#I also really hope it's not obvious that I don't know how city work

[sunny44]

Ruin it

Pairing: Max Verstappen x journalist!reader

Warnings: SMUT, cuss words, cheating and probably other things.

Summary: You and max were always teasing each other and over the years it turned into a huge sexual tension, until the fights of all the years and the accumulated lust turned into one long night of great sex.

Next chapter

Max Verstappen.

We certainly had our moments.

Max and I used to race in go-karts together with Charles, Pierre, Alex and a few other drivers from the current grid and he hated the fact that I always beat him.

Which means he hated me too.

Over the years our fights became teasing and a huge sexual tension that we both realized but pretended we didn't since Max was with Kelly and for obvious reasons she didn't like me either.

Over time I realized that karting was just a hobby that I enjoyed so I didn't invest in a racing career and went into journalism becoming a formula 1 reporter.

We were in Vegas for the first Grand Prix in the city and I was very excited, especially as today it could be decided between Max and Charles who would be the world champion.

The cars were lined up in their positions and when the red lights went out the chaos started, at the first lap we lost George, Magnussen, Piastri and Ocon.

On lap 34 Charles takes Max's position taking first place and me as a reporter who can't have favorites follow me too much not to celebrate in front of everyone.

Charles was my friend and I really wanted him to win but I think I wanted Max to lose much more.

But unfortunately in the end Max passed Charles and became 3 times world champion.

The podium was fast, the champagne looked great and now I was here doing the interviews with the drivers and finally my arch enemy appears.

"Well Max we can say it was a great day for you today."

"Absolutely, we were flying."

"How does it feel to have become Formula 1 world champion for the third time?"

"I'm very happy, this result means that all the hard work team and I have put in over the year has not been in vain and now I'm looking forward to having a drink and celebrating."

"That's great, hope you have an amazing night and we see you next year." He smiles and waves leaving."Well guys that was 3 time world champion Max Verstappen, I'm

Y/n y/l/n and we end our 2023 season, see you next year."

They turn off the camera and I thank the whole team and pick up my things leaving when someone calls out to me.

"I could almost see the look of disgust on your face, lucky it's only me."

"Don't you have a party to go to?" I ask turning around and seeing Max.

"We do and it's at the Plaza, your name is on the list in case you want to go."

"And why would I go?"

"To celebrate that I won."

"I wasn't rooting for you to win."

"I know, and you have no idea how much that motivated me to win." He says stepping close to me. "I'm counting on you being there."

"Your girlfriend doesn't mind you being here trying to convince me to come to your little party?"

"She's not the boss of me and she didn't come to the race."

"Got it, I hope you have a bad night." I say walking out and just hear him yell one back.

...

I was lying on my bed staring at the ceiling with a lot of boredom thinking about the party Max had invited me to. Obviously I didn't want to go somewhere where he was but staying here in the room alone while I could be there drinking and having fun was also not an option.

So I got ready and asked for an Uber to the place where the party was going to be, I gave my name at the entrance and they said I was in the VIP area which I wouldn't go because obviously there would be few people and Max would be one of them.

I went to the bar to get something to drink and I felt a presence behind me and when I turned around to see who it was I saw only his chest and I looked up and Max was there with those damn blue eyes that I could spend the day looking at.

"I thought you said you weren't coming."

"Yeah but I was lying naked in my hotel bed with nothing to do so I thought a free drink wouldn't be a bad idea."

"I have lots of ideas of what you could have done naked in your hotel bed." He says coming closer.

"And are you in any of them?"

"Maybe."

"Then put it out of your mind because as far as I know you're committed to miss I’m dating an f1 champion."

"Imagining is not cheating as far as I know."

"If you say so." I downed my drink and looked at him. "Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to go dance and maybe find someone to take me back to my hotel room."

…

The party was great and I was sweaty from dancing, I went to get a drink of water and saw Daniel coming towards me.

"Can I ask you a favor?" He says taking a deep breath after seemingly circling the whole party looking for me.

"Sure."

"Can you take Max back to the hotel? I already tried but he said he won't leave unless he goes with you."

"Fucking hell." I say following him and see Max drunkenly calling my name.

"There you are." He gets up and almost goes but I hold him back. "Where have you been all party?"

"Having fun far away from you."

"Ouch." He runs his hand over my face, taking away the hair that was there. "Wow, you're so beautiful."

"Thanks, let's go."

After a lot of effort we managed to get to the hotel, I couldn't find his room keys and Max muttered something about them being with Daniel so I took his hand and we walked to my room, he was already much better since the city traffic was crazy and took us an hour to get here, he was still a little altered but he knew what he was doing.

"Are you going to let me sleep in your room?"

"Well I'm not going to go chasing someone to get another key to your room and I'm not going to let you leave like that either so it looks like we don't have any other option."

That said I go to get my pajamas but when I went to pass he put his hands around my waist and put his face close to mine.

"You're beautiful you know that right?"

"You already said that, like a while ago."

"I know but I wanted to say it again." I hated it when he looked me straight in the eye because I couldn't look away from those damn blue eyes.

"I hate it when you stare at me."

"Why?"

"Because I hate that I can't stop looking into your eyes."

"Good, because I don't want you to stop looking at them." He comes even closer. "Do you even know how hard I'm trying not to ruin my relationship right now?"

"Ruin it." I say without even thinking.

"What?" he asks shocked.

"I said ruin it."

Max and I start kissing and at the same time his tongue enters my mouth, it was a wild kiss that I could not separate even if I wanted to.

We walk without separating the kiss to the bed where he lays me down and gets on top of me.

One of his hands was on my face and my hands pass through his back going to the hem of his shirt trying to take it off.

He understands my gesture and takes off his shirt and he stops for a few seconds and just stares at me before taking off my blouse and starts kissing down to my neck and my breast.

I lift my back from the bed for him to open my bra and Max wastes no time in starting to suck my breast making me squirm on the bed.

He goes down the kisses to my belly and with his hands squeezes my breasts, he kisses my pussy still covered with the thin lace of my black pantries and soon removes all my clothes leaving me completely naked.

He kisses my thighs and starts massaging my clit with his fingertips making me moan and soon I feel his tongue on my pussy making quick movements.

He stared at me and the exchange of glances was what was making the environment even hotter than it already was.

I raise my hips giving him access to all my pussy and he holds my hips and leaves a strong grip on my ass, then he sticks two fingers inside my pussy without cutting the movement of his mouth.

"Fuck." I grumble trying to hold back my moans. "Keep doing it like that, that's how I want it."

He adds a third finger and I can't control any more moans, they are getting louder and louder.

I feel my legs starting to shake, signaling that I'm going to come at any moment.

I warn him and he intensifies his movements until I reach my limit.

He swallows my cum and continues in my pussy until he starts kissing my whole body, leaving some hickeys on my breast and going to my neck and reaching my ear.

"I knew one day I would make you scream my name in the middle of the night." he bites my lobe and kisses my mouth again.

I take off the bottom of his clothes, also leaving him naked, and switch our positions getting on top of him.

I sit on his lap and start to make a delicious friction in our intimacies hearing a muffled moan from the blond and his cock getting more and more bigger.

He holds my neck tight and makes me lie completely on top of him while he attacks my lips.

I stop the kiss and make a trail of kisses down his neck leaving some hickeys on the way until I reach his cock and kiss the tip.

When I was about to start sucking his cock, Max holds my hair tightly and starts making the movements himself making me choke a few times, his moans were getting louder and louder when he increases the movements and cums in my mouth.

I don't usually swallow, but this time I did it without thinking twice.

"How about you sitting on my face?" I walk over to him and sit on his face.

I hold onto the headboard, making back and forth movements while he sucks me and holds my breasts tight while I go up and down doing all the work while his tongue remains still.

He stops sucking me and I sit back on his lap as he looks at me, seeming to have an idea.

"I want to fuck you in a different way." he says in his sexy voice. "Face the window, I want everyone to see that you're mine tonight."

I do as he asks thanking that my room is on the second to last floor because they would never be able to see that it's the two of us.

"Good girl, now I'm going to fuck you, but you choose." He grabs my neck. "Do you want it tender or do you want a fuck with all the positions we can handle?"

"Fuck me hard, make me yours." I try to turn towards him but he won't let me.

"Your wish is my command schatz." he begins to fit his cock in my intimacy.

At that time I didn't care about anything, I didn't care that it was him, I didn't care that we were having sex let alone that he had a girlfriend that he was cheating on right now.

Soon he begins to give strong strokes in and out of me holding my neck with one hand as he squeezes my breast with de other.

He gets out of me and turns me over, putting my back against the window and grabbing my legs with his arms and fitting his member into me again in a strong and aggressive way.

The thrusts continue stronger and stronger and the only noises we hear in the room is our bodies colliding and heavy breathing.

We try to hold back our moans but every exit and entry inside me makes me want to scream his name.

I pull him into a kiss and he bites my bottom lip and still kissing me, Max leads me to the bed leaving my back against the mattress and him on top of me fucking me like it's the last thing he would do.

The last thing we would ever do.

Due to lack of air we stop the kiss and my hands go to his back leaving several scratches, I see him staring at me while I call his name.

I announce my apex to him who is also reaching his.

When I reach my limit and he continues inside me going faster and faster making me scream for him until he comes.

He gets out of me and I change position to doggy and he leaves a slap on my ass, entering me again and going slowly to torture me, until he increases the speed.

He squeezes my breasts and massages my nipple.

He pulls out of me and lies down pulling me to sit on his lap.

I fit his member inside me and start to ride slowly while he squeezes my waist and I start to move up and down when taking his member out of me, until we cum again and I fall tired on his chest.

He leaves a kiss on my forehead and keeps messing with my hair without changing position.

After a while of caresses between the two of us, we left and went straight to the bathroom, he discarded the condom while I went into the shower but he came after, I was on my back to him when he takes my wet hair off my neck and starts kissing him all over and turns me to him starting to kiss my mouth leaning me against the wall while the hot water falls on both of us.

He goes down and leaves a hickey in the middle of my breasts and goes down the kisses and penetrates me with three fingers, I put my hand on my mouth to contain the moans while he fucks me once again.

Soon he leaves a kiss on my pussy and goes back up making a trail of kisses through my body and he lifts my left leg and fucks me mercilessly.

With each thrust he says how beautiful I am and what a wonderful woman I was.

He bites my ear and my nipple in a pleasurable way, while his hands are on my ass.

He squeezes and moans softly in my ear, until together we reach our limit.

We shower together while he washes my hair and I do the same with him.

Leaving the shower, Max put on his underwear and I took his blouse and my panties and put them on too.

When we lay down he pulled me on top of him and soon he was asleep but I kept thinking about how we would react tomorrow morning after we recounted the conscience of our deeds, but honestly I wasn't going to lose my sleep thinking about it now, it was already done and I decided that tomorrow I would worry about it.

This is probably going to have more parts so let me know if you want to be tagged in the next ones.

[nightlyrequiem]

I just got an idea of Valeria trying to court a painfully obvious and slow reader. I was reading your bimbo hcs and just thought of it. All I can think of for reference is Adrien Agreste from miraculous. The reader would unintentionally friendzone Valeria, making it seem impossible for Valeria to succeed. Do with this information what you please :p ^_^

-💋xoxo

I love love love the oblivious trope. Adrien's level of obliviousness was definitely something else. Especially with the wax statue scene...

I just think it's super fun when a character has to really work for that relationship. Like yes, show me you're truly committed. If they aren't willing to be unknowingly rejected five times, then I don't WANT IT!

also since you mentioned the bimbo headcanons then I'm going to assume you wanted Reader to be similar here. I like this idea so much I might write a little one-shot for it someday

Valeria and Oblivious Reader

Valeria absolutely ADORES you. Even if you maybe aren't too bright. You and Valeria met because you worked at a clothing store. She just happened to stop by one day to check it out and saw you very enthusiastically styling some woman.

Suddenly Valeria had no sense of style and needed you to help her out. She approached you confidently and was pleasantly surprised to find you not intimidated by her. In fact, you gushed over her tattoos and touched her arm. You also loved her 'super cool haircut.'

Valeria proceeded to show up whenever she could. Chatting you up and befriending you. It wasn't hard, you were so friendly and eager to talk to her. Unfortunately, you didn't pick up on flirting. At all. At first, it could be excused, she was being subtle and testing the waters but one time she told you how kissable your lips looked, and you just replied with all the lip products you used. Valeria did not care about the brand of lip-gloss you used. Although she did go and buy some. She'd put it on her lips and pretend she just kissed you.

Bless her heart, she was doing her best. You took her compliments on your figure as friendly bantering.

Valeria was very generous with her gifts and money, too. Always showing up with roses. Jewelry. She even paid for your rent a few times and always paid for your dates hangouts. Oh, you like that dress but can't afford it? Valeria will get it for you. You just have to give her a kiss first. You laughed off her silly words.

When flirting didn't work, Valeria tried to make herself seem more physically attractive. Tighter shirts to show off her chest and arms, taking extra care into styling her hair. Valeria was proud of her physique and would often flex for you, hoping to get a compliment. She tried out eyeliner, but you had to wipe it off and fix it for her. Not that she minded of course. You had your hands on her face and were practically staring right into her eyes.

"Just a few inches and we'll be kissing." She said. Her voice was serious and low, hoping you'd take the bait and close the gap. You just giggled, and she left feeling defeated.

She even tried confessing at one point. She sat you down one day and told you how much you meant to her. How happy she was to have you in her life. When you responded by saying you knew exactly how she felt and that you felt the same, she got so excited thinking you two were finally going to become an item. Then you spoke again, shattering those dreams.

"You're such a good friend!"

Valeria just stared at you before forcing a smile onto her lips. She agreed then left.

She had attempted to ask you out numerous times, too. She figured taking you to a fancy restaurant outside of the city would be self-explanatory. She even dressed up for the occasion. You were thoroughly impressed and yet somehow still missed the mark. Referring to the date as a 'hangout.'

She'd boast about her wealth and achievements in hopes of attracting you. Valeria makes so much money, she could take care of you. She actually just had her bathroom remodeled, didn't you know? The bathtub is big enough for two people, you should come over and join her for a nice warm bath and some wine. She just got a new bed too and it's so comfortable but too big for just her. She needs someone to come keep her warm at night. She'd love to cook you breakfast in bed sometime. Oh, and she saw this beautiful sheer lingerie set. You'd look gorgeous in it. Incredibly obvious flirting and you somehow, SOMEHOW thought she was being friendly.

"Oh, I've never shared a bath with a friend before."

Valeria wanted to rip her hair out.

Things were looking hopeless. She was beginning to think you did pick up what she was laying down. That you were just friendzoning her on purpose. She invited you to her house one day and made you dinner, listening to you ramble. After you were finished eating she invited you to sit with her on the couch and once you were sat, she grabbed your thigh and got up in your face.

"I want you to be my girlfriend."

She made sure she was very clear this time. No room for interpretation.

"In a romantic way. I want us to sleep together and wake up together. I want to live together and go on romantic dates."

You gasped, all surprised. You totally didn't see this coming. Why didn't Valeria give you any clues?? Of course you want to be her girlfriend. It took a year and a couple of months but you finally got the hint.

[a-spes]

T H E D O G ' S F A L L - One shot.

Words count - 5,2k.

Tags & Warnings - mob boss!Natasha Romanoff x fem!Reader, angst, harm/comfort, manipulation, mentions of blood/past abuses, human trafficking.

Summary - Anyone that can beat her in a fight will earn her, and Natasha intends to be the one, working hard to get what she thinks is hers. A dog can't fight for eternity, can it?

Moodboard here.

