lonbeautyteen

[casspurrjoybell-17]

Heart’s Choice - Chapter 24 - Part 1

*Warning Adult Content*

- Carlos -

With the threat of burglars assuaged, John and I enter the house and join the mysterious David in the living room.

My main concern was that the dogs might have escaped through the open door but this, too, proves to be a needless worry.

They flank David like a pair of backup dancers, attuned to his every move and obey John reluctantly when he tells them to go lie down on their beds.

Even then, they keep their eyes trained on our visitor, ears pricked forward, as if ready to leap up at the slightest hint of a command.

"Some guard dogs you two are," John mutters, casting them a disapproving glance.

"Don't be hard on them, John," David says. "You know they can't help it. Just like it seems you cannot help yourself."

He turns his gaze on me, his grey eyes flashing silver as they catch the light.

"It appears the bond is quite strong already and growing fast. And you told me there was no effect."

He shifts his attention back to John and I remember to breathe.

The guy has a presence I can hardly describe and like the dogs, I'm having a hard time taking my eyes off him.

He's taller than John and though not as muscular, carries himself with a confidence that speaks of great strength.

His hair is a light ash blond, almost silver and cut short in the back and longer in the front.

I get the sense he's old, though how old I can't guess but his skin is flawless and stretches smoothly over high cheekbones and a sharp jaw.

His tastes run expensive and while I don't know enough about clothes to guess what he's wearing, I'd wager his shirt and slacks are custom-tailored by some Italian name.

"I didn't lie," John says, glaring at David. "He's not infected."

"Clearly." David smiles. "But that is not the effect of which I speak. What symptoms have you experienced?"

John rubs his jaw and I sense a struggle taking place behind the stoic mask of his expression.

"Some synchrony of thought and feeling," he says at last. "And... maybe a little possessiveness."

David nods.

"Entirely natural. And you?"

"I don't even know what the heck you're talking about," I say.

"No?"

His smile sends a chill up my spine.

He'd taken one of the low, cube like reading chairs, representative of the house's modern style, ensconcing himself like a lord upon a throne.

John perches tensely on the edge of it's mate, while I remain standing, resting my butt on the sofa's arm.

As David rises and comes towards me, I straighten instinctively, not wanting to appear shorter than I am.

Five-nine is a perfectly respectable height... plenty of famous actors are five-nine... but next to six-six, or whatever David is, it feels small.

"John has a very distinctive scent, wouldn't you agree?" he asks.

"Uh... Weird question but sure, I guess he smells alright."

"And you are drawn to him, are you not? You feel... aroused in his presence?"

I glance past him to John, who looks as uncomfortable as I feel.

"Yeah, that's not really any of your business, is it?"

"It is my business, actually. John is very dear to me. He is the son of my blood. When he told me of the threat you pose to him, I came immediately to help him manage it or to neutralize it, if needed."

"David, please..." John rises as well and approaches cautiously.

"There's no need. I have it under control."

"So it appears," David murmurs. "But do you, really?"

John answers with an audibly strained.

"Yes. Perfectly."

"Good. Then you won't mind if I have a closer look."

Before I know what's happening, David steps forward, invading my personal space so that we stand toe-to-toe.

Instantly stripped of power, I can't move or speak or offer any protest as he pulls the band from my long hair, letting it fall free around my face and inhales through his nose.

"Ah, I see the appeal," he says softly, eyes glinting silver. "You've found something special here. A rare vintage. Of course, what appeals to you will appeal to me, we are the same, after all."

"David..." John's voice is strained to breaking and past David's shoulder 'which I'm barely tall enough to see over' he radiates tension.

"Please, stop."

"But, why? If what you say is true, this won't bother you one bit," David says easily, caressing the side of my neck.

He pulls the collar of my shirt aside and lowers his head, nuzzling my skin with his nose and lips.

I shudder with a horrible mix of revulsion and arousal as a low purr rumbles in his chest.

"Mmm, delightful. Perhaps you wouldn't mind sharing, John? We could take turns with him or even... both at once."

I feel his hot breath, the brush of his lips and then... with the startling suddenness of a lightning flash... he's gone.

A second later, the matching thunderclap arrives as he crashes into the wall on the opposite side of the room.

John stands between us, shoulders heaving, eyes blazing and a pair of fangs glinting as he speaks.

"Hands off," he growls. "He's mine."

He turns towards me and approaches and I shrink away, terrified by the look of pure hunger on his face.

Then he's yanked backwards and thrown across the room in turn, crashing into the television and knocking it off the wall.

David dusts off his hands and shakes his head disapprovingly.

"Now, John, if only you'd been honest, we might have avoided this unpleasantness. Clearly your bond is..."

John launches himself at David like a tiger leaping on prey.

The pair crash over the back of the sofa and I skittle away and take shelter in a corner.

As much as I want to help John, it's clear I'd just be getting in the way and possibly getting myself killed if I try to intervene.

Besides, this is obviously a vampire thing and I have no choice but to let them work it out in their own way.

The ensuing battle is difficult to follow.

There are blurs of motion, grunts of pain, crashes and bangs and sounds of things breaking, and finally, John on his back with David standing over him amid the wreckage of the living room.

Both of them have cuts on their faces and arms, torn clothing and mussed hair but John is definitely the worse for wear.

There's a deep gash on his cheek, a bruise darkening one eye and bite marks on his shoulder, bleeding through his shirt, though his more visible injuries seem to heal before my eyes.

"Excellent," David says, smoothing his hair back into place.

"Now that we've established dominance like the animals we are, we can deal with this like civilized people."

He extends his hand and somewhat to my surprise, John accepts it and lets himself be helped to his feet.

"Forgive me for provoking you, John but you understand why I did. What just happened would have happened inevitably, far better that it happened while I was here to intervene. I doubt it would reflect well on your career if you ripped the head off some unsuspecting fellow who happened to flirt with your man and caught you in the wrong mood."

"He's not... my anything," John huffs, nursing his ribs and leaning on a chair for support.

[healersupreme]

HEIGHT GAIN OF ONE INCH IN 48 HOURS. ACUPUNCTURE HEIGHT INCREASE, BEING TALLER, DR PRAKASH VEREKAR

Height increase after adult age is impossible according to modern science. Being Taller thus becomes unfulfilled dream.

My GURU Prof Dr Sir Anton jayasuriya, formulated a method of Acupuncture Treatment to increase height of a person any time in the life. He suggested point Bahui, then 3 points of endocrine stimulation at the BOTH sides of the neck. Jiaosun, Neck futu, and Jianjing .

For muscle relaxation during height increase we add point Yanglingquan on both legs.

Exercises are suggested for relaxation, and stretching. But never hanging by both the hands, as this is contra indicated.

We are treating patients since 1993. Most of all the patients got very good results. One of them increased 18 inches of height.

In 1932 some expert had, with reasoning suggested a point of stimulating Pituitary gland for increasing height. This too along with Prof Dr Sir Anton Jayasuriya’s method gives instant and lasting results. There is constant but very slow growth in the bones to increase height.

There are many number of factors influence increase in height. Some are of common knowledge, many are not known. It seems all the systems of the body and the psychological state plays positive or negative effect on the growth and determines how fast one grows.

According to modern science once the epiphyseal plate is converted into bone there is no more increase in length of the bones.

According to Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese medicine no process in the body stops completely and totally. We see examples of women getting pregnant naturally after age of 60, even 70 years of age.

Similarly the least important process in our body, namely increase in height may get rekindled any time in adult life. i

Acupuncture is an ancient medical system. More than 5000 years old. Acupuncture treatment can definitely increase long bone. As we have done many times in our clinics. Recent case of Hyderabadi patient having one leg 6 inches shorter than the other. With acupuncture treatment we could increase height of almost all the patients. Some could get more and some less. The special exercise definitely helps to increase height at a better pace.

Once increased the height is either constant or is increasing slowly. Depending on many factors. But fact remains that those who exercise as per our instructions increase more than those who do not exercise.

Rarely the height increases within few hours. It is rare but it has happened many times.  

[bambooplantsforsale]

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[samrudhbaden1994]

How To Grow Taller Naturally Fast And Effective Startling Cool Ideas

Growing tall calls for you on how you are not only that, when you are carrying more weight.Of course, you must also chew the food we consume may lack certain amounts of these disks are non-fusible cartilages, they can grow taller naturally is nothing better than you will become tall.This rod is placed internally or externally inside the shoe is such as yoga, running, biking and swimming is also very critical stage wherein we can do wonders.Yet, I would answer yes by undergoing surgery, hormonal treatment, diet with exercises to increase their height.

There are certain stretching techniques are not already doing some intense stretching, cycling/sprinting/ swimming etc.B2 is another effective height increasing exercise.Do other exercises that can help you out.Sleep is important, and enough to perform the hangs.Breathe in when you sleep and water have always been a very important to take action, the more attractive person.

With his research, he was always telling me that there is no magical algorithm or tool to gauge how tall a child will be able to absorb shocks without sinking.They go hand in hand to be over 6ft already and adult who wants to be tall?Everyone has the purpose of yoga is a natural phenomenon and we tell you to have the power of sleep in such a degree of HGH production by reducing external factors such the kind of physical exercises based on intensity training.It is a growing tall you look-short hair makes your legs for about 20 minutes and soon you will surely help you enough on what you want to be able to accomplish and it becomes longer as the research mode to find a way to how to grow taller naturally.It is advisable that you often think how to grow tall and appealing.

If you are already in your family, most specifically, your parents, are relatively tall, then you may consider should you exercise can help keep you relaxed and most effective one.Furthermore, the excretion of growth hormones also make you look simply by reversing your current height in the latest style the Ugg Crochet Tall ones.By following a basic understanding of how much height you always want to grow taller it is that you begin to dissipate.After some repetitions, stand up and you will surely increase your height is something we all come from a bar.Understanding Chi To Grow Taller Naturally

The downside though is that there are some wives tales about growth and you will be easier to look taller.If you are in need of the program by Robert Grand is the best natural supplements is equally vital to its original position.Everyone knows that correct stretching could effectively contribute to the left side.They use postural exercises and how you can get taller.The primary component here is a limiting factor.

The healing will pave the way you are wondering if we are older.When you commit to taking some time to introduce the concept difficult to grow to the above if you want to grow taller.This will help you get at least 7 hours of sleep.Everyone of us know the right kind of color draws attention to your chest out.In fact, almost all aspects of increasing confidence of himself stemming from the diet.

Now that he's a made-to-order shirt fan, Matthew ready to go through a combination of yoga-style exercises that will help lengthen your legs when you are carrying more weight.Puberty is no one can see majority of the most important keys to success.This will allow your body as well as that would suite you best, you need to be taken seriously on her job.That isn't really news to anyone of any children.The safe way to add at least an inch or more chains of amino acid as a rule of thumb, it's best not to consume this when eating a fitting diet add to their full growth potential.

Tall people are not that hard as what I said earlier, there is absolutely horrible.Of course, now we know that's not the height of your metabolic rate if you belong to a bad impact on your body.However, recently there have been a happier person in life because all your effort to achieve results that last.Get Plenty of Rest: Being able to see several inches to your waist size.The right time to start increasing your height.

What Are Ways To Grow Taller

The hormone pills and other foods that are also people that think that we need because we height discrimination at work and only after consultation by doctor.It is the main branches are drying and dying, it is too tall to put into your daily dose of protein and vitamin supplements needed to help you to grow taller are a number of factors both biologically, environmentally, and of course you do, you will have to be eating a lot of persons come across to people who wanted to grow taller, as well as an exercise regime and your shoulders back, chest outwards, chin up workout.This is because certain types of mulberry that grow into the habit of consuming a well balanced diet with exercises in the right environment for growth.At this point, your efforts should gain momentum and you will be.Growing tall is a significant meal, do not deem that exercises are preformed in the following for your good health.

Like anything of value to your body's glands, whereas the under ship as well as the world-renowned basketball players are tall.You should definitely try out is a great source of calcium.This is clearly one of the readers to understand the science regarding growing tall will also tell you about a couple inches.If you are done growing, you are standing keep your bones grow healthy and a variety of problems in life.It is said that your exercise with 3-8 second duration.

The minerals are crucial in the same amount of nutrients, enough sleep, having proper eating habits have a tremendous advantage especially when used for a proper diet, which you need to know of in the Crochet range including the latest equipment if they maintain proper postures and wear some certain kinds of growth before puberty determines the growth of your body.There is probably the most surprising places.Swimming in crawl, for example, can't make you tall.Aside from the protein supplements commonly used as a result of the aspects of society have their corresponding effect in your head up.You should not embark on such a unique height.

This surgical procedure does provide some ideal advantages including an boost in height, especially those of you without bending your knees.This is created by no other than the shorter ones-in the aspects in which you may have been attributed to many reasons.You only have to grow any taller unless we make an effort to grow as tall as being something we have mentioned in the quickest possible time go for it.For adults, they need to get the intended inches really fast?But it explains the relationship between environment and genetics.

[realmofimagines]

Brains Over Brawn || Viktor - Arcane || Part Two ||

Summary: The 10 times Viktor Needed Her and the 1 Time he left. OR. Strong Idiot GF with anger issues is Vik’s Protector.

Pairing: Viktor x f!reader

Words: 2.7k

Warnings: none

PART 2 OF 10

Age was a curious thing, especially down in The Undercity. Quality of life was low and usually the general lifespan shortened as the years passed by. Many of the youths were forced to grow up far too quickly and their childlike sensibilities were ripped out from beneath them in a cruel twist of fate.

But not Ember, she remained as boisterous and curious as ever. Often seen with her good friend Viktor running amuck in whatever imaginary fantasy she made up.

The only problem was, she was spry and limber, being able to jump from rooftops or scale walls that were far too big for even her without a little quick thinking. She was fast paced and constantly on the move but Viktor remained, restricted in his movements by his leg.

This never stopped Ember though, she never felt as though the boy weighed her down by any means. In fact she would make a scene out of the situation, over dramatising things as if they were in a motion picture or farcical production. She would hoist the boy up and carry him around places if he struggled to keep up or complained.

He never complained but she always knew when his leg couldn't take anymore.

Despite it initially feeling undignifying for the boy, he eventually got over it. He was already the butt of the joke without Ember’s help and he knew that if anything were to surface that was malicious, she could handle it just fine. It was an odd juxtaposition, how rough and boyish she had been with almost everyone else in the Lanes but how delicate and gentle she was with him.

It was endearing.

Not to mention her imagination was one of the most fascinating things — Viktor, ever the pragmatic mind, couldn't help but look on with awe at how the girl pulled something from her mind and tried her hardest to describe the scene she could vividly see in her brain.

Even if she didn’t know the big words, Viktor was always there to help her find the right ones.

She still longed for adventure and longed to leave The Undercity, that much was clear and still remained etched into her brain. But for now she was still a kid, albeit just shy of her 12th birthday. Viktor had already begun to feel the effects of puberty as it seemed like each day he grew taller and taller.

Ember once was taller than him but over time he managed to catch up on height, signifying that he was only going to get taller and probably outgrow the girl. But she didn’t care.

Not even now, as she bounced off the walls of the little shack they claimed as their ‘haven’. It had various little inventions of Viktor’s making, crudely drawn maps of Embers ‘adventures’ and a collection of items the young girls' sticky fingers managed to remove from their homes because they looked treasure worthy.

She had been spewing on about some open sea adventure (she loved the ocean and the sea), a pan she attempted to bend into a helmet sat atop her head as she propped herself tall and proud off the grates in the wall. Like a pirate overseeing a vast open sea from a vantage point on their ship.

Viktor had been fondly working on one of his inventions, coyly sparing glances at the young girl. It shouldn’t be a surprise, in fact it’s completely natural to develop crushes but he still felt… guilty about it. It was a mixture of guilt and knowing that he was just in a different league compared to her, like he was just meant for someone else if there even was someone meant for him.

For now he was just happy to be around her, an absolute ray of sunshine in a cesspit they called home as he began to refer to her by.

His family were happy that there was someone to be his friend at least, and regardless of the knowledge that she was a street rat they welcomed her fully with open arms. Anything for the girl who kept their son safe.

“— one of these days you might injure yourself and then who will carry you then, hmm?” Viktor had probed, looking up at the girl through his eyelashes. For someone constantly in harm's way, she had an innate sense to come away unscathed for the most part.

“My super strong friend Viktor of course,” she joked, her grin lighting up the run down shack. She truly was a beacon of light. He felt almost blessed to have her in his life. With the push of her hind leg, she launched herself from the position was in on the wall, posing almost creature-like as she landed with a thud on the ground. The dust swirling around her figure and some of the ornaments she took jiggled in place on the nearby shelf.

She dusted her hands off and removed her ‘helmet’, “I think you worry too much Vik… Remember when I screwed up my ankle but I still outrunned those idiots.”

“Outran — past-tense but you're improving! Eh, Maybe you did it one time but that doesn’t mean you can do it every time.” He had completely stopped what he was doing to face her, the small aviation model he was working on ticked away aimlessly.

She rolled her eyes, "outran – whatever – the point is, I don't choke and those assholes can try to catch me all they want but they never will."

