#I also can’t decide if I should make her brown and white

[wacky-nameless-inventor-24]

Update- they have a cow!!!

(She doesn’t have a name yet tho so I’m open to suggestions 👀)

[sl0t4matt]

smut w marc guiu where some boy is trying to talk to the reader in a party and marc gets jealous and then reader and marc end up doing things in his car please🤭

m. guiu | jealous looks good on you

warnings: smut

marc annoyed the shit out of you today. he’s been such a bitch, fighting and complaining about any minor thing you did wrong. you know your boyfriend can be sassy at times, but today he’s been extra.

you’re supposed to be the girl in the relationship not him and he’s the one acting bitchier than you. today you got especially tired of it, so you called your friends and brought them to the club, bringing you to now, sitting on a chair beside the bar, waiting for your friends to come back from dancing.

you didn’t join them because your legs gave up on you a few minutes ago when you were dancing, like your life depended on it.

you decide to get on your phone, check a few messages, before they get back, so you get on instagram, immediately noticing that hector posted a story.

you click on it seeing a booth of the club you are exactly in. you keep watching the video scoffing at seeing marc in the corner of it, he’s not alone though. a girl is sat beside him, talking to him. a little too close for any girlfriends liking.

“what the fuck.” you mutter, huffing at him finding a new girl exactly after you fought. pathetic really. she’s not even close to your level.

“hi, i’m diego. i saw you dancing a few minutes ago, you looked stunning, could i buy you a drink?” an attractive man sits down beside you. he looks like he’s in his 19s or maybe 20s, with dark skin and dreadlocks.

if marc can talk to other women, what should stop you to? maybe you could even get him jealous and make him see how much he actually needs you. “yes i would love that, actually.” you smile at him.

“perfect, what would you like?” he grins back, his pearly white teeth peeking through his lips. “i’ll take a negroni, thank you.”

“a negroni for the pretty woman beside me, please.” he winks at you. you innerly cringe at his words but don’t let it show. you get the drink in a heartbeat since it only had three ingredients. you smile at the bartender, taking the drink.

“so, are you new in barcelona?” he asks, leaning closer to you. “i moved here a few years ago, for uni.” you answer, sipping on your drink. “nice, what university do you go to? i go to esade.” your eyes widen. esade is one of of barcelonas elite, also super hard. “you study law? that’s like suicide.”

he laughs at your reference. “yeah, it’s a lot.” he nods, agreeing with you. “oh sorry. i go to the university of barcelona.” you answer his previous question.

“you’re good. did you come alone or with friends?” you look around trying to find your girlfriends, but failing immediately, the crowd in the dance floor being way too big to see them. the nightlife of barcelona really is something else.

“i came with my friends, i can’t find them right now, though. they’re probably dancing.” you answer, giving him a tight lipped smile.

you keep looking for them, when you suddenly meet eyes with a certain brown eyed boy, you call your boyfriend. his brows are furrowed and eyes piercing on the guy beside you. if looks could kill, diego would be five feet under for sure.

he gets up from the spot in between hector and the girl on the video and walks towards you. “oh fuck.” you mutter. diego glances at you. “what’s wrong?” he asks, but marc is already in front of you. diego furrows when he sees him.

“hermano, can i help you?” diego asks him. “yeah, you can get the fuck out of my face.” marc spats, turning to look at him. “who the hell are you?!” diego gets up pushing marc’s chest slightly, you still sitting dumbfound beside the bar.

“i’m her boyfriend, you dumbass.” marc isn’t the one to act nice. you know he could throw a whole fit in here as well as seriously hurt the guy if he really wanted to, so you get up, getting in between both of the boys.

maybe project making marc jealous wasn’t such a good idea, since you know exactly how mad marc can get when jealous.

“marc lets go.” you pull on his hand, making him look down on you, with gritted teeth. he scoffs, taking your hand and dragging you to the exit of the club.

you see hector on the way out, him laughing at marc’s outburst.

he takes his car key out of his pocket, opening it. “get in.” he demands, after opening the door to the passenger seat. you scoff, getting into his car. he turns around to get into the driver seat, walking like a mad kid you think.

“did you want to make me jealous, is that it?” he huffs. you turn to look at him, rolling your eyes. “did you? with that blonde girl?” you ask him back. “what the hell are you talking about?”

“oh please. so you’re telling me you weren’t all up on that girl beside you, taking to her.” you scoff. he can’t deny the fact that she was eye fucking him the entire time.

“fucking hell, i wasn’t all up on her, she was the one flirting with me and i literally told her i have a girlfriend.” you roll your eyes. “she was the one? because i’m sure, i literally saw that you were laughing with her on hectors story.” he scoffs.

“see! you always fucking do that shit. you don’t trust me.” you laugh, sarcastically. wow this just is really hilarious. “oh my god! i don’t trust you? you literally dragged me out of there because i was talking to a guy.” you yell at him, finding it rich coming from him.

his hand makes its way to his forehead, massaging it. “because if i didn’t, you would’ve ended up in that guys bed.” he reasons, shaking his head. “are you even hearing yourself? what the hell are you saying? bro just shut the fuck up, honestly.” you scoff, also shaking your head.

“fuck you.” he spats. “fuck you!” you yell back, turning to look at him, meeting his eyes. his eyes move from yours down to your lips, licking his own. “i hate you.” you mumble, as the both of you lean into each other, meeting your lips in a heated and aggressive kiss, taking out your madness on each other in a kiss.

his hand moves to his thigh, squeezing it. his other grips your neck, clutching around it and pulling you even closer if thats possible. your hand slips into his pants, finding his already hard cock. “fuck.” he moans into your mouth.

you start to jerking him off, collecting his pre cum with your thumb, making him tense at the sudden touch.

he pulls his seat back, mentioning you to straddle him. so you do so, each of your legs in between his lap as you feel his already throbbing cock in between your legs, begging for release. he winces, as you grind on him, while you lock lips again, feeling his stubble slightly tickle your chin.

his hand glides in between your legs, pulling your panties down. you’re already soaking and you’re sure he’s very aware of it, your juices already rolling down onto his pants.

you attempt to open his belt with a rush but fail miserably. he helps you, opening up his belt, following with sliding his pants down his hips. he hurries with taking off your top, his hands instantly gripping your tits.

you hoover over his tip, biting your lip when you feel his tip slightly touching your soaked hole. he rocks his hips upward, making his dick stretch out your cunt. you snake your hand around his neck, clutching onto his sweaty hair.

you whine, when you feel him fully inside of you, collecting all of your juices. “you’re so tight, ma.” he groans, as he takes ahold of your waist, squeezing it.

your lips hoover over his as you roll your hips back onto his, feeling his dick pulsing around you, your breasts bouncing up and down. he groans at the stimulation, panting heavily.

you quicken your movements, thrusting into him more laboriously. “marc.” you breathlessly moan his name, arching your back at the feeling, feeling closer to the edge.

you tremble from on top of him, clutching onto his shoulders, your nails digging deep into his skin, forming cat like scratches. “fuck. gonna come.“ he groans before filling you up with his warm sperm.

your legs shake around his cock before you come onto him, drenching his thighs in your come.

your head leans onto his shoulder, tiredly. a smirk forms onto his smug face, as he sees your juices all over him. “not a word.” you speak, knowing he was going to make a smart ass mark.

“for a person you hate, i can make you come quite alright, don’t you think?” he winks. “oh my god.” you shake your head.

“what did you say the last time? jealous looks good on me?” he chuckles. you hit his chest before getting back into the passenger seat. it does look good on him. you can’t lie.

[writingwithcolor]

How do I respectfully discuss the topic of diversity with a co-author, as well as assigning a race to an “ambiguous” character?

Anonymous asked:

My co-author and I, for context, are both white and in highschool. For the main cast of our story, each of us ended up creating three characters. All three of her characters were white. Two of mine were white as well, alongside one character who is ambiguously brown-skinned. Do you have any advice on respectfully bringing up the subject of diversity to a co-author, even if it means potentially changing our established characters? Additionally, do you have any advice on retroactively assigning a race/culture to a character? I now understand after reading this blog that “ambiguously brown” characters should be avoided, but I did not when initially creating him. I worry that I could fall into stereotypes— while portrayed positively, he’s somewhat of a “nerd” archetype. But I don’t want to whitewash him either.

“Hey, why’d you think we made a mostly all-white cast?”

In other words: Just be normal about it. As you yourself note, you also didn’t exactly put a great deal of thought into the racial/ ethnic identity for your single brown character either, so it’s not just about your writing partner. This is about how you guys like to create as a team, and what sources of inspiration you both tend to gravitate towards. If a pair of high school students who write together can’t have a chill conversation about the races of the characters they are creating, then I’d worry more for their dynamic as a creative team. Discussions of race are only as weird and awkward as people decide to make them, and that’s often framed by the baggage each person is bringing into the conversation.

Whether or not you change the characters is up to you.

“Diversity is a marathon, not a sprint!”

Write diverse characters when and because you want to. I think the push for diversity is best when it’s self-motivated. Strangers on the internet telling you to do something is definitely not the reason to do it. I’ll note the same applies IRL. Otherwise, you’re changing your behavior for the sake of peer pressure. Writing groups on the internet like our blog do not exist to sit in judgment of your work. These are venues to discuss, critique and receive feedback, but the final choice always rests with you.

There’s not enough info for me to tell if the experience of whiteness is so intrinsic to your characters that changing their race will alter them greatly. I would argue the same for gender and sexual identity. Sometimes, changing dimensions of a character’s identity alters a lot about who they are. Other times, particularly if the character is not thoroughly fleshed out, changing their race only adds to their characterization. Only you can say which scenario applies here.

Other mods have written on how to handle your dilemma of “white as default” in an earlier post available here. Please explore our #POC Profiles for more inspiration. 

Your third paragraph can be answered by re-reading all 3 sections of the FAQ and exploring our archives using the tags. 

Marika.

[adelheidvonschicksal]

JJK crew with Fem Reader that visits their S/O’s home for the first time and meets their S/O’s cute puppy or kitten! If you choose puppy, could you please make it a Golden Retriever? If not, then a kitten’s small meows could pierce your heart!

Yuuji + Puppy

Itadori adores animals especially dogs. He’d always pet the neighbor’s dog to and from school before coming to Jujutsu Tech. He wanted a dog himself; but between his granddad’s bad-temperedness and their financial situation, it was out of the question.

When you finally tell him you have a puppy, he absolutely can’t wait to see it. He also figures you won’t be mean like Megumi either and get mad at him for petting the puppy for a few minutes…or an hour.

Watching him coo over the pup and play fetch, it’s almost like having equally excitable puppies. It takes a gentle reminder to get him serious about the real reason you’re here to visit, which is to meet your parents.

He immediately straightens up but ends up cracking for one more pet. How can he resist when those big brown eyes are watching him and his bright golden tail is thumping happily against the floor.

Megumi + Kitten

Megumi constantly repeats to you how he isn’t really a cat person despite being a fan of animals in general and despite you teasing him about how he apparently “behaves like a cat”. Nonetheless, you reassure him that your cat will definitely be his type.

He listens as you go on about your sweet fluffball of a kitten. You tell him you’ve been taking care of her since you found her as a fresh baby almost four weeks ago. She’s a pure white powder puff with big blue eyes and the most adorable meow that will melt his grumpy heart. Megumi doubts it but not for long when he finally meets your kitten.

She’s too precious, old enough to get around on her own and hold her tail up but still young enough to waddle everywhere, tiny legs hindered by a warm water balloon of a belly, causing her to occasionally take tiny stumbles toward him as she meowed for human attention and pets.

Megumi doesn’t think he’s ever met a cat this friendly, or one that fits and cradles so perfectly in his open hands. You’re trying your hardest to resist the urge to tease him as he offers to help you feed the kitten her bottle.

What you can’t resist is sending a picture in the group chat of Megumi and you kitten snuggled up asleep on the couch together with the caption: ebony and ivory.

 Gojo + Puppy

This man gets so excited around animals. Like Itadori, he wasn’t really allowed to have many pets growing up aside from some koi fish in the pond at the estate, which while pretty could get boring.

At first, your puppy doesn’t really like him. A tall, loud guy like him easily sends the puppy into a barking frenzy between angry and terrified. You’re sure Gojo was offended the first time the puppy rejected him, a huffy pout on his face as the dog avoided him.

He becomes a bit more playful once he accepts that the puppy probably won’t warm up to him, always teasing the pup whenever he snaps tiny teeth at him. “Oho, you think you can take on the strongest?” he remarks and goes in for the pet.

Sometimes you wonder if Gojo might actually dislike the puppy when the two get into competition for your attention, but he shrugs it off. “At least I don’t have to worry about you living alone,” he reassures you with a trademark laugh. “Hell, he’s almost as tough as Megumi’s dogs, you should let me take him out in the field.”

After that, you come to realize that Satoru might actually enjoy getting chased around by your puppy, and it isn’t long until you accept that this is how they seem to bond especially as your puppy gets older and starts to become more familiar with Satoru to the point that you think in a strange way that he likes the man more than you.

It especially becomes clear when Satoru spends the night and your big dog – no longer a puppy – decides to sleep in bed right at his feet, making you pout.

When he sticks his tongue out at you and calls you jealous, you decide that his shoulder looks really slap-able.   

Choso + Kitten

Choso is staring at your kitty with the biggest eyes you’ve ever seen on the man. You hold the sweet little gray and white tabby closer to his face, a smile a mile wide as you introduce your family member, expecting for him to return your excitement. Instead he asks, “What is it?”

“It’s a kitten,” you tell him, and he scrunches his face at the little feline with deeper interest.

It dawns on you that this may be the first time he’s ever seen one of the creatures, and you decide that he needs a crash course on pets. You quickly explain to him about cats and why people like animal companions in general. However, it isn’t until your cat reaches out, places the first little paw on Choso’s cheek, and mewls that it really sinks in to him. Smiling approvingly at the action, he takes the kitten from you.

He sits on the couch with your pet, scratching behind her ears and gently squishing her cute little pink paw pads while you head to the kitchen to make drinks. Just when you’re almost done, you hear a call of your name from the other room. You quickly come back to check on the two and notice him looking worried and plain STRESSED, like he did something wrong.

“She made a noise at me,” he explains.

“What kind of noise?”

You step closer and carefully pat the kitten’s head. She immediately stretches out and starts to vibrate and grumble with content.

“That noise.”

Chuckling, you explain. “She’s purring. It means she likes you a lot!”

“I see,” he says, relaxing with your explanation. His smile returns as he gently returns to stroking the kitten’s head with an affection you’ve only seen saved for yourself and his brother. “Purring would be too much for me to do but I like you a lot too.”

[idyllic-ghost]

Title: The Royal Gambit

Pairing: prince!Joshua x princess!reader

Warnings: smut, head (f and m receiving), exhibitionism, corruption kink, degradation, praise, impreg kink, p in v action, general filthiness. angst, arguments

Genre: angst, fluff, smut, royalty au, romance

Synopsis: Marriage should be a beautiful union between two lovers, but you did not love Prince Hong and he clearly did not love you. Everything you did, you did for your kingdoms - except when you started meeting him in quiet corners of the castle to take out your frustrations on each other. However, would this relationship be enough to hold together a marriage which your countries depended on?

Rating: 18+

A/N: idk why but all of my royalty au's turn out being super long! i really loved writing this, so i hope it'll be appreciated. also!!! i would be lying if i said i wasn't very influenced and inspired by @heartkyeom 's "be sweet", so please go read that and give it some love (it's an amazingly good hoshi fic!!!!) and thank you to @strawberryya for reading through my drafts and making sure everything made sense!

Word count: 17.7k

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

A gasp escaped your lips as you stumbled forward on the slippery floor. Heat spread across your cheeks as you stared down at the black-and-white checkered ground. Everyone’s eyes were on you, and it was most certainly not because of your beautiful dress. You weren’t sure how you ended up tripping, but you had managed to fall over thin air onto the dance floor. You kept your gaze down, not wanting to look at anyone else, and unsure of what to do you decided to stand frozen. Behind you was a wall of people, towering over you like some sort of evil entity. You surely couldn’t push yourself through them to hide - that’d be even more embarrassing. In front of you was a large open floor, couples standing evenly spread out and moving across the black-and-white marble floor like perfect chess pieces. They knew exactly where to go, and exactly what to do. You weren’t good at dancing and, more importantly, you didn’t have a partner. Tears started burning in your eyes, to think that the first ball you go to in this new place would go so horribly. Your nails dug into the palms of your hand through the thin fabric of your gloves. Not a second later, someone grabbed your arm and led you further out on the dance floor.

“There you are. Sorry, I’m late.” The man spoke loud enough for others to hear and led you toward the center of the floor.

You stared at him with wide eyes, unsure of how to act. He was gorgeous; a warm smile, with equally warm brown eyes, and broad shoulders - where one of your hands now laid upon.

“Act natural, okay?” he whispered.

One of his hands was on your waist, high enough to be tasteful, and his other hand held yours. The music reached your ears, as you were finally calm enough to register it. A waltz. Surely you knew how to waltz. Still, you found yourself praying that your legs wouldn’t betray you. Your knees were already shaky, and your feet were tired from standing all evening. The dark-haired stranger moved you across the floor, while you were looking at your feet and counting your steps. His hand moved to your chin and angled your face toward him. 

“Look at me,” he said and repeated, “Make it seem natural.”

His hand returned to your waist. Without him holding your shin in place, it was hard to not let it drop again. Staring into his eyes felt like torture - a wave of overwhelming emotions hit you, the biggest one being embarrassment but confusion was a close second.

“Why are you helping me?” you whispered.

“I can’t simply leave a lady in distress to her own defenses.” He flashed a smile. 

You didn’t like the way he talked about you, but you couldn’t complain when he had just helped you escape from utter embarrassment. Besides, a handsome man sweet-talking you was an ideal way to spend your night. It wasn’t as if you were going to spend more time with him after this.

“Well, thank you,” you murmured.

The two of you kept conversing in this modest manner; about the art on the walls, and the sound of the music. Futile things. Small talk. You never even learned his name, but it didn’t matter to you. When you said goodbye, he bowed down to you before escaping into the crowd. You were sure you were never going to see him again.

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

You found yourself in the neighboring kingdom Ceadrotia to be sold off. At least, that’s how you saw it. The lands here were prosperous, the soil was perfect, and their harvest was always impressive. However, they lacked in their economic department. You can only win so much from a good harvest, especially when your financial system is practically nonexistent. That’s why you found yourself within Ceadrotia’s palace walls. You were the Princess of the Xaevia kingdom, sworn off to the Prince of the neighboring lands. It was a decision made to get more allies and to support Ceadrotia in their time of need. Your kingdom would give them economic growth and stability. In return, you would get better harvests and the safety of one of the biggest armies on the continent. Nothing could you do to stop this arrangement, and neither could the Prince. His Majesty Prince Hong was known to be a gentleman, but would often play this act in order to win something for himself. He was an altruistic man with egotistical goals. It wasn’t necessarily women that he wanted, for he always treated them with respect, but you had heard tales of the many mistakes no ordinary man could get out of. He was sly, and proud of it too. 

After the ball last night, a supposed welcoming ball in your kingdom’s honor, you had made your mind up about him. For Prince Hong had never shown up. He hadn’t greeted you like he was supposed to, which gave you no chance to meet the man before the engagement was to be finalized. Now you’re sitting in the drawing room with the Prince’s mother, discussing meaningless matters over tea, while waiting for your father to finish talking with King Hong. So when your father entered the room with a much younger man behind his trail, you were surprised. If this were to be the King, then how young was the Prince?

“Ah, good! You’re already settled,” your father exclaimed, “Y/N, dearest, I’d like you to meet Prince Hong.”

The young man stepped into the light, and you saw that it was the man from the night before. He looked just as sharp as last night, although now his hair was hanging in front of his face instead of being slicked back. He recognized you, you could see it in his eyes, but he said nothing.

“I thought you were doing business with the King,” you said, without greeting or so much as looking at the Prince.

“Y/N-”

“My father can’t exactly sign any binding documents when he is lying on his deathbed, can he?” the Prince snapped back in a calm manner.

He was ice cold, but he kept up a professional mask.

“Joshua, honey, she couldn’t possibly know,” the Queen said before giving you an apologetic look.

“I apologize if I may have caused any offense,” you said in an irritated tone, “But your Highness must understand that I take the matter of my own marriage quite seriously, and I want it to be handled correctly.”

Prince Hong looked at you with disdain, unlike the way he had looked at you last night during the ball. However, you didn’t move your gaze from his no matter the glimmer of hate in his eyes. He clearly didn’t wish for this marriage either. 

“There will be an official engagement in front of the public,” your father interrupted, “It will be held in a week, meaning that you’ll spend this time working on your… attitudes towards each other.”

“And I’ll get you a chambermaid, Princess, as we have discussed,” your future mother-in-law added.

In all of this chaos, it was nice to know that at least your mother-in-law would be pleasant company. The honeymoon days would certainly be a pain since you wouldn’t be able to have her, or anyone else to talk to, around. You thanked her with a warm smile, but it fell as soon as Prince Hong started talking again.

“We will make arrangements for you to get a new dress for the official engagement,” he said nonchalantly, “And I’ll need your finger measurements for the jeweler.”

“For a man who can’t even show up to greet your future wife properly, you sure do make a lot of demands.” You stand up. “I shall take a tour of the palace. I assume you’re too busy to make time for me, so I’ll take a maid.”

