#I think you can have more than one love language 😶

[jesuis-assez]

Lucy when Tim --

+

[thewitchblue]

HELLO MS/MR/PERSON!!! I have came to you with a request 😈

Ok imagine Wally west (ma boy need all the love he can get💔) dating reader, right and so they get a condo (basically a fancy apartment). And so he and young justice are fighting a villain, the justices league are in space doing wtv.

And young justices are basically getting their ass kicked (sorry for my language)

So they need a place to hide, for a little while. It yk stack back up on weapons and stuff, medical attention. right and so Wally is just like

>My condo is just down the road, we can hide out there<

RIGHT and you’re probably wondering where reader is right now um she’s at work (she’s a personal assistant of a CEO 😶 cough Wayne cough)

right so she’s staying at work late working out some extra things, and she gets home early than expected. Unlocks the front door. just to see like 5-7 hero’s in her living room.

dick: who are you?..

y/n :I’m the owner of this house who are the you??🤨

Thank you if you do thissss!! 💗💗💗

"We need to retreat and regroup."

Wally heard Aqualad say in his mind. You have to love Miss Martian's telepathy link.

"I have a condo a few streets away."

Wally thought before he could really notice he told them. You took first aid courses in university when you were trying to decide what to do with your life.

It's a very useful skill to have, and it became infinitely more useful when you gained a superhero boyfriend. Why does he let his villains hit him? You'll never know. It might be for the ego of the villains.

He just hoped you didn't pull out the pepper spray when you come home to a bunch of superheroes using the first aid stash. You were quick to pull out the pepper spray and grab anything nearby that could be used as a weapon.

Wally, admittedly, did not think you'd be coming home so early from work. You told him you're staying behind to finish some last-minute projects that came up. Unfortunately for him, you were sent home by Bruce Wayne after he noticed you were almost complete with the work for the rest of the week. He told you to go home and relax.

You did not expect to come home to several superheroes in your condo and a sheepish Wally awkwardly avoiding eye contact. Poor Tim got hit in the head with a lamp due to your fight-or-flight response. A warning would have been appreciated.

"Who are you?"

Connor asked rather rudely. All of the heroes got into a fighting stance except Wally. You told him with raised eyebrows,

"I'm the person who owns this condo. Walls, what the hell is going on?"

Wally gave a sheepish smile and explained to them further,

"Guys, this is my partner."

You frowned at the heroes. They all looked injured, some worse than others. You sighed as you headed to the medkit you keep in your bathroom. You knew the drill.

While you were gone, outrage and chaos emerged.

"When did you get a partner?"

Tim borderline demanded to know. One of his best friends never told him about this secret lover. The betrayal. Wally nervously smiled and said,

"Three years ago."

He was actually going to propose on the holidays, but he decided against tell them the wonderful news. He had no idea how long he would have kept you a secret. Until you were happily married and they started to hound him about the sudden wedding ring on his finger? He had no plans to tell them about you.

You were his paradise. You had kissed every injury, past and present, while telling him he's doing a great job as a hero. He was always a tad self-conscious about his hero life. He felt he could do more, but he was always a tad too slow. He needed to catch up.

Everyone shut up when you came back with your arms full of all the medical equipment you had stockpiled.

You started to patch everybody up without saying a word. You were still slightly mad at Wally from bringing in his hero friends without warning, but you can't stay mad as Aqualad hissed and cringed as you stitched a wound on his thigh.

You murmured apologises as you moved between the heroes while patching them up.

"How did you two meet?"

You frowned at the amazed tone Tim had. Tim genuinely thought his friend would never get into a relationship due to his constantly running mouth.

"He ran into me when I was travelling in a different country. Quite literally."

Wally rubbed the back of his neck with a timid smile. He didn't like admitting it. He was in a fight with Godspeed, and he didn't have time to dodge you.

"It was love at first accidental tackle."

You chuckled. He was lucky he didn't kill you with his superspeed tackle, or you would've haunted him for eternity.

"He asked me out pretty much on sight without realising I would see his civilian self, not his hero self."

You smiled and shook your head in amusement. The team could believe it. Wally's mouth runs faster than his brain.

You stood up from your spot of the floor and said,

"It would be for the best if you avoided fighting for a few days. You can let the big guys handle it."