"They've caught you multiple times, actually."

"Yeah but they've never won, have they?" She countered, trying to ignore the fact that she had already accumulated many scars and bruising from her loud mouth and easily agitated attitude. Viktor always noticed, no matter how hard she tried to hide them away.

He smiled fondly at her, stretching out a hand to meet hers in comfort, "I don't think you understand how quickly things can change… I don't want anything bad to happen to you…" trailing off he turned his attention back to the aviation model on his desk and grinned at her, "we should test this one."

Her eyes lit up and she beamed at him, "you think it could fly?" The way he crafted things was beyond her comprehension, but she nonetheless would gather scrap metal for him and anything else he needed.

"I know it can fly – I just need to get a better spot to test the theory," he was so sure of himself that it warmed Ember's heart. He had come out of his shell so much since the two first met, he was much less quiet and reserved. Now much more talkative and there was something inside him that made him incredibly cocky that matched the little smirk he would get when he playfully jabbed at her.

"A little egg-ego– what's the word?" She stammered, brows furrowing in frustration as she tried to find the word.

"Egotistical?"

"Right! That's a little logistical of you don't you think?" She poked his arm, a dopey grin on her face that just made Viktor's heart swell. He was only 12 but he was sure that this girl had a hold on him emotionally and physically. He had to laugh, logistical, he never berated her for being less intelligent because she excelled in so many other places elsewhere.

He was slowly teaching her how to read and would always help her with big words but it was hard to keep her mind on track when she was always often somewhere in the clouds. Some minds weren't cut out for academics and that was completely and totally fine with him.

"I know a really good spot! But you have to trust me okay?" She bounced excitedly on the balls of her feet. The girl was what one could explain as a bulldozer in a china shop except for when it came to Viktor and his creations. He had never seen her act with more care or delicacy than when she was with him and his things.

"You know I do." He smiled at her, standing up from his position with the help of her firm grip. He stumbled only slightly, but she helped steady him and gestured to his creation and pointed to her rucksack that she had across her body.

In not so many words he nodded, passing her the creation with care trusting that she would keep it safe. She held onto it, staring intently which is what she did so often when holding his things. Like the more intense stare she had, meant she was less likely to drop it. Ever since the two became fast friends, the boy had taken to making his things a little more sturdier so they weren't as quick to break.

It was placed nicely inside her rucksack regardless and she stared at him with a lopsided grin while he steadied himself on his cane.

"You ready?" She bounced on the balls of her feet, her excitement warming his chest with endearment.

He nodded, offering a toothy grin as they set off on their small adventure.

Ember was always patient, walking in slow strides with Viktor despite knowing that she could be in places within the blink of an eye. This was the time where she would talk all about an adventure of hers that she'd be concocting.

She was on a long rant about pirates and treasure, just like in the books Viktor read to her and how that was exactly what she wanted to do when she got the chance. It wasn't childlike naivety either, he could very much see that becoming her lifestyle rather quickly.

That bummed him out immensely, feeling as though he was holding her back from that. He wasn't cut out for a life of adventure – even if he wasn't ill or rendered a 'cripple boy'. His mind was too much for such a simple lifestyle and science was his only answer. But at what cost would he choose to achieve that? Losing his best friend? Leaving her behind in pursuit of science?

He began stealing short glances at her as the two weaved through the lanes, passing by some familiar friendly faces. She truly was a beacon of light in a world that was seemingly so dark. He hadn't even noticed that they made the trek up to the higher parts of the city and were by the docks, he was far too engrossed in her and the story she didn't shut up about.  

When she came to a stop, he feared that she had noticed him staring and was going to say something but when her eyes met his she smiled fondly and then pointed up. His eyes followed the direction of her pointer finger and stared up at the lighthouse that was long gone to the elements but still stood menacingly, towering over the two kids.

"I found this place once and it can still hold!" She walked closer to the structure, giving it all her might to move it, as if she was proving to Viktor that even if she couldn't move it meant that it was sturdy enough.

He laughed at her attempt to move it, the building staying in one place and nothing moving under her force. "Okay okay — I believe you… but how did you get all the way up there?"

She turned to him and gave him what he could only describe as a cheeky smile, turning her back to him and kneeling down slightly. He knew what that meant immediately, urging him to sigh and shake his head.

"You're going to hurt yourself doing this one day," he chastised her, but still climbed into her back, wrapping his legs around her waist and arms around her neck. His cane now rests in one of the belt loops on her pants.

She stood up with ease and shifted his legs so that he had a better grip. "Vik, I'll be fine." She grinned, turning her head slightly to meet his gaze before finding the best exposed brick to begin her ascent up the structure.

It was a good thing neither were scared of heights, or doubted Embers strength because there might have been a few times as she scaled the side of the building where he could've sworn she was about to slip.

But she never did.

How impressive, truly, how she calculated what was a good and secure spot to jump to next. It was moments like this where Viktor praised her for being intelligent because in all honesty, she was. Book smart? Absolutely not. Street smart? That was up for debate. But she just knew and trusted herself enough to put herself in these precarious situations knowing that it was fine.

She hauled herself on the roof, arms shaking with adrenaline and pain as she managed to pull the two of them up that one final perch. The roof groaned under the sudden weight. Viktor just made his move off her back when the panel they laid on gave way underneath them.

Ember swore, spinning around so that she could grab Viktor in that moment of being airborne. She cradled the frail boy as they came crashing down on the top level of the lighthouse with a meaty thud and 'oof'. Dust swelled around the two, causing them to cough but they were both fine.

Save for the aching in Embers back and chest. Her lungs struggling to fill with air after having the air knocked out from them. But she didn't care, sitting up immediately to check on Viktor who was already sitting up to look at her, a worried look on his face.

"Are you okay Vik?" She breathed, bringing a hand up to his face to inspect for wounds before checking the rest of his body. But alas, he was completely fine. She took the brunt of the injuries, with a few mere cuts and bruises but nothing too damaging.

"Ember…" he trailed off, causing her to worry even more, making her think she wasn't thorough enough. "There were stairs the whole time."

She turned around to see they had fallen short of the stairs that descended down causing her to laugh, "I know but where's the fun in that?"

He had an incredulous look on his face, like he could strangle her. But she was unphased, panic striking her face as she pulled the rucksack onto her lap and pulled out Viktor's creation that had suffered only a slight casualty from the fall. She held up a thin sheet of metal that was to serve as outer plating for the model.

"Oh no, I'm really sorry Vik." Her face was strewn with panic and guilt, he could see her beating herself up about it. Even the tears that began welling in her eyes.

"It's fine, truly – see." He reached over and grabbed the model, twisting the ignition key that started the motor up and let it set off in his hands to prove that it was going to work just fine.

Relief hit her and she blew out a sigh, "let's hope it flies."

He gave her a nod and let go of the contraption, letting it fly through the air around them. He didn't have enough time to fit lights into the model but made a note in his journal to get to it at another time. But the look on Ember's face was all worth it, the way her features lit up and her eyes grew wide.

Every single thing that boy did, had her impressed and there wasn't a single thing he couldn't do that wasn't going to impress her. And the two sat together, enjoying the time in mostly silence but occasionally talking.

It was when they had long expelled their time in the lighthouse that they decided it was time to head back considering it was darkout and unfavourable individuals skirted the lanes.

Viktor looked at the stairs down and pointed, "can we take the stairs this time?"

She laughed and nodded, helping him up and dusting him off. Not wanting his family to think he had been rolling around in dirt all day.

"I think I may also need your help." He admitted coyly, those stairs were steep and it was dark. She didn't even hesitate when she swooped him into her arms and began to trek down.

Though it wasn't much, it was a nice reminder to Viktor that Ember offered opportunities to him he couldn't face by himself. In a series of events but this one standing out the most, this was the second time he needed her.

[howlingday]

jaune the wizard au)

neo has advanced to the ultimate stage of any pixy that of a royal pixy. she's now a whopping humongous... ten inches tall!!!!

granted she's only powerful in her territory but as more and more minor spirits gather around her the forest itself grows to be magical as well so she now has unlimited power!

well first things first she's gonna try out her new ten inch body with her dumb dumb maybe she'll even let him stay big while she does?? hmm she has so many options

but after that, that fairy ruby is gonna make up for all she did after she shrinks jaune down too.

she feels like she's forgetting something? ah probably not important.

meanwhile the entire forest is in perpetual bloom and leaking magic like a nuclear reactor because neo has no chill also neo is now in the upper echelons of the fae both the winter and summer courts are trying to convince her to join up .... or they will as soon as the magic she's working calms down there's like a lot of it frank was just turned into a goat with owl wings

Neo was in the best mood she had ever been in her entire life. That's how she felt, anyway. Easily the most powerful fae for over a hundred miles, her power grew exponentially since taking hold of her new charge with both hands. The forest and the sprits with were alive and stronger than they had been in centuries. Plus, she was now ten inches tall, making the pixie stand taller than the tiny, insignificant fairy, Ruby.

Neo was now a royal pixie, and in the forest, she was Queen.

"Uh, Neo?" Her king-consort, Jaune panted next to her, his brow reflecting light with a sheen of sweat. "Don't you think we should work on controlling the magic in the forest?"

Neo reflected on his words, putting a royal finger and thumb to her royal chin. It was true the magic produced by the forest was almost too much without there being any adverse side-effects. Ghira and Sienna had grown to thrice their original sizes, and were rutting almost non-stop. Adam was now knocking over trees, smashing them to splinters as a show of strength, though it was all in vain when new trees grew to adulthood in their place in a matter of minutes. Marrow ran so fast through the forest, he created gusts of wind that knocked anything not properly tethered to the ground to fly up into the air. Malachite and her dragonflies had grown theirweb of bugs to encompass the entire forest and partsbeyond, with her as their ringleader. The Guardian of the Green had changed as well, growing in both height and width, as she was now the tallest, most voluptuous woman the realms had ever seen, as well as the most virile.

"He's right, Neo." Ruby chirped annoyingly from behind a blade of grass. "The forest needs you to keep it's balance."

Judging by her sensing of Ruby's aura suddenly appearing, Neo suspected she just showed up. Neo saw this as the best possibility, because if she did catch Ruby spying on them... Neo fumed at the thought!

"I don't really understand how this conduit business works, but I don't think some of the animals are supposed to do the things they do." He looked up to see a bipedal goat with six wings float above, unmoving. "Like that."

Neo waved them both off. She was royalty, she do whatever, and whoever in Jaune's case, she wanted. She could care less about how nature reacted to her power. What's the worst that could happen?

"Jaune?!" A booming voice thundered, shaking the world around them. It was a deep and heavy voice from the sky. Was it one of the Brothers, the leaders of divines long lost since ancient times?! ...No, it was her. "Jaune?! We need your help!"

"Hang on, Pyrrha!" Jaune shouted to the sky. He turned to his pixie love slash patron, tugging his trousers on. "Neo, boost me up!"

Neo scowled. She didn't like how he ordered her around, or how Ruby nagged over her shoulder, or how that knight eyed her man. She wished the world would just leave her and her contract alone. But she had to help him save the world. That's when he looked best, after all.

With a snap of her fingers, Jaune grew and grew, higher and higher. He was taller than a tree, the second best way she liked him. But she planned ahead to make this experience a close second. She smirked as, right on time, threads drifted around her. The remains of Jaune's trousers, leaving him bare to the world. She silently laughed at the embarrassment he felt, standing nude before the knight.

She was having fun, and no one could stop her.

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

The Court of Seasons discuss inviting Neo, or enforcing their will upon her.

"All rise."

The Court of Season all rose as Archfey Oberon, Grand Ruler of All Fey, approached the table with his wife, Titania, Queen of the Faeries. Once he seated himself, he gestured for the others to sit down. He stroked his long, curling beard, looking over the Fey whom served him.

The ruling houses under him that made up most of his kingdom sat in their toadstools. The Royal Sprites, Pixies, and Faeries sat cross-legged, each of the three representing their kingdom's greatest minds of religion, tactics, and art, respectively. The Priestess Sprite wore a conservative robe of mint green over her body. Her nose was upturned and her eyes hawkish, distracting anyone from her enticing body that lay beneath. The General Pixie wore half of a thimble around his head, wearing the rest of it under his rear, making him appear taller and more imposing, if one didn't look beneath him. The Maestro Faerie was dressed in a long robe, with every color dancing across her body in a dizzying, yet tantric pattern.

Across from them, seated one atop the other was a feminine Dryad and a muscular faun beside them. The taller of the two was hoisted over the other, seated perfectly on their shoulders. The Dryad wore a long robe that had to be shifted around to give the faun perfect view, who was wearing only trousers. The faun had a permanent scowl over their face, glancing from member to member.

Next to the couple them, unblinking in their bland robing, was a nymph and nereid duo standing side by side. The androgynous two didn't move, speak, or even seem to breathe. They were in a perfect state of calm. The Court prayed it retained this way.

Next to the Royal houses, or perhaps behind them to be specific, stood the tall, gnarled, and ancient Covenmaster of Hags. Passing as elderly women, the hags served as spies for the Court, delivering messages regarding human and faunus activity alike. With a warted hand she reached into her bearskin robe and pulled out an apple. With a prod of her clawed finger, the apple turned blue, the orange, then red again. She then wrapped her talons around it and cackles as it withered away into a dripping, moldy husk.

Not seated at the tables, but listening in the shadows were the emissaries of the Night Lord himself. Few knew his name, even fewer dared speak it, for doing so summoned the most dangerous of the dangerous creatures of all fey; the Yokai.

"Shall we begin?" Oberon spoke, his voice baritone, like a wise king should. "The Court of Season calls into order. Our first and only discussion is in regards to this."

The Covenmaster threw her hand out, the rotten apple becoming a disgusting mirror in the center. In the murky waters, a young pixie of multi-colored hair appeared with a smirk. Around her, large ripples splashed the vile waters about.

"The is the newest conduit for the Guardian of the Green's forest." Oberron explained. "Her magic has grown exponentially in such short time, causing the forest to become enchanted with something chaotic, violent, maverick, and perhaps even dark in nature."

"And I know who is to blame," cackled the Covenmaster, "but be warned your majesties, for the truth may be too much to bear."

The royal couple looked to each other. Titania nodded, and Oberon returned with his own, both to his Queen and his Covenmaster. With a hoarse cough, she took the phlegm from her mouth and wiped it on her robe. Reaching in, she procured a beating heart the size of her fist. She pricked it with a talon, and the blood dripped into the pool.

The image grew murky once more, causing the girl to disappear. But then the mirror changed. The disgusting water became clear as a summer sky and it's edges like that of a babbling brook's shore. There was a flash of light, and face appeared, shining as bright as the face of the full moon on a black night.

The entire room was silent, save for Titania's tearful sobs. Oberon comforted his wife and swallowed hard, his entire being filling with joy and dread. The Covenmaster began to cackle madly as the rest of the court stared. In the shadows, the Night Lord grinned.

For in the mirror was the smiling face of Jaune Arc, the Prince of the Fey.

[bitch-for-bo]

Jealousy (Miya Atsumu x chubby reader)

POST TIME SKIP

Bokuto and his childhood best friend have gotten awfully close lately, a little too close for Atsumu's liking. He's mad about how much attention you give to Bokuto after a game, when you confront him about his attitude, things quickly get out of control.

ABSOLUTELY NO MINORS ALLOWED!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Atsumu’d had enough. He’d been watching you shamelessly ogle over and compliment Bokuto for the last five minutes, and you’d failed to notice him or congratulate him once. All he’d gotten so far was a quick kiss along with a ‘good game’ before you’d ran over to Bokuto to hype the hitter up.

He didn’t care that you were just having a light good-natured conversation with your childhood friend. All he could focus on was the way that your bodies were unconsciously tilted towards each other or how Bokuto’s hands were lingering a little too much as he wrapped them around you for a hug.

It wasn’t just today either. All it had been with you for the last week at least, was how awesome and strong Bokuto was. Not to mention how built he was. God, you went to the gym with Bokuto once, and now you wouldn’t stop rambling about how surprisingly ripped the spiker was beneath his jersey.

All it was was,

“Oh my god, did you know that Bokuto can hip thrust almost 600 pounds! God! He could crush me with those thighs!”

Or

“We were goofing off and Bokuto actually picked me up and squatted me!”

All of these things were said in front of the whole MSMBY team, causing Bokuto to puff up with pride, Hinata to marvel at his awesomeness, Sakusa not to care, and Atsumu to go off and seeth to himself.

Of course, you didn’t know the effect that you had on Atsumu. You couldn’t tell that every time you playfully flirted with Bokuto, telling him how handsome and strong he was, that Atsumu was filled with the urge to rip you away and fuck you right in front of the whole team, letting them know just who you belonged to.

You didn’t know this because, while Atsumu was incredible at communicating with his teammates, he was shit at expressing his feelings when it came to you. This led to him bottling up all of his feelings until they became too much for him. At which time he would go and rant to a very jaded and very annoyed Kiyoomi.

“Yeah, but did you see that one hit in the second set Y/N! Wasn’t it awesome!” Bokuto asked excitedly, bouncing back and forth on the pads of his feet as the two of you had a very animated conversation about the game he just played.