Prince Hong was visually taken aback by your blunt nature. He was clearly not prepared for this sort of conversation. Perhaps he was too used to everyone agreeing with him. You were certainly not going to be one of those people - you were set on hating Prince Hong.

Nevertheless, Prince Hong showed you around the castle despite your assumptions about him. Never-ending hallways, with tall ceilings, and the most sublime architecture. You could stare at it for hours if it wasn’t for Prince Hong who insisted on hastily making his way through each room. When he reached the library you had to practically beg him to stop. Large wooden shelves reached all the way up the walls. 

“How do you ever leave this room?” you asked.

“When you have other duties it’s easy to forget these things.” He kept on walking, although a little slower than before.

You walk past a set-up chessboard, which seems to be doing nothing but gathering dust. Ignoring his comment and his seeming need to get out of the library, you stopped and sat down.

“Do you play, Your Highness?”

The maid who was chaperoning the two of you hid her giggle behind her hand. Joshua looked at you, somewhat amused but still clearly annoyed. Prince Hong sat down in front of you.

“I was taught the art of a good chess match at a very young age,” he bragged, “I had a chess master for a teacher, and my classes only ended once I could manage to win against him.”

“You talk big, Your Highness-”

“Would you stop it with the formalities?”

“Just play, Prince Hong.” You move your first piece. “Knight to F3. Your turn.”

The prince moves his knight to F6, mirroring your movements. You end up taking out his queen far too early on, with your bishop out of all pieces. He was clearly rusty, and you found it hard to not chuckle at him. When you finally got his king into a corner, you couldn’t hold back your victorious laugh at his disappointed expression.

“Seems you’re rusty, Your Highness,” you teased.

He stood up and smoothed out his suit, then held out his hand to you. Even though the gesture was kind, the bitter look on his face said otherwise. However, you stood up and shook his hand.

“We’ll have to schedule a rematch.” He cleared his throat.

“We shall.” You smiled. “I’d like to see the garden now.”

You took the lead and started walking out of the library, your hands locked behind you and your chin lifted high with pride.

Toward the end of the day, when the sun was closing in on the horizon, dinner was served in the grand dining hall. After the chess game, you hadn’t spoken much to Joshua at all. You had followed him around and ogled at the architecture of the palace, but he hadn’t spoken another word to you. Dinner was no different. Joshua barely acknowledged you, which you were pleased with. If he was half the man he was during the other evening, you wouldn’t mind marrying him. However, his attitude towards this arrangement was clear - and it was not a positive one. 

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

It hadn’t fully settled in that you would be marrying this man - this stranger. That realization came later during the night. While it had been fun to put this man in his place, it was not something you wished to do for the rest of your life. Together with a man who had no feelings for you whatsoever, and who you didn’t care for at all either. Your bed was large and cold. Lonely. You were beginning to feel homesick and you felt so incredibly small in this huge room. Tears began flooding in your eyes as you thought back to your childhood room, the one that you shared with your siblings. It was always filled with warmth and quiet giggles, as well as hushed, silly arguments. You used to be annoyed with your family at times, but now there were no other people that you wanted by your side. The first night of your stay in your future home, you cried yourself to sleep.

That night you dreamt of walking along a corridor in the castle, slowly being chased by people you knew - your family, servants, and, worst of all, Prince Hong. The marble floors seemed to move under you because you could never get to the door at the end of the hall. Behind you, the people pursuing you were shouting. They were shouting at you to come back, to stop - any commands they could think of, really. You could hear Prince Hong mocking you, and it was tempting to turn back to slap him. However, you couldn’t - you had to get to that door. In hindsight, it wasn’t a truly terrifying dream - but it had you waking up in a sweat. You rang the bell by your bed and asked for a cold bath, anything to wake you up. 

Your bathroom, which was connected to your room with only a door between, was decorated with gold from the ceiling down to the floor. There was no time for you to appreciate it the night before, but now you were gawking at all of the details. A maid helped you undress and held a towel for you while you stepped into your bath. It was cold, as you had ordered, but you didn’t realize how cold that would be. You almost bit your tongue from just dipping your toe into it, but you still sat down. With a shaky breath in, you dipped your head under the water. You sat there for a few seconds and breathed out bubbles in the water. As soon as your head appeared again, the maid held up the towel for you. You stepped out of the tub and let her wrap you up in the fluffy towel. After thanking her, she left you to your own devices - saying something about breakfast almost being ready, and that she’d get you a proper dress for it. You walked over to the vanity mirror and sat down in front of it. There were a number of delicate boxes on the table for you to use, none of which you were very familiar with. You picked up a lotion and turned it around in your hand.

“Interesting,” you hummed as you opened the lid.

The lotion was velvety to the touch, rich in feeling but had no smell. It was important to not wear anything too fragrant, as your mother had told you before you went on this journey. If a woman were to wear too much perfume, she’d be classified as a harlot. You were unsure of why it was so bad to be a prostitute, as whenever you brought up the subject you’d be rejected immediately. You had the answer to pretty much anything you wanted, but anything sensual in nature was dismissed. It was for your future husband to teach you. Your thoughts were brought back to the task at hand, as you smeared the lotion across your face. Not too much, never too much, as your mother had also taught you. Once the lotion was applied you picked up a hairbrush. You would wait for your maid to help you put it up, but you could brush it yourself. The door opened.

“I have a dress for you, your highness,” your maid said.

“Thank you. I shall put it on now,” you said while looking at her through the mirror. “Would you help me with my hair?”

The maid helped you get ready for your breakfast. You were nervous. It was common for the Queen to eat breakfast in bed, as any married woman would, and neither your father nor the King of Ceadrotia would be present. All of this meant that you’d be alone with the Prince. If he showed up at all.

“May I put rouge on your cheeks, Miss?” your maid asked.

“Rouge?”

“It’s a mixture of strawberries and herbs, used on the cheeks for an innocent glow,” she explained. “I’m sure that the Prince would adore it.”

You scoffed, but let her proceed with putting the product on the apples of your cheeks. You felt slightly ridiculous. Before this, you hadn’t been out in society yet. This meant that you never had to worry about these treatments, and now they were all being thrown at you at once.

“I put some perfume on the sleeves of your dress as well, Miss,” the maid said when she finished your hair, “Violets, it’s a favorite amongst the women of the court.”

You only hummed. Preparing yourself for this might take more than you expected.

You walked down the hall, your heels clicking against the hard floors. Your maid followed closely behind, showing you which way to go. When the doors to the dining room opened, you were met with lonely chairs. This was worse than having the Prince here, you thought as you sat down.

“Has no one called upon the Prince?” your maid hissed at one of the servants behind you.

“He wasn’t in bed this morning,” he responded in a hushed tone.

“Leave him be,” you said loudly, “I’m sure he had better things to do than to have breakfast with his future wife.”

As you ate alone, you thought about your future here. You looked around at the decorating. Would you be in charge of such things? Despite how much your mother had explained to you, you were unsure of certain details of your role as the Prince’s wife and Lady of the castle. Someone prepared a plate for you. Was this hospitality or was it the way things worked in Ceadrotia? Would you never have a say in any decisions? You thought back to your father, who would always ask his eldest daughter for advice on his decisions - until it came to your hand in marriage. He hadn’t been able to look you in the eye, and his expression exuded shame. But it had to be done. An alliance through marriage is an alliance that’ll last forever. You stabbed the cut-up fruit with your small two-pronged fork. The memory of your father giving you the news of your arranged marriage, as if there was nothing you could do to stop it, filled you with a fit of familiar anger. Breakfast that morning was finished in haste, and you left as fast as you could.

You wandered around the castle, the passing staff watching you closely. You were trying to find the library again but had managed to get lost. There was not a world where you would think to ask for help. So you wandered, pretending you knew exactly where you were going. As you approached a pair of doors, two servants immediately opened them for you. It was a room that you had yet seen. Prince Hong had seemingly forgotten. Inside this room, light-flooded freely. The windows were large, and the curtains were open. The walls were filled with paintings, and across the floor, there were statues of the finest marble. Exquisite forms, perfectly posed in front of you. Naked bodies are exposed for you to gaze upon. You wonder if this is what Prince Hong looked like underneath his robes, although you quickly shook this thought away. As you wandered around the room you came upon a door, which a servant stopped you from opening.

“This is the Prince’s office,” he said.

“... is he in there now?” you asked.

“He is, but-”

“Let me in.”

The servant reluctantly opened the door for you, and you stepped inside. Prince Hong yelled something about being occupied. You fidgeted with your gloves, but kept walking into the room. 

“I said-” Prince Hong stopped speaking when he saw you. “You.”

“Me,” you said.

“Why are you here? I’ve told everyone to keep you out of this room.” The Prince spoke as if you could not hear him, as if he had no care for what you thought of him.

“Do you really despise me that much?”

“No-,” he blubbered, “I don’t-... this is my sanctuary. I’m alone here.”

“You don’t despise me?”

“Why should I? You have given me no reason to.” He stood up from his chair and walked over to you. “I just don’t want to marry you.”

“And yet you signed the papers,” you huffed.

He was close to you now. It had been fine when he had sat behind his mahogany desk, but when he towered over you it made you feel nervous. 

“I signed the papers, not because I am madly in love with you,” he said sternly, “But because my kingdom is in need. My father is ill, I must bring hope back to my people somehow. An alliance with the Xaevia kingdom is what they need, and it is what I will give them.”

You stared at the necklace, the Ceadrotian emblem lying against his chest. A raven with an arrow in its claws. The Prince cleared his throat, and you looked back up to his eyes. He was smiling, proud of making you tremble.

“I want some ground rules,” you said suddenly.

“Rules?”

“Yes, rules.” You took a deep breath. “I want you to have breakfast with me in the mornings.”

“Can’t do,” he said, “I go on my morning rides when you have breakfast.”

“You will have breakfast with me, and we’ll socialize together. If I’m going to marry, then we’ll have to be on speaking terms,” you explained, “I am not asking you to love me, or even like me, but you should at least speak with me.”

“I’ll speak with you.” He said, but when he saw your face he quickly added, “And have breakfast with you.”

“Good.”

“Great.”

He smiled again, and you swore you could hear a faint chuckle.

“Why are you so different?” you asked quietly.

“Different from what?”

“From when we danced,” you said, “You were so… kind.”

“Because you needed it,” he said.

You were taken aback by his words. Needed him? You scoffed in his face and turned your back to him, walking towards the door.

“Get this through your head,” you said as you stopped by his door, “I don’t need you. You need me, your kingdom needs me.”

Prince Hong said nothing as you slammed the door behind you.

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

The days went on. You and the Prince spoke on civil terms, but never alone. Someone was always there, which kept the hatred at bay. You learned that the Prince enjoyed art, as well as a good sport and that he tended to keep to himself in his office or in his chambers. His mother seemed delighted that you had brought him out of his shell a bit more. Apparently, the Prince only went out if there was a party he could attend. Your welcoming ball must have not been good enough for him to make an official appearance. Despite your complaints about the Prince, he was starting to grow on you. It was refreshing to talk to him, especially when you got to win your small arguments. Breakfast had turned into frequent debates.

“Why shouldn’t I call you that? It’s your title!” you exclaimed.

The two of you had begun talking over breakfast when he suddenly got tired of being called by his title. You saw an opportunity to tease him and you took it.

“I don’t think it's suitable that you call me Prince when we’re going to get married,” he said.

“Ah, but we’re not married yet.” You grinned, “So, therefore, I should continue calling you Prince Hong.”

“What would it take for you to just call me Joshua?” The Prince sighed.

You picked around your plate with your fork, humming to yourself as you thought. Prince Hong was staring at you intently, his gaze practically burning through you.

“A miracle,” you proposed, looking back down at your plate.

“Then that’s going to have to be another rule,” he said.

“Oh, no, no, no…” You shook your head. “That only benefits you. The rules have to be for the both of us.”

Ever since your first rule, the two of you had started making more. There was your rule of socializing. Then, he decided to make a rule that you had to go with him to look over the horses. You agreed to this, it fits with your socialization rule. This back and forth went on, but you only agreed to rules that would do something for the both of you.

“In the end, it would benefit you too, no?” he asked. “Being seen calling me by my name would fall in line with your social thing.”

“Well… sure,” you said, “But you’re doing this to tease me with it later.”

Prince Hong rolled his eyes and sat back in his chair. You enjoyed this kind of banter, it made you forget about all of the rude comments he’d throw your way. It made it all seem okay, even though you were about to marry a man who you didn’t care for one bit.

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

Your nightmares had continued, each night was the same. You woke up in a cold sweat and had to take a bath in the morning. However, you learned from your mistakes. Now, you asked them to make your water lukewarm instead of ice cold. Your stress was never-ending, and the closer you got to this engagement to be official the more your stress grew. This wasn’t what you wanted, but what could you do?

A few days before the engagement was to be announced, you woke up once again. This time, it was still dark outside. You didn’t want to call for a maid, it seemed rude to wake them from their sleep yet another night. Instead, you decided to take a walk in the garden for some fresh air. You got out of bed and put on a pair of shoes. Your nightgown was made of thin material, and you decided to wrap yourself up in a scarf before you sneaked out.

The air was thick tonight, warm and humid. It was probably going to rain soon, but you’d just be a minute. You looked past each corner before walking through the halls. It wasn’t difficult to sneak around the shadows of the castle late at night. There were a few guards around, but it just meant that you had to take a longer route. Somehow, you made it out to the garden. Feeling the fresh air against your skin, not just from an open window, was relieving. Maybe you should’ve done this earlier, maybe it can cure your nightmares. It certainly felt like it could. You took off your shoes and put your feet in the grass. It tickled, but it made you feel grounded. You went over to the fountain and shook off your scarf to sit on it. Feeling the cool water grace your fingertips made you smile. This was exactly what you needed. Which is why you weren’t upset when it started raining. You welcomed it with open arms and laughed out loud for the first time in days when the thunder sounded over the skies. 

“What are you doing out here?” Prince Hong’s voice echoed out over the garden.

He didn’t startle you. In fact, his presence only made you feel more joyful - someone else could share your happiness for the simple things.

“Planning my escape!” you said with a laugh.

You didn’t have to look at him to tell that he was amused by your delightful mood. However, when you did turn to him he didn’t meet your gaze. Maybe it was a trick of the light, but you thought you could see his ears burn red. You looked down to see your nightgown completely drenched, the thin fabric having become sheer. The dress clung to your form, leaving nothing to the imagination of the man standing in front of you; the curve of your hips, the mound of your breast - everything was on display. You gasped and tried to cover yourself up with your scarf, but the thunder and lightning started you and you dropped the fabric in the fountain.

“Please, have my coat”, Prince Hong said.

You watched him shrug off his coat. His eyes were still not meeting yours, they were pointed straight to the ground. Be that as it may, you were staring right at him. Wearing nothing but an undershirt, you watched as his skin peeked through wherever the raindrops hit the white fabric. Something bubbled up in your stomach when you watched him as he put his coat around your shoulders.

“Thank you,” you said with a shaky breath.

You were staring at that pendant hanging on his chest again. The raven with the arrow in its claw. It glimmered as the lightning struck again. For some reason, the thunder and lightning that you had embraced before, now startled you. You threw yourself towards the Prince, pushing your hands against his chest. Prince Hong put his hands on your waist, keeping you in place. The two of you stood there for a moment, not moving an inch. When the lightning struck again, you let go of each other. The Prince grabbed your hand and started leading you inside.

Prince Hong led you into the parlor, there was a fire lit, and chairs pulled up around it. He sat you down in front of the fire and then got on his knees to feed more wood to the flames. You watched his drenched back work as he moved his upper body. His body wasn’t far from what the sculptures outside his office looked like. When he stood up you shifted your gaze to your hands. Your bare hands. He had held your hands without any gloves. From the new knowledge, your hands started burning and you felt your face go warm as well. Prince Hong picked up a blanket and put it in your lap, then grabbed another one to wrap around his shoulders - much to your disappointment.

“Thank you,” you murmured.

He brushed it off, settling down in his own chair. You wondered if he must have sat here before. The many books and papers littered across the table beside him told you that he had attempted to move his office here. You hid your naked hands under the blanket, suddenly feeling insecure. The Prince was watching you.

“Why were you out there?” he asked.

“Nightmares,” you said quietly, “I thought that if I couldn’t sleep, I could take a walk.”

“In the rain?”

“It wasn’t raining when I went out.” You sighed. “Besides, you’re one to talk. Why have you decided to move your entire office into the parlor?”

“Late night work, there’s a lot of paperwork I had to take over when my father fell ill,” he said, “Which is truly none of your business.”

“As your future wife I am-”

“But you’re not my wife yet,” he said with a smug look on his face, referring to your argument about his title a few days ago.

You sighed and leaned back, having nothing else to say to him. When you looked around, your eyes met a wooden checkered box. In between plush pillows and beautiful, carefully crafted, decorations, you found a wooden box that caught your attention. 

“Do you want a rematch, your highness?”

The two of you were giggling, spilling your drinks on the wood while you played. The Prince had stored away a bottle of liquor and, despite your years of training to be a proper lady, you were drinking out of the bottle.

“Are you too drunk to see what a giant mistake you just made?” You giggled as you took the Prince’s bishop.

“Maybe I just wanted to be nice to you,” he said as he took the bottle from your hand.

His hand brushed against yours and you felt a giggle bubble up your throat, which you hid with a cough.

“You? Nice?” You scoffed and tried to brush off how good his touch made you feel.

Prince Hong put his lips to the bottle and drank the last of it, which you loudly protested. He only laughed it off, and seeing him chortle made you burst out as well. After he moved another piece, you put the man in check mate. You looked at him with a suspicious glance.

“You let me win,” you mumbled.

“What if I did?” He wore a beautiful loopy smile.

“Did you let me win the other time too?”

“Sadly, no.” The Prince sighed. “But I couldn’t resist this time… you get a sparkle in your eye when you win something. It’s endearing.”

Endearing. Your voice failed you when you tried to open your mouth to speak. You shut your mouth and looked down at your hands for another time. He was being genuinely nice to you. Or was this like the time at the ball? Was he just pretending to keep up an image? Except there weren’t any people here to see him. Just you. All alone with him. No chaperone, no one around for miles it seemed like; no one had come to check on the noise you were making, no one had seen you in the garden, and there was no one to disturb this moment. It all hit you at once. Looking at the Prince, he seemed to have realized as well.

“Are you feeling alright?” he asked. “You look a bit cold.”

Prince Hong made his way around the small table and kneeled down in front of you. His hand pushed against your forehead as he looked up at you. His pupils were dilated, his lips slightly parted- they were flushed red and shimmering from a residue of alcohol.

“Prince H-”

“Please, my Princess…” he begged in a sinful whisper.

“... Joshua.” You took his hand in yours and brought it down from your forehead. “I’m alright.”

You held his hand in yours and pressed it against your cheek. Joshua’s other hand fell on your knee - it made you shiver. Suddenly he looked so desperate. Your eyebrows pinched and you looked down, right where his tongue darted out to wet his lips. His hand inched closer up your thigh, making your breath hitch in your throat. Every touch made something ignite in you, but you couldn’t put it into words. You had never felt this before.

“We shouldn’t…” You brought your hands to his face.

“I don’t know what you mean, Princess.” He moved closer to you. “Am I doing something wrong?”

“... I don’t know,” you whispered.

His lips were inches from yours, and you were the one to close the distance. Your eyes fluttered shut as you felt his soft lips against yours. As you leaned toward him, his arms wrapped around your waist and pulled you towards him. Joshua moved back as you moved down from the couch and onto his lap, your legs on either side of his hips. The kiss deepended, his tongue swiping against your bottom lip. You had no idea what you were doing, you just followed his lead. His calloused hands gripped your hips. Over the material of your thin nightgown, you could feel the roughness of his palms. And when his hands lightly encouraged your hips to move over his, you did. It was unlike anything you had ever felt before. The rough fabric of his pants against your core had you moaning against his lips. You pulled away from him, surprised with yourself, but you didn’t stop moving.

“Joshua…” you panted, “Why does this feel so good?”

Joshua stopped dead in his tracks. He looked at you with wide eyes, as if he had been caught doing something he shouldn’t be. With his strong hands, he stopped you from moving. You whined and protested, but you couldn’t move.

“You’ve never-” He cleared his throat. “Y/N, I don’t think we should be doing this. Not now.”

“No, please, it was good-”

“That doesn’t matter, dearest.” He brushed his thumb against your cheek. “If you’ve never done this before, I don’t want this to be the first time.”

“Please, Joshua,” you begged and clawed at his shirt, “I’ve never felt like this before.”

“Then you can wait for me, can’t you sweetheart?” he hummed, “I’m going to make you feel like this again, I promise. Just as long as you keep saying my name like that.”

You’d repeat his name over and over again if it meant that he’d continue whatever it was that he was doing to you. However, you could tell he was being serious. He helped you back up and wrapped you up in his coat again.

“I’ll make sure that no one’s outside, wait here for me.”

“Okay,” you murmured.

“Good girl,” he said and left your side.

That morning you woke up sweaty again - this time, however, it was not from a nightmare. You dreamt about the Prince touching you like he had the night before, and you felt something wet pooling between your legs. It was not time for your monthly bleeding yet, so the sensation confused you. You reached down under the covers and cupped your heat over your underwear, trying to remake what he had done to you the night before. It didn’t feel as good as his hips had, but the friction did help to dull the racing thoughts in your head. Moving your hand became difficult, so you began moving your hips over your palm instead. As you began humping your hand, the doors swung open.

