metrodf

[cass-foxx]

Call me crazy but my favourite ship dynamic is

Dilf that is madly in love with his wife but she dies and after her death, he grows miserable, cold and depressed or a piece of shit and he also have a past that explains why he is so rutheless and how he acts but I swear he has a good heart X a younger man that is a ray of sushine and brings out the best in him

[da-birb-writes-sometimes]

Feelings Thawed

Character; Cater Diamond

Content; Fluff, gender-neutral reader, pining, ice skating (to various degrees of success)

Word Count; 650+

Author's Note; This is a present/thank you to my mutual @i-like-forgs. I hope you enjoy this ice skating scene with Cater, and that you get to skate soon!

As a reminder, do not put my work — or others for that matter — into AI as it steals. Link to Masterlist

The brisk wind bit at your nose, and you pulled up your scarf, trying to keep away the offending wind. Around you it was a winter wonderland, all made possible in the temperate conditions thanks to Cater, who was filming you skating around on the frozen pond’s surface.

“You know,” you hollered, making sure that you caught his attention, “you should join me! It’s fun!” You came to a stop by the pond’s edge, where Cater was standing with a large thermos.

Cater just shot you a wink, handing you the thermos. “This is for you though, silly!” 

He was deflecting, you could tell; behind that bright and cheery smile that he always seemed to wear around others, you knew when there was something off with Cater. You accepted the thermos though, and took a sip of the spicy apple cider, still piping hot.

You gave him a look and pulled lightly on his coat sleeve. “Yes, but it’s more fun with others, come on Cater!” You stepped back onto the ice, and slowly skated near him, waiting with an eager smile.

He looked at you, and then back at the ice, but he stayed standing in the light snow, shooting you that smile. “But I can’t take photos if I’m out there with you!” He scratched at the back of his neck.

Liar. “Cater,” you looped back around and stepped onto the bank, balancing on your skates, “do you not know how to skate?”

Cater’s smile turned sheepish, and his ‘ahahaha, looks like my gig is up’ chuckle made its appearance. He had been found out. “Never got the chance to,” he hid his face slightly in his scarf, either to keep the cold at bay or to hide that his cheeks were turning pink. “So I’d just slow ya down.”

You took his hand into yours, “Well, I could teach you if you wanted. Just a warning though, you’re gonna fall on your butt a lot, might get a few bruises.”

Cater looked down at your entwined hands. Mittens and gloves separated your skin from touching one another, but Cater could swear that he could feel the sensation nonetheless through the layers of fabric.

“You would? Even if I pull you down with me?” 

The last question wasn’t just about the ice skating; Cater didn’t want to force you to do anything that you didn’t want to… and that included being his friend. His heart seemed to whisper stronger emotions though, but he didn’t want to ruin what the two of you had.

You walked him out to the ice, and the both of you swiftly fell down on the ice, hard. But you just laughed and got right back up again, “Well, we did just fall. There isn’t anything scary about falling down; yes it stings and might leave a gnarly bruise, but in order to move forward we have to fall and get back up. So yes, is what I guess I’m saying.”

Cater looked up at you, the sun illuminating you and the snow glittered behind you. You were holding your hand out again, waiting for him. And Cater took your hand. 

It took him a while to get the hang of it, and he fell down quite a bit, but every time he fell down you helped him back up. And by the time that the sun was setting in the west, the both of you were cold, and both were going to wake up tomorrow with some bruises. It was fun though, which is all that mattered… but that whisper in Cater’s heart was by now singing, and maybe he would listen to it, but for now, he was happy with how the way things were, and he wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world, especially with how much you had smiled today. Your smile and knowing that you had fun with him was enough.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Tags; @eynnwwyjth, @ithseem, @krenenbaker, @silvers-numberonefan, @twistwonderlanddevotee, @xxoomiii

[the-ace-with-spades]

(another unfinished post i found on the way to glasgow - that was the longest train ride in my life - I'm sorry in advance)

When Ice finally passes away, at the age of 73, in his sleep, Bradley moves Mav into their house the same day.

He gets the call in the morning, while trying to simultaneously cook Jake's breakfast and try to make their daughter put on a rain jacket. It's not Mav, but someone from the hospital. Jake doesn't know this — Bradley's face twitches only for a second and then he's back to the nagging, relaxing tone and telling their daughter it's raining and it won't stop. Jake only finds out when he comes back home from the school drop-off and Mav is already there on their couch. Jake doesn't even get the full explanation until that night, just a quick, "Ice passed away overnight."

There's only their three youngest living with them at the time — their 18-year-old daughter who attends UC San Diego, and their 15-year-old son who is still in high school, and their 7-year-old daughter — so Mav takes one of the vacant bedrooms.

The first few nights, Bradley sleeps in the same bed with him. Neither of them looks like they get much sleep. They don't really eat, either, just drink coffee and nibble on the crackers.

The kids start coming back home, and their oldest helps Jake arrange most of the things for the funeral, at least for the first few days. Mav is... numb, not really there, and Jake understands — he would, too, if he woke up one day and his husband died in his sleep next to him. Bradley is silent, mostly, the way he usually rambles to fill out the silence, the way he hums, the way he sings at any given time when there are no words spoken, it's all gone and Jake doesn't know how to fill out the silence either, how to ask, how to make it better without asking.

Bradley doesn't cry, or at least not the way he knows Mav does — he can see Mav's red eyes every morning — but there's something empty in his gaze, in the way his eyes follow Mav and in the way he melts whenever Mav is around, always close, always brushing against him. Mav spaces out a lot, doesn't talk much, doesn't—well, doesn't do much. Every time he tries to help with something, paperwork, the funeral arrangements, the hospital bills, even just sorting out the kids' school leave or Jake's own work leave, he fumbles a bit, not really able to focus on anything for long, and it's like his mind is completely scrambled. Jake doesn't know how to help him — doesn't know if they even can.

The kids, well, did not take it well, as expected. The oldest two try to be brave and help Jake with everything, keep the house going, but their youngest daughter doesn't really understand why her pops isn't back, the middle kids don't understand why now — Ice was in remission, in good health, would go hiking with them once a month, play with them in the backyard, talking about plans for the future with them, nothing that would tell them to expect their pops passing away. Mav and Ice had taken care of all of them for years, while Jake and Bradley were still deployable, and helping out as much as they could. Ice was a huge part of their lives, since the very beginning.

Bradley is certainly not doing any better but one couldn't be able to tell if they didn't know him well enough. He's always been more for packing his feelings into a tight neat box, compartmentalizing until there is too much and it all overflows in some explosive way. His focus is mostly on Mav and the kids, trusting Jake to take care of anything he can't.

Jake can't even ask him how he's doing until the night before the funeral.

Mav tells Bradley he wants to be alone that night and Bradley lands in their bedroom.

He acts normal — checks the kids are in bed, checks on Mav, prepares stuff for breakfast in the morning, has a shower. Only when he sits down in their bed, their dress blues, cleaned and pressed sitting on the hangers hooked up on their wardrobe, right in front of him—only then he freezes, a blank stare still on the uniforms.

Jake sits down next to him on the bed. "Talk to me, Bradley."

"I knew it was going to happen at some point, I just," "I just thought we would have a few more years."