Aqualad agreed, and the team thanked you for the medical supplies. Tim told you to bill him for the medical supplies.

"Either way, I'm replacing the medical supplies."

You frowned but agreed to let him pay at his insistence. You cuddled into Wally's side with a smile and a quick kiss.

"One of these days, I'm going to tackle you as retribution."

He laughed,

"You have been saying that for three years, babe."

And just like that, you tackled him to the ground and peppered his face with kisses. You love this man dearly.

Your soon-to-be fiancée had laughed under your love attack and wrapped you in his arms as if you were a precious gem.

A/N If you want, I can do a part two about the engagement/proposal. I agree that a lot of DC characters need more love.

[maylilithreign]

thanks for the tag, @elizaviento !! I loved reading your answers 💖💖

What's the origin of your blog title?

- I wanted something that invoked Adam's first wife, Lilith, because I adore her and have for many years. So my blog title just sounded good in my head, idk 😶

OTP(s)+ shipnames(s):

- Spuffy!!! my OG! (Spike/Buffy, Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

- Everlark (Peeta/Katniss, The Hunger Games)

- Shane/my multiple OCs, but mainly Shane/Elsie, my first Stardew Valley OC (Stardew Valley)

- A.S.S. Trio (Abigail/Sam/Sebastian, Stardew Valley)

- MarMar (Marlon/Marnie, Stardew Valley)

- Elliott/Penny (Stardew Valley)

- Tara Wylde/Westley Vuk (Wylde Flowers)

Favourite color:

- Phtalo green, mustard yellow, navy blue, and orange!

Song stuck in your head:

- Right now it's this random instrumental song from the soundtrack for the game "Cozy Grove" lmfao

Weirdest habit/trait:

- Oh gosh. I stim a lot because I have ADHD. So I spin/play with my earrings, I pick at my face 😭, I bite my lips bloody, I adjust my clothes a lot. stuff like that.

Hobbies:

- Writing fanfiction, playing video games, riding my tricycle, decorating my house, obsessive eyebrow plucking, colouring books. Yard sales and thrifting. idk watching movies, rotting on tumblr, do those count? 💀 I'd say reading because that used to be my number one, but I have difficulty focusing these days.

If you work, what's your profession?

- I'm currently away for disability reasons but I work a government job full-time usually.

If you could have any job you wish, what would it be?

- I'd own a used bookstore or a vintage/antiques store and it would have cats living in it. Something where I could surround myself with things I love and be cozy.

Something you're good at:

- I think I'm good at writing, and I have a decent eye for interior decorating. I'm fairly witty and I think I'm funny. I'm also excellent at being a pain in the ass, I'll tell you.

Something you hate:

- I'm a natural hater, though I try not to be. I hate moral guardians, and I hate fascism (no doy). I hate gatekeepers, and arrogance. But on a lighter note I hate olives.

Something you collect:

- Figurines of brass animals , enamel pins, stickers, Stardew Valley merch, plushies, postcards

Something you forget:

- Anything I actually need to remember 😂 I have a memory like a steel trap for shit I don't need to know, but don't ask me what I did yesterday.

What's your love language:

- Physical touch and acts of service.

Favourite movie/show:

- Movies? The Princess Bride, Mad Max: Fury Road and The Iron Giant. TV Shows? Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Seinfeld.

Favourite food:

- My Nonna's homemade chicken noodle soup. And also bread or potatoes of any kind.

Favourite animal:

- Domestic? Cats. I fucking adore cats more than anything. Wild? Red pandas, fruit bats, crows, and elephants!

What were you like as a child:

- Goofy and precocious but with crabby tendencies, mostly in the morning. Huge bookworm, liked to play pretend.

Favourite subject at school:

- English and History

Least favourite subject:

- Math and Phys Ed.

What's your best character trait?

- I'm passionate, and I have a deep sense of justice. I want people to know they're loved.

What's your worst character trait?

- I'm overly sensitive, and I can stick my foot in my mouth at times. I tend to self-isolate IRL instead of dealing with my anxieties, of which there are many.

If you could change any detail of your life right now, what would it be?