“Good morning, Princess!” your chambermaid said happily.

You swore under your breath before greeting her, your secret act quickly hidden away but never forgotten.

Prince Hong did not show up for breakfast. You were furious, to say the least. After asking one of the servants, you found out that your future husband was in his office. So that’s where you went next. Your heels clicked against the floor as you strutted impatiently toward his office. Walking into the art room was way more flustering than it was before. Every statue of a male figure reminded you of Joshua’s wet shirt and his hands against your hips and on your thighs. You turned around to your servants with a flustered face.

“Leave us!”

They all left the room, and you stormed into the Prince’s office. He looked up from his papers, shocked by your sudden entrance. You walked up to your desk and slammed your hand onto the wood.

“What did you do to me?” you hissed.

“Sorry?” The Prince grinned, and you wanted to slap that smile right off his face.

“It feels like my entire body is on fire, you did something to me last night,” you huffed. “What did you do?”

“I apologize, but I-”

“I need you to do it again, Joshua,” you pleaded.

When he heard his name, Prince Hong’s eyes lit up. He stood up from his chair and walked over to the door, looking back at you from time to time. Your breath hitched in your throat as you heard him turn the key in the lock. In a matter of seconds, he was in front of you again. His hands hovered over your hips and, despite towering over you, you weren’t intimidated.

“Do you realize what it would mean?” he asked. “This is something that you’d do with your husband.”

“You are my husband-”

“Future husband.” He interrupted you. “This can be very sacred for a woman like you, I want you to be sure of your actions.”

“Do you not want this, your highness?” You looked down at his lips, and looked back up to his eyes.

“I’ve been wanting to ravage you since I saw you in that ballroom,” he admitted. “Containing my desire has been torture. You have no idea what you have done to me, and you have no idea how much of my energy it takes to loathe you.”

“Let me relieve you, then.” You put your hands on his chest. “I need you to show me how to get rid of this feeling. I don’t care about rules right now. Please.”

Joshua pushed you up on his desk, helping you pull up your dress in the process. You were glad that you weren’t wearing heavy fabrics or many layers today. If you had, you wouldn’t have felt his rough hands travel up your thighs or the cold feeling of the wooden table against your skin. Something that felt so good couldn’t be wrong - and his lips on yours was the most angelic sensation you had ever gotten the pleasure of experiencing. Joshua’s hands urged your legs to wrap around his waist. When you did, he lifted you up and carried you over to a chaise lounge in the corner of the room. He sat down and made you straddle him, just like you had last night. As you began grinding on his lap, Joshua smiled against your lips and wrapped his arms around you.

“You’re so eager,” he said with a chuckle. “Don’t you want to slow down?”

“I don’t think you understand how bad I need this. I’m putting aside my pride for this, your highness.” You grinned as you ran your hands across his chest. “I just need you to do whatever you did before.”

“But there’s better things to do-”

You put your pointer finger on his lips and hushed him, making him smile. A part of you still wanted control, even though he was clearly the one with the most knowledge. So you decided what you’d do and when you’d do it, he just had to show you how.

“Show me later, okay?”

He nodded before connecting his lips to yours again. Joshua’s hands gripped your hips, just as he had the night before, and he started moving you over his crotch. You moaned into the kiss. Finally getting what you had been needing the past few hours, you let go of all of your tension. Without you noticing, Joshua had removed his hands and your hips were now moving on your own. 

“Such a good girl, aren’t you Princess? Moving all on your own.” His hands gently grabbed at the delicate fabric of your dress. “What a fast learner, I bet I can teach you to do things you can’t even imagine right now.”

You moaned at his words and the feeling of something hardening in his trousers. If you had been in the right state of mind you would’ve died from embarrassment, but something about this made your brain foggy and you couldn’t care less about consequences right now. He began kissing down your jaw, leaving sloppy marks on your skin. 

“You like feeling dirty, baby?” He grinned against your skin. “If I knew you’d be like this, I would’ve tried something sooner.”

Your movements grew sloppy, and Joshua put his hands back on your hips. Both of your noises bounced around his office, and the lewd scene of it all made your head spin. Joshua gripped you harder, his fingertips surely leaving marks on your skin. When your head fell onto his shoulder, he chuckled and loosened his grip ever so slightly.

“Tired already, honey?”

“I feel like I’m going to explode…” you stuttered out.

“Good, baby. Means you’re about to cum,” he panted, “You can cum for me, right? It’ll make you feel so good, Princess.”

“Yeah.” You gripped at his shoulders and nodded. “Gonna cum, ‘Shua…”

“Just let go for me, let it wash over you…” He began kissing your neck again.

Something snapped in your lower stomach, and you felt what you could only describe as fireworks going off inside you. Joshua kept moving his hips back and forth until he grunted and stuttered his hips. His arms wrapped around your waist, holding you close while you came down from your high.

“Are you alright, Princess?” Joshua’s hand was stroking your back in a calming manner.

You could only hum in response, your entire body had gone numb and you couldn’t find it in you to reply properly. His laugh rumbled through his chest, and you nuzzled your face closer to him at the feeling. Even though a part of you was screaming at yourself to get out now that the act was done, you couldn’t bring yourself to leave. Joshua shifted, letting you lay down with your back on the chaise lounge. He sat up, you whined from the loss of contact, and he helped you fix your dress to cover your legs again. When he sat beside you again, he had a strange look in his eyes.

“What?” You smiled and sat up.

“I didn’t think this could ever happen with someone like you,” he admitted.

“Someone like me?”

“You’re usually a lot more high strung,” he teased.

“Excuse you,” you scoffed. “I’m fun to be around- and you can’t deny that!”

“I’m not trying to say anything, Princess-”

“Don’t ‘Princess’ me! You know what?” You stood up from the couch, “This is the last time I’ll do anything like this with you.”

It was not the last time. Prince Hong taught you things about your own body that you didn’t know that you could do. The first time he ate you out, in a secluded corner of the library, you almost passed out from the sensation. Your hand had been clamped over your mouth, your legs shaking around his shoulders as he held you in place when he drew orgasm after orgasm from you. His hand appeared from under your skirt after what felt like hours, your juices dripping from his chin, and he had proudly commented on how “he won” your bet after looking at his watch.

Leading up to the announcement of your engagement, Prince Hong had taught you how to be, what he called, a good slut - a term which you both loved and hated. The day of the engagement announcement you were in his office again, this time under his desk. Your knees were probably bruised, but you didn’t care. 

“You’re taking my cock so well, sweetheart,” Joshua hissed. “Who taught you to suck cock like a good little slut, hm?”

Your mouth let go of his cock with a pop, and you continued stroking it. In any other state of mind, you wouldn’t dignify him with a response, but you couldn’t help yourself when your brain was in a fog.

“You did, your Highness,” you moaned.

“Good girl.” Joshua ran his fingers through your hair and made you look him in the eye, instead of staring down his reddened cock. “Are you gonna let me cum in that pretty mouth of yours?”

You nodded excitedly and took his cock in your mouth again, trying to take it deeper and choking on his length. The bit that you couldn’t take with your mouth, you pumped with your fist. The Prince had yet to fuck you, and every day that passed made you wonder if you could actually take him. He was big and even though you hadn’t seen a cock before, it seemed like it wasn’t supposed to be this huge - especially considering how much just two of his fingers filled you up. Much to your dismay, there was a sudden knock at the door. Joshua pushed you under the desk which, thankfully, had a back to it so that the person walking through the door would be unaware of your presence.

“Come in,” the Prince said, making your eyes widen in horror.

You tap his knee, trying to get his attention, and tell him to not let another person in the room. Joshua completely ignored you, and only moved closer to the desk. The person came in and started discussing the engagement announcement with the Prince. You didn’t listen very intently, you were far too busy staring at Joshua’s, still hard, cock. His hands were on the table, unable to reach down and stop you without arousing suspicion. You took the chance at hand and wrapped your hand around his cock again. Joshua cleared his throat to cover a gasp. He kept on talking, so you took his head into your mouth again. Your tongue swirled around his tip before you started sucking him off again.

“Are you alright, sir?” the man on the other side of the desk asked.

“I’m just fine. I suppose it’s nerves.” The Prince managed to joke his suspicious behavior away, but he couldn’t continue like that forever.

You took his shaft as deep in your mouth as you could without making a sound. One of your hands stayed on his cock, but the other started massaging his balls. His cock twitched inside your mouth, and you knew he was close. The Prince cleared his throat again and asked abruptly to be left alone. When you heard the door open and, finally, close you let go of his cock again. 

“Fucking slut,” he sighed and looked down to you. “Can’t keep off of my cock, can you?”

“You know I need my mouth filled if you want me to shut up, sir,” you responded with a sudden confidence.

Prince Hong was caught by surprise by your forwardness. A mixture of pride and fear swirled in his eyes as he looked upon his horny creation. You grabbed his shaft again and pumped it slowly, all while you were staring up at him with a smile.

“You can’t be mad at me for doing what I was taught, Prince Hong,” you said, “Especially not when I had such an eager teacher.”

Joshua swore under his breath as he watched you sucking him off. You kept eye contact, urging him to cum whenever he wanted - you would take it all for him. When he came, with a string of moans followed by dirty words, you didn’t swallow his seed immediately. Instead, you waited for him to look at you, and opened your mouth for him to see you before you swallowed. He reached out to touch you and graced his thumb across your cheek and you leaned into his touch.

“Fucking perfect,” he murmured.

“I win,” you whispered.

Joshua chuckled but didn’t try to deny it as he usually did. He didn’t even try to do anything to “discipline” you like he had tried before. He looked at you with a warm gaze, almost lovingly. Your victory, in making him cum, was trumped by his nearly romantic actions. What this meant was unknown to you.

Later that afternoon, you were preparing yourself for the announcement. You would stand in front of a crowd, beside your future husband while he held a short speech about the future alliance. Then you would speak to the people, talking about how welcomed you felt and how this would be an alliance to last. Your engagement was a symbol of hope, everything had to be perfect.

You were dressed in a traditional gown of your kingdom. It was blue, representing the oceans that surrounded your land and the peace that this alliance would bring. The Prince would, in a similar fashion, be wearing green - representing his kingdom’s many fields and forests. When you saw yourself in the mirror, you wondered if your parents would be proud of your sacrifice. 

“Miss, are you ready for the ring?” your chambermaid asked.

You merely nodded and turned to her. The ring had a jewel the size of a pea, which matched the jewels in your crown. A part of you wished that Prince Hong could have given this to you himself. Would it be so horrible if he had just given the ring to you himself? He didn’t have to get down on one knee, but he could have made this more personal.

“You look beautiful,” the maid said.

“Thank you.” You gave her a kind smile, then turned back to the mirror.

There was no getting out of this now, this was the end of the road for your freedom. You told yourself you would learn to love the Prince, it wasn’t as if you didn’t enjoy his company from time to time. You put the ring on your gloved finger, the metal clashing against the white fabric of the glove.

Standing in front of hundreds of people, who were all there to see you, felt less nerve-wracking than you thought it would. You were standing on a stage beside the Prince. Your hands were strategically placed in front of you, one over the other, and making sure that the ring would show. A smile was plastered on your face as you listened to him talk. Your father and your future mother-in-law were standing behind you, also listening and smiling. 

“And I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with this beautiful woman.” Joshua gestured to you with a charming smile. “She is truly a symbol of hope for this land, and she shall be cherished as one.”

The last comment made your smile falter slightly, but only for a second. That word, “symbol”, sat with you in a weird way. Nevertheless, your mind is filled with scenarios of what his cherishing would entail. The Prince continued talking, even though you could barely listen anymore. When it was your turn to speak, your hands were trembling. Prince Hong must have noticed this because his hand soon appeared on the small of your back in a comforting manner. You barely remember what you said, your mind was elsewhere while you were speaking. By the look on your father’s face, however, it seemed like you said the right things. When applause reached your ears, and Joshua’s gentle hand began pushing you, you knew to go back inside the castle.

“Good girl,” Joshua whispered in your ear, only loud enough for you to hear.

You felt your knees wobble and a warm feeling spreading in your lower stomach. His hand on your back was burning through the fabric of your dress, but you never wanted him to remove it.

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

“Fuck, why did you have to do that to me when we’re in public?” you hissed as he pushed you against the wall of a closet.

His leg was shoved between yours, rubbing against your cunt. You were struggling with the fabric of your dress, pulling it up to give him more access.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Princess.” Joshua grinned.

When he began kissing down your neck, you wrapped your arms around his shoulders. Your hips were moving on their own across his thigh, while he kissed as far down your chest as your dress would let him. He had yet to see you completely naked yet, the closest he had gotten was seeing you in your nightgown.

“Why haven’t you fucked me properly yet?” The words came out of your mouth without warning.

“I have to save something for the honeymoon, dearest,” he joked and kneeled down in front of you, “Be grateful I’m giving you anything at all right now.”

“Screw you,” you gasped as he ripped off your underwear.

You watched with a slack jaw as he put your ripped panties in his pocket. Joshua kissed up your thigh, taking it and moving it to sit atop his shoulder. One of your hands rested in his hair, while the other tried to find a surface that you could stabilize yourself on. As he delved into your heat, you accidentally knocked something off a shelf but at least you found something to hold onto. 

“You’re a piece of shit sometimes,” you breathed out.

“Careful, honey,” he tutted and began rubbing your clit with his fingers. “You’re forgetting who’s in charge of your orgasm.”

“I could do this myself, you know,” you huffed.

“Oh really?” Joshua sat back. “Why don’t you make yourself cum for me then? Prove me wrong.”

You ripped off one of your gloves, the one without the ring on, and slid down the wall to sit down. Suddenly aware of Joshua looking at you, your face flushed.

“Are you going to watch me?” you asked.

“What? It’s not like I haven’t seen you like this before.”

He had. Nevertheless, you felt that all of your time spent together had gone to waste. The time that you were supposed to practice for public appearances was spent with way more private situations in mind. Was this really what you wanted?

“Prince H-”

“Joshua.”

“Joshua,” you said and closed your legs, “I don’t mind this relationship- I prefer it… but shouldn’t we try to work on our public relationship?”

He paused and then shuffled to sit up straighter. As soon as you had said it, you regretted even opening your mouth. Joshua’s expression broke you. The sudden cold and analytical eyes were a harsh replacement for his previously mischievous but warm look.

“What do you want me to do?” he asked defensively.

“We’re officially engaged,” you stated, feeling like it was obvious enough to explain your needs.

“What did you think was going to change? That we’re magically going to fall in love because you wear a ring on your left hand?”

His words cut you deeper than you expected his words ever could. It was partly his tone, suddenly changed from his teasing and flirting to the person you met after the ball. You hated this side of him. However, his words hurt because they were somewhat true. You had started thinking that this new side of him was all there was to him, now that you had gotten to know him a little better. That was your first mistake. You stood up, wanting to put space in between you but you were stuck between him and the wall. He stood up as well.

“Is it wrong for me to want love?” You started feeling stinging in your eyes. “I never wanted you. Do you know what I wanted? I wanted to love and be loved in the comfort of my own kingdom. I’m only here for you, and you can’t even bring yourself to like me when you’re not fucking me!”

“I didn’t make this choice either!” he exclaimed, “You’re not here for me, you’re here for my kingdom-”

“I am not a ‘symbol of hope’!” you interrupted. “I’m not a symbol at all, I’m human- why do you never treat me like a person, Prince Hong?”

“As if you don’t do the same to me! Why can’t you see me past my title?”

“Fuck you!” you said, as you fell short on a reply to his counter argument.

The two of you stare at each other, chests heaving. Prince Hong suddenly lept toward you, taking your face in his hands and pressing his lips against yours. The kiss was rough and sloppy. A tear fell down your cheek, and you gave in for a second. For a second he was the man you loved, kissing you for no other reason than the fact that he was in love with you too. You quickly snapped out of that state of mind, pushing the Prince away from you and into the shelves beside you.

“I’m going back home!” you cried, “I’ll plan this stupid wedding from there- but you have to leave me alone until then!”

Prince Hong doesn’t say a thing as you leave.

The carriage that would take you to the nearest coast, where you would take a boat back to your kingdom, was ready for you about an hour after you requested it. It only took half an hour to pack your necessary things and tell your father of your sudden departure. He took it as you expected, with grace, and told you that he’d handle wedding things in Ceadrotia before joining you for a while. The wedding wouldn’t happen for a month, so you had time to relax at home before moving your entire life to another kingdom. 

A bumpy carriage ride was not what you needed right now. The over one-hour-long ride was hell, but you’d rather be in hell than stay another minute in the castle of Ceadrotia. You didn’t want to face Prince Hong for a while - what he had said to you hurt, but a part of you also knew that you were in the wrong. A combination of anger and embarrassment flooded your chest and tears flooded your eyes.

Arriving at the coast was relieving, it was a promise of finally coming home. Xaevia was surrounded by the ocean, and water was of high cultural importance. Almost every home had its own big bath, and those who didn’t could go to the many public baths around the kingdom. Water is life, and in Xaevia it was taken very seriously. So your stay in Ceadrotia had been unusual from your normal life. It hadn’t necessarily been bad, but it had only made your homesickness worse.

As you watched your things get loaded onto the boat that would carry you home, you thought you heard someone calling your name. You looked towards the boat, thinking that maybe someone wanted to ask you something about where your luggage should be, but everyone was busy and not even looking your way. 

“Princess!”

Both of your guards prepared themselves but quickly went back to their natural position when they saw who it was. Prince Hong was riding toward you, having followed you on horseback. You take your time processing his presence, which is enough time for him to jump off his horse and walk up to you. He was breathing heavily, and his eyes were determined.

“We should have the wedding in Xaevia,” he said abruptly, then paused as if he had forgotten all of his words. “And I’m sorry I didn’t realize your sacrifice for me sooner... if you’ll let me, I want to come with you to Xaevia and help you make the wedding that you desire.”

There was complete silence between you. If it weren’t for the ocean waves or the grunting of the men loading the luggage onto the boat, you could have heard a pin drop. The Prince looked to you for an answer, but you were unsure if you could give him a proper one. A wedding in your home country was what you wanted, but you weren’t sure if you were ready to forgive him just because of his sudden declaration. Joshua reached up and pressed his hand to his chest, right over his heart.

“I have promised my country a sufficient ruler.” He gripped the fabric of his shirt in desperation. “However, my affection and my devotion will always be with you first. I need you, Princess, and I apologize for hiding behind such a sorry excuse as I did. There is no one else that I could consider being my Queen. I need you there with me Y/N.”

There was no other sound, they had all been drowned out by your beating heart. You stared into Joshua’s desperate eyes. He longed for you, or at least he was willing to act like he did. A part of you still thought of him as deceitful, a devil with many tricks, but you set it aside for now. You took a deep breath and looked over to the ship. They were almost finished packing.

“We’re leaving now.” You looked back at him. “If you truly wish to come with me, you’ll have to leave with only the clothes on your back.”

“I don’t desire anything else than to stay by your side, Princess.”

“Good.”

The boat ride would take a day to complete and, since you had left so late in the day, you’d be arriving in the midst of the night. You were standing by the bow, looking towards where you were sailing. It was already dark, so there was not much to see, but you enjoyed the feeling of standing at the front of the ship. It wasn’t just the view; it was the feeling of the salty air, the sound of the ship plowing through the waves, and the slight rocking underneath your feet. Everything felt so natural to you.

“It’ll get cold soon, Princess.” You heard Joshua call out to you.

His footsteps echoed towards you, each step graceful as if in a waltz. He was a good dancer afterall. You felt the heavy fabric of a wool blanket wrap around your shoulders. One of his hands lingered there, and you put your hand on top of his before you turned to look at him.

“Thank you,” you murmured, “For everything.”

“It’s nothing. I want you to be happy,” he admitted. “Even if this isn’t exactly what you had in mind.”

“It’s certainly not,” you chuckled and turned back to look at the sea.

In the far distance, you could see lights, meaning that you were closing in on land. You let go of the Prince’s hand, which led him to let his hand slip off your shoulder.

“It’s enough,” you added. “This is enough for me.”

Prince Hong now stood beside you, looking toward the lights as well. When you looked at him, he reminded you of the many stories of beautiful mermaids and mermen you had been told as a child. Beautiful but devious, although helpful and even generous at times. His emblem of the raven gleamed in the moonlight.

“What does the raven mean? Is your kingdom not known for its soil?” you asked.

Joshua looked down at the emblem and held it in his hand. He inspected it as if it would give him the secrets to its definition, but it didn’t take him long before he answered.

“Many people see the raven as an evil omen. It means death in certain cultures. We associate it with its insight and wisdom. The raven is always there, watching over.” He turned the jewelry in his hand. “They’re said to travel between the world of the living and the dead- they’re our connection to the ones before us. Yes, we’re known for our crops- but I suppose this is our way of honoring our ancestors, of having them with us. We come from the soil, and we’ll go back to the soil when we die- it’s the raven’s job to tell our story.”

He looked at you with an embarrassed smile, clearly feeling like he had talked too much. His hands were perched on the railing of the ship, so you placed yours beside his.

“I think it’s a good way to honor tradition,” you said, “And maybe learn from past mistakes.”