Bradley sleeps curled up on his chest — he sleeps the whole night, soundlessly, and Jake is almost settled.

Almost. Mav is a couple doors down, alone.

Ice's been—had been retired many years now, but he had been high enough in the ranks that the Navy still insists on making a military funeral. Jake tried to take away as much of the flashy bullshit as possible, but there are still things leftover — the sailors with the flag, the flyover. But there's no one who wasn't close with the family at the ceremony, there's no speeches, and no one tries to hand either Mav or Bradley a flag.

The wake has an even smaller amount of people, all packed in their house — Mav hasn't been at his own house since — and thanks to Slider, mostly, and his 'the bastard wouldn't want us to mope around', it's less sad and quiet.

Mav eats two slices of cake, which is the most Jake's seen him eat since, and even laughs at some stories about Ice people are exchanging.

Ice had a good life. A big family. A big happy family that loved him.

But life goes on without him. Jake goes back to work first, then the kids have to go back to school, then Bradley has to back to work. After a couple of days alone at their house, Mav starts bringing up moving back to his own house.

He's not really doing great. He's still quiet, still spaces out more often than not, still forgets himself sometimes, still freezes whenever he tries to say something and the we he uses is one person short. He's—lifeless, for a lack of better word, and seems like he's noticing it now that Bradley isn't with him most of the waking hours.

"That is our home," Mav tells them. "I can't abandon it forever, I'd be abandoning him, too, if I—"

Jake—Jake gets it. He doesn't like it, but he gets it.

Bradley's been fielding off any suggestions of Mav moving out but he's pretty sure that soon Mav is going to pack his stuff and up and leave without asking for permission.

"If he wants to move back home, we can't exactly hold him here. against his will."

"Jake," Bradley says. "I feel like—if we let Mav go back there alone, he's going to die of a broken heart and I won't have either of them anymore."

"Sweetheart—"

"I know it's selfish," he interrupts, "but I can't lose him, too. Not now."

Jake can't make Mav stay with them — so he finds the best solution he can and instead, they all move in with Mav. Hell with it, he's going to try to get everyone to live their lives to the end. They'd done it before, Mav, Ice, Bradley, Jake and their two kids under one roof, when their oldest two were their only two kids.

The two of them and two of their youngest; two of their kids move into their house so they don't have to sell it.

Mav lives on. They try to occupy his mind by throwing their youngest at him — ask him to take her to school, pick her up from school, take her to her gymnastics class, do her homework with her, teach her how to play piano. The other kids pick up on it, too, and their high schoolers would wrap Mav into doing math workbooks with them, or ask him to drive them to their friends' house, and the kids that have moved out ask Mav to go to lunch together or call him to ask him things about car and house repairs that don't exist.

Mav gets brighter every day. Never as bright as before, but no longer so numb.

Their daughter ends up never moving out and so do they.

They all get older but Mav holds up pretty well. He does break his hip when trying to wash the windows, had a limp and terrible back ache ever since, had to stop driving because he can't see shit, had to stop piloting even sooner, and his memory is also shit, but Jake is pretty sure his cholesterol is lower than his own and he has better blood pressure than Bradley. Bradley and Mav are the ones cooking after all, Jake is the one eating all the tasty but not healthiest food, and Mav's life revolves around spoiling his cute great-grandkids and Bradley's is filled with the constant stress of managing Navy's top flying school.

For his ninetieth birthday, Mav flies a fighter jet as a passenger, the oldest person to ever do that — his youngest granddaughter is the one to take him up in the air, a junior grade lieutenant herself. They have a birthday party held at their house, Mav falls asleep in the armchair, Bradley makes fun of him and promptly falls asleep on the couch, too. Jake loves them both so much and still kind of can't believe he has this — house full of grown-up kids and grandkids of his own, his graying husband of over thirty years, his father-in-law coming to an age he wanted to see his mother at.

They're cleaning up, their two daughters who still don't have kids and didn't need to go home helping, and Mav tells them he's going to get some fresh air on their veranda. "I've got a terrible headache," is all he says.

Half an hour passes, they've packed all the clean and dirty dishes, and Bradley huffs to himself. "He fell asleep on the bench again, didn't he," and goes outside.

Bradley shouts for him in less than a minute. The ambulance is there in eight. Within the half-hour and a CT scan in the hospital, the neurologist tells them Mav is too far gone to survive the day. Within six hours, every single person from their family has come to say goodbye. When they pass the seven hours mark, Jake stands up from the plastic chair behind Bradley — he's not about to tell Bradley he should rest, but he's been holding Mav's hand since the minute they admitted Mav to the ward and hasn't eaten or drunk anything all day. He tells him he'll go grab them a coffee and bagels and gets a little nod and a smile.

Jake comes back twenty minutes later and Bradley doesn't even look up from where he's gripping Mav's hand.

"Can you get the nurse for me?"

[mikaikaika]

Tubbo was giving Forever a pep talk cause Forever was freaking out and the chat was just going "well Tubbo would know about presidential duties wouldn't he"

[oceans-beloved]

Meme dump yayyy🥳✨️

(off to make more now muhahaha >:3)

[brrrkdslek]

🎀 𓂃 ࣪˖ DYING WISH

SYPNOSIS : knowing the dangers with mafias roaming downtown recently, your dumbass still decides to take a stroll praying it'd relieve your current stress and struggles. but god had other plans for you as she sends two stress relievers your way. but what you didn't know was that you'd be a great asset to them.

PAIRING : mafia! sanhwa x fem! reader

GENRE : non-idol au, mafia au, mafia members duh, idfk honestly

WARNINGS : smut!!!!, no names mentioned(y/n), yummy hunky men(sanhwa), degradation(hwa), praise(san), face fucking, unprotected, creampie, throatpie, strip tease(?), voyeurism, abused pussy lmao idk

WORD COUNT : 4.2k

YINGLES' NOTES : LMFAO HAPPY (late) BIRTHDAY TO MY FAVOURITE EDITOR EVER!!!1!!11!1!1 @ygswl enjoy yo mega smut bitch ;) ps i almost creamed myself while writing this hehe👉🏻👈🏻

you groaned and flopped onto the bed, this was the fourth time in a row that you didn't win a fancall with your favourite idol. you stared at the ceiling and contemplated your life, is this it? whining over the perfect man that doesn't even know who you are? get a life.