- I want my mental health struggles to cease so I can go back to work and feel like I'm contributing again. I also want to write more fanfiction again, my writer's block is killing me.

gonna tag: @iknewshedmakeagreatpilot @sisyphus-complex2 @love-is-pain-highness @sleepyhumanbeans !! no pressure 💖

[astra-galaxie]

🏳️‍🌈👻🎶💝💔👗🔪🍫💄😺😬🖕and 😶 for Diego, please! (This man's image has burned itself into my retinas, and I sincerely apologize)

I think Diego's image is burned into many people's retinas! Mine included!

I'm going to use some of this prompt list to focus on Diego from my series, so don't be surprised if you see some lore mentioned in it!😉

🏳️‍🌈 A sexuality headcanon

I headcanon Diego is bisexual, borderline pansexual. This man is attracted to pretty people, whether men or women. Of course, he's not completely shallow; he looks for good things in a partner besides just their appearance, but he'll never deny that the beautiful ones catch his eyes more easily…

👻 A headcanon about what scares them

Diego is scared of drowning. He was once knocked overboard while sailing, and while he obviously didn’t drown, he’s terrified of experiencing that again. He knows how to swim, but he’s still scared of getting into deeper water than waist height.

🎶 A headcanon about music

Diego is a big music fan, especially if he can dance to it. He loves classical music but also enjoys some more untraditional genres too. Of course, his favourite singer will always be Argo, but he can also appreciate other performers.

💝 A headcanon about their love language

Diego is well-versed in many forms of showing love. While he often displays his affection through flirting, he uses more meaningful and personal ways to show love to his chosen partner. I’ve previously stated that painting someone is one of his biggest displays of love, but Diego also lives for physical affection, specifically cuddles. He loves snuggling with his partner, having his hair played with, or sharing a nap together.

💔 An angsty headcanon

Diego was abused as a child, but not by his parents or other relatives. The person who hurt him has no relation to him beyond being the monster who still haunts him. The scars on his body tell a story of pain and suffering, one he has rarely spoken about to others. Diego hates the permanent marks on his skin and the nightmares he still gets because of his abuser, which is why he crafted a mask of confidence to hide his pain. He doesn’t let anyone see the real him except for a select few.

👗 A headcanon about their clothes

Diego makes most of his clothes. He occasionally buys them but prefers making them by hand to tailor them to his style and fit. Many have told him he should pursue a career in fashion design, but Diego is happy with the job he has chosen.

🔪 A headcanon relating to fighting/violence

While he calls himself a gentleman thief, don’t let the good looks fool you; Diego’s bite is far worse than his bark. He could tear an enemy to shreds if he wanted to and is never unarmed. His weapons might not be as inconspicuous as Argo’s daggers are, but if you happen to feel something poking you in the back, I can assure you, it's not Deigo being happy to see you. It's a blade with your name and soon to be your blood on it.

🍫 A headcanon about food

Churros are one of Diego’s favourite desserts. His mother taught him how to make them, and when he misses Madrid and his family, he’ll make some for himself. He loves having them with a side of melted chocolate, but he can’t eat too much, or he starts feeling sick. But tasting the sweet, fried treat is always worth feeling stuffed and nauseous later.

💄 An appearance headcanon

Diego has been called vain more times than he can count, but he can't help if he just wants to look his best. If this man lived in the modern timeline, he would have a multi-step skincare routine! Even so, Diego takes the time to maintain good hygiene, including his body, teeth, and hair. If you ever need advice on what products to use, Diego's your man!

😺 An animal related headcanon

His favourite animal is the wolf, and not just because that's what his surname means. Wolves are intelligent, loyal, caring, and protective, all characteristics he strives to have. He has images of wolves designed on many of his belongings, like his pocket watch and cane. Wolves have become his calling card of sorts, and anyone who comes to know him well in his personal or business life associates the animal with him.

😬 A headcanon about the worst thing they’ve done

Stealing Canto del Mare’s prized possession, a giant pearl shaped like a conch shell. Its interior is lined with pure aquamarine, and while no one can explain how it was formed, the islanders treasure the shell deeply. To them, it is priceless, and no matter how much money someone could offer them, they would never part with it. The shell was safe on Canto del Mare until it was stolen by the outsider they welcomed to their island: Diego.