He seemed more relieved now that you had shown your interest. His hand inched closer to yours. You looked up at him. This is the first conversation you had together without throwing petty insults or interrupting each other by pressing one’s lips onto the other’s.

“I hope to show you these kinds of things in my kingdom as well, if you’re up to it,” you said.

“I’d love to,” he smiled.

This was what it was like to try, and you wished you would’ve done it sooner. 

The arrival was a blur of happy shouts from your family and many hugs. Prince Hong was slightly left behind, except for a simple “hello” and “welcome”. You were finally home again, and you couldn’t think of anything else. That night you slept well in your old bed, with no nightmares in sight.

As soon as it slipped that the wedding would be held in Xaevia and not in Ceadrotia, your entire family erupted in happy shouts and screeches. The planning began almost immediately, and word was sent out to the people of both kingdoms quicker than you could have imagined. The people of Xaevia cheered for the sudden change and, while there were people who were happy for you in Ceadrotia, not everyone took it as well in the Prince’s home country. It was to be expected, and you didn’t let that slow your wedding plans down. 

The wedding was to be held in Xaevia’s royal palace, and your honeymoon would be spent in a castle on one of the islands surrounding the kingdom. With everything surrounding preparations for the wedding, and finally getting to be with your family again, you didn’t have much time to spend with the Prince. You saw him whenever you were working on the wedding together; you picked out the colors together, the flowers, et cetera - all of which surprised you as he didn’t seem like the type who would do this sort of thing. Nevertheless, he was surprisingly good at it.

As you were looking at the different flowers together, you finally got a moment alone. There were guards and servants around, but it was the most alone you had been together since you had gotten to Xaevia.

“You’re not too bad at this, your highness,” you said with a small smile.

“I enjoy beautiful things.” He had a flirty tone, and the look in his eye confirmed it. “You should know that by now.”

You chuckled but didn’t delve into that sort of conversation any further. You had made a conscious effort to not indulge yourself in flirtatious conversations with the Prince because of your earlier sexual pursuits. Even though you wouldn’t mind falling into the same routine, you didn’t want to risk an argument like you had before.

“I suggest the peonies- they’re supposed to mean romance and prosperity,” you said, avoiding the topic that the Prince had tried to bring up.

“Sure, but I-”

“Red roses are beautiful but seem a little cliché, and they’re difficult to take care of.”

“Yes, Princess, but I’d really like to talk about-”

“But I don’t,” you interrupted him again, “If we talk, we fight. So let’s not talk, Prince Hong. Just tell me what flowers you think we should have at our wedding.”

“... Hoary stock,” he pointed to the pink and long flowers, “Beauty that doesn’t fade with age.”

His tone was cold again, but not as cold as it had been during your argument in the closet. It was more of a disappointed tone than anything else. Nevertheless, he was right. The hoary stock would be nice, and you were sure that you could figure out a good bouquet to decorate the halls. The woman taking care of the flower arrangement came back, and you motioned to the peonies and the hoary stock. Now that you were finished you walked out of the room with Prince Hong, but you turned away from each other as soon as you got into the hallway.

The day of the wedding had arrived, and you were shaking from the nerves. That morning had been spent scrubbing you clean and pampering you to get ready for your big day. Maids had helped you put on your white dress and fix your hair. Everything had to be perfect, and you weren’t allowed to lift a finger. When you got out of your bathroom, you were met with a surprise. Your room had been filled with flowers, a supposed gift from the Prince. You were a white dot in the middle of a sea of red. Roses gave the room a pleasant smell, but sitting there alone with them made you feel lonely. The grand gestures were nice, and you were sure that the Prince would continue giving them - but that wasn’t enough for you. It was a marvelous act, but it only showed that he had the resources to do these kinds of things for you - not that he had put any feelings behind them. You felt selfish, but you tried to shake it off.

Since the wedding wasn’t being held in Ceadrotia, and the King was still alive, you wouldn’t be crowned Queen or sworn into your future kingdom. This ceremony was only meant to celebrate the alliance of two kingdoms and the marriage of two people. Still, it was to be held in Xaevia’s throne hall. It was a long, oval-shaped room that could fit around a hundred people - which would all be seated in rows in two lines, with the aisle in the middle of the two. At the end of the room were two thrones, both decorated with white gold and blue, and above them sat Xaevia’s emblem; two seahorses with their backs facing each other, and a sword between them.

“No peeking, Princess!” One of the maids giggled and pulled you back from the curtain.

People had settled in the throne room and, if you looked out to the window on the other side of this small room, the people outside were all waiting for an appearance from the newlywed. After the ceremony, you and the Prince would walk out onto a balcony and greet the people of Xaevia, as well as the people of Ceadrotia who had arrived for this special occasion.

“I’m sorry,” you said, “I’m just nervous.”

“It’s completely natural for you to be nervous.” Your mother walked into the room.

With a big smile, you lifted up your dress slightly and sprinted over to her the best you could. The two of you embraced, and she kissed your cheek. You felt yourself finally relax.

“You’re going to shine out there, darling,” she said as she let go of you.

“Thank you.” You smiled. “I’m just happy it could be held here.”

“Well, that Prince of yours is certainly generous. It’s more than anyone else would have done, especially with the backlash he might get from his own people,” she muttered. “But! Not for you to worry about now, darling!”

Your mother didn’t have the best way with words, but you decided to try to forget about the comment. Such things could be taken care of after this wedding.

“The Prince is about to walk down the aisle,” a maid said.

“Then that’s my cue to leave,” your mother said, “I’ll see you out there, darling.”

When your mother left your side, you prepared yourself by the curtains. Your father soon joined you, and you held his arm. The music started, and the Prince walked in. You could picture his charming smile and suave walk, and you shut your eyes tight at the thought of having to look at him while slowly walking down the aisle. When the curtains finally opened, and your flower girl had taken a few steps, you started walking arm-in-arm with your father. Your eyes were on the floor, but you knew it wasn’t proper so you forced yourself to look at your future husband. He was smiling. His formal suit was blue, which you thought was a nice touch, and he wore a crown in a similar fashion to yours. The most important thing to you, however, was the idyllic look in his eyes as he intently watched you walk down the aisle. Maybe it was your imagination, but you thought you saw tears in his eyes. 

The song ended and you were standing in front of him. He held out his hands to you, and you placed your hands in his. They were still shaking, but when he started stroking his thumb over the back of your hand you calmed down a little.

“Dearly beloved.”

And the ceremony started.

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

After the ceremony, greeting the people, and a short celebration, you and Joshua took a boat to the island where you’d spend your one-week honeymoon. It was where you spent a lot of your summers as a child. Stepping foot on the island again, seeing that it hadn’t really changed, was comforting. 

“It’s beautiful,” Prince Hong commented.

“Just as I remember it,” you added.

He looked at you with a warm smile, which he had been wearing all day. The Prince seemed to be genuinely happy, and it calmed you down. Your shoulders relaxed, and you took a moment to breathe in the fresh air. As you walked up the stone steps to the castle, he held your hand to keep you steady. 

The castle was up on a hill, looking over the ocean. It wasn’t far from the coast of Xaevia, and you could see the royal palace from the beach of the island. Even though the castle wasn’t very big, and the towers weren’t very tall, it was certainly enough for the two of you. The humble stone castle gave you a warm welcome, along with its staff. They congratulated you as soon as you made it through the door. You were lucky that you had changed into a simpler dress before stepping foot on the island, walking up so many steps in a big wedding gown would have been hell - and as you entered the castle, you saw even more steps.

“Where do you want to go, my Princess?” he asked, and now it was really true - you were his Princess.

“The sun’s about to set,” you said, “Maybe we could get settled and then I can finally get to show you one of the many baths in Xaevia.”

“Sounds like a plan to me.”

He lifted you off your feet in one swoop and began carrying you up the stairs. A squeak escaped your lips, followed by quiet giggles and snorts. Your hands gripped onto Joshua’s shoulders and you pressed yourself against him. You had no doubt that this man was strong and stable enough to carry you, but it was still nerve-wracking. 

“... where are we going?” he whispered once he reached the top of the stairs.

“Over there,” you whispered back and pointed to where he should walk.

Joshua carried you like this all the way to your shared bedroom, with the help of your directions, and both of you giggled the entire way. It felt ridiculous to act like a married couple without having had a proper courting season, but both of you leaned into the absurdity of it. 

Once Joshua had managed to open the door to the bedroom and walked in, he carefully threw you on the bed. You looked around and saw that your things had already been carried up to the room. The staff works fast. The rustling of Joshua taking off his coat brought your attention back to him. Before you could process anything, he was on top of you and pressing a soft kiss on your lips.

“Hi,” you said.

“Hi? Is that all you have to say to your husband?” he joked.

“Shouldn’t we go to the bath? The sun is about to set, I want you to see it with a view.”

“You’re all the view I need.” Joshua kissed you again, but you quickly pulled away.

“I’m serious, Joshua,” you chuckled.

You were bothered that he could so easily float into the role of your husband, as if you hadn’t argued and as if you hadn’t had the relationship you had. He couldn’t even acknowledge it, there was no time to just talk about what you had been through together or what the future might hold.

“Okay, let’s go to the bathtub.” He huffed.

“It’s not a tub-”

The two of you arrived at the large pool of water, surrounded by pillars that supported a roof. It had three walls, to protect it from wind, and one side was an open view of the ocean. You had made it just in time to see the sunset, painting both the ocean and the water of the bath in beautiful hues of lilac and red.

“See? Not a tub.” You smiled at him

“It’s gorgeous,” he said, “Did you want to go for a swim?”

Joshua began unraveling his shirt in front of you. You widened your eyes in shock and looked around, but there was no one to be seen here. You were all alone again. He kept taking off his shirt and threw it to the ground.

“Should I help you?”, he asked as he saw that you hadn’t moved an inch.

“... I don’t know.” Was all you could say.

“Sweetheart, are you alright?” His voice was sweet and laced with worry.

“Don’t-...” You sighed. “I don’t want to fight with you.”

Joshua took a step towards you, holding out his hands to you like he had during the wedding. You remembered how comforting he had been, and you took his hands. His thumb began gently rubbing the back of your hand again, and you took a deep breath.

“Who says we’re in a fight?” he asked.

“... when we were in Ceadrotia, we ended up fighting during…” You stopped yourself. “I’m sorry, this is stupid. Maybe we should just-”

“No, it’s not stupid,” he assured you. “We fought, yes. What does that have to do with now?”

“I’m scared,” you admitted, “What if all that we can do is fight and… fool around?”

He chuckled at your choice of words but brought you slightly closer to him by pulling at your hands. You took a deep breath and finally looked him in the eye. His kind brown eyes calmed you down.

“You’re my wife now, Y/N,” he said softly, “I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure you live a good life with me. That isn’t to say we won’t fight, we might, but we can handle it together. I’m sure we can. Okay?”

“Okay.” You nodded.

Joshua pulled you even further towards him. One of his hands hugged your lower back, while the other held your hand. With a knowing smile, you put your hand on his bare shoulder. He slowly started swaying from side to side.

“There’s no music,” you whispered.

“Does it matter?” he asked.

You put your head on his chest, and his hand that was previously holding yours now met the other one on your back. He hugged you, still swaying slightly, and kissed the top of your head. There was no time present in this moment, Joshua had taken up your entire universe. The feeling of his skin under your hands, his smell, his soft breaths against the top of your head - the only thing that existed was Prince Hong.

“Would you help me take this off?” You pulled away to look at him. “I think I want to go for a swim anyway.”

Joshua smiled and nodded softly. He took one of your arms, running his hand across it until he reached your glove. His fingers gently pulled one of the gloves of your hands, his lips kissing every inch of skin that he revealed. When he finally removed the piece of fabric completely he threw it to the side, looked you in the eye, and kissed the back of your hand. You let out a soft laugh as he did the same with the other glove.

“Turn around for me, my love.”

You did as he said, and turned your back to him. As he began unbuttoning the back of your dress, you realized that he had never seen you without clothes on. Joshua pressed a kiss to your upper back, comforting you without saying a word. You pulled the sleeves off and let the gown fall to the floor. You were left in your corset and underwear. His expert hands worked magic on your corset, and soon enough Joshua had taken it off. With an anxious feeling spreading in your chest, you turned around to face him, your hands covering your chest.

“Nervous?” he asked.

“It would be better if I weren’t the only one naked,” you suggested.

While Joshua pulled off the rest of his clothes, you took off the last you had on and started walking down the stairs of the pool. The water was still warm, and you quickly dove in. When you came to the surface again, you wiped the water from your face and looked behind you. Joshua was waist-deep in the water, looking out towards the view. You watched him without saying anything, taking in his appearance as if it were the last time you would see him. His body looked like it was sculpted by the gods. Broad shoulders, a soft curve from his chest to the lower abdomen, and his muscles being more pronounced with the shadows created by the sunsets - your eyes had been blessed. Joshua met your eyes, and you had to stop drooling over him. Having never seen him naked before, it was difficult to not stare and you had to look away to force yourself to stop.

“You can stare as much as you want, sweetheart.” He walked further into the pool. “I’m all yours now.”

Your body sank down in the water, hiding everything except from your eyes and nose. Joshua swam towards you. Seeing you flustered over his frame clearly made him proud because he had a big grin on his face, showing off his perfect teeth. Was everything about this man perfect? How had you not seen this before?

“Can I hold you?” he asked.

You let the rest of your head peek up from the surface of the water, nodding yes to his questions. Joshua’s strong arms wrapped around you. His smooth skin under the water felt like laying down in a bed of silk.

“I’m happy that it’s you that I get to spend the rest of my life with,” he murmurs into your ear.

You’re unsure of when and why Joshua had turned so soft, but you weren’t going to complain about it. Moving your hands up his body, feeling every curve and crevice, you cupped his face in the palms of your hands. His eyebrows raised slightly in surprise, not thinking you’d be so forward. You leaned in and pressed your lips to his, leaving him wanting more when you pulled away.

“Are you going to prove it to me, your highness?” you said with a grin, making Joshua scoff.

“Maybe I should just leave you here, hm?”

“Don’t,” you warned. “What do you want me to call you then?”

“Joshua,” you moaned out as your back hit your bed again.

The flimsy towel wrapped around your body had been pulled off as soon as you entered your room, and thrown into a corner. Joshua’s hands held onto your waist while he kissed down your jaw to your chest. Your hands tangled in his hair, and you felt him smile against your skin. 

“Tell me what you want,” he murmured.

“I want you to fuck me,” you breathed out, “Please.”

“I’ll do more than that, my love.” Joshua crawled back up to press a chaste kiss on your lips. “I want to take care of you, make love to you.”

Instead of answering, you kissed him again. Hands cupping his face, while he pressed his body against yours. Feeling his skin on yours, his hard cock against your lower abdomen, without any fabric coming in between you felt like heaven. His slow, deep kisses suddenly turned into pecks all across your face and you giggled at the feeling. Joshua was so different from the other times, it put butterflies in your stomach.

“What are you doing?” you asked.

“Loving you,” he answered. “I want this time to be different. Special.”

“It is, I promise you.”

“Good.” He smiled and gave you another peck. “Is it okay if I do this?”

Joshua brought his hand down to your lower stomach, and you nodded. His fingers did quick work at spreading your wetness around and rubbing your clit before he went lower to insert a finger in you. The sensation was familiar to you, and you didn’t show a very big reaction - you were far too busy with your lips on his. However, when he pushed in another digit, scissoring them and stretching you out, you started whining. 

“Think you’re ready for me?” he asked, leaning his forehead against yours

“Yeah,” you hummed.

Cumming around his fingers wasn’t new for you, but somehow he made it feel even better this time. Maybe it was the feeling of complete relaxation that you finally got around him. Joshua began rubbing his tip against your soaked cunt, making you squirm. 

“... Shua,” you whined.

“God, I love it when you use my name,” he huffed out and kissed your temple.

He finally pushed inside you, slowly to make sure you got used to the different size. You gripped his shoulders and let out a quiet gasp. The quiet whimpers coming from you urged Joshua to keep going until he bottomed out, and then he stayed there. You felt completely full and unable to move.

“Are you alright, my love?” he asked, voice slightly strained.

“Mhm…” You nodded. “Are you okay, Shua?”

“I’m fine, don’t worry about me.” He chuckled.

Joshua shifted slightly, getting more comfortable, but the movement made you whine. The sheer size of his cock was enough to make you tremble. He looked at you to check in with you, and you answered with a tired smile.

“You can move,” you murmured, “I’ll be okay.”

He answered by slowly pulling out until his tip was almost out of you, the two of you groaned and whimpered at the sight, and then plunged in you again. Joshua’s lips captured yours in a kiss again as he began moving his hips. The tip of his cock hit a spot inside you that made you see stars every time he thrusted into you. Your kiss grew needy and sloppy as your bodies moved against each other. It was impossible to ignore the growing tension in your lower stomach, and Joshua’s hands wandering across your body only egged you on more. 

“You’re taking me so well, sweetheart,” Joshua mumbled against your lips.

“It’s good…” Was all you could muster to say, your mind too far gone to think.

“Adorable.”

The two of you giggled, you more so because of the rousing feeling in your stomach. It was a familiar feeling, but somehow different this time. Joshua’s bare skin was hot against yours. All of these sensations became too much; his touch, his kiss, his soft moans… it all fired you up until you couldn’t take it anymore. You warned him with one final cry of pleasure, and he came soon after you.

Joshua fell on top of you with a grunt, his cock still deeply buried inside you. You put your arms around him, one of your hands playing with the hair by the nape of his neck. He hummed happily at the feeling, placing soft kisses in the crook of your neck. Adoration filled your heart as he looked up at you again, his big doe eyes sparkling like they held every star of the universe. Over a month ago you despised the man, but now you never wanted to leave his side. 

“We should go to bed,” you murmured as you played with his hair.

“Stay still, I’ll help you.”

He pulled out of you, letting out a soft groan. For once you had no trouble doing what he told you to, so you laid still on the bed. While he got the bed ready for the two of you, you just watched him. While he certainly knew that you were watching him, evident by his proud smile, he didn’t look back at you. Not until he decided to move you to lay under the covers. You winced and he cooed at you, tucking you in gently before getting under the covers himself. The bed was big but unlike your bed in Ceadrotia, you didn’t feel lonely or cold - how could it be with Joshua there with you?

“Do you think we made an heir?” you asked in a giddy tone while he cuddled closer to you.

“We’ll have to wait and see,” he hummed, “If not, we can always try again.”

“Then I hope that we didn’t.”

You laid on top of him, your head right above his chest. The two of you stayed quiet, the only sound being the wind blowing outside. Joshua’s fingers drew circles on your bare back under the covers. Everything felt so perfect.

“What would you name them?” he suddenly asked, “Our heir, that is.”

“I think I’d wait until I saw them,” you thought out loud, “Holding them in my arms for the very first time, I think it’d make me come up with a name on the spot.”

Joshua let out a soft laugh. You leaned on your elbows to get a better look at him, wondering if he was teasing you. His eyes were closed, ready for sleep. Brushing out the black strands of hair that had fallen in his face got his attention back to you. His eyes fluttered open and looked at you.

“What?” he asked.

“Are you teasing me?” you mumbled.

“I’m not, I think it’s sweet,” he said, “Just like you.”

Satisfied with his answer, you put your head back on his chest. The two of you talked a bit further, saying sweet nothings to each other before falling asleep for the first time as a married couple.

The honeymoon week was spent staying close together. You didn’t just stay in the bedroom, you ended up getting creative with your sex life again - this time without having to sneak around. Going for a swim? Sex by the pool. Have a cute picnic in the castle garden? Fucking on the picnic blanket. Suddenly horny during breakfast? Tell the staff to leave the room because you’re about to fuck on the table. You couldn’t keep your hands off each other.

However, you didn’t just fuck around for the entire week. You started talking, exploring each other’s interests and minds - instead of just bodies as you had before. Through your talks, you got to know Joshua as he was when there was no pressure for him to behave in a certain way. He was a naturally flirty and charming person, but he was also gentle and truly kind - and you experienced that kindness time and time again.

Good things always come to an end. When you got back to Xaevia, you were met with saddened faces - your parents and siblings wearing black. The King of Ceadrotia had passed away. Everything happened so fast, that you were unsure of what to do yourself. Joshua went back to his kingdom right away, leaving you behind. You were left to prepare for your permanent move to Ceadrotia in the midst of mourning. The wedding was only a week ago, but two entire countries are already clouded with sorrow. You wondered what you could’ve possibly done to deserve it - but shook it off as a selfish thought.

Arriving in Ceadrotia after the death of the King was contrasting from the first time you arrived. No one was smiling, everyone wore black, and the streets were practically silent. Although you had never met the King, you knew of his importance to the people. No, the country wasn’t thriving - but the people still loved their King. Seeing everyone in mourning, feeling their pain, made it difficult for you to understand how to approach the situation.

The worst part of all was seeing Joshua cry. He was sealed away in his office, which is why it was the first room in the castle you visited. Opening the door, you heard quick shuffling and sniffling. You saw Joshua wipe away his tears with a paper towel before turning to you.

“Shua…”

“Please, don’t pity me.” Joshua sighed and ran his hands through his hair. “I’ll be fine. Everything’s fine.”

“How can everything be fine, Joshua? Your father-”

“Everything has to be fine,” he snapped, “I have things I need to do, Y/N. Please leave.”

“But you’re in mourning!” you said as if stating the obvious, “You have to spend time with yourself and loved ones to get over this-”

“Leave, Y/N. I don’t have time for this.”

This was not the Joshua you had just spent an entire week with, nor was it the Joshua you had met when you first got here. In a matter of days he had built up a wall around himself, and you didn’t know how to connect with him. You left the room without a fight - you didn’t have it in you to fight with him when he was like this. However, seeing who Joshua could be when it was just the two of you, made you want to try to help.

For the next few days, you didn’t see Joshua. He was working, eating, and sleeping in his office. Every day was spent with worry and sorrow settling deep in your bones. Worry for your husband’s well-being and health. Sorrow for his loss, which was in turn your loss. You never spoke with the late King, but you had only heard good things of him. Seeing the grief of not only your husband but the people of Ceadrotia as well was enough to understand what a loss it had been. However, this didn’t mean that Joshua had to put his health at risk. As his wife, you felt that it was your duty to take care of him - even with his many servants and maids. Only you could take care of his mind.

Seeing the Prince in the dining room was an unusual sight. He was disheveled - his hanging eyelids and puffy eyes were evidence of his lack of sleep, and his unkempt clothing proved that he had stopped caring about his appearance. He sat down in front of you, on the other end of the table, but refused to look at you. Instead, he stared at his empty plate, not even bothering to put breakfast on it.

“Joshua…”

He looked up and met your eyes.

“I’m tired.” 

You stood up from your chair and walked around to be by his side. Kneeling down by his chair, you looked up at him. His eyes were teary and lacking in luster. Although you were unsure if he would let you touch him, you reached up your hands to cup his face. To your surprise, he gladly leaned into your palms.

“I know, my dear,” you hummed. “You know that I can help. All you have to do is ask.”

“... will you help me, my love?” Joshua put his hand on top of yours.

“Always.”

While Joshua rested and spent time with his mother, you went on to plan for the funeral. With his guidelines, it was impossible to not do what Joshua had planned all along. The grand hall was prepared with flowers and the magnificent things that the King loved dearly. But it was to be kept simple and elegant. As you planned the funeral, you also began setting up for the coronation. The throne room was prepared for your introduction to the Ceadrotian family, and Joshua’s introduction to his new role.

The funeral went on as it ought to, but even with its success it brought you no satisfaction. It was to be expected, but the layer of despair hanging over all of you laid especially heavy on your shoulders. After the funeral, you went to your room with Joshua. He said that he needed to lay down and rest, and you could only follow. When you watched him sit down on the bed, watched as his entire frame shrank in defeat, you wanted nothing more than to comfort him. But comfort like this could not be spoken with words, it had to be spoken directly from the heart. You sat down next to him, placing a kiss on his cheek and putting a hand on his back.

“I’m sorry, my love, but I can’t do that right now,” Joshua murmured.

“Do what?”

Joshua looked up with you, his eyes speaking for him.

“No, of course not, darling. I don’t want that either.” You took his hand in yours. “Not everything that I do with you is about sex, you know?”

“... now I feel foolish.” Joshua put his head in the crook of your neck in an attempt to hide his reddened face.

“Don’t,” you warned. “I don’t blame you. It’s all we’ve known, but I don’t want it to be like that in the future.”

“I haven’t even thought about our future…” He put his head in his hands, removing himself from you completely. “I feel like I have already managed to fail as a husband… I knew my father was ill, I knew it all this time. And it still managed to shake me to my core. I crumbled so easily under pressure, I completely forgot about… well, everything else.”

You stood up and walked over to the head of the bed and pushed the sheets aside. It got Joshua’s attention.

“I haven’t changed.”

“Just take off your overcoat and shoes. You need to lay down.”

Without question, Joshua did as you said. Once he had gotten in bed, you got in next to him. The two of you were facing each other, and you did your best to smile when he couldn’t.

“Now what?” Joshua asked.

“Well… do you want me to tell you of my plans?” you asked, and Joshua nodded. “Okay, let’s see… I’ve pictured us a lot in Xaevia. Going on visits, especially to the countryside. I know you’d adore it and… well, the children would as well.”

“Children? Are you-”

“No, no… not yet.” You grinned. “But our potential children would love it. And then I’ve also spent some time thinking about our life here. About you and I spending our evenings here together, about me beating you at chess every now and then.”

“You haven’t beaten me that many times.”

“Enough times,” you said sternly. “We would, of course, take care of the horses together.”

“I miss that,” Joshua hummed.

“Then we can go for a morning ride tomorrow.”

“Good.” Joshua cupped your cheek in his palm. “Thank you, my love. You’ve successfully cheered me up.”

“I’m glad.”

“Would you mind telling me more about our children?” he asked.

You let out a small laugh before you began telling him about your future plans.

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽YEARS LATER☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

“Joshua? Could you come here, darling?” 

Giggles and eager footsteps echoed through the grand halls of the castle of Ceadrotia, just on the other side of the bedroom door. Joshua took his attention away from putting on clothes to look at you. He had just gotten back from a bath, his hair wet and slicked back. A smile played on his lips as he walked up to the side of the bed.

“Good morning, my love.” He leaned down next to you, his wet hair dripping over the sheets.

“I don’t know about good morning, since you let me wake up alone.” You held his face in your hands. “But I think you should know that there are a few people who are very eager to see you just outside the door. They told me you need to hurry, they’re very impatient little creatures.”

“Ah well, if they’re so very impatient.”

With long strides, Joshua walked up to the door. The giggles persisted - grew louder, even. Joshua opened the door in a haste. Roaring shrieks sounded across the room, followed by loud laughter. Your husband kneeled down and caught the children in his arms. 

“You’re all awfully carefree today,” Joshua said as he gave the two children a morning kiss on each of their foreheads. “And how did you come up with this ambush?”

“Mother helped us plan it!” Your oldest daughter grinned proudly.

“Your mother helped, huh?” Joshua looked back at you. “Always the mastermind behind these schemes.”

You smiled from your place in the bed, waiting for them to attack you as well. As you expected, the two children ran to you as soon as their father let them go. Joshua closed the door behind him, following the kids to your bed. They climbed up and laid down next to you, your son having a bit of trouble getting up.

“I feel bad that our sister can’t join,” your son said.

“She can’t walk yet,” Joshua answered, “But we can go see her in the nursery right after this.”

“Only if she’s awake,” you warned.

“Of course, my love,” Joshua said with a smile. “We don’t want to wake our sleeping beauty.”

“Don’t try to smooth over you leaving me to my lonesome this morning.” 

“I wouldn’t dream of it.” He tried to charm you with another loving smile, but you turned to your children instead.

You could feel his eyes on you, as you intently listened to your children ramble on. They always said just what they were thinking, and it was adorable to witness. But even with this sight, you could not ignore your husband for very long. Sometimes it seemed like your husband needed even more attention than your children. At some point, the nanny came into the room and took away the children - finally letting your husband have all of your attention.

“What is it?” you asked.

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“You’ve been staring at me for the past five minutes, so what is it?” You shuffled closer to him.

“Am I not to stare at my beautiful wife?” He huffed. “All I want to do is stare at you.”

You let out a short laugh and tried to get up but you were stopped by Joshua, who held your wrist to keep you in bed.

“Stay. We have nothing planned for the day.”

“But the children-”

“Can wait,” he finished your sentence. “Let’s just have a moment to ourselves.”

Joshua leaned up to you, and you met his lips halfway. It was a short kiss, but tender. It left space for the possibility of something more, it lingered in the room.

“Did you mark the calendar for when my bedrest after the baby would end?” you quipped with a quirk of your brow.

“So you are off bedrest?”

“As of two days ago.”

He leaned in for another kiss, this time more passionate, and took the opportunity to crawl on top of you.

“May I?” Joshua played with the neckline of your dress. “I’ll be gentle with you, my Queen.”

“I can’t say the same for me, my King.” You grinned, pouncing on the man on top of you.

[charkie-ee]

team bolas rojas gas masks designs??

in THIS day and age?????

it may be more likely than you think..

this was my first time drawing a series of different gas masks, no idea if they’re accurate at all, but it was really fun!!

**notes & closeups under the cut :-D**

it’s a lot of notes so be prepared for an info dump.

NOTES:

Philza: honestly, what more is there to say than “CROW MAN!!”? aside from his goggles being glow-in-the-dark, theres not much more to the mask design. however, i decided, “hey! this is purgatory! i can fuck up these characters!” so, he has a ripped ear(?)wing and messily cut back hair. (i didn’t pay too much attention to the hair in this design, i was mainly trying to get the gas masks down, but maybe i’ll go further into later.)

Cellbit: this is definitely one of my favorites, he looks pretty scary, i would NOT stop my car if i saw him on the side of the road. its based off of a cat mask(obviously) and a painted white streak goes through his mask, inspired by his hair. i didn’t include it, but circles in the goggles are supposed to retract with different emotions (kind of how cat’s eyes do, saucer and dagger pupils.) he’s also covered in blood because he’s going through it lore wise.

Slimecicle: ngl, it was my first time drawing code charlie(other than all the wips i have that i’ll never finish),but i think he’s pretty spooky. his mask is the worst quality, like it USED to work well until he wore it out. thus, there are broken air tubes that let the gas in. (he should probably get those replaced.) the holes for his horns are kind of like an airlock, so the gas can’t enter through them (phil helped him make it.) however, it makes it difficult to take off.

Baghera: baghera’s mask is kind of built like charlie’s, except in much better quality. aside from the loose air tubes, the mask almost goes all the way around her head, not letting even the slightest bit of gas in. theres also a plastic duck beak on top of the regular breathy-thing(i have no idea what i’m doing, so, no, i don’t know the technical term for that) to give it the “bird touch.”

Jaiden: jaiden’s mask was FUN. like i kinda went overboard. i did these all on different days, and this was the night after the big egg battle day. i saw she had fnaf bonnie ears along with her bird gas mask, and said “ok cool. i’ll add that.” she has the same feather/beak thing i gave to baghera. also, hair-wise, she gets a hair bun and her brown roots showing through(we love messy haired cubitos ^^)

Foolish: foolish was interesting, not sure i like the final product, but i’m tired, so it’ll do. his mask is based off of a lemon shark. he gas glowing green eyes and golden splotches on the leather. the air tube foolish has is REALLY long. like unnaturally long. so he wraps it around his neck to get it out of the way. the other members are extremely concerned it’ll choke him one day, but foolish thinks it’s cool and will scare other teams away. kind of like a “yea, i’m crazy, i could choke and die at any minute, and i don’t care.” phil, being the protective father figure of the group, does not like this at all.

Carre: and finally, we have carre. ah, sweet, sweet carre.(he is my favorite.) his mask is based off of a snow leopard because i hc he’s half feline. carre has the lightest, and most simple mask, since it’s entirely plastic, and more so based off of skiing or snowboarding goggles.

ANYWAY, i hope these notes make sense, excuse my rambling about silly designs, i tend to doodle messily, and not really have a plan when i draw, lol.

thanks for reading, BYE!

[tayrussfangirl]

You’re Out Boy-scout. Part-2

After parting ways with Felix earlier that afternoon you have not stopped thinking about him. You button up your red cardigan over your white lace top and grab your room keys. You think to yourself that if you pretend not to know where the dining hall is, maybe Felix will take you. You pull out your flip phone and look for his contact.“Felix ;)” it reads. You laugh to yourself.

-“Hey Felix, it’s me y/n. Do you think you could maybe show me to the dining hall if you aren’t too busy? I’m having trouble finding it.”

…

-“Why would I show you to the dining hall..”

Your heart sinks for a moment.

-“I can’t let you have your first meal at Oxford there! Come to the pub with us why don’t you? Meet me in the corridor of your building at 8.”

Your cheeks flush and you reply with a simple “Okay!”. Pacing around your room you decide if you should change into something a bit nicer. Since you spent the afternoon unpacking you open your closet and skim through the few dresses you brought. You decide on a cherry colored dress that stops at the middle of your thigh. It synched at the waist and hugs you in all the right places. The top had spaghetti straps so you through over a cropped cream cardigan. After doing some light makeup and putting your hair in single braid that drapes over your shoulder, you wait for 8 o clock to arrive. Your phone chimes.

-“I’m downstairs.” -“Coming!”

You quickly close the door behind you and make your way to the stairs. As you descend you see Felix standing by the door. He turns around and spots you. He eyes you slowly and it’s almost as if your body is set ablaze. Every time he looks at you, you experience that same feeling. It’s awkward feeling his eyes linger on you, but you never want him to pull them away. “You look nice.” he says with a soft smile not wanting to come off too flirty. You look down and say “Thanks.” You two stand in silence for one second more as you admire him, he’s dressed in a slightly see through pink button up. What was he going for? It was sexy but also relaxed. He notices how you stare. “Well! Off we are!” he says abruptly with a smile. He opens the door for you and you walk through. Oliver, Farleigh, and two other girls stand outside waiting. You wave and grin. The red haired girl flashes a sarcastic smile. “Oh, to formally introduce you. This is Farleigh, and Oliver.” They awkwardly smile at you and you reach out your hand to shake theirs. You tell them your name. “Nice to meet you, this is my first day so-“ “We know.” Farleigh cuts you off before you can finish. “India.” the brown haired girl says with a smile. “That’s Annabelle.” She says throwing her arm around the red haired girl. She waves with a smirk.

You all arrive at the pub and Felix fans you guys over to a table. Oliver places himself to the left of him, so you sit in the chair to the right of him. He’s so tall that when he sits, his long legs spread under the table and his knee brushes against yours. Over the course of the night you only have one drink while everyone else is a little less disciplined. Farleigh blows the smoke from his cigarette across the table and peers over at you. “What would you have done if Felix didn’t approach you today? Do you have any of your own friends, or did you are you just kind of a loner? Annabelle laughs. You’re kind of at a loss for words. You sit mouth slightly agape when Felix turns to Farleigh. “What the hell kind of question is that Farleigh? You know you don’t have to be so rude all the time.” Farleigh takes another drag and shrugs. “Just curious.” Felix looks at you and says “You don't have to answer that y/n.” “No, it’s okay. Honestly I was just going to go to the dining hall and go back to my room. And short answer no, not here, they’re all back in the states.” You say dryly. “Fair enough.”

Not too long after that Felix checks the time and suggests for the night to end. You all walk back towards the dorms. Everyone but you tipsy and slightly stumbling. You wonder to yourself if this what college is all about, going to the pub every night, hanging out with people who obviously don’t like you. They all trail off to their building, but Felix stays behind. He looks at you with a sly smile. He obviously a bit messed up. “Sooo.. How was your firstdayy.? He says slurring his words. “Everything you thought it would be and more? He smiles and softly pushes your shoulder. His eyes looking at your face now, admiring your features. “Yeah, I mean.. I really appreciate you trying include me in your little group or whatever you like to call it. But I don’t think your friends like me.” He frowns. “Fucking Farleigh. He's just an asshole, don’t pay him any attention.” He says rolling his eyes. “Are you sure?” you ask, looking at a street lamp. “Yeah, yeah.. I mean that’s not something you need to worry about. I like you, so they’ll have to get over it either way.” His words make your heart flutter. He notices your change in demeanor and he smiles. “Well thank you again. I’ll see you around, Felix.” you wave and turn towards the door. “Goodnight, y/n.” You can hear his smile in his voice. He watches you enter the building and looks at you until he can’t anymore. You kick off your shoes and sit on the edge of your bed. His words replaying in your mind. “I like you..” You fall back onto the rest of the bed. “Fucking Felix Catton.” You laugh to yourself and rub your eyes. You liked him too, but who didn’t? What made you special to him? Nothing you thought, but maybe he would prove you wrong.

[klaprisun]

One Sunny Day

(Stardew Valley) (Haley x Female Farmer)

Chapter 8

When I got home last night, I absolutely crashed when my head hit the pillow. It was quite a night and I needed a good sleep to recover. 

Rolling out of bed, I make my way into the bathroom to shower. Before hopping in, I take a good look at my eye in the mirror. It is swollen as all hell and vibrant purple. I can kind of open it today, but it is so swollen that I can’t fully keep it open. The cloth of the makeshift ice pack rests on the ledge of the sink next to me. 

“Guess I gotta return that today,” I say to myself.

After my shower, I scurry outside in my towel to grab my signature overalls. They should be dry by now since they have been sitting there all morning. 

When I open the door, I am met with pouring rain. My overalls are lying on the porch where I had left them, drenched. Arguably more than they were after I washed them.

I take a deep sigh and just leave them where they are. They can’t get any wetter than they already are.

I throw on a flannel, unbuttoned, over a white tank top and the distressed jeans from last night. I go back into the bathroom and grab the cloth that is on the side of the sink.

“It’s too early to bring this straight to Gus, so I’ll bring it to Emily instead so she can bring it to work when her shift starts,” I decide.

I embark on my trip into town not bothering to grab anything to cover me from the rain. When I walk past my mailbox, I notice I have a letter.

Hi.

Me sell hats. Okay, poke?

Come to old old old haus, poke. Bring coines.

-hat mouse

“What in the world?” I question while reading the letter.

I look at the few coins I have in my pocket. I shrug and decide to go find this ‘hat mouse’. I’ll have to ask Marnie for assistance though so I book it over to her farm.

“Hi Danny. You look like you're soaked...you poor thing!” Marnie greets me as I walk into her house.

“It’s really coming down out there. Is it always this heavy of rain?”

“Yup. It’s usually all or nothing. Don’t be alarmed when you hear thunder soon, too! They were calling for heavy thunderstorms. Be careful out there!”

“I’m going into town today so I shouldn’t be outside long. I need to find Emily to give something back. However, I was also wondering if you know anything about this?” I showed her the letter I received this morning.

“Ahhh the Hat Mouse! He lives over that way from here,” she points behind me, “ Just keep walking farther south and you’ll come across an abandoned house. He should be poking around down there. Such a cute little fella. Emily lives in a beige house beside a blue house. 2 Willow Lane.”

“Awesome, thank you for the directions. Plus I am in need of a new hat,” I chuckle, “I’ll see you around, Marnie.”

I glance around to look for the easiest path to the Hat Mouse. I have to push through lots of ferns, shrubs and greenery. The trees somewhat protect me from the rain, but giant drops manage to drip onto me from the leaves.

An old rickety house appears in my line of sight. I speed up with trampling through the greens and approach a window at the front that has a ‘Hats’ banner next to it and a logo of a top hat on the other side. 

“Hello..?” I tremble with uncertainty.

Hat Mouse pops his head up in the window, “Hi. Me sell hats. Here.” He sets out a couple of options of hats onto the ledge of the window before I can even get another word in. 

A classic, brown cowboy hat catches my eye. 

“I’ll have this one please,” pointing to the cowboy hat.

“Have one donate to museum?” Hat Mouse questions.

“What do you mean?”

“Did one bring things to museum? Everything?” 

“Um… no… but I have all this?” I dump my handful of coins onto the ledge beside the hat. Hat Mouse’s eyes widened.

“Fine. Take hat anyway. Bye now,” he swipes all the coins into the house, shuts the window, and closes up shop.

I dust off the hat with a puzzled expression on my face, and place the hat atop my head.

“Now to figure out my way back.” I mumble to myself shaking off the weird encounter.

I started cutting back through the leaves, trees, and bushes and was able to find Marnie’s farm. I follow a pathway to the right of Marnie’s farm and behind a little cottage. 

That must be Leah’s cottage. I say in my head.

I keep walking until I pass a big, blue house and come across the cute beige one right beside it. I double check the sign out front for the address.

2 Willow Lane

“This must be it!” I say as I walk up and knock on the door.

“Come in!” A cheery voice calls out.

I gently open the door and peer around inside. My clothes are soaking wet from the rain so I try to ring them out before stepping in. Nobody seems to be in the main living room area where the door front door is. 

“Hello?” I call out, stepping farther into the house.

I hear a gasp come from what I assume is the kitchen, so I hurry my way over.

Haley is standing there, in an oversized t-shirt and lacey panties. She is standing there like a deer in headlights. Her eyes are trained on me, giving me a frightened look, but she appears to be holding something behind her back.

“I- I thought you were Alex.” she trembles.

“Ah nope. Not Alex. Sorry,” I say while scratching the back of my neck and averting my gaze to anything else but her.

She pulls out the item she had behind her back and it appears to be a jar. She starts trying hard to open it and failing miserably.

“Are you strong?” She asks after a few attempts.

“I mean…” I gave her a little flex of my bicep, kind of trying to show off. The rain had made my flannel cling tight to my body. Her cheeks go pink as she seems entranced by the gesture.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” she hands over the jar to me. Without even a struggle, I pop it open and hand it back to her. 

“I’d say you’re stronger than you look… but who am I kidding. Thank you.” she continued with whatever dish she was making before I arrived. “Is there something you need?”

“I was looking for Emily. I wanted to give her the cloth to bring back to Gus since he isn’t open yet.”

“She isn’t here this week. She went to visit her friend, Sandy or something.” She swings the knife she is holding in the air like a magic wand as she speaks.

“I guess I’ll have to bring it tonight then. Thanks.”

As I head to the door to leave, lightning flashes through the window, and thunder rattles the house soon after. Haley looks up from what she is doing to look over at me, then she looks back down at her food.

“Just stay.” she demands in an aggressive tone.

“Yes ma’am,” I tip my new hat down at her. She must’ve been looking from the corner of her eye because I see her smirk.

