#I swear I've lost to him like 6 times or more now | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

solarnomoon · 3 months ago

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tame - nishimura riki

ni-ki always stood out to you, or atleast, in his own way. when you started noticing him more, it was easy to like him.

pairing >>> ni-ki x male reader

tags >>> college au, fluff, friends to lovers

warnings >>> swearing, substance usage, suggestive themes

wc >>> 3,073 words

author's note >>> ni-ki is just so freaking pretty i want to give him the biggest hug and never let go＼(≧▽≦)／ also js remember this is ooc also if you guys ever to just talk about random enhypen stuff or virtually anything im always down to talk n stuff anyway i hope u guys enjoy this one!! it kinda spawned out of nowhere and also all over the place so idk lol bye!!

it wasn’t like you to fall for a boy so easily. at least, not in the way that occurred, especially for a guy like nishimura riki. it was cheesy, to say the least: you two have been acquaintances since middle school, quite literally knowing each other for 6 years now, even now attending the same university (completely unintentional, of course). you always just kinda knew him as that lovely kid that was the same height as you, even throughout high school. don't get it twisted, you weren't that tall, but regardless of the fact, he was the same height.

the first time you saw him the summer after high school was at your orientation. you were placed in the 12th group, and when you reached the meeting spot, you noticed riki immediately, much, much taller than before, giving you two a height difference that wasn't present before. the second thing you noticed was the drop of his voice, which you discerned from his "yo, y/n!" coupled with a slight wave.

"ni-ki? what-" and before you even finished your sentence, the orientation leader interrupted, telling the group as a whole that they were about to start as you happened to be the last person they were waiting for. your conversation had to be put on halt until 20 minutes later where she began a tour of the school.

while you began to follow the group to the first destination, ni-ki reconvenes with you after speaking to a couple of the other group members, nudging your shoulder with his own to get your attention. "y/n, i didn't know you committed here? i thought you were gonna go to ucla for sure," he questions you with a voice of slight familiarity.

"no yeah, i was, but i thought about it and i just wanted to go here." he hums in acknowledgment, giving a few seconds of downtime before you begin to speak again. "dude, when did you become so tall? and have that deep ass voice? weren't we like basically the same height a few months ago?"

a few other differences were left unspoken but assumed nonetheless. first off, his hair, which historically was left black and much shorter throughout highschool, but now was longer with an ombré effect going from a light grey to black at the ends. secondly, his style, which flipped 180 from sweatpants and a normal shirt to something straight out of k-dramas. and lastly, his piercings, double lobes with a helix on both. or maybe one? point is, he looked good. too good.

he laughs, knowing this must come as a shocker to you because last time you checked, he was completely anew. "well for one, i turned 18 and was basically allowed to do whatever i wanted with my body. for some reason i went through a second puberty," he signals your height difference by putting his hand out flat at the top of your head and then bringing it to his, just shrugging. "also, i got a modeling job that allowed me to buy random ass clothes. so... yeah!"

your mouth slightly ajar combined with your head tilt let him know you were still in fact lost, so he continued on. "well, you know that dance group i've been in since a few years ago right?" the nod coming from your stature allowed him to finish the thought, "so basically some of the guys in that group like... told? their manager about me and gave me a chance to attend one of their casting calls, and i made the cut."

the group stops in front of the library, allowing you guys to sit down at one of the slabs nearby, half listening to your tour guide, but more focused on conversing with one another because you two had already toured the school when filling out college applications.

"wait, congrats ni-ki, that's insane!" you turn to him, giving him a quick cheeky smile with two thumbs up, and he just chuckles at you, putting his face into his hands at the sight of your cuteness playfulness. "what, did i say something wrong?"

"n-no, it's just... nevermind..." he tsks at you, not wanting to reveal the fact that he found you cute for a second.

you two continued to chat about anything and everything, eventually learning more about the guy that you would've never known previously. for one, he hates the color pink, even though all of his friends tell him that the color suits him—even his model designer thinks pink is his most suitable color. you also learned that the group that he's apart of, enhypen, is actually pretty popular on tiktok and youtube: garnishing over 4 million subs on youtube and 2 million followers on tiktok. he's also been with his group for multiple years now, and you even met some of them at sports events and stuff, like sunoo and jay.

other things include the fact that he has an older and a younger sister, he loves to dance, he likes to play piano, and one time he met jung ho-yeon before she was on squid game and he was so confused on why they looked so familiar, he thought they were long lost siblings or something. then he found out that she's korean.

he still believes it though...

soon enough, you guys find yourselves at the end of the orientation, having made friends with others, but especially between you two. you asked him if he could hang out during summer, but he has plans to go to japan the rest of summer, so you just plan to hang out during your time in college.

᧔◍᧓

the one thing that you didn't talk about was your rooming situation, so imagine your surprise when you're in the middle of your move-in, and in the hallway, you see ni-ki, walking into the suite right across from yours. "no fucking way, nishimura riki." you yell to him due to his headphones over his head, and he turns over and immediately puts a grin onto his face.

"y/n l/n." he puts his box down and walks over to you, embracing your smaller body, allowing you to practically melt in his scent and hug. once he lets you go, he just gazes at you, still smiling. "how have you been?" he leans against the wall in his cool-guy-esque fashion, but after talking with him the entirety of orientation, you know that he's a lot more of a nerd and introvert than he lets on.

"it's been good! honestly dude, i missed you." you don't miss the fact that his cheeks slightly flush with color, losing the eye contact that was previously held. "how was fucking japan, you looked like you had so much fun on your story and shit!" while asking, you point toward his box, silently questioning if you could come in and help him with his stuff while you updated each other.

while speaking, he brought you to his room that was surprisingly extremely decorated: full of neutrals and darker tones with some pop of color, many boxes and clothes on the floor but already pretty put together.

"wow, you're already way farther in the move-in than i am—i feel like there's just so much fucking stuff," you explain, taking a seat on his bed. you bounce on it a couple of times, mouth wide open by how comfortable it is. "wait, ni-ki, how did you do this?"

"mattress topper." he replies, placing his last box down on the floor and beginning to re-arrange his clothes onto the outside hanger he had bought. "looks like we're gonna be neighbors, y/n," he said in his deep tone, always catching you off-guard, but somehow giving you a tinge of butterflies in your stomach.

"yeah!" you chirp, excited to explore the newfound friendship with ni-ki.

᧔◍᧓

after the first month of university, many people in both of your guys' social circles had created a conceived notion around ni-ki: that he was a nonchalant, cool guy.

you knew this wasn't him at all though.

but you understood why people had thought that of the guy. for one, he's 6 foot something (he doesn't tell you his exact height just to tease the fact that he's much taller than you). next, he dresses stylistically as if every day is his last waking day. lastly, he loves to observe, and not talk much, but every time he did, he always had something witty or something flirtatious to say.

that is until people saw how he was whenever he was with you.

the cool guy persona had completely shifted into something more friendly, more recognizable as a regular person. ni-ki explained his day rapid-fire, telling you basically everything that happened, showed you a specific dance that he and his members had learned, or maybe gave you a sneak peek of what he was gonna wear to some fashion show. he also would tell you about his interests, the things he did on the side, even the people he met. when his friends saw how different he acted around you, they confronted him first, then confronted you after.

"what did ni-ki say?" you ask, wondering why he acts so different around yourself than other people.

"he just said that's how your dynamic was." heeseung had shrugged. "even though we've been members together for like 5 years now, i've never seen ni-ki open up this much to someone. it's like you guys are like... dating or something."

the sentiment gets a cough out of you, not expecting those words to come out of his mouth. "w-what?! of course not, we're just friends!" you deny frantically, waving your hands in front of him. "me and ni-ki are just friends."

just then, an arm wraps around your waist, a voice entering the conversation, "who's just friends?" ni-ki questions, smiling at you and heeseung.

of course, heeseung just looks at you, looks at the arm around your waist, then at ni-ki, and back to you. he raises his eyebrows and puckers his lips before walking away. ni-ki turns to you in confusion. "what's that all about?"

᧔◍᧓

as time went on, you and ni-ki had become exceptionally comfortable with one another, becoming each other's ride or dies. unfortunately for you though, it meant he had become increasingly flirtatious with you. you knew he was straight, he had explained his previous crushes to you and what he was looking for in a girl, but you on the other hand had fallen susceptible to his advances, convincing yourself that this is just what friends do.

on his birthday, he had brought you to smoke at the "top of the world," so he called it, which was literally just a trail that led you to the top of a scenic cliff. romantic, you thought, but you knew it was just out of you two becoming best friends.

"y/n-ie," he starts, the nickname sticking after calling you that one drunken night during halloween. "what do you think about teddy bears?"

you passed the joint back to him after taking a hit. "teddy bears? ni-ki, what the fuck are you on about??" the words come out a little too harsh for your liking, so you quickly follow-up, "sorry, i didn't mean it like that."

ni-ki gets up and turns to you. "that was kind of mean," he pouts, putting out his joint before putting back into the metallic holder he had thrifted. the taller had shifted slightly closer to you, wanting to lean his head on your shoulder. it was a little awkward due to the height difference, but the guy made it work, and it made you begin to sweat on your palms.

"sorry, ni-ki." even through the nervousness, you had half a mind to pretend like nothing's wrong, so you lean your head on top of his just barely. in case he questions it, then you could always play the ambiguity card: 'i didn't do anything, it was all you.'

"it's okay baby." he also started calling you that after thanksgiving, when he heard sunoo calling you it. he crossed his arms and wouldn't talk to you for the rest of the day until you came over to his room and asked you why sunoo called you baby and he couldn't, so after that it was a deal that he was allowed to.

you checked the time, which just hit 12 am. "oh, happy birthday ni-ki." you tell him, reaching from your tote bag for a smaller, paper bag within. you hand it to the guy, looking into his eyes for validation. "for you, it's not a bomb, i swear!"

he takes it from you and opens it, revealing two keychains that matched, alongside bracelets from his favorite brand. "y/n..." he trails off, not knowing what to say to you.

"i know, i know, the bracelets are expensive. but ni-ki, you're my best friend. i would do anything for you." you tell him, not wanting him to freak out.

the bracelets had been on his mind since the summer, you remembered from one of the random conversations that you had during orientation, and even though it was a long time ago, you knew he had been wanting them for months, but couldn't allocate the right funds to get it, especially because he was building his closet at the time.

"y/n... i... thank you." he finally stammers out, looking back at your eyes. even in the pale moonlight, you could discern the water in his eyes, but you knew that he hated when he cried, so you didn't say anything of it. "you remembered, huh?"

"uhh, duhh! of course i did," you joke, attempting to lighten the mood. you place your hand onto his shoulder to give him some comfort, but he takes that arm and uses it as leverage to push you onto your back, crawling on top of you. "w-woah, ni-ki?!" you yelp in surprise, not comprehending what just happened.

he just grins, placing his large hand on your face, rubbing your cheek softly. "y/n..."

little did he know though, this was your final straw. you couldn't take it anymore, the incessant flirting, the changes in his behavior around you, hell, even the constant sleepovers that he asked you all the time. so you did the only thing you could think of: run.

᧔◍᧓

of course it didn't really work though.

he was miles more athletic than you were, so he caught up to you within like 5 seconds which is honestly embarrassing on your behalf but you were too sad and a little turned on to even care.

"ni-ki, let go of me, i can't take this anymore!"

the taller just holds your arm, but the rest of his body was frantic, like he was afraid that if he let go he'd lose you for good. "w-what, y/n, what! you can't take what?!" he yells, not knowing what happened.

you twist your head around, looking at him like he grew a second head. "what do you mean, this! i can't take it, calling me nicknames and pet names, flirting with me constantly, sleeping over, acting different around me than your friends. friends don't do this, so you need to st-" and with that explanation, he gently grabs your head, leans down, flutters his eyes shut, and places his lips onto yours.

the scent you know and learned to love floods your senses, and with that brief moment of confusion, he grabs your waist and pulls you in closer, deepening the kiss. and considering this is all you've wanted for the past months, you allow him to take your lips, kissing him back with the same softness.

after moments pass you by, eventually he lets go of you, wanting to look at your reaction. "y/n, i really like you. i kinda... always have. even since we were in middle school." your mouth opens to say something, but you let him speak. "you were always so... cool. and i just... i wanted to be something to impress you... if i'm being honest, i knew you were going here, to this college, sun told me, so i wanted a chance, a possibility, anything to impress you."

he lets go of you, reaches into his pocket to fish out the matching bracelets. "these are beautiful y/n. but, it would be more beautiful if i could put this on you, use this as a courting gift even, and show you that i really do like you, and i want to be yours."

he unclasps the bracelet, handing out in front of him. "will you let me?" you reach your arm out, allowing him to put it on you.

"yes, nishimura riki."

᧔◍᧓

with that, nothing really changed. except for the fact that you and ni-ki are now dating, of course.

people around you realized that the cool nonchalant guy was ni-ki from the dance group enhypen, giving him massive amounts of popularity quickly (you didn't even know popularity in college existed...)

however, it also came to light the fact that you were dating ni-ki, and you slowly began to be known as y/n: the ni-ki tamer, which was crazy in your opinion, but ni-ki loved the title, so you let it slide.

other than that, you started to become integrated with the rest of enhypen, the rest of the members seeing how ni-ki changes when he's with you, but they realized it was for the better as you all hung out, as they saw a side of him that didn't even know existed.

you loved enhypen, they took you in as their own and integrated you into their friend group, even giving you free dance lessons just so you could also join in some of their choreos.

"guys," you pant, exhausted from the lesson ni-ki was giving you. "why did you not tell me that ni-ki is considered the best dancer in this fucking group? and why did you let me take lessons from him?" you complain to the rest of enhypen, who are watching from the sides.

"you have to suffer like we have," jake shouts while jungwon cheers for you.

sunoo and jay also just laugh, the former explaining, "i swear, before you, ni-ki was a fucking nightmare if we didn't get the choreo correct."

"alright, enough talking, more dancing, y/n, one more time."

you love ni-ki. but damn sometimes you regret falling for him.

...

nah, not really though.

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astupidweeb69 · 11 months ago

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Unrequited (Yandere! Ticci Toby x Reader) Part 9

Links to Previous Chapters: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8

Author’s Note: I've been rereading this chapter for about a week trying to edit it, but decided I'd just go ahead and post it. Happy holidays everybody!

Cross-posted on my Ao3 account, which I update more frequently.

Warnings: Swearing. Descriptions of Gore. Some threats of violence. (2,070 words)

____________________________________________________________

Leaves crunched underneath heavy boots, ragged and irritated breaths came out in clouds against the cold.

Toby was not pleased.

Not pleased with how things were going with you.

And not pleased with being texted by Tim.

Apparently there was some work to do and he had to ‘get his lazy ass over there’. The young proxy didn’t even know the details of what needed to be done. A supply run? Some more random campers in the area? Either way Toby was itching for a fight.

He could feel anger in his system bubbling and ready to boil over. Just imagining Tim’s smug face waiting for him, probably ready to spat some nonsense about how ‘he’s late’ or make a snide comment on his appearance. His face twitched furiously at the idea, and if anyone was unfortunate enough to see the way he walked through the woods now, they’d surely run in the other direction. There was murder in the man’s eyes.

It wouldn’t take long for Toby to find his teammate. That’s how things always worked though, they had a connection to find each other when they were supposed to, all he needed to do was walk mindlessly in a direction and let the forest guide him.

“Someone’s in a pissy mood.”

The smell of smoke let him know he found who he was looking for. Tim leaned on a tree, a wry smile on his face, a lit cigarette burning away at his fingertips. It was practically an extension of his hand at this point, the fucking chainsmoker. Toby learned to hate the scent of tobacco.

“Where’s Brian?” Toby frowned, ignoring Tim’s comment.

“Had something he needed to do.”

Tim looked disinterested in the conversation. Getting him to actually tell Toby what was going on was like pulling teeth. And Toby knew first hand how hard that could be.

“Suh-so? Why’d you cuh-call me out here?” The younger proxy fidgeted with the ends of his gloves.

Tim sighed, letting the last part of his cigarette drop to the ground, putting it out with his boot. “There’s been some weird things happening out here. Brian said you should come with me to investigate.”

Toby made note of how he said ‘Hoodie’. Tim’s way of hinting that he didn’t want him there. Typical.

“Wuh-what do you mean weird things?”

Tim motioned with his head for him to follow, walking away into some bushes, Toby raised one of his eyebrows before complying. There was a rancid stench in the air when he started following him, like something died. Not uncommon in the forest, but it was hard to stomach even for the most experienced woodsman.

They followed the smell of rotting flesh, down a small embankment. The dead leaves on the ground made it hard not to slip and fall, and Toby snickered when Tim lost his footing a couple times, making the older proxy shoot him a dirty look.

“There up ahead.” After walking a few paces, Tim pointed to a mangled pile of fur splayed out against a group of pine trees.

Toby’s eyes narrowed at the bloody mess in front of him, turning to the other man in irritation.

“You dragged me out here for a duh-dead deer?”

“Take a closer look, Rogers.”

Toby shoved past Tim, making a point to bump into his shoulder for using the nickname he hated. He pulled up the mouthguard hanging from his neck to cover his nose, but it didn’t block out the smell nearly as much as he’d hoped. It took a lot of willpower not to gag.

He scanned over the remains noting different sized bite marks and scratches that tore through the animal's belly, viscera pooling out and its black lifeless eyes staring up at the sky. A swarm of maggots had already started the process of decay.

Toby could see the red of Tim’s flannel out the corner of his eye.

“Well?”

“Okay, it’s a luh-little strange. I’ll give you that. The bite muh-marks look like they came from a human.”

“Anything else, detective?” Tim mused, clearly noticing something else but liked toying with the kid.

“Just fucking spit it out.”

The older man kneeled down, motioning to two different spots on the deer's hind legs. “They’re all different sizes, meaning more than one person did this.”

“Cuh-cool.” Toby deadpanned. “So what does that mean for us?”

“It means we need to keep an eye out for groups of ravin’ lunatics.”

“Don’t we already duh-do that?”

Tim rolled his eyes. “You know what I mean. This is the second animal we’ve found like this in a week.”

“And yuh-you only thought to tell me now?”

“I was busy.” Tim shrugged, the corner of his lip curling up slightly. The man did not give two shits about warning Toby sooner. Probably didn’t even want to tell him now. If anything, Brian most likely had to convince him to.

The younger proxy scowled at him, tempted to escalate things, to cause another one of their fights ending with the two trying to claw the others' eyes out. Not that it would hurt him, and Toby always got some sick amusement seeing Tim in pain. But it would be dark soon, and he was itching to get back home. The thought of you back there tied up on his bed was making him scratch at his scar.

He needed to spend more time with you. The look in your eyes as he paced around the cabin…. The look of fear and hatred. It wasn’t unexpected, but it still bugged him. You were… a bit more of a firecracker than he’d hoped. And level-headed unfortunately. You were catching on a little too quickly, to just how…. Temperamental he could be. The memory of you staring at his hatchets came back to him. He needed you to see his softer side, needed you to warm up to him before the truth, the real truth, about what he was came out. Maybe if he stole an old TV and got some of those movies you liked….

“Rogers!”

A finger snapped inches from his face. Toby blinked.

“Wuh-What?”

“I told you we need to get goin’” Tim pushed Toby forward impatiently. “It’s almost night time. Come on.”

He could hear Tim muttering “Fuckin’ useless kid.” under his breath as he led the way.

Toby’s stomach twisted. That phrase got to him. Was something he’d heard a lot, from somewhere before, something in his past. Something familiar. Tim taunted him in ways that sparked a deep resentment, like an itch he could never fully scratch. A scab that wouldn’t heal.