"ugh, i'm trying!" you whined to the voices in your head and slammed your fist against the bed, startling your cat as it jumped up from its spot next to you and meowed at you sassily before it jumped off to some corner in your room you never bothered to clean.

you suddenly sat up and slapped both of your palms onto your cheeks and sighed, "focus! you need to get a grip!" you screamed to no one in particular as you threw the covers off your body and got dressed.

you looked in the mirror and smiled in satisfaction at your lovely outfit; a sleeveless low cut top paired with a cute cropped white jacket. you put on a pair of high-waisted flared jeans and did a small twirl at the mirror.

you decided to take a stroll downtown as you walked down the stairs humming some song that's been stuck in your head since the month before, time really passes by quickly. you jogged towards the kitchen to grab a snack before heading out, eyeing the banana in the fruit bowl as you reached to get it.

your mother emerges from behind you and smacked your hand, making you jump and turn around. "where do you think you're going?" she asked grumpily as she eyed you up and down, still salty you didn't help her prepare dinner.

you chuckled sheepishly and followed behind her as she tossed the bowl of meat she was holding into the pot of boiling water. you gently massaged her shoulders as you coughed, "hah, so uh, what're you making, ma―"

she cut you off and shrugged your hands off her shoulders, "what do you want now?" you stiffened and laughed, "whaaat? pssh, nothing of course..." she eyed you up and down with an eyebrow raised, "looking like that?"

you pursed your lips before taking a deep breath and sighed, "can i go downtown please? nothing serious, just a walk and―" she cut you off again and smacked your arm with the plastic spatula she was holding, "no! are you insane? don't you know about the stupid mafia down there right now?"

she tsked and furrowed her brows, "what's their name? dala dala- no, bala bala...?" you crossed your arms against your chest and grumbled, "it's hala hala, ma..." she rolled her eyes, "whatever, if you die i'll kill you!" she said before walking past you to grab the spices in the cabinet.

you deadpan, "that's not even- whatever, i'm going now." you said as you put your shoes on and heard her hum. "love you ma!" you said before slamming the front door shut and bouncing excitedly as you took a bus downtown.

you haven't been going anywhere for the past month due to work and babysitting your annoying cousins, not that you ever complained since your aunt and uncle paid you generously. it's been a long time since you were downtown and you're excited to see the change made in these few months you've been gone.

you grumbled as you leaned against the brick wall, swirling the kool-aid in your cup as you glanced around the area. it wasn't surprising that everything was still the same, i mean what was there to expect?

but you've already encountered three catcallers and tripped on nothing twice, the second time making mud water splash onto the ends of your new pants, spoiling your mood even more than it already was.

you looked around again and perked up when you saw two delicious looking men in suits turn a corner and into an alleyway.

of course, being nosy as fuck, you followed. tiptoeing quietly, you looked into the alley curiously and felt your heartbeat quicken, this was so enticing.

one of the men was taller and slimmer than the other, hair slicked back and dressed in a suit, any woman that passed would probably fall heal over heels, including you.

the other man was slightly shorter and had wide, and when i say wide, i mean wide shoulders. your expression soured when your eyes trailed down and saw his small waist, his proportions were insane.

the current feeling of infatuation quickly turned into envy as you pouted, wondering how easily these two men looked so effortlessly handsome.

"tonight?" the man with the dorito body asked, "hm, i have no clue how we'll manage to take down valhalla in just one night but i'll figure it out." the taller said sternly, looking as proud and confident as ever.

you scoffed, arrogant prick. the shorter whined and rolled his eyes, "how are we supposed to do that? that little man always has crazy high expectations." the other chuckled at the height joke, "that's how we're able to even rise this high, you know this."

you deadpanned when the dorito man continued to whine in annoyance before he suddenly stopped and turned his head to your directions. thank god for your reflexes cause you retracted your head just in time.

you slapped your hand over your mouth as you slid down the wall, having just realised what dangerous situation you put yourself in. you continued to eavesdrop but furrowed your brows in confusion when you stopped hearing voices.

like an idiot, you poked your head back towards the alleyway and felt your heart jump out of your throat when the two men were much closer now, looming over you with their hands in their pockets.

you shrieked and fell back onto the concrete and breathed heavily, your mouth drying as you desperately tried to speak. the shorter chuckled and squatted down, "what's this? you're a pretty little thing, ain't'cha?" he cooed as his hand came up and stroked your cheek gently, making you blush.

however the taller wasn't amused as his expression remained stoic. "san," his voice was icy cold, sending a shiver down your spine. "you know what to do." the dorito man, san, nodded and got up, feeling his knees crackle.

you glanced at both men that were standing silently before you quickly got up and scurried away, screaming for your life. then, you felt a cloth on your mouth and breathed in a soft scent. and it all went black.

you groaned as your eyes fluttered open softly and gasped when you found yourself in a dark room, a soft purple hue wrapped all around. it seemed like a karaoke room, the interior was absolutely gorgeous, you probably wouldn't be able to afford it if you sold your house.

san tsked and snapped his finger in front of your face, bringing your attention back to him. "hey, focus on me little girl." he mused as you tried to speak, only just realising there was a piece of tape on your mouth.

you began to panic as you wiggled your body around, the ropes around your hands and feet rubbing uncomfortably against your skin, making you whine and whimper.

san rolled his eyes as he stood up, grabbing a fistful of your hair and pulled you close towards his face. "i'll remove the tape if you shut up." he said sternly as you slowly quieted down, relaxing onto the chair.

the man hummed as a small smile took over his features, "now that wasn't so hard, was it?" he spoke gently, his voice completely different from his authoritative and demanding one from before.

he liked when he's listened to, got it. you made a mental note not to get on the man's nerves as he ripped off the tape from your mouth with one swift pull, making tears pool in your eyes from the sudden feeling of pain running down your body.

you pursed your lips as an awkward silence takes over the room, the booming music from the two rooms beside you making it slightly less awkward.

"a-are you gonna kill me?" you murmured quietly, cringing slightly when you heard yourself stutter. san bit at the skin of his lips and went silent before sighing, "yes, there isn't any nicer way to put this but you overheard our plans, so that's just how it is. protocol."

you felt your heart beating out of your ribs as the realisations hit you like a ton of bricks. "can't we work something out?" you asked desperately, the words pouring out of your lips like waterfall before you could even process them.

san sighs and leaned back on the long couch, "listen, i'd love to but i can't decide that, only seonghwa can." at the mention of the elder, the door to the room opened and the taller man from before emerges, closing the door behind him.

"you're awake?" the man, whom you've learnt is seonghwa, asked with a bored expression on his face. san was alerted and stood up as seonghwa was practically staring a hole through you.

you gulped and turned your head away as he continued, "i'm assuming you heard everything?" without hesitation, you nodded your head. "then death is necessary." he answered confidently.

you cursed yourself in your head, why do you have to be so honest? you could've made this better for yourself but noooo. your bottom lip trembled as you held your head down, "please, isn't there... something we could work out?" you asked shakily.

the two men held eye contact with each other for a few seconds before seonghwa spoke up, "i'm... gonna go find hongjoong." he murmured before quickly exiting the room, leaving you in more distress as san cursed under his breath.

you felt a tap on your shoulder as you looked up and saw a glass of wine being held towards you. san coughed and looked away, "to calm your nerves..." he mumbled as if he read your mind.

i hummed before taking large gulps of the wine and finishing it with a groan. san swallowed dryly as he chuckled, "you can swallow real good, huh?"

san's tongue darts out to wet his lips as he watches a singular droplet of wine roll down the corner of your lip and down your chin, dripping onto your cleavage and disappearing into the crack.

san's eyes darken, only seeming to have noticed your revealing outfit just then. san hummed as he tilted your chin up, "let me get that for you, beautiful..." he growled lowly before he licks the bead of wine from your chin and to the corner of your mouth.

your breath catches in your throat as you let out a breathy moan, face flushing from the alcohol and how close san was to you.