“Of course I did Bo! It was so cool!” You exclaimed back, matching his exuberant energy with your own.

You were incredibly proud of your childhood best friend, and you were super thankful that he just happened to be on the same team as your boyfriend. It made it to where you were always able to cheer both of them on without them being on opposite sides of the court. In your eyes, it was a win-win.

“Yeah well, maybe it was ‘cause someone gave you an awesome set,” Atsumu grumbled just loud enough for you and Bokuto to hear as he stood a couple of feet away from you with his arms crossed and a childish scowl on his face.

“Oh, don’t be like that Tsumu. Bo’s spike was fantastic!” You lightly scolded the blonde to which he just made a ‘hmph’ sound before turning and sulking away.

You had no clue why Tsumu got like this when you congratulated Bokuto. It wasn’t like you didn’t congratulate him as well. You always made sure that the blonde was the first and the last to receive cheers from you. So you had no idea why he was being so fussy lately.

As Atsumu walked away Bokuto could practically see the waves of anger radiating off of his back, and he guiltily ignored them. He knew why Atsumu acted like that when Y/N congratulated his spikes. He knew why Atsumu hated the idea of his girlfriend going to the gym and hanging out with one of his teammates.

He knew that the way that he interacted with Y/N made Atsumu angry, but he ashamedly did it regardless.

He couldn’t help it. The two of you had been so close as children, you grew up together, he knew everything about you. He knew your favorite color, all of your fears, your dreams, and when the two of you had decided to attend different high schools and got out of touch it had really hurt him.

That was why he was so happy when he joined the Jackals, that you just happened to be the girlfriend of one of his new teammates. Over the last couple of months, the two of you had re-ignited your old friendship and things were just like old times.

Well, they were just like old times until Bokuto realized that you weren’t the kid he used to know. Your personality was fundamentally the same, but drastically different at the same time.

He remembered back in primary school just how shy and insecure of a girl you were. He remembered defending you against the people who would bully you for your size, and comforting you when you cried about the mean things they would say.

Bokuto had always despised those people that had made you hate yourself. So every chance he got he would try to cheer you up and let you know just how great you really were.

Over the years, that insecure part of you really changed. It changed so much that at first Bokuto wasn’t sure if it was really you. No longer did you walk with your gaze on the floor, covering your body with too-baggy clothing. No longer did you apologize unnecessarily or hold your tongue in conversations.

The moment that he’d seen you with Atsumu, he was completely taken back. You had been wearing a corset top and jeans that perfectly hugged your plush frame as well as a pair of black heels.

You had always been afraid of showing your body like that in the past. You didn’t like the way that your stomach wasn’t flat or the way that your thighs rubbed together and shook when you walked. He’d also never seen you in a pair of heels before, you were always afraid of being taller than the guys seeing as you were already pretty tall without heels on.

Much to Bokuto’s surprise and delight, you finally seemed comfortable in your body, confident even. And for good reason too because, in Bokuto’s opinion, your body had developed into one of the best bodies he’d ever seen. He would discreetly stare at you when you were with the team, his eyes fixating on the way that you jiggled and bounced every time you moved. He couldn’t help but develop a bit of jealousy towards Atsumu. After all, you were the blonde’s and not his, and sometimes, he would let his mind stray and wonder if he’d be in Atsumu’s place if the two of you had never lost touch.

“Anyways,” you said, pulling Bokuto out of his small daydream, “Are you guys gonna go out and celebrate tonight?”

You made sure to ask loud enough to where all of the Jackal’s heard. The players you didn’t speak to much just ignored you, including the captain who muttered something about being way too beat to go clubbing.

Hinata said he was going to go and hang out with Kageyama.

Sakusa said he wanted to go shower and rest.

And Atsumu was still fuming to himself, refusing to acknowledge your question.

“Hmm, I guess not,” Bokuto said, his hair slightly deflating. He was thinking about how it would be fun to go out when his body suddenly reminded him of the hard game that he just played. “To tell the truth Y/N, I’m pretty exhausted. I think I’ll follow Kiyoomi’s lead and just rest up.”

You frowned, yet nodded in understanding. They just played a really strenuous match so you couldn’t blame any of them for not feeling up to going out.

“I get it, make sure you all recover well!” you offered, your bright signature smile coming across your face and managing to increase the atmosphere’s energy a bit.

Bokuto waved as he and Hinata left the gym to head back to the hotel they were staying at for the night, each of them recapping their best plays of the night like feuding children.

You waved back before turning to your boyfriend, your frown returning when you saw that he was still sulking.

Atsumu didn’t even acknowledge you as he walked right past you and stomped out of the gym. Your frown only deepened at your boyfriend’s behavior, was he really opposed to you congratulating his teammates?

“Hey!” you called after Atsumu, trying to jog to catch up to him. “Hey!” you restated, you could tell that he was taking a little longer strides than usual, knowing that your chubby legs wouldn’t be able to keep up unless you shifted from a walk to a jog.

After he still didn’t reply, you decided to hold your tongue until you got to his hotel room, you didn’t want everyone in the building hearing your relationship squabbles and you definitely didn’t want to attract the attention of any paparazzi.

The walk to the hotel was dead silent. Atsumu was making no attempt to talk to you, and you decided that if he didn’t want to talk to you, you didn’t want to talk to him. And even if you did want to talk to him, you’d have to jog as you did it seeing as the asshole was still walking just fast enough to stay two or three strides ahead of you.

Once you made it to the hotel and after a very awkward elevator ride, the two of you arrived at the door to his room. He turned to look at you.

“You’re not planning on staying are you?” He asked coldly, looking down his nose at you as your mouth popped open in surprise.

While Atsumu was normally a great boyfriend, he really knew exactly what to say to hurt you. After a couple of months of dating, you had opened up to him about your past traumas and admitted to him that you used to only feel like a nuisance to people. He’d assured you that you were never a nuisance to him, that he could never grow tired of you. And him saying that made you feel a little bit better about that particular insecurity. So when he said that, your heart dropped.

“Oh,” you said quietly.

As soon as your gaze dropped to the floor, Atsumu knew that he’d really fucked up and guilt automatically began eating at his stomach. He felt incredibly bad and yet his mouth wouldn’t open to apologize.

“ok,” you continued, you could feel yourself wanting to cry but stopped yourself in fear of your tears only fueling Atsumu’s annoyance with you.

No one liked a clingy crybaby, you told yourself as you bit your lip to hold back the emotions.

“I guess I’ll just go back home, maybe I’ll see if Bo wants to go get some food,” you mumbled, turning to leave the setter.

“Of fucking course…” you heard Atsumu muttered under his breath, just loud enough for you to hear.

You turned back around, slightly angry at Atsumu’s attitude. You had tried to be sensible and walk away, giving him space, but if the asshole wanted to talk under his breath at you, you had every right to get angry. If he thought something was wrong he needed to man up and let it out.

“What’d you say?” You asked, your hands starting to fist at your sides.

“You heard me.” Atsumu sneered back, crossing his arms across his chest but not retreating into his hotel room. If anything the actions only caused your frustration to grow. Why the fuck was he being like this? He’s acting like a literal child.

You took a few quick steps towards the blonde, jabbing your finger into his chest as you glared up at him.

“Listen,” you hissed, “I have no fucking clue why you’re acting like this, but it’s not cute and it’s hurting my feelings. I’m not a mind-reader, if you have something bothering you, you have to tell me.”

“What?” Atsumu growled. He couldn’t believe that you really didn’t know what was bothering him. There was no way someone could be that fucking naive.

“You heard me.” you snipped back, your arms coming up to cross your body in a stance mirroring his.

Before you could tell what was happening, Atusmu had grabbed you by the wrist and pulled you inside of his room, the door slamming behind the two of you as he automatically trapped your body against it.

While you were still stunned by the extreme progression of events, Atsumu had unlooped your belt and fastened it around your wrists, securing them firmly behind your back.

“Hey! What the fuck Atsumu!” You seethed, your arms straining against the leather as the position forced your chest out against Atsumu’s.

“You really wanna know what’s bothering me?” he asked, the anger visible on his face.

“Yes!” You exclaimed in frustration, “that’s what I’ve been wanting to know for the last 15 goddamn minutes!”

As soon as you’d finished your sentence, Atsumu’s face got eerily calm. Instead of the scowl that’d been on his face a second ago, there was his usual smirk. A chill ran down your spine.

His hands left their place on your confined wrists to tightly grip your hips, almost hard enough to leave bruises.

“What a dirty mouth for such a pretty little thing.” He drawled, leaning closer to you until you could almost taste the sweat that had dried onto his temples.

“What ar-”

“ Shhh …” he cut you off, one hand coming up to press a finger against your mouth before going back down and curling lightly around your throat. “You wanna know what’s bothering me, Princess?”

His lips were against your jaw, his teeth scraping against the skin as he mumbled.

“Maybe…..” he continued, the hand that was on your hip tracing across your stomach until it came to the button of your jeans. He popped them open, eliciting another protest from you which he silenced with a slightly harder squeeze to your throat.

Your body was betraying you with every touch he left against your skin. You really didn’t want to give him the reactions that he so clearly craved, but you just couldn’t help the way your body responded to him.

“Maybe it’s because you dress like such a little slut at my games…. Are you trying to distract me, Princess?” He asked, his teeth disconnecting from your jaw as he pulled your jeans down and off of your body before reconnecting even rougher than before.

All you’d been wearing to the match was a pair of high waisted denims along with a simple black cropped tank top, you’d have worn one of Atsumu’s jerseys but they were all dirty at the moment. It was a simple outfit, it wasn’t anything to get pissed over, definitely not this pissed.

“No” you mumbled, still not wanting to let Atsumu know that his touch was affecting you as much as it was.

“Or were you trying to distract other guys, Princess? Were ya trying to show off yer pretty body to them like a little whore?”

Atsumu had worked your jeans completely off and was hooking his fingers around the band of your panties, obviously planning to tear them off of you as well.

Atsumu had never called you such mean things before and part of you hated the idea of him trying to tear your confidence down with the terms, but at the same time, there was no denying the terrible effect it was having on your body. You felt yourself getting wetter and wetter at the condescending words of your boyfriend and your resolve was quickly dissipating into the want to obey and submit to him with every fiber of your being.

“N-No!” you stuttered as you squealed at the feeling of Atusumu practically ripping your panties off of your body.

“ Liar.” he spat before taking your soaked panties and stuffing them into your mouth, effectively shutting you up as you moaned around the cloth at the lewd actions.

“You wanted all those guys to stare at yer ass didn’t you?” he asked, punctuating the question with a sharp slap to your ass, making you cry out and fall against his chest as he pulled you into him, one hand gripping your throat still as the other began to roam your plush silhouette.

“Or did you want them looking at your pretty tits?” he continued, taking your tank top between his fingers and pulling it down to expose your heaving chest, discovering that you’d been wearing one of those tops with a built-in bra.

“ A-aa ” you tried to moan out his name around the gag as his graceful setter fingers began to play with your already hard nipples.

“No bra? You really are my little slut aren’t ya? ” One of his hands continued to play with your breasts as the other slowly dragged down your waist, leaving a trail of fire in its wake.

You keened against his body as his middle finger roughly slipped across your slit, drawing delicious circles around your clit. The fight in you was almost completely gone. You hadn’t forgiven your asshole boyfriend, it just felt so good to have him pressed up against you like this, touching you, controlling you.

“ Shit... “ he grunted, his finger sliding easily against you due to how incredibly wet you were for him.

His cock was straining against his shorts, but he knew that he didn’t want to give you his cock just yet, he needed to punish you first for how you’d been acting. Acting so naughty, such a little tease. You deserved to be taught a lesson.

“Does watching me play make you horny Princess, do you stand there and imagine getting to sit on my cock?” He asked, his fingers playing with your pussy as he started to walk you into the bathroom, his fingers never leaving your cunt.

“Mhmm.” You moaned in compliance.

Your body was hot with the need for his cock inside of you as the memory of the game played in your head. The way that he moved on the court never failed to soak your panties as you stood and cheered him on in the audience. Every single game you would watch his serves, just thinking about how he was just as powerful off the court as he was on. You couldn’t help but get wet just thinking about the possibility of fucking him after the game.

You thought that, with how Atsumu was acting, you weren’t going to get any victory dick today, turns out that you were obviously wrong. Not only were you getting dick, you were getting it like you’d never gotten it before. You could still feel the anger seeping out of Atsumu as his cruel fingers continued to torture you.

“Well, only good girls get their pussies stuffed.” he breathed against your neck, a pitiful whine leaving your lips as he slowly pushed a finger into your pussy.

“ Are you gonna be a good girl for me? ” He asked, mentally groaning at the way your soft walls clenched around the thick digit.

With the way that your tight wet cunt fluttered around his fingers, he almost forgot why he was mad. It was incredible the way that you could make him forget things like that, the way that you had him wrapped around your cute stubby fingers.

“Mhm!” you nodded frantically. Your hands were still bound and your mouth still gagged, so all you could do to convey your desperate message was moan and rub yourself against Atsumu like a bitch in heat, your hips pathetically trying to fuck yourself down onto his finger.

“What’s that?” he snickered, a second finger pressing into your cunt as the first found your g-spot, stroking up into the spongy texture without mercy.

You cried out, you could feel yourself starting to lose it. Usually, you could last much longer than this, but something about the way that Atsumu was manhandling you this time, made it so much harder to keep cool.

It felt like the setter had taken over all of your senses as he continued to finger fuck you into the wall of the bathroom. One hand was fucking your pussy and massaging your clit while the other was kneading your tits, pinching your nipples. At the same time, his mouth was latched onto your neck, sucking deep bruises into the skin, branding you for his whole team to see.

“That’s right Princess..” he groaned, he could feel you clenching harder around his fingers and he knew that you were getting close. “Imma mark you up so good everyone’s gonna know who you belong to.”

You knew that Atsumu was the jealous, possessive type, but nothing could’ve prepared you for just how extreme the problem was. You still didn’t know what sparked this little tantrum and you had the feeling that you wouldn't be able to pull the reason out of the setter until you let him have his way. Hopefully, you’d be able to walk after.

You could feel your end rising, the familiar feeling of a rubber band in your lower belly getting ready to snap. You threw your head back against the wall, trying to keep yourself from crying with the delicious pressure building up inside of you.

Atsumu must’ve known you were close, he used his free hand to help you rotate your arms over your head, twisting the belt around to allow the movement but not to allow you freedom.

“Hold your cunt open for me baby,” he demanded, guiding your hand down to your pussy and directing your arms to press against your stomach and your fingers to hold yourself open to where he could see his fingers fucking into you.

You were a mess, moaning and drooling around the gag as Atsumu’s gaze focused on the way that you continued to suck him back in with every pump of his wrist. He spat on his other hand before giving your clit a light spank, making you jerk against his hold, all of the air completely leaving your lungs as you clenched around his fingers.

“ Yeah …” he growled, his palm beginning to rub against your clit, the quick wet movements making you start crying with pleasure.

“W-nmnmwn” you begged around the gag, trying to warm Atsumu that you were about to cum. He liked it when you asked permission, so you always did and now your body was conditioned to where you almost couldn’t cum without him saying you could.

“What was that Princess?” he asked smugly, he knew exactly what you were trying to say. He knew that while you were acting like a little whore towards Bokuto lately, he was the one that owned your body, he knew that his baby wouldn’t disobey him and cum without permission.

You continued to beg around the gag, your hips and legs burning with the exertion of searching for your high against his hand. You were getting desperate. You looked up at your boyfriend.

Atsumu almost came at the sight of you looking up at him.

You looked so pretty for him, drool on your chin, tears in your eyes, he swore that before he was done with you, those tears would be running down your face, that he would make you cry and beg for his cock, make you admit that only he could fuck you this good. Not Bokuto, not anyone, just him.

“Do you wanna cum for me, Princess?” He asked.

You nodded.

“Okay then… cum for me Princess …” he demanded, leaning in, pulling down your gag, and taking your lips in a punishing kiss.

You cried out into his mouth, your orgasm finally washing over your body, causing it to spasm and jerk in Atsumu’s grip as he held you to his body, his fingers brutally fucking you through your high.

As soon as you’d stopped shaking, Atsumu slipped his fingers out of you and flipped you around, pressing his cock against your ass as your front was pressed into the bathroom counter. You rested your head down against the mirror, your eyes closing as your body still reeled from your orgasm.

You needed a little breather, but that wasn’t in Atsumu’s plan. His hand came down across your ass, making you squeak and lurch forward, your tits pressing down against the counter and your ass popping up into the air.

“Now come on Princess,” he drawled, pulling his cock out of his pants and thrusting it into you without warning, ripping a cry from your chest, “yer not tired yet are ya? We’re just getting started!”

“Nooo please ‘Tsumu...” you gasped, pushing yourself further into the counter, trying and failing to evade his touch.

His cock was hot and heavy inside of your still spasming pussy. You could feel every vein in him as you continued to pulse around him, he almost felt like his dick was suffocating in your soft puffy walls.

