#Hex Bit Set w

[weezyweasleys-fg]

Rowdy | Fred Weasley

summary: Set Callaghan. A Slytherin senior of yours at Hogwarts Uni who wouldn't leave you alone. He thinks the quickest way to a girl's heart, is by belittling her into liking him back. Your classmate and long time friend, Fred Weasley, takes notice of this and it clearly doesn't sit right with him.

cw (it's a mess I'm sorry): 1st person pov, set callaghan is a character I made solely for the purpose of this story, fred and reader shenanigans, reader is in another house other than gryffindor, violence (fred decided to become a wwe wrestler), swearing, tension between fred and reader, fluff ending, contains hurtful language, half-blood reader, set callaghan highkey being obsessed, creepy, and an asshole, fred being delicious.

w/c: 16.4k (i just couldn't stop writing, apparently.)

a/n: this piece bit me in the ass so hard, but it's finally done 😭 I hope you guys enjoy reading it! I'm also planning on doing a george one soon!

"If it isn't little miss bookworm. Still scribbling away in that little book of yours, are you? Would do you some good to look up for once and give me a bit of attention." A voice the equivalent of nails on a chalkboard sauntered up to me. The tone and the way he spoke gave away that smug grin he always wore as his eyes roamed over my notes.

I sighed.

"Here we go again." I mentally noted, then tried to desperately drown out his voice with the surrounding chatter that echoed throughout the walls of the Great Hall, but it seemed impossible to do so.

I felt the students around me beginning to shoot us looks. Looks that made me feel especially uncomfortable.

I always knew my next few years at Hogwarts would be somewhat eventful, but I never anticipated just how much trouble one particular person could cause me. That person being none other than Set Callaghan. A Slytherin senior with a twisted perception of courtship.

His pathetic excuse to flirt with me (if you'd even call it that) in an attempt to try and gain my affections began all throughout my third year in university. I'm a fourth year now and nothing has changed. It may have only been a year, but it's still one year too plenty.

My closest confidants, Hermione and Ginny, had sympathized with me. Offering to hex the miserable dungbrain on my behalf, but I told them he wasn't worth getting into trouble for.

They compensated for the lack of action by offering an open ear to my ranting after school, which I'm very thankful for. And without them, I probably would've gone completely insane by now.

I drew in a deep breath, shutting my eyes in an attempt to compose myself. "Piss off, Callaghan." I spat, my voice obviously irritated and uninterested.

Instead of taking the memo and leaving, he sees this as an extra push to torment me even more. He threw one of his legs over the bench and sat down, straddling the seat as he's facing me.

"Now, now, darling, there's no need get so aggressive. I was just trying to brighten up your dull morning." He said, placing his elbow on the table and proceeded to lean a little closer to me, trying to invade my personal space. His voice dripped with a condescending, almost patronizing edge, as if he were speaking to a child. He always loved using the nickname 'darling' just to get under my skin.

I huffed, my eyes finally looking up from my book but not to look at him.

"My morning was perfectly fine until you decided to bring you and your sorry self over here." That earned a few giggles and snickers from the students around me who found our bickering amusing. The Slytherin cast a sharp glare in the direction of the source of the irritating noise, effectively silencing them.

Set decided that he was done for now, thinking he'd gotten through to me. That sod doesn't know I've been aware of his intentions since it was made public to me by one of his "best mates". I'd rather stick my head in a Hungarian Horntail's mouth than go out with him.

He extended a hand, gently curling a strand of my hair around his fingers before letting it slide back down to join the rest of my hair.

"I'm not giving up, y/n." He whispered, almost sounding like a threat. His unruly brown locks fell across his forehead, casting a shadow over his features. After tapping his palm against the table once, he rose to his feet and walked away, leaving me feeling a whole different level of irritation.

Too caught up in the heat of the moment, I didn't notice Fred who was observing the whole encounter from the Gryffindor's table this whole time. His one eyebrow cocked up in amusement when he saw how much Set was getting a kick out of taunting me the way he did. His mocking smirk sufficing the urge to burst out laughing at how that daft Slytherin thought he had done something, but he knew better than to humiliate the poor thing even more, although he really wanted to.

I sighed, closing my notes and took a hold of my cup to take a sip of water. The chilled sensation runs down my throat, seemingly doing the job at cooling off my head and putting out the flames that Set had provoked in me earlier.

"He really is a bit out of sorts, isn't he?" Hermione whispers into my ear, her eyebrows knitted together in her own little moment of dumbfoundedness. She offered to sit with me at my house table for breakfast this morning to help me with a few notes I had missed, and thank Merlin she did.

"Don't mind him. I'm never giving in to his sad antics if he thinks that'll ever get me to swoon over him." I said, giving her shoulder a gentle push with my own earning a small chuckle from her.

"Should've smacked him upside the head while I had the chance." Ginny pipes up from beside Hermione. I let out a laugh, gazing at her with a softer look in my eyes. A completely different contrast to how they looked when Set was here.

"You could've, Gin, but I don't think Hogwarts is ready for that side of you yet." I joked before Ginny shot me a face in which I returned one back, causing the three of us to laugh.

I think everyone and their nan knew of Ginny's strong and independent character that she grew beautifully into in her fifth year. Her older brothers boast of her incredible Quidditch skills when she filled in for Harry, and frankly, I agree.

Hermione? Well, we all know she's a force to be reckoned with, so I'll save her the pleasantries. Everyone already knows what she's capable of.

"Hello, ladies. Mind if I scoot in?" A familiar voice pipes in from behind me. I looked back and saw Fred's tall stature towering over us, wearing that playful smile that never seemed to stray from his face. His eyes swept over to his younger sister, Hermione, and then finally, me.

"Well? You gonna let a handsome lad stand here all day or are you gonna have him sit with you?" He asked. His gaze flicking over from my eyes to the vacant seat next to me.

"Good Merlin, not beside me. I've had about enough of your sales talk yesterday." Ginny groaned and scooted closer to Hermione, cementing her claim of not wanting her brother next to her.

Fred snorted, waving his sister off. "Nobody wants to sit beside your stinky butt anyway, Ginnikins. Only a mental person would do something like that."

Hermione, who was in fact sat beside Ginny, heard Fred's jest and shot him a glare. In return, he flashed her another cheeky smile.

I sighed, a small smile crossing my lips. I looked up at Fred, feeling in the mood to go along with his little quip. "Of course not- how rude of me. Wouldn't want those handsome legs to get tired now, don't we, Fred?" I said, expressing pretend courtesy and patted the spot beside me.

"A sound mind, a sound mind. See? (nickname) loves me better than you do, sis." Fred voices to Ginny. The youngest Weasley stuck her tongue out slightly at her brother before turning back to her notes in front of her.

Feeling content with their daily dose of sibling banter, Fred swung one of his long legs over the wooden bench, followed by the other and sat down. He propped his arms on the table and clasped his hands together, leaning forward in a relaxed yet engaged manner. His face turns towards me, his eyes holding that combination of mischief and awe I knew all too well.

Basking in the ambience of both Fred and Ginny, it brings back many memories since the day I was first invited to their home at The Burrow.

I'm really thankful for the Weasley's. They offered me their home when I occasionally couldn't return to mine.

I was born from a Muggle mother and a Pure-Blood father, so I think you can guess how I've been treated my first few years here.

Hermione, being born from Muggle parents, understood what it was like and sympathized with me. Even offering me her tireless friendship, to which I'm terribly grateful for.

And through her, I met Ginny. The 'seemingly timid but actually such a joy to be with' kind of girl. I've confided in her about many a thing, even my most embarrassing of problems.

And through Ginny, I met... the twins.

Fred and George Weasley.

The infamous pair whose personalities are as fiery and passionate as the color of their hair.

Oh, I can't even begin to describe the absolute menace they've been since we've become acquainted. They've tested my patience in a way no one else has.

But then again, it was them who've brought the taste of rule breaking into my almost always routine life. That it was okay to bend the flow of how I've been doing things, and to embrace what it meant to have fun. And of course, those had their own repercussions, but that's for another day.

Despite their flamboyant dynamic, and the fact that the whole school knows of their troublesome antics- they're decent men. Really!

And speaking of twins..

"Where's George?" I asked in a low murmur, leaning my body a bit closer to Fred while my eyebrows were knitted together in wonder at where the other tall ginger was.

Fred pursed his lips, tilting his own frame closer to mine in response. "Dad had him called to The Burrow for something. Don't know why he needed just one of us when we're practically the same people."

I chuckled and turned my face slightly towards him. This made the one corner of his mouth twitch up just a little bit higher. "Maybe your dad just needed the one who's a little more sane in the brain."

Fred gasped, putting a hand over his chest where his heart would be and inclined his torso back as if he were shot by the bullets of my seemingly painful jest.

"You wound me, woman!" He replied, his tone theatrical. "I am in fact, the most able minded person in this whole school. Save for you and that Callaghan bloke."

The moment that name slipped past his lips, I felt my own eyes darken. I hated hearing that godforsaken name, and seeing that godforsaken excuse of a man. Oh, how I wished Unforgivables could be used legally nowadays.

Fred noticed my sudden shift in demeanor and took that as his cue to stop the banter. His smile dropped into a faint grin as he gently nudges my shoulder with his.

"He bothering you? That Callaghan." He asked. His eyes never straying from mine despite me looking down at the table.

I sighed and gave a nod. "Thought you would've noticed by now." I replied to him, glancing sideways to meet his view.

"I was never really around when it happens to you. A pain in the ass, he seems. Miserable thing." Fred murmured.

Despite his seemingly nonchalant response, he failed to hide the slight whitening of his knuckles from clenching his hands too hard. A habit of his I've grown to notice when he'd grow a bit irritable. But I suppose all is normal when it comes to feeling that way for a friend who's getting picked on...

· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·

The day was finally coming to a close, with me almost having learned something from my classes.

Almost.

It's like everything I've gotten down just the hours before seem to completely vanish from my head the moment I see Set. He's a walking fight or flight for me.

I've never really thought about if my school life had always been this shitty, or my week just had a bad start- but Set Callaghan was practically outside of all my classes' classrooms. He even tried playig it off as him 'coincidentally' happening upon me as I exited the rooms.

But you know who else was in almost all of my classes this week, though?

Fred Weasley.

These past few days, each encounter he's had with Callaghan since knowing what he'd been doing to me grew more and more brutal by the next. Insults I never even knew existed come flying out of his mouth the moment his eyes land on the Slytherin.

If it's a fight or flight, it's always going to be fight for Fred.

I've always known Fred to be the more reckless twin compared to George, who was a little more tame in terms of tomfoolery around the school. While I did mingle with both the twins, the reason above was also the cause on why I hung out with George a little more than his brother when we first met.

I was simply afraid of standing out.

I mean, Fred used to scare me, but in a good way. A way that intrigued me enough to want to get closer to him.

So I guess all those years of companionship did bloom into fruition eventually. While I still undoubtedly hung with George, Ginny, and the twins alike- me and Fred's relationship definitely improved as well.

We're close enough now to be sharing a straw or a cup when we haven't enough money for drinks.

Being the last to exit my History of Magic classroom and leaving Fred inside who told me to go ahead, the golden glow of the setting sun that casted on the castle's frame greeted my eyes. Almost cleansing my mind of all the worries that plagued me the hours before.

Hogwarts at any point and time of day was truly breathtaking. I don't think I'll ever get tired of the views it's been offering me all these years.

I decided to wait for Fred, since walking back to our house dormitories together had become our usual routine, with him dropping me off at my dorm first.

I found a spot on the stone framing of the hallway and settled down, patiently waiting for him to appear. I placed my books on my lap, resting my hands on either side of my thighs and began to gently swing my legs back and forth.

As I waited, I observed the hustle and bustle of campus life unfolding around me. Students moved through the corridors, chatting with friends or walking alone. Professors darted about, hurrying to their destinations, and the sounds of conversation blended with the natural soundscape. Oh, and there's Callaghan coming in this way, too.

Wait- Callaghan?

I indeed did not see wrong despite my deteriorating eyesight. There he was, walking up to me with his hands in his pockets. That same, arrogant air about him.

I took in a deep breath through my nose, closing my eyes and cursed silently in the process. I know he sees how physically and mentally done I am with him, but the fucker doesn't know when to give it up.

I don't look at him. Instead, my eyes stay glued to the History of Magic's classroom door, praying that Fred just come out already.

"There you are. What are you doing here? Waiting for your little knight in shining armor, are you? How cute." Callaghan said with a smirk, his tone conceited.

He leaned against the wall. His gaze fixed on me, trying to exude a sense of superiority. His words laced with sarcasm, clearly mocking my wait for Fred. He had his arms crossed, standing in a relaxed yet confrontational pose, waiting for my reaction.

I wasn't gonna give him the satisfaction.

"Don't you have anything better to do other than stand there and act like a proper ass, Callaghan? Do something useful with yourself for once." I said. My voice laced with equally as much annoyance as his own tone carried fragile superiority.

He scoffs and pushed himself off the wall, walking to stand a bit closer to me.

"I prefer this better than any of my pastimes, and I like a woman with a sharp tongue. Don't think that's enough to drive me away, love." He replied. Reaching a hand out to take hold of my wrist. "Now come. Why don't I walk you back to your dorm?" His tone was soft. Eerie in a sense that made my stomach churn.

A small groan escaped my mouth as I attempted to free my hand from his grasp. I quickly moved my panicked thoughts aside and stayed put despite his tugging, my eyes now locked onto his face, glaring daggers.

"Let go." I say through gritted teeth. The students going about their way now either stopped to watch or had their heads turned before continuing on. The attention was on us again. On me.

"Come on, it's just a small walk. You need your little red head to come and carry you home? What do you see in that rake anyway?" Alright. Now that struck a nerve.

I can tolerate a lot of things, even the nastiest of insults about me and my being as a whole. I'm used to it. But my closest friends and family are topics I would never brush off. He was a dead man to me this very moment.

"You-!"

Before I even got the chance to finish, a loud and all familiar voice boomed from inside the History of Magic's classroom.

"Come off it, Callaghan, you miserable sod! Why don't you choose someone your own size should you find someone!" Fred exclaims from the other side of the door, causing the passing students to jump.

"You're lucky Hogwarts was kind enough to accept house elves to participate in classes. You should be damn bloody grateful!" My face flashes a look of being caught off guard at Fred's brutal combination of names. I glanced at Callaghan who's expression was far from happy.

"Thought my hearing was goin' a bit wonky and heard an Imp out here wailing about. S'just you, mate." Fred mused loudly, closing the door behind him and walked straight over to me- yanking Set's hand off my wrist and pulled me away from him.

Fred wraps an arm around my shoulder and drew me snugly by his side. My eyes subtly widened the same time I felt my heartbeat beginning to pick up. Even more so now that I've seen the small crowd of students gathered around us.

How odd. We've shared straws and drinks before, so how is this any different? My stomach that had been churning in pure disgust earlier now felt tingly.

"Shove off, Weasley, I'm talking to her, not you. Hasn't mummy taught you to stay out of other people's business?" Set spat, his annoyance at the taller man evident.

I gulped, looking up at Fred and expected to see him fuming.

But no. The man was smiling. On the brink of laughter.

"Ah, more than yours did, I'm sure." He shrugged. "And I've known her for too long, mate. What's her business is mine, now. Except for the lady stuff, of course. You interested in lady stuff too?" Fred teased, leaning closer to Set's face. His tone nauseatingly condescending as his own stature easily towered over Callaghan's.

The Slytherin grimaces, clicking his tongue and turned to his side, ready to leave.

"You really enjoy pushing my buttons, don't you? But I guess you'd have nothing else to do, being so poor and all." He says, giving Fred a once over with an evident look of disgust painted on his face.

Not sure if I even had high blood pressure, but I sure as hell felt it rising.

My hands itched to chuck my books straight at that bastard's nose.

Fred's jaw clenched momentarily, his irritation flaring at the thought of Set bringing up his family's financial status- all the more ridiculing it. Nonetheless, he kept his composure. But I just knew he'd lunge at Set right then and there if he was given the chance.

I felt Fred squeeze my shoulder gently while his arm stayed wrapped around me, telling me not to do anything brash- which was quite unusual for him since normally, he'd take the initiative and pull something right about now.

Set scoffs cockily, taking Fred's silence as his victory. "You think you're so damn clever, Weasley. Just you and your ass wait." Set commented one last time before turning around and walking off, shoving the students that didn't move out of his way.

"Bastard." Fred mumbled under his breath before storming off, leaving me standing alone amidst the dispersing crowd of students.

I never saw Fred at dinner that evening.

· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·

Two days had passed since that encounter with Set outside the History of Magic's classroom. Two days since I last heard a word from him. Two days of peace I wish had lasted longer.

Following that came the long awaited Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Slytherin. A constant bloodbath, if you ask me.

Hermione and Ginny also joined the spectators, supporting their house team from their respective stands. Unfortunately, the separation meant that we weren't able to enjoy the game together as I had hoped.

Screams and jeers faded then cut into my train of thought. The same way that awkward air settled in between Fred and I after Callaghan's uncalled comment about his family's finances.

I eventually found Fred despite his reluctance to see me and tried my best at comforting him, then we never brought up that topic or talked about it ever again. It was forgotten. As if it never happened.

All the hard hours of practices, joint matches, and unaccounted injuries through the heat and rain I've seen Fred power through that led up to this day wasn't enough to calm the anxiety gnawing at the pits of my stomach.

Was he mentally fit to play right now? What if I didn't talk to him well enough that night? And there's another thing, but I can't seem to put my finger on it. I didn't like the feeling.

My eyes danced around the Quidditch pitch, taking everything in. The electrifying atmosphere so scarily contagious that it got my heartbeat pounding harder and harder with each passing second.

Despite my anxiousness, a mix of excitement and anticipation still brewed within me knowing I get to see Fred play again. A pity I couldn't see George in on the action too, though.

Lee Jordan announces the beginning of the match through the Magical Megaphone, followed by a moment of silence before the whistle finally blew.

Immediate mayhem took over the moment the high pitched ring echoed throughout the large space. Blurs of red and gold, and green and silver began shooting across the field- occupying my line of sight.

As if by muscle memory, I immediately began searching for that head of ginger hair amidst the chaos. The almost god-like speed of the players made it practically impossible for me to make out anyone's features, which says a lot because of all the other Chasers, Seekers, Keepers, and Beaters present on the field, Fred had tresses that stood out the most.

Bludgers that moved almost maniacally were flying about, causing members of both teams to get pushed and shoved in and out of the air with the occasional curse words and taunting thrown around to each other. Quite fascinating to hear what sports and adrenaline could have the human mind come up with in terms of vocabulary.

Within the first ten minutes since the game began, points were earned, and points were lost, yet I still haven't seen Fred anywhere. Not in the sky, and certainly not on the ground.

It was actually pathetic how obvious it was that I hadn't been focusing on the match entirely in my attempts to find the Weasley boy.

Unease dawned on me as the reason I was so anxious before the match was now fixated on my form while he hovered on his broom before me from across the stands. Wooden club in hand with a conniving look not even his goggles could hide.

Set Callaghan was a Beater for Slytherin.

His face was strewn with blood and dirt as he threw caution to the wind, not paying any mind to the fact that a rogue Bludger could come and knock him off his broom at any moment. Though personally, I wouldn't mind that happening.

"God, Fred, where are you?" I mumbled to myself. Worry now replacing what little excitement I had left.

Ignoring the Slytherin Beater's laser-like stares, I went closer to the barricade. Placing both my hands on the railing and leaned over just enough to see below as the wind brushes my hair over my face.

Nothing.

I was almost fully convinced that Fred had gotten himself injured and was taken away, or he sat out the match in light of what happened just the days before.

And I hoped to Merlin it was the latter.

He's had injuries and a couple broken bones before but always played it off for sport. It wouldn't really be anything new for Fred if he did end up that way, but I think broken bones are the least of my worries right now.

While I was beginning to wallow in the pool of my own doubts, a mass of red and gold shot up into the sky with speed quick enough to send any poor soul into a whiplash before slowly descending to hover close to me by the stands.

Howls and cheers of support erupted even louder behind me, helping me realize who it was.

"Why so blue? Missing me already?" Fred teases me with a smile on his face. His tone carrying the usual air of playfulness as if he hadn't been worrying me just seconds before.

He looked a mess. Again, nothing new. His hair had become disheveled from the wind and rain that blessed the field during the game. Clothes dirty and in disarray, his face marked with dirt and blood from gashes that were now beginning to scab over.

It was actually maddening to me seeing the way his eyes still held the same unchanging glint even in times of inconvenience. It was one of the things I greatly admired about him. Something I still couldn't get a grasp of for myself.