san pulled back with a groan as he begins to untie the ropes from your wrists and ankles, "y'know what? i'll do you a favour and let your last moment be as enjoyable as possible." he licked his lips.

seonghwa comes back in the room not even five minutes later and sees you knelt onto the ground giving san a blowjob.

seonghwa raised his brow and leaned against the doorframe with his arms crossed, "so is this what we're doing now?" he asked san, unamused.

san only let out a low groan as he pushes your head deeper, "yeah, just like that babygirl..." he murmured and moaned lowly, the grip he had on your hair getting tighter and tighter as you hummed, sending vibrations through his body from his cock.

san shivered as he looked up at seonghwa and smirked, showing his pretty dimples. "ya jealous, park?" seonghwa laughed, "me? jealous of you? please, i have other whores that is can get off to." he rolled his eyes.

san cursed under his breath before gripping the sides of your head and slamming his cock down your throat, not only was it big, it was so thick also. your face turned red as you gagged and tried your best to keep your mouth open, feeling your jaw lock in place.

after a few more sloppy thrusts, san cums in your mouth and pulls out. just as you thought it was over, a few more ropes of cum is splayed on your face as you panted.

seonghwa whistled, "two loads just from a blowjob? you're a weak one, san." he scoffed arrogantly. san glared at the older before slicking his hair back, "you wouldn't know how good this little mouth is."

you blushed and stayed in your spot on the floor, feeling the arousal pooling between your thighs. you shifted on your knees as your panties stuck to your crotch uncomfortably, a result of the amount of slick that you guessed was already spread all over.

seonghwa hummed before walking over behind you, the sounds of his leather heels clacking on the ground, even his footsteps sounded elegant.

he tilted your head back and grimaced at the sight of san's cum spread all over your face. his big hand wrapped halfway around your neck as his thumb teased you by the edge of your mouth, "suck." he commanded.

and without another word, you opened your mouth as seonghwa's thumb enters and presses down on your tongue, smirking at your obedience.

san watches from the couch, a bag of chips in his hands as he chomped away. "see, you're liking her now, right?" he mused, chest puffing proudly from being correct.

seonghwa hummed, "obedient and has a pretty face, her features are a mix of sensual and cute, perfect." he muttered under his breath. san could be heard yawning but seonghwa didn't even react, his eyes solely on you, making you incredibly flustered.

seonghwa pulled his fingers out as he pushed san to the side and plopped onto the long couch, his head relaxing into the leather as he gestured for you to come.

you squeaked softly, and got up slowly, feeling the blood slowly come back to your legs as seonghwa patted his lap, "make yourself useful and ride me, slut." he smirked and glared playfully.

you opened your mouth to speak, but no words came out. you were embarrassed but aroused, mostly cause of his degradation. you swallowed dryly before obeying to his words and slowly went over.

as you got closer, seonghwa sat up and licked his lips as he began to unbuckle his belt. seonghwa unzipped his pants before pulling out his cock and stroked it slowly.

while san's dick was more thick and girthy, seonghwa's was longer and slimmer, just like his form. there was also a singular vein that ran down his length prettily, the sight alone made you shiver.

you shivered and watched seonghwa stroke his length as he chuckled lowly, "strip, but make it entertaining. you probably know how with a body like that." he scoffed as his eyes traveled down your form, eyeing your curves and crevices.

you didn't need to be told twice as you took off your jacket first as san whistled in the background. your cheeks heat up as you've never been this revealed in front of others, only in the comforts of your own home.

but your insecurities are washed away when you watch seonghwa stroke his length faster as his eyes traveled along your body, "c'mon, give me more..." he murmured with his brows furrowed, even then he sounded so authoritative.

immediately obeying the elder's words, you hesitated before slowly pulling the tank top over your chest, taking it off completely.

maybe you were fat and maybe you were skinny, but who knows? everyone views your body differently and you didn't know either. all you ever thought was that you were average, but you didn't feel so average under the gaze of two sexy men that are capable of pounding you till the sunrise.

you squeezed your thighs together as your heartbeat picks up, seonghwa notices this and stroked himself harder, squeezing his cock tighter as he groaned and stared holes through your head.

you took that as a sign to keep going as you slowly unzipped your pants, only then realising you wore the cutesy panties out today, never expecting to be performing a striptease for two mafia members.

seonghwa grumbled as he halts his movements, "can't you hurry it up? my dick's about to fall off." he comments harshly as san only chuckles popping a few pieces of chips in his mouth as he passed one to seonghwa, who's already bored as you've stood frozen.

you took in a deep breath as you pushed your pants down in one go, the fabric piling around your ankled as you stood awkwardly, your gaze turning to the interesting looking wall all around you.

san snorted and fell onto the couch dramatically as seonghwa only chuckled, "so adorable..." he murmured. you pursed your lips and blushed furiously, feeling seonghwa eat you up with his eyes.

he finally moved and rubbed the tip of his cock with his thumb as you water in awe. seonghwa pressed down and moaned, throwing his heda back from pleasure and blushing from the way you were staring.

seonghwa stopped his movements when he felt himself twitching as he breathes out, "come." just that one word sent a shiver down your spine as you immediately complied and moved on top of his lap, facing the male.

you could feel your heart hammering into your ribs as your hands placed themselves awkwardly onto seonghwa's shoulders.

the male shuddered as he pushed your hips down right onto his hardened cock. the feeling of your crotches rubbing together made seonghwa's breath hitch. he became even more aroused at the thought that the only thing separating the two were the thin fabric of your underwear.

you whimpered and felt your lower half jolt from the sudden friction of seonghwa's cock. you tested the waters and began to grind your clothed pussy onto his cock, watching in fascination as the foreskin moved up and engulfed the tip of his cock before moving back down.

seonghwa could feel the weens from your underwear and smirked, gripping your hips tighter and rocking them faster. "faster," seonghwa demanded as he groaned and threw his head back, "yeah, just like that- fuckin' whore..."

you picked up the pace, his degrading words serving as an encouragement for you to keep going. you would've forgotten that san was also in the room if not for his sudden groan. turning your head to the side, you blush harder at the sight of san stroking his hard-on, all while staring intensely with those dark eyes.

seonghwa grumbled and gripped your chin, his hand engulfing your entire jaw as he turned your head back and thrusted his hips up, making your panties push into your pussy slightly.

you let out a soft squeak as seonghwa growled lowly, "focus on me, bitch. you'll be riding my dick soon, so just be patient." he announced in an authoritative tone. that got you going as you whimpered softly and nodded your head, "y-yes sir."

seonghwa groaned, his cock twitching from how obedient you were being. "fuck, i can't take this any longer." he grumbled before suddenly halting your movements and pulling your hip upwards, you were taken aback by his actions but nonetheless complied.

seonghwa used one hand to move your soaking panties to the side, purring at the sight of your wet folds. you shuddered slightly when the cold air hit your cunt, your whole body was heating up from how exposed you were right now.

seonghwa rubbed his thumb over your clit as he chuckled lowly, "so wet already? thought i needed to prep you more, guess you're ready to take my cock..." he mumbled excitedly.

seonghwa gave his length a few more pumps before rubbing it against your folds, loving the way you whined and squirmed as he teased you. "p-please sir, don't tease me..." you whimpered softly and seonghwa felt his body grow weak with your begging.