N/A - It's the longest os I've wrote so far, took me a lot of time but it's enventually here so I really hope you'll enjoy it! If it's the case, don't hesitate to let me know by interacting with the post :)

It is at the back of that popular night club that everything is happening, where no one can see your distress except the one that enjoys it, where everyone is too busy having fun to pay attention to the veritable purpose of this building. On a dark corner that light never reaches, a man is guarding the most important secret of that place, and very few are the people he lets through; only rich and influential men and women get their ticket for this special spectacle that takes place here every night.

Down there, the loud music is replaced by the shouts of excited men that makes her sigh; why do they have to scream like animals? If she gets a few glances, no one dares to say anything as the infamous Black Widow is walking through the crowd to get to her place. She has blood on her back, people are whispering, some from admiration, others from fear, but no one stays indifferent - how could they? One of the most important mafia bosses of the city, but also one of the most discreet, is here. She has her reputation and, even if she is rarely seen, she is well-known, so none of the men dares to protest when she decides to take place in their lodge, chasing them out of the room. 

From here, she has a perfect view of the cage and, most importantly, of the Dog.

It is obvious that there is no way out of the ring, that you are trapped in that cage until one of these men’s victory - or your last breath - but, somehow, you still believe that defeating them will lead you out of that basement. So, not caring about how many of them are daring to step in your cage, you beat them, one by one. You watch the man you just defeated being escorted out of the cage so the next one could take his place - it gives you a few seconds to catch your breath. 

The world is spinning, you can’t even see the faces of your opponents, but you don’t give up. Even if the only thing you want is to curl up in the corner, crying for your mom, you can’t. You can’t because it will mean giving them your life. No, you need to be stronger than them, to pretend that you don’t feel the pain inflicted by their blows, to pretend that you are not bothered by the metallic taste of the blood in your mouth, they need to believe you could do that all night. But you are not foolish and you know damn well that you won’t last long. 

It is hard to focus on anything, even on breathing, because you are overwhelmed by a crew you can't even see, blinded by the lights; you are the spectacle. They all came to see the Dog fighting, hoping to witness its fall. They are shouting, mostly insults in Russian, whistling and clapping everytime something exciting is happening during a fight, but it won’t be enough to save you from that place. 

Oh, at first, they were cheering for you, but it slowly changed, people getting tired of seeing your pretty face every night. They thought you would be easy to break and hated to be proven wrong, and you perfectly know that the stakes have changed. It is no longer about giving them what they want, entertainment, it is purely about surviving and you noticed how the attitude of your opponents changed over the weeks, becoming more aggressive.

You were a champion, now you are just a little bitch they need to get rid of. 

The organization that threw you in that rat hole understood that as much as you did and, tonight, they changed the rules. Tonight, it'll be only you against the world, until they are tired of it. No break, no help, everytime one leaves, the next one is already stepping in the ring, as an endless torture. 

Tonight, she will be one of them. She has been looking at you hungrily since the first time she came here, and she knows that you will be hers by the end of the night, after all she came just for that, to take you home.

Even if she is here every night, you never had a chance to notice the woman. She was always sitting in the last row, observing you from her balcony, where she is hidden by the shadow, but she noticed you for sure. The time she came, it was only because of one of her associates that wanted to meet here specifically, she never left since. From the moment her eyes landed on you, she was unable to think about anything else, the way you were looking so innocent but so feroce at the same time got her heart. 

She sent a few of her best men, knowing they would lose, as a test, waiting for the moment it would be her turn to enter the cage. She never expected them to win and she would have killed them if they had the audacity to: she is the one that is supposed to defeat you, the only one that has the right to own you. The urge to possess you only grew stronger over the weeks, being deeper every time she came here, she wants to see you as you are breaking under her effect, to control every aspect of your life. 

So she patiently waited for the right time to come, she always liked a bit of challenge anyway, having a soft spot for things that are hard to get. She worked hard to get you, spending weeks observing every of your movements: she learned how you are fighting and your habits, she learned to read your body and face as if she was on your mind, and that’s the difference with the others: if you are a game for them, for her, you are a goal she must reach at all costs. 

As soon as your eyes laid on her, you knew she wouldn’t back up, somehing in the way she stepped in the cage already made all the difference. It is her confidence. It is the smirk on her face, a cocky one. It is the way her hands are stuck in her pockets while she is observing you. It is the slight sigh as she gets rid of her leather jacket. It is all these details that give the impression that she is just here to settle a formality, already certain of her victory.

Even the way she is moving has something unrealist. Every step, every look, is calculated and almost imperceptible. Usually, you would step forward, ready to fight even before they entered the cage to show them you are not afraid, but this time? You can’t help but instinctively step back when she enters. The movement was slight, as you were already leaning the grid but she noticed it, the way her aura is pressuring you, and she loves it.

As soon as the door was closed, your fate was sealed.

It all happened really fast because she knew exactly what to do, she prepared for that moment. You quickly realized that you were right: the woman had nothing in common with the men you were fighting against earlier, you never stood a chance to win that fight. The realization is more painful than the blows she is currently throwing at you. Every punch you try to land, she knows exactly how to dodge it. As if she was on your mind, she knows exactly where to hit to get you weak, stealing your breath and your strenght, having you on your knees then laying on the floor in less than a few minutes. 

At first, you tried to get up, to fight, but she is faster than you are, and wiser, and stronger, and more trained. She is being pretty much better in everything. Soon your vision is so blurry that you can’t see anything, you are feeling so weak that even moving your fingers or keeping your eyes open is just too much. 

"Stay still,” she quietly ordered when she noticed you were struggling against her grip - she had you pinned down on the ground by pressing her foot on your back and grabbed your hair to lift a bit your head. "You're going to be mine no matter what, so don't make things harder for yourself, honey." 

One. 

Two. 

Three. 

You hear the countdown but, this time, it is not your victory that is announced, it is hers. As soon as her name is shouted by the crew, her grip releases your hair but you simply don't have the strength to move, the news leaves a void in your chest. The pain, but mostly this feeling of emptiness, is keeping you frozen in place. She owns you, and this simple idea is sending shivers through your whole body. You don't realize yet what is happening, thinking that, maybe, it is just a cruel joke on you, and it explains the lack of reaction when she asks you to get up; she needs to grab your arm and lift to get you on your feet. 

You stumble, fighting the urge to vomit. Your brain can barely process what is happening, especially when you realize that your feet are not touching the ground anymore. In her arms, you are nothing more than a rag doll, silent and motionless, barely having the energy to keep your eyes open. 

"She is not for sale,” she coldly said, her voice bringing you back to reality. As she was on her way to get out of the night club, some men were offering the woman outrageous amounts of money in the hope of getting you, they all backed up once she coldly glanced at them. "No one will ever take you away from me, do you hear that, love? You are safe as long as you’re with me," she then whispered in your ears. 

You drift into unconsciousness as soon as the car starts, despite the woman that kept begging you to keep your eyes open, the way she was cadling you not helping. You just had enough time to notice the men sitting at the front of the black van, both armed and intimidating, before falling into darkness. 

You opened your eyes again when the car stopped in an alley. It is late, the sun gave its throne to the moon a long time ago and, even if you can't tell what time it is, you know it is the middle of the night. How many hours did you spend down there, fighting for your life? The question makes you sick because the only answer is too many. All these hours for nothing because, no matter how hard you triee, you loose. You were never supposed to win their twisted game, you never got a chance and you slowly realize that the promised freedom was just a lure. For weeks you believed them, you played along their rules, thinking it was the only way to get your life back.

And here you are, in the arms of your new owner, a woman you know nothing about but that now has every rights on you, even if you will live depends exclusively on the redhead's choices. The fear twists your stomach, the humiliation clenches your throat and the exhaustion makes your eyes burning, tears threatening to roll down your cheeks.

Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry, you repeat in your head, but you don't know for how long you will be able to keep your tears for yourself.  

The woman is not looking at you at all, she is concentrating on not falling as she is walking to the house, barely seeing where her feet are landing. You, however, can't help but observe every detail of her face, noticing how serious her expression is. You are trying to guess how your life is going to be by her side, but you can't, she is a complete mystery and you hate that.

A part of you wants to go back in that basement. It may have been a living hell, but you had your habits, you knew how to survive, now you will have to learn everything again. 

You notice that two armed persons are guarding the front door and, when you pass by them, they exchange a few words in Russian. You can't understand a word of what they are saying, but you guess they are greeting the woman, beside some insults, you don't know a lot and only because that's how they used to call you.

The inside of the penthouse is exactly as you imagined it: expensive, tidy and minimalist. You never felt comfortable in that kind of environment, it always reminded you that you will never have a place in that sphere, you are nothing more than their animal, a dog that does everything they want. 

Once inside, you almost expected her to drop you on the floor but she didn't. Her grip is strong, as if she doesn't want to let you go, that's because she is scared too. She exchanged a few words in Russian with a woman before heading upstairs. 

Your eyes closed because of the light, you don't see much more of the house, nor of where you are going. You can feel that she climbs the stairs, takes a few turns and walks through a door before she eventually lets you go. It is with care that she sits you on the floor of the bathroom. 

"Here we are," she whispered, "you can open your eyes, love," she added when she noticed they were still closed. If you can't see her smile, you can feel her hand brushing your cheek. 

For weeks you didn't see anything else than pitch darkness and the dimmed light of the basement where you were fighting, it is great to eventually be able to see something else. She even made sure to not turn the big light on, only a small one in the corner that diffuses a subdued light. Somehow, she knows exactly what to do to make you feel comfortable. 

"Let me help you," she said, coming closer to kneel in front of you when she realized you couldn't take your bath alone.

On the way home, she sent a message for one of her maids to run a bath for you to enjoy when you arrived. The mirrors fog up and a scent of jasmine fills the room, but even if the idea of taking a bath sounds good, you don't move. You are curled at the exact place she left you in, your knees against your chest.

You are like a dog, but nothing like a fighting one, she thought when she saw how you tried to back up when she reached for your shirt.

"I am not going to do anything," she quietly said, trying to sooth you by using a gentle tone and caressing your cheek with her thumb. "I am going to help you to get rid of those rags so you can get a bath, okay? Then, we can clean your wounds and have a good meal, does this sound good?" she asked and you slowly nodded. 

She helps you to get rid of your clothes that are closer to rags honestly as they have holes in them, the fabric being soaked in dirt, blood and sweat, sticking to your skin. You never felt so vulnerable than right now, under her serious gaze, what is she thinking about? It is impossible to guess but you can feel her eyes on your body as she looks you up and down. A quick glance which allows her to take a mental note about all your injuries.

"What are you doing?" she chuckled, when her eyes didn’t land on your chest but on your crossed arms - you were trying to hide, how cute. "How silly you are,” she whispered when noticing you didn't seem to understand what she was talking about, "thinking you can hide like that."

Her tone sounded too sweet for it to genuinely be and there is something behind her gentle tone that is rigging alarms in your head. You can't tell what it is exactly, but there is that weird feeling, your instinct screaming at you to be careful when your body just wants to give up and be in her arms, ‘cause what could go wrong?

She takes your hands to pull them away from your chest so you can’t hide from her anymore. Her grip is firm, just a little too strong so you understand that, despite her sweet smile, she won't hesitate to be harsh with you if you don’t behave. However, she still seems to be extra careful while moving you, as if you were a porcelain doll, because for nothing in the world she would hurt her fragile princess. She  slowly takes your arms away so she can give a glance at all your injuries. What she sees makes her sigh, she seems about to say something but keeps her words for herself ; you should have been more careful. 

She helped you to get in the bath and it was a nice moment, a few minutes you got for yourself because, surprisingly, she let you bathe yourself alone. Oh, she wasn’t far away, just at the other end of the room, keeping a close eye on you at every time, but dealing with something on her phone. She would occasionally comment on the way you were doing things, talking you throught it so you can shower the proper way, her way. Once you are done, she wraps you on a soft towel, bandages your wounds and gives you clothes that are hers, a hoodie and a short, and you can’t help but notice how good they are smelling, how comfortable you are feeling in these.

"Did you say something?" she genuinely asked, turning to you because she was sure she heard you mumbling a few words. 

She was talking about your life here, talking almost alone as you weren’t really talkative, but thinking she would miss the words you whisepered was a mistake because she never misses anything.

"Nothing important," you replied, but this answer doesn't seem to please the woman, something twitching in her eyes, coming from soft to sharp.

"When I ask you a question, you reply to it, am I clear?” she said, immediately leaving what she was doing to come close to you and grab your chin.  “You are not the one that gets to decide what’s important, your small brain can't handle big decisions and that's why I am here. I mean, see how it got you to be by yourself …" she continued, looking at you with disdain, as if she was thinking that it is only your fault if you ended up in that rat hole, caught in human trafficking. “I am here to give you a second chance and you better take it ‘cause it may be the last… so don't talk to me like that ever again, did I make myself clear enough?"

The only answer you are able to give her is a whining accompanied by a sniffle and she obviously doesn’t like that. Even if you tried your hardest to not let those tears rolling down your cheeks, you can’t help it, her harsh words only making things worse because you are already hating to disapoint the woman. 

"If I knew you would cry, I would've sold you ..", she sighed in annoyance, her nails digging into your skin, "I hate cry-babies, understand?" she asked, but it wasn’t not a question: it was a warning. "The fighter I saw in that ring must be here when I am back," she coldly added before releasing the pressure she was exerting on your face.

She leaves, slamming the door shut so you easily understand that she is upset with you reacting that way. She has done everything she could in order to help you to be comfortable here : she gave you a bath and clothes, cleaned your wounds, promised you a meal and a bed, even gave you comfort but it still doesn't seem to be enough because you were crying as if she was some sort of monster, and she can't bear that vision. She tried to repeat to herself that you are just tired, that things are going to get better with time but it doesn’t calm her down. Whether you want it or not, she will make sure that, one way or another, you will accept her and she won't hesitate to use the hard way if she has to. 

When she comes back, she notices that didn't move an inch, scared by what the woman could say and impressed by the bedroom. But it didn’t prevent your eyes from wandering around the room. It is really minimalist, there is nothing that could give you a hint about the person she is, everything is exactly where it should be, not a speck of dust and no personal objects. It feels like a hotel room more than hers.

When you hear the door, your gaze settles on the woman. Your knees are bent against your chest as if it could protect you from all the dangers of the world. She probably left you for only five minutes, but they felt like hours. Your thoughts had time to run while waiting for her : what about trying to escape? But it never worked, it’s always a dead end, a path to regrets because they always find you, making sure you won’t even think about doing it again and, if they do not find you, it's someone else. You learned that there is no escape and gave up on going back to your old life a long time ago. It is not even the fear of the armed men that is keeping you here, it's the void in you when you think about what you would do if you were free again, nothing. Nothing because you forgot how to live on your own. So you didn't move, not even a finger because she didn't ask you to do it, only being a dog that lives for its masters' will.

But what piques your curiosity is more the tray in her hands than anything else. As soon as she enters the room, closing the door behind her with her foot, a pleasant smell spreads through the room. You can see many things on the tray she brought back : a glass of water, some pills, a bowl of steaming soup with bread and a plate with rice, vegetables and chicken. When was the last time you ate a real meal? Long enough for you to not remember what it was.

"Eat." she said as she put the tray on your knees.

It smells good. That's the first thought that crossed your mind when you saw the plate. For a moment, you forget about the past hours; when was the last time you got a real meal? You can't remember, not even a fragment of a memory. 

You would eat what your owners give you, eat quickly before they come back, never knowing what you are eating nor when the next meal would be; you learned to not ask too many questions. At first, it was difficult to accept such a fate: you would refuse to even taste the food they were giving to you, but it didn't last long. Eventually, you started to eat - inhale - anything you were given without thinking twice about it.

Tonight, for the first time in years, you are going to eat something else than the leftovers of someone you don't even know. Tonight, you won't have to be scared about your food being stolen. Tonight, you can even see the smoke, a sign that your meal is still hot, freshly cooked and maybe homemade.

"I-," you started, but she didn't let you finish your sentence, your lips barely had time to move that she already cut you, leaving no place for an argument.