"You knew I was looking for you?" I yelled at him from where I was standing. An ecstatic smile painted on my lips.

I wanted nothing more than to call him an idiot for making me worry, but the relief his presence gave me right this moment was much bigger than my need for nagging.

His eyes locked onto mine with the same intensity a Chaser would have as they hunted the Snitch.

Unwavering.

Intense.

It may or may not have always been this way, but something had changed about the way he looked at me. Almost like a hidden secret under those coquettish brown orbs waiting to be discovered. Something I couldn't quite put my finger on, but perhaps we hadn't ogled at each other long enough for me to notice before.

"You're hard to miss, you silly goose!" He exclaimed. His cheeks stretched with masked endearment as he smiled at me.

My cheeks grew warm, thinking if he saw me looking for him the whole duration of the game. "I couldn't see you! But that's not important. Callaghan's on the field, so be careful." I warned him and he follows with a scoff.

"Where d'ya think these scars came from? The git was tailing me from under the stands and tried ramming me into the planks! And besides, I'll go easier on him since I respect women!" He exclaims and flashed a toothy grin. His hands casually adjusting the grip on his broomstick.

But before I could get another word in, a yell of warning from Fred's teammate slices through the barrier between us and the progressing game behind him, putting an end to our little chat. Though realistically, now was not the best time to be having a conversation anyway.

"Oi, Weasley! Behind you!"

And as quick as he swooped in to mock me of my missing him, he reacted quickly. Snapping his head around and swung at the Bludger that was headed straight for him- countering the attack that could've easily sent him flying off of his broom.

His gaze flicked over to me one last time, breathing heavily before flying off without another word.

But now I'd seen him. Talked to him. I had my sights set and could finally watch the game without much worry. If Callaghan doesn't try anything else, that is.

In all my years of watching the twins play Quidditch, I never noticed how ruthless Fred was on the field. Not as aggressive compared to how George played, but ruthless nonetheless. Hitting Bludgers harder and harder with every opportunity presented to him, each time showing calculated intensity which sent Slytherin's players spiralling off their brooms and earning the Gryffindor team more points. He's definitely more of a skill and force kind of guy.

By force, I mean he can be a little too dedicated to the essence of Quidditch at times. That one instance where he and George retaliated using "physical" resolutions when they got a call-in from Madam Hooch for a foul... yeah. Definitely entertaining to watch from the stands, but I wouldn't want to be in the shoes of that poor guy who flagged the twins down for elbowing him.

Fred sped around the arena, practically slicing through the air with his wooden club in hand. He was in his element. Battered up, sure, but this was his standard for being in pristine condition for a good game. Means you're doing it right, he told me.

"What's Quidditch without a few broken bones?" Fred's voice echoed in my head. I recalled him telling me that when the twins first introduced me to the game. Ginny and Hermione did the rest of the explaining after. I used to think it was absolutely barbaric, and I kind of still do to be honest.

But just as Fred was about to catch up to the opposing teams' Beater, Callaghan tallies in right beside him. Not colliding, just merely brushing shoulders. But this is Set I'm looking at. He wouldn't settle for mere shoulder brushing.

A couple of seconds later, Fred noticeably outbalances from his broom earning gasps from me and the whole pitch as Lee Jordan emphasizes on the situation through his commentary.

He quickly grabs onto the body of the broom in an attempt to stabilize himself, but Callaghan doesn't seem to let down just yet.

He was pulling maneuvers to take Fred's broom straight from under him.

Fred managed to avert himself away from Callaghan's nasty schemes, but ended up losing control and began spiralling down onto the sandy field- landing with an audible thud earning choruses of "ooh's" And "ouches" from the students around me.

"Shit!" I yelled, wasting no time and pushed through the compact groups of people to quickly descend the platform where I watched from.

I ran out onto the soaking field where both Gryffindor and Slytherin's players alike stood on opposite sides of each other to get a grasp on what had happened. A heated debate began to ensue between Oliver Wood and Marcus Flint on whose to blame for the Gryffindor Beater's sudden fall from grace with Madam Hooch stood in between as the referee.

Fred's eyes widened momentarily as he takes in the sight of me rushing towards him with concern etched on my face.

"Fred!" I exclaimed. Carrying my now wet shoes through the mud and wet grass, pushing past the members of Slytherin's team before falling to my knees beside Fred who was sat up on the sand. His broom only a couple meters away from him.

It definitely took him a while to regain his composure after that mishap. Beneath his layers of clothing laid skin that was bruised and battered from the hard landing. The sand beneath him was damp and uncomfortable, sticking to his skin and clothes. The wet grains dug into my flesh as I scampered to get closer to him.

"Are you okay?" I asked, my hands frozen and hovering in front of me not knowing what to do. My eyes scanning his face and body for anything bad or possibly broken.

Usually, most people would have immediately complied and pointed out the area where they were hurt. But this was Fred Weasley. The man never takes anything seriously.

"Hey, hey, relax. There's just one of me, I'm not going anywhere." He managed to chuckle in between ragged breaths. His eyes glimmered with amusement at my frantic state as he studied me. Even smiling pained the scars on his cheeks, but it was impossible for him not to do so in this moment.

"Well, he deserved it!" Callaghan's scream thundered from behind us. The arena's whispers getting louder and louder at the unknown circumstances happening below the stands.

I rolled my eyes, returning my gaze back to the injured Weasley in front of me after coolly glancing at Set who was stood over my shoulder. Thankfully, his attention was on Madam Hooch who was giving him an earful.

Fred, observing the situation around him, attempted to laugh at the predicament Set got himself into, only to be plunged into a coughing fit before wincing from the pain jolting through his torso.

"Damn. A real wrench, this one." He groaned, rubbing his ribcage gently with a slight frown on his dirtied lips.

It took a couple of seconds, but Fred's facial expression turned from one of pain, to one of aggravation. "Scrawny git!" He exclaimed out of the blue, tilting his body to get a better view of the Slytherin behind me. "That the best you could do, eh?! Your nan could do better than that-!"

I quickly cut him off by slapping my hand over his mouth as more muffled profanities sputtered out from behind it. Thankfully, they weren't understandable anymore.

I scoffed. "You're unbelievable. I don't think you'd like detention on top of your injuries, yeah?" He shook his head, his eyes glued to mine.

"Where does it hurt?" I asked.

He paused for a moment after I cautiously lowered my hand from his mouth. An idea visibly flashes in his mind, making his eyebrows twitch up quickly. Barely noticeable if I didn't look hard enough.

He tugged at the pant sleeve of his Quidditch bottoms until it rode up just enough to point at a spot on his upper thigh.

"Here, miss. Oh, Merlin..." He feigned being in pain, letting out a melodramatic groan. I carefully examined the area in question, searching for any signs of injury, but there was nothing amiss. Catching on to his antics, I rolled my eyes and shook my head, recognizing his dramatic behavior for what it was.

A smirk curled at the corners of my lips as I decided to amuse myself by playing along with his act. I knew he wasn't truly injured, but it was entertaining to see how far he would go with his performance.

"Goodness. It does look really painful." I cooed, placing my hand over said injury. His skin grew hotter under my cool palm.

"Yeah.. they might have to chop it. Poor little ol' me. Legless. In my prime." He muttered, mocking his younger brother Ron the one time his own leg got given to him by a Whomping Willow.

"Oh, come off it, you ginger clot! If George were here, I'd have him take care of you instead." I retorted, smacking the area where his supposed painful affliction was, drawing a pained chuckle out of him.

The jests slowly faded, eventually dying down. Both of us silent and unmoving, just looking into each other's eyes with our breaths meshing together as we tried to catch ourselves. The loud and chaotic atmosphere seemed to disappear until all I could see was him and him alone. I could practically feel my heart lodging itself into my throat.

Fred glanced behind me for a moment, breaking the almost intimate moment between us. His expression seemingly annoyed before leaning in closer to me.

"Bugger's coming this way and I have an idea. Do you trust me?" He mumbled, his breath tickling the apple of my cheek.

"What?" I whispered as I looked at him puzzled. My eyebrows knitted together to express my confusion, but I nodded nonetheless.

"You can give me a proper lecturing with my Beater later."

I'm not sure what he meant or what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn't the part that happened next. It made me really think about whether if this was a new beginning, or a continuation of a foundation we had built all those years ago.

With a sudden, almost involuntary gesture, he wrapped an arm around the back of my neck, pulling us closer together. He leaned in, the soft curve of his mouth hovering just above my own. His lips parted as a slight twitch lifted the corners of his mouth, and I drew in a sharp breath as the space between us evaporated- replaced by the softness and warmth of his mouth covering mine.

The kiss was like a blanket. A heady mix of warm earth and something strangely metallic, enveloping my senses entirely.

For a moment, Fred didn't know what to do. He was frozen, almost taken aback by the kiss himself. I could say the same for my part too.

But I knew Callaghan was watching from behind. With this being my chance to finally get him off my back, I had to play it well.

I wrapped my hand over Fred's wrist after gathering the courage to move our lips together. For a brief moment, it seemed like he was taken aback by my sudden show of initiative. But almost as quickly, his surprise melted away. He soon relaxed and matched my rhythm, reciprocating the intensity of the kiss.

It felt almost effortlessly perfect, the way our mouths pieced together. The kiss was unexpectedly tender. Could be because of Fred's vulnerable condition, but it was a stark contrast to the usual feverish intensity he was always known for. 

I stole a glance at Fred, only to find him doing the same. I noticed the way his gaze darted over my shoulder, and the suppressed chuckle that escaped his lips against mine. There was a hint of reluctance in the way he held onto me, not quite willing to break the kiss just yet. And I couldn't deny the same desire stirring within me- to hold onto this moment and prolong the newfound intimacy for just a little bit longer.

Suddenly, reality came crashing back in and I remembered the setting and our unexpected audience. Quickly pushing Fred away by his chest and standing up, I turned to face Callaghan whose scowl made it clear he was not pleased with the scene he had witnessed. Our gaze locked in a silent stand-off. 

Then I stole a quick glance at Fred, who was awkwardly attempting to stand, before turning away, feeling utterly mortified. With a heavy heart and flushed cheeks, I walked off, leaving behind the tense scene and the complicated emotions swirling through the air.

Not long after, Fred appears at my side. Struggling to walk, but kept up with my pace.

"Callaghan, I want you in my office. Weasley! Get to Madam Pomfrey this instant or I shall drag you there myself!" Madam Hooch's voice echoed behind us. Fred yells back a quick response before averting his attention back to me.

"You should've seen their bloody faces when we kissed-" he cackled, only to pause when he noticed my less than lively expression.

Fred ran his hand along the length of his arm with a foxy grin plastered on his face. He usually did that when he was in the mood to pull a nerve of mine.

"Hey, I was trying my bestest to be gentle with you and all, but you went ahead and pulled whatever that was. But I mean, I can't blame you if you're totally in love with me-"

"Nip it, Fred." I mumbled, slapping the same arm he had been rubbing. A loud smack reverberated around us from the impact.

"Yeowch! So cruel..." He said in pretend pity, immediately admitting defeat and went to soothe the area.

Shouldn't forget how he and George were the ones who showed me how fighting worked back in our earlier days as students. That slapping technique was also taught by the older twin himself. Wonder how he felt about it being used against him.

But luckily, Fred's disposition was much lighter now than how it was earlier. I don't know if I should be relieved or worried, though.

"Weren't you complaining about your hurting earlier? You seem quite the jolly chap now." I commented as we turned in to the dressing rooms- taking refuge in between the cubbies filled with other players belongings. I could never get used to the smell.

Fred stood in front of me, his back hunched a bit as he balanced his weight on one foot. The blood on his cheek had dried, and so did the mud. His tresses looked like an earthquake went through them and left him with a tousled mess you call hair.

"Your kiss probably did all the healing work so I wouldn't have to go see Madam Pomfrey anymore. Don't want to be apart from me that badly, hmm?" He ribbed casually, causing my cheeks to heat up.

I turned my body away and crossed my arms before he could see the effect he so easily placed on me. He was so unconsciously charming it made me want to sock him in the face. It was irritating at the best of times.

"Don't be ridiculous." I said, returning my body back to face him. "Well I best get you to the Hospital Wing now, don't I? Wouldn't want our beloved Weasley to wither away." I mocked him, causing his already visible grin to grow wider. He always considered it a job well done for himself when I snapped back with my own witty remarks.

I walked a slight ways out of the cubbies and looked back to see if he was following behind me. Instead, he was just stood there looking at me. Hand on his hip and all, like he was expecting me to do something.

"What? You want to make out again?" I joked.

"You're a cheeky one, l/n." He said, his voice slightly strained with a faint smile playing on his lips. "Can't keep your hands off me now, can you?"

I let out a deep sigh and rolled my eyes before striding over and linked my arm with his. He reciprocated by tightening his grasp, drawing me even closer.

The physical closeness was familiar, but the sensation that grew within me, spreading from deep within my gut to the very tips of my fingers, felt strange and utterly unfamiliar. It was something I couldn't quite put my finger on just yet.

"They really might chop it, though." He whispered into my ear as we staggered off to Madam Pomfrey.

His arm didn't see the end of the techniques he'd taught me on the way there, that's for sure.

· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·

Fred got sent into detention.

Am I surprised? No.

Was it something related to Callaghan again? Yes.

Even after the scolding handed to him by Madam Hooch, Set didn't listen. But then again, does he ever?

The week after the games, Fred was finally in high spirits again. All healed up and ready to take on the school with all the antics he had up his sleeves. Even more so now that George was finally back from The Burrow.

The moment he was sent away by Madam Pomfrey, the first person he wanted to prank was none other than my creepy and vexing "admirer" himself.

He knew he had a job to entertain Hogwarts' fellow students, but one, and one thing only was on his mind.

Set Callaghan.

It all started when I was at the Astronomy Tower getting my stargazing in for my classes. That son of a banshee thought it was funny to corner me and yank a piece of my hair, pummel me with his pathetic insults, and end it with a nauseatingly flirty comment.

Little did I know that Fred had been behind one of the pillars- peeking at us and waiting for the perfect moment to set off a few Filibuster Fireworks he and George had gotten their hands on a few days before to prank one of our professors. He thought this would be enough to send Callaghan away for good.

As the firework burst into a familiar and infamous twinkle, it flickered and died out far too quickly, leaving behind a fleeting glow.

Just as Fred began to wonder about the sudden malfunction, a shadow loomed over behind him. He remained crouched. Still, and unmoving. He looked up and over his shoulder, seeing Professor Umbridge with her infuriating smile- looking down at him with her wand she used to put the firework out.

"As I have made abundantly clear, Mr. Weasley, I am an exceptionally tolerant woman. I believe you are well aware of the consequences for misbehaving at this time of night." She says, her voice remaining unwaveringly calm and deceptively sweet, though there is an undercurrent of menace to her words anybody would catch on to. She leans closer, her gaze fixed on him.

"Detention. In my office."

Defiant yet complied anyway, Fred slowly got up on his feet and was ready to follow Umbridge into her office to serve his time.

That was, until one of the fireworks actually sets off, whistling and swirled speedily into Set Callaghan's rear with a loud crack, not really giving the Slytherin any time to react.

Word going around from Madam Pomfrey said his left buttock was never the same again.

Now me, George, Ginny, and Harry- who so graciously lent us his Invisibility Cloak- tagged along for our impromptu late night rescue mission.

"Right. So you wear this, get in there, and snag 'im." George repeats the plan again as I draped the cloak over my shoulders, leaving me with a head that looked as if it were floating.

"Why do I have to do this again?" I asked, shooting uneasy glances at the trio before me.

"Well, better you than George. I say they'd be in there longer if he tried to bust Fred out." Ginny commented, earning a nod of agreement from Harry before leaning in to whisper to me. "Also, with what happened out in the field a week ago, mum couldn't be happier for you and Fred. Said he finally got his act together and would love to have you over again for Christmas."

Uh, okay. Definitely not something I'd like to linger on right when I'm about to face danger head on in just a few seconds. Got his act together? What did Molly even mean? Someone must've told her about our kiss.

"She should be asleep now. Go." Harry said, to which I inclined my head one more time before fully engulfing myself in the heavy fabric.

"Save me poor Gred, miss!" George whispered in a low voice from behind me. "He's innocent!"

After giving him a nervous thumbs up, I slowly opened the heavy wooden door. With light steps, I walked inside only to be met with the view of Fred's back facing me as he was sat on a table- writing something down quietly.

I remained cautious. Glancing over to see the woman clad in pink fast asleep with her teacup dangling just by her index finger.

Slowly, now.

Slowly..

Sloooowly...

And before I knew it, I was finally beside Fred's table where he was jotting multiple things down on a piece of parchment- a certain authoritarian sounding phrase most likely instructed by Umbridge for him to write over and over. Poor thing.

Without wasting a second more, I skillfully threw the excess fabric over Fred without causing much noise. I grabbed his arm and pulled him out of his seat, so we were now chest-to-chest and facing each other. His posture ducked down slightly to accommodate my height.

He was surprised, that much was for certain. But it didn't take him long enough to recognize that it was me under the cloak with with him.

"Oh, hello, you." He purred. That smirk of his evident in the way he sounded. "Have you come to finally rescue me, or are you that eager for another kiss?"

If his teasing weren't enough- his breath fanning over my lips just made this all the more worse for me. It's actually humiliating how quickly I'd lose my composure over his wit nowadays.

"Stop messing about, Fred." I whispered, checking on Umbridge again. "We're here to break you out... Callaghan deserved what he got."

Fred lets out a quiet chuckle. "I may have been a bad influence on you. But you're sure you don't want another kiss?" He asked.

"If only you knew about the things the girls around here would do for a chance with me, and here you are rejecting such a generous offer. How ungrateful." He declared, putting on his little act to rouse a reaction from me again. I responded with a quick and lighthearted scoff.

"Are you seriously pouting over this, Weasley?"

"A bit."

"But Callaghan's not here. There's no reason for us to."

"Doesn't matter if he's here or not. Atleast he knows I kiss you better than he ever will. Not that he'd ever get a chance to anyways."

Suddenly... the air felt a bit heavier. Almost suffocating like it was weighing down on my shoulders. My heart rate began picking up, drumming against my ears.

I felt something envelop one of my hands. My fingers intertwining with another set of cool digits. Funnily enough, only Fred and I's hands turned cold when we were nervous. And everyone knows he's the kind of guy that rarely gets nervous or hesitates in whatever he does.

I stuttered. My tone wavering despite my best efforts. "Well.. your plan didn't really work out though, did it? Your kiss. He's still after me like a damn dog."

Fred snorted. "Callaghan probably thought I hit my head too hard after that fall and went mental. Or it was some kind of freak accident where we both just magically ended up snogging in the middle of the field."

"You know, a few people definitely think we're going out now because of you. More or less sleeping together with how we looked out there." I admitted awkwardly, unconsciously playing with his fingers.

He returned the gesture back by caressing my own, moving along with my touches. The odd feeling in my stomach before wasn't so subtle anymore. It was eating away at the thoughts I'd been trying to brush off these past few weeks.

"Definitely could make that happen. Although your kiss was passable at best, I for one have never gotten a bad review." He said and I playfully slapped his arm in retaliation.

I knew, but never used to care about the other women he'd kissed before. Now, it felt... wrong. That his lips had touched others that weren't my own.

Did he kiss them with the same care? Did he look at them the way he did to me when we pulled away?

It was those thoughts that kept me up and ate away at my crumbling resolve.

The tension was building at a painfully unavoidable rate. A rate where I'm able to savour the suspense a bit better compared to the hasty stunt we pulled in the middle of the Quidditch field that one rainy afternoon.

Our bodies were so close I could hear Fred's own heartbeat beating even louder over mine. But surely it was just the adrenaline of having the woman equivalent of a demon snoring away just a couple meters away from us.

I bit my lip, hesitating a bit before tugging at his hand gently.

"Make it quick." I whispered.

"What?"

"Your kiss."

"You don't seem too happy, though. Will I be slapped again after this?"

"Depends on what you do."

Because of Fred's usually boisterous nature, I expected another hasty and clumsy kiss.

But no. It actually took him quite a while to do anything. As if he were thinking of the best way to approach this. To approach me.

In my mind, Fred knew that I was his closest friend, second to George. A long-time buddy and family friend, and maybe that's all I'll ever be to him. But even with his rowdy self did he know that overwhelming me was crossing a boundary he never dared to do.

With one of our hands occupied and entangled with one another's, he reached up with his free one- cupping my chin with his thumb and index finger. And instead of reeling me in to finally kiss me, he tilted my face slightly to the side. The gentle gesture surprising me quite a bit.

And then finally, his mouth met mine. Only, not exactly. He kissed me on the corner of my lips.

