no different, he was a man with needs like you, with needs like the rest of the men you’d given head to, and you exploited the hell out of it. You loved making them feel in power, making them feel like you were worth time out of their day, despite their original pleas to use your mouth.

He briefly pulled back to rest a kiss on your lips, one that you’d treasure for the rest of your life. Not only was it because it was your first kiss was him, but because of how delicate he was with you. Warm and inviting like he usually was, his large hands cupped at the end of your jaw, holding you as if you were made of porcelain. “Making me so proud right now, fuck. Take in more of my cock, would you? I like it when you gag.”

“Mm-hmm…” They always do. You mumbled against his lips, no longer needing his guidance to finish what you’d started. Your eyes were glued to Mr. Cavill, aroused by the look he was giving you. A famished stare that demanded to be satiated, by means of sheer persistence as you knew it was going to be difficult to down him with your throat.

Mr. Cavill drove a hand into your hair, cuffing the strands to keep you still, to keep you from pulling away, to dominate you. He watched you without an ounce of kindness, muscles flexing, cock and balls hanging obscenely as you found a better position on your knees with a throw pillow guarding you from bruising. “Want you to throat-fuck me, Mr. Cavill.”

“Fuck, who knew you had such a mouth on you…” He sturdied his stance, spreading his strong legs while manhandling your head between them. You licked a stripe over his balls, then the underside of his cock until your tongue reached the scorching skin of his precum-slicked tip. Approaching the end of the journey, your mouth opened wide to welcome Mr. Cavill back into your mouth, and like tugging on a loose knot, you drew out moans from within his gut, his body loosening in turn of your hot mouth. “Fuck, just like that…”

With a thundering heart, and a building pleasure so morbidly big, you sunk and lowered your head lower, taking in Mr. Cavill’s horse-cock like a fleshlight. Crimson rose to your cheeks, to your neck, as you strained to maintain him inside of your mouth. He was too big. You’ve utilized all the tactics you’ve learned on campus, on a few buddies, on your roommates. Breathe through your nose, relax your tongue and jaw, let your saliva drip out. Yet you’d barely taken a few inches more than you had done prior before a couple of gags alerted you to take a breather. Your head pulled back, but it was met with violent opposition as Mr. Cavill brought your head back down to further shove himself down your throat.

“Mmm—gggrgh!” Your body jolted in defense, stiffening your body into an upright position when you couldn’t refrain from gagging on his cock. Your hands braced on his strong thighs for balance, squeezing at the muscly flesh of skin to distract yourself from the uncomfortable stretch your mouth was receiving.

“Fuck, yeah. Fuck, fuck, just like that. You’re taking it like a good boy.” You were making him proud, so fucking proud. You coughed, gagging, almost choked on your own spit, but the stuffing of Mr. Cavill’s large cock simultaneously emptied your mouth of saliva as it all came flooding down your mouth in lewd webs. “Shit, look at that. I’m making your mouth water, aren’t I? Fuck, what a waste.”

He yanked your head back, pulling him out of your throat, and you had never felt such relief. Breathing, exhaling and inhaling deep to compensate for the prediction that Mr. Cavill wasn’t going to let you spare a second of abandoning his cock like that. Your eyes watered, reddened from straining your muscles to make him fit inside of your mouth. You knew there was a shift in the room when you looked up at him like that, glossy in the eyes, tremors involuntarily making your knees unsteady, coughing as you held onto his thighs. He towered over you, you were beneath him, beneath the ravenous gaze he simultaneously terrified and seduced you with. You couldn’t complain now. You did your job. You made him feel powerful like you’d wanted. Dominating, as his cock leaked in your spit, and spit your saliva back onto your face.

“You were fucking hungry for my cock, weren’t you? Look at you. You’re a bloody mess…” With one swipe, he gathered the layers of spit you had generously supplemented his cock with, and smeared it across your face. You took his humiliation with good grace, moaning at your loss of pride with every smear. It deducted the more he messily layered your face with your own spit, but as demeaning as it was, there was immense merit to the satisfaction on Mr. Cavill’s face. “Open up.”

“M-mm, ah—“ Your mouth opened with a vulgar sound. If Mr. Cavill had something to compare it to, it would be like sticking a spoon into a cup of jello, and then scooping its content out. Sweet and glorious to his ears, salty to your mouth as he bought your head forward again, and plunged his cock back down your throat, deeper, and further within the confines of your throat. You squeezed around him, eyes clenched tight while he brought your face flushed to his pelvis, the hairy bush of his public area gentle abrasive against your nose. He smelled as delectable as he tasted. A hint of spice, sweat, salt, you could lick at it if it was made into a popsicle, lap it up if it was in a bowl and you were on all fours, bowing to his feet.

Your cheeks bulged as your mouth churned internally to produce more slime to seemingly ease the slide of Mr. Cavill’s cock thrusting inside of you now. He was careless, half-bent over your head to lock you into a tight embrace while his spit-polished cock rubbed at either side of your cheeks, rut against the roof of your mouth, then thrust himself into the depth of your warm throat. You couldn’t have escaped if you had wanted to. He was too strong. Two hands unrelenting around your head while he packed his large cock deep into your mouth, pelting into your gags and whimpers with fast, sharp thrusts, the sound of his wet dick choking you mutually turning you and Mr. Cavill on. You want to quit, yet he was choking you too good. Water streamed down your cheeks. Whether it was your own spit, sweat, or tears, you couldn’t comprehend it because Mr. Cavill was uncompromising, refusing to yield for your comfort.

You were fucking grateful. That was what had been missing from your college experience. A man. Someone taking charge for once. Someone utilizing you like the whore you made yourself out to be. Mr. Cavill saw right through you, through your taunts from several breaks ago, and he was fucking furious for making him wait.

“Shit, I’m close,” Fucking your mouth furiously. You could get off like this. Fuck, no. You were getting off to this. Fucking your cock with your fist, doing your best to match the pace of Mr. Cavill’s hips. You wanted to look up, to watch his face morph from admiration to animalistic desire as he utilized your throat at his own disposal.

You blinked away your tears, even if they had stung, and gawked at how captivating Mr. Cavill was for being selfish, thrusting into your mouth with one hand keeping your face free of your hair from obstructing his view. A frown permanently framed his mustache, and his dark brows furrowed at the approaching climax. He wasn’t looking at you. Rather, he was scrutinizing your wet mouth as it was jam-packed with his cock. How could a mouth look so pretty while doing something absolutely obscene? How could a throat feel so tight, so addictive, even after piping his cock down its drain several times? How could you let him treat you like this, a complete stranger, completely violate and humiliate you on your knees, like a broken doll whose purpose was to fulfill a man’s deepest desires? Maybe he needed to have a talk with your father. Talk about how broken you were, and that you needed fixing. Spend a nights with him at his house, and he would help you rewire your brain. He’d fix you. Fix you with his cock. With his lips. With his hands. With his body. Your eyes rolled back at the thought, fisting your cock faster, twisting to his heavy grunts as he was nearing closer and closer to the edge of his insanity.

“Mfghm!” Your throat felt raw, the subtlest whimper scratching at your throat like claws on chalkboard. But you persisted, pumping your shaft vigorously, your ears lapping up Mr. Cavill’s constant appraisal for your performance. Good boy. That’s it. You’re taking my cock like how I want it. You want your reward? Fuck, sloppier. Spit on it. Spit on my dick. I like it sloppy. 

Sweat pebbled every inch of your skin. You couldn’t take it. It was coming. Your stomach sank and steeled upon the sudden rise of fulfillment, and you quickly released your grip after a final stroke before coming into the air. Thick ropes catapulted upwards, your cock throbbing with every pulse, and your balls emptying itself more and more with a bounce, a twitch, and a jolt. “F-fuck, ugh…”

“Fuck, yeah. Look at all of that cum. Fuck. You came that much just from my cock, look at that…“ Your body spasmed as the carpet soaked up your semen. His voice gruff yet gentle at the same time, making your cock twitch once more before softening. 

“Come on, not done yet. Suck me off.” He spat out, tugging your head forward after a quick breather.

Something in you clicked, and you began sucking his cock off like it was your job. Twisting, stroking at the slick shaft while nipping at the head while you caught up to your breath. Suddenly saltier on your tongue as some of your cum had landed on your hand before it was smeared across Mr. Cavill’s dick. You’ve never tasted yourself before, but it was a found contentment you didn’t expect to turn you on.

Then, you took one last breath, cleared your throat, and charged forward. Long, thick inches slid into your throat once more, and you’d hold yourself there upon his final warning, mouth agape, lips pressed into the fur of his pubic hair. Your tongue flattened at the underside of his veiny cock, and your nails dug into the back of his thighs as you felt a thick warmth rush down and coat the inside of your throat. His cock throbbed, and Mr. Cavill’s grunts emptied from his gut with every spill. You could feel every heavy pulse as Mr. Cavill came down your throat in heavy, creamy spurts. You didn’t want to swallow. Not yet. You wanted to savor him. Savor the taste of his cum. You’d pined for it for so long, for all you could know, this could be your last opportunity to properly taste him. Slowly, but surely, his loads rose and pooled in the back of your throat upon barricading it with a tighten of your trachea. The rest of his spurts emptied on your tongue as he pulled himself out, and milked himself to completion. 

“Don’t swallow yet.”

You nodded, panting, awaiting for his nuts to be emptied as he flung his cock a few times, hurling drips of cum and your spit over your tongue and face. When he was seemingly emptied out, his gaze fixated on his cum pooled in the back of your throat; semi-translucent and filthily swimming with your own spit, and then Mr. Cavill’s own saliva, as he then spat into your crowded mouth. 

“Now swallow.”

You whimpered at the vulgarity of this affair, yet you were highly-aroused by this shame you were feeling. Mr. Cavill’s gaze stilled, anticipating with calm amusement while petting at your cheek. With one clean gulp, you downed your guilt, scrunching your nose when the salty taste of his spunk throttled your tastebuds, and sighed in satisfaction.

“Does your throat hurt?” He was on his haunches, carefully examining your throat as if he had his hand around you from the outside. It was a surprising return to his normal self, at least, the man that you knew as your dad’s best friend. Caring and patient, as he tended to your neck with apologetic kisses, and a gentle massage around your nape, where he must’ve gripped too hard upon your jolted reaction.

“A little… Didn’t take you were one to be rough like that.” Your knees gave out, letting yourself fall back onto your butt knowing that the couch would catch your position.

“Not usually, no… You just… happen to rile me up for some reason.” He was smiling, joining you on the floor, and nuzzling his furry mustache into the crook of your neck as if he wasn’t choking you with his cock a few minutes ago. It was unusual, yet charming. “Seriously, don’t tell your dad, okay?” He whispered into your ear before turning your cheek to look deep in his eyes.

A meaningful stare, a beat of silence, before you spoke, “Only if you promise me something.”

“What’s that?” Mr. Cavill pressed a kiss to your swollen lips, another apology for stretching your mouth without much warning.

“You really meant it that this would be a regular thing if I did a good job?” Mr. Cavill scoffed at first. It was almost embarrassing. Were you being naive? Was this too good to be true? Your cheeks flushed red, and you solemnly casted your gaze downwards, defeated because that was that it felt like. The sound of rejection always came with a scoff, everyone knew that. 

“Well, it was going to be a regular thing even if you had accidentally bit my dick off.” He suddenly laughed at how susceptible you were by the smallest actions, and at this moment, you were surprised that maybe this crush wasn’t so one-sided after all. He teased at your frown, kissing the corner of your mouth until it was a smile, and then prodding at your sides when you resisted. “Come on, you couldn’t possibly think this was a one-time thing.” 

“Tempting…” You snuck a head in between his thighs, reaching for a certain tool that had brought in so much pleasure and pain to your body. “I don’t know… we don’t talk much. I don’t know you that well.” 

“Don’t.” Mr. Cavill teasingly warned, stopping you by taking ahold of your wrist. Though, one step too late, as you already cupped his flaccid cock, tormenting his balls with a few tugs and squeeze of your palm as an act of revenge for your throat. “Well… then let’s get to know each other. No problem doing that, right?”

“Mm-mm, guess not.” Pursing your lips, you nodded, feeling placated by his words.

He sighed into your mouth, kissing you again, licking at the inside of your mouth, tasting your tongue and then your cheek, to soothe his selfish stain on your body with the work of his mouth. 

“First, I want to hear you say ‘thank you’ for building that PC of yours before I promise you anything.”

“Jesus, we’re still on this?”

“Yes! Do you know how long that took me?”

“I didn’t ask you to build me one—“

“God, you’re an ungrateful brat.”

nouearth. please do not repost, plagiarize, or translate my works. and if you like this story, please reblog and leave a like!

[pixelnrd]

Jasmine was working on a new PR crisis at work. The matter had been thrust upon her to manage and as she familiarised herself with the client she felt like they seemed somewhat familiar.

Upon heading to the photo studio to meet the client themselves, Jasmine realised that it was family, sitting in front of the blank canvas and arranging themselves. They were dressed for a stylised shoot that was designed to showcase their sophistication and wholesomeness in light of some negative publicity that had been recently thrust upon them. Jasmine was shocked, however, to see that one of their number was Andrew.

But of course it was Andrew - she reviewed the file and it suddenly all clicked. The Chen family were an old aristocratic family here on this side of the world. It had never occurred to her that Andrew belonged to that family. She felt silly the more she thought about it - he was well-spoken, he had never told him exactly what he did with himself other than manage a family business, he loved to play polo... but he was so down to earth, and never flaunted his status to her.

Jasmine went up to him after the shoot was done to say hello. Andrew seemed strained - he explained to her that his sister, Rebecca, a well-regarded socialite in the celebrity world, had recently had one too many negative articles written about her behaviour and it had drawn negative critique against the family as a whole. The firm was managing the crisis for them with a magazine article on how united and strong they were as a family.

'It's been... a headache, to say the least,' sighed Andrew, glaring at his sister. Jasmine noticed that Rebecca seemed less than friendly about the entire affair. But she did recall the many articles written about this girl, and the things she got up to. She felt for Andrew, having to publically lay himself out with his family for judgement.

'Don't worry,' smiled Jasmine. 'We'll make sure this goes away. I'm good at my job, you know. Thanks to you'. She realised that the reason Andrew must have pulled strings to get her here in the first place was because he was a paying client for the firm.

Andrew was grateful to her. And considering the favour he had done for her, he decided to shoot his shot once more with this beautiful woman.

'Perhaps I could take you out to dinner, as a thank you for all the hard work you'll be getting yourself into,' he said.

Jasmine felt awkward. He was asking her out. And she felt bad... she wished she could appropriately thank him for helping her in the past, but she had a boyfriend now. And things were serious.

'I'd love to but... I'm seeing someone,' she confessed. 'But maybe we can grab another coffee some time, once the dust has settled.'

[chilahh16]

" I do not want you to need me. I want you to love me."

How can the love that one fought for years crumble to dust from a single person that was from the past?

Was a question she had asked herself for a while now as she views Monaco in all its glory. The setting sun beyond the horizon served as a reminder how cold his love had gone. The blazing red of love was no longer there no matter how hard she searched for it. All that can be found are the debris of a broken marriage that was unable to stand the fury of time.

It all started with one call. The quiet night was broken from the blaring sound of Charles' phone. It startled the sleeping woman tangled in limbs with her husband. Her hands searched for the damn device and swiped the screen to answer the incoming call without noting the name on the screen.

" Charles?" a slurring voice came on the other line.

Y/n was stumped in her place as she recognize the voice from the other line. It was no mistaking it. Charles greatest love is on the other line. The woman that came before her. The woman that has her husband crumbling from years before. The same woman that she helped to get him over with. Y/n was unable to even make a sound. She did not know what to respond. It had been years already. So much has happened that she almost forgotten about her. She took a glimpse of her sleeping husband and all that had occurred from before replayed from her mind. Fury and sympathy surged her heart as she caress her husbands cheeks. However, she grounded herself from the hands that held her waist before responding to Charlotte.

" I'm sorry, Charlotte. Charles is sleeping right now. May I know what this is about?'

No response was heard for a few minutes and the world seemed to darkened more as those minutes stretched. Y/n mindlessly ruffle her husbands hair as the nerves came. The pain of having no idea of why she called caused anxiety to grip her heart. The years had already passed and Charlotte's name never came from their lips upon those years and now that it is, Y/n felt her heart constrict.

" Charlotte, are you okay? Do you need help?" Y/n questions as she heard sniffles from the other line yet, no answer still.

It worried the woman as something could have happened. She stood from the bed and walked over to the balcony to not wake her husband. However, the absence of warmth and his wife's frame from his hands woke the sleeping driver.