I am not hungry, you were about to say, and she somehow knew it. She also knew it was a lie, your stomach has been painfully twisted because of that sick feeling for days, but the knot is also caused by your fears. 

It all feels a bit too perfect. It feels like a trap, a way to encourage you to let your guard down only to break you after, making the fall harder. Some did that in the past, why not her? She doesn't look less cruel than the others. Yet, when she is talking, she seems more genuine, you could believe her when she says she only wants what's best for you, that she cares, she just has a twisted way to show it. 

"Yes, you are, so eat, now," she ordered you with such a cold tone that you don't dare to argue. There are all these warnings she doesn't say out loud but you can read in her eyes: just do whatever I tell you, pretty girl, they say. 

And, for sure, you don't want to face the consequences of your insubordination. So you slowly take the fork, not glancing away for one second, your eyes into hers. You are looking at every detail of her expression as if it would change, telling you that it is a trap, except it doesn't and her expression stays stern. It is impossible to read anything on her face, not even a hint of how she is feeling.

You take the first bit, carefully swallowing and… nothing happens. You don't feel weird, it doesn't taste bad and she doesn't snap at you for a small imaginary mistake you would have made. It is the complete opposite. The food is really good, melting on your tongue, and you start to eat quickly, not because you have to, but because you want to. For the first time in years, eating is a pleasure. 

She sighed when she noticed that you were inhaling your food, but she didn't say anything; she will have all the time later to change that habit of you. So she just stood there for a few seconds, observing you in silence, with her arms crossed, before sitting next to you - that's when you broke eye contact, once she was sure you would eat everything. 

As you are eating, she is barely paying attention to you, at least that's the impression she is giving. One of her arms wrapped around your shoulder, her hand is absently drawing circles on your skin while she is on her phone, dealing with something serious - you can hear her frustrated sighs from time to time.

Except she sees everything and your mistake was to not be careful enough around the woman. A little because of your clumsiness, mainly because of how fast you were eating, you dropped a bit of your food on the floor. You didn't think it was a big deal, picking it up to put it back on the plate. Three seconds rules, dropped on a clean floor, you don't have very high standards anyway - but she does. She turned to you the moment she felt you were moving, a curious, but disgusted, look on her face.

"What are you doing?" She asked, her hand grabbing your wrist before you could drop the bit of food on your plate. She moves your hand on the side of the tray, far from your plate, before you even get a chance to reply. "Drop it," she ordered to you, "that's gross, hope you weren't going to eat that." 

You shake your head, too scared to do anything else, but she knows you are lying; of course you were about to eat it. You spent the past years living like a fighting dog, you would eat anything she would give you, you might even eat directly from the dirty floor if she asked you to. She winces in disgust, not letting your hand go.

"Give me that," she snarled and you can feel how her grip tightened on your wrist to force you to give the fork away.

She then takes the tray that was in front of you to put it on her side of the bed, you are looking at her, scared she would definitely take your meal away. You are about to protest when she notices it and glances at you, daring you to say a word, you don't. 

"Come here," she said, gesturing you to come closer, she even grabbed your arm to guide you when she noticed you were hesitant to move.

She sits you between her legs and you are clearly uncomfortable, wiggling, but if she notices it, she doesn't seem to care. She is so close to you that you can feel her breath tickling your skin, but she keeps acting like nothing is weird here. When she leans to cut your food, you can feel her chest pressing against your back, the contact making your heart races. Too focused on how close you are to the woman, you barely noticed when she approached the fork from your mouth, waiting for you to open. It takes one more second for you to understand what she is waiting for and, when you do, you blush in embarrassment. She takes advantage of you opening your mouth to say something to feed you, and you don't dare to push her away. 

"Can't even eat alone, hm?" she whispered in your ear while you were chewing the bit of food she just gave you, "but that's fine, I am here now," she added, and there is something in her tone that makes you shiver.

Once she made sure you ate everything, she wrapped her arms around you, laying a kiss on your temple. It is strange how safe you are feeling in her embrace: for a few seconds you forget she is the one that beat you earlier. Right now, she is just someone that cares for you, with whom you feel at peace. You can't remember the last time someone made you feel that way, you can barely remember your life before entering the human trafficking circuit.

You don’t really know when you fell asleep, but your eyes were quick to close under the effects of her fingers running on your hair and of her voice whispering sweet words in your ears. At some point, a maid came to take the empty tray away and the woman layed the both of you in the bed, under the covers, trying her best to not wake you up. This night, you slept in a comfy bed, feeling protected in the arms of the woman despite the things she did, not even thinking one second about pushing away her hands that found their way under your sweatshirt, resting on your stomach. 

The Dog fell right into the Black Widow’s web.

[kangen-wanshi]

How Do You Love? ft. Gepard Landau, Sampo Koski

General relationship headcanon.

Tags: separate, mostly fluff but there are some suggestive things mentioned in Sampo's

A/N: I have like 4 people asking for this I hope I did this right

With All Of His Heart: Gepard Landau

Gepard is a soft, gentle lover. He enjoys walks, quick kisses in public, and holding your hand whenever you’re within his proximity. But he’s also fierce and passionate. As a Landau his commitment to a relationship goes far and beyond - and that is a promise he gave you when he first took hold of your hand.

When it comes to work, unfortunately, Gepard will prioritize his duty over you. He will prioritize a call from the Supreme Guardian over your dates, apologizing profusely while peppering your face with regretful kisses or paragraphs of apology, before he went off to finish his duty. As his lover, he hoped that you would be patient with him. He loves you, truly, but in a world like Jarilo-VI and in a city like Belobog, if he were to fall, the fate of the entire population on the planet would be doomed as well.

Although if it’s something more casual like perhaps a call from his subordinate - he can slack off a little and pass on the duty to someone else capable like perhaps Dunn, or even his sister if he’s in a pinch. He values his job, yes, but he still loves you, so any minor work that comes outside of his schedule or responsibility will go to someone else.

That being said, when he makes up for all the times lost due to his deployment in the Frontline, Gepard pays extra attention to your dates and your meet-ups, as well as behind closed doors. He holds you more often, his grip lingers and leaves a trail of comforting warmth against Belobog’s eternal coldness, he clings to you more. His most common action is having his arms around you from the back or the front and burying his head onto the crook of your neck.

Gepard honors his duty to protect the people, but.. He doesn’t mind indulging in your protection every now and then. At the start of your relationship he won’t say that he likes being held by you, but further into it, he will be shameless in asking for you to hold him in private. He likes putting his head close to your chest, hearing your heartbeat, having you hold him so close, caressing him so carefully, in fear that he might break any second. He enjoy your gentle loving, and your warm, protective embrace around him.

Little gifts and dates are obvious! Since the Overworld and the Underworld don't really have much ‘trinkets’, next to freshly grown flowers, most of his gifts to you are handmade (with the help of his sister). Hair clips, gloves, scarf, or even jackets, his gifts are often something that you can wear. He doesn’t admit to it, and no one really takes notice, but Gepard seems to really enjoy the idea of his gifts being somewhat of use to you even if he's away. Distance, can't really keep him away from you if he knows that you'll always have yourself wrapped with gifts sewn by his own hands.

With All Sense Of Belonging: Sampo Koski

Ah Sampo Koski, local troublemaker, shady businessman, what else.. Oh, and a flirt. Fortunately, despite his irresistible charm and overwhelming presence, Sampo doesn’t really flirt much. He persuades people, yes, but he rarely uses flirtation or other people’s feelings to get what he wants. So when he flirts with you, you know he already has his eyes on you deep.

Though it’s easy to suspect his motive, but based on his own version of Preservation, his intention finally got through to you after many, many, many unfortunate attempts on your side of ignoring his charm and smile, as well as his for almost being caught several times by Gepard in suspicion of harassing you. All in all, good for you! You’ve landed a fortunate hit dating him now!

Sampo doesn’t look like it but he’s an easily jealous man. He trusts you wholeheartedly, yes, he just doesn't trust whoever it is that dares to approach you with further intent. A hand that was placed on your lower back now sneaked to pull you closer by your waist, and his ever easygoing smile switched to something more.. Threatening, as Threatening as he could make it.

Talk about threatening, it's uncommon for his 'rivals' to attempt to use you to throw him off of his game. Telling him the various bad things they may do to you should he try to further be a pain in their business. Sampo has no worries, of course. Sure it boils his blood that they even dare to think of using you to get to him - but he has his ways. Whether he has to use his own weapon to draw the necessary conclusions, or should he call for a favor from the Trailblazer, either way, for you, he's willing to do anything. 

He likes taking you on various walks! Sampo is a very adventurous individual, how else would he be able to tread the mazes that are the Underground and the Overworld if it's not for his highly experienced human compassion? He uses this opportunity away from you to find various spots where you can view the scenery of Belobog, above and below, in the most beautiful way possible. To see a beautiful garden of raw untouched Geomarrow, or even a beautiful night sky that is just located at the outskirts of Belobog, he'll take you to places that can stop your breath for a moment.

Sampo doesn't have any 'vulnerable' side. Even to you, he acted mostly the same. Albeit more clingy, and more touchy with his hands and his lips. Although perhaps there is a side to him that you managed to unfold - that is him, being overly possessive of you.

Sampo likes to mark things that belong to him. Living a life such a his can lead to him having to part with mortal rich and people on occasion, just to keep himself going at a stable pace. So when he has you, when you've bound yourself to him in this so-called deal of a relationship, he doesn't want to let you go, ever.

So he'll mark you. Whether it be physically with his teeth or giving you accessories to match himself, he'll do it. PDA is something that he shamelessly would do - unless you wish otherwise. He will always have his hand on you one way or another, a hand on your thigh, a hand on your lower back, around your waist or shoulder, his chest pressing up on your back - anything. If he's near, he will touch you. Kisses are also common, on the cheek, lips, hands, sometimes someone will have to tear him away from you to keep him focused on the task at hand - he can't help it! You're so tempting and he just wants to be near you!

In that final note, someone has definitely caught you two being.. Intimate before. Was it by accident or did he purposely stage for the specific person to see? Who knows. Just be prepared for a lot of things to come when you're with him.

[shipmansflannels]

in the heights | natalie scatorccio x reader

hey! I'm back! I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long, really. but I'm happy with the engagement and the new followers here on the blog, welcome everyone and I hope you like my stories below. I haven't made the masterlist yet, but as soon as I do, I'll pin it to organize it better. this first oneshot is super cute, I hope you like it. I'm also not going to open requests for now, but I'll leave my ask open in case you want to send me messages and interact through it too! thanks for following along! enjoy!

sorry for any grammatical or coherence errors, english is not my first language and I'm trying to improve!

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in the heights | natalie scatorccio x reader

-> prompt: you and natalie at a ferris wheel. but it gets stuck. <-

warnings: non cannon, no crash, most fem!reader but it works for gender neutral readers too, natalie having a soft side, a lot of swear words, very cliché and gay.

***

"I already told you I don't want to go. That's for children."

You laugh, watching Natalie blow out the last of her cigarette and use her worn-out sneakers to crush it on the floor. The two of you are leaning against a street light, but you're more focused on the popcorn that's almost gone and the noise of the kids screaming behind you, enjoying the huge roller coaster, or the carousel, or yelling for their mom to buy more tokens to hit the clown's mouth and win a damn stuffed bear.

It's your last year before heading off to college, but you're not old enough to enjoy the rare amusement park event when the mayor is in a good mood, which is why you make a point of not only inviting Natalie, but the rest of the girls on the team.

The difference is that you're not as close to them as you are to the platinum blonde who's snorting as she's being bumped into by a four-foot-tall boy who's running after another boy whose height you haven't yet identified.

"Oh, please, it's just going to be a single ride. I really want to see the city from up there", you insist, using your best whining voice, to try to convince Natalie to join you on the ferris wheel. She rolls her eyes as you shove another handful of popcorn into your mouth. "Then we can go on the ghost train, since you want to be that frightened."

"You know I hate the ferris wheel, (Y\N), no way."

Natalie was always closed off about her feelings and desires - and unless it had to do with addictions, cigarettes and drugs, you'd never guess any of the things she was passionate about. Of course, you knew about her problems with her father, her terrible relationship with her mother and how much she wanted to buy a trailer in the park closest to her school so she wouldn't have to live with this nightmare again, but otherwise, none of Natalie's fears were obvious to you.

So it was fun to hear her complain, in her usual grumpy mood, about how she hated rides on the ferris wheel.

“It’s not that bad,” you tried once more. "One ride, I promise. I'll give you one of my cigarettes later, don't worry."

Natalie huffed again, rolling her eyes at you, and put her lighter in the pocket of her old moss green jacket before walking over to you.

"Just a ride and then it's over. It's not a question."

You nodded, shrugging and swallowing hard, before starting to walk beside her. Oh, one more thing about Natalie that you knew since you met her: she hated holding hands.

***

"I swear I'm going to kill you. It seems like a good thing to push you from the highest point, don't you think?"

Natalie proposed, whispering through clenched teeth as the ferris wheel monitor buckled you up and closed the cabin. There was a noise in the background, coming from other laughing children and families in the cabins behind, so Natalie had to get a little closer to you to whisper in your direction.

"Ah, come on, it's going to be fun!", you murmured, in your usual joy, looking to the side and enjoying the view of the park before the ride started to rise. "But if you feel unwell, I can ask the monitor to stop first and come down."

"It is not necessary."

She murmured, taking a deep breath, and you felt like there was too much air gathering in Natalie's lungs. With your free arm, you passed it over the cabin, around the platinum blonde, in an attempt to comfort her. It didn't help, but you were sure you saw her lined eyes relax a little.

And then, the ride began. The families behind you screamed loudly when the cabins started to rise a little, and then they started laughing when theirs stopped in the air and slowly descended, giving a good view of the city from up there.

You looked away again at the huge windows and the landscape, even though you weren't so high up. It felt good to reassure Natalie at that moment, her fear feeling like it was going to leave her body and hover like a cloud of dust above your heads.

"Are you okay?"

"Absolutely."

You laughed, making a mental note and finding it amusing that Natalie always used colloquial language when she was scared. Suddenly, she looked down, and her clear eyes widened again.

"Holy shit! Why are there two guys down there? And why does it look like they're arguing? Oh, God, don't tell me we-"

You looked down, just to see where she was looking, and then, suddenly, the voices of the families became clearer, as if they purposefully escaped from the windows of the cabins straight into yours. "we're stuck!" "it looks like the toy broke!" "damn, bunch of irresponsible people!" "I want my fucking money back!" "get that fucking toy down soon, buddy!"

Gritting your teeth, you looked at Natalie, and you were sure that she had heard at least half of the whispers, or, well, at best - and probably the most terrible - she had enough intelligence to figure out what had just happened on her own. to happen.

"Fuck me," she muttered, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. Once, twice, three times. And then, you grabbed her with your free arm by the collar of her shirt, the back collar.

"Calm down, it's just a quick stop, it's supposed to give more excitement. Soon the ferris wheel comes back, just try to breathe", you whispered, and obviously it didn't help at all.

"I'm not five anymore, (Y\N). Don't act like you're my fucking parents."

"Hey, don't freak out, it won't help…", you clicked your tongue. "Well, how about if we just try to distract ourselves while the toy doesn't come back? Make small talk? There are some things going on that you haven't told me yet, right?"

You don't know how this caught Natalie's attention, but you saw that her face had returned to its usual paleness, and that she had raised an eyebrow in your direction.

"What are you talking about?"

"Why, the most obvious. You and Travis Martinez, what else?"

She rolled her eyes. "It's not what you think. He's just my friend. Just like you are too."

Ouch, that one hurt. It would have affected you more, of course, if you had even had feelings for Natalie, but obviously you had nothing more than a friendly affection for her, and in truth, her and Travis' sudden closeness wasn't bothering you in the slightest. in an unhealthy way…

Absolutely not. You closed your eyes and took a deep breath.