She puts down her food, walks into a room, and comes back with a fluffy yellow towel. Haley tosses it over to me unexpectedly and I end up catching with one hand. I start wiping myself down with it to dry off the best I can.

“Impressive,” she mumbles, “I see your eye is still pretty bad,” she says a little louder.

“I mean it has only been a day,” I reply back.

“Do you want some more ice for it? I have some if you need. I still feel really bad. I was just riled up and had some pent up emotions. Took it out on that poor pool ball… and your face I guess.” She gives me an apologetic laugh.

“It’s alright, it’ll go away soon enough. No need for any ice.”

“Oddly enough, I think it looks good on you.”

“What did you say?”

“I said it looks good on you.”

“Wow so you like seeing me in pain is that it?” I tease her.

“Oh my Yoba, no! That’s not what I meant! Just never mind,” she waves her hand in my direction as if telling me to stop talking. “Are you hungry?”

“I could go for some food, sure.” I walk closer to her in the kitchen and kind of linger behind her. I hear her breath hitch as I lean over her shoulder to see what she made to eat. “Can I have one of whatever that is?” I mutter near her ear. Her arms are covered in goose bumps.

“Ye-yeah of course you can. It’ll just take a minute. Do you mind opening that jar again?”

I pop the jar open for her once again and take a seat at the table in her kitchen. The two of us go silent for a minute.

“So… was Alex supposed to be coming over? Were you waiting for him?” I finally break the silence.

“No. He is just the only person who usually shows up at the door. I didn’t expect it to be anyone else.” She turns around and carries the two plates of food to the table. After setting them down, she grabs out two glasses and fills them with orange juice.

“Oh, I’m allergic…” I joke. However, she doesn’t catch my joking tone and panics.

“Oh no! I’m so sorry!” She runs the cups of orange juice far away from me and just starts frantically spinning in circles, trying to think of where to put the cups.

“I’m just messing with you Haley” I finally tell her.

“How dare you do that to me! You had me panicking. I didn’t want to hurt you twice in a row!” She shouts at me.

“Sorry. I couldn’t help it,” I chuckle. She brings the two glasses of orange juice back over to the table but hesitates before setting them down.

“You’re sure?” She quizzes me.

“Positive,” I tap the table to where she is about to put the drink, alerting her it’s okay to set it down.

We sit across from one another and eat in silence, casually looking up at each other here and there. 

I end up finishing first so I stand up, take my dishes to the sink, roll up my sleeves, and start washing them.

“You better not be washing those dishes,” Haley calls from the table. I walk over and take her dirty dishes from her to wash as well.

“And if I tell you I am, what are you going to do about it?” I tease as I continue to wash them.

Haley suddenly appears next to me at the sink. I flinched a bit because I didn’t even hear her walk over. I developed a grand idea to flick some of the water off my hands at her.

Haley gasps in disgrace, “You did not just do that?!”

I bend down to get in her face, “And what if I told you I did, what are you going to do about it?” I repeat. Our faces are only inches apart at this point, eyes locked onto one another's

An unreadable emotion spreads across her face. Her expression has softened and her eyes look into mine as if she wants something. I see her gaze flick down to my lips and right back up into my eyes.  I only catch that expression for a second because she snaps back into reality and backs up.

“I think you should go now,” she immediately closes up and shuts me out. 

“But I-” I start.

“No! Go NOW!” She cries.

Feeling like a scolded puppy, I hurry over to the door and walk out without another word. I shut the door behind me and stood there on her doorstep for a minute to process what had happened.

To make matters worse, Vincent, and who I assume is his mom that I haven’t met yet, are walking past. Vincent starts waving at me excitedly, his mom just gives me an empathetic side eye.

Embarrassed over the whole situation, I give them an awkward smile, and give Vincent a small wave.

I step away from the door and start heading home. I look back at the house one last time and see a silhouette watching from the front window. It quickly disappeared when I turned back to look, leaving the curtains dancing around from the swift disappearance.

[danceswithsporks]

Centered-Preview

Part 5 of the Complete Series

Hunter x Jedi Master!fem reader

Authors notes: Working through my writers block and decided to try my hand at writing the preview for Hunters story. If you don’t know who Ashla is then I highly recommend going to read Techs story Warm. (As well as the other stories 😉).

I hope you all look forward to Centered!

Now I usually don’t add any music to my previews but I just can’t get this song and the scene out of my head. The entire scene will be amazing, I promise, but for now here’s a little glimpse.

Ethereal, you looked ethereal walking through the flower fields of Tenoo. “Commander, we should be getting Ashla back to Pabu.” He followed after you with his niece in his arms securely. It was crazy to think that a year ago he had never thought of holding an infant and yet here he was. Holding the child like she was the entire galaxy. 

“Slow down and take a moment to smell the wildflowers, Sargent.” Turning around, you walked over to him and carefully pulled the 9-month-old from his arms. “Come along Ashla. Let me teach you about flowers.” 

He would have fought you about taking Ashla away but you gave him a glance that made him trust you. “Five minutes and then we’re heading back to the Marauder.” Hunter followed as you began to walk through the fields once more. 

“And this is a Goldenrod.” You knelt next to the flower and ran a finger against the petal. Ashla cooed and reached for the yellow plant. Carefully, you plucked it. “It means good fortune.” A small white flower sat next to the goldenrod. “This is primrose. It means youth and optimism.”

Optimism, when was the last time he’d been optimistic about something? This entire trip he’d been negative towards you while you’d been bright and optimistic. He watched as you pointed to a purple flower and fought to remember its name. “Stock.” The name came back to him from one of the books he’d read. “It means lasting beauty.” With a few steps, he crossed the gap between you three and stood next to you. 

“That’s right, Sergeant.” It was a surprise to you that he knew that. “What about this one?” You held up a pink and yellow flower. 

“Alstroemeria.” He carefully wrapped his hand around yours and pushed it towards Ashla. “It means friendship.” 

You stared at him and nodded. “Yeah.” Was this his way of extending the olive branch? Your fight had been over a week ago and while you had tried to apologize and go back to how you’d been. He’d been difficult. “This one?” You pointed to the next flower, a purplish-blue flower, and moved to sit down. Ashla was turned and placed into your lap so she could watch Hunter. “Watch your ba’vodu, Ashla. Perhaps we will both learn something.” 

Hearing you call him her uncle in mando’a was a surprise. Yes, he should have expected you to be able to speak mando’a since you’d been a Commander of your unit of clones. But you hadn’t spoken it in front of him yet. Of course, you’d only known each other for three months. “Hydrangea. This one, evaar’la aliit, stands for heartfelt.” He reached next to you while making eye contact, his own chocolate eyes pulled into your warm ones, and plucked a pink flower. “And this pink carnation stands for forgiveness.” Placing the hydrangea and the carnation next to one another, he took one of your hands and slid them into it. “Put them together and you get.” 

“A heartfelt apology.” You whispered it softly as your hand wrapped around his and the stems of the flowers. Squeezing it, you nodded to him. “Thank you, Hunter.” You stared at the pink Carnation for a moment. “There’s also another meaning for the pink carnation.” 

Right, he’d forgotten about that. He paused for a moment and bit his lip. After a moment of thinking, he nodded. “It does.” 

He wasn’t taking it back? What did that mean? The baby in your lap cooed softly making you look down at her. She rubbed at her little brown eyes. “Looks like someone is sleepy.” You carefully picked the child back up and placed her against your shoulder and chest. 

“It’s been a full day for her.” He reached over and placed a hand on her little back. “We should head back to the shop. Chai and Tech will be worried.” He hadn’t had a chance to call them and tell them they’d rescued the child. 

“A few more moments? I haven’t been to a place this beautiful since before the fall of the Jedi.” You held Ashla close while looking around. All around you were countless wildflowers with so many meanings. Hunter had picked the flower that meant forgiveness and affection. Your mind tried to make sense of what it could all mean besides his apology. How could he feel affection for you when you’d only known each other for a few months? With a sigh, you carefully laid back against the ground and stared up at the sky while Ashla lay on your chest.

“Pabu is pretty nice. I think you’ll like it when we return Ashla.” The sight of you with the child lying in the grass made him bite back a sigh. Instead, he bit his lip while looking around. The Marauder would be refilled soon and ready to continue your trip. He picked another flower and held it in front of your face awkwardly. 

“For me?” You stared at the flower in surprise. He nodded carefully before looking away from you and towards the setting sun. Now things were clear. You rolled carefully to the side and placed a sleeping Ashla on a bed of wildflowers. “This is Jasmin.” 

“I know.” Can as a whisper from the clone. 

You licked your lips nervously. “This means love, beauty an-“ 

“I know.” He cradled your cheek carefully. “Tell me to stop and I will.” Hunter couldn’t deny his feelings anymore. From the moment he found you in that bar he’d known you were special. Not just because you were a surviving Jedi. But because you exuded an air of kindness. You were too beautiful for the rundown shack of a bar you’d been working at. During the time you’d been traveling together, he’d seen that kindness in action. From the way you handled those children on Pandora to the way you freed those slaves on Zygerria. Your sweet nature was far too good for the darkness that now enveloped the galaxy. Your beauty was too pristine for the roughness of the places you went. He couldn’t stand it anymore, he needed you to understand what you did to him.

Nervously, you swallowed before nodding. You didn’t need to be a Jedi to know what he would do next. But it still was a surprise. Your stoic and hardened Sargent who was by the books to a fault, was going to kiss you. Your eyes closed and after a moment you felt the roughness of his chapped lips against yours.

Taglist:

@rndmpeep @sarahskywalker-amadala @queenariesofnarnia @idoubleswearimawriter @bambambunny @ravenclawbitch426 @jupitersaturnapollo @mzjakao @heylosers06 @dangraccoon @impala1967666 @andrakass2 @ducks118 @motte-the-goblin @rintheemolion @merkitty49 @jediknightjana @onyxtides @moon-wrecked @mssbridgerton @griffedeloup

[quibbs126]

Alright, this kid has been fully finished since like, Monday, I’ve just been too lazy to post him, but now I’m gonna post him, this is Black Choco Cookie

As you can see, this is yet another darklico kid. I’m sorry. But he’ll be the last one I do; I already semi had plans for him when I made Licorice Cream, it’s just that I decided to just do Licorice Cream. But then the night prior to making him, I was thinking about ideas for him and just drew this the next morning

The only other darklico kid thing I plan to do is redesign Gancao, since her look really doesn’t match her name, and it bothers me. Either that or her name changes. But fundamentally she’ll still be the same character

Anyways back to Black Choco, so with his name, he’s dark chocolate like his father. His name is just Black Choco because while he’s chocolate, he supposed to have this smell of licorice about him

Maybe he’s these chocolate licorice brownie cookies I found online that one time. But his name is still Black Choco

Anyways, let’s get into his design

So you’ll notice he looks very similar to Dark Choco except for the eyes. Well that’s because he’s the third one of these, and frankly I feel like the girls look enough like Licorice, so might as well have one of the kids be the Dark Choco clone like Dark Choco is to his own father. I think the fact he’s the third of these I’ve made is the only reason I allow him to look mostly like one parent and be the clone

But I finally gave one of them Licorice’s yellow eyes, so that’s good. I’ve been wanting one of them to have the yellow eyes and white eye lines since Gancao, it just didn’t work with her or Licorice Cream. Though I changed up the yellow slightly so that it’d work better with the white

I based Black Choco’s look off of the young design of Dark Choco in the artbook, since his sisters all look like they live in the Dark Cacao Kingdom too (the three are all supposed to exist in the same universe as siblings), and he’s supposed to want to be a fighter like his dad. Also with the brown it makes him look like the cookies I showed above. That wasn’t the intention but I like that

I think the way his hair looks was supposed to be inspired by how Licorice’s hair, like specifically in how it’s parted or something, but looking at it again I can’t really see that

I just realized the drawing I have of Black Choco here is with his gradient. I wasn’t sure if I should give him one; I did it so he’d look at least a little closer to Licorice, but I wasn’t sure it worked well. Ah well, I suppose you tell me

Anyways, so let’s get into his character

So Black Choco is a shy and a bit anxious kid, as well as someone who gets spooked easily, as shown in one of the sketches. He’s also generally quiet and soft spoken, not very capable of loud noises. But despite his timid nature, he’s a good kid who just wants to help people

He greatly admires his father, Dark Choco, and wants to be like him, which is part of the reason he wants to be a warrior. Thankfully for Black Choco, I imagine Dark Choco to be more openly affectionate than Dark Cacao was, so Black Choco isn’t gonna grow up with those same parental issues. But unfortunately, Black Choco isn’t as great with a sword and fighting, especially since he tends to accidentally drop his sword. But he does want to learn, and he tries hard to overcome this

Despite this however, he does know magic, and he’s actually very skilled at it, far more than he is at fighting. However, he chooses instead to become a warrior. Perhaps in the future, he learns to try and do both, combining his skills and becoming a warrior that uses both sword fighting skills and magic, becoming a real powerhouse

Now, as for his connection to his siblings, I’m not sure, as some of it depends on his age compared to them. I want to make Black Choco Licorice Cream’s twin, probably since I imagined Black Choco as a child and I drew Licorice Cream as one too, but also I don’t think I can really do that since Licorice Cream herself has a particularly unique origin, one that Black Choco doesn’t necessarily fit in to. Not only that, but I think I drew Licorice Cream as a child because I couldn’t figure out what to do for her other than her origin and possible connection to dark magic and the Strawberry Jam Sword. She’s technically supposed to be the older than Gancao, and I imagine Black Choco to be a child. But at the same time, I can really see Black Choco and Licorice Cream as a twin duo, and I like that concept, especially since personality wise, they’re pretty different, Licorice Cream being an extrovert while Black Choco is the introvert, for example. But it just doesn’t work with what Licorice Cream actually is

*sigh* I think I’m gonna need to do a redesign with all three of them, putting them on the same canvas and figuring out definitively what order they’re in and their ages relative to one another. Though Black Choco I don’t see changing much, he’s fine as he is

I suppose for now, Black Choco is the youngest of the three

But in any case, I think that’s it for Black Choco. To be honest, I feel like sometimes, I put too much into these characters and should just try to keep them simple, which is sort of what I tried to do with Black Choco here

But in any case, I hope you like him

[lulublack90]

Prompt 2 - Mistletoe

@wolfstarmicrofic Prompt 2, word count 836

Remus was running late for Lily’s birthday party. He hadn’t wanted to go, not really, but he’d made a promise and he intended to stick to it. He hurried down the road fixing his tie into place just as he made it to the venue. 

Sirius was bored already, every single person at James and Lily’s Christmas party he’d met before. He needed someone new, someone interesting. He didn’t care who, just someone to relieve him of his absolute boredom. That’s when he walked in. Brown corduroy trousers and a wrinkled white shirt, with a green tie that had some sort of pattern on it that Sirius couldn’t quite make out. He didn’t look promising. 

Remus spotted Lily as soon as he walked in, her flaming red hair easy to see. 

“Remus! You came!” Lily squealed as she threw her arms around him. 

“Of course I came, I promised you didn’t I?” She squeezed him harder. 

“Come meet James. He’s dying to meet you.” Remus allowed Lily to lead him over to the tall man with messy black hair and very round glasses. 

“James, this is Remus. Remus, this is James.” Lily proudly introduced them before walking away and leaving them to make awkward small talk.

“So, you work with Lily?” James asked, clearly as uncomfortable as Remus felt. 

“Er, yeah. Different department but same building.” James nodded as he listened. 

“Nice tie.” He said spotting Remus’s tie. 

“Oh, er, thanks, it was my Secret Santa gift.” And that was as much as they managed to say as a gaggle of young women swarmed around James giggling and jostling Remus out of the way.     

Sirius had forgotten about the tall man the second he’d written him off for his terrible dress sense. He’d been hanging out near the drinks table, mixing concoctions trying to make something fun that would also knock your socks off. He was just reaching for the maraschino cherries when a scared hand wrapped around them first. 

“Oh, sorry, did you want these? A soft lilting voice apologised. He looked up at the speaker and realised it was the tall man from earlier. 

“No, no it’s fine. I was just messing around with them.” Sirius told him grabbing a handful of cranberries instead. “I think these will work better anyway.” He threw them into his drink and took a sip. 

He was pleasantly surprised, it was sweet and sharp at the same time and very refreshing. 

“What’s it called?” The man asked him. Sirius shrugged. 

“Not sure yet, might have to have a few more swigs before I decide so I can make an educated guess.” The man leaned over and sniffed at the drink. 

“Hmm, vodka, lemon and cranberries with a hint of something herby.” 

“That would be the rosemary.” Sirius gave him the answer before he could ask. “You’ve got an amazing sense of smell. I’m Sirius by the way.”

“Remus. Er, thanks. I’ve always been good at picking out scents. Can’t go down a candle aisle though, it's pure torture.” Sirius couldn’t help it, he burst out laughing, and Remus smiled back at him. Sirius was finding the young man more engaging than he had expected.

“So thought of a name for it yet?” Remus asked him. 

“Hmmm, well it's Christmas so probably should name it something related.” He thought for another few seconds and then the name popped into his head. “Mistletoe.” He proclaimed proudly. 

“Mistletoe?” Remus said, then excitedly pointed at his tie. “Just like on my tie.” Sirius looked more closely at him then, taking in the scars running across every bit of visible skin. They shimmered almost magically in the low lighting of the room. Sirius realised that Remus was actually quite handsome and wanted to see if he was open to a bit of flirting. 

“Can I see it?” He asked and was only mildly surprised when Remus pulled the entire thing off and handed it over. 

Sirius held the silky accessory in his hands, letting it slide through his fingers. Inspiration hit him and very slowly he raised the tie so it was dangling above his head. 

“Oh, look, mistletoe.” He murmured seductively. Remus blushed red but didn’t step away.

“You know what you have to do when there’s mistletoe?” He carried on, wiggling the tie above him. 

Sod it Remus thought. He’s fit as, might as well have some fun. Remus leaned in and kissed Sirius roughly, putting a hand behind his neck and pulling him closer. He felt Sirius melt into his touch. 

Remus pulled away and whispered against Sirius’s jaw. 

“You can keep the tie love.” His voice had gone deep and gravely with lust. He pressed one more chaste kiss against Sirius’s lips and wandered away to stand on the other side of the room. 

It was only when Remus raised a familiar glass that Sirius realised that he’d stolen his drink. He barked out his best laugh, this one was going to be trouble and he already loved it.      

[author-main]

Tell me about the character design for Wild, Shad and Twi.

Let’s just do one character per ask. You’ll see why. This is gonna be for the baby, Wild.

Note: Wild’s current pronouns are they/them. Some stuff from 2020 use he/him for Wild, but Dec 2020 onward, Wild’s pronouns have changed. There may be a time in the future where they use she/her or something else.

GENERAL

I should start off with the original idea for Wild back in 2020. Due to my own artistic limitations, Wild and the other Links were a lot thinner back then. They also looked very similar to each other. Now I make it a point to have the Links look as different from each other as I can. That way when they do look similar in some way, it’s on purpose and not because of any skill issues.

At the time I started Ask-LU-Wild, I was still very new to the fandom. But I had written a fanfic series before the Ask blog that I call Poe!Wild. So my original idea of ALUW Wild came from what I imagined Poe!Wild looked like, but with a completely different personality. 

When they first met the chain, their hair was heavily singed and their eyebags? Bad. Their scars were also pretty different, along with the length and look of their ears. But everyone’s ears have changed drastically since 2020, that’s an artistic preference turned into actual world building. All of these things have changed over time. Their hair will always change length and look. It’s very fun giving them different styles to wear. Ever since I’ve changed my original brush, I’ve had a hard time figuring out how I want to draw Wild’s eyebags, but they’re still pretty terrible. Their scar pattern has changed and I sadly can’t add the amount of detail to them that I used to without making Wild’s face look cluttered. I'll talk more about their features later.

It was on purpose that Wild looked older than they actually were. Back in the day, I remember Wild acting as if they were an old man, because they kind of feel like one despite being 17. Not only are they 100 years older than they look but Wild IS in a lot of physical pain and is very tired too. But ever since Checking Courage, they’ve looked much younger. Style changes + character development, I suppose.

QUICK NOTES

Wild is the median height of the Links, 4’10 (147.32 cm). They’re very muscular, but also very light.

Straight, thick, blonde hair with white streaks, azure blue eyes, pale. Roundish face. Very sharp teeth.

They have second-third degree burn scars all over their body, mostly on their left side. These are guardian blast scars and have a completely different texture to other burn scars. Their left ear is almost completely black and barely hangs on.

They also have a big scar on their right side caused by a lynel. Malice entered that wound.

There are 2 burn scars on their left shoulder caused by a flame blade

Cautery wound on their right leg

Rough soles and palms, and chipped nails from climbing and running.

Diamond motif, sheikah motif

COLOR SCHEME, THOUGHTS ON THEIR COLORS

I won’t ever use #000000 or #FFFFFF for a character unless they are meant to look uncanny.

Wild’s main colors are blues and yellows, with some white. This is mainly because I wanted Wild to have an aesthetic similar to Sheikah Technology. Their champion’s tunic helps with this, along with the hylian trousers as they are mainly composed of blues, whites, and browns. But they of course wear other clothes so… yeah

Their skin used to be a lot peachier pre-calamity than it is now. This is something that they share with Wars. I decided it was because they both lost their battles against Ganon/Ganondorf and it changed them physically. 