They walked back the way they came in, up the hill and through the thick bushes, without saying a word. One thing they could agree on was the less they talked, the better.

Luckily Toby’s cabin wasn’t too far. Fiddling with the ends of his jacket, combing his hair, absentmindedly, he was glad to be rid of the old fucker finally and get back to what was important.

But things never worked out the way he wanted.

Toby felt a hand on his arm. Tim lit up another cigarette, his eyes narrowed at Toby, before taking a long, deep, drag into his lungs. .

Smoke billowed from the man’s mouth, surrounding him in a thick cloud as he spoke.

“Before you go, I need somethin’ from your cabin.”

Fuck.

Toby stared at him for a moment. His mind went blank, before finally speaking up.

“Wuh-what do you need?”

He’d just act normal. It wouldn’t be a big deal. He could figure something out.

“Hoods and I are running low on some supplies. We know Kate keeps some of her stuff in your basement. Figured we’d borrow some things.”

The boy twitched and fidgeted under the pressure, trying to come up with ways to get out of it. If Tim saw you… Toby didn’t even want to think about what he’d do. He honestly didn’t know.

“What… kuh-kind of things-sss?” Shit. His stutter was getting worse.

Tim raised a brow. Likely annoyed by how standoffish the other proxy was being at something simple.

“Like food n’ ammo. We’ve been too busy to go into town.” Tim paused, and looked almost accusingly at him. “And I know you’ve been leaving the forest a lot recently.”

Toby chewed on the side of his cheek. Of course the other proxies sensed his disappearance. He’d been too preoccupied with you to even think about that being a possibility. That didn’t mean they cared when he was gone, they weren’t his babysitter. But now Tim had him over a barrel. There was no way he could deny him supplies now, without admitting the reason he went into town was for… something out of the ordinary.

“Fuh-fine.” He sighed, trying to collect his thoughts. “Just duh-don’t touch any of my stuff.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

______________________________________________________________

The cabin was just up ahead. Toby kept glancing back at Tim who seemed too preoccupied in his own thoughts to notice.

“Whuh-wait outside for a second. There’s suh-something I need to take care of first.”

Tim eyed him carefully. They both stood on the porch, tension rising, Tim’s body stiffening and his hands balling into fists for a brief moment. Toby fully expecting him to lash out.

Tim always thought the boy was weird. Fucked up in the head. Overly-emotional, unstable, obnoxious, and he’s seen the worst of Toby’s manic episodes. He was almost certain the kid engaged in some light cannibalism, from the way he mumbled to himself in his delusional states. He was so fucking glad they didn’t live under the same roof anymore.

Finally, after a few moments of staring the other down, Tim relaxed. “Whatever, just don’t take too long.” The older man decided he’d do whatever it took to get the fuck outta there, even if that meant having to obey. Despite how much that bruised his ego, he just wanted to go home and sleep.

Toby quickly went inside, slamming the door behind him, and Tim sat on the steps of the porch with a reluctant grunt.

Twitching anxiously, he ran into the room where you were tied to the bed. You jumped, obviously startled, by the door aggressively being opened. Normally he’d mock you, wanting to give a fake ‘awwww’ at how freaked out you were by his presence. He was still mad about how you've been treating him. But he didn’t have the time for that right now.

He opened the drawer to his nightstand, getting out an old t-shirt.

“Wha-” You started to question, but he cut you off by shoving the cloth in your mouth painfully. He tied it around your head, a little too tight, but he needed to make sure you were properly gagged and wouldn’t be heard.

Toby leaned down to your ear, speaking in a low hiss. “You nuh-need to be fucking quiet. I have a guest. He’s dangerous, so don’t get any ideas. No one’s coming to save you.”

He gripped your jawline tightly. “Do you uh-understand?” You stared back at him. Toby narrowed his eyes, tightening his hold on your face even more, until you finally nodded your head.

He released his hand and exited the room, mentally preparing himself to interact with Tim again, and with a deep breath, opened the front door.

“Okay, you can cuh-come in now.”

Tim groaned as he got up to follow him inside.

Toby couldn’t help letting his eyes dart to his bedroom door when they walked past. He led Tim down the hall where the basement stairs were, which he started keeping locked the day he captured you. He didn’t need you to see what was down there. Hopefully not ever.

After Toby unlocked the door and showed him the various backpacks stolen from victims, Tim rummaged through a couple before collecting the items he needed. Mostly food, a couple old boxes of ammo. Nothing special.

His heart was pounding when they climbed the stairs again, so close to getting this over with. Wanting nothing more than to have him out of the house. Away from you.

But without warning, Tim stopped in the hallway,

It was so sudden Toby almost bumped into his back.

“Whuh-what is it?”

There was a dangerously long pause, before Tim’s head turned to look behind his shoulder. Toby's eyes widened in fear.

“Did you hear that?”

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dinogoofymutated · 7 months ago

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NSFW!Gladiator/AFAB!reader

Tmi warning but I'm about to start my period and I've been loosing my mind over fictional men. It's like ovulating but WORSE. Mostly over Cable, but @lina-lovebug sent in an ask about gladiator from episode 6 and although I'm definitely going to write it I got distracted while doing research on him and this kinda happened!!! Speaking of which, in your ask you said you were starving for content for him so I figured I go ahead and tag you :) sorry if NSFW isn't your thing.

Anyway, Big, serious men with no humor are making me absolutely feral this week IM NAWING AT THE BARS OF MY ENCLOSRE UGHHHH For those who don't remember gladiator is, He's the hot purple dude that punched the shit out of the bird lady lol

TWs: MDNI!!! Pnv sex. Name calling. Not degradation tho. Too many positions, too much stamina. Purple alien man doesn't know how to process his feelings for you™

Imagine annoying gladiator with your every being. You just can't help it. Most of the time the stoic man just ignores you outright, never smiling nor even acknowledging you, period.

To be honest, he didn't like how talkative you were. You were always running your mouth about something or other, and when you weren't, you were teasing him. Holding simple and insignificant "victories" over his head due to your origin as a mutated human terran.

On your side, you just wanted him to acknowledge you. You figured he wouldn't be able to ignore you forever. Whatever strange relationship the two of you had, the one thing that seemed to affect him the most was your mutant abilities - or specifically, the parts of your abilities that effect your stamina.

When you realized you had a stamina bar that very much rivaled gladiators own, your teasing had started to take a turn towards something a little more lustful.

You just never expected Gladiator to take you up on your offer to have a friendly little "stamina competition."

You've lost count of how many positions the two of you have gone through. Both of you are panting, sweaty- sticky. Really sticky. Who knows how much time is passed, but neither of you are willing to quit now. Gladiator currently has your knees over his shoulders, pounding into your slick cunt steadily. His hands are holding onto your hips in a tight grip, pulling you onto him each time he bottoms out.

"You are... infuriating. Annoying. Agh- Hah-... Greedy. I've pushed you to the brink, and still, you want more." Kallark says above you, his voice still surprisingly steady in between his moans of pleasure. Your own throat is sore from taunting him in between your own moans and screams of delight.

"I-fuck! I can go as long as you go, pretty boy." You say, smirking at him. Gladiator Scowls at you, face flushed, sweat beading down his forehead. You doubt you look much better, the both of you pushing each other to the farthest limits of your stamina. You let out an embarrassing shriek as Kallark leans forward, bending you in half as he presses your thighs to your chest, hitting the deepest spots inside of you. Kallark's usually steady thrusting begins to become a little more frantic as he starts to reach his umpteenth peak of the day. -but his thrusts become unsteady. Inconsistent. You're finally starting to tire him out, you think.

"Aww, look at that- ah... You're beginning to slip, Kallark." You taunt him. His hand reaches up to cup your face harshly, his grip slightly tighter than normal. He turns your head to face him as his heated gaze pierces your own.

"Would you- please, stop talking."

By the time the two of you are finally out of breath, you swear that At least an entire 24 hour period has gone by. Hell, maybe even longer. You and gladiator are sprawled out side by side. Your eyes are closed, fading in and out of consciousness as you try (and fail) to collect yourself. You feel weight shift next to you as Kallark rolls onto his side. He's full on against you now, a hand settling on your chest to feel the quick beats of your human heart. It's strange. Not like him. You open your eyes, finding yourself lost in the sight of Kallark. He's looking at you with a mix of fond emotions, and for the first time, it's almost like his brain has stalled. Like a computer stuck in between the loading screen.

"Kallark?” You whisper. He doesn't respond. Doesn't even blink.

“You okay there, big guy?" You try again, biting your lip. Kallark's gaze catches the motion, then trailing down to the bruises he's left in your neck- “hickeys” is what he remembers you calling them. He can feel his heart do something strange, and he chooses to look back up at your face instead. Your flushed cheeks. Kiss-swollen lips. Messy hair. He feels a familiar heat as his body reacts to such a lustful sight.

"Vixen. Temptress. I know not what you've done to me. " Kallark finally says, thumb gently pulling your bottom lip away from the pinch of your teeth. You raise an eyebrow at him, not mockingly, just confused. He then reaches up to brush the hair from your face, an action fueled by a much more gentle warmth in his chest.

"...I don't believe you know what you've done, either." He whispers. You can't help but smile at him, especially as you reach up to caress his cheek and he leans into the contact with a sigh.

"Well… we have plenty of time to figure that out together."

#x men 97 #x men #x men comics #x men 97 x reader #x men headcannons #x men smut #gladiator #gladiator x reader #kallark x reader #x men kallark #x men gladiator #kallark smut #x men gladiator smut #x men 97 smut

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hopefulromances · 1 year ago

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can you do #5&6 where jamie is comforting his girlfriend?

5. “Why are you crying?”

6. “Talk to me.”

Is this self indulgent... yes... now continue

You didn't know when it started. You just felt so hopeless. It'd been months since you lost your job, leaving you unemployed. You had been so high. Doing so well. Happy, healthy, in love. Now you could barely leave your bed, much less force yourself to cook or work out.

It came to a head today when you finally decided to leave the house and ended up with a parking ticket. A parking ticket. You stared at the ticket in despair. This had to be a sign that you never needed to leave your house again.

"Goddamnit, god fucking damnnit," You cursed to yourself, feeling that thickness in your throat that always indicated you were about to lose it.

You crumpled up the ticket in your hand and slammed the door to your car, finally going inside the house. You headed straight to your room, not even noticing that Jamie was home.

"Hey babe what's goin- Woah!" Jamie didn't even have time to process what was going on when you ran straight past him and closed the door to your room. He could hear you sniffling on the other side of the door and it broke his heart.

He walked over to the door and leaned against the wall, knocking softly. "Babe? Why are you crying?"

"Go away, Jamie," you croaked from behind the door.

Well he wasn't gonna do that. He frowned leaning his forehead against the door. "I"m not going away until you let me in." You were quiet on the other side of the door. No noises except for the occasional sob. "And if you don't tell me what's wrong I'll just start singing and not stop."

That drew a little giggle out of you but you still didn't open the door.

"Alright, you've asked for it," Jamie took a big breath. "AND I! HAD THE TIME OF MY LIFE! AND I NEVER FELT THIS WAY BEFORE! AND I SWEAR! IT'S THE TRUTH! AND I'M HOLDING ONTO YOOOU!"

You door flew open and you appeared, your eyes red from tears but at least the door was opened.

"Okay, okay, I'm here just..." You let out a large sigh and let Jamie into the room.

You sat on the floor, back resting on your bed frame. Jame came over to sit next to you, looking down at you.

"Hey," He nudged you. "Talk to me."

You frowned and shook your head, speaking quietly. "I just don't think I was meant to be unemployed."

Now it was Jamie's turn to frown. He knew you weren't doing well on that front, but no matter how many times he reassured you that it would be okay, you still ended up in your head about it.

"And I get it, a lot of people are unemployed right now, okay I do?" It was like you'd read his mind. "But I'm sick of it. I was doing so well! So well. And now what? I get up lay around then go to bed at night? I just... I need to have some purpose, Jamie. Something that gives me worth. And today," You held up the crumpled piece of paper. "I got a fucking parking ticket. First time I've left the house in like weeks and this happens."

Jamie let the two of you sit in silence for a minute. He let you cry, just sitting there next to you, letting you know he was there.

"Well give me this," he snatched the ticket out of your hand. "I can take care of this."

"Jamie, I don't need you to-"

"Well I want to. I love paying parking tickets. Do you know how many parking ticket's Colin's got?" He laughed. "A lot. And as for the rest of it. It sucks. A lot." He wrapped an arm around you and tugged you into his side. "But you don't need a job to give you worth. Keeley told me that once and it seemed true enough for me but for you it's definitely true." You chuckled, tearfully. Jamie squeezed your extra tight, wrapping another arm around your waist for extra squeezage. "You're worth a lot to me. Like waaay more than any job could give you."

You smiled, finally, giving in to Jamie's affection. You shoved your face into his chest, letting him hold on to you. He kissed your head, rubbing up and down your back with his hand.

"Thank you, Jamie," You mutter, nuzzling deeper into his chest.

Jamie's heart swelled, happy that he could provide you with some comfort. He leaned down and peppered kisses across your head. "Always, baby, always."

#jamie tartt #jamie tartt x reader #ted lasso #ted lasso show #jamie tartt imagine #jamie tartt x y/n #jamie tartt fanfiction #drabble #fluff #hurt/comfort

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criminalmindswhore · 1 year ago

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Morgan has another sister?

When you were growing up, you know how your mom always told you to bring a jacket just in case? Yeah well, apparently I didn't learn anything. Because I am currently freezing my ass off in the middle of this fancy ass neighborhood because Derek sent the wrong address and won't pick up his phone. I start to get back in my car when my phone buzzes, "Derek Morgan I am going to beat you-" "Woah sis, calm down. Turn around," I slowly turned around, "There ya go." I saw him standing in the front yard of a house and hung up. I walked to him and he engulfed me in a hug. "How's my only single sister doing?" I pulled away and slapped his arm, "Shut up! I didn't have time you know becoming one of the best security analyst in the country." He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and led me inside. He opened the door to one of the nicest houses I've ever seen and led me to the kitchen. "Everyone I want you to meet Y/n, my youngest sister." I glanced around the room and smiled as I waved. "You've already met Garcia at the awards, that's JJ, her husband Will, Rossi, Hotch, Spencer, and Emily." Emily had this look of adore in her eyes and Garcia quickly caught on and gave her a wink. "Why did I have no idea you had another sister?" I walked to stand beside Emily at the counter, "Well it seems as though every time you guys are in Chicago I was either at school, the academy or on assignment." Emily quickly responded, "The academy? You're an agent?" I looked at her and smiled, "No, I'm a security analyst for the Navy, but I'm hoping to get this job at homeland security. I had my interview last week and I should know soon." She nodded. "That's impressive, and I'm assuming that's how you met Garcia?" Garcia beamed at me, "Lemme tell them!" I giggled and nodded, "You know how I nominated for that amazing award last year, well she won it! Derek was so torn up because I lost but so much more excited that his baby sister won." She high fived me and I laughed loudly. "I'm telling you she got all the brains and I got all the beauty." Derek said proudly and I shoved him, "We all know Cindi got that." Everyone laughed and we ate.

Emily's POV

After dinner we all sat by Rossi's fire outside and drank various beverages. "And then, he fell so hard, the entire house shook and mom was pissed. I swear Derek was going to get killed. Mom came downstairs yelling," In her best mom impression, "Derek James Morgan I am going to beat you senseless, why were you on my coffee table." She laughed with everyone and I swear it was music to my ears. I've had an attraction to this woman since she came in the house. She's so smart, and gorgeous and her laugh is the cutest. "Emily, Derek told me that you had a story about a guy named Viper?" I cringed at the thought and sat up to tell the story. "It was a case in Atlanta, and this guy taught a class on how to make women like you. After we asked him some questions he tried to make a move on me and basically say he could out smart me into sleeping with him." She chuckled at the story, and it made me smile bigger, "So when I went undercover in a club, he seriously gave it a shot and thought I was interested. An old agent and I basically called him out and left." Everyone laughed and Derek stood up, "Alright sis, if you're riding with me, I'm leaving, I have to teach some newbies at 6 am." Y/n groaned and looked at him, "But no one else is leaving and I wanna hear their embarrassing stories about you." She gave him an innocent smile and my insides lit on fire. She was killing me, "If you wanna stay longer I can give you a ride to Morgans later." I didn't realize what left my mouth until it did, I was terrified of being alone with her. "Thank you, Emily, now get going so they can embarrass you." He said his goodbyes and we kept telling stories.

"Thank you, Rossi!" I waved at him as we walked to my car. "It was nice meeting you! He's so nice. All of you are." I unlocked the car and walked around to the driver's side, "Trust me, when it comes to psychotic killers, we get mean real fast." She laughed and got in on the other side. "Thank you again for taking me home. I just haven't had a night out of my room, office, or a library in awhile. I don't think I've been to anything since grad school." I let out a chuckle, "Seriously, you're Morgans's sister and you didn't party in grad school?" She nodded, "Seriously. Morgan was the only one who got that gene. I got the tech nerd who came out on accident gene." She laughed and I smiled big. She's gay. "I'm sorry if this is wrong for me to ask but, what is that look in your eye when you look at me? It's like a look of adore." I was shocked that she noticed and gripped the steering wheel a little harder, "I just- you're-" I pulled up to Morgan's," You just amaze me. I mean in walks this incredibly talented, brilliant, really attractive woman and you expect to not like you?" She looked at me and smiled, "You just described yourself Miss Emily Prentiss." She opened her door and got out, "You should walk me to the door and protect me from any bad guys." I smirked and got out locking my car. We entered the apartment building and started up the stairs, the tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife.

Back to the reader's POV

When we reached my brother's door I got the key out from under the mat and turned to face Emily. I wanted to kiss her so bad but was it too early? "I had an amazing time tonight with your team and you. Thank you for taking me home again." She took a step closer to me and her eyes kept flickering between my lips and my eyes. I could tell she wanted it too. I took a final step towards her and grabbed her collar pulling her lips into mine. She immediately kissed back and backed me into the door, her hands finding my waist as mine draped over her shoulders as our lips moved in sync. She pulled away and pecked my lips once more, "Goodnight Y/n. I'll see you later." I smiled and bit my lip, "Goodnight Emily, drive safe." I watched her walk down the hall and onto the steps. I unlocked the door and opened it expecting Derek to be asleep. "Holy shit Derek!" He was standing in the doorway with a smug look on his face. "Why are you awake?" He took my purse from me and sat it on the counter as I hung my keys up and slipped off my shoes. "I was waiting on you to make sure you made it safely. Anything you wanna tell me swollen lips?" I blushed but kept a smile from forming, "Nope. Guest bedroom in the same place?" He chuckled and nodded, "Goodnight Derek." I started to the room, "Goodnight kissy face."

#emily prentiss fanfic #criminal minds #emily prentiss x reader #emily prentiss #criminalmindsxreader

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the-marron · 4 months ago

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All-Forgotten Fics of Yours Truly

You know who constantly forgets to post stuff on Tumblr? Me.

And so now when I tried to find a link to one of my fics I couldn't because it's physically not there 🙃 I am a pro at social media. So now I decided to do a round up of all the Guardian stuff I haven't posted before, just for archival purposes 😅

Guardian

1. To wild uncharted waters

Summary:

Tonight, Shen Wei is abandoning all of Aoguang’s laws and heading towards the shore, for the second time in his entire life. All for Kunlun.

Also known as mermaid!au, written for @birdbird-blog ❤

2. What happens to the heart

Summary:

“I bring an offering,” he starts, feeling the oddness of the words on his tongue. This is not an offering, not exactly. It’s not incense and gold worthy of a god, it’s not a string of worshipful words either, and yet with who they are, The Ghost King has no other word for it.