"Just friends? Oh, sure, like, okay then…" You took another deep breath, and then blushed when you saw her raised eyebrow again. "It's just, like, he doesn't seem like the kind of person who would hang out with our gang…"

"You mean he doesn't look like a rebellious kid?" Natalie scoffed, biting her lip and looking away from you. "Yeah, I mean, you'd be surprised by some things about him."

"And how come you know so much, huh?"

She pursed her lips. You had used an intonation that definitely wasn't as ironic as you thought it would be, and in fact, maybe that would have surprised Natalie. You were about to open your mouth to apologize, when she spoke first, her eyes fixed on you and that cheeky smile that only she knew how to give.

"Damn, I didn't know you were that possessive, (Y\N)…"

It was your turn to roll your eyes.

"And I'm not. I don't give a shit about your circle of friends, okay?"

"It's not what it looks like…"

"Okay, let's change the subject…", you pursed your lips too, looking away. "Did you buy the hair dye? Your roots are turning black again…"

She nodded, but that sleazy smile was still on her lips as she looked the other way. In fact, it only disappeared when she realized that you guys weren't coming back down, and that it would probably take hours to do so.

"This shit's never going down again, is it? What the fuck…"

You laughed, looking at her again and shaking your head. "You know, if you're so scared, you can hold my hand. I won't bite you unless you ask me to."

Natalie rolled her eyes again, looking at you with closed eyes. She hated vulnerability, especially when it was her own. Her hand slid across the space in the seat that separated the two of you in the cabin, and then, her fingers caught yours, lightly, as if they were magnets attracting each other.

"If you tell anyone tomorrow, I'll kill you," she whispered, her teeth clenched and her gaze still very serious. That made you laugh and eased the blush on your cheeks a little.

Suddenly, like an answer to her silent prayer, the cabin gave a sharp start and threatened to descend. This caused Natalie's already trembling and vulnerable body, barely secured in the seat belt, to fall until it reached your arms. You held her just in case, but she made sure to lean on your waist to straighten herself up again.

"Oh, God, I think I'm going to throw up," she murmured, returning to the fear inside her. You watched her and, in a rush, had an idea that might help. Well, it helped you with your now rare panic attacks before a decisive test in class.

Instinctively, you grabbed her cheek, pressing your faces together at a considerable distance. Her eyes were on you, but specifically at the level of your nose, and she seemed shocked by your unexpected attitude.

“What the fuck are you doing?”, she whispered, her lips barely moving.

"I'm trying to take your focus away. Pay attention to other things, don't fucking look down," you replied, your tone as neutral as possible, your eyes focused on her. But your closeness was incredibly suspicious and, even if you denied it, it took away some of the attention that should have been hers. Clearing your throat, you whispered again. "Do you feel better?"

Natalie didn't answered. She closed her clear eyes and took another deep breath, swallowing hard. And then, her pale, calloused hands touched your shoulder. At first, it seemed like an attempt to push you away, but then, suddenly, when she unexpectedly pressed your lips together, you understood everything.

Responding to the kiss as best you could, terrified that it would be clumsy, you let your mind wander to the darkest parts, and you also understood that you always wanted, deep down, for this moment to happen. And then, after minutes of the wind in your hair and your body getting hot with the blood bubbling almost to your head, Natalie finally did what she normally would do, using the grip on your shoulders to pull you away from her.

"Fuck, this wasn't supposed to happen," she whispered, trying to apologize. And suddenly, she fixed it. "I mean, maybe it was, but not like this. I guess I was just a little… too vulnerable, my bad."

You laughed, blushing once more before holding her hand again, this time placing your palm on hers.

"It's okay to be vulnerable sometimes. You look cute with that soft side," you whispered, nodding. "Well, not like that…"

"Don't be stupid, of course it's like that," she murmured, raising her eyebrow. "Okay, I'm not going to punch you in the face because you kissed me and because you have feelings for me."

"For the record, you were the one who kissed me."

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever, fuck. Nobody cares."

Suddenly, the ferris wheel gave another start and, finally, with the screams of satisfaction from all the families who were still waiting up there, it started working normally again. Natalie sighed, still holding your hand in hers, and you smiled, relieved, looking away.

"Just promise me one thing, (Y\N)?"

"Anything, Nat."

"That you won't tell anyone that we kissed-"

"That you kissed me."

"Whatever! Don't tell anyone, do you hear me? Or I'll change my mind and punch you in the face, yes."

You laughed before pulling her closer with your free hand, by her chin, and kissing her once more. "Don't worry. It'll just be our little secret for now."

[unionizedwizard]

tumblr user unionizedwizard certified #1 shadowbringers + g'raha overthinker reporting for duty

i HAVE been thinking about sphene being the exarch's foil. because it is a very obvious case to the point they had to pick him up from SHARLAYAN as an emergency Relevant Character and also allowed him to come with us to living memory (you know it's about to get serious when they let him go anywhere with the wol)

so, obviously. both sphene and g'raha (as the exarch) were thrust into a horrific nightmarish situation where they were put in charge of a entire city/state facing an umbral calamity. both care deeply about the people they're trying to protect - their people. both have undergone (willingly or not) heretofore unknown scientific operations that irreversibly changed them, using cutting-edge technology, making them immortal and fusing them with an immensely powerful reservoir of aetheric energy, all in the name of duty and preserving hope for the future; both have become a symbol rather than a person. the alexandrians needed their queen, whose mere presence stopped them from succumbing to despair; the people from novrandt forced the exarch into a similar position (even though he kept repeating he would not stand for becoming a king of any sort); himself, on behalf of the ironworks & the entirety of the post-8th umbral calamity survivors, was willing to sacrifice himself to bring back the wol - because (and this is the really important part) of the wol's status as a symbol of hope and resilience. everyone here, the wol included, is dehumanized and worshiped and used for their good, self-sacrificial qualities, as well as their unyielding willpower.

sphene's memories were altered, muddled, to an extent that nobody really understands. the scientists who managed to create the endless are all gone, the average alexandrian forgot everything and everyone they've ever known, she herself knows she's not the "original" sphene but a copy - yet she doesn't seem to mourn this loss, and indeed i don't know to which extent she conceives of it as a loss, or a violation of her bodily autonomy (which it was! she never asked to be brought back, especially not this way, which would be a more than traumatic experience for ANYONE to go through!). in the same way, the exarch's memories encompass several timelines and realities, and he spent an entire century having to hide his identity, not being able to mention his own name, much less his purpose or homeland - i'd say this self-erasure is more than comparable with sphene's experience. not to mention that both sphene and the exarch were forced into "passive", static roles - i don't know how sphene felt about this because this is the tragedy of her character, that we don't know (and she herself doesn't know) the first thing about her, as an individual with preferences and feelings and memories.

also, this all adds up with g'raha's role in the deltascape part of ultima thule - the omicrons being, as AI mechanical soldiers, the missing link between sphene and himself. there's a pattern here, interrogating the relationship between mind, body, memory, duty, freedom and personal agency & autonomy, etc. the endless in general and sphene in particular are more than reminiscent of the omicrons on this point.

all of this to say: thinking about g'raha's gondola speech, i did not think he was talking about the scions, or even the wol. i see how this is a possible (and likely) interpretation to have, but i must confess i was surprised when i saw that this is what most people had understood. to me he was talking about the people from the First, and also the people from the 8th umbral calamity timeline, especially those with whom he'd worked for, presumably, months at a time. so many people who died after the Flood (we tend to forget that he arrived right after the Flood, in the immediate aftermath), not just because of the sin eaters but also because of the sudden and catastrophic environmental changes; all the people who could never adapt to the eternal light and, presumably, went mad (it's a real thing in real life even though night does come back eventually, so i imagine it must have been that but a lot worse in novrandt). all the people who died due to lack of medicine, because all the medicinal plants and recipes disappeared in the blink of an eye, not to mention the healers themselves; all the diseases and epidemics and interpersonal violence that arose as a consequence of the severe famine and lack of basic resources that plagued what was left of the star. and the unfathomable loss and trauma of losing millenia of culture and civilization and knowledge and biodiversity and entire families, entire tribes, cities, countries, being annihilated. g'raha has lived through this for a century, combined with the post-8th umbral calamity state of the Source. we know how much he cares for the people of the crystarium, and we only see the crystarium as a fully-developed, beautiful, and harmonious city-state; we haven't seen the century of work and planning and emergency managing and unfathomable grief and pain that went into it. in the same way, we see alexandria (and living memory) as they are now, but only glimpse a few moments of utter chaos during the alexandria dungeon.

so i'm just thinking of g'raha, seeing living memory, and being the only one among the party who truly understands. who can truly relate to sphene, and understand her. he's the only one present who has personally been through not one but two calamities, and had to deal with them on a day-to-day basis (while readying a completely crazy long-term plan). how many people that he knew, loved, wanted to protect... died of "preventable" causes during the century he was on the First, while himself was immortal - so that he could keep doing his duty, doing everything he could to save them eventually? all this happened in a manner which was truly unfair, and unfathomably evil, and - possibly the worst part - he knew this was still "the better path" (as he put it himself while trying to summon the wol). the survivor's guilt that both he and sphene must be dealing with is simply impossible to really understand, i think. we've seen the crystarium. of course he'd wish for all these unfortunate souls to endure and finally know peace and happiness. and of course, he didn't have a Living Memory, but of course he couldn't help but wonder how he'd have reacted in this situation.

and i do wish we could have had him interact with sphene, actually. it made sense that she was wuk lamat's foil and all, but i think it would have been interesting..........

[robogalaxies]

☎️ - The Unneeded But Happily Researched Crumbs Of Everything We Know About The Commissioner

“If anything happens… I’ll deny I ever knew you.”

The Commissioner is, as we all know, a mystery, and I hope it stays that way, but I put it upon myself to wrangle every little tidbit of information we have on him outside of giving cases! I do this solely because of three things:

I have nothing better to do

I find myself strangely endeared to his character (i.e. I do a gay little "favorite character" clap every time I hear him mentioned)

I want to share all my random knowledge with you all because I go digging for it in every S&M media there is

I'll be dividing this up into 4 sections for ease of access: comics lore, games lore (HtR, Telltale, TTIV), cartoon lore, and misc. lore. Some things MAY be assumptions based on other characters' reactions to what he MIGHT be saying or say about him, sure, but I will source all information on where to find it & provide images when they can be easily provided!~ If anything new comes up or I have forgotten something, I'll update. Until then... hope you love both hyperlinks and "at least I laughed at it" style commentary! ☎️

Comics Lore

The introduction of The Commissioner, as with everyone else! Small tidbits of his quite understated character outside of being The Phone are here, obviously, including:

the Commissioner's one and only speech bubble! (Bad Day on The Moon)

the beginnings of the implied "I love you" statements towards Sam & Max with an "XOXO" on a postcard (Bad Day on The Moon)

he shows SOME disdain towards Sam & Max's attitudes towards achieving their goals, being the one specifically to tell them to go on a road trip (On the Road #1, "Prisoners of The Casbah")

Games Lore

Hit the Road

The Commissioner is barely a character in this game (big surprise, right?) and you do not get much information on him minus the bare minimum of "he is Sam & Max's boss," so there's not much to be said here. In fact, I don't know why I mentioned it. Great game, though, go play it! Now! I'll wait until you get back :)

Save The World

Welcome back! There're only minor silly tidbits here, but they're needed for this comprehensive list. Everything is worth mentioning about a character with nothing to his name but "The Commissioner." I mean, you're reading this post, right?

wears bifocals! 👓 ("The Mole, The Mob, and The Meatball")

was once in contact with & worked with Harry Moleman, as he sent him to be the mole for the Toy Mafia. Crossover of the century... I wonder if he knows how far poor Harry has fallen ("The Mole, The Mob, and The Meatball")

Takes Sam & Max out for dinner sometimes, apparently, if they do well enough on their cases! Squirrel Garden sounds disgusting, but I'd be jazzed too if they also had the free breadsticks ("The Mole, The Mob, and The Meatball")

likely just a quick jab, so I don't really know why I'm putting it here other than humor, but Max apparently doesn't trust him! I hope that gets solved; Commissioner is sorta signing his meager paychecks ("Bright Side of The Moon")

Beyond Time and Space

The middle child of the Telltale trilogy, this game has barely anything in terms of tidbits given that he really only assigns the beginning cases in 1 out of 5 episodes, and even then, that doesn't give a single thing away. Despite this, there's gotta be one or two tidbits we should learn, right? Sure!

is aware of Sam's insistence on answering the phone & seemingly asks straight up why he didn't answer (What's Up, Beelzebub?)

Can confirm an "I love you" towards Max... d'aww! (What's Up, Beelzebub?)

The Devil's Playhouse

The Commissioner barely shows up or is referenced in this game, mainly due to the story existing outside of the common framing of "assigning cases," but we learn two small yet revealing tidbits:

British Columbian! 🇨🇦 (The City That Dares Not Sleep)

Has provided books on cultural and racial sensitivity for Sam & Max because they kept "reducing people to obvious stereotypes." (The City That Dares Not Sleep)

This Time, It's Virtual!

The phone exists yet again... but in your VR HEADSET! Some fairly funny Commissioner lore in this one even if you, like almost everyone I've seen in this fandom, dislike or even hate this game:

His family is in hiding, and I'm assuming Witness Protection?! Must come with the territory (phone call after completing first three Freelance Training segments in-game)

Can confirm an "I love you" of some sort said to Sam ... d'aww! (phone call after completing first three Freelance Training segments in-game)

Signs off even official, legal wanted posters with "The Commissioner," asking people to seek the help of Freelance Police & associates himself as PART of the Freelance Police!

signs your certificate at the end of the game, which mentions the Illuminati in conjunction with his name for some reason! What kind of policing are we running here....??

Cartoon Lore

Truly, the 90s cartoon is where most Commissioner lore lies if we take into consideration all of these happen within the same universe, which we likely shouldn't. This being said, the cartoon provides us with the only picture we have of the guy (see post photo above the cut). Alongside this, we also get a LOT more information than any other media:

before we even start the information in the ACTUAL cartoon, Sam & Max say within the show's initial Bible believe he's out to kill them, in some way, saying they're the "troubled, ungrateful sons he never had." That's so sweet ... in a way. As well, there's a very small section dedicated to the Commissioner as a character, though not much is said that we don't already know (Sam & Max Cartoon Series Bible)

has Geek's number, or at least a number to the Sub-Basment of Solitude, as he calls it more than once over the course of the series, which makes me wonder how well he may or may not know Geek! Like a grandniece or something (episodes 1, "The Thing That Wouldn't Stop It" & 3b, "They Came from Down There")

cried over the story of Sam & Max having to get rid of John, their beloved alligator son... must be a shared parental instinct (episode 6a, "That Darn Gator")

apparently sends sticker books in case briefings on a semi-regular basis, as Sam comments that he "loves when the Commissioner does that" as if it has happened before - how whimsical! (episode 6b, "We Drop at Dawn")

confirms the Commissioner as a legitimate police commissioner alongside being Sam & Max's boss (episode 6b, "We Drop at Dawn")

seemingly very fussy if not given his private bathroom and honor bar. Fancy stuff, Commissioner, & he apparently allows Sam and Max up there! Or not, they just sorta bust in. Whatever! Sharing is caring (episode 6b, "We Drop at Dawn")

the Commissioner has a DAUGHTER! and somehow, Sam & Max got invited to her WEDDING! I think she's beautiful and I hope she doesn't resent her special day getting ruined (episode 11a, "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang")

that iconic, signed, chest only photo given with the solemn, loving, promise of "If anything ever happens, I'll deny I ever knew you," followed by Max crying that it's "It's just... so him." - what a loving, tender and slightly bordering on oddly familial relationship he has with Sam and Max... stop, I'll start crying! (episode 13, "The Final Episode")

Misc. Lore

These are lore tidbits that are present in mediums either outside of the media itself, belong in a game that is not technically part of the larger S&M canon, or has to do with out of media context, but should be included anyway because why not!

gifts Sam & Max a new floaty pen from a different United State every Christmas ... but not really anything else! (Poker Night 2)

Sam & Max discuss the Commissioner's power in response to doubt about his existence, claiming "Don’t you know he’s everywhere? He knows we’re talking about him right now!" - which is sort of scary, but I'll let it slide because it implies that the Commissioner's surveillance is of a much higher caliber than we initially thought and that is BANGER (in-character interview for Telltale, found here on Steve Purcell's Sam & Max FB page)

He's affectionate yet surly & I'm sure all those "I love you" statements contribute to that! D'aww... (Skunkape Origin Video)

Voiced by a member of Bay Area Sound, Julian Kwasneski, in the Telltale trilogy! Talked about and even has a LINE recited in this specific developer commentary! We love a mysterious boss who sounds like an adult in Peanuts.