you gasped and gripped onto seonghwa's shoulder as he pushed his cock all the way in without giving you a second to adjust. slamming his hips upwards, your thighs began to tremble as you panted, drool so close to dripping from your mouth.

you shifted on seonghwa's lap a bit, feeling his cock poking out of your tummy with the way it curled inside. seonghwa looked down and smirked seeing a small, barely noticeable bulge on your lower stomach.

finally catching your breath, you began to slowly move your hips up and down with the help of seonghwa's hands on your hips. he had to physically hold back from being too rough as it was pretty obvious that it was your first time taking a cock as big as his.

you thighs shook as you slowly began to move by yourself, your hands on seonghwa's shoulder to keep yourself steady. seonghwa smirked as he let his hands roam all over your body,you closed your eyes and let your body melt into seonghwa's touch along with his dick pounding deep inside you.

seonghwa began to grow more and more aroused as his hands trailed down and gripped your ass, humming from how your flesh spills from his fingers. he licked his lips before thrusting upwards roughly with the help of his hold on your asscheek.

you let out a loud moan at the sudden thrust and slap your hand over your mouth, feeling your drool trickle down your chin. you gripped onto seonghwa's shirt, creating crinkles around your fist.

you stuttered through your moans with each thrust, your body squirming and trembling as seonghwa stared up at you, absolutely entranced by the sight before him.

you were snapped out of your trance when your face was suddenly tilted upwards. soft moans continued to leave your mouth as san smirked and cupped your cheek, opening your mouth with his thumb as he smirked, his dimple showing on one side.

"open." san said softly, his tone was gentle and sweet unlike seonghwa's; authoritative and demanding. you gulped before opening your mouth slowly, san smiled and let his thumb press against the inside of your cheek, making you whine softly.

san licked his lips as he hummed, "you think you can take my cock down your throat, pretty girl?" you stuck your tongue out and moaned wantonly as you nodded.

san smiles softly as he takes out his throbbing cock and slaps it onto your face, "open wide, princess." he sang as tilts your head further back and slips his cock into your mouth, groaning at the feeling of your warm mouth.

san thrusts slowly at first as you adjusted to his size, already gagging and feeling it hard to breathe with his cock just halfway in. san hums before pushing the rest of his length down your mouth, his tip hitting the back of your throat making him shiver.

seonghwa tsked at how your attention wasn't on him anymore and quickly picked up the pace, thrusting his hips upwards at an animalistic pace and made eye contact with san as the younger hummed, understanding instantly.

you whined in a high pitch and sent vibrations through san's cock making the other shudder. san rested his hands on the side of your head before starting to thrust in and out, matching seonghwa's fast pace, making your head spin.

your whole body was trembling from how overstimulating this was. you felt like you couldn't breathe as your sight began to turn a bit hazy. seonghwa moaned lowly as your velvety walls clenched around him as he thrusted harder, hitting your prostate.

san was the same as he was starting to get addicted to your mouth, he knew it barely fit in your mouth and how tight your lips wrapped his length made him more turned on. he continued to slam his cock down your throat, feeling precum spill with each time his tip hit the back of your throat.

your face was beet red and you could feel san's precum dripping down your throat, and you could do nothing but let your body be used by these two men. but hey, this was better than dying, right?

seonghwa's thrusts became sloppier and slower as he let out his loud deep inside you not without cursing and moaning lowly. san was right behind him and fucked your face harshly before his seed was slipping inside your mouth, some of it running down your chin with how much he came.

with trembling thighs, you pulled out of seonghwa with a moan as the both of you watched his cum drip down your swollen cunt. seonghwa felt his heart beat faster at the sight and his soft dick hardened up within a second.

he quickly pulled you back onto his dick as you squealed, still overstimulated from before. "one more round..." seonghwa says breathlessly as he began to rock your hips, making you whine softly.

san followed along and tilted your face backwards, arching your back once again as he lathered his, still dripping cock onto your face. "i might need one more round also..." he chuckled awkwardly with red cheeks.

this was gonna be a long night...

©BRRRKDSLEK 2024

[asterialunarr]

barty is the cuntiest cunt that ever cunted

evan is the princessest princess that ever princessed

regulus is the cockiest cock that ever cocked

dorcas is the slayest slay that ever slayed

pandora is the servest serve that ever served

all in all slytherin skittles are the babygirlest babygirls that ever babygirled

[thedrotter]

Re:Kinder Fun Facts of the day☺️!!! Have you ever wondered who talks the most from the main cast in Re:Kinder?? Well, I did😊. Today I'll be answering this question with some graphs and as a bonus telling you what words each character uses the most! I will warn you, this will be a bit long and I don't know how to be less verbose so, yeah!!!

First, I've made some basic rules as to what I counted regarding how much the characters speak. Not all lines really count as speaking, after all.

Any of the incoherent screaming lines don't count. There's a lot of screaming since the characters die a lot (as expected for a horror RPG game), but I don't really count that as speaking unless they're saying proper words. In that same vein, I didn't really count any of the panting or sniffing and such that are conveyed through words. Again, I don't really see that as a character actively speaking their thoughts!

If I cannot tell who a line belongs to, I will not give it to anyone. This happens for certain lines, so I felt this rule was important.

I won't be counting repetitions of the same line if it's on a variation of the same scene. This may sound a bit strange, but when a character dies, the game goes on to the same next scene it would regardless (unless the scene that follows it is an ending), with variations and new lines here and there to account for the dead character, but a lot will be reused and placed in the exact same beats it normally would have been in originally. So, this rule is here for that. Oh, and also the scenes with bits of Yuuichi's backstory that appear in Shunsuke's head won't be counted twice, because some appear twice line by line.

Of course, the "..." lines won't count. I am so sorry Aya!!!!😞

Now that the ground rules have been set, there's just one thing I want to mention. Though I will count all the total lines for Takumi and Yuuichi like any other character, I just want to mention that first I will have two separate counts for them! Takumi | Takumiel and Yuuichi | Yuuichi's Heart respectively.

Takumiel is separate because I was curious about how much Takumi spoke as an archangel compared to when he was alive. Yuuichi's Heart is because he speaks so much he feels notable enough to be given his own division, even if he and Yuuichi at the end of the day are one person

(I count the silly mind telepathy where Shunsuke is being directly spoken to [and being told things normal Yuu would avoid saying at that point] and the comical theater as Yuuichi's Heart. I clarify in case one assumes he only starts being counted the moment he's directly labelled as Yuuichi's Heart. Any line that can't be distinguished between Yuuichi's Heart and Yuuichi will be given to Yuuichi by default.)

With nothing else to be clarified let's get to the numbers!!!😊😊

First, the line counts with Takumiel and Yuuichi's Heart counted individually!! Here are the rankings:

Shunsuke (With a lead of 535 lines over second place!!)

Yuuichi

Rei

Yuuichi's Heart

Hiroto

Ryou

Sayaka

Aya

Takumi

Takumiel

You may be thinking— woah, does Shunsuke really speak that much?! You could say that, for a good chunk of those lines are from how he describes interactable points around the map and his inner thoughts, so they aren't all exactly said out loud. The benefit of being the protagonist, I suppose ww

Funny enough, Yuuichi's Heart has almost as many lines as Yuuichi does for not having that much time in the game, being on the higher end between the characters that don't get the benefit of being a protagonist (lol)!