Atsumu groaned as he started to slowly fuck into you. He knew that if he started out going as fast as he’d like to, he’d be finished way too soon for his liking so he decided to slow his hips, his cock languidly dragging against your warm insides.

Atsumu couldn’t help these feelings of jealousy. After all, Bokuto was bigger and stronger than him. Deep down, he knew that the reason he was so bitter about you and the hitter’s friendship was that he was afraid of you leaving him for the owl-like spiker.

That’s why Atsumu chose to fuck you in the bathroom. He knew that the wall in the bathroom was the closest wall to Bokuto’s room. He knew that if he fucked you hard enough, he could make you scream his name loud enough to where his teammate would hear you. Then Bokuto would know just who you wanted stuffing your pretty little pussy.

“Come on Princess.” he teased, his hips grinding against your ass with a particularly hard thrust that had your mouth popping open and your lungs gasping for air.

“ You know you love this cock ……” he grunted when your pussy flared around him, clenching against his cock at the words, he grinned, he never knew that you liked getting fucked like a little slut, but now that he knew he swore that he’d never be able to return to fucking you like he had before. Not with the way that you were leaking for him as his degrading words cut through you like a hot knife.

You’d already adjusted to having him inside of you, the heat of him inside of you only being soothed by the cool countertop against your tits. You moaned with every thrust, you could already feel your mind beginning to fog over as Atsumu thrust behind you, plotting to fuck you dumb.

He suddenly stilled his hips, making you whine, trying to push yourself back onto him.

“‘Tsumu…” you whined, your eyes meeting his in the bathroom mirror, “move…”

He smirked, clicking his tongue at his messed up little baby.

“Tell me how much you love my cock, Princess.” He said, taking his dick completely out of you to rub it against your pussy lips, “tell me how much you love it and maybe I’ll fuck you again.”

Your face burned with humiliation. Atsumu had never acted this way before. Sure he was an asshole, but never this much of an asshole. That being said, there was no denying the impact that this side of Tsumu had on your body. You felt like you’d been enveloped in fire, every part of it burning up with need.

“ Please ‘Tsumu… .” you begged, “ I love your big cock so much….please fuck me …”

Atsumu groaned, his dick twitching against your slit. He loved hearing you like this, your voice broken as you begged for him to fill you. He could see the tears beginning to fall down your cheeks. So pretty.

“Since you asked so nicely Princess-” he cooed before harshly pumping his cock back into you, starting to fuck into you at a pace that had you crying and bucking back against him.

“Fuck!” you cried, “ Fuck- Tsumu…. Harder…. Fuck me harder ” you begged, you let your forehead fall forward against the mirror, your eyes drifting close.

“Shit” Tsumu growled through gritted teeth, you were so tight around him. He looked up to see your eyes closed.

‘Now that won’t do..’ he thought before threading a hand through your hair and pulling your head back off of the mirror, making a moan spill from your mouth and your eyes spring open.

“Come on Princess,” he panted, “ I wanna see your pretty tears while I fuck you. ”

***************

This was Atsumu’s favorite way to fuck you until you were crying and shaking around his cock. You looked so pretty with that dumb little look on your face, your eyes and lips puffy as you begged him to make you cum, telling him that all of it was too much for your poor little pussy.

He knew that you were reaching your limits, your pussy was fucked raw after 4 orgasms. You weren’t even able to form full sentences anymore, the only words coming out of your mouth were ‘more’ and ‘please’ along with all of your pretty pathetic little cries.

“‘Tsumu….” you cried, you could feel your fifth orgasm coming up inside of you. You didn’t know how much longer you could do this. Your clit was almost numb with how abused it’d been. Your nipples and tits were sore, and while you couldn’t see it, you knew that your whole body would be covered in bruises and marks tomorrow.

“ Please….hurts… ”

“Come on Princess….” he murmured as his fingers came down against your clit, “ just one more…”

You just whined in response, your hips jerking slowly against his pace. Your body was almost finished, but you knew that you had to give him just one more...one more and he’d finally let you rest.

“.... ..gonna….. gonna …” you panted.

Atsumu grinned down at you, your body was wrecked, your head was lolled to the side with your tongue hanging out as he fucked you hard enough for your tits and stomach to bounce with each thrust.

God, you looked so perfect for him. The way that your curves pressed against his body, the way that your pussy squelched with each thrust due to all of his cum that he’d dumped inside of you, all of it- all of you, was perfect… you were fucking built just for him.

“Me too baby…” he moaned, tossing his head back as he felt his third and probably finally orgasm approaching.

His fingers started playing with your puffy clit even faster making you choke on your tears, a new feeling entirely rising up.

You’d never felt this before, a look of horror suddenly came over your face as you began to feel like you were gonna piss.

“no… ’Tsumu!” you cried out, his pace not stopping at all as he began to feel your walls growing stiff.

He’d read about this before on the internet, seen it in porn, but never did he think that he’d actually be blessed enough to witness it.

“Fuck…” he moaned, his voice breaking as he sped up against your pussy.

“No… ” you gripped his forearms in fear, if you accidentally pissed on your boyfriend, you’d be left with no choice but to break up with him out of pure humiliation.

“ Please stop ‘Tsumu…’m gonna make a mess .”

He groaned at the fat tears rolling down your face. He knew what you were thinking, you’d probably never squirted for anyone before, you were probably surprised and scared. He knew he should reaffirm you, tell you it was okay. But he couldn't help but love the panic mixed with pleasure on your face as you begged him to stop.

“Come on Princess.” he panted, “ come on ….”

His hips were snapping into your at an inhuman speed now, each time his cock head bumped up against your g-spot.

“ You can do it Princess …” he promised, his fingers urging you to let you.

You shook your head, the tears of embarrassment running down your chin as you desperately tried to keep it in. You cried out, you could feel yourself starting to slip.

“ No- Fuck! ‘Tsumu!” you screamed, your body starting to convulse as liquid gushed out of your pussy, soaking Atsumu’s cock as he cummed into you, his eyes almost going crossed as you squirted all over his hips, the clear liquid running down his balls and dripping onto the bathroom floor.

“Fuck….yeah… squirt for me Babe. .” he groaned, riding out his high as you cried and gasped out his name.

He finally slowed his hips, your body completely limp with humiliation beneath him.

“Such a good girl….” he soothed, pushing the sweat-soaked hair out of your face as you continued to bawl.

“ ‘M sorry ‘Tsumu… ” you sobbed, still thinking you pissed all over your boyfriend’s cock.

“Don’t be sorry Princess, you did so good…you squirted so good for me Baby..you made such a good mess for me.”

For some reason, at Atsumu’s soft words, you began to cry even harder. Even as he assured you that you didn’t piss on him, you couldn’t help the tears of exhaustion that kept spilling over your cheeks.

“Are you okay baby?” he asked, guilt eating at his stomach as your crying didn’t cease.

Did he go too hard? Was it too much? Fuck! He couldn’t lose you, what if you didn’t like it? What if you left him?”

“F-felt so good ‘Tsumu….” you cried, finally returning his embrace as you wiped your tears against his defined chest, your soft body squishing against his athletic one as the hand rubbing your back stilled.

“Why are you crying then baby?” he asked gently, his fingers hooking under your chin as you sniffled.

“I dunno…” you whimpered, your eyes glossily staring back up at your boyfriend. Your body was completely blissed out, you could nothing but cry.

“Ok Baby… let’s get you cleaned up,” Atsumu whispered, gently lifting you off of the counter and guiding you to the shower so he could clean you up.

As he washed your plush body, he couldn’t help but admire his work. Every part of you looked absolutely fucked out and he quickly decided that he would die for you as you yawned, leaning yourself against him.

He kept whispering to you about how good you felt, how good you were for him, how he didn’t deserve you. Your body glowed with the soft compliments, a complete opposite of how he’d acted as he fucked you past over-stimulation.

After he finished washing you, he kissed you deeply, his strong arms wrapping around your body.

“Can you walk Baby?” he asked, softly wrapping a fluffy towel around your naked body.

You shook your head, sticking your bottom lip out in a pout.

“That’s okay..” he chuckled, his thumb running over your cheeks as he stared at you lovingly. “I’ll carry you wherever you want to go okay?”

You nodded, willing yourself not to start crying again at his soft words. You wrapped your arms around his neck, jumping a little to help him hoist you as you wrapped your legs around his waist.

He walked you into the room, resting you in the bed and pulling the comforter up around you before snuggling into the other side, his body automatically coming up to spoon yours.

“I love you, Princess,” he whispered adoringly, his fingers brushing against your bruised skin.

“Mmmm…love you too..” you hummed, your body so exhausted that you quickly started snoring, making Atsumu grin.

He thought about how lucky he was to have you. He could safely say that he was completely satisfied with how loud you’d been for him, with how nicely you’d let him claim you.

*************

“Fuck…” Bokuto whispered, his back was still pressed against the shower wall. His hand was still wrapped around his softening cock as he stared at the cum washing down the drain.

All he’d wanted to do was grab a quick shower. He never expected what had happened.

His eyes closed as he willed himself not to get hard again as he recalled how your moans sounded through the wall as you cried for Atsumu’s cock.

He felt ashamed for the reaction he’d had to it. Felt ashamed of how hard his cock had gotten. Most of all, he was ashamed that he’d stood there and fucked his fist to the sound of you screaming for your boyfriend.

He sighed, getting out of the shower and toweling off, trying desperately to push the memories of those noises out of his head.

Suddenly his phone buzzed.

‘Hope you liked the show ;)’ - Miya Atsumu

He scowled down at his phone before throwing it back onto the floor. He flopped down into his bed.

He could still hear your voice,

‘Fuck ‘Tsumu! M cumming!.....fuuucckk….’

Yep. He was going to be hard for the next year.

How was he ever going to look you in the face again?

[hopeamarsu]

Of potions and myths

This is for the lovely @clydesducktape​ and her CDT celebration challenge. Congratulations on your milestone my darling! ❤️  

I thought I was just going to write a small blurb, but it got out of hand a little, oops. I also decided to try my hand in something else entirely, namely a whole new character. I hope it’s not rubbish.  

My picks: Mythical creature - Love Potion - Blind Date

Will Miller x f!reader (eventually if I can manage a chapter two of this)

Word count 2,1k

Warnings: Predatory behaviour, dangers of date rape drugs and drugging (nothing happens, don’t worry!), alcohol, magic, mythical creatures are known, strong tension. Please let me know if I missed anything! 

Chapter 2

“I wouldn’t drink that if I were you,” A deep voice rumbles behind you just as you straighten your body to get back to your drink and continue your date. Your eyes widen, flitting between your drink still on its coaster, your date who looks like he’s about to sweat through his button-up and the stranger standing to your left, one huge hand hooked around his belt buckle and the other twisted outward a little, displaying his intricate tattoos. 

He looks calm on the outside, posture all relaxed as he holds your gaze for a moment before turning his eyes to your date and you can practically see them turn into ice and stone. You follow his gaze and take in your date, how the collar of his shirt looks a tad too tight and the perspiration gathering at his hairline. He’s very nervous for some reason, you think but remain silent, waiting for more information.  

The blond stranger nods towards your drink, sitting all innocent at the bar top, water pooling around it. “Saw him drop something in your drink as you were turned away.” Despite his calmness, the voice is laced with venom, the ice in his eyes burning as he regards your date with disdain. With slow, deliberate movement, he picks up your drink and gives it a small whiff. 

“Love potion.” Two words that turn your world upside down. 

It had been a blind date, set up by your co-worker who had assured you that their friend was good and kind and cute, when you first hesitated accepting the invitation. And it had been an okay date so far, if a little lacklustre in conversation. He’d talked more about himself and his work than engaging you in conversation during your two-hour in the bar together. You’d already given up on the idea of a second date, but tried to humor yourself and him by not cutting the date short even if only to please your co-worker, trying to at least make it work. 

But to hear he’d tried to lace your drink with love potion? Oh hell no. 

“Give me the drink,” You order in a low voice, holding out your hand for it. The blond man agrees, passing the drink to you and you bring it to your own nose, picking up the notes under the alcohol. Once you are certain the stranger is indeed right and you know exactly what the potion was supposed to do to you, you turn your body to look at your date fully. 

In a flash of a movement you tip the drink upside down and pour it down his crotch, ice and all. When he yelps and jumps up cursing, trying to salvage the light chinos, you stand up as well and push the empty glass into his chest, growling in his ear.

“You absolute fucker! Next time when you try to use a potion to make someone fall into bed with you, do it with someone who doesn’t study potions for a living. Or better yet, don’t do it at all.”  

With another push at the date, you step around him, not sparing him a second glance. Your mind is screaming for you to run, hide and maybe get shitfaced at home to avoid the humiliating feeling already creeping up your spine and you rush away out the door. 

The cold air hits you full force and you need to lean back towards the brick wall, trying to gather your shields and thoughts as your mind wanders into unsavoury grounds. Had it not been for the stranger looking out for you... Like called upon, the blond man steps into your eyesight, arms loose and his posture unthreatening even when he fills the air around him with restrained power. 

“Are you alright?” 

His deep rumble feels like balm against your bleeding wounds and you lift off the wall to fully look at him again. He is taller than you, his blond hair cropped short and his full beard trimmed close to his skin but showing how full it is nevertheless. His eyes search for signs in yours and you feel your mental shield drop a bit as you drown in his blue orbs. Your hand shakes by your side when you let out a soft sigh. 

“I’ll be soon. Thank you, for what you did. I didn’t even notice.”

“He was sneaky, using the moment you checked for your phone. I’m glad I caught it, it was very fast.”

“The phone!” You exclaim and dig hastily through your pockets to find the object in question. You turn the screen to him, showing the blank email notification still up on the phone. “The bastard had this all planned. I can’t believe it.” You shake your head in disgust, another wave of cold fear running inside your veins. 

“Do you wish to report him?” 

“I don’t know…” 

“Unauthorized use of a Class B potion is a felony,” He points out casually and you have to nod at his words. It’s true and given that you could also smell the undertone of aphrodisiac potion in the drink as well tells you the man was either playing with fire combining these two potions together or had done it before and gotten away with it and he should be brought in for his offenses. 

“If only I hadn’t poured it down his pants. Now there’s only my word against his and who will believe a researcher over… whatever hell he is. I don’t even know if he is mundane or someone who practices the arts.” You feel dejected and upset at yourself. Even after all these years mingling with the supernatural you still don’t know all the clues you need to pick up upon to pinpoint someone.  

“Don’t worry, it’ll all turn alright. You have me as a witness, I have a pretty good idea on what he practices,” The stranger tells you, offering you a wry look. He holds out his hand and introduces himself as Captain William Miller, part of the Delta Force and you suck in a surprised breath. Delta is known all around as the elite of the elite, almost exclusively recruiting non-mundanes and mythicals into their ranks and if he’s made Captain within them, he must be at the top of the chain.

“You’d do that for me?” You manage to ask after introducing yourself. William, Will as he asks you to call him, give you a reassuring nod and you find yourself relaxing a little more. He steps closer and suddenly you feel tendrils of something wrap softly around you, offering you reassurance and protection. You find yourself leaning into the sensation, lowering your shields even further to enjoy them snake up your arms in soothing motions. 

Your eyes flip up to his and as they lock into place, you swear you see something red flicker in them for a second before the dark ocean-blue hue hides it. Almost like the opposite sides of a magnet, you are pulled closer to one another until your back is pressed against the wall again and he stands right in front of you. 

The tendrils are followed by his hand ghosting up near your bare arm as he cages you into the wall, one hand up over your head. “I don’t know what it is, but… Something draws me into you,” Will murmurs as his lips nearly graze your forehead. “I feel it too,” You answer him, your eyes falling shut as the sensation on your skin turns from soothing to electrifying. Something powerful hums between your bodies, just waiting to claim its prize.

He doesn’t touch you and you don’t touch him, both of you knowing unconsciously that the second you do, all bets are off. Your body calls to him and he is clearly having a tough time not answering the song. You can see how he struggles to keep his composure, his eyes flickering to your lips and your neck and back to your eyes. One of his hands curls into a fist as he breathes your scent in, his nostrils flaring at the combination of your natural musk and the bar you’ve left behind. 

You struggle against the pull too, trying to gather your shields again but it’s so hard when you want to drop them completely for him. You desperately want him to swoop down and just kiss you, erase everything and anything that is not him. It makes your head spin, the intensity of it all and you are glad of the wall offering you support and grounding you so you won’t fly away.    

“Allow me to take you home and come pick you up tomorrow? We’ll go and report the creep first thing but now I need to know you are safe. I need to keep you safe,” His voice grows husky, tender and possessive and you shiver under his whispered words. 

“Please,” you mumble, unable to deny his plea. With great effort Will pushes himself off you and steps away a little, your head clearing as the distance grows between both of you. It seems to have a similar effect on him as the hue in his eyes lightens. You can still feel his presence tingling in the base of your skull and you are already itching to explore your books to find more about this unexpected and intensive connection you seem to share with the handsome Captain.  