God bless the guy, he had a rash! Does this matter? No. Will it ever matter? Likely not, as it was from the sadly cancelled Sam & Max: Freelance Police trailer. Sighs. At this point, you can tell I'm just adding whatever mentions we get of the guy. Makes me giggle, though.

Conclusion...?

In the end, the Commissioner is a mystery, and always WILL be a mystery. Hell, I sort of never want to know as it will ruin every single thing I have worked so hard to archive, but it is fun to comb through the different canons! Of course, it is likely any of this can be tossed out or considered non-canon in the blink of an eye because Sam & Max always loves to give a middle finger to character details if they don't affect the main plot & likely a lot of these are mere gags. The Commissioner is phone, and always will be only phone. However, it's always in my best interest to try to find ANYTHING to push back the curtain even the tiniest inch, and I hope my efforts were worth it. Now, to sign off, just press that phone! You got it, you got it! ☎️

[starfall-dream]

(I can only hope Tumblr doesn't eat this.)

I've just been thinking about this AU and how the reader might not even be aware or realize when the other companions start to obsess over them (especially if they're giving romantic signals and trying to flirt) just due to cultural differences and the reader not fully knowing things about the world or even just past experiences and how difficult that might be for the companions.

Like I know for myself (just because it's where my experience is), I am rather oblivious when it comes to being flirted with and picking up on those sorts or cues. Plus, most of them flirt with one another platonically (and not to mention the whole "let's fluster this person because their reactions are easy to get out of them" stuff)

So if someone like Astarion or Wyll pops up and starts flirting and throwing their innuendos it's like a 33.3% chance each I a) think he's meaning it platonically, b) just short circuit because easily flustered, or c) unwillingly just refuse to pick up on it somehow even if it's "obvious" to everyone else.

Not to even mention how different races try to court or flirt. I would assume that High-Elfs are different from Wood-Elfs or Drow do, or even Teiflings are very drastically different and that's not even to go into cultural differences from things like location or city or even who raised them! There might even be differences between how Gale does it compared to Wyll just due to how those two cities operate.

Or how the different companions might use that to their advantage, or when some random stranger tries to flirt and the reader just doesn't pick up on it. Like... (apparently, I legit cannot think of anything)

Idk what kind of reader you're thinking of, but it's just something I thought about and just wanted to share.

OMG I love your brain you're so amazing.

controversial take, but I love oblivious readers. In this case, I think your explanation makes a lot of sense, that they're more oblivious because the cultural differences and because of the stressful situation they're in, so it makes sense that once the companions start to obsession over them, they don't even realize it. Plus, they probably think that the companions still don't like them, so they don't really look too much into their nicer actions.

I feel like this kinda works in the favor of the more open companions like Karlach and Halsin. Like they're very much the type of people to just go up and say "I like you" so there really isn't that much confusion. However, it absolutely destroys Astarion, who is so used to being able to use his suave facade to woo anyone, so for it to not work kinda hurts his pride a bit.

I also loved how you brought up how courting might be different for different races. I've mentioned this a while back, but the idea of Halsin, Astarion, and Shadowheart talking about reader in some sort of Elvin language is one of my favorite headcanons. It's even more interesting if the companions are at the point where they're working together.

[calumsargwife]

'i told them about you.'

calum hood x fem!reader

summary: for the first time in a while, Calum tells his friends about you

warnings: bad language maybe, mentions of drinking or smoking. (English is not my first language so there may be some grammatical errors, sorry!)

word count: 1.9k

note: hey! i know this took a while but here it is! i hope you guys like it. question: do you think i should also write for other people? maybe characters from movies or smth. tell me your thoughts!

"So, how's this new girl going?" Luke asked with his second drink of the night in hand.

As they normally do, the boys had gotten together today to hang out, to see each other in another context other than work (as if they didn't see each other every day already).

They had dinner and were now having some drinks prepared by Ashton, who had 'accidentally' made the drinks a little stronger than normal.

"Yeah, you haven't told us anything about her." Michael added as he sat in one of the single chairs.

Calum sighed as he took a drag on his cigarette and sat down in the large armchair in the living room, trying to hold back a smile as he exhaled the smoke from his mouth.

"What's that smile for, uh?" Ashton teased and pinched Calum's arm, also with one drink on the other hand.

"Don't know..." Calum modestly answered.

"Aw, c'mon. Just tell us something!" Michael insisted.

"How long have you been dating already?" Luke questioned as he smiled mischievously at the other two boys.

Ok, the truth is, you two weren't dating, you were still just getting to know each other and the boys knew it, they just liked watching Calum get all red.

"Two months." Calum answered shortly as he diverted his gaze towards the large window, which gave the view of of the tall illuminated buildings; the suppressed smile on his lips made his cheeks hurt. He remembered that surely you would love to have one of these windows, you liked to have a great view of the entire city.

"And...?" Ashton pressed.

Calum took another drag of his cigarette, exhaled the smoke and sighed to give the long-awaited response to his friends. "Wrote a song about her."

There was a moment of silence as everyone processed what was said until Ashton spoke again. "There's no fucking way." He spoke in disbelief while he leaned his back on the chair in surprise.

"A song?" Michael asked you. "About this girl?" The boy turned his head to look at his friends with wide eyes. "You've never done anything like this so quickly."

They weren't wrong. Calum was normally one to have casual relationships, he said he was in a moment in which he couldn't focus on a completely exclusive relationship with so much commitment. I mean, he and the guys were at the peak of their career now, they were recording an album, doing a lot of interviews, maybe they were going on tour and... well, he just didn't have the time.

So it's obvious that his friends are confused. Calum was quite strict about the rule of not dating for a long time.

"What changed?" Luke asked, who was now analyzing his friend a little more.

"Her." Calum responded immediately without taking his eyes off the window. "She changed everything." He said now taking his eyes off the window and looking directly at the group. "She broke every rule that I could have ever set for myself."

Calum finished his cigarette and placed it in the ashtray on the living room table. "So, I wrote her a song."

"Damn."

"I know." Calum sentenced with a smile while he rubbed his hands and played with one of his rings, the one you gave him for his recent birthday. A birthday that the boys assumed had ended early because of you. "I just really like her, you know?" Calum raised his head to look at his friends. "I know it sounds crazy but..." he tried to explain himself.

"No, it's alright... I get it, really." Luke interrupted him. Calum quickly turned his eyes to him.

"Really?"

"Yeah, man." Luke answered with a smile and looked at his friend tenderly. "Maybe you're falling in love, who knows." He teased.

The boys laughed at the joke. Calum laughed lightly and looked out the window again, instantly thinking of you. Luke's joke resonated in his head, maybe it wasn't that crazy.

That night While Calum was telling the boys about you, that same night, they spent the night over together at Michael's and Calum was the first to wake up and leave. He didn't say anything but he was walking frantically around the house while he picked up his things and had breakfast with his friends, who were very relaxed sitting in their chairs while looking at Calum with an amused expression.

Once in his car, Calum began to reflect. He had to pick you up at your house in exactly twenty minutes to go have lunch together at his house.

He knew he had changed, he knew he was different and that things were different with you. And he didn't see it as a bad thing, really. Because for the first time, he was taking his time to do things the right way. He wanted to know you well before making things official, he wanted to know you deeply.

Calum was enjoying this little secret situation of getting to know each other. He liked that no one knows what's happening and that it is something that only he can witness. He was fascinated by the feeling of privacy and that no one could steal those moments, they were his and his alone. So, telling his friends about you was a big step for him.

Calum liked you a lot, so he couldn't contain his smile as he turned the corner of your house while simultaneously trying to remember that spice you like so much in salads, he wanted to have it mentally written down.

His smile widened when he saw you standing waiting at the door of your house. He got out of the car and came out to greet you with open arms.

"Hello there, beautiful." He greeted as he eagerly brought his lips to yours without waiting for any response from you.

You giggled before connecting your lips to Calum's. "Hey..." You received another kiss from him on your cheek. "I missed you."

"Me too." Calum had recently started to admit that he missed you when you weren't together. You couldn't deny that you liked the feeling of him missing you. It warms your heart a little every time he says it.

Calum at first was... complicated, to say the least. You really had a lot of patience and trust in the process because this guy wasn't easy. He was very closed to the idea of being in a relationship again or even trying to be in one. It took a while for him to really open up fully, you knew who he was before you started dating and Calum was careful about it. He thought that at first he couldn't trust you, but oh how wrong he was.

You were the most fantastic person Calum had met in recent years: completely honest and spontaneous, you were really patient with him, you never rushed him or pressured him into anything.

Maybe it sounds like you chased him around but the reality is that it was Calum who asked you out (as contradictory as it may sound) after having seen you several times in the same places as him, he developed a crush on you the moment he saw you.

So being here now, opening his car door for you to go to his house, makes it seem like everything was really worth it.

"Have you made any progress on that song you told me about?" You asked after the trip started, your hands intertwined, you felt Calum's finger lightly caress your hand. You definitely didn't know that Calum had written you a song.

Calum smiled to himself as you remembered what he told you, something he was excited about. "A little bit yes, we've been with the boys defining the chords a little so then moving on to polishing the lyrics a little more."

"Sounds fun." You answered him while with a sweet smile observing the panorama through the window.

Calum looked at your profile for a bit and sighed discreetly.

"And how are you doing with your thesis?" He asked you now. "Have you been able to find out anything else or...?"

You laughed a little before answering. "It's not a thesis, it's a research." You gave him a tender caress on the cheek when you saw that he didn't remember the difference. Calum did know the difference, he just likes to play dumb with you so he can see you explaining the same thing to him for the fifth time. "But it's going well, we changed the methodology so it's giving us better results."

The small, casual conversation continued throughout the remainder of the trip. Once they arrived, you didn't wait for Calum to open the door for you before rushing to his house, eager to see his little dog, Duke.

"Why do you seem more excited to see my dog than me?" He asked with an amused smile as he reached your side at the door.

"Because I am." You answered without looking him.

"Rude." Calum answered as he pretended to be offended.

You giggled and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. Once the door opened, Duke instantly jumped onto your lap. While you were busy greeting the dog, Calum went to the kitchen to start preparing lunch.

Minutes later you joined him and you began cooking a simple but delicious lunch: a classic pasta. Calum was fascinated, he'd never tell you but deep inside he was completely giggling and kicking his feet. Everything came so naturally to the two of you, nothing was forced and you functioned as if you had known each other your whole life.

After a while, the two were eating in Calum's dining room. You made casual small talk, mostly in silence as you enjoyed the food. Calum savored this moment and tried to imprint moments of this tranquility into his brain.

"You know..." He began as he took a sip of his drink. "The guys..."

"Your bandmates?" You finished his sentence.

He nodded. "I told them about you."

Now you were in shock.

He told his best friends?

He told them about you?

You did know that they knew Calum was seeing someone. But that he told them specifically about you.

Wow.

Now that was a big step. Especially for Calum. You knew how much his bandmates meant to him, how much he trusted them. You also knew how Calum hadn't been in anything serious with anyone for quite some time, so it was probably a surprise to them as well.

You swallowed nervously. "Oh really?"

"Yeah, and they were happy for me." He answered you with a sweet smile as he blushed a little and looked down at his plate.

"Well, I'm happy for you too." You told him with your most honest smile as you took his hand across the table and gave it a light caress.

"They want to meet you..." Calum told you, a little nervous that you would say no. "And I want you to meet them too, honestly."

"Seriously?" You tried to contain your surprise. It wasn't a secret that you were also a fan of the guys's music, so you felt the pressure.

Calum nodded with a smile and looked into your eyes again. You saw hope in them, he didn't want you to say no. "Then I would love to, it would be an honor, really."

Calum smiled happily and pulled your hand to pull you over to where he was sitting at the table. He smiled and sat you on his lap. "Thank you, it means the world to me." He told you with a genuine smile while with one hand he caressed your waist and his other hand cupped your face and brought you close for a sweet kiss.

As you shared that kiss, Calum couldn't help but feel a great emotion inside of him, for the first time in a long time, he had a good feeling about this.

[thequietkid-moonie]

Yandere Brand new animal characters (of your choosing) who are in love with a human reader who is at the peak human threshold of what a human can do

Who is also often times hired by Anti-beastmen organizations to hunt and take down beastmen for money.

(I’ll also leave it up for you to decide if you want to make them hate beastmen or not too as well)

Stronge and smart darling works for a anti-beastmen organization to help

[ YANDERE HEADCANONS ] [ Shirou Ogami ]

[ Brand New Animal ]

⚠️ Yandere, I don't support nor try to romanticize this toxic behaivor, is just for entretaiment

Now that i finally decided to write this request (that has being on my ask box for so long, sorry about that) i decided to watch Brand New Animal again, so thank you 🤭

Also, im SO sorry I swear but between the writers block and the depresive state I just managed to write one character

sorrysorrysorry 🙇🏻🙇🏻🙇🏻 sorrysorrysorry

Ogami despises all human kind, he hates them with all his being for what they have done to the beastmen, and just like that he absolutely hate any beastmen that dares to work with the humans to go against the other beastmen, thats why since the first moment even just Ogami persived your human scent on some of the most recent beastmen that came to Anima City to search for shelter he can feel his blood boild on his veins

Despite being angry and don't have mercy when it comes to human kind he lets the beastmen take the time to explain themselfs (only if they weren't doing anything suspicious or being a obvious threaten), and the story is always the same a really stronge human that either offer them their help or end up chaising them when trying to reach Anima City, a human that despite openly being part of an organization anti-beastmen and despite chaising them the human end up guiding them in the safest way towards the the frontier to Anima City

No matter how much times he heard the same story Ogami just can't believe it and he refuse to do so, he is just too anger with the human kind that the idea of a human willing to help beastmen in any way is nothing but a joke, specially someone that works for a anti-beastmen organization

Is probably that he even end up even asking the mayor about it once he gets tired of hearing the same story over and over again and still feeling confused about this whole situation, there are chances that the mayor actually knows about you and what you have being doing to help because she has to know what happened around the beastmen to be able to protect them and Anima City, but even when the mayor confirm that you actually want to help he just feels more frustrated and even mad at you for it

Ogami is completely blinded by his frustration and anger to even understand what it is going on his mind, he have hated human kind for all his life that now that there is the smallest posibility of a human actually helping and looking after the beastmen is so unreal and yet the more he heard the story the more hope builds inside of him, what he hates and that is actually making him feel frustrated and angry, as well the fact that the more he can persive your scent the more used to it he become and even start to crave it just make him hate the whole situation even more

It can take a lot of time before Ogami reaches his limit where he can just handle it anymore and set off on his journey to now be him the one chaising you, now constantly wandering around the frontier with the human city, taking advantage of his sharp habilities to be able to quickly track your steps

It doesn't really take much time before he finally gets to met you and even when he was planing on get answer out of you (even when his mind is so clouded that he can't think right) the moment he finally met you is like if all the thoughts that have being troubling his mind just clear and let his true feelings come out, he probably just end up fighting against you but is in that fight that he end up realicing that what he wanted the most is to meet to, to demostrate himself that you are actually real

When he finally realices that all those stories are true and that you are actually fighting to help the beastmen, using you amazing strength and habilities to help his kind he gets even more confused, but this time because now his mind is more clear now and he can identify that strange feeling growing inside of him, that feeling that makes him want to persive more of your scent, to want to see you again and even have you close, he doesn't understand why it is he feeling that way (specially towards a human) but at this point he can't just ignore those feelings anymore, the problem comes whit that he doesn't understand what to do now

[ravengards-rogue]

Ooo for the writing game, maybe Lae'zel and sick fic? I feel like whether it's her getting sick and vehemently denying it or trying to care for a sick s/o in her own. Unique. Way, it would be very entertaining regardless dfjlask

✧ tags : gender neutral reader, sickfic, silly.