Admittedly I had expected for Rei and Hiroto to have a more similar amount of lines given their nearly equal amount of presence, but for what it is Rei surpassed Hiroto by 51 lines! I also had expected for Takumiel to speak a little bit more than Takumi but turns out the opposite is true.

While the lack of lines of Takumi and Takumiel are to be expected due to their short time on the game, what stands out is Aya not even reaching triple digits between her other peers who are in there for most of the game. This is because a good chunk of Aya's lines in game are silence!^^" And thus weren't counted. If ellipses were a word, she surely would have reached triple digits, but unfortunately they're not.

Now the line count with combined sums of Takumi | Takumiel and Yuuichi | Yuuichi's Heart!!!

In here, the ranking isn't affected, with Yuuichi remaining second place and Takumi being last place. But the disparity of everyone's numbers compared to Takumi's feels a bit more clear to see when Takumiel isn't individually counted.

With Yuuichi's line counts combined, Shunsuke remains 318 lines ahead of him, but it also means Yuuichi has a 59% the amount of Shunsuke's lines; and impressive feat for someone who doesn't get the benefit of being the point of view for everything you press... Although he does also have an upper hand over everyone by essentially being the plot of this game ww

But maybe line counts do not suffice to tell how much a character speaks. Yes, Shunsuke has a bunch of lines from everything he interacts with, but is it really reliable to say he speaks all that much in all those lines? A good chunk of those could easily have 3 words each! So with this in mind, let's do a word count.

Even in a word count, Shunsuke has the lead, having a lead of 2,247 words over second place. But we'll see about that when we combine Yuuichi's numbers. Anyway, here's the ranking!

Shunsuke

Yuuichi's Heart

Yuuichi

Rei

Hiroto

Ryou

Sayaka

Aya

Takumi

Takumiel

This time, Yuuichi's Heart is the one at second place!!! It's pretty funny that he speaks more than his physical counterpart ww. I genuinely didnt think he'd out yap himself that way when I chose to count for him individually 😭!!! He has a lead of 63 words over himself, but a lead nonetheless.

In here, Rei and Hiroto are more even than in the line counts, with the difference seeming more minimal when put into words. But it also showcases that despite Rei having more lines than Yuuichi's Heart in the line count, those only get to have a bit over half of the amount of words he talks (To be fair he does get to infodump a lot in his section of the game).

And here's the combined word count!!! Suddenly Shunsuke's lead is only by a mere 55 words! So Yuuichi speaks about as much as he does with 318 less lines.

I must admit that I genuinely did not expect it to be that close. When I chose to count the lines for when you interact with things for Shunsuke, I thought he was granted to speak an absurd amount more than anyone else. But turns out that Yuuichi speaks about the same amount out loud when most of Shunsuke's are his own thoughts ww. But it does make sense! He is still the plot of this game.

So, after all those charts, here's the average/middle point of lines and words for characters to have, because why not, it's fun.

Average Line Count (YH and Takumiel counted individually): 197 lines

Average Line Count (When combined): 247 lines

Average Word Count (YH and Takumiel counted individually): 1,333 words

Average Word Count (When combined): 1,666 words

So there it is. That's how much the characters in Re:Kinder speak!

But wait!!! I am not done. I will share with you an additional fun fact... Did you ever want to know what word each of these characters said the most?! This one will be quicker, I do promise.

When it came to counting these words I did not count stop words, that being common words that are used all the time by everyone in English. "I, you, me, the, to, a, my, your, yes, no"... Words like that! Otherwise everyone would have one of those as their most said word and it'd be rather boring to look at. With that said, here are the words these characters say the most!

Shunsuke: Yuuichi - said 40 times! (this genuinely confused me so much im sorry he uses interjections so much I had expected it to be something like "huh" or "um" but no i dont know how this passed by me as i was rounding up all the lines he says or proofreading or writing all of those lines WHAT?!?! its been two days and it still takes me out)

Ryou: Shunsuke - Said 14 times

Sayaka: Murderer - Said 7 times (All in one sentence!)

Takumi | Takumiel (counted in one for how little he speaks.): Takumiel - Said 3 times (That name is so important, he said it thrice.)

Aya: Sorry - Said 5 times

Rei: Hell, gonna, look, Yuuchi - said 8 times (Most of the repeated words she says are stop words for she doesn't tend to speak about the same things repeatedly.)

Hiroto: Shunsuke - Said 17 times

Yuuichi (separate from YH): Problem - Said 17 times

Yuuichi's Heart: Mama - Said 24 times

Yuuichi (Overall): Mama - Said 31 times

So that is finally it. That is the fun fact of today.😊😊 Use this to woe your friends at parties!!!

I am aware Mami speaks about enough to be counted in, but this is pretty time consuming to do and I'm not sure anyone is invested on her enough to count her in. But if there's enough curiosity regarding that, I'll try counting her in. But for now this suffices.☺️ Thanks for reading!

[espighty]

Why does he sleep like a Mormon. What is wrong with him.

(stills)

[absolutelybifurious]

i dont think we've discussed how absolutely BIZARRE that man outside chimneys former karaoke bar was for saying

"and then they built this, you know, a smart and sensible combination of affordable apartments and multi-use retail spaces"

like WHO ARE YOU??? are you up for re-election??? are you on the campaign trail??? WHAT DOES THIS MEAN??

[insurged]

ANNOUNCEMENT: blog hiatus from may 7-10th !! i won't be on here since i'll be visiting my grandmother in CA.

[twnj]

'Her legs, like spindly cotton buds, trembled as she rose, but the strong hand that had pawed at her leg splayed out across her back to support her, drawing her flush against him.

Before she could process how every nerve in her body screamed at her, she suddenly lost the taste and instinctively surged forward a few centimetres to find nothing.

Shikamaru towered above as her eyes fluttered open, his dark eyes suddenly plagued with a thousand fleeting thoughts Temari couldn’t even begin to decipher. She barely made it past her own. For a second, she considered how far this strayed from her father’s instructions — from staying away. But Temari dismissed the thought as someone else’s problem. [...]

[...]When had Shikamaru become so tall? Was it before or after the apparent stubble on his chin had started appearing? And when had he become so pleasant to look at? His pointy nose, his crooked mouth, his upsettingly kind eyes…

Even with his back to the lampshade, gold danced through them.

Temari’s mouth grew dry with a series of infinitely short breaths, and once again, she felt herself staring at the sun, unable to look away. The pads of her fingertips burned as she reached up to trace his jawline, just as intricately as he had hers, until Shikamaru bit down on his bottom lip.

“I locked the door,” he said quietly.'