He moved to the other side, planting another tender kiss there. I felt my chest just about ready to burst.

His hands were cold, but his warm lips provided an almost endearing contrast to him. I never know what he's thinking about most of the time, but it was the little things like these that help me understand him a bit more.

"Only the corners? Pathetic." I murmured, teasing him when he pulled away.

"Oh, expecting more, were you?" He asked, wiggling his eyebrows at me.

"I'll hex you, I swear."

"You didn't punch me, though. That's a win."

"Only because Umbridge could wake from your infernal yelling."

If only I'd gotten my hands on Hermione's Time Turner. I definitely would've used it to go back in time and smack some sense into both of us to stop dallying around.

In short, we were caught.

The Invisibility Cloak was stripped from both me and Fred, revealing us to everyone in an embarrassingly intimate position, still wrapped in each other's arms, and the door to Umbridge's office swung open, showing the other three affiliates to this less than grand operation posed like a bunch of deer caught in headlights.

"Merlin's lacy knickers, you got him!" George exclaimed, completely disregarding the situation and rejoiced at the "rescue" of his brother.

I could see Ginny and Harry mentally facepalming themselves, it was almost comical.

If it weren't for Professor McGonagall, the five of us would've been kept in detention until dawn. Instead, she had managed to successfully persuade Professor Umbridge into giving us a lighter sentence. Writing "I must behave" back to back on parchment. Well, for the other three atleast.

She had me and Fred do "I will keep my hands to myself" instead.

Absolutely horrific.

· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·

Never thought I'd see the day where I start second guessing my own emotions. Especially for one of my own friends.

I've been restless, just lingering on these feelings that have sprung from soil which I thought was barren this whole time.

I tried coming up with excuses to tell myself what I've been feeling was all just a misunderstanding my brain managed to mix something else up with.

Like, we're friends. We've always been friends, and that's all we'll ever be. That's all I'll ever be atleast.

It couldn't be because of the way I always see him protecting me. Defending me in ways no one man ever has. Albeit, he does it in a few vulgar ways, but my point still stands. But even then, I've been taking care of myself before he came along so it couldn't be that.

Maybe it was the way we always joked together?

Or was it the way he looked at me?

Kissed me..?

Jumping gargoyles, someone take my heart away from me. I'm in love with Fred Weasley and it's scaring me more than anything.

"God, just please do me a favor and one of you kill me now." I groaned, running my hands over my face before slamming my head down onto the table.

Me, Hermione, and Ginny had a bit of free time in between our respective classes and decided to head over to the Study Hall to do a bit of light reading together.

It's been a while since we did something together like this, so it did lift my spirits a bit. However, when the subject of me and Fred came up, I lost control of my own mouth and ended up confiding in the girls about my conflicting feelings for him.

"I thought you both were already dating, though. I'm quite surprised." Hermione commented, removing her attention from her opened book to look at me and began fidgeting with the quill entangled loosely in her fingers.

"It was pretty obvious." Ginny said, following Hermione.

"What was?" I asked, my face contorting in mental agony as I raised my head slightly from the table's cold surface. A faint red mark was visible on my forehead, a result of hitting it against the cold wood.

"The feelings between the both of you."

I sat up, rubbing my hand over my head and feeling the messy hair that now resembled a bird's nest. "He was merely protecting a friend. There's nothing more to it." I argued.

Hermione reached out and gently untangled the knots I had caused. Her gesture a sisterly and comforting one that I wished I had experienced earlier on in life.

Ginny piped into the conversation with a hushed tone, the last words barely more than a whisper. "And I believe Fred would think otherwise." There was an implication in her words, as if she knew something I did not.

"He would never see us as anything more than good mates. He probably only did it out of pity. " I said. My cheeks heating up at a few memories that were resurfacing, causing the change in subject.

"You should've seen that stupid grin on his face. He just couldn't resist getting his jokes in every time he scared Callaghan away. He loved it so much."

Ginny and Hermione exchanged a knowing look. When they turned back to me, it was clear that the conversation had shifted to another topic.

"If denial were a person, it would definitely be you." Hermione says.

"And besides, friends don't just 'casually' snog each other." She added, closing her book before leaning her cheek against her hand. A smug smile on her beautifully shaped lips.

"Not once." Ginny piped in.

"Or twice." Hermione said, finishing their duo act.

Harry ended up telling her about me and Fred's awkward predicament back in Professor Umbridge's office.

I'll get him back for that later. Sorry, Ginny.

"What if I'm just misunderstanding the whole thing? Misunderstanding him? I mean, he's like that with nearly everybody. He's cheeky to anything that breathes." I said, leaning my arms against the table. My eyebrows furrowed, and my expression pensive.

"You know," Ginny said thoughtfully, placing her hand on my forearm. I shifted my gaze to meet hers. "Growing up with Fred and George taught me anything's possible as long as you've got nerve."

I sighed, giving a couple of nods in understanding.

"As their sister however, that 'nerve' doesn't extend to them leading anyone on, especially one of my best friends. If that's the case, Fred and I are going to have a 'niiice' and a 'friendly' chat. Don't worry, y/n." Ginny ended her statement with a sincere smile, and I found myself agreeing with her sentiment.

For Harry's sake, I hoped he never found himself on the wrong side of Ginny's wrath. Guess the Weasley's just had a knack for these kinds of things.

"Don't mean to interrupt, but dungbrain's heading this way and he looks like he's on a mission." Hermione whispered, looking at someone from across our table. Me and Ginny turned our heads to the indicated direction and saw Set walking over to us with newfound fervor in his strides.

"Oh, hell no." I muttered, hurriedly gathering all my stuff and shutting my book. I was determined not to stick around for Set's arrival.

"Welp- that's my cue. Thank you Hermione, Gin, for always helping a girl in need and I love you both. See you later, ladies!" I said, bidding my frantic farewell and practially leapt over my seat, barely tripping over my own robes in my rush to leave.

I powerwalked to the door, adrenaline pumping through my veins as I heard Set's footsteps gaining ground behind me. If he caught me, who knows what he would say or do this time.

"Don't try anything, Callaghan, or you'll be having slugs in your knickers tonight!" Ginny yells after the Slytherin, only to get ignored. But he definitely heard her.

Shit, shit, shit, shit. How do I get away? Where do I go?What would Fred and George do, for Godric's sake!

Keeping my pace hasty, I tried my hand at fooling him and made a quick feint to the left as if I was headed in that direction. Thinking it worked, I looked behind me. He didn't fall for it. He was still very much tailing me, the rat bastard.

"Y/n!" He yelled out to me. My face wincing at the way my name rolled off his tongue. I tightly shut my eyes, curseing quietly into the wind. "Why is it always me!?"

I knew it wasn't allowed, but it was the only thing I could think of seeing as I had no real plan at all.

As Callaghan chased me through the corridors, I quickly took out and flicked my wand, casting the Confundus Charm in his direction. The spell hit him square in the chest, causing him to stumble and lose his bearings. He staggered, momentarily disoriented, as the charm worked its magic on his mind.

Taking advantage of the brief window I'd created, I darted towards the nearby library, pushing open the heavy oak doors and slipping inside just as Set shook off the charm and realized I was gone.

Checking behind me a second time to see if he wasn't there anymore, I sighed in relief when I was right.

Thankfully, not a lot of people were in the library at this hour. Just a few students reading, grabbing books for whatever they needed them for, and a couple more that were doing schoolwork with their tutors.

I briskly walked down the middle aisle, passing by shelves of neatly arranged books and the carts filled with them. I didn't have a specific destination in mind, but I was determined to find a place where Set wouldn't find me.

As I scanned the area for a suitable hiding spot, I paused after passing by a familiar figure bent over a table, casually immersed in a book. The figure's presence provided a moment of distraction from my current predicament.

I took a few steps backward until I came to a halt in front of that certain aisle. The sight I saw, or rather whom I saw, caught my attention almost immediately. It was a student I was very familiar with.

"Fred?" I called out to him. My chest heaving from all the speed walking.

He looked up from the book he was reading, his slightly messy hair adding to his charm. A warm smile spreads across his features as he observed me, greeting me with a gentle cock of his head.

"Ah, my favorite (Hogwarts house)." He says, straightening up from his previous position. His tone carried the usual air of playfulness. "Care to keep a lonely, good-looking man company?"

He looked at me expectantly, waiting for my reply. The signs of exhaustion were evident in his eyes, suggesting that he had been absorbed in his reading for quite some time. I wondered how long he had been tucked away in this secluded spot, engrossed in whatever was written on those pages.

"Do I have a choice?" I asked. Adjusting the belongings I was carrying in my arms.

"Nope." He replied and pulled out the seat beside him, pretending to dust it off for me.

I couldn't help but let out a chuckle as I made my way over to the table, carefully placing my belongings on top of it. Fred's focus shifted from the book in front of him to me, his eyes intently fixed on my every movement. There was a certain curiosity in his gaze as he observed me.

"So, what're you in here for? Is your new punishment being made to read for hours on end now?" I inquired, resting my arms on the table and locking eyes with him.

He reaches into his pant pocket and pulled out a recognizable pair of glasses. He slides them on with practiced ease and takes the book he was reading into one of his hands.

"Studying."

"You study?"

"Is your name y/n?"

"Aren't those Harry's glasses?"

"Well, yeah. But he doesn't need to know."

I couldn't help but smile, feeling a lift in my mood as I reached over and took the glasses from his face, carefully placing them in the pocket of my skirt.

"Can't have you straining your eyes any more than you already have." I said, gesturing towards the book in his other hand, before looking back up at his face. His gaze now unshielded, gave an amused grin.

"I'll return these to him for you." I said, patting my now occupied pocket.

"Now I can't see."

"You've got perfectly good eyesight, Frederick. And besides, Harry's the one that can't see now because of you."

"Always going to be the reasonable one, aren't you?"

We spent a good half hour chatting and talking just like we always do.

Spending time with Fred and George was often synonymous with chaos, but it also brought me a sense of clarity and comfort. It was a nice break from the complexities of life, and for a moment, I was able to forget about the feelings I had for Fred and just relax in his company. The simplicity of our interactions was a welcome change, and I found myself feeling more at ease than I had in quite some time.

Behind the scenes however, Callaghan entered the library. His eyes scanned the rows of shelves, searching for me before finally spotting me tucked away in a secluded aisle. He began walking towards me, his movements slow and deliberate, like a predator closing in on its prey.

Me and Fred were fully engrossed in our conversation to really notice anything going on around us. But in that split second where I looked away from Fred's eyes did I notice Set approaching.

Ignoring the presence of others, including Fred who was literally beside me, Set continued on with a sly look on his face.

Fred noticed my attention was just completely off of him at that point, and observed my sudden change in demeanor. He looks to where my eyes were planted and saw the Slytherin towering over beside him.

Fred stood up from his seat, easily overcoming the height and air of superiority Callaghan was trying to exude over him.

"A little lost, are you? Librarian's over there." Fred spoke nonchalantly, growing tired of Callaghan's persistent schemes at this point. His tone flat as his head gestured to the direction towards the librarian's desk and attempted to dismiss Set quickly. But Set was not so easily deterred and pressed on, even if it meant getting his hands dirty in the process.

"Oh, I know where the librarian is," he replied smoothly, his gaze never leaving me. "But I'm not here to borrow a book, Weasley. I'm here for something much more valuable."

I got up from my chair and stood behind Fred's tall stature. Not to hide, but to try and avoid him from lunging at Callaghan out of nowhere. My hand goes up to instinctively grab a hold of Fred's vest as his eyes narrowed at Set's cryptic words.

"I've been watching you for a while now," Set continued, his voice low while he directs his words at me. "And I told you I wouldn't give up now, did I?"

Fred audibly snorted at the Slytherin's words. "Look, just give it up, mate." Fred says, trying to keep the situation lighthearted despite the growing tension. "She's not interested."

Callaghan rolled his eyes at Fred's dismissal, his demeanor turning more aggressive.

"Please. What does she see in you anyway? You're nothing special." He looked Fred up and down, his tone dripping with disdain. "You deserve so much better than this oaf. Why waste your time on him when you could have someone like me, someone who can give you everything you need and more."

"What can you possibly offer me, you daft dimbo? All you've ever given me is grief!" I snapped from behind Fred. I stepped slightly forward, positioning myself so that I could look Set directly in the eye. The sight of his face brought back memories of all the grievances I held against him.

He scoffed at my words, his arrogance unshaken by my outburst. "Oh, here comes the fiery damsel in distress," he sneered. "Finally showing some backbone, eh?"

He was really pushing it now. Set's disgusting display of behavior nipped away at Fred's patience, which was growing thinner and thinner by the second. His insults weren't making anything better. Just kept added more fuel to the fire. That fire being Fred Weasley himself.

"I'd watch that mouth of yours if I were you, man." Fred warned, his voice losing that carefree tone he tried desperately to maintain this whole time.

He quickly pushed me back behind him, creating a physical barrier between me and Set. The move was swift and protective, as if he could physically shield me from whatever Set intended. My back hit the bookshelf, the spines of several books digging into my rear. Fred's body was rigid, poised to prevent Set from getting any closer to me. Set noticed the gesture and a smirk played on his lips.

"Trying to protect her, eh, Weasley?"

Concern and fear for Fred's safety began setting off alarms in my mind. Set moved closer, getting all up in Fred's face. "You gonna hit me, Fred? Play one of your little pranks? I'd like to see you try. You don't scare me. Not one bit."

Fred's jaw clenched momentarily before his stature visibly relaxes.

"Aw, bless him." Fred says with a scarily laid back smirk, turning behind him to look at me briefly.

"Fred, don't-" I warned, and with a swift, well-aimed punch, Fred's fist connected firmly with Set's face, cutting me off. The sound of flesh against bone resounding through the library.

Set stumbled back, taken completely off guard by Fred's unexpected retaliation.

"You bloody bastard!" Set yelled, cradling his jaw where the impact left a red mark. "You just assaulted me!" But Fred was unrepentant, his eyes burning with a mixture of anger and amusement as he stood protectively in front of me.

"Ouch." Fred whispered, trying to ease the stinging pain from his fist by shaking it away. "Sturdy bone structure, mate, but you had it coming."

After the initial punch, the tension in the library escalated quickly as Set and Fred engaged in a heated fight. Books and shelves toppled over as they exchanged blows, their voices rising in anger. Students gathered around to watch the scene go down as I was tucked away in the corner, yelling desperately for them to stop. I attempted to get in between them, only to be pushed back by Fred and told me to stay out of it.

The two men had continued to trade insults, their voices growing louder and their tempers flaring.

As the situation spiraled out of control, it didn't take long for the commotion to attract the attention of Madam Pince, the strict librarian who did not abide by such disturbances.

"You two!" She snapped, her voice cutting through the argument like a knife. "What in the world is going on here? The library is for reading, not brawling!"

Fred and Set begrudgingly turned their attention to Madam Pince, their angry gazes still simmering with hostility as they stayed with their hands still grabbing onto each other's uniforms.

By some miracle, she finally managed to break the two apart. With their clothes now in disorder, hairs sticking up in every direction, with blood, sweat, and bruises littering their faces, Madam Pince prepared to escort them out of the library to take them straight to Professor McGonagall.

Still scolding them for their behavior, Fred caught sight of me watching them leave. His expression softened for a moment, his anger dissipating as his gaze met mine. Before he walked out the door, he mouthed a quiet "Are you alright?"

I jogged closer to Fred, getting a good look at his face causing mumurs from the students around us to grow louder.

"Weasley!" Madam Pince's voice thundered from outside of the library door after noticing his absence.

Fred briefly looked towards the exit before returning his gaze back to me. His complexion bruised and upper lip bloodied. My hands itched to reach out and touch him, but I ended up hesitating because I was too scared. Scared that I'd hurt him or make things even worse.

"You didn't have to." I whispered. My eyes danced around his face, completely distraught he'd gotten himself injured again and it was all my fault.

"You didn't have to go that far, Fred. Now you're hurt." I repeated. My tone quivering as my emotions began to well up inside of me.

"I wanted to," he replied, seemingly stuttering to say the next words. "Because-"

"Because?" I echoed quickly, remembering the librarian's thinning patience.

"Because..." Fred sighed, taking a moment to look away from me, biting his partially swollen bottom lip.

"What are we?" He asked, returning his gaze back to me.

I didn't feel the air Fred would usually carry around with him at this moment. He was the most serious I'd ever seen him.

"Mr. Weasley!" The librarian's voice rang out again, growing more agitated by the second.

The abruptness of Fred's question caught me off guard, and my heart plummeted to the pits of my stomach as the words left his mouth. I knew I had a limited window before Madam Pince comes back to take him away.

My mind and heart were battling against each other on who's to confess first- but the guilt inside me was far too overwhelming to be making any kind of decisions right now.

I looked at him- his eyes lighting up when our gazes meet. My lips part, my heart pounding.

"We're... friends."

A mixture of emotions flickered across Fred's face as he took in my words. Blinking a few times to process if he'd heard me right. There was a hint of disappointment in his eyes, as if he had wanted to hear something different. But he quickly masked it with a smile, nodding in agreement.

"Friends," he repeated, the word sounding strangely bittersweet on his tongue.

He shoved his hands in his pockets. "Just friends, yeah?"

I couldn't reply any more after that. I kept silent, my bottom lip quivering as my knees were about to give way.

Madam Pince storms back in, taking Fred by his sleeve. "Come along now, Mr. Weasley. You and Mr. Callaghan have caused enough trouble today as is."

Our gazes linger on eachother a little longer, both holding further questions of their own before he finally turns away, leaving me in a room full of onlookers whose whispers were quieter than my own heartbeat.

George, Ginny, and Hermione shortly rushed to my side after they'd heard of a fight that broke out in the library and both me and Fred happened to be a part of it.

I don't know what's going to happen to me and him after this. I don't even know if my heart could take any more.

· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·

Getting my friend punished over an issue that wasn't his to shoulder in the first place was not on my bucket list for this school year.

Three and a half weeks passed since Fred and Callaghan's fight in the library.

Three and a half weeks since I last saw Fred around the school.

He got suspended and served his time back at The Burrow. Callaghan was sent away for a longer period for starting the whole dispute.

George, whose thankfully not angry with me and told me it was all completely normal for them as troublemaking twins to get into things like that, told me all about Fred's situation after he'd been sent home. It was mostly about the extra rounds of scoldings he got from Molly.

Hermione and Ginny have also been reassuring me ever since that day, telling me it was completely out of my hands and that Callaghan really did have it coming for him sooner or later. But was it really out of my control, though? Surely there was something I could've done differently so Fred didn't have become someone's punching bag.

The guilt ate away at me like a damn parasite, starting from the inside, out.

I've lost my appetite, my sleep schedule's fucked, and all that strain began showing physically, too. My dark circles became more and more visible each day. Couldn't even focus on my classes and almost burnt off Roger Davies' eyebrows off during Potions.

Hermione decided enough was enough, and that my current condition wasn't ideal to be participating in any kind of school activities, so she dragged me to Professor McGonaggal's office to opt me out of classes and extracurriculars for the time being.

Even though it's been three days since Fred's supposed return from his suspension, I haven't seen him around at all. Not in the corridors, not in the Great Hall, and not even in the classrooms where we were usually have lessons together.

And to be frank, life's been a little too quiet without him around.

His constant loud and contagious laughter that echoed throughout any room he was in, the jokes and pranks he and George would pull to pass the time, and the small, intimate moments him and I shared.

I missed it all. I missed him.

But remembering how our last conversation went, I doubt it would be the same ever again.

Seeing as I've been cooped up in my room the majority of my scholastic leave, I decided to finally venture out. The day had finally come to a close and the cool early evening breeze from the oncoming autumn was rolling into the castle grounds.

I got up from my bed and threw on a jumper that Mrs. Weasley had gifted me on my last Christmas with her family. It was very comfortable and I could tell she put a lot of love and thought into picking out the design and colors for me.

After brushing my hair and giving myself a final once over by the full length mirror, I was somehow satisfied with the way I looked, though my complexion has seen better days.

I didn't really know where I wanted to go, but I just had to get out of my room. It was beginning to feel like a mini Azkaban in there after so long.

The moment I left my common room, the chilly air immediately hits my cheeks. I shivered and crossed my arms over my chest, burying my hands under my arms to try and keep them warm.

I walked the nearly empty halls of Hogwarts. The torches mounted against the walls provided a warm contrast to the blue hues painting both the sky and castle.

My feet grew heavier the more I wandered. The hollow feeling coming back inside my chest as memories of me and Fred walking down these very halls together came flooding back. The sight of us laughing side by side- practically stumbling in our steps as we trudged to our next classes, remembering the way he looked at me, the way he touched me so carefully..