Something I added to Wild’s character design during the Checking Courage arc: White streaks in their hair. I think this is a good time to mention that WIld’s middle name Punica means something and was chosen based on things from BotW.

THE HERO’S CLOTHES Full of Greens, Browns, and Reds. They fit in a lot with the other Links visually with it on. I decided that most/all heroes will have a Farore symbol on their hero clothes, and that started with the Set of the Wild (SotW). Most of them are on the back, close to the collar.

The SotW was a reward from the sheikah monks after completing all 120 shrines. Therefore, there are some sheikah tech symbols on the fabric and leathers. And a metal sheikah eye hangs on the top of the hood. Cap was turned into a hooded cape with braided tassels. Farosh is embroidered on the back. There’s a triforce pin that holds the cape together.

The tunic is made up of several layers: Brown long tunic, green shawl (?), leather breastplate, dark green sleeves, leather arm braces. Their belt has a pouch design for the sheikah slate.

For the pants, they’re just brown shorts. Wilds normally wear bandages on their legs because they chafe. The boots were fun to draw and actually look pretty comfortable to wear?

The set of the wild has to be one of my favorite side projects related to ALUW.

WILD'S FAMILY Wild is the only Link with a thought-through family history. I’ll just draw them all here.

Note: These portraits are obviously not contemporary. -Caeras: 29 -Sonya: 39 -Misko: 22 -Wild: 17 -Milo: 66 -Liliaz: 65 -Lucy: 34 -Othinn: 70

[presidentlokis-hornyhelmet]

HEAR ME OUT

Pavitr x F!reader: After School pavitr and the reader go to feed stray dogs together. pavitr is staring at the reader but the reader doesn’t realise he is staring, neither does pavitr 🥹

Ain't Goin' Away

🕷MASTERLIST🕷

Pairing: Pavitr Prabhakar x F!Reader Summary: All he ever thinks about is you, even though he won’t admit it. Tags: Crush, Mutually secret crush

Also Read on AO3

🎶Something happened for the first time Deep inside, was a rush What a rush 🎶 Crush by David Archuleta

School ended early today, so you guys had decided to stop for a panipuri and ice cream on the way.

“Haha, NO!” He laughs cheekily, speeding up just to give you a challenge. You chase him, finally catching up to him round the corner.

You guys laugh as you stop to take a breather, heaving as you pant. The ice cream is forgotten and has fallen somewhere behind, slowly melting away under the autumn sun. 🍂

You guys continue in a leisurely walk, quietly enjoying your hands brushing against each other’s, too shy to acknowledge it. Your body has started moving closer to his without your knowledge and when you do realize it, warmth spreads from your heart to your cheeks, painting a bright pink shade.

Has it ever crossed your mind When we’re hangin’, spendin’ time girl Are we just friends? Is there more? Is there more?

Pavitr loved this; spending time with you, laughing at inside jokes and simply hanging out, even if just in silence.

You’re pure radiance, the colour of the sunset making your hair glow and he could feel the love bubbling in his chest, overflowing through his eyes. If only you guys were more than just friends..

But the fear of ruining your friendship chases his confidence away. Such a pity.

He walks you through an alley to your usual spot to stand by the set of descending stairs. Pavitr whistles and a litter of cute, stray puppies rush to greet you excitedly. The little brown pup with a white patch around his eye who you call “milk choco” jumps up and down, circling your feet and wagging his tail enthusiastically.

Pavitr barks out a laugh as you get bombarded by the new furry friends that have joined the group. You giggle as they lick your face before finally managing to pull them off you.

“Peter Barker, stay!”, you say to one of them before immediately falling into a fit of giggles again making Pav chuckle.

Then, making sure they sit obediently, you crouch down to reward them with the treats you’ve brought. They pounce on you once again, those adorable, unruly little puppies.

Pavitr leans against the wall, crossing his arms as he watches you. A smile pulls on his lips -something he is unaware of- as his eyes follow you, your every action.

Why do I keep running from the truth? All I ever think about is you You’ve got me hypnotized, so mesmerized And I just got to know

Pavitr is deeply, undeniably, irrevocably in love with you; it’s a truth he can’t run from.

All he ever thinks about is you, even though he won’t admit it. Lying awake in bed at night, your contagious laughter and blushing cute face commandeering his thoughts. Oh, how his heart flutters!

Time is inconsequential when his mind is filled with you and many a times he’s caught himself smiling for no reason other than just the mere thought of you. The rush in his veins everytime your eyes meet, the thundering of his heart every time you shower him with attention.. Yes, that’s how deep in he is! You’ve got him wrapped around your finger without knowing and he is very glad to be.

But, he couldn’t help wonder.. what if you guys were something more? Have you ever felt the same thing? Could this possibly be.. going somewhere?

He knows saying It out loud may ruin your friendship and he’s tried to bury it deep inside, but it’s useless as he knows this crush isn’t going away. Not now, not ever.

Words spill out of his mouth on their own, eyes worshipping your dietic form. “I love you”

“Yeah, we know. You should tell her.” Gayatri has found you both, Hari Oberoi tagging her as they come to stand beside Pavitr. She smiles cheekily, sending a knowing look to Pav and leans in to his ear -rather threateningly in Pavitr’s opinion. “Either you do it or I’m gonna.”

Pav has a hard time shushing them up, but you’re too busy to notice.

You’re almost done feeding the dogs and you turn around, looking up to meet his eyes.

His heart stutters, his breath falters, the world comes to a sudden sharp halt for one divine second.

Do you catch your breath when I look at you? Are you holding back, like the way I do? ‘Cause I’ve tried and tried to walk away But I know this crush ain’t goin’ away

You gasp, though it is barely heard. Pavitr looks absolutely transcendental. The pink of the sunset highlights his raven hair in a romantic shade, the dying orange making his cheek glow like the sun itself came down to meet you. In this moment, he’s nothing short of reverent.

You’ve been crushing on him since forever, but too chicken to say it out loud. He draws you in like a moth to a flame. You’ve tried to walk away from this crush that is brewing, but find yourself incapable of doing so. Pavitr not only owns your heart but also your soul.

You smile at your friends in greeting, watching them mess with Pavitr, but your heartbeat is loud in your ears.

You know this crush ain’t going away.

------

Hope you like it <3333

[bked0n-lorazepam]

"Love Me Dead- Ludo" Part One

“You’re very tense.” 

The clock ticks, it’s echo bouncing off the beige walls of the plain, boring room. The couch I sit upon is a sad brown, fitting into the rest of the sad theme.

The window sill has plants on it though, very green and happy plants, a complete contrast to the rest of the snowy atmosphere outside.

“I’ve always been tense,” I say, looking away from the window and at the woman in front of me. She smiles a pitiful smile, sympathy she obviously can’t hide flashes through her green eyes. 

“Not always. In your file it says you used to be a very calm and relaxed-”

“It also says I used to have brown hair. How times change,” I smile tightly back at her, sighing as I realize my mistake. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to be so snippy. I’m just tired and I want to go home.”

She looks at her watch, also sighing as she shuts her notepad and sets it on the coffee table between us. She runs a hand through her hair, clearing her throat as she leans her arms on her knees. 

“I know this is tough, and I know what he did to you, and I know you want to get better, but this takes time. You can’t rush healing. I’m sending you home, and I won’t add this appointment to your bill,” She shushes my protests, raising her hand and making a ‘quit it’ motion, “You need to go home and sleep. You can’t rush this process.”

My keys clank against the trinket bowl as I shrug off my winter jacket, a soft bell following suit with soft, padded thuds. I grin, taking off my boots and shaking the snow out of my dirty blonde hair. My cat, Winston, meows loudly as I crouch down to pet him. 

“You hungry, little dude?” I look at the time on my phone, it reading 5:39 pm. He meows again, butting his head on my leg as I snort and stand up. “Of course you are.”

I walk to my kitchen, setting my phone on the counter as I open the drawer I dedicated to Winston the day I bought my apartment. I pull out wet food for him, opening it and setting it on the ground next to his water bowl.

I lean against the counter and watch him shove his white little face into the bowl to inhale his food.

Shaking my head and laughing a bit, I stop when I notice my phone vibrating. Picking it up and unlocking it, I let out a huh as I open my messages and see my sister texting me.

Donna: I js got a date with the hottest mf I have ever seen

Donna: like smoking hot

Me: someone is actually interested in you? thats a first

Donna: ok ouch

Donna: but yes 

Donna: oh and mom decided shes going to stay at your place for the weeknd

Donna: so get ready to clean

I immediately hit the call button as I read her messages.

“She’s doing what now?” I yell into the phone, wincing as I see Winston puff his tail up and look at me.

“Why would you not tell me this before today? Friday is in three days, and my place is a freaking pigsty. Three days is not enough time to clean, Madonna.” I tell her and start looking around my kitchen, noticing everything I know my mom will criticize the minute she walks into my apartment.

“Uh, probably because I just found out today, and don’t call me Madonna. She called me right before I landed the date with McDreamy,” She states and sighs, and I hear her throw herself on what I assume is her bed. 

“Besides, your place is never a pigsty. It’s always so clean, I could literally eat off your bathroom floor. Speaking of eat, you should also probably cook something, ‘cause we both know she ain’t eatin’ anywhere else.” The southern accent at the last part of her sentence was absolutely awful, but I understood it enough.

“Right, right, of course,” I sigh, hearing a thunk come from my bedroom as I watch Winston race towards the door.

Remembering the fact that I left my window open in my room, I assume a bird managed to fly its way into there, and that that was probably why Winston seemed so interested in it. “So, what’s McDreamy's name? I don’t think you’ve told me yet.” 

I change the subject as I start to walk towards my room to get the poor bird out of there before Winston tortures it. As I turn to go down the hallway, I stop when I notice the bedroom light is on. 

“Oh! His name is Badri, and he owns his own company. ‘Jules Jewels’, or whatever. Anyway, he lives in-” 

The blood rushing through my ears is loud enough to block her voice out, and the fast beat in my chest definitely does not help.

Thousands of True Crime documentary scenes play through my head where my current situation is the beginning scene of a vicious murder. 

I try to swallow down the lump in my throat, but it refuses to leave. I chew on my lip as I slowly walk backwards back into the kitchen, clearing my throat as I walk towards my knife block on my counter. “Sorry, could you repeat that again? You, um, cut out for a second.”

“Mhm! I said that Badri’s sister was getting married next fall, and that she invited us to come to the wedding.” I hum in response, taking out a chef’s knife and taking off the safety cover. 

“I’m sorry Donna, but I’m gonna have to call you back. Kensley’s texting me about when our next therapy session will be.” I lie to her, grasping the knife in my hand tightly. 

“Oh, that’s okay! I’ll call you later to tell you more, love you, bye!” She says right before I hang up on her, and I put my phone in the back pocket of my jeans.

I go over to my sink, turning on the faucet to hopefully drown out my footsteps and any creaking the floor might do as I walk down the hallway to my bedroom. 

I grasp the knife even tighter, furrowing my eyebrows as I hear Winston purr with a deep chuckle and a pop following after. I take a deep breath in, and open the door as quickly as I can.

I drop the knife at the person in front of me, and Winston darts out of the room, startled from the loud noise. 

“Go–good evening to yo–u too, sweets.”

[itsbackwoodsbby]

A/N:I wrote this for my girl @becauseimswagman1. i already know her reaction so i thought i should share it with the world.

Formerly Known As Yours

Lashana Lynch x Black Fem Reader

Warning: Smut! Recreational Drinking And Smoking! Sex Toy! Cheating!

Summary: Lashana is your ex. You two dated for five years and broke up three minutes before your sixth year anniversary because you caught her cheating on you. A few weeks later, you see she’s with the girl who she cheated on you with. You were hurt at the fact she didn’t even trying to get you back, she just got with her. There was a party coming up and you had to get your groove back or see if you got it.

you look in the mirror in your outfit. you look super sexy for this party. you took a few pictures and posted them on instagram. as soon as you post, you see your ex was the first person to like your post. you laugh and shrug it off. you walk downstairs and see your roommate eating a sandwich while doing some school work with her niece begging for her food.

“alayna, go sit down!” your roommate, jasmine tells her. she looks at you. “ooh. you look great.” she says complimenting you. you smile hard. “thanks, jasmine. now feed that baby.” you say to her. “i did. i literally fed her two minutes ago. she wants your nuggets too by the way.” jasmine says. “you can give them to her. i’m not going to eat them.” you say and jasmine gets up and warms them up for alayna. “so where are you going tonight dolled up like that?” she asks you. “it’s a party tonight. i think it’s chioma’s.” you say. “oh that’s nice.” she smiles. “i’ll just be sitting here. babysitting.” she laughs and takes the chicken nuggets out of the microwave. “here you go mama.” she places the plate in front of alayna. “thank you tt.” she says smiling at jasmine, which makes her light up. “you should have some jasmine.” she looks at you and laugh. “hell the fuck no. fuck them kids. i’ll stick to auntie duties, spoiling my babies.” she says, but you know she wants kids. she raises her siblings and their kids like they’re her actual kids.

you talk to jasmine, talking to her about lashana, your ex, liking your instagram post and playing with alayna for a while until it’s time for you to go to the party. you were going fashionably late. you park your car on the sidewalk and go inside the party. you drinking and mixing and mingling with other people that’s smoking mary jane and drinking as well. you’re getting second hand high from your new friends and dancing, having a fun time. then a very nice song came on. you’re wining your curvy hips with the beat. then you feel some hands wrap tightly around your waist. you don’t care who it is but you decide to fuck this mystery person life up for the one time. you are twerking on them and grinding. their hands are fondling with your body. to your boobs from your ass and you couldn’t help but love it.

the song goes off and you turn to face the mystery person. it was lashana. you roll your eyes and walk away. she chases you to the backyard. it’s empty and peaceful but you didn’t want to talk to her. you try to break her ankles, but she grabs your arms and pulls you closely to her. you look in her eyes. they looked like warm brown pools of honey.

“let me go, lashana.” you say to her, knowing that you have to be strong. she hurt you. you can’t just be that easy. “can we just talk then?” she asks you. you hesitate for a moment and think. “fine.” you blow out and sit on the patio chair.

she sits next to you. you finally look at her. she. had a white button down on and it’s tucked into her black jeans with simple slip on shoes. her shirt was buttoned down to expose her chest a little bit more. it looked amazing. you notice she was also looking at you, with admiration. you couldn’t help but smile, but you shake it off.

“what do you want?” you say with the biggest attitude. “man, stop that attitude shit.” she says, making you bite down on your bottom lip. you like when she talks to you like this. “i don’t have an attitude. what do you want?” you ask her. “i want to talk. you know apologize. for how shit ended between us. i’m sorry you didn’t even deserve that. you’re the best thing that had happened to me.” she says and you smile. “thank you.” you say smiling. “i miss you so much.” she says lowly. you laugh a bit, “don’t you got a girlfriend?” she sucks her teeth, “i mean yeah. but i can’t miss you?” she says. you shrug, “i mean you can. i miss you too.” she kisses you neck. you bite your lip, “but that doesn’t mean she’s not going to come out here looking for you right now.” she looks at you, “she not here. she left the party early because her friend got hella drunk and threw up.” you laugh more, “okay. what that gotta do with me?” you shrug, not care for the new bitch or her friend. “you can come home with me tonight.” she starts, “she was going to come, but since she’s taking care of her friend. i can take care of you.” she says and grabs your thigh.

you thought about it. should you go along with this and be with lashana for the night. it has been five months since your two’s breakup and honestly you’ve been doing good. you haven’t missed her and you pretty much over her. but… the history and sexual tension is still there between the two of you as you two kissed on that patio chair and let her slide her hand to your wet ass thong and rub your clit. you slip a moan in the kiss. she grabs your waist and pulls you onto her. you start grinding on her. you make your mind up quickly. you decided to go with lashana for the night.

after the party, you trail her to her crib and you two instantly go upstairs together. wasting no time, she pushes you on the bed and climbs on top of you and kisses your neck. you remove your shirt and unbutton hers even more so that it’s off her body. she then cups your boobs in her hands and sucks on your nipple. you thrust your lower body upwards again hers as you let a slight moan. she smiles and lowers down to your skirt and takes it off along with your thong. she rubs your slightly throbbing clit, making it throb a little bit more. then she starts eating you out like there’s no tomorrow. you gripping all over her sheets and gripping her head. pushing her head deep inside your pussy. your body trembles as you’re about to reach your climax.

“cum in my mouth baby girl.” she mumbles into your pussy as you start riding her face, aggressive.

she smiles and looks at you as you release your cream all over her tongue and she licks the excess cum that manages to escape her mouth. you grab her chin and pull her up and tongue kiss her. you push her down and smirks.

“you’re going to have your fun with me huh?” she smiles at you. you nod your head yes before nibbling on her ear.

you take her jeans and underwear off and start rubbing her clit. you then slide your two of your fingers inside. only to prepare her for what yet to come. once she’s open enough, you go in her dresser and grab her favorite pink dildo. it was only five inches because the other inches isn’t her cup of tea you slide the tip inside her. she lets out a gasp and moans. she smiles at you as you pump deeper to get her sweet juices out of her. she grabs your waist and places your pussy on her face and resumes eating you out. you reach down and start eating her pussy as you pump her even faster. her sweet song like moans vibrate on your pussy turns you on even more so you are going rough with the toy. you feel her body jerking and she buries her face into your pussy and muffles into it as she cums. you bite your lips and ride her face, wetting it up. you play with her pussy more with the toy as she slowly makes you reach your second climax of the night, making you roll your body up and moan her name out loudly.

“oh fuck! lashana!” you scream. she laughs. “you got one more in you?” she asks you. you look down at her like she’s crazy. “come on.” she says. “i know you got it.” she sucks on your sweet spot and instantly you want to go again. “let me get up really quick.” she says.

you get off her face and you sit on the bed. she wastes no time and puts on the strap. she lays her back against the headboard. “ride it.” she says before biting her lips.

you get on top and slide down it. you bounce on her strap at an amazing pace while keeping even amazing eye contact. she bites her lip and grabs your ass cheek and makes you go a little faster. “ouuu shit!” you moan out. “you like that mama?” she questions. then she grabs your neck and by instinct, you grab hers. you grind your body faster as she lets out a moan. “fuck me back then. ride this motherfucking dick.” she says before smacking your ass. your riding is getting more aggressive as you're getting closer to your third orgasm. lashana cups your left boob and starts sucking it again.

you’re even closer to climaxing. your vision starts getting blurry and you’re losing focus. “look at me. don’t take your eyes off me.” she says to you. you look at her one last time before closing your eyes tightly as you release. “oh my fucking…” you say gripping onto her shoulders.

the next thing you know lashana is on top of you pounding the everlasting shit out of you. you open your eyes wide as you feel her reach your spot.

“lashana. right there. don’t fucking stop. fuck me senseless.” you whimper out. that spot has been needing some attention. she just aggressively keeps going. you bite your lips as your eyes start to water up. “tell me it’s mine.” she says to you and you look at her trying to form the words, but you couldn’t. so she wraps hands around your neck. “tell me this pussy is mine.” she looks you in the eyes. “yes yes baby! it’s all yours. you own it. no one else can fuck me but you.” you whine out to her. “fuck! i’m about to cum. you keep making me cum. baby i don’t want to stop coming.” you ramble to her, making her satisfied with what she’s doing. “cum on it, baby girl.” she says.

you release your final orgasm for the night. she looks down at the mess she helped you make. you pull her down and kiss her on the lips and she kisses you back. she picks you up without breaking the kiss and pins you to the wall. the make out session became another fuck session. you had to tap because you didn’t have anymore in you. so she held you and washed your body off and showers herself. you two lay in her room and cuddle and watch tv. anything you needed she got it for you. doordash you food, bring you water. anything you wanted, she did it.

in the morning, lashana wakes up to a note you left her:

dear lashana,

last night was amazing. you still got it. but i just wanted to see if i still had it in me. and obviously i do. and i wanted to see if you could resist me. but you can’t. so i didn’t lose my touch. you’re just dumb and you lost the best thing that ever happened to you.

sincerely,

the person formerly known as yours.

you left her house satisfied with the sex and how excellent your plan worked. you knew lashana was going to chioma’s party since they were in the same movie. you just wanted to see if she would fall for the bait and she did. you knew it was lashana dancing on you. you can’t just forget her touches that quickly. that’s why you knew to fuck her life up on that dance. and maybe just fuck her life up as you told her new girlfriend and even showed her pictures of lashana peacefully sleeping in the morning. so the girl broke up with lashana and now lashana is blowing your line up trying to get back with you, but it’s not gonna work.

[typingtess]

NCIS: Los Angeles Season 14 Rewatch:  “Flesh & Blood”

The basics:  Investigate a Navy wife fleeing the scene of her husband’s murder.

Written by:  Chad Mazero co-wrote “Internal Affairs”, “Revenge Deferred”, “Where Everybody Knows Your Name”, “The Noble Maidens” and “Pandora’s Box”.  Wrote “Tidings We Bring”, “Can I Get a Witness”, “All Is Bright”, “Diamond in the Rough”, “High Society”, “Murder of Crows”, "Overdue" and "Sorry for Your Loss".

Directed by:  Daniela Ruah directed “Russia, Russia, Russia”, “Lost Sailor Down”, “Pandora’s Box” (co-written by Chad Mazero) and “Live Free or Die Standing”.