The night Diego stole the shell was one of the worst nights of his life. He hated himself for betraying Argo and the islanders’ trust. They had taken him in when he had nothing and never asked for anything in return. But in the end, he took the most important thing in their lives to save the one he loved. While he knows he made the best choice he could given the situation, Diego has hated himself for it every day since.

🖕 A headcanon relating to anger

If you piss him off, Diego isn't afraid to get loud and furious. He can curse you out in Spanish and English with words that would make even a sailor blush. He's not scared to stand up for himself or those he cares about, but he tries not to let his anger get the best of him.

😶 A random headcanon!

He has a younger cousin who is more like a little sister to him. They grew up together, and she loved following him around and trying to mimic him. She always wanted to play with him and just be around him in general. Diego used to find it annoying at times but looking back, he’s glad he got to spend so much time with her as he hasn’t seen her since he left Spain.

I love having an excuse to ramble about one of my favourite CC characters! Thank you for the request, and I hope you enjoyed the headcanons!

[demonio-fleurs]

the headcanon ask game!

for both sabo and koala:

🏳️‍🌈🧸🎶💝❤️‍🔥😶

Send in a character or characters and an icon and I’ll give you...

i am so sorry this took so long btw, a mixture of me being busy and also having to come up with these on the spot made it take longer than i wanted it to!

these also range from "simple and straight forward" to "mini fics/drabbles" haha, sorry for the inconsistency

🏳️‍🌈 A sexuality headcanon

they're both bisexual, although koala is (in my opinion) far more likely to be vocal about it than sabo, who is too busy with work to think about relationships.

koala realized she was bisexual when she met betty for the first time, and no i will not elaborate further. meanwhile sabo has just always kinda known that gender doesn't matter for him.

(more under the cut!)

�� A headcanon about their childhood

one day, while traveling the seas with the sun pirates, their ship was attacked by slavers looking for a profit. they were arrogant, and believed they could easily take out the group of fishmen on the ship.

koala doesn't remember much about that night, except for how frightened she was, as the ship had been caught up in a cyclone right before being attacked.

but she does remember huddling in a corner of the ship, wide eyes staring as a man came rushing towards her. she remembers jinbei, stepping out of nowhere and using Samehada Shotei against the slaver, and how the sheer force of it was enough to cause the man to be tossed across the room, knocking him out. jinbei then turned to her, and had her crawl onto his back for safety until they could ensure there was no one left on the ship.

that memory stayed burned into her for the rest of her life, and the day that hack told her that she'd finally perfected the Samehada Shotei technique was one of the happiest moments of her life.

for the longest time, sabo's childhood was not defined by memories, but rather feelings and vague nightmares. he remembered there being a great, terrible fire, and the fear he felt when he saw it. he remembered the feeling of a bird, trapped in it's cage and wanting so desperately to fly free. so many dark emotions, so many nights waking up in a cold sweat, gripping onto his sheets.

but sometimes, there were positive thoughts and dreams from his childhood. a song played in a bar on a mission might bring back the memory of tall, towering trees amidst a humid jungle. koala clinging to him in the middle of a hot night brought back the feeling of creaky wooden boards beneath him, and the starry night sky above him.

it wouldn't be until after ace's death that he gained the context necessary to understand those lingering childhood memories, but context didn't make his heart feel any less heavy in his chest.

🎶 A headcanon about music

one day while laying low in a bar and trying to plan out their next steps on an important mission assigned to them by dragon, koala began singing along to an old song that was being played on a dingy old piano in the corner. to her surprise, sabo began humming along with it, despite it being a song that was usually only known by pirates.

after their mission, she sat down with him and sang the lyrics in the hopes of triggering some memories from his past, but the only thing that came to mind for sabo was a warm summer night in a jungle.

later on, he'd put together that he must have heard the song from luffy, who taught both him and ace the lyrics to "prepare them" for their life as a pirate.

💝 A headcanon about their love language

sabo is a very "physical touch" person, when they are alone he is constantly either in their lap, or clinging onto them, almost as if when he lets go of them, they'll disappear forever.

koala, on the other hand, is more of a "quality time" type of person. to her, so long as she is near the person she loves, that is quality time, even if they aren't doing the same thing. this doesn't mean that she isn't physically affectionate, in fact she can be quite clingy when she's worried or upset, but that isn't her primary love language.