All those reminders made me feel sick to my stomach. Not in disgust, but rather of a love I still had for him... and I didn't know what to do with it. It was a love I was certain had nowhere to go.

I sighed, closing my eyes and shook my head as if to restart my own thoughts. All that reminiscing completely distracting me from the directions I was heading in.

One minute I was aimlessly walking, and before I knew it, I was in front of the library's entrance.

I felt a bit apprehensive about returning to the place it all went down, but it was only a couple of hours before curfew, so why not.

Upon entering, the usual cozy vibe I'd get from visiting this place was gone.

I observed a few students and professors that were still present, just going about their business as I passed by the multiple shelves and aisles. I caught a few couples snogging, but that was nothing out of the ordinary when it came to sundown at Hogwarts.

My feet ended up taking me to the same aisle the fight happened in. My breathing deepens as I stepped in, my eyes looking around until they eventually landed on one of the tables. Specifically the one me and Fred sat in.

The signs of their intense altercation were evident on the surface of the once-polished wood. Several shallow scratches and fragments of chipped edges marred the table's finish. A streak of dried up blood patiently waits for me to notice it just a few centimeters to the right. They probably missed a spot when they cleaned the place up.

I bit my lip as I looked at the dried and dark liquid. It didn't matter anymore whether it was Fred's or Callaghan's. Things shouldn't have ended the way it did.

I pulled a chair out and sat down, resting my arms on the table's cold surface while I ran my fingers over the blood with melancholy painted on my face.

"Merlin, Fred." I whispered, burying my face into my arms. "I'm so fucking sorry."

I stayed that way for god knows how long. I'm pretty sure I nearly fell asleep while listening to the sounds of the library around me. It nearly had me forgetting the concept of time.

"I somehow knew you'd be here." A voice suddenly cuts through the silence.

I froze, processing whether I was hallucinating or just plain mad at this point. I wanted to believe that I was imagining it, that I was hearing things. But deep down, a part of me knew it was him.

Slowly, cautiously, I lifted my head from my arms to look at the direction where the voice came from.

And there he was, actually standing before me, and not just as a figment of my imagination. His familiar figure was silhouetted by the soft moonlight streaming through the windows. His hands were shoved into his pockets as if he was trying to appear casual, but the tension in his shoulders betrayed him.

A moment of silence passes between us as we looked at each other. Fred opens his mouth to speak again.

"Wow. You look terrible." He comments, attempting to lighten the uneasy atmosphere with a joke. A small smile reached his lips, but not as genuine as the ones he'd flash me before. It looked a bit.. robotic?

I broke our gaze briefly, scanning the area around us before returning it back to him.

"...Thanks."

The silence grew longer between us, and the tension in the air thickened. Fred's casual, easygoing demeanor had dropped, replaced by an almost awkward stiffness. He stood there, shifting his weight from one foot to the other as he tried to find the right words to say.

"Mind if I, uh..?" he finally managed to utter, his voice sounding a little strained as he gestured to the chair beside me.

I gave him a small shrug. "It's not my seat."

Fred nodded silently in acknowledgement before sliding in next to me, the sound of the chair scraping against the floor seemed to echo in the otherwise quiet library.

He sat down, his body close but not quite touching mine. He fidgeted with the sleeves of his shirt, his fingers picking at the fabric as his eyes kept darting towards me, trying to gauge my expression but I kept my gaze fixed on the table.

The silence between us both was deafening. The air thick with unspoken words and tension.

The situation in itself was absolutely painful.

There he was, finally sitting beside me and within reach. The time we spent apart was absolute torture and I wanted nothing more but to embrace him and feel his warmth wrapped around me again. But I knew I couldn't just casually reach out and do that anymore.

"Y/n.." He muttered, pausing as if to wait for me to look at him. The silence that hung in the air telling me to do something.

I took a moment to compose myself before turning my head to look at him. Our eyes locked, making my breath hitch slightly under my chest from how intensely he was holding our gaze. And being this close finally gave me a better look at him.

Despite his joke upon first seeing my face, he didn't look like he was doing too well, either.

Circles that were equally, if not darker than mine, a few gashes that have healed over, his upper lip now had a small scar, and his knuckles were also littered with wounds that have long recovered.

"I know what you're gonna say." I interjected. "I understand if you don't want to be friends anymore. In fact- I actually deserve it." I began to ramble. I don't know if I'd be able to stop myself now.

"Wait-" Fred attempted to interrupt, but I was too adamant on getting my point through to him.

"I was absolutely selfish. I felt like I asked too much from you without even knowing it, and I feel like I could've done so many things differently so everything didn't have to end the way it did. I mean, you shouldn't have to do this for me anyways. I shouldn't have allowed it in the first place. I just didn't understand why you went so far for a friend you pitied. I could've handled Callaghan by myself." I said, adjusting my seat so my body was now tilted and facing him. He looked at me with an expression so utterly unreadable.

"So after the fight, I didn't know what to do, or what to think. I was so worried about you, and when you asked that question I just answered without really thinking. When I found out you got suspended, I was absolutely miserable."

My disposition was completely in shambles at this point. It was now or never. Words just came spilling out of my mouth like vomit as Fred continued to stay silent, allowing me to get everything out.

"While you were gone, I found my thoughts constantly coming back to you. I kept remembering everything we'd done together and I was so scared I'd lost you, Fred." I continued, anxiously fidgeting with my fingers. "Then I began missing you... your absence absolutely tore at me. I yearned for your company so much that even if we really wouldn't be friends anymore, just seeing you around school would've been enough."

"Y/n..." He whispered.

"What I'm trying to say is, during our time together when Callaghan was still around and seeing the way you protected me, the feeling I got when you touched me, and kissed me in a way that was so innocent yet held some purpose.. it all made me grow odd feelings for you. Feelings I thought long and hard about, it even confused me." I said, just about ready to have the floor swallow me whole.

"I only said I saw us as friends because I was scared and confused. But now, I'm fully ready to accept whatever comes out of this. Promise."

By the time I finished talking, I was out of breath. Fred didn't respond immediately. His eyes studied my face, visibly softer now as he searched for any sign of me being uncertain. But all he saw was vulnerability.

Finally, he spoke, his voice low and hoarse with suppressed emotion.

"Do you have any idea..." he trailed, leaning in closer to me. "How many nights I've stayed up after what you said, really wondering if being your 'friend' was all I'm really good for? The amount of times your name, and your laugh echoed inside my head when I tried to sleep?"

My heartbeat began to quicken. My lips felt uncomfortably dry as they parted to take in air. The anxiety of it all made it hard to breathe.

What was he trying to say?

"I didn't help you because I pitied you. I mean, we are friends, but my intentions run a bit deeper than that." He said. "I felt I needed to prove myself to you. I saw the way you took care of yourself, but I didn't want you to just see me as Fred Weasley, the student who played pranks and always got into trouble. I hoped you'd see me as someone who'd also protect you. I was even more of an idiot thinking you'd see me as a choice."

Hearing the words leave his lips felt unreal. Almost like I'd just imagined the whole thing and was now waiting for a wake up call.

The boy I had known for years with a reputation for being mischievous and carefree, and someone who never really seemed to take anything seriously was now sat before me. So raw and vulnerable, it was nearly petrifying.

"I love you, y/n. All of you."

Call it relief or immense joy, but it was in this moment where it all turned into a blur.

My body acted completely on its own, reaching out to wrap my arms around his neck- crashing my body against Fred's on his seat sending both of us toppling over and falling backwards. The impact of us and the chair hitting the floor reverberated throughout the deafeningly silent library, which was now nearing its closing for the night.

Fred groaned, his hands placed loosely on my waist. The wind was knocked out of his lungs when he hit the hard floor.

"Merlin, woman, are you trying to murder me a second time? There are better places to hug me than on the library floor, you know."

"Better you than anyone else." I murmured into his shoulder, unable to clearly express the overwhelming emotions I was feeling.

I wrapped my arms tighter around his neck, fearing that if I loosened my grip even just a little, he'd slip away from me again.

Fred noticing the way my embrace had this air of anxiousness to it, he returned his own way of reassurance by slowly holding me just as tightly, getting both of us off of the floor and sat up.

I was nestled in between his legs, still clutching onto him while he sat back- supporting his weight with one arm behind him, and the other wrapped tightly around my mid section.

Fred eventually pulled away to look at me, but I was too embarrassed to do the same. I kept my face turned away to avoid his gaze.

"Let me look at you." He mumbled, voice soft as he brushes a stray piece of hair behind my ear. My skin flushes under his fingertips.

"I can't." I replied, the corners of my mouth twitching.

"And why's that?"

"Because I'm afraid that if I did, I wouldn't be able to control myself and kiss you."

Fred chuckled, his hand moved upwards to gently pinch my cheeks together, creating a slightly distorted expression on my face.

However, instead of turning me to face him directly, he adjusted his position and bent his head to the side, adjusting to meet my gaze instead. The distance between our mouths was mere inches, and I could feel the heat of his breath on my skin.

"I knew you couldn't resist me." He says, his voice low and slowly regaining that teasing undertone.

"Shut up." I attempted to mutter through lips resembling that of a fish's.

His small grin stayed fixed on his face as his gaze flickered back and forth between my eyes. It was as if he was trying to decipher something hidden deep within me, searching for a glimpse of my innermost thoughts and secrets.

Each time his gaze shifted from one eye to the other, I felt as if he was peering straight into my soul, unveiling layers only he, and he alone gets to see.

With my face still cupped in his hand, he pulled me closer, closing the distance between us. This kiss, so long overdue, was different from the ones before it. There was no pretense, no facade to maintain. It was just the two of us, caught in a moment of raw vulnerability and unspoken need.

Both of us let out a soft, satisfied sigh. He let go of my cheeks, his fingers traced along my jawline until his hand settled beneath my ear. His touch was gentle. A stark contrast to his usual playful demeanor, and it left me wanting more each time.

His lips moved against my own in a gentle but insistent rhythm. His kiss was tender, a certain feeling of longing hiding just underneath. His hand then moved from my jaw to the back of my neck, his fingers tangling in the soft hairs there as he pulled me a little closer, his other arm wrapping around my waist with a firm grip.

I reciprocated the gesture, reaching up to weave my fingers through the hair at the back of his head, holding him in place. In that moment, we were intertwined physically and emotionally, both of us reluctant to let go.

As we finally pulled away for air, Fred let out a soft chuckle. He was slightly breathless, his chest heaving slightly from the intensity of the kiss. The distance created in between us just enough for him to look at me as the corners of his lips curved into a playful smirk.

"You know," he said, giving my hair a playful tug. "If this is how you respond after almost murdering me, I might have to invest in some padding for my back."

I snorted, a smirk crossing my lips as I pulled his hair back in return. "You're a madman, Fred Weasley."

"And I'm the richest bloody man alive right now." He declares, and I responded with a soft smile, untangling my fingers from his hair to rest them lightly on his shoulders. He unwound his own fingers from the tousled hairs at the nape of my neck, allowing them to laze gently on my hips.

"Hey, you know what'd make this whole school thing even more bearable?" He paused, his words carrying the familiar lilt he was known for.

"Less schoolwork?" I replied.

"If you agreed to be my girlfriend."

"What?"

"You're starting to sound like me, hah!"

"Fred-"

"What do you say? Wanna be stuck with me for the rest of the year and all the years after that?"

"Honestly, I thought you'd never ask." I replied, laughing at his whole proposal.

Unable to control his own overflowing happiness, he kissed me again.

"You're telling me I could've had special snogging priviledges with you if we'd just talked about this before?"

And then he kissed me again,

And again

And again.

"So what now?" I asked, breathing heavily from the limited breaks in between our lip-to-lip encounters.

"Now," Fred murmured, a roguish glint in his eyes. His lips slightly swollen from the kisses we shared. "I can think of a few things I'd like to do with my brand-new, quite willing prisoner."

His arms wrapped tightly around my waist, pulling my body closer to him. His lips were millimeters from my ear as he spoke in a hushed tone.

"Starting with more of these special snogging sessions."

With those words, Fred pulled me back into another kiss, this one deeper and more urgent than the ones before. His arms wrapped around me again, holding me tightly against his body as he kissed me thoroughly, pouring all his longing and desire into it. It was as if we tried to fit all those years we missed out on having each other into one whole moment.

And by not really paying much attention to the time, both of us ended up getting scolded by Madam Pince once again for still being in the library during its closing. But we didn't care. For once, the rules didn't matter to me anymore, and definitely not to Fred.

The future that lied ahead of us was uncertain, but we're sure as hell happy knowing we'd be facing it together from now on.

 

Fin.

[hiddenonyx]

(18+) Obey Me! Characters C*ck Warming Dabbles

Notes: haha c*ck warming, it's in the title. Each character has their one notes/warnings.

Word Count: ~5.6K | ~510 words per character

A/N: I'm not dead! Been working on this on and off for like a month and half. Lucifer's and Mammon's are bit awkward for it, but I think it's passable. Please do enjoy baby's attempt at smut. I tired to keep MC as gender neutral as possible, but there are one or two that are fem!mc :/

-------------------------------------------

Lucifer - Notes: gn!mc, the barest hint of sex

Lucifer rarely has the time to properly indulge himself in you. You sneak into his study one night, a soft beg on your lip, and sweet, sinful eyes piercing his soul, and Lucifer feels horrible telling you “not tonight”. There’s a big political meeting happening in a ten day and there’s so much paperwork that-

    Seeing your gaze fall and your heart break, Lucifer sighs. Fine, he tells you. He’ll let you do one thing, but you have to promise to behave. And that’s how you end up sitting as still as you can on his lap, his hard cock buried deep within you. You’re truly dying now - you’ve been here for almost thirty minutes as Lucifer holds the small of your back, his free hand working away at his seemingly endless stack of paperwork.

    Your body aches with desire and you squirm a little, desperate for any stimulation at all. Lucifer hisses through gritted teeth, his gripped on you tightens in warning, and you whine pitifully. He hushes you gently. Your gaze gently trails over his expression, and you realize that he’s not faring any better than you. Maybe if you misbehaved a little more he’d break and fuck you properly. 

    “Don’t.”

You whine as your idea is shut down before you even attempt it.  “Lucifer~~” you whine, your voice broken. He sighs and tightens his grip on you again, his gloved hand digging into your skin hard. Another minute passes, and then, to your surprise, Lucifer sets his pen down. His now free hand joins the other before falling down to your hip.

    “Alright, alright. Seeing as you've been so good…” His other hand drops to your hip and he raises your body up, dragging you until only the head of his cock remains inside, before slamming you down. The action feels so good after having to wait so long, you almost cum right then and there. “I suppose you deserve a reward..”

——

Mammon - Notes: gn!mc, existing relationship, pet names

    You should’ve suspected that the Avatar of Greed would be an insatiable boyfriend; Mammon cannot seem to get enough of you. He wants everything about, of and from you. And when you tell him “no” or “later”, he pouts and whines and sulks for the rest of the day. It’s as cute as it is annoying, and today is no different.

    You’re sitting on the plush carpeted floor of your room, a pillow between you and the little tray that holds your textbooks, papers, and pens. You’re attempting to make a study guide for an upcoming test in Curses and Hexes, but Mammon is insistent in poking the fat of your thigh. 

    “C’mon! Ya can do that later,” you don’t even have to look at him to know he’s pouting. You pause and look at him, silently counting for a minute as you give Mammon a tired stare. He gives you a confused look, before opening his mouth to say something - something that you cut off as your gaze returns to your work.

    “There. Now it’s “later”. Now let me work, okay puppy?” You hear him whine and he goes back to poking your thigh.

    “W-what?! The hell was that?!” He huffs, “A-and don’t call me puppy, okay?”

    You can feel a vein throb in your head as Mammon continues to poke at you. You’re starting to understand why Lucifer hangs him from the ceiling so often. You’re about to snap at him, when an idea crosses your mind. It’s devious and mean, but it’ll be a compromise; you’ll be able to get your work done and he’ll get your attention…and it’ll be a suitable punishment for him.

    About ten minutes later, Mammon grunts softly, his arms straining to keep himself propped up in his sitting position to adhere to the pact command. You can feel his chest heaving in effort, though he’s trying hard to disguise it.

“T-treasure this…t-this is hardly f-fair,” his voice is ragged.

    “Well maybe you should’ve thought about that. Actions have consequences, puppy.” You grind back into him, and he hisses in both pleasure and the strain of obeying the pact command of “stay still”.  You roll your hips again, biting your bottom lip to stop yourself from moaning; thankful that your back is to Mammon so that he can’t see. He moans softly in response. 

    “T-treasure p-please-“

    “Aw, does the Great Mammon not enjoy having his cock warmed?” You tease him, as your pen scratches a line of text onto your almost finished study guide. “Just a little longer puppy~.” You feel him twitch at the nickname and you fail to bite back the soft sigh that escapes you.

    “N-not a dog,” he growls through gritted teeth. You scratch the last line on your guide before setting your pen down. You lean back into him a little with a soft mewl.

    “Alright, you can move now baby. Mm, you can fuck me as hard as you want.”

—-

Levi - Notes: gn!mc, Levi being Levi

    You passively press the button on the controller, reading the nearly absurd amount of dialogue as it flashes on screen. You lean forward a little, the story of the world dragging you in. Levi glances up from his manga as you shift on the floor and gives you a questioning look.

    “There is no way you’re reading all that. Just spam through it; it’s so boring.”

    You gently hit his leg with your free hand, your gaze never leaving the screen, “Shh.” You can almost feel him roll his eyes, as he relaxes more into the beanbag you’re sitting up against, “Just read your manga.”

    A few more minutes pass in silence as you read your respective media. You hum every now again, the game’s world growing more and more interesting as you continue to read. You only hear the occasional page turning from Levi as he reads silently. You settle back against the beanbag, resting your head a little on Levi’s leg as you sigh. You feel him tense a little at the sudden physical contact, but to your surprise he doesn’t comment on it. A flicker of interest crosses your mind; normally Levi would comment on any kind of touch, even casual…

    Your free hand gently brushes his leg, a little higher than where your head rests, in a fake stretch. You feel a little flinch, but again, no comment. Maybe he was really focused on his manga, or maybe, just maybe, Levi was finally starting to warm up to you. You wait a few seconds before you gently rest your hand against the side of his lower thigh, your fingers reaching up.

    “W-what are you d-doing, n-normie?!” He flinches away, and moves a little to escape your grasp. You tilt your head up to meet his eyes, doing your best to hide your smirk at his blush.

    “Nothing, just stretching. Why?” You smirk, “Were you hoping for something?” Levi, seeming to be full of surprises of today, blushes more, stumbles over his words, and looks away. It’s at the point you read the title of the manga that he’s been reading: “My Roommate Totally Wants to Fuck Me! (18+)”.

Oh. OH.

    “Levi?” You can’t hide the smugness in your voice or the teasing note. “Are you reading smut?”

    “N-NO! I-I-“

    You sit up and turn around, setting the controller to the side and climbing onto his lap; poor Levi is redder than a hellspiced tomato. However despite his embarrassment and your teasing, he makes no move to escape or push you off. 

    You lean forward and whisper in his ear, “Why don’t you show me a few pages, hmm?” You purr and flick your tongue over his earlobe, listening to his breath catch, “Maybe I can recreate a few of them for you~”

    Several minutes later, you’re sitting on top of Levi, his hard cock pulsing and twitching between your walls as you pepper his face with small kisses. He claws at you slightly, wanting to bury his face in your neck and hide from your attention.

    “Levi~” your voice is smug and taunting as you let him hide from your kisses. “C’mon~ All you have to do is kiss me, and then I’m all yours.”

    You feel him mumble something into your skin as he hides, thoroughly embarrassed by your teasing. Ah well. You don’t mind keeping his cock nice and warm until he works up the courage to kiss you.

—-

Satan - Notes: fem!mc, rough sex, magic

     You whine and squirm in Satan’s hold, only to be rewarded with a harsh smack on your ass. You bite back your moan, your body desperate for anything that can provide stimulation.

    “Thought I told you to stay still,” Satan growls lowly, the vibrations making your heart beat faster, “Don’t move again.” His command carries the weight of an unspoken punishment if disobeyed. Your body aches - you’ve been sitting on his cock for nearly twenty minutes now. You had come to him after finishing a particularly spicy novel, wanting  some…attention. Satan, however, was in the middle of finishing his own book. He had promised you all the attention you could ever want if you waited for him to finish his book. But you wanted his attention then and there. So here you were, warming his dick as a compromise.

     “How much longer?” Your voice is a pathetic whine. You have to fight back the urge to grind on him again.