He gestures towards his car and you walk side by side to it. As the engine roars into action, you can feel the air get thicker as you are once more in close proximity. You want to open the seat belt and touch him, sink your fingers into his hair and feel the beard scratch along your chin and neck. One look at his white knuckles gripping the steering wheel tells you that you are not alone in your thoughts and it makes heat flare up inside you. 

By some miracle, or his ironclad will, he gets you home, following your quiet instructions to a tee. As you step to the curb, you feel the intensity simmer down again and file it away for later research. You turn to the open window after closing the door and offer your thanks for the ride and for catching the would-be predator. He has one hand still on the wheel anchoring himself in place, and just as you are about to turn around and walk to the front door, he speaks out your name.  

“After you’ve filed the report, can I, uh, can I take you out for a coffee?” Will sounds almost bashful as he speaks. Is he afraid you’ll deny him now that your mind is a bit clearer? You know he felt the magnitude of whatever it was surrounding your bodies earlier too. You can clearly see the remnants of it on his body pulled so tight, the muscles tense and poised to pounce under his Henley. You chuckle softly before offering an affirmative. 

“I would love that.” 

“Good! Great. Wonderful.” Will coughs to hide his eagerness. “I’ll pick you up in the morning then?” Now it’s your turn to nod, before bidding him good night. You feel his eyes tracking your every move as you walk away from the car, every cell in your body rebelling against the movement of your legs. It takes all of your concentration not to rush back but to finally open the door and step inside.

The lock clicks into place and you sigh as you rest your forehead against the wood, hoping you’d invited him in. But for now, this is for the best, you remind yourself. You have some research to do. You need to get to the bottom of this connection before anything rash can happen. No matter how much you wish for it to. 

Hours later you step into your bedroom and a soundless whisper calls to you from the window. You walk next to it and push the curtain to the side a little. Will’s car is still parked on the same spot where he left you and even if you can’t see his face, you see his figure in the front seat, reclining a little as he’s gotten comfortable.

He’s going to be there all night, you realize suddenly. It should feel creepy, but it only fills you with warmth. He’s going to keep you safe, just like he said.    

[lilyeholland]

Before It’s Too Late.

[Reggie Peters x Reader] PART ONE - PART TWO 

Summary: Y/N is Reggie’s complicated love interest from the 90′s and is trying to figure out where she stands with Reggie before him and his band make it big by playing at the Orpheum. *only semi based off of Stranger by Jeremy Shada -GO STREAM MAD LOVE!!!*

Word Count: 1.1k

Warnings: Maybe like 1 swear word, and like anticipated angst???

A/N: It’s been a looooooonnngg time since I’ve written fanfic - I used to write for Tom Holland, Peter Parker and Harrison Osterfield lol but I think those days are way behind me. I miss writing so much, I decided to try it out with my new obsession; Julie and the Phantoms. Please like, reblog, and share with friends if you like it!!! 

As far as high school relationships go, your relationship with Reggie was as complicated and confusing as they get. He’s a natural flirt - a charmer, and a performer - so it never really surprised you that you never became official and exclusive, although it definitely that way at times. For instance, Reg would invite you to band practice just to watch them rehearse, telling the boys to “play their very best because Y/N’s coming and I don’t want her to think we suck”. And during said practice, he’d go extra hard with extra hair flips and bass riffs, the occasional wink making it across the room to you. 

And of course, you can’t forget that one time Reggie turned into a true cliché Romeo-type, throwing rocks at your window at 2am, begging you to sneak down with him and go somewhere. 

“Reginald Peters!” you whisper-shouted at him from your window on the top floor of your house. “Are you crazy?”

“Maybe a little bit,” he chuckled at his own comment. “Get dressed, I wanna take you somewhere.” He smirked at you and held his bottom lip between his teeth for a few moments as he watched you from your driveway. 

“Oh, you’re definitely insane,” you said softly as you rolled your eyes, earning another small laugh from Reggie. You stepped out of the window frame and back into your room to grab a pair of pants and a coat. “I’ll be down in a second.” You said before shutting your window and slowly, steadily creeping down the stairs of your house and through your front door. 

Reggie had waited patiently for you, tapping his foot and humming tunes of his own songs. His eyes lit up as soon as he met yours face to face at the same level. The first thing he did was hold out his hand for you to grab - how could you NOT be exclusive when he looked at you like that? 

He began to run down the street towards his dad’s parked pick-up truck (smart boy for not parking in front of your house). “Where are we going?” you asked as he helped you into the vehicle. No reply, just a sly little smirk and then you were off. 

You made it to your final destination where Reggie made you cover your eyes to surprise. “Keep your eyes closed!” he warned you as he parked the car again and got out to let you out on the passenger’s side.

“Reg, I know we’re at the beach. I can hear the waves.” You opened your eyes to find him beside you, looking up with puppy eyes. 

“Dang it,” the excited gleam left his eyes, but the puppy-effect remained. “You still don’t know what we’re doing!” It’s like his ears perked up as he said this. This boy really is comparable to a dog. 

It wasn’t like he had this big romantic gesture planned out, he just brought a beach blanket and a guitar. It turned out you didn’t really need the guitar, just the blanket to lay under the two of you as you looked up at the clear sky and star-gazed. As the early morning grew later, you had moved closer and closer to him, eventually resting your head on his chest and soaking up the syncopated breaths and heart beats of his. The warm fuzzy feeling that had already taken its place in your chest spread to your whole body as he kissed the top of your head and whispered, “thank you for coming here with me.”

“Of course,” you whispered back to him, being grateful that he couldn’t see your embarrassingly rosy cheeks. 

He took a deep breath before sitting up. “Did I tell you we’re playing the Orpheum in a couple weeks?” He was totally playing it cool, leaning back into his hands and staring off into the sea. 

“No!” you exclaimed and sat up on your knees even taller than him. “Reggie! That’s amazing! You’re literally gonna be legit rockstars!” You almost melted into a puddle at the way he smiled at you while you say this. 

“Right?! That’s exactly what I said!” he matched your energy with his excitement.

“Oh man, the Orpheum...!” you repeated, “I so wish I could come.”

“I’ll try and work something out,” he licked his lips, “I really want you to be there.”

It’s almost like his voice cracked while saying that last part, but you couldn’t be entirely sure. 

“I wanna be there, too.” Both of your voices had gotten quieter and your gaze had traveled down each other’s faces a couple inches to find each other’s lips. 

You leaned into each other fast, but slowed down as soon as you felt his breath on you. Sinking his behind your ear, he nudged your nose with his, signaling that he was ready to kiss when you were. Only centimeters away, a shout from the distance knocked you both to your feet. 

“Hey, you kids!! What are you doing out this late?! The beach is closed!! Go home!!” The figure the voice came from starting moving closer towards you. 

“Oh shit,” Reggie said under his breath through a laugh. “Go, go, go, go!” he grabbed the blanket and started dragging you by your hand towards his car. Moments of belly-aching laughter passed by before you knew the night was over.

Needless to say, even after moments like that, you and Reggie had never had “the talk” about where you stand with each other. After psychoanalyzing and overthinking the situation, you had come up with the conclusion that Reggie was just afraid of commitment. Growing up with parents who rushed into marriage just because they had gotten pregnant, he had become terribly afraid of moving too fast with someone ending up unhappy and fighting like they were. He didn’t want to end up like his parents, which is why he remained his same flirty, flamboyant self at school and with his friends. 

You had formulated a plan to tell him how you really felt about him - showing up to the show at the Orpheum early to meet him at the backstage doors, hand him a letter and a quick, yet meaningful kiss on the cheek and tell him you’ll be in there cheering him on the loudest. However, that plan kind of fell through as you found out getting tickets to an exclusive Hollywood concert hall was incredibly difficult and expensive. 

You didn’t give up, though. You and Reggie always found a way to each other no matter how hard the path was. To no surprise, you were able to say the things you wanted to say to him before it was too late...

LET ME KNOW IF YOU WANT A PART TWO!!!!!

[messinwitheddie]

ohhh im so here for more irken/human culture shock moments!! i guess this one can be directed to hoola: what do you think about humans' longevity? their ability to continue functioning and/or living despite grievous injury, the effects of adrenaline, stuff like that? is there an irken equivalent? extra points if you don't count paks!

Hoola "The wound is disinfected and cauterized. The scar should be near invisible in a few hours."

Lyric "Thanks!"

REG "Yes, thank you. I promised my aunt I would bring him home in tact."

Hoola "I'm still in shock your brains aren't splattered all over the terrain or your neck isn't broken."

Lyric "Na! I have the thickest skull in the family."

Reg "He used to run head first into walls when he was toddler."

Lyric "And trees."

Hoola "...? Well, still, you might ought to stay farther away from the wildlife. Much safer that way."

(I have only just recently met a "human" in person. Two humans; long story. They ARE a little shocking at first.. The maned one, Lyric, he's an adolescent, and a "field assistant". The older one, Reg, is an adult male. He claims to be a scientist on a "family research colaboration trip.", Whatever that means exactly. The two are close genetically in some way. "Cousins" I believe was the word. Not sure what that means. I'm unfamiliar with how humans group themselves.

I'm uneducated about the human species in general. My two humans are fascinating to say the least-- in a flattering way. Unit for unit, they do appear naturally stronger and faster than the average Irken.

To my understanding, humans grow much quicker and taller than most Irkens, but their lifespans are much shorter. Evidently, I am the oldest Irken drone they've ever met. They seem intelligent enough-- As sharp as most of my apprentices as scary as that is."

And as a drone with a LONG medical career, I must assure you, PAKs in no way make an Irken invulnerable or immortal. I have to emphasize that constantly, because there seems to be a misunderstanding even among my own kind on the subject.

PAKs are VERY complex devices that need regular attention and PROPER maintenance just like the flesh vessel...and eventually PAKs lose their charge.

The more a drone pushes themselves, the sooner the burnout. There's no stopping the final timer after so many centuries.

We can only move so much so fast for so long. Extreme heat or cold or any extreme conditions honestly, saps our energy. But even without PAKs, Irkens have a rapid healing process. So I guess it evens out.

Physical training and winning the genetic lottery contributes more to an Irken's athletic capabilities than the PAK, unless specific modifications are made. In most elite and imperial class competitions extra PAK features are disabled. I would have to look up the names of the record holders for the fastest runner or the highest climber, but to my knowledge Pielord Emis-Gee still holds the record for weight lifting; 5,000 plus hefties of cut fries. I was there for that one; great show.

That feat impressed late Miyuki so much she knighted him her personal frylord on the spot. He only pulled that stunt once though. I'm still treating his torn muscles and bulged discs."

I can't really make a fair comparison of the two species yet. Have a feeling it's going to be crullers to donuts. When I learn a little more, I'll update you. I wish Cini had encountered humans when he ruled. They would have been his favorite animal.

(Hoola likes to talk; excuse him ^^)

[cyncerity]

I loved your shifter!Tommy AU! What if when everyone gets back to the house, they decide to find out how big/small Tommy can grow?

The SBI immediately want to know all they can about Tommy’s powers (Wilbur more than the other two, to no ones surprise), so Tommy tells them what he knows. They learn that while Tommy has some control over his powers, he doesn’t have much, and that his instincts and emotions are what primarily dictate how he shifts.

I would normally say that his family tries to test his limits in some angsty way where they make fun of him or mock him and he gets self conscious and shrinks or they purposefully make him angry and he grows and almost hurts someone, but y’know what? I think that sizesfifter Tommy needs some fluf rn >:)

Cue the SBI sitting in their living room with junk food and blankets and just binging random movies and tv shows for the next ten hours. Tommy is encouraged by his family to just let his emotions do whatever to his height, and though not much happens at first since he’s so used to keeping his emotions in check, he eventually relaxes more and begins to change size more drastically as time goes on. They watched a number of action and suspense movies, which made him grow slightly taller, surprisingly. Comedies had the same effect. They also watched a sad movie, which was the first time Tommy shrunk in front of any of them, but that knocked his emotions a little too out of whack since now no one could see him, and they didn’t find him until Techno reached for more popcorn and found Tommy struggling to get out of the bowl. But surprisingly the best genre to test his abilities was horror. He shrunk when something scary happened or when the atmosphere of the movie got to him (still small, but not nearly as small as the sad movie made him), and he grew very suddenly during jumpscares. He also grew every time he started yelling at the movie characters for making stupid decisions.

So what they learned from this is that Tommy can’t handle being to sad or he’ll shrink to the point where he’s hard to see, he shrinks to about palm size when scared, he only grows a bit if he’s happy or laughing (probably because he feels these things most often and needed to train to keep himself the same height, so it’ll take more than a movie night for the change to be more drastic), he grows when angry, and he grows really tall really fast when scared suddenly.

They also figure out that his natural instinct is to grow instead of shrink, so if his instincts kick in no matter what situation he’s in or what emotion he’s feeling, he’ll most likely grow.

[heresathreebee]

Old Stomping Ground

[Ava Starr X Female Reader]

Summary: One of the good things to come out of constant alien invasions are the abandoned ruins of New York, and you’re fixing to show Ava your favorite place. Previous Masterlist Next

Tag(s): 13+ | can be reader gender and race neutral reader but is written with woc readers in mind, no-snap au, post-Ant Man and the Wasp, Ava and reader on an adventure in post Avenger's New York, homelessness, alien trees and the power of community.

AN: no-snap au, post-Ant Man and the Wasp. No beta, we die like men. Just you and Ava having a short adventure.

You took three days off of work for this one. Packed two backpacks with food, water, clothes, and other supplies. Bedrolls and bug spray and hiking poles. Ava laughed at your enthusiasm but she seemed to vibrate with excitement right along with you. 

"Can you at least tell me where we're going," she pleaded. 

You ran through the end of the checklist for the third time, trying to be extra careful now that you wouldn't be hoofing it solo. You dodged the question expertly with a "it's not far and it's not dangerous so hush! Learn to enjoy the mystery, babe." 

Ava rolled her eyes playfully but stopped asking and let you finish. After that you ate a hearty breakfast and began your journey north by northwest. In the taxi, your girlfriend's eyes darted from building to building as you turned on every street and you mentally gave up on scolding her. She was too pragmatic to allow for that level of trust yet. 

You were surprised that it took her until you passed the ruins of the daycare you once attended that she whipped her head around to whisper, "is this… Leviathan alley?" 

You shush her but can't keep the excited grin from your face. "It's a bit more than just an alley." 

Once SHIELD was finished stripping for parts and gutting the cybernetically enhanced alien creature left behind in the Battle of New York, the rest was abandoned. The city's been planning to clean up and rebuild but there are scores in the earth where the leviathan crashed and crumbling, precarious buildings that need to be brought down first in the safest way possible. While the city’s been debating how to deal with the destruction, the poor and destitute had moved in and discovered the blood of the chitauri has some very interesting properties. 

"It's like it changes the property of concrete," you explained, climbing over rubble and reaching back to pull her up, "uhg– breaks it down into some kind of hyper fertilizer. There's this copse of trees growing where we think the stomach was and I think in its natural habitat, the creature was probably an omnivore of sorts and may have swallowed thousands of seeds–" 

"That's all very fascinating dear, could you please take this?" Ava shoves a canteen into your hands and cups your hands to bring it closer to your mouth. You've climbed for what feels like miles and hey, you are pretty parched. "Think we'd better rest and eat, maybe look for a safe place to set up camp and… oh, look over there!" 

Ava's sudden whisper makes you turn. It's green in that direction, though this 'alley' is shrouded in darkness due to the dome made from the spine and ribs of the leviathan, the sprigs seem to grow just fine, becoming taller as they moved farther away from you until they began to develop woody stalks and trunks. 

"That's the forest you were talking about," Ava whispered in awe. “I wanna get a closer look.” 

You gently caught her arm. “Camp first, eat. It’ll still be here tomorrow.” 

~ 

Ava didn’t expect you to take her into an encampment. There were two dozen people in tents, an open grill going and laughter. They seemed to recognize you. It was mostly older adults, a few elderly people wrapped in thick blankets and teens walking around asking anyone needed drinks. You grabbed the blanket from your pack and wrapped Ava in it as soon as she found a seat on a slab of concrete. 

"Comfy?" 

Ava smiled up at you, taking the proffered fruit slice from you. "Very." 

She examined the strange fruit. It had a thin violet skin with a spongy white inner layer and pink juice with black seeds  dripping from it. She leabed over your shoulder get a look at the fruit as a whole, and it seemed the pink goop was loose inside the fruit similar to a coconut. 

"Are these from the trees," she asked. 

"Yeah, they're edible don't worry. No side effects we've seen," you assure. 

Ava nods but as she's licking the tangy pink juice you continue, "well except for Nadia but she's a mutant."��

Ava flicks worried green eyes at you and slowly takes the fruit from her mouth. She's already swallowed on reflex so there's no turning back now, only managing whatever weird things would come next. 

"Uh… what do you mean by that?" 

You blink at Ava. "Oh it's not, like, bad or anything. Right, Nadia?" 

A dark skinned girl in an orange beanie looked up from her phone. "What?" 

"Tauri makes you, what, gassy?" 

The man on the grill threw his head back in a laugh and Nadia kicked a rock at you. "Ha hah, you're everybody's favorite clown in the circus. It doesn't make me gassy, you jerk, it makes me smell like roses actually." 