There is nothing else a ghost can offer to a god.

Novel-verse, an attempt at happy moment between Kunlun and Shen Wei

3. Spellbound

Summary:

Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei Vs Ancient Couples Counseling

Also known as duck!SW fic

4. The Way of the Househusband

Summary:

Zhao Yunlan vs household chores feat Shen Wei's existential crisis

Technically this one appeared on my self-rec post at some point and it was added to the art that inspired it but I technically didn't publish it here myself, so here it is. Domesticity, dear people, what else can I say.

5. hold every memory as you go

Summary:

Wang Zheng was her first girl friend. It sounds sad when she thinks about it, that the first woman she felt true connection with was a dead girl found by her boss and Da Qing in the woods, but that's still a fact. She didn't have true friends before, not like that.

Also known as: not a fix it people, just Zhu Hong post-canon, thinking about everything she's lost and learning to move on with hope

6. I've got a dream

Summary:

“I swear, if it turns out you have no idea where we are going, I will murder you and leave your body for the crows to find,” Chu Shuzhi said conversationally, stomping through the mud with the air of a man condemned to an unjust punishment. The object of his anger, Zhao Yunlan the Adventurer, just shrugged without turning back. Chu Nianzhi was certain that he had heard worse threats in his life, he used to work at the court after all. Though, in what capacity, Zhao Yunlan had never disclosed – ever since Nianzhi and Shuzhi met him at the inn, winning a strange map from a crowd of very suspicious looking men, all that they managed to get out of him was that he was on an adventure.

Written for an event, it has Chu brothers having The Time of Their Lives (Not) thanks to Zhao Yunlan who Apparently Has A Wife

7. Wish You Were Here

Summary:

Instead of falling asleep, Shen Wei gets to experience the millennia of longing, year after a lonely year.

Written for a friend, featuring, well, lots of loneliness

And I think that's all from Guardian? The rest was here because of the Guardian Bingo, I am pretty sure

And now, as my treat from me to me, the forgotten Luolins:

Luolin [WEILAN DERIVATIVES]

1. Unscathed [WIP]

Summary:

“Well, hello,” the man said, his lips tugging up in a smile. Not prepared for that, all Lin Nansheng could do in reply was to cough shallowly, the exertion of the chase getting to him. “You can let go, comrade, I won’t run.” Despite the lightness in his words, the voice was hushed, as if trying not to attract more attention. And yet, Lin Nansheng found himself letting go. The stranger used his free hand to support the bundle pressed against his chest.

---

A bitter and disillusioned Lin Nansheng gets pulled into much more excitement than he bargained for.

Post-canon longfic that I am still trying to write despite the lack of time. Totally not known as Godzilla AU, not at all good sir.

2. A Practical Arrangement

Summary:

It was a pure accident that Luo Fei and Lan Xinjie knew each other, and that the lady came to Cen Zimo with questions about a possible accommodation for her friend was a sign from the heavens. Luo Fei wasn’t convinced of course, but the argument of 'practical arrangement' swayed him in the end.

Technically it's not Luolin for it features an outsider POV of another deriv that has romantic plans re: LF, but let's be real here, I wouldn't break up Luolin for anyone so it's Luolin through and through. Sorry, Cen Zimo. (I am not)

3. we devour, like a falcon in the dive

Summary:

A quiet moment of trust that morphs into something much more.

Based on art, first attempt to give these two an actual happy ending and not an ambigious one

4. only a touch of dust remains

Summary:

He knows what he will find when he opens the door. He's known for a while, he's been preparing for it but still, the moment his hand touches the handle, he hesitates. He never hesitates, there is no reason for him to do so – there is nothing that can surprise him.

Angst. Outsider's POV. Did I mention angst?

5. All in the Scheme of Things

Summary:

And then Wu-laoshi brought in Luo Fei – a tall, handsome man in a well-tailored suit whose words were outpaced only by his thoughts. It was with relief that Lin Nansheng realized that they didn’t manage to discuss anything and would have to meet again – he had a good excuse to see Luo Fei again.

Modern Teacher!au, a prequel to one of my fics from Weilan Derivs week 2022.

6. Unmoored Academicals [CROSSOVER]

Summary:

A foreboding sense of familiarity washed over Zhao Yunlan. His mind had one, final thought of’ not again’, before the vortex of time opened for good and swallowed everything around him. -- The 'DCU moonlights as Shanghai University' crack that wouldn't leave my brain, with a dash of academia humour

Yeah, I wrote it mostly for crack reasons, but also to appreciate that while there are some similarities between them, SW and LNS are very different, as are LF and ZYL - it is a bit of a love letter to BY and Z1L's acting abilities, dressed up as a crack about a university jumping dimensions, just like Pratchett would have wanted

7. The man you seek is long gone

Summary:

After returning from Hong Kong, Lin Nansheng tries to find out what happened to Luo Fei. -- Mostly canon compliant with some fix-ity changes added

Presumed dead fic, because everyone needs one 🤗

8. It's falsehood's flame, it's a crying shame

Summary:

There is a man at the door, dressed in a rather expensive-looking suit, looking around with a faint air of distaste. He has a cane in his hand and a certain confidence around him – Lin Nansheng notices all of that, but it is dulled by the realization that the man is really handsome. * In an alternate universe, Chen Moqun becomes a crime boss instead of the Station Chief. Lin Nansheng follows him either way, until he encounters an unexpected complication in the form of Luo Fei.

Not-really (and yet) mafia!au which is also my first Luolin ever, written for @babischlong-six 😌❤

and now I am off to live that cryptid life because there are still at least a dozen weilan derivs fics that I haven't posted here either but I don't have the energy to do it today. Better to do something than nothing and all that ~

#my writing #marron sucks at tumblr 2024k #guardian fanfiction #weilan fanfiction #luolin fanfiction #luolin #lin nansheng/luo fei #luolin agenda #happy birthday from me to me I guess

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mist1e · 2 months ago

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HAARLEP PLAYLIST

Much like with my Ascended Astarion playlist, I created a playlist for Haarlep only this time I used Google Sheets table and a ranking system to help myself. It, too, tells a story and all the s̲o̲n̲g̲s̲ i̲n̲ i̲t̲ a̲r̲e̲ i̲n̲ c̲h̲r̲o̲n̲o̲l̲o̲g̲i̲c̲a̲l̲ o̲r̲d̲e̲r̲

This story is about Haarlep meeting Tav and how this very ordinary acquaintance turned into something utterly unexpected.

Link to playlist on YouTube at the end of the post.

And now that all the normal people are just listening to the playlist, the nerds can click ‘keep reading’ to dive into the detailed breakdown of the story...

The playlist consists of 5 parts, and for each part I wrote a small drabble to share the vibe with you.

PART 1: HAARLEP

«Shhh… Hush, sweetheart, no need to make such a fuss. I haven’t even sunk my teeth into you yet. But do not fret, I’m not some rabid beast. I won’t lunge at you or tear you apart. I’m just a simple incubus, albeit an outstanding one.

What are incubi? I’m glad you asked.

We are the wielders of the enchanted word. Lords of the human soul. Masters of the all-consuming lust.

We breathe in air and breathe out passion. Love flows through our veins, voluptuousness drips from our fingertips, and our gaze ignites desire.

Your most daring dreams are our law. The innuendo swirling on the tip of your tongue is our feast. Guessing your desires before you even know them is like a drug to us.

Oh, you want to know more? Come closer, sweetheart. I never promised not to bite, but trust me, you are going to love it.»

1. Don’t Stop Me Now

Literally can imagine him waking up to this song.

Yeah, I'm a rocket ship on my way to Mars On a collision course I am a satellite, I'm out of control I am a sex machine ready to reload Like an atom bomb about to Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, explode I'm burnin' through the sky, yeah 200 degrees that's why they call me Mister Fahrenheit I'm traveling at the speed of light I wanna make a supersonic woman of you

2. Aimed to Kill

You've been checkin' under your bed to see if I'm there When you look back up I'm under you pullin' your hair Getting lost inside my world, you don't know where I've been Oh no, oh no, I feel it comin' And I tried to save a life with these diamond hands of mine But they're sharper than a knife, I aimed to kill And I tried to fix a heart with these lips that left some scars "I swear I won't do no harm," shh, I aimed to kill

3. Who Made You a Monster?

You've got a twisted way Of making it all seem fine Tricking the world to trust you But everything that you say Is some kind of sordid lie Who taught you how to lie so well? Who made you a monster? Who made you a monster?

4. The Devil is a Gentleman

He don't always come at midnight Burnin' red and talking sin But he knows how to play it just right If you gonna let him in Sleek along and brings you roses He's always got the words to say Just enough so you don't notice That you ain't nothing but his prey

5. Pass The Knife

Thought you had control, I'll strip you till you're bones Scraping your knees till you beg for more Cover you in scars, just to leave a mark Get you addicted, then tear you apart Pass me the knife and I'll eat you alive Take my time, I'll do it how you like it Pass me the knife and I'll eat you alive Love skin deep, you're only here to make me high

6. Terrible Things

All of the things that I've done Terrible things you would never believe Things that I've done, oh, how you'll run If you knew a single word of all of the things that I've done

7. Liquid Smooth

I see this one as a tenderness and longing for a connection, that is hidden deep inside.

I'm beautiful, I know 'cause it's the season But what am I to do with all this beauty? Biology, I am an organism, I'm chemical That's all, that is all I'm liquid smooth, come touch me, too And feel my skin is plump and full of life, I'm in my prime I'm liquid smooth, come touch me, too I'm at my highest peak, I'm ripe about to fall, capture me

8. Pure Imagination

The fantasy that he creates for the people whom he gets involved with.

Come with me and you'll be In a world of pure imagination Take a look and you'll see Into your imagination We'll begin with a spin Traveling in the world of my creation What we'll see will defy explanation

9. Mr. Sandman

He falls asleep, thinking to himself if there is a way to feel this longing that has been building inside him for quite some time during these lonely evenings in House of Hope, when all he did was waiting, wondering if Raphael would come to him or no. Next thing you know, Tav enters the boudoir...

Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream Make her the cutest that I've ever seen Give her two lips like roses and clover And tell her that her lonely nights are over Sandman, I'm so alone Don't have nobody to call my own Please turn on your magic beam Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream

PART 2: HAARLEP MEETS TAV

Haarlep leaned on the railing of the balcony and gazed thoughtfully into the distance. The grey ash-covered mountains drowned in a reddish haze. The ground beneath them was laced with a web of rifts, their bottomless depths blazing with lava flares. Dirty, colourless clouds drifted In the sky above the crooked-toothed mountain peaks. Avernus in all its ugliness.

His forked tongue lashed out of his mouth and wetted his parched lips. He drew in the air, heavy with dust that settled thickly in his lungs, and spat irritably over the balustrade.

He couldn’t resist tasting her, he just couldn’t. Damned girl.

Haarlep was used to being starved in the House of Hope. The howls of the damned souls and the flesh of devils were not sustaining in the slightest, and over the years, he just had to learn to control his hunger. There was certainly nothing good about it. Haarlep was weaker than he could be, it was harder for him to conjure magic, and sometimes in the mornings his veins painfully twisted into poisonous threads. It was the ache he could only relieve with exhausting, concentration-demanding meditation.

Haarlep's mind slipped into the vivid memories of yesterday.

Yesterday, he dreamed of his past life again… Feasts, masquerades, balls in the mortal world, where he could drink from four or five mortals in a course of a single evening, or even sneak around and drain a soul out of some petty wretch. And that last orgy at the Duke’s mansion? Haarlep closed his eyes and his nose tickled with the scent of the freshest rainbow caviar, which swam in the belly of a fish in the waters of Calimport the day before. His ears rang with the laughter of the young noblewomen, who used to lose their composure after the third glass of sparkling wine, pretending not to notice the lewd glances of the men smoking cigars in the half-dark corners of the room. And Haarlep… He was sitting in the centre of the hall on a golden throne — the Lord of that den of debauchery! — whilst the mortals were crawling on their knees, their faces drooping with lust, their hands reaching out to him as if he were their god… The memories ran through his body in a searing wave, and Haarlep involuntarily craned his neck, arching his back. Things had been different in his past life. The one he had before he fell to his knees in the presence of Mephistopheles.

Yesterday, when he opened his eyes and saw her in the Boudoir, Haarlep thought he was still dreaming. How could he have restrained himself? And was there any point in restraint?

Oh, how delicious she was… Her life essence flowed through his veins, blossoming with a long-forgotten arousal in his chest. Perhaps his starvation was to blame, but she tasted divine. Nothing like any other mortal he had had before. Purposeful, ambitious, a little naive, she opened herself to him like a soft book with a flowery spine and golden embossing, allowing him to drink in her deepest desires, fears, and dreams. And he did drink… At the moment of her climax, in the deep caverns of her soul, he tasted submission, desire to please, an urge to earn praise. Ah, if only he had a little more time! He would have guided her and under his tender yet insistent touch she would have unfurled like a beautiful flower in an overgrown garden. He would have nudged her to fall headfirst into the abyss of her darkest desires.

But he didn’t have enough time. It was all over in a flash. For some puzzling reason, she didn’t grab the Hammer and just slipped away unnoticed.

The faint scent of her arousal still lingered in the Boudoir, making Haarlep violently run his claws over his neck, crossing the impeccable skin with red brown marks. He had been hungry before, but now he was famished. All night after they’d met, he spent tossing and turning in bed, the silk sheets thrown to the floor, his fingers digging into the pillow.

Haarlep closed his eyes, which were stinging as if they were filled with sand, and rubbed the bridge of his nose nervously.

He must see her again.

He would sneak out of the House of Hope, follow the scent of her thoughts, and catch her again.

Consequences be damned.

10. Me and Mr Wolf

Hey little girl, you look so nice In the pretty red dress with those pretty black eyes Hello Mr. Wolf, oh what a surprise To find you here so deep in the night My dear little girl, what's the rush? How about supper, just the two of us? Oh Mr. Wolf, you want me to stay But I fear we'll regret it one day

11. Out Of Control — Haarlep

I watched her feet move, her hips they sway Does a hair flip then starts to say Oh my god, it's my favorite song I pull her close and she sings along We can't slow down even if we tried If the record keeps spinning so will I She likes disco and tastes like a tear Tells me don't stop dancing and she's pulling me near

12. Kill of the Night— Haarlep

The street's a liar I'm gonna lure you into the dark My cold desire To hear the boom, boom, boom of your heart I'm gonna catch ya I'm gonna get ya, get ya, oh, oh-oh I wanna taste the way that you bleed, oh You're my kill of the night

13. Terrible Thing — Tav

Oh for you, you terrible thing, you Terrible thing, you Terrible thing, you Beautiful thing Mm, you beautiful thing A wreck, a wreck you make You leave, you leave me in your wake Oh honey, let me go Aha, aha, don't you let me go

14. Tongues and Teeth — Haarlep

I've grown a mouth so sharp and cruel It's all that I can give to you, my dear And when you come in quick to steal a kiss My teeth will only cut your lips, my dear And I know that you mean so well But I am not a vessel for your good intent I will only break your pretty things I will only wring you dry of everything But if you're fine with that You can be mine like that

15. Horns — Tav

She got blood cold as ice And a heart made of stone But she keeps me alive She's the beast in my bones She gets everything she wants When she gets me alone Like it's nothin' She got two little horns And they get me a little bit

16. if u think i'm pretty

If you think I'm pretty, lay your hands on me Know you can't stop thinkin' 'bout it I know that you're shitty and you're bad for me But I can't stop thinkin' 'bout it Said you needed love, but you're only here for sex, and And I'm dyin' to be next Killed me once before, I just come back more obsessed with you

17. When You Say My Name — Haarlep

And does it scare you That I already know what you're into? You can say lеss, I bet I can guess That you say whatevеr to get me undressed Double dare you, tell me two lies Don't need no truths 'Cause I can see right through you You're no good at pretend I’m using your tricks that you use with your friends I like the way your mouth moves The way you say my name

18. Dirty Thoughts — Tav

I get dirty thoughts about you They get worse when I'm without you Does that mean that I'm going to hell? Or are you thinking them as well? But when you hold me In the fantasy, it's so convincing I shouldn't think the things I'm thinking But now I've gone and let them sink in

19. Eat You — Haarlep

Cause you've been sticky with your tricky words And I would crumble like a humble bird Now you're so tender with an ear I can bend And tell you how I feel I go hungry every night But not this time around I'm gonna eat you, you're my desire I'm gonna sharpen all my teeth and build a fire I'm gonna eat you, cook and defeat you I'm gonna breathe you in my lungs and make you mine

20. Sugar Water — Tav

My boy’s got a sharp twist, no, he’s wicked in the heart Feeds me sugar water just to keep me alive Saw him in my dreams again He’s wiping down the fingerprints Press so hard I float up to the sky It’s kind of tripping me up, babе I’ve got it bad for you Laying back sipping sugar water I’m so weak for thе things you do

21. salvation — Haarlep

Sleep with me Worship me Pray like I’m your god Find the light in my voice Treat us like it’s blasphemy Pray we don’t get caught Let me be your only choice I’ll deny you of salvation I’ll be the reason you repent Kiss me like I’m a conviction Beg for divinity in my breath

22. Pretty In The Dark — Haarlep

I want All the power and the pain I’ll love you in the flames Just tell me that you're mine I’ll be your beautiful obsession Center of attention That’s just what I like Run through your veins Got your heart to keep Calling my name Get down on your knees

23. A Dangerous Thing — Tav

Something about you is soft like an angel And something inside you is violence and danger I knew from the moment we met, you are a dangerous thing When you are with me, I feel like I'm living And living besides you can be unforgiving I knew from the very first step, you are a dangerous thing

PART 3: WHEN THE GAME TURNED SERIOUS

“What do you dream of?”

Haarlep lazily opened his eyes at the soft caressing sound of her voice. Just like always after their little romps, he was in a state of blissful indulgence, like a cat who got the cream. Usually, he would wait out the indolent peak of his satiety and then disappear from her sight again, bestowing her with a dazzling smile and a graceful flick of his wrist as a kiss goodbye. But today, for some reason, he felt overwhelmingly lazy and reluctant to leave.

He glanced down at her little head, which rested perfectly in the dent under his collarbone. The look on her face was pensive, and her delicate features were slightly tinged with a subtle sadness of some sort.

“I dream of having a unicorn,” he muttered.

“Really?” she perked up, but her eyes narrowed upon seeing his snickering grin. She grudgingly elbowed Haarlep in the side, eliciting a little chuckle from him. “I’m asking you seriously.”

“Look at me, mouse. Are these eyes capable of telling untruths?” he batted his eyelashes innocently.

She sighed, but smiled with her lips only and didn’t ask further. The predawn silence enveloped them once more, as the morning light was just beginning to bloom in the sky. The first tinkling glints of sunlight seeped through the open windows, and a biting daybreak rolled down their shoulders with chill.

She shivered and snuggled closer to him. She smelled of sex, girlish sweat, floral honey, and something else he couldn’t quite put his finger on. He inhaled her scent deeply, and the corner of his lips tugged up in a slight smile against his will.

Haarlep was brimming with her life essence, and the barely perceptible magical connection still weaved between them, leaving the flavour of her thoughts on his lips. Her mind was emanating feelings and emotions that, to his incubus sense, were as tangible as her warm shoulder under his palm. He felt she wanted him to ask. But he didn’t ask.

No. He had no desire to ask.

“And what do you dream of, little mouse?” The words slipped from his lips involuntarily, clearly having a mind of their own.