      “Ten pages,” he grunts in response. He’s trying to keep his face neutral, but you can see the cracks in his facade. He’s starting to struggle as well. You feel him twitch inside you, and you break. You grind against him, rather hard.

      Satan growls right into your ear and you hear his book being snapped shut, “You bitch.” You hear the book fall to the floor and feel his hands harshly grab your waist.

      “You want it right now? Fine. Have it!” His voice is dark and dripping with anger. A dark, twisted part of you sings at his voice, and hopes that he’ll fuck nice and rough. And it seems like that part will get its wish.

     He lifts you up, till just the tip of his cock stays inside you before slamming you down. You scream in pleasured pain. He repeats the motion again again, setting a fast pace that barely leaves air in your lung. The rough pace hurts, but it feels so good. Satan pulls you a little closer, his breath tickling your ear.

“You wanted this, didn’t you? You wanted, urgh me to fuck you till you passed out, didn’t you?” He sucks in a trembling breath before biting your ear. One of his hands leaves your waist and finds your clit. He just barely brushes it and it sends white hot shocks into your gut. Satan pulls away from your ear and mumbles something in a language that you don’t understand. He touches your clit again, pressing his thumb tightly against it. However instead of feeling pleasure, a numbness seeps into your gut, dulling the pleasurable fire.

     You whine, “S-Satan-“

     “That’s your punishment. You’ll get to cum when I say you can.”

——

Asmodeus - Notes: gn!mc/reader (tho implied afab), strap-on

     “Aw, come now hun. Don’t hide your face~” Asmo coos at you, his warm hands brushing teasing, but soothing strokes along your side.

      “This is embarrassing,” you mumble, your voice muffled by the arms covering your face. You feel him lean down and gently kiss your exposed wrist.

      “And why is that love?” His voice is smooth and calming, still keeping that teasing note. But you can hear a concerned note underneath it, “Would it be better if you were on top?”

      “I don’t know,” you whine a little, flustered and out of your element. You shiver a little as you feel warm lube drip onto your thigh.

     “Would you like to stop dear?”

     “No.” You tense a little as you feel him gently pull your arms away from your face. You blink a little as your eyes adjust to the moody light again. Sunset eyes take in your expression carefully, as though searching for anything unspoken. Asmo leans forward and kisses you; it’s a gentle kiss, one intended to soothe over your embarrassment. His hands guide your arms up, above your head. He intertwined his fingers with yours, effectively pinning your arms above you. He pulls away from this kiss, once again observing your face.

      You glance down and swallow hard. Asmo’s legs are spread so prettily around yours, showing off not only his beautiful cock, but also where your strap-on disappears into him. There's an inch or so that he has yet to sink down on, and even from where you are, you see small drops of lube that’s leaked out of him. It’s obscene, dirty, unholy, but the absolute hottest thing you’ve ever seen. You whine again and look away.

Asmo, having watched where your eyes fell, giggles, and out of the corner of your eyes, you see him move a little. He moans a little, “Ahaha~ Is that it? Are you embarrassed that I’m warming your cock, hmm?”

     You groan and squeeze your eyes shut, “Asmo s-stop.” You feel his skin brush the inside of your thighs, signaling that he’s moved again. He moans and you hear a soft “squealsh” from the lube.

      “Aw, why? I like warming your cock. Mm, it makes me feel so good.”

     You feel his breath against your face and you open your eyes again. Lust dark eyes meet yours for a split second and then Asmo’s kissing you again. You feel his thighs rub your’s - he’s grinding on you. A soft moan leaves your lips as you feel your skin grow sticky with lube. He doesn’t pull away until both of you are thoroughly breathless.

    “Ah, ah, can I move now, Master? P-please?”

      You groan a little, your embarrassment slowly becoming replaced with desire, “You’re going to be the death of me. Yeah, you can…m-move.”

      Your comment earns you a little giggle, “As you wish, Master~”

——

Beelzebub - Notes: gn!mc, making out

     You hiss slightly, letting yourself sink down a little more his cock, the burn of the stretch was painful, but it felt so good at the same time. His hands on your hip tighten their hold and Beel grunts. He exhales harshly, his eyes glued to where your tight little hole is stretched around him. He’s so big and you’re so small - that thought alone is a huge turn on for him and he barely manages to restrain himself from destroying you.

     You feel his cock throb inside you, as a small gasp leaving you. He feels so good inside you, and he’s not even moving. Your eyes flicker to his face and you can’t help but frown. Beel’s face is twisted in a soft grimace as he tries so hard to stay still.

      “Beel~” you purr as you lean forward, drawing his attention away from your stretched hole. You rest your hands on his chest, feeling the firm muscles underneath his skin. You plant a gentle, chaste kiss on his lip. Violet eyes hold yours as he leans forward for another kiss, this one just as gentle, but longer. You pull away, sitting upright, and let yourself sink the rest of the way onto him. You throw your head back in a silent moan, and Beel curses.

      “Fuck, M-MC,” his voice is strained and his thighs are shaking with his effort to stay still. You lean forward again, panting slightly, as you count in your head - waiting for the pain to dull.

      “M-MC,” it takes you a second to realize that Beel’s calling your name. You lift your eyes up to meet his. His eyes are dark with lust and desire, but love and concern simmer just beneath, “Are you alright?”

You simply nod, words too big of a demand for you at the moment. A warm hand gently guides you forward and into yet another kiss. The kiss is soft and sweet, but no less passionate. You and Beel stay like that, him balls deep in you while you make out softly. It’s a sweet moment - lust tainting some of your kisses with sharp fangs and a twitch of cock. 

    ��Time passes, you have no idea how long, but the stretch of Beel’s cock in you is no longer painful; it is purely pleasurable, and you swear if you don’t move right this instance you’re going to die. Both of you break away from a kiss, a thin web of saliva connects you, hot breath fanning each other’s face, Violet eyes stare at you with pure love and affection. He’s about to ask you something, but whatever his question is, it’s cut off in favor of a low, gruntal moan. You grind back onto him. His eyes shut for a second while he regains his bearings. When he opens them again, there is only dark lust within them.

—-

Belphegor - Notes: gn!mc/reader (tho implied afab), strap-on

     You dig your nails into his hips as hard as you can as you attempt to deter him from moving, “Belphegor, stop moving. Don’t make me use the pact.”

     He whines, but stills mostly - only occasionally squirming under you - and looks up at you with half lidded, lust blown eyes. His chest heaves with hard pants as he struggles to regain any of his once bratty composure. (Not that it would help - you’ve never seen someone fall apart so hard and so fast; he was begging almost as soon as you sunk the first inch of your strap-on into him.)

     “M-Master p-please…I was so close…” 

     You shiver a little at the honorific, still a little flustered at how easily it fell from Belphie’s swollen lips. Sure, Belphie was normally a bit more on the submissive side, but he usually remained pretty bratty through your whole encounter. However watching him submit so quickly and so completely caught you off guard. 

     You feel him start to squirm more and you realize that you’ve spaced out for a moment. You pinch the skin of his hips again in warning, “Belphie. Stop moving.”

      “Please!” He whines rather loudly and you tense, hoping no one is on the stairs to the attic. “I wanna-“

      “And you’re not allowed to yet. Remember? You decided to be a brat earlier.” 

     He huff at that and stills completely, his gaze falling away, “M’sorry, okay? Please, Master? I’ll be good, promise.”

      You shift your weight a little; having to rest on your joints was starting to become uncomfortable, but…watching him beg while cock warming your strap-on was doing something for you.

     “Hmm, I don’t know…you were pretty bratty earlier.”

      “Please Master, I’ll do anything.”

You have to tense a little to stop yourself from trembling as he calls you “master” again, “Anything? Very well then.” You can’t help the smirk that spreads onto your face, and Belphie swallows hard, immediately regretting his statement. “Start counting: five minutes of cock warming and then I’ll let you cum.”

    His jaw drops and he whines, “Five minutes? No way.” 

      It seems that some of his brattiness is returning as his mind gets clearer. You rock your hips into him and grind a little.

     “Fine, two minutes - that’s as low as I’ll go for you.” He opens his mouth to complain again, but breaks off into a moan as you gently rub the head of his cock with your thumb, “And any more bratty comments will add a minute. So start counting.”

     He whines, but obeys. “O-One, two, three, f-four…”

- - - 

     “O-One hund - gasps hundred a-and nineteen… oh fuck, one h-hundred and ah~ t-twenty-“ 

     The moment the last syllable leaves his mouth you set a hard and brutal pace, fucking into him hard enough to make his cock bounce.

      And Belphie screams - loud enough you’re pretty sure whoever in whatever room is below the attic could hear it. His back arches off the bed as he claws at the sheets. His chest heaves, desperately trying to draw in air, while your pace pushes all of it out of him. You smirk, rubbing over his slip with your thumb and feeling his cock twitch hard.

     And then he cums, and he cums hard; painting both your hand and his stomach white.

——

Diavolo - Notes: fem!mc/reader, pet names

     “Mm, you feel so good, little princess. You’re doing so well~”

     His voice purrs into your ear, low and sensual. His warmth breaths fans on your ear before he gently nips at it. You have to bite your lip to stop the whimper that threatens to spill out of you, while you resist the urge to squirm on his thick cock. 

    Be good, you remind yourself, We have to be good.

     One of his hands rests softly on your hip, rubbing gentle circles in a soothing manner, while his other hand gently gropes at your chest, massaging the flesh there. His body is so warm against your back as he effectively holds you to himself. You can’t help the whine that leaves you as his voice reaches you, dark and deep.

     “Mm, princess, you feel so good. You’re so warm and wet,” his last word comes out a bit of a growl as he grinds up into you, making the dormant pleasure in your gut flare with renewed life. You mewl in response, letting your head fall backwards onto his chest. You feel his laugh more than you hear it, the low vibrations in his chest making your very being tingle.

     “D-Diavolo-“ you start, but you’re so overwhelmed you’re not even sure what you’re trying to ask for. He shushes you gently as the hand that was fondling your chest rises to gently grab your chin to steady you as he kisses you. You squirm on his cock as he overwhelms every sense you have with himself. Almost immediately you’re whimpering apologizes into his mouth, shaking as you curb your squirming. You feel his cock twitch inside you as he pulls away from your kiss.

     “Shh darling,” burning gold eyes find yours, “You’re alright. I know it’s hard.” He kisses your forehead tenderly as more soft praise falls from his lips, “You’re so well behaved, princess. Mm, keep this up and I may add to your reward.” Your face grows hotter, blushing even more (if that’s even possible at this point), and you feel your body get wetter.

To your surprise, Diavolo’s the one to move this time, a soft hiss escaping him as he does so, “My my, would you look at that; someone’s seems to like praise, don’t they?” You whimper again, and breathe his name in a breathless beg of nothing in particular.

     He smiles, the edges of it sharp and deadly. Diavolo slides his hand that was resting on your hip down, long thick fingers grazing your clit. You suck in a hard breath and moan, attempting to hide your face in his neck. He hums softly, pleased by your soft reactions as his fingers rub slow circles over the sensitive bud.

     You moan again, your hands reaching for his arm to try and pull it away from your clit, “P-Please, I-I can’t-!”

      “Then don’t,” his voice is right in your ear, dripping into your soul like liquid gold, “Go on, princess, cum on my cock.” He presses a little harder and rubs a little faster, and that’s all it takes. Your back arches off of him as you cry out, cuming hard on his twitching cock, your walls attempting to squeeze closed. Diavolo grunts softly, but continues to work your clit through your orgasm, smirking when you feeblely attempt to squirm away from the overstimulation.

       His laugh is deep and sinful, “Don’t struggle now princess, we’ve just begun.”

——

Barbatos - Notes: gn!mc/reader, tail sex, self-fucking, masturbation

     He smiles as you whine, struggling to pull your hands free from their magic bonds that hold you a little ways away from him on his bed. Your face is flushed red, both from the demonus the two of you had shared earlier and from the sight before you. Barabtos groans softly and spreads his thighs further apart, allowing for a better view of where one end of his tail disappears into his ass. The other end is wrapped lazily around the base of his cock. Darkened eyes stare at you, but you can’t bear to meet them, your eyes glued to the truly sinful display before you.

     Your eyes follow his delicate hand as it traces a pattern up his thigh to his stomach. A self-satisfied smirk pulls at his lip as he watches your expression darkened with lust from watching him. An involuntary shudder runs through him as his tail jerks inside him. 

     His hand trails down from his stomach to his aching cock, and he gives himself a soft stroke, sucking in a soft breath as he does so, “Are you watching, MC?”

      You don’t verbally answer him, but the slight tug on your bonds is answer enough for him.

— — —

     “Well done,” he hums as he drags a gloved finger over your sensitive clit, watching your slick gather on the digit.

      You wince a little but don’t pull away, relieved to have finally bested Barbatos at one of his own games, “So I win, yeah?”

      He scoffs a little at your impatience, but he can hardly blame you - you did just spend an hour attempting to bake with him with a vibrator pressed against your clit, “Yes, you do. As agreed, I will do whatever you request of me.”

      He’s unsurprised by your quick answer, “I want you to touch yourself.”

      He does raise an eyebrow at that, “Mutual masturbation?”

      You stick your tongue out at him playfully and poke his shoulder, “No, I wanna watch you.”

       Barbatos crosses his arms, a playful glint in his eyes, “Just watch?”

       You smirk, “Just watch.”

— — —

     He strokes himself slowly, letting his eyes flicker close as he focuses on the sensations he’s providing himself. His wrists drags up and down slowly, his own touch light as he teases himself. He drags his thumb softly over his slit, gathering the surprising amount of precum that’s leaked from it, and spreading it along his length. He tentatively lets a soft moan fall from his lips, unused to being vocal for such an activity. He can feel your eyes burn into him as you watch, your eyes darting from his tail to his hand. He purposely keeps the end inside himself still, not wanting to overwhelm himself just yet. The other end, however, coils and squeezes the base of his shaft just right, curling just under his balls and adding a pleasant weight there.

     Barabtos lets his eyes flicker back open, his hand having found a gentle, but pleasant rhythm. You’re watching him warm his tail, eyes transfixed on his stuffed hole. Lust just barely disguises the disbelief in your eyes - like you can’t believe someone as reserved as himself would even do such a sinful thing.

     A soft whine leaves you as your gaze flickers up to meet his eyes and he smirks, “Still content with watching? Or would you care to join MC?”

      You whine and tug at the binds, “I wanna join.”

      He pauses his hand and softly snaps his fingers, the spell that was binding you disappearing in an instant. You waste no time crawling over to him. The free end of his tail slides away from his cock and towards you.

     “Come now, little one. I have two ends for a reason~”

— — —

Simeon - Notes: gn!mc/reader, making out

     The harsh light from the TV brightens and dims the room in time with the movie, as some intense action scene plays out; neither of you were paying attention.

      Simeon sat on the plush of your mattress, leaning back against the wall to hold his upright position, while his mouth worked sinfully against your’s. His hands held your hips hard enough to leave bruises as he slowly grinds into you. Your own hands ranking angry lines down his exposed shoulders. Neither of you had bothered to take off more close than necessary than for you to sit on his cock, making this impromptu session even hotter and sinful.

      The kisses are messy; all open mouthed, all tongue. He tastes faintly of confectionery sugar and a sweet demonus. You lean forward more, pressing him harder against the wall, sinking a little further on his cock. Simeon moans in the kiss, his cock giving a hard twitch inside you and you squirm against him in turn.

     You pull away for air, a string of spittle connecting your lips. His face is dark with blush, and you’re sure yours is no different; soft pants leave his lips and he tries to catch his breath. His beautiful eyes are glossy with dark lust, contradicting his holy nature; it makes a dark part of you sing that you’re the one making him sin.

      His eyelids flutter a little when your nails dig into the skin of his upper arms, “MC?” His voice is soft and breathless as he tries to gauge the look on your face. You grind into his lap, his breath hitching into a gasp and his head falls back with a moan. You lean forward and begin to kiss and suck love bites into his neck, watching his dark skin blossom beautifully in response to your actions. Simeon moans shamelessly, keeping his head leaned back, giving you free reign to his neck. His hands slowly guide your hips in a circular motion on his lap, drawing the occasional soft moan from you.

You slide your hands from his arm to the sides of his skin-tight shirt, sliding your fingers underneath the material to thumb at his nipples. He moans louder, rocking up into your tight heat and you tremble, as the head of his dick brushes that sweet spot inside you. Your teeth nip at the skin below his jaw, leaving a particularly nasty hickey, one that Simeon would struggle to hide later.

      “M-MC p-please,” his soft beg startles you a little. You hum softly and pinch at one of his nipples. He gasps and bucks into you again, “P-please. I n-need you.”

      You bite at a love bite, intending to make it darker and suddenly the world around you spins. Your back gently hits your bed as Simeon pins you there. He leans forward and plants a tender kiss at the junction of your shoulder and neck, muttering apologies as he starts moving in earnest.

— — —

Solomon - Notes: gn!mc/reader, aftercare

     Softness. That’s the first thought that your mind registers as you blink away the fogginess; you’re laying on something soft. Warmth is your second thought, and the sensation of being touched by something. Something reaches your ears, and you shake your head trying to understand through the fuzz that fills your head. Slowly the something becomes a soft, warm hum that warms every sense of your being. Slowly the distant hum becomes clearer and you recognize that it’s words, and that the words are praise; praise for you. You open your eyes bearily and realize that the words flow from a blurry blob of white. You blink more, trying to understand what you’re seeing. You feel that warmth move from somewhere else on your body to caress your face.

      Your eyes clear a little, and the white blob morphs into a person, someone who’s leaning over you with a soft, but concerned smirk. It takes you another second to recognize who it is.

      “Ah, there they are. Are you alright, MC?” Solomon’s voice is soft, and he leans down to place a gentle kiss on your forehead, “I was worried that you had passed out.”

        “...wha?” You mumble as slowly you gain your bearings again, and then it comes flooding back - Solomon had just given you the most mind shattering orgasm you’ve had to date. You distantly recall taunting Solomon about something, however you can’t seem to place what exactly you had said to spark this little incident.

       You move a little; a wave of dull soreness spreads from your thighs to your abdomen. You squirm more trying to regain your sense of feeling, and a loud mewl escapes you when your squirming ends with your discovery that Solomon’s still hard, and still inside you; his cock pressing right up against your sweet spot.

He shudders and gently rests a hand on your hip (precariously balancing himself on one arm as he does so), encouraging you to be still, “Easy there.” His voice is softer and trails off as he leans and places another soft kiss on your forehead. You shakily reach for him with your fingers just barely touching the skin of his neck; his skin pleasantly is warm and surprisingly soft. He smiles softly, taking the hint and leans down again to pepper kisses along your face and neck, his white hair tickling you all the while.

      “You did so well, MC. You’re so adorable and lovely when you squirm on my cock. Mmm, I wanna keep you right here until you beg for more~”

      The tonal difference between Solomon’s soft and loving kisses and his sinful praise makes your head spin and you subconsciously squirm more, gasping as you remember that his cock is still inside you.

      “Mm~ yes, exactly like that MC. You enjoy keeping my cock warm, yes?” He nips gently at the skin of your neck, sucking soft hickeys into it. You whimper softly and try to gently push his face away from the skin of your neck. Your weak pushes do nothing to deter him, and he grinds softly into you.

      The dull soreness is tempered by the embers of pleasure that he strokes with each press of his cock inside you.

      “Come on, MC~. Don’t you want more?”

[ao3commentoftheday]

hello! First of all, thank you so much for all the skins that you make and share with us! I've been following you for a long time and it's been wonderful to see all the different designs you've come up with and made! c: I have a few of yours saved to my account to swap between as the mood strikes, and I'm so excited to add the medieval and large text (it's a blessing) ones to my little collection.

I hope it's alright that I had a couple questions, I tried to look through your github and took a peak through your blog to see if it had been asked before, but didn't have much luck so I hope these aren't too annoying to ask ^^;;

do you know a way to put the user icon back at the top of the page (next to the 'Hi, username!' bit)?

and the other question is, how do you make the little colored boxes around tags? I really love using your pink frog skin, and I was hoping to figure out how to let it have those as well as they make the tags so much easier for me to read

thank you again, for reading my ask and running this blog as a whole! the advice that you give out and the skins you share with us are are just, wonderful and so appreciated, you're honestly one of my favorite blogs ever, if not The favorite <3

Thank you so much for your lovely, kind words!! 🥰

I have a tendency to remove the user icon and the search box from skins because they really crowd the header on mobile and since I never use them anyway, I just throw them right out. Oops? 🤣 Anyway, you can get your user icon back by deleting this:

#greeting img.icon { display: none; }

For the boxes around the tags, I cribbed the code from something @ao3skin posted a while back (I can't remember if it was their Tide skin or the Dyslexic-Friendly one)

There's a few steps to it, so I'll walk you through (under the cut because it gets long)

Step 1 is to space the tags a little further apart from each other. This gives space for the border around the tags (that box). This code also adds a little space on the side of the box around the tags so the text isn't right up against the box.

a.tag, a.tag:visited, a.tag:link { display: inline-block; padding: 2px 5px; margin: 2px 0px; border-radius: 5px; }

Step 2 is remove the commas from in between the tags. We've got boxes now. We don't need commas.