" Is everything alright, amour?" Charles' groggy voice sounded in the room which caught the attention of his wife from the phone.

The sleepy driver made way to her. Finding his hands spot on her waist as he kissed her shoulders softly, not noticing the rectangular device placed on her ear.

" Yes. Everything is fine, love." She muttered as she caress the hands on her waist.

But is it?

" You should go back to sleep. You still need to wake up early tomorrow."

" Not without you." the man grumbles. Annoyed to be woken up from his blissful sleep.

That was when Charles noticed his phone from his wife's hand. Clearly on a call from what he can see on the screen. He did not hesitate to take it and without regard turned off the phone after informing someone from the other line how they disturbed a peaceful evening. Y/n chastised her husband for the rude remark but Charles did not mind one bit and proceeded to carry her back to the comfort of their bed. The night continued blissful. The worries that Y/n had was erased from a simple hug of Charles. She thought that maybe it was nothing, maybe she is just putting more thought on it than necessary.

However, all that was thrown out of the window when another call was received a few weeks later. Charles was able to answer it and was in a rush after a few minutes. Only telling her that it was nothing important and to continue to sleep. She shrugged it off because if it was really important, Charles will tell her himself.

The same occurrence happened after. It was with Pierre that she knew her husband is with his ex one time. It also did not stop there as Arthur informed her of how Charlotte was there when they played paddle. The same things happened again and it has already been a few months since then.

Y/n and Charles had their talk about the situation. Charles assured her that it was nothing. Charlotte was going through a tough time right now and she needs someone. They almost had a fight that night but Y/n still remained understanding. Charles as well assured her that she is Mrs. Leclerc and nothing can change that. She is the only woman that he loves. Now and always.

Lunch with Pascale and Enzo was blissful however, the happening of the past months still bug Y/n. Her mind struggles to silence the growing anxiety and the depths of her doubts. She trust Charles but she does not like the situation, not one bit.

" Is everything alright, dear?" Pascale queries as she saw how conflicted her daughter had become.

" Huh?... Oh, everything's okay, Maman. Just thinking."

" If the thing that keeps you occupied really bothers you this lot. You know you can tell us, right?" Enzo interjects as his sister-in-law showed a character so beguiling.

But was it alright to tell them of what occurred. They have been in the company of Charlotte before. They know her and people around talked about how kind of a person she is. People had question how she and Charles were not the ones married. It hurts of course, but the assurance, acceptance and love that Charles and his family showed could not measure the pain of their talks. Hence, Y/n went to tell them of what has been happening to the lingering questions after.

Pascale understood her concern. So much has happened and it was because of the very woman in front of her that her son is happy and content today. She could not so much as invalidate what she felt of the situation. She knows how much it is for Y/n, but one thing is for sure, Charles is deeply enamored with his wife and will do everything in his power to silence her doubts.

" Did you talk with Charles about this?" Enzo ensure that his brother was aware of the silent battles his wife is in.

" We did."

" And?" the adult persuades her to continue.

" I told him I understand. That I support him. But sometimes it's exhausting. I do not want to compete with her that sometimes I just let myself believe he's with me because he loves me, for me, and not cause he needs me."

" Am I selfish to want my husband for myself only?" Y/n grimaces from her question as she can hear herself grow greedy. It was exhausting to be at the receiving end of pain but she takes it all with ease. Yet, how long must this be?

" No. You're not." Pascale assured with conviction as she stare at the woman before her..

This woman has been through a lot for the past months yet, she handled the situation with a smile. Even with the knowledge of how her son love Y/n, Charles sometimes makes decision that would spiral back to him - hurting people in the process.

" I'm so sorry for what has been happening but, always remember that you have us. Charlotte is his past, you are his present, his wife, my daughter and nothing can change that. I will not tolerate it if Charles has hurt, okay? Come to us for anything and we'll be there. You are a Leclerc after all." The older woman smiled as she hug her daughter.

" I will straighten out my brother for you, Lil sis. Just say the word. Anytime." Enzo jokes, diffusing the depressing aura that envelop the room.

The day went on as they, for the moment, forget the pain of the past. Simply enjoying the time with family. Y/n will worry later, right now, she would spend time with the Leclerc family - her family.

It was almost 8 in the evening when Y/n went home after a full afternoon with Pascale and Enzo, Arthur joining after when he was home. She walk the familiar hallway to their apartment determined to talk Charles. Her mind was cleared with the assurance of his family. She also remembered the promised they did after they were married: 'Keep no secrets from each other.' With this, she opened the door with a smile. A greeting at the end of her tongue but was wiped by the view on the couch.

" Charles." an exasperated call as her mind refused to utter any words.

The eyes that held love for him, dimmed as the tears threatened to fall. Charles has fucked up. Big time. And he cannot bear to leave his wife, thinking of hideous things when in fact nothing has happened.

"Y/n, this is not what you think this is. Look at..." Charles tried to explain however, his wife has already made way to their bedroom.

The tears fell and a strangled noise made way from Y/n's lips. Her heart constricted - not wanting to believe what had been seen but, it was as clear as day. A drunk Charlotte was in the arms of her husband in their couch, their living room, their house. How can she manage to deny it now. How can she try to reason with herself that Charles loves her and only her.

" Love, look at me. Please." he pleaded as he tried to make way to her.

" Do you love her?"

The question stunned Charles. He could not seem to comprehend where it is coming from. Was everyday that they are together, waking up and sleeping with each not enough to show that he does love her?

" All those times you said that what happened between you two was nothing. That you cannot forgive her for what she did before. Was it all a lie? Did you ever love me, Charles?" a broken plea it was.

" Y/n, just hear me out okay. All those times, Charlotte just needed my help. It does not mean anything okay? You're my wife. She is from the past and no longer has a place in the present."

Does she really? Because looking at now, she can be seen from every angle of their lives. She started occupying a space in their marriage and she have it broken. Hence, she sputtered something totally incomprehensible.

" If she really is then make your choice."

Silenced stretched in the four-cornered space as the suggestion hangs in the air. It echoed in Charles' ears as it hurt for Y/n to ask. However, it must be said and done with. She could no longer play this games with her husband and his ex. It was time to face whatever it is that is happening in their lives. Because the longer this happens, she'll finally be torn apart.

" I cannot continue to share your love, Charles. I will not. So choose now. Charlotte or me?"

No matter how much it hurts to have the man you love make a choice between his ex and his wife, it does not equate to the pain one would go through just seeing the past still taking ahold of the now.

" Amour, please don't do this. You know I need you." Charles held onto her arm as he tried to deescalate the situation however, his sentence further tore her heart to pieces.

" Charles, I don't want you to need me. I want you to love me!" His wife yelled. Unable to contain how broken she has been for this past months.

How the smiles and laughter are but deceitful faces she shows to him. That no matter how much she understands her husband, she is but human that feels jealousy. It is not easy to compete with the greatest love when you are unsure what title you bear.

" Of course I love you! I love you so much that it sometimes hurt. I would do anything for you if you so wish, do you understand? I would leave everything behind for you just as much as I would give you everything you desire. I need you because I'll die without you. You are the air that I breath. You are everything to me." Charles explained as his hands found its place to her cheeks.

His closed lids and trembling form speaks volume of how this situation tore him apart. The very woman he worshipped has felt that she was not loved and it was all his fault. He made her feel this way. How horrible he was.

" I really do love you. So please...stay." the ever confident Charles pleaded.

Y/n was left to stand as the man she promised to God and the world to love was crumbling in front of her. She did this to him and it was so painful to hear the sobs that racked from her love. Hence, she gripped the hands holding her, tightly, as she placed her lips onto his. She put everything in the kiss. Words that were left unsaid, the apology, the doubts, insecurities and beyond it the love she has for him. They left the world to crumble behind them as they relish unto the moment with each other. They left the past behind closed door. Never to be opened again.

Maybe their marriage cannot stand the challenges of time but, their love does. And it was all they need.

[misslovasstuff]

In wano, episode 925, we are introduced to Sanji’s raid suit, aka stealth black, aka soba mask…

There was a short moment that really got my attention; when Sanji was talking about his dream of having the fruit that could turn him invisible.

Hopefully you know which moment I’m talking about. Now, if you guys remeber all the way to thriller bark, there we get to know that invisibility was Sanji’s dream. A lot, and when I tell you A LOT of people started despising Sanji after what he claims in that arc.

The thing is, although what he might be saying can be true to some extent, he’s (consciously or not) laying over the real reason why he wanted the invisibility fruit in the first place.

Coming back to wano, Sanji realises that (ironically) his dream of turning invisible can become a reality through the raid suit. Then is when we get a flashback to when he was a kid. To his childhood…

Sanji had that dream since he was A CHILD. So, it comes naturally to assume that of course a kid would not dream of having the invisibility fruit to look at women. There is another reason, a bit more dark that perhaps Sanji hides under this grand and overly exaggerated regard and admiration for women (this is not the first nor the last case he does that fyi).

I don’t know if he wanna appear more tough by pretending and putting this facade of a desperate imitation of masculinity but nevertheless, this is a call to stop taking Sanji’s gag seriously because as I see it, although it does not question the genuine love he has for women, he does use it as a tool that sometimes gets out of his control because of the principles he has nailed down in his life. A tool for the obvious reason of being a gag, and also to throw a bit of dust over his own insecurities and unresolved issues.

This instance that I mentioned, among many, are proof that (using Shkrek’s analogy) he is like an onion with many layers, and the superficial layers are just a basis to convince himself of being somewhat worthy of whatever validation he’s seeking. Like bro would never state that he dreamed of having the invisibility fruit as a kid because he wanted to ACTUALLY become invisible to those around him, to his abusers who inflicted trauma that years later is still fresh on his skin. Like the other time where he would never admit to others that ‘oh no you guys are in danger I need to save you’ Sanji would rather say ‘oh no Nami and Robin are in danger’ and then literally worry for every single one of them.

my man, being caring and loving and showing vulnerability will not get you in trouble anymore.

[dragonologist-phd]

(in regards to my Aeducan intro post)

@bharv Aaah thank you for asking…and also sorry for how long this is going to get!

(and if this doesn’t scare you off, please check out Of Diamonds And Dust!)

Okay so. Imagine you’re Marja Aeducan. It’s a familiar story- your trusted younger brother betrays you and frames you for the murder of your asshole older brother, and you vow vengeance.

But before you can get vengeance, you have to join the Wardens. And there’s this other Warden there- Brosca, a Casteless dwarf- and he immediately hates your guts. Which isn’t fair, because you’re not one of those traditional assholes in the Assembly. You’re progressive, you acknowledge that Casteless are people, you even think they should be allowed to have other jobs! You even call him by his name instead of just “brand”, and he’s not even grateful- he’s just rude and uncooperative, and you decide to just avoid him.

Then Ostagar happens, and you can’t avoid him. You have to work together. Neither of you really want to, but that doesn’t matter. And you fight all the time and he’s always undermining your authority but you’re determined to make this work because there’s just no other option. So you keep on trying to talk to him and break through that wall…and little by little, you do.

He tells you about his family, and the sister he’d do anything to protect. You tell him about yours, and the brothers who hurt you. The two of you talk about Orzammar, and you start to see it through his eyes. And it’s not a pretty picture.

You tell him you wanted to change things. To make it better. That you had big plans as Queen. Even now, you can tell he doesn’t really believe you.

But the two of you still get closer. You fight together. You kill together. You survive together. You learn to work as a team and you build trust. And the whole time, you’re both changing- he’s more open and supportive of you, and you’re learning to actually listen to him and maybe adjust your view a bit. Maybe there are parts of Orzammar you were blind to; maybe it was worse than you realized. You start to wonder if maybe this was all for the best after all; you’re good at being a Warden, and for the first time you’re really being yourself without worrying over the judgment of the entire Diamond Quarter. You feel guilty for even thinking it, but maybe it’s ok if you don’t go back.

But you have to.

So you go back, and everything feels different- people call you exile and kinslayer, all of the respect you once had is replaced by scorn. Harrowmont is the only who welcomes you back- he believes you over Bhelen, and he saved your life before, and you ally together against Bhelen. You know that now, you can set everything right.

But then Brosca comes back. He found his sister- and she’s with Bhelen. She’s the mother of his child (also Bhelen, your baby brother, has a child now and this is the first you’ve heard of it). So Brosca is turning against you.

You try to make him see reason. You promise to see that his sister is taken care of. None of it works. You’ve had fights before, but not like this. And for the rest of your time in Orzammar, you’re back to being bitter rivals, back to him hating you just as much- even more- than he used to.

You tell yourself you don’t care. You know you’re doing the right thing. But secretly…you’re not so sure. Harrowmont is a good man, but he’s not strong like your father was. He’s never been willing to change; he wants keep to Orzammar’s traditions. Once, that just sounded old fashioned to you. Now, you know that so many of your traditions are *wrong*, and you know deep down he won’t ever do anything to help the Casteless.

Meanwhile, Bhelen is threatening change. You don’t know if he’ll actually change anything, but the odds are better with him than Harrowmont.

You keep telling yourself it doesn’t matter. Bhelen is a murderer and a liar, and you can’t throw your lot in with him. If Brosca wants to make a mistake, that’s his choice. It’s too late for either of you to turn back, anyway; you’ve both publicly declared your support, and the city is in a stalemate.

You go to clear out a Carta operation, hoping to tip the scale in Harrowmont’a favor. Brosca is there, too- and when the battle goes down, there’s a very clear moment when he could kill you. He doesn’t. Instead, he has to kill his old friend from his Dust Town days…

And you can tell that something in him breaks.

And as much as you hate him right now, you *know* him. And you know that if you keep going on like this, it’s going to break him for good.

So you do the last thing you’ve ever wanted to do, and you meet with Bhelen. You don’t forgive him. You never will.

But you can make a deal with him.

So you team up once again with Brosca, and you go find Branka, and when you get back you give the crown to Bhelen. You put Rica, a previously Casteless woman, on the throne with him. You set your baby nephew up to carry on the Aeducan line, and you pray that he ends up with all of Bhelen’s smarts and all of Rica’s heart.

You sacrifice your own need for justice in the hope that it will lead to a better future for the city that let you down.

And you really, really hope you made the right choice.

[haleigh-sloth]

Okay, cool! I wanted to make it was okay before I sent you any questions regarding the new chapter.

After this week's chapter, how are you feeling with the new circumstances? Do you think the new crying character is Tenko?

At the very end, we see Endeavor in front of the glass window with presumably Touya inside. It's good to see that Endeavor is keeping his promise of watching Touya.

I feel like Touya is at a safe point in the story, I can't imagine him dying. I am sure Touya is here to stay.

Regarding pretty much all the other villains, I'm 0% worried about them. Honestly. Even with the shell shock of what's going on with Tenko right now, I'm still just not worried. At all.

Tenko---I 100% HOPE it's him. I am also fairly convinced it's him. The only reason I cannot fully commit is just because of my trust issues right now, that's it.

But honestly, IF Hori was going to bring him back, this would be the best way to do it imo.

I think the fact that Deku was feeling depressed about the outcome with Tenko means that he'll do something to rectify that. Tenko wandering the streets right now? Alone? History repeating itself? It's almost too perfect of a set up for Deku to find him (instead of someone demented like AFO) and help him. That would not only be a solid showing of how Deku intends to stop history from repeating itself, but also fix the fact that he's unhappy with how things turned out before (I will wait to say my complaints about his characterization being dead in the water until the very end, though I am not super convinced Hori can redeem himself on THAT front). It would put the main character on par with the other two kids who saved their villains without killing them.

For reasons related to Tenko--I think this thread gives the best rationale as to why it would be/could be/should be Tenko. I do think the elephant in the room was "what the fuck is he gonna do about his physical body that's fucked all kinds of up from the inside out". We all sat with the potential for rewind to come into play. Right now, it's really looking like Kurogiri had some role in saving parts of Tomura's physical body at the last second and the other half of decay (which was very intentionally revealed right before he was punched to dust) putting him back together. And honestly, ik people are arguing that "the nose and eye shape are different!" and honestly who fucking cares. IF this character is in fact Tenko, it DOES make sense that he'd look different. The four bloody fingers, the covering of his mouth, the tears, the black shaggy hair, (the skinny bony ankles lmao), it just feels a little too on the nose to not be Tenko? I am convinced, but just with caution.

Then there's the whole "turn a minus into a 0" with Mirio, looking back at the chapter title "the story of how we all became heroes part minus 1". It's just...yeah idk. It all feels a little too perfect to just throw away.