“I want to go back to the Feywild someday. To see the place where I grew up again. To see the old oak grove, and the Falls of the Rejected Bride… To see where my parents are buried.”

Haarlep slid the tip of his tongue over his lips, feeling the bitter tang of her sadness in his mouth, and it made him feel unimaginably wistful.

“What a marvellous dream you have, my dear — to visit a graveyard of memories and bodies.” He snorted and let out a cynical hum. “You should dream of visiting the shores of Lake Esmel in Amn. The sun is warm on the skin, the men, and women have a true lust for life, and the wine there is absolutely fabulous…”

“Oh, that’s not what I meant at all,” she muttered quietly.

He sighed.

“I know, little mouse,” Haarlep murmured, pressing his lips to the top of her head, kissing her ashy hair. He closed his eyes and drew in her sadness with his nose. Damn, even her sadness tasted divine.

“Are you going soon?” she asked timidly. Her voice quivered with an unspoken hope.

Haarlep was silent. He took a deep breath again, deliberately intoxicating himself with her very nature.

“I’ll stay a little longer.”

24. FU In My Head — Tav

Take me closer, take my clothes off Oh I fantasize If I'm honest, it's more fun when you can't read my mind Sometimes I fuck you in my head I let you touch me when I'm lonely in my bed I wanna scream, but hold my breath The kinda thing that you would rather leave unsaid I got dirty wishes on my mind But you will never ever know that I I like to fuck you in my head You make me scream when there's nobody Just the thought of your body

25. Devil On My Shoulder — Tav

Every time I think I'm free, you're calling me Your love pulling me right back down Can't believe that I keep coming back But you make me feel so good I swore I'd never dance with you again Keep safe from the devil on my shoulder But you know me so well And you drag me to Hell I can't keep safe from the devil on my Keep safe from the devil on my shoulder

26. Maniac — Tav

You play girls like a man, but your eyes are like a child Your face is cool and calm, but your hair is wrecked and wild You hide behind your metaphors and pray that no one sees The fare behind your poker face: your dark and twisted needs Your fragile heart and your paper skin Such a beautiful boy filled with so much sin Your reflection is your very worst enemy Behind the glass is an angel, but the devil's beneath Let me in, wear me out Let me in, wear me out

27. You — Haarlep

What I would do to get into your head Crawl out my body into yours instead Swim through your veins all day and every fiber Raid your brain and all your desires If you only knew I would do anything For a taste of you I would do anything Just to see inside And no one else will do All that I want is to be you

28. the fruits — Tav

My love, are you the devil? I would worship you instead of him I have no time for confession For I'm too busy committing sins My love, you're something special I never met someone like you You made me fall from Heaven But I know just what I do But I don't I feel your hands grabbing my throat As you say

29. Rule #34 — Haarlep

I love that you shake When I ravage your skin It's so easy to bite with your hands pinned Shadows dancing on the sheets If you obey I might give you a treat Right now you're mine All mine Give in, you're mine All mine You look so good There on your knees Such a good girl, knows how to please Look at me, look me in the еyes Forget yourself Surrеnder your mind

30. Lovesick in Public — Tav

Last night you really got in my head How’d I get hung up on what you did When all you did was kiss my neck My cheek's red like a cherry Help me cause I am berry Lovesick in public I’m hooked on the way that you taste I know I’m headed for heartbreak

31. Good Looking — Tav

Play casino holes of my eyeballs Roll the dice on my thighs You stopped for breath and I sped up Just to impress you The skyline falls as I try to make sense of it all I thought I'd uncovered your secrets but, turns out, there's more You adored me before Oh, my good looking boy

32. You Put a Spell on Me — Haarlep

Before I hunt you down Grab your chin and kiss your lips You bring me back I lay you down and grab your hips And we lose all control And before you know it I put a spell on you Now you're mine I've got a hold on you, at least for the night

33. Keep It Down — Haarlep

You shoot me up through the clouds I’m a hero in your mouth I'm the sickness you found I'm the fever you're about While I throw you around You're gonna scream ... Shhh: girl keep it down The scars you leave on my back A painting of your attack You're biting down on my fist I know you cannot resist

34. Good Looking — Tav

Pressure on my lips I die for just one kiss Wake, I can't resist Could I be dreaming this? How do I fake it with another man? How do I love him on the weekend? How do I listen to another man? How do I get off on the weekend? You're in my heart, in my heart, in my head

35. So Damn Into You — Haarlep

Can I have you forever? Every single night It started with a bang Don’t know how you got me so messed up But baby I won’t ever get enough, oh 'Cause I’m so damn into you I’m so damn into you

36. From Persephone — Tav

No, I wasn't threatened Mother, I was not bound No, I wasn't carried Off on his three headed hound 'Cause I packed my own bag, found my own way Down into the underground See, mama, he may seem gruesome But he's even got a dog And don't you know that death is A very stable job? 'Cause I love my baby, tall, dark Hades Lord of death is down on his knees for me

37. Hearts a Mess — Tav

Pick apart the pieces of your heart And let me peer inside Let me in where only your thoughts have been Let me occupy your mind as you do mine You have lost too much love To fear, doubt and distrust, it's not enough You just threw away the key to your heart Don't get burned 'cause nothing gets through It makes it easier, easier on you That much more difficult for me To make you see

38. Closer — Haarlep

I wanna fuck you like an animal I wanna feel you from the inside I wanna fuck you like an animal My whole existence is flawed You get me closer to God You can have my isolation You can have the hate that it brings You can have my absence of faith You can have my everything

39. Choke — Tav

You are a shadow Following me where I go I'd be better without you What are you doing to me? I'm suffocating Don't know how to explain it But I feel like I'm fading What are you doing to me? Loosen your grip before I choke Can't catch my breath, I'm gonna choke I wish that you'd just let me go I don't want this, I promise, just leave me alone Loosen your grip beforе I-

40. she calls me daddy — Haarlep

It might be a little superficial She plays with the boys But she comes home to me Little fucked up but I think it's official ’Cause she might be your girl But she's calling me daddy She's mi-i-i-ine She wears a collar with my name Secretive but not ashamed She's mi-i-i-ine But I'd never tie her down They always come around now

41. The Masochism Tango — Tav

I ache for the touch of your lips, dear But much more for the touch of your whips, dear You can raise welts like nobody else As we dance to the Masochism Tango Let our love be a flame, not an ember Say it's me that you want to dismember Blacken my eye, set fire to my tie As we dance to the Masochism Tango

42. Wicked Game

The world was on fire, and no one could save me but you It's strange what desire will make foolish people do I never dreamed that I'd meet somebody like you And I never dreamed that I'd lose somebody like you What a wicked game to play To make me feel this way What a wicked thing to do To let me dream of you

PART 4: OBSESSION

“Say it! I want to hear you say it!” It was not a spoken word, but a rasping growl that erupted from his chest. He loomed over her, with his back rounded, and bristled, like a wild beast over its prey.

His fingers clenched harder on her throat.

She dug her small fingernails into his straining arm. Wet strands of her fringe clung to her forehead, covered in beads of sweat. Her eyebrows were raised piteously, her emerald eyes fixed on his face. She parted her plump cherry lips wide as she gulped in the rhythmic breaths of air.

“I am yours,” she replied hoarsely. “I am yours, Haarlep. Yours… Haarlep! Haarlep. Haarley…”

He growled again and thrust his hips into hers with abandon. She cried out, running her trembling fingers through his wavy black hair, pulling it gently. Her emotions exploded like fireworks in his mind, blurring in coloured circles under his closed eyelids. He pushed his hips against hers like a man possessed, drowning in her sweet surrender. She was under him, and she was everywhere, enveloping him like a raging torrent. Her fragility tingled along his spine, her sincerity squeezed his heart like a vice, her vulnerability stroked him with hundreds of gentle fingers, her trust filled his very being with a velvety warmth.

He couldn’t drink enough of her, couldn’t inhale her with his full lungs. He could barely restrain himself from devouring her whole without a shred left.

As always with her, the pulsing life essence flowed easily, like a chiming stream, she gave it to him willingly. Despite the intoxicating madness threatening to overwhelm him, he tried to take as little as possible so as not to hurt his little mouse in any way.

“You’re driving me mad,” he growled into her ear in a frenzy, his fingers on her neck tightening into a bruising grip.

“I want you to go mad! Lose your mind! Go insane! For me…”

His hips picked up a punishing rhythm

She shrieked and dug her nails into his shoulders, forcing him to arch his back. Clenched like a spring, she stiffened and quivered beneath him, out of breath. Her consciousness blazed like a bonfire on Midsummer Night, spilling her life essence. It crushed him like a storm wave, drowning him in rapture. With the last thrust, Haarlep froze and shuddered, feeling the physical bliss merge with the cascade of her emotions flashing in his mind.

He collapsed on top of her, pressing himself against her hot chest, nuzzling his nose into the crook of her neck. She wrapped her legs around his hips, unwilling to let him go, pulling him greedily against her body. Her hoarse and frequent breathing burned his temple.

“Yours… Yours… And you are mine. My Haarley…” she whispered, choking on euphoria, trembling with delight.

With a growl that shook his chest, he slipped his arms under her back, pulling her close, so tight that it was probably hard for her to breathe.

“What have you done to me, mouse?” he exhaled, his whisper tinted with a hint of desperation and confusion.

“I bewitched you. Enchanted you, spellbound you, charmed you, beguiled you. Now you’re not going anywhere.”

For a few moments, only their laboured breaths echoed in the silence of their secret sanctuary.

"I am not,” he agreed and captured her sweet lips in a tender kiss.

43. I Wanna Be Yours — Haarlep

Let me be your 'leccy meter An' I'll never run out Let me be the portable heater That you'll get cold without I wanna be your setting lotion (Wanna be) Hold your hair in deep devotion (How deep?) At least as deep as the Pacific Ocean I wanna be yours

44. The Cult Of Dionysus

I'm feeling devious You're looking glamorous Let's get mischievous And polyamorous Wine and women and wonderful vices Welcome to the cult of Dionysus Run, run, run away Just take my hand and we'll abandon this world We'll wash those tears away You're young and beautiful, and I'll love you always We got no time for pain When it's just you and me in ecstasy

45. Angel of Small Death & the Codeine Scene — Haarlep

I watch the work of my kin, bold and boyful Toying somewhere between love and abuse Calling to join them the wretched and joyful Shaking the wings of their terrible youths Freshly disowned in some frozen devotion No more alone or myself could I be Lurched like a stray to the arms that were open No shortage of sordid, no protest from me

46. Obsessed With You — Haarlep

Your smile sets my heart aflame Electrocute me with your eyes The very mention of your name My stomach fills with butterflies Your love is better than cocaine I need you more than oxygen I've got it bad again An O-B-S-E-S-S-I-O-N But I want to get next to you Yeah, I love all the things you do I want to get close to you You are my dream come true I want to have sex with you Your sweet caress won't do Cause I'm obsessed with you

47. Misery Meat — Tav

You want a taste of my brain? Okay, it's yours anyway A bite of my eye? Alright I won't put up a fight As you open up my ribs the blood flows out like a river You strip my bones away as you indulge in my liver And the more that I am in pain The more that you'll gain And to me, that seems like a pretty fair trade

48. High Enough — Haarlep

Do you see anyone other than me? Baby, please I'll take a hit of whatever you got, maybe two, maybe three Oh, you're phenomenal, feel like a domino, fall to my knees I am a malady, you are my galaxy, my sweet relief I used to like liquor to get me inspired But you look so beautiful, my new supplier I used to like smoking to stop all the thinking But I found a different buzz

49. Dear Alice (Rainy Days) — Haarlep

I'm losing my faith in you, my long-lost friend, Alice Roses have lost their colors And it's breaking my heart (Ah) You take my breath away And I don't know what to do And I don't know what to do Before you say your last word That makes me want To lay you down I'll kiss, I'll touch, I'll cut you into the pieces And you feel the same And you'll know my crave And you'll see that I'm The only one for you

50. I Am Your Skin — Haarlep

I wanna be your skin I wanna feel everything you feel I will be your covering And I will hide you inside of me With every breath in harmony I wanna be your skin I wanna be your covering

51. Desire — Haarlep

Baby, I wanna touch you I wanna breathe into your will See, I gotta hunt you I gotta bring you to my hell Baby, I wanna fuck you I wanna feel you in my bones Boy, I'm gonna love you I'm gonna tear into your soul

52. Obsessed — Tav

I wanna feel you in my arms Hold you hostage in my heart It’s true 'Cause I'm so obsessed with you Your every word, I pick apart Down to the punctuation marks All you do 'Cause I'm so obsessed with you Oh, with you

53. Spiracle — Haarlep

I want the parts of you You only show to the birds outside your bedroom window I want the teeth that you lost as a child That you hide in a box under your pillow I want your secrets, your clementine fields The ropes that you climb up, the parts that won't heal I want your safe word, your passive resistance The sickness you foster, your favorite addictions And I want your nightmares, the ghost in your doorway Your paralyzed sleeping, your- (Aaaah) I want you butterfly, I want you sailor I am your lover and I am your jailor

PART 5: VANILLA CREAM FLAVOUR

“All right. Take it off.”

Smirking, Haarlep pulled the silk blindfold off, and smiled at her ruddy face and eyes sparkling with mirth. He raised his gaze and looked ahead.

From the high hill where they sat, they could see Baldur’s Gate harbour buzz lazily beneath them. It was slowly preparing to shake off the last cargoes, sigh with its sleepy waves, and retire to rest for the day. The half sunk into the bay of the Chionthar River, casting a golden shimmering glow over its rippling surface. Haarlep lowered his eyes. Before him, on the blanket spread on the ground, she laid out small plates packed with all sorts of savoury delicacies. One was filled with green grapes and strawberries, the other with neatly arranged cheese and sausages, appetisingly glistening with fat. Nearby stood bowls of buns and sweet rolls of various kinds.

“Somehow this picnic looks suspiciously like a date,” he placed a finger on his chin with feigned thoughtfulness.

She shook her head.

“A date? What a silly thing to say. We’re going to unromantically stuff our faces with this unappetising food, that’s all there is to it,” she tossed a grape into the air. He caught it, and it burst in his mouth, spraying sweet juice on his tongue.

Haarlep sank to the grass and rested his head in her lap. She immediately ran her nimble fingers through his hair, stroking it absent-mindedly, as she was gazing out into the distance, at the orange sun setting in Chionthar.

They were silent. Haarlep had long ago realised that it was nice to be silent with her.

Wide over the water resounded the shouts of the workers, who wrapped up the unloading of the last fishing schooner. A loud crack of a wooden crate breaking reached their ears, accompanied by the selected swearing of the cargo handlers.

“You know, I’ve come to realise one rather curious thing,” Haarlep mused thoughtfully. “I know very little about mortals.”

“How so?” she snapped out of her reverie and, for a moment, stopped flicking through his hair and looked down at him. “You can reach into the most secret nooks and crannies of a person’s mind, find out things about them that even they themselves are unaware of.”

“Yes. Except I was looking for a very different thing.”

She continued to stroke him, running the silky strands of his hair through her fingers, as she studied him with an expectant gaze. Haarlep noticed how sweetly she always nibbled on her lower lip when she was curious, and smiled at his observation.

“I’ve always looked for the weaknesses, to see what buttons I can push to get what I need from a mortal, and I’ve always succeeded. I searched into their past. Their traumas, their fears, their most depraved sexual experiences and lusts. All other sides of humanity were always foreign to me. I considered them useless. But after glimpsing into your head, I changed my mind.”

She raised her arched eyebrows, and Haarlep’s mind responded to her emotion. Her sudden sky-blue surprise flashed before his inner gaze, her wonder glided tenderly over his arms like a soft caress. And amidst it all, there was something else — a subtle, salty undertone, tinged with pure, unadulterated hope.

Lately, she had been emitting life essence a little at a time almost constantly, and Haarlep didn’t even need to do anything to elicit it. He had never encountered something like this before. He had to resist the temptation to indulge his innate greed and delve into her. The trust she exhibited never ceased to amaze him.

“I became curious and looked a little deeper. I’ve seen your strength, tasted your fascination with the world, touched your thoughts about the future. And that’s just a small portion of you. There’s so much more...”

He grinned and shook his head slightly.

“I can’t believe it never occurred to me to do this before.” He fell silent halfway through the sentence, and sank deeper into his thoughts, but after a moment he smiled at her again and added, “I guess I just didn’t care. But with you, little mouse, everything is different. Perhaps you did bewitch me?”

“Of course I did. I have a witch’s eye.”

She leaned closer, rolling her eyes and made a funny face, eliciting a laugh from him. Oh, what a dummy.

Delighted that she had managed to humour him, she straightened up again.

“How does it feel to drink the life essence of a human?”

“Oh, it’s the most marvellous feeling.”

Haarlep sighed, and his gaze drifted towards the sky. The cirrus clouds scattered like weightless pinkish-orange silk threads across the deep blue canvas. Their weightlessness and ephemeral nature made him think they were about to dissolve right before his eyes, but they froze in the sky like translucent butterflies caught on a pin.

“Life essence differs from mortal to mortal,” he continued. “It contains their unique nature. In the moments of supreme physical delight, the mortal becomes vulnerable enough for an incubus to harvest it with ease. It’s like crushing a ripe peach in your hand and catching its sweet juice with your lips. The essence is coloured by human emotions and feelings, and each one we can taste, like a hint of flavour in a wine.”

She hummed thoughtfully and twisted a small strand of his hair around her index finger.

“It does sound marvellous.”

Haarlep shifted his gaze to her.

“Every emotion is not only a taste but also a colour, a smell, and sometimes even a sense of a touch. For instance, when I pin your wrists to the bed above your head, you quiver so sweetly… I feel a prickly shiver run down my spine, and you smell like the first snowdrop on an early Alturiak morning: meltwater, almonds, and a promise of warmth.”

She blushed, and an embarrassed smile flickered across her lips. Haarlep smiled back at her.

“It’s like I feel the world with your skin and through you. Your senses mingle with mine, your consciousness flows into mine, the reality bursts with new colours and expands like a star exploding.” He reached out and cupped her cheek, stroking it gently with his thumb. “I love looking at this world with you. I see things I never knew existed before.”

She closed her eyes for a moment, surrendering to his caressing touch.

There it was. Again. He felt it again.

“You know, there’s something quite mysterious about your life essence. No matter how many times I taste it, I can’t figure it out…” he frowned, and his hand fell limply to the grass along his body. “Every feeling and thought you have, they all have the same tinge, the same unknown flavour to me. Something very soft and sweet and enveloping, like… like…”

Haarlep fell silent, trying to find the words to describe this incredible sensation that made him want to squeeze his eyes shut. One that spreads with homely warmth through his body, rolls with tenderness across his tongue, drips from his fingertips akin to molasses.

“Like vanilla cream?” she suggested.

He fired a glare at her.

“Yes! Sounds about right…”

She blushed even more and turned her face to the setting sun again.

Of course, she knew what that vanilla-cream flavour of her feelings was.

And deep down, so did he.