.commas li:after { content: ""; }

Step 3 is adding the borders and the background colours. Here's what that looks like for the Archive Warnings, with the background and border set to the same red colour and the text colour set to an off-white. You can use any colours you want by using a hex colour picker tool. There are a bunch of them that you can find by googling.

AO3 defaults to having the Warnings bolded, so if you want to remove the bold you'll want to add one more piece to this code before the } font-weight: normal;

.warnings .tag { background: #ab3740; color: #f3f0e5 !important; border: 1px solid #ab3740; }

The reason why I added !important after the colour is because elsewhere in this particular site skin, I set the default colour for links. To remove that default setting and put the colour I want, I need to override it with the !important command.

If you also want to change the colour of the tag when you hover over it with your mouse, do the same thing but with this

.warnings .tag:hover { background: #f3f0e5 !important; color: #ab3740 !important; border: 1px solid #ab3740; }

As you can see, I just switched the colours of the background and the text. I left the border as it already was (although in some skins, I switch that too).

You can then do the same thing for all of the other tag types, either using the same colours or different ones as you see fit. These are the names of those tags in the code

.relationships .tag

.characters .tag

.freeforms .tag

(freeforms are the same as additionals)

You can also change the other tags like fandoms etc. and you can change the ones on the homepage listed under Favourites too, but these are the ones I tend to focus on. Send in another ask if you want the rest. And good luck!!

[paintcrab]

The Weapon (mageliens story)

Naming an evil organization is a thing I had to do

contains: whumpee rescue (technically?), living weapon whump, nonhuman (canine + alien) whumpee, young whumpee, dehumanized whumpee, shock collar, caretaker new master, and blunt caretaker + doctor caretaker

•••

Captain Edgar finds XenoTek’s weapon in a cell. A filthy, cramped cell.

It scrambles away from him, tucking itself into a corner, hiding under a thin blanket on a sorry excuse for a bed. A long snout pokes out, and one eye stares at him, tracking him.

Small. The weapon is small.

“Hey, it’s okay,” he says gently, taking a protein ration out of his pocket. Its nose twitches before he can struggle the wrapper open.

The weapon sits like a dog. Right in front of him. Stares.

From here, he can see it’s thin, maybe too thin, and definitely an alien, but not one of the Five Sapients. Probably a new one, screwed over by a lack of tech or magic at first contact.

He’s never seen it before, so it must be a new species.

A dog, or close enough, with a long snout, dusty grey fur, and a tail that might be the length of its body. It wears a collar, and a pair of brown shorts. It’s filthy. Just like the cell.

“Orders?” it asks, when he’s been quiet for too long. Flinches, ducking its head like it shouldn’t have talked.

“Eat,” he says, and watches its long mid-arms peel the wrapper carefully before it practically inhales the ration. “Now, with me.”

“Heel?”

“Sure.” It walks on fours. It looks like a bi-quad, but it’s been trained to walk on fours.

The halls are silent. Dead guards aren’t known for being loud.

“This is my ship,” he says, watching it give a little jolt when it steps through. “Our janitor gets pissed when we drag outside’s mess inside, so we’re going to the showers.”

A blue slime nicknamed ‘Stabby’ for convenience, the janitor is not against arming their fleet of cleaner bots.

Stabby is also not against giving the cleaner bots a target. His ankles learned that the hard way, and it’s only fair to spare the weapon from that.

He sets up the ramp at the pet washing station. Doesn’t think about how the last one to use it was Dandelion, Edgar’s golden retriever, who died in her sleep.

The weapon is bigger than she was, but still reasonably dog-sized.

“Can you take that off?” He asks, when only the shock collar is left. It stiffens, pressing all of its hands to the floor. Tips its head down.

Its fluffy tail curls around its legs.

“Sorry, sir, but I—the weapon is not allowed to touch it,” it chokes. “The collar may only be removed by a handler for maintenance, and then it is replaced with the spare.”

“Fine.” He reaches for its neck, and undoes the clasp. It’s easy, anyone with hands or mana could remove it. Shoving it in his pocket, he ruffles the fur on their neck.

“Come on, up you get.”

It hesitates, slowly lifting a mid-hand before pressing it back against its chest and scrambling up the ramp. Sits still, and doesn’t make a sound while he works. While he reveals the mossy greens speckled over dark fur: a pattern buried under months of dust and neglect.

It doesn’t shake the water out of its fur. Lets him towel dry it without making any noise at all.

The only bit of protest he hears is a soft whine when he pulls Dandelion’s hood over its ears to protect it from the blow dryer. He pulls it off. “Hey. It’ll be loud,” he tries. “Would you rather listen to a loud noise or wear the hood?”

No answer, but its eyes flick over to the hood.

“You have my permisson to speak freely, Weapon.”

“The hood, sir.”

His earpiece beeps. It’s Tracker. “Hex tried to telepath you again,” she says. Of course xe did. “We found a file you might want to look at.” Of course they did.

“Send it over. I’m in the ship: found a sapient, but no weapon.”

“New species, right? Great mana, which means—” she pauses. Sighs. “Right. Sorry. Forgot you’re null.”

Most humans are. Makes magical healing impossible, but illusions don’t trick him, so it’s a fair trade. When humanity joined, as the Third Sapient, they had to invent categories beneath low mana: neutral mana, and null mana.

Great mana, to a Null, just means to be careful of flying objects. Null mana, to a Great, means an inability to read emotions and, according to Hex, a disturbingly hollow feeling.

To him, it just means having everyone try and explain a sense-that-isn’t-a-sense-it’s-an-energy-flow he doesn’t have.

And, again, being immune to magic.

Being immune to direct magic.

He sighs. The not-dog maybe-weapon is a Great. It looks up at him, nervously, and he tells it to walk with him again.

To the medbay.

“That’s a rock,” Dr. Gabriel says. She’s right. It is a rock.

He sighs, pressing his hand to the layered, moss-covered surface of the rock. Not a illusion. That much is clear.

It also didn’t leave his sight. At all. So it must still be here. Where the rock is.

“Come on,” he grumbles. “If you stop being a rock, I’ll hold your hand.”

Reaching into a drawer, Gabriel pulls out a sticker sheet. “Look,” she says. “See these? You can have one if you let me look, okay?

“And, every time you do well, you’ll get to pick a new sticker to put on this chart—” she pulls out an empty sticker chart.

The rock gets covered in fur. It slowly turns back into a curled up creature, who pokes its long snout out. “What’s a sticker, sir?”

“Doctor,” she corrects, “call me ‘Doctor’ or ‘Gabriel’, not ‘sir’. This is a sticker. Pick one, and we’ll stick it to the chart right here. Can I have your name or would you prefer to write it yourself?”

“The weapon has no name sir—er, doctor.” It still points at a sticker. A sparkly purple star.

“I’ll call you ‘Shale’ until you pick something else, then.”

It looks at him. He shrugs. “It’s your name, not mine. Makes no difference to me if you pick ‘Shale’ over ‘Weapon,’ so you might as well try something new.”

The exam is going well enough, so he pulls up the file Hex sent him—luckily, telepathing a file isn’t possible, so xe sent it the normal way—and works his way through it.

Even if he’s generous, reading it as if Shale is an actual dog, it’s cruel. Inhumane. A working dog should be able to trust its handler.

According to the tests, it’s equivalent to a drake four year old, so a human ten year old.

Shale is ten.

There are no vaccination records for Shale—or, as the files call it, ‘Project Werewolf.’ As a species—specimen?—with Grand mana, vaccines aren’t strictly needed. Healing spells work well enough.

But, to protect humans, they’ll need to come up with vaccines that are safe for it. Which takes time.

“Sir, the wea—” it pauses. “The tests are done. I have been deemed acceptable.”

A quick glance at the chart reveals a new sticker. The medical file Gabriel sent says it’s malnourished and has some electrical burns from the shock collar being used incorrectly.

He stands up.

•••

Story Masterpost

[nightingale2004]

Twilight ocs: The Delcroix coven

Ketsia Delacroix

Age: 20

Personality: protective, confident, level-headed, cautious, courageous, caring, loyal, determined, passionate, compassionate, cunning, intelligent, clever, stubborn, logical, crafty, resourceful, independent

Appearance:

Species: Witch

Family/coven members: lilah (niece), Dominique (coven sister), Nairobi (niece), Alora (niece)

Love interest: Benjamin

Powers: spell casting, channeling, spiritual senses, summoning, rune magic, reality warping, hexes, binding magic, card magic, illusion magic, shadow magic, teleportation, aura magic, clairvoyance, magic detection

Items/jewelry: black crystal necklace w/ a pentagram pendant, tarot cards, amethyst ring, snake earrings

Extra: When Ketsia was a teenager, she was the younger sister of her niece Lilah's mother, who was coven leader. She was also in a relationship and love with a vampire and believed that their two worlds could unite in peace and live together. But one night, her sister called in a family coven meeting. During this meeting, they were locked inside their home with all the doors blocked against them and their magic. Then Ketsia's home was set ablaze with everyone inside of it, but Ketsia managed to take Lilah, and they both escaped the burning house. When Ketsia escaped, she saw her vampire lover in the distance with his clan laughing at her now burnt house. After her ex and his clan left, she then soon hunted them down and made them suffer painfully and slowly, then killed them. After that, all she had was her niece Lilah and made a promise to love and protect her. After a while, it was just Ketsia and Lilah, that was until she found Dominique while she was traveling to find somewhere for both her and Lilah. After that, both Dominique and Ketsia became each other's family, forming their new coven together and promising to protect their coven and each other no matter what.

☆●☆●☆●☆●☆●☆●☆●☆●☆●☆●☆●☆●☆●☆●☆●☆

Dominique Delacroix

Age: 17 (when she had the twins), 21 (now)

Personality: caring, loyal, protective, motherly, sarcastic, independent, cunning, protective, playful, selfless, cautious, brave, strong-willed, fierce, stubborn, passionate

Appearance:

Species: witch

Family/coven members: Nairobi (daughter), Alora (daughter/twin to Nairobi), Ketsia (coven sister), Lilah (niece figure)

Powers: potion making, spell casting, alchemy, healing magic, herbalism, nature magic, elemental magic, spell casting

Items/jewelry: mood ring, crescent moon dream catcher, green leather journal, leather bracelet w/ a silver feather, butterfly brooch, satchel bag filled w/ essential oils and potions

Extra: Dominique had Nairobi and Alora when she was in high school in San Francisco, California. When Dominique refused to get rid of her daughters, Dom's parents kicked her out, and she went to live with her grandmother, who was a businesswoman in Seattle. After Nairobi and Alora were born, Dominique did consider putting them up for adoption but, in the end, decided to keep her and raise her with her grandmother's help, of course. During her time living with her grandma, she got her GED, and she was soon revealed that she was a witch and started training her abilities. During that time, her grandma passed away due to a heart attack. After her grandma died, she ran her store for a little bit until she couldn't afford it anymore. She then sold it and used the money to support her family. That was until she met Ketsia who she knew was a witch almost immediately. They both got to know each other and decided to stick together. They then moved to Forks Washington where they both work together in a small shop selling candles, jewelry, oils and lotion

[beargregor]

big fan of your username and banner and description. which gregor ID do you think has the most bear potential?

oh my god thank you i'm like embarrassed now lmao. i've actually had this username for like?? definitely over a year by now i set it up not that long before The Horrors which then made me not really want to post about pm that much and it was gonna be like an art progress blog or whatever but now it's just gonna be a pm side blog. life is crazy that way.

but anyway! before answering i'd like to once again say thanks for the food! i actually saw your bear gegs for the first time like ages ago back when you qrted a tweet about bear greg on twt and it was just like. instant serotonin. love my bug esp when people make him the big guy kjh is too scared to.

now to answer your question, i'd say it depends really? like if we were just speaking to my own personal bias i'd say chef gregor like 100% since he's just like. my favorite ID in the entire game (now if only he wasn't so ass lmao) and also for the simple fact that like. no matter how well they prepare it eating humans is still inevitably going to put some meat on a guy's bones, you know? but i'd say zwei rosespanner liu and kk are all also very high up there. yes i know that accounts for like half of his IDs but i can't help it he's just like. so bear coded no matter the timeline. rosespanner would also have like the most hardcore bear face in pictures imo

ik you only mentioned IDs but i think bygone days would probably be my pick for EGO? w/ AEDD and garden of thorns being the runner ups. i've been begging for nex nail geg pretty much since i started playing the game shortly after launch for reasons even beyond just "haha bear abno for the bear sinner" so like. as much as i UNDERSTAND giving it to rodya and sinclair thematically it hurt my soul just a little bit when i saw them get hex nails but not him... crossing my fingers so hard for him to get a random ass s0 gacha hex nail at one point...

sorry for the rambling answer i just think about gregor a Lot and i'm already prone to walls of text anyway so yk how it is lmao. once again thank you for your contributions to the cause, one day we'll get the rest of the fandom (and everyone at pm) to open their eyes to the truth. to finish things off i'll add this gregor w/ a colorpicked bear flag that i originally posted on my main like twenty centuries ago

[hellbubu]

If you don’t like what I post, filter tags and block me. I’m not gonna argue with anyone

los van a poner a incarse en arroz. corran bbs

The least you could do is make up a believable lie. You're a demon. It should be in your nature

Someone get my baby some chicken nuggets. Get him a kid's menu. My baby needs to eat

That's just a puppy

Wolff, baby, I'm pretty sure the werewolf just kills people. If he could just curse/hex someone, he wouldn't be doing all of this. But now I have brujeria stuck in my head

I'm struggling to watch this. I can't stand to see Ciel like that

Also, where did they get the helium for the balloons?

If there's a bunch of them, why have we been speaking like there's one??

TAKE HIM HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WTF??? what's the plan, Bassy? Taking him to Viscount Druitt? Dumbass. I'm so happy Tanaka has common sense. Even if he's the only one w it

I forgot about my girl Vic. Does she know the state Ciel is in? Does she care?

Let's normalize minding our own business.

Girlie is a Muppets fan?

Who invited R!Ciel? Kid, wait for the reveal

This isn't even subtle atp

Ma'am, who even invited you? Go to another village, maybe there they'll accept your attitude.

I think we're setting the bar a bit too high for any future butler

*suspira* estoy cansada, jefe

Damn, those must be some good quality stilts.

Papi dame un raite

[junkyardisles]

yes i’d like to know about the ssa divergence!!!

okay so i'm chronically bored at all times cause my brain is sonic the hedgehog on speedup at all times and how i work with that is by constantly making new characters (makes me a pain to work w/ in projects but y'know i bring some spice) anyway the ssa divergence started just as a set of landers i designed as fun gameplay guys. then when i was reworking the landers for my second fangame idea (replaces trap team) i swapped some dudes out and then just had a folder of guys who existed. then when i was concepting another set back in december it hit me a bit later that what if these guys were used for spyro's adventure but.................. with all of the tfb skylanders swapped for these dudes (npcs, story beats and chapters stay the same. tho the evil minions aren't) the way the replacements work is kinda vague on purpose. boomer's replacement is a loud rocker chicken (who shares the same loud .. excitable??? traits), hex's is a witch (um. witch. also friends w/ the cynder replacement), or double trouble's is amorphous magic energy w/ a dragon mask (mask and weird guy who came from who knows where). the relationships are independent except for cynder-hex replacements being friends, the spyro-triggs-gill trio, and the secret agent secrets tio + sunburn. it's not a case of taking zap, painting him purple and going original oc do not steal (which fyi is completely cool in my book), it's more like you could draw enough comparisons to call them counterparts

(she/it btw ^) i guess it'd be classified as an au? cause it was a case of i didn't wanna make a superchargers replacement cause my alternate timeline is supposed to only have four games, but i wanted to do Something w/ these dudes and there's juuuuust enough tweaks for me to not get bored so anyway now i'm thinking abt doing this for the giants cast and i'm NOT EVEN FINISHED W/ THESE DUDES

[amaurotine-daydreaming]

XII. Dowdy

A chorus of giggling awakens Urianger from his slumber.

“Rise and shine!” sing-song a trio of pixies.

Urianger opens his eyes. He is laying on a threadbare bed in a small chamber nestled at the back of the Bookman’s Shelves. A faded blanket has been thrown over him, and the door to the main chamber is wide open. 

He sits up, rubbing the inside corners of his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. “Good morrow to thee and thine.”

Light slants in through the long, elegant windows at an angle that suggests, at most, late morning. Urianger only went to sleep at dawn, at the blessed end of that riddle contest, and–

“We were feeling generous, so we let you sleep for a bell or two–” says Nyl Ul, poking his nose.

“–but since you’ll be living among us now,” adds Fyr Or, twirling in a wide arc over them, “there is something veeeery important we must do!”

Urianger sits up and gently pulls aside the blanket, knowing there is no more respite to be had until he has entertained his guests. 

“I prithee, enlighten me,” he says, but the pixies need no such invitation.

“Your clothes are horrid!” Fyr Or exclaims, poking at his collar, his chest, his sleeve. “Is this what you mortals wear? So dowdy!”

The robe is, like most of the few possessions Urianger has on the First, a gift from the Exarch. ‘Tis plain in appearance, true–light gray in color, with only modest accents on the hem, the sleeves, and the sash–but Urianger finds it suits him well. He has not sought to be overly ostentatious, nor would he ever cast aspersions on gifts…even gifts which also serve the purpose of being able to present oneself in public after having arrived with not a stitch on.

“Aye, such boring, dowdy clothes!” Selg Bir says, inspecting the hem with distaste. “Boring, boring, boring!”

“Dowdy U-ri-an-ger!” sings Nyl Ul.

“We must dress you, something befitting our [Kingdom of Rainbows]!”

“Lots of colors, oh yes!”

“And pretty shiny things!”

“Scales of a water snake!”

“Stones from the river! On the hem, in your pockets!”

“Cloth from the wings of morphoi! Their dust will make the cloth shimmer! You don’t mind a teensy bit of poison with your garments, do you?”

“A robe, a dress! Something to frolic in!”

“You do know how to frolic, don’t you?”

Urianger smiles wanly. “Pray, ere you begin, I wouldst fain give unto thee a gift in return.” The Exarch has warned him that “gifts” from the pixies may later incur debts at their whims, and to never let the ledger go unbalanced for long. 

“Oh?” says Nyl Ul. The trio of pixies gather back together, hovering just above Urianger’s knees. “What’s that?”

“A hundred years hath passed since thou perchanced to look upon the night sky in all her splendor, hath it not?”

“Aye. In truth, none of us have ever seen it,” says Selg Bir. All three pixies settle upon the bed’s footboard, intently listening.

“Pray allow me to weave for thee a tapestry of words to illustrate that ink black expanse, twinkling with countless pinpricks of colorful light…”

---

When the story concludes, the pixies are satisfied–and restless–enough to go on their merry way. Taking advantage of the respite, Urianger sets about tidying the lodgings he has earned from the fae. Books are reshelved; linens are taken outside to be beaten of dust and then washed; a broom is fashioned to sweep the floors with.

The pixies’ eventual return some bells later is only apparent by their giggling. When Urianger turns, he does not catch sight of any fae, but something else has appeared. 

Draped across a chair is a sleeveless chiton, dyed black as night yet which delicately shimmers when Urianger lifts it. Strung across the garment are ornaments of brass inlaid with rubellite in the shapes of the moon, stars, and other celestial bodies of Urianger’s tale. He checks, but detects no hex or other tricksome spell woven into the fabric. In the pockets he does indeed find rocks, but they are naught more than a few water-smoothed pebbles, which he arranges neatly atop one of the shelves. 

And when he dons the chiton, he finds it fits perfectly.

[chronically-undertronic]

alright boomff (best oomf forever) convinced me to be insane on main so here i am

Crystalline

tags: Canon x Self Insert, Violence, Gay

--

It honestly didn't cross Zephyr's mind to ask what exactly they were doing, until he realized where they were. He just thought it was nice to go for a ride after they'd all been cooped up inside for so long, and suddenly they were trudging through sand that felt like it was burning holes in his shoes.

"What are we doing back in Aksemhat?" He questioned, and Cider shrugged, not even turning to look at him. Figures, he was just as clueless.