❤️‍🔥 A romantic headcanon

oh gosh, haha, i'm honestly one of the worst people for romance but here we go

one of sabo's favorite things to do when coming home from a mission is to put his head in koala's lap and fall asleep. almost every outside observer wonders when koala will get fed up with him and kick him out of her lap, especially since she'll complain about it to anyone who will listen, but hack knows that koala secretly loves it. when she thinks no one is looking she'll often run her fingers through his golden locks, and simply enjoy the downtime with him.

😶 A random headcanon!

sabo has fangs like a dragon 3:

koala has an incredibly high spice tolerance, but primarily bc she enjoys food that has strong flavors.

[jennrypan]

Didn't we have this "I wa created to destroy you moment" before..and still nothing happened.

Also..I guess we're just ignoring the fact that it was ALL SIX OF THEM, specifically ZEUS that was more so made to destroy Kronos.

(I like Heras god form though, it could've been drawn..prettier. like Persephones titan form but whatever.)

This was so..anti climatic, the Minthe and Persephone chase scene was more dramatic than this.

And oh wow Heras a fertility goddess, and turns out she was being used. SHOCKER. Like every damn woman in this comic, 🙄 God I geniunely hate the fertility goddess plot, it actually means nothing and it just makes it seem all the fertility goddesses are kinda dumb cuz it keeps happening 😶 like..what's the point?? You guys aren't so super powerful if it's easy to just..take from you which is so fucking shitty.

Also. Hera said she isn't a fighter so is she gonna pull a Persephone and minorly inconvenience Kronos???

And ZEUS DIDNT NEED A DAMN POWER BOOST TO BEAT KRONOS OH. MG GODDDDDDD AJAIQN fertility goddesses aren't some weird fucking love battery!! (It's literally like using the power of love by force 😶)

Also wow!! Hades and Persephone get another child they can neglect !! Hades already neglected two kids so let's see how this third one ends up abandoned and never addressed. (Also..Melonies design..sucks. it sucks so much. STOP GIVING CHARACTERS BLUE SKIN.)

Also..American sign language for a Greek child is so 💀 and can..a God even be born deaf?? Like..she's still a God? Take Hephaestus, he got that way cuz he was dropped from Mount Olympus..but?? Can they? It just seems like a very..interesting new detail Rachel added just for brownie points in how 'diverse' her cast is.

(And it's so funny that Persephone stole Zeus' child so he wouldn't be raised by nymphs and yet..this boy has been neglected left and right and now he's in Tartarus. Zeus should punch her and take his son back 🤨)

This comic handles all of them (especially Zeus and Hera) so fucking POORLY and people have the fucking gall to think it's good 💀

[tadpolesonalgae]

Before I start yapping about CBMTHY, I just read On the Wrong Side of History and why does nobody talk about it??😧😧

IT WAS SO GOOD? the miscarriage part is what made me actually read it and the fact that the reader is from hybern! I NEVER see a reader from. Hybern and I guess no body writes about it because well we don’t know anything about the island expect that the king was pure evil and his people were also that way? (I mean because of the King ofc, we have a saying in my language that is basically like ‘a person changes because of they company they stay with’ it’s very roughly translated so I apologise 😶)

BUT, what I basically want to say is the whole plot is so interesting! I do not know if you’d continue the series (with all the series you have ongoing I don’t even know if you think about this one that often 😭😭)

also with it being a azriel x reader fic.. I’m kinda sad because that means that the reader will stay in Prythain 🥺 (if they have a happy ending, I hope they don’t and the reader chooses to go back to her own country after opening trade relations with prythian again)

like I love a strong reader who is not easily influenced by others opinions and that’s the kind of vibe that ‘On the wrong side of history’s mc gives?? (Yes I concluded that after see a glimpse of what she is like 👍🏻)

BUT FROM THE TITLE , It’s obvious that the reader is supposed to be queen of hybern?? Is she😃

and the other thing is that if you do decide to continue this fic and if it does go the way it’s going in my head then it would probably be too long and it would be like writing a book 😭😭

Is it very obvious that I have my brain rotting over this fic and it’s plot ??😵‍💫😵‍💫

I’m going to send another ask in about CBMTHY because this ended up longer than I thought it would be lmao

🧍‍♀️

‘and the fact that the reader is from hybern! I NEVER see a reader from. Hybern and I guess no body writes about it because well we don’t know anything about the island expect that the king was pure evil and his people were also that way?’

