#I couldn't have gotten as far as I have without his help and his patience. sitting next to me for hours trying to help me on jobs

[chqnified]

Forget loosing friends or breakups. Ever lost a colleague?

[unreliablesnake]

Hold on tight (Vincent de Gramont x reader)

Summary: You keep your end of the deal and return to Paris to visit Vincent.

Note: I'm not happy with this. / previously on... / The title comes from this song. / If you want to know when I post new stuff, follow @unreliablesnakefics and hit the get notifications button. I don't have a taglist.

Warnings: smut(ish)

“It's been more than half a year,” Winston noted one night when you couldn't sleep and decided to join him in the bar. “The Marquis is already looking for you.”

“I know.”

He was right. Rumor had been flying around that he was paying some people to come to the Continental just to check on you in these past months. And all along, Winston did his best to shield you, keep you away from having to face the possibility of meeting him again. But lately things had gotten worse, you knew it.

“You know,” you began once you took a sip of your drink, “I thought time and distance would help me. That I would feel better. That I wouldn't feel the need to be near him. But it's not working, I still want him,” you explained sadly.

“Then go and meet him,” he offered the solution as if it was that easy.

Because it wasn't easy. You were fighting your emotions so hard for a long time, but that emptiness from being away from him just kept crawling back. “And if he somehow convinces me to stay with him?” you asked since it was a possibility. You might get weak and stay if he asked.

“Is that what you're afraid of?” Nodding, you leaned back in the chair and crossed your legs. “He's a bad man. We're not saints either, but at least we follow the rules.”

“How is this supposed to help me? I already knew he's a jerk.”

Winston let out a heartfelt laugh. “What if he can change for the better because of you? What if he would change if that was the price of being with you?”

“I'm not so sure about that.”

“I am,” came his reply that took you off guard. You gave him a questioning look then waited for the explanation. “He's been sending you handwritten letters, and tries to call you almost daily… This man is in love, sweetheart. Who knows how far he would be willing to go to get you.”

You shrugged. “Maybe he will kidnap me again.”

“That didn't work out the first time,” Winston pointed out.

“True.”

“Also, he's not known for his patience, yet he's been waiting long months for you to keep your end of the deal.”

He was right again. Vincent was surprisingly patient with you, he didn't start harassing you through his men, instead he kept his distance and kept an eye on you without saying a word. And while you didn't even want to think about it, Winston pointed out this difference.

The man who was so used to getting whatever he wanted and whenever he wanted it was waiting patiently for a woman. He could have gone out to pick up someone else, but no, according to rumors he was waiting for you. It was hard to decide whether it was flattering or terrifying.

Your boss let out a sigh as he glanced down at the notebook on the table in front of him. “You should go to Paris. However long it takes,” he added before you could say you didn't want to be away from this place in case he needed your help.

He didn't even have to look up to know you were about to object. But you kept your mouth shut, and so you ended up buying a ticket and packing your suitcase in the following hours. “I'm an idiot for doing this,” you told yourself as you collected some items from the bathroom.

Thirteen hours later you once again landed in Paris, although this time you were on your own. Or so you thought. At the airport you were greeted by a man Vincent sent there to pick you up and take you to him. You followed him without asking questions, knowing full well it would be futile to resist and insist on traveling on your own to the hotel where you reserved a room for yourself.

Unlike the last time, the mansion didn't look cold and threatening. No, it was warm and welcoming, a place where you could feel safe right away. Safe. With him. You didn't think these two things would ever be connected by the same sentence. While you'd been here the last time, you were always on the edge, feeling like you didn't belong.

But now? Now you had a feeling you were exactly where you were supposed to be.

A staff member came to help you with your luggage, assuring you that they would take it straight to your room, while a woman came to accompany you to the room Vincent was in at the moment. Your eyes scanned the paintings on the walls as you passed by, the familiar sight making you feel at home.

“I was beginning to think you wouldn’t come,” you suddenly heard the familiar voice say. You looked up and noticed him standing in the hallway, hands folded behind his back as he watched you. He sounded unsure, a quite shocking experience compared to the authoritative Vincent you had met the last time.

You waited until the woman was told to leave and the two of you were left alone before you said anything. “Me too,” you replied quietly. “But someone convinced me to come here and keep my end of the deal.”

Vincent’s jaw tightened and you wondered what made him do it. Was it because you said you were only here because of that deal? It could be the reason.

“I’m glad I’m here,” you added, surprising yourself with this sentence.

Because if you wanted to be honest, you were glad to be in Paris again. To be with him. All those months of thinking about him while your brain tried to warn you forget him had its toll on you. You were tired and doubted your feelings all the time. But now that you were here with him, you began to see clearly.

This man had managed to get under your skin despite being a kidnapper, planting the seeds in your brain that then turned you into this mess eventually. But it worked. You were here, you were yearning for his touch, and you had to fight your instincts to keep your distance for now.

Let's see what he does. You shouldn't throw yourself at him as if he had done nothing wrong. Having a spine is a good thing.

“I got your room ready,” he spoke up again, sounding surprisingly awkward. “I thought you might want to get some rest first. I have a dinner reservation, but if you'd rather stay here, I can have something made for us.”

“We can go out, I guess,” you replied as you nervously swept a strand of hair behind your ear.

Vincent nodded. For a few moments you both stood there in silence, but then he cleared his throat, excused himself, and went back into the room he had previously emerged from. After letting out a long sigh of relief, you headed towards your room, ready to get some well-deserved sleep.

A few hours later you put on a nice dress and did your makeup properly, ready to head out with him for the evening. Because you were sure it wasn't just a dinner he was planning for the two of you. A play? An opera? Maybe a museum? Whatever it would be, you wouldn't object.

As it turned out, you knew him perfectly well, because you were right about his plans. He was hesitant the whole time, as if he wasn't sure how to approach you anymore, but he managed to stay in charge, and that was a good thing.

Because you were too focused on your own needs, on his beautiful green eyes, on his lips, and on his suit. It was just too much to handle, and when you were in the back of the car on the way back to his home, you slowly reached out to take his hand.

He looked surprised, but he wrapped his fingers around your hand, then raised it to his lips to place a soft kiss on it. “I really missed you, my love,” he said.

“Don't think that kidnapping me all those months ago is completely forgiven. But in all honesty, I missed you too. I really did,” you added with a smile before resting your head on his shoulder.

In the next two days, Vincent made sure you felt comfortable in his company. He was nice, and sweet, and things eventually got as intimate as they used to be. You found yourself in his bedroom after a wonderful afternoon in the Louvre, your body pressed to the wall as his lips traced your skin.

He explored your body like this was the first time he had seen it without clothes, and he kept you from moving around, pinning you down to make sure you didn't start removing his clothes. No, he wanted to take his time with you, driving you crazy by not giving you exactly what you wanted.

But a sick part of you loved every second of it, it craved the physical pain not being able to touch him caused. Because you wanted to lay your hands on his body, feeling the smooth skin under your fingertips before moving down to tease his cock.

Vincent could tell you were silently suffering by now, so he kept praising you, even as he got on top of you in bed and leaned down to kiss your collarbone before slowly moving up to your neck. This is when you began to beg him to fuck you, to skip this stupid teasing and finally give you what you needed so badly.

“Would it be weird if I told you I loved you?” you asked him while you were lying in bed together, both of you on the brink of falling asleep.

He let out a quiet, uncharacteristic laugh, then kissed your forehead. “I feel the same way, mon amour,” he told you. “What do you think about staying here for a while? For a few months, maybe.”

You let out a sigh as you thought about his suggestion. Winston had told you to stay as long as you had to, but did you really want to leave him alone for that long? “That's a lot of time, Vincent, I'm not sure. I have responsibilities back home,” you said, more to convince yourself than him.

“Don't you want to be with me?”

“Why don't you come to New York for a week or two? I could show you around,” you offered with a laugh.

He watched you silently for a while, carefully thinking about this idea. Sure, after what had happened the last time he was there, it was understandable if he was a little hesitant.

Maybe it wouldn't be weird to stay in France after all. After leaning over to give him a soft kiss, you rested your forehead against his. “Okay, fine, I'll stay here.”

Little did you know at the time that you wouldn't stay for just a couple of months. You stayed here for good, eventually marrying the man who had almost destroyed your life at one point.

[animeyanderelover]

Anon: Could I request Yandere Sebastian Michaelis, Ciel Phantomhive, Alois Trancy, Claude Faustus and Ash Landers with a reader who's a young widow/widower who refuses to entertain any thoughts of having another romantic relationship with someone out of a desire to spend the rest of their life as their late spouse's wife/husband.

Tw: Yandere themes, unhealthy mindset, unhealthy relationship, possessive behavior, obsession, stalking, delusional thoughts, paranoia, manipulation, blackmailing, gaslighting, threats, arranged marriage, abduction

My one and only partner

Ciel Phantomhive

☕ It's such a tragic event, isn't it? Losing the spouse you adored and loved so much. Yes, life can certainly be cruel. The young Earl gives you his condolences, although more out of an act of formal courtesy than genuine compassion and sympathy for your loss. Your spouse has been an unpleasant thorn in his eye for a while now and if it wouldn't have been for their sudden death, he would have ended up manipulating and sabotaging the relationship himself. With them out of the picture without his doing though, Ciel sees a chance. Your talk about never wanting another relationship again is initially not something he takes serious. You're hurt and shocked, you'll get eventually over it. In the meantime Ciel plays the role of the supporting and kind friend who helps you and overlooks how you're doing. If you're struggling in life due to the loss of your lover, he'll financially support you.

☕ The Earl of Phantomhive stays patient with you for a couple of months where he subtly brings up the idea of you marrying again in some discussions he has with you yet you never hesitate in your answer that you'll never take another spouse. Slowly you wear his patience down though as the seasons pass by and your way of thinking doesn't change. Ciel eventually has to acknowledge that you might just be more serious with your decision than he initially anticipated and your sheer dedication to your late spouse elicits a spark of annoyed envy out of him. It's disrespectful to think in such a condescending way of your dead spouse but Ciel just can't see why you'd love them so much and deny yourself the chance to marry a more suitable person. The more suitable person of course being him. Nothing is fully confirmed just yet though so Ciel continues for now with what he's been doing so far, feigning to be your concerned friend whilst subtly courting you.

☕ As another couple of months pass by and you still don't change your mind, Ciel has to resort to more manipulation and sabotage. A pity, he was hoping to win your heart the more gentlemanly way. He decides to break off the engagement with Lizzy sooner than initially planned and paints himself to be quite shaken by those events. He does it in a way that doesn't damage his relationship with the Midford family though as they're important allies to him. He hopes to gain your sympathy by acting like it hits him harder than anticipated. Additionally he forces you into situations where you have to rely on him more in attempts to earn your gratitude and trust. Those are ways to blackmail you without you really knowing as he still hopes that you'll stop your childish behavior by pushing you. If none of those work though, he sees himself forced to arrange an engagement between you two. It would truly be a pity though if you'd leave him no other choice but to reveal his cold and possessive persone though, wouldn't you agree?

Sebastian Michaelis

🐈‍⬛ Sebastian puts his best act out to appear compassionate over your loss but his black heart couldn't care less in reality. Instead the early death of your spouse is merely a problem less for him as they dared to touch and take something that belongs to the demon and the demon alone only. He would have gotten rid of them himself but life was this time faster than him apparently. Despite his clear apathy, he still feigns concern and sympathy to gain your trust and even your reliance as Sebastian can't help but see the current situation you're in as a good opportunity to claim your heart which was meant to belong to him in the first place. Emotionally you're very vulnerable right now after all and even if he isn't thrilled by the fact that you waste so much thoughts and tears on this good-for-nothing spouse of yours, it's an ideal chance to grow closer to you and show you that you have a far better option right in front of you. Him.

🐈‍⬛ Sebastian prides himself in showing off his skills and abilities in front of you whilst taking care of you. He helps you in whatever ways he can, always pays you a visit and sees how you're doing. He does some of the chores for you when you're busy and even cooks and bakes for you when he has the time. He's aware of your antics of not wanting to marry ever again but he doesn't take you seriously. No, instead he almost finds your childish determination amusing as he does not believe you to stay true to your decision. Sebastian is far too confident in himself to feel intimidated or insecure. He's swayed many with his looks and his charm. If at all, he views this all as a little challenge. Amuse him a bit if you can, he has all the time in the world. You manage to stay loyal to your decision and the first couple of months, this actually excites the demon. You aren't as easily swayed and he enjoys that you're a harder challenge. That'll make it all the more rewarding when you give in after all.

🐈‍⬛ Apparently the demon has severely underestimated your loyalty and love for your dead spouse as you keep on denying him and his attempts to court you. What was once amusement and fun slowly turns into bitterness and annoyance, black feelings Sebastian has rarely experienced against someone, especially against a dead human. In all possible ways you could compare your deceased spouse to him, Sebastian is better in every way so why would you cling so desperately to someone who is already dead. As a demon, Sebastian will never be able to understand your strong devotion as you're his mate and shouldn't cling to the memories of a dead human. His comments become snarky and passive-aggressive whenever you talk about your dead spouse as he doesn't want to hear you speaking of them in such a wistful manner. You make him slowly lose his patience, an achievement near impossible. He might just come clear with his feelings at one point, giving you the last opportunity to accept him. "No" is not an option for you though.

Alois Trancy

👅 Alois should learn to read the room as he gives his darling an emotional response only a heartless asshole would show. The aristocrat is gleeful with the news of the unexpected death of your spouse. He has despised them with every fibre of his being simply for being married to you and being your spouse by law, a spot that should belong to him. They were in his way and if they wouldn't have died so suddenly, Alois would have ordered their death himself. Their death is in his mind like a sign from above, a sign that should tell you that they weren't meant for you. He has such a hard time hiding his sadistic grin and at least acting like he feels sorry as he just feels giddiness rushing through his blood. Finally! Now he can have you all for himself without their disgusting arse anywhere near you. He might just visit their grave out of pure spite, mocking them and laughing at them. They got what they deserved for taking you.

👅 No sense for boundaries and personal space, Alois just acts like an immature and spoiled brat, which he really just is at the end of the day. He's clingy because now there is no spouse of yours around which disgusts him and tempts him to just strangle them for doing as much as touching you. No, instead he's celebrating your new freedom and that you two can now finally be together as he showers you with presents and invites you multiple times a week over to his mansion. He's giddy, joyful and touchy with you as he doesn't even consider the fact that you want to grieve, don't want to hang around him or even start a relationship with him right away. Instead he instantly assumes that you'll accept him and are even happy that your deceased spouse is now gone. That makes him immensely confused when you stop him and tell him firmly that you have no interest in him or anyone.

👅 He's not believing you or at least doesn't want to believe you. Why are you still hung up on that rat? They were only in the way! He should have been your lawful husband from the very start! The brat in him emerges and starts shouting and crying, blames you for being so stupid to choose the wrong person in the first place when you should have just waited for him to come along. Aloid doesn't want to understand and neither will he ever understand, too gone in his head with his pretty fantasy of you two being meant to be together. So he doesn't take your words seriously, refuses that you mean it. Such devotion should only be for him, you can't possibly really feel so strongly about them...right? He rejects that idea of your heart forever belonging to them violently but he grows undeniably more paranoid with the thought constantly present at the back of his mind. You're the one who has the wrong idea here! Alois genuinely believes that you just need some convincing to see that you were wrong, although that means in normal words an abduction and isolation.

Claude Faustus

🕷️ His facial expression remains cold and apathetic, only the slight hint of a smug grin tugging at the corner of his lips when he hears about the news. What a stroke of luck that is, he doesn't have to bother with this little insect after all. Claude would have a 100% taken care of them himself but that isn't needed because their own stupidity was the death of them. Claude is rather content for the first time in a long while as his mood hasn't been the best ever since he found out that his mate had already been claimed by another human. He hides his smugness about their death in front of you though, sane enough to understand that he'd only earn your ire otherwise. Besides that though, he'll keep his emotionless face though because it is hard faking sympathy and sorrow for someone who has only been a hindrance in his eyes from the very first moment.

🕷️ Claude is merciless as he instantly starts erasing traces of their existence. He tidies your house up to get rid of their stench clinging to every material until his own smell is dominating the house and throws photos and everything else out. The last part he does without your knowledge since you cherish every reminder of your late spouse. It's pathetic and annoying to see you breaking down when you can't find pictures and, worst of all, your own wedding ring anymore. You sob and cry and he can only look at you with cold eyes, doing his best to hide an annoyed sneer. That dead human is barely worth anything besides a mediocre meal in his eyes so why are you so affected? You have him and that's all you'll ever need. Your talk of never wanting another romantic relationship only serves to fuel his annoyance but ultimately he brushes it off as you being dramatically emotional.

🕷️ Claude is rather full of himself after all, is confident that he can charm you and make you forget all about your spouse in no time. His patience is not as good as Sebastian's is though so he grows soon tired of your naive fantasy to live and die as your late spouse's partner. Even the mere mention of their name causes his chest to fill with barely hidden annoyance, his words cold and sharp when he speaks about them. He's just done with you and your stubbornness of clinging to someone who is already buried six feet underneath. He is the one you should choose, not some pathetic and undeserving human. You're his mate after all! His! That's the point where Claude starts using his powers to sabotage you, scare you, torture you mentally a bit to force you into co-dependency. If you still refuse to accept him, deny him what is rightfully his, he'll have no mercy whatsoever. He'll reveal himself to you and will take you for himself just like his instincts demand him to do. Don't worry, you'll forget soon all about your former lover.

Ash Landers

▫️ Ash has been agonizing himself over that spouse of yours since the first day he found you. Marriage is sacred, a bond special yet for you to give your vow to such a vile human. No one is worthy of you in this city, not even in the entire world. It isn't your fault though as Ash believes that it was your spouse who forced you, abused your kindness and love. Oh, he would have loved to remove that stain himself but perhaps this was divine punishment from heaven. It is a heavy weight less on his shoulders for him now that that vermin is gone, although your safety is still plenty enough to give him multiple heart attacks. You're far from safe after all as you still live in a society with rotten individuals, you're the only pure and untainted flower left. So Ash just has to act and so something before they'll devour you, tear you apart.

▫️ In all his paranoia and panic he only notices after the abduction that you're busily grieving over the death of your husband. Personally, he wouldn't even spare them a single thought and they're especially unworthy of your thoughts and feelings. He's sensitive when it involves you so your tears and your sorrow crush his heart as he enters multiple frenzies, blames your deceased spouse. How could anyone dare to sadden you and be the source of your anguish and tears? Ash tries everything to help you with your pain, has multiple meltdowns whenever he catches the sight of your tears or senses the emotional agony you're in. Parts of him die again and again as he already seems to fail in his role as a guardian angel and it eventually reaches the level where he kneels in front of you with tears streaming down his face, begging you to tell him what he should do to ease your pain.

▫️ He finds out from you that you've decided to never have another romantic relationship so that you can spendthe rest of your life as you're spouse's lawful partner. Initially he has no real problems with that. Sure, he still thinks that such vermin is deserving of such sheer dedication and loyalty from you but that just shows why you're such a pure creature in the first place. No one is worthy of you anyways so the concept of you refusing to love anyone else, or let anyone abuse you again as Ash thinks of it, should be reassuring and it is a little bit for a while. At least until Ash discovers that what he thought were sincere intentions to protect you like any guardian angel should have turned into feelings of longing and desire. Emotions he shouldn't feel towards you as not even he sees himself as deserving of your heart. Yet now the knowledge that you won't even consider falling in love again to waste your precious love on your dead spouse pains him only more but he forbids himself to ever let you find out about his feelings, no matter how many times he has to punish himself. Only your love could save him now.

[mechazushi]

⬆You see this? You done f*cked up now. I hope your happy with what you've done. *Slaps this onto the table and points at you* Enjoy the fic. @iceclew

Edit: ICCEEEEEE!!!!!! I WANT SOME FUCKING CHILD SUPPORT FOR THIS FIC! THIS WASN'T SUPPOSED TO BE THIS LONG!!! I was going to treat this like how I did the Fantasy AU Season 1, but My Brain kept saying "Naw, I can segway this, I can Segway this pretty easily. It'll only take an extra paragraph." YEAH, NO. IT WAS FOUR EXTRA PARAGRAPHS, AND I TOLD THIS TO MYSELF FOUR TIMES, THAT'S SIXTEEN EXTRA PARAGRAPHS!!!! AND I HAD TO RETCON THE ORIGINAL ENDING BECAUSE I COULDN'T BRING MYSELF TO LEAVE IT VAGUE!!! THAT'S AN EXTRA TWELVE PARAGRAPHS!!!!! THE FUCK DID YOU DO TO ME, WOMAN?!?!?!

Solstice Dispatch {An ATLA AU for Kaiju Number 8}

"Head North towards the center of the continent. Up and past the Twin-La mountains is where you will find the beast." Said the Southern Water tribe's leader, Laktua.

Soshiro had received a letter from the man less than a month ago, requesting his team's services. Since the current avatar had selfishly decided to stay and fix the broken world that was the Fire Nation's Ruling Families, Spirits and beasts of various natures have been overstepping their boundaries and have decided to push their luck with human patience. Soshiro had spent the better part of a decade gathering people with adept skills and an instinctual spiritual connection with the soul purpose of filling a fraction of what should have been the Avatar's duties. His group was small, but carried immense potential. So far it consisted of a firebender Prince named Narumi, a man disillusioned with the idea of becoming the head of his powerful family; Kikoru, a young earthbending prodigy plagued with spiritual visions from the beyond; Haruichi, another water bender from the Earth Kingdom continent with... unconventional methods of bending; and Aoi, a traveling monk they picked up along their journeys that had deemed their cause a noble one.

They had followed their guide as far as she would take them over the snowy foothills to the base of the mountains they were now tasked with crossing. Narumi complained about the quite monumental task ahead of them and had tried to convince the group to let Kikoru build a tunnel through the base of the mountain. The idea was quickly dismissed because while she was talented, she was nowhere near strong enough to take the mental and physical load that would come with the impressive feat. Without wasting anymore time, Soshiro, with Aoi's help, strapped up and instructed everyone on the basics of mountaineering. It was already a long journey by the time they reached what was considered the halfway point, but they eventually reached the steeper part of the mountains they were continuing to climb. They were trying to aim for the low point in between the two largest peaks since that's where most of the spirit's sightings were reported.

Soshiro had an uneasy feeling about this job ever since he received the letter. Even after confirming with the city's chief, this whole task ahead of them felt off. For starters, it had seemed like that this spirit in question hadn't done anything that would warrant such a drastic response that was ordering its execution. Soshiro had to explain and remind Laktua several times that they didn't execute spirits. They tried to either pacify them or antagonize them enough that they turned tail and ran off to somewhere else. But the chief seemed staunch on seeing that this supposed spirit was to never haunt the edges of their coastal town ever again and to have this all done before the Winter Solstice festival swung into high gear. Soshiro's uneasiness had gotten to the point where he felt like he was blaming every little snag and bump in the road here on the bad energy coming from this request. He wasn't one to be completely superstitious. After all, not all bad luck is because of an angered spirit. He had yet to encounter anything on this trip to sway his feeling on the matter.

It certainly didn't help that his troupe was about to be caught in what looked like to be the beginnings of a snow storm. They had reached the steepest part of the mountain they were climing just as the wind began to blow around them harder, whipping up the powdery top layer of snow they were climbing on. Even with Aoi in the lead next to Hoshina, trying his best to direct the brunt of the wind around the group, they could feel the slicing cold shred past the more protective layer of clothing they were wearing.

"Hate to break it to you Hoshina, but we're starting to look pretty stupid for being out here!" Narumi had to shout to be heard over the howling wind blasting down the peaks.

"I know we're climbing to conserve our bending, but I'm starting to think we're gonna need shelter faster than we thought!" Haruichi called up from underneath his leader.

Hoshina took all their commentary into consideration as he looked at both the way in front of them and at how far they had traveled behind them. The sky grew darker by the second, forcing him to come to an answer fast.

"We'll take shelter once we reach the top! Haruichi! Get up closer to me and we'll-"

A sudden crack of thunder interrupted his commands as all their attention was directed to the peaks before them. A bigger, more body rattling and eardrum bursting blast of thunder was heard as it was quickly followed up by a brilliant flash of lightning. It struck right at the valley between the two peaks, briefly illuminating a tall, horned figure. While everybody saw the beast in the mountain, no one got the chance to comment on it as the bolt of lightning broke the ground it struck and sent the snow cascading down the mountain, right towards the group. A powdery wave taller than a house had started to tumble its way quickly toward them.

Hoshina had to react fast and commanded the snow around them into a pointed shelter around the group, sacrificing his grip on the rope holding him to the mountain. As he turned around to check on everyone else behind him, a large rock had overshot the ice wall in front of him and had not only hit him in the head, but sliced away at his scalp as well. Losing concentration as his vision darkened, all he could hear was shouts of concern as he fell to the soft snow below. The shouting faded from his hearing as more and more snow blanketed what was left of his vision.

✼ ✼ ✼ ✼ ✼ ✼ ✼ ✼ ✼ ✼ ✼ ✼

Hoshina didn't recognize the feel of the warm blankets covering his body, nor the salty smell of the sea-peat campfire cutting through the chill close to him. His mind was slow to start, but a deep part of him could still understand that something about this was wrong. Fighting the human in him that said to stay inside this bubble of comfort he had found himself in, he started off by opening his eyes to his surroundings at least. Looking around slowly, Hoshina found himself to be inside a very well lived-in cave. Lying on several pelts of different animals on top of a rare wooden pallet, he could see a low wooden table and several stoneware jars on the other side of the fire in front of him. He wanted to move, but could feel his mind screaming at even the suggestion of thinking. Continuing to fight himself, he settled upright at least and continued to take stock of his surroundings.

The first thing that came to mind was the size of the bed he was in. Not only was the wooden pallet he was on was over twice his height and width, the pelts were stitched together from several animals, making him almost feel like he was swimming in the blankets. While a nice feeling, it only brought more questions to his aching mind. Looking past the table and jars, he saw a hide tanning frame with an otter-penguin skin stretched on it as well as several well crafted pieces of hunting gear like nets and spears. At the foot of the massive bed was the pack he was wearing on his trip up the mountain. Slowly crawling over to it, Hoshina tried to ask the question of where his companions could be, but his brain could only send back a pained, blank answer. Grabbing the pack and putting on his shoes, he hobbled out toward the tarp covered entrance to the cave.

Stepping out from behind the tight tarps and a protective archway of round stones, he was met with the sharpest blast of chilling wind. Holding a hand up to the bright rays of the sun, he tried to get an idea of where he was. Only being met with a second mountain peak as sharp as the wind in front of him and dazzling views of the desolate winter lands stretching all around, Hoshina could only come to one conclusion. Somehow, he had made it to the top of the mountains. More and more problems became noticeable as he continued to look, starting with the position of the sun. Last he remembered, it was past midday when they made it halfway up the mountain. Now it was back at the horizon line, acting like it was rising up from the sea for the first time in history. Not only that, Hoshina couldn't see any sign that his companions were around. At the very least, he would have seen Aoi meditating above the ground, not missing the chance to find inner peace in these views.

He had only made it one more step before a large and heavy presence crash landed into the once undisturbed snow before him. The wind quickly blew the distracting powder away to reveal a tall and blood covered monster. Horns as wide and as curved as a hippo's tusk with coal black scales traveling up its arms, it stretched to its full height, making it appear as tall as the mountain's peaks they were surrounded by. Through the sun's glare, it appeared to have a hunched and furry back that dripped blood onto the once-pure snow under it. The shock from its entrance alone was enough to send Hoshina onto his back and scramble for the safety of the cave.

He ignored the beast's calls as he flew back into the cave, grabbing one of the spears at the door as he passed. Already aware of his mistake, Hoshina silently vowed to go out fighting and prayed to any spirit that would hear him to give him strength for the fight ahead. Dropping to one knee and bracing himself in between the bed and the fire, Hoshina held the spear steady, aimed at the now fragile looking tarps in front of him. He watched as they flapped and twitched, slowly breaking way as a large clawed hand slid its way inside. And there it held its place, unmoving. Hoshina shifted his grip on the spear as he watched the hand... do nothing? Soon he heard a booming voice call out from the other side of the tarp door.

"I'm not going to enter until I know you won't hurt me. I'll have you know that I mean you no harm as well." The deep voice said. Hoshina made no move to acknowledge the voice.

"I'm sure we could keep this tense stand-off all day. However, as some added incentive to let me inside, I've got a dead fox-boar dripping down my back that I'd really like to butcher sometime before the next winter solstice." The voice added on after a silent couple of minutes. Hoshina still made no move, but didn't react as the hand tentatively crept its way inside.

He watched as the hand grew into an arm, then part of a torso, then a leg attached to the torso. Soon a head popped into view as well and continued to shock Hoshina even more. Yes, the beast had horns as well as obsidian colored arms, but it had a surprisingly human looking chest and head. The chest bore no shirt or coat and the head had a long curtain of hair framing it. Its bangs covered most of its face, but were just sparse enough that he could make out a pair of unusually dark eyes. Its smile was visible and looked friendly enough, which was probably the only thing saving it from being run through with a spear.

Hoshina kept the spear trained on the beast as it shuffled its way over to the low wooden table as it plopped its kill unceremoniously on it. Kneeling next to a stone jug, it dug out a well used rag and began to wash the blood off its hands and back. Hoshina kept it to himself, but he couldn't help but marvel at the beast's height while in the cave. Even when kneeling, its horns threatened to scrape the ceiling. Its back was as broad as a yak, and had the quiet muscular definition of a polar bear-dog's. It had to have been over seven, maybe eight feet tall.

"I know you seem intent on killing me, but might I suggest a better use for that spear?" It said, speaking more quietly now that its voice didn't have to fight the roar of the wind outside.

"And what would that be?" Hoshina asked, keeping his tone cool and neutral as possible. The tip of a black, bone, plated tail that he didn't notice the beast had, came up and gently directed the spear's tip over to an open basket of fresh fish.

"Making yourself some breakfast. That head wound of yours made you miss dinner." It quietly chuckled as it finished up washing itself down.

Hoshina was about to politely decline, only to have his stomach loudly betray him with an audible growl. The beast's back rippled as it softly laughed at the noise, before turning to face its guest.

"Although your stomach might disagree, you can wait for this fox-boar instead if you'd prefer that." The beast gestured to the kill in front of him with the hand that looked more beast than human.

"Fish... will be fine." Hoshina answered tensely as he awkwardly shifted towards the basket, not letting the spear's tip drop.

He flinched a little, however, as he caught some movement out of the corner of his eye. It was just the beast setting up a cooking stand over the fire and placing a pot handle on its iron hook. Peace returned to the room as It busied itself with the preparation of the fox-boar, turning its back to Hoshina and letting him spear his fish in private. After getting the fish plank set up over the fire in such a way as to cook it properly, Hoshina settled himself by watching both it and his unusual host closely. Being distracted with being vigilant didn't stop Hoshina from confirming what the beast had said and bringing a hand up to check his head. He didn't know why he hadn't checked it before now, but sure enough, he found what felt like a cloth bandage around his temples.

"The bandages aren't too tight, are they? I don't have the hand for delicate work anymore, but that avalanche did a number to that pretty little head of yours." The beast spoke, almost having sensed what Hoshina was doing behind him.

"The bandages are fine. What happens to the rest of the party I was traveling with? Do you know?" Hoshina asked as his hand whipped itself away from his head, startled at the perceptive question.

"They're fine, for the most part. They're lucky they had an extra water bender with them, but the force of the avalanche sent them back down the mountain. Fortunately they knew better than to try and hike back up so soon, so they camped out at the base for a bit before heading back to town. Unfortunately, they're pretty upset and think you're dead. Don't worry, I'll help you right that mistake in time." the beast threw a half-smile back as he continued to butcher the fox-boar.

"I saw you." Hoshina said as the memories of last night came back to him, "You were at the valley between the peaks, right where the lightning struck. Did you?... You didn't... summon that? Did you?" He questioned. He wasn't sure if this... being in front of him had those kinds of powers, or any for that matter.

The beast just laughed, "Summon lightning? That would be some party trick! But no, I have nothing of the sort. I was there, yes. I did see the avalanche strike your group and separate you from them. Don't think you would still be standing if I hadn't." It had stopped its butchering and started taking dried seaweed strips from a nearby jar and wrapping the salvaged meat.

"Then can I ask... what you are?" Hoshina tentatively questioned, " I was hired to hunt a spirit, but last I checked, spirits don't prepare their food or make weapons to hunt it."

"The story of how I came to look like this... is a long one." the beast sighed as it washed its hands again, "And I'm sure I look like no spirit you've ever come across." It reached into a small pouch attached to the belt holding its pants up and withdrew a small hair comb, proceeding to smooth as much of its bangs back as it could.

"But I certainly look like no human either, don't I?" It finished pulling it's hair back as it turned around, inviting Hoshina to gaze upon them fully for the first time.

What struck Hoshina first was their eyes. Both of them were black. Black and as shiny as polished obsidian with no indication of pupils or sclera. Despite being so off putting, the thin laugh lines around them helped carry an air of gentle friendliness. It was almost like looking into the eyes of an innocent turtle-seal. Surrounding both eyes was a patch of ash grey skin that was textured like stone. It reached up and connected to the longer horn that adorned its head on one side. The patch draped down down their face and curved away from their mouth. He noticed how there were two sets of canines of exaggerated length. They were so long that they cut a scar into their lips, forcing them to adapt to the teeth's size.

Hoshina's eyes unintentionally trailed down his host's body, taking it all in. Having no shirt on meant that he could see the extent of the animalistic arms the beast had. Matching the face, one side had been dipped in more scales than the other side, causing the hand on its dominant side to appear less human all together with it having only three fingers made mostly out of thick and wicked looking sickle-like claws. The other arm and attached hand were still covered in the same shiny black scales, but it didn't stretch all the way to the neck like it did on the other side and at least left it with all five fingers, just with sharp looking nails.

The exposed chest carried similar damage in equal amounts, like having the left side be covered in a broad diagonal swath that curved from the neck, down and past the hips like a brush stroke revealing a dragon's back. The scales flexed with their breathing, catching the firelight in a shimmering dance. It brought attention to these hairline cracks of glacial-blue light branching over the scales, having disregard for the scales placement. The cracks got brighter and wider as they pooled together and formed a cluster of pointed crystals that shot out from the left shoulder.

Their body, while showing no true muscle definition, carried instead a quiet depiction of strength. The light cast shadows over the beast's arms, highlighting it's taut and coiled muscles. Their stomach and sides was a round cylinder of solid muscle, giving off the impression of impassive stability, almost like the walls of the cave they were in. Their pecs, well.... they looked like they rivaled the size of some melons Hoshina had seen on his journeys. All in all, this was the figure of something that had been touched and strengthened by an unnatural force. The only thing that kept Hoshina from either fleeing into the inhospitable surroundings or making an impossible last stand for his safety, was their smile.

"I'll be back. Gotta go store this." The beast had said, rising as best it could to its feet and shuffled out the cave with the safely wrapped packages of meat. Hoshina watched intently as they left, thinking hard about his circumstances.

Sure, it had the fangs of a Tiger Shark and an appearance that only a dragon could appreciate, but there was something in its smile that made Hoshina rethink everything he had thought this... target would be. Even injured and terrified, they had done so much for him in the way of making sure he was going to be fine. No harmful or vengeful spirit would ever offer such hospitality to someone that had just admitted to being hired to hunt them. Hoshina didn't have many options for escape or survival at the moment. While he was here for a reason, getting back to his group suddenly seemed like the better course of action at this time. Whatever they were, they could certainly pose a serious threat if it ever wanted to be. But as of right now, they were being friendly. And that's just going to have to be enough for him right now.