"I dunno, ask Chronos. I just tagged along because I'm gonna do some shopppiinngg~" He sang, which put Zephyr a little at ease. If they were doing anything too serious, Chronos probably would have shut that idea down immediately. Even still, he felt the need to ask, so he walked up ahead a bit to be at Chronos' side.

"Chronos," He began, and repeated his question, "What are we doing back in Aksemhat?"

"I actually... Am not sure." Seriously? "Hex called us, well, he called me to meet him here. But I wasn't not going to have you two tag along. It's better if I don't do these things alone," he explained. It made sense. Even though you could probably consider Hex and Chronos close, Chronos still didn't have the best people skills, and he knew this. When he didn't know what was going on, it was always best for him to have more opinions than just his own.

"Well, Cider's going shopping. You don't mind if I hang out with him after you figure out what we're doing here, do you?" Zephyr continued and shielded his eyes from the sun to peer off into the distance. It looked like they were almost approaching some buildings unless it was a mirage, but typically those didn't settle in until you started going insane from heat. At least that's what he'd heard, but he never though to fact-check that.

"We'll see. I might need you both."

And he was half right. After they arrived, Zephyr found himself falling asleep while he waited for Chronos to get off the phone so he could go find Cider.

"What do you mean you didn't? You asked if I could meet you h-- This morning? I thought you meant-- Hex, I'm already here. What am I supposed to do now? Gods, why didn't you call me? ... When have I ever stood you up? ... That was one t-- two-- You know what, forget it. I'm sorry. We can try it again tomorrow. Whatever 'it' is. You were going to explain once I got here. I'm here. Can't you tell me what you wanted? ... Oh, of course. Well, he is still here. I could pick them up for you. ... Seris? God no. You can't send him alone to a place like this-"

Okay, Zephyr had heard enough. He was curious about the context, but while they were here, he wanted to explore on his own for a little bit. Maybe he could sneak off. Or, at the very least, find Cider and ride his tail for the remainder of the trip. He continued on ahead through the city streets and found himself wandering through what seemed to be an outdoor market. People had stalls set up with colorful trinkets, fruit, and other goods to be consumed. It was busy, and Zephyr was quite mesmerized by the colorful tapestries, but his moment of wonder was interrupted by a cynical inner voice.

Don't run into anyone, you're wandering around like an idiot and not watching where you're going.

He was right, but Zephyr still cursed the fact that his moment of silence was interrupted.

"I'm being careful," he assured as he removed himself from the crowd to stop by a vendor selling some sort of spices or powder. Though he was clearly just observing, the seller immediately began on the small talk, which Zephyr happily indulged in. However, he soon began to feel overwhelmed with the bustle of the crowd, and excused himself as he felt the corners of his vision begin to blur. He needed to find somewhere quiet to hang out for a while.

It's too loud.

"I know it is, thank you." The constant nagging was not helping, and Zephyr wandered farther than he was sure he was supposed to. It wasn't his fault, his only mission right now was just to cool off. Chronos would just have to give him a hearty scolding later. The clearing ahead was just a dusty and sandy dead end with sandstone bricks lining it in a circle. He thought here would be a good spot to rest, but it seemed he'd wandered onto territory that was equally as money-hungry as the place he'd just come from. Well, as of now, he thought that was true anyway. A cough caught his attention, and he turned his attention to a cart that, unlike the stands, seemed to be made for easy transportation. Stood next to it was a man who wore something that gave no indication he was from Aksemhat at all. His clothes were all black, and nearly covered him completely, which meant he'd surely overheat from the sun if he planned on staying for long.

"Hey yyouu, you look like you're looking for something." His voice was almost enough to put Zephyr at ease. It reminded him of Cider's, but given his background, maybe that wasn't a good sign.

Now you've done it.

"Shutup!" Zephyr harshly whispered to no one and covered it up with a cough. "I am, I'm just looking, thanks."

"Juust looking? I promise, I can give you something that'll fill the hole your money leaves after it's given to me. Come, come, take a look." Before Zephyr could make any protests, the man had his long claws around his arm and pulled him toward his wares. Which were, to be quite frank, junk. It was all a bunch of garbage, though labeled with prices and titles meant to hype them up. Like the horribly drab carpet he was selling that was labeled with a sign that said "Traveling Carpet - 500" Zephyr wasn't buying any of this stuff, not a chance.

What is this? A shadow crossed the corner of his vision. Seth stood right in front of the cart and was transfixed by something. He extended his hand to touch the object, but pulled away once he remembered he couldn't pick things up. Ask him what this is.

"What, uh..." Zephyr peered around to see a spiky white crystal. It was one of the cheaper things he sold, and it was labeled ''Pure Astral Separation - 200' "...What's this?"

"Ooh! You're just like me, are you? You know, this item is actually very valuable. I'm only selling it because I used it, and it worked for me in just under six months. If you're tired of the looming threat of losing yourself to power, this crystal can manifest complete separation from your astral soul," the man rambled. It seemed... Impossible. Not that it was impossible to separate your personal soul from your god soul. Just that, there was typically a very special way that had to be done, and Zephyr was sure that it didn't involve a crystal. Not that he was an expert, of course. While he wasn't convinced in the slightest, Seth seemed oddly eager, which scared him a bit. Seth didn't typically express anything except for resentment, and now it was as if he'd been presented a wrapped gift. But, 200 was just...

"Does it work?" The words weren't Zephyr's own.

"I just said it does. Look at me, I'm all personality. No more losing myself to nonconsensual fits of rage." He smirked, tired eyes glancing over the top of his shades. Everything about this mysterious man made it obvious he wasn't to be trusted, and Seth was always getting after Zephyr for being a gullible idiot. Even still, Seth started to reach for the pocket that was Zephyr's just a few minutes ago.

What are you doing?

"Is 200 the final price? Or can we negotiate?" Seth asked as he counted the money in his hand.

"Hm... Well, you are a new customer, and I always welcome frequent buyers. I could give you a newcomers discount. 150." The offer hung over Seth's head, and he paced in place for a moment.

"Tell me how it works."

"You charge it outside under a bewitching moon. A bewitching moon is the moon that occurs on the night of the 30th of every month," the man explained.

"Not every month has a 30th."

"You can't charge it during the month where there's no 30th, duh. You need to set it outside once the sun finishes setting and take it back inside before the sun rises. Eventually, the crystal will draw out your god soul and personal soul, creating two separate entities."

"And this... Worked for you?" Seth questioned skeptically.

"What do you want me to do, prove it?" The man laughed, and suddenly Seth's eyes were swirling with something all too familiar.

Don't do this. Please don't do this, it's not real. We're not buying it.

Seth outstretched his claws and bore his teeth as he stepped closer.

"Yeah. Prove it. Keep your cool."

"What are you...?" The man started to back away, but Seth grabbed him and threw him over the wheels of his cart, and towered over him as he clawed the sand, trying desperately to get away.

Stop, stop, stop!

The room was dark, only illuminated by the candle Zephyr routinely lit before laying down for bed. The only thing is, he didn't remember how he got here in the first place, or if he was even the one who lit the candle. Slowly and cautiously, Zephyr set aside Seth's wolf plush he had cradled in his arms. The first thing he noticed was that the crystal from earlier was sitting on his bedside table. A gasp escaped Zephyr's lips, which was apparently enough to prompt a sleep-deprived annoyance.

Go back to sleep.

"You didn't."

You're right, I didn't. I mauled him within an inch of his life, but he wasn't lying. He didn't rage. He was hardly even able to fight back. But by the time I got him in the state he was in, I realized I could just take the crystal. So promise me you'll keep up with charging it.

"It's the fifteenth."

This will help you too.

Zephyr supposed that was true. Deciding not to argue any further, he did what was suggested to him and just decided to lie down. He was sure he'd get the missing details from Chronos and Cider in the morning.

Patience was a virtue, or so he'd been told. So for nine long, painful months, Seth waited for something to happen. A sign, a tingle, anything that indicated that he'd wake up one day in his own body, separate from Zephyr, separate from all of this. But the time never came. Under six months his ass. He couldn't believe he fell for something like this. He didn't even pay for anything, so it wasn't a refund Seth was after. He wanted revenge. You don't string someone along for so long. This was war, and one Seth was going to win, at that. Blood was the strongest scent one could track, and Seth never forgot the smell of blood he'd shed. Finding this guy was going to be a walk in the park, especially considering he knew what kind of business he was in.

As it turns out, it's not a smart idea to stay in the same place you've scammed someone before. Zephyr was a bit skeptical that Seth knew what he was doing when they landed back in Aksemhat. It'd been almost a year, why would he still be here? But, sure enough, Seth found his way to a small building nestled between shops. There was only one light on inside, which was mistake number two. Never indicate that you're home alone, especially when you're being hunted. Not that he was aware Seth was after him, anyway. This is a stupid idea. Get us out of here. "I know what I'm doing," Seth scowled. At first, he tried the door. There wasn't any reason to make a scene, after all. But when all he achieved was rattling it back and forth, it was time to try the window he saw the light from. He didn't hesitate. Seth slammed his whole body through the glass, ignoring any injuries he might have sustained. A loud scream rang out, and Seth looked up to be face-to-face with the same man who'd scammed him. "What the- What- It's you... What are you doing here?" He gasped, scooting off his bed and scampering toward the door, but Seth was much quicker than him and the room was far too small for him to be subtle. Seth grabbed his tail and held him in place. "You lied to me, the crystal didn't work," Seth hissed. "So?? It's not like you paid for it! What does it matter, anyway? You got scammed, it happens, tough break. That's on you." "So you admit it? You scammed me, you know you scammed me." Seth's grip tightened on his tail, and he let out a pained whimper. "Well, I'm not in a position to lie to you, am I? You're going to kill me, I'm not stupid. I mean, look at the damage you did." He was right, it appeared. All over his body were still scars from Seth mauling him. In a way, Seth was proud. He made this con artist suffer, and now he was going to do it again, and again, and again. "I guess I had a good run. Go on, do your thing." The calm tone to his voice pissed Seth off even more. "You're not scared?" "I've been waiting for my demise for a long time. Why would I stop you?" He shrugged, suddenly nonchalant like he wasn't just panicking over an intruder in his home. Honestly, Seth was caught off guard, and even though his eyes narrowed, his grip loosened. "You're lying." "Am I? Look... You. I'm sorry, I have no idea what your name is." "... I don't know yours either." "Well, mine's Aaron. I guess it's important to know what your food's called before you try it. In any case, my life's gone to shit lately. Business has been the opposite of booming, and I've been struggling to make ends meet. So, you'd be doing a service to me by ending my life." The way Aaron's body completely untensed told Seth that maybe he was being truthful for once. But now what was he to do? It wouldn't feel right to just kill him, he was practically begging for it after all. After some careful consideration, Seth stood up, and so did Aaron after he glanced around like someone else was gonna jump out of the shadows. "I'm not going to kill you." "Figures," Aaron scoffed. Then, in another swift, violent motion, Seth pinned him against the wall, clawing a big mark on his chest in the process. "But whenever I feel like it, I'm going to beat the shit out of you. Whenever I need to blow off steam, I'm going to find you, and I'm going to make you regret ever leaving your house." "Good luck with that. I travel a lot, you know. You just happened to catch me at home. You're not special." In Aaron's eyes was a air of taunting, beckoning. He wanted Seth to take another shot at him. He wanted Seth to kill him. But he wasn't going to give in. Just killing him wouldn't be satisfying, he was going to torture him. "This dump? This isn't a home. Where do you even stay when you travel?"

"What do you care?" After he asked, Seth contemplated whether or not he was serious about what he was going to offer. But he had the perfect opportunity to corner Aaron, and he was gonna take it. "You could stay..." I'm going to stop you right there. Zephyr scolded, and Seth paused to growl in response. "You could stay with me. And... Two other guys. If you're looking for a roommate situation." "Oh, sure, let me stay with the guy who offered to kill me like five seconds ago." "I said I'm not going to kill you." "And that you're going to beat me up. Which sounds delightful, but I'll pass." With that, Aaron seemed to think he could decide the conversation was over, and walked to the door. But as soon as his hand was on the doorknob, Seth's hand was on his, and his body was pressed into the door. "I wasn't giving you an option."

[wolfblood-of-anubis]

somethings to say about the Nina tribute video:

i originally planned on her video maybe being 5 minutes long

def was not my plan to have a 15 minute video. (14:50 if you wanna get technical)

wowza.

and im STILL missing the uncut version (yep there's more!)

but im honestly okay with it bc well the thing about nina is that she had SO much going on:

navigating a new school and residence, dodging false accusations from an angry girl, meeting this mysterious woman that sends her on a quest, becoming the de-facto leader of a new group and people looking to her for what to do next, sarah dying, hearing voices around the house, thinking she may be going insane, rufus zeno threatening not just her life but her friends’ lives as well, learning she’s the chosen one and assembling a magical cup all in less than five minutes, an evil spirit threatening her life and now her bf’s life and now her friends’ and grandmother’s life unless she finds some mystical mask in a set of tunnels under the house, accidentally hexing her friends leading to alfie regressing to a child and baby; and amber aging to a very scary point, choosing to put on the mask of anubis in order to save her friends and gran’s lives which meant her going into the field of rushes and just flat out die basically. all the while deal with romance drama and joy’s villain era.

so to put all of that in a five minute video would not suffice it nor do her justice

i did try and do parts for each song

power of the mind is and always will be a nina song, it was the first song i picked out for her and i just think it really fits her

like the first song is mainly her introduction, the most important bits like meeting sarah, getting the locket, her parallels to sarah and her ingenuity as well as smarts and recklessness too, just her character overall and then we slowly moved to chosen one stuff in the next song and then senkhara's hold over her as well as why she wants the mask after that

i didnt show a lot of rufus going down bc it's nina's story to tell, rufus is a whole other thing and at the end, i really tried to focus on nina specifically

that being said, it does end with fabian (and amber) missing her, the last bit of her being the hand written letter (not the locket, that's another thing entirely) i wanted to focus on something nina did rather than what she was given

i used imovie for the software, dont really have anything to say about it bc its free for me so i dont really know other video editing software *shrug*

the penultimate song (the way by zack hemsey) was almost this song called dwell on dreams and i changed it bc it was just too uplifting, like nope, we gotta go down darkness right now

i listened to like eight different songs trying to decide what fit fabina in the end, and i think last kiss by taylor swift really does summarize them in majority, if anyone else has another song please let me know

there’s seriously enough recorded content to make a senkhara video im ngl

also a victor video would be fun too but i’d have to go back and record his scenes again bc i was mainly focused on sibuna stuff

at one point nina’s video has over 54 minutes of content. yep. (thats not including the fabina scenes. in total it should come around to an hour and thirteen minutes. yep.)

15 doesnt sound like a lot now, does it?

i just realized while i didnt end up publishing it on July 7th, i managed to get it out there on July 17 which i think is a fun win!

my favorite part of the video is prob when vera asks victor “what is it about that girl? she makes you nervous, decidedly nervous.” i love it, i wished more characters talked about nina and what she can do, like idk rufus or some of the teachers smth like “dont underestimate them. especially nina martin.” and shit.

like for example in the s1 ending for HHA victor’s on the phone w the real bad guy or whatever, and he’s asking who’s responsible for all this shit and victor answers, “Her name… is Nienke. Nienke Martens.” or smth like that i cant remember

the next video is Alfie’s and i hope his does remain with five minutes bc the song i have for him is perfect and unlike Nina he does have one direct line of evolution from class clown to traumatized to untrustworthy sibuna to brave sibuna, proving to us and to his friends but most importantly to himself that he’s the bravest sibuna no matter what.

[sl-newsie]

Spelled (Carlos de Vil x Sanderson Daughter) Ch. 22: Evil In The Eyes of the Beholder

“Do you think she’ll ever wake up?”

“Only time will tell.”

“See? She’s a good witch!”

“But she made me dance!”

“It wasn’t all her fault. You pushed her to the edge!”

When I open my eyes, I’m surrounded by bright lights and many faces. The 4 VKs, Ben, Audrey, Doug, Lonnie, Jane, Fairy Godmother- the whole room is crowded.

“Look! She’s awake!” Carlos exclaims and squeezes my hand.

“W- Where am I? What happened? Where’s Maleficent?!”

I scramble to sit up but it’s as if half my energy has been drained. But I was just sleeping…? Looking around, I see that I’m lying on a cot set up in Ben’s room. It looks like sunset outside, but there’s no telling of how long I’ve been unconscious.

“Calm down, trixie. Maleficent’s a lizard now!” Jay pats my shoulder.

“Wait- what?”

Over on my right, Mal holds up her palm to show me a tiny, purple lizard. “Magica, say hello to my mom.”

I give the lizard a wide-eyed look and slowly raise a hand. “Um, hello.” I notice an unusual smell and look to see a strange candle burning on a nearby desk. “Is that- is that a black flame candle?”

“Gracious, no!” Fairy Godmother assures me.

“It’s a healing candle, trixie,” Jay explains. “And I don’t know how black flame candles are made, but trust me you do not wanna know how this one is!”

“That protection spell was incredible, Sparks!” Ben comes over and gives me a soft hug. 

“Ben, get away from her! She’ll just hex us again.” Audrey tries to break us apart but Carlos pushes her away.

“She’s not evil, Audrey. Just because she’s smarter and prettier than you doesn’t mean you need to hate her.”

Audrey’s face twitches. “Prettier?” She pivots and storms out. When she’s gone we all try not to giggle.

“She’s never gonna forgive you for that,” Ben points at Carlos.

He leans against the bedframe and crosses his arms. “All worth it.”

“We’re sorry, Magica.” Jane gives me a wistful look and the other Auradon students join her.

“Yeah. We all assumed that because your mom is, you know, evil and all, that you were trying to spell us after the family day dance-off.”

I hang my head in shame and feel Carlos inch closer to give me comfort. “I truly am sorry for betraying your trust, however you yourselves must also admit your wrongdoing.”

“She’s right,” Ben agrees. “We all assumed she was evil just because she wouldn’t help us anymore. We pushed her too hard and paid the price.”

Evie snickers. “Yeah, by dancing!”

I can see she’s standing next to Doug, and I’m filled with potential hope that maybe they can kindle a relationship after all.

“Everyone should be hating me insead,” Jane tries to comfort me. “I’m the one who opened the barrier. All just because I want to be beautiful like you, Magica.”

“But you don’t need to want it, because you have it.” I take Jane’s hand with my free one. “Everyone’s idea of beauty is different. You are beautiful, Jane.”

Fairy Godmother now calls attention. “Um, fellow students? I’m going to need a moment to talk with Magica alone.”

The students start filing out, but Carlos stays a bit longer to kiss my cheek and give me a comforting smile. After everyone’s gone, FG comes over to sit on the cot next to me.

“Headmistress I’m so sorry-” I weakly try to sit up again.

“Shh, shh. Calm down, Magica. You’ve drained a lot out of yourself, and need to rest.” Fairy Godmother presses a hand to my cheek and smiles down at me. “I’m so proud of you!”

I try to shift to a better sitting up position, ignoring the clenching pain in my chest. “You are?”

“Of course, dear! You protected us.”

“B- But yesterday… What I did-”

“-Is all forgiven. Trust me, after being Headmistress here I’ve seen a lot of strange pranks. Hexing people to dance is pretty tame compared to other works I’ve had to deal with. After today, it’s us who should be apologizing to you. We had no right to assume you were a threat and treat you like one.” 

“They won’t see it that way. All the other students hate me now. I think it’s best if I just disappear for a while. That way I won’t pose a threat and can exercise my magic in peace.”

FG shows concern but nods in respect. “If that is what you wish. I’ll set up a safe space for you to practice. That patch in the school gardens is a bit too small, wouldn’t you say?”

My eyes widen. “You knew?”

She smiles. “I’m the Fairy Godmother. I always know. I will say that your improvements have been very impressive. You’ve definitely proven to be the top of Goodness 2.0.”

I return her smile and begin to slide off the cot in attempts to stand. “Thank you. For believing in me.”

“Focusing on the future is sort of my thing.” FG threads an arm around me to help me keep balance. “And I think you’re going to have a very important role in our future.”

Future. A word I’ve always feared, but now I’m starting to see a light at the end of a very twisted tunnel. I really want a bright future. With Carlos. But for now that sadly has to wait.

“Do you want to say goodbye to your friends?” Fairy Godmother asks as she gestures to the door.

I nod. “Yes. I’m ready to face them.”

Outside, my fellow Auradon students are talking amongst each other. Doug and Evie seem to be taking attempts at flirting, Ben, Mal, and Jane are discussing upcoming school events, and Carlos and Jay keep play-fighting. Once everyone sees me, they all go silent.