Babes I want so badly to write more stuff from unusual perspectives? Like what would it be like to be a faerie in the Autumn Court that seems so hierarchical and elitist? Being an Illyrian from the deeper parts of Illyria and what it’s like further inside their land? A reader from the continent and how Prythian might seem kind of quaint compared to the expanse of Rask? I also dearly want to explore more ‘folklore’ themes? Like the Spring Court was so magical in the first book??? And also more Hybern stuff I think would be so fun and i’m so so so happy you enjoyed On The Wrong Side Of History!!!

‘(I mean because of the King ofc, we have a saying in my language that is basically like ‘a person changes because of they company they stay with’ it’s very roughly translated so I apologise 😶)’

I’m not sure if ours is a saying but I know there’s that whole ‘there are no bad dogs, just bad owners’ thing which I think might be in a similar vein? Also I’m pretty sure Rhys or someone mentions how the King of Hybern made no effort to establish trade routes so implies he intentionally allowed unrest to gather and for the feeling of injustice to fester so when war came, everybody would be ready and eager for it?

‘BUT, what I basically want to say is the whole plot is so interesting! I do not know if you’d continue the series (with all the series you have ongoing I don’t even know if you think about this one that often 😭😭)’

Honestly the series I think most about is The Other Woman/CoLCoV? Then it’s cbmthy—admittedly I think of OTWSOH from time to time but I haven’t thought out a whole plot or anything like that so it’s relatively underdeveloped in that sense? If I can think of a way to further the story, of course I’ll write it, but I’ll only do a part two if I have a solid outline?

‘also with it being a azriel x reader fic.. I’m kinda sad because that means that the reader will stay in Prythain 🥺’

Uhhh, who said Reader couldn’t return to Hybern and still be with Az? Certainly not me 👀

‘like I love a strong reader who is not easily influenced by others opinions and that’s the kind of vibe that ‘On the wrong side of history’s mc gives??’

Oh did you like The Other Woman? (I did, in a complicated way) My memory is a bit poor in places so I’m sorry if it wasn’t you but I remember someone saying that they particularly enjoyed her abrasive personality and how she was a bit more anti-IC than what’s usual in fanfiction?

‘BUT FROM THE TITLE , It’s obvious that the reader is supposed to be queen of hybern?? Is she😃’

Well it’s kind of ambiguous since Hybern kind of implies that he would make her his queen despite her having no magic if she won the war? So I suppose in that sense she is? Like Hybern basically already accepted her as his Queen so kind of unofficially? But nobody else knows about that, and they also didn’t end up winning, so I suppose it’s more symbolic than legal 😭

‘and the other thing is that if you do decide to continue this fic and if it does go the way it’s going in my head then it would probably be too long and it would be like writing a book 😭😭’

If it did turn into a series I would definitely go about it in the way I’m doing CoLCoV, with limiting it to five/six chapters so I have to pick and choose and be more meticulous over what the plot is how things unfold? I think cbmthy is getting long because in the beginning there were parts I was still unsure about so probably added in scenes that were’t entirely necessary? I’m glad I wrote them but I did take a lot of time and effort 😭

‘Is it very obvious that I have my brain rotting over this fic and its plot ??😵‍💫😵‍💫’

Babes I’m so flattered that you liked it so much!!! I was really excited with the idea so it would be nice to continue it if I come up with a plot 🧡💛

[vivihar]

OH i absolutely get you about the harry thing!!! (and i'm here for severus too, for snily snupin and now tomerus lmao) i don't care about t!marry either. there is an ethical element in my disliking of t!marry bcs he was a kid and tom murdered his parents, yada yada, but mostly? it bores me, lol. and snarry bores me too, i love harry, but i'll never not see him as a kid, so i don't care about him shipped with characters i find more complex and compelling 😶 and like i've said before, i feel that t!marry shippers cling too much to tom and harry's supposed connection and harry didn't even want it BBDBDBSBDB that's a shore to him! tom was a shore, an inconvenience