Then there's the lack of closure and follow up on Spinner from the war, and we don't know if Deku delivered the eerie message (implying that Tomura still views Tomura as separate from who he is at his core because Tomura wanted to destroy until the very end). There's Kurogiri's last (possibly last? not sold on his death either but less invested in his return) words about how his friends are waiting for him, that also received no follow up. I don't believe Hori put those things in there to just move on and pretend they never happened. Tomura also said the villains need a hero of their own, which yes, but they also needed heroes who weren't gonna destroy things they cared about. And he needs to be around to see that none of them really want or need total destruction. It's just very unfinished.

Over all, I (and many others) have felt so weird about the last few chapters. They have felt so disconnected from the rest of the manga and from everything Horikoshi has written in the past and even in this manga. I'm kind of just settled on the very very likely and real possibility that Hori is doing this on purpose so he can get one last good GASP out of all of us and laugh maniacally about it from his stupid little manga studio. Fuck that guy. Respectfully.

That being said, if things don't go this way, I'm prepared. But I'll continue to hope for the best.

[zmzebra-writes]

ES Rare Pair Week 2024 Day 3: Wedding

Title: Marriage Fever Relationships: Mayoi Ayase/Tatsumi Kazehaya/Kaname Tojou Additional Tags: Future Fic, Post-Idol Career Summary: Three impulsive and impatient idiots go from dating to engaged to married all in one evening. Click here to see how!

Tatsumi always knew in his heart when he agreed to this that he would need to make compromises. His partners certainly were not short of compromises when it came to him. To this day, he was still surprised they agreed to this arrangement. He felt selfish being allowed to date his two favorite people, much less people he had already hurt so badly. Perhaps they would be better off if he left…

“Hah?!?? No way, Tatsumi!” Kaname had very loud thoughts regarding Tatsumi’s late night musings. He must have been talking out loud when preparing the tea in the kitchen. “We all agreed that all of us are important to each other and that we won’t leave because we think the other two will be better off without us!”

Tatsumi smiled at Kaname. His boyfriend was so sweet. “Yes, yes, I remember. I won’t leave you two. You and Mayoi don’t have to worry.”

Mayoi let out an “eep!” from behind the door frame, but still slinked into sight and into the kitchen next to Kaname’s side. Kaname didn’t look convinced. “You shouldn’t lie, Tatsumi. We promised to be honest about our feelings.”

Tatsumi’s smile became a bit more strained. “Ah… You know I don’t mean to lie to either of you, it’s just…”

“It’s just…?” Mayoi followed up.

Tatsumi’s smile finally fell into something more quiet. “... I visited my parents' church a few days ago. It had been years since we’ve talked, but they had taken an unusual interest in my life. Asking questions about if I had found a girlfriend and the like.”

“I remember that…” said Kaname.

“Did they say something about us?” asked Mayoi.

“Not in so many words,” answered Tatsumi, “I didn’t see much point in confirming what I already know. To them, I am still their strange son who has yet to properly follow the flock.”

“Then…?”

“... I got to see many of my old peers during my stay back home.” Tatsumi turned his eyes to the brewing teapot. “Everyone I met had already gotten married and many of them had started their own families.”

Tatsumi went quiet. Kaname pushed. “... And?”

“And I worry that I am the one holding us all back,” Tatsumi settled on saying, “I am the one who is so caught up in rules that I worry I am hurting you both with my choices. If it wasn’t for me, you two could face the world without a deadweight holding you down and keeping you from living as you like.”

Mayoi moved forward to comfort Tatsumi. “That could never be the case, Tatsumi. We are able to live happily because of your presence in our lives.”

Tatsumi smiled at Mayoi’s touch. Kaname wasn’t satisfied though. “Well what kind of rules? We’ve already gotten over the ‘being gay’ thing so is there another rule I’m missing or…? Your parents didn’t convince you that you’re actually straight, right?”

Tatsumi laughed. “No, I think I’ve reached the point that I don’t think even the Lord above could convince me to stop loving you two.”

Kaname felt more confident now knowing that this wasn’t going to end how his brother used to warn him. “Then what is it?”

Tatsumi glanced away as a blush dusted his face. “... It’s silly to admit.”

Mayoi grasped Tatsumi’s hand tightly to reassure him. “If it matters to Tatsumi, then we care as well.”

“Right!” Kaname agreed as he came over to grab Tatsumi’s other hand.

“Ah… Well if you are both going to insist…” Tatsumi felt warm as he shuffled between his two partners. “... I want us to get married.”

Mayoi and Kaname both turned red. “Married?!”

Tatsumi tried his best to hide his face in his shoulder. “It’s selfish, but while I was back home, I got to help officiate a wedding. The couple was so happy and the moment was so beautiful, but all I could think about was how much I wanted to stand there myself with you both at my sides. I just love you two so much, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you both, no matter what anyone else thinks.”

Tatsumi took a chance to look at his partners. “I’ve overstepped my bounds, haven’t I?”

Mayoi blinked to shake away his shock. “No not at all, Tatsumi! I am so honored that you would want to spend your life with someone like me.”

Tatsumi focused on Mayoi. “You think too lowly of yourself, Mayoi. I don’t want to marry someone like you, I want to marry you.”

Smoke spewed out of Mayoi’s ears as he combusted. Used to this and knowing it was usually a sign Tatsumi needed to step back and let Mayoi calm down, Tatsumi turned to Kaname who had yet to say a word. “What do you think, Kaname? I wouldn’t want to force you to do something you don’t want to.”

Kaname’s grip on Tatsumi’s hand tightened as his eyes began to water. 

“Kaname?!”

Kaname brought their entwined hands up to his eyes as he choked back his tears.

Mayoi snapped back to awareness as both he and Tatsumi began fussing over Kaname, asking him what was wrong and how they could help.

“It’s just…” started Kaname as he tried to speak through his tears, “A part of me never thought I would be able to get married. I’m just… so happy.”

All three of them smiled as they embraced each other. 

~~~

“So when should we get married?” asked Mayoi after they had spent a good portion of the evening being sweet to each other. “Do we need to get rings? I think we may have accidentally missed some steps. Will they still let us get married if we don’t have engagement rings?!” 

As Mayoi began doom-spiraling, Tatsumi began thinking more seriously about their plan to wed. Things couldn’t be this simple, could it? There were still the laws and the more important in-laws. Would they even be able to get married at all?

“Why not right now?” asked Kaname, cutting through the worries of both his fiances. “You’re a priest, aren’t you, Tatsumi? I really don’t want to wait to get married.”

Tatsumi smiled and kissed Kaname on the cheek. “You are so smart, my darling.”

Kaname blushed as he instinctively puffed up. “Of course I am! I am the brilliant Kaname Tojou after all.”

“Are you alright with doing this now, Mayoi?” Tatsumi lifted Mayoi’s hand as he looked at him. “We can wait if you want. Despite Kaname’s words, there is no rush.”

Kaname pouted. “Don’t act like you don’t want to get married right now too, Tatsumi.”

Tatsumi continued to look at Mayoi. “Regardless of my own feelings on the subject, you also get a say in what we do together. Neither of us would want to get married if you did not feel ready.”

Mayoi fidgeted under the attention. His emotions were in a twist, anxiety soaring through the roof, but Tatsumi’s grip kept him grounded. His old self never would have made it this far without his two partners helping him. He looked at Tatsumi and Kaname and knew that this was one thing he didn’t have to overthink. 

If they were together, they would make it through somehow.

“I do.” Mayoi said with a smile.

Tatsumi’s grin grew. 

“Don’t go skipping to the end, Mayoi!” said Kaname.

Tatsumi laughed and beckoned Kaname over. “I’ll get right to the good part for us.”

“Kaname Tojou and Mayoi Ayase, have you come here to enter marriage without coercion, freely, and wholeheartedly?”

They nodded. “I have.”

“As have I,” responded Tatsumi, “Are you prepared, as you follow the path of marriage, to love and honor each other for as long as you both shall live?”

“I am.”

“I am prepared as well. Since it is our intention to enter the covenant of Holy Matrimony, we shall join our hands to declare our consent to one another and God.” Tatsumi grabbed Mayoi and Kaname’s hands as they grabbed each other’s to complete the circle.

“I, Tatsumi, take you two, Mayoi and Kaname, to be my spouses. I pledge to honor, cherish, and love you as my partners today and forever. You two were the first people who saw me as the person I am and met me on equal footing. For that I will be eternally grateful.”

Kaname spoke next. “I, Kaname, take you two, Tatsumi and Mayoi, to be my spouses. I promise to love and defend you both through whatever life throws at us. I’ve spent most of my life working to prove myself to be seen, but I don’t have to worry about that with you guys. I love you two and I know you love me back unconditionally.”

Mayoi sensed it was his turn and spoke up. “I, Mayoi, take you two, Kaname and Tatsumi, to be my spouses. I am yours forever and always, as I swear to love you both until the end of time. I’ve spent the majority of childhood alone and afraid, but since meeting Tatsumi and getting to know Kaname and everyone else I am no longer lonely. You both help me come out of my shell and be a better person.”

With wet eyes and a smile, Tatsumi continued the blessings. “May the Lord in his kindness strengthen our vows we have declared to each other and graciously bring his blessings within us. What God has joined, let no one pull asunder.

“Now we may have no rings, but—”

“Wait!” interrupted Kaname, “Let me just…”

Kaname let go of his partners to remove three rings from his hands. “Rings!”

“Are you sure you are alright giving these to us, Kaname?” asked Mayoi, “Your rings are important to you.”

“It’s fine, I have like ten more in my jewelry box,” waved off Kaname, “This is more important.”

Kaname handed the rings to Tatsumi. “Will these work?”

“They are perfect, Kaname.” Tatsumi took the rings in his hands and began to pray. “Bless, O Lord, these rings, so that those who wear them with deep faith and love for one another.”

Tatsumi lifted and tilted Mayoi’s hand. “Mayoi Ayase, I give you this ring as a symbol of our never ending love and our vow to you.”

Mayoi blushed and blinked back tears as Tatsumi slid the ring onto his finger. He took the remaining two rings and turned to Kaname.

He lifted Kaname’s hand. “Kaname Tojou, I give you this ring as a symbol of our never ending love and our vow to you.”

Mayoi slid Kaname’s ring back onto his finger. Kaname didn’t bother blinking back tears as he’d already lost that battle. He took the final ring and turned to Tatsumi.

“Tatsumi Kazehaya… Tatsumi Kazehaya,” Kaname mumbled to himself as he lifted up Tatsumi’s hand, “Tatsumi Kazehaya, I give you this ring as a symbol of our never ending love and our vow to you.”

Kaname slid the ring onto Tatsumi’s finger as they both teared up. Mayoi grabbed their joined hands to share in the crying fest. 

Tatsumi tried his best to shakily get back on track. “Now, with God as our witness, I pronounce all of us spouses. You may now kiss!”

It was as if all of them had not seen the other in decades as they rushed to kiss and banged their heads together in the process. Tatsumi laughed as Kaname and Mayoi rubbed their heads before using the opportunity to kiss each of them on the cheek.

“Unfair! Sneaking in like that while we were recovering,” protested Kaname, “Mayoi, let’s show him what we think about that…”

Mayoi gave a slender smile and a nod before both of them attacked Tatsumi from either side with a kiss. “Don’t think we’ll let you get away that easily, Tatsumi,” he said.

“Oh, I think I can handle this punishment,” said Tatsumi with a grin, “Don’t feel any need to show mercy on my account.”

“Oh, you can bet there won’t be any mercy here,” said Kaname with the face of a cat who caught the canary, “Now that we’re married, you are never getting rid of us.”

Kaname shuffled up to Tatsumi, Mayoi following suit. “Never~!” he sang.

Tatsumi simply hugged his newly-dubbed spouses and laughed. “I wouldn’t change a thing.”

[erabundus]

anonymous &&. said... Ren, how would you describe Kazuha? And for Scaramouche, how would you describe Acer?

it's  a  difficult  question  to  answer  —  not  because  he  finds  the  act  particularly  TRICKY,  but  rather  because  many  of  his  thoughts  regarding  kazuha  are  far  too  precious  to  share.  too  vulnerable,  too  gentle  —  as  if  speaking  them  aloud  would  somehow  tarnish  them.  the  wanderer  is  a  fiercely  private  person  by  default;  a  living  contradiction  with  a  brutally  honest  tongue  that  reveals  very  little.  that  peculiar  quality  is  only  amplified  the  more  important  the  topic  at  hand  is  to  him.  this  world  has  been  meticulous  in  its  efforts  to  (  mercilessly  )  rip  away  every  scrap  of  comfort  that  finds  its  way  into  his  grasp  —  even  now,  ren  still  finds  himself  struggling  with  the  PARANOIA  that  kazuha  will  be  the  source  of  his  life's  next  tragedy ...  one  that  may  break  him  in  a  way  he  can't  simply  heal  from.

force  of  habit  sees  him  toying  with  the  ring  on  his  finger.  the  wanderer  knows  worrying  about  that  at  this  point  is  a  bit  of  a  lost  cause.  (  he's ...  giving  him  his  name.  )  he  can't  help  it  —  and  is  that  IRRATIONALITY  not  an  expression  of  affection  in  its  own  right? perhaps ... but he should really try to give a proper response.

❝  ...  ❞   he's  just ...  he's  really  —  ?   ❝  warm.  ❞  yes.  although,  it's  a  shame  he  lacks  his  fiancé's  POETIC  WIT;  clumsy  words  hardly  do  him  justice.  ❝  though  he's  human,  he  still  seems  imbued  with  a  sense  of  worldliness  and  wisdom  i'm  entirely  lacking  in ...  maybe  that's  why  he  can  find  it  in  himself  to  forgive  me,  despite  everything  i've  done.  ❞  despite  ren  still  struggling  to  forgive  HIMSELF.  he  can't  say  he  understands,  but  he's  made  his  peace  with  it  —  and  if  kazuha  will  not  accept  any  other  forms  of  atonement,  then  ensuring  he  provides  him  the  best  life  possible  will  have  to  SUFFICE.  (  or  so  he  told  himself.  admittedly,  marrying  him  was  never  part  of  the  plan.  )  ❝  our  personalities  compliment  one  another,  which  means  we  can  compensate  for  the  other's  weaknesses ...  and  apparently why  he  can  not  only  tolerate  being  around  me,  but  somehow  find  ENJOYMENT  in  it.  ❞  a  faint  laugh.  ❝  don't be fooled.  he's  also  awfully  strange  beneath  that  deceptively  placid  facade;  i  wouldn't  be  surprised  if  that  had  something  to  do  with  it.  ❞

he  is  his  soulmate.  his  other  half.  his  heart.  he  is  the  reason  why  he  STAYED  ALIVE  through  centuries  of  pain  beyond  comprehension  —  waiting,  waiting,  waiting  with  this  ever-present  feeling  of  yearning  until  they  were  finally  given  the  opportunity  to  meet.  to  simply  say  that  he  loves  him  would  be  a  disservice  —  ren  has  always  been  prone  to  feel  more  DEEPLY  than  most  people.  his  emotions  are  akin  to  a  wildfire,  impossible  to  contain  and  all-consuming.  it's  a  quality  he  once  loathed  and  tried  to  grind  into  dust  to  no  avail.  he  is  devoted  in  a  way  that  would  spur  even  the  most  pious  to  stare  on  in  envy.  he  would  bend  and  break  this  entire  world  to  suit  his  desires  if  kazuha  asked  him  to.  he  deserves  it;  his  happiness  takes  precedence  above  all  else.

❝  ...  reptile tendencies ...  ❞   right.  that  too.

[rebeccaberry]

Reflection (A Short Horror Story)

Hey all! I've got another short horror story for you all, this one is in my opinion one of the best I've written, so let me know what you think!

Have you ever taken time to look at yourself in the mirror? I don’t mean to glance at the mirror to fix up your hair or to shave while looking in the mirror. What I’m asking is if you’ve ever really looked at yourself in the mirror, examined your features, the pores in your skin, the colours in your eyes.

I find that there is something so ethereal about mirrors, something brilliant that everybody takes for granted. I also find that there is something unsettling about them, and from what I’ve read online, other people experience this feeling too. Maybe it’s that the image is reversed and that’s why it doesn’t look quite right, or it could be that the mind becomes confused when it sees itself.

In my case, the reason I find mirrors unsettling is not any of the guesses I have made thus far. I am unsettled by mirrors because of an experience I had as a child, an experience that has never repeated itself, but that scarred me nonetheless.

I was around nine years old at the time, and I was living with my Mum and Dad, my younger brother wasn’t born yet for another two years after this event so I was an only child. We’d only recently moved into a new house and even after a couple of months were still working on unpacking our things.

My Dad came into my room one day, a little before lunchtime and placed a couple of boxes on the ground, he told me that this was the last of my possessions and told me that I should unpack them. I told him I would and once he’d left my room I got to work on unpacking my things.

The majority of the contents of the boxes were the ordinary things any nine-year-old would own, toys and children's books, the latter of which I put on my shelf with little regard for organisation and the first I spent more time playing with than I did unpacking the boxes.

After a long while I had nearly finished unpacking the boxes, I reached into the box and felt the last object that I needed to pack away. It felt cold to the touch like it had just been removed from a freezer, and I couldn’t imagine what it might be, as it didn’t feel like any of my toys, and it certainly wasn’t a book.

I pulled the object out of the box and to my surprise, what I held in my hands was a handheld mirror. It looked old, I’d go so far as to say Victorian-era old, but despite the apparent age, it was clean, not a speck of dust could be found on the thing. 

The handle and outer rim were made out of a bluish-white metal and had beautiful, swirling patterns engraved into it that I couldn’t take my eyes off of. I looked into the mirror at my reflection, at first I noticed nothing out of the ordinary, but after looking at it for a few seconds I had a feeling that something was terribly wrong with what I was seeing in the mirror, although I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.

Feeling freaked out, I put the mirror away. For some reason I didn’t want to leave the mirror where my parents might find it, I was worried that they might tell me that the mirror wasn’t for me, and take it away. I didn’t want them to take the mirror. Not one bit, so I hid the mirror underneath my mattress.

After I hid the mirror I mostly forgot that it was there for at least a few weeks. One night, however, I woke up in the middle of the night after I had a nightmare, I don’t remember the exact context of the nightmare, but I remember that it had something to do with my reflection.

Instead of crying and running to my Mum and Dad’s room like I usually would at that age after having a nightmare, I found myself digging around under my mattress and pulling out the strange mirror I had found weeks earlier.

The mirror was still cold to the touch, and although I felt the patterns I’d been so entranced by previously engraved into it, I could not see them in the dark. That’s what I found most strange about it, although I could barely see my hands in front of me in the darkness, when I looked into the mirror the room was illuminated perfectly. Strangely this did not strike me as odd, it made sense in my mind that the mirror would show me my reflection, not caring whether or not there was light.

As I stared into the mirror, I felt that same feeling I had when I first looked into it, that something was terribly wrong, this time however, I did not put the mirror away. I wanted to keep looking, to try and figure out what was wrong with the reflection in the mirror. I moved my head from side to side, examining every object in my room through the reflection shown in the mirror, and it was as I did so that I realised why the mirror had unsettled me so much.

Mirrors reverse the image that is shown in them, if you were to look into one and move your head left to right it would show you moving it right to left, because it isn’t showing what is in front of you, it’s showing what is behind you. But as I moved my head left to right, the mirror too, moved left to right. 

As this realisation dawned on me my mouth opened in surprise, but instead of doing what it was supposed to and open its mouth, the reflection in the mirror smiled at me. It smiled at me.

The reflection in the mirror was smiling at me, and it was not a kind smile, it was the most cruel smile I have ever laid eye upon. The smiling face in the mirror that resembled me continued to widen until it was at an impossible length. The face began to warp as the smile stretched and wrapped itself around the reflection.

I could have screamed, but I didn’t feel the need to. What was going on in front of me had the same normality in my mind as the room in the reflection being lit up. I knew it was wrong, I knew I should have been terrified, I’m even terrified recalling it now. Despite this, I did not scream, I did not put down the mirror, and I didn’t throw it across the room and run to my mother and father. 

I sat there as the face in the mirror continued to warp. I sat there as the once cold metal began to glow red hot and burn my hand. I sat there throughout the night, in more pain than I’ve ever felt as the mirror burnt my hand. I sat there as my parents screamed at me to snap out of whatever daze I was in and tried to pry the thing from my hands to no avail as I sat there with a death grip around it and a need to stay there and to observe the reflection. It was only when my father took a baseball bat and smashed the horrid thing to pieces that I dropped it.

The mirror lay there on the ground as my parents tried to tend to my hand, ultimately to no avail, the mirror had burnt it to the point that it would never be usable again, it had to be amputated. 

I sat there, dazed and in pain, and I smiled.

[nwhk]

Fare thee well, 2023

Aaah..

Yeah exactly. That's the first thing I said out loud when I tried to think about 2023 in retrospect

Can you believe that it's only a few days until 2024? I have not even finished processing half of 2023 let alone entering a new year..

Honestly I have no idea how I dealt with this year - mostly giving myself the peptalk cause girl can't depend on no one for that. You gotta kick your own ass, sometimes. I lied. It's most of the time.

Because truth be told, it's you against yourself 90% of the time. You can't choose the environment nor the situation you're in but you can, at least, control the way you react to it. (Trust me, in my head, I've been on rampages a few times)

Looking back on 2023, it was a roller coaster. Emotionally. Physically. Mentally. Hold on, scratch that. It felt like being thrown in a fucking washing machine and being told not to scream - but eventually seeing light in the end

Yeah. Exactly like that.

I feel like I was thrown in situations so uncomfortable that I didn't get to tell that it was uncomfortable - it was more like God throwing stuff at me and told me to deal with it - and I did.

See, that's the thing. I never thought I had it in me to handle all of those things thrown at me. I used to think, nah that's not gonna happen to me. I used to think I GET to choose, but the universe said otherwise, obviously.

I lost a friend this year to Cancer. We used to be so close but my God, it was really a wake up call how fragile life is. How short life is! May Allah rest her soul amongst the beloved – really puts into perspective the things that we think are important in this life

I also lost a friendship that I really valued and tried so hard to keep this year. But I guess, one can only get hurt so much, so this one had to bite the dust. I'll cherish all the memories, for sure, but I believe wholeheartedly that we would be better off out of each others' lives and I wish her all the best

.

.

On a positive note, I went on two vacations this year - Kuching in July and KL & Penang in December. Where did I get the money with all the expenses on my car that I had to pay for this year? hahaha God indeed works in mysterious ways

and when they say people show their true colours when you live or travel with them, it is so true and I learned a lot in that regard and it did build my patience and get my mind blocking game strong

and as a cherry on top, my sister decided to give birth while I was away. Sister of the year goes to....? Yours truly. I have a new nephew ya'll and it is such a lovely addition to our family and even more lovely way to end the year - baby screams. I'm kidding. He's a good boy.

I don't know, but I feel like my mind went through a lot of shifts and lots of tweaking here and there throughout this year. I definitely learned a lot and it has definitely helped shape my character. Have I transformed into a better person? Not really. I really do feel like I am still a work in progress and I have gotten better in some areas more than the others, and other parts I feel, I have not started on or even identify them yet.. maybe I will next year?

I also learn that having people who love you and accept you as you are is hugely underrated - you need it and it makes this whole life journey more bearable. Those who feel your joy and your pain - those count, and I wish everybody has at least this one person in their lives.

Watching my parents grow old was really the highlight of this year, I feel. They played a major part in opening my eyes this year. I have taken for granted a lot of things - the way I would get mad how my mom would bang my door to call me for dinner every night - I don't get to experience that anymore. Mom can barely walk let alone walk to my door. A lot of things. How the tables have turned. How they have become so dependent on me now

Now I'm the one who has to call for dinner - to bring dinner to them. To worry if they have anything to eat while I'm away for work etc. I'm less worried now because my sister's home at least for a few months

There were moments where I caught myself wishing to turn back the hands of time. Wishing for this and for that but only to realise that all I have is now and for me to make it count and with all thats going on in my life, I am afraid to lose sight of this in the midst of all the chaos. It can easily be the most difficult thing in the world

I have no idea what 2024 is going to entail but I am trying to make sure that I enter the new year with a positive mindset. The grateful, blessed mindset with a new outlook on life. Wish I knew years ago that this is what growing up is. I used to always believe that life was like a tug of war where you have to fight to win and so I lived life on survival mode mostly. When I was told to relax and take life as it is, I panicked - in my mind that if I let go just a little bit, life will come crashing down

Now I am slowly accepting that I am just living life as it was written. Life will give to you naturally and all you have to do is navigate and make good decisions and most importantly, have a good heart and good intentions with you all the time. I believe God knows and acknowledges all that we do

What will be, will be - and so it is.

Happy New Year 2024, everybody!

This ship is only sailing towards the Northern Star

Note: I began writing this post a probably a week before 31st

[depressedhatakekakashi]

Hello!

I was wondering what your headcanon was for when Kakashi and Gai get together?

I’m torn between there never together until after the war

And

They were kinda together before Kakashi’s ANBU days but Kakashi couldn’t fully be in it and Kakashi pushed Gai away and they break up and then eventually get back together much later

Also it definitely seemed like leading up to the war Kakashi was letting Gai in more (we see this in 219 and 241 of Shipuden) what do you think let up to that?

I kinda feel like dying maybe brought light to some of Kakashi’s feelings for Gai.

Btw sorry if this has been asked before. I recently started following you and am obsessed with your Kakagai HCs. I could ask you a million questions

I am in the camp of ‘They don’t get together until after the war’. I do love to explore the ‘what if’ about them getting together long before that of course, but with all the things Kakashi struggles with and how much he pushes others away i don’t think the two of them would ever become official until after the war.

When Kakashi has had some closure on Obito and Rin’s death

When he’s also thought of a continued existence without Gai by his side and realized how much more that would hurt

And most importantly when he’s finally ready to open up completely and let Gai in. Before the war, as you said, we saw Kakashi opening up a little bit more and saw just how deeply he trusted Gai, but he was still careful about keeping gai at arms length while still also having him by his side

After the war it’s as if that arms length guard dropped

In the last movie Gai was standing at Kakashi’s side when the world might end, and the theme of that movie was ‘who would you spend your last day on earth with’ and they answered that for Kakashi and Gai without having to say anything. They showed us who their person was, and it was each other. I still think that was the cutest damn thing.

There’s also the fact Kakashi is able to relax not just because of closure, but because he’s no longer needed as the one who goes on all of the toughest missions for tsunade. Their students have stepped up and Kakashi is finally allowed to take a step back which i think helps him a lot in regards to a relationship because he’s no li no longer going out on back to back missions that he might never return from.

He’s not worried so much about him or gai leaving and never coming back.

So i really think Kakashi and Gai would properly get together after the war. When the dust has settled, they’ve mourned their loses and they’ve found their new pace in the world

[starshipsofstarlord]

Can I request a Kai Parker smut

stuck in 1903

kai parker x reader / masterlist

summary; being trapped in the prison world after sacrificing yourself to protect your friends, leads to some very embarrassing and frustrating situations / warnings; kai being an annoying lil shit, mentions of death, smut, possessiveness, imprisonment,

the prison world, perhaps it would have been slightly peaceful if an entrapped witch was not following your every move like an obsessed ghost. he was relentless, stalking his threatening footsteps after your own, prowling for a manner of attention.

“if you stop this whole, ‘let’s walk in y/n’s shadow’ charade, i will have sex with you. can we pursue a deal concerning the matter?” instantly, the witch muted his movements, gripping onto the side of the aisle shelf as he studied you, searching to see if your prospectus contained serious regard.

once he had come to a conclusion, he raised his eyebrows. kai had tried his darnest to keep you contained in that house that he likened to call a home. there was something he didn’t wish for you to discover, he was keeping you isolated from everything within the empty world that his family had banished him to.

that made you think, that it was possible, that perhaps other souls had entered the enclosure of this world, and that was why you were seeking, in the hopes of providing yourself with the comfort that you weren’t alone in this cursed nation with the one, and the only, to your misfortune, kai parker.

there wasn’t much that you knew about him, he was a practical talker, rather than a personal one. he had stocks of questions about the modern world, so that he could relish in the imagery of how much it had evolved without him. a part of you pitied him, but another worried that there was a wisp of darkness that he was hiding.

you didn’t know him, he was a stranger, and that truth made him potentially dangerous. it was safe to always remain on your toes, even if he had a habit of trailing huskily after. it gave him no chance of envisioning you as a sitting duck, every day was the same, but he was the one thing that could change that.

one tip of his mindset, and he could remember that he preferred being alone. and he could kill you, piking you on a stake, despite being human, or using his siphoning hands to drain all life out of your body. this wasn’t your first rodeo with the aftermath of death; bonnie had found a way to bring you back, her power flowed through you, keeping you logically alive, to a fault that was.

parker licked his pork rind exploited lips, collecting the dust from the treat, and bringing it into the cauldron of his mouth. the man was thinking, and that idea alone scared you. however you waited for him to persevere with whatever was unravelling in his mind, although you could have easily passed him by, finding elsewhere to seek salvation.

“is there a due date for that offer, because i’d like to take you up on it right now?” a smirk curved his mouth. perhaps not every day was the same, this was certainly going to be different, that was one thing that was for sure.

he noticed how your shoulders withered from the thought; sex in a grocery store, you had never been so filthy, and despite there being nobody around to bare witness to the sin, it still had your skin crawling. hugging your arms across your chest, you sighed, giving into his slick prompt, leaning your head down out of self disrespect.

kai couldn’t be trusted, you knew that. not for the fact that his own family had sent him here, to wallow in nothing more than the loneliness of his own company. there had to be a reason! nobody’s mother nor father would do such an act for no resolving purpose.

gulping, you finally grew the guts to adjust your gaze on him, and how he tapped his foot, silently demanding a response. “i mean it kai, we have sex, and you stop trailing after me like some stray. you got that?”

he got it. his footsteps came closer to you as he backed you into a shelf along the outer wall, enclosing you against the packets of rustling pork rinds, accidentally crushing their interior contents, as you raised your chin up, obscenely glaring at the mysterious man.

“oh, i heard every word.” he held out his pinkie finger to make a promise, and sickeningly you reached your own out, shaking on it, before he rasped his hand around your wrist, pressing a kiss upon the thin flesh. leaning down, kai attached your lips, humming contently, it had been so long since he had endured the contact of another person.

with his unoccupied hand, he slithered it down your chest, dragging his knuckles down your stomach, before he reached the tender edge of your trousers. he toyed with the band, the action making you stifle any sounds of admitted likening to his teasing; if you did, then he would only continue to do so more.

it felt like forever since you had gotten laid, a large portion of you wanted kai to take you on the spot, which it looked as though that was his intent, and that he definitely would do so. but another felt sick of yourself, these were the extents that you would go to to be left alone, and there was not exactly a plan b if he didn’t.

you wanted to obtain a way out of this place, and possibly the only chance that you had of doing so was to wander away from his ever watching eyes, and strive on your own, trying to discover any evidence of life throughout this semi detached world. you felt like a cattle, being guarded by their herder, he was protecting you from anything that could daunt your mind with realisation.

it wasn’t the fact he was protective, it was more in the terms of possessiveness. though he wanted to leave, he claimed that there was no way out, he was intent on descending your hope of uncovering an escape, from not only the ghost town of your home, but from him also.

“what to first? should i just fuck you or make you blow me?” his teeth toyed with a sly smile, as though he were trying to convince you into a conflict regarding the answer. but instead of growing a fuzzy brain, you simply glared at him, pushing his fingers out from where they had slipped under the top of your bottoms, leaving the man to be a confused mess; it was kinda cute, but for all you knew, his often sublime attitude.

“i didn’t say foreplay parker, only sex was on the table. and that will be all you’re getting, unless you want me to leave you high and dry, and find another resolve to rid myself of your attached escapades of following after me like there’s a wire attached from me to you.”

“fine.” he raised his hands in a motion of surrender, chuckling lightly to himself. “i was just testing my luck, which is clear that i don’t have.” he turned, his brows going up higher on his face as he saw a variety of boxes stacked on one of the shelves. he picked one up, reading over the scripture as you scoffed.

“i don’t think your gonna need xxl, unless you’re going to cum that much since nobody has had their hands on you for a long time. you’ve had to suffice and please yourself for how long again?”

“spicy, i like it. eh, you’re right anyways.” he tossed the box down the aisle, grasping for another like a kid in the candy store, this time it was for the variety of average sized men. kai aggressively ripped the box open, causing the contents of packets to spill all over the ground.

“are you incapable of doing anything like a grown ass man?” it was irritating just watching him fail to do ordinary everyday tasks. he was destructive, and it seemed to be a large part of his personality.

“you won’t be asking that in a minute y/n/n.” he sent you a gruelling wink, making you inherently gulp, watching as he plucked a singular condom off the ground, holding it between his teeth as he began to unbuckle his belt, starting towards you.

“whatever you say kai.” rolling your eyes at his constant cockiness, you pried open your jeans, dropping your panties to the ground, as you caught kai frozen, with a slight swab of drool bathing his bottom lip. “come on, i am waiting, so hurry your ass up before i get bored of doing so.”

“you want this as much as i do, you just won’t admit it.” he lightly sneered towards you, and you felt your body flush with composed embarrassment. perhaps you had thought about the ordeal a little during the time you had been there, but there had to be some excuse! he was the only guy in a worldwide radius, that was a reasonable enough purpose.

when he was rid of apparel on his lower half, he rolled the protection onto his length, as he pinned you completely flush against the shelves of the aisle, one of his hands cupping your ass, before he helped you clamber into his arms, as he held your weight up.

you wrapped your legs expertly around his waist, biting your lip as he ran the tip of his cock against your clit, and then pushed into your walls, his moans reverberating erotically along the column of your throat, as he trailed his lips against your tender flesh.

“fuck, fuck, fuck.” he uttered as he began to thrust. it had been a long time since kai had endured any physical contact, let alone like this. the siphon was relishing in it, slipping his cock in and out of your folds as though that was his lifelong purpose.

for the first time in many years, he no longer felt trapped, he had inched into a small paving of freedom, all because he was inherent not to leave you to abandon alone. you too were also caught up in the web of pleasure, you didn’t here two specific sets of footsteps enter the store, searching for the witch that had claimed that he knew of a route out of this subordinate hell.

they had survived the enduring loss of their own freedom, being sucked from the force of a collapsing vacuum into this lonesome reality. the other side had fallen, and so had their jaws, as they saw kai not only having sex, but with you, their lost friend whom had given her life to previously save them from complicated doom.

bonnie felt borderline disgusted as she watched you shut your eyes and try to bounce yourself on the man’s cock, whilst damon was specifically disappointed. your hands rasped around his shoulders, though their grip tightened as your name was called.

as you turned and saw your friends, it all suddenly made sense. from kai’s behaviour, to his lack of inclination to leave you alone, it was clear that he was hiding you from them and vice versa. “bonnie, damon!” you gasped, unsure of how you were supposed to compose yourself throughout this predicament.

“yes, bon bon, damey.” kai mocked with a roll of his eyes, as he remained still to his own dismay. “could you maybe give us five minutes, we kinda weren’t done here. just let us finish, and- ow!” you slapped the side of his face, scrambling to situate yourself out of his menacing grip.

with downturned eyes, you hastily pulled your clothes back up into place, glaring at the siphon. “you knew didn’t you? you knew that these were my friends and you purposely made sure i was distanced from them!” you growled at kai, your eyes fluttering with disregard for the imprisoned magician.

“well if i had, then you’d be less inclined to spend time with me, and this, would never have happened.” his fingers pried at pointing between the pair of you, amusedly he would say, though you would think otherwise. “welcome to 1903 baby! the world of lies and disgrace.”

“you’re the disgrace, you killed your own family, your younger siblings.” bonnie spoke, and her words made you feel physically sick. “get away from him y/n.” you followed her command, rushing over to her and damon, with shock established in your eyes. you had just fucked a sociopath.

“well, i guess that the jig is up.” he shrugged as he conformed his own clothes to be put in place. the fact that you still felt a rouse to finish what you started made you feel disgusted with yourself, though he deserved to rot here. why did the bad guys always have to be so hot? it just was not fair.

[everseeking]

Hi! Is it okay to ask for a Levi smutxfluff where he's benched from injuring his leg but it's getting a lot better. His fem! S/o is part of his squad and he gets the report that she was in a life threatening situation but she made it safe and he's waiting for the scouts to return. He waits for them and doesn't know what to feel fjejfjs im sorry this is hella long!!! Also no manga spoilers/references please

 - hello !! thank you so much for requesting ! that’s totally okay and don’t apologize for the length, it helped me out having details :) there aren’t any manga spoilers or references, but there are season 2 spoilers in case anyone hasn’t finished it yet. i hope you enjoy and thank you again for requesting <3

relief

- levi ackerman x reader

- warnings: season two spoilers, nsfw contains smut; hand job, oral (giving), fingering, cream pie, slight overstimulation but not much, AFAB!reader

once again, levi injured his damn leg.

after being temporarily handicapped from his leg injury when he initially fought the female titan, he made a personal vow to never let an injury like that happen to him again. it was a major setback and seriously hindered his abilities. but unfortunately, titans makes no promises.

it was during an expedition, of course, and things were taking a turn for the worst. levi was unaware that his squad would be needed on an expedition the next day, so he kept them up late the night before to polish their skills as much as possible. during the mission, it was clear they could barely keep their eyes open.

levi was extremely stressed out, worrying about his team as well as what he was going to say to erwin later when he yelled at the commander for such a late notice on the mission. for now, the captain had to make up for much of his team's slack. as much as the kids wanted to put up an argument when he flew in and stole their prey, they kept their mouths shut. there was no way they could’ve finished the job on their own and knew their protests weren't worth it, as it felt kind of wrong to argue with someone who was saving their lives.

it was brutal work since he too was bordering onto exhaustion, but levi pushed through and helped his team clean up the last hoard of titans. just when he thought he was in the clear, a titan came up on sasha and tried to grab her. if he had gone any slower to finding her, he wouldn’t have been able to save her. but thankfully, levi was able to use the last bit of his gas all at once to throw himself forward and push her out of the way.

he seriously couldn’t catch a break as this resulted in him getting himself caught in the titan's grip. his blades weren't drawn prior to being grabbed so cutting himself out was impossible. the giant had levi's entire lower half engulfed in its hand. if his second in command hadn’t been there he would have for sure been a goner.

it was y/n’s turn to play hero, as she flew in and swiftly sliced the titan's nape, freeing not only her captain but also her partner from definite doom.

levi wished he could say it was a clean save, but he couldn't deny the bone crunching he heard below him. they arrived back home in one piece with only levi's broken leg to report.

so not only had he injured his leg again, but it was worse than his sprained ankle from the forest. the captain was even more upset when the medics informed him that he had to be benched for six weeks. that meant no physical activity for six weeks. yes, that includes sex.

over the course of his healing, there were many times when he claimed to be okay so he could accompany his team on expeditions, only to be rushed back to bed by his colleagues. many people even urged y/n to nail down the door to her and levi’s shared room in order to keep him trapped in there. y/n laughed off the idea, not even considering it because she knew levi would only feel more tempted to break out. a few nails wouldn’t stop him. the only thing he could say he enjoyed about his time off was having y/n as his "personal nurse," when she wasn’t off with the rest of the team. she still had to stop things from getting too heated every now and then.

“doctor’s orders !” she’d always say as she stopped a heated make out session or after he had tried to pull her into his lap.

when it came to more domestic care, levi hated having her watch after him. he definitely appreciated it, but the last thing he wanted was to be a burden to her. he wasn’t just burdening her with his personal care, but also the burden of the entire team since she would be his replacement for the time being. many times he tried to wave off his partner and tell her he could manage on his own before he finally told her he didn’t want to have to rely on her. he was surprised when she brushed back the hair in front of his forehead to kiss his forehead, whispering that she wanted to take care of him and help him. 

finally, he had reached the sixth week and was ready to hit the sky again. the morning of the latest mission, y/n noticed levi had a bit of a pep in his step as he prepared to venture outside the walls for the first time in a few weeks. she giggled at his poor attempts to get excited since he wasn't the best at expressing his emotions, but she felt a little guilty since she didn't have the heart to tell him that he was once again sitting this one out.

hanji had pulled y/n aside the night before and broken the news to her. she explained that although his road to recovery had been going well, he needed to take one more week to ensure that he was completely healed. it hurt y/n’s heart a little bit to hear this. over the last few weeks she watched her partner practically counting down the days until his return, so she made sure to tell hanji that she wouldn't be the one breaking the news to him.

hanji also knew how restless her friend was and wasn't sure if she would comeback alive after telling him the news, so she waited until the last possible second to tell him. literally, word got around that it was time to make the final preparations before heading off when she pulled him aside and told him.

he was enraged to say the least. he grabbed the front of hanji's shirt and pulled her down to his level as he began to chew her out in front of everyone. the soldiers awkwardly shuffled past the two, definitely not wanting to get involved. it wasn't until y/n came and informed the two of them that it was time to go when he finally let go of her. hanji laughed nervously and decided to give the couple one last minute of alone time as she headed back to her squad.

there was a lot they wanted to say to each other, levi wanting to tell y/n to be careful and y/n wanting to apologize for not telling him sooner, but they both knew this wasn't the time for a conversation. y/n put on a determined face and told him that she would do her best to lead the team in his place, offering him a salute, then headed over to join the others.

levi was super bummed. he waited behind and watched as the horses left to make their way towards the outer walls before he sulked to himself and retreated back to his quarters to finish the less exciting side of his job; paperwork.

it had been a few hours since the cadets had left that morning, so the golden sunlight that was now pouring through levi's windows notified him that they should be back any minute now. he stood up from his small desk and stretched his back that had started to stiffen up from sitting in his chair for the last few hours. many nights had been spent sleeping in the same chair, but he swore it was more comfortable sleeping in it than doing paperwork it in.

he took a look around the room and saw the rays of sun illuminated the dust particles floating through the air. it annoyed him to say the least, as he had yet to find a way to clean the air. for now, he would settle for sweeping the room one last time. just as he was pulling a broom out of the closet, a hard knock came from his door.

"captain levi ?" a young soldier called from the other side. levi was slightly annoyed that he was being interrupted, but he managed to keep the ‘this better be important,’ thoughts to himself.

he placed the broom back in the closet and made his way to the door. upon opening it, he saw the distressed look on the soldier's face.

"what is it ?" levi pryed, not really sure what to expect at this point.

the soldier straightened up and cleared his throat. "the first group from today's expedition has arrived with a report. the rest of the scouts are on their way back now, but i was told to hand you the part of the report that regards the condition of your team." the boy held out the paper in his hand for his superior to take.