Grandmaster on ao3 by @notquitejiraiya

[dirtytransmasc]

thinking about how Spider was neteyam's big brother. losing my mind. ripping out my hair.

was 'teyam scared of storms or the dark? did he confide these "childish" fears to his big brother? did he get shy with all the attention he got in the village? did he hold Spi's hand when he got nervous?

did Spi have habits with 'teyam like 'teyam had with lo'ak? did Spi mess with his hair or reach for his shoulder or cuff his neck?

did Spi ever worry for 'teyam after he "stepped up" and became the Big Brother when the humans returned? did he worry something would happen to him? did he want to protect him despite being a human? was he proud? did his pride outweigh his fear?

did he think about 'teyam after he was taken? did he wonder where he was and if he was safe?

what was Spi thinking when he saw the bullet hole in his baby brother's back? did he freeze when he saw the blood, when he realized he failed to protect him?

what was 'teyam thinking? when he looked to Spi, did he want him to be the big brother again, did he want to stop being brave and let Spi do it? did he want to say something?

I have so many questions. I don't think my heart could take the answers.

[astramachina]

getting the next two chapters of The Architect ready to go and just. damn. damn. where did my ability to write this good even go.

[vaya-writes]

Serving the Serpent - 5

Briar owes Lord Isen her life. She works off her debt by serving in his castle. Dealing with the rapidly changing circumstances of her life, she’s not used to anyone paying her much attention. It’s hard when Isen seems set on interacting with her. 

Cis female human with selective mutism x male naga (slow burn, co-workers to lovers, power imbalances, eventual smut). 2500 words. Content warnings for this chapter: references to the cult-like elements of Briar's upbringing. Divider from firefly-graphics

Briar participates in Discourse for the first time.

Previous - Masterlist

The following afternoon, Briar is starting to regret her carefree comment. Learning to read is one thing. Staying seated in Lockwood’s office, trying her best not to hunch over the table, fingers pressed a little too tightly around a piece of chalk, is another. Because learning to read, means learning to write. And learning to write means the dark elf taking the time out of his day to point out letters and pronounce them.  

He’s patient. She’ll give him that. Pointing to each letter before and after she copies it, fingers cramping. He pronounces each sound slowly, then regularly. Gives an example word that the sound is in. Watches for Briar to nod her understanding.  

His face is nearly as blank as the slate she writes on. The only time irritation had flickered across his features was when he pronounced the first letter. He’d waited a beat, before she realised she was expected to copy the sound. She’d opened her mouth. Hesitated. And dropped her eyes in shame when nothing more than a stuttered breath came out.  

To Lockwood’s credit, he’d recovered quickly. Had adjusted the cadence of his lesson, and nothing else, no longer pausing for her to speak. Just waiting for her shows of attention and occasional nods. No further frustration shows on his features. But it doesn’t stop Briar from feeling intimidated. 

That night she lies awake in bed. It’s only when the room is silent, when she’s certain that everyone is either asleep or about to be when she’s able to vocalise. Fragments of sound, not complete words, as she tries her best to remember how Lockwood had spoken, and mimic each phonic. 

Somebody nearby stirs and she’s startled back into silence. She pulls her pillow over her head and sighs. Perhaps she could find some other time alone to practice. Or perhaps just mouthing the sounds would be enough.   

Despite the disadvantage, Briar wakes determined to see the day through, and learn as much as she can during her next lesson. She picks up breakfast on the way to the third floor, where she meets Emilie and assists her with the usual cleaning. The lizard chats as she works, going from room to room to strip the beds and clean the private bathrooms.  

She’s tense in anticipation of entering the lord’s chambers, but finds them empty. Arol’s too. She doesn’t think much of it until lunch time, when she parts ways with Emilie to meet with Cook. Isen and Arol’s meals are absent from the trolley. Part of her regards the change with curiosity.  

“Lockwood stopped by. He said you’re to skip your lesson with Lord Isen today, and to meet in his office early. I’ll have your lunch delivered there.” 

Briar blinks. Tilts her head to inquire why, but Cook misses the gesture as he turns back to work. Once he’s out of earshot, Briar lets the huff escape from her chest. Carries on with the rest of her duties, delivering the noble’s meals. 

Dinah is busy as per usual, buried in paper and parchment, sorting with deadly speed and precision. Her eyes flick up as Briar enters, and she inclines her chin a little as the woman places her tray on the desk corner.  

Briar finds herself faltering as she stops outside the newly occupied offices. She’d been avoiding the newcomers to the castle like the plague. The coral pink naga has a way of leering at her that makes her uncomfortable. And the scaled woman – Briar's not yet sure what she is – has an unwavering gaze; sharp and deadly. It raises the hair on the back of her neck, and has her struggling not to turn tail.  

When her job is done she waves down Emilie, fortunate enough to catch her as she returns from a break. 

“Is something wrong?” 

Briar shakes her head. Points to herself and then towards the stairs. She usually collects the floor’s dishes after her meal with Isen, but wouldn’t have the chance today. 

“You need to go?” 

Briar nods. Then points to her trolley. 

Emilie raises her scaled brows. “You want me to clean up after lunch?” 

She nods. ‘Please.’ 

Emilie hums and hars for a moment, before relaxing with a smile. “I guess I can do that. But you’ll owe me.”  

Briar gives a relieved smile. ‘Thank you so much.’ She even curtsies on the spot to show her gratitude, exaggerated and low. 

Her work taken care of, Briar hurries off to her next stop. 

When she arrives in the dimly lit office, Lockwood isn’t alone. She stiffens immediately in the doorway, eyeing Lord Isen and a lizard newcomer with apprehension.  

Isen smiles at her, gesturing for her to enter. “You’re right on time. We can start as soon as you’ve eaten.” 

Briar tries not to clip her motions, but she can’t help but be unnerved by the additional pair of eyes. ‘Start what, my lord?’ 

Isen gestures to the stranger. “This is Berron. He’s one of my translators. He’s going to teach us to sign your letters.” 

Briar didn’t realise it was possible to go tauter, but she does. It’s been... months, since she’d spoken to anyone fluent in Sign. She thought she be lost in silence forever when Stella died. 

She tries not to gape at Berron, who in turn tries to keep his appraisal light. 

There’s a silence in the room. It seems as if Lockwood and Isen await her reaction. She supposes the breach in etiquette might be warranted this once. Hesitant, she speaks to the lizard.  

‘You speak Sign?’ 

Berron gives an apologetic smile. “Just the basics, I’m afraid. I’m more fluent in the Serpentine dialect. But I can sign the common letters. They’re what you’re learning, yes?” His Common is nearly unaccented, and he gestures a sign occasionally as he speaks.  

He’s not fluent. But hope begins to bloom in her chest. ‘Do you-’ she hesitates. ‘Do you know how to say this?’ She adds a gesture. 

He winces. “No, sorry. What is it?” 

“Her name,” says Isen, who watches the interaction closely. “We still don’t know it.” 

“Ah,” the lizard frowns. “Well, with any luck, soon you’ll be able to spell it!” 

“Or write it,” murmurs Lockwood, who pulls out the chair at his side table. “Shall we begin?” 

Isen stays for the lesson. Practices signing letters as Berron instructs, and Lockwood sounds them out for Briar. She feels a little ridiculous, having a team of three trying to teach her literacy. She reassures herself that Isen is at least having his signing lesson, learning some greetings from his translator.  

All in all, it’s a learning experience for everyone in the room. Even Lockwood appears engaged for the next two hours. Before long he’s signing and pronouncing letters at the same time, before Briar dutifully copies him and writes them down. 