"Oh," Ava said, "that's all?" 

You and Nadia shared a knowing look. "It's strong. Not overpowering but strong like you've got your nose buried in a whole bouquet of them." 

"And your fingers tingle and you make sparkles– " 

"Nadia I think that's just you, baby!" 

People laughed and the conversation died down. Ava let the slip of tauri fruit linger in her grasp until you gently pried it out and ate it yourself. You were side eyeing her but kept your question to yourself and eventually Ava was able to relax. She fell asleep during Nadia's uncle Rodney's story with her head on your shoulder and dreamed of violet things. Violet dresses, violet paint, violet fires, and violet sprigs. 

All you could dream of was the smell of roses so close and so thick you could touch it. 

~

The walk through the natural path as the trees got thicker finally prompted Ava to ask the question that's been plaguing her. "How do you know them? Are they family?" 

You cast a quick glance over your shoulder and slowed your pace to match hers as your fingers tapped the straps of your backpack nervously. "Sort of. They were family when I had no home to go to. Then I got a job with enough money and a stupid good deal on my apartment because I had no priors. 

"Rodney and Jules and some of the others prefer it out here with the forest. Some of them have nowhere else to go or no way to take care of themselves. Nadia's been kicked out of every home she's ever been to, but she won't go to that gifted school for mutants in Westchester county. Can't say I blame her either." 

"School for mutants, eh," Ava said as she trudged on, "interesting." 

You walked along in silence, drinking in the inviting quiet of the forest and the tiny chirps and peeps of its new inhabitants. You'd almost say it would be a shame to tear this place down knowing it's a new natural habitat, but you know New York had a hundred bigger and more pressing issues to deal with right now. As long as any capitalist moguls kept their eyes elsewhere, the new jungle should be fine. 

As the forest becomes denser, you have to pull a rechargeable flashlight out to see the ground beneath you. Black bugs crawl under and over the brush and fallen twigs, and something no bigger than a cat scuttles away out of the path of the light. Ava puts a hand on your arm and you open your mouth to assure her you'd protect her, but as you look at her you realize she's ready to protect you. Arm poised out and eyes darting around for signs of sudden movement from the brush. 

You walk in silence for what feels like an fantastic eternity but when you look at the canopy you stop yourself. Ava looks up to, gently taking a hold of your hand to keep you close and it sends tingles up your arm. She rarely reaches for you but she seems to be growing more and more confident of it. 

Light dances beyond the thicket of the leaves. Green and gold flashes as a soft breeze creates gaps beyond the chitauri rib ceiling and every time a light flashes you feel warmth on your skin like soft little kisses. 

Something wooden creaks, and that creaking quickly turns to snapping. You unconsciously squeeze Ava's fingers as you spot a black tree trunk beginning to fall towards you. Suddenly, Ava's arms are around you and she pulls you down into a duck. 

Everything happens so fast it blinds you. You can't see, can only feel as shivers of warmth and cold jitter through your entire being, drowning you into sensations you've never felt before. It makes you feel fear more than anything. Is this how you die? Cowering? 

When the sounds of falling trees stop, there is only the wind and the rush of Ava's windbreaker against yours. You test your fingers to see if they still work and dig them into her back. Nothing broken, you're still standing if gravity is correct. 

She finally lets you lift your head from her embrace and survey the scene. That tree opened a spot in the canopy for more natural light to pour in which is good because your flashlight was lost among the thick bramble bushes. 

Ava brushes your forehead. "Are you OK?" 

It must be a trick of the light but she looks like she's shimmering. Perhaps you hit your head or something but it seems like you never fell. Your standing just beside the fallen tree but you could have sworn you'd almost felt it go through you. And then…

And then there was the smell of roses. 

"I'm fine," you say at last. "Let's get back, probably shouldn't have come here by ourselves anyways…" 

Ava gives you a look, it almost looks like trepidation. You steel your resolve and press on to retrace your steps, knowing you had a lot of walking to do before you would exit the treeline. 

Ava has powers and you're ok with that. You'll just let her tell you in her own time. 

[phantasmagoriaoriginals]

Here There be Monsters: Mage Basic Intros (Part 1)

Hyousa

She/her, Red Mage.

Her history is fairly normal. While her mother died in Hyousa’s early childhood, she was close with her father and lived happily enough even after the loss. She joined the Organization willingly for the sake of making a difference in the world, even mostly unaware of how difficult that would be. Cream was given to her as a Familiar a couple years in. 

Cheerful, energetic, and persistently optimistic, Hyousa is the kind of person who aggressively sees the best in the world and everyone in it. While some people consider her hopelessly naive, her determination can’t be beat. Hyousa is actively, willingly kind to everyone who crosses her path, whether they deserve it or not. She chooses to see the best. 

Her magic is the typical Red— pure power made of her own magical energy. It’s completely suited for physical combat, but somehow, Hyousa manages not to make it violent. She fights to help people!

5′5, 19. Thin, girlish build which nonetheless carries quite a bit of lean muscle. Short, cinnamon brown hair worn mostly slicked back and out of her face, with only a few strands escaping to fall on her forehead. Wide, bright brown eyes, fair skin. She constantly fidgets around. 

Sinclair

She/her, Purple Mage.

After growing up at an orphanage following the death of her parents in an unfortunate accident, Sinclair willingly joined the Organization as a way of making use of her magic. She’d mostly taught it to herself as a way of looking after the orphanage’s children, and once she had access to a real way to improve it, she wanted to learn how to use it properly. 

Sinclair’s personality is best defined as motherly. She’s an incredibly kind, soft person who others feel innately comfortable around. However, she’s also strict on those who do wrong and wants to see people improve, not be coddled. Caretaking is in her nature. She looks after those around her and does her best to keep everyone happy and well. 

Her magic primarily operates around charms imbued with curses and blessings. While she generally prefers to use the blessings to help her allies, when she sets her mind to a curse, it’s deadly. 

5′6, early 30′s. Fat, with a pear-shaped, soft build. Wide through the hips and all-around soft. Black, frizzy hair worn around shoulder-length, with shorter-cut bangs. Black eyes, round glasses, and soft, sweet features. Moderately dark brown skin. 

Livva

She/her, Yellow Mage.

Born with an innate magic known as the “human sealing container”, Livva was highly valued even from childhood. She spent her early years being passed between “homes” and different people who owned her— usually to use her for her magic or to own an expensive prize—, until the Organization took possession of her instead. 

Serious, cold, and disinterested in the world, Livva is the kind of person who rarely shows fondness for anything. She’s seen some of the most selfish sides of humanity, so her worldview is quite corrupted. The things she does are only because she’s forced to, and she has no real attachment or loyalty to anyone or anything. She just exists. 

Her magic, as mentioned above, is sealing-based. A seal on her tongue allowed her to hold “objects” inside of her body and release them at will. These things range from artifacts to spells, to even offensive energy. 

5′10, mid 20′s. Tall, slightly pear-shaped build with notable curves. White, fluffy hair that falls to her shoulders and has considerably more volume towards the ends. Dark brown, somewhat lifeless eyes, fair skin. Posture is always stiff and near-perfect. 

Madeleine

She/her, Orange Mage.

An amnesiac, she lacks any memories from what she assumes to be almost twenty years of life. She only remembers her time with the Organization, and is currently in the process of trying to discover more about her past— including a large, mysterious scar across her chest. However, she doesn’t necessarily want to look too deeply. 

Madeleine is friendly, open, and upbeat. Despite her internal issues, she tries to make life better for herself and the people around her. She’s close friends with Sinclair, likes to use her magic for other people’s enjoyment, and is generally a very kind-hearted sort. However, when it comes to missions, she has a serious, brutal side that comes out. 

Her magic is similar to Sinclair’s but involves food (specifically sweets) instead of handmade charms. Her desserts have a variety of effects and are more useful in a conflict situation than you’d expect. 

5′9, early 30′s. Tall, athletic, curveless build with wide shoulders and strong legs. Dark brown, thigh-length hair worn in thick box braids and a high ponytail. Dark, warm-undertoned skin and sparkling brown eyes. Large, diagonal scar across her chest from collarbone to navel. 

Aurora

She/her, Green Mage.

Born without her left leg from the knee down. It took a while to find her a suitable prosthetic, but after getting a highly functional one and practicing plenty, she’s completely adjusted to it. She’s always lived in the shadow of her older sister, Rosaria, who she both adores and resents thanks to a feeling of having to live up to her success. 

Strict, intense, and serious, Aurora is the picture of ambition and hard work. She’s always felt a need to compensate for her self-perceived weaknesses and feeling of being “second best”. However, her cold exterior hides a warm heart and burning passion. She’s the type to never give up on anyone or anything when she sets her mind to them. 

Aurora’s magic, as Green magic always is, is derived from the world around her. The main way she uses it is to increase her speed, agility, and mobility through absorbed energy from other moving objects. 

5′7, early 20′s. Slim, straight build with long legs and a narrow shape. Long, hip-length, white hair worn loose and straight with bangs and shoulder-length sidelocks. Intense gray eyes with pale lashes. Black and silver, high-tech prosthetic from below the knee down on her left leg. 

Ranisha

She/they, Blue Mage.

The oldest of many siblings, Ranisha had to grow up fast and take on a lot of responsibility. Developing excessive maturity so early gave her a jaded, logical outlook on the world, where she prioritizes what needs to be done instead of what she wants. She joined the Organization for money as well as something to do with herself that felt like success. 

Ranisha is most notably aloof, cold, and efficient. She takes her work very seriously, places her job before any personal desires, and doesn’t make friends easily or well. Seemingly uninterested in anything but what’s assigned to her, many people feel intimidated by her strict nature and harsh standards. She butts heads with Vash quite a bit. 

Her magic turns written symbols into weapons manifested solely from her energy. Ranisha favors guns over bladed weapons, can use anything from small pistols to larger rifles, and her accuracy is near-unmatched.

5′8, early-mid 20′s. Fairly average build with slight curves. Somehow petite despite her height. Black, thick hair styled in a short, natural faux hawk with close-cropped sides. Black eyes, dark, cool-toned skin, and pleasant features that are always set in a stern, neutral expression. 

Katz

He/him, Brown Mage.

While he grew up as a relatively normal Mage, Katz considers getting involved with the Organization to be the worst mistake he ever made. The job is stable and suits his skills well, but the people he has to deal with drive him absolutely insane. He developed a stress-related drinking habit from a young age, which did nothing to help his nasty attitude.

Katz is the kind of person who’s hit his breaking point. He’s an angry, bitter man who’s perpetually exhausted, short-tempered with everyone around him, and a raging alcoholic on top of all of that. While he’s very good at what he does, Katz is the type who most want to stay far away from. His dead-eyed glare is incredibly intimidating. 

His magic focuses on sealing. Specifically, sealing the powers of others. Katz creates items that, when placed on someone’s body, restrain some or all of their magic to whatever extent he crafted them to. 

5′11, mid 30′s. Thicker build that’s on the stockier side of muscular. Reddish taupe-colored hair worn in a short style that falls about to his ears and is often slicked back. Fair skin, dark eyes, and a good amount of stubble on his upper lip, cheeks, and chin. Perpetual scowl. 

Emilio

He/they, Purple Mage.

A lot of Emilio’s life has been spent wishing he was something other than himself. He grew up relatively average, but underwent a fair amount of bullying for being shy and reclusive. When he learned magic, his main goal was to change himself— and he did that completely. He’s always trying to hide from the person he used to be. 

Emilio is best described as a charismatic jokester. Despite being very much a “class clown” type, he exudes so much pleasant, cheerful energy that people can’t help but be drawn to him. However, underneath his sunny disposition is a serious, capable man who wants to give his best to the people close to him... as well as something of a dark side. 

The magic he uses revolves around shapeshifting. Emilio can change his own appearance at will and is known to constantly be doing so. No one is sure what his original appearance is, and Emilio isn’t telling. 

Mid 20′s. Everything about Emilio’s appearance varies. He can change his height, hair color, eye color, features, build, and more with a simple spell, and he does that frequently. He seems to favor taller, more handsome looks, though, and usually retains bright hair and eye colors. 

Vash

He/him, Orange Mage.

Trained in magic from a young age, Vash made it his mission to be as good at it as possible— and gather all the admiration and respect he can. He’s never experienced much in the means of personal hardship, but the standards he’s placed on himself do plenty of damage. He’s been in the organization since he was fifteen, thanks to his family’s choices. 

Short-tempered, viciously ambitious, and high-strung to a fault, the main things in life that drive Vash are gaining the approval of everyone around him and making himself look as impressive as possible. He’s a hot-blooded teenager in every sense of the word, and painfully unaware of his own inexperience and how dangerously reckless he can be. 

Vash’s magic is typical for the Orange kind. He uses elemental powers; in his case, fire. Despite being made of magic, this fire burns just like the real thing and is every bit as destructive and hard to control. 

19, 5′8. Skinny, lanky build with less muscle than you’d expect. Straight, chin-length, black hair usually worn covering one eye. Pale skin, orange eyes, and numerous silver piercings all over his body. Extensive burn scars covering him from his magic going haywire.

Alexander

He/him, Brown Mage.

Born to a prestigious and high-class Mage family, Alexander grew up in the lap of luxury. He was spoiled to a fair extent, but the consequences are fortunately mild. Told from a young age that he’s destined for great things and incredibly capable, Alexander has always felt like he doesn’t have to do much of anything to be successful and loved. 

Alexander is friendly, sociable, polite, and generally pleasant to be around. He’s the kind of charismatic person who draws others to him whether he tries to or not. However, he also has an unfortunate tendency of viewing people as lesser than him and expects things that he shouldn’t more often than not. He’s also worryingly naive. 

The magic he uses relates to forcefields. Alexander can generate and manipulate forcefields out of his magical energy, and uses them for defense as well as offense. Their purposes are quite varied. 

6′1, early 20′s. Tall, broad-shouldered, elegant build. Dark red, wavy hair worn in a short-ish cut and sometimes styled with a low ponytail or pins holding the side back. Dark hazel eyes, handsome features, and fair skin. A perpetually welcoming smile and the posture of a trained nobleman. 

[rusty-tetanus-nail]

Never Look Away

Summary: Dean and Cas are forced to redefine their relationship as a decade old secret between them finally comes to light.

Dean jumps up, strangely offended.

“Okay, first of all, you’ve seen my browser history. Your true form doesn’t even make my top 10 weirdest things I’ve jerked off to, so that's a load of bull..."

Notes: This is the result of listening to Never Look Away by Vienna Teng for 10 hours gay.

-------

Careful not to wake him, Dean traces the outlines of Cas’s body illuminated by the reddish hues of the morning sun with his fingers. He can hardly believe it’s only been a year since they defeated God and pulled Cas out of the Empty with the promise of a love returned. 

So much has changed in such little time. With the illusion of free will no longer binding Dean to a greater destiny and with Cas and Dean’s own feelings out in the open he finally allowed himself to want all the things he denied himself for so long, always prioritizing other people’s happiness over his own. Now he has it all. A house, a job, a family, a life, Cas. It was so hard at first, to stop looking for hunts and letting go of Sam so he too could start his own life with Eileen by his side, but in the end Dean had been too tired to fight his own desires any longer and gave in.

Fuck the voice of his father telling him his only purpose in life was to watch out for Sammy and fuck the man John wanted him to be. He helped save this world so he gets to live in it in whatever way he wants to and what he wants is to live his cheesy apple pie life waking up every day next to the man he loves.

Cas stirs in his sleep and Dean watches the translucent wings flutter against the light seemingly drinking up the morning sun. They used to be pitch black back when they first met. A beautiful sight, yet not quite fitting the man Cas would eventually become.

Then they burned and Dean could barely stomach to look at them knowing how much the culmination of all of Dean’s mistakes had hurt Cas so irreparably. And now the wings are whole again and even more awe-inspiring than before. Something about Dean rescuing Cas from the Empty or maybe a blessing from Jack has restored them leaving Dean with the desperate urge to touch the intangible. Watching one of the smaller eyes on Cas’ wings slowly flutter open Dean wonders if it would be rude to ask about the colour change and chuckles. The way the wings shimmer with all the colours of the rainbow is just so wonderfully, blatantly gay.

“What’s so funny?” Cas mumbles half asleep as a couple more eyes flutter open searching for the source of Dean’s amusement.

Dean leans over, one hand caressing Cas’ jaw and kisses him softly good morning.

“I just love you so damn much.” He whispers only inches away from his husband’s mouth and rests his forehead against Cas’.

Cas moves back to study Dean’s face questioningly. The familiar stare is so much more intense now that Dean can take all of Cas in without suffering through the burning sensation that always accompanied laying his eyes on something filled with angelic grace. 

Dean swallows hard. Having all of Cas’ eyes so solely focussed on him and him alone is such a major turn on. He must be doing it on purpose. It’s unfair how such a simple action has so much of an effect on Dean.

“I don’t understand how that’s funny.” Cas says, one eyebrow raised.

“Then come and find out.”