The beast came back soon enough, and dragged over a pelt from the bed to be carefully folded up and placed down as a poor cushion. They pulled out two wooden bowls out from behind them and began to scoop out what looked like soup from the pot above the fire. They cleaned the edge of it as best they could before handing it over to Hoshina.

"Here. Something a little more substantial than just fish. I'm not sure what Northerner cooking tastes like, so I hope it's at least edible." They said before scooping out a portion for themselves, "Apologies for the lack of utensils. Haven't needed them for a while."

"This is fine." Hoshina replied politely before blowing on the soup and taking small sips.

A true born-and-raised Waterbender that was raised at either pole should be familiar with sea-prune soup, but it became very clear that the flavor of it meant two very different things to either side. Hoshina was shocked to have tasted something so smooth and pleasant with a slightly sweet aftertaste. Sea-prune soup in the North was something bitter that was served to sick children. He hummed a little in appreciation being that he had a bit of a sweet tooth.

"Is it good?" His host asked with quiet anticipation.

"Quite!" Hoshina replied as he licked his lips, "Sea-prunes are so bitter where I'm from." He was momentarily distracted at the sight of the beast's wide smile and the fact that it seemed to trigger its long, pointed ears to wiggle lively. The sound of its tail thumping against the floor in appreciation hadn't gone unnoticed as well. However, Hoshina's thoughts circled back around to what the beast had said while they were serving.

"How did you know I'm from the North?" he asked.

The beast chuckled again as he ate, "No Southerner can afford to have such deep blue colors around here." Its tail gestured to his clothing, "Not only is it expensive and hard to get a hold of, it's perfect for all the wrong situations in this place."

"You seem to be very knowledgeable... and observant." Hoshina complimented his host, hoping to butter them up and keep things favorable.

"It pays to be." They said with a sly grin, their tail tap, tap, tapping away again on the cave floor.

"You said earlier that you want to help me. That is... very kind of you to already offer." He said, keeping up the act.

The beast finished their bowl and dunked it back into the pot for seconds, all the while suspiciously eyeing Hoshina as they did with a knowing smile. It seemed to have already anticipated what he was building up towards.

"if it's not too much trouble, I would like to leave as soon as possible." Hoshina finished getting around to his request.

"I'm sure you would." They stated before taking a big slurp, "But for you, 'As soon as possible' is going to have to be early tomorrow." They said with a gently authoritative tone.

"I'm sorry you feel that way." Hoshina said, trying to take back control of his situation.

"You should feel more sorry about the fact you got knocked in the head. That's what's keeping you here." It replied, firmly solidifying the stance on the matter.

"You don't have to worry for me. I'm quite capable." He quipped back.

"As long as you're recovering from that head wound, you're not going anywhere today. Under normal circumstances, you'd rely on your bending to get back down. Never should you be bending with a head wound, had a sister that learned that the hard way." The beast advised as gently as it could, leveling a stern glare from across the fire.

"I do know healing." Hoshina tried to counter.

"So did she. Still too big of a risk to heal yourself." They countered back. It was clear neither of them were backing down easily.

"In any case, I'd figure you would be leading the way anyway. That's what you made it sound like." He retaliated, hoping his comment didn't sound too guilt-tripping.

"I would and I am, but it can't be the way you came up." They answered simply.

"And why not?" Hoshina questioned, already starting to get tired of this game he found himself in.

"Avalanche ruined the path down. One would need to wait a week before the snow settled back into something traverseable first. It also riled up the local wildlife something fierce, got all sorts of fur bunched up in all the wrong places." They answered again.

Before Hoshina could interject, his beastly host interrupted him to already placate his concerns.

"Don't worry." It chuckled, "I'm not gonna make you wait a week. Just give yourself a day. I've got a plan."

"And that would be? If you don't mind me asking." Hoshina questioned, trying to hide his irritation.

"You've caught me at an... important time." They said as they grabbed another scoop of soup, "During the Winter Solstice festival, I drag a sled full of food and supplies I've gathered down the mountain for the village. Usually, I just head down the front, but since that avalanche made the ground unstable, I'm going to be forced to take my Western path down. Now, I don't like to take this path on short notice, but our hands are quite tied up at the moment." This portion of soup went down faster that the last.

"How long does this path take?" Hoshina asked with a wary tone.

"Two days. If I'm lucky." They answered with an irritated grumble. They heard an irritated click of a tongue from across the cave in response.

"I know. But, with your help, things should go a little faster." They said, wanting to inject some hope into the situation. Pulling the lip of the pot closer to them, they looked inside before turning to Hoshina.

"Want another serving? 'Cuz I'm about to eat the last of this."

"No thanks. This fish is about to put me over my limit." He said as he lifted the freshly cooked fish out of the fire's heat. The beast gave a shrug before digging out the last of the soup for themselves.

"How exactly am I supposed to help? That is, if I'm not allowed to bend for a while." Hoshina asked as he pulled off a steaming chunk of white and flaky fish flesh off the bone.

"Just because you have a head injury, don't mean your arms and legs don't work." They said with a teasing smile.

"In fact, when you're done, I could use your help right now."

After Hoshina had finished the fish, his host waited until he felt comfortable with moving and led him across the flat valley between the mountain peaks to the other side. There, it was revealed that there was a cave of similar size that was hidden behind a very well shaped boulder. He watched as the beast strained with the weight of it, and eventually managed to roll it off to the side. Looking inside, he was confronted with a wooden engineering marvel. A flat, wooden sled that looked long, wide, and sturdy enough to transport thirty well-fed villagers standing up. With a curved front and thick runners, it was a love letter to simplicity, having no decorations or additional details. It looked big, looked heavy, and looked sturdy. Surrounding the sled and practically climbing the walls were barrels upon barrels that were made out of ice and filled with neat, green packages.

"This is... how do you?... Without bending?!" Hoshina rambled, being at a complete loss for words.

For a host that seemed overly protective about his charge's health, it had to sound ridiculous to have sick, little him lift and place all these barrels. The beast chuckled again, ears flickering as he squatted down at the outside of the cave.

"Dealing with these barrels won't be your problem. What I want you to do is at the back." They shooed Hoshina over to stand at the side while they pulled out the massive sled.

After it was removed, he saw that there were piles of other things way at the back of the cave. Walking before his host, Hoshina got a chance to marvel at the amount of supplies that were in such a small cave. Taking a closer look at his future task, he saw that there were piles and piles of stretched and treated animal furs, laid out nicely, but in no order. Hearing a call from the mouth of the cave, he turned around just in time to catch a large ball of sinew twine.

"What I would like for you to do, is separate and bundle up those furs. I'm going to be busy moving these barrels here, so it's nice to have an extra hand for the little stuff for once." They said as they reached for a couple of barrels.

Hoshina shrugged in defeat and started to pull some of the piles of furs more towards the center of the cave. He began to separate the furs by species first, quickly covering the floor with them. As he did, he felt more questions bubbling up in his throat. Seeing as his host had been amicable so far, he thought he could pass the time with conversation.

"Why haven't you had this all set up before now? Seems a little inefficient to not have this done already." He tossed out that question first.

"What I gather during my hunts is unpredictable. One must make a point not to over-hunt a supply dry, which means I need to find what is being overpopulated at that time. The reason it's not on the sled is because I need to set it all up in a balanced way, and I prefer to do that when I have everything altogether first. How the sled needs to be balanced depends on the path I take as well, so this is just an all-around headache for me this time of year." The beast said in-between the shuffling of barrels.

Hoshina watched his answer be put to work in real time, observing the beast dragging a couple barrels out at a time and weighing them by sight and heft before placing them in a specific arrangement on the sled. He dragged another pile over as he asked another question.

"This might sound like a stupid question, but why barrels of ice?" He asked next. The beast gave him a funny look, switching his line of sight from him to the outside.

"Ice is a pretty unlimited resource around here. And as you should know, fairly moldable if you know what you are doing. Ah! And before you ask, I'm not a waterbender myself. I made these with a wooden barrel I was left with." The beast continued to entertain Hoshina's inquiries, "That and the kids get a kick out of hacking at them with their daddy's weapons. Lights up my night seeing 'em do that." They snickered. Hoshina found himself giggling with them too, picturing little kids going ham with their oversized jaw-bone hatchets and dads yelling at the kids for using the good metal machetes.

Hoshina waited a little bit longer before he asked another question, suddenly finding himself engrossed in the organization of pelts. It did eventually dawn on him that this was a lot of work for a town that saw him as a lingering threat to their safety. If anything, it added on to the weird feeling he was having about this mission he was sent on. Typically, if something unnatural was viewed at the same time as a positive occurrence, then most people default to associating the two things together. Really, the town should have been treating him as a demigod of some sort. But if that was the case, then Hoshina didn't think that this beast would still be living alone on a mountain top, let alone reveling in the opportunity for company. (Even if they were making said company do menial labor.)

"Can I ask... why do you do... any of this. You have to know by now that the town hates you, right? This, all of this, on both sides, is completely unjustified. Either you should have left them alone or they all need an attitude adjustment and be eternally grateful!" He said with exasperation as he finally sat down and began to work on bundling the pelts into packages.

The beast had clearly heard the question as it paused in its task at the entrance. It looked somber for a moment before deciding to take a break and sit down close to Hoshina's improvised workspace. Folding their arms into its lap, he was reminded again at just how human they looked. He was having such a hard time trying to make up his mind as to whether or not the beast had any human at all, but seeing them be so expressive made Hoshina question more than his morals toward this particular quarry of his.

"It may not look like it, but I know what it's like to starve. To get so desperate for crumbs, only to look at your family and see that same expression. Desperation turning to grim resolve isn't an experience one should treat lightly. If my work and presence keeps them from crossing the peaks, from seeing what it's like on the other side..." They let the unspoken answer hang in the air as their head fell against the side wall, their eyes closing in quiet thought.

"Is it truly that bad out there?" Hoshina's words felt dampened by the new energy.

He wasn't sure what his host was, but now he was certain they weren't a spirit. Spirits... wouldn't treat such a sacrifice so lightly. Somewhere in this beast still beats the heart of a good man. An almost imperceptible puff of a laugh made his host's large chest bounce as they looked at him.

"There's a reason I call it my pass. If it was easier, you wouldn't have been hiking up a mountain." They answered as they rose from the floor and got back to work, "Out there made me into the creature I am today, and if I wasn't, I wouldn't be here to rescue you."

"If you weren't a creature, I wouldn't be here in the first place." Hoshina spoke bitterly to himself.

"Yes, because most of my village would be dead, thus having no one here to send for you." The beast playfully called out over his shoulder, his big smile on his face making his long ears wiggle again.

Hoshina decided to leave the conversation there for the moment, having grown tired of asking questions and wanting to save the rest of his energy to making sure the bundles weren't going to unravel easily. He got the hint that this trip was going to be more taxing than the trip up here. Eventually, he got everything wrapped well enough to his internalized perfectionist standards and helped the beast stack them onto the sled. He waited for them to push the sled back into the cave, now that everything was placed and sufficiently tied down with impressively thick ropes, before following them to their home on the other side.

Hoshina took a moment to marvel at the quickly dawning sunset, not unfamiliar to its rapid pace due to the winter solstice. In a few days, they were going to experience a day almost completely devoid of sun. The festival was to celebrate it, a century-long tradition dedicated to new beginnings. The North had the same thing, but about this time, they had a never setting sun. Funny enough, both of their festivals carried the same meanings. He quickly saw the poetry that lay within and shuffled away the thoughts for later since as with the setting sun, came a new level of cold. Rushing into the abode and planting himself by the fire, he kept himself from wanting to hop right into its hypnotic dance in an attempt to warm himself faster. As he shivered his cold embrace away, Hoshina failed to notice his soon-to-be travel partner messing with the pelts on the bed.

"Get your polite objections out now, because you're taking the bed tonight." The beast said.

Hoshina whipped his head around at the suggestion, "Are you kidding? That thing is massive and clearly built for you! It would make more sense for me to take the floor at this point."

"And yet, you will be taking the bed. Because I said so!" The beast joked as they threw down a couple of the largest pelts on the floor, dropping to their hands to straighten them out.

"You are worse than a stubborn ostrich-horse, you know that? Honestly, don't you think we could take a few minutes to come up with a different solution if you're that abhorrent to me taking the floor?" Hoshina questioned as his host stretched out flat onto their stomach, propping their head on their crossed arms.

"By that line of reasoning, the only other option is sharing." They said with playfully heated intent, "It's been a long time since I've had someone offer that to me. I'm not one to take advantage so easily, but for you I'd... make an exception." They turned to Hoshina with a lidded gaze and cheeky smile.

The rate that the heat absolutely flooded Hoshina cheeks accomplished in seconds what being at the fire was trying to do for minutes.

"I'll be taking the bed alone, thank you very much." He said as he stomped over to the bed, trying to hide his embarrassment.

"Works every time." Hoshina could hear the beast whisper to himself as he pulled the pelts back on the pallet. After shuffling his way into a comfortable position, he turned over and saw that his host hadn't taken a blanket for themselves.

"Forget to grab a blanket?" Hoshina questioned.

"Nope! Just a creature-comfort this creature doesn't need anymore," they replied back.

"Well you don't have to flex about it." Hoshina mumbled as he tucked the pelts under his neck. He laid there for a minute, as a debate slowly raged in his head. He sighed quietly as he gave into the winning side.

"Okay, one last question and then I'll stop bothering you." He said.

"You haven't bothered me with them once, but go ahead." They replied back.

"Can I ask... what does the path look like?" Hoshina questioned with hesitation. The beast opened one eye and gave a small smile before reaching over to the campfire and grabbed a smoldering piece of wood.

"First, we're going down the back of this mountain." They started as they took the piece of blackened wood and drew a crude diagram into the cave floor, "We're going to be traveling over most of the frozen lake that's back here and about halfway through we're gonna take a left. We keep going left until we hit the edge of the caldera and hit this wide gorge. There, I have to hand-transport the goods and the sled separately over the gorge because I don't know how to build a bridge. That, and the materials over here aren't good enough for one anyway. That's what's going to take a day in and of itself. After which is this really cool exposed lava tube I found and then down a glacier right into the ocean. I swim in that for about half a day and at some point I can reach a good, secluded area where I can drag the supplies up and over to a visible hill and wait for the night watchmen to notice it and drag in into the village. It's extra cold, super windy, and the first half of the trip had no landmarks or obstacles to break up the landscape in any interesting way, so the first half practically drives me insane while there's a 75% chance I'm going to get mauled in a tossup between the first or third half." The beast took a break from drawing out the trip to look at their future companion, "Any questions?"

"And this is the more dangerous route?" Hoshina asked.

"Yep. Wild animals, hidden terrain, potential landslides, I'm not even going to go into what could happen to the sled between hither and yon." They answered.

"And with that left on my mind, goodnight." Hoshina answered sarcastically as he flipped over.

"Yeah, it sounds painful, but at least I get company this time around." The beast said as they shifted themselves into a more comfortable position, immediately breathing deep and heavily.

Hoshina let himself fall into a deep sleep, recognizing how horrid this trip was going to be. It still surprised him at how easily it came to him, considering who he was rooming with. Although he knew that his new partner was right and that it would be safer to travel down the mountain with another person at his side, worry would not leave him as the beast's line about how his friends think he's dead revolved in a torturous lap in his bruised mind. Sure he had a head injury, but maybe he could get away with a little bending. They were in the Arctic, practically Hoshina's home territory element-wise. The whole environment was for his manipulation. And if his group really did care about him, by morning they would probably already be at the base of the mountain anyway, arguing over the best way to make their second pass up traversable. Hoshina really did care about his new... friend? Which is why he had to find himself awake before his companion did, so he could intercept his other friends and explain everything.

Hoshina woke up slowly, not wanting to test the limits of his gracious host's hearing while he was asleep. Pushing the covers off of him as quietly as he could, he crawled down and grabbed his bag. Getting everything set for him to tip-toe out the door while constantly jumping at literal shadows sometimes wasn't an easy task, but it had to be done if he had any chance of not being an inconvenience. If anything, a part of him was hoping his team was at the bottom so that they could make a plan to reset what the avalanche had done. That Western path of theirs sounded like a nightmare, and with the mission they had set before themselves, Hoshina thought it would be a chance to extend an olive branch from his team to them. But if he wanted to get that fixed before they left, he had to make it out the door now.

Pack in hand and boots on the feet, he had made almost to the door before hesitating. He took one last look at the being that had already done so much for him in such a small amount of time. Between saving his life, giving him food, and already including him in a plan that would've dropped him back at base, Hoshina wasn't sure what he felt more grateful for. He knew now that he wasn't a spirit, but was far from a man, and he still couldn't wrap his head around how they could be comfortable being so exposed in the cold like this! He was already going to perform an act of gratitude later, but it bothered him immensely that they chose to sleep without a cover. Quietly placing the pack down at the door, Hoshina crept back over to the bed and dragged one of the pelts off and tried to gently lay it over his host. They twitched a few times, but as far as Hoshina could tell, they hadn't woken up.

Turning around, he got back to the tarp covered door and stepped outside. The temperature had dropped a considerable amount of degrees with the wind howling like a million packs of hounds. Everything was a black as a komodo-rhino's horn because the sun had not even broken the horizon yet, which made Hoshina unsure of how much sleep he had gotten. He already craved a warm mug of his favorite blend of energizing tea, but of course had no way of getting his hands on it at the moment. As much as he hated to admit it, one truly must suffer for their work.

He had made it three steps away from the cave before an even more suffocating presence had forcefully enshrined his body. Writhing and fighting back with as strong as he could, he began to understand that what he was wrapped up in was a large animal pelt. As he felt his whole body being lifted from the ground, it became increasingly clear to him that he had not made as successful a getaway as he hoped he had. It didn't stop him from fighting, even as he felt the atmosphere change when he was sure he was being brought back into the cave he had just left.

"You know, for a hunter, you should really know by now that compassion-" His host talked as it wrangled the angry mass of pelt and hunter back onto the bed it had left, "is what separates a successful hunter-" they removed some of the pelt blanket from Hoshina's head before finishing their statement, "from a dead one." They finished with a smug grin.

"I told you I didn't need a blanket." They playfully jibbed as they turned around to grab something from a pot behind them. Hoshina looked at the door while they did, wondering if it would be stupid to try that again so soon. His host just sighed loudly as it turned back around with a handful of bandages and a wooden bowl of green ointment.

"Whatever you're thinking, just stop. I can hear how your heart changes its beat when you think about running." They said as they kneeled in front of Hoshina.

"Oh, that's gotta be some yak shit." Hoshina growled, infuriated.

"You see these long ears? They could pick up a snow-rat farting in a snowstorm if they wanted too." They said as they pointed to them, "Now, are you going to be good while I re-dress your pretty little head?"

Hoshina heaved an irritated sigh as he worked his jaw. After having a very intense stare-down with the very large affront-to-the-laws-of-nature, he gave in and tilted his head forward, indicating that he would be playing along for the moment. They took their largest claw on their left hand and gently snagged it under the bandages, cutting the coarse fibers as it sliced upwards. After removing the bandages from Hoshina's shoulders, their hand came back up to gently move his face to the side so they could get a better look at the wound. Humming in approval, they took a wet rag and cleaned the old ointment off before trying to apply a fresh coat.

"I could have made it down the mountain." Hoshina grumbled in defiance as he felt the cold slime smear into his hair.

"Yes. As a corpse." His host tacked on unhelpfully.

"Honestly, I think you're making this head wound out to be worse than it is." He retaliated

"Tell that to the patch of your skull that's going to have some trouble growing out hair for a while." They countered.

That last comment seemed to be enough to silence Hoshina while the beast finished wrapping the bandage around his head. After they finished, they put away the equipment and walked over to the barrel of weapons by the tarp. Pulling out a considerable length of rope, Hoshina watched as the beast began to twirl it an oddly threatening circle.

"What do you think you're going to do with that?" He asked with terror seeping into his voice.

The beast's smug grin only grew wider as they spun it more forcefully, before launching the looped end up and over Hoshina's blanketed figure. He felt the loop tighten as they pulled on the rope a few times.

"What in the name of the Moon!? This is unnecessary!" Hoshina exclaimed as he wiggled against his new prison.

"Once bitten, twice shy baby." The beast joked as they walked over and wrapped the tail end of the lasso around the rest of Hoshina's body, "Now I don't want you missing out on all the fun you're about to sleep away in the sled."

They walked out into the dark, leaving Hoshina alone in the cave. He let out a string of curses as they left, being as creative as he could now knowing that they could hear it anyway. After a moment, he calmed down but didn't feel any less angry about his situation. Even more time had passed before his captor came back. They grabbed Hoshina's pack as well as some extra sacks before slinging a package-wrapped Hoshina over their shoulder and carried him out to the sled waiting for them outside. He placed the bags down before he placed Hoshina, being gentle with all of it. They took the tail end of the rope holding a Hoshina together and tied it to the ropes holding the supplies to the sled.

"Okay, now this is definitely unnecessary." Hoshina managed to growl out over the screaming of the wind.

"Keep in mind, we're about to slide down the back of a mountain in the dark. This is your first time riding with me and I don't want you to panic and try something while I'm driving. This is more for me than it is for you." They said as they finished making sure all the precious cargo was secure, including Hoshina.

Hoshina's eyes grew larger in the dark as his heart kicked up several notches. He hadn't fully realized what the beginnings of this journey would entail. While he was the one to suggest climbing their way up to conserve their bending, Hoshina actually had a terrible fear of heights. Being strapped to a quarter of a ton sled traveling at who-know-what speeds -in the dark- down the back of a mountain sounded like a heart attack waiting to happen. He was brought back from the edge of a panic attack when he heard his partner messing with something that was attached to the front of the sled.

"Don't worry about it! Remember, I've done this before!" They called back as they started to pull the sled in a direction.

Hoshina's heart started to beat faster and faster, making it feel like he was about to break his own rib cage from the force of it. He could only wiggle slightly in his confines and whimper while the sled was pulled closer and closer to what he assumed would be an edge at some point. The anticipation was killing him faster than a one-sided fight, making him wonder if he was already wrestling with death just by sticking around. The last thing he remembered thinking was how he regretted placing that blanket as a kind gesture before his mind going blank from the sound of his screams.

✼ ✼ ✼ ✼ ✼ ✼ ✼ ✼ ✼ ✼ ✼ ✼

Hoshina didn't remember when he passed out. He definitely remembered the sensation of tipping over the edge of the mountain cliff they were perched on. It might have been after the third or fourth abrupt drop in height that made him finally succumb to the sweet release of sleep. It was certainly hours later when his body decided it was time to wake up. Behind his eyelids, he could sense a slow rising of brightness, making everything look like a lovely shade of sky blue. When he was awake enough to notice the sound of the wind seemed different, did he blink his eyes open.

The outside world wasn't sky blue so much as a blank canvas of purest white. The wind sounded quieter, but blew in a flurry of snowflakes and obstructed everything in sight. Even brief breaks in the slipstream only offered darker, miniscule patches of grey that he assumed was the other side of the caldera the beast had mentioned. Hoshina was slowly becoming aware of how oddly warm he felt. Thankfully, this warmness didn't feel wet at all, so he could rule out pissing himself out of fear earlier. Waking up a little more, he noticed that he was wrapped up in about another three layers of blanket pelts with something hard and warm between his legs. He could feel his arms not being restrained anymore and moved his hands over to investigate. Feeling around, he recognized the sensation of a liquid filled drinking sack and a full and heavy bag.

"Hey, you! You're finally awake!" His traveling partner called out from behind them.

Turns out that those glimpses of grey in the distance weren't the mountains on the other side, but in fact what little Hoshina could see of their back. Since falling asleep, they had donned a white fur cape that covered a long rope that attached them to the sled. They were trudging along over the thick ice and snow, pulling the sled with their impressive size. They continued to move along, unbothered by the conditions Hoshina was currently overly sheltered against.

"How long have I been asleep?" Hoshina asked as he stirred inside the pile of blankets.

"Quite a while. It's about midday now." The beast called out over his shoulder, "I wouldn't recommend leaving your little shelter at the moment. This is the coldest part of the journey."

"This is a massive lake!" Hoshina commented. If they were still on it and it was midday already, how much longer were they going to have to travel altogether?

"We won't be on it for much longer. I had just made the turn right before you woke up." They assure, still trudging ever forward and not bothered by the conditions in the slightest.

Hoshina took a moment to bury himself in the blankets and started to root around in the bags that were stored with him. The heavy, lumpy, and quite stocked bag looked very worn and well loved for its appearance. From what he could see with the sliver of light he could make himself, it had light spots in areas where it would have been held repeatedly and had several miss-colored patches from where it had to have been repaired. It was clear there were two different qualities of stitching when he compared the ones on the patches to the lettering on the front that read 'Snak Bag'. Digging inside, he found more neatly wrapped packages of dried seaweed tied with more sinew twine as well as smaller, tied up, leather bags. Picking a green package. he unwrapped it to find dried fish pemmican.

"Hey, are you hungry?" Hoshina asked as he poked his head up.

"Sure! Toss me something!" His friend bellowed over the wind.

Hoshina took out a couple sticks for himself before hastily re-wrapping the package back up. He managed to wiggle an arm out of the fort and tossed the bundle in their direction. He didn't wait to see if they caught it because he was already focused on wrangling his arm back into the safety of the blankets. They weren't kidding when they said it was the coldest part of the journey! He frantically rubbed some warmth into his arm in the limited space before grabbing one of the jerky sticks. Nibbling on it, he pulled the drinking sack closer and popped off the top to take a sniff.

"Is this mulled wine?" Hoshina called out.

"Yeah, it's not that great though. The spices I find around here aren't really made for that kind of thing. It's at least drinkable and won't freeze at these temperatures." They explained around large chomps of food.

"I guess you're not going to take a break and eat." Hoshina muttered with slight irritation, meaning to keep that to himself. While having been roughing it in the wild for some time, a part of him could never truly lose his higher upbringing, especially when it came to others talking with their mouth full.

"Taking a break in this area is the last thing I should do." The beast spoke back.

"I guess he really can hear a fart in a snowstorm." Hoshina thought as he became slightly stunned at the revelation, before digging around in the food bag some more.

Brushing his hand up against one of the smaller bags, one had felt like it was a sack of small marbles. Being the curious person he was, he dug it out and undid the drawstring to look inside. There he was met with the wonderful sight that was a sack full of roasted hazelnuts.

"There's hazelnuts all the way out here?" Hoshina exclaimed joyfully before greedily digging out a handful and shoving them into his mouth.

"Found them, did ya? Have 'em. I'm not really a 'nut' kinda person myself, so I just end up eating those last on accident." The beast cried out, "There might be a bag of chestnuts too, if you're interested."

"How do you even get nuts all the way out here? Isn't most of the South Pole just ice and snow like the North?" Hoshina questioned after making sure he swallowed the lump of chewed nuts first.

"You would think!" His friend answered, "If you keep heading north across this lake, you can actually find a forest chock-full of spirits."

"And they're okay with you taking stuff from there? Most I've ever met were pretty territorial." Hoshina responded with intrigue.

"There's... varying degrees of spirits up there. Most avoid me, I've noticed. Some do get curious every once in a while, but I always end up doing something to spook them off. The ones that can talk are complete assholes, I've noticed. What about you? Have you ever met a talking spirit?" The beast finished the last of the jerky sticks as they kept on moving.

"Just once. To be fair, he was justified in his anger, but he was taking things too far." Hoshina answered, looking off into the distance as he remembered the encounter.

"Spirit still around?" They asked, the hint of apprehension was not lost to the wind.

"Yeah. Managed to point him in a different direction. You've ever had to do that on your hunts? 'Redirect' a spirit?" Hoshina returned the question.

"Not really. If one starts to yell at me, I just drop what I'm holding and walk away. They're not really something I want to contact too much." Kafka said, the apprehension becoming clearer this time.

"Shame. I think that would make for an interesting fight." He called out, mainly as a joke.

"I'm sure you've been in more interesting ones..." The beast retorted absentmindedly. They came to a complete stop as they swiveled their head from side to side, scanning an invisible horizon.

"Is everything alright?" Hoshina called out, suddenly getting nervous.

The beast held up their hand toward Hoshina's face, indicating for him to be quiet. They continued to circle back and forth, looking for something only they could see. Eventually they came to a rest, looking off to their right and far into the fog of snow around them.

"Okay, this is going to sound stupid, but don't be afraid." They spoke after awhile, trying to keep their tone slow and even.

"Here's some news for you, that is the last thing you should say to someone if you don't want them to be afraid." Hoshina scolded in a gruff whisper.

"Here's the thing. Right next to us, about a quarter mile out, is a pack of Polar Bear-dogs." They said as they slowly picked back up their pace, "People like to joke that they can smell fear, but it's actually true. As long as neither of us start to get nervous, we should be fine."

"Just don't be nervous. Fine, I can work with that." Hoshina said, actively trying to suppress anything inside himself that said to become very nervous right now.

He made a desperate grab for the wine sack and took a big swig of it. It immediately made him want to choke from its off flavors, but he swallowed it down quietly. It at least did its job for distracting him from his situation. He fought against every nerve that said to leave the pile of blankets and shuffled out of them so he could scoot forward to hand the wine bag over quietly.

"Hey, do you want a-... Why are you going faster?" Hoshina paused himself as he noticed the speed of the beast's footsteps

"Because they seem to be coming closer." They answered with a hint of nervousness.

"Closer with intent?" Hoshina reiterated as he mirrored the nervousness.

"Seems liKE IT!" They yelled as they broke out into a full run.

Howls from their right cut through the rushing of the wind. Hoshina brought himself to stand on the sled as he began to hear the arrhythmic pounding of several paws making landfall over the thick lake ice. Bracing himself as best he could, he shifted into a fighting stance.

"DON'T YOU DARE!" The beast commanded from the front of the sled.

"Are you crazy? They're coming right for us!" He yelled back

"Just hold on! We can make it!" They countered as a hand came up to the neck of the white cloak.

"At this speed you're making?" Hoshina tried to argue back, only to get hit with a face full of the discarded cloak.

Falling back to the floor of the sled, he pulled the cloak off his face just in time to see a disturbing change. He watched as the beast's legs grew longer and its knees snapped backwards. He could hear over the sound of the wind the snapping and cracking of what had to be their bones or muscle as their arms grew longer and furrier. Their hands became the size of their head and their head grew longer than their hair. Not breaking stride, they dropped to all four limbs and bounded onwards as their chest flexed in time with their new, longer, more powerful strides.

"Bless by the Tides..." Hoshina lay there in amazement, just absolutely stunned by the change.

The beast-man had turned fully beast. Thick ashen fur covered the body as the tail had grown longer. Their legs resembled a rabaroo's and their arms were just like a moose-lion. Their face was long like wolves and blasted jets of steamy breaths from the extra exertion. The amount of speed this had gained them was insane. Hoshina could barely bring himself to stand from the force of the wind that was blowing around them now.

"See! Told you we could make it!" The transformed beast looked back as they talked, their wide band of exposed teeth giving the illusion of a smile.

They seemed to have spoken too soon as Hoshina could hear the pounding of persistent paw pads bounding closer to them. He could almost see the bulky silhouettes of the menacing predators against the whipping of the snow's slipstreams. He could hear the desperate growling and the hungry snapping of jaws as the pack slowly encroached in the sled. Two of them had surged forward and started to snap and bash at the beast, rocking both them and the sled's path around. The distracted beast tried to bite back at their aggressors, but couldn't do much because of the cargo.

Shifting back into a standing position, Hosina whipped his head around to stare in fear of their surroundings. Some of the polar bear-dogs had started to knock the sides of the sled, making him almost lose his balance. Once he found a stable stance, he noticed a wrapped bundle of crude spears in the mound of supplies behind him. Ripping one out, Hoshina forgot to stop himself from admiring the weight and balance of the spear. Flailing himself around through another bump to the sled, he finally brought himself around to hitting the bear-dogs closest to him with the length of it, right across their eyes. Aiming more to disorient, Hoshina had heard somewhere that causing actual injury to polar bear-dogs was the last thing one should do as it will only cause them to be angrier.

A couple hard thwacks to each of the persistent predators was enough to cause them to back off from the sides. As the two that backed off caused a chain reaction from the others in the pack to back off as well, Hoshina turned to focus on the two that were harassing the one pulling the sled. Planting a solid foot onto the curved lip of the front of the sled, Hoshina launched himself over the short gap between them and somehow managed to grab a hold of the beast. He kicked at one of the polar-dogs incoming maw before he righted himself on the beast's back. Whipping the shaft of the spear from side to side, Hoshina successfully landed several blows to the faces of their pursuers. He turned around to see that while they had decided to increase their distance, they weren't going to leave them completely alone in the blistering conditions.

"Got any other tricks up your sleeves?" The beast called out, not breaking speed or stride.

"I was about to ask you the same thing!" Hoshina cried out over the racing wind.

From behind, Hoshina heard the desperate growl of a polar bear-dog suddenly pierce the air. He turned back to see one had lunged forward in a bid to tackle them both. As he brought the spear up to defend, A surprised drop in elevation knocked all three of them off balance. Now faced in front of them was a steep decline that stopped at a short ledge bordering what Hoshina assumed to be a deep ravine.

"Tides toss it all!" The beast cursed as they scrambled for purchase on the slick ice.

"What are you stopping for? They're still right behind us!" Hoshina warns as they continue to slide. nearly out for control.

"The gorge is too wide for me to jump across with all this weight! I'm gonna have to make a stand!" They replied back, nervous as ever.

Hoshina swung his head around quickly, taking stock of the situation. While he had no doubt that his partner could handle at least one polar bear-dog on his own, even he could see that going against a whole pack was a different story. Not to mention that they would have to fight them on what looked to be a very narrow cliff next to a deep gorge. If jumping across and staying to fight weren't available options, they were running out of anything less than insane. Breathing fast and shallow, Hoshina hyped himself up to say what was on his mind.

"Speed up!" He said as he tossed the spear far behind them.

"What? Why?! I just said I can't jump it with everything!" The beast grunted with exertion, bracing the sled against him as his grip continued to be ineffective.

"Trust me, I'll get us across." He countered as he raised his arms.

"WHAT HAVE I BEEN TELLING YOU! YOU CAN'T-" They started to rant.

"WE DON'T HAVE A CHOICE!" Hoshina interjected, "The faster you move, the less time I'll have to spend bending." He traded a resigned, stubborn look with the beast's terror filled one.

After a brief moment, they gritted their teeth and loudly groaned at their submission. Finishing with a shout, the beast launched themselves forward and began to pull the sled in earnest, rapidly gaining speed. As the two of them barreled down the slippery hillside and rapidly closed the distance, Hoshina started to pull on the strings of energy within himself. Feeling that familiar, chilling tug speed down through his veins, he could feel it shoot through his fingertips and into the environment. All the ice around them began to feel magnetized and charged with Hoshina's own energy. Large tidal waves of snow started to condense into tight balls of chilling water. He was scared to wait until the last second possible before he could start his plan, as he wasn't sure what was going to happen when he really started to put forth some effort. Concussion or not, they had to make it across.

As the beast hit the cliff edge and soared through the air, Hoshina attached the beginning of the ice bridge to one side and started to pull it out from under them. Turns out that pulling water wasn't a problem, it was the pushing. As the energy in his arms changed the shape of the water around them, he could immediately feel something change and push back. Like the water in his veins suddenly boiled and shot backwards through them, searing his muscles along the way to his head. A flashing, scorching pain flashed like wildfire through his mind, clouding his vision as the muscles in his arm wanted to cramp. He could feel a part of him lose control over the water and saw it struggle to form before them.

"HEY! Stay with me! We're almost there!" The beast called out from under him, providing enough stimulation to bring Hoshina back to the present.

Fighting every nerve in his body that said to stop and collapse, he pushed enough ice out to just barely reach the other side. He could feel his arms give out before he did, causing a small gap between the other side of the gorge and his makeshift bridge. The beast jumped over it, but it did make the sled violently jolt and made the both of them stumble from the accidental obstacle. Promptly becoming weak from the pain, Hoshina didn't even notice he had fallen from his partner's back and hit the thin layer of snow under them.

The beast swung the sled out to the side, causing it to somewhat slam into a rocky side wall. They turned back into their mostly human form and broke free from their harness, sprinting to the freshly made ice bridge. Seeing some of the polar bear-dogs hadn't lost their footing and were trying to cross the bridge themselves, the beast brought their foot to the edge of it and brought it down hard. The hit made ice cracked and shattered near-instantly, making spider cracks all the way down the expanse. The weight of the polar-dogs finished their fate and destroyed the rest of the bridge, causing a few of them to tumble into the cloudy abyss below. Not bothering to watch the rest of the gruesome show, they turned and sprinted back toward Hoshina, grabbing a blanket from the sled along the way.

"Hey! heyheyhey, I'm gonna need you to stay awake for me, okay?" They said as they wrapped Hoshina in the blanket and drew him on their large lap, all the while gently shaking him awake.

"Buddy, hey, I'm gonna need you to talk to me, alright? I can't tell if you're awake unless you talk to me." They tried again, this time getting a slow blinking from their friend.

"Everything hurts... It hurts so much... I feel dizzy too" Hoshina managed to whine out, trying his best not to move.

"I know, I know. It's gonna hurt for a while until you stop feeling dizzy. After you stop feeling dizzy, you'll be free to move again though. You'll still feel like you got kicked in the chest and flew into a wall, but you'll at least be out of danger." The beast chuckled a little at their description, but it was obvious that they were still incredibly scared.

"Di-didn't you say you had a sister that went through this?" Hoshina asked as he searched his brain for anything to talk about.

"Yeah, yeah." The beast sniffed, "Her name is Mina. She was bending a lot longer than you were and she's more or less fine now."

"Wh-what was she doing... that she needed to bend-" A deep and intense stab of pain coursed through Hoshina's body, making him convulse and curl up in the blanket.

"Woah, hey. You're okay." The beast cooed as he continued to hold Hoshina.

"I... I used to work at the docks." They sighed as they swallowed hard, "Mostly as a fisherman, but I used to help load crates onto those big trading ships too when it was slow, ha, not important. One night I had gotten really sick and I hadn't recovered enough to go to work again. It was just me and my sister then... She had taken my place on the boat for a few days. The ship got caught in a storm and in the chaos she... the sail's boom hit her in the head. She brushed it off and continued to work like nothing happened. It wasn't until she collapsed on the dock that anyone noticed something was wrong."

The beast looked melancholy as he recounted the tale, "Bending that long with a head injury... it really messed her up. We didn't talk about it, but I don't think her bending stayed the same after that. Not to say that she can't bend, but... She can't be subtle with it anymore, I've noticed."

"That you've noticed? Keep an eye on her a lot?"Hoshina asked with an attempt of a smile.

"Yeah." The beast let out a puffy chortle, "Not as much as I'd like. I deliver all of this around the time of the festival because it gives me a chance to check up on everyone, not just her. She's always the easiest to find, since she never goes to the festival." Their eyes became pinched and wrinkled in disappointment, "At least... not since I left."

Despite his continuing pain, Hoshina could feel himself becoming concerned for the beast on his behalf.

"You... never tried to reach out to her?"

"What is there to say?" They questioned, " 'Hey, I know it doesn't look like it, but I'm the brother that abandoned you. I didn't die six years ago and have been living up in the mountains, hunting and gathering every spare resource I could because I live in fear of not only you but the whole village starving again. Not only that, but I have a face that can send old ladies into the great beyond and a voice that makes children cry so I feel like it's just... better... for me to stay away all this time and just do... what I'm good at.' " They sniffed hard again and shook their head hard in an attempt to dislodge any tears, "Spirits abound, what's wrong with me? Here I am, taking up all your air time and you're the one who's supposed to be talking."

"It's alright. I can't really bring myself to talk right now." He said as he visibly winced from another surprising jolt of pain.

"Well, I gotta keep you awake somehow." The beast muttered as he thought aloud to himself.

"Feel free to tell me off, if this is too personal." Hoshina started, But do you think you could tell me about how... this all happened?"

The beast offered a soft smile, "I mean, sure, since we might be here for a while yet, but I have to warn you I'm not the best story teller. If I don't keep it interesting enough, I might just put you to sleep."

"Trust me, hearing the story behind this," He said as he poked a gentle finger into the ashen scaled portion of the beast's face, "Is going to be interesting enough."

The beast let out a small laugh as they pushed back against the finger on their face. They got to their feet slowly, trying their best not to jostle Hoshina too much. They walked over to the sled and used their feet to angle its load against the wind, trying to provide some shelter against the still bitter cold. Grabbing the spare blankets, they dropped one to the ground and used the other one to swaddle their traveling partner a little more. They sat down with their backs against the sled and found a position where the both of them could sit comfortably.

"Alright, well I already told you that I was a fisherman, and I already mentioned the village was starving at some point..." The beast mumbled as they tried to find a place to start their story.

"Could start with how it became like that." Hoshina offered. The beast bobbed his head in agreement before they started in earnest.

"Well the cause was pretty simple, this weird disease took out a large portion of our hunting grounds. First it started with the wolves and the bullwalrus, then the lack of predators caught up to their prey and then they overpopulated a bunch and ate up all of the available greenery we could get our hands on, after that happened the disease caught up to them too. We were all really struggling before that point. Just fishing alone wasn't enough to keep our village going, and it just kept getting worse when the pickings got slim." The beast appeared melancholy as he remembered those dark days of his past, but seemed resolved enough to keep going despite his feelings.

"We all got desperate fast. Brother turned against brother and the turmoil wasn't content to stay behind closed doors. We had lost over two thirds of our people by the time the chief made an announcement. He asked for anyone able bodied enough to take up a chance to explore what's on the other side of the mountains. I was part of a small group of people that could fit the request well enough, despite not being a practiced hunter."

"Nobody had tried to explore the other side before then?" Hoshina interrupted.

"Others had tried, but the conditions are so rough that no one had been able to find out anything useful." The beast chuffed pathetically, "I wish someone had, any information would have made the first part of the journey a lot less devastating. I had lost a couple friends and co-workers traveling in that group." The beast's gaze became far away and lost for a moment, before he blinked some life back into them and continued.

"We managed to cross over to the other side, but had lost several people and supplies in the process. None of us were sure we had enough left to make it back, let alone to continue forward. It got to the point where we had to move forward because if we didn't, we wouldn't have enough supplies to keep ourselves afloat. We struck a brief lucky streak when we found some turtle-seal hangouts, but the disease had gotten to some of them too. We were at this patch of coast to the east, so our leader made the decision to follow the coast around till we hit North and walked back as best we could. What we didn't expect was to hit a forest on our way through." They pinched their eyes closed for a second and took a deep breath.

"You-you don't have to continue if it's too much." Hoshina offered as he saw the beginnings of the story's toll on the beast, his hand coming up to sooth their heart.

"Made it this far, might as well finish." They said with a sad smile, "It's just... you would think I wouldn't feel like this after it happened so long ago." They took another deep breath and continued.

"We didn't know that there was such a place so deep inside this frozen wasteland. If you had asked us then what we would have found inside there, we sure as the stars wouldn't have said spirits. Very angry, very territorial spirits. It probably didn't help that we were dragging the poorly butchered carcasses of the turtle-seals through their land. They took more of our men and our food, leaving just a handful of strangers and no supplies. Everyone that was left had lost someone close to them at this point, making all that was left behind just a handful of strangers. To make matters worse, the only thing we had to eat was snow and scrappy pieces of lichen, and even then it was days past at that point."

"If there is anything you should take away from my story," The beast had paused before now, but had suddenly decided to address Hoshina directly at this point, " is that you should never let your men feel desperate. Something doesn't just happen to the mind when it gets like that, I think. Sometimes... sometimes I think the barriers that hold us back from altering our fate thin when a man gets desperate. Because I can't think of anything else that would have caused such a permanent chain of shit shows." They shook their head solemnly, their eyes wet with useless tears.

"Don't tell me." Hoshina thought. He wanted to say it aloud, wondering if saying it would somehow alter this man's fate and undue all the pain and hardship they went through.

"We were still in the forest when we made camp for the night, We didn't really have anywhere else to stay, really. We had found this location of this half buried, bright-as-the-sun, absolutely enormous ball of what I think was spirit energy of some sort. The spirits crowded around it, but made no move to come near it or us, and since it didn't seem harmful at the time, we just... had to make due. I fell asleep first since it was going to be my turn for night watch in a few hours. While I slept, everyone else had gathered and made a decision without me. They came to the conclusion that we had no food, no supplies, and no hope left. If there was any chance of the rest of them making it back to see their families, they were going to have to do more than scavenge for food."

"They came up with a plan to make their food come to them, and I was the best candidate. Or, I guess, the weakest link at the time. Sure, I was somewhat strong, but I was just that. I was a fisherman that moved crates around for extra money. I couldn't hunt or make traps and I was the largest member at that time. Plenty of meat on me for the rest of them, apparently." Hoshina felt himself suck in a gasp through his teeth, either it was from another twinge of pain or from him understanding the implications he wasn't sure.

"Joke's on them, they sent a coward to finish the job. I heard him coming as I saw the knife in the light of the sphere. When he hesitated, I lunged for him. The others found our fight and tried to help him. Between the fighting and all of us just being so angry with each other at the time, I'm not surprised we ended up riling up the spirits around us. Next thing I knew, I felt heat, like my muscles were being boiled under my skin. My whole body felt like it was being ripped apart and I could feel my bones snapping and stretching. For just a few seconds, I felt like I was being buried in pain. So much so, that I'm pretty sure I blacked out for a minute."

"When I opened my eyes again, I saw that I had tossed everyone off of me and sent them flying a few good feet. I knew then that something had happened to me, because there was no way I should have been able to do that, not with how far my body had deteriorated on this grueling trip. I looked down and saw some of my clothes had shredded themselves from the force of the change. As I looked back up, I saw everyone shaking themselves off and grabbing anything in reach. I got so... scared. I never felt as scared as I did right then. I watched as this... ghostly light, almost like a fog, start to leave my chest. Something inside me told me to grab it. I don't know how exactly, but I could, and when I did I kept listening to that weird little voice that said to turn around to touch the sphere. I didn't feel any pain this time, but it was still terrifying to see myself continuing to change."

"At that point something broke in me. Really, I just had this... moment of weakness... I let all that power go straight to my head. I turned on everybody. I hurt them all. I killed them for trying to kill me." Hoshina watched as they shut their eyes, pushing one lone tear over the edge. Their lips quivered a little before they continued, sucking in a sharp breath.

"I'm not proud of what I did, and I never will. I still spend night after night thinking about what happened, wondering what would have been better? Should I have blacked out like I did earlier or was it a good thing that I didn't? So that I always remember what I did and always remember why I stay up here, away from others but never letting tragedy strike them like it did me." The beast let out a shaky sigh as their clawless hand came up to wipe away a tear.

"I'm sorry. I know you asked to hear it, and I don't have a problem telling it to ya, but it's not the happiest story is it?" The corners of their lips curled up into an apologetic smile, but the sentiment didn't seem to reach their eyes.

"It's okay." Hoshina said as his hand soothingly brushed away the imaginary pain over the beast's heart, "You'd be hard pressed to find stories about spirit encounters that didn't end in some twisted tragedy."

The beast nodded their head in agreement, looking visibly less shaken as they continued to hold him. They seemed to have found some sort of solace in how Hoshina wasn't disturbed or unsettled by the story and felt fine enough to comfort them through it, even though he would still be in come considerable pain. They lifted him up, blankets and all, and placed him back at his place at sled. Afterwhich, they walked over to the side of it to gain access to the center of the pile of supplies and grabbed a small rawhide bag.

"I guess it's not all doom and gloom. One guy managed to run away and somehow made it all the way back to town." They said as they reached into the bag and pulled out a smaller one, "Here, My sister once made me help her and some elders make painkillers once, and I remembered the recipe. Do you think you're fine enough to watch me pull the sled for another seven hours?"

Hoshina pulled out a pair of white and green pills made out of hardened paste and tossed them into his mouth, swallowing hard. He shook his head from the intensely bitter taste and hissed as they traveled down his throat.

"Yeah, I should be." He joked, "Are they doing okay? The one that made it?"

The beast looked back apprehensively for a second as he put the bags back in the center of the sled, "Uh... yeah, He's doing alright for himself."

Sensing the hesitation, Hoshina tried to pry a little more, "Is he...working somewhere? Do you remember his name?"

"I don't think I ever caught it, no. He was one of the chieftain's sons, that much I remember." They said as they moved around to the front of the sled.

Sensing that he wasn't going to get anymore information on the subject, Hoshina took the hint and relaxed against the pile. He felt the pills slowly take effect as his throbbing migraine began to peter out. He watched the beast pull the sled around and slowly tugged it down a narrow fissure just wide enough for the sled to pass through. As his mind came back to a better state, he began to appreciate the view around him. The icy walls surrounding them were tall enough to block the sun, but were incredibly reflective. The sun warmed up the ice around them, causing an echoing crackle to be faintly heard as they traveled; A stark contrast to the shearing wind that was heard up on the mountain. The tall walls offered an odd sense of security as they continued down the shallow incline, something Hoshina had not felt as he was taken through the frozen caldera earlier. Sure, this location had its own sets of problems, but it made up for the fact that they could at least see anything wanting to attack. That and if anything wanted to, their only option would be to attack from the front or the back.

For the moment, the journey was peaceful. He watched the sharp edges of the cliffs around them jut out and crinkle back in at random intervals, winking away pain when the sun's rays caught the surface unexpectedly. The color was a slow gradient, starting with a brilliant white at the top and slowly faded to a shockingly brilliant blue. The colors at the base reminded Hoshina of the unusual bundle of crystals that protruded out of the beast's shoulders. As he observed the muscles in their back dancing and rippling as they walked, he slowly came to an abhorrent realization.

"Oh, steaming sponge shit!" Hoshina suddenly cried out as his hands came up to his face. Hearing this, the beast immediately stopped and turned around.

"Please tell me you didn't just remember that you left something important back at my place." They asked.

"No, it's not that." Hoshina said quickly before briefly pausing for a second and darted over to his bag. After checking around inside to make sure that wasn't also the case, he answered the question.

"Yeah, definitely not that. I just realized that... I never considered to ask if you had a name." He said as he shuffled up closer to the curled edge of the sled. The beast looked back with a puzzled expression that slowly devolved into astonished laughter. Hoshina's face developed a severe frown as the beast continued to laugh boomingly, nearly doubling over and clutching their sides.

"Look. I'm usually more on top of things like that, but cut me some slack! I have a head injury!" He shouted indignantly.

"No, no, it's fine." the beast wheezed, "It's not like you came after me knowing I was human once."

"Well, sure, but even spirits have names too. But the only thing the Chief would call you was 'Horned Demon'." He remarked.

"He couldn't have been a little more creative?" The beast said in playful astonishment. The beast stood still for a stretch of time, not looking at anything in particular. They eventually turned around and fully faced Hoshina as they spoke.

"If you really must know, my name is Kafka. Kafka Hibino."

"Thank you. By the way, mine is-"

"Don't." Kafka interrupted.

"Excuse me?"

"Don't... You don't have to tell me your name. It's just going to hurt me in the end." He insisted solemnly.

"How would knowing my name hurt you?" Hoshina challenged.

Kafka paused for a second before continuing to pull the sled, "I just feel like it... wouldn't be right, to start to know someone so fascinating just to never see them again. I'd have all this information rattling up around in my head and I'd never get the chance to talk about it or do something with it." He shot back a sliver of a glum look, "I already have enough ghosts to talk to." He muttered.

Hoshina propped his arms up on the ledge of the sled as he contemplated his answer. He could understand what he meant. He had met plenty of fascinating people that continued to pop up to the forefront of him mind every now and then. And he did talk about them a lot to his team members. They all like to trade stories about weird and fascinating people they've met before. He couldn't even begin to try and understand what it would be like to have something fun to talk about, but no one to tell it to. Even when he felt alone in his own house, he still had managed to make friends with some servants for gossiping purposes at least.

It didn't sit right with him anyway. Not only did it feel like a power imbalance, it left different avenues of concern to go down. Such as "What would Kafka call him in an emergency"? Well, this would only be a problem if they were suddenly in a group of more than two, but anything could happen from here to their final destination. That and Hoshina had been referring to Kafka as just 'The Beast' in his head, so now it made him wonder what Kafka was calling him in his head. Above it all, Hoshina was raised on a strict code of etiquette and as much as he would like to think he was done with it all, he couldn't escape that part of him at the worst times.

"Well, I wouldn't call myself fascinating." He said with sly indifference.

" A Northern man leading a rag-tag team of benders from across the lands, takes them up a mountain in a snowstorm to kill a spirit. Definitely not fascinating in the slightest." Hoshina could hear the eye-rolling from there.

"It wasn't a snow storm when we started!" He countered angrily, "But you are right, I was sent to kill you." He said as he slowly got to his feet on the moving sled.

" 'A good hunter has no excuse to fail their mission if they didn't try in the first place' Is what I've always been told." Hoshina recalled as he planted one foot on the curved lip of the sled and precariously balanced the other on the tether connecting Kafka to the sled.

Despite still having a headache, he balanced as best he could as he took one step, then another, and leaped off the cord on the third. He flew through the air the short distance it took to land solidly on Kafka's broad back. Quickly wrapping his hands around his neck to keep from falling off, Hoshina leaned in close to Kafka's ear.

"Soshiro Hoshina. Here to handle your demise." He teased.

Kafka went through various versions of shock, before accepting the joke and laughing at it anyway. His large hand came up and gripped Hoshina by the collar of his thick coat and carried him like that back to the sled.

"Oh, no. It seems that you have dealt a devastating blow. Whatever am I to do." Kafka spoke in a deadpan manner as he carefully dropped Hoshina down on the sled.

"Hmmm... Admit defeat and accept your death." Hoshina hummed with a coy smile. You could almost see an imaginary and mischievous fox tail wagging behind him as he spoke.

"Gonna be kinda hard to prove next year after I come back down the mountain." Kafka playfully countered back.

"Not if you're not here to come back down." He temptingly tossed back.

"Didn't I just finish a really depressing story as to why I do this?" The beast-man sighed.

"Kafka, I don't know if it's hit you yet, but you're not safe here anymore. I'm certain Laktua isn't going to stop until he sees your head on a silver platter and eats it." Hoshina protested, "If I don't come back with proof, someone else will. And I don't think they're going to be as grateful as I am for your help."

"What, you don't think I can handle myself?" Kafka teased, trying to lighten the mood.

"It's not about if, it's about how long. How long is it going to be until a mistake happens. Whether it's on your side or theirs, something is bound to happen to you, and the townsfolk aren't going to understand until it's too late." Hoshina leaned his upper body on the front of the sled, crossing his arms, "I understand why you do this, I do. I know you want to keep a good thing going for as long as you can, but if I managed to get this close to you, someone else can too. You have to know this too, right?"

Kafka was quiet for a while. Clearly, this was a truth that he had been neglecting this whole trip. Having someone to talk to had been fun, but Hoshina brought up some good points. He really wanted to keep the town safe, but that couldn't continue if he was dead or found out. Patrols would increase, hunting parties would be set out. He was pretty sure Laktoa wasn't above hiring mercenaries. After all, isn't that just what Hoshina was? Sure, he was for spirits, and he didn't kill them exactly, but if he went back down to the town and told the chief he couldn't kill him, that would open a whole different jar of worms. A very scared jar full of desperate worms...

"Where do you think I could go?" Kafka whispered, "I'm not exactly the easiest thing to hide."

"I don't think you would have to if you were with us." Hoshina offered, "I mean, we deal with spirits after all. I think it would make sense to have someone spirit-touched on our journeys. Give us some credibility... or something."

"Or something." he mocked, "You're bold."

"And you're big. That's pretty useful." Hoshina countered.

They continued in silence for a while. The words that were hanging in the air had soon passed, swept away by an invisible wind. The fissure they had traveled through slowly widened as they continued, and at some point had fallen away completely. The walls around them tapered off suddenly and had connected to the walls surrounding a steep drop into a curved, open-faced, tube. Hoshina braced himself as Kafka carefully guided the sled down the short slope into the peculiar terrain.

"And we've hit the Really Cool Lava Tube!" Kafka announced, "From here, we keep going until we hit the top of a glacier that ends up at the sea. After that it's a fairly short swim and then you're home free!"

Hoshina looked up from the floor of the sled and at their surroundings. The walls were made out of long hardened lava that had cooled to a deep grey. As the rock curved toward the sky, he could see where chunks of rock had broken off from their own weight and left what was there to be rounded by the harsh elements. Ominous looking fingers of stone lined the tops of the rippled walls all the way down another gentle slope with the tips of them covered in a layer of snow and dripping icicles.

"Wow! It kinda looks like a snake's rib cage, just upside-down." Hoshina commented.

Kafka pondered the comment as he traveled, "You know, maybe I should start calling it that. Snake's Rib Cage sounds a lot better than Really Cool Lava Tube."

"I mean... yours isn't wrong per se." Hoshina returned, "I mean, it really is a cool lava tube."

"Yeah, but Snake's Rib Cage sounds like a fight arena." Kafka countered with revelry.

"Speaking of which, we're not going to get into a fight here... are we?" Hoshina questioned nervously.

"Nah! We'll be safe on this section." Kafka assured.

They continued down the path and watched the sun burn a speedy path through the sky as it grew darker while they moved forward. Hoshina marveled at the formations encroaching on them as they passed. He was shocked to hear nothing around them, no wind blowing, no ice melting or cracking, just the sound of the sled's runners gliding over the snow under them. The lack of additional noise paired with the rounded walls of the exposed lava tube made it so that every step they took sounded like fire crackers going off. When he heard a watery growl echo off the walls, he had a sneaking suspicion what it could be about

"You need to stop and eat something?" Hoshina asked as he started to root around in the snack bag next to him.

"Uhh, n-no thank you. I'm good for right now." Kafka said apprehensively.

"Are you sure? You've been walking a long time. Not to mention that insane burst of speed you had when you ran from the polar bear-dogs." Hoshina said as he pulled out the bag of chestnuts that was mentioned earlier. He paused for a second when he processed what he had just said.

"Hey Kafka? Did you know you could do that?" He asked

"What? The wolf form?" The beast-man guessed.

"Yeah, is that... you can just...do that?" He left the question cryptic since he wasn't sure what he should be asking about it.

"You said you've met other... spirit-bound or something, right? Is that... not normal? I mean, it sounds like that should be a thing. Get cursed by a spirit, get something back out of it." Kafka inquired.

"Spirit-Touched, but yeah, one doesn't really get anything cool or useful half the time. I mean, unless you're adaptable and creative with whatever you're handed, but most of the time it's something like their face is missing or they can't stand up from a permanent lack of balance. The ones that get a, uhh... how should I put this... Facial...Rework? Get a small dose of poison immunity I've noticed, but nothing else really." Hoshina ruminated as he thought back to the small handful of cases he saw personally, not to mention the countless research he subjected himself to before going out into the field.

"Of course, this is just accounts from those that didn't just straight up die afterward." He thought to himself.

"Huh. Maybe it's because I touched that weird, glowing, dome-thing." Kafka thought out loud. The two of them went silent for a while before another disruptive stomach growl could be heard from the beast-man.

"Alright, you are sitting down so you can eat." Hoshina said after swallowing a handful of chestnuts.

"Really, I'm fine." Kafka tried to counter.

"What is up with you? What are you so afraid to eat now? It can't be because I'm here since you had no problems sharing a meal with me earlier." The spirit hunter interrogated.

Kafka had stopped walking and tensed up in the middle of the path. It was clear that there was something else he wanted to talk about, but Hoshina wasn't sure he had the confidence to say it first.

"Does it... have something to do with your transformation earlier?" He tried to pry gently. It seemed to be on the right track as Kafka gave a heavy sigh.

"Yeah. Yeah, it does." He answered with nothing more.

"Do you... need something specific?" Hoshina continued. There was a weighty tension in the air as he waited to see if Kafka would answer.

"Yeah, it's... pretty specific. The problem is that... it might be a little... disturbing. To watch me eat it, I mean."

"What is it? Like, raw meat or something?" He continued the investigation.

"Or something." Kafka painfully chuffed, "It's kinda... worse?" Hoshina watched as his face scrunched up into a tight wince, "It's... hearts. I... have to eat hearts."

"Human... hearts?" Hoshina's comment broke the unnatural tension that had developed.

"NO! No, no, no! Nonononono, absolUTELY NOT, no!" Kafka tried to assure him as he wildly flailed his arms around, "It's beast hearts. I just have to eat beast hearts."

"Oh!" Hoshina chirped gladly, "Then what's the problem? If you're hungry for something, go right ahead."

"You say that..."Kafka responded as he dragged out the syllables cautiously, " But watching me eat, well, that. It's just... it gets everywhere. The blood, I mean. It just- it starts gushing when I bite into it, then it dribbles all over my chest, sometimes it stains my pants-I mean it is a mess when I eat them. I know I don't exactly look the friendliest right now, but-I don't know... I'd just... I'd hate to bother you with it..." As his sentence trailed off, he started to hug himself while looking miserable. This did not stop Hoshina from laughing his ass off.

"BAHAHAHA! YOU THOUGH- I CAN'T BELIEVE- HAHAHA! OH THE MOON NEEDS TO SAVE ME- BWAHAHAHAH! Kafka let this continue for a few minutes as he disgruntledly watched Hoshina roll around on the sled, stuck in a fit of laughter.

"Are you done yet?" Kafka asked with clear irritation as he took off the harness.

"Hoo, maybe?" Hoshina wheezed,finaly stopping and getting to his hands and knees.

Kafka walked over to the back of the sled and pulled off one of the upper containers of ice before reaching into the one underneath it. He pulled out a deeply stained and wet looking sack as he leaned against the same side of the supplies Hoshina was aligned with. He slid down the side, hitting the snow with a heavy thump.

"I take it you have no problems if I just started?" He questioned, mainly just to remain polite.

"Knock yourself out." Hoshina gasped, "It's safe to say I'd rather have you strong than starving."

Kafka returned the sentiment with a crabby growl and pulled out a large heart from the bag. It was a little bigger than the man's clawed hand and had already started to drip full-blown rivulets down his arm. Opening his mouth as wide as he could, Hoshina watched with a startling level of interest as Kafka bit down as hard as he could onto the heart. Blood did certainly shoot straight out of every possible spot on the organ, staining the snow in front of Kafka and leaked profusely out of his mouth as it fell onto his bare chest. He sputtered out a string of colorful curses as he watched the incident unfold. All this did was send Hoshina flying into another laughing fit.

"THIS ISN'T THAT FUNNY!" Kafka yelled at him around a mouth full of muscle and tissue, making specks of blood fly everywhere.

"Oh Spirits ABOUND, this is hilarious!" Hoshina countered as he rolled around on the floor of the sled again.

"Yeah, well, get back to me after trying to eat a soup dumpling twice the size of your mouth and then we can talk!" Kafka said as he furiously stuffed the last of the heart into his mouth before grabbing another one.

"Oh, man! Maybe I should bring some by next time!" His traveling partner heaved without thinking. He stopped and looked over at Kafka once he heard the beast-man suddenly choke on his food. As Hoshina regulated his breathing, he flopped onto his back to stare up to the sky and really thought about what he had said.

"Well, I mean, the guy is pretty lonely." Hoshina thought as more heat flooded his cheeks, "Somebody should check up on him every once in a while. And as a Spirit Consultant and Hunter, checking up on a spirit's well being would technically fall under the job description. Alright, so he's not technically a spirit, but the town considers him to be one. Albeit they think he's potentially hostile, but I have to have a talk with the Chief anyway since I'm not going to be killing anything that's benevolent and, honestly, quite kind. Maybe after everything I could set something up with the sister in the interim. I'd like to think he'd appreciate that, getting to see his sister again. I would have to come up with a safer way for the two of them to meet. I'd hate to think she would have to climb up a mountain every time she wanted to visit her brother."

A few moments later, Kafka finished another heart and wrapped the bag back up. Hoshina watched him put the bag away and placed the barrels back where they needed to go.

"Just need a couple, huh?" Hosina asked.

"Are you kidding? I wish. I want to plow through this whole bag, but if I do then I won't have any after I finish pulling the sled though the sea." He replied as he dropped to his knees and tried to use the snow to clean off the blood from his chest.

"Wait, does that mean you have a second form or are you going to be pulling the sled with that wolf form?" Hoshina continued to question.

"Yeah, I've got a second one. I just turn even more scaly and develop these massive webbed hands." Kafka answere, walking around to the front of the sled.

"And what? You were just going to suprise me it that when we hit the water?" He asked with an indignant tone.

"I mean... yeah?" Kafka said sheepishly, "My original plan only had me using my swimmer form and I would have grabbed the hearts after you left for town. But then the polar bear-dogs showed up and, well, that plan is out the window." Hoshina decided to let the offence slide since he seemed really embarrassed about his unusual snack needs.

"Do you have any others?" He asked, shifting back into a sitting position.

"Just the two as far as I know. I haven't really felt the need to experiment with... all this" Kafka replied as he gestured to all of himself.

"Why not?" Hoshina questioned as his eyes followed Kafka, "What if you have something really cool or useful tucked away, like wings? Or maybe there was a way to look a-"

"A little more human?" Kafka interjected with a sad, but knowing smirk, "I've thought about it, but the cost of finding out is a little steep for me." He said as he slipped the harness back on.

"I guess it does sound taxing, having to collect all those hearts." Hoshina contemplated as he leaned against the sled's front.

"It's not just that." Kafka warned, "Every time I... discovered a new form, it was under stressful conditions. Like, 'I feel like I'm gonna die' kinda stressful. And after I get out of the problem... I'm not myself."

His words took on a cautionary tone as he continued, "Everything was fine the first time. I found the swimming form first when I tried to hunt this really stubborn tiger shark. I wasn't used to hunting large prey in the water and the bastard started kicking my ass. I got too deep and started to black out. Next thing I knew I was floating face up, twenty miles from shore, surrounded by blood, and sporting a new look. It wasn't my blood, so I wrote it off then. Finding the wolf form... went a little differently."

Kafka cut himself off and started to pull the sled. Hoshina wondered if that was the end of the conversation, thinking that he couldn't bring himself to talk about it. Having pried enough sob stories out of the man, he decided to leave the line of questioning there for now. Hoshina was pretty thankful to have gotten any questions of his answered on this excursion with minimal fight, a stark contrast to any other time he had to interrogate anyone while on a mission. Still, his mind drifted off on it's own and started to ask its own questions.

He had never heard of someone successfully bonding to a spirit like this before. Most spirit encounters that finished with physical contact usually ended with bodily disfigurement or death, either by the encounter itself or because the affected couldn't continue living in such a manner. This was his first time not only meeting, but seeing someone gain a wide array of tangible benefits from being spirit-touched. The encounter itself was odd to begin with. Why would a spirit select out someone who was at a disadvantage in a fight? What was its intent for that? To help? Or to hinder? And why would there be such a powerful increase by touching a strange, glowing sphere?

Maybe this sphere was made out of spiritual energy, but Hoshina would have to look at it for sure. The North had a spot just behind the royal palace that was a hot spot for spiritual energy, so it would make sense for there to be one at its Sister City. Still, Kafka had made it sound like touching it had caused him to permanently bond to the spirit, which made him consider the act itself to be impossible. Either that's not the case here, or Kafka is an incredibly strong person to have survived that. He took a sidelong glance at the beast-man pulling the sled, watching the surface of his back flex under a thick layer of protective fat. He wouldn't doubt it, Kafka being strong enough to survive a permanent bonding to a spirit. He survived this long with it, so it made Hoshina wonder how he was before all this happened.

"You alright back there?" Kafka called back unexpectedly.

"Hmm? Yeah, I'm fine. Is there a problem?" Hoshina answered back.

"Nothin'. Just sounds like you're thinking pretty hard." He explained.

"Don't tell me you can hear literal thoughts?" Hoshina playfully joked.

"Na!" Kafka joked with him, "Just heard your heart rate tank a little, got concerned is all."

"I was just thinking about how odd your spirit encounter is. It's not unusual to hear about spirits wanting something from the body, like their blood or their face, but this is the first time I'm hearing one craving hearts." He ruminated.

A brief pause filled the air as they continued down the path with Kafka breaking it first, "Do... do you have stories? About the First Hunter up in the North?" He asked.

"No, not really. Most are about how the Moon and the Ocean provide our every need and how we shouldn't take them for granted." Hoshina noted, "Stories about First Hunters tend to be an Earth Kingdom staple, I've noticed."

"That's funny. We've got one here in the South." Kafka started, "Wanna hear it?"

"Go right ahead. Stories are shockingly invaluable in my line of work." Hoshina answered.

"Well, it pretty much starts how mine did." He began plainly, "But instead of a group of people, it was just one lone guy. There wasn't a disease, at least not in the versions I've heard, but the guy's village was starving. So off he goes out into the wild white yonder and promptly starts dying."

"Cutting straight to the fun stuff, I see." Hoshina teased, the smirk on his lips audible in his voice.

"I'm giving you the abridged version." Kafka retorted sarcastically, "Anyway, he's on his death bed when he's visited by a spirit. The spirit comes up to him and says 'You idiot, you don't know how to hunt. You're supposed to start small.'."

"With severe paraphrasing as well." Hoshina mocked.

"Will you let me finish?" Kafka chortled back as he rolled his eyes, "The spirit gives the man enough energy and tells him to start hunting white hamsters. After he collects enough of them, the spirit returns and tells him what to do with the bodies. They say 'Their skin is your clothes, their blood is your war paint, their bones will be your needles and traps, and their meat shall be your bait.'. To which the hunter goes 'And what of their hearts?' and the spirit says 'Their hearts shall be your sustenance. Disobey my ruling and you will suffer greatly.'. Having suffered enough already, the guy listens and does as the spirit says, not thinking twice about it. He moves up through the food chain and starts hunting bigger and bigger animals. He keeps to the same rules as the spirit said, skin is clothes, bones as weapons, yada-yada-yada. But as he keeps to the rule about eating the animal's hearts, something starts to change."

"He starts growing taller, his hands get bigger, his teeth grow longer and sharper, and after he gets to the biggest animal he can hunt, he doesn't look human anymore. The guy is so excited about being able to hunt so successfully, he doesn't notice what has happened to him. As he gets back to the village, they turn on him and chase him back to the wild's edge from where he came because they don't recognize him, making him leave behind his bag of spoils. As the villagers make a grab for it, they watch as all of it quickly begins to rot right in front of their eyes."

"And from here is where the story kinda tapers off into different endings." Kafka finished, "Some say they find the hunter and apologize. Others say the spirit talks to the hunter and berates him, saying that this was all a punishment for forsaking the Ocean's bounty and the Moon's blessing. There's one where the spirit talks to the guy and instead of insulting him, he reassures him that this was necessary and that there will be a day where they will understand. That this is what he has to be to survive out there." He turned around and gave Hoshina a bittersweet smirk, "You can probably guess which one I prefer."

"Is this your way of saying that you think the same spirit you met out there was the same one from the story?" Hoshina inquired.

"Lines up pretty well, doesn't it?" Kafka offered to think about, "I just messed up how the story was supposed to go."

The two of them traveled in quiet contemplation after that. The silence didn't stick around too long as Kafka popped up with another thing to say.

"Actually, scratch that. I just remembered the ending I liked better." He said with a sneaky chuckle.

"Oh?" Hoshina said, his attention fully grasped.