"You dare try to bench me like a foot soldier?"

You frown at her. She's visibly upset at you, brows pinched and face more scrunched up than you thought possible. If she didn't look ready to smash you into the ground under her boot, you might think she's cute.

Well that's not fair. You do, still, think she's cute.

But that's neither here nor there. Lae'zel is sick and there's no two ways about it.

It wasn't a regular illness. When is it ever with you people? Some home brew concocted ailment from getting sliced in the Shadowlands - that even Shadowheart is having a hard time dealing with, godly healing and all. The symptoms are obvious, weakness and high body temperatures and nausea. No amount or strength or healing potions seems like it's going to cure it and drinking all kinds of antidotes hasn't been working either.

Halsin has some suspicion about it, but he'd need some herb that grows closer to the cities gate and it's a few days trip to get there, even using the shortest route. For the time being, though, it means Lae'zel is ill. It's not anything too miserable. Seems like a peskier version of a common cold and it comes and lingers much longer.

But well, Lae'zel is a warrior githyanki. You don't think she's ever been truly sick like this in her entire life. She's also very obviously miserable in trying to fight it off, forcing her way into remaining in your group and fighting alongside you when Karlach could very easily take her place.

It was fine the first few days, but you're positive that keeping her around in such a way is only making it worse. As her unofficial lover and the only she seems to pay even a little bit attention too, the responsibility fell on your shoulders to ensure that nothing too terrible happens under your care.

So you've been trying to wrangle her into her tent with minimal success. She doesn't like being told what to do and what not to do - but you find that you're unwilling to budge because you really don't care to see her sick.

You frown at her, perhaps unhelpfully. Sighing, you place a tentative hand on her forehead and try to ease her back against the soft mess of blankets underneath her. You think she growls at you, or something along those lines. Something biting and cautious leaving her mouth.

You can tell she's exhausted because pushing her back down when she inevitably tries to get back up is half as hard as it should be.

"Lae'zel," You say gently, trying to keep her from biting your hand off "Please? Just... rest for a little while."

You play up the desperation in hopes it sticks. She at least seems softened by it. In some way. You purse your lips trying to figure out how else to convince, her nose still turned up at you. Something alights in your brain/

"Y-you know Lae'zel, when one warrior falls injured it's not a sign of weakness but proof of strength," You stumble, trying to sound as convincing as you can. "And it uhm, gives other members of the ranks to prove themselves. So it's not...weak for you to rest. Just gives everyone else a chance to catch up,"

You try not to cringe at the sound of your own voice, awkward and stilted. It's a little ridiculous isn't it? But well - while Lae'zel is a lot of things, she cares about the pack as a whole. Her words, not yours. Teamwork hopefully speaks to her enough to get her to listen.

She turns her head to look at you slightly, lips upturned as she huffs what sounds like a laugh. Definitely laughing at you. You flush, preparing to give up.

Her hands reach up for your face, think fingers cradling your cheek as she brings you down to her level to kiss you.

Her mouth is warm and the kiss unusually tender. You chalk it up to sickness because you can't fathom any other reason she'd do it.

"Your useless muttering reeks of the wizards influence," She says, and it sounds affectionate. To your ears at least. Maybe you're imagining it. "I shall rest, lest you bite your tongue on your own foolishness."

"Thank you, Lae'zel,"

"Keep watch," She mumbles back, eyes starting to close. And, maybe this time you're really imagining it - but it sounds like she's asking you to stay.

[hellish-sunsets]

Curses and Blessings - Chapter 7

Chapter 1 ~ Chapter 2 ~ Chapter 3 ~ Chapter 4 ~ Chapter 5 ~ Chapter 6 ~ Chapter 8 ~ Chapter 9

Summary:

She didn't respond for the longest time, and if he hadn't fucked it up before then he definitely did now. He let out a defeated sigh.

“I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable-”

“No! It's, um… I'm not uncomfortable or anything, it just… caught me off guard, all the… complimenting.”

“Well, pay a compliment with a compliment. You were going on about me, so it's only fair.” She made a flustered sound and he realized what was going on. He couldn’t help the smirk that tugged at his lips and he chuckled. “Can't take a compliment, dear?” 

Read on AO3

Word Count: 1,534

Taglist:

@cherry-4200 @adaizel @kyo-kyo1 @elleofdragons @snoozewritezz

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

Lucifer jumped in his seat as his phone rang. He cursed and grabbed for it on the counter, putting his rubber duck aside to look at the screen. It probably wasn’t important…

He didn’t recognize the number. 

Very few people had his phone number for obvious reasons. The Sins had it, and Charlie had it, but that was about it. So who in hell was this?

It took a few rings before he decided to answer it anyway, pressing the button and pressing it against his ear, holding it in place with his shoulder and returning to his duck. 

“Hello~?”

“Hey Luci, it’s Y/N.” His hands froze. “Did Charlie text you about her meeting?”

He put the duck down again, clearing his throat and making sure his voice came out normal. 

“Yeah, yeah, she did. Didn’t really expect anything else… How is she doing?”

There was a pause and the clattering of something from her end of the phone. Was she working on something too?

“She was pretty upset at first, but that’s a given.” He nodded, even if she couldn’t see it. “But we talked it out, made a plan, and she’s doing better now.” There was a pause. “Are you going to help with the fight? I don't know how any of this works, if you're even allowed to…”

“I'm not.” He said with a frustrated sigh, wiping his hand down his face. “It's part of the whole extermination agreement thing. I don't get involved and the hellborn are left alone. They also made me keep all the sinners in the city so it's easier or something.”

There was a pause, just long enough for him to wince at his own admission, realizing just how bad it sounded. Damn, she probably hates him now, not that she would be wrong to. He fucked up so much -

“Yeah, not gonna lie, that sounds like a shit deal.” He gave an exhausted sigh. “Sounds about time to strike a new deal. In the meantime, we can try twisting it around to benefit us somehow.”

He gave a noncommittal hum. He hoped it would pass as a thoughtful sound, but he clearly failed.

“... you okay? What're you thinking?”

At first, Lucifer planned on waving it off. It was nothing! Just a lot going on, he's worried, something like that. But there was the nagging at the back of his head, she hates him now, the deal was stupid, she said so, he fucked up and it was biting him in the ass. The words he did end up speaking slipped out of his mouth without a thought, not really what he wanted to say exactly but close to what was running through his head. 

“Regretting my life decisions. I should never fucking agreed to that shit deal, but I thought it was okay at the time! I didn’t… really like any sinners, and it was just more important to make sure the hellborn were safe. But now that’s coming back to bite me in the ass, just like every other major decision I made! It’s like I can’t do anything right.”

His hands were gripping at his hair, the other squeezing the life out of the poor duck he hadn’t even finished. And she wasn’t responding, she had to agree. He was such a fuck up and he seemed to be reminded of that every turn he made. 

“You raised Charlie right.”

Her voice was like a lifeline in that moment, one he greedily held on to before he fell too deep into the depths of his own mind. 

“What?”

“If you can’t do anything right, then explain Charlie. She came out the sweetest creature in heaven and hell, and only so much of that is her nature. That’s something you did right, and that’s got to be the most important job you’ve had.”

His grip on his hair eased and he let the poor rubber duck go, gazing down at it. 

“Yeah… but Lillith did most of that…”

“Bullshit, like you had no say or something. Let's see… you also make great pancakes. Probably the best I ever had. You're pretty funny too. There's plenty of things you do that don't end in failure. I get how your mind can go there, though. I struggle with it myself.”

His brow furrowed, confusion replacing his regret and guilt.

“What? No, I can't believe that for a second! You're too… shit, I don't know, put together? Smart, beautiful, wise… perfect! You can't possibly be a failure. I physically can't comprehend you failing at anything. Or, no… perhaps… not being held down by failure, if that makes sense? You seem like the type to take any mistakes and turn them around for the better! I… I couldn't do that… I guess that's why I respect you so much. I-” he winced, clutching the duck tighter. “I said too much, I'm sorry…”

She didn't respond for the longest time, and if he hadn't fucked it up before then he definitely did now. He let out a defeated sigh.

“I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable-”

“No! It's, um… I'm not uncomfortable or anything, it just… caught me off guard, all the… complimenting.”

“Well, pay a compliment with a compliment. You were going on about me, so it's only fair.” She made a flustered sound and he realized what was going on. He couldn’t help the smirk that tugged at his lips and he chuckled. “Can't take a compliment, dear?” 

“You know what, let's get back on topic.” She was probably blushing, he thought. She must look so pretty blushing.

“Alright, alright, what was the point again? The battle?” 

He rested his chin in his hand, a small smile on his face while she went on about what everyone was doing. Charlie was visiting Cannibal Town to get some help, Vaggie was off to get some angelic steel for weapons, and everyone else was barricading the hotel. There was 29 days to prepare, and she sounded pretty confident that everything would turn out for the best. But as she talked, his smile slowly slipped off his face as worry gnawed at his heart.

“Are… you going to be fighting?”

There was a pause.

“Yeah, probably. I mean, everybody is, even Niffty, and I'm not going to sit around being a burden. I'll practice with everyone else. Honestly, I'm more worried about Charlie. That girl doesn't have it in her to hurt anyone…”

He hummed his agreement, something flashing in his eyes. “If anyone even lays a finger on my daughter, that battle is over.” His voice was harsh and final, and she paused before responding.

“She is hellborn. If she is in danger, then the deal is broken and you can kick as much ass as you want. Mmmm, but I don’t want to see her hurt… it’s a tricky situation for sure.”

“I mean, there’s Razzle and Dazzle, too.” He said, scratching his cheek thoughtfully. “I made them to keep Charlie safe. They would get hurt before her.”

“... do they count as hellborn?”

“Ehhh, that’s debatable, just because they weren’t born but made. I see your point though. If I see a chance to get involved, you know I will!”

“I know. I’m counting on it, it’s the only reason I’m not dying from the anxiety.”

He hummed, feeling a warmth spread in his chest. She trusted him, huh? Well, he couldn’t let her down. He was sure he could end the battle quickly if he could just get involved. But…

“Just, stay safe until I can get there, okay?”

He was probably coming off as too much, right? They barely knew each other, and even now she was only calling to make sure Charlie would be safe. And yep, there’s that fluttering in his chest again. He couldn’t lose her, not when emotions were only just starting to bubble up, ones he had yet to properly accept himself let alone admit. He still wasn’t sure it was even going to work out. He had just… he had spent too long telling himself his mark didn’t even matter or worse, was just a curse. But, many sleepless nights later thinking about her and their marks and what it means and what he should do, he was maybe, perhaps, starting to accept it. And their really was no denying the fluttering in his chest or the pain in his cheeks from smiling. 

Despite his efforts to remain distant, he really did like her.

And he was sure it would bite him in the ass just like every other bad decision he made, but there really was no avoiding it now. 

He was fucked.

“I’ll stay safe. I promise.”

He nodded to himself, squeezing his duck. 

“Alright. I’ll, uh, I’ll see you soon then.”

“You better come visit us before the hotel, for Charlie’s sake if nothing else.”

“Of course. I promise.”

“Bye, hun!”

“Bye.”

She hung up and he put his phone aside, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. He stared down at his duck, damaged from being crushed in his hands. He would have to start over. He didn’t mind too much. 

[fleurlia]

pairing; seunghan x idol reader

genre; angst, kinda fluff, lovers to exes

note; i hope you guys like this! riize has been really on my mind lately, and it was fun writing about them. i think i'll continue if you enjoy it;

your biggest dream was to debut as an idol. it always had been.

and when you finally made at the age seventeen and after some time of relentless work and effort, you could hear the words "congratulations, you did it" and then make your debut alongside your four closest friends. you felt complete, nothing in the world could take away what you now had.

although you were not paid enough for the hours of effort and the amount you did and all the other thousands of negative points, you never felt so happy in your short life and that was enough for you. the sensation of stepping onto the stage once more always rekindled a sense of fulfillment, filling a void you didn't even realize existed.

the first year was magical, creating a bond with your new four best friends who had essentially become an integral part of your family, revived something within you. the amount of trips, especially for someone who had never left the city, the absurd love that you received from the fans. all the experiences that you might remember for the rest of your life had been in that first year as the main vocalist of your group.

you never experienced emptiness like before; everything was consistently whole and fulfilling. even the various roles and positions you held within the group occupied a significant space within you.

until the day you laid your eyes on hong seunghan.

it was obvious that you would fall for him, who wouldn't?

it was like blinking, natural and predictable. you remembered the feeling of simply looking at him and thinking "it's him", nothing like love at first sight or that you were destined to be together – although seunghan sometimes swore to you that you had been made molded for each other. the feeling of falling in love with him was like sleeping and waking up, you didn't notice or remember how you slept but as soon as you opened your eyes in the morning you knew you had slept. you knew you loved seunghan.

your relationship lasted two years. you would remember these years fondly for the rest of your existence.

from his contagious laughter and humor to his sweet voice singing for you to rest in his arms as you both slept. your relationship was filled with love, passion and missing each other, you spent some time in the united states promoting your group and seunghan was preparing for riize's debut since the first months of dating. you more than anyone else hoped for the day he would be on stage with all eyes on him.

the void that was once filled only by stages and fans now also welcomed you with open arms every day as you returned home.

everything started to go wrong just before the group's debut. pictures of seunghan with an old girlfriend began to be uploaded on the internet a few weeks before the official debut day. you knew him, you would recognize his laugh amid thousands, knew exactly what displeased him and even the way he sneezed, so it was obvious that you knew about it and it was never something to bother you because when you two met you were almost adults.

that was the first ugly fight you had, you had never seen him so upset and nervous before that day. you had a stable career, SM had given a preview of your debut as an actress that year and would officially debut you in your fourth year with the group in a drama as the protagonist, you were extremely popular in the eyes of everyone and seunghan was not, he was far from it and would need to try hard to fix the situation, even though it was not a mistake.

you should have broken up, you and him knew that, but it didn't happen. you still don't know how but after practically begging your manager and him compassionately trying to resolve it, your relationship was 'forgotten' and the concern was turned to how to fix the situation.

and then seunghan finally debuted, it was one of the happiest days for both of you and despite all the confusion, the eyes really turned to him. now both shared that feeling of affection to the stage and fans, and at the end of the day returned to each other's arms.

everything seemed fine, but you knew it wasn't deep down, it seemed like a countdown to something neither of you could avoid. around him, he never seemed worried and nervous, always maintaining his sweet smile and calmly passionate eyes for you, but sometimes you could see how he drifted into a worried expression. it was a matter of two months until you broke up.

you didn't see that coming, you never would have.

you had been called to one of those meetings by your manager, it was nothing new. there was always an alignment or agenda adjustments meeting. you left the practice room as if nothing could happen, innocently even smiled at some people on the way. when you opened the door to the meeting room, you could see seunghan and his manager sitting on the other side of your manager's table.

the same boy you woke up that same morning. in his arms.

you can't remember what was said, what was agreed or arranged, but you broke up there, on that silly tuesday, in such a simple and cruel way. two years of your life were erased there in that small room of that big building. seunghan didn't look you in the eyes once or spoke. both of you spent all those minutes in pure silence. while you couldn't take your eyes off the transparent table and then him, he just sat there with no emotions in his face or eyes, it was as if you didn't know him at all. in the end when both of yours managers discussed about the risky relationship and how you and him couldn't keep it for the sake of both careers, he stood up with his manager from the room and then disappeared behind the door.

after that day, you never saw him again.

his hiatus was announced the next day and despite seeing the other members of his group and even interacting with them, you never heard his name or voice again. you didn't return to the apartment that once belonged to both of you until his things disappeared from there and you could move, and even if you had tried to contact him in moments of pure anger at how he could give up on you so easily, he never answered you, and you understood him. you could understand why he had given up, maybe in his place, you would do the same.

a month passed, all the awards and events came, Christmas and New Year also passed, all of them being the first time in two years that you did it without your boyfriend. he was nowhere to be found. the hearts of everyone around you forgot about it, but yours never did. despite all of that, the emptiness you felt was not even filled by fans, projects, or stages, and it continued to haunt you for a while.

until the day you laid your eyes on hong seunghan again, in the winter of the first month of the new year announcing his return to riize.