levi practically ripped the paper out of the soldier’s hand, causing him to flinch a little, but it was understandable. a million scenarios were playing through levi’s mind about what could have happened. he feared that once again he had lost his entire squad and had to start all over again. it was a pain he never wanted to live through again, especially since his lover was apart of his team this time.

his eyes quickly scanned the clearly hastily scribbled words, searching for words like death, killed, and eaten. the was almost at the end of the page when he realized he hadn’t heard anything terrible yet. eren ended up not needing the use his titan form, mikasa had another impressive kill streak, armin and connie were in a bit of a predicament but got out fine, and jean and sasha were safe too. the only one that had been yet to mentioned was y/n.

in an attempt to distract a group of titans from one of her fellow soldiers whose ODM gear was malfunctioning, y/n l/n used herself as bait. she was successful in saving the soldiers life, but one of the titans caught ahold of one of her gear’s cables and she was thrown to the ground. l/n was found unconscious by armin arlert and she is currently being watched until the group arrives and she can be transported to the infirmary for a full check up.

levi’s heart sank deeper and deeper into his stomach with every word he read. y/n was always putting others first regardless of how dangerous a situation was. she was selfless to a fault. he warned her many times that something like this would happen, but she never listened. her heart would never let her not help someone in need. it was one of the things he loved about her the most.

the awkward shuffling of the messenger soldier’s feet brought levi back to reality. before waving him off, levi asked if there was any more information than what was shared in the report, but he shook his head.

the soldier finally left, leaving levi frozen in the middle of his room. the report was too vague for him to know what to think or do. 

how high was she from the ground when she fell ? did she just get knocked out ? or did she hit her head hard enough to cause internal bleeding ? 

the thought that her current condition could be much different from the report also crossed his mind. y/n was stated to only be unconscious, but she could have gotten worse since. 

there’s no point in pondering the what-ifs, he reminded himself, but it was easier said than done. he moved over to his neatly tucked bed and sat down on the edge of it, resting his elbows on his knees and holding his head in his hands.

he didn’t know what he would do if he lost her. what the team would do if they lost her. before he could fall back into his dark thoughts about his partner’s condition, a large commotion came from outside alerting him that the cadets were back.

with a small stumble as he jumped up from his bed, levi sprinted out of his room to go outside. there were already a lot of people crowding around the carts and horses, so he did his best to slip past them all. the people in the way that had managed to see his face instantly moved aside, not wanting to anger the captain after seeing the intense look on his face.

after making his way to the front of the crowd, levi scanned the area in search of y/n, having no luck until he heard a familiar voice yelling ‘captain.’

his eyes met with eren’s who was waving frantically in order to flag down his captain who was now quickly making his way over to the group.

“she’s alright,” the titan shifter called out over the other voices in the crowd. levi didn’t want to get his hopes up as he wasn’t sure how accurate eren’s words were, but regardless, a wave of relief came over him.

as he pulled up next to the cart they were sitting in, levi also met armin, who nodded in agreement with what eren was saying. the blond opened his mouth to add onto what his friend had said, when he was interrupted.

“where’s levi ?”

hearing his partner’s voice almost brought levi to his knees. the weight of not knowing her condition finally fell off his shoulders. he peered over the side of the cart to see y/n laying on the ground on her back with a white bandage wrapped around her entire head. her face instantly lit up when she saw him.

the girl jumped up and threw herself onto the captain, wrapping her arms around his neck in a tight hug. if this were any other situation he would’ve told her to get off of him, but right now he allowed himself to wrap one arm around her back and placed his free hand on the back of her head, pulling her closer to him.

levi couldnt bring himself to scold her for being too rough while she was injured. instead, he sighed and hugged her tighter.

“thank god you’re okay,” he breathed out against her hair. he felt her smile widen as she nuzzled her head deeper into the crook of his neck.

after the two finally pulled apart from each other, levi immediately took y/n to the infirmary where they confirmed she only had a minor concussion.

the moment they entered their shared room for the night, levi pulled y/n in for another hug. she graciously accepted, wrapping her tired arms around his middle.

he pulled back and brought up a hand to brush her hair away from her face so he could place a soft kiss on her forehead where her bandages previously were.

y/n placed her hands on levi’s cheeks and gently pulled his face down so she could plant a kiss on his lips. levi eagerly kissed back and began taking careful steps backwards to lead her onto the bed.

they now sat on the edge of the bed and kiss turned more passionate, with y/n opening her mouth to swipe her tongue across levi's lower lip asking for entrance into his mouth. he eagerly accepted, greeting her tongue with his own as they made out.

without breaking the kiss, y/n carefully straddled herself onto levi's lap taking extra care to not put too much pressure on his healing leg. however, her plans became a lost cause when he grabbed her hips to meet his. her eyes widened as she felt his bulge between her legs. tension built up in her core as she instinctively rolled her hips forward to grind herself against his clothed crotch.

it was levi's turn for his eyes to widen as a wave of pleasure swept across his body. he broke the kiss to meet his partner's lustful eyes as she recoiled her hips back once again to bring herself more pleasure. he sharply inhaled before kissing her deeply one last time before throwing her off his lap.

y/n flopped down on the bed next to him, laughing, but she took the hint and started undressing herself like he did. once their clothes were in a messy heap on the floor, levi took a moment to pull her head close to him so he could kiss the side of it, worried he had only made her concussion worse when he threw her off of him moments ago.

“are you okay ?” he pressed, lips still against her head.

y/n laughed and placed her hand on top of his that was on the side of her head. “i told you a million times that im okay, my love.”

“and i’ll ask you a million more times just to be sure,” he replied, pulling back.

as he moved away, y/n grabbed the sides of his face and pulled him in for another deep kiss. one of the captain's hands placed itself on the small of her back to pull her closer while the other felt around behind her looking for the bed. once he gripped the sheets, he brought the hand up to the other side of her back and took a step to turn his own back towards the bed, then fell onto it, pulling y/n down with him so she would land on top of him.

he cringed as he remembered her concussion and quickly asked if she was okay, only for her to laugh once again and reassure him she was fine. before levi could ask anymore questions or make anymore quips, she returned her lips to his. their tongues explored each other’s mouths, searching every inch of each other’s caverns.

she pulled her lips away from his to smile at him while she slowed her breathing. the sight alone was enough to make levi fall in love all over again. her messy h/c hair fell perfectly, combined with her eyes filled with pure adoration from looking at him and the goofy smile that was on her lips. no one had ever looked at him the way she had. his eyes tore apart from hers and trailed down to see the rest of her body.

"you're absolutely perfect," he whispered, just loud enough for y/n to hear as he took in every curve on her body. levi thanked the stars that the moon was bright enough tonight to let him see the soft pink hue that spread across her cheeks as he complimented her.

she leaned in close to his ear and whispered "as are you," back to him. each movement of her lips tickled against his earlobe. it sent a shiver down his spine. y/n shifted her body weight so that she was now sitting up and straddling his lap once again. her right hand met his strong chest, then dragging down to his toned abdomen followed by his lower stomach.

y/n scooted back so she could get a full view of  his hardened cock. her index finger traced a straight line from the base of his member to the tip. it took a lot of self control for levi keep himself from shuddering as her nail softly grazed the side of his cock.

levi propped himself up with his elbows. to get a good look at what she was doing. he watched as her hand went back to the base of his shaft and her fingers wrapped around it. she started slowly pumping him, resulting in his breaths becoming deeper. he closed his eyes for a mere second when a new wave of pleasure swept across him that made his eyes roll back in his head.

y/n had lowered her face and began sucking on just the head of his cock while her hand's pace quickened. her cheeks hollowed out from the pressure of sucking his tip and he fisted one of his hands into her hair. he didn't push her head down, rather, he gripped it to stimulate pleasure for her as well as to let her know he was enjoying what she was doing.

she hummed against him and started to incorporate her tongue as she swirled it around his head, which sent yet another wave of pleasure throughout his body. when y/n added her free hand to the mix, using it to fondle his balls, the stimulation almost became too much for levi to stand. he used the fist in her hair to pull her off him and up to his face.

a small dribble of spit leaked out of the corner of her mouth. before y/n had a chance to wipe it, levi was pulling her forward and swiping his tongue against her mouth to lick it off, then planted open mouth kisses down her face and up her jawline until he reached her neck where began to suck her skin and create a few hickeys. she slowly leaned her head back to give him better access to her neck.

she said a silent thank you when she realized the marks were placed just low enough to be hidden by the collar of her white shirt so no one would know a thing the next day. everyone already freaked out enough when they found out y/n and levi were a couple.

without removing his lips from her neck, levi lifted y/n from her hips then moved one of his hands to feel the folds of her pussy. she was soaking wet, so all her had to do was cover his index and middle fingers with his slick before he slowly slid them both inside of her. a low moan came from y/n’s parted lips as levi’s fingers went deeper inside of her. 

he pumped them slowly, reaching deeper each time until he was knuckles deep into her core. when he curled his fingers to hit her g-spot, she had had enough.

“inside of me...i need you inside of me levi,” y/n moaned, digging her nails into his back. levi laughed to himself at how desperate his lover had become from just his fingers. it was clear to him that he needed to avoid any injuries that could put a halt to his sex life at all costs from now on. 

he pulled his wet fingers out of her and gripped his cock, making sure to cover it with her juices that were still on his fingers so it would be easier to push inside of her, then positioned himself with her entrance. y/n moaned once again as his tip rubbed against her folds before sliding into her. she sharply inhaled as his head entered her. levi gave her a moment to signal that she was ready before thrusting deeper inside of her. after a few weeks of abstinence, y/n needed a bit longer to get adjusted.

after about a minute, levi was able to thrust his hips up and push his full length inside of her as she dug her nails deeper into his back. he knew it was payback for him marking up her neck when she broke her hazy gaze to give him a smirk. just for that, he pulled himself almost completely out of her, then thrusted balls deep back into her, hard.

y/n’s hand flew off her partner’s back and onto her mouth to stifle the loud moan that almost escaped. she shot him a fake glare and he returned the smirk she had given him earlier. levi wanted nothing more than to hear her call out his name loudly, but it wasn’t worth the harassment he’d face from his colleagues the next day.

after she had composed herself, y/n removed her hand from her mouth and placed it on her partner’s bicep. he stopped thrusting into her, knowing she wanted to take over. just like he had thought, y/n started to rock her hips so she was grinding on him much like she had done whilst they were still clothed.

the pleasure was much more enjoyable now that he was inside her. each time she rolled her hips forward, his cock hit her cervix. now it was levi’s turn to stifle a moan, as y/n road him into ecstasy. his grip on her hips increased which most definitely left yet another mark on her skin.

the fact that y/n was biting her lower lip also didn’t go unnoticed by the captain. whenever she did this it was a sure fire way of telling him she was close to her release. he wrapped one arm around her back and in a swift motion flippped both of them over so that y/n was on her back and he was hovering over her.

she let out a small squeal at his sudden shift and wanted to scold him for not being careful with his leg, but her words were lost as he snapped his hips against hers. she once again went to cover her mouth to avoid her moans escaping, but levi’s hands interlocking with her own prevented her from doing so. he gave both her hands a quick squeeze before going back to thrusting himself into her. her eyes stayed trained on his, while his watched the way she engulfed his cock. it drove him so crazy she could feel him twitch inside of her. he high was near, but there was no way he was going to let himself finish before his partner.

he focused more on his thrusts, moving his hips better so he would hit her g-spot harder with each thrust. the way he rolled his hips to meet her core finally sent her over the edge. he kissed her deeply as she moaned against his lips while he continued to ride out her climax. even after she had come down from her high, levi kept thrusting into her, chasing his own release.

the overstimulation was enough to send her over the edge again, this time being joined by his own release. he let out a low grunt as he finished inside of her painting her inner walls with his cum.

levi pumped into y/n three more times before he stopped and fell onto her chest, not even bothering to pull out. after six weeks of no sex, their orgasms were both super intense.

“maybe we should wait another six weeks before our next round if it’s gonna be that good again,” y/n teased.

levi’s head shot up so he could see her face. y/n bust out laughing when he finally realized she was kidding. levi rolled his eyes and pushed himself off her so he could slide out of her.

the mix of their juices that escaped her as he unsheathed his cock from her made his member twitch back to life, becoming hard again.

“or i guess we could go again right now,” y/n added after sitting up herself and seeing his hard on.

levi smiled and pushed her back down gently then hovered over top of her once again.

“that’s more like it.”

[sugarakis-p2]

All Knights and day must die ch12

Mothman Shigaraki is the new king, so much on his shoulders and wings. Nothing better than to use Ur (Aka Ur Name x reader) to relieve his stress as he plots to destroy the Order of the Azure rose.

Shigaraki hasn't pulled out all the stops yet to charm his little mate, but he's not worried, he is just getting started. He wants Ur to see how good of a mate he is, look how nice is with gross little children, look how beloved he is by the masses, look how he hasn't ripped off Maude or Lyra's heads. He is going to take good care of you and one day you will know he is all you need. Fucking Maude and Lyra scheming again. F/M

@lovingbadguys @balanceisrelative @nut-in-me-jojo

Warning: Possessive Mothman Shigaraki gritting his teeth and spending fluffy family time. Violence, knotting, blood, magic, slightly public sex.

Chapter 11 < previous

Chapter 12:

Shigaraki’s sweet little mate has fainted after three days of pure carnal bliss.

He had promised to take her to see her family, but the aphrodisiac hadn’t worn off, and she kept wanting to keep going. Then she insisted on more, whispering dirty things in his ear, telling him her Nii-chan needs to breed her good. He gave in because it was a dream come true. He can’t hold back when his mate demands it.

After three days of waking, mating, eating, mating, aftercare, Ur was so worn out she fainted. You couldn’t even stay awake during the bath. He had cleaned you, bundled you like his cherished baby, carrying you to the nest where he watched you rest for a moment. He regarded your beautiful face and scars. He should have met with Master a while ago. He wants to do this himself, but he needs the Master’s power. He needs to make things better for his mate.

He does not like to think of Lyra’s accusations, but some might have had been valid. You had promised never to run if he saves your family. Would you still consider it 'saving' if Maude disappeared into dust and ash? The rage is boiling in him again, crawling under his skin making him itch. Their are too many voices in your ear. He looks in the piles for the potion he used to take to help him sleep.

You are under deeply, but he wants to be sure. He loves you too much to allow Master to touch you while awake. You groaned a little but swallowed the small dose. He kissed you as he lifted you and took you with him to see Master.

“Tomura, have you killed your mate?” Master asked.

“No. I have had some setbacks and ask for help,” Shigaraki mumbles. Master is touching you; he hates it, how he hates it so. It’s making him anxious enough to scratch his neck.

“Yes, Kurogiri has informed me. Your mate has been a real boon in cementing your status. I will help. Awww, what a pretty thing. First off, someone has used blood magic on her. Very subtle, good work. It must have been someone from the Order. It is probably the reason why you are having trouble conceiving. Here,” Master says, running a crystal across your belly. He hands it to Tomura, “Run this across the belly of another woman. The other woman you choose will not be able to conceive, but with how busy you have been with your mate, you two should have little grub on the way, soon."

Tomura Shigaraki is grateful. Taking the crystal, he already has a person in mind. He will keep his mate to him one way or another. Master did amazing work. He gave Ur a magic eye. It was prettier and can be seen out of. You really did have a shiny moon in the inky black sky in your eye. You had a little white star in the left corner below your moon iris. The eye granted you one random eye-related magic daily.

"Don't let her see out of it until she has had time to adjust. Keep that patch on for a few more days," Master instructs, drawing a symbol on the inner fabric of the eye patch.

Shigaraki doesn’t really care about it being magical. He didn’t care your eye didn’t look as pretty as before. You are still beautiful to him, but you cared. He wants you to be happy with him. Only he could do this for you. You stayed soundly asleep through the whole thing. You will never know you had met Master. Kurogiri sends you back to the nest.

“My sweet little mate. Mine,” he rasps, stroking your hair, removing it from your face gently with a single claw. You are already inevitably tied to him as he is to you. This news will be tempered with a child, and like all humans, you will continue to be his. When the time comes, you will be kept safe, far away from the harsh realities of the war to come.

Even though you are not awake, he coos and hums to you for comfort. He wants you to dream of him. Unable to escape his love even in your subconscious. He is excited to show you all the little things that will make you love him more than Maude. Love him so much that you won’t care if she disappears. He shoves on the gloves and clings to you. Since you have been in his nest, the nightmares are less frequent.

You wake up thirsty. Rolling from Shigaraki’s clutching grip, you crawl out of the nest, legs wobbly. You are halfway through the room when you hear a fearful roar ending in a whine.

“I’m here, just so thirsty,” you reassure him in a small exhausted voice. Shigaraki is brisk when he snatches you up, cradling you to him, carrying you like his baby as he takes you to fresh cool water. You are in his lap at the well as he holds the spout of the pitcher to your lips. Usually, you would find this treatment annoying, but today you don’t mind being treated like a legless pet.

You reach up and run your fingers through his sparse ruff. You promptly start to fret when you notice it’s a bleeding mess of scabs and open wounds. He purrs and nuzzles you as he takes you back to the nest where you find the salve for wounds and tenderly part his fur to heal his injuries. Hidden in his fur is a necklace. You want to look at it, but he touches your hand and flicks his antennae in the way that means not yet. His purring rumbles deeply as he gives you a suggestive side look, licking his lips.

“Are you not tired yet? I want to see my family today. I want to see how they are doing,” you say weakly. Why do you always feel you have to explain yourself? He gives you a wicked fanged grin and pulls you in for a kiss with his dry lips. Kissing you softly and sensually. His tongue dancing with yours as they entwine.

“Anything my mate wants,” he rumbles deeply. Surprising you and getting you wet between your legs. He’s never sexier than when he is doing as he promises. He pulls away, leaving you confused. Your brow wrinkles up. You want more, and he is suddenly taking it away. He chuckles at your expression, “But first, gifts.”

He lifts you to take you to another room.

“You’ve given me enough gifts,” you giggle at him. A part of you dreads what he thinks of as gifts. The other part is just giddy. He is not throwing you away because you ruined your face, “I’m so proud of you. You brought my family here for me and speak my language so well. You fought Starservant! You are too amazing. I adore you. I’ll never leave you.” You kiss him again; he freezes and stiffens against your kiss. Everything in him relaxes and growls, nipping at your lip.