"There's one my sister told me about after hanging out with the town's midwives association. It's still funny every time I think about it." He continued to chuckle, "So someone came up with an extended version of the story where the Hunter runs off and the chief's daughter is the only one concerned about the guy. She runs into the snowy plains thinking she's gonna find the guy the monster imprisoned. There were three separate encounters where the princess had a hairy run-in with the local wild life and almost died, The hunter shows up to save her, but he scares her so badly she runs off again. After about the third time this happens, the princess finally gets it and convinces the Hunter to go back to the village. Once they arrive, the townsfolk get all up in arms once they see them. To convince them that the Hunter is on their side, she outright kisses him on the lips!" Kafka had to take a second to stop laughing before he could finish. It didn't help that Hoshina was trying to hold back a fit of giggles himself.

"The story ends with the kiss turning the Hunter back into a human. After that happens, they get married, and once a month the guy ventures out into the wilds behind the village to hunt. Before he leaves, the princess gives him a kiss and it turns him back into a monster so he can survive out there." Kafka turned so he could face his passenger and showed him the wonky smile he had on his face, "Isn't that the sappiest thing you've ever heard?"

"I think that dynamic sure would have made their honeymoon interesting." Hoshina raunchily implied.

"And that's why I think that version of the old wives tale is total yak shit!" Kafka sputtered as he broke back out into a laugh, "Only someone desperate for a partner would come up with something like that."

"Or someone with a very specific preference." Hoshina giggled.

As they talked, they hadn't noticed the shifty blobs of movement happening on the curling fingers placed high above their surroundings. When one of these unidentified figures caused an unnatural shadow to cross Hoshina's eyes, did he finally look up. As he looked all around, he saw a herd of snow leopard-caribou perched on the ledges over them.

"Uhhhh, Kafka?" Hoshina droned anxiously.

"Yeah, I see them." Kafka said calmly as he tried to assure.

"Should we do something about them?" Hoshina countered, running through everything he could think of as far as what to do when encountering such a beast.

"Nah. She'll come talk to me when she's ready." He said, still moving at an even pace.

"I'm sorry, She?" Hoshina retorted shrilly.

Hoshina watched as one of the leopard-caribou stood taller and prouder than the rest. It hunched down as if to watch where it was going to land and quickly kept from its perch. As it landed, its visibly impressive weight tossed up the powdery snow, causing it to swirl around it with a majestic air. Even from this long distance, Hoshina could see and almost feel the size of the beast. It was clearly well fed and stared down the two of them with crystal intent. He watched as Kafka casually shed the harness once more and started calmly walking towards the horned animal.

"Kafka! Kafka!" He harshly whispered at him, trying not to startle the rest by yelling.

It wasn't long before Kafka stopped in his walk over to the beast and slowly dropped to a knee. A clear, warbling, moan could be heard echoing off the rounded walls. The noise repeated itself in what seemed to be a very specific pattern. Hoshina stared in amazement as the leopard-caribou in front of them started to respond back in a similar way. Kafka started a different string of loud mewls and growls before moving in a very awkward crouch-walk over to the talking beast. The beast moved forward as well, making the two of them meet in some sort of middle ground. Kafka had fully dropped to his hands now and was crawling in a circle, matching the path set by his animal friend.

They performed some sort of weird meeting ritual, walking in a circle as they playfully yelled at each other while being very much in each other's faces. Then the cat started to bat at Kafka, not with any true harm behind it, but very obviously in a similar way one would slap the back of a close friend heartily. Kafka rose to his knees and returned the affection, making the two of them start a very loud mock battle for dominance. It was all very absurd to Hoshina, watching a grown man roll around in the snow with a beast that had been known to sever limbs from those without common sense. Despite the confusion, he found the scene quite endearing. Like how an affectionate man would greet their very large pet after a long day at work. He even let loose a giggle as Kafka man-handled the leopard-caribou onto his back while in his lap and gave it aggressive belly rubs. He distantly heard the phrase 'Are you hungry?', which made the furry companion become very excitable.

As he saw the two of them start a race to the sled, Hoshina quickly ducked under the lip of the sled out of fear. His heart raced as he listened for the puffy pounding of their footsteps rapidly coming closer. His heart might have even skipped a beat as they became louder, but slowed drastically. He made out Kafka's heaving panting over the ringing in his ears. Hoshina was almost certain it fully stopped for a second as he witnessed the quite gentle face of the snow leopard-caribou whip its head around the corner of the sled.

"Aww, did you find him Sweet Pea?" Kafka said as his clawed paw came down to gently rub the beast's head, "Get out from under there! She wouldn't hurt a fly." He continued as he shocked Hoshia by hooking one of his claws in the hood of his coat and pulling him out from his hiding spot.

Hoshina gave a small yelp and quickly tried to back away from the beast, making it jump and place her paws on the body of the sled.

"Ooh! Bad move! Now she wants to chase ya." Kafka joked as he watched.

"I take it you're... friends... with this thing?" Hoshina's voice cracked a little as he resisted the urge to run screaming.

"Her name is Sweet Pea. And yes, I raised her from a cub. I tried not to let her be too desensitized to being around humans, but she might have imprinted on me a little. Wanna pet her?" He offered.

"N-n-no thank you! I-I'd like to keep my hands please." Hoshina stuttered as he continued to cower.

"Ahh, come on! it'll be fine!" Kafka insisted,

He sat down on the edge of the sled and held his hand out to Hoshina. As he tentatively took it, he was forcefully jerked forward and was pulled up next to Kafka. Hoshina felt his large body shift and a warm arm wrap around to the other side, fully trapping him to the spot. As the arm gently squeezed him, the other slid slowly down to his other hand and slotted their fingers into each other. Hoshina's whole arm trembled as he licked his lips nervously, watching it being slowly raised to meet the creature's head.

"You don't have to be afraid, I'm right here." Kafka whispered softly right into his ear, distracting Hoshina just enough until he felt their hand make contact with Sweet Pea's fur.

"Oh my moon and stars!" Hoshina quietly gasped, "This is the softest fur I think I have ever touched."

Kafka speechlessly guided their hands around the welcoming creature's head, helping him softly carding their fingers behind her horns and under its chin. Hoshina gasped again as the leopard-caribou started to purr appreciatively, her eyes closing in happiness. He yelped a little from shock as the horned cat's tongue reached down and licked at Hoshina's wrist.

"Like being licked by a slab of wet sandstone, huh?" Kafka laughed.

He moved away from Hoshina and guided his friend over to the sled. As Kafka left, it became very clear to him how he could walk around in the cold without a shirt. The man radiated about as much warmth as a Fire Nation standard blast furnace! He curiously watched as Kafka and the leopard-caribou inspected the side of the sled, sniffing every container with interest. The beast eventually batted a paw at one of the containers at the top, making it clear it wanted what was in that one.

"Yeah, you smell the liver in that one, don'tcha?" Kafka teased and he undid some of the ropes holding them in place.

He picked up the container and shifted its weight to one hand, tossing it lightly to test the heft of it. As he took a few lunging steps away from the sled, it looked like Kafka was rearing his hand back and taking up a throwing stance. With a powerful grunt, he sent the container up and over the walls of the tube, sending it clear and far away from them. They watched as the rest of Sweet Pea's herd stared down the flying package and hopped off their roosts to chase after it. Before Sweet Pea left with them, she turned and looked up at Kafka with an unusually clear and loving expression. Kafka returned the favor and knelt down to giver her one last hug.

"It's amazing. I didn't think Snow Leopard-Caribou could be that affectionate." Hoshina remarked, feeling completely floored.

"It's kinda hard not to bond with someone when all you've got left is each other." Kafka said somberly as he finished up another round of vicious head-rubs.

They watched intently as Sweet Pea darted away and nimbly climbed up and over the walls, quickly moving out of sight.

"Do you visit her often?" Hoshina asked casually.

"I try not to.' Kafka answered, "But we do have a habit of finding each other when I'm out hunting around."

"A true vision of majesty." Hoshina mumbled to himself, "Almost made me glad I ended up here."

"Good on me for managing to keep her alive." Kafka chuckled and he moved to put the harness back on.

"How'd you find her anyway?" Hoshina questioned innocently as he shifted to a different sitting position. He watched as Kafka began to visibly tense up again.

"I... I accidentally killed the herd she came from." He finally confirmed, deciding not to look back as he said it.

"Accidentally?" Hoshina buzzed to himself. His mind must have been feeling better as it jumped to some shockingly sensible conclusions. He thought back to a previous conversation about Kafka's different forms and the consequences of spiritual form shifting. The lines of connection suddenly became very clear as Hoshina realized why he seemed so guarded about his shifting.

"Oh." He gasped quietly.

"Yeah." Kafka confirmed when he understood what Hoshina figured out, "The least I could do was give her a chance, right? That's what any parent wants for their child." There was a long pause as this new information settled down between them.

"You're a very selfless person, I hope you know this." Hoshina tried to lighten the mood after they started.

Kafka shrugged, "That's because I'm strong enough now to not have it come around and bite me back in the ass."

For the rest of the journey through the Snake's Rib Cage, they traveled in silence. At first it was uncomfortable, being so quiet with each other. They had become so used to the consistent stream of questions that Hoshina seemed to be in no short supply of. It was a habit of his job description, to ask plenty of questions. Nothing about spirits is completely cataloged in any easy manner. Most anything that would be useful to know is passed around by word of mouth, and as Kafka mentioned earlier most stories have different endings. When it comes to the matter of spirits, any, all, or none of those versions could be true when it's about their weaknesses or preferences or just how to work with them in general.

This was all something the Avatar was supposed to deal with, but at the moment he seemed preoccupied with restoring balance and order to the warring Fire Nation Families. Hoshina's family had deep ties to shipping and trading companies, so he grew up with his fair share of hearing about delays and complications pertaining to spiritual disruptions. Since he was the fourth son and had no real goal bestowed upon him by the head of the family, his father, he decided to teach himself about the problems. Only for the outcome of this self-inflicted torture to incentivize him to take on the problem himself.

He knew better than to go into this with no plan and with an on-the-fly preparation. Hoshina gathered as much information as he could first, having tomes and scrolls sent to him before not being content with just words and pictures and deciding to travel for more. Not bothering with a proper send-off, he left a family that wouldn't have understood and decided to take on a never-ending goal of understanding spirits on a fundamental level. Eventually word got out about a capable warrior that had the deepest source of publicly available knowledge concerning spirits and, well, here he is now. Getting the unintentional cold shoulder from a half man-half beast spirit whose whole existence defied everything Hoshina had learned before this side quest. If he didn't have a headache before, he certainly had one now.

The quiet between them eventually grew less awkward and more... understandable. Hoshina did pry a lot of information out of the man, and while the man in question was pretty forthcoming with it, it was all quite the heavy subject material. Kafka seemed almost glad at times to have someone willing to take some of the burden off of his broad chest, so Hoshina eventually learned to emphasize that someone in this situation would probably like a breather from the bombardment. Instead, he focused on the currently changing environment. The walls peeled away and tapered off, almost melding into the still mountainous walls around them. The path under them started to sound less like snow over rock and more so snow over ice again.

Taking their time rounding through a wide curve in the natural road under them, Hoshina eventually began to see the horizon kissing the deep blue sea that surrounded the South Pole. The sun set the water on fire as it sat low in the sky, practically threatening to drop them into abyssal darkness. Still being quite high up, Hoshina felt the first few wild punches of that cold ocean air hitting his face, tingling his cheeks until they were pinker than a ripe peach. He felt the sled hit a large bump as the quality of the ice under them distinctly shifted. Kafka soon stopped and wrestled the harness back off and walked around to the side of the sled. Taking this opportunity, Hoshina jumped off and stretched his legs.

"What are we stopping for, if you don't mind me asking?" He said as he felt his muscles scream as he shifted his weight to pull on them.

"Just doin' last checks on the sled and supplies. Makin' sure everything is tied down well enough and all that." Kafka answered as he tugged on all the rope and knots holding everything together.

"Good call. Can't be losing all that effort to the sea's cold indifference." Hoshina said as he recalled an old sailor's hymn.

"So am I not the only one that grew up in a shipyard?" Kafka chuckled, grinning hard for the first time in a while.

"Not quite. My family managed a lot of shipping deals among other things. Mainly heard it from all the boats I've hitched a ride on." Hoshina corrected him.

Hoshina hopped back on to the sled and curiously watched Kafka pull up the harness from the ground, but not put it back on. He tossed the line onto the sled and grabbed the curled lip of it and started pulling.

"What are you doing?" Hoshina worriedly questioned as he looked down the slope created by the glacier they were resting on top of.

"Pulling the sled until it starts moving on its own?" Kafka returned back with his own questioning tone. He looked back to see Hoshina start to pale from fear as he continued to look down to where the glacier meets the sea.

"Do you have any extra rope slack I can use to tie myself to the supplies?" Hoshina inquired as he swallowed hard.

"You'll be fine! This isn't nearly as steep as the mountain. And you get to see it all this time!" Kafka tried to be cheerful and encouraging for his frightened passenger.

"That's the problem." Hoshina's voice trembled as he scooted as far back as he could in the sled.

"Don't worry, I'll hold ya through it." Kafka teased as he winked at him.

He suddenly started to sprint down the glacier, dragging the sled into his shocking pace. Hoshina began to scream obscenities at the top of his lungs as he helplessly watched the sled being dragged toward their doom. As the sled picked up considerable speed, Kafka jumped and pulled himself onto the sled with his back facing the water they were sliding towards. He pulled Hoshina into a crushing, protective hug as he laughed the whole time. Hoshina was left screaming still, it was just now muffled by Kafka's chest. They nearly fell off of the sled as it made an impact with the water. The freezing ocean came down all around them with Kafka's back and arms taking the brunt of the offence. As the sled's violent rocking eventually settled down, Kafka let go of Hoshina. Hoshina, in kind, harshly pushed himself away from the embrace.

"You idiot! You could have killed us!" Hoshina screamed at him as his chest heaved with deep, panicking breaths.

Kafka chuckled as he shoved his wet hair off of his shoulders, "And that's why I have to balance the sled differently for each trip."

"I regret ever leaving with you." Hoshina growled vehemently.

Kafka just chuckled again as he carefully moved to the side of the wooden platform and slipped into the arctic waters below. Hoshina waited for him to come back up and found a fountain of bubbles instead. Moments later, something rose up from the dark waters with a large splash in front of the sled-turned-boat. Out popped the changed face of Kafka.

He had certainly looked different than before. The edges of his ears had developed a translucent, scalloped ridge. His skin looked a shade darker and more greenish-grey. Hoshina almost thought he saw the patterns of scales that appeared on the black swath on his body continued across his whole chest. The horns on his head shrunk just slightly and straightened out, developing a twisting ridge. His canines shrunk as well, the tips of them were now just touching the plump parts of his lips instead of uncomfortably slicing into the skin above and below them. Kafka shook his head forcefully and pulled out the hair comb. He put it in his teeth as he pulled his hair up and back, twisting it all into a bun and shoved the comb through it.

"Thanks to that bridge you made, we've been making good time so far. It should still be dark by the time I get this pulled to where I can safely pull it onto shore." Kafka swam around until he could put his arms up on the edge of the sled and looked Hoshina in the eyes as he talked, "I'm gonna be honest with ya, this is probably the sketchiest part of the journey for us. I can only do so much in this form and you can't use bending to save yourself. Boats don't make it out this far and it's a long, cold swim to anywhere that you can safely walk on. If you see anything coming, let me handle it. Don't worry about me, I won't leave you here out in the dark and the cold so far from home."

Kafka moved a hand up in an offering hand shake, "Promise."

Hoshina looked at the hand with some apprehension before breathing deep and clasping it in earnest, "I know you will."

Kafka started to move to the back of the sled, but stopped short and looked back at Hoshina, "Also, could you do me a favor and call out anything that might block our path? It's the other reason this trip takes so damn long. It's like I have to stop every few feet and push something else out if the way."

Hosina reached back and pulled out another spear from the bundle in the supply pile, "I think I can help with that." He said as he brandished the spear proudly.

And on they went for tedious nautical miles. It certainly went quicker now that Kafka had someone to push errant ice flows out of the way. Every once in a while, Hoshina would call out to Kafka to come to the front so he could break up some of the bigger and thicker ice slabs. Icebergs and an unfeeling ocean wasn't the only thing Hoshina got to see. He got more than a life times worth of experience watching the penguin-otters, the pods of turtle-seals, and even got to see a bull whale come up for air near the sled. It wasn't much different from the wild life he grew up seeing on boating trips with his family in the North, and he had seen an exotic variety of animals on his far reaching travels, but he couldn't deny that it felt different this time.

Maybe it was the company, maybe it was what led him here in the first place, knowing him it was most likely the change of pace from having to hunt and fight and just... help a guy out for a day. Sure, subduing spirits was helping more people out, but it didn't really lead to the kind of intense connection someone could make when it was just the two of them. Not to mention the guy he was connecting with seemed really desperate for... anything really. Of course they both knew this wasn't going to last, but as he kept pushing ice flow after flow out of the way, he considered that maybe that's what felt so special about this, what was going on right now.

As Hoshina pulled himself back from the edge of the sled, trying to keep himself from falling into the freezing water, something flashed out of the corner of his eye. Far in front of them was an unnatural disturbance in the movement of the ocean's surface. He had gone fishing enough times to tell when a fish's back got too close to the surface, but from the size of the contrasting ripples, this had to have been a legendary size.

"Hey! Hold up a second!" He called out, not taking his eyes off of where the ripples originated from.

"Is it another chunk of ice?" Kafka guessed from the back of the sled.

"No. Something else I think." Hoshina's voice dropped a little as Kafka swam up next to him. His watchful eyes continued to scan the tops of the water for anything that matched what he saw earlier.

"I... thought I saw something like a fish, but... it looked too big for that." Hoshina clarified as he started to think he was just catching the last of the sun's rays off of the water.

"Spirits abound, don't tell me..." Kafka muttered anxiously as he made a quick lap around the floating sled, snapping his head around at anything moving close by.

"What? What is it?" Hoshina quickly asked.

"Don't tell me he migrated early again." Kafka said cryptically as he came back around in a full circle.

"Kafka, who's he?" Hoshina questioned again, matching Kafka's nervous state.

"This big, problematic fucker I tussle with sometimes." Kafka finally answered as he kept whipping his head around.

The two of them looked off to the left at just the right time to catch the dark, needle tips breaking out of the water attached to something moving towards their direction. Kafka immediately dunked his head under the gentle waves for a moment, only to come up gasping for air.

"Stay in the boat!" Kafka yelled as he briefly looked back at Hoshina.

"What's coming? What's going on!" Hoshina quickly fired back, dropping to his hands at the edge of the sled.

"Just stay in the boat!" Kafka worriedly commanded again before taking off under the water.

He came back quickly to take the spear out of Hoshina's hands, "Remember, don't worry about me." Kafka's stead fast gaze penetrated deep into Hoshina's scared expression.

He soon ducked back under the waves again, leaving Hoshina on his own. He could feel his pulse quicken and his breathing shallow out. He backed up from the edge and shifted closer to the supplies. His hands were shaking as he drew out another spear from the pile, taking a mental note of how many were left. He started wishing he had his bending back, or at least have Haruichi with him. Hoshina nervously chuckled as he thought about how ecstatic that hill-billy would have been at the thought of wrangling something twice to three times the size of him.

Miles out into the ocean, Hoshina saw periods of frantic movement, creating wide splashes as it happened. As the disturbances drew closer, he got a better and better view of what Kafka might have been talking about. Something long, dark, and serpentine was cresting out of the water in broad arches. Through the crashing of water, he could almost make out a chopped up string of colorful curses. Time felt like it was slowing the closer the possible danger came towards the sled. On the last arch that appeared before the sled, Hoshina got a pretty good idea what was coming for them.

A Woolly Unagi, a massive Arctic salt water eel the size and length of a dragon. Its skin was a midnight blue with a white mane made out of an almost hair-like material, growing out of its back as it lined the sides of its tall dorsal fins. Powerful enough to launch its upper body out of the water and loved to slam its mighty weight down onto innocent shipping vessels, this beast was only heard about from old sailor tales. Most had believed it was a myth or had been hunted to extinction. But one still existed apparently, and it was headed right for the sled.

Precariously attached to the topside of the head, was Kafka shouting every curse he could think of as he held on to the whip-like bundle of whiskers that perched on the beast's mouth like a comically thin mustache. He was pulling on them like how one would do with ostrich-horse reigns and suddenly screamed with effort. His tactic managed to narrowly direct the Unagi from crashing spectacularly onto the sled. The waves caused by the splash down happening so close to the sled nearly sent Hoshina overboard by their force alone. He scrambled to his feet quickly as he watched the long body slip back under the waves again.

"Kafka? KAFKA!" Hoshina shouted as he watched the disturbed ripples peter out.

It wasn't long before he saw the two of them rise out of the water again, a safer distance from the sled this time. The head of the Unagi shot out of the ocean and thrashed around in the open. It let out a deafening, pained wail as it stayed in the air. Hoshina could just barely make out Kafka as well, but he seemed to be stuck inside the beast's mouth. Hoshina heard more cursing as well as the sound of a large stick beating uselessly against hardened flesh. As the Unagi turned around, he got a better view of what was going on. Kafka was hanging out of its mouth and was beating the broken shaft of the spear on the upside of its head, the tip of the spear lodged in the beast's right eye. The Unagi couldn't hold its own weight up any longer and dropped back down under the waves.

Hoshina couldn't stop himself from shaking as he stood there, feeling useless. His breath became shorter and quicker the angrier he got. His fists came up to clutch his coat as he looked down at it, before violently shedding it in fear and rage. So what if he didn't have his bending right now, there was someone in trouble! Kafka had gone so far out of his way to make sure he was safe and getting him back to his team, and he wasn't just going to have him struggling by himself against this overwhelming threat.

After he got the coat off, he leaned back down to grab the spear. Walking to the edge of the sled, he hesitated for a moment, suddenly understanding what he was about to do. The temperature of the water out here was cold enough to send anyone into shock within minutes if they weren't careful, but anything had to be better than staying up on the surface. Just as his foot hovered over the water, poised to drop in, a large splash of water appeared before him that sent him flying backwards. As he righted himself off of his back, Hoshina looked down at his feet to see who had appeared.

"Damn me to the DEPTHS!" Kafka roared as he threw his upper body onto the sled, "I had him! I had him dead to rights!"

He tossed the broken spear onto the sled before trying to haul himself up. It became very clear that doing so was bringing him pain. Hoshina shot up and crawled over to help bring Kafka up onto the sled. Having him laid out on the floor of their boat, Hoshina got a pretty good look at the damage the Unagi had done. In a curved line reaching from halfway up his ribs and passing through his lower hips, was a series of dashed and jagged teeth marks. All of them were bleeding profusely, the color of the blood turning into pink watercolors as it mixed with the sea water running off his body. Kafka gathered just enough strength to turn himself over onto his back, groaning as he did.

"KAFKA!" Hoshina cried out as he looked at the extent of his injuries.

He turned and dug through the supplies trying to find if there was anything he could use for bandages. When he didn't, he turned and his attention zeroed in on his coat. As he grabbed and and was about to tear it into some sort of usable strips, he heard Kafka wheezing out to Hoshina.

"Don-Don't. I'm fine." Kafka hissed as he pulled out an errant tooth from his abdomen, "This'll all clog up in a minute or two."

"Kafka, you are not fine! This is the opposite of fine!" Hoshina berated him as he dragged the coat over to at least try to stop the bleeding from the wound he pulled the tooth out of.

"I heal fast. It's part of my spirit power yakshit." Kafka tried to chuckle but instead it turned into a cough.

"Fun fact," He added once he stopped, "Unagi are poisonous, so you get to see me walk that off too." Blood dripped from the corner of his mouth as he cracked a smirk, "Wanna tooth?" He handed over the one he pulled out of himself.

"Can you be serious right now! How can you have all these supplies on this sled and not have any bandages?" Hoshina continued to chastise as he rapidly scanned over Kafka, making sure he wan't missing a finger and not saying anything.

"Don't need to if I just heal quicker than needed" Kafka grunted as he tried to gently push the now soaked coat off of him, "Seriously, don't ruin your coat over me."

Hoshina just huffed as he continued to look down at him, "And you expect me to sit here and just... do nothing?" He hadn't noticed his upper lip started quivering until Kafka brought up a callused knuckle to his cheek.

"Hey, I get it. You're used to taking command, making sure people don't get hurt under your care. But guess what buddy, I'm the one that's gotta make sure you come out the other side of this." His hand dropped by his head as his gaze never left, "I'm used to taking a hit."

Hoshina's eyes and hand drifted towards Kafka's outstretched one, "You're sure you're going to be fine after this?" He asked quietly.

"For the most part, yeah." Kafka answered, "Poison's makin' me wanna pass out though, and I'd hate to leave ya hanging here."

The two of them sat there for a while, just enjoying being able to breathe. It wasn't long after Kafka decided to speak up again.

"Hey, why don't you tell me a bit about yourself?" He asked, "Makes it your turn to help keep me awake." He chuckled weakly.

"Oh, I don't know." Hoshina deferred, "I'm not that interesting."

"Aww, don't be like that! That's just because you already know the endings to your stories." Kafka countered, "Why don't you take a crack at telling it to someone else for a change."

Hoshina wasn't sure about all of this, but he did make a point. Kafka already did the same thing for him earlier in the day, so it would make sense to return the favor.

"I mean, it would be kinda rude of me not to, having him pour his heart to me and all that." He thought.

And so he did. He talked about as much as he could bring up. His family, his life growing up in a rich house built on shipping trades and their protection, what made him decide to pick up a life of travel and research. He talked about his mother; an apathetic woman that only saw her twin daughters, his father; a man only interested in his oldest who was to inherit the family name, his brother; a spoiled rotten bully that liked to rub how he was better at almost everything. He despised his father, resented his brother, and somehow came to understand why his mother acted the way she did with the rest of the family, but only after he had left quietly and looked back with unclouded eyes. Talking to Kafka made him realize that, deep down inside, he was just a very angry man.

Angry at his family ignoring him. Angry at how the Avatar was the only one who was supposed to be dealing with these rampaging spirits. Angry that there wasn't any way for the common people to take care of this or have any way to learn about how to deal with this problem on their own. A part of him wanted to say that it angered him at how much effort he was having to put into all of this, but he held his tongue on that. Not because it would have made it sound like he was complaining about it, but that he wasn't actually angry in the first place. Just... tired. He was exhausted of trying to fill in a gap left by someone so incredibly powerful with lackluster solutions and a half-baked dream. That he did talk about.

It felt good. Talking it all out. He felt close to his party, but he never felt like talking about anything close to himself. He started to wonder if that was a mistake, that maybe it would have made them work better together if they weren't so closed off to each other. He could see why Kafka let everything loose on the first person that would listen. It must have been painful after a while, holding it all in with no one to talk to but to the shadows on the wall. Hoshina hadn't realized just how long he kept talking. The sun had fully dropped from view a long time ago, but the moon was so bright that nothing felt like it had changed. It wasn't until he started to see aberrant colors reflecting in the water did he look up to the sky.

"The Spirit Lights." Hoshina gasped in amazement, "I didn't know they happened at the South Pole as well."

"It's why we have the festival. We think it keeps the spirits happy, thus gifting us the lights." Kafka said, matching the quiet amazement.

The two of them watched the swaying and swelling strips of cool blues and bright greens blanket the sky, making the stars flicker in a rhythmic pattern only nature could read the beat of. It was a long pause, but it had only felt like seconds before Hoshina started to understand that they were still on a time limit.

"shit- How long does night last around here?" Hoshina asked as he scanned around where they were.

"Practically forever at this point. We've got time if you wanna watch a little longer.' Kafka offered with some veiled hopefulness as he propped himself up on his elbows.

"I'm sure I'll see plenty of it while we move. Here, let me look at you." Hoshina said as he gently pushed Kafka back to the floor of the sled.

He wasn't wrong when he said he healed fast. All of the wounds had closed up and were already a healthy, rosy pink color. He lightly pressed around most of the scars to make sure that there weren't any muscles tears hidden under the surface. He mainly checked out of habit, not really trusting Kafka's stance on his abnormal healing factor.

"Told you I would be fine." Kafka said as he placed a hand over Hoshina's, "I even feel fine enough to start pushing the sled again" He tried to move closer to the edge so he could slip off into the water, but was stopped by Hoshina before he could.

"Hold up, I think you lost your hair comb." He said as he noticed that Kafka's hair was falling down around his shoulders again.

"Wouldn't be surprised if I had. Feels like I'm loosing one every few months." Kafka answered as a hand came to pat at his hair.

Hoshina took a quick look around the sled to see if it had fallen out on the sled, When he didn't see it, he wondered if there was anything that would act as a good substitute. His eyes caught on the broken shaft of the spear and noticed that there was a long and fairly thick splinter stuck to the end of it. He reached over and managed to snap it off, having one end thicker than the other. Kafka had already dropped into the water, but Hoshina motioned him back over so he could help him pull his hair back. He pulled all the stringy lengths together and carefully wrapped it around the needle-like stick.

"There. Should hold until you can make something better." He said as he finished.

As he moved he looked over and saw the discarded tooth from earlier, "Would make for a crazy hair comb." He said as he picked it up.

"Naw, I've got better plans for that." Kafka returned as his hand investigated Hoshina's handiwork, "Hold on to it for me, would'ya?" he said as he tacked on a wink.

The rest of the trip went back to being uneventful. Hoshina went back to his appointed task of pushing away ice flotsam while Kafka slowly pushed the sled along. The amount of animals that Hoshina had seen earlier had greatly diminished, most likely being asleep right now. He wasn't wrong when he said he would see plenty more of the Spirit Lights as they traveled. They had continued well until they had reached shore, hitting landfall several miles away from the village. They could still see the lights of the festival from where they pulled up from the water, but they were dim in the haze of the wind that mixed with the snow.

After pulling the sled a safe distance away from any sort of ice or water and making sure they really had hit solid land, Hoshina had ordered for a dinner break. Kafka felt hesitant to eat again, knowing that all he was wanting was that bag of hearts. Hoshina argued against it stating that he didn't want to take any chances. They ate in quiet conversation with Kafka detailing what the last leg of the journey would look like. Should nothing surprising crop up, it was more or less a short jaunt over the foothills that rested at the base of the mountains. From there, Kafka would drop off the supplies on a mound he had selected years ago. It was in sight of one of the watch towers that lined the outer border of the town and it intersected a path a group of hunters took as they left town.

"There's a taller hill down the way that I hide the sled behind. I camp out under the snow once daylight hits and I stay there until someone shows up and discovers the drop off." Kafka talked about as he finished off a batch of seal jerky, having already finished off the hearts.

"Has anyone tried to camp out there before you show up? You know, to try and see who's been dropping off the food?" Hoshina asked as he dusted his mitts of food crumbs.

"Once or twice. I don't really have a reliable date for when I drop all this off, they just know it's during the festival. Until now, I've managed to just... wait them out." Kafka remarked, "They tend to give up at sunrise. I just wait until they leave to drop it off or just before the festival gets back into full swing. It's risky timing, but I can move fast when I need to."

Hoshina just nodded at the answer, thinking that it all sounded reasonable. The two of them got up and got ready to get the sled moving again. Hoshina opted to walk alongside Kafka at this part, having grown tired of sitting down all day. He had to borrow a pair of snow shoes that Kafka had crafted since the snow at this part was above ankle deep. Normally, this would have been solved with bending. Just another thing to curse his still throbbing head wound over. The walk was continued in silence as Hoshina had spent most of his concentration getting used to having snow shoes on his feet. This was fine as Kafka needed less distractions to keep vigilant for anything that could stop them.

They walked through several miles of uninteresting terrain. Mainly cutting through the foothills by using the shallow valleys in between them. They passed by some dead shrubbery and disturbed some snow rats, but ultimately nothing else happened. There wasn't even anybody camping out at his site waiting for him. The two of them blissfully shuffled all the supplies off of the sled and placed them right where they could easily be seen. As Hoshina finished moving the last of the bags and pelts, he caught Kafka staring longingly at the back gates to the town. He quietly placed everything down where they should and walked over to stand with him.

"It's no secret to say that you miss them, don't you? Being around people." Hoshina mused, wondering what it was like in Kafka's head right now.

"I promised her." Kafka started unexpectedly, "Every year I remember that I promised her that I would take her to see the festival when I got back from the trip. As cool and... aloof as she likes to act, she hates going anywhere alone. I sometimes worry myself to sleep, wondering if she's ever stepped out of the house after I left." Hoshina watched as the first rays of a new dawn got caught in the reflection of Kafka's tear, "That makes me a shitty brother, doesn't it? For not finding a way to make sure she could go anywhere without me... when I'm gone."

"Kafka..." Hoshina sighed warmly as a hand came up to rest on his arm, "You didn't know this was going to happen. You prepared for the trip like you were going to come back. And in any other case, you would have."

"I could have at least checked." Kafka's voice cracked as he held back a sob, "I've thought about a million different ways, I know that town upside-down and backwards, I could have found a way to check up on her by now. And I haven't." His other hand came up to wipe away the lone, hot tear, "Because I'm scared again. I don't want to risk it all and ruin the last image she has of her brother. I don't think I could handle it if she saw me now and ran screaming."

Hoshina looked away as Kafka continued to fight his small battle, "She's pretty lucky... to end up with a brother like you."

"What? To be related to a gutless coward?" Kafka huffed resentfully.

"To a man that continues to support her in any way he can." Hoshina retorted carefully, turning back to face him.

Kafka faced him as well, catching that stern, quiet, drive Hoshina held in his gaze that he tried to will back into Kafka. He looked away as his hand came up to pat at the one on his arm. Neither hand moved as they watched the rising sun blanket its warmth over the still buzzing festival.

"This... might be a bit selfish of me, and I'm aware this isn't really in your wheelhouse for me to ask, but..." Kafka hesitated as his lips were pursued in thought, "Would it be possible... for you to take my sister in my stead? I think it would be nice to have the chance to hear her voice among the crowd, just this once."

Their eyes met again. With Kafka's filled with sad hopefulness and Hoshina's with surprise that was soon replaced with empathy and resignation. His hand slid down Kafka's arm and met his other hand as they both clasped around the large, clawed paw. Hoshina said nothing, letting his actions confidently speak for themselves. Kafka returned a small smile as he looked back at the festival.

"Even if it's just for a moment."

✼ ✼ ✼ ✼ ✼ ✼ ✼ ✼ ✼ ✼ ✼ ✼

"I didn't know you could get pig-chickens to grow out here." Hoshina said as he marveled at his cup of roasted and sauced covered meat skewers.

"Only out on the islands. They're shipped over for slaughter around fall. Or, what constitutes for fall around here." Mina, Kafka's sister, said as she kept pace beside him, "It's much warmer there than here, to the point that there can at least be lichen and truffles for them to eat."

Hoshina had left Kafka up on the hill and made it to where the main grouping of huts were to find his sister. It wasn't hard to figure out which hut it was since Kafka had mentioned that they lived close to the edge of the village, all that was left to find was which house was still burning the midnight oil. Hoshina had lots of practice breaking peoples guards down, so getting Mina to trust him enough to be let inside was the easier part. Convincing her to go to the festival with him tonight was a different matter. He couldn't be bothered to remember what he said that made her change her mind, as he was too focused on the pig-chicken skewers in front of him. It was the first warm meal he had all day.

"Mmmph, so that's why they taste more savory than normal." Hoshina tried to utter through ravenous bites of food, "These taste unlike any I've had in the other kingdoms."

Mina just held her neutral expression as she walked. It was almost starting to feel like she was an unimpressed guest to her own hometown. Hoshina was warned about her aloofness, but something told him this was deeper than just being unintrusive. He came into this thinking that he could at least get her to laugh, but Hoshina was starting to wonder if there was anything left in her heart that would let her. Off to his left he heard the sounds of something squishy hitting a pile of something hollow, causing a loud racket to echo through the thin crowd. Looking over, it appeared to be some sort of throwing game. A couple of kids were given some canvas sacks filled with a dark green goo and were tossing it at stacks of wooden cups.