54. Life Worth Living — Tav

Take what you need, darling I'm just here for you Ooh ooh ooh ooh (oh) Give me your love and Physical affection Ooh ooh ooh ooh Give me the worst of you to hold You to take me to the heavens Give me the best of all your grace You make life worth living

55. Love Like You — End Credits — Haarlep

If I could begin to be Half of what you think of me I could do about anything I could even learn how to love When I see the way you act Wondering when I'm coming back I could do about anything I could even learn how to love like you

56. Hardest of Hearts — Tav

There is love in your body but you can't hold it in It pours from your eyes and spills from your skin Tenderest touch leaves the darkest of marks And the kindest of kisses break the hardest of hearts There is love in your body but you can't get it out It gets stuck in your head, won't come out of your mouth Sticks to your tongue and it shows on your face That the sweetest of words have the bitterest taste Darling heart, I loved you from the start But you'll never know what a fool I've been

57. I Might As Well Die With You — Haarlep

Oh baby When I see your face Too beautiful for this place Don't let the vice and the bad deals Let it go to waste Over and over and over again Oh baby Spiraling out of control God save me Falling in love at the end of world Just take me now What’s the use? I Might as well die with you

58. Souls on Fire — Tav

Do you feel the burn between our hearts Souls on fire A strange desire Have you given in To this ancient ritual I don’t know how long we’ve been apart But we’re the same old souls playing different parts Same old souls playing different parts Picking up the broken pieces of our hearts

59. She — Haarlep

This is the song that started this playlist and it happened so that it ends it. A huge heartfelt thank you to @mina-astarvara for sharing it with me in the first place.

She may be the face I can’t forget A trace of pleasure or regret May be my treasure or the prize I have to pay She may be the reason I survive The why and wherefore I’m alive The one I’ll care for through the rough And ready years Me, I’ll take her laughter and her tears I’ll make them all my souvenirs Oh, where she goes I’ve got to be The meaning of my life is she

YouTube Link:

#bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #bg3 haarlep #haarlep bg3 #haarlep #spotify #spotify playlist #haarlep playlist #Spotify

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agirlwithdemonblood · 4 months ago

Text

The Celebrity Next Door: Chapter 6 - Healing in Darkness

Pairings: Jensen Ackles x Reader

Chapter Summary: The isolation becomes too much for Y/N to bear, luckily she has people around to help

Warnings: Panic attack, swearing, emotional, slight angst

Series Masterlist here!! & Main masterlist here!

It was surprising how quickly things could change.

Just days ago, Jensen and I had been friends, growing closer, sharing intimate moments. Now, we haven't seen each other-not since the night of the kiss.

As much as I didn't want to, I found myself avoiding him, stuck feeling embarrassed for myself for thinking we had something deeper, when clearly we didn't.

My mood was at an all time low as I isolated myself. I've faked an illness at work to work from home, burying myself in tasks to distract from thoughts of him. But as the work decreased, so did my ability to avoid reality.

Walking through the hallway of my home, my gaze fell on the family photograph, our smiles genuine and heartwarming. Tears welled up despite my efforts to hold them back. I missed them, missed having someone to talk to, missed the simple joy of smiling.

Since Jensen, I hadn't smiled. I felt ridiculous to have imagined he could want someone like me. I didn't belong here; I didn't fit in, and I felt more alone that I ever have.

Living and working in LA, despite its perks and recent promotion, felt increasingly unbearable. There had to be another way to support my parents. Anything was better than staying here, isolated and unhappy.

I dialed my mom's number, tears welling up in my eyes as she answered, her voice calm and kind like it always was causing my heart to clench in my chest.

"Mom?" I choked out, and her gasp caused the tears to rush down.

"Oh, Y/N! I've been waiting to hear from you, sweetie. How are you holding up? How's LA treating you?"

Struggling to hold back the sobs, I confessed, "Mom, I don't want to be here anymore."

"Why, baby? What's happened?" her concern was evident, soothing in its familiarity. My family were always this way, ready to listen and to help, it was a lifeline in my darkest days.

I moved to my porch, my first time outside since that night Jensen left. The quiet street offered no comfort, no answers to wether I should stay here or not. I couldn't help but notice Jensen's car parked in his driveway, a painful reminder of his absence, another reason to flee this place.

"I'm so lonely, Mom. There's no one here for me. I feel so isolated, like I don't belong here." I admitted, tears staining my cheeks.

Her voice softened, filled with reassurance. "Y/N, moving was a big decision and defiantly a hard one, but remember how excited you were when you chose this path? You were making a pros and cons list and just seemed so... happy. If you want to come home, that is more than okay with us, you always have a room here. It's okay to feel lost now, but don't give up on your dreams because of loneliness. You're not alone, honey. We're here for you, and you'll find your place there."

Others, yeah. Like Jensen. I debated on mentioning our little relationship, but I held my tongue, ashamed of my adoration for a celebrity.

"You're right, Mom. Thank you. I think I just needed to hear your voice," I sighed.

"We're always here to talk, okay? And your father and I are saving to come visit you soon." she promised.

"I know, I'm trying to do the same." I replied, smiling weakly.

After hanging up, I stayed on the porch, watching the sunset, the world carrying on around me while I remained stuck, feeling utterly alone.

The night progressed as usual, darkness concealing the streets.

Wrapped in a cozy blanket, I turned on "The Office" and sipped my hot chocolate, a small ritual that usually calmed my anxiety. Tonight, however, it offered no relief.

It struck me how consumed I'd become by thoughts of Jensen, how quickly our connection had been deepened and how quickly it burnt out. I couldn't shake him from my mind, nor did I truly want to.

Jensen felt different. The way he looked at me, the spark I felt when our eyes met, his genuine interest in my thoughts-it all left a intense impact.

His touch lingered in my memory, warm and reassuring, treating me as if I were normal, not a loner or an anxious mess.

My mind raced, questioning if maybe the issue was with me. Making friends has always been a challenge; knowing what to say or do seemed beyond my abilities. Even within my own family, I was always the more quiet and reserved one.

Anxiety tightened its grip, suffocating me despite my efforts to focus elsewhere. Unable to bear it any longer, I stumbled outside, seeking comfort on the porch, in the cool air, but the quiet night offered no relief, only increasing my sense of isolation.

My breathing grew heavy, each inhale a struggle against invisible walls closing in. I clutched my phone, fingers trembling as I debated on calling Jensen. But I hesitated-this wasn't something he needed to deal with, especially not now, not at 10:00 pm.

Yet, his words echoed from the other day: "If you ever need someone, I'm here." He wouldn’t have said it without meaning it right? He wouldn’t revoke his offer because of what happened between us....right?

My shaky hands typed a message, hesitating before pressing send. It took mere seconds before my phone pinged, his response popping up in front of me.

Y/N: "Are you awake?"

Jensen: "Yeah, on my way over."

I froze at his response when I realized that it was the last thing I wanted to hear. I never wanted him to witness me like this—pathetic, a mess, a burden. As I started to type, urging him not to come over, my trembling fingers betrayed me. Before I could hit send, I heard his front door shut, and it was too late.

In the darkness, I could see him walking towards me, concern evident on his face. He lifted his head, his eyes widening in alarm as they locked onto my trembling form on the stairs. Panic gripped me tighter as I struggled to breathe, each gasp feeling like a battle against an invisible weight crushing my chest.

He hurried up the stairs, his steps echoing in my ears, and reached my side in a blur of movement. "Y/N?... What's wrong? What happened?" Jensen's voice trembled with worry as he knelt beside me.

I tried to respond, to reassure him, but my words dissolved into raspy coughs, my body shaking uncontrollably. His hand found my back, his touch grounding yet stained with his own growing anxiety. He leaned closer, his voice a gentle plea in my ear.

"Whoa, hey. Breathe with me Y/N, slow deep breathes." he urged, his palm resting firmly between my shoulder blades.

I nodded frantically, focusing on the rhythm of his breaths, trying to match them as my vision blurred with tears of frustration and fear. His hand stayed on my back, guiding each inhalation and exhalation with a steady rhythm, his voice a lifeline in the chaos of my mind.

I forced my head lower, trying to focus on the steps below my feet. His hand patted my back for every breath, holding it there until I exhaled. “That’s right, okay good job slow it down.”

But the panic was relentless, tightening its grip on me despite Jensen’s efforts. He could see it, feel it, in the way I couldn’t stop shaking, in the frantic gasps for air that seemed too shallow. Jensen’s voice became more urgent, his words a mix of reassurance and desperate pleading.

“Stay with me, Y/N. You’re doing great, just keep breathing. I’m right here, I’ve got you,” Jensen murmured, his fingers rubbing small circles on my back, his touch gentle yet firm.

Minutes passed like hours, each second a battle against the overwhelming fear. Slowly, my breathing steadied, the grip of panic loosening its hold. Jensen's touch remained gentle yet firm, a constant reassurance in the darkness.

As calm sat between us, I lifted my head slowly, avoiding his gaze. Embarrassment flooded me-how could he see me like this? Weak, vulnerable, a burden?

"Thank you for helping Jensen..." I whispered, my voice shaky yet sincere. "I'm sorry you had to see me like this."

His hand brushed through his hair, a small smile spreading across his lips. “It's not a problem, I just....I don’t know how you handle it,” Jensen admitted softly, his eyes searching mine. “My panic attacks have never been that bad.”

His admission surprised me, a flicker of connection in our shared vulnerability. I shrugged sadly and dropped my head lower, "Their not usually this bad, but close."

"I'm just glad you're okay now," he added softly, his eyes reflecting both relief and lingering concern.

I stood from my spot and turned towards the door, avoiding his eyes that I knew were locked on me. "Well.. Thanks again, goodnight Jensen."

Before I could retreat inside, Jensen's hand reached for mine, halting my escape. "Wait, please."

Turning to face him, I braced myself for his words, uncertain of what he may say next.

"Would you like to come over? Maybe have a drink and we can talk?" his voice held a hint of vulnerability and hope.

I managed a weak smile, and shook my head. "You know what happened last time we drank together, I don't think it's a good idea."

His expression fell slightly, nodding in understanding. "I.. I wanted to talk to you about that."

Frustration crept in slowly. I was inexperienced in social interactions, but waiting days after an incident like that to talk didn't seem wise. "I was here all week. You knew where to find me, but you didn't come over. So are you sure about that?"

His shoulders slumped, regret and shame covering his face. "I know. I was lost and confused and trying to give you space since I fucked up." He sighed.

His eyes glanced down, and he stepped closer as embarrassment and regret pulled at his features. "Y/N, you're the first person I've been with since my ex-wife. You're the only one I've had feelings for and it scared the shit out of me."

"Feelings?" I felt a surge of anger, recalling that night vividly. "Jensen, when you left, you straight out said that you didn’t want that to happen. That came from your mouth. Please don’t tell me you have feelings for me if you didn’t want to do any of that with me in the first place.”

His eyes widened, mouth gaping. "Sweetheart, that's not what I meant when I said it... Fuck. I'm such an asshole. That's not what I wanted you to think."

Tears welled in my eyes, and I shrugged. "What else was I supposed to think?"

He sighed heavily, running a hand through his hair. "I know. I should have talked to you sooner, but I didn't know if you wanted to see me."

He stepped closer, hand reaching for mine, eyes filled with vulnerability, "I didn't want to rush things. I wanted to take it slow. I spoke to a friend before coming here, and he called me out for being too cautious, too shy. So I tried to be bold, to go for what I wanted, but I ended up messing it all up..."

He stepped closer, brushing a tear from my cheek. "I'm sorry Y/N, I really am. I didn't handle it well at all, I should have spoken to you."

I nodded slowly, my hand reaching for his. "I understand, it's okay."

He stepped closer hesitantly, opening his arms and smiling sadly as I stepped closer, hugging him tightly to me. "I know, I messed up. I want this, Y/N. I have feelings for you. I'm just scared."

I lifted my head to face him, "I'm scared too."

His eyes locked in mine, a small smile playing on his lips. "You are?"

"Yeah." I admitted softly. "I've never been in a relationship before. People usually don't like me that much."

Jensen kissed my forhead softly, his touch sending shivers down my spine. "I like you." he confessed, his eyes meeting mine with sincerity. "I really do, Y/N."

I smiled back, leaning up to kiss his cheek. "I like you too, Jensen. A lot."

His grip tightened as he held me, putting all the pieces back together one by one. "Do you want to come to my place for a bit? The kids are with their mom until tomorrow."

I hesitated for a moment, then nodded, feeling a sense of calm settle over me. "I'd like that."

Locking my door behind me, I followed him to his house, letting things unfold naturally. For the first time, I wasn't anxious about what might happen next. I knew it would be okay.

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it! Chapter 7 coming soon stay tuned!

Like, comment, and reblog, feedback is my fuel 💕

#jensen ackles x you #jensen ackles x reader #jensen x reader #jensen's smile #jensenxyou #supernatural fanfiction #sam and dean #supernatural #spn fic

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icantsleepsoiwritefanfics · 5 months ago

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18 - Jake Shim (ENHYPEN)

❝ Jake Shim's biggest problem has name, surname and is two years older than him. Who said falling in love with his friend's cousin would be that hard? ❞

Pairing: younger!jake x fem!reader, Jake's POV

Genre: romance, fluffy, suggestive, kinda cliche you know, fem!reader has no name

Inspiration: 18 by 5 Seconds Of Summer

Warning: cursing, kinda suggestive, making out, just a little bit of nudity

Word count: 1,1k

A.N: Hey everyone! First time posting here! English is not my first language so I hope you understand if there's something wrong here and there. Jake is a minor in the beginning but he'll be a big boy soon don't worry. Hope you like it!

"She's just a little bit older".

That's what Heeseung said when I asked about her.

He didn't give more details but I found out a few days later we study at the same school, she's a senior and she knows my older cousin, Winnie. And by the irony of fate these two are a few meters away from me talking to a blonde girl who seems the most excited of her group.

"Stop staring at her" Jay alerts me with a glass of Sprite on his left hand.

"I'm not staring at her" I denied even if everyone can see that yes, I've been staring at her since I arrived at Heeseung's birthday party. "I just think she's cute"

"I just think she's cute?" he laughs because he knows better than anyone this is not about cuteness. "I see you stalking her Instagram every single day in the breaks. Shame on you"

"If you don't know I've never been so shameful" that's my confession before drinking my Coca-Cola can.

"Why don't you get an excuse to talk to Winnie and talk to her too?" he looks pretty impatient now. "I know she won't disappear or something but if an atom of her body disappears every second passing by I think she wouldn't be here anymore"

"And what should I talk to Winnie?" even if I'm talking to Jay I can't take my eyes off her. This is the first time I see someone wearing a jumpsuit and a flannel at the same time. "Should I ask her if she beat Final Fantasy again this weekend?"

"Wait, wait, wait, she beat Final Fantasy every weekend?" now he's the one who's confused. "This is not normal man"

"Say it to her not to me" I finally avert my gaze from her. By now she knows I may be staring for a couple minutes.

"I'll say it to her but you'll come with me"

There's no time to say no. A few seconds later we are closer than I imagined and she looks at me smiling. It's pretty obvious I'm a little shy so I take a huge sip of my Coca-Cola while Jay starts annoying my cousin.

"Winnie, Jake told me you beat Final Fantasy every single weekend" I don't look at Winnie because I know she's mad. "This is a little worrisome, don't you agree?"

"It's not every single weekend…" Winnie tries to protect herself but the blonde girl's scandalous laugh interrupts her excuse.

"C'mon Winnie you say it all the time" she laughs. It's the first time I hear her laugh.

"Why did you say it to him Jake?" my cousin punches my shoulder.

"You are Jake?" finally I decided take a look at the blonde girl. She seems kinda surprised and keep staring at me. "Winnie why didn't you told me your cousin was so handsome?"

"Get out Naomi he's a minor"

"So what? He can be my baby."

"Naomi!" Winnie screams. Jay keep on looking at me like that and take another sip of his cup.

"She's crazy, nevermind" this is the first time she talks to me and I feel my forearm shiver when she touches it for a few seconds. "Winnie talks a lot about you, maybe more than her brother".

"Respect my maternal instinct" my cousin seems angry, but she keep on laughing. "By the way you and my brother are the same age, Jake is two years younger"

"You're sixteen?" Naomi asks and I just nod. "Winnie I can't deny your brother is pretty hot, but your cousin is a lost cause"

"Naomi I swear to God if you don't stop I'm gonna call the police" Winnie tries to make her stop. Jay keeps eye-contacting me like he was saying I should make a move and he knows the answer.

Suddenly I feel her getting closer. Her hand cover my ear and she whispers: "I'll get you out of here before she does something illegal"

I'm stunned hearing her voice so close.

See that smile makes me go dumb and dumber.

"I want more Coca-Cola. Would you come with me Jake?" I nod again, twining our arms as we get distant from them.

I couldn't hear them anymore. Maybe my heartbeat is making me deaf.

"Thanks" that's all I can say. I keep on staring at the floor and finally I notice she's wearing a black Keds.

"Not at all" I can feel her smile between the words. "I was just like you"

"Minor?" she laughs.

"Yeah" and she is still laughing. "But I was pretty shy when I was sixteen"

"It's a must not being shy to be a senior?" I ask and immediately regret myself. Pretty sure she can see me swallowing hard. "Sorry I…"

"It's alright" she says like it means nothing. "I know you check my Instagram stories." Definitely I'm blushing. "I know it because I check your profile. Winnie follows you and she told us she has a cousin named Jake."

"You checked my profile?" that's the only information that I could focus on. Just getting dumb and dumber.

"Of course!" unlike me she seems pretty chill to confess those things. "You've got that low-profile vibes but I love the songs you share"

"I like the songs you share too."

"I started listening to Cage The Elephant because of you."

"And I started listening to Two Door Cinema Club because of you."

And then the silence.

She makes me feel so lost I've got no idea what I should talk about.

"They know I was lying" she can see I don't get it. "I'm not a big fan of Coca-Cola"

"Sprite?" she nod and laughs. God, how I wish I could make her laugh more and more.

"You know my cousin, right?"

"Guess I can say we're friends?" it's my time to laugh. "He's part of the school team"

"Oh yeah" and she laughs too. "Sometimes I forget he's a local celebrity"

"Local celebrity?"

"You know, popular crew, cool kids and everything in between" but this time it doesn't sound funny to her. "I don't like that they see me just as Heeseung's cousin."

"Being honest I met you before meeting him".

And immediately I regret myself again.

Dumb and dumber is getting real.

"Are you keeping an eye on me Jake?" her smile isn't the same.

Looks a little more sassy?

"Well…" I don't know what to say when she's looking at me like that.

"Damn it boy you're so fucking cute" I feel her fingers squeeze my right cheek. "Such a shame you're too young for me"

"I can wait" I'm not a bold guy but I definitely was when I said that.

"Maybe when you're older big boy" she smiles and taps my shoulder before leaving me alone.

This is the first time I wish I wasn't a minor.

#enhypen #enhypen scenarios #enhypen fanfic #enhypen fanfiction #enhypen jake #jake enhypen #jake shim #shim jaeyun #shim jaeyoon #fanfic #fanfiction #fanfic writing #kpop #kpop scenarios #kpop fanfic #kpop fanfiction #icantsleepsoiwritefanfics

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morningstargirl666 · 9 months ago

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WIP WEDNESDAY

In a completely unsurprising turn of events, my rewrite of tbbw's chapter 5 had to be split into 2 chapters because I've added so much. So the old chapter 5's contents are now chapter 5 and 6. Here's a snippet from the new chapter 6:

“Oh my god, she’s inviting him to the Ball,” Caroline exclaimed, eyes popping between Rebekah and Matt, watching as the former smiled demurely, placing a hand on Matt’s arm and swear-to-God giggling at something he said. That snake. She spun to Elena, outraged. “Why is she inviting him?”

Elena glared at Rebekah from her seat, the anger in her eyes fading a little to make way for resignation. “Probably to get this reaction from us.”

“Urgh!” Caroline huffed, leaning back with a scowl on her face, folding her arms over her chest. “What day is this stupid dance again?”

Elena turned towards her, eyes hopeful. “You’ll come?”

Caroline rolled her eyes, still glaring at where Rebekah stood. “I’m not leaving you and Matt to those vipers.”

“You don’t have to come if you don’t want to, Caroline,” Elena said softly, looking worried. “I mean, if Klaus invited you…won’t he expect you to dance with him?”

“It’s like you said, he’s following his mum’s rules right? I should be fine. ”

“Still, I get it if you want to bow out.”

“Not a chance,” Caroline declared firmly, offering Elena her first smile of the afternoon. “Besides, do you know how jealous Courtney will be if I go to this Ball while she’s not even invited?”

Elena’s face broke open in a grin, laughing a little. “Is she the one that-”

“That saw Klaus pick up Rebekah from school that one time and has been thirsting after him ever since? Yep,” Caroline finished for her, eyes widening to show how truly ridiculous she thought her classmate’s crush was. “I mean, objectively, I get it-” Who didn’t? Even Caroline could admit Klaus was hot. Just more in the I-kill-people-and-I-look-good-doing-it kinda way. “-but has she never heard of the phrase don’t judge a book by its cover? Or stranger danger?”

“Clearly not,” Elena mused with a smile, picking up her menu again.

Caroline huffed, leaning down to take another sip of her coke. “And what’s worse,” she continued, talking around her straw, “she said she met one of the other brothers yesterday morning in the town square and will not stop TALKING about it.”

Elena’s brows flickered with confusion. “Elijah?”

Caroline shook her head. “No, I don’t think so. She said he looked our age, maybe a little older. Apparently she-” hear Caroline held up her fingers to make air quotes, “-‘accidentally’ bumped into him and he was totally flirting with her, and then they shared this ‘moment’-” Elena opened her mouth, no doubt to ask what Courtney meant by ‘moment’ but Caroline had already lived through Courtney’s nauseating retelling of their make out session against the wall of the Grill and she was not repeating it. “-don’t even ask - where she pointed out he had a bit of ketchup smeared on the edge of his mouth.”

When Caroline stopped talking, staring at Elena, clearly waiting for a reaction, her friend blinked, looking lost.

“So?”

“So?” Caroline echoed, throwing her hands out in frustration. “Elena, it clearly wasn’t ketchup.”

Elena’s eyes widened in realisation. “You think it was blood.”

“That family? With their record?” Caroline scoffed, leaning back with her head held high. “I know it was blood.”

“Kol’s not one for table manners, I’m afraid,” Rebekah announced, joining their conversation. Caroline flinched a little at her sudden appearance behind her - why was it, she could be so loud in those heels when she walked away but so silent when sneaking up behind them? Dramatic bitch.

“Were you listening in?” she asked to hide her unease. “Creeper.”

Rebekah shot her a smile that was all fake pleasantries and masked murderous intent. “Only when you started gossiping about the bachelorhood of my brothers.” She tilted her head, eyes raking over Caroline, silently judging her. “To think I once respected your taste in men.”

“Hey,” Caroline spat, jabbing a finger in the Original vampire’s direction, “Courtney is the one gossiping, not me.”

Rebekah’s nose scrunched up with disgust, familiar with their dark-haired classmate who was a particular breed of rich who thought every new trend was the height of social status. At the moment, the girl was on some vegan diet she’d found on a guy’s blog and bragging about the advantages of goat yoga.

“Kol was flirting with Courtney? I very much doubt that.”

Caroline sent her most saccharine smile back, the one that was all politeness but said in my head, I’m stabbing you in the eye with a hot poker. “Maybe your brother’s just shallow, like you.”

Rebekah’s face dropped, lips twisting into a sneer.

Elena awkwardly cleared her throat, shooting Caroline a warning glare. “Kol? That’s his name, then? Your brother?” she asked Rebekah, diverting her deadly attention from Caroline.

When Caroline didn’t back down, merely raising her chin higher in challenge, something relented in Rebekah’s eyes and slowly, she turned to Elena, even though she glanced back at Caroline with a contemplative look on her face from time to time.

“Finn’s the eldest. Kol though, he’s younger than Klaus. Older than me. I’m sure you’ll meet them both soon, or Kol will eat you,” she said with a smile at Elena, turning to walk away, this time to leave the Grill, heels clicking behind her. “Whichever comes first, he’s not one to play by my mother’s rules.”

“Elijah won’t stand for it!” Elena shouted after her, as determined as Caroline to get in the last word.

Neither saw Rebekah’s smirk.

“As long as Kol isn’t setting the house fire,” she called back over her shoulder, “I doubt my dear older brother will care.”

#klaroline wip wed #klaroline #klaus x caroline #fanfiction #klaroline fanfiction #the big bad wolf #morningstar writes #klaus mikaelson #caroline forbes #kol's sneaking into scenes again #he's a menace

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hbyrde36 · 7 months ago

Text

Times Like These (The Anniversary Edition)

CH 1 CH 2 Ch 3 Ch 4 Ch5 Ch 6 Ch 7 Ch 8 Ch 9

Chapter 10: Focal Point

WC: 5138 | AO3 link

“Oh my god.”

The nail bat clattered as it hit the ground, slipping from Steve’s grip as he and Hopper spent several seconds just staring at each other. Eddie couldn’t tell who moved first but suddenly the two men had wrapped each other up in a fierce embrace.

He wasn’t sure if Steve and the Chief had been particularly close before the older man had been lost, but maybe having fought in the trenches together, and then thinking he was dead meant that didn’t really matter. They were brothers in arms—even if the age difference made them seem more like father and son—reunited against all odds just when they needed each other most.

That alone was worth a hug and a tear—or two.

Eddie bent to scoop up the fallen weapon, handing it back to Steve when they separated, and waved Hopper inside.

“Hey Chief,” Eddie said, dipping his head in acknowledgement. “Just, uh, heads up—there's like eight people right around the corner that are about to freak out when they see you.”

“Not the Chief anymore.” Hopper said, frowning as he looked Eddie up and down. “Do I even want to know how you got mixed up in all this, Munson?”

“It’s a long story, lawman.”

“I guess that makes two of us then.” Hopper sighed, taking a step over the threshold and throwing a desperate look at Steve. “Do you think I can at least shower this filth off before we play twenty questions?”

Steve grimaced in reply, scratching his nose.

Sure enough when they turned around, Robin, Dustin, and Nancy came tumbling into the hall, the others crowding in behind them in the archway, all staring—mouths agape.

Dustin rubbed at his eyes, like he couldn't believe what he was seeing. “Is that?”

“Oh my god,” Robin breathed.

“But, I thought–”

“We all thought.” Nancy said, wrapping her arms around her waist.

For a moment Hopper just stood there looking at them all, a little stunned himself, staring as if they were the ghosts, his eyes swimming with unshed tears.

“Alright guys, let’s give the man a little breathing room.” Eddie prompted, knowing everyone but him and Steve were bound to be in a state of shock.

“I’m gonna take Hopper upstairs to get cleaned up before we bombard him with questions, alright?” Steve added, throwing a warning glare at the crowd of onlookers.

Dustin looked ready to push the issue, but thought better of it as the others nodded absently, moving out of the way to let them pass, still dumbfounded. Steve led Hopper towards the stairs, and Eddie followed without thinking, just second nature to be wherever Steve was, until he was stopped short on the bottom step, turning as Nancy caught him by the arm.

“Is this what you and Steve had to talk to Joyce alone about? Did you know he was alive this whole time?!” She asked, sharp eyes searching his.

He struggled not to squirm under the intensity of her gaze, glancing around for help, hoping Robin or Chrissy were close by but they’d both gone back into the living room.

“I knew it was a possibility, yeah, but I swear this is the first time I've been sure. I’m sorry, Joyce asked us not to say anything until—”

Nancy let him go suddenly, her face softening. “It’s okay. Eddie, I’m not—I know we haven't been especially friendly with each other, and I don't know if that’s typical of you and me in these loops or not, but—” She cut herself off, shaking her head. “I promise I believe you, and I-I'm not mad. God, I’m just glad he’s alive. I wanted to say thank you—for everything.”

“B-but I didn’t—”

“You did. I think you probably did more for us than we’ll ever know.” She smiled, stepping back and shooing him away. “Now go on, catch up with Steve. I'm sure he could use a hand, or at least moral support.”

Eddie gulped and did just that, taking the stairs two at a time to escape, wondering how the hell he’d managed to endear himself to goddamn Nancy Wheeler. He’d been a train wreck this loop!

He got to the end of the hall in a flash.

“So, what happened, why aren’t Joyce and the kids with you?” Steve was asking Hopper as he walked up.

The former chief glanced between the two of them. “I thought you might know something. You seemed… a little less shocked than I would have expected at seeing me alive. I take it the others didn’t have any idea?”

Steve shook his head.

“I would have done the same.” Hopper nodded approvingly. “And to answer your question, all I know is we were on the way to some underground bunker in Nevada when the flight crew got a message that it had been compromised. They rerouted here, dropped me off, and left again.”

Oh shit.

It’d been such a surprise to open the door and see the man standing on the other side of it that Eddie hadn’t considered the implications of him arriving alone. Clearly Steve had.

He felt like an idiot, unsure why he was even standing there. Steve didn’t need him. Eddie had followed out of habit, a base need to be around the other boy, wherever he was—proof that he’d let himself go too far last night, forgotten that he needed to stay away. He should have left that bathroom the second Steve was patched up, and he definitely shouldn’t have fallen asleep next to him on the couch.

“Alright, that’s enough for now. You uh… “ Steve trailed off, showing Hopper into his parents room. “Shower’s through there, and you can take whatever you want from the drawers or the closet. Come down when you’re ready.”

“Thanks, kid.”

As soon as they were back downstairs with the others, Robin rounded on Steve whispering at him rapidly, while Dustin pounced, pointing an accusing finger at Eddie. “What’s going on?”

“What makes you think I know anything?”

Dustin gave him a searing glare, unimpressed. “First of all, you’re in a time loop, you literally know everything. Secondly, do I look stupid to you?”

Eddie raised an eyebrow. “Do you really want me to answer that?”

“You both obviously know something, so spill.” Dustin demanded, all but stomping his feet as he looked between him and Steve.

“Fine! Okay, fine!” Steve raised his hands in surrender. “I don’t know how he survived Starcourt and the explosion or anything, but Joyce got a ransom note from Russia right before all this started. She asked Owens to help this time around, and some of his people got Hop out.”

“Out?” Mike asked.

“They were holding him in a prison.”

Dustin took a few steps back, falling into the nearby recliner. “Jesus.”

Steve bit at his lip.

“There’s more, what is it?” Max asked.

Steve’s eyes flicked to Eddie briefly before he answered. “Hopper was supposed to meet up with El and the Byers first and they were all going to fly here together.” He paused, shaking his head. “Something’s wrong.”

Hopper finally joined them about fifteen minutes later, looking exhausted but clean. He’d shaved and was wearing, well—

Eddie snorted at the sight, all six foot three inches of scowling Jim Hopper wrapped in baby blue silk pajamas. The top had buttons and a collar and everything.

“Shut it. Munson. I’ve arrested you before. I’ll do it again.”

“Not the chief anymore, you said so yourself!”

“Watch me get reinstated just for the privilege,” Hopper growled. “It was this or a three-piece monkey suit, and I wouldn't want you to feel underdressed.”

“Sorry, Hop.” Steve interrupted, stepping between them. “I’ll find you something better later.”

The group gathered around, still looking at Hopper in awe until Mike stepped forward and threw his arms around the man’s middle, hugging him. It seemed to break some sort of ice for everyone else because suddenly they were all hugging him, Erica too, and the display reaffirmed for Eddie how much getting this man back meant to them all.

Eventually the former chief sat down and explained, in brief, how back at Starcourt he’d had to separate from Joyce to keep the Russians at bay, and wound up leaping off the platform he had stood on, narrowly avoiding the pulse of energy that destroyed everything in its path when Joyce had deactivated their machine, closing the gate. He was left untouched by the blast but he thought he must have hit his head in the fall and passed out. When he came to, he was immediately captured by the remaining Russian soldiers.

His captors “questioned” him for weeks, or so Hopper put it, though they all knew it was code for something much, much worse. Something that made Steve tense, and made Eddie want to reach out and offer him comfort, but he held back.

Hopper didn’t say much about the bulk of his time in the prison, either because he had no wish to relive those memories, or because he thought it was more than they needed to hear, and ended by telling them about the deal he’d made with one of the few guards that spoke English, who’d been the one to send the note to Joyce. The rest, they already knew.

“Now, can someone please tell me what the hell’s been going on around here, why my daughter is in an underground bunker in Nevada, and how Eddie Munson ties into all of it?” Hooper asked when he was all done, hooking a thumb in Eddie’s direction.

Eddie clenched his jaw hard enough to crack, squeezing his hands into fists at his side. It was nothing against Hopper really, they just had a generally special relationship, the kind lovingly built on years of Eddie running through backyards trying to escape parties that were being broken up, while Hopper tried to catch him.

The real problem was that he just couldn’t fucking do it again. He couldn’t go through the whole saga one more time—not when he knew he might have to do it again soon anyway If they didn’t make it out of this loop.

They were all looking at him expectantly again, but just the idea of it, coupled with the lack of sleep, all his stress and anxiety surrounding the Steve of it all, and the fact that he was on his umpteenth hour of having to listen to Master of Puppets on a fucking loop, all conspired to send Eddie right over the edge, feeling suddenly exhausted and overwhelmed.

As if he could sense that Eddie was at a breaking point, Steve drew the attention back on himself, assigning Dustin and Nancy to take the lead on catching Hopper up to speed, while announcing that he and Eddie would go to the kitchen and take care of breakfast for everyone.

Eddie followed, desperate to escape the spotlight and this latest retelling even if it meant trading one impossibly difficult situation for another.

He froze for a moment when they were finally alone in the kitchen, watching as Steve pulled out pans and set them on the stove. It was too reminiscent of another very different morning, and an irrational anger began to bubble up in his chest.

He’d been trying so hard to keep his emotions in check—to keep himself under control, but Steve was unrelenting in his care and kindness, and the way he kept looking at Eddie like maybe—

No.

Eddie snatched his pack of cigarettes roughly up off the counter where they rested next to his keys and stomped past Steve towards the patio.

“I’m not your fucking damsel in distress, Harrington!” Eddie snapped over his shoulder. “I don’t need you to rescue me.” He didn’t wait to see if Steve had anything to say in response to his outburst, walking straight out the door and shutting it tight behind him.

Eddie leaned against the side of the house and lit up a smoke, inhaling deep into his lungs, wishing it were a joint rather than a cigarette but still hoping the nicotine would soothe some of his frayed nerves.

It didn’t.

“Fuck!” He shouted, ripping the headphones off his ears and kicking at the house’s concrete foundation.

He was doing it again, getting so caught up in his own bullshit when any one of them could die—and soon. The good feelings he’d allowed himself to indulge in the night before, bolstered by seeing the party reunited with the chief this morning, were rapidly fading, leaving nothing but a sense of hopelessness in its wake.

When he’d smoked his first cigarette down to the filter he stubbed it out, immediately lighting another. He wasn’t usually a chain smoker but he needed the distraction, he needed something to do with his hands, and he desperately needed an excuse to stay out of that fucking house for a while.

He was nearing the end of his second smoke when he heard the glass door slide open behind him. He didn’t turn, didn’t acknowledge that he’d heard anything at all, staring deliberately ahead at the pool, the yard, and the woods beyond.

“Are you okay?” Steve asked softly.

Of course it was Steve. He didn’t even sound pissed off that Eddie had yelled at him for basically no reason and stormed off, he just seemed concerned. It made Eddie feel both worse for being such an asshole, and more pissed off.

“I’m fine.” Eddie spat. “Don’t you have anything better to do than hover over me?” He tossed his latest butt to the concrete, grinding it out with the sole of his shoe before setting off at a brisk walk towards the tree line , not looking back once. He knew that if he did—if he turned around and looked Steve full in the face he’d never be able to hold on to this anger. And he wouldn't just break, he’d shatter.

“Eddie, wait,” Steve called out.

He ignored it, continuing to walk, but far from giving up Steve continued to chase him down, his footsteps crunching on the dry grass as he tried to catch up.

“You called me sweetheart—”

It stopped Eddie dead in his tracks. Time stopped—everything froze. He held his breath, he was pretty sure even his heart skipped a beat or two. Still, he didn’t turn around.

Steve kept coming, and Eddie begged his heart to restart, for his body to reanimate.

“Last night when you were—”

“Stop!” Eddie blurted out.

The sounds of crisp grass underfoot faltered, slowing.

“I didn’t—it just slipped out. It didn’t mean anything.” Eddie urged his legs to move, to put one foot in front of the other—to run, but he only managed a few stuttering steps. “Just… leave me alone, Steve.”

The footfalls finally stopped.

Good.

“Fine,” Steve said sharply, then sighed. “But—you know better than most what could be out there, don’t go too far.” He started to walk away then but paused, quietly adding, “and please put your music on.”

Eddie held his breath as he listened to Steve’s retreat. He had no intention of going very far, not sure how he’d even made it this close to the edge of Steve’s properly in the first place, it was like he’d lost time.

The second he heard the patio door shut again, and he was sure the other boy was really gone, Eddie’s knees buckled, and he slumped down against the trunk of the nearest tree. He pulled his knees to his chest, slid the headphones back over his ears, and wept.

He sobbed until his eyes burned, and his throat hurt, and his chest ached—and hysterically he started to think that maybe the him-dying-over-and-over-again thing was the easiest part of this whole arrangement. He’d take the bats right now over this.

It was a long time before he could bring himself to go back inside.

There was no way everyone hadn’t heard the way he’d snapped at Steve, hadn’t heard him ranting and raving outside even if they couldn’t hear exactly what was said. He was wrung out, embarrassed, sure that his puffy eyes were too noticeable to be missed, and avoided everyone's glances as he rejoined the group sitting on the floor in front of Chrissy.

It seemed as though they were done telling Hopper about the loops and were now on to catching him up on everything else he’d missed being away from the world at large for the last eight months. Eventually Eddie did look up, and of course instantly locked eyes with Steve, whose gaze was already on him, and he felt like such an asshole.

At first glance Steve looked pissed, his face hard, but underneath it all and in the depths of his eyes he looked sad—hurt.

Eddie had done that.

Steve got up abruptly, breaking the stare, and left the room with Robin in tow. Eddie looked back down at his feet just as Chrissy placed a hand on the back of his neck. Her cool fingers felt wonderful as they kneaded the tense muscles there, and he tuned out everything else for a few minutes, letting himself enjoy the touch, leaning back into her legs a little bit as he closed his eyes, only intending to rest them for a bit.

The next thing he knew the room around them was empty. He wasn’t sure where the kids had gone, outside maybe, but Chrissy did say that Hopper had gone back upstairs to get some sleep while they waited for a call back from one of Owens’ colleagues. They could only hope someone knew what was going on and if El and the Byers were okay—all of them clinging to the fact that this had happened before and they’d made it out alive. With any luck they’d done it again.

Eddie yawned and stretched, rolling his shoulders, and tried not to think about what a mess he’d made of things.

“You hungry?” Chrissy asked, nudging his shoulder. “We ate while you were outside but, um… Steve saved a plate for you in the microwave.”

He winced, another pang in his chest because even after all that, Steve was still trying to take care of him. He was starving, too. Nothing built up an appetite quite like a bout of hysterics, but he could also hear Steve in the kitchen cleaning up and Eddie didn’t think he could face him, promise of pancakes or not.

“Come on,” Chrissy said, rising to her feet and offering him a hand up, which of course he took. “You need to eat. I’ll go with you.”

Not only was Steve in there doing the dishes but Robin was helping, and Nancy was sitting up at the counter pouring over her notepad, their conversation coming to a screeching halt when he and Chrissy entered the room.

Eddie hesitated in the doorway feeling incredibly awkward, but Chrissy pulled him along, setting him up next to Nancy while she brought his food over, and proceeded to stand beside him like a tiny blonde guard dog while he ate.

After a while Nancy turned to him, clearing her throat. “So, uh, the three of us were talking, and I was thinking, no matter what happens we’ll still need access to a gate soon right?”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“And Steve mentioned that he had planned to talk to Patrick yesterday, to try and help him, but after Jason showed up here, that obviously didn’t happen. So I think, not to be insensitive, but I think a few of us should take a ride out to Benny’s to see if there’s a gate.”

Eddie pushed his plate away at her words, appetite gone. He’d forgotten Patrick completely in the aftermath of the fight. He couldn’t even be surprised anymore at how much of a failure he was. If he had the capacity to think more rationally he’d be able to see it was Jason’s fault, if it was anyone’s, that the other boy had been lost, but rationality had parted ways with Eddie a long time ago.

Though he supposed Nancy had a point—and at least now they knew where to check for a gate. If it was there, and they somehow managed to pull off a win, at least Patrick won’t have died in vain.

“I’ll go,” Steve said, loud and abrupt. “Be good to get out of the house for a while.”

It felt pointed.

Eddie’s face burned as he kept his eyes cast down, staring at his mostly untouched plate of food as Steve and Nancy left together—though he did notice the way Chrissy and Robin shared a few pointed looks with each other over his head.

They were gone for a long time, and Eddie hated the way he seethed with jealousy thinking about the two of them in Steve’s car alone together. He had no right, and on top of that he’d been horrible, of course Steve wanted to get the fuck away from him, and wasn’t this what he wanted anyway? Some space?

He didn’t even know anymore.

Chrissy never left his side, and for that matter neither did Robin, though mercifully neither tried to get him to talk—allowing him to mope in silence right up until someone knocked on the front door.

All three of them froze, looking at each other. It certainly wasn’t Nancy and Steve returning, he wouldn’t knock at his own house, and everyone else was here. Eddie’s luck being what it was, the most likely scenario was that it was Jason coming back for him again—whether for Chrissy’s sake or to blame him for something else, it was honestly a crap shoot at this point.

“It's probably safest if I get it,” Robin said, following the same train of thought. “You two stay here.”

“No.”

No way was Eddie doing this again, he didn’t think Jason would stoop so low as to hit a girl, but he wasn’t taking the chance of someone else getting hurt on his behalf again. He went for the door first, swinging it open aggressively, itching for a fight, but it wasn’t Jason, or any of his buddies.

Eddie gaped. It was a short woman with long dark hair, two younger teens at her side, and Jonathan Byers—the only one of them he truly recognized—at her back.

The woman, who had to be Joyce, smiled at him brightly. “You must be Eddie. Honey, it’s so nice to meet you in person.” She stepped forward, wrapping him up in a hug that caught him completely off guard.

Like Chrissy she was small but strong, her grip around him firm and comforting. For the briefest of seconds he felt wholly safe, and he wondered if this is what it was supposed to feel like when you got hugged by a mom. It’d been long enough since he’d seen his own that he could hardly remember her face, let alone what her arms had felt like around him, but he doubted it’d been anything like this.

He hugged her in return, letting himself melt into it a little bit until she began to rub his back and he realized he was trembling. He backed off abruptly before he could turn into a complete mess in front of people he barely knew, and was thankful when the sound of thundering footsteps pulled everyone’s attention away from him and to Hopper rushing down the hall.

“Dad!” Eleven sobbed, rushing inside the house to meet him halfway, throwing herself at him.

Joyce gasped, grabbing at Eddie’s arm. He smiled down at her. “He showed up early this morning.”

She smiled back, moving to join them, and had her own sweet reunion with her lost friend.

More than a friend, Eddie corrected his own thoughts as the pair shared a passionate, if chaste, kiss. Mindful of the young eyes in the room no doubt.

Moments later Steve and Nancy reappeared, at almost the same time the kids came in from out back, screaming when they spotted the new arrivals.

Eddie stood back and watched it all unfold, the smiles, the tears, more hugs and pats on the back, and felt his own mouth turning up at the corners. It was impossible to be unaffected by it. Finally, after all this time, all the struggle to get here, the entire group of them was together again in one place.

When things had calmed a bit, Joyce explained that although the raid had happened ahead of when they expected it, Owens received an anonymous tip and was able to smuggle her and the kids out and into a helicopter before the underground lab was overrun. No one could figure out what had caused the change, and they’d probably never know. Hopefully it wouldn't matter.

Inevitably, Eddie’s eyes settled on Steve, as they always did no matter how hard he tried not to, and as had become just as common, Steve was looking back at him too, his brow pinched.

Eddie couldn’t stand it. He didn't want to leave things between them like this. At the very least he owed the other boy an apology. He held Steve’s gaze purposefully and tilted his head down the hall towards the office before setting off for it, hoping the other boy would follow.

He did.

“I’m sorry about earlier.” Eddie said as soon as Steve stepped into the room.

Steve crossed his arms over his chest. “What’s going on with you?”

“It’s nothing, I–”

“Don’t.” Steve said, clipped, before Eddie could even try to make up excuses. “Don’t do that. You—fuck, Eddie, I feel like I'm going crazy here.“ He huffed a wry laugh as he shook his head, running hands roughly through his hair. “One minute you’re—we’re—I don’t know… and the next you’re pulling away from me again. You tell me we’re friends but then half the time you act like you can’t stand being around me! It’s so hot and cold, and I’m—”

“What are you guys doing in here?”

The rest of Steve’s speech was lost as Dustin came barreling into the room. “I’ve been looking everywhere, come on! El wants to go over the plan!”

Steve looked at him questioningly over Dustin’s head. Eddie hesitated, he didn’t know what to say except the truth, and even if he was ready to own up to it, he wasn’t about to spill his guts in front of the kid. It would have to wait. Steve scoffed, shaking his head, and left without a word. Dustin looked between the two of them, confused.

“What did I say?” He asked.

Eddie ruffled the kid’s hair. “Nothing, Henderson, don’t worry about it. Let’s go see what supergirl wants to do.”

The plan was simple, and very similar to every other time they’d done this, with a few big exceptions.

None of the younger teens were going anywhere near the Upside Down. It was the one point at which Hopper had absolutely put his foot down, with Joyce’s support. The only exception was El, who insisted she needed to be there to face Vecna in person as well as inside his mindscape.

The kids were beyond pissed at being benched, again, apparently this had happened before, but oddly enough the biggest argument wound up being over timing. Hopper wanted to wait, to give Eleven—all of them, really—a night to rest and recharge, but he was overwhelmingly overruled.

Almost everyone wanted to go in now, tonight. They wanted to end this. Even Joyce who’d only just arrived was in agreement once Dustin pointed out that they’d never tried to go after Vecna this early, and with only two kills under his belt. It was the closest thing to an advantage they were ever likely to get.

Hopper relented, but quickly took charge of the proceedings from there, which worked just fine for Eddie. He was the bait, he knew what his marching orders would be, and was happy to let the older man call the shots, barely listening as the rest of the details were worked out.

“Alright, if my daughter is going into that place, then so am I.” Hopper said.

“I'm going too.” Nancy was quick to jump in. “I’m the best shot here besides you.”

“Me too.” Jonathan spoke up, “I know I can’t shoot for shit, but I'm not letting you go in there without me, or El for that matter. Not when I'm here. I’ll bring an ax or something.”

“Chrissy and I can handle the music and guard the gate at Benny’s.” Robin said.

“Okay that’ll all work fine,” Hopper agreed. “Joyce, I’d like you to go to the topside Creel house to keep an eye on Eddie, and uh, Steve you—”

“I’m going with Eddie.” Steve insisted.

“No.” Eddie forcibly pulled himself out of the hole he’d been sinking into to prepare himself for the inevitable, as the others had talked around him. “I mean, maybe you should stay here with the kids in case something happens.”

It was worth a shot.

Steve's face twisted up “What? No! We barely have enough hands as it is, I'm not staying behind.”

“You could join us in the Upside Down,” Hopper suggested. “The more weapons on this guy the better.”

“No, I'm going with him.” Steve said again, shaking his head at Hopper before turning pleading eyes back on Eddie.

“Eddie, you need a third person, someone to be with you while the other one takes care of the signals.”

Eddie was torn, he didn’t love the idea of Steve in the Upside Down, even if he had been several times before, but he’d never anticipated Steve wanting to go with him, especially not after today. He couldn't… he wouldn’t be able to say the things he might need to say to bait Vecna with Steve right there. He didn’t want Steve to see him like that again either! “There’s plenty of time for Joyce to make it upstairs, it’ll be fine. You should–”

“This is ridiculous, just let me–”

“You heard what Hopper said, maybe–”

“Stop!” Dustin shouted, silencing both of them. “Eddie, I don’t know what the hell is going on with you, but you know if I wasn’t being side-lined here I’d insist on going with you. Please, if it can’t be me, let it be Steve. He’ll watch out for you, don’t you trust him?”

“Of course I do,” Eddie rushed out. “That’s not–”

“Good, that settles it then. Steve goes with Eddie and Joyce.”

“Fine,” Eddie agreed, resigned. He turned away from Dustin to look at Steve again, but for the first time Steve wasn’t looking back at him, he was walking away.

Eddie sighed. At least it would all be over soon.

Chapter 11

Special thanks to @penny00dreadful for being the best beta, friend and cheerleader.

Reblogs are always appreciated, and if you want to be tagged just let me know! I'd be more than happy to do so 💜

Permanent taglist: @hitlikehammers @pearynice @penny00dreadful

Fic taglist: @cranberrymoons @thoroughlycollected @blubblesandink @finntheehumaneater @brbsoulnomming @estrellami-1 @hellion-child @manda-panda-monium @spicysix @kikidoesfanfic @dreamwatch @lawrencebshoggoth @stillfullofshit @lil-gremlin-things @mamafaithful @klausinamarink @starlight-archer

#steddie fanfic #time loop #pov eddie munson #steve harrington #eddie munson #steddie #stranger things #steve x eddie #steve harrington/eddie munson #steddie fic #fanfic #robin buckley #chrissy cunningham

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hersheyzz · 2 years ago

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The Proposal

Prompt: Y/n finds a unique way to respond to Colby's proposal..

Warnings: None? Just Fluff, ig?

Words: Idk! Sorry, i didn't count!

Happy reading! x

Colby and you had been dating for quite a while now.. for about 3 years. You had met at his house at some party he threw, sparks flew, you guys ended up doing a lot more than you intended, you lost touch.. Cut to 6 months later, you shifted to L.A., officially this time, and ended up being neighbours with? The same guy you slept with 6 months ago.. It was quite awkward at first, but then you started hanging out a lot more, and things just flowed between you.

That brings you guys to today!

It was night time. You both were laying down on a carpet in colby's backyard, seeing as you both were next-door neighbours, you could hang out whenever you wanted.

Colby had his arm wrapped firmly around your shoulder, whereas your head lay on his shoulder, you were both star-gazing. Colby had proposed to you almost a month back, and you were so shocked, you didn't know what to say, so, you just ended up just saying that you needed time. He said it was alright and that he understood, but you knew he was hurt. Like hell! Obviously he will be!

You had always been scared of commitment, seeing as your mother abandoned you when you were just a baby, leaving just you and your dad. Not like your dad wasn't lovely! He was the best father one could ask for! But that incident just embedded in you a fear of abandonment.. But now you knew, you knew you were ready to settle down, Colby was everything you ever wanted!

Colby: Y/n? You lost somewhere?

Y/n: Huh? What?

Colby laughed heartily and you could swear it was the most beautiful sound you'd heard in your life.

Colby: I was just saying that you told me a few days back that you had developed this driving interest in constellations. So, want to enlighten me with some knowledge?

You saw this as the perfect opportunity! You smiled and nodded. You took his hand and pointed at an array of stars.

"That one right there it's an aries, it's the most commonly known constellation."

He excitedly pointed in the other direction, "Oh! I know that one. That's the orion! I've heard about it."

You were staring at his beaming face intensely, admiring every beautiful feature of his.

"Wanna know what that one is called?" You pointed at a direction right above you while still staring at him.

"Yes!"

"It's called 'Colby'!"

"Huh?" His expression masked into one of confusion.

"I said it's called Colby, love."

It was like a tick mark checking a box.

He was still staring at you as if you'd grown two heads! You lightly giggled, joined your forehead with his and said,

"It's a checkmark, Colby. A Yes to marrying you, a yes to living with you forever, a yes to having our children roam through the backyard! A yes to growing old with you! I love you, Colby! I love you so much. You were always the right guy. The one for me. I was a fool to ask for time from you even when I knew I was never gonna leave you. I wanna marry you, Colby, that is, if you still want to."

You looked at him concerned, feeling as though he might say no.

Colby's face suddenly broke out into a huge smile, he gently cupped your face and said,

"Of course i still wanna marry you. Hell! I can't wait to see you all grey, but still the most breathtakingly beautiful person on Earth!"

He smiled and sweetly kissed you.

"By the way, did you actually name that constellation after me?"

"Yah! Of course. Why would I lie? Infact, here's the proof." You said while showing him the certificate you had in your phone.

He grinned widely and said, "Oh my god! Y/n! You're crazy! But you're my crazy! I love you."

That night was one of the most beautiful nights of your life.

Author's Note: Just cut me some slack! It's my first time writing.. I've no idea about constellations much, and i didn't know one could name them till a few months back when i heard somebody did? Idk! Hope you liked it! f(^ー^;)

P.S.: Please read my last post, and recommend me some books? Pretty please! *looks at you with a pout*

Thanks!

xoxo

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wise-0ne · 2 years ago

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Please: PART ONE

SUMMARY: ~𝙋𝙇𝙀𝘼𝙎𝙀, 𝙎𝙏𝙊𝙋~

After Sarah died, Joel found his new happiness. He loved his daughter, Hailey.

But when the unexpected comes, he's in need of help and happiness.

What will Joel do when he loses the people he loves?

Joel Miller x Daughter o/c

No trigger warnings just swearing.

You can't live in fear here. It just doesn't work that way now, or that's how my dad put it. These days, living in fear is a weakness. Living in fear will get you killed. Fear is not an option.

I was born after the outbreak. I'm 16 years old, my birthday was yesterday. It's 2023 and everything is just as bad as when it started. City's ruled by FEDRA, raiders, smugglers. Nothing is safe.

Even though I feel safe, I'll never know if I am. I know that as long as I have my parents, I'm safe. My parents made a promise to me when I was 6. They told me that they would never let anything happen to me as long as they were here. Luckily, for ten years, they've kept that promise.

My dad, Joel, had a daughter. Her name was Sarah. She was his ray of sunshine and my dad loved her more than anything. But Sarah was shot back in 2003 when the outbreak happened. My mom said he wasn't happy, nice, kind until I came.

When he found out my mom was pregnant, he told her that it was a bad idea to keep me. I was a one night stand baby. My parents were best friends and they got drunk one night.

He didn't want the same thing that happened to Sarah, to happen to me. He was scared for my mom and me. He didn't want to lose more people than he already lost, so he tried to convince my mom to get rid of me. Obviously it didn't work.

But when I was born, he was a different person. My mom, Tess, said he was so happy. From what I've been told. When he first laid eyes on me, he cried and said I was a miracle. His miracle.

Since then, he's always made sure I was safe and protected. I'm not allowed outside without him and I can't go with them anywhere that isn't in the QZ. They never let me outside until I I turned 15 because kids were supposed to be in the FEDRA school. They didn't want that for me, so they kept me locked up in our apartment.

I know they want to keep me safe, but it gets annoying. Knowing that I'm safe and loved makes me feel better about that though.

I love my dad and my mom. They would do anything for me, and by anything, I mean anything.

They are smugglers, so I am home alone sometimes, but they always have someone check on me. They usually have something to bring back to me. No matter if it's food or games, I'm always happy.

I love my parents, and if I were to lose them. I don't know what I would do.

__________________________________________________________________________

It was a long day of sitting inside, reading, and watching the civilians walk around while I sat on the couch in the living room of our one-bedroom apartment. The bedroom is not even really a bedroom. More like an open space with a wall. It was small, but in the QZ, we're lucky to even have this apartment. There are people who live on the streets, so we are really lucky.

The QZ is very full and most people don't have a lot. Like us. We live off of food rations, cards, and whatever my parents smuggle in. I'm very glad we are here. Dad said if we weren't, we'd be dead.

Both of my parents are working, and I was inside, alone. I was used to being alone in the daytime, but I made sure the door was locked at all times. So I was safe. You can't trust people.

Mom and dad were gone most of the day. I knew dad picked up an extra job, and mom was out dealing with things. For all I know she could be dead, but I know she isn't.

I was sitting on the couch, reading, when the door knob rattled. I looked up and saw the door swing open. It was my dad. He looked mad, he didn't see me and he just walked into the bedroom. I put my book down and scoot over to the other side of the couch so I could see what he was doing. I heard him stomping and then he bent over to move the dresser that covered his stash of stuff hidden under the floorboards.

Under the floor was some maps, an axe and more things that he kept hidden.

I watched him pull out a map and then he walked into the kitchen area and sat down with a map at the table. Dad was obviously mad about something, so I know not to bother him. I adjust myself on the couch and watch as grabbed his bottle of bourbon and stared at the map. Pointing and dragging his finger on the map, he sighed and took a drink. He drank half the bottle and didn't even look back at me.

I watch him put his hand on his forehead and sigh. I know he's stressed and angry. I wish I could help him in some way, but I don't want to make things worse.

I watched him take some pills and without looking at me, he got up, went to lay on the bed, and passed out.

This was usually the routine when he was having a hard day. He has a lot of those.

I then got up and walk over to the bed. I check his breath make sure he's alive. He's kinda old so I worry. And while he slept, I cleaned the apartment. I cleaned the table, did dishes, and organized the cabinets to keep me busy. I waited for mom to come home, but eventually, I sat on the couch and drifted to sleep.

Usually, we all share the one mattress we have. It was big enough for all three of us, but I didn't want to wake him up. He needed sleep.

__________________________________________________________________________

In the morning, I woke up to my mom making tea. I stood up off the couch and rubbed my eyes. I stumbled a bit but walked over to the kitchen. My dad walked into the room at the same time I did.

Sitting down at our table, I looked at my dad. He sat at the other end of the table and he was hungover and looked tired. My mom then walked over to us. I look up at her while she sets a cup of tea in front of me.

Her face looked terrible.

"Mom, your face," I say in a concerned voice.

Her face was bruised and cut. She had a black eye and looked terrible. She then sat down by my dad.

Dad looked over at her. His face said it all. He was pissed.

He slammed his hand on the table and almost got up.

"I got jumped by a couple of guys." She said calmly. Grabbing his hand

"What guys?" my dad questions her.

"Just a couple of teenagers." Dad then grabs her face.

"Said some shit probably shouldn't have," Mom said while my dad moved her face around. He then got up. My mom grabbed her cup and took a sip.

"Come on. You know these guys were born after the outbreak. Never learned how to argue." She said trying to calm him down.

"They just start swingin'." She took another sip.

"Fuckin' 19-year-old pieces of shit." I chuckle.

It's always funny when she those jokes. She made them a lot because she knew they made me feel better in these types of situations.

My dad came back over to the table. He had a bottle of alcohol and a towel.

"It's a miracle you're alive." He says while he pours some of the alcohol on a towel, he gently taps her face, making sure not to hurt her. She chuckles "It's a miracle any of us are alive."

I take a sip of my tea. I know my mom wasn't safe at the time, I was just lucky she was now. Honestly, I don't know what I would do without her.