“My mate. Mine. I’m proud. Wish I had seen females fight over me,” he grins, taking you to the room that was filled to the brim with gifts. He sets you down to explore your treasures. There are dresses and shoes. Slippers! You like the slippers; you should see if you can get the girls to make some. It’s the first time since not being carried that your feet are not freezing. Shigaraki is playing with the lace nightgown, getting ideas. You can tell Maude bought the clothes, perfume, and various other things. They are her taste, not yours.

You move to the stack of books. Maude didn’t buy this. Even though it is clear he had just bought boxes of them without looking at the titles, many are old textbooks with out-of-date known facts. one caught your eye. A blue dog-eared leather volume titled ‘The beasts we know: wondrous world.’ You yank it out, sending books tumbling over. In the cover of the inner binding is an inscription.

To my curious daughter:

I am with you always,

love mommy

It was yours. The book Abraham sold for your fare. It was the only thing your mother could give you. You clutched it to your chest, weeping like a child, when Shigaraki hovered, ready to decay what offended you. You look up at him, wrapping yourself around his waist.

“I know my sister bought most of this. She bought what she thought I needed, while you got me what I really wanted,” you groan, playing with his hair. It had gotten longer, and you like it too. He growls with satisfaction.

“We play later. Is time to see family,” he rasps. You look at him with suspicion, and he makes you regret it, “Why look? I want to make my mate happy. I like little human children.” It made you feel guilty you doubted him. You help him in his outfit, tying the straps and brushing up against his wings. He demands you wear something lacy despite how you explained to him that was only a thing for the nest. He pouted until you wore it over a simple dress. He shudders, delighted.

The mansion is huge. Standing outside, you can hear Adam and Maude fighting. Shigaraki knocks hard until one of the little ones opens the door. Although John is not so little anymore, the twelve-year-old gestures for you to come in. Shigaraki watches as you use strange hand motions to talk to John.

“They are fighting again. Adam is working in the crystal mines here. Says Maude needs to stop being a freeloader and provide. She doesn’t even watch over us,” John says with a strange lilt Shigaraki was having a hard time following. His words upset his mate, and he cannot have that. He snaps his fingers; it catches your attention.

“Tomorrow?” he asks. You shake your head, hooking your pinky in with his and guiding him further in. The fighting is still incomprehensible but louder and followed by breaking glass. He smells children, looking over to see them hiding behind a door. He barely recognizes them cleaned and in fresh clothes.

“It’s a family crisis. I need to intervene. Could you play with the kids?” you ask hesitatingly.

“Course come, little ones,” he beckons for them to come out of hiding. It wasn't until you said it was ok with your hands behind his back before they came out.

“Oldest to youngest. This is John, Mabel, Peter, Jan, and little Beth. John was in a cave-in at the mines. The concussion has left him hard of hearing,” You tell him, quickly leaving to keep Adam and Maude from killing each other.

He looks at the children and sighs when you are out of sight. The dead-eyed one is named Jan. He identifies her as the one he talked to so long ago. Jan has a tattered sock with wings she tries to hide from him.

“Want to play hunter and prey?” He asks them. It’s the kind of game he doesn’t need to talk or make a lot of physical contact with the children.

“What’s that?” The littlest one, Beth, asked.

You enter the kitchen, to Maude hurling another glass at Adam.

“Stupid whore! If it wasn’t for me, you would still be sucking Pa’s dick for protein!” Adam shouted.

“I don’t care! I work hard! I worked hard all my life, and I'm done. I'm still working! It’s called climbing the social ladder!”

“Fuck your ladder! Find a Mothman husband and get the fuck out! Useless cunt! You are nothing but a drunk skank that-” Adam was shouting when you wrapped your arms around his waist. He froze and looked down to see your face. You have never been the kind of family that hugs, so he was perplexed about how to react. You let him go.

“Please, stop fighting. We are the only family we have. If this is about money, I will see to it that you have more,” you say in a voice too small for you. Adam was the nicest of the three older brothers, but he was still a hard man.

“No. I will not be beholden to anyone, not even to you, little sister. How can I call myself a man if you keep me? I can make my own way,” he says gruffly.

“It’s about status. I will not spread my legs for anything less than the cream of the crop. But this fool wants to hand me over to Dabi! Dabi is not even from this hive, he has no status, and I will not go back to being treated like the queen of lowly whores,” Maude hisses.

“I’m sure Shigaraki and I can find you proper mate from the uppers,” you offer.

“Don’t bother with this one, baby sister. Maude is a fucking vampire. If you let her, she will drain all that is you and yours,” Adam says, turning to leave. Before he goes, Adam kisses two of his fingers and presses them to your forehead. Downright lovey-dovey for Adam.

You grab a broom and start sweeping up the glass while Maude makes a pot of tea. It was eerily silent while Maude pulled out her pipe and waited for the water to heat.

“Sparkle, sparkle, my precious gem. Come and tell your big sissy Maude all your woes,” she says.

“Sparkle, sparkle. I am fine, Maude. I just wanted to come and see how you and the children are doing,” you say. Taking the offered seat. Shigaraki burst in, agitated at the sight of Maude. He screeches to the children that Peter is now ‘it,’ and won’t be playing anymore. He is not about to let Maude have a private conversation with you.

"What did you mean climbing the social ladder?" you ask her.

"It's nothing. I'm learning and listening. That girl Toga is crazy, but I can handle crazy. She's been very useful. It's how I know Dabi would be a poor match for me," Maude says, pouring tea.

There was a lot of talk about shopping, farming, the school. He didn’t like it. The idea of humans getting smarter, but these will be his hive's humans, so he will literally live with it.

“Shigaraki tell her. It’s too ambitious. It’s too sudden for these rubes. Wait until everything settles down, Then start slow. Teach them how to wash their hands and die in battle more quietly,” Maude said. Shigaraki said nothing as he stared at Maude with seething hate.

“I can’t….Lyra might try to run or do something stupid if I wait too long. She is going to be a teacher there, I’m sure of it,” you start, whispering to Maude. Shigaraki growls, hissing about no secrets.

“All the more reason to shut it down. Humans already have too much change. Don’t be surprised if some ugly violence breaks out before becoming one big community. That member of the Order is trouble. The second someone hears that’s where she will be. It will get ugly,” Maude states. You have a sad little look in your eye but decided not to argue with Maude.

Shigaraki noticed. He decided that every time his mate is hurt by Maude, he will give it back to Maude tenfold. Then silence. All in all, it was better than meeting Dabi’s loud mates. The children were even quiet. Every now and then, they would walk in to hear what the conversation was about.

Jan asked a few questions, which he answered to the best of his ability. When it was time to leave, Shigaraki handed everyone a gold coin.

“Let me talk to Maude alone. It is my job to find her a mate,” Shigaraki said. You scrunch your face but go talk to the kids. They excitedly asked you about your fight, chattering all at once as they dragged you off.

“You’re not stupid enough to try to kill me in my own house, are you?” Maude asked. He is much faster than Maude could trace with her eyes. The violent yank of her hair forcing her head back is the only way she knew he was there. He loomed, threatening, so close to her exposed neck. His other hand wrapped his fingers around her throat.

He did enjoy the look of fear in Maude’s eyes. But he needs to make this quick.

“Lift your skirt,” he ordered breathily. His hot pants were so close to her lips. He had a dangerous hungry look in his crimson eyes. The fear in her eyes was replaced with a smug grin.

“Oh, that’s how it is. We have to make this quick unless you want my sister to see?” Maude teased, gathering up her skirts. He removed the hand on her throat, caressing her upper leg, and ran his claws over her hot front and abdomen. He grabs her dress and yanks it higher. Maude gasps.

Her gasp almost turns to a scream as her face twists in surprise, as something sharp cuts across her belly.

“Calm down. Scream, and I will go deeper,” he hissed. He is finally feeling the itch become tolerable. He wishes he could hear her scream and writhe in pain, “Such an ugly useless whore.”

He spits in her face and throws her to the floor on her belly. Any child she attempts to bring forth from her fouling of him will be turned into a Nomu or killed. Hopefully, her womb will shrivel up and fall out of her. Damn, he’s unexpectedly in a good mood.

“Damn fool. I know blood magic too. That won’t work while I’m pregnant. I will still have your little bastard,” She snarled after him. He shrugs and chuckles.

“Doesn’t matter as long as my mate can conceive. She will love me more,” he smirks.

“You really think that you can replace me in her heart. I’m all she has ever known. You’re a bigger buffoon than I thought,” Maude giggled. She giggled, but he saw fear and hate in her eyes.

“You were. Now she has me. We will see who wins. Your pussy and love are not as magical as you like to think. Now shut up. Don’t ruin my good mood,” He rasps. Walking away, leaving her to brood in her wrath. He wishes Ur wouldn’t be pissed if she saw what he just did because the words came out so smoothly.

“Come, little ones. Let’s spend the coin,” he says, gathering up the squealing girls. Beaming ear to ear. He called Kurogiri with your crystal. He called you creative for the crystal system, keening your praise. It made you feel special and plucked at your heart strings.

“But what about Maude?” you ask, worried about the thud you heard.

"She is drunk and unruly. Let's take the grubs until she is sober," he snarled. You know he does not like Maude. When he was with Maude, John said that Maude and Adam had horrid fights about Shigaraki’s death. About your life with him. His movements become too frantic to read. They are worried the adults will leave them behind. You stopped looking at his hands and calmed him.

“I know things have been very hard, but things are different now. We are family, and we stick together. We no longer must claw our way to the top of the pile of bodies. I promise you, no matter what, I will be here for you,” You tell them. Now Shigaraki came in here and was sweeping them all off their feet. Your heart beats a little harder against your chest at that sight.

Shigaraki guides you to hell, the shadowy man following along as the kids are excited. You watch him around the kids, and he seems to be doing well. In fact, he has that look in his eyes of pure joy. You arrive at the pit, he tells you it is the fighting arena. He seats you and the kids to watch the action.

“I fight tonight. A few Elites have challenged me for my mate,” he says, brushing your cheek gently. You whimper at his touch, worried for him, “No. No, tears now. I will win. I am the strongest.”

Loud chittering mixed in the air with the heavy taste of copper. The stench of bile mingled with Moth musk. You felt disgusted at becoming aroused by it. You close your eyes and breath it in deeply. You don’t like violence. Reminds you too much of the bad times, but this smells like Shigaraki when he wakes you up in the middle of the night to hump you to exhaustion.

You feel a hand and jerk out of some of your roughest but more pleasant memories. You look to see Lyra’s grim face. You are about to ask her what she’s doing here. When she sits next to you with Dabi.

“We are here because Shigaraki’s regular doctor is away. Also, if he dies, Dabi wants to challenge the winner, which means he gets to choose to have you as a mate,” Lyra said. You give her an intense look, then dart your eyes to the kids. Lyra looked but gave you a confused expression. Smack her with the back of your hand as she mouths what. Mabel and Jan give you a worried look.

"Don't worry. Shigaraki is the best fighter," you tell them.

“I already got you a gift Ur. I lured bakers and cooks here for you. Several are here,” Dabi said with a smirk.

“Let’s get the children some treats,” Lyra offers. The kids squeal ‘yes.’ But Shigaraki is starting. Everyone is cheering in rapture, surprising how popular he is since he hates everyone. But he seemed to love the attention. Lyra touches you and shouts, “Let him see you, then let’s slip away. We should talk!”

Oh gods, you have enough on your shoulders. Every conversation with Lyra that starts with ‘we should talk’ is always an argument about running away. You are not leaving, not your family, not your Shigaraki. You know now that challenges can be fought for you by others, but in a society where the weak don’t have rights, Shigaraki won’t let a challenge go. He waves to you and the kids. You have never seen them happy. But here they are smiling and animated over the carnage.

You can’t handle it, though. As much as you love seeing the kids smile, you can't handle what they are smiling about. The thought of Dabi being your mate or watching Shiggy rip someone apart. With Nomu and Lyra, you go to get the kids treats.

“A lot more humans now,” Lyra starts.

“Lyra, I’m in a mood. I don’t think Dabi would be a nice mate and,” you snit.

“He won’t be. Cruel. I believe that is what Shigaraki has in common with him. He will burn you for every mistake,” Lyra says matter of factly.

“I don’t want to run. My family is here, Lyra,” you say sternly. She stops and eyes you up and down.

“Unquestionably. After everything you did for them, I don’t see why you would. I will not try to talk you into that anymore. I think you are right. I would miss you if I left without you. I was considering that school your making,” Lyra said with her face turning bright red. She trailed off but you didn't need to hear the rest.

You scream and hug her. She’s a ridged little thing in your arms. Lyra pats you, mumbling about breathing. You let her go, feeling a little lighter. Shigaraki will win; you will have your best friend and family by your side. You drag her to the baked goods. Everyone steps aside, you want to wait in line instead of going to the fight, but the people are giving you looks that are making you antsy.

“That doesn’t mean I don’t want something in return. The new humans will tell you that they are going to war. I want you to convince Shigaraki not to. With all the new blood and humans here, I’m sure you can convince him to open trade and negotiations with the Orders. They stay out of his territory, he stays out of theirs, open trade, everyone is happy,” Lyra reasons.

You still don’t believe Shigaraki wants to go to war, but you have never really asked, have you? Lyra has changed her tune slightly, making a little more sense. The truth is you don’t care. You have you and yours. Maude always taught you that is what really matters. But your family is bigger now. You have larger responsibilities. So far, you have been following Maude’s shadow.

Adam said Maude doesn’t know everything. You are starting to feel maybe it’s time to grow past your Master. Maude is otherworldly, but that world was small compared to what you have seen. You really want to keep Lyra. She keeps you grounded. She is skillful and smart. You can’t help it, you are so damn happy too. You will ask him about it, but the reality is if he wants to go to war with the Order, it will really depend on which one before you try to talk him out of it. War is inevitable since the Mothpeople did take a whole village from them.

“You will make the best teacher. Dabi and Shigaraki have become so good at articulation. I was hoping you can teach me their speech. Oh gods, Lyra. You can become the first human, Moth person teacher that teaches both sexes and species. You have to go down in the record books for that!” you shout. She turns a deep scarlet.

“I…..How has…..I …are you pregnant?” she asks. You are surprised, instantly suspicious of her, narrowing your eyes, “I told you to come to me if you needed more.” She brusquely said. The crowd seems to be pressing in too much, and it was annoying you.

“Oh, my gods Lyra. Look at you! Able to read expressions," you tease her.

“Only because you pointed it out. I need you; I will always need you,” she cried. Now you are stiff and confused. Lyra has never cried. NEVER. At least not without Dabi’s dick in her ass. Someone screamed Order cunt,  you reacted. Pulling her into and away from the danger. The Nomu knocked a human into the wall. It occurred to you these people were not looking at you strange, but Lyra. She wears her Orders robes often; it has never crossed your mind until now that she is hated outside of her personality.

“I love you, Lyra. Be my best friend forever. I need you more. You should wear something else from now on,” you said, hugging her. I felt amazing. No one ever touched or talked to each other in your family, and now you are starved for it. Lyra has tears running down and looks at the crumpled man, but you guide her back to your seats.

Beth is sleeping in Kurogiri's shadowy arms. Kids are so excited by the fights and sweets that they jump around with manic eyes. Lyra sits next to Kurogiri and whispers. She forces you to sit next to Dabi, who is focused on the fight. You have to admit, begrudgingly, that your Mothman was slaying. The audience stands and applauds every nasty thing he does; he had them in the palm of his dangerous hand. You are shamefully getting wet again. Is it because he has aggressively screwed you after every fight in the cave? Then you stiffen, realizing something for the first time.

“Does he do this all the time? Like when I am asleep?” you ask, regretting how much of a fool you sound. Dabi smiles, lighting up his lotus cigarette. You recognize the smell, and it reminds you of your village.

“Too often, princess. Do you like my gift? The kids love it. If he dies, I will be a good mate,” he says, licking his lips, inhaling the blue lotus deeply. You grab the cigarette and inhale deeply too. Oh, this stuff is great for easing nerves. It tickles your chest and creates a lightheaded sensation.

“Sure. No doubt, but in the meantime, you are my brother. Firmly planted in the friend zone,” you say, handing the lotus back.

“Am I your Nii-chan?” He asks with a slight grin.

“Is that what it means?” you gasp, “That is so dirty…..I’m going to use it more!” you exclaim. Laughing while taking another hit. The blue lotus makes you feel light. Dabi chuckles. Your mate is slaughtering people. To distract yourself, you talk to Dabi, who is eager to respond with his spilt attention.

“Thank you for the baker’s Dabi,” you say, blushing. You feel too heated with everything. It’s almost overwhelming. He side glances and smirks.

“And cooks. That was me, too,” he says. Taking the cigarette and tasting you on it.

“Stop giving me that look. You’re not that cute,” you say, rolling your eyes.

“Which means I am,” he retorts.

“Shut up!” you laugh.

“You and Shigaraki are alike. You’re just sweeter,” Dabi states.

“You would know,” you taunt. Nipples pebbling around the metal in your nipples, your thighs uncomfortably wet.

“Fuck, if Kurogiri wasn’t here, I would bend you and Lyra over this ledge,” he teases.

“That is extra dirty for a Nii-chan,” you say, giggling. You’re feeling silly as you watch your younger brothers and sisters cheer for your mate. Gobbling treats they have never tasted before in pure happy delight. Except for Beth, who was asleep, and you're thankful for that. She is too young for this sort of sick entertainment. But Shigaraki is trying.

Shigaraki currently ripped an elite’s arms off and was beating him to death with them before turning him to dust. He was gushing blood in several spots, claw marks streaking his body. The crowd is roaring his victory as Shigaraki basks in their praise. You cheer with the others; his red eyes catch yours, and he is grinning in pleasure. Everyone gathers their things to go see him in the healing nook.

He’s in such a good mood he doesn’t even Threaten Lyra’s life while she heals him. The little nook is just off the main promenade. It was made for healing the fighter that lived. The children are all chattering at once at him, bouncing off the walls. You were worried he would lose his patience, but he nodded, kissed his two fingers, and pressed it to their foreheads as Adam does.

He whispers something to Lyra; she turns bright red, waving her hand. He looks flushed and satisfied. He hands the kids another coin and sends everyone out but you. Lyra touches you, and you feel warm all over.

“He asked, and I know you would appreciate this since he does what he wants anyway,” she says, walking away with Dabi.

“Wait, will they be safe?” you ask as your brothers and sister run off with Kurogiri. Your head feels light, a gentle tingling at the back making you giggle.

“They will be fine. Have Kurogiri and Nomu. You have me here. Come here,” Shigaraki orders with a sly smile, pointing with a claw next to him. Old habits die hard with him. You look over his injuries with a frown of concern, and his smile widens. His hand is groping your ass. You laugh at his tickling touches., “What like about you. So kind and tender. Need you now.”

He breathes, pushing you against the wall. His mouth is demanding, claws wheedling their way under your clothes. You feel drunk, his feelers brushing over you as you kiss him back.

“Let’s go back to the nest,” you tell him. He shakes his head, pressing you harder against the wall, hiking your skirt up to enter your hot core. Nipping at your neck as his fingers find your clit, making you squirm and gasp.

“Wet for me now. Mate now,” he moans. Opening his pants, letting his perfect cock spring free. You cover him with your dress, feeling him twitch at your touch.