"Wanna give that a try?" Hoshina tried to propose.

Mina gave the attraction a cold glance, "Why bother? Its just cheap protection charms." She wrote off harshly.

"Come on! Don't you ever want to try your luck?" Hoshina teased as he pulled on her arm, hoping to get any sort of reaction.

He dragged her over to to the stand and dropped some shell-coins on the counter. When his team arrived, they talked to the chief and he helped out by exchanging their money for local currency, should they need anything. Even through the avalanche, he had managed to keep it. He was handed three sacks as the man behind the counter used his bending to restack and clean the cups.

"Knock down one tower for small prizes, two for medium, and all three for the big prize!" The man declared as he quickly moved out of the way.

Hoshina picked up the first sack and drew his arm back. Halfway through the swing, he felt an unusual tightness in his upper arm and shoulder. The muscles in his throwing arm became painful so suddenly that it completely messed up his aim and sent the sack into the wall behind the first tower. He hissed loudly as his arm dropped to his side.

"Are you alright?" Mina asked, a touch of concern broke through the unfeeling veneer.

"I-I'm fine. Must have twisted something earlier." Hoshina covered quickly as he tried to massage the pain away.

He would have asked if Mina could offer some healing, but he already got that prospect turned down at her front door. Apparently, the concussion she suffered through changed her bending in a drastic way. Kafka wasn't kidding when he said she couldn't be subtle about bending water anymore. As it turns out, the smallest amount she can bend now is nothing short of cataclysmic, or in other words, anything capable of sinking a small fishing boat. Only being able to bend massive amounts has effectively cut her off from any chance of using water to heal as well, since the act would be the equivalent of taking a boulder to a wooden peg.

Hoshina rotated his arm around a few times before he tried to swing again. The pain never left and in fact seemed to grow as he moved it. Not wanting to ruin any chance of ruining what was supposed to be Mina's night, he quickly worked through the pain. Lobbing one sac after the other, he managed to keep enough focus to land the last two sludge sacks on their targets, sending the green gloop flying dramatically.

"And that earns you a medium prize! Take your pick." The man pulled out a woven basket filled with fist sized stone carvings, each one looking almost like an animal with a feature that was exaggerated, missing, or replaced with something else altogether.

Hoshina turned as gestured to the box, indicating he'd like Mina to pick it out. She rolled her eyes and sighed. She stared at the tray for a while before placing her hand inside and shifted some of the tokens around. Mina eventually pulled out what looked like an animal with the head of a tiger with wide cheek fur and long curled teeth. A loop of cord had been inserted and tarred into a hole made at the top of its head.

"Huh. Don't think I've ever seen that animal before." Hoshina observed as Mina held it up

"It's supposed to be the Saber-Tiger Spirit CaiWei, bringer of good fortune and happy endings." Mina explained sedately, "I just picked it because I like cats." She carelessly shoved the trinket into her coat pocket and walked away.

"Damn, love life not going too well?" The festival worker teased.

"I-I'm just here as a friend." Hoshina stumbled offhandedly as he turned to catch up.

"Sooo... Is there anything else interesting to do around this time of year?" Hoshina tried to gently pry as he caught up.

"Look. I get you're trying to be nice and help out some friend you just met, but I'm tired and I'd just like to go back home and..." Mina trailed off in the middle of her thoughts as she came to a stop in the middle of the street.

She started to sniff the air with exuberance, closing her eyes as she tried to focus. Moving her head around, she jogged away and eventually darted between some short tents, coming out the other side. Hoshina followed behind her as she remained dedicated to her mission while she ducked around other people. She soon stopped and opened her eyes as she came face to face with a food stall selling fried cuttlefish arms. As Hoshina came to her side, he stopped looking at the stall and instead paid attention to her expression. It was odd to see someone who had been firmly unemotional seem so close to tears. It was like her face hadn't remembered what to do about the water that was dripping out of her eyes in so long. Not bothering to ask if she wanted some, Hoshina moved to step in line. Before he could, he felt a strong hand suddenly grip his wrist.

"Don't. I... I promised someone we'd... we'd buy some together." Mina couldn't bring herself to look him in the eye as she gripped his wrist tighter.

"Who said I'm buying some for you?" Hoshina returned playfully, a plan slowly developing in his mind.

Mina let go of his wrist from the shock of the statement, letting him enter the short wait. Minutes later he came back with his cup full of crispy cuttlefish arms and pulled Mina away with him, walking the both of them to a secluded bench. He threw an arm into his mouth and tried not to openly wince from the taste. Hoshina then held the cup under Mina's nose temptingly.

"No thanks. I told you I was waiting for someone." Mina countered.

"What you said was that you were waiting to buy them with someone. I bought this for myself and now I'm offering you a bite. Totally different." He said as he shook the cup.

It was clear Mina wanted to resist, but Hoshina had a feeling that it had been a while since she had a taste of her favorite food. After all, who can track down something like fried food just by scent in the middle of a festival? Mina's hand hovered over the cup for as long as she dared before gently pinching a crunchy curl and shoved it into her mouth. Hoshina could hear a long drawn out sigh through her nose as her tongue made contact with the snack.

"Place sure has a big festival for such a small town." Hoshina said as he tried to make small talk to distract Mina from the fact that he was still holding out the cup.

"The Mountain Man's gifts have been helpful for that." Mina answered as she took another bite.

"Mountain Man?" Hoshina gave as a leading question but had a feeling he already knew who she was talking about.

"Mountain Man, First Hunter, Spirit of the Hunt. Horned Demon if you only listen to the words of our chief. He's a spirit that's been hanging out around the Twin-La mountains at the back of the village. He brings mounds of food and other things around the time of the Winter Solstice. I have no idea why our chief seems to have it out for the guy." Mina responded halfheartedly.

"First Hunter, eh? Name rings a bell. I think that friend of mine just told me about him." Hoshina mentioned purely just to keep the conversation going. The talk they were having was just distracting enough that Mina kept taking small bites out of food out of the cup.

"Did he tell you why the spirit is showing back up?" Mina chuffed bitterly in between bites.

"Enlighten me." Hoshina requested.

Mina sighed heavily as she remembered, "Six years ago a large group of our people were sent out to find food beyond the mountains. Only our current Chief made it back to tell everyone how dangerous it was back there. People now think that the spirit heard about what happened and now takes pity on us." There was brief pause as the two of them became content with people watching.

"I like to think it was my brother that told the Mountain Man." Mina ruminated. "Sometimes, when I look out at the mountains as I go about my day, I like to think that my brother is out there with him, helping him. That's why he hasn't come back home yet. "

"Is that the person you're waiting on?" Hoshina asked, curious as to how she felt about her brother.

"You think it's stupid, don't you." Mina jabbed back harshly, "Six years in a harsh, unforgiving environment that took the lives of nearly twenty people and he's just choosing to stay out there."

"Not at all." Hoshina soothed, "I work with spirits for a living, so I've heard weirder things happen."

Mina turned and leered with unbelieving eyes and found Hoshina's forgiving gaze instead.

"It's not wrong to have an unrealistic hope when there's no evidence against it." Hoshina offered as a life line.

Mina just looked away and took another bite of cuttlefish, "It is if it's the only thing you have left to go on." Mina went silent for a moment as her jaw worked away at the food.

"A lot of people thought just because my brother was big, that he was dumb as well. He wasn't. He could be pretty smart. His problem was that his heart... got in the way a lot." She was contemplative as she watched the clouds catch the morning rays.

Hoshina was shocked to hear an honest chuckle come out of her before she spoke again, "You could tell just by looking at him that he was a crybaby. It was his eyes. Big, watery puddles all the time."

"He sounds like a wonderful person." Hoshina smirked, covering the pain of his heart breaking as he listened.

Mina just nodded limply as she looked at him. She breathed a small sigh as she fidgeted in her seat. As she did, her gaze flickered down to see the once full cup was now empty.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to eat all of it." She said with regret.

"That's fine. I'm not a fan of cuttlefish anyway." Hoshina countered, his plan now complete.

As they talked, they had passively noticed the sound of a scuffle close to them. As it grew louder, it was getting harder to ignore. Especially as the noises of the commotion started to sound out Hoshina's name. As he turned to face who was accusing him, he found himself at the other end of a fiery fist.

"THAT'S FOR ABANDONING US!" Narumi shouted as he was immediately pulled back by Haruichi and Aoi.

"Narumi, we were just talking about this! He might not have his memory!" Kikoru exclaimed as she came running up behind everyone.

"What is wrong with you! Shmoozing up women like nothing's wrong!" Narumi continued to berate his captain as he struggled in his hold.

"Be careful with him! He's already got a head wound!" Mina found her voice as she overcame her shock.

"Wait, seriously? Let me take a look at that." Haruichi quickly shoved the wriggling prince over onto Aoi, sending them both off balance.

He helped Hoshina get to his feet and settled him back onto the bench. He gently pulled off the bandages and pulled some clean water out of a leather skin to bend it around his captain's head. The water immediately began to glow and hum with soothing energy, melting the scar from Hoshina's head.

"You might want to go over his right shoulder too, he's been favoring it since we met." Mina added as she bent down to talk to Haruichi.

"What, did he hurt it slinging it around your shoulder?" Narumi called out vindictively as he pushed himself off of Aoi and the ground.

"I got it bending with a concussion, if you really want to know." Hoshina hissed out as the water sunk into the part of his head that was still throbbing. His words caught Mina's attention, but she kept any questions to herself.

"Yeah, you really don't ever wanna be doin' that. Got a cousin that hit his head on a tree branch and tried to paddle home, couldn't use his left arm for a year. Head wounds and bending can do some funky shit to ya if you're not careful." Haruichi confirmed colorfully as he directed the water to the affected shoulder.

"I think the most important question we should be asking is 'Where have you been?' We all thought..." Kikoru piped up only to trail off.

Hoshina remembered Kafka saying something about this, but he hadn't really let the thought sink in just yet. It was one thing to hear that people thought you were dead, it was another to get hit with the aftermath of them realizing they were wrong.

"We had mourned you. We had a ceremony and everything." Aoi brushed his orange robes off as he stood up, "It was a bit of a ramshackle ceremony. It was on short notice."

"The thought is... appreciated." Hoshina confessed.

"We were just about to head back up the mountain to kick that spirit's ass!" Narumi cried, "I had this whole vengeance speech planned. I worked all night on it!"

"Were you here all night and we just missed you or something?" Haruichi asked as he finished up with the healing.

"I have a lot of things I need to go over with all of you." Hoshina declared as he checked if his bending came back.

As a small stream of delicately swirling water moved and obeyed his command with no sense of pain or cramping, he let out a small sigh of relief. He stood up from the bench and handed the wooden cup to Mina.

"I'd love to walk you home if you wouldn't mind waiting. I shouldn't be too long with my people." He offered.

Mina quietly nodded her head as she watched the group walk to the center of the sparsely populated street. As the circle formed around Hoshina, he opened his mouth to speak but thought against as his eyes flashed over in the direction of where the supply drop was located.

"Can I borrow that?" He asked as he pointed to Aoi's glider.

The broad air bender gave him a quizzical look as he handed it over. Hoshina then used the end of the staff to draw his thoughts into the snow below.

"We can't kill the spirit." He wrote.

"Why can't you just tell us that?" Narumi insisted as he looked up at Hoshina.

"Because he had an abnormally incredible level of hearing. I'm pretty sure he could hear me scratching this out right now." Hoshina answered with the ground.

"Spent some time with it, have you?" Narumi goaded.

He got hit on the head with the staff before having it thrust into his hand by Hoshina. Kikoru then snapped it out of Narumi's hand and started to scratch into the snow.

"Why can't we kill it? Is it powerful?" She asked before she handed the staff back.

"Because he's not a spirit." Hoshina scribbled, "He's just spirit-touched. Maybe even beyond just being touched by spirits. He has powers."

At this point, Mina grew curious. Not wanting to intervene and cause them to break their conversation, she decided to try to use a trick she developed. As subtly as possible, she pulled off one of her boots and dipped her toes into the snow. She found out after the concussion that, while she couldn't bend small amounts anymore, she had the ability to read small disturbances in bodies of water. And while a blanket of snow wasn't exactly a sea, it was connected all the same.

"So? All spirit-touched have powers in a way." Haruchi took the staff from Hoshina before handing it back.

"Not this time. He has transformations." Hoshina wrote back, "Different forms that help him to swim and run faster. He used them to get me back down the mountain."

Aoi silently asked for the staff, "The spirit-man helped you?"

"Yes, and it's the same guy that's been bringing the food and supplies every winter solstice for that last six years." Hoshina wrote as he took the staff back, "He made me hitch a ride on the sled."

Mina had to make an effort to hold back any visible amount of surprise. She had to tamp down any measure of hope that her brother had any relation to the spirit they were talking about.

"He made you?" Narumi whispered teasingly, wondering if there wasn't something more to the story. Speaking out loud earned him another hit on the head with the staff.

"So I didn't really have a choice. He made it clear the concussion limited my options." Hoshina hurriedly scratched out, "That and he said he'd appreciate my help."

Narumi felt his arm being nudged by Haruichi next to him. The two men exchanged various glances, telling an unspoken story.

"Suckered in by the sob story?" Haruichi gaze communicated.

"Oh, DEFINITELY. Bonus points if the guy still looked hot after his transformation." Narumi answered with a dramatic eye roll.

"Can we focus?" Hoshina harshly whispered, only to get knocked on the head by the staff.

Aoi just offered an apologetic shrug, not really being sorry in the slightest. Hoshina angrily took the staff back before he scrolled out more words.

"The point is that we can't kill him. He's not a spirit, he's benevolent, and beneficial to the town. We're going to have to talk to the chieftain and clear the confusion. I'm not going back up there to hurt an innocent man."

"How do you know he's innocent? Maybe he's the one that caused the village to starve." Haruichi asked as he was handed the staff.

Hoshina stood there stunned, having not considered the possibility before. He thought about the situation for a moment before shaking his head and silently asked for the staff back.

"He was a part of the initial group that left to find food. Leaves a starving village and murders his party just to be the unsung hero of the same village? Too convoluted and he's way too nice."

Narumi immediately kicked some extra snow in the middle of them before stealing the staff and speedily scribbling in the fresh pile.

"OH, SO HE'S 'TOO NICE'?" He wrote grinning like a lunatic.

Hoshina wrestled the staff back before scribbling over what he had just written, "YES, HE'S INCREDIBLY NICE! SO NICE THAT I DECIDED TO HELP HIM OUT AND TAKE HIS SISTER TO THE FESTIVAL BECAUSE I FELT SORRY FOR HIM! HAPPY NOW???"

Narumi's jaw dropped as a chorus of gasps could be heard from the rest of the group.

"For shame, Hoshina." Kikoru teased as a hand came over her mouth.

"Man, why is it always you getting into all these side quests for other people." Haruichi interjected.

"I don't know why we bothered with the funeral. We should've known you were just fine." Aoi said as he started to walk away in exasperation.

"How hard was he batting those pathetic monster eyelashes of his for you to crumble this bad!" Narumi reveled, "What happened to being a 'Professional' that 'Doesn't get side-tracked'."

"HE SAVED MY LIFE THREE TIMES OVER! CUT ME SOME SLACK-!" Hoshina turned to yell at Narumi before noticing that Mina had left, "Hey, where did Mina go?"

"The lady you were talking to? She turned and bolted for the back gates. I thought she remembered she left the stove burning with the way she ran off." Kikoru mentioned as she pointed in the direction.

Hoshina's face began to crumble as he started to pray that he was wrong. He took off in the same direction and left his team without explanation. The team exchanged worried and confused faces before starting to run after their leader. Hoshina began to summon the snow under his feet to help him gain longer strides and make him glide effortlessly. His bending returned to him naturally and immediately like a fish taking to water. He was immensely thankful to Kafka for finding a way to help him back to his friends with a way to keep his bending intact. He wouldn't know how he would be able to go on if something happened to it, seeing as his bending is a corner stone of his whole profession. He began to hope he wouldn't need it should something happen to either sibling when they meet.

Once Mina had read the words about "Taking his sister to the festival" did it all click into place for her. Everything he had said, everything he wrote about to his friends, it all sounded too much like Kafka. She didn't care about the fact that he had been gone or that he had been so close this whole time. If what they were implying was true, then she might have a chance to meet him again if she found the supply drop. Her lungs started to quake as she got close to the back of the village. Her legs burned with a fire equal to what she felt in her heart. She started to pant louder and louder the closer she got to the edge, and drew in the largest breath of air as she crossed the threshold.

"KAFKAAA!" Mina cried, her voice cracking under the weight of her tears.

She called his name over and over again as she ran. She ran and ran until she came to the top of the first foothill she came to. Stopping to catch her breath, she quickly scanned the lands in front of her as she hoped to catch any sort of sign of where he could be. As she found an uncharacteristically bright glimmer in a spot off in the distance, she took off towards it, not caring if it wasn't what she was looking for. Mina ignored the voices warning her and continued to call out Kafka's name as she got closer to the shimmering beacon of hope in the distance. She had gotten pretty close to the drop off point before Hoshina caught up to her.

"Mina! Mina, wait!" Hoshina called out as he accidentally slid into her.

His arms tried to wrap themselves around her in an attempt to slow her down. Mina was having none of it, constantly trying to push herself out of his reach as she continued to trudge to the supplies. He eventually got a firm grip on her wrist and held on to her until she would face him.

"Mina, you have to understand, you can't see each other! At least not yet, not until I-"

"I don't care!" Mina cried out, "I want to see him , I'm going to see him!" She pried herself out of his grasp and walked up another small hill to the side of the one the supplies were on.

"Mina! Things are complicated right now, but I need you to trust me! I can get you two back together, but I need time!" Hoshina tried to convince her, but it was hard to do since she wasn't in a mindset to listen.

"He's had plenty of time!" She wheeled on him suddenly, "I'm going to hunt his fat ass down so he can explain things himself ! Especially as to why he hasn't come home in six years!"

"You can't see him right now! Not while it's light out at least!" Hoshina countered as he tried to get a hold on her again.

"I don't care, I don't care, I don't care!" Mina ranted a she waved an arm at him.

Not realizing it until it was too late, she had unconsciously summoned her water bending. A mound of dense snow twice the size of the Wooly Unagi's head was about to come crashing down upon Hoshina. It was too close to Hoshina for him to react and it happened too fast for Mina to take it back. As his friends were too far out to help, time felt like it had slowed down for Hoshina. He could feel his body shifting its weight against his will, almost as if something else was moving him instead. He felt the snow hitting his back first before he felt it hit anywhere else. His arms came up to block his face but had nothing to defend against.

A second later, he opened his eyes to find a well familiar sight of a good friend's backside. Hoshina's friends came around him to help him back up as they all watched an eight foot tall human looking beast stand up against the full force of Mina's accidental bending. The snow pounded against the beast for almost a full minute before it let up. Just before the snow's barrage had let up completely, Kafka dashed forward through the thick curtain and entrapped his unsuspecting sister in a suffocating bear hug.

"Did-did he just-? Pop out of the ground?" Narumi questioned incredulously.

"Shh!" Hoshina snipped quickly, knowing this was going to be a sensitive moment.

"Wha-what? Kafka?" Mina asked in a small and confused voice. She felt the strong arms around her tighten as the body she was held up against shook uncontrollably.

"I know," The voice sniffed loudly, "I know... that I hurt you when I left. And I hurt you again when I didn't come back. I never wanted to... To hurt you in the way that I have." All Mina could feel was the being that held her dropping down to one knee so she wouldn't be stuck in such a weird angle in the awkward hug, "But you have to understand, coming back would have hurt you more than just staying away. I'm not... I can't be what you want me to be anymore."

Mina tried to pull back to get a better look at the beast holding her, but a hand came up and gently forced her head back to his chest.

"No, don't." He said quickly, "I can't... let you see me like this. I don't... I don't know what would happen... if-" Kafka tried hard to hold back the deluge of tears, but could do nothing for the hiccuping gasps he made as he continued to shake.

Mina just stood there in her brother's arms, as unfamiliar as they looked. She listened to his voice, as rough as it sounded. She felt that seeing warmth that ebbed out not from his chest, but from deep within his heart, just as it always had. She closed her eyes and fell forward into his arms, recognizing the way they always made her feel safe, even if he didn't feel it himself. Her arms could only come up to his ribs now, but she squeezed his sides all the same, returning the hug as best as she could.

"You haven't changed a bit, you crybaby." She muttered into his heart.

Kafka held nothing back as he collapsed fully into tears. His grip on his sister loosened as he slumped over her. The fight to protect her from himself left him as he heard her words. He was mindful enough not to fall over on her, knowing that there wasn't snow soft enough in the world to dampen that amount of weight. His hands came up to her shoulders to gently pull Mina away from him. He was still shaking as he did, but felt like he had to rip the bandage off once and for all. He was feeling like he couldn't take a deep enough breath as his gaze slowly flickered up to meet his sister's. He began to feel better once she made it clear she wasn't going to run from him.

"Well, isn't this a lovely sight." A not completely familiar voice rang out from behind them.

Kafka got up to turn around and was met with an unpleasant sight. Chief Laktua had come from the festival and brought with him a small platoon of warriors from the village. Some were benders and had captured Hoshina and all of his friends. They were being held above the ground with their mouths gagged with a tendril of ice. The others that had come along brought spears with them and pointed them at the brother and sister. Kafka felt ashamed in the moment, wondering how he let this happen. He should have heard them all coming!

"Laktua, please! You don't have to do anything drastic." Kafka pleaded as he raised an arm to keep his sister behind him.

"Oh, but I've wanted to. I've wanted to for a while now." Their chief confessed, "Ever since I had a feeling that I knew where and from whom these gifts had been coming from."

Laktua walked before his men and got closer to Kafka, his presence making the spirit-man cower if only to cover his sister from sight.

"Do you honestly think that your little presents would be enough to forgive what you had done." Laktua hissed as he got in Kafka's face.

"It was never about forgiveness. I've come to terms with what I did, it's why I never came back!" Kafka whispered back, "It's all just to keep the town alive!"

"Just like it was my job to keep the party alive!" Laktua rasped back violently, "And I would have done a damn good job of it had you just. Stayed. Asleep."

Kafka's face dropped as he listened to his words, "You.. you can't expect anyone to willingly go along with such an answer. You have to know what you were asking, what you were about to do?"

"We all had families to come back to! You weren't any more special than the rest of us then!" The chief shouted back.

"Kafka, what is he talking about?" Mina asked with an air of innocence. Kafka hadn't forgotten she was behind him, but had forgotten that she didn't know what he had done.

"Laktua, please." He begged again, "Your problems lie with me, not with anyone else here. Please, can you let them go? We can work something out!"

"WORK SOMETHING OUT?" Laktua roared, "Work something out with a man that killed four men in cold blood?" He rallied out as he turned to his men.

"Laktua please!" Kafka cried as he tried to shuffle away.

"Work something out with a man that willingly lends his body to a spirit, that willingly and actively chooses to be the monster before you!" The chief continued to rant out to his people, making the air around them inhospitable.

"No, please, it's not what you think!" Kafka pleaded, now directing his cries to everyone holding him and his sister at spear point.

Tendrils of water came up and ensnared his arms and legs, pulling down to the ground and making him hunched over. The water made his arms pull tight behind his back and kept his legs and chest level with the floor. He pulled against them as best he could, but the held fast at the moment, forcing his head to hang low.

"Kafka!" Mina cried as she was pulled away from the trap by another set of icy restraints.

"You want me to work something out with the man, no -the monster-, that hadn't had the decency to plead himself before his people, asking for them to find his actions justified?" Laktua came around to face Kafka once again, "You want me to work out a deal... with a coward?"

As tall as Kafka was used to being, he might as well have looked like an ant hill compared to Chief Laktua.

"Please." He whispered as he tried to look up at him, "Just leave them out of this."

"Well..." Laktua drawled on contemplatively, "That entirely depends on them."

A long pole of ice started to rise out of the ground, forming right into the chief's open hand. The Chief took a firm grasp of the handle and ripped it out from the ground, pulling out a long, pointed blade with it. He twirled it a few times, knocking off any errant flecks of snow. Kafka started to pull against the restraints more earnestly now, wanting to avoid fulfilling a gruesome end in front of his sister.

Laktua didn't get vary far with his weapon. As he waved it around to have it come down onto Kafka's neck, it was halted in it's path. A pair of the cleanest blades made of ice appeared just before the tip touched his neck. Hoshina had appeared before Kafka and held back the weapon's force, overpowering Laktua with surprise. As Hoshina held the spear trapped, Narumi came out from the left and broke it in half with a flame-covered kick. The Chief stumbled backwards from the force of the attack.

"What do you think you're doing?" Laktua shouted at them.

"Is this any way to treat the man that's been keeping your precious village alive?" Hoshina taunted as he menacingly flicked his swords.

"You dare attack the people's chief?" Laktua bellowed as he prepared another amount of water for a return attack.

"You dare harm the man that's been so generously bringing food and pelts to your people for six years!" Hoshina shouted over the chief and stood his ground.

"He murdered people! He needs to be brought to justice!" Laktua commanded

"YOU WERE GOING TO EAT HIM!" Hoshina bellowed out loud enough to be heard by everyone within radius, "Missing a bit of crucial information, arn't we?"

Whispers of discontent began to pass around the warriors all around them. It was a confusing set of circumstances. All Laktua could hear was the power he had over the situation slipping away with every conflicted breath.

"W-we were starving! And nearly dead! We had to do something!" The chief tried to defend himself.

"And you chose to pick up the knife." Hoshina countered quietly, "Both of you made hasty decisions that impacted both of your lives. Neither of you wanted this, but you both chose to live. All that was left to take was the worst way out."

As Hoshina talked, he slowly moved to put down his weapons. As if following his lead, Laktua moved his arsenal of water closer to the ground, but hadn't dropped it completely. He looked at the ground in contemplation, developing a faraway gaze in his eyes. Hoshina wondered if that was the end of it, that Laktua had finally considered that, maybe, nobody was entirely in the wrong here. But that didn't seem to be the case as his gaze hardened and his brows furrowed. The chief drew back up his weaponized dose of water.

"No. No, I wouldn't be having any problems now had he JUST DIED!" Laktua called out as he lunged his liquid weapon forward.

Hoshina sliced the attack away and dove forward, sliding water over his hand and turned it to packed ice. He ducked two more attacks and slipped behind Laktua's defenses. He jumped up into the air just high enough to bring a hand up into a strike to the chief's head. Making contact, he followed through with his strike and dealt a blow to his head, assuredly giving him a concussion.

Seeing their chief get into a scuffle, some of the guards jumped into action. Narumi had freed Kikoru by this point and the two of them began to go after the other two members of their party that had yet to break free from their restraints. The one keeping Mina contained started to panic and tried to drag her away from the fight. Kafka heard her distressed cried and began to pull his hardest at the restraints. Something deep inside him burst forth unexpectedly, causing to draw upon a deeper level of strength that he had ever felt before.

He broke out of his icy restraints with a roar loud enough to bring pain to those holding him down. As he felt the water losen up, he took the opportunity to strike. Kafka lunged forward with terrifying speed, aiming for the warrior that was roughly handling Mina.

All this work, all this effort, Hoshina saw it all melting away the closer Kafka got to the guard. Knowing that if he got over there before Hoshina did, then there would be another body to add to Kafka's already heavy consciousness. He had to do something otherwise everything he worked for would fall apart at the seams. Using his bending to overtake Kafka's speed, Hoshina slid himself in between the raging beast and the offending culprit. As he could see Kafka trying to reign himself back from hurting him, Hoshina took the chance to place his hands on Kafka's face and planted a firm kiss on the lips.

Everything dropped to a standstill at that moment. No one moved and few bothered to breathe. A weighty thud was heard as Kafka's long limbs dropped to the ground and all of his muscles relaxed in an instant. They both found themselves to be enjoying the kiss a little more than expected, with Kafka's eyes slowly fluttering closed and Hoshina's lips gently moving around the protruding teeth. He slowly pulled back as he wanted to get a good look at the beast. Once he found that that nothing had changed physically, he clicked his tongue in disappointment. Any words of complaint was quickly silenced as Kafka's lips came crashing back onto Hoshina's.

"Hey! W-wait-stop! I-I don't like you like that!" Hoshina tried to fight against the rapid attacks of affection, but could only wriggle in his newfound hold inside Kafka's tight arms.

"Oh? Then why did you kiss me?" Kafka playfully retaliated as his quick pecks traveled further down Hoshina's jaw, the wet, quiet pecking noise they made were drowned out by the sound of his tail wacking against the snowy ground at a blinding pace.

"W-well, you told me about that stupid old wives tale a-and I just thought - Would you stop! Your teeth are tickling me!" Hoshina continued to squirm even as he felt the arms tighter more around his waist and his feet left the ground.

"And you thought it would work?" Kafka cried with raucous laughter as he lifted his newly discovered lover into the air, "And you thought you could act as the princess! Is that what you want to be? Are you my princess, Little Soshi?" The beast continued to mercilessly tease with both voice and lips.

"Don't make me regret telling you my name!" Hoshina shouted as he tried harder to pry himself out of the pleasantly crushing grasp.

Everyone became thoroughly distracted by the display. Having it all be so unexpected and absolutely ludicrous made it seem that everyone had forgotten what they were all fighting about. Even Laktua had no idea what was going on, but that might have been more so due to the severe headache he was suffering through. The silence had already been broken by Hoshina and Kafka's antics, but that didn't stop other people from throwing in their two cents.

"I FUCKING KNEW IT!" Narumi obnoxiously crowed, "YOU DID SLEEP TOGETHER!"

"You absolutely did -fucking- not." Haruichi challenged, sending the two of them into a loud argument that inadvertently, and very quickly, roped Kikoru and a few guards into it as well.

Taking charge of the divided attention, Aoi took the opportunity to gain everyone's attention and smooth out the situation like only an Airbender could. He calmly walked up the closest foot hill and adjusted his robes before speaking.

"As we can all see, there seems to be some differing thoughts on the matter at hand." Aoi boomed as all the attention gathered on him, "I'm sure that a lot of us-" He spared a searing glance at the still recovering chieftain as he spoke, "don't really feel like such a man should die. But it seems we do not have all the information. If your chieftain truly cares about justice, then I'm sure no one here would object to a fair trial for the sake of equality and integrity."

Aoi turned and now stared down the semi-accused chief and spoke to him directly, making sure to call attention to his next words and actions, "Doesn't that seem fair to you, Chief Laktua?"

The man in question pulled himself off of his feet and looked around suspiciously at those he brought with. He dusted himself off to buy him some time to think about his answer, before silently conceding and straightening up in front of the crowd.

"That... sounds appropriate. The festival is over tonight. We will convene tomorrow morning." He officially declared.

Everyone looked around with confused and suspicious expressions. With nothing else asked of them, they ultimately dispersed and headed back to town. Hoshina's group stuck around however and immediately started to gang up around Kafka, who was still holding up Hoshina. Mina had recovered as well and kept giving the pair of them knowing sidelong glances.

"So was I right or what?' Narumi bombarded them as soon as he approached.

"Bayou bless you, child. It's called manners." Haruichi countered.

"Captain, when you get a minute, we're going to have to... discuss something." Kikoru interjected as he gave Kafka her own sidelong glances, this one having a more worried undertone.

"Incredible job today, Aoi." Hoshina commanded over everyone, "It's safe to say that I had no idea how I was going to continue from there."

"That little speech bought you a day at least. I assume we should be spending it preparing for his trial?" Aoi requested influentially.

Hoshina was about to answer, but was interrupted when he felt Kafka getting tugged away rather insistently.

"Come on!" Mina whined as she hung off of Kafka's elbow in an attempt to drag him away, "You promised!"

Kafka was stunned for a second, but then a fit of hiccuping chuckles. The chuckling quickly grew into full-blown laughter that rattled not only his frame, but Hoshina's as well.

"I guess I did, did't I? Well... If I've only got a day then." He assessed playfully and let himself be dragged off by his sister.

"You can't be serious." Narumi protested with a deadpan tone.

"YOU HAVE A TRIAL TOMORROW!" Kikoru loudly berated them as they walked away.

"Speaking of which." Hoshina stated as he was continued to be carried by one arm, "Mind putting me down? I should probably help them find a way to defend your case."

"Are you kidding?" Kafka retorted before he slung Hoshina over his shoulder, "I'm gonna take this wonderful opportunity to show my fiance around my hometown with your new sister-in-law."

Hoshina's face rapidly went pale as he heard the news, not taking a second to wonder if it was a joke or not. He started to struggle as hard as he could in the prison he was put in, quickly giving up and resorting to waving down his crew for help.

"HEY! GET ME OUT OF HERE!" He cried for any salvation All he got back was a chorus of snickering.

"Might want to look into betrothal necklaces while you're out partying!" Narumi taunted. They could hear Hoshina sputtering as he was carried away.

"BETROTHED? I'M NOT GETTING BETROTHED TO THIS... OAF!" He corrected as his face went completely red.

"If anyone is receiving a necklace here, it's probably going to be Kafka." Mina corrected playfully.

"Now Mina..." Kafka's face turned bright red as he tried to dismiss the thought.

It looked like one person wasn't entirely unhappy with the idea. If only his fate looked a little less drastic.

✼ ✼ ✼ ✼ ✼ ✼ ✼ ✼ ✼ ✼ ✼ ✼

ALRIGHT! NOBODY ASK ME FOR A PART TWO. I'M DONE! I SHOULD HAVE BEEN DONE WITH THIS A WHILE AGO!! BUT NOOOOO!!!! MY BRAIN COULDN'T LET THIS BITCH GO!!!

There is art I want to post with this, but I'm tired of looking at this document page and I told myself that I was going to be done with this before January was over. It turned February First almost forty minutes ago at the time I am posting this. There is other shit I want to talk about, detail wise and some creative decisions I made, but AGAIN, I am tired of looking at this thing. This portion will be updated later after I remember all the shit I wanted to talk about. Also the quality of this might be iffy because I haven't double checked for spelling/sentence structure.

I'm putting in the appropriate tags, I'm porting this over to Ao3 (I just looked at the clock, maybe after work tomorrow), and I am getting off my ass and lifting some weight/do dishes/finish laundry- SOMETHING.

God, does my ass hurt.

[keep-the-wolves-close]

Movin’ Mountains

Chapter 7: The Line

* Pairing: Kayce Dutton x OFC Stella Daniels

* Rating: M

* Warnings: language, subtle mention of a sex dream, and morning shenanigans between our favorite couple, but fairly tame though

* Word count: 3,099ish

I would love to give credits to @dameronscopilot and @deanscroissant and @lexixstewart for being sounding boards for me during this whole process, giving outsider insight, being cheerleaders, and allowing me to screech at them about things that have happened during the writing process. I seriously couldn't have gotten this far without y'all.

Author's note: I hope everyone is enjoying so far! I hope you love this chapter as well! It's a little slow-moving, and kind of filler-y, but kind of necessary for Stella's development.

Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all my readers! Let’s close out this year, and bring in fresh and new opportunities and good health, wealth, and abundance in 2025! 💛

Stella hopped out of the trailer hearing everyone’s boot steps disappear towards the cab of the truck. Shutting the door tightly and making sure the latch was tight, she trudged to the back door on the driver’s side with a sigh. She wished she’d brought her earphones. Adjusting her glasses, she heaved the door open, keeping her gaze low.

She could feel everyone’s curious eyes on her as she leveled herself out to the best of her ability. Her patience was already thin from having to leave Kayce this morning. He looked so damn good and she could have stayed and been consumed by him if responsibility hadn’t made her stop him. Then the mess with Mia and Hotshot, making her feel like she was giving up on him. She wasn’t sure how long her calm demeanor would hold out today.