[y-rhywbeth2]

Hi. Read you post about the dead three's chosen, and I was wondering about the "We got the threat of sexual exploitation (assuming it didn't happen), there's a subtle undercurrent of incest to some interactions" part. Is this something in the game that I missed? Is it a dnd lore thing?

I also looked through some older posts about Bhaal/Durge stuff, and... Jergal is ruthless and manipulative?! How bad is he? Like, what can a Durge who is free of Bhaal and may be protected by Jergal expect, both in life and afterlife? Are there no good options for Durge (except maybe becoming immortal)?

Also just wanna say thank you for all your dnd lore posts. I've mostly just played in homebrew games, so wotc dnd lore hasn't come up much, and I'm learning so much from your posts!

The good news about Jergal is that he has at least shifted from Lawful Evil to Lawful Neutral, so he's probably somewhat less of a jackass...? We hope. He also tends to prefer subtler manipulation, and seems to let people's own personalities steer them (because they'll take them where he wants them to go naturally); Bane in particular is his unwitting puppet, apparently, but Jergal hasn't directly pulled the strings at all yet, for whatever reason. Jergal's faithful usually 'live' in the City of Judgement on the fugue, or he has them as undead scribes working in his temples on Toril (I imagine it's the same paperwork whichever plane you're on). It's a quiet, but not terribly interesting existence. I doubt he's steal Durge from Bhaal to use as a scribe though. Usually if he needs a servant on the Prime Material plane for some task or other he sends them back as an undead of some kind if/when they die (he likes mummies, usually). He might also be manipulating them into becoming some kind of powerful outsider he can subtly puppet like the Dead Three, or Kelemvor, or Cyric... I really don't know.

(Also I think we're supposed to take Jergal being the 'good guy' at face value in-game.)

Durge could move planes to escape the divine shenanigans. The Dead Three in current times are bound to Toril, and Jergal cannot directly bother you in the city of Sigil at the centre of the universe (which all gods are forbidden to enter on pain of total annihilation courtesy of the Lady of Pain. He can send pawns to bother you, but can't go there or do anything himself.)

No problem. (Unsurprising; homebrew is much easier to manage. I can't imagine how people who are obsessed with the lore of multiple DnD settings cope.)

-

And Durge's other 'duty' as Bhaal's Chosen, and their extremely normal relationship with their father is going under a cut.

There's nothing in tabletop lore, past a disturbing Bhaalist spell ('attraction') that can cause love/lust in targets, which is built into Bhaal's avatars and manifestations; some gods having a tendency to sleep with their followers; and a comment from Ed Greenwood that many clergy encourage people to have kids (more people raised from birth within the church = more souls and power for the deity). Also apparently having a tattoo of a god's holy symbol is often a turn on for that god's priests... for some reason...

This stuff mostly comes from the BG3:

The exploitation:

Durge is expected to provide more Bhaalspawn for Bhaal's plans, and always has been. It's most obvious in the feral ending, where Bhaal destroys their mind and puppets them directly, but it's still on their to-do list if they keep his 'love' and become his Chosen:

Sarevok Anchev: 'You failed to bring forth issue while you helmed our cult. It is a mortal sin for a Chosen. I even hoped you and my daughter might one day create a new blood-lamb for us, but it is not to be...'

Durge: 'When I bring ruin to the world, will Bhaal allow me to spare my beloved?' Sceleritas: 'Of course Master! We will always need to sire more Bhaalspawn! Although if they are not up to the task we may need to find you a breeding-mate. Or ten.'

As with anything else in Durge's life, they have no say in Bhaal's intentions for them. They start that conversation off by asking permission to keep their lover and don't even get to respond to being told that they're expected to be breeding stock, probably with a wider range of 'partners'. Just silent acceptance.

The incest:

As ever I could be reading into this, but I'm not the only person who picked up on it so maybe not.

The most overt instances of this implication crops up in the original feral ending and the current, where Bhaal is subjecting Durge to constant rape by inflicting sexual hyperarousal on them and forcing them to have sex in order to breed an army of Bhaalspawn by cross-breeding them with various monsters... which they don't actually remember, because it's not the monsters they're thinking of during the act, where it's implied that Bhaal is forcing them to think of him:

*Your memory of last night's act is absent. In the moment of mounting, your mind emptied itself, and you could think only of Bhaal. The gnoll's rump seemed to become his Temple's graven altar where you once led worship.*

"Father, I love you. I'm a good spawn. A good little spawn."*

Alternatively: "a good boy/girl."

And in one of the Bhaalist religious texts you can find in game that describes how Bhaal basically gives his followers orgasms when they murder:

"Once Bhaal's favour has quickened within one oh his beloved murderers, the bliss of his love is nigh-indescribable. For he blesses his loyal with a new sensation: a mindless, instinctual, primal sensation that comes within the bowels, an erotic spasm that washes over the killer, in the moment of murder. It is said that in that instant, his Divine Essence can almost be tasted. Forsake all other hedonisms, acolytes, for nothing can compare. Until the true ecstasies of murder wash over you, initiates, this scroll contains a prayer, you may say after a kill, calling for the Lord's disgrace to find its course in your body."

The Urge - which is Bhaal as much as it's Durge- does/can cause sexual arousal, which indicates that Bhaal does do this to them or is at least inflicting his own 'pleasure' on them by experiencing the kills through them.

*Your body feels aroused imagining a broken twisted neck, and a thrill thinking of a trailing intestine.*

'I feel the most intense pleasure [when killing]. Arousal, even.'

*The masterful painting [Minthara] depicts of the massacre awakens you hungrily.* Durge: 'Stop! I'm growing aroused!' or Durge: 'How delightful, I'm very eager to begin.' Nightwarden Minthara: 'Control yourself - you are as uncouth as the goblins.'

Notably Minthara responds the same even if Durge doesn't flat out say it, so I'd assume they're having the same response to that 'hunger' regardless.

In the same area you find that text, if you become the 'Chosen' of the Redcap masquerading as Bhaal to the kuo-toa, you get this:

*Mad guilt swills in your swooning, sick body. Today you became the tart of a false God, and your evil pride revolts.*

'Tart' being the polite way of saying 'whore', which on its own might just be a poetic way of calling them unfaithful to their religion, but with the extra context is beginning to form a potential pattern. I don't know whether Durge is referring to themselves, or if it's Bhaal calling them that. Or which is worse.

Similarly, the dream where Bhaal summons you to the duel with Orin to become his Chosen is labelled 'BloodWedding'. Again, wedding has more than one meaning, but it's most common usage is of the marital kind, and *gestures at the context of the fuckery above helplessly*

And if you go through with the whole thing and accept Bhaal, Sceleritas will tell you this:

'You and the Urge are wedded, now. One body, one mind.'

Oh, and if you have a love interest they're your 'false bride.' Let's not ask who the real one is.

Also this is a possible dialogue option if you sleep with the drow guy at Sharess' Caress and is meant to be humorous, but apparently Durge does take their daddy issues into the bedroom:

Player: 'I'm a disappointment to my father. Maybe we can work with that.'

I feel like I've forgotten some parts, but that's the gist of it.

[candycandy00]

Roses in the Sky - An Original Alien x Reader Story Part 8

In a future where humanity huddles in decaying domed cities controlled by alien invaders, you and your best friend Anna work as make-shift nurses in a tiny clinic run by the young doctor Terrian. The city is ruled by the aliens' violent, half-breed offspring who serve as brutal overseers. You and Anna have always tried to avoid these overseers at all cost, but your life is changed when one of those same terrifying offspring is brought into the clinic, injured and unconscious.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10

This is an original Alien (well half alien) x Fem Reader story! I hope everyone who enjoys my fanfiction will give this a shot! I’m posting the first chapter just to check for interest. Any feedback whatsoever would be loved! I’ve already written this story so it’s not going to delay my fanfics. Just thought I might post chapters of this between fanfics if anyone is interested.

Slow burn, as this is a novel-length story, but there will be smut in later chapters! Also: violence, blood, rape attempts, death of side characters, etc.

“Are you in love with Terrian?"

The words slipped out of your mouth carelessly, and you regretted asking the question the instant Anna looked up at you with a horrified, tear streaked face. The answer was right there, no words needed to convey it, and hearing it out loud only seemed to pain Anna more.

You sat down beside her. "You could've told me."

Anna stared toward the bottom of the stairs. "I didn't want to admit it. I don't think I even admitted it to myself until I saw him holding that half-breed's hand."

"Maybe they're not a couple," you offered. "Maybe he's just taking care of her. We don't know what their relationship is yet."

Anna put her face in her hands. "It's obvious! You saw the way he looked at her! She's beautiful and looks good in the outfits he likes and they've lived together for two years!"

You had no response to that. Terrian and Nariah had certainly looked like a happy couple. You sighed and threw an arm around Anna, feeling the other girl's body tremble as she cried.

Several minutes later, Anna stopped crying and dried her eyes. "Sorry," she said, still sniffling. "I know it's a stupid thing to cry over. But it just feels like half-breeds keep taking things away from me. They took my mom, and my brother, and my body. But for the past few years, I've been thinking, 'At least I have you and Terrian'. Now it's like you're turning to Vartan and Terrian has that... woman upstairs."

Your immediate reaction was to go on the defense, to loudly proclaim that you were not turning to Vartan, that there was no way Vartan would ever take you away from Anna, but stop stopped yourself before you could open your mouth. If you were honest with yourself, you would admit that you were being drawn more and more to the mysterious half-breed who slept on your couch.

"I'm sorry I made you feel that way," you finally said. "But I'll always be here for you, no matter what happens with Vartan. He can't replace you. No one can."

Anna's eyes were wet again, but she smiled. "I made the best decision of my life when I agreed to share that blanket with you on Second Street."

You laughed. "When I saw you, all I could think was, 'She's small, so there would be more blanket for me'."

"You were so devious back then!"

"Hey, it's how I survived,” you said with a shrug. 

Footsteps sounded from the stairs behind you, and you turned to watch Terrian approach with a worried expression. He looked at you and Anna, then lowered his head. "I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have kept Nariah from you. I just didn't want to worry you two. I promise I'll never keep secrets from you again, okay?"

You looked at Anna, who slowly nodded. You turned back to Terrian. "We forgive you."

Terrian exhaled, and you wondered if he'd been holding his breath since he came down stairs. He smiled weakly. "Thanks."

"But you don't seriously keep her up in that dusty room all day, do you?" you asked.

"No, no," he answered. "She has her own room down here but I moved her today because you girls were coming. I guess that plan didn't work though." He laughed nervously and looked at Anna, who wouldn't meet his eyes.

You gave him a look you hoped he would interpret as "Don't ask. Not now."

He must have gotten the message. He gave another weak smile and said, "You're free to leave for today. If you didn't get everything done, that's fine. Be sure to come back tomorrow, okay?"

He looked at Anna as he spoke the question, but she stood up without a word and walked down the stairs to the first floor. You heard one of the bedroom doors shut and figured Anna was changing out of the maid costume before heading home.

"She's still angry with me," Terrian said sadly.

"She'll get over it eventually," you assured him. "Just give her a little time."

"You're not angry with me, are you?"

You shrugged. "I have a half-breed at my place too. I can't really say much about it, can I?"

"Thanks," he told you again, and you nodded to him before heading down the stairs.

Anna was already gone when you finished changing, so you walked home alone. It was dusk, which meant the city was a gross color of orangey-maroon as you reached your apartment. You wondered if Vartan would still be sitting motionlessly on the couch, or if he'd even be there at all. You had no idea how long his exile from the tower would last, and he hadn't bothered to tell you. 

When you opened the door, you immediately scanned the room. You almost laughed when you realized that Vartan was indeed still sitting on your couch. You slipped off your shoes, dropped your duffel bag on the floor, and walked into the living room.

Upon closer inspection, you noticed that Vartan was asleep, slightly slumped over. You leaned down to look at him, thinking for the second time that he almost looked human while sleeping. He breathed the same as you did, his chest rising and falling slightly as his breaths made little wheezing sounds.

His eyes snapped open suddenly and you took a quick step back. "I'm home," you said, trying to start a conversation before he had time to question your closeness. "What did you do all day? Don't tell me you sat there staring at the wall."

He sat up straight and raised his arms above his head, stretching in a way that reminded you of a cat. He rubbed his eyes, one at a time, and looked at you. "I slept most of the day," he said. "I read your books as well."

You saw all five of your old trashy romance novels strewn across the couch beside him and blanched. They had belonged to your mother, and they were full of exactly the sort of scenes you really did not want a half-breed in your home thinking about. You gathered them up in your hands and said, "Where did you even find these?"

"They were on a shelf over there," he answered, pointing to a rickety book case that was completely empty.

You replaced them on the shelf and headed for the kitchen. "I guess you're hungry. I don't have much but I'll try to fix something."

A loud knock at the door startled you, and you looked swiftly to Vartan. "Hide!" you whispered, pointing to the darkened hall that led to your bedroom. He obeyed and slipped into the shadows as you walked over to the door. "Who is it?" you asked.

"My son is hurt," a male voice called back. "You're a nurse, right?"

You felt something stir in your heart. It had only been a day, but you realized at that moment that you truly missed being a nurse. "Well, sort of," you said through the door, "but all my supplies at are the doctor's house now. We had to close the clinic."

The voice on the other side hesitated for a moment, then said, "Can you at least look at him? He's bleeding."

You unlocked the door and began pulling it open. The door suddenly shoved against you hard enough to knock you down, and three men rushed into your apartment.

"Look for food and medicine first!" one of them shouted to the others, who split up and began digging through your refrigerator and drawers.

"Hey, stop it!" you yelled. "I told you I don't have any supplies here!"

The man in the kitchen was filling a plastic bag with fruit, butter, and everything else he could get his hands on. "You have plenty of food though!"

You ran over to him and tried to pull the bag from his hand. "Stop! Get out of here!" you screamed, jerking with all your strength until the bag split and the contents spilled out.

"Damn it!" the man said, shoving you away and stooping down to gather back up the food.

The man who had been giving orders made his way to the kitchen and grabbed you by the hair. "Shut up and back off, you little bitch, or I'll slit your throat!"

"Let me go!" you cried, trying to jerk free. The man released you, then immediately punched you in the stomach. You groaned and dropped to the floor, holding your sides. You looked up at the sneering man. "You're... making a big... mistake," you said.

The man laughed. "What are you gonna do? Report us to the half-breeds? Good luck with that!" He kicked you in the gut and laughed again while the other two continued grabbing your food.