“Hey guys. I suppose you’re wondering about what happens now. Well… The Headmistress and I have decided that it’s best for me and the good of Auradon that I take a leave of absence. I just need to make a few adjustments before I go into hiding.”

“Hiding?” Evie asks unsurely. “But why? Everyone knows you’re not evil!”

“That is sadly untrue, Evie. The people of Auradon will always harbor distrust for me. And I know more than others how long it takes to build a lifestyle, so I’m cutting out the middleman and avoiding people altogether. I do, however, need a favor from you.”

“What is it, trixie?”

“I must request that you all vow to never speak of my whereabouts. The less people know of me, the better. Do you accept?”

My colleagues all exchange sad and worried looks.

“You’ll stay safe, right?” Doug asks.

“Of course she will. She’s a Sanderson witch!” Jane says encouragingly. 

“By the way, nice invisible cloak.” Mal nods approvingly. “You’re a fast learner when it comes to magic.”

“She always has been.” Ben wraps an arm around my shoulder. “I’m gonna miss you, Sparks.”

But Carlos doesn’t seem to agree with their contentment. “Wait. You’re leaving?”

[computergimp]

can I get some uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh ASCII(7) Linux Programmer's Manual ASCII(7)

NAME ascii - ASCII character set encoded in octal, decimal, and hexadecimal

DESCRIPTION ASCII is the American Standard Code for Information Interchange. It is a 7-bit code. Many 8-bit codes (e.g., ISO 8859-1) contain ASCII as their lower half. The international counterpart of ASCII is known as ISO 646-IRV. The following table contains the 128 ASCII characters. C program '\X' escapes are noted. │ Oct Dec Hex Char │ Oct Dec Hex Char ────────────────────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────── 000 0 00 NUL '\0' (null character) │ 100 64 40 @ 001 1 01 SOH (start of heading) │ 101 65 41 A 002 2 02 STX (start of text) │ 102 66 42 B 003 3 03 ETX (end of text) │ 103 67 43 C 004 4 04 EOT (end of transmission) │ 104 68 44 D 005 5 05 ENQ (enquiry) │ 105 69 45 E 006 6 06 ACK (acknowledge) │ 106 70 46 F 007 7 07 BEL '\a' (bell) │ 107 71 47 G 010 8 08 BS '\b' (backspace) │ 110 72 48 H 011 9 09 HT '\t' (horizontal tab) │ 111 73 49 I 012 10 0A LF '\n' (new line) │ 112 74 4A J 013 11 0B VT '\v' (vertical tab) │ 113 75 4B K 014 12 0C FF '\f' (form feed) │ 114 76 4C L 015 13 0D CR '\r' (carriage ret) │ 115 77 4D M 016 14 0E SO (shift out) │ 116 78 4E N 017 15 0F SI (shift in) │ 117 79 4F O 020 16 10 DLE (data link escape) │ 120 80 50 P 021 17 11 DC1 (device control 1) │ 121 81 51 Q 022 18 12 DC2 (device control 2) │ 122 82 52 R 023 19 13 DC3 (device control 3) │ 123 83 53 S 024 20 14 DC4 (device control 4) │ 124 84 54 T 025 21 15 NAK (negative ack.) │ 125 85 55 U 026 22 16 SYN (synchronous idle) │ 126 86 56 V 027 23 17 ETB (end of trans. blk) │ 127 87 57 W 030 24 18 CAN (cancel) │ 130 88 58 X 031 25 19 EM (end of medium) │ 131 89 59 Y 032 26 1A SUB (substitute) │ 132 90 5A Z 033 27 1B ESC (escape) │ 133 91 5B [ 034 28 1C FS (file separator) │ 134 92 5C \ '\\' 035 29 1D GS (group separator) │ 135 93 5D ] 036 30 1E RS (record separator) │ 136 94 5E ^ 037 31 1F US (unit separator) │ 137 95 5F _ 040 32 20 SPACE │ 140 96 60 ` 041 33 21 ! │ 141 97 61 a 042 34 22 " │ 142 98 62 b 043 35 23 # │ 143 99 63 c 044 36 24 $ │ 144 100 64 d 045 37 25 % │ 145 101 65 e 046 38 26 & │ 146 102 66 f 047 39 27 ' │ 147 103 67 g 050 40 28 ( │ 150 104 68 h 051 41 29 ) │ 151 105 69 i 052 42 2A * │ 152 106 6A j 053 43 2B + │ 153 107 6B k 054 44 2C , │ 154 108 6C l 055 45 2D - │ 155 109 6D m 056 46 2E . │ 156 110 6E n 057 47 2F / │ 157 111 6F o 060 48 30 0 │ 160 112 70 p 061 49 31 1 │ 161 113 71 q 062 50 32 2 │ 162 114 72 r 063 51 33 3 │ 163 115 73 s 064 52 34 4 │ 164 116 74 t 065 53 35 5 │ 165 117 75 u 066 54 36 6 │ 166 118 76 v 067 55 37 7 │ 167 119 77 w 070 56 38 8 │ 170 120 78 x 071 57 39 9 │ 171 121 79 y 072 58 3A : │ 172 122 7A z 073 59 3B ; │ 173 123 7B { 074 60 3C < │ 174 124 7C | 075 61 3D = │ 175 125 7D } 076 62 3E > │ 176 126 7E ~ 077 63 3F ? │ 177 127 7F DEL

Tables For convenience, below are more compact tables in hex and decimal. 2 3 4 5 6 7 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 ------------- --------------------------------- 0: 0 @ P ` p 0: ( 2 < F P Z d n x 1: ! 1 A Q a q 1: ) 3 = G Q [ e o y 2: " 2 B R b r 2: * 4 > H R \ f p z 3: # 3 C S c s 3: ! + 5 ? I S ] g q { 4: $ 4 D T d t 4: " , 6 @ J T ^ h r | 5: % 5 E U e u 5: # - 7 A K U _ i s } 6: & 6 F V f v 6: $ . 8 B L V ` j t ~ 7: ' 7 G W g w 7: % / 9 C M W a k u DEL 8: ( 8 H X h x 8: & 0 : D N X b l v 9: ) 9 I Y i y 9: ' 1 ; E O Y c m w A: * : J Z j z B: + ; K [ k { C: , < L \ l | D: - = M ] m } E: . > N ^ n ~ F: / ? O _ o DEL

NOTES History An ascii manual page appeared in Version 7 of AT&T UNIX. On older terminals, the underscore code is displayed as a left arrow, called backarrow, the caret is displayed as an up-arrow and the verti‐ cal bar has a hole in the middle. Uppercase and lowercase characters differ by just one bit and the ASCII character 2 differs from the double quote by just one bit, too. That made it much easier to encode characters mechanically or with a non-mi‐ crocontroller-based electronic keyboard and that pairing was found on old teletypes. The ASCII standard was published by the United States of America Stan‐ dards Institute (USASI) in 1968.

SEE ALSO charsets(7), iso_8859-1(7), iso_8859-2(7), iso_8859-3(7), iso_8859-4(7), iso_8859-5(7), iso_8859-6(7), iso_8859-7(7), iso_8859-8(7), iso_8859-9(7), iso_8859-10(7), iso_8859-11(7), iso_8859-13(7), iso_8859-14(7), iso_8859-15(7), iso_8859-16(7), utf-8(7)

COLOPHON This page is part of release 5.13 of the Linux man-pages project. A description of the project, information about reporting bugs, and the latest version of this page, can be found at https://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/.

Linux 2020-06-09 ASCII(7)

[muggsyandfriends]

Veegriz, AKA "Vee" - Not as Intense as She Looks

(original art by foresttherotten / forestbox / foretbwat; lightly edited by me)

Character Sheet below the cut

Class: warlock lvl 1

Species: goblin

Background: sage

Alignment: Neutral Good

Ability Scores

Strength: 10 (+0) (Average)

Dexterity: 13 (+1) (boosted by 2) (Nimble)

Constitution: 10 (+0) (boosted by 1) (Average)

Intelligence: 13 (+1) (Bright)

Wisdom: 14 (+2) (Astute)

Charisma: 16 (+3) (Eloquent)

Proficiency Bonus: +2

Saving Throws

STR: +0

DEX: +1

CON: +0

INT: +1

WIS: +4 (class proficiency)

CHA: +5 (class proficiency)

Skills

Acrobatics (DEX): +1

Animal Handling (WIS): +2

Arcana (INT): +3 (background proficiency)

Athletics (STR): +0

Deception (CHA): +5 (class proficiency)

History (INT): +3 (background proficiency)

Insight (WIS): +2

Intimidation (CHA): +3

Intimidation (STR)*: +0

Investigation (INT): +3 (class proficiency)

Medicine (WIS): +2

Nature (INT): +1

Perception (WIS): +2

Performance (CHA): +3

Persuasion (CHA): +3

Religion (INT): +1

Sleight of Hand (DEX): +1

Stealth (DEX): +1

Survival (WIS): +2

*homebrew rule where you use Strength instead of Charisma as the modifier for Intimidation

Passive Wisdom (Perception): 12

Passive Wisdom (Insight): 12

Passive Intelligence (Investigation): 13

Other Proficiencies: simple weapons, light armor

Languages: Common, Goblin, Elvish, Gnomish

Armor Class: 12

Initiative Bonus: +1

Speed: 30 ft. (6 sq.)

Long Jump: 10 ft; 5 ft. w/o running start

High Jump: 3 ft; 1.5 ft. w/o running start

Maximum Hit Points: 8

Hit Dice: d8

Attacks and Spells

Light Crossbow (Weapon Properties: range, ammunition, loading, two-handed; Attack Bonus: +3; Damage: 1d8+1 piercing; Range: 80/320 ft. (16/64 sq.))

Sickle (Weapon Properties: light; Attack Bonus: +2; Damage: 1d4 slashing)

Dagger (Weapon Properties: finesse, light, thrown; Attack Bonus: +2 (STR)/+3 (DEX); Damage: 1d4(+1 w/ DEX) piercing; Throwing Range: 20/60 ft. (4/12 sq.))

Eldritch Blast (evocation cantrip; casting time: action; range: 120 ft. (24 sq.); components: V, S; duration: instantaneous; damage: 1d10 force)

Prestidigitation (transmutation cantrip; casting time: action; range: 10 ft. (2 sq.); components: V, S; duration: 1 hour)

Chaos Bolt (lvl 1 evocation; casting time: action; range: 120 ft; components: V, S; duration: instantaneous)

Hex (lvl 1 enchantment; casting time: bonus action; range: 90 ft. (18 sq.); components: V, S, M (the petrified eye of a newt); duration: concentration, up to 1 hour; damage boost: 1d6 necrotic)

Equipment

leather armor (10 lbs.)

light crossbow (5 lbs.)

20 bolts (1.5 lbs.)

sickle (2 lbs.)

2 daggers (2 lbs.)

arcane focus (orb) (3 lbs.)

book of occult lore (5 lbs.)

scholar's pack (10 lbs.)

--backpack (5 lbs.)

--book of lore (5 lbs.)

--bottle of ink (1 oz.)

--ink pen

--10 sheets of parchment

--a little bag of sand

--a small knife

bottle of black ink (1 oz.)

quill

small knife

set of common clothes (3 lbs.)

belt pouch for money (1 lb.)

Carrying Capacity: 150 lbs.

Lift/Drag: 300 lbs.

Money: 10 gp

Personality Traits: Laidback, relaxed, tolerant in approach; it really doesn't take much to make me happy.

Ideal: Self-Improvement. The Goal of a life of study is the betterment of oneself.

Bond: Loyal to my friends, Falizi and Jil

Flaw: I'm easily distracted by the promise of information.

Reason for Adventuring: For fun!

Features and Traits: Darkvision (60 ft.); Fury of the Small; Nimble Escape; Researcher; Specialty: Librarian; Pact Magic; Otherworldly Patron: Beholder (homebrew subclass); Expanded Spell List; Aberrant Sight

Age: 25

Height: 3'11"

Weight: 41 lbs.

Eyes: red

Skin: olive green

Hair: platinum blonde

Spellcasting Ability: Charisma

Spell Save DC: 13

Spell Attack Bonus: +5

Cantrips: 2 -- Eldritch Blast; Prestidigitation

Lvl 1 Spell Slots: 1

Known non-Cantrip Spells: 2 - Chaos Bolt, Hex

Trivia

Has "resting crazy face"; default expression looks more manic than she actually is. It may be the eyebrows and the smaller irises, or maybe it's her tendency to smile a bit too wide for other people's liking.

Has an interesting body type: large bust, thin waist AND hips. In other words, T-shape. (Please keep any tasteless, lewd comments you may have to yourself.)

Being a warlock with a beholder for a patron, she has unusually good eyesight. Sometimes, Vee even hears her patron mentioning that it'll get even better in time...

[the-silver-peahen-residence]

Hi there! I remember that we saw Hellmare have her little girl Cassie but that leaves me wonder, Melinda? What about you? What was Jaron's reaction when he had Abigail. I mean, you and him were the first to have a child right?

@demon-blood-youths

"Huh? Oh hello." Melinda was just setting down Ben for a nap as he was happily asleep hugging his lung dragon plush. His little hand being held near his mouth as he was sucking on something.

"Hmmmm, yes it's true everyone is happy about little Cassie being born. I think it's adorable even so." she smiled happy but she looks to the anon while already having Abigail taking her nap when hearing the other question.

"Jaron's reaction when I had Abi? Well, I will say he was happy at first but also nervous. I mean, we were the first ones to have a kid before others did the same after. And she was our baby." she mutters remembering but moves her hand having a blanket come over but sees it land. It was a baby blanket a pink one but it was Abi's when she was a baby.

"It almost seems like yesterday when I heard he wanted to start a family..." she said touching it. Still soft even to these years.

~~~~~~~~~~

"W..Wait, you want a what?" Melinda was already married to him but Jaron was flushed a bit remembering to look ahead.

"You heard me. I..I want us to start a family one day. I mean.....I don't want to make you think I'll force you of course not. I just..." He held her hand while she was blushing a bit. "You mean a lot to me Melinda. Given you are my wife now..I just want us to be happy and..if you are not ready for that...I understand." he said and yet Melinda blinks not expecting this.

"I..I didn't say that. I was just..not expecting you wanting to start a family......I would love to but...are you sure?" she asked but he only smiled to hold her hand resting his forehead against hers. She blinks but closed her eyes as he was smiling.

"With you...of course. I would be happy to start a family with you.."

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

"I'll admit we were both nervous thinking of starting one. I mean, we would but at first it was a shy moment even working up to that point till I was at a good point of being very fertile." she said to think. "So it was a nervous night for both of us.."

~~~~~~~~~~~

She did remember being there with him in the room alone but he was holding her cheek while he looks to her. Sitting right on his lap while she was blushing herself. Even now he was still nervous just like she was.

"........"

"You okay Jaron?" she asked holding his hand to her cheek. He said nothing but sighed to nod.

"I'm alright but....."

"But?"

"Are you really sure you wish to do this? We don't have to do this if your not ready Melinda." He held her close to him but even if she was nervous Melinda only held onto him that she looks to him.

"I'm sure....I want to start a family with you my jackal. I would be so happy and honored to carry your little ones.." she smiled with eyes closed even if he was silent he only blushed to look at her.

"......Then I'll be happy to grant that. I'll be gentle.. "he said softly before kissing her.

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

"I know at the time we did do what was needed that night but I'm not saying that to you as it's private. But....in the next morning, I found out I was pregnant due to morning sickness. Still very uncomfortable." she sighed.

"But after that, I started my time of carrying a little one after we confirmed I was indeed with child. Everyone was happy about it even if Jaron was too. We worked together during the nine months taking it slow, getting advice from Hex, Ophelia, and swan. Making sure things were ready when the little one comes. We didn't know it was a girl at the time till I was being checked after a bit.

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

"Alright let me see...." Ophelia looks moving the ultrasound around for Melinda while she was 20 weeks pregnant. However, Jaron was nervous as Melinda was curious laying there but she did bare the darn super cold gel used during this.

"Ah! There we go." she said moving to show the two as Melinda and Jaron blinks seeing something. "Wait..I..Is that the baby?"

"Yes. The baby is growing nicely and seems very healthy too. I know it's the case since they are going to be a baby demon though." Ophelia smiled pushing up her glasses.

"Wait...are we having a boy or a girl?" Jaron asked while holding Melinda's hand. Ophelia smiled to look at them.

"Your having a baby girl. She is still healthy and growing well. I'll still will check and keep up to date during her growth." she said as Melinda looks but she was not expecting this.

"A baby..girl......wow I.....this is so cool. Right jaron? Were going to have a baby girl." she smiled even if Jaron smiled.

"Y..Yeah...." he laughed but he was happy deep down.

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

"Over the months, I was getting checked up, but showing given that everyone was curious of the gender. We did that during a reveal party so they knew that I was having a baby girl." Melinda smiled but looks to Abi. "Though, I was also on a strict status where I couldn't do anything for a while after I started showing a bit more. My stomach was growing knowing my little girl was healthy. Though, most got a bit..protective."

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

"Echo...." Melinda was worried while rubbing her stomach seeing that as she grumbled. Echo was glaring at someone who was shaking since he was trying to attack her.

"Because this jerk called you fat and tried to hurt you! WHO YOU CALLING FAT YOU DONKEY FACED ASSHOLE!? You wanna have your face blown off!!!" she growls with the vixens sweatdropping. The DBT said nothing but Jaron facepalms shaking his head.

"You have a problem man!" the guy said.

"HEY DON'T YELL AT MY GIRLFRIEND LIKE THAT! YOUR LUCKY WE WON'T BOMB YOUR ASS!" Navarro said angry but Melinda sweatdrops to sigh.

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

"But after all that, it leads up to the time I was going to give birth. It was scary but painful at first. But I was fine none the less. Jaron was there with me at the time worried about me but in the end it was alright.." she smiled to look at her kids. "........Though, I'll say he was happy."

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

"Alright Miss Jackal. Just one more push. You can do it!" a nurse said as Melinda was already feeling the baby almost out but she was squeezing Jaron's hand who was worried for her. He wanted her and their baby to be safe. The fractions were in the waiting room but he was worried.

"Come on Melinda...you can do it. Don't give up." Jaron said worried.

"I.....I'm..n..not.....hurts too much.." she said panting with eyes closed but Jaron keeps holding her hand. He knew she had this but she takes a deep breath, holding on as she pushes hard. She grits her teeth crying while sweating as she cries out in pain.

Before long, a loud baby cry was heard making Jaron tense hearing it.

"She did it!" Hex said happy since he was there to help Ophelia along with Swan who was happy as she was holding a baby crying loudly in the room.

"It's a girl!!!" she said hearing the baby crying loudly as Melinda was panting crying as she heard her baby. They carefully takes her to let her see seeing she was going to be cleaned while crying. Strong lungs from the looks of it. However, Jaron was silent but looks to Melinda who was tired but looks up smiling.

"Good job Melinda..you did it..." he said while she was feeling him holding her hand. In a moment, Ophelia came back after a while showing a little baby girl all nice and clean in baby blankets before she looks to set her in Melinda's arms.

"Here you go....a healthy little girl. She looks so cute." she smiled as Melinda held her as she smiled.

"Thank you Ophelia." Melinda said happy but she then looks down seeing the baby.

"Hi little one....." she softly said as the baby's eyes were closed but she slowly saw the baby open her eyes slowly. Melinda saw almond color eyes as she was looking up seeing her mom. She coos softly before Melina smiled as she looks to Jaron.

"Hey, do you wanna hold your daughter?" she said softly as Jaron sits down near the hospital bed but carefully takes her. He looks to her while the baby blinks seeing him. He had no words but saw her slowly cooing again as she slowly reaches with a little baby hand for him. However, he moves his hand to let her hold one of his fingers that she grabs while Jaron held her.

"......H..Hey little one......nice to see you finally came to meet us....I'm you dad....." he softly said but he was trying his best not to cry being happy. Melinda smiled seeing this but he only sees her smile at her father as Jaron smiled.

Melinda thought it was adorable but she was happy. Ophelia smiled but she knew the others gave the news before asking, "Though; what are you two going to name her?" she asked as Jaron and Melinda looks to her then at each other then smiled.

"...Abigail....Abigail Layla Jackal." Melinda said but Jaron laughed to smile.

"Abigail Layla Jackal? That's a cute name for her. Welcome to the world Abigail." Ophelia said happy as Jaron smiled to gently give Abi back to Melinda as she held her to gently kiss her baby's forehead.

"Yeah..welcome to he world Abi." Jaron said crying as he kisses both her and Melinda.

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

"But from there, we went through some changes but we got through them. But it also resulted in me having our second little pup. Benjamin. But yeah, I can say he was happy. I know I am too." she smiled.