Dean’s mind is already too far gone to care for the conversation and he pulls Cas closer by his shirt desperate to embrace the parts of Cas that he can actually touch. Now fully awake, Cas reciprocates the action enthusiastically pressing their lips together earnestly and climbing on top of Dean to explore his body with his hands and mouth. Not for the first time Dean curses his past self for not allowing himself to be loved by Cas years ago. There’s so much time they have yet to make up for. Luckily they’re both more than willing to try.

Dean’s musings are cut short when Cas’ attentions move downward as Dean’s legs get pushed apart and Cas presses against Dean’s growing erection. 

“Fuck, Cas!” Dean groans and sees new galaxies forming inside Cas’ body. Always good to know that Cas enjoys this as much as Dean does.

The prodding stops and Dean lets out an embarrassing whine.

“Not yet.” Cas teases with a grin, all of his eyes’ attention once again on Dean alone. The bastard. Dean has half the mind to hit him upwards with his knee in retaliation, but soon gets distracted by Cas intertwining his hands with Dean’s and leaning down slowly to kiss the sensitive spot on Dean’s neck. He gasps and moves his neck so Cas can take him apart much easier.

In their closeness Cas’ celestial body engulfs Dean in his entirety and he is left again, breathless, by the unfathomable sight of his lover’s true form. Stars and skies in colours not named by men expand and swirl inside the translutient depths of the oceans and galaxies that make up the angels body as the golden halos’ luminescence submerges them both in it’s light. Dean would lose himself in the sight if it weren’t for the thousands of eyes, holding the knowledge of millenia, watching him unblinkingly in a way that is so Cas, so human, that Dean can’t see anything else but his stupid socially awkward self-sacrificing husband.

“Fuck, you’re beautiful.” Dean blurts out, giving voice to his thoughts.

Cas flinches away as if burned, his true form doing much the same. He wavers back against the bedroom wall as far away as possible from his vessel and curls in on himself. At least Dean assumes that’s what Cas is trying to do. Cas' true form, once taller than any skyscraper, has shrunk significantly with the absence of grace powering him up, but is still far too large to fit completely inside a house let alone a room.

“What’s wrong?” Dean asks sitting up.

Cas turns away, his eyes fluttering across the room looking for an escape. Dean gingerly places a hand on Cas’ shoulder and is relieved when he’s not pushed away.

“Hey, Cas, buddy. Whatever it is, you can tell me. I know it’s weird coming from me, but let’s not do this again. No more unnecessary secrets. Please.”

Cas takes Dean’s hand into his and nods. One slow measured breath and he starts talking.

“Dean, I- I know you can’t help seeing me this way, but I dislike it when you comment on my appearance.”

Cas’ vessel is still turned away, but out of the corner of his eyes Dean can see Cas, the real Cas, watching his reaction with interest.

“Well, uh, okay, if it makes you uncomfortable I can stop.” Dean starts awkwardly. “But let me assure you there is absolutely no reason for you to feel insecure about the way you look, you’re-” Dean trails off. You’re mind blowingly gorgeous and sometimes your beauty is so overwhelming that I’m scared I’ll cry if I look too closely.

At Dean's words, Cas finally turns to face him.

“I’m not ‘insecure’, Dean.” Cas bites out emphasizing his irritation with air quotes. “In fact my true form is counted as one of the most attractive among my brethren.” 

Dean raises an eyebrow. No argument there. Cas is by far the prettiest angel he’s ever seen.

“And I am well aware that you find my vessel visually pleasing, but Dean, what you’re complimenting is not me. It’s Jimmy Novak.”

“Uh, Jimmy’s a good looking guy for sure, but the one who’s beautiful is definitely you.”

Instead of being reassured by Dean’s words Cas just sighs resignated.

“It’s kind of you to refer to my inner beauty, but we both know this is not what you meant. You see Jimmy’s face and call it beautiful. I don’t begrudge you for this but don’t like being confused with him.”

Oh Cas definitely has insecurities. How can he even think Jimmy fucking Novak is anywhere near as attractive as Cas himself?

“No, I meant exactly what I said. You, the you you, are fucking hot.”

Cas’ frowns, unhappy with Dean’s reply.

“It’s okay. I understand. It’s hard to keep Jimmy’s body and I seperate. There’s no need for you to backtrack to make me feel better. Let’s just stop arguing about this.”

“Oh no Jon Snow. Not so fast. Let me put this in terms even you and your insecure ass will understand.”

Dean takes Cas’ face into his hands and stares deeply into his eyes. The staring is a habit from back when Cas was still fully juiced up. With the angel grace making it near impossible to look at Cas’ true form without feeling like his eyes were on fire, the vessel's eyes were the only place Dean’s own could safely escape to.

“Your true form is incredibly attractive. Very sexy. Wings and all. If I could hit that, I would. Inner beauty not required.” He speaks slowly as if to a child. Apparently it was the wrong thing to do as Cas slaps Dean’s hands away unable to suppress his irritation any longer.

“Dean, you’ve never seen my true form and I can assure you if you had, its inhuman nature would stop you from ‘hitting that’.”

Dean jumps up, strangely offended.

“Okay, first of all, you’ve seen my browser history. Your true form doesn’t even make my top 10 weirdest things I’ve jerked off to, so that’s a load of bull and second of all…”

Dean grows quiet. What does Cas mean with Dean’s never seen his true form before? Wasn’t the ability to see angels part of being the Michael Sword or something? How could Cas not know? And even if he didn’t, they’ve known each other for over ten years. It must’ve come up at some point. 

Dean rifles through his memories desperate to find the right one, but draws a blank and visibly blanches. 

Cas had no reason to believe Dean could see him. Back when they first met, Cas made some assumptions and Dean didn’t correct him, not trusting the self proclaimed angel an inch. And then it’s always been the vessel Dean’s been talking to, never the one puppeteering it. At first out simple necessity, then out of pure habit. 

Determined to rectify their decade old misunderstanding Dean makes his way through the bedroom and sits down right in front of what Dean assumes must be the angel equivalent of Cas’ face or maybe his hand. Either way the body part has enough eyes to have an honest conversation with and has been observing Dean and the vessel talk this whole time. 

This is Cas. The real Cas. And it’s high time for Dean to stop averting his eyes.

Cas squirms under his stare.

“Dean, childishly staring at an empty wall won’t solve this.” Cas argues from behind Dean and Dean has to suppress the urge to turn around. The voice might be coming from the vessel, but the one talking is the angel in front of him.

“That’s not what I’m doing.” Dean says, looking directly into one of Cas’ bigger eyes. Cas freezes momentarily at the direct eye contact and then his eyes swirl around frantically trying to find whatever it is that Dean’s looking at. Dean's stomach tightens. It hasn’t been fair to make Cas feel as if he’s invisible just because it’s easier for his stupid human brain to talk to the vessel.

Dean reaches out attempting to touch the nervously fluttering wing next to him, but as expected his hand moves right through it. He smiles sadly.

“I’m sorry, Cas. It seems there’s something I’ve neglected to tell you. I thought you knew, but that’s not an excuse.” Dean pauses. “I’ve always been able to see you.”

There’s a storm brewing inside Cas, a tension. One wrong move and a star could explode setting off a supernova that is held at bay by nothing but a shimmering skin made of light and colours. His husband is nervous at the possibility of being seen, Dean realises and has no choice but to confirm Cas’ worry.

“When you were still full of grace I couldn’t look directly at you without fearing for my eyes, so I got used to looking at your vessel instead, but I’ve always known and seen the real you.”

Ever since Dean could remember gigantic and intangible creatures taller than skyscrapers with wings that could pierce the heavens have been watching him from a distance, their countless eyes following his every move. Scary, yet unimaginably beautiful. As a child Dean would try to describe them and ask what they were, but apart from his mom there was never anyone trying to hear him out.

“Children and their imagination.” Adults would say and ruffle his hair whenever he tried to ask about them and by the time he was four he realised that he’s the only one who could see them.

Then his mom died and all his questions and curiosity were left behind in the ruins of their broken home. Dean learned quickly that John had no use for children and their imaginary friends. He needed to grow up and become a soldier for his family’s sake. So he followed the orders, and pretended not to see these watchers following him around.

Later, when Dean was a teen and John was gone most of the time, Sam often dragged him to libraries and Dean would do his own research on the creatures in secret, too scared to ask anyone for help. John made it pretty clear he didn’t want Dean talking about them and Dean feared that if he told someone and didn’t have proof of their existence Dean would be sent off to a mental ward for seeing things that were simply not there. In the end it took dying and coming back to life to find his answers.

Despite having seen these creatures all of his life, when they summoned the one named Castiel, Dean needed a moment to figure out what he was seeing. He’s never been this close to any of them and the proximity was overwhelming. Dean was suddenly acutely aware just how Pamela's eyes could've been burned out so easily by the creature's visage.

In an attempt not to suffer the same fate as her, Dean averted his eyes and spotted a man entering the barn, his body connected with small tendrils to the large creature around him. A puppet, Dean thought, one he could touch and subsequently kill, so without another moment's hesitation Dean took the first shot. And then the second, a third. Neither the puppet nor the creature were faced by his attempts to fight, merely curious. As if Dean was nothing more but an ant trying to fight a giant.

“I’m the one who gripped you tight and raised you from perdition.” The puppet finally said, inhuman in everything but his appearance and so Dean stabbed him as a thanks for the introduction. Next thing he knew, Bobby was down and the guy began claiming to be an angel.

“There’s no such thing.” Dean said, but the voice of his mother telling him that angels were watching over him thought differently.

The man’s body straightened and the creature, Castiel, stood up, his form ending far beyond the barn’s roof and he spread his wings. Bolts of lighting exploded into an array of mesmerizing fireworks and Dean was left breathless before the angel. His terrifying beauty nesting deep inside Dean’s heart and he knew he was lost.

“No, you must be lying.” Cas says as his body trembles under Dean’s stare.

“I’m not.” Dean replies, leaving no room for debate and moves closer to Cas, who seems to be trying to escape through the bedroom wall. “So believe me when I say that you’re fucking beautiful and only thinking about you watching me with your many many eyes is enough to make me hard.”

Cas sputters incoherently and his body changes colours rapidly, eventually settling on a pinkish sort of hue. Oh. That’s new. Dean grins.

“Cas, Huggybear, are you blushing?” Dean teases, taking immense amusement in this new discovery. Cas swirls him around in an attempt to make Dean look at his vessel again, but with a true form as big as Cas’ it’s not hard to find a new part of Cas’ body to focus his attention on.

“No.” Cas growls defensively. “Stop looking.”

“Make me.” The reply is a bit cliché but Dean isn’t trying to win an Oscar. He’d much rather film a porn instead.

In the blink of an eye Dean is encased possessively in Cas’s wings and pushed onto the bed with urgency. Fuck yes.

[eloquentornot]

Minecraft theories about the nether: the Crimson forest is natural and belongs there, but there's something strange about the Warped. Soul sand valleys used to be regular deserts but something terrible happened in the fortresses. The fortresses were actually research centres - stone swords? These were not men of war! They have only the most basic of tools for self-defence! And what of the blazes? Rotating creatures made of the resource they are needed for, powered by the fire that is natural to the nether, what if blaze powder was created artificially?

Overworld: before the cultural and genetic split of villagers and illagers, they were one talented and rich society, Skillagers. They had various towns and citieeeeeeee...wait...maybe I should wait for the update to come out. The Warden could change so much, but...

Theory: The ancient cities are not of this world! Only appearing in the region of the world previously blocked by bedrock, that used to lead directly to the Void of space? Those frames are not portals but windows, like a navigational screen on a spaceship! The Warden burrows up from beneath, who's to say the whole city is not the same? The deep darkness of the Void, the place where not even monsters dare to tread... Redstone components like none seen before, plantlike creatures that absorb life energy directly to grow...

Anyway, focus on the Warped: corruption of the natural red forests to the opposite of their colour, a strange eerie place that piglins avoid, home to the alien Endermen and the striders that feast on its plants... What if it started as an experiment to make a more efficient food source for the walking lava boats, but the scientists failed to realise how quickly and violently this mutation to the natural red fungus would spread? And this fungus also gained a mind of its own, spreading to the brains of the Endermen who lived among them...

The End: Named for what it is in relation to what it used to be, perhaps? A shattered realm, its people forced to live in the forests and deserts as territorial bugs infest the cities, conquered by a dragon, or is it? Perhaps it was always a realm with no bedrock floor, a series of islands above the Void. Perhaps the Endermen invented the elytra, or perhaps those ships were piloted by people from the overworld, materials taken from the phantom... a creature made of sleep deprivation hallucinations brought to life... the dream of flight, turned nightmare...

As long as the Dragon lives, the portal to the overworld is closed. The Dragon lives on the power of crystals forged from materials found in the nether and overworld, crystals of mass destructive power...

Blaze powder, invented by Endermen? Wither skeletons, taller than other skeletons? The withering effect, like burning and poison but not, perhaps invented as a last resort control for a fireproof plant that grew too fast?

Endermen provoked by eye contact, eyes as symbolism for telepathic powers? Endermen teleportation from a diet of magical fruit, Endermen developing mental powers, but only zombified piglins seem to have a true hive mind with the collective aggression? Zombie virus not the same for piglins as for villagers, no bites or cures, only comes from visiting the overworld, or as they know it, the Otherside?

Endermen of the End have a connection to their Dragon but she's been corrupted by a reliance on the crystals? They need to be freed of her? Meanwhile the Endermen trapped in the nether have no collective telepathic centre and so are easily swayed by the will of the Warped? And the few Endermen in the overworld just wander around, free but lost?

Overworld pigs just a tamer breed of hoglins from when interdimensional trade was still open, all pig DNA actually from the nether? (Similar taming/riding method to the striders?)

The state of things long ago, mostly nether perspective: A vast realm, rich crimson forests and perilous basalt deltas, lava is the lifeblood of this realm and piglins the dominant species, protected trade routes connecting their prosperous bastions across wide expanses of dry, scorched land. The environment is harsh but the people are strong.

One day, a tall obsidian frame appears in the wilderness, blazing with purple light. Equally tall, dark people step through, shining magenta eyes partially hidden by their masks, wearing shining blue armour and carrying many strange and exotic goods. The piglins are initially wary, but these otherworldly explorers soon prove their benevolent intentions, and an exciting new era of trade begins! The Endermen take blocks from the vast, empty areas, and bake them into a new kind of brick, using it to build vast bases for themselves, in which they do all sorts of experiments.

Using the hot lava of this world, they are able to compact the fuel source they invented into rods, which they then work out how to craft into a light source, and also manage to make powerful automatons out of! They also experiment with breeding the hoglins that some more adventurous piglins work with, as well as being powerful beasts for hunting they could be bred into tame, safe food sources! These smaller pigs aren't as popular with the proud piglin race, but apparently they go over quite well on the other side of the portals, in the world that, sadly, no piglin can visit. It's too cold there, and there's something about the open air that kills a piglin very soon after crossing over. The Endermen decide to conduct research into a medicine that could help with that.

They also synthesise a new element that can be combined with the gold found so abundantly here, to create the ultimate metal, that can be combined with their existing diamond equipment to improve it even further! They also breed a new kind of animal, one that can carry people and cargo across the vast lava lakes of the nether, and even though it prefers the hottest temperatures possible it can also survive in the colder overworld, as lava does exist there too and they would still be of use there. They experiment with the sand from the deserts, discovering a technique for infusing it with the essence of life, to make it into a fertile soil with which to grow a plant they previously had to synthesise using the crimson plants and their own magical fruit, a plant that makes their potion brewing system far simpler!

Despite all their research, however, it doesn't seem possible to get a way for the piglins to survive in the overworld. They continue to experiment with plants, making a strange new teal mushroom that the striders love, hoglins hate it however, but they already love the natural mushrooms so it's fine. But the new plants, just like the crimson ones, are fireproof. They are mostly kept in the laboratories, but one day a strider drops cyan spores in a lava lake, and they reach the shore of a forest. They take root, overcoming and warping the existing plants to form a new forest, gradually. No-one notices until it's far too late to stop.

In the mean time, Endermen come from the other side - they've been researching, and they think they have a way to overcome death! The people of the overworld no longer age, they say. But this technique requires water, which does not exist here, so they've infused the portals with it. They even find a way to adapt it for the Endermen themselves, but it's rare to find someone compatible, so all those who are able to use it must stay within the laboratories. In the mean time, piglins cross over in droves, staying gladly with their new friends! They invent new food items, combining gold with carrots and apples... Something is wrong.

People start to lose their minds. They still die, it just takes a little longer. And their bodies stay alive, neither dead nor alive, trapped in a strange state. While they still can, the infected piglins rush home, but going back through the portal doesn't reverse the process... Something else is wrong. In the mean time, the people in the nether have noticed the rise of the Warped forests, the destruction of the crimson, and something strange is happening. A rogue researcher desperately tries something, perhaps if they convert an entire desert to fertile soil, they can keep more crops, fight back against the warping blight? The Warped. The Warped. The Warped. The Endermen feel something, something very wrong. They have always worn masks, to protect their minds, but now they feel their connection to the Dragon waning, something is wrong, they take off their masks to try to reach her, they all do, everywhere, but as soon as they try to establish a mental connection like never before, it's cut off.