The novelty fades before the week passes. Isen participates long enough to learn how to sign his letters. Once Briar has passing knowledge of the signed alphabet, Berron finishes his tutoring. And her days go back to normal.  

She cleans in the mornings. Serves third floor meals at lunch and dinner. Takes her midday meal with Isen, where he insists she teach him Sign when he’s not busy with paperwork (he’s always busy, but he makes time). Starts learning how to string letters together, and what sounds they make. Gets used to writing with chalk. Then with a pen. And rinses off at the end of the day before trudging down to the common room for a fitful sleep.  

Her nightmares persist. They’re not as frequent, but are no less harrowing. And without a full night of rest, her days are draining. She’s not sure if it’s the inconsistent schedule, or the strange array of work she’s been given, but she feels busy. Like if she were just a cleaner, or if she just served meals things would be simpler.  

She wishes she could talk to Lockwood. To ask him to assign her a permanent position already. But he’s already doing so much for her. Putting aside an hour of his time every day to sit with her while she writes, and her lips form the shapes of letters– if silently. Besides, it’s not like she would be able to make herself understood.  

Still. Objectively, her life has improved. She knows her way around. Is getting used to the minutia of things. She’s still intimidated by Isen’s circle. Pryden and Fern scare her the most, but they’re rarely at the castle. She doesn’t know what they do for Isen, but whatever it is, it’s done elsewhere. 

Whatever they report back to Isen, it keeps him busy. The next time they return, Briar finds Isen awash in paperwork. Enough so that he doesn’t have time for their lunch lessons, only brief reprieves to eat. 

‘You still haven’t replaced Amos?’ 

He frowns. “I haven’t hired a new aide yet, no.” 

‘What are you waiting for?’ 

He squints. “Pardon?” 

She rewords her query. ‘Why not?’ 

Understanding spreads across his features, and he shrugs, turning back to his food. “It’ll take time to train a replacement. Unless you think I should hire somebody not qualified?” His tone turns teasing at the end. 

Briar resists the urge to roll her eyes. Gives an impassive shrug, before continuing her meal.  

Isen leans back in his chair, watching Briar with an unusual interest. “What would you do in my place?” 

It takes her a moment to realise it’s not a rhetorical question. She pauses midbite when she does. Points at herself as if to say, ‘you’re asking me?’ 

“Sure. I want your opinion.” 

She lets her features contort this time. ‘Why?’ 

He crosses his arms. “Humour me.” 

She takes a moment to think. Spends most of it composing herself, and smoothing her expression once more. ‘What type of assistant do you want?’ 

He tilts his head. “What do I want?” 

She points towards Amos’ old room. Signs ‘assistant’.  

“What kind of aide do I want?” 

Nod. 

He shrugs. “Somebody diligent. With initiative. Thoughtful. Around when I need them. On top of things like my schedule.” 

She nearly rolls her eyes again. Restrains her sigh. ‘Then hire a cleaner. What do you want your aide to know?’ 

“Do you mean their qualifications?” 

She gives an emphatic nod. 

“Oh. Well, nothing fancy. They don’t need to be a graduate of anything, I can train them myself. But they’ll need basic literacy and numeracy skills.” 

Part of her sours at the last comment. ‘And are there any schools in the Lowlands?’ 

“Is there what where?” 

‘School. A place of learning. A place of knowledge. Place. Know,’ she gestures until Isen catches her meaning.  

“A school? Here?” He pauses for a moment, speaking as an aside, “Show me that again-” copying her gesture, before, “No. We tried once, but people didn’t show up.” 

Again, she wants to roll her eyes. This time, he does wrangle a reaction out of her, and she has to take a moment to pinch the bridge of her nose. When she looks back up at him, ready to start again, he’s grinning. 

“You’re cute when you get exasperated.” 

She narrows her eyes. Emphatically picks up her now empty plate and takes it to her trolley.  

“Stop, I’m sorry. You weren’t finished speaking.” 

She puts her chair away before stopping in front of his desk. Reigns in her annoyance. Makes herself the picture of a perfect servant. 

‘I would go to the city. It’d be easier to find an aide there.’ 

Isen grins. “You remind me of Arol, you know?” 

She can’t identify his tone. Quirks her brow, lets herself get sucked in to the question.  

“Polite to a fault.” 

She blinks. Hyperaware of how he watches her reaction.  

Briar laces her hands in front of her. Bites down on her lip. She knows he’s goading her. Knows he just wants a reaction. She takes a deep breath. Is about to turn and leave before- 

‘-and you’re ignorant.’ 

He tilts his head. (When she reflects back on this encounter, she’ll be thankful beyond belief that she hadn’t taught him that word yet.) Then he waits, expectant for her to continue. 

‘Why should a parent send their child to school?’ 

He takes a moment to process, understanding he’s being questioned, before giving an apologetic wince. “I don’t follow.” 

‘Why did you go to school?’  

“To learn?” 

‘Why?’ 

He shakes his head. “Uh- it was expected?’ 

‘Why?’ 

“So I could learn to read and-” 

‘Sure. Why?’ 

“My father wanted me-” 

She cuts him off with the shake of her head. ‘Why?’ 

He crosses his arms again, defensive. “It’s what I was meant to do.” 

She pauses. Uses the hiatus to hammer in her point before signing again. ‘Why should I go to school?’ 

He’s quiet for a moment. “Did your parents want-” 

She shakes her head. 

He takes another few seconds. “It’s not expected?” 

No. Again.  

“So you can read and write?” 

‘Okay. Why?’ 

“Why what?” 

‘Why should I read and write?’ 

He frowns, like it should be obvious. “So you can get a better job. So you can get paid. To help you communicate.” 

She shakes her head at each answer. ‘Women cook. Women clean. I was meant to cook and clean. Why should I go to school?’ 

He grits his teeth, confused by the roundabout conversation. It’s the first time she’s seen him visibly frustrated. “Because I want you to be my assistant.” 

The statement is enough to halt her tirade.  

They’re both silent for a moment. Isen, biting his lip, regretting his outburst. Clearly it was something he’d meant to keep to himself. Briar, compartmentalising. Trying to process that information at record speed, wondering if it’s worth dropping her point.  

It’s not. She’s nearly finished. 

After the extended pause, she straightens. Points out the window, towards the peasants in the lowlands, to make her point. ‘Why should they go to school?’ 

Isen takes a moment. Then another. Then his shoulders slump – just barely. “You’re saying they have no reason to come to school?” 

She nods.  

“Oh.” 

He doesn’t look at her, frowning down at his plate, seeming to digest the knowledge. His thoughts have changed direction.  

Eventually he notices Briar, expectant.  

“Yes?” 

‘You want to make me your assistant?’ 

He purses his lips. It looks like he hadn’t planned to tell her for a while. “Eventually. Yes.” 

She stares him down. Lets him stew in the scrutiny until Isen is the one to drop his eyes, experiencing shame, or perhaps guilt, but not quite sure why. 

She waits until he looks at her again to sign her goodbye.  

‘I can’t count either.’ 

Next

[stars-and-cows]

Me trying to explain the plot of a story I've been writing since I was 10: