#I promise <3< /div> Explore tagged Tumblr posts

[calamaroo]

Just popping by to say you don’t have to do the request I sent at all. When I sent it I was feeling pretty down and having a bad day but now I feel like I was inconveniencing you with it so I just wanted to say you don’t have to do it, so please feel free to ignore it 😅

Oh, no, not at all! I'd love to be able to make people feel better with my art!! I will get to it eventually, im just having to do school here lately 😅

But feel perfectly free to ask me for a doodle if it'll make you feel better. It may take me a while to get to it, but I will eventually 🩷🩷🩷 it is such an awesome compliment to think someone believed my art would cheer them up 🥹🥹🩷🩷

[bella-rose29]

Chapter 7 - The Demon

I'm back from my holiday and still mildly sleep deprived from the flight but here's the next chapter! This is the second to last chapter (not including an epilogue), and I hope you all enjoy this one! As always, if you want to be added to/ removed from the tag list please let me know, and requests are always welcome :)

We start off with Tamar's point of view for this one, then switch to the reader, which again has been marked by the --- (because I still don't know how best to show a change in perspective).

Warnings: gets a lil steamy at one point (but I can't write it for the life of me)

Word count: 3.1k

Series master list

Tag list: @kentucky-criedfricken, @hauntedenthusiasttragedy, @kateswone, @historianthesecond, @polli05927, @ell0ra-br3kk3r, @simbaaas-stuff (sorry if I've missed anyone, let me know if I have!)

So far, everything was going swimmingly. 

Tamar couldn’t help but feel a little uneasy at just how easily this tour was going, but with only one night left she was hoping they would have an uneventful journey home the next day. 

Saints, she missed Nadia. Getting back home and showing her partner just how much she had been missed was high on Tamar’s list of things to do. 

Right now, however, she was frustrated with the server behind the counter at the inn. 

Apparently the King and Queen of Ravka would have to sleep in separate rooms tonight, due to the somewhat… conservative views of the owners, but looking over at the monarchs now, Tamar wasn’t sure how she’d ever be able to peel them apart. 

She also wasn’t sure what had changed, but the past week had seen a dramatic difference in the couples’ behaviour; both being far more touchy, never leaving each others' side, making out in the carriage rides (which was a pain in the ass to Tailor) and at night. 

On second thoughts, maybe it would be good for them to spend a night apart. 

Sighing and removing her hands from where they rested on the tops of her axes, Tamar accepted the keys from the inn owner, promising to separate the lovers with a grimace. She wasn’t looking forward to that at all. 

“Room keys,” she said to the travelling party, jangling the items in the air. Her twin immediately shot up, snatching a key and tearing up the stairs. He’d needed the toilet for 'the last three days’ apparently (his words, not Tamar’s), but had refused to just go pee in a bush (it was too undignified, apparently, as if Tamar hadn't seen him do some of the most undignified things in the world). Zoya took the next key, looking exhausted from all the travelling and like she very much needed her own bed. Tamar handed out keys to the remaining members of the group, then turned to Nikolai and Y/N. 

“Alright lovebirds. You’re gonna have to split up tonight.” At their pouts, Tamar couldn’t help but roll her eyes, a smile forming on her face as she recognised the look she had worn when told Nadia wasn’t coming with them. 

“Are you going to be okay, darling?”

“I’ll be fine, Kolya, it’s you I’m worried about.”

Saints, they were insufferable now. Tolya would be soaking this up if he were here, going on about how they were straight out of one of his beloved poems. 

After ten minutes and many more sentiments and kisses, Tamar managed to wrangle them into their respective rooms, with promises that yes, they would be allowed to sit next to each other at breakfast (that was Y/N asking) and no, she wasn’t asking them to get divorced and never see each other again (that was Nikolai, far more dramatic than his wife). 

She let out a breath as she leaned against her own door to the room she’d be sharing with Tolya, before entering and telling him to take first watch, and slipping into a light sleep. 

Two hours later she was woken by her brother, taking the next round of standing guard. Going to stand in the corridor and resting her back against the wall, she settled in as best she could for the next two hours. Something sharp jammed into her back and she whirled round, hand on her axe, only to realise it was a rogue nail sticking out the wall. 