You rolled over onto your stomach and tried to crawl to your feet, but one of the men kicked you again and you collapsed. You looked back to see which one had attacked you, but in that same instant a dark blur moved by you at such speed you could barely make out what it was.

Vartan now stood over you, facing the man behind you. Without a word he reached out and ripped the man's head right off his shoulders. Blood sprayed your apartment like a fire hydrant and you shrieked, more from surprise than horror.

The other two men, upon realizing just what had been hiding in your apartment, made a run for the door, but they didn't even make it out of the kitchen. Vartan swooped in like an angel of death, clad in black, ripping the burglars limb from bloody limb as you sat watching, frozen in shock.

The man who had initially punched you was the last to go, lying face up in a pool of his blood, both his arms torn off. Vartan lingered with him, bi-colored eyes narrowed into an expression you had never seen a half-breed wear, as if he had a personal vendetta against the man. He lifted the man up into the air and squeezed the man's neck until there was a terrible cracking sound. Vartan dropped the now limp body onto the floor and turned around.

You stared up at him blankly. He was covered in blood, like red brush strokes on white canvas. He was a ruthless angel of death, but somehow he had become your savior. "Are you alright?" he asked, holding out a hand to you. Even though it made no sense, even though it was totally crazy to even think it, you could've sworn right then that Vartan looked worried.

"I'm okay," you answered, taking his hand and standing up. You looked around the kitchen, suddenly more thankful than ever for your time at the clinic. You had seen so much blood and gore that it hardly fazed you any more.

"I am sorry," Vartan said in his usual monotone voice. "I have broken one of your rules. I will leave if you want."

You had nearly forgotten making the rule at all. He had agreed to punish no one while he was staying with you, but how could you enforce that rule when he had broken it only to save you?

"I don't want you to leave," you told him, surprised by your own frankness. "You protected me, so how can I blame you for that?"

He looked at you silently for a moment, and for the first time you were struck by a sudden desperation to know what he was thinking. If you asked, he probably would have told you, but you couldn't bring yourself to do it.

"I will clean up the mess I made then,” he said. 

You nodded and gathered up the food the men were trying to steal. Some of it was splattered with blood, but most of it was in plastic bags, safe from the bloodshed. You replaced what could still be used in the refrigerator and handed the now empty bags to Vartan, who began placing the various severed limbs in them.

The two of you cleaned the kitchen in silence, the only sounds coming from the squish of body parts being crammed into the bags or the squeak of a mop across the floor. You wondered if you should thank Vartan for what he did. How did things get this far? You had started out fearful of speaking to him, because he was a half-breed. Now you were afraid for entirely different reasons.

You felt like you were balancing on a wire, caught between being fascinated by him - strangely attracted to his otherness and grateful for his bizarre kindness - and being disgusted by his violence.

When they were finished, they took turns in the shower and met again in the kitchen. Vartan had a dark towel wrapped around his waist, apparently remembering the conversation that took place before you left for work. You threw his uniform into the washing machine and sat down at the table.

"Are you hungry?" you asked him casually, your own appetite completely dissolved from the moment Vartan ripped the first head off.

"Somewhat," he answered, his voice as even as ever.

"What do you like?"

"Meat. Cheese. Carrots. Oranges." He read them off like a grocery list.

You stood up and opened the fridge. "I have bologna."

"That will be fine," he said.

You pulled out the things you needed to make a sandwich and avoided his eyes while you fixed his food. He was watching you, staring at you with those alien eyes, yet somehow it felt... normal? Like he had been watching you for years? You shook your head and finished his sandwich, then sat down at the table beside him.

He ate the food, slowly but otherwise the same way anyone would eat. You remembered Terrian's words, that Nariah had become "so much more human than Pagoda". You wondered if you could ever say the same for Vartan.

"Hey," you said, and he stopped mid bite to look at you curiously. You hesitated for another moment, then smiled at him. "Thank you."

The corners of his mouth twitched, as if he reflexively wanted to return the smile, but his expression remained the same. "You're welcome," he replied.

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[captainsophiestark]

The Best Night Ever

Tristan Flynn x Reader

Masterlist - Join My Taglist!

Fandom: Crescent City

Summary: After Ruhn and Dec discovered Flynn was hiding a secret human girlfriend, the obvious next step was introducing her to the rest of the friend group as soon as possible

Word Count: 2,479

Category: Fluff, Humor

A/N: Requested by anon! Functionally a sequel to Presentation Problems and Nosy Best Friends, but it can also be read independently! Also this is just vaguely set in Crescent City, it doesn't fit very well at any specific point in the timeline lol

Putting work into an AI program without permission is illegal. You do not have my permission. Do not do it.

"How's this?"

I stepped out of the bathroom, turning in a little circle so my boyfriend, Tristan Flynn, could give me feedback on the outfit I'd chosen. After a bit of leadup and delay thanks to my grad school course load, I was finally meeting his extended friend group tonight. To say I was nervous might've been an understatement.

Tristan's eyes raked up and down my body, a hungry light to them that I knew well.

"You look amazing."

I huffed and put my hands on my hips, fixing him with a look, but he wasn't fazed.

"Of course you think that. You're biased as Hel."

He shrugged. "I can't help it if I have good taste."

I snorted and rolled my eyes, but I'd been dating Flynn long enough to know he probably hadn't missed my heart speeding up a bit in my chest. I did my best to ignore it as I headed back into the bathroom to finish my makeup.

"You have nothing to worry about, sweetheart," called Flynn, his voice getting closer as he came to stand behind me at the bathroom counter. He wrapped his arms around my waist and leaned his head on my shoulder. "They're gonna love you."

"...I hope you're right."

He kissed my cheek, pulling me even tighter against his chest. Some of the tension relaxed out of my shoulders.

"Don't worry. I am."

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

Just about an hour later, I walked hand-in-hand with Flynn up to a fairly normal looking house near the Old Square. Definitely not a place I expected a fae prince to live, but then again, Tristan and his friends didn't seem anything like what I expected from fae nobility.

"So this is home sweet home, huh?" I asked as we walked up the drive together. Flynn grinned.

"Yup. Bryce likes to call it the frat house."

I laughed, but realized what she meant the minute we stepped through the door. From the vaguely sticky floor to the gaming setup and the pong table painted with a giant fae dude eating an angel whole this place would've fit right in with frat row on CCU's campus.

I snorted. "Holy shit, 'frat house' is right."

Flynn grinned at me, having the dignity to look at least a little embarrassed. Before he could defend himself, however, we were joined by a group who I assumed were Tristan's friends, all coming from the kitchen with bright smiles on their faces and warm greetings on their lips. I squeezed my boyfriend's hand a little tighter and pasted a smile on my own face, but when a female with beautiful red hair, who I assumed must be Bryce, immediately wrapped me in a tight hug, the smile got a little more real.

"I'm Bryce," she said, confirming my suspicions with a smile when she pulled back. "It's so nice to finally meet you. I thought Flynn was making you up."

I laughed despite my boyfriend's indignant "Hey!".

"It's really nice to meet you too."

She gave me another smile, another level of tension easing as she did, before turning to the tall angel behind her.

"This is Hunt, my mate." The guy in question gave me a nod and a small smile of his own, which I returned. Bryce gestured to the two fae males to her side, who I recognized. They'd trailed Tristan to my apartment, curious about where their friend kept disappearing to, and were a big part of the reason we were having this dinner in the first place. "I guess you already know these two."

"Sup," said the Crown Prince of the Valbaran Fae with a chin nod in my direction. I had to work not to laugh, especially as Bryce elbowed him in the ribs and he shot her a glare. Still, he cleared his throat and turned back to me. "Uh, sorry for... how we first met. It was probably a lot, but honestly, we were just shocked Flynn had a steady girlfriend."

"Hey!"

Tristan's shout went ignored again as I laughed and the other fae male—Marc—nodded emphatically to back up his friend's story. I just grinned.

"It's okay. Tris basically told me the same thing, that your reaction was down to shock that he had a relationship and not, you know. That I'm human."

"No way," Ruhn assured me.

"Maybe shock that he actually got you to agree to go out with him," agreed Dec. I laughed as Tristan cleared his throat and draped his arm across my shoulders.

"Alright, I think that's enough of that shit," he said. "Where's the Pup?"

"Running late, but on his way," answered Dec. I raised an eyebrow as he turned to me. "You want a drink or anything while we wait?"

"Sure, I'll just take a beer or something. Thank you."

"No problem."

The rest of us settled into the living room as Dec went to get himself, me, and Tristan a drink. I ended up perched in Tris' lap, largely because I didn't really want to sit on the frat furniture in this place. Bryce clocked what I was doing, and her nod and wink told me she totally got it.

"So who's 'Pup'?" I asked, twisting around a little to look at Tristan but addressing the question to the group.

"He's one of the other members of our motley crew," answered Bryce. "He actually went to CCU for a while."

"Oh, really? What did he study?"

"History."

"Hm. I wonder if we overlapped? Maybe I've seen him around."

As if on cue, I heard the front door open. I turned with the rest of our group to see none other than CCU's most recent star sunball player coming through the door, a six pack in his hand.

"Sorry I'm late," he said. He came to a stop in front of our group and fixed me with a smile when he noticed me. "Hey, nice to meet you. I'm Ithan."

"Hey," I said, returning the smile right as Dec returned, handing me my drink. "It's nice to meet you too."

Then, I turned to Flynn, not bothering to hide the outrage on my face.

"How could you not tell me you're friends with Ithan Holstrom, CCU's best player in the past decade."

Flynn groaned and threw his head back, smacking his hand against his face. I could hear the rest of his friends laughing at his pain, but I ignored them.

"Are you fucking with me right now?" asked my boyfriend as he finally picked his head up and looked at me again. "You're not actually a fan of his, are you?"

"Of course I am! My friend goes to the school he almost single-handedly stomped into the ground in the championship a couple years ago, and I still use that game to win arguments with her. Like, at least once a month." I turned to look over my shoulder at Ithan, who looked half amused and half embarrassed at the attention. Everyone else looked absolutely delighted by the interaction they were witnessing. "Thanks for that, by the way."

Ithan gave me a nod and a thumbs up, and Flynn practically growled.

"I knew this was a bad idea," he said as he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me tighter to him, until my back was pressed against his chest. He buried his face in my hair as he grumbled, "Just please tell me you don't have his jersey."

"Well..."

"Fucking Urd."

"I'm kidding!" I laughed. "I don't have his jersey. Sorry Holstrom, but I always liked the goalies best."

Ithan grinned. "No hard feelings. I could probably set up a meet and greet for you with the goalie from that championship game, if you wanted it."

"You're all terrible people and friends," groaned Flynn, scowling at us all. We just laughed, but I rested a comforting hand on his thigh all the same.

The rest of the night passed quickly, and way more easily than I'd thought it might. Tristan's friends were funny and absolutely wonderful, and they made me feel welcome every second of the night. I don't think any of them even realized how much it meant to me when, after dinner, we had a few impromptu games of pong and none of them were anything but excited about how good I was, without a glancing comment or hint of mention about "for a human". Instead, I'd gotten impressed whistled from Bryce and Hunt, cheers from Ithan, and ridiculous, overcomplicated handshakes from Ruhn and Dec. Tristan beamed at every interaction, smiling and supporting me every second of the night, and I got a warm glow in my chest every time I looked at him.

I never would've imagined falling in love with a Vanir, but I'd realized about a month ago that that's what was happening with Flynn. To also be falling in love with his friends, his community, and the energy of being around them despite the fact that the group was full of mostly male, powerful Vanir? I'd basically won the lottery.

Apparently I'd still missed meeting one member of the core friend group tonight, a mer named Tharion who worked in intelligence for the Ocean Queen, but everyone assured me I'd love him, too, even though he could be ridiculous sometimes.

"I mean, if you can put up with Flynn, I think you'll be able to put up with Tharion just fine," said Dec. Tristan scoffed.

"Thanks, buddy."

When the night finally ended, way later than I had ever been expecting it to, it was with hugs and plans being made to get together again as soon as possible, especially so I could meet Tharion. Tristan was leaving with me, both to walk me home safely and because he'd been spending more and more time at my place lately. Hunt and Bryce left with us, taking off into the skies as Tris' frat brothers waved us all off from the doorway.

I smiled as I waved back at them, Flynn and I heading down the street hand in hand. A peaceful, happy feeling had settled in my chest as the night came to a close and Tristan and I stepped into the cool night air, and it wrapped me up like a blanket as we walked together in comfortable silence.

"So... what did you think?" asked Tris after a few blocks. I smiled.

"I think I love your friends. I wasn't expecting them to be so... cool. But they were, and I'm really happy I got to know them. Thank you for sharing them with me."

"Seriously? Thank you for putting up with them."

I huffed a laugh as we finally made it to my building, pausing to search for my keys. I found them after a moment, but Flynn stopped me before I could open the door with a gentle hand on mine. When I met his eyes, I found his face in the rare expression of open vulnerability that I loved so much.

"I mean it, you know. I- thank you for coming tonight. I know how nervous you were about it."

I gave him a little half-smile. "Of course, Tris. Anything for you. I... I love you."

My heart leapt into my throat, threatening to choke me out as I registered the soft surprise on Tristan's face. I'd figured out what the feeling in my chest meant whenever I looked at him a while ago, but I hadn't actually said it yet. If he didn't feel the same way, or if this somehow scared him off-

Tristan closed the distance between us in a heartbeat, moving faster than I could really register. He wrapped me in his arms and pulled me close, his breath ticking my ear as he spoke.

"I love you too," he said, voice breathy and soft, like he couldn't quite believe this moment was real. I knew how he felt. "So much. I don't... I don't think I've ever felt this way about someone before."

I giggled—actually giggled—the bright, happy sound bubbling out of me involuntarily. I wrapped my arms around Tristan's neck, leaning back just enough so I could look him in the eye. The soft intensity in his look almost destroyed me on the spot, and I beamed at him before leaning back in to kiss him, hard.

We stayed like that for a long, long time, locked together, lost in each other, making out on he front step of my apartment building. Tristan's hands roamed my body and I tangled mine in his hair, the door key still clutched in one hand, neither of us caring who might see us. We were both breathless and grinning like fools when a car horn at the other end of the block finally snapped us out of it.

"This... might've been the best night ever," I said, grinning at my wonderful boyfriend, who grinned right back.

"Damn right it is."

I let out a breathy laugh, finally returning my attention to the apartment keys and the door in front of me. Tristan's hands found my hips as he hovered over my shoulder, and I knew the best night ever wasn't quite over for either of us.

"You know, I just realized something," mused Tris as I wrestled with the door.

"What's that?"

"You told me you loved my friends before you said you loved me."

I huffed a laugh and fought an eyeroll as I finally got the stubborn lock to work, throwing the door open for both of us.

"Trust me," I said, fixing him with a look as we stepped inside. "I love you in a very different way."

"Really?" he asked, that spark of mischief I loved so much creeping into his eyes and his voice.

"Yes, really."

"I don't know, sweetheart. I think I'm feeling a little insecure about it."

His voice and posture told me he felt anything but insecure, but I just put a hand on my hip, playing along with the male I loved.

"Oh yeah? Anything I can do to make you feel better about it?"

He let that cocky grin that I knew so well slowly spread across his face, fixing me with a look that definitely meant trouble.

"I can think of a few things."

With that, he picked me up and threw me over his shoulder, just laughing at the noise of surprise I made. I regularly forgot about his super fae strength, and I'd be lying if I said it didn't make my heart race.

Tristan took the stairs two at a time, and I couldn't help joining him with a laugh of my own. I was ridiculously, deliriously happy with him, and had been basically since the first day I'd met him. I don't know if it was fate or Urd or some other cosmic force that threw us together, or even just plain, stupid luck. Whatever the case, I would never take it for granted for a single second. I planned to enjoy every moment with this wonderful idiot love of my life, and even better, I knew he felt exactly the same.

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

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