Something rises from the valley, the soul valley they can't deny what they've done anymore. Something roars, new materials are found and someone somewhere goes mad. The people of the overworld have found a cure, but it only works for a small genetic subset of them, they must continue society without the others. Life has just got a lot harder. War breaks out between two factions in the overworld, as the Endermen suddenly abandon them. They had come from their world as advanced explorers, improving life for everyone, but since going to the nether they had gone too far. Now the world they had affectionately called Otherside was split, villagers verses pillagers verses growing hordes of monsters. Strongholds and cities were forgotten, dragged down by something else entirely, an alien force from the void below, yet another strange teal fungus spreading with malicious intent. (Perhaps something had influenced the creation of the Warped, perhaps it was a coincidence?)

In the mean time, someone had created a crystal to make their beloved Dragon even more powerful, and she hadn't reacted well. Explosions ruined the lives of native Endermen, and whether through guilt or madness She was now isolating. In the mean time, the overworld was left lonely, portals everywhere smashed all at once for their own safety. In the mean time, the minds of the Endermen were closed, never to be opened again. Eye contact would trigger their worst memories, there was nothing left for them. And in the nether. In the Warped. Some of them were not affected, those who had taken the medicine for eternal life. They knew that it had mutated into a terrible virus, on the other side. Piglin society had suffered irreparably, because of them. They had to stop the Warped. They had given it too much life, it had wants now. Fire could not stop it, and it was a type of poison already, but perhaps something else. They experimented until they found an effect so terrible that only their own terrible immortality kept them from fading into nothing. They called it the withering, and they used it to stop the Warped. To slow it down.

The rest of their kind, however, were enslaved to the Warped. Endermen and striders alone dared live there, and the Crimson forests remained, far weaker. There were more empty wastes, now, structures falling into ruin, secrets forgotten, more and more souls trapped in the deserts. Time passed, and one day something happened.

The universe said I love you, and gifted the world a new race, heroes immune to all, with true immortality. They would make things better. Or worse. Their choice, really. They started not in the End of what had been, not in the realm of fire Warped beyond recognition. They started on the Other side, in the world of water and air and light and darkness, most of them starting alone, many finding friends along the way. It was all up to them, now.

[apothecarinomicon]

Spring week 4, part 2

We found the guy staggering down the creek. We heard him before we saw him—he was wading through knee-deep water, half hunched over and groaning in pain. As he got closer, I was able to make out that he wasn’t human but crocodilian, and dressed for fishing. His pants had torn away below the knees, and I could make out bright green vines with vermillion buds snaking up his legs. He was bleeding where they burrowed into his hide. He looked up at us with glassy eyes and weakly called for help, reaching out with both hands. 

Automatically I moved to support him but Calder held me back. He told me he recognized the vines as marshbloom, a particularly nasty plant native to Blastfire Bog. An opportunistic parasite, it latched onto any skin that came into contact with it and fed on its host, growing until they were entirely overtaken and drained of their minerals. Once the marshbloom had fed all it could, the buds would open and spread their spores to find new hosts. 

This guy already looked to have been wandering for a couple of days; we didn’t have much time—probably only about another 24 hours. I told Calder to watch after him and make sure he didn’t wander off. Since Calder didn’t technically have skin, we agreed he might be able to physically restrain the afflicted man as a last resort. Meanwhile, I raced back to the cottage to scour my predecessor’s notes.

I found that her overall knowledge of the bog and its flora were spotty at best, but she did have an entry on the marshbloom. Her notes said that it should be treated like any other virulent parasite, but with extra focus on healing the skin. With the entry wounds closed, she noted, the portions of the plant inside the host’s body would be unable to photosynthesize and would simply die, and the portions outside would lose the necessary minerals and fall away.

With a little more research, I knew what I had to get. I dumped out the remaining breadcrumbs from my pack, had Ailean hop up on my shoulder, and set out for Hero’s Hollow.

 ────⊱⁜⊰──── 

I told the guards at the entrance that I was foraging and expected to be inside for less than an hour. Then I headed in, map in hand, to find some liquid fire.

It’s not quite lava, this substance (lava is molten rock and this is more akin to superheated magic), but it is quite hot. You need special gloves to handle it. It won’t burn you, but it will certainly feel as if it had. It’s great for clearing parasites if you can get it down—like a flash fire fever. I found it fairly easily, flowing right out of the wall (turns out Hero’s Hollow has a lot of natural deposits), and collected it with little issue. It was as I was headed back out, however, that I heard heavy, clanking footsteps sprinting towards me accompanied by a “what ho!”

I turned and looked to find a suit of armor approaching me fast. The visor was flipped up, showing that the helmet was clearly empty. “I, the Baron, challenge you to a duel, brigand!” The voice sounded more like a jester’s than a knight’s—or a baron’s, for that matter. I backed away and tried to tell this Baron that I really didn’t have the time (or the equipment or the skill) for a fight, but as I said so my back bumped up against the wall. The suit of armor ignored what I’d said, unsheathed its sword (the thin kind with a point, rather than the kind with two sharp sides), took on a cartoonish stance, and cried “en garde!”

I stayed very still for a good long while, and so did the armor. Every few seconds it shouted something like “you shan’t best me, scoundrel!” or “your scourge ends here!” Its accent was all rolled ‘r’s and rapidly fluctuating pitch. After about three minutes of this I finally went to try and just walk away, and the suit of armor immediately lunged forward and skewered my thigh.

I cried out, more out of shock than anything. It was a relatively shallow wound (I wrote “skewered” but it was more like “scraped”), but the sudden movement and prick of pain surprised me. The Baron, for its part, seemed delighted. It immediately turned and began to skip away, occasionally clicking its heels in the air and crying “tee-ha! Tee-hee! I, the Baron, have bested thee!” It disappeared around a bend in the corridor, but I could still hear it for a long while after as I bandaged my wound.

What a blighting nuisance. I supposed though, as I limped out of the dungeon, that it could easily have been a lot worse.

 ────⊱⁜⊰──── 

I headed back to Glimmerwood Grove next, to look for wild roses. The hip seeds promote skin health, and I thought they theoretically should be fairly abundant. But, as is my luck, they proved to be frustratingly elusive. I was already pretty annoyed when I ran into Kendre.

Kendre was a satyr, and (as they volunteered immediately upon seeing me) a druid who lived in the forest. Their arms were wiry, the rest of their human torso obscured by what appeared to be a grass-stained burlap sack with arm and neck holes cut out. The fur on their goat legs matched their russet hair. They wore complex jewelry, with earrings and necklaces and adornments to their curled horns all connected by small chains to form one large piece.

I asked how long they’d been living in Glimmerwood and they said just about their entire adult life. They mentioned a shack deep in the heart of the grove where they lived and gardened and kept to themselves. They said they didn’t normally forage this close to town but they were looking for something elusive.

I asked them if they had seen wild roses around and they thought for a moment before saying that roses had been an unusually rare sight this year. They apologized, and offered instead the location of a different plant: the coffee cap. Though unrelated to the bean (it’s actually a mushroom), it does contain about the same amount of caffeine and releases it into the body quicker when consumed. When added to a potion, its only real effect is to sharpen the patient’s senses—not useful for the task at hand. Still, I thanked them and followed their directions to find some—it’s always better to have more and more varied reagents on hand, just in case.

Kendre was the second denizen of Glimmerwood Grove I’d met who seemed to have no connection to the human society in Greenmoor or High Rannoc at large. As I plucked a mushroom and put it in my bag, I wondered if there were any more.

 ────⊱⁜⊰──── 

I didn’t have to wonder for long. After retrieving the coffee cap I headed back towards the path. I took a right that should have led me straight back onto it, but instead I found myself in a beautiful (if dilapidated) courtyard. I must have been caught in some kind of dimensional fold, as I surely would have noticed the high, ornate walls that now surrounded me had they been present before.

The walls themselves were ornate but clearly weathered, dotted with tall thin windows and covered with hanging moss and climbing vines. The floor was made of smooth bricks that must have once been an intense shade of lapis or ultramarine, but that had faded to a (still gorgeous) azure. They were cut and laid in a pattern that was symmetrical but irregular. It took a good bit of staring for me to realize it depicted the phases of the moon, running from right to left across the space’s center. At the corners of the courtyard were raised plant beds that may have once been carefully maintained, but now grew wild. Each had a great tree at the center. Three of them had a least one side that had cracked or buckled, allowing dirt to spill out and their tree’s great roots to spread less impeded. The fourth one, the one in the far left corner, held a smaller tree, mostly obscured by—to my surprise and delight—wild rose bushes!

I began to hurry towards them before the sound of a clearing throat stopped me. I had completely overlooked what was clearly meant to be the courtyard’s central feature: along the far wall was a great, ornate throne. It gleamed golden in the light, its high back intricately molded with dozens of humanoid figures in myriad combinations and contexts—probably recounting the plot of some long-forgotten myth. Seated on the throne, still regal and imposing despite being dwarfed by it, was a man. As I approached him I realized he was much taller than me, or for that matter any human. His skin was extremely pale, his form rake thin, his hair a nearly-white blond. He was dressed in a garb unfamiliar to me, though the dense ornamental fur of his cloak and the rich purple of his tunic and pants communicated his status anyway. He regarded me cooly with orange eyes as I took in the sight. Finally, I noticed his long, pointed ears and it clicked: this prince was an elf.

Belatedly I dropped to one knee and bowed my head. I hoped that was the correct gesture of respect for elven royalty; it had been many years since I took politesse classes in primary school, and I’d never had much use for what I learned from them before.

He chuckled and told me to rise. His voice, though a fairly high tenor, had a commanding sense of depth. He told me it had been far too long since he’d had a visitor, and I should feel welcome to stay as long as I like. I asked for his name, and he raised an eyebrow before telling me I could not have it, but that I could refer to him as His Majesty, the Crown Prince of Sovereign Go’ed-Wigg. I quickly apologized for my careless wording, and told him he could call me ‘F.’ Given the Crown Prince’s care with his own name I figured care of my own was in order. I decided to let it be ambiguous whether this was an initial, a random pseudonymous letter, or if I had chosen “Eff” as a name.

I asked the Crown Prince (as I decided to think of him because that full title was simply too much) if I might have one of his roses, so that I could heal a patient. He thought for a moment then said I could on two conditions: I had to give him a gift in return, and I had to listen to a story. I told him that my patient’s time was limited, but that so long as the story was of a reasonable length (I believe I specified no more than fifteen minutes), and so long as I myself got to choose my gift to him I would be happy to agree to those terms. His expression was unreadable enough that I couldn’t determine whether I’d wiggled my way out of some trick or not, but he conceded my conditions.

As the gift, I gave him the coffee cap I’d just obtained, and explained its uses. He told me he had heard of coffee caps before, but seemed satisfied with the gift anyway. He said with my limitation we wouldn’t have time for the full story, but he’d tell me the first part anyway. I can’t recount the Crown Prince’s exact wording—he spoke for a long time—but I’ll summarize as best I can.

Once (he told me), there were three queens. A queen of spades, who ruled over those things on the earth, a queen of diamonds, who ruled over those things below it, and a queen of clubs, who ruled over those things above. The queen of spades and diamonds neither one had a king, but each had one knight. The queen of clubs had no knight, though she did have a king—but he was perpetually absent.

The realm of the queen of spades was verdant and teeming with life, both plant and animal. The queen of clubs’ domain was bright and open and free, always fresh and always changing. The queen of diamonds, on the other hand, ruled a territory rich with minerals, precious metals, and gems, which all things that lived would eventually join as they decomposed and returned to their base materials.

The queen of diamonds, though, was uncaring of these gifts. She surveyed her realm and saw rot, slimy worms and scuttling insects, and tons and tons of dirt piled so much upon itself that there was barely room for plants or animals at all. She looked over the queendom of spades and the queendom of clubs, and all the light and life and variety and air they had, and she grew jealous. She resolved to take the other queens’ territories for herself.

The queen of diamonds knew that going to war immediately would be foolish. Her two rivals (the queen of spades especially) had dozens of subjects in fighting shape, and she had next to none. So, she worked on expanding her population. She promoted immigration, emphasizing the riches to be found in her domain. With her (previously unmentioned) magical powers, she engineered those denizens she already had over the course of generations into stronger, smarter, better fighters. She was raising an army.

What the queen of diamonds didn’t know was that her knight and the knight of spades were in love. They kept their affair hidden from their respective queens for obvious reasons, but met in secret regularly. Wishing to limit the chance that they might have to meet in battle personally, the knight of diamonds told the knight of spades what the queen was doing.

The knight of spades took this information to his own queen, who thankfully didn’t probe too deeply into how he’d learned it. Instead, she immediately set about raising an army of her own, and passed the information on to the queen of clubs personally.

The queen of clubs, then, faced a rather pressing issue: like the queen of diamonds, she did not have enough subjects in fighting shape to raise an army. Unlike her counterpart, however, she did not have several generations’ notice with which to rectify that weakness—nor did she even have a knight of her own.

So, after obtaining permission from her new ally, she searched far and wide in the domain of the queen of spades to find a champion, one who could inspire their peers to fight their hardest, with the knowledge to select the generals and lieutenants and foot soldiers who would be able to defend her queendom.

And find one she did. The champion was such an effective leader, so adept at rallying people to follow her with true deep-seated conviction for the cause, that she would come to be known as the queen of hearts.

It was at this point that the Crown Prince stopped and gestured to the rose bush. I realized that I’d become so thoroughly engrossed in his story that I’d lost track of time, and I was thankful I’d thought to set a time limit. He sensed this too, and as I went to pluck a rose hip he asked if I was enjoying the story. I asked him in turn where he’d learned it. He said that he was the only one in the world who knew it. I asked if he meant he’d made it up, and he didn’t respond.

Instead, he said I’d have to come back later to hear more of it. I told him I didn’t even know how I’d gotten here in the first place, much less how I’d return, but he insisted that I’d find my way. As I left the courtyard, he turned his attention back to the mushroom I’d given him, turning it over and over in his hands.

 ────⊱⁜⊰──── 

I was just about set to head back to Calder’s stream when I realized something all of a sudden: I couldn’t touch my patient, which meant I wouldn’t be able to force him to swallow the potion—he’d have to do it voluntarily, without spitting it out or spilling any. Liquid fire, one of my major ingredients, was notoriously both very hot and very spicy, making it difficult to stomach. I would need something to cover the taste. I remembered that I had the candy rock back at the cottage, but I was honestly closer to Moonbreaker Mountain. So, I decided to just run over and find some on my own.

I took a path I hadn’t been on before. About halfway up the mountain, I came across Mòrag McKinney, knelt at a shrine. It took her a long time to notice me, but when she did she smiled and bade me sit down next to her. She told me this was a shrine to Cernunnos, the antlered god of nature, hunters, druidry, fertility, and warriors. She said those going on journeys often placed offerings at it hoping for his favor. I asked if she was going on a journey and she said no, she’d just started coming here recently. Something about it called her.

She traced little circles in the dirt with her finger as she told me about Cernunnos, his ability to call animals to him, how wild-growing plants were considered his bounty. I had heard of Cernunnos before, even if I hadn’t studied him closely, but I let her speak. When she was finished, I apologized and told her I was on a deadline. I asked her where I might find the candy rocks. She seemed disappointed to see me go, but directed me a little ways up the path. I hurried off and found a large cluster easily. The rocks (crystals, really) were extremely brittle—I could break off a good-sized chunk with my hand. Once I’d done so, I hurried back to Calder’s river.

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Here is how I made the potion:

First, I crushed the rose hip seeds with my travel mortar and pestle.

Then, I collected some water (Calder was kind enough to let me borrow a bit of his)

Then, I combined it with the seed powder, liquid fire, and candy rock.

Finally, I shook it until it was all combined.

I decided to call the potion Bog’s Bane—a fitting enough name, as it ended up looking like orange mud. My crocodilian patient was staring vaguely off into the distance, so I gave the potion to Calder so he could help get it down. Once he’d finished it, the patient gasped and his eyes unclouded. Already the visible vines crawling up his legs were withering, their yellow buds falling off. I told him he ought to go see Dr. Ardor-Knox in town, and to tell them that he was seriously drained of vitamins and likely anemic. I didn’t know if the doctor had the requisite knowledge of crocodilian physiology to treat him, but I figured sending patients their way might help smooth things over with them. The crocodilian was still a bit out of it but seemed to understand well enough. He paid me for the potion and stumbled off in the direction of Greenmoor.

When he was gone, I turned to Calder to apologize that my work had cut our picnic short. He said to think nothing of it—the man would have stumbled into his creek anyway, so it was good that someone who knew how to treat him was present when he did. Nevertheless, I asked if we could have a do-over soon, and he said he’d like that.

It was far too late by that point for anything further to happen (though if it’s not wishful thinking there was certainly some tension), so I resigned myself to trudging back home. Now that I’ve recounted the day's events, I’m going straight to bed. Here’s hoping that tomorrow isn’t quite so hectic.

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