As my dad tapped her face, he turned her head, "These aren't new."

"No, I was in FEDRA lockup all day."

Dad pauses. His face looks confused.

"Anyway, it doesn't matter." My mom says. She then takes a breath and grabs my dad's hand.

"I need you to take a breath," she says calmly

"What?" My dad says, putting down the towel.

"Joel-"

"What?"

She takes one more breath "The guys who jumped me were with Robert." She pauses.

"He sold our battery to someone else."

I set my cup down and hear my dad's chair scoot back. Looking over at them, I see my dad put his face in his hands.

"What the fuck." I say angrily.

"Nothing is lost. Shit like this is gonna happen. Now we shake it off and get our cards back or the battery." She says looking at me and my dad.

"We need the battery, Tess," Dad says and slams his hand on the table. He gets out of his chair and walks over to the bedroom.

"Trucks no good without one." He yells "And if I don't get to Tommy soon, he's gonna die out there."

"Okay, Fuck it. We get our money back, and the battery." She says, getting up out of her seat and walking over to dad.

"But Joel listen, Robert is terrified of you." She looks him in the eyes. "If you go to him about this, he's gonna get wind of it and skip."

I then get up out of my chair and walk over to them. I sit next to my dad. I lay my head on his shoulder, "Take a breath." I tell him. He looks at me with sadness and anger in his eyes.

While still looking at me, he asks mom "Who'd he sell it to?"

"Don't know."

"Well, where is he?"

"Don't know... Yet" She says.

"But we're gonna find out quietly."

"Understand?" she asks my dad. He nods and looks at the floor.

"Now I promised Robert you wouldn't hurt him, but I would very much like for you to hurt him," Mom says smiling.

She gets serious again, "So let's go hunt that mother fucker down, and get our battery, and our truck and go find Tommy." she takes a breath "Alright?"

My dad nods again "Alright."

Mom gets up and walks over to the other side of the bed.

I pick my head up, and my dad leans down to get his gun.

#joel miller x daughter!reader #joel miller fanfiction #the last of us #joel miller #tess servopoulos #fanfic

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jpitha · 1 year ago

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The Dreams of Hyacinth 18

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Nick was in the black of space.

Nick was staring out at the endless sea of stars.

Nick could feel his Stardrive and his sensor array.

Nick was a Starjumper.

"This is wild." Nick used his sensor array to look around. There was nobody else that he could detect. If he moved this his thrusters would move. If be wiggled that he could adjust his orientation. If he shuffled right here he could feel the reactor.

"You're getting the hang of it so fast! I swear there were come AIs that needed more training than that!"

Nick looked around, but of course he couldn't see anyone. "Thank you? Who is this?"

"Oh sorry! My name is Starlight Serenade but everyone calls me Star."

"I'm assuming you're an AI, but are you... currently a ship too?"

Star laughed. "No, though I can see why you'd think so. Many AIs take more... body oriented names when they get a body, but I liked my name so much I just kept it. It's not super common, but it's also not unheard of either."

"You work for the Empress too on this project?"

"Yup! I'm her official starship piloting trainer." Star sounded proud when they mentioned that.

Nick raised an eyebrow. He noticed when he did that his body started to spin slowly. He lowered his eyebrow, and raised the other until the spin stopped. This was going to take some getting used to. "Star... how many people have you trained to pilot starships?"

"Only a few so far, but we're going to be doing a bunch more very soon." It sounded like Star was trying to answer Nick's question without answering Nick's question. Nick decided to drop it for now.

"Okay Star. I'm your student. Teach me what to do."

"Wonderful! Let's get started."

Honestly, Nick found it easier than he anticipated being a starship. There was a lot to learn, but his implants also gave him the ability to leave notes and reminders for himself and Star was able to provide tips and anecdotes from when they were a Starjumper. Within a few hours, he had the basics down and could maneuver in space. Nick looked at the clock and realized he had been training now for six hours. "Oh no! Star! I lost track of time. I need to let Eastern know what happend."

"Don't worry about her Nick, She's been in training too. I've been working with her this whole time."

"But you've been working with me?"

"I can split my attention pretty well. It's an AI thing." Star sounded a little smug. "Two is easy, I can split up to 5 or 6 before most BIs noticed that I've done it."

"Huh. That's interesting. But still, I should go and check on Selkirk. She wasn't looking too good."

"Okay Nick, that's fine. I'll help you out and let Eastern know too. She's picking it up as fast as you are. I'd say two more sessions in the simulator and you'll be ready for the real thing."

With that, Nick's eyes started working again and he looked up at the top of the simulator dome. He sat up slowly and with another snap, the cables disconnected. The door spun open and he walked out just as Eastern was doing the same. Yon was nowhere to be found.

"Eastern! We've been at this for six hours. We should go check on Selkirk. I'm worried about her."

Eastern rubbed the back of her head where her connections were and looked tired. "Okay Nick, let's go see. Were you working with Star?"

Nick started walking towards the door and Eastern caught up. He was walking with purpose. "Yes, they said that they can split their attention pretty easily. How was it for you?"

"Nick, I actually had fun. I didn't think I would, but I kind of like being a starship. What about you?"

"It was interesting, and the feelings were very weird, but I don't know if I'd call it fun. I'm glad you liked it though. Maybe you can be the Starship and I'll be your commanding human." Nick grinned at Eastern as they walked.

"You would like that wouldn't you?" Eastern laughed. "Come on, let's go check on Selkirk.

As they walked, guards and personnel would look up at them, their eyes would flash as they were identified and then they'd get a nod, or someone would stand aside and they would be on their way. Nick wondered at that a few times. Raaden had made it sound like she visited everyone, but they had access to her personal penthouse. Nick got the main encryption keys and all the guards were letting them by with barely a nod. They stepped into the elevator and Nick signaled Eastern.

Eastern. Have you noticed that we appear to be very highly placed here?

I was just about to mention it to you. I think nobody has challenged us as we've been moving around the whole building this whole time. At first I chalked it up to being with Yon and Raaden but now...

Exactly. We have Raaden's penthouse apartment, we have a set of universal encryption keys, we're getting a cursory scan and let in anywhere... I think we're high up the ladder here.

What's going on? Half the time it seems like Raaden has the whole place under her thumb, the other half it feels like we're one of 4 that knows what's going on.

They stepped out into the apartment to Raaden sitting on the couch alone. looking at them. There were three steaming mugs on the table in front of her.

Can't it be both?

Eastern yelped and bowed down. "Empress!" She stood back up. "I thought you were going to be gone longer?"

Raaden waved a hand dismissively. "It was easier than I thought it would be. The... directors were much more amiable to my offer than I thought."

"Directors?" Nick looked around the penthouse and didn't see Selkirk or anyone else really. Just Raaden sitting on the couch, a pad and a mug of tea on the table next to her.

"Directors of Wheelock Incorporated. They're a major shipbuilder, out of Luna. I own it now."

"You... own Wheelock Incorporated?" Nick had heard the name before, but only as a name on the news. They were famous for being in business nearly one thousand years, building starships of all kinds. They reportedly owned most of the Heinlein Shipyards and suffered a massive loss when Melody stole it.

Raaden nodded and picked up her tea. "Yes. They accepted my proposal easily. The papers were signed within half a day - all very privately and without fanfare, as I had requested. Just another piece of the puzzle I need."

Nick sat hard into the chair opposite Raaden. Nick looked at the cup of coffee where he sat, hot and ready. She gestured with her hand offering it to him, and he took it. Once again, it was perfect. Eastern sat next to him and picked up the mug of tea where she was. Nick looked over at Her. "Raaden... Empress... How much of Sol do you own?"

She looked thoughtful for a moment, and her eyes flashed blue. "Hmm. With this I now own more than 40% of all the manufacturing ability in Sol, 60% of the food production and 80% of retail."

Eastern choked on her tea. This time, it was Nick's turn to pat her back and wait for her to stop coughing and catch her breath. "Ra-Empress you're telling me you are the richest person in Sol?"

"Oh Eastern, I'm the richest human, full stop. Probably the richest sapient. I own Houndstooth. I don't keep an apartment in Houndstooth One just because I like the view. This is my building. This is my Orbital."

The silence clanged between them for two beats. Nick swallowed his coffee before he could choke on it. He had to know. "Empress, how did you buy all these companies?"

Raaden smiled wickedly. "Oh, I didn't buy them. I merely showed up and asked if I could take them over. Interestingly enough, everyone I asked had no problem whatsoever with it. Once I told them what I was doing, they were pleased to give it to me. I made sure of it. Everyone also understood my need for discretion, my need for quiet. A few more acquisitions and I won't need to take over Sol."

"I'll own it outright."

Nick stood. "I-I should check on Selkirk. She wasn't looking very good when we left the hospital floor."

Raaden sat up from her lounging position and looked Nick in the eye. "Nick, I'm sorry but you can't right now. She's in torpor."

Nick's head snapped back to Raaden. "She's what?"

K'laxi don't get fevers. Their planet was much less... threatening than Earth was and they evolved in a less competitive environment. Still, they have bacteria and viruses and their bodies needed a way to deal with infection. Humans deal with it with a fever. Their bodies will warm up high enough to try and kill the bacteria without killing themselves. It's a very fine line between dead bacteria and dead human. K'laxi go into torpor when they're fighting infection. Their body temperatures lower to nearly ambient, they stop moving and for all appearances look nearly dead. With less evolutionary pressure to be constantly moving or on the alert for predators, K'laxi bodies can afford to spend nearly every resource they have to fight the infection.

Both sides were surprised at how the other deals with infection. It's common knowledge though, and K'laxi in torpor are taken care of and brought to hospitals when found.

Raaden's expression was stony. "Yes, there has been some complications with her surgery. I've got doctors - human and K'laxi here and they are in her room making sure she's comfortable and being taken care of. With torpor our options are limited. We are giving her antibiotics and the K'laxi doctors are monitoring her vitals. I give you my word we are doing all we can to save her."

"Save her?" Eastern sounded near panic. "How bad is she?"

Raaden's eyes dropped. "She's bad, Eastern. If I had known how bad I wouldn't have authorized her release from the hospital. I've already... spoken with the charge nurse who let her go." She looked up at Eastern and met her gaze. "We're doing everything we can. For now, the only thing we can do is wait." Raaden stood. "Come on, you must be hungry. Do you want to get some dinner? We can go somewhere, and take your mind off things for a bit. I know a nice place."

Nick looked at Eastern. Eastern looked at Nick. Her eyes shrugged. "Sure Raaden, let's get some dinner."

Raaden led them upstairs to the roof, and called a Hopper. Another unbranded Hopper came down silently and smoothly. The door hissed open and she stepped in, followed by Eastern and Nick. They sat together across from the Empress as the Hopper lifted off Hyacinth One and glided up-arm. Raaden took out a pad and began reading something as they flew.

As they moved up the arm towards the end of Hyacinth, Nick looked out at the landscape sliding below. "Raaden?"

She looked up from her pad. "Yes Nick?"

"How many people know about you? The real you. What you're doing, what you're trying to accomplish."

Raaden stared at Nick a moment and put her pad down. "Well, that depends entirely upon your definition of 'the real me' and 'what i'm trying to accomplish' don't you think? I could argue that the answer to your question is one person." She pointed to herself. "Me." She smiled. "But that is an overly narrow definition I think. I know what you mean." She looked out of the windows at Hyacinth sliding beneath them. "Maybe a dozen people? You, and Eastern, and Selkirk, Yon, Um'reli, some people left over from the Vengeance of Lavinia - that was my ship when Melody was around - and a few of our assistants." She smiled. "I never told them, but I try not to hire idiots and it doesn't take too long working around me to... figure stuff out."

"But so many people in Hyacinth One have cybernetics! Practically everyone!"

"I know, isn't it great? Its a real sign that the worries that the AIs had about cybernetics really were unfounded. They gave up on it too soon, and me and my scientists were able to get the kinks worked out." She demurred "With humans at least. I hope we can get it as easy and safe for all sapient people." She looked back up at them. "I give out bonuses to people who work for me who are willing to get cybernetics. It's never forced. Everyone you saw on Hyacinth One is a volunteer." She raised her hand. "No Voice either. People are willing to do a lot for a month's pay given as a bonus. With all the cybernetically enhanced people, we're able to offload a lot of the paperwork, office management and other...stuff to the network. It's making things more efficient, easier and more collaborative." Her eyes flashed blue for dramatic effect. "Between this work and your starship project, we're really making advances to humanity. Leaps and bounds ahead of where we've been for millenia. We're finally moving forward."

"Finally?" Eastern looked at Raaden oddly.

The Empresses nodded emphatically. "We've been stuck for nearly a thousand years. No new technological developments, no new paradigms. Once the Colony worlds were founded, things just... coasted. Even Contact with the K'laxi barely shook things up. We became ossified. Stony. Still. Now though, with the gifts that Melody brought and the technology we had in our own back rooms, collecting dust, we can bring things onto the next level. We can advance again. We can do anything we want."

The Empress was becoming more animated, gesturing as she talked. "Colony worlds for example. Why did we stop with only three? One was destroyed in a war, and now we only have two? Sure, there's Spruces, the one that the AI have, but that barely counts, it's practically one city. The K'laxi have more planetary colonies than we do. We haven't founded a colony since the wormhole generators were developed! We can expand. You can help! Nick, what if you were a colony ship? Sailing off into the unknown, helping found a new world, bringing people to their own little piece of paradise in the Galaxy. And with modern conveniences in cybernetics and the wormhole generators, help is only a linked beacon away."

Nick sat back. Raaden was on the verge of ranting. He had a hunch he knew what was going to come next, but he couldn't stop himself. Not for all the money on Hyacinth. "Raaden, why do you think we've stalled development?"

"Please. You two can call me Helen. Nick, you know why we've stalled. You know it in your hearts."

She looked out at Hyacinth again and then snapped her head back to Nick and Eastern. "It's the AIs. It's their fault. Not all of them, mind you. They're not a monolithic bloc. Just ask Yon or Star or any of the others that work for me. But the Colonial AIs. The ones running the Starjumpers and Starbases. The ones telling everyone outside of Sol what to do. They're the problem. They see our advancement as a threat. They see us as a threat. They see me as a threat." As she spoke Ra-Helen's eyes grew hard and her hands formed fists. "They are trying to stop us from reaching our full potential. And do you know why?" Her eyes snapped back to Eastern and Nick. She didn't wait for a reply though. "They fear us. We made them. They think that they can be like loving parents. Protecting us." She practically spat the last words.

The Hopper glided down in Iris square, the very edge of the arm, and possibly the wealthiest part of all of Hyacinth. Nick and Eastern had never been this far up-arm. You didn't go to Iris square unless you had a reason to be there or you had a net worth of a small country. As they stepped out, they heard birdsong, saw greenery and low, elegant buildings. The Hopper smoothly and silently lifted off behind them, and Helen took them across the square to a small bistro.

When they walked up, the Maître d' smiled warmly at Helen as she approached. "Ah, Empress! We are honored to have you join us tonight." He looked behind her at Nick and Eastern. A true professional, his expression did not change a single bit when he looked at them. "And you have two guests for dinner tonight? Come. I shall bring you to your table." With studied precision, he picked up three menus and walked smartly inside. As they followed, the staff looked up in surprise to see Helen walk in. A few guests raised their glasses in salute, and she nodded regally to them in turn. A server came running behind them carrying a bucket of ice and three crystal glasses. Behind him came the sommelier with a selection of wines.

The Maître d' lead them to a table simultaneously in the rear of the restaurant out of the flow of traffic, but also near a window for natural light and well within the eye line of the Maître d. Very quickly, he dusted three seats, put down the menus, and as they sat, the wine glasses were put down and a selection of three bottles was shown to Helen. The sommelier gestured to them. "If I may be so bold, my Empress, I have a Parvatian Pinot Noir that may be of special interest tonight given your guests." He looked at Nick. "Grown on the hills behind Naya Hyderabad, this is from some of the finest vines on all of Parvati. The unique terroir of the planet lends a subtle sweetness to the otherwise jammy and berry notes that one would normally get with a Pinot of this age."

Helen glanced at the bottle and nodded. "Yes, please. That should be fine."

The sommelier deftly opened the bottle and poured a centimeter into a glass and handed it to Nick. Nick's parents used to like wine and would go on tours and tastings when he was a kid. As a teen, they'd take him along sometimes and he learned the basics of wine tasting. He swirled the wine two or three times to aerate it, then brought the glass up to his nose and breathed it in. The sommelier was right, there was a sweetness he could smell. He took a sip, slurping and breathing in as he sipped to get a large amount of air with it. Given that he was in a restaurant, he didn't swish or do any of the other things wine tasters did, but he knew enough to know it was an excellent bottle of wine.

"This is excellent, thank you." The sommelier bowed slightly, and refilled Nick's glass and poured one for Eastern and Helen. The other two bottles and bucket of ice were whisked away, unneeded. After he left, Eastern quietly slid her glass over to Nick and took a sip of water.

She looked over at Helen who was studying the menu. "Helen... you told us that very few people know the real you, yet when we go places everyone calls you Empress and bows and treats you like... well, like the Empress."

Helen looked over her menu and smiled. "Pretty neat isn't it? They all know I'm the Empress until I leave. Then they forget about me. Or rather, they're told to not talk about me."

"What do they remember?"

"Oh they remember that the head of Hyacinth, or someone highly placed in Houndstooth came to visit. They remember me and my preferences and that I'm powerful, they just don't remember-" she gestured and the crown flared a moment "-that I'm the Empress."

Nick carefully took a sip of wine. "How did you manage that?"

Helen raised her eyebrow. "The usual way Nick, how did you think I did?"

"You used your Voice?"

She nods and takes a sip of wine. "Ooh, this is good Nick, good choice. Yes, when I come to a new restaurant or business or whatever it just takes me saying hello and asking for something a-" She raised her eyebrow "-certain way, and suddenly, everything is easy and everyone is eager to please."

Eastern looked conflicted. "But your have a voice that makes commands that can't be disobeyed."

Helen took another sip of wine. "Yes. Comes with the crown."

"And you're using it to your advantage."

Helen put the wine glass down with emphasis. "I'm using it to make the world a better place, Eastern Standard."

"By going to a fancy restaurant? By being the richest human ever?"

"Yes, actually. If I own all of Sol, well then I can't very well conquer it, it's already mine. If I take you two to a fancy restaurant, I can show you what it's like under my rule. I am using my Voice to do the things Melody should have done but didn't because she was killed. Melody was naive. She thought that if she just showed up and did nice things for everyone they'd support her." Helen poured herself more wine. "Many did mind you, but not all. There were too many people with too much vested interest in keeping things the way they were - AI and BI. This way, I'm using their game against them. If I own everything fair and square they can't go and claim I'm illegitimate."

Emboldened by a glass and a half of Wine, Nick countered. "But if the AIs find out about you, they won't just roll over because you're rich. History shows us rich people bleed all the same as poor people. You'll just be a dead rich person."

Helen smiled. "Ah, but if I'm the richest human ever with a whole entire fleet of human piloted ships, then I hold the cards. You weren't here Nick, I don't know if you remember. Melody held them off with only seventeen Calamity Class Super Dreadnoughts. Mine, the Lavinia is still out there. Not only that, but we can make more now that I own Wheelock. We can also take any Starjumpers or other ships and pilot them with humans. My humans."

Helen drained her wine glass and set it down. "Now then, my newest pilots. Let's eat."

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#humans are deathworlders #humans are space orcs #humans are space oddities #sci fi writing #writing #humans and aliens #jpitha #the k’laxiverse #The Dreams of Hyacinth

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