“In front of everyone?” you ask as he lifts you higher.

“Not in front of everyone. No care if see. Let them if they come in. Let’s make tiny Ur. Want a tiny Ur. You want to hide cock, hide it in you,” He rasps. He rubs his hard cock through your slick folds, your lower lips caressing him perfectly, kissing his cock tip.

Pushing the head of his bejeweled dick in you. The look in his fiery eyes makes you wet, his pale skin flushed. He aggressively forces himself past your drooling entrance. Groaning, he shoves himself cruelly past your resisting walls, working himself in, stretching you wide. It stings, but you take as much of him as you can. Wanting to scream, he pushes your mouth to his collarbone, fingers tangled in your hair.

Cooing encouragement and praise of how good you are at taking him. With unrestrained lust, he cages you to him, trying to make you one with him. His length is stirring every nerve in your warm wet walls. The friction of your heated skin makes his scent of warm citrus and pure masculine musk you want to drown in. He thrusts hard to fully sheathe himself in your warmth. Teasing his feral impulses that are already burning with desire for you.

He bucks his hips up into you, nipping at the tender, smooth flesh of your neck, moving to his eternal love bite. Proud that you are his, you whine about how it burns. He’s too big in his ear. He bottoms out, and his head pushes against your cervix with every wild hump. Trusting his strong arms to keep from dropping you. Tears trickle down your cheeks. He wants to lick at them. He gets away with kissing them.

It’s a pretty sight that makes him go wild, his sharp teeth clicking, resisting from biting you on his mark again. His plush wet fur rubbing over your clit sending little tingles of pleasure through you. You roughly grip the softest fur of his ruff and seal your lips over his chapped lips. The rough texture threatens to make you bleed. You don’t care as Shigaraki hums and bucks up his hips against yours wildly. Making you bounce up and down on his cock, a sting of pain at each bump of your cervix. Every breathy groan escaping from you plays at instincts.

“Mine. I will kill all others. Take knot first, cum on knot,” he rumbles deep and low. You are growing hotter and wetter. Shoving you down deeper, the base of his cock expanding and stretching you to your limits. He stops as your pussy grips him like a vice, preventing him from thrusting. Screaming into his flesh, cumming so hard your cunt milks him. Laughing in pure bliss. He has such a sweet mate that has taken his knot, letting him lightly tug. Your sweet little noises are driving him wild.

“Good mate. You like me. You take knot,” he coos, but you can’t hear him as you feel exhausted. Still pulsating and spasming, he thrusts into you, chasing his own orgasm. Your limp body bounces in rhythm with him as you clutch to him. Inhaling his sweet scent deeply. Even in your state, you are panting in unison. He slows, grinds, rotating his hips up until you moan in pleasure. His large cock glided over your slick walls perfectly.

“Ah, Shiggy,” you whimper weakly. He grinds the metal against your cervix painfully. You feel so sensitive you jerk and whine with each tug. Clinging to him as he pounds himself violently into your tightness. Your teeth and nails are digging into him. His blood is invading your senses, making you dizzy. He can feel you tightening and getting wetter around him.

“Mine,” he growls. He needs to inflate your cunt with his seed. Gripping at him with each pull. You clench, keeping me inside you, not wanting to let him go. You can feel he is already so close again. Thrusting and grinding against your g-spot with his thick cock, you feel so close again.

You moan, burying your face in his soft ruff. You feel a wave of pleasure wash over you as you both come undone at the same time. His teeth chatter as you pull pleasure from deep within him, draining him completely. Growling and hissing over the flapping buzz of his wings. He holds you close as he sits on the bench with you straddling him.

Grabbing swathes of cloth to clean you up with. He knows enough to know it is bad to drip cum on children while tucking them to bed. He is going to test to see if you are pregnant later. He had a few doubts needle at him, but he has seen how good you are with your little siblings, you will be a good mommy. Now he leans into his nature. Your tits will be full of milk, he will help you with that when his little grubs are not feeding. He will do anything to keep his sweet little mate.

You will start telling your childless friends, such as Lyra, that you can’t visit today since you must watch the babies. You won’t need advice from the whore woman. You will need your good mate. The one that has romanced and blood bound you to him for life, fucked you silly, and provides for your every need. He will be a better father than his ever was.

He looks at the blue nail of his hand. The spell has gotten a little darker. It is time he takes care of the family. He really doesn’t mind the children. Adam is resourceful, he doesn’t seem to like Maude, and takes care of the youngsters so he can live. Maude is is biggest obstacle. You can’t run while you are knotted to him, so he asks.

“Where is the letter? The one Maude sent,” he asks casually. Stroking your hair and kissing you. You are so drowsy, drunk on cock when he asks. All your walls are down.

“I don’t know where it is. Adam never gave it to me. Don’t worry; he will keep it safe. Adam is a good, loyal, reliable big brother,” you say. Eyes too heavy as he curses under his breath. He is raging in his mind. He doesn’t think you are lying. He could get rid of Maude, but without Adam you will insist you raise the little siblings since Maude is useless. It will ruin his plans. His good mood is dampened. But he will not let it hurt what he has already worked on.

He cleans you up and carries you around until he finds the little ones. His new favorite, Jan, has a new doll that looks exactly like him. They had chatted themselves out to the point they were little zombies with hoarse voices. He has Kurogiri send them home. Tucking them to bed with hugs and humming, except for John, who told him he was too big for that. With Jan, he had to pry her little arms off him.

A scream rips through the house. His mate is distraught. He is quick, ready to kill the threat. But you are weeping too hard, and he doesn’t sense a threat. You are pointing out to a pillar of smoke. Something was burning. Maude comes in smelling of alcohol, the hem of her dress muddy. She is quicker than Shigaraki, falling to her knees and holding his mate in a tight embrace, rocking her like an infant. It was his mistake; he wasn’t quick with human emotions and missed his opportunity.

“I told you humans are fickle base creatures. It will be ok. It will be, my precious gem. We will build something more useful in its place. Like a phoenix,” Maude cooed in her baby talk. It was hard for him to follow, but he knew manipulation when he heard it. He tried to grip and pull you away from Maude only to have his sweet mate rise and flare at him like a viper. He had become very attuned to murderous intent but was taken aback by where it was coming from.

“Don’t touch my sister. Don’t ever touch Maude, not ever!” You shouted at him, pushing him away. He let you out of surprise and amusement.

From the moment he had chosen his mate, you have always been sweet and dutiful. This new side of you made his heart flutter and his own rage flare. But Maude was there.

“No, no, precious gem, he just wanted to comfort you himself. Never have an outburst at your husband,” Maude chided. Oh, how he hated Maude. You swiftly looked apologetic. He wanted that, but not like this and not because of her.

“Mind own business,” he hissed viciously at Maude when he pulled you to him. You stood there limply in his arms, unresponsive. He would have preferred you hitting him than this. He didn’t smell blood, but maybe you are unhappy because of something physical. Maybe your eye is bothering you. He didn’t want you to know about your eye until later when he could savor your affection. He checks you over like a mother hen.

“Fine. Not my place to help your marriage. She’s upset because the school is burned down,” Maude said. Maude had a strange look in her eyes, a slight smile tugging at the corners. What was this bitch so happy about? He looks out to the pillar of smoke. Nodding, he gathers you up and calls for Kurogiri to take you back to the nest.

“It’s all my fault. I said Lyra would be a teacher in front of everyone, and they burned it down,” you wailed in the nest. He nudged at you, and you accepted his comfort. Thrusting your fingers in his hair and fur, stroking over him like a large pet cat. He rumbles purrs, knowing you enjoy this strange dynamic.

“I will build you another. A better one,” he rasped.

“No, you don’t understand. Not enough time,” you mumbled.

"Then make me understand,” he hissed. His red eyes are hard. You shake your head and kiss him. Shigaraki would never allow you to do anything that would keep Lyra here. To suggest Lyra might run would be a betrayal of your friendship, so you sulked. He quickly tries to ease your suffering in other ways.

Dabi flopped down with his mates that put out.

“Lyra, go feed my brother. I will be busy the rest of the night,” Dabi said. Diving in deeper to the giggling girls. Lyra sighs and goes to feed Shoto. Lyra wanted to tell you she did not find a nursery but a young man. Lyra was caught snooping. But instead of burning her like normal, he gave her the job of taking care of Shoto.

Lyra thought she would be able to get information from him. But it turned out he was more in the dark than she was. Originally, she thought it was because he was stupid, but it turns out he’s not slow; he is like her. Unable to read people well, and that left him at a disadvantage. Lyra plotted with the boy whose goal seemed to align with hers.

“Were you able to convince Shigaraki’s mate?” he asked politely. Lyra shakes her head.

“Ur is a sweet thing with her family tied up in this, her help will only extend so far. Plan B is in effect. She will get pregnant; I have encouraged it, and she wants it. When she is pregnant, the Order of the Light will have a real bargaining chip,” Lyra says.

“You have such little faith in the Order. Didn’t you say that Shigaraki is not the brightest candle?” he asks.

“He’s not that intelligent. Either is Ur, but that does not mean they are not dangerous. Shigaraki is highly adaptable. He rarely makes the same mistake twice, and it's not without calculation when he does. I have been here for years, and in a short time Ur has the masses licking her feet. She seems to know how to make people adore her. She reads them like a book and seems to always get them what they need. She tamed Shigaraki, for fuck's sake. That sister of hers trained her really well. Don’t think even Ur knows it. But if she decided to go to war, everyone would gladly throw themselves on the sword. Even me," Lyra states biting her lip in worry.

“You’re joking. They are not that special, are they?” He scrunched his face in brief doubt.

“They are dangerous. Extremely dangerous. It will be deadly if they decide to work together,” Lyra starts to cry, and Shoto stiffens in confusion.

“Are you ok?” he asks lightly. Lyra is not ok and never will be. She is worried what she is doing is worse than Maude, and Ur might never forgive her.

“No,” Lyra said flatly.

Chapter 13

[delimeful]

Snapshot: Cleanse

snapshots: a new compilation of mini-fics taking place in the WIBAR universe! this one takes place a few days after Making Adjustments!

warnings: none! Whoops, All Fluff!

-

It was a few days after the Breakfast Ceasefire that Virgil decided enough was enough.

He needed a shower. Badly.

It didn’t matter that he was on an alien ship full of alien stuff, or that showering meant temporarily ditching the comfort of his hoodie, or even that two out of three aliens would probably happily see him dead at any opportunity.

He had picked up what felt like an entire football field’s worth of dirt, mud, and other muck while him and Patton were planet-hopping, and impromptu washcloth (read: a patch torn from the back of his shirt) cleaning sessions had only done so much. They only came across clean water every so often, anyhow. Most of it couldn’t be wasted on washing.

Patton had picked up on his discomfort back then— that or the smell— but the Ampen’s idea of ‘cleaning up’ was very similar to that of chinchillas’ back home on Earth: dust baths. That’s right. More dirt.

(Yes, he’d rolled around in the dirt with his friend. Contrary to popular interstellar belief, he wasn’t a monster.)

Still, it was time to come clean. Literally and metaphorically.

Patton had spent last night cuddled up to him, which meant that he had actually gotten a full eight hours of sleep (good!) and that Roman was probably sulking around (ungood!). The sense of clarity that came with not being quite so horrendously sleep deprived only made him more aware of how dirty he was. It felt like heresy to even touch any of the numerous well-sanitized surfaces in the ship.

“Patton,” he called, once the Ampen had started doing those little antennae twitches that meant he was half-awake. “Can you show me the wash room?”

The response was a little delayed, but eventually Patton startled into full wakefulness with a little chirp-peep that reminded him of a computer startup noise.

From there, he was led down the circular halls to a square room that sort of resembled a locker room shower area, complete with drainage grates in the floor. There was a ledge along one side of the room that led up to a windowbox-like protrusion, and Virgil could see from here that it was full of soft, beige dirt.

Patton paused, visibly turning his head from Virgil to the washbox, as though measuring things out in his mind.

“That’s probably too small for you, huh?”

Virgil stopped him before he could start making plans for a human-sized sandbox. “Uh, actually, Pat, I need water to wash.”

“Oh!” Patton exclaimed, more surprised than disconcerted. “Well, water we doing over here then?”

Virgil couldn’t hide a smile, and Patton crinkle-smiled back at him before waving him over to the opposite end of the room. He pointed up, where there were little circular discs with a grid of tiny holes set into the wall. “Here you go! Roman uses these to help with his slough, or when he gets particularly rough and tumble down on planetside!”

… Great. Odds were borrowing his shower was probably going to make Roman even more homicidal towards him. Virgil decided to worry about that later. For now, he was faced with the biggest challenge of them all: figuring out how a friend’s shower knobs worked.

Surprisingly, it seemed like the panel set into the wall below each disc worked similarly to the other touchscreens he’d seen set into the control room of the ship. Unsurprisingly, they were all labeled with the written form of Common, which meant he had about zero chance of figuring it out on his own.

Patton noticed his blank stare and patted at his knee, and Virgil squatted down easily so the undersized alien could clamber onto his shoulder. He rose up, and Patton’s little claws scrambled for purchase for a moment before he caught his balance, Virgil tense with preparation to twist and catch him if he fell.

“This little icon has the symbol for on, and this is how you get it hot or cold,” he chirped, leaning forwards to point at the screen for emphasis. Virgil obligingly shifted closer, trying to commit the guidance to memory. “You’re a little squisher than Roman, so you should probably change the pressure, too.”

Once he’d shuffled around so he was sure neither of them were about to get slammed by a jet of water, he tapped the power button.

A three-note chime played as a sort of countdown, and water shot out of the disc, at what was probably the appropriate pressure to powerwash muck from under tightly-packed scales. Virgil pushed the slider down until he could put his hand under without feeling any sting from the water’s impact. Then, he cranked the temperature up until it was just short of scalding.

Patton eyed the steam curling up into the air with a concerned fluff to his feathers, but didn’t protest after seeing the small, delighted grin that Virgil made as he held his hand under.

No, this wasn’t dunking his head in cold streams, or dipping his arm in a lukewarm puddle, or the humiliating icy hose downs in captivity. This was warm water. He’d never take it for granted again.

He shrugged out of his hoodie as he walked over to the entrance. “Does this… lock?”

“Any door on the ship can be sealed,” Patton replied, and bonked his head to Virgil’s sympathetically at the shudder that information sent through him. “Nobody’s going to lock anything without your permission, though, okay?”

“Yeah,” Virgil said, knowing he sounded less than convinced. “Can you guard the door, still? Just in case,” he added in English, one of the phrases he’d used a lot while they were on the run.

Patton gave him a sad look, more than aware how unsafe he still felt, but nodded firmly and dropped carefully down to the floor, taking up position just outside the door like a tiny sentry. Virgil draped his hoodie over him, and then-- checking that the others weren’t nearby to witness and freak out about it-- he gave him the world’s smallest noogie, ruffling the feathers atop his head with a knuckle.

Having preemptively twitched his antennae out of the way, Patton made one of those bird-like laughs at him, batting his hand away. “Go clean! And make sure you wash out for slippery floors!”

Virgil snorted, and carefully sealed the door behind him, trying not to think about the feeling of being stuck in a tiny square room again. He shook his head, dragging his thoughts back on track.

He had access to a warm shower, his first in literal months (...years?). He was going to stay under that spout until every bit of dirt washed down the drain.

---

Roman was midway through a session of storywriting when he heard Patton’s bright voice coming down the hall, passing by his room and chattering all the while.

His ears flicked back automatically to check in, and he frowned when he realized that he couldn’t hear Logan’s arms clicking alongside the Ampen. No, apart from Patton’s tiny tapping footsteps, there was nothing. Patton had to be talking to the Human, then, since he was the only one who ghosted around the ship silently enough to make Roman feel stalked at every corner.

Well. He’d grown tired of watching his characters make a rather vexing detour from his carefully-plotted main storyline anyhow, and he was loath to leave his smallest friend alone with a Human, regardless of how docile that Human pretended to be.

After a brief cleanup of his writing instruments, he was sweeping down the corridor to the commons after them.

Logan was already in the room when he arrived, which was surprising; even Roman had picked up on the ludicrous lengths the Human went to avoid the Ulgorian, as though Logan of all people was someone to be scared of. The nerd’s poison blood was the most “threatening” thing about him, and the Human had already shown how easily he could shake that off.

Patton was leading the Human by one hand, their size disparity as jarring and terrifying as ever. And the Human…

Roman turned his head to the side to study the scene more intently, and that in itself was strange.

Normally, Virgil was almost preternaturally aware of when he was being watched, according to Logan. It was obvious when he knew: the Human went tense and rigid, practically poised to pounce at any moment.

But now, he was trailing after Patton with a relaxed slope to his shoulders, his steps almost languid. He all but collapsed on the fluffy cushion Patton gestured to, eyes gliding shut as the Ampen climbed up after him.

Roman took a few steps into the room, and the Human cracked one eye open-- not entirely out of it, then. The mild suspicion he was regarded with was almost reassuring.

Upon closer inspection, there were physical changes, too. The human had gone from pale, almost grey-toned to having a pinkish tint to his skin. The grey-brown still clung to the hooded garment he’d draped himself in, creating an even more jarring contrast. Dirt, then? It would certainly explain the smudges he left everywhere he touched much better than some strange Human Residue.

… He wasn’t crossing Human Residue off the list of possibilities, though.

Most striking of all was his head. He had originally stalked around with a matted mess of fur, glinting oily in the light where it wasn’t dull with dirt. Now, the fur was clean and stuck out in little fluffy tufts, creating a much less menacing look overall.

Patton apparently agreed, because he’d scampered up to one shoulder and immediately buried his tiny hands into that fluff. Roman and Logan both startled, exchanging an alarmed-exasperated-fearful look, one that had become exceedingly more common after Patton came home with his new Human cellmate.

Surprisingly, all Virgil did was go even more boneless on the cushion, turning his head to better meet Patton’s touch. Patton closed his eyes happily, apparently completely fine with petting one of the most feared creatures in the galaxy.

That wasn’t surprising at all, actually.

What was surprising was the Human’s apparent tolerance for it.

“I wasn’t aware Humans enjoyed tactile ministrations,” Logan said, tapping his wristplates curiously. “Is Virgil alright?”

The Human in question turned slightly to glance at them, eyes still half-lidded. It was probably the least threatening body language Roman had seen from him since… well, ever. “Mm?”

“You’re just relaxing, aren’t you kiddo?” Patton combed through that mess of fluff some more and Virgil lost what little tension he’d regained. “Virgil spent a lot of time on guard while we were on the run planetside. He deserves all the time in the world to recuperate… and all the head scritches!”

Roman’s tail swished exasperatedly, but even he really couldn’t come up with a reason to begrudge the Human for this, not when Patton was so clearly enjoying having someone else onboard to preen. Even if that someone was a Deathworlder.

He moved to settle onto his own cushion under the guise of supervising, though for once he thought the Human might actually fall asleep in front of him.

And if he was perhaps just slightly curious about what exactly a fluffy Human felt like? Well, that was nobody’s business but his own.