She looked up and caught Mia and Jimmy staring at her. Feeling a warm sensation on her cheeks under their gaze, she forced the blush from creeping up her face. She reached above her head and pulled herself into the backseat of Rip’s truck, plopping into the seat with a sigh.

Mia leaned over, invading Stella’s personal space. She shoved her phone in Stella’s face. “What do you wanna listen to? These two are boring and lame and want silence for hours.”

Stella shifted her back against the door, putting space between her and the other brunette woman. In all honesty, Stella didn’t hate Mia. But Mia’s loud, invasive personality grated on Stella’s nerves. She couldn’t help but think the boisterous swagger was to cover up some insecurity of hers.

Stella was happy that Jimmy was happy – but the way Mia treated him, often made Stella side eye her. She couldn’t figure out if Mia had an ulterior motive for being with Jimmy, or if she was just being overprotective.

Stella wanted to try and extend an olive branch, but she knew Mia would take an inch and run a mile if she wasn’t careful. Rip’s stern look in the rearview silenced any type of nicety Stella was going to lead with. Stella knew he was still irritated by Mia's presence. It didn't help matters that Stella ran late this morning either. His glare was a passive reminder that everyone was toeing a fine line today. She thought she better let Mia down easy.

“Normally, I’d like some tunes,” Stella could feel the heat from Rip’s stare, and hoped he’d wait to hear what she had to say, “but I’d rather listen to the air conditioner right now, Mia.”

Mia’s shoulders dropped. She pouted, sinking back into her corner of the truck like a petulant child. She muttered under her breath, but loud enough for all of them to hear, about them being boring as hell. Jimmy shifted in his seat, uncomfortable at his girlfriend’s behavior. They’d all seen Rip, who wasn’t much of a people person, lose his temper enough to know Mia was dangerously close to the edge.

Stella couldn’t help but to chuckle. “My boyfriend’s 10 year old behaves better than that, girl.” An uncertain air consumed the men in the cab of the truck with her open admittance of possession over Kayce. It was almost like they forgot that Stella and Kayce were a real thing now. She smirked fondly at the men. She knew how hard it was because she took quite a while to get used to saying it out loud too.

Mia crossed her arms and mind wandered to Stella and Kayce. Their teamwork effortless, almost choreographed – the way they balanced the workload, both emotional and physical, captivated her. Kayce a strong leader and Stella one in her own right, but both together an unstoppable force. Mia knew they would take over this ranch one day. That’s what she longed for with Jimmy. A relationship that was steady as a rock and effortlessly adaptable to anything that came their way.

Mia ignored Stella, making Stella sigh and relax back against her window. She closed her eyes, trying to steal a few minutes of shut eye. After all, Kayce had her up very early this morning long before the start of his day. ‘Damn rancher’s hours,’ a soft smile spread across her cheeks as her mind floated back to him and the sleepy romp he greeted her with this morning.

Stella was rudely woken by the sound of Mia shuffling around and loudly singing to herself. She fixed her glasses, and glanced around the truck. Rip’s knuckles were white on the steering wheel, which Stella was sure was to keep from reaching back and strangling Mia. Jimmy shifted in his seat, making Stella wonder if his back was bothering him, and Mia rocked back and forth lost in her out of tune country song.

Straightening up in her seat, Mia looked over at her with a smirk. “You havin’ a good dream over there?”

Stella breathed in deeply and stretched. She huffed out, dropping her arms and took a glance out the windows. From their immediate surroundings, she could tell they were close to their destination. Her brain finally kicked in and she remembered Mia asked her a question. “Actually, yes. I was.”

“So when you mumbled Kayce,” Mia started but she stopped short with Stella’s fiery eye contact.

“You’re damn straight.” Stella refused to let Mia embarrass her in front of the guys. “I was dreaming about this morning.” Groans echoed from the front seat, making Stella grin.

“Alright that’s enough of that,” Rip interrupted. “We’re here.”

The truck rumbled up along the outer fence for the arena. The crunching of the gravel driveway was loud as the heavy trailer came to a stop next to the arena fence. Stella, Jimmy, and Mia watched as the cowboys came into view. A chute opened with a clang and a horse bucked around the arena, doing everything in its power to get the rider off of him. They watched in awe as the cowboy held on tight and didn’t give up until the pickup men came to get him.

Mia jumped out of the truck slamming the door. She stepped forward and opened Jimmy’s door for him. Rip remained in the truck with Stella. She stayed quiet, observed the grouchy foreman.

He let out a loud breath, closing his eyes and dropping his head back against the headrest. “Ahh, thank god. Silence.”

Stella giggled quietly at his dramatics. “She’s entirely bad, Rip.” The irritable cowboy glared at her in the rear view mirror. A laugh escaped her. “I know, I know. She’s not your usual stoic cowboy.”

“It’s not that, Stella.”

Her eyebrows pulled together in confusion. “Then what is it?”

“The bunkhouse has turned into a fuckin’ frat house.” He shook his head, “I don’t know when it happened, but it needs to be nipped.”

“There’s been a lot goin’ on, and the bunkhouse wasn’t exactly top priority. We’ll get it back together. Maybe I can figure somethin’ out,” Stella shrugged.

Rip nodded. “Today though, I’m havin’ you do the talking.” Stella’s eyes bugged out of her head. Rip smirked, “oh don’t give me that, you know these guys just as well as I do. It’s your turn to take the lead.”

Stella scratched her head and breathed out harshly. It was now or never because soon she would be expected to do these things without Rip’s supervision. She blew out a breath and opened the door, sliding out of the back of the truck.

Jimmy and Mia stood by the back of the trailer, waiting for direction from Rip. They were surprised when they witnessed the hardened cowboy stay in the truck. Stella walked up to the outer arena fence and saw that Sid Steiner was strutting his way over.

Stella waved out a hand to the man as she heard Mia exclaim about who he was in the background. “Hey Sid!”

Sid ducked his head in a polite greeting. “Howdy, Miss Stella! What can I do for ya?”

“Rip should have called you,” she glanced back at the truck, “but we have a gelding we thought you might get some fun out of. I don’t have enough time to work with him as much as he needs, even though it pains me to give ‘im up.”

“Oh, he’s a rough one, huh?”

“Yeah, even Kayce won’t touch him. And Rip doesn’t have the patience for him any more.”

Sid made a face at that admission. Rip, he knew had a short rope for that kind of thing. But Kayce would normally work with any freight train that came his way. In Sid’s opinion, that kid was born to break colts.

Stella cleared her throat, interrupting his thoughts. “Where do you want him?”

“Drop him off in the arena. We'll see what he can do.” Sid began to turn around but stopped himself. “What’s his name?”

Stella grinned at Sid’s memory. He knew she liked the respect of knowing a horse’s name and using it. “Hotshot.” Stella jogged to the truck and leaned in the passenger window to give Rip direction. “Back ‘im up to the arena,” she tapped the window and backed up, giving Rip room to maneuver the truck around.

“Jimmy, Mia!” The couple’s heads turned on a swivel to Stella. She waved her hand in the direction of the truck and trailer. “Help them get Hotshot in the arena.” Mia stared at her, but Jimmy left her standing there open mouthed. Since he had better knowledge of Stella’s new role, he knew to just go with her flow instead of questioning it.

As Jimmy came up beside her, Stella spun on her heel and matched his pace. She hollered over her shoulder, “move it Mia! If you hold your mouth open anymore, you’re gonna catch flies. Let’s go!”

Mia sputtered but her feet started to move, catching up to her boyfriend and Stella quickly. The three of them, plus the help of a few of Sid’s guys, made quick work of getting Hotshot out of the trailer, strapped up, and into the chute. The gelding snorted in anger, pawing at the ground.

Stella patted the gelding’s shoulder. “You got this, boy.” The foursome climbed their way behind the chute to watch Hotshot’s ride. Stella could hear Rip talking to Jimmy about the difference between rodeo on the weekends, show rodeo, and business rodeo.

Sid’s son Rocker, who couldn’t be older than 15, strutted up to the group of adults. He nodded to Stella, who he’d met a few times before, and climbed over the fence to mount up on Hotshot. Stella smirked at Rocker’s determination. She knew he would one day rule the business rodeo world.

She glanced over at Jimmy, who watched the whole scene with wide eyed wonder. He glanced at Stella and admitted, “that kid is 1000 percent cooler than me.”

Stella chuckled and leaned toward him and Mia. “He’s been riding things that have tried to buck him off since he was barely walkin’. Honestly? He’s cooler than all of us,” she looked back to the arena with a laugh.

Sid mounted his horse after getting Rocker ready. “You ready,” he asked his son. Rocker gave a curt nod, laid back on Hotshot, and put himself in position to ride.

With another assertive nod saying he was ready to go, Sid’s men popped open the chute. Hotshot and Rocker took off. Hotshot bounced and flung himself hard. He was doing everything he could to get Sid’s son off his back. He spun this way and that, kicking every which way, but Rocker stuck to Hotshot’s back like glue.

Stella had never seen the gelding that angry. Yes, she’d been thrown. She’d witnessed Rip, Jimmy, and Kayce get flung like ragdolls by Hotshot as well. Never this hard though. Next to her, Jimmy stood up to watch the show in front of him. Rocker started to slip off the side of the gelding, but righted himself quickly. Everyone in the crowd of people was hollering at the teenager to keep fighting.

Sid and the other pickup men came up on both sides of Hotshot to pull Rocker off and get him to safety. Stella heard Jimmy whisper in amazement to himself. She stood next to him and watched as Sid made over to them. Leaning on the fence, she called out to Sid. “So what do ya think?”

“I mean, he bucks pretty good Miss Stella, but he’s not competition material.” Sid leaned on his saddle horn. “I’ll give you a couple grand for him, but that’s because it’s you and Rip.”

Stella thought about it, and looked at Rip nearby listening. Rip just shrugged at her, forcing her to figure it out on her own. He wouldn’t be around forever to give her all the answers. Sella thought maybe she could convince John to keep him on the feed bill if she could get Hotshot to mind his manners? Stella didn’t want to give up on him. She shook her head and faced Sid. “I appreciate that, but John wants him off the feed bill. If he won’t be any good to you, I don’t wanna dump him on yours.”

“Tell ya what? We could keep ‘im for a little while, run him until he don’t feel like buckin’ anymore, if that’ll help?”

“Nah, I’ll make it work. I think I have an idea. Thanks though, Sid.”

“Anytime, Stella,” he smiled at her as she walked away. Sid looked at Rip and waved, “see ya later, man!”

Mia grabbed Stella’s attention, “he didn’t want the horse?”

“Didn’t buck hard enough,” Stella clenched her fists as she explained while continuing to walk by the woman. “C’mon, we gotta get him back in the trailer.” Mia stood, following after Stella.

The women hopped down off the chute loading zone, and Mia jogged ahead to open the trailer. Stella went and got Hotshot from one of Sid’s cowboys. Giving the gelding a pat on the neck, she whispered to him, “it’s okay boy. We’ll get you right.” Stella led him over to the trailer and loaded him up.

She heard Rip call out for Jimmy as she stepped out. She waved to the door, silently directing Mia to close it up as she listened to Rip subtly explain to Jimmy why he shouldn’t rodeo anymore. Especially after his last incident.

“Is this you telling me I shouldn’t rodeo?” Jimmy asked.

“No, Jimmy this is me telling you why you shouldn’t.” Rip cleared his throat. “What you do with the information I give you is up to you, but I want you to think long and hard about it.” He clapped Jimmy’s shoulder, “let’s go.”

Jimmy glanced at Stella sullenly. She smiled sadly at him. Knowing how excited he was when he found something he was good at in this lifestyle, her heart bled for him, understanding that they were slowly convincing him to stop what he loved.

Jimmy moved past her and Stella reached out to grab his arm. “I’m sorry, Jaybird. We’ll figure somethin’ out.”

“Yeah, Stella. Me too,” he muttered and kept going to the cab of the truck. Stella dropped her hand in disappointment, and joined the group in the vehicle.

They headed on down the road back to the Yellowstone. Inside the truck was quiet. Everyone seemed to be locked into their own worlds. Some despondent, some resentful, some overthinking.

Stella’s mind worked overtime, trying to come up with a solution that worked for both Hotshot and Jimmy. She had a possible idea, but she would need to talk to Rip and Kayce before she got Jimmy’s hopes up.

Jimmy stared out the window watching the Montana landscape fly by them. He understood Rip and Stella’s intentions for telling him to stop rodeoing. He knew they cared and were telling him they didn’t want to see him die. But he finally found something that he was good at and it was being ripped away from him.

Mia pouted against the window. She’d heard the conversation between Rip and Jimmy. She thought Jimmy should be able to do whatever he wants with his free time. She couldn’t believe that Stella and Rip were trying to convince him to stop. He was good with broncos and he could make a lot of money. He could make a life for himself, outside of the ranch.

A loud pop and Rip letting out a string of curses pulled everyone out of their thoughts. Stella heard Hotshot squeal in displeasure. The truck vibrated and shook back and forth. Looking around the truck, everyone was holding on to their respective oh shit handles and Rip navigated the truck to the side of the road.

“Damn who dropped a quarter in the magic fingers truck,” Stella joked as the vehicle came to a stop.

“Shut the fuck up, Stella!” Rip screamed. He huffed and puffed with rage as he jumped out to check the tires.

Stella’s lips pursed together, agitated at Rip’s lack of humor, but also understood she was on the thin ice of his temper and it was about to break. Jimmy and Mia stared at her slack jawed. It wasn’t everyday that Rip lost his cool on Stella. Everyone knew that.

Her lips smacked together and said, “y’all stay here. I’m gonna go help him.”

“You think you should after that? I wouldn’t.” Mia crossed her arms indignantly.

Stella rolled her eyes. “Yes, Mia. I know how to deal with pissy pants,” she shoved open the door and hopped out. Marching to the bed of the truck she could hear Rip fighting with a tire on the trailer. She stopped at the bed and grabbed the tire iron and the jack.

Rip kicked violently at the tire and cussed as Stella sidled up behind him. “You might need these, cactus jack.” He leaned a hand against the trailer wall and let out a heavy sigh. “Here, you take the jack and raise it up some,” Stella directed. “I’ll get the lugs off.” Rip grabbed the jack from her and the pair silently got to work.

Jimmy and Mia watched from the inside of the truck. They both decided it was safer to be there than out there with the explosive lead wrangler. Mia cracked a joke about how Rip was one angry man.

45 minutes later they were back on the road. Stella was a little sweaty, but she could deal with it. She silently pleaded with Mia and Jimmy to stay quiet the rest of the ride home.

[strawberryfairi]

A Sensual Surprise 🩵

Satoru Gojo X Black Fem Reader smut🤎💦 (ANYONE CAN READ🧚🏾‍♀️)

It's four in the morning and you're long gone fast asleep in bed, having drifted off to sleep hours and hours ago.

The place is quiet, not a single sound in your apartment except for the soft, minor key ambient music playing from your Macbook on the dresser a few feet from your bed.

It's a fairly new discovery for you, ambient music. The ethereal eleven hour long youtube video with visuals of space and surreal looking art of planets showed from the dimmed down laptop screen. It was the perfect way to help you get a full nights sleep, especially during times like these when Satoru is off somewhere being a hero.

Sometimes it's a few days, others it's weeks, and then the worst ones of all...when he's gone for a month or more.

It's been eight weeks since Satoru had to leave for Europe, Austria to be exact. You'd never been, yet you always hear folks saying how it's so beautiful, and so of course you were excited and suggested to come along with him this time. But Satoru's protective over you, and always thinks realistically.

"You know that's not a good idea. I can't be worried about your safety while I'm working." He'd said, his tone dead serious yet soft.

"I know..." You sighed with a disappointed frown, feeling your heart sink to your feet.

"Just stay home, baby. I'll come back." He hummed, lifting your chin up and leaning down to plant a little kiss on your lips.

You don't get to really talk to him much during these times when he's working from far away, the time zones and overall busyness making it nearly impossible to communicate for longer than a few short texts back and forth, or a couple minutes phone call.

At this point you felt you were basically in a long distance relationship, but you love Satoru, so you're always faithful and wait for him to come back home with as much patience as you can muster.

Tonight though, your wait would soon be over. Satoru had been planning his surprise for you days before he'd get on his flight back to Japan, and now he could finally execute it in real time.

He eased his way into the apartment, shutting the front door quietly and making his way to the bedroom. One by one he sheds off his clothes and sets down the bags on bags of random gifts and trinkets he got for you while in Austria.

He couldn't help the wide, loving smile that made it's way across his lips as he watched your sleeping form on the queen sized bed. His heart was so warmed, he found you just so damn cute with your relaxing music on to help you sleep without him.

You were laying on your back, wearing your light blue, satin bonnet with a cute bow that he picked out for you himself a few months ago at the quaint new beauty supply store you'd tried out. He knew you always wore that one specifically whenever he was away. He made a mental note to steal it and wear it himself tomorrow when you finally take it off just to mess with you and make you laugh.

He eagerly pulls the sheets and comforter from the foot of the bed, untucking it as he sneaks underneath. You've always been an extremely light sleeper, hearing every single little noise, so over time he's gotten his technique together so he doesn't prematurely wake you up and scare you.

He gets to around your pretty thighs, slowly opening your legs so he could rest himself right in between. He pauses, feeling you slightly stir and try to reposition your legs how you had them before, yet stop when your body gives up.

"Don't wake up, baby..." He coos barely above a whisper, using all his might not to rush into his plan.

You're wearing your usual sleep attire, nothing but an oversized t-shirt and panties. He'd prefer it if you skipped on the panties as it would make what he's about to do easier, but he can work with it.

Satoru shifts your legs over his broad, muscular shoulders, licking his lips excitedly as he goes to slowly shift your cute, black panties to the side. You stir again, this time a bit more than before, but by now he doesn't really care too much. His warm lips graze and brush against your soft, smooth thighs, basking in the feeling of your skin against his once again.

He plants the most gentlest kisses up each leg, up and up until he reaches his most precious treasure.

All it took was one kiss against your clit to wake you, jumping slightly as your hands fly downwards to his head underneath the covers. You let out a noise of shock and confusion, your mind feeling disoriented since you were so abruptly ripped out of your sleep.

Satoru continues on anyways as if nothing even happened, stroking your thighs with his hands as he gives a long, slow lick between your folds. A blend between a gasp and moan breaks past your lips, eyes widening as you rip the blankets away.

You're speechless, only able to look down in astonishment. Blue eyes meet your pretty dark brown ones, a light chuckle vibrating against your pussy.

"S-Satoru..?" You mutter breathily, your voice a bit raspy and weak.

"Mhmm." He moans back, running circles around your clit with his tongue. You wanted to talk more, tell him you're so glad he's back, and that you missed him so much, but the way he's eating you out so slowly and passionately is making your head spin even more than it already was.

"Mmmmm." You moan lowly, taking your hands and placing them in his soft, white hair. The once ethereal music-filled bedroom now became a cacophony of lewd moans, panting, and the sloppy wet sounds of his tongue lapping against your needy pussy.

"You missed me, baby?" He purrs between licks, looking deep into your eyes.

"Mhmm! S-so much." You moan airily, beginning to tug onto his hair.

His tongue moved faster, skillfully attempting to bury itself inside your little hole, then flicking and swirling around your clit.

"Ooooooh", You throw your head back in ecstasy, "Don't stop, don't stop!"

Your legs start to shake, quickly becoming overwhelmed as you reach what would be your first orgasm of the night.

"Cum on my tongue, princess." He commands lowly. Your back arches off the bed, eyes squeezing shut. You do exactly as he says, clenching your thighs around his face as you cum right on his eager tongue. Satoru laps up every last bit of your (what he believes strongly is) honey-like cum, not letting a single drop of nectar go to waste.

You pant heavily, trying to come down from the high he granted you yet his tongue keeps going, not even bothering to slow down a little bit.

It was then that you immediately realize it was definitely going to be a long night, and you didn't mind in the slightest.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Mmmm, I missed my tight little pussy so much." He moans lowly, rolling his hips into you harder.

You'd lost count how many times he'd made you cum at this point, you were a hot mess, legs held open wide by his large hands as he pounds into you. The way his hips snap into yours makes you see stars, eyes rolling back as your pussy keeps tightly squeezing his dick.

"I-I can't....baby!" You whimper, trying to tell him you were tapping out. To be honest, you'd tapped out waaaay long ago while he was still just eating you out, but he didn't care.

Satoru was focused, set on a mission to beat his pretty pussy up all night into the morning, making you cum as many times as he sees fit. You love the way he looks on top of you, so damn sexy with his hair sticking to his skin, and those big muscles you love tensing and releasing with every stroke.

"You're doin' so good taking this dick, baby. Creamin' all over me..." He coos into your ear, keeping his strokes hard and deep. His right hand releases your leg, placing itself right on your neck and choking you just the way he knows you like it. Your body shakes violently underneath him, about to cum again just from the sound of his voice and his hand around your throat.

"Oh my god! I'm cumming, I'm cumming!" You announce frantically, digging your nails roughly into his back as your walls flutter, granting him yet another sweet orgasm.

"Fuuuck babygirl. You look so pretty cumming all over me like that."

A/N🧚🏾‍♀️: Y'all this idea hit me literally out of nowhere and I JUST HAD to get to typin'!!!

[royaltyoon]

HEYyy since you're back yoon :) (welcome back btw) I really enjoyed your escape room headcanons. It was fun!! Can I request for part 2? With any characters you would like

Thank you anon!! It's so good to be back (⁠✿⁠^⁠‿⁠^⁠)

HEADCANONS

Escape room headcanons

[A/N]

I was planning on writing another part of this so it works out for the best, thanks anon.

This was SO fun to write lol

Johan

He's not the brightest in the bunch and nor did he want to be here

So you can't really blame his lack of interest.

He just wanted to, in his words, "get it over with"

But what he didn't make up for in brains or the patience, he made up for in luck.

Ik Johan is never lucky in the ptj verse so just please, let him have this.

It was by fluke at first, when he accidentally pressed a switch on the TV to display the next puzzle.

In all honesty, he just wanted to see if it worked so he could make use of the time he was forced to spend locked in a room, against his will.

It happened the second time when he was looking at the bookshelf, picking out random books.

Looking to see if anything in there was exciting enough for him, when suddenly a piece of paper fell from one of the books .

And there was a riddle on it.

It was suspicious at this point, you looked at him sceptically but he just shrugged with an innocent look.

"how the hell are you doing it!?" You asked in surprise. It could've been a coincidence the first two times. But after the third?? After the FORTH?? it didn't seem like a coincidence anymore

"I don't know!" He flailed his arm around a little stressing his point that he indeed had no idea of what was happening.

"Stand in the corner, don't do anything. I want to solve atleast one puzzle before we escape." You seethed at him.

He quietly followed your orders and leaned against the wall. But, oh?

He felt a small push on his back, he leaned off and looked back at the wall. Seeing a 3d version of the world map. And a small compartment which was definitely not there before.

"umm, we're looking for a key, right?" He asked to your back as you were busy looking for clues in the show piece. "Yeah, why?" You answered without looking back.

"uh, I think I found it."

You whipped your head in his direction faster than sound, he just stood there pointing at the small compartment. "There's a key in here."

You were not happy to have gotten out without solving even a single puzzle

"sir, you both have the record for the fastest escape." The employee said.

That did little to help your mood

"But we have got to disqualify you, for you skipped a puzzle before escaping the room."

Yeah that sounded more appropriate for the day you're having.

All in all? You were never doing an escape room with Johan again.

Eli

Eli never had a normal childhood, far from it actually

So it was no wonder he never knew any games to play, well except for hide-n-seek

But that game was far from normal too (iykyk)

Eli, to say the least, was excited

Even before entering the room, you could see it in his eyes. He was looking forward to it.

And he got to work the very first second.

He was determined to waste not even one second

It wasn't easy, but you both were making your way through it fairly well

You made sure not to do much, just give few insights and few leads you had so he would do most of it

He opted to take hints on the clues even you couldn't figure out

And it was made known to you there were a limited three hints only after you both used up the three hints

It forced you both to stare at the room with an empty gaze looking around to figure something out

And it wasn't going well, so Eli decided to take things in his hand

"ma'am." He spoke slightly louder, looking at the camera. "May we have an extra clue?" And he smiled, crinkling the side of his eyes. He looked as if an angel landed on earth, like heaven cleared the skies just to shine a beam of light on him.

Eli jang may not be a good hairdresser

He may not be the best student

He may not even be good at an escape room

But something Eli jang was good at? It was using his pretty privileges.

You rolled your eyes discreetly knowing what he was doing. "O-oh." The voice stumbled a little. "But three is the limit, sir." It only caused Eli to display a sickeningly sweet frown on his sickeningly pretty face. "The last one was a pretty obvious clue, we could've solved it even without. Don't you think so too?"

You could tell the employee melted at his smile. "Y-youre right." she stuttered before giving you the clue.

Eli just grinned shrugging his shoulders after noticing your glare. "Thank you, you're such a sweetheart." He spoke in a honey tone looking back at the camera and ended it off with a wink.

You heard a dreamy sigh from the speakers which just make Eli look proud of himself.

After that, the rest was pretty much smooth sailing.

Though, the employee didn't miss her chance to ask for his number and he replied like he always did.

The iconic, 'Im sorry I use a pager.'

And she looked absolutely devastated on hearing that

Yujin

It was your idea, not his

But it felt like your presence was absolutely not needed in this situation

You felt more useless than the g in lasagna.

You were sure it'd probably helped yujin more if you weren't there.

The only one who could relate to you in that situation were the hints

The hints that didn't even need to be used, just like someone else you could think of.

It's not like you didn't try

It wasn't even the fact that he restricted you in any way

But the second, the second you receive a puzzle. It's already solved.

It felt like magic, that was the only explanation you could think of

There was no way he'd know the answer before the gears in your head even started working

Or the only other reason would be:

"you've come here before, haven't you?"

He looks up from the sliding puzzle he was working on. "Huh?"

"How else do you know everything, there's no way you could actually be that smart." You sounded exasperated and it was heard in your voice.

He turned his attention back to the puzzle, "I have no idea what you're tal- OH!, it's says Denmark on here." He says completing yet another puzzle

Wow what a complete shocker

"There's a world map behind you, press Denmark and see if anything shows up." He said pointing behind your shoulder.

Uhhhh...

Where was Denmark again?

It was as if he read your mind and silently came up behind you "here." And pressed the small button on what you would've guessed was Denmark.

And it was. It opened a small compartment which held the key to the door. He completed the entire escape room on his own.

Wow what a complete shocker pt.2

GUESS WHAT?

Apparently he held the record for finishing it the fastest.

Wow what a complete shocker pt.3

But it was after this some guy named 'johan seong'

But the employees let y'all know he was disqualified so technically yujin has the record.

Here's part 1

[arenabreadandbiscuits]

Sam Uley x Leah Clearwater || Addicted To You~ 18+

Word Count: 7,227 words

Genre: Pure smut so Adults ONLY, if you're a kid do not interact.

Scenario: Continuation of the first previous stories. Leah takes the time to claim Sam as her very own once more and Sam is more than happy to take everything she gives him.

Thank you again for commissioning me my dear! @infinitelystoic1996 I know it took a bit longer this time but as I've mentioned I've very much appreciated your patience with me! I hope you enjoy your story and you know I love hearing your thoughts and reviews.

💗

~

She can't help it anymore.

The thoughts that keeps coming to her whenever she thinks about everything; the emotions, the kisses, the love that she had always wanted from him… it all plagued her and her mind heavily.

Sam was so cute, so happy now that they had gotten back to better terms and though they've talked about it many times now in order to vent out everything, Leah had found herself craving something from him and considering how peppy he is these days she's sure she can get it with no problem and no hassle…

It wasn't until he came over after a hunt, checking in on her again for what seemed to be the millionth time now that she had come to a conclusion.

She caught his scent the second he stepped onto the porch. She's been doing better, healing beautifully with the care of her clan and most importantly him. Sam had cut ties with Emily, he's told her so many times and even now Leah hardly even caught the other woman's scent around him, just only after they'd have meetings with the clan.. scent being linked to proximity. She trusts him, of course she does but Leah can't help the remaining emotions she has even though she's trying to contain them as best as she can.

To explain, she's been feeling a bit more territorial over him… ‘a bit' being understatement… wanting to take hold of him and pin him down beneath herself so he had nowhere else to run. Embarrassingly enough it gets to the point now where she's dreaming about it, waking up in a pool of sweat and hungry for him. Sam has made a couple moves now, brushing his lips against her throat when they hugged or taking the time to rub his scent over her things… he even touches her, gripping her hips with his hands, rubbing her back and venturing lower, even hugging her just so much closer when they cuddled. Sam was taking his time with her and whether the reasons were because he was gauging her reactions or simply teasing her Leah didn't know and couldn't care as time came and passed.

She decided that she would also take her time, play into his actions; touching him, caressing him, kissing him in all the ways she knew made him shiver without going so far.

And finally Sam has seemed to break in that very moment.

Coming to her like some needy puppy as she sits delicately on the bed, a leg crossed over the other as she leisurely lounges.

“What's wrong honey? Something's bothering you?” She starts off, her eyes lidded as he stands against the closed door, his chest rising and falling in a way that was more than normal. He definitely seems bothered… there's a bit of a shadow casted over his eyes thanks to the little light they shared with the grace of the nearly full moon outside. Her curtains are wide open, the luminescent light rolling over her smooth skin in a way that actually made her look edible to him.

She knows what she's doing.

She always does, and oh Sam can't help but give in.

“Kneel for me Sam.” Leah suddenly hums and before Sam can even bother to think of arguing he finds himself practically leaping to get to his knees before her, scrambling to get on his knees like a good boy… eyes sparkling and seeing her dad ask the evil ploThe grin that graces her lips at the sight is enough to make heat stir in his gut and carefully he stalks forward.

It's a lively night, the crickets chirping and owls hooting and in this room with just the two of them the energy seems to add a air of need, of desperation. There's a particular shadow that runs along the floor just a few feet before her and Leah can't tell if it's her own thirst for him or if his form seems to shift and then corrects like she thinks it does. It's like he's just barely containing the beast inside of him, that wolf that she loved and cared for just as much as she did for him naturally. It's alluring, the thought that he really is this eager for her… that no one else could make him react like this.

Well… almost no one.

It's a sudden thought though one that manages to piss her off nonetheless.

The last thing she wants to do is think about that, that woman who had took her place in her departure.. and yes, Sam had come back, had even spent the time fighting to get Leah back… Leah still found herself thinking of certain things like if he did these things for her and if he hadn't would he if he was given the chance? It's rather annoying and as Sam makes it to her heels, sitting on his knees and moving his hands to trail over her hips, Leah moves a hand and gently pets his hair. He hums at the touch, his mouth moving in to lay kisses over the top of his soft thighs only to groan when she takes the time to grip his hair a moment after. Her nails lightly scrape his scalp sending shivers rushing up his spine and this time he looks up to her, his eyes shining as he looks at her with such intensity that Leah feels her stomach do a flip right after.

“Can I ask you something my love?” Leah says softly, her own eyes twinkling as they look at each other and Sam nods, the blush on his cheeks growing as he lowers his gaze again, listening yes but he can't resist opening his mouth and sticking his tongue out to turn his kisses at her toes into his tongue licking a stripe up her inner thigh.

“You can ask me anything Leah..” he replies, his voice low and heavy as he leers closer and closer to the space between her thighs with a clear goal in mind.

She grins and gives his hair a tug, just as his nose brushes her clothed sex. So close and yet so, so far…

“Will you strip for me and perhaps show me your belly?” She hums, giggling at the way his eyebrows seem to shoot up at the words and the way she says them. He physically looks surprised but that blush still lingers and as her eyes take a moment to venture down his body she can notice the bump in his pants and Leah can't resist the temptation that leads her to letting go of his hair only to lift a foot and place it in his lap.

Sam noticeably sucks in a breath, his eyes lidded as his breath rises and falls. He spreads his legs some more, placing his hands a bit behind him, leaning back on them while his breath grows heavier. It's cute and Leah blushes as he seems to press against her foot. She can feel him hardening as he rocks against her and she can see his neediness as well as the way his nipples seem to harden a bit as if seeking for attention as well.

She's pretty sure she's just awakened something in both of them that neither of them had previously been aware of.

Of course there had been moments that lingered in her memories, times where he'd have his moments of submitting under her hand and now that Leah thought about it those times always seemed to leave a burning hunger in her gut.

How many people got to see Sam like this? Quite literally on his knees while rocking desperately for friction that they got to provide… She was special, she held a privilege that no one else did and she'd be damned to share such with anyone else.

She'll admit it.

She was so fucking annoyed with Emily.

But maybe she should take the time to let him know that as well, let it burn into his heart and brain so that he'd never question it again. As cute as he looked right now, panting while she rubs him up and down and with care, Leah couldn't afford to reward him without making sure he learned this lesson.

She pulls her foot away and crawls back onto the bed to make room for him with no comments and as if he was an actual dog on a leash he eagerly seemed to follow her movements, clambering onto the bed and taking this brief moment to strike and lead the positioning. He groans lowly, moving in and lips running up her legs in sweet and passionate kisses… up her hips which made her shiver and bite her lip, past her soft and warm belly, over her kiss sensitive chest, along her throat and finally to the her lips and Leah had to admit that her head was definitely spinning by the time his lips smashed into her own. It was hard to resist, hard to fight against and for a moment she let Sam get on top, grappling and gripping her thighs and then pushing them up. The feeling of his hot bulge pressed snug against her excited and clothed cunt was enough to make Leah moan, her head falling back and her lips leaving his as she shudders and Sam doesn't waste a beat in pressing his lips against her jawline, kissing and nipping her skin until he reaches her collarbone.

His lips are hot against her skin, his mouth opening so he can nibble at her skin and trail his tongue over it.

He's hungry, desperate and the way his hips ruts into hers leaves her breathless and Leah has to pace herself though it's so hard.

“S-Sam..” she gasps and he continues, loving what he's hearing. There's a moment where he seems to just not be able to help himself, panting as he rolls his hips against her's and holds her legs open as he does so.

The only way she manages to stop him is by gripping his shoulders with her hands, her warm palms gripping at his body and then one moving up to lace into his hair and give it a sharp tug. It makes Sam jolt and he feels himself groan breathlessly as many sensations run through him in a blur. Even so, he gives Leah another rough grind and Leah twitches, both under him and from what he can tell between her legs as well. He could nearly feel everything, and with how hard he already was all Sam could manage to think of now is tearing off the last garments covering their bodies and sink his cock in as deep as it would go in her. Which was pretty fucking deep last time he checked but maybe he could use a reminder. Maybe she could as well?

Just the thought makes him even hotter; only Leah can get him this riled up… and Sam is happy with it being her of all people.

“H-Heel!” She squeaks, one particular rut making her toes curl and hips buck as she can't help herself, mind numbing pleasure making the edge of her vision blur as she moans under him.

Sam growls and it's a sound that makes her tremble, it's only now that she realizes that she's pushed him into a more natural state of thinking, something primal to what they were. Sam was usually so tame, so neat and professional so to have him here and hardly able to control himself as he pinned her under him makes Leah far more excited than she previously thought. She already knew what it was, that emotion running through him that simply made him want to mount her and make her sing all sorts of beautiful tunes and though it was always just a bit surprising when it jumped out Leah always loved it.

It was the only time she actually got a chance at attempting to tame him and oh how that makes her heart jump to her throat as a blush colors her warm cheeks.

It's takes everything in her not to fold now, to tell him she wanted him but no, not yet, she had plans for them.

With a groan Leah squirms and of course flipping the leader of the pack on his back was already a challenge normally but Leah manages to do so easily, running her nails down the nape of his throat just the way he likes it and as Sam lowers his guard, rolling his head back Leah takes her chance. She runs her free hand up his chest and decides to pinch one of Sam's nipples and it's enough to make his breath hitch and his mouth fall open and quickly Leah surges forward, using all of her power to push him back and quickly clamber on top before Sam could even gather himself, head spinning as his back meets the blankets and pillows. It takes a few seconds but he soon feels Leah gracefully settle in his lap, sitting directly against his clothed bulge and a small grin on her pretty lips. Her eyes connect with his and Leah grins just a bit more, a cheeky gaze in her eyes as she slowly leans down and decides to stick her cute, pink tongue out and drag it along his throat, humming as Sam grunts.

He shudders under her, his hands thinking to move just a second too late as Leah trails her hands along his arms and to his wrists to pin them and Sam doesn't even attempt a struggle the second they give him a gentle squeeze.

“Oh look at you~” Leah hums from her position above him, pulling her tongue back to then brush her cheek against his firm and warm chest as she runs gentle circles against his chest.

“You're so cute, so hot… so desperate laying under me like this.” She coos like a siren singing to him and Sam falls directly into her symphony.

His chest is rising and falling and he knows just how hard he is by the way Leah feels against him. Every inch of her feels warm, hot, against him and Sam wanted to touch her again but he knows better even though it is tempting.

“Careful…” Sam breathes and it makes Leah bite her bottom lip as she looks him in his eyes.

“You know how these things usually go~...” he hums lowly, his eyes dark and sharp, a familiar gaze she's seen on him many times before and used when it came to hunting with the pack. That sharp gaze that in the cases that he waited for the prey, watched in the shadows until the perfect moment hit where his eyes would connect with theirs before he rushed out with infamous speed… that gaze that always seemed to a rise out of her when he did chase down their meals and effectively killed them before looking back at her as if asking if she was proud of him.

And of course she always was.

She wants to challenge him, wants to see Sam crumble under her touch and she was going to get just that, one way or another.

She sat so prettily above him, her face turning smug as she continued to pin his hands down before giving her hips which sat directly against his own shifts, rolling, grinding now. She remembers just moments ago how he had her pinned, rutting against her like he was going to die if he didn't and Leah was still wet, very much so; wet, desperate, and dripping with desire. She rolls her hips; once, twice… before purring and leaning down to press another kiss to his lips which Sam eagerly chased after like a man dying of dehydration would chase after the smallest drip of water just to satisfy…

Though instead Leah wasn't just a water drop but a whole oasis to Sam.

So plentiful and flourishing that Sam believed she could even put the lights of Heaven to shame.

He wants to grab her, to take hold of those teasing hips and grab make and get a real feel of her but he knows what she's doing, knows what she's playing at and Sam loves it. Loves the way his heart is banging around in his chest, the way his cock is pressed against his boxers and straining them, the way that her hips gyrate against him. He moans against her lips and Leah blushes as she hears the sound that she held so dear. She loves knowing that he's enjoying his time with her, loves knowing he likes being under her and she was going to get so much more out of him. She needed to see her lover break before her very eyes and so Leah kisses his lips, slowly, passionately as she continues to wiggle her hips. Her lips gentle at first, her hands moving so her fingers could lace with his own as she held them, her body mushed against his own in a way that allowed her to literally feel his heart racing in his chest while her's seemed to match up with it.

Leah would never get tired of this, of being against him and having his lips against her own and shes so eager.

There's just so many things she wants to do to him, mark him in every way possible so no one stepped over any of her boundaries again. It did stop her from going to Emily personally like she's debated many times before…

“So cocky; I both hate and love that about you my love.” She purrs, slowly pulling back until she could rest both of her palms on his chest with a smile on those lips of hers. “thing is I'm enjoying taking my time, watching you as you crumble beneath my very own hands…” she cooes, her voice ringing in his ears and Sam groans again just listening. He really could listen to her talk all day. He loved her and that voice of hers so much that at times when Sam got lost in his thoughts of the future he'd find himself enjoying thoughts like listening to her and falling asleep to her rambles, or bathing with her while she sings for them, even the way she'd sound up on greeting him once they both woke up next to each other. Sam was so smitten, Emily didn't dare enter his brain not once since he trapped himself in this room and that's just the way he wanted it.

A part of him wanted to feel guilty to Emily but a bigger part of him felt so much relief having Leah like this, having her still so madly in love with him that instead of growing weak against his idiotic emotions she grows stronger, ready to steal him back.

“Then again… I'm sure anyone's hands would do yes?” She asks after a moment, her eyes darkening as she continues to sit above him and immediately after the question leaves her beautiful lips Sam perks at them, his eyes widening at such an accusation. He fumbles to reply, opening his mouth just to quickly snap shut once more as Leah moves and trails her nails down his stomach which feels just a bit too amazing… the feeling like that of pleasure just teasing him enough to leave his surroundings spinning in his head. He felt so warm, felt as though he could smell, could taste every hormone that filled the air and he struggled to find his voice as his mouth fell open in heavy panting.

He knows exactly what she's doing.

“No.” He breathes, arching as she moves to rub his belly, hips rolling.

“No?” She says incredulously though he immediately knows she's playing with him and much like a muskrat in the jaws of a carnivore he feels caged under that response.

“No, what?” She cooes, grinning down at him and admiring her work.

Sam groans in arousal and frustration, both irritated and hard and it takes everything in him to be good just as she ordered him to even though the wolf within him was practically losing its mind. How could it not? It would be wrong not to be all pent up and whiny and Sam soaks it in like a wet sponge, consuming the energy that came from himself and showing it outwardly to her with little to no shame.

He knows what she wants.

“It can't be just anyone it has to be you Leah…” he whines out and it's a noise that scratches Leah like scratching a cat's ears. Soothes that itch in her brain that so desperately wanted to hear him admit it, admit that he wanted her and only her. Sam was a mess, shivering under her, grunting and arching as she continues to play and tease his body, saying the filthiest of things to him in the sweetest of ways and it excited him to the point where Sam was sure his cock would rip at the seams of his boxers at any moment.

Leah hums, contemplating and Sam growls again, bucking his hips and making her moan in the sweetest of ways.

He could easily try and flip her and if he succeeded like he knew he very much could, he could lead this but he so desperately wants to be a good boy for her. To prove to her once again that he could be one and that he could follow these fairly simple orders.

“Please…” he breathes, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment as an attempt to focus but it hardly helped considering even with his eyes closed he could still see her; in hardly anything at all and bouncing above him in the lewdest of ways with that devious smirk on her lips that he do readily wanted to kiss and suck and bite…

“Please, pleasepleaseplease..” Sam groans, his cock so eager, so excited as she seemed to play his body like a fiddle, like it was her own that she'd explored many, many times before already. To be honest, it was her own and she'd prove it. She'd make a mess out of him.

She seems to match up with his words too, rolling her hips firmly with each breathless beg until Sam looked like he might just lose it altogether. Never once had he's been broken down like this and by anyone else but her. He knew she probably wouldn't believe it but Emily wasn't like her, not in any way… no one was like Leah and he had spent many years learning such a lesson just to still have to be taught and oh did he want to learn…

He loved these moments with her, doing things with her and exploring the most unknown but tempting things together. Sam never begged, pleaded but for her he would.

As the leader he never had to but now here and stuck under Leah's warm body, she gyrated against him…her body slipping against his, her hands moving to free Sam’s wrists just to cup his cheeks instead, moaning lowly as their lips eagerly pressed against each other.

They are both passionate but there's an extra heat in Sam tonight, one that leaves him kissing her like he worried they'd never kiss again. They hold each other close; one kiss turning into several in no time at all. Her tongue slips out before trailing over his lip and Sam opens with nothing but another heated groan. When her tongue slides against his she shudders and they are so entangled in just a matter of seconds that before even she knew it Leah was having to pull back after a while and pant. She'll never forget such a taste, and by the wild look in his eyes she's sure he won't either and she can't help but smirk at the way he's looking at her as if the kiss sent him into what seemed to be a dream.

“Fine.” She hums softly as she pulls away from the kiss for a moment, leaning to kiss the tip of his nose instead before smirking.

“I'm in charge though~ you'll be a good boy won't you Sam? You'll behave and do everything I say right?” She says and her tone is just barely tipping into playfulness and similarly the tone reminds him of someone impersonating a certain wolf leader…

She's used such a voice on him before. Usually when he said something unintentionally funny that would make her snort or send her into a fit of giggles especially when he knew she was doing so because of him. He can't bother to even think about scolding her which is what he'd usually do even when her antics were rather humorous. He groans, far too excited to continue to act like he's not willing to agree to anything and everything just to have her right now and as her hips continue to bounce Sam was more ready than ever to toss the white flag.

“Okay… Please Leah…” he breathes.

And as Leah grins smugly… continuing to roll her hips, biting down in her bottom lip as she actively watches as Sam loses it. He twitches, snarling under his breath and it drives her wild.

“You're in charge.. please Leah, please baby? Please let me fuck you.. let me cum deep in your pu-” he speaks and his eyes are so bright, hips rutting up against her and Leah moans, her breath hitching just hearing him say that while they moved against each other. He usually is so collected but seeing him like this, so broken and just barely keeping himself together has Leah so fucking wet that it's actually insane…

Sam can smell it so heavily too which definitely doesn't help him or calm him down in the slightest, the smell of her excitement soaking her cunt is driving him all over the walls of this room. He's a mess, nipples just as hard as his cock is in his boxers right now as sweat prickles at his skin. He rolls his head back. He's literally losing his fucking mind.

Being like this with her was like being in the morning when the sun hadn't yet came up but was getting to its positioning in the sky…morning fog clouding up the forest, the scent of raindew heavy in his nose and Sam was lost in the feeling of her just as he tended to be lost in the feeling of something so trivial, so natural..

He's completely lost in the touch.

He needs her so much, too much. He's trying to keep it together, he wants to be good but he also just wants to roll them over… to tear off the remaining fabric from their bodies and slip into her cunt and make it squirt… make it speak as he has his fun with her, with taking her on the best of rides as well I'm the process. He wanted to hear it, wanted to savor the sound of it and her cries and moans and if she allowed it he'd love to do so in a way that even those across seas could possibly hear her.

He whimpers.

Brokenly.

He's overwhelmed, and honestly it really is his fault. He's so desperate that he's willing to do anything, everything, whatever she wants. As good as this all feels he's trembling, shaking… the overwhelming need to do something but while he's trying to hold back makes him want to she'd just a few tears… To sob and honestly he feels close to it. And Leah loves the sight, she enjoys that face he's making.. enjoying the way his body twitches and feels under her and she is tempted… very much so if she can push him into fully breaking but… she takes mercy. A bit of some as she grins wickedly.

He's so cute.

She loves the fact that he's so needy and Leah wants to be nice, even though she loves the way he's arching and the way his eyes squeeze shut, wet with tears… she'll be nice. For now and only because she needs it just as badly as he does.

She pants, she loves this.

Loves every second of it.

Leah finally seems to have mercy, pulling her hands from him to take the time to reach back and run one through her hair. She lets out a ragged breath and Sam quickly finds himself moving his own hands to finally grip at her hips holding her firmly, so much so that he can't help but growl lowly and drags his claws slowly over her skin before moving to drag down her panties.

Leah gasps, her breath catching in her throat before coming out in a long groan.

She needs it just as bad as him.

Leah looks down over him again, her eyes hungry… and Sam feels his heart racing in her chest as they look at each other and it's clear both of them need it. Sam continues to drag her panties down until the fabric slips down her smooth skin revealing her plush ass and apparently he does it at just the right time because she mewls slowly as her bare cunt finds itself now against his clothed cock. Quickly Sam continues rather upset he's the one now holding them up and as Leah scoots around and lifts herself for a moment to stand on the mattress to give him room Sam literally tears the offending garments off his body. It's sudden and the sound of ripping fabric makes her eyes widen but then she watches the way his hard cock bounces out and Leah can't help the way her face turns red at the sight.

It's sticky, glistening with precum while also being rock hard and clearly excited and Leah can't stop herself from running one of her own hands down her frame and giving her cunt a rub, fingers sliding over her hard clit and folds and with her standing Sam is allowed to watch every moment of her playing with her pussy as she stands over his body. He's entranced and Sam feels one of his hands moved, itching to do something… anything to settle the burning flame in his gut.

Leah forbids the action, moving back to sit on top of him once more but inside of simply straddling him she kneels, one hand rubbing her cunt as her juices soaked her fingers while the other moves to grip his cock. Sam squeezes his eyes shut again, his thighs twitching and his mind falling apart and he'll admit never did he feel so weak, needy and useless except when Leah had him and so with actions like these of course it felt like his world was crumbling in the most pleasurable of ways.

“Look at me Sam.” She purrs, voice as smooth as butter and as sweet as honey and Sam knows he's broken but he forces his eyes to open. They are lidded and as Leah squats over him he feels his eyebrows furrow. He feels so close… as if he could cum just from the sight of her holding her wet pussy open above him but he has to hold on, has to keep it together even though being like this with her was like throwing his body in a swirling pool of aphrodisiacs. It's when her cunt finally touches the head of his cock when Sam whimpers again, biting his lip hard as he tries to patiently wait and Leah seems to notice, giving her hips a playful little wiggle before sinking down and when the head of his cock slips pass her entrance Leah moans, her mouth falling open and her own eyebrows furrowing. Sam's toes curl and he lets out the most delicious of whines and even though he wants to just slam himself in the rest of the way he lets her take her time sliding down his cock, inch by inch until she full of him, her mouth panting and eyes deep red as she stabilizes herself by placing her hands on his chest once more.

It's so good. Sam's nails are digging tightly into her skin now and hard enough to leave indents as if after everything he's terrified of her pulling away now that he was submerged and fully so in her warm, fleshy, throbbing wet walls.

Leah sits there for a while and no, Sam doesn't want to rush her but he growls as they sit there, breath ragged and eyes crazed and just as he gets ready to break and say something… she raises her hips before slamming them back down, his cock slowly being freed except for the tip which she hugs just as it seems like his cock is going to slip out of her and Sam whimpers, biting his tongue, begging her with breathless pleas to not pull away, to leave him here stranded and he's so grateful when she slams back down, sitting until he's completely balls deep again. She moans loudly, his cock just teasing at that sweet spot located deep in her and as she shudders and shivers, twitching in every way against and around him Sam lets out a loud guttural sound being connected to her, rolling his hips firmly and holding her tight as his cock jumps and twitches inside of her.

“Oh fuck Sam..” she says now being the one who whimpers and she rolls her hips hard, grinding and savoring the way his cock presses against her fleshy tunnel before she raises her hips again though this time she lowers back down quicker than she had previously and Sam gasps at the feeling and in no time Leah seems to set the perfect pattern. She ruts and bounces, his cock glistening with their mixed fluids and their breathes mingle and fill the room in a mix of growls, moans and whines from each of them.

Just like that, all control seems to be snatched from the room.

Sam thrusts from his position on the bed and as he holds her hips he can hear just how sloppy he's making her, can feel her hot juices dripping onto his skin like molten lava burning through him and he doesn't dare stop, not now and not ever. The sounds are vile, unholy… any attempt at keeping quiet before had been long forgotten as Sam pounds her pussy with no mercy, fucking her so hard and so fucking good that Sam finds that he really is the one in control even while she's on top of him though…it's was only right.

As if he's taking it out on her Sam grows tougher with her body, fucking her until Leah can't help but pull her hands away to cup her breast, playing with her hard nipples with the most beautifully lustful face he's ever seen in his life. She tweaks them, pinches them and Sam surges forward without thought of he watches for a while, his breath ragged before he wraps his lips around one of those taunting nipples and making Leah arch and moan loudly, and as Sam wastes no time taking advantage of her fumble he leans up, hands wrapping around her lower back and hugging her so closely. Her hands move from her breasts to give him more room in order to kiss, bite and suck on her chest as much as he liked and instead move to wrap around his shoulders again, nails running down his back while her other hand tangles in his hair and it only spurs the alpha male on. Sam continues to pummel her insides, fucking her open until there seemed to but not one single thing he hasn't touched with his cock and until Leah was the one begging.

“S-Sam! Sam oh God Sam… oh fuck!” She gasps and compared to how neat she usually looks it is clear that he has in fact managed to return the favor… the passion, the love, the dominance that she so desperately craved every waking moment of her life and like he promised he would from the moment the first laid eyes on each other. Her cries, her sobs of pleasure had him close before he knew it… his cock threatening to spill, to burst like a wet balloon right into her just to claim her like he always did.

He enjoys listening to her noises just as she did with his own and his punishable pace seems to show exactly how much he liked it, his cock ramming into those sweet bundle of nerves that always seem to make her lose her mind and just as expected she jerks and keens at the feeling of the pleasure, the heat that came from them being so close and needy. She never wants to pull away and it's clear that as she thinks those things Sam can hear them too, grunting and hissing as her added thoughts of how perfect he felt drives him over the edge. The way she tells him to keep going, to fuck her harder, to slow down a bit when he seems to speed up too quickly too suddenly pushes him over that edge. The one that he's been teased of so relentlessly ever since the beginning of this moment between them and Sam lets out a shout, gripping and holding her and making sure he was completely inside before his cock twitched heavily and then squirted with hot and thick semen that makes Leah cry out loud as his orgasm pushes her towards her own and the second his cum shot into her her pussy twitched violently and then she was coming too.

It's so ground breaking, the way the orgasm ripples through each of them as if tearing through the very seams of their persons and Leah grips, folding under the pressure as overstimulation settled in her bones from the impact all on its own.

Sam continues to buck, balls slapping against Leah's ass as he snarls and cucks her until he's sure he's split everything in her and then they slow down, their hips rutting and bucking slower and slower until all they can do is pant heavily. Leah puts her hands on each side of Sam's head again while the man continues to hold her, her eyes heavily lidded as she tries to gather her breath, her cheeks still red while her cunt can't help the way it spasms around his softening cock. Sam slowly opened his eyes which had fallen shut without him even realizing it. His chest rises and falls heavily as he moves his gaze up, looking up to Leah in those eyes of hers that he loved so, so much.

They look at each other for a while, her eyes staring into his own as if she was truly hypnotized by him, sweat on her skin and her cheeks so beautifully red and they both seem to move at the same time after a moment without either of them thinking and the second her lips met his Sam felt his eyes flutter shut again. He groans, arms around her and holding her close, hands tracing and running over her warm and now wet skin and Leah moans in return as she clings to him equally as hard as he was to her. They can't seem to help themselves, both breathless and tired from such a rough and intense round, yes but they seem to kiss each other as if they both feared it'd be their last. Leah's lips are so soft, so addicting to Sam and he just wants to kiss her to the end of time.. until nothing else remains but him and her.

He can't even remember how they had gotten like this, tangled up in each other's hands, arms and lips but he doesn't care either. What he does remember is that he definitely fell in love with Leah and that he very much still was so. He hates the fact that he's put her through so much and over something he had originally felt he had no control in but the longer he stayed with Leah, his mate, and loved her in each and every possible way that she deserves then he believed she could fix him like she's done many times before and many different cases now. That she could completely wipe Emily and the memories that came with her from his mind altogether and that's all he wanted because there was only room for one girl in his mind and currently she was in his lap, smooching him so lovingly while she cockwarmed him in her love tunnel.

Sam finds that every time they get like this he actually feels full, as if nothing else could possibly make his life any better than it was when she was in his arms and when he was in hers. Even outside of the sex he finds it; finds that he doesn't enjoy watching someone like he does with Leah or being around them consistently like he does with her. Never before has he managed to grasp the concept of mates until she crossed his path and ever since they first met Sam had never been the same, as if her mere presence had been enough to tear the ground from under his feet from the very moment they took notice of each other.

No one was like her and even when he was with Emily that's all he could think about… Leah and how much he missed her, how the only real reason he was wasting time with Emily in any way was because Leah had taken that time to leave him and remind him of one of the most important lessons in their clan. The one that was based on loyalty and truth and Sam had to admit it was a good refresher. An amazing reminder that Leah was his and he was Leah's for a reason.

“You're mine forever Sam…” she breathes, panting against his lips as she holds him.

“That I am. Yours forever and always Leah…” he replies, rubbing her back soothingly now as they and their bodies calmed down a bit and Leah gives him a cheeky grin as she hears him say that.

“That's a good boy Sam~” she teases lightly, giggling when he seems to huff in light hearted annoyance; her giggles turning into full laughter as he now moves to roll them over again, kissing her face, then her cheeks and down to her throat so he could lazily run his lips over her throat before pulling away again moments later, smiling as she weakly giggled now.

“Leah..” he hums and she purrs in response.

“Yes Sam?~” She replies, curious to see what he'd say next and as Sam smiles at her Leah finds herself returning the look.

“Please shut up...” He says and she can see that playfully irked look on his face and upon doing so she bursts into another fit of laughter and Sam groans, shaking his head a little as he can't help but laugh with her.

He really does love her so much.

[chocobo-latte]

"You've Always Been My Home"

Having a family of his own had never really occurred to Kenma before. The thought of caring for children was nerve-racking; anxiety-inducing even. They screamed and cried, and they got snot and candy on everything which included gaming systems and Kenma did NOT have the patience to keep that from happening. It wasn't that he disliked dirt and messes, he just didn't want his gaming equipment ruined.

Plus, he wasn't even the parenting type. He spent all his time gaming or working, went to bed at ungodly hours, and didn't do anything that would cause him to unnecessarily use his limited amount of energy.

That, however, changed when Kuroo came back into his life. It'd been three years since he'd seen his best friend, the older male having moved away when he started college. They'd kept in touch via texting and phone calls, but then they'd both gotten busy, and the texts and calls had started happening less and less. So Kuroo showing up at his door with a fourteen-month-old in his arms had been unexpected, to say the least.

They'd needed a place to stay and how could Kenma say no? He had been his best friend after all. Kuroo had told him that he'd tried Akaashi and Bokuto, but they had their hands full with their three kids, two of which were under the age of one.

So they began staying with him, moving into the extra room in his apartment. And weirdly, things were fine, much to Kenma's surprise. The first few days his anxiety had been on high alert, but after seeing how calm and well-behaved Akane was, he'd begun to relax. She did from time to time, reach for his Switch or his Playstation controller, but her hands were never usually sticky or wet with drool when she did, and if they were, Kuroo would stop her and wipe her hands first. He'd tell her "you can't touch those with dirty hands,' and soon she was going up to him when they needed to be wiped.

That had definitely helped Kenma relax even more.

Kuroo promised they would be out of his hair soon, but that had been six months ago. He kept saying the same thing about once a week. He didn't leave. Didn't make a move to do so. Kenma wasn't sure why he was so eager to find a place. It couldn't be too hard for him to find a place, he knew he made good money. He couldn't find himself caring. Kuroo could stay as long as he wanted.

He didn't want to admit it, but he was glad that Kuroo seemed to be putting off leaving. He knew he wouldn't be able to live without him AGAIN. And he and Akane had begun to bond, much to the blond's surprise. They'd shockingly become close, Kenma thinking of her as his own child. Thought of all three of them as a family. He wouldn't be able to live without her either. And he knew if Kuroo moved, things may end up like they had last time; losing touch, never speaking again. So he kept silent.

He kept silent until a month later. Kuroo had given him the same 'promise' once again and Kenma's curiosity had got the better of him. So he asked, "Are you just saying that or do you mean it?" That had come out a lot harsher than he'd meant it and he didn't miss the way Kuroo winced.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you've been saying the same thing at least once a week for eight months, but you never make an attempt to leave." Kuroo opened his mouth to respond, but Kenma quickly stopped him by beginning to speak again, "It's not that I don't want you here, I do. I love having you and Akane around, but I just don't know what YOU want. You say one thing, but then do the opposite."

"Have you considered there may be a reason?" At Kenma's blank face, he continued, "I can't stand the thought of losing you again, Kenma. Do you know how miserable I was when we weren't talking? Or that I was so far from you to begin with? Nothing ever felt right without you. Nothing. But now…being here with you, everything just feels right again. Maybe that’s why I keep putting off moving out."

"You were miserable without me?"

"That’s what you focus on? Yes, Kenma, I was miserable without you. Wherever I was I never felt comfortable or happy. The only bit of happiness I felt these past few years was when Akane was born. But everything else? No. None of it made me happy and it was because I wasn't with you."

Kenma gulped, mouth having gone dry. "So…what are you saying?"

"I'm saying I love you Kenma and I've loved you for so fucking long. And I don't want to be without you anymore. I keep putting off moving out because this is my home, you're my home. You've always been my home…"

Kenma didn't even let him say another word. He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around his neck, pulling him down so that he could press his lips to his.

"Then stay. Don't ever leave me again."

[awynter]

Seeing him writhe beneath her touch was intoxicating in a way that made a wave of shame wash over her. This was far from ladylike. This was far from the respectable, subservient woman she had learned to be over the last ten years. But it felt so natural. She wanted to please him, wanted him to want her with every fiber of his being, the way she wanted him.

Was this what it felt like for George the first time he'd showed her what to do? The intense rush of excitement and shameless lack of self-awareness that came with the territory? She didn't dare assume that Ben had encountered many moments like this, but even she was surprised by his surprise. Was she being too forward? Was she behaving too wantonly? She didn't want him to think badly of her, not now, and yet she couldn't help but think this is what men wanted. Surely, it's what he wanted, too.

His words elicit a soft chuckle as she shook her head. “Believe me, Benjamin Tallmadge, I have other plans for those infernal quips of yours. This, though, is for my own enjoyment." For a moment, the light dampened in her eyes and a flash of concern crossed her features. "I can stop, if you wish."

His body's reaction was enough of an answer for her and she bit the inside of her cheek to quell the growing grin. The last thing she wanted was to be too daring or too obnoxious, and yet she couldn't help but tease him, even in moments of pure intimacy. Some things would never change, she supposed.

"No, a truly cruel and diabolical woman would stop, collect her clothes, and go home." Slowly, she began to move her hand again, pausing every few strokes to tease him further. "Luckily for you, I fully intend to finish what I started. I'm just not in any rush." Anne narrowed her eyes as she asked, "Are you?"

Her eyes widened for a split second before her lips pulled into an amused grin. Most of their relationship--or all of it, really-- had been centered around talking, and teasing, and joking. The fact that they had finally gotten to a point of comfortability, to a point where they didn't need words to express their emotions and desires was arousing in its own way.

“Where?” She raised her eyes to meet his as she kept her question short and straight to the point. His thumb brushed across her lip and she sighed. It was startling how badly she wanted him, how desperately her body yearned to take him inside and make him hers. Parting her lips, she gently took his finger into her mouth, the corners twitching upwards as she lightly sucked on the tip of his thumb. After his skin was sufficiently coated in a light layer of saliva, she pulled away and prodded again. “Where do you want my mouth? You have to tell me, or show me.”

Although he had suggested that she stopped talking, Anne wasn't sure how she was supposed to continue her acts of seduction without teasing him in a verbal way. She knew she was pretty, but she'd always been more confident in her wit. After all, Anne was pretty confident it was her wit that had bonded them in the first place--that, and her incessant desire to fluster him. Sure, she knew what she could do with her body to make him relax, and what she could do to his, but she wanted to hear him say it. She wanted to know that he wanted it, that she wasn't overstepping their boundaries.

“Here?" Turning her cheek, she pressed a soft kiss to the pulse of his wrist, a strikingly innocent gesture compared to her other, more lascivious acts. "Or here?" With her free hand, she lightly grazed the skin of his thigh again, fighting to maintain an even expression as her heart raced. It was a testament to her patience, she thought, that she wasn't climbing atop him and smothering him with her own kisses.

"...Or maybe," With painstaking slowness, she leaned her head down lower again, whispering the word against the sensitive skin of his erection as she fluttered her lashes. "Here?”

Benjamin wasn't accustomed to being in such a position -- both literally and figuratively -- and gaping back at Anne in shock, he tried not to succumb to the sting of guilt at seeing her on her knees.

No, no, he wished to tell her, you don't have to...

But then her fated, "I want to," echoed back in his head, ringing with a firm insistence that was as arousing as it was endearing. Although his initial instinct was to ask why she would wish to degrade herself by being on her knees, he knew the answer because he, himself, would gladly lay himself at her feet, should it mean pleasing her. Benjamin only wished to see Anne happy -- he loved her -- so by that same school of thought, could it not be possible that she wished to do the same for him for that exact reason?

Without warning, Anne lowered and pressed the wet warmth of her mouth against his thigh, causing him to twitch and subconsciously buck his hips. He wanted more of it, but rather than fist a handful of her hair, he grabbed the edges of his chair and exhaled, his chest quivering once she pressed an accompanying kiss to his other leg.

"God," he whispered, shaking. "Is this because of all my infernal quips? Are you intentionally provoking me?"

In truth, he was shocked he could even speak at this point.

Anne's expression turned sly with faux innocence. “Do you want me to stop?”

Benjamin scoffed, his teeth sinking into his bottom lip once she bloody well stopped stroking his hardness. Writhing with impatience, he arched up with the hopes of getting her to keep gliding her touch along his length, his breath taut and fitful in his lungs as he swallowed. "Anne Wynter -- Shawcross? -- you are a cruel and diabolical woman."

With a pleased little smirk, she leaned down and pressed a kiss against his tip, a jolt searing through him and causing Benjamin to gasp and flinch in his chair.

“Just tell me what you want and I'll do it. I'm yours.”

Panting, he peered back at her through heavy-lidded eyes and smiled, the expression awed and incredulous. "I...I think I'd like you to stop talking, for one," he teased. As if soothing any potential insult, he reached up and cupped her cheek with his palm, lightly grazing his thumb along her full, sensual bottom lip.

Eyes bright, he shyly confessed, "I'd like...I-I want..." I need "...your mouth." Blushing fiercely at such an admission, he swallowed, and his throat bobbed low as they locked eyes. "And then I want you...just you, and whatever else you wish to give."

[dominantslasherking]

Heyy! Hope you doing good. Okey what about a reader with Hannibal Lecter who is his patient who have anger issues, and Hannibal is helping him building some patience with cockwarming.

(sorry if is confusing but is kinda difficult to put the thought into words with english not being my first lenguage)

Hannibal Lecter with Dominant Male S/o

My Stories are meant for the much more mature audience, 18+.

Throwing your head back, you let out a huff of anger, as you waited for your physicist to be done with his current client so he then could move on to you. Sure you were early, but you couldn't help it, if you didn't come here you were probably going to burst out in anger, and tear apart your house.

Your nails slowly began to scratch against the waiting chair, evidently making marks.

You watched with relief as the short man came out, finally done with his session. You have been seeing Dr. Lecter for a while now, maybe about a month? To be honest, it was the best process you had gotten so far with a psychiatrist.

"Dr. Lecter." Your voice echoed out, as he was quick and formal with greeting you. "Hello, Mr. L/n, please come in." Hannibal offered his hand for you to take, taking it quickly, as he guided you inside, Your gaze stuck on him.

Sitting down you leaned into the chair, uncomfortably squirming as Hannibal stared you down. "Your impatience turned to anger really fast, didn't it? While you were waiting." Hannibal spoke, as you simply nodded not surprised at how he read you so well.

You let a sigh escape your mouth while speaking, "Well, many things urk me and make me angry, it's just too hard not to lash out or anything." You lulled out, your sharp gaze landing on Hannibal.

"I see, amongst these things, is waiting, the most aggravating?" Hannibal smirked already knowing the answer but it was confirmed as you bobbed your head up and down.

Hannibal's gaze drifted off you for a second, as he gave a gentle smile and spoke, "I have the perfect solution,"

<<>>>><<<>>>><<<>>><<>>><<<>>><<>>><<>>><>>><>>><>>>

A hot and deep breath of air left your mouth, your hands placed on Hannibal's waist, as you gulped down on your saliva, trying not to thrust harshly.

Your hard cock laid firmly still inside Hannibal's tight and puckered hole. Hannibal sat on top of you neatly resting on your lap, as he had a book in his hand.

"I just--" Your hands squeezed Hannibal's waist, not enough to injure or harm him however you were running rather thin with patience. You wanted to prod your cock deep inside his warm, and tight hole so bad.

Hannibal slightly moved his body, to get more comfortable as a groan passed your lips, as you eagerly thrust with slight anger at him not moving. As you were about to thrust once again, Hannibal firmly put pressure on your thighs and lower body, for you to not thrust.

"It's, rather rude to dig inside me without my permission after all I am just trying to help you." Hannibal's stern voice coldly rang into your ears, as his head was lifted up from his book, as he spoke.

"Mm~Sorryyymmm~" Your voice slurred out, as you tried to relax your body, however, your hard cock did not go down even for a second, as Hannibal's wall squeezed your cock harshly. It seemed he purposely tightened his hole, to get you even more riled to see if you would thrust.

"Focus on your breathing, when you get angry like this, try to clear your mind." Hannibal slowly spoke out to you, noticing how harshly you were breathing from the anger of not being able to wait.

You started to intently listen to your breath, trying to clear your mind, however, it was not easy because Hannibal constantly tightening his puckering hole.

The next few minutes, of you doing this repeatedly, Hannibal finally gave you permission to thrust every few minutes, but you had to be gentle or he would up the time of how long you needed to wait until you could thrust.

realizing how much the thrusts were just making you sexually frustrated, you finally caved in, and just let Hannibal sit on your cock, without you complaining or eagerly wanting to thrust inside him.

[rourkeoriain]

The gorgeous girl who had spent the entirety of her first ten minutes in the tiny Edinburg pub being accosted by a toothless would-be thug gave herself away with her kindness and her patience more than her wide doe eyes and air of soft innocence. The Scottish underworld was ugly. Far too ugly for something as beautiful as her.

The only thing worse than being in the wrong place of the wrong part of town at the wrong time of night was not knowing who you were there with. The pretty stranger would find that out quickly if Rourke had enough sense to mind his own business. But when the thug put his hand on the woman after she tried to move away, the young O'Riain lost his senses completely.

"If you want to keep that hand, I suggest you remove it."

Both sets of eyes blinked at him and he tried not to linger on the stranger's pretty hazel. He leveled a hard stare to the goon, daring him to protest.

"What." The guy snorted, mocking. "You gonna cut it off?"

The thug rolled his eyes and Rourke felt that O'Riain switch flip deep down inside. In the next breath he put his pistol on the bar top between them and squared his shoulders. "I've done a lot worse for a lot less." He wasn't typically the bragging type but it was nothing but truth that he'd gotten to where he was the hard way, in the gutters doing the Family's dirtiest work. "Wanna try me?"

The guy muttered and mumbled, cursing the O'Riain name as he finally backed off and threatening something about how he also had powerful friends.

"Are you alright?" Rourke motioned to the bartender to refill the woman's drink and leave the bottle on the bar.

"He said that being a guest of the O'Riains made me valuable." The woman stared into the reflections of the dim bar lights on the shining bar surface as she talked. "He called me an asset." She swallowed audibly and Rourke sighed. Of course she was a guest.

"I don't know how you wandered here, miss but I'm going to have to take you back." Rourke drained his glass and slid a stack of bills, far more than what they'd dranks worth, across to the man behind the bar with a respectful nod as he pulled his tight leather bomber back on and shrugged his shoulders to adjust the fit. His fingers idly played with the zipper as he tried not to startle the girl but also resolved not to linger. "S'not safe outside the estate for guests of the Family this time a'night."

"I don't want to go back to the estate." Kate blurted without meaning to, then awkwardly adjusted her hair behind her ear and tried again. "I just wanted to see the lower town. After such a long flight I couldn't stand be cooped up again."

Their eyes met. Rourke studied the almost shifting colors in her hazel eyes. He tried not to trace the gentle slope of her nose or the full curve of her lips. Gods she was lovely.

Rourke checked his watch with a huff, shrugged and then held out a hand. "My name is Rourke O'Riain, by the way. And there's only one place I can guarantee your safety that we could go."