I can’t wait to be back in the Palace, she thought. She was skittish, the lack of incidents making her paranoid and pushing her further towards the edge of insanity, so she took a deep breath to calm herself. 

For the next hour or so, Tamar maintained her stoic watch in the dimly lit corridor, standing so still anyone passing might have thought her a statue (one particularly drunk customer did as he passed on his way to his room, commenting on the strange decor of the inn). She was just thinking idly about things that needed doing the next morning when the handle to Nikolai’s room twisted. 

Immediately on high alert, her hands formed the motions she needed, but frowned when she only felt one steady heartbeat that she recognised as the King’s. The door opened, and Tamar held her breath as a figure shuffled out cautiously. 

Saints, can they really not leave each other alone?

Her thoughts were cut off when she realised that her king was on all fours, two dark shapes protruding out of his back. 

The demon was here. 

But why now? she thought, confusion lacing her expression again. And why isn’t it attacking?

The demon had never just… walked around like this before, and Tamar was torn between fetching Zoya and Tolya or just watching and waiting to see what would happen. Peering through the open door, Tamar was startled to find the bed stripped, the pillows and sheets on the floor. Nothing looked damaged (thankfully, she didn’t feel like compensating the owners for any damage), and her confusion only grew. 

It was moving again, having stopped briefly to stare up at her with voids of black shining out in place of the usual blue. It had put its nose in the air as it sniffed around for something and, seemingly finding what it had been looking for (smelling for?), Tamar tensed, hoping that it wasn’t hungry for Heartrender. She was surprised again when it turned to Y/N’s room instead and opened the door (and since when could it open doors?), going inside while still on all fours, wings trailing behind. The demon’s claws clacked on the wooden floorboards, and Tamar followed a few paces behind, still monitoring the situation. 

It shuffled closer to Y/N’s bed, pausing every few steps to check she was still sleeping and it hadn't woken her up, then reached up to pull back the cover from her face when it stopped next to the bed. 

“What are you doing?” Tamar muttered to herself, hands fluttering nervously at her sides, torn between her axes and her powers. The demon pulled the whole cover off, then with surprising gentleness lifted Y/N out of the bed. It paused again, reaching a few clawed fingers out to grab a hold of her duvet, then set off slowly in the direction of the door where Tamar was stood. She hurried out of the way, not wanting anything to trigger an attack on her or the Queen, and it paid her no attention as it trudged slowly back to Nikolai’s room. 

Tamar knocked lightly on Zoya and Tolya’s doors, hoping it would be enough to wake them up but not alert the demon. A few moments later a bleary-eyed General appeared, blue robe wrapped around her body and her hair mussed from sleep, clearly unimpressed. Tolya didn’t appear for another five minutes, finding the two women stood outside the King’s bedroom door, gaping at the scene in front of them. 

“Why did you have to wake me up?” Tolya grumbled quietly. “I was having an excellent dream wher-“ He didn’t get to finish since Tamar had slapped a hand over his mouth, the demon staring at them, teeth bared at the disturbance. He removed her hand, eyes wide. 

“What the…”

The demon was still growling slightly at them, a low rumble in its throat, when a murmur came from the pile of sheets in the middle of the floor. It snapped its head round to Y/N, noticing that she was waking up. She rubbed her eyes, and Tamar held her breath. 

"Wha-"

“Don’t move too much, alright?” She said to her Queen in a whisper. Y/N was sat in the weird pillow-and sheet-nest that the demon had made (and was now making little alterations to, pulling folds out to be just right), staring at the demon that had taken over her husband’s body. 

“What… Tamar? Zoya? What’s going on? Is he… is this normal?” She stiffened when the demon came back to her side and pushed her gently back into the pillows, then moved to lie down next to her, one arm circling her waist as it pulled her back against its chest. 

“This is… to be honest, we don’t know what’s going on. This has never happened before. Tolya and I will monitor from here for the rest of the night,” -at his disgruntled sound she elbowed him in the ribs- “and you won’t leave our sight.”

She nodded, eyes still wide in fear and surprise. Zoya offered a few words of comfort to her friend before going back to bed, and Tamar and her brother settled in for the rest of the night. 

---

Sunlight filtered through the curtains, bringing Y/N out of her slumber. At the feel of a warm body underneath her, she panicked, remembering the demon from the night before, but when her eyes opened to land on her very much demon-less husband, she let out a soft sigh of relief. Looking around at the room, she noticed that the twins had disappeared, having left a note next to the couple saying 'Gone to get people up and moving, back in 30'. 

Nikolai woke then, rubbing his eye with blackened fingers before groaning in slight pain at their position.

"Why, in the name of all the Saints, does my back hurt so much?" He croaked out, and Y/N couldn't help but giggle.

"Maybe because we're on the floor?" Nikolai's eyes went wide, his head whipping around to take a proper look at where they were, and then he seemed to register the fact that she was with him.

"Wait... did we have passionate and mind-blowing sex that was so good it gave me amnesia? Because that would be a tragedy and we might have to-"

"NO!" she shouted, using a nearby pillow to whack him in the face as her cheeks went red and her mind filled in the rest of his sentence. "Why does your mind always go there? No, you um... the demon got lonely and wanted a hug?" She didn't mean for it to end in a question, but she still wasn't entirely sure herself what had happened the night before. Her husband stared at her, blinking a few times. When he spoke his voice was smaller than she'd ever heard it before.

"Did I hurt you?" His hand had been reaching up to cup her face, but now Nikolai hesitated in anticipation. She gently took it and guided it to her cheek, leaning in to the warmth of his palm.

"No, Kolya, you didn't hurt me. I think it genuinely just got lonely or something. Made this weird nest thing on the floor, which on a side note, I'd love to get into to research the behaviours of- wait, why are you staring at me like that?" Her nose wrinkled as she took in his expression, then smoothed out when he leaned up to kiss her.

"You definitely can't be too traumatised from being accosted by my other half if you want to research its behaviours, darling. I'm just glad you're okay."

"I thought I was your other half? What, does our marriage mean nothing to you anymore?" she joked, pleased when he cracked a smile. She could get drunk on his smiles, the ones that were specifically for her; they were like the sun to her.

"Sorry, darling," he replied, and Saints, she'd said that she didn't like being called the pet name, but it was really doing things to her. She hadn't missed how Nikolai had continually called her 'darling' since that carriage ride, and she also hadn't missed how he'd responded when the bump in the road threw her on to him.

Just like how she now didn't miss his smile turning wolfish moments before he gripped her waist lightly and flipped her on her back. She squealed, which turned into a muffled moan when he pressed his lips and body against hers. Y/N was completely certain that everybody knew they were making out in the carriage rides and basically any other opportunity they got, but she couldn't bring herself to care when he felt like heaven.

Her arms circled around him, pulling him closer, and when he came up for air he asked "Is this alright, Y/N?" and she could have died right there at how gentle he was being.

"This is definitely alright, Nikolai." She brought him back in, and this time some of their restraint had slipped away, tongues deepening the kiss. One of his arms was propping him up and playing with a strand of her hair; the other was caressing her side, toying with the hem of her night shirt, his fingers grazing her bare skin underneath. Her own hands were exploring the expanse of his back (which she totally hadn't already memorised) and moving through his hair, and she'd lifted a leg to wrap around his waist. She moaned again when he moved the hand that was stroking her side to grip her thigh tightly instead, and when she arched her body up in response, hips pressing into his, they groaned into each other's skin at the contact, at feeling everything so closely. Nikolai had moved onto her neck, leaving kisses down it, occasionally nipping at the skin and testing her reactions, staying in one place for longer when he got one he liked. Her mind was a mess, what with his hands stroking her neck and thigh (the latter getting progressively higher as time went on), but did manage to think about how maybe they would be having mind-blowing sex. No sooner than she'd had that thought, however, was Nikolai pulling away, hair mussed from where her hands had been running through and pulling it, lips swollen and pupils blown. She was sure she looked the same, although he wasn't frowning at the lack of contact.

"Why... what..." she swallowed, trying to get her breath back and her thoughts in some sort of order.

"I don't think- I can't..." he paused, doing the same as her and taking deep breaths, and for a moment she panicked, thinking he didn't want this, didn't want her, but then when he spoke she didn't know why she'd worried in the first place.

"I refuse to let the first time I make love to you be on the floor of someone else's bedroom, Y/N, no matter how badly I want you right now."

Saints, this man.

She swallowed again, nodding slightly, then whined - what was she, a puppy? - when he started to get up and move away from her. At the sound Nikolai hesitated, then planted a final kiss on her lips as a promise that 'this will continue' before leaving to get changed. She watched him go, and when Genya inevitably asked when the party got back, Y/N would say that she was most definitely not staring at his ass as he left the room.

~~~

Breakfast passed quickly, and there was a flurry of activity as everybody packed things up for the final stretch of the journey, energy renewed at the knowledge that they'd be sleeping in their own beds tonight. Y/N had taken a little extra time to cool her face that morning, hoping the cold water would help reduce the swelling in her lips before coming downstairs. Tamar had come over in the food hall at one point, checking in on her and asking questions about the night before in a quiet voice.

"Seriously, Tamar, I'm fine. No marks or bruises. Like I said to Nik I'm pretty sure the demon was just feeling lonely, especially since Nik and I have spent the last week or so sharing a bed. Probably just wanted to make sure I was okay."

"That's... not what normally happens," she replied with a frown. "But if you're not hurt, then I guess it's alright."

Within the next ten minutes the touring party had packed up and were on the move, and now Y/N was sat opposite Nikolai in the carriage, knees knocking with his. He was looking out the window, clearly lost in thought as he absentmindedly stroked his fingers over the back of her hand, his wedding ring cool against her warm skin.

"I'm glad it's you," she said. He dragged himself out of his reverie, blinking a few times as he took in what she had said.

"What do you mean, darling?"

"I mean I'm glad that it was you I had to marry."

"I'm glad too, Y/N," he replied with a smile. "Unfortunately I can't take any credit for the decision-making process, although I definitely would have picked you," the last part was said with a wink and a grin as he looked her up and down, making Y/N's cheeks heat up, but she couldn't help but frown at what had come before.

"But I thought that you were the one that picked me to marry you?" she asked, confusion lacing her voice. "When I asked Zoya why I was the one that had to marry you, she just said that I'd 'been chosen'."

"I thought she'd told you? I let the Triumvirate pick, I trust their judgement and I was rather busy trying to convince everyone that the last thing we needed was a civil war and to let me be king."

Y/N was quiet for a minute, thinking.

"I think... I think she didn't tell me that you didn't have any part in it so that she could reduce my stress about the whole thing. It's fair, really; if I thought that you didn't want anything to do with me I probably would have run away or something."

"Good job she didn't, then. I quite like having you around. And as far as whether or not I would have picked you, I think I would. The people clearly love you, and you're going to be an excellent Queen to Ravka because of how much you clearly love them. Sure, court will be difficult, trying to get the nobles properly on side, but I know that you can do it, because you love Ravka and her people and you'll do what you need to to protect them."

"I... thank you, Nikolai. That... that means a lot to me," she swallowed down the lump in her throat at his sincerity.

"I think I've come up with a way to launch the garden project you were talking about, too. We can start making plans tomorrow, if you like?"

"That would be perfect, Kolya."

He smiled back at her, hand still holding hers.

Hope had bloomed in her chest, and she let it grow. There wasn't much that could make this day much better than being here with him, and nothing could bring her mood down now.

Until the window shattered as an arrow shot through it, narrowly missing Nikolai's head.

Chapter 8

[gay-poet-gabriel]

gnandganhsn gang.nds..

i promise i will draw things

so much finals review

😬😬😬

although luckily its only history and science this week (which are hard but prob the easiest finals ill take this year, minus math)

[catchyhuh]

What about other relationships? And I mean it also in the platonic way? Do you have any headcanons for each pair? :)

i would LOVE to elaborate and you know i would but the reality is that there's. 24 other combinations here and i really have thought of every individual one to a degree in both a romantic and platonic sense but the only one that's like. damn near ONLY platonic to me is fujiko and jigen and frankly it's interesting so i think we'll hit that point first 

i’m just going to say it. the reason fujiko and jigen are so bitter towards each other is because they’re so alike. i mean obviously fujiko isn’t learning sick ass trick shots and jigen isn’t taking advantage of what god gave him and all but i mean in a psychological sense. they’re both very slow to trust, they think only idiots would trust THEM (major exceptions being lup and goe), and see vulnerability as something stupid and precious at the same time. also they’re both very much in theft for the money of it more than the thrill (although the thrill is def a factor for them both, they get very smiley during insane car chases and shit) WHICH unfortunately leads to the major clash between them: Dude What the Fuck That’s MY Shit

the main difference is that fujiko gets away with her betrayal, almost always, and jigen, as evidenced by his many, MANY exes, can’t really seem to cut clean ties with the people who he just doesn’t need anymore. multiple characters have insisted jigen has “softened up” since meeting lupin, and while he doesn’t seem offended by the accusation, maybe even grateful that he’s not the type of person he was before, fujiko’s never had that push FULLY come to shove, or she just… wasn’t deterred by it like he was. they both KNOW they’re bad people, and they’ve both accepted that to various degrees but in. slightly different ways. and maybe that’s part of why they clash too, just from fujiko not seeing a need to change vs jigen being very sure that he needs to-- and beyond that, maybe he’s jealous because she’s achieved a level of guarded emotions that jigen clearly hasn’t reached, based on how easy it is for people to read himIs any of this making sense. be honest. 

the two of them are surprisingly more content working together than they aren’t! if it’s “we ran into fujiko and oopsies haha i gave her the crown jewels :P” then yeah fighting starts but when it’s a job job, they almost always put aside their differences with ease. they’re both at least smart enough to realize each other’s capabilities, and when fujiko tells jigen to cut that wire, or jigen tells fujiko to swerve left, they’re not going to just IGNORE each other on that front! it’s something neither of them would say, and jigen would vehemently deny while fujiko would dismiss the subject altogether, but… yeah, they WOULD die for each other. of course, that doesn’t mean they LIKE each other, and they’re not often going out of their way to do things for one another, but it’s an interesting dynamic. like, i can barely tolerate you, but i respect you, and if only because someone else cares about you, i care. 

IT’S REALLY STRANGE like. it’s kind of like. when you have an ex-friend who liked a certain thing, and then you see like a t-shirt with that thing on it, or smell their favorite food when you walk into a cafe, and you think, “man, if we were still friends, i’d tell them i just thought of them” but, you can’t, because you aren’t still friends. fujiko and jigen are kind of like that, but without there ever being a true “friendship” period? the funny thing is both of them have managed to indirectly give the other gifts at LEAST once because they’ll be with one of the other two and go “one time i heard jigen say he likes those ties but i think the color is so dull it wraps around into being eyesearing” and “fujiko keeps saying she thinks the dupes of this purse are ugly and ‘do a disservice’ to the original but really i think they both look like shit” and then when it’s their birthday and they get this very specific thing they wanted theyre like. omg! you know me so well goemon!! i don’t even remember talking about this with you actually,

i don’t know IT’S JUST INTERESTING IT’S ALL SUPER INTERESTING TO ME. i love dissecting every tiny move they make when working together but i think my FAVORITE thing they’ve ever done together is when fujiko was stressed about lupin and goemon fighting (didn’t end up being anything severe i mean this was part 2 after all lol) and jigen just kind of leveled with her and was like “hey dude its cool. just chill out over there, they wont actually hurt each other, y’know, so like, you want a cigarette?” and she paused and was like. “yeah actually, i would” and it was as simple as that. it would’ve been easy for fujiko to snap about him assuming how she felt about this, or for her to even tease him about being worried for her sake, and it would’ve been easy for jigen to ignore fujiko’s obvious discomfort and maybe even silently enjoy it, but he didn’t, and she didn’t. and when the two of them wrapped up, jigen called her attention to tell her it was over. maybe it’s just left such an impact on me because of how relatively early in the franchise a moment like this happens, and i know i said earlier that them working together during times of crisis is interesting, but really, this is such a small thing in comparison, where it WASN’T a “we have to do this or we die” choice, but just a “we don’t have to make this suck for the other” simple decision. god i hope any of this makes sense

[timidblues]

Happy Halloween, guys! I'm sorry I haven't been very active on here lately- ive been active in a discord server most of the time, and well...i can't seem to find anyone to write with on tumblr much atm;;; i still love all of y'all very much though, and i'd be super open to write with anyone that wants to!!! i hope you all had a wonderful day today, and again, sorry for kinda being gone!!

[dee-guin]

im not dead just thinking abt Dot <3

[s0fti3w1tch]

Sister: You think Leo deserves the world?

Me, info dumping about my AUs: Yes. I love him. He's my favorite turtle and—

Sister: And you project onto him a lot?

Me: Yeah! Obviously! Just like me, legit!

Sister: So are you saying you deserve better too?

Me:

Sister:

Me: Shut

[papaziggy-devblog]

So my partner of 6+ months just broke up with me over text on Valentines day-

Could I have some comfort from Harper cause boy I am feeling like crap currently

"I'm so sorry you're going through this heart break right now, you deserve so much better than that... But anyone who would stoop so low as to do that to you, over text no less, clearly doesn't even deserve to be in the same room at you...

Just remember I will always love you more than anything in this world, and I will always be here for you no matter what <3"

[hawnks]

LOVELY BUG PERSON I AM GIVING YOU THE BIGGEST SMOOCH ON THE FOREHEAD ❗️❗️❗️words can only say so much but i really really hope u feel better soon <3 being sick sucks ass

[keithbutgay]

hydrate or else <3 /threat

but i'm like. busy. probably. it's fine :)

[vypridae]

not a vent but discussion of sui (i am FINE do not WORRY ABOUT ME)

every time i debate sui, every single time, the one sole thing that keeps me from it is this tiktok i saw. crazy i know but hear me out

this tiktok, wasn't a sui note or something. it was a tiktok about this person apologizing for trying it.

to their cat

and, i have a cat. two cats, but one of them in specific seems to love me very much. i do a lot for the cats in the house in comparison to everyone else here, and thus, he's taken a liking to me.

and one thing in that tiktok that stuck out to me was: "i'm sorry i didn't put food in your bowl when i got home." (or something along those lines)

and it hurt me, as a cat owner, and i think i cried reading that because the cat must have been so scared, worried, confused. must have been waiting for food, must have been trying to figure out why there were men coming inside that they didn't know

and honestly, what if that was me and my cat in that situation. i'd feel awful. terrible owner, and i'd never live it down if i survived but my cat was so, so scared, and confused, for however long it would have been

tldr when i live on my own my immediate goal, is to get a cat. of my own, for an incentive to not try anything drastic. because i need to be there for my future cat. to feed them, water them, love them, everything. that's my plan, and it'll work because every time i'll think about it, i'll remember that tiktok. and i'll almost cry, and i'll find my cat and i'll pet them and love them out of my own thoughts, until i realize i need to live for that cat, if not for myself.

[osachiyo]

okay only wholesome asks now please :3

[zhxngii]

my longest post ever about to be about pegging and domming men LMAOOO

[ghost-proofbaby]

It's this dude's bday today and like I've been sorta friends with him for like 6 years so ofc I texted him to tell him happy birthday and he said “thanks, you're invited to my house tomorrow frfr.” cos ig he's having people over for his bday. I told him like I probably wouldn't be able to make it but I hope he has fun anyways. I kinda feel bad tho, like I absolutely could go, I have no plans and he doesn't live too far from me or anything. I think it'd be fun to hang out with him maybe but at his house?? And I don't really think he has many other friends who are girls, like I have a lot of mutual friends with him and I think 90% of them are dudes. That just scares me, like ik I'll know people there but still the fact that it's at his house and there will be so many guys there freaks me out. I'm definitely not going. Kinda feel bad about it tho. But like it's a bunch of skater dudes who listen to Weezer, they scare me.

It isn't that big of a deal but I feel bad for not going

:(

im sorry im late to seeing this but i truly hope you did what was best for you! if you don't feel comfortable, i take that as gut instinct to not go! i know the feeling of fearing atmospheres also mostly filled by dudes and it's... not a good feeling.

don't feel bad for putting your comfort and what you can handle first. <3

[melis-writes]

Moth to Flame enjoyers awaiting the next update like:

[playgrl0]

hii im back 🧍‍♂️ sorry for disappearing