Guest stars of note:  Pamela Reed returns from season 11’s “High Society” as Roberta Deeks, Bar Paly returns from “Of Value” as Anastasia “Anna” Kolcheck, Natalia Del Riego is back from “Game of Drones” as Rosa Reyes, Kavi Ramachandran Ladnier is back from the previous episode “Dead Stick” as NCIS Reserve Agent Shyla Dahr, Marnee Carpenter as Alice Morgan, Lauren "Lolo" Spencer as Ella and Rif Hutton as Navy Commander Albert Burns

Our heroes:   Work with an abused wife to find some explosives while working through some home issues.

What important things did we learn about:

Callen:  Waiting for Hetty to get married. Sam:  Worried that Callen is avoiding getting married. Kensi:  Feels like she’s not prepared for motherhood. Deeks:  Bad baseball game in June of 1990. Fatima:  Absent. Rountree:   Looking to put his Beale bucks to good use. Kilbride:  Not pleased with Deeks’s attitude about the Navy spousal abuse response.

What not so important things did we learn about:

Callen:  Orphan. Sam: Once again looking for a caretaker for Raymond. Kensi:  Hanging with Bertie, buying cleats with Rosa at the mall and negotiating teen angst. Deeks:  Owes Kensi for hanging with Bertie. Fatima:  Not around. Rountree:   Called “Shark Tank” by Shyla. Kilbride:  Not pleased with the Navy’s spousal abuse response in the cut scenes.

Where in the world is Henrietta Lange?  Don’t know but Anna wants her found so she can marry Callen.

Who's down with OTP:   Anna and Callen are trying to negotiate their way around a wedding date.  Kensi and Deeks are trying to negotiate their way around Bertie.

Who's down with BrOTP:  With the teams mixing and matching all episode, not a lot of BrOTP time but Shyla worked well with all.

Fashion review:  Callen starts the episode in a black running shirt and black shorts.  Wears a button down medium blue shirt for the rest of the episode.  Sam has a wine colored long-sleeve tee-shirt.  Kensi is in a white tee-shirt with thin blue stripes.  Cornflower blue long-sleeve tee for Deeks.  Rountree is wearing a light brown long-sleeve tee.  Kilbride is in his civilian uniform with a medium blue three-piece suit, pale blue dress-shirt, blue tie.

Music: Not today.

Any notable cut scene:   Finally!  As Rountree is packing up for the day, Shyla asks him if he wants to go out for some tacos.  He can’t – he’s meeting with his friend David Packer about his investment money.  Shyla asks him not to.  Understanding that she may be overstepping, she knows Rountree has a real fire inside after what happened with Jordyn and the LAPD.  The person Rountree needs to invest in is himself. 

As they leave, Sam is find a caretaker for his Dad.  The Admiral says that gets Sam a good night’s sleep.  The Admiral also thinks Alice Morgan deserved better.  The Admiral thinks maybe they should blow up the whole damn book on abuse cases.  Then promises to if Sam tells anyone he said that, the Admiral would make sure Sam didn’t get a good night’s sleep ever again.

Quote:  Deeks:  So it's, uh... June 30, 1990.  And my mom decides she wants to take me to watch the Dodgers play the Cardinals.  And I will never forget that day.” Alice:  “I don't care about sports.” Deeks:  “That's funny, 'cause I don't care about sports either.  No, the reason I remember it is because it was so hot.  Like, L.A. had been coming off this massive heat wave and I can still see the ice cream cone melting as it's being passed down the row.” Alice:  “Now you want to talk about weather?” Deeks:  “Actually, I do, because...that is the other thing that I can still see from that day, is my mom.  And she's sitting next to me in this 90-degree heat, except for the fact that she is wearing...she's wearing jeans and a long-sleeve turtleneck.  And she was covered up like that the whole entire summer.  Not that it matters, because she couldn't cover the bruises on her face.” Alice:  “Did he spare you, at least?” Deeks:  “No.   I mean, but I was a kid, right?  Kids are supposed to have bruises.  I'd just tell the teachers that, um...I got another fight in the playground.  What do you tell people?” Alice:  “I don't have anyone left to tell.  He made me push everyone away.” Deeks:  “Yeah, they do that.”

Runner up:  Rountree:  “Was all that true? About your dad?” Deeks:  “Every word of it.”

Anything else:  At night in a suburban neighborhood, a woman is frantically packing her things.  She gets a phone call from her father and tries to blow him off.  Seeing her in a mirror, her clothes are covered with blood.  Her father is recommending a Tom Hanks movie as she is trying to get him off the phone.  She tells her father she loves him as she tries to leave the house.  A man’s dead body is making it hard to open the door.  But she succeeds.

Callen arrives home with two smoothies.  He’s worn out which surprises Anna.  She ran for six-miles, he “bailed” after two.  Since the bagel place didn’t have bagels, he brought smoothies.  Anna wanted bagels before her job interview that day.  She also wants to pick a wedding date.  Every time of the year Anna mentions, Callen has a reason not to get married at that time.  She offers him an out when it comes to getting married.  He wants to get married, Callen assures her, just find the right time to do it.

At the Blye-Deeks home, everyone is running around as the day starts.  Rosa is missing her backpack.  When Kensi tosses it, Deeks walks right into the tossed backpack.  Rosa and Deeks review her latest assignment as they hustle to leave.  Deeks gets a phone call – it’s Bertie.  She’s been on the road for six months of “eat, pray and loving” her way across the country.  Deeks thinks this is all TMI.  After seeing “Nomadland”, Bertie rented out her apartment so she is going to crash at the Blye-Deeks residence.  She needs someone to be there to let her in.  Rosa really needs to leave for school so they are going to figure something out.

Walking near the gym, Shyla hears Rountree working out and quoting “300”.  He’s working on an ancient martial arts technique to strengthen his grip and arms.  When Rountree gets a text, he asks Shyla to look at his phone – they could have a case.  Instead, Rountree has a text from “Packer” who is talking about his pants being on fire.  Packer is a friend of Rountree’s from Quantico.  Packer is starting a clothing line and Rountree is a possible investor.  He’s looking to grow some of the money Eric left them all last year.  After what happened to Rountree and Jordyn, he's looking to invest that money into a growing business.  Shyla would have taken the Eric money and spent some time in Tokyo.

Sam has a call and so does the Admiral.  Both are unhappy with their calls.  Sam lost another caretaker for Raymond, NCIS is making Kilbride go through another round of approvals for expenses.  Cranky men in Ops alert.

The Admiral looks around an empty Ops and wonders where is everyone.  On the screen is the dead man blocking the door from the opening scenes.  He is Lt. Jeff Morgan, an intelligence officer working out of a DoD Task Force.  Morgan was stabbed several times.  There are real concerns because Morgan was part of a team developing software to integrate intelligence gathered by all branches of the armed services.  If an outsider or foreign government got access to that software, they’d have access all U.S. military intelligence.  Sam asks if there are any suspects – China, Russia, Iran or Alice Morgan, Jeff’s wife.  She’s was seen leaving the house at the estimated time of death. 

In the office driveway, Kensi and Deeks are arguing about who is going to help Bertie unpack.  Deeks is owed a favor by Kensi and he’s calling it in. She’s not interested in helping unpack all of Mama Deeks’s Michael Bublé fannish things.   Besides, Deeks should help his mother.  Callen arrives but isn’t interested in hearing any of this – he’s an orphan.  Deeks says that funny, Callen doesn’t agree. 

Sam joins the trio, the most we’ve seen of this foursome together in a while.  He's been working since 8AM and everyone else just arrived.  Callen and Sam are off to the boatshed to meet with Morgan’s CO, Sam would like Kensi and Deeks to join Rountree at the crime scene.  Sighing Kensi mentions she has some accrued leave Kilbride wants her to take so she’ll help Roberta, get Rosa from school and Rosa can meet Bertie.  Deeks tells Kensi he owes her. 

At the house Morgan household, Rountree found a locked laptop – Shyla is getting a warrant to get in.  Deeks is looking through some magazines while Rountree picks up the Morgans’s mail.  One magazine has expensive furniture.  Speaking of money, LAPD found a Rolex on Morgan’s wrist and a Lexus in the garage – this wasn’t a robbery gone bad.  Rountree is confused – a junior officer like Morgan doesn’t make Rolex money.

Deeks flips through Morgan’s credit card bills – they are big.  Since Alice Morgan didn’t have a job, the only way they could afford their lifestyle was if Jeff Morgan was selling military secrets.  Deeks sees that the credit card bills include electronic toll charges – an EZ Pass.  They can find Alice Morgan’s location that way.

In the boat shed, Morgan’s CO, Commander Burns, is not thrilled to be there.  There are cellphones for meetings like this.   He should be in his office dealing with the fallout from the tragedy of Morgan being killed and not sitting in the boatshed – a “Bubba Gump’s”. 

Sam asks about the software.  According to Burns, it tracks everything from emails between intelligence offices to weapons and ordnance use and supplies.  Morgan was doing data analytics for the team but a month ago, he started visiting weapon manufacturers to make sure their software would work the with military’s new software.  Burns really didn’t have much of an opinion of Morgan except he was a good kid.  With hundreds of men under his command, he really didn’t know much about him.  He remembers Alice Morgan was quiet and unfriendly.  Burns is done with Callen and Sam.  He’ll answer any other questions by phone – he has work to do.  Callen and Sam want to check into Morgan’s travel vouchers to see where he went and who he saw.

In Ops, Shyla was able to get into the locked laptop but most accounts were logged out.  She was able to get into Alice Morgan’s text messages – the laptop and Alice’s phones were synced up.  There was a confirmation code for a company called Home Connection – discrete vacation rentals.  Shyla finds Alice Morgan booked a home on Larchmont an hour after she was seen leaving her home the night before.

In Larchmont, Rountree is really impressed with the area.  Good investments homes, water views – Rountree is talking about investments when Deeks says “Alice Morgan” who he sees leaving the rental house.  Rountree says “Alice Morgan” which has the same effect of yelling “federal agents” since Alice starts to run.  After she throws a branch cutter at Deeks, Rountree gets her to stop as she’s climbing a fence.  She is armed but surrenders. 

In interrogation, Deeks is on the right side of the table while Rountree is in the corner.  Deeks is rattling on about the “Chose Your Adventures” books when Rountree says they have witnesses who saw her flee the scene of a murder.  Rountree and Deeks can sit with Alice in interrogation all day or they can help her.  Alice wonders where they were six months ago when she asked for help.  Deeks wants to know what happened six months ago.  Alice says she talked and talked and talked and nobody wanted to help.  She moves in her chair, making sure her jacket and long sleeves cover her arms.  An obviously bothered Deeks wants to take a break.  He’s getting everyone coffee.

Callen and Sam return to the office.  Cheryl, Raymond’s latest caretaker who is very into birds according to Callen, quit when Raymond started talking about war pigeons.  Mentioning that Raymond’s previous caretaker quit when he wouldn’t ride in her Mazda – Raymond likes American-made cars – Callen thinks Sam is avoiding the real issue.  Sam loves this conversation because Callen is all about avoiding issues…like his wedding date.  Sam is sure Anna will understand whatever is holding Callen back.  The Admiral walks by – everyone to Ops.

Shyla tells an arriving Callen and Sam that Alice Morgan isn’t talking.  Commander Burns sent over Morgan’s travel vouchers.  Comparing the travel vouchers to Morgan’s EZ-Pass charges, “something is rotten in Denmark” according to Shyla.  Morgan visited a number of companies that made high-grade military explosives.  After every meeting, he would go someplace 20-miles past his home.  Using Kaleidoscope, Morgan is seen driving into a storage facility in El Monte two-days before he was killed.  Sam gets a call from the caretaker agency.  He’s taking it outside of Ops.

Deeks returns alone to interrogation with a cup of coffee for Alice.  He explains it is June 30, 1990 and his mother takes him to a Cardinals-Dodgers game.  He remembers that day.  Alice doesn’t care about sports.  Deeks doesn’t either but he will always remember that day.  It was so hot.  Ice cream cones were melts as they were being passed down the row.  Alice doesn’t want to talk about the weather either.  Deeks does.  Because all he really remembers from that day – his mother wearing jeans and a long-sleeve turtleneck.  Not that it really mattered – she couldn’t cover the bruises on her face.  She wore clothes like that for the entire summer. 

Alice asks if “he” spared Deeks.  Deeks says no but kids are supposed to have bruises.  He would tell the teachers he was fighting in the playground.  “What do you tell people?”  Alice said she had nobody to tell.  Her husband made her push everyone away.  Deeks asks how long has the abuse been going on.  Physically, Alice tells him, three-years.  “Mentally, who knows.”  She doesn’t have access to their bank account.  Morgan controlled every part of her life.

Deeks asks if a few months ago, she told the Navy.  There was a  military hotline and she called.  She didn’t hear back.  She filed a report with the family advocacy center who told her they’d look into it.  Deeks has to asks and understands if she did – did Alice kill her husband?  She didn’t – she found him dead when she arrived home.  What surprised Alice was even after everything he did, she tried to save him.  It doesn’t surprise Deeks. 

Deeks asks why did she run.  Alice explains that her husband was a valuable asset to the military, “I’m not.”  She was afraid her reports would be used as motive.  She asks for a few minutes and Deeks agrees.  As he’s leaving, she mentions that her husband would smell like motor oil after he returns from his business trips.  

At home, Bertie is telling Rosa about skinny dipping at a Ramada Inn off the Strip in Vegas.  Kensi isn’t thrilled.  Rosa is really entertained.  She would like to see Adele in Las Vegas, a friend has a condo and the family would let her use it.  The friend, Tay, is from her calculus class and Bertie is down on calculus.  With a disastrous marriage, three dead-end jobs and a brush with a pyramid scheme, she never used the Pythagorean theorem.  That’s really geometry, Kensi notes but Rosa is in love.  Bertie is the coolest.  Since Rosa needs to soccer cleats, she asks Kensi to take her and Tay to the mall.  Bertie moves on to a story about taking a sound bath behind a DQ in Marfa.

At a storage unit facility, Callen, now teamed up with Shyla, is brought to Jeff Morgan’s storage unit by the manager.  The place was cleaned out but still smells like almonds and motor oil – explosives manufacturers put the scent into their product on purpose.  Callen finds a small piece of C-4.  Shyla doesn’t think Morgan was killed for the software, he was killed after using his access to these explosive manufacturers to procure some product.  Callen worries about where the explosives are now.

The woman managing the storage unit place wants all the inside scoop if there is a dead body – she has a true crime podcast.  Three men were removing boxes from the back of the storage facility when the woman started her shift.  She doesn’t have access to the video surveillance, however, only her boss can do that.  Shyla wants the woman to call her boss – they need the footage now.  Shyla is also going to contact Commander Burns to figure out what is missing.

In Ops, Kilbride confirms that Alice Morgan contacted the military abuse hotlines to Deeks and Rountree in the boat shed.  The people running the hotlines say they take all abuse complaints seriously but there wasn’t enough information to move it to NCIS.  The Pentagon invested $1-billion to remedy this situation after past failures.  Deeks wonders how much of that money could have been saved if this was a priority from the start.  The Admiral is not pleased with Deeks’s statement.  He says since Alice didn’t kill her husband, figure out if she knows who did and disconnects.

Looking at Deeks, Rountree asks how much of the story he told Alice was true.  “Every word of it,” is Deeks’s reply.

Bertie finished doing laundry though Kensi out of the dryer sheets.  Asking for Rosa, Kensi explains that she’s negotiating between Tay and a friend over a disagreement.  She also tells Bertie that she doesn’t have to do laundry.  Bertie missed doing the laundry.  Kensi tries telling her mother-in-law that she and Deeks missed her but Bertie knows better. 

Bertie also knows Kensi is feeling a bit overwhelmed by parenthood.  Kensi notes that she’s not “technically” Rosa’s parent.  Bertie asks Kensi if she loves Rosa and wants to keep her safe.  Kensi does on both.  Bertie follows up - does Kensi fear she isn’t doing enough even though she’s exhausted from doing too much.  “Every single morning.”  Bertie doesn’t care about “technically” – Kensi is Rosa’s parent.  Kensi spent her entire NCIS career being one step ahead of everyone else.  She thought she could do that with being a parent.  She couldn’t.

Bertie offers some words of wisdom from her mother about being a parent – it’s like being pecked to death by a chicken.  That’s not helpful. 

Shyla has news for “Shark Tank” – Rountree.  She’s sending video of the three men who took the explosives from the storage unit but the footage is awful.  Rountree goes into interrogation to see if Alice knows any of the men.  Alice recognizes one of the men – she met him at a wine festival.  She remembers the date – it was her birthday.  She thought he was doing something nice for her birthday.  Obviously not.  As Rountree goes to tell Shyla, Alice asks Deeks what happened to his father.  Deeks tells her he shot him and two weeks later, he was in jail.

Callen and Shyla return to the office.  She gets a call as she returns to Ops, Callen goes to see Sam in the bullpen.  They are on a video call with Commander Burns.  He assures Callen and Sam that he’s been working with ATF.  15 to 25 pounds of C-4 is missing with a lot of blasting caps and detonation cord. Callen asks abuse complaints about Morgan.  Burns did not have enough evidence to move forward.  Before Callen and Sam could press him, Shyla needs them in Ops.  They quickly end the call but promise to call back.

In Ops, Shyla found Morgan had several bank account Alice Morgan knew nothing about.  Several of them received $9,000 deposits in the prior week – a transaction amount just under the amount of money a bank would have to report to Feds.  Met World Holdings sent the money.  It is owned by an Ivan Parson, who looks like one of the man in grainy video.  Met World Holdings is an import/export business – they move fine foods and fine wines.  Parson is connected to extremist groups in Ireland, Germany and Indonesia. 

The Admiral is looking for a sitrep.  Met World Holdings has an unoccupied space in Hollywood.  Deeks is getting Alice to a safe house so Callen, Sam and a seven-minutes out Rountree are at the unoccupied space.  The Admiral reminds everyone that the job is to get back the explosives without blowing up a city block.  The only way LA is going down in flames is if the Admiral has the match.

Callen and Sam move near the building.  They can see some shelves of items and a man but he’s not Parsons.  Going through the back door, Callen and Sam see Parsons.  Sam throws a wine bottle to get one of the men’s attention.  Sam quickly takes him out but makes enough noise to get Parsons and a minion to run.  Callen tackles the friend but Parsons gets to his vehicle.  An arriving Rountree stops him but Parsons throws his bag of explosives in the air and shoots them.  That sends Rountree flying but Sam takes down Parsons with ease.

As Parsons is being taken away, Callen tells Sam and Rountree that Morgan wanted to back out of the deal but Parsons already paid for the explosives.  Morgan was either scared or greedy.  He also wasn’t as tough as he thought he was.

Deeks joins Bertie on the back porch.  They share a couple of beers as Bertie asks if he got all the cats out of the trees.  Deeks said he did his best.  Deeks wants to talk about “Dad”.  Bertie isn’t interested in her past.  Deeks doesn’t think that’s fair – it is their past.  He only wants to know how she made it through.  “Vicodin and Sally Jessy Raphael,” is her answer.  She doesn’t know. 

Bertie explains that Deeks’s father took everything from the two of them, including the person Bertie used to be. But when he was gone, with Deeks’s help, she got that person back.  She’s made a lot of mistakes since that in her life but it is her life.  Deeks approves. 

Kensi and Rosa join Deeks and Bertie on the patio.  They’re just back from the mall.  Rosa would like to visit San Francisco and Deeks is all in on that.  Bertie invites herself – she knows a thruple up in Barstow that can rent then an RV.  Deeks is horrified by his mother being in a thruple.  Bertie assure him she’s not a part of the thruple, she just knows one. 

Anna returns home.  She thought they were going to dinner but Callen has a candles and some wine.  He also got bagels.  He loves Anna and he’d marry her tomorrow.  When they get married, he wants to be surrounded by everyone that means everything to them.  Arkady and Hetty are part of the package.  Anna isn’t happy but Callen explains Hetty has been in his life from the beginning.  He can’t get married without her.  She has more of the story and he needs her to tell it.  If he doesn’t do this, Hetty will always be the other person in the room.  He doesn’t need a lot more time but Anna is giving him all the time he needs.  She only asks the he tell the truth, even with it is hard, especially when it is hard.  He promises he will.

What head canon can be formed from here:   While the case of the week wasn’t much, that felt intentional.  The guys who stole the explosives were plot points.  They weren’t the typical bad guy – they were a bunch of dudes.  The hour instead was about family relationships.  It started with the Kolcheck-Callen and  Blye-Deeks households, moved to Rountree talking about his sister, Sam with his father and then the case of the week.

This was a terrific Deeks episode.  Light and goofy dad/husband at home, sad and serious with Alice and later with the Admiral, Rountree and Bertie.  There should be a bonus for the person who decided Pamela Reed would work as Deeks’s mom.  Just as light and goofy she could be in most of the episode, she was sad and serious near the end.  That scene with them alone wasn’t just family, it was two survivors who built themselves the lives they enjoy.

For a program and an NCISVerse that is mostly pro-military, there was a real sense of disgust by Deeks and disappoint/disgust late in the episode by the Admiral over the handling of Alice’s abuse case. 

Loved the explosion that sent Rountree flying – that’s the show I know and love.

Episode number:  Episode 307 overall, the fifth episode of season 14.