–

Edinburgh didn't have the world class high rises of modernity, all steel and glass. But the rest of the world didn't have Edinburgh's history either.

"No freaking way." Kate, as he'd finally learned, seemed to love the land as much as he did. She had her face pressed to the glass of his absurdly tiny sports car the entire drive up the Scottish coast to Castle Rock, the city's oldest and highest point. "You live here?"

"I have holdings." Rourke replied, tapping his fingers against the steering wheel as they idled, waiting for the massive iron gate tucked into one crook of the mountainside foothill slowly opened. "Family stuff."

He hoped that would suffice but couldn't help his little sigh. It was all a bit strange and he wasn't sure Skye would love her guest at one of their safe houses but at least he wouldn't have to explain away a firefight or get stuck burying more bodies any sooner than necessary.

"It's just for the night." Rourke's eyes were soft, softer than Kate expected even in the low light. It was all so much. They pulled into a spacious garage but Rourke motioned for Kate to sit tight until the massive steel doors sealed behind them. "Sorry about that." Rourke cleared his throat and swung open the driver's side door. He was at Kate's side just as she reached for the handle. "Protocol. We can go in now."

What seemed like a dark cavern slowly illuminated, as if the building itself had sensed their entrance and welcomed them with a soft warm glow. "There's more beds than you can imagine and the fridge and cellars are always full. You're welcome to help yourself to anything." Rourke stripped his jacket, leaving him in a tight white tee and tighter dark denim with pristine black leather boots. "Any guest of the family is family. If there's anything you need-"

"Anything I need?" Kate looked at Rourke like he'd grown another head. "You saved my life and brought me here and you're asking me if there's anything I need."

Rourke laughed, a warm sound that vibrated his chest. They both liked it. "Should I demand payment instead?"

He was joking, or at least he thought he was but the way her dark hair caught the moonlight streaming in through the sitting room's wide windows made his breath hitch.

"It'd be more reasonable than just this." Kate wrapped her arms around herself, clearly beginning to feel out of place and self conscious.

Rourke couldn't begin to imagine how strange her last 24 hours must have been. "I'll make you a deal, Katie." His blue eyes twinkled with the nickname. "I've decided that the cost of my saving your life should be a single kiss." He smiled at the shock in her eyes and the smile grew when she didn't immediately back down. "It's just a game. You don't owe me anything, Ka-"

"Okay." She blurted. "Okay. I'll do it." Her smile was small but she felt emboldened. "It's just a kiss, right."

"One kiss," he assured her.

Kate stepped closer, smiled and closed her eyes. What the hell, right.

Rourke smiled, tucked a lock of soft hair behind her ear, and dropped to his knees in front of her.

He chuckled as her eyes flew open and one of her soft hands found his shoulder. "Rourke- What?"

"Katie." Hed still stop if she wanted him to. He was pretty sure he'd do anything she wanted him to. But he bunched up her skirt in his hands and smiled up at her because he just had to try. "I never said where."

[jackson--t]

How to take care of your drunk Alfie

Part 2, kind of. Drunk Tommy is here.

Tommy took a hard drag on his cigarette, and with an annoyed roll of his eyes tugged on Alfie's hoodie; he at least managed to stop Alfie from running into the street, and pulled the much heavier man back onto the sidewalk.

"Alfie, damn it. Enough is enough!" Tommy snarled, heartbeat already at 180 for what felt like the tenth time that day. Alfie snorted softly; he ran with a slightly uncertain motion through his beard, swaying slightly before joining Tommy and putting his heavy arm around his shoulders. Tommy exhaled softly. Not far now, he thought, and pulled the collar of his jacket higher.

"What's enough?" Alfie replied with a low grunt, his eyes more poorly fixed on Tommy.

"Your behavior. I'd have liked it better if we'd taken a cab."

"Why a bloody cab, Tommy? The world, eh, the world is out here, and the moon is fucking shining...somewhere… and I don't fancy blowing twenty bucks up some bloke's arse. Huh?"

"It's taken us twenty minutes to do this piece now. It usually takes us five.", Tommy remarked, raising his eyebrows as Alfie narrowed his eyes slightly and seemed to be thinking hard. His heavy body swayed again, and Tommy had to put his arm on Alfie's stomach, for support, to keep him from stumbling again.

"Five. How, Tommy, how do you think of five...and why the fuck twenty?"

"Alfie...you tripped twice, tried to pee in a bush once, and threatened to beat a squirrel."

"No, I would fucking never do that."

Tommy snorted in annoyance. He pushed Alfie further, who was already trying to stop again, and pulled him along with him. They weren't far from home now, and Tommy just wanted to go to bed.

Alfie drank very rarely, less often than he did, certainly. But when he did drink, he always drank too much, and was not quite as accurate in his estimation of his abilities. Most of the time, Tommy made sure Alfie didn't drink too much, and occasionally sneaked him a glass of water - but today, somehow, he hadn't been able to. Ada had distracted him, Polly, the family.

"We'll be there in a minute. And then you'll go to bed first," Tommy said quietly, already rummaging in his jacket pocket with an awkward movement to find the key; which wasn't easy, because Alfie stopped again.

"I don't wanna go to bed yet! Are you crazy... We'll make something to eat. I could make soup, huh? Could I?" Alfie said blithely, raising his eyebrows as Tommy eyed him with an annoyed look. He laughed softly as Tommy pushed him on wordlessly.

Cooking, so-so. Alfie certainly wouldn't be able to do that in this condition, like anything else. It would be a miracle if Tommy could hoist him up the stairs without Alfie making an avalanche of it or crushing him. The last few times he had only gotten him upstairs to bed with extreme patience and half a tantrum, where Alfie had fallen asleep after two minutes, snoring so loudly that Tommy had been unable to sleep.

They reached the front door. Tommy had to put the key in twice because Alfie kept trying to take it away from him; when the two of them were finally in the hallway and Tommy closed the door behind them, Alfie wrapped an arm around him again, pulling him closer.

"Or, we'll go to bed, and I'll fuck you really fucking hard, Tommy. Good idea, innit? I love it when you're pissed off. Fuck, it makes me bloody hot," Alfie purred, slurring slightly, and took Tommy's chin somewhat awkwardly between his thumb and forefinger to look at him. Tommy returned the look, and despite his inner annoyance, couldn't help grinning.

"If you make it up those stairs on your own, I'll be extra hot for you," Tommy muttered, and Alfie grinned widely.

"Nothing easier than that." he said, and put the first foot on the stairs, jacket on and all. Tommy exhaled deeply and stared at the ceiling. This could be a long night.

It was going to be fifteen minutes that it took them to get up those few stairs. Tommy was on the verge of a nervous breakdown because every two seconds Alfie would stop at a different picture on the wall, telling him the story behind it, all of which Tommy already knew by heart. He had to pull hard on Alfie's hoodie twice to keep from losing his balance and falling down the stairs; once the seams had almost cracked, and Tommy had gotten hot and cold at the same time. He didn't need a workout, ever. Alfie was more than any sport or boot camp rolled into one.

When he finally hoisted the big, heavy man into the bedroom, Alfie yanked him along, and Tommy sat down on his lap with a slight bite on his lower lip while Alfie lay with his back on the bed.

"You, Tommy?"

"What."

"Do you actually know how good it is...that we're...this...well, what we're in, and Cyril, and everything...that this, and I really mean it, is totally fucking good?" Alfie murmured. He had his eyes fixed on Tommy's face, which probably looked like it was after the war, as many times as he had run his hand through his hair; still on the stairs he had smoked a cigarette because he had had to listen to the story of the Jewel trade for the hundredth time. It was worse than any meeting. But sometimes, sometimes there were beautiful and honest words in Alfie that he only said when he was drunk. Like the ones he was trying to babble now.

"It would be far more wonderful right now if you hadn't been drinking so much."

"Hmm... Tommy, do you think Fynn is taking good care of the dog?"

"Of course."

"Tommy...don't you...don't you think it's time...to take it a step forward?"

Tommy froze. His fingers, which had just been stroking Alfie's chest, paused at the small letters on the hoodie, and he looked at Alfie with slightly parted lips.

"What do you mean?" he asked softly, feeling exactly how his heart beat more violently. He had wanted a lot, and some for a long time. Alfie and he had been together for a long time now, and still Alfie hadn't asked him. Not that Tommy ever wanted anything like that... But somehow, as soon as the subject came up, he got nervous inside. Excited. He swallowed slightly, and tapped Alfie lightly against the cheek, who was already dozing off slightly again.

"What kind of next step, Alfie?"

"Well..." Alfie muttered; he grinned briefly, then suddenly pulled Tommy closer to him by the hips, and with a sudden movement turned them both so that Alfie was lying on top of Tommy, breathless, while Tommy looked at him with slightly flushed cheeks. Fortunately, Alfie didn't see this in his frenzy, because Tommy would never give him that satisfaction. It was enough for Alfie to know what he could do to him when he was sober.

"Alfie!"

Alfie stopped Tommy's words with a soft, breathless kiss that sent a pure tingle through Tommy's stomach; he exhaled slightly as Alfie's lips parted and looked questioningly at his boyfriend from below.

"On to bed, of course. You thought otherwise, kid?" Alfie grunted.

Tommy tried to hide his tight-lipped, stupid disappointment; his eyes passed over Alfie's face briefly, then his eyebrows drew together, and he pushed Alfie off him. The big man rolled to the side, laughing softly, but Tommy turned his back on him. He didn't care if he slept in his clothes - only he was guaranteed not to hear another word from Alfie that night.

Alfie, on the other hand, put his warm arms around Tommy from behind, and just a second later Tommy felt the pleasant warmth of Alfie against his back, and the way he breathed softly against the skin on his neck. And even though he smelled more like gin than his aftershave, Tommy still loved it, even if he remained lying provocatively turned away.

"Tommy...?"

Tommy pressed his lips tightly together and snuggled closer to Alfie; but he didn't answer.

"I love you.", Alfie mumbled slightly sleepily into his neck, and Tommy had to smile slightly despite his inward anger. "I love you too," he whispered, closing his eyes.

It took a moment for Alfie's breathing to quieten; then he suddenly murmured a soft "Soon…" in his ear, and heat just shot through Tommy's body. He felt Alfie's arms wrap tighter around him, and how after a few minutes he was snoring lightly again.

Alfie Solomons and his damn timing. Tommy groaned in annoyance and patted his pillow, knowing full well he certainly wouldn't be able to sleep with that thought in his head.

Masel Tov.

[elisethetraveller]

Thankfully, the break was not so bad that a cast was needed; the healer was unsure if she had anything useful for mixing a plaster. On the other hand, Elise had plenty of experience creating a brace out of what was on hand without compromising the brace's effectiveness. Nimble hands fished out a few straps from a drawer as she resigned herself to looking for something long enough to stabilize the entire bone. Then Viktor's deep breath caught her attention.

Turning, she could only listen as Viktor explained himself: magic and metal. There was something foreign to that, a chill alien to her magic that ran as naturally, warm and organic, in her as her own blood. The image of the smashed flowerpot made whole again flashed behind her eyes—inorganic but whole again. At some point, the piece she had collected for the brace returned to the table she had gotten them from, though her attention never wavered from him.

The implication of his words was not lost on her because there was little implication to them. Had Viktor done this himself, if he continued to do what he had done and had evidently stopped doing, the people he helped would be lost. The mage had not questioned the gravity of when he had first said he held the potential to doom his world. But there were many ways for a world to end, and few were as enticing as ending the world through healing and kindness.

"You are wiser than most." The compliment came out biting, and she cringed at her own words. Her face scrunched up as a scared hand ran through her hair, and Elise sighed, disappointed at herself. The words were genuine. The healer had far too often seen people cart around their sick and injured loved ones when she was right there. But they refused, decried, her help. And they let their loved ones die.

"That is to say, you are not wrong." This time, the words came out softer, with more kindness and patience. Would he actually listen to her? See that she wasn't evil or power-hungry? The hope felt too good to be true. It never worked out like that.

Her eyes met his, actually seeing him now, and the silver that looked back at him was soft, worn and tired, but not hostile. "I can heal him if you permit it. The blood magic will push the bone to mend as it naturally would at an...accelerated rate." She couldn't recall having ever explained this to someone. "There will be no muscle atrophy from the process, no scars or visible marks. Though Luon will probably feel hungry afterwards." The little joke hung in the air, fragile and alone. An olive branch. An attempt at moving past their fears.

 She knew things about the body that could normally only be ascertained through experimental imaging techniques found in hospitals. Like him, she was able to detect the source of the pain, though she had the words to explain what it actually was. To him, it had felt more like a bent beam, or a deviated rod. Mechanical failures, rather than human injuries. He might have become a mage, but he was born an engineer. An inventor.

 But then, she stopped, her hand pulling back from Luon in a display of caution. He knew why. He had no other reason to explain it. It was because of him. Had anyone else brought the boy, she might have been more comfortable doing what came naturally to her. In front of him, she wore a mask so obscuring that it was hard to see the kind and calm woman he had met before. Again, guilt’s sharp teeth sank into his Hexcore heart.

 He didn’t have his interpreter here. Sky was occupied with staying in the commune and providing her presence to the other members. He had no one there to guide him through the difficult interaction, but he was resolved to fixing this on his own.

 He fell quiet when she began to explain the mundane method of setting the broken bone and letting it heal on its own. The idea of forcing Luon back into immobility for weeks, after he had spent most of his life without both legs to rely on, was plainly unacceptable, especially when her talents were so readily available. His gaze lowered to the hand he held in consideration of his words.

 Before he could say them, he was hit with a question, and not an easy one, either. His shoulders tensed as he took in a deep breath through his subtly crooked nose. “I take what is broken, and it is replaced by magic and metal.” One of his hands moved to lightly brush over Luon’s uninjured, but clearly augmented leg. “But there is a price… Every time I Heal them, they lose more of themselves,” he explained, sounding like it was the first time he’d said it out loud. A pit immediately bore into his gut. “They become too close to the visions – to the future I seek to prevent. I cannot heal every wound they sustain.” Especially not the more significant ones, like broken bones or mauling flesh wounds.

 “But you…” He finally looked her in the eyes, regardless of if she met his gaze. “I have a feeling you can heal him without such a high risk,” he said in a reserved voice. “I would not wish him to needlessly suffer for weeks in recovery when your skills are within reach.” He knew how it must have sounded, to come crawling back after having forced such terrible fear into her heart. “If it is true, and there is a chance… I will not let my hurt breed more senseless pain.”

[usopp-writes]

Whitebeard pirates week - day four: Late night together

Authors note: I have so many ships for my favorite characters and this one is one of them. This little drabble isn't all about romantic love, I just couldn't help myself, as I missd writting this couple together. When inspiration hit you, you have to follow the flow.

Anyone ever tried making soup from scratch? I can tell you it takes time and patience.

@whitebeard-pirate-week

Thatch x Izo with Marco, Ace and Haruta SFW Word count: 801

Normally Thatch wouldn’t pull an all-nighter, but tonight he did, as he was making soup from scratch, which would then be frozen down for later use. He didn’t make soup during the day, there wasn’t time for it, and so he did it at night, where he had the time to keep an eye on it. It didn’t need him to watch it all the time, but leaving a stove on and then leave it, wasn’t an option. So he sat at the small table, reading or writing. The crew had started to go to bed, the silence slowly fallen upon the ship, as Thatch sat there, a cup of coffee in front of him. He would make another batch later, when he was running out of it.

He stretched and went over to the stove, stirring the bones around a little. There were eight of the largest pots on the stove (40 liters), filled with broth that later would become soup. There were three chicken, three beef and two fish broth. Sadly he didn’t have more large pots, someone destroyed the other four of them a few weeks back and he hadn’t gotten to a place where he could buy new ones, so he had to do one beef and one fish only this time. Normally he made four pots of each. It sounded like a lot, but in reality it wasn’t, considering that the crew was 1,600 men large. Not all ate soup though.

Sitting back at the table, he let his mind wander, but he didn’t get far, as he heard the door to the kitchen open. Looking up, he smiled, though did have a confused look on his face, when he saw Izo entering the kitchen. It was rare for the male to be here, less alone be out at this hour. Normally Izo would be getting ready to bed by now, if not already snuggled under the blankets, Thatch next to him. More so to see his lover with his hair down, lightly braided, though he still wore his kimono and make-up. It looked like he had begun his nightly routine, but decided not to finish.

“You know the bed gets lonely without you there, darling.” Izo said, as he closed the door behind him.

Smiling warmly, Thatch pulled out the chair next to him. Izo smiled back, sitting down next to his lover, giving Thatch a quick kiss on the cheek, before placing his head onto the cook’s shoulder. Thatch wrapped his arm around Izo, kissing his head. He was happy that Izo was here, happy to feel his warmth so close. It would be lonely in the hours waiting for the soup to cook and then pour it over in bowls that could take the heat and the cold temperature of the freezer, for then to wait for it to cool down enough to get into the freezer.

“Like it gets lonely without you here.” Thatch smiled and pulled Izo in for a long and tender kiss. They might be cheesy, but they didn’t care.

A light cough made them look up, seeing Marco at the door, casually watching the two. “If want alone time together, just say so, yoi.” The phoenix chuckled, before he walked over to fill the cup in his hand with fresh coffee.

“Marco, Izo, you’re already herer. I managed to wake up Ace, though he might just …” Haruta started, but was rudely interrupted by said firecracker.

“I might fall asleep again, but you’re not going to have a late night party without me.” The freckled male entered the kitchen behind Haruta with a pout on his lips.

Thatch laughed and rose, finding a fifth chair, while Marco grabbed some more cups. Izo went to the pantry and brought forth some booze and snacks. He knew exactly where to look for the good stuff. Thatch had a secret place in the pantry where he hid his good rum and snacks. Marco and Haruta also knew where it was, though they wouldn’t tell Ace where it was. There was a reason that there was a lock on eh door to the fridge, freezer, pantry and the storage room.

Not long after the five friends were indulged in some game, chattering, eating and drinking. Poor Ace got his face doodled on by Marco and Haruta, while Thatch and Izo used the distraction to steal a kiss from each other. When the soups were done, everyone helped Thatch with pouring them into the bowls, before another round of games started.

It wasn’t often Thatch had these all-nighters, but each one almost were the same. His brothers would always come to keep him company. He loved these nights, they were so special to him and it told him just how they loved him.

[concubuck]

((Hey y'all have another ficlet from Alastor's early days as a succubus. Why? Just because. Set in between Alastor's first attempt at having sex and the first time he has sex successfully. Warnings for mentions of alcoholism & noncon; and also mild aphobia in the sense of "these two dopes don't know what asexuality is so they're trying to compare it to medical disorders."))

✨ Alastor Visits The Doctor ✨

Alastor had detoxed from alcohol in the 1980s. Before Rosie had helped him cut himself off, he'd been living with a bottle constantly at his side and blacking out on a near-daily basis—never mind how often he was drinking himself to temporary brain death on purpose. That week of withdrawal—the week of non-stop shaking, of sleepless exhaustion, of heaving sickness, of creeping crawling hallucinations—was the worst physical agony he had ever known to that point, worse than his near-fatal bout of Spanish flu, worse even than dying.

By now, after thirty-odd years and apodiabolosis, withdrawal was a far, fuzzy memory, one Alastor recalled more as a series of vague facts than he did as something that felt like it had happened to him. But the misery, that delirious misery—he imagined it must have felt something like this endless, interminable arousal.

But unlike withdrawal, there was no promise of coming out the other end of this arousal. No light at the end of the tunnel. Just the tunnel. Dark, muffled, ever-narrowing, claustrophobic, and weighing ever heavier on his soul.

Alastor was still trying to figure out how he could verbally explain the oppressive weight of this need, when the door opened and the imp doctor walked into the examination room.

Alastor automatically hunched forward, arms crossed over his lap, trying to conceal his boner in spite of the flimsy medical gown that felt as thin as tissue paper.

The imp took one glance at Alastor, rolled his eyes, and muttered, "You couldn't have taken care of that before you got you came in?"

The mutter scattered Alastor's mental attempts to corral his suffering into a narrative. His brittle patience developed another couple of cracks. "No, doctor," he said testily, "I couldn't take care of it before I came in. That's why I'm here." 

"Hm." Clearly not satisfied with Alastor's answer, the imp tossed Alastor's medical file on the small desk in the examination room, but didn't take the chair yet. "You do realize I'm a real doctor, right? I graduated from medical school?"

Alastor blinked at him. "Yes. I do realize that," he said, speaking slowly and pointedly.

With the same slow and pointed tone, the doctor replied, "That means I'm here to offer medical care to real patients. Not to indulge... whatever the hell medical kink you've got."

"I beg your pardon?"

"I don't know what kind of doctors you've had before—if they're grateful for the break or what—but I'm getting paid to practice medicine, not to do whatever—"

Alastor laughed in disbelief, loudly, harshly, angrily. "You expect me to believe that's really a problem you deal with?! Or do you just—assume that when a succubus walks in?!" His patience snapped sharply in half. "My dear doctor, believe you me, if I could have come here without a stiff, I would have! But if I had chopped it off and left it at home I am quite afraid you'd have elected to treat my blood loss instead of the ailment I came here for! And chopping it off is the only way I could have shown up without a stiff, because it hasn't been flaccid in nearly six months! Which! Is! Why! I'm! Here! Now are you going to keep making—disgusting insinuations, or are you going to..."

Alastor didn't realize he'd gotten to his feet and advanced threateningly on the doctor during his tirade, until he had him backed against a wall and was looming over him. The doctor stared up in terror at Alastor's face... and then, slowly, his gaze rolled down to the thinly-concealed erection inches from poking him between the eyes.

Alastor spun away from the the doctor, face heating—it felt less like a blush and more like a raging fever—realized that the gap in the back of the patient gown (which he'd been unable to fit right over his wings) probably exposed his ass crack—and he ended up awkwardly shuffling sideways away from the doctor to sit on the exam table again. Look at him. What a pathetic, undignified sight he was. Half a year ago, the Radio Demon was the most feared sinner in Hell—what was he now?

"I'm sorry," Alastor muttered, hunching forward again, elbows on his knees and arms crossing in an X to shield his shame. "You understand, I'm—under a significant amount of—distress. I, uh—I don't mean to be a difficult patient." Now he was even groveling.

But what was he going to do if his outburst caused the doctor to refuse to treat him? This was the only affordable hellborn doctor within walking distance of Alastor's rental; he didn't know what he'd do if he was kicked out.

For a moment, the imp was silent; then he said awkwardly, "Yes, in fact. That really is a problem I deal with. I mean, succubi trying to..."

Alastor nodded stiffly. "I see." He wondered whether the imp had truly been solicited by kinky succubi masquerading as patients, or if Alastor was just the first one to get outraged enough to break through the doctor's assumptions. He grudgingly decided to give the imp the benefit of the doubt. He didn't have any other option. "Rest assured that regardless of what my anatomy might think, there is nothing I want less than to have sex."

"But—you can't get rid of your erection."

"Not without physically removing it," Alastor confirmed. "Such as by chopping it off. Or reconfiguring the whole thing into a vagina—but the arousal persists, that's the real problem."

The doctor ventured, "Skilled with magic?"

"Off the charts."

"Still. You shouldn't be castrating yourself without a doctor's supervision."

It was such a mild chastisement. Hellborn doctors were less easily scandalized than human ones. "Believe me when I say—" he kept his voice calm and even, "—I would not have resorted to such extreme measures if the alternative had not become psychologically unendurable."

The doctor paused, then tentatively took a seat, flipped open Alastor's medical file, and made a note. 

Alastor let out a quiet sigh of relief.

"Can you orgasm?"

"Yes. It makes no difference. My arousal remains the same."

"Hm. For six months, you said?"

"Nearly," Alastor said tiredly. "Short a couple of weeks, I believe."

The imp opened his mouth, and Alastor was sure he was about to ask what had taken him so long to seek medical help. But instead, the doctor paused, and then asked: "Did you experience anything medically unusual within the month before your symptoms started? Illnesses, head injuries, unfamiliar narcotics, orgies...?"

"I." Alastor shrugged. "I became a succubus?"

The imp stared at him, then quickly flipped to consult another page of Alastor's medical file. "Oh."

That didn't sound promising. "'Oh'?"

"Sorry," the imp said, "sorry. You're, uh—you're just the first humanborn patient I've—first ex-human humanborn, I mean. Obviously I've seen humanborn sinners, but—but not..." He gestured vaguely.

Alastor's heart sank. "So, you can't—?"

"It's fine," the doctor insisted. "It's covered in medical school! You can be treated like any other succubus. Biological differences are—superficial. Aside from a few cosmetic differences..." His gaze slid up. "Are... Those are ears, then?"

"Yes." Did he think Alastor's hair looked like that on purpose? "Is that relevant to...?"

"No! Just—just wondered." The doctor cleared his throat. "Ah. So."

"So." Alastor could feel his hopes falling by the moment.

"This isn't a change so much as it is, uh... the norm for your tenure as a succubus," the doctor clarified. "Correct?"

Alastor nodded.

"I'm sure you were told that succubi's libidos are much higher than other demons? And you're basically going through a succubus's puberty on fast forward?"

Fast forward. He turned the phrase over in his head. He would have said it some other way—like an LP set to 78 rpm, maybe—but he caught the meaning; and he felt old. He nodded, "I'm aware. I was prepared for that. Which is why I didn't come in five months ago. But the adjustment period is supposed to only last two to three months, and I'm arguably worse off now than I was then. Everyone I've spoken to says this is—abnormal for a humanborn succubus. Abnormal for any succubus." His voice trembled with the effort of keeping it even, calm, collected. Clinical and detached. Like he wasn't scared out of his wits—and horny on top of that. "You have to understand, I haven't had a minute's peace in half a year. I can't sleep, I can't cook, I can't dance—I've been losing weight because I can't focus long enough to stand up and walk to the kitchen or call for delivery. I didn't venture farther than my own porch for months. I've tried everything to satiate my needs. Nothing's worked.

"What have you tried?"

Alastor hesitated, running through the list in his head, trying to figure out how to answer the question without being uncouth.

The doctor muttered, "Right. Human," and set his pen down. "Listen. I understand humans have different taboos, but I treat succubi. Hellborn ones, I mean. You could tell me, I don't know—that you've been getting off by smothering baby puppies in your asshole—and I've probably heard worse. So."

"Right," Alastor murmured. He had trouble shaking the instinct to couch his language in terms appropriate for a hypothetical listening audience, some family sitting around their living room radio receivers and ready to write station management if he said anything too uncouth. His only audience was a doctor.

A doctor who had taken one look at Alastor and assumed he'd gone through all the time, effort, and expense of dragging himself to the only hellborn doctor in this side of the city because he wanted to fuck him. So to hell with what the doctor thought of him. "I started with masturbation, obviously," he said. "Hands, inanimate objects, toys—as many shapes and materials as I could find, both manual and electric, the full spectrum of realism..."

"I'm sure you know that toys aren't usually enough for succubi?"

"Hope springs eternal." One corner of his smile quirked up sardonically. "I know, I know—I saw the 'Abandon all hope, ye who enter here' sign on the way into this lousy joint."

The doctor gave him a quizzical look. "Sorry?"

"Never mind. Maybe that's only funny to sinners." Alastor suppressed a sigh. "And then I tried tentacles—I've got an extraplanar friend—"

"Sapient?"

"Yes—distant relative of the Von Eldritches, I believe."

The doctor looked duly impressed, and it was the first thing about this entire meeting that had felt right to Alastor. He was supposed to impress people. "Those, uh... entities are supposed to be fairly effective at dispensing sexual gratification. But...?"

Alastor shook his head. "Damn thing went through one end and out the other. I had tentacles in holes I didn't even know I had. In the end it gave up in boredom and frustration." That was maybe anthropomorphizing its motives a bit too much; but Alastor couldn't think of any other explanation. It had never before given up on any of Alastor's requests.

The doctor pursed his lips as he made another note. Alastor had the sneaking suspicion that it was this that finally convinced him of the severity of Alastor's issue.

"And after that, I tried people. First prostitutes—humans, then succubi—and then..." Alastor trailed off.

"Anyone other than prostitutes?"

Alastor hesitated. "Yes."

"Old sex partners?"

"N... no. I've..." His throat went dry; he swallowed hard and attempted to sound normal, "Found people and—forced them." He'd rather have admitted to murder. 

The doctor only said, "Most succubi get better satisfaction from established lovers than from hiring prostitutes or rape."

The last word felt like a slap; the nonchalant way the doctor said it made it feel like a gentle caress of a slap, which was even worse. Alastor forced himself to keep his voice even. He didn't want to be the one of the two of them who was more disgusted by his own actions. "I'm aware. I don't have any established lovers I could have called."

"Tried any exes?"

"I have never had lovers," Alastor clarified. "I did not have sex as a human."

The imp gave him a dubious look. "You've been celibate for..." he glanced at Alastor's file, "a hundred and twenty years?"

He huffed out a sigh. "In the eighties, I received a tentative diagnosis of..." He shut his eyes for a second, trying to remember the term. "Hypoactive... sexual desire disorder?" (The imp gave a tiny nod of recognition.) "Tentative because I never bothered to pursue a full diagnosis or treatment, because I had no interest in developing an interest in sex. So, no. Before becoming a succubus, I never had sex before. I never lusted before. Not in any way I couldn't take care of with my hand in two minutes. What?"

The imp was staring at him. He quickly shook his head. "Sorry, you've—never had an interest in sex? Not even any... desires you didn't have the opportunity to fulfill? Fantasies? Paraphilic interests—unusual objects or acts that bring sexual gratification?"

Alastor shook his head impatiently. "Never. Nothing. Not anything." Were they going to get stuck on this? If this doctor got hung up on the idea of treating Alastor's alleged HSDD... Hell, if it might lead to him getting him some relief, he'd consider it. But they weren't going to get anywhere if the doctor thought Alastor was lying about his disinterest. "Are you familiar with Kinsey's studies of human sexuality? I was sorted into Category X in the fifties."

"Uh, pff—I'm not intimately familiar with Kinsey's..."

"'Equally disinterested in sexual contact with both sexes; no attraction, no desire to experience—'"

"Right. Okay, that—checks out." The imp nodded. And then went still, chewing the corner of his mouth, brow furrowed in thought.

Alastor stood the silence as long as he could (which was about ten seconds); and then he asked, "What?"

Slowly, the doctor said, "I've seen patients without naturally occurring lust before—it's pretty common in some rings, but..." He trailed off again, tapping a claw on Alastor's paperwork. "For most persistent arousal conditions in succubi, the treatment is based on figuring out what it is they crave that they're not getting, and finding a way to supply it. I'm—I don't know what the treatment is for a succubus that doesn't crave anything. If the challenge here is to satisfy a craving that doesn't exist..."

If only the sex he desired could satiate a succubus's appetite, and Alastor didn't have any desires—then was this hunger, by definition, insatiable? Alastor's blood ran cold. He had to fight to speak around the knot in his throat. "Then, is—there no treatment—?"

He would have liked if the doctor had hastened to reassure him. Instead, the doctor was silent for a long moment, like he was wondering that himself. Finally, he pulled out a fresh paper and started writing, muttering, "We'll do some blood tests—rule out the possibility that it's a hormonal issue. And I can refer you to a specialist to get a brain scan, in case there's anything up there."

"How far away is the specialist?"

"Not too far; maybe thirty minutes by bus."

Quietly, Alastor said, "I can't ride the bus like this."

The doctor stopped writing. "... I'll see if there's a closer clinic."

Alastor nodded, staring hard at the tile floor. He was afraid that if he looked up, he'd see pity in the doctor's eyes.

###

Alastor got a full physical exam. He came twice. The first time he coped with the humiliation by biting his lip and unflinchingly staring down the word Tuesday on a bland wall calendar and pretending it hadn't happened. The second time he claimed he had to make an emergency restroom run and bolted from the room, and hid there until his hitching breathing was under control and he'd stopped shaking. The imp said nothing either time. At least he'd been convinced this wasn't Alastor's kink.

And he got a full patient interview. He described his magical capabilities and how he'd been using them on his body; he described how often he switched his sexes or outright amputated his genitalia completely—it was important to know, the doctor insisted, since what bits he had affected his hormone levels. The doctor tried to criticize Alastor's drinking habits, his irregular sleep, his poor takeout-based diet, his dearth of exercise and fresh air. Each time, Alastor had to remind the doctor that in his state he couldn't sleep right, couldn't cook, couldn't go outside—and he knew, because he'd attempted all of them as distractions—and the only distraction that did help even a tiny bit was drinking. He was well aware of the consequences, he'd spent a decade at the bottom of a bottle and almost two decades sober, and he'd damn well change his drinking habits when it stopped being preferable to the alternative, thank you.

And he got his blood test. The doctor cautioned that, as much as Alastor manipulated his anatomy, it might be difficult to find anything conclusive in his hormonal results. They scheduled a follow-up blood test in a couple weeks, with strict instructions for Alastor to keep his God-given banana and coconuts exactly where they were until then, and that might give them more useful blood results.

"And you've got your referral for a brain scan," the doctor said, gesturing at the papers sitting on the examination table beside Alastor. "And for a physical therapist." (During the physical exam, he'd noted the poor control Alastor had over the wings caught awkwardly in his medical gown. The wings were the least of Alastor's concerns.) "And in case it's a psychological issue, if I can find any therapists who have treated humanborn succubi, I'll get you their information. Otherwise, I've got a list of succubi therapists you can contact."

Alastor nodded along to each statement, jaw clenched and arms crossed tightly, sitting on the examination table. He felt like he'd been stripped bare in a hailstorm: cold and exposed and raw-nerved.

"And before you come in for your next blood test, I'll look into... less common causes of persistent arousal in succubi. I've never heard of a succubus with hypoactive sexual desire—or without desires altogether—but—well, I'm sure it would present very differently in a succubus than in other demons. If it even naturally occurs in succubi at all."

As opposed to unnaturally occurring, as it had in Alastor. "You think it might be because I'm ex-human."

The imp shrugged helplessly. "Right now, we can't rule it out."

"Then there would be precedent, wouldn't there? In other ex-human succubi? Has—has that been studied anywhere, post-apodiabolosis medical conditions?"

The imp shrugged again. "Maybe. But—frankly, there probably aren't a lot of humans who don't love sex that choose to become succubi."

Alastor wanted to disagree—he'd done it for power, he imagined most other ex-humans did it for the same reason—but less than a dozen sinners a year were chosen for promotion. The infamous Radio Demon might truly have been the only human in history powerful enough for his lack of a libido to not disqualify him.

The thought that Alastor might be the first ever succubus stuck with an insatiable libido should be chilling; but over the course of his appointment and examination he'd gone numb to the mounting dread. He just nodded again.

"It's just—" Staring up at Alastor in bewilderment, the doctor said, "I don't get it. Why the hell did you decide to become a succubus if you didn't want to have sex?"

If Alastor had a nickel for every time he'd been asked that in the past few weeks. He cracked a pained smile. (Had he stopped smiling?) "It's funny, really. I thought the fact that I'd never needed sex as a human would spare as a succubus. I thought it would give me an advantage." His laugh sounded like a broadcast from somewhere far away. In his ears, it sounded like a sob.

If he didn't need the doctor's help, he would have clawed the pity out of his eyes.

The doctor dragged his gaze from Alastor and back down to his notes, like he was searching for something else he could offer. Finally, he said, "Vitamins. I'm going to prescribe you some nutritional drinks. I can't make you cook, but supplement the takeout with the nutritional drinks." He made another note and looked up again. "And... I'll see you in a couple of weeks."

Nutritional drinks. Nutritional drinks and a whole list of other doctors he had to talk to, none of whom would know what to do about his unique, one-of-a-kind insatiable libido. And that was it. Alastor couldn't remember ever needing so badly cry. He wanted to double up and wail until he hyperventilated.

He sat upright. He smiled. He said, "Let me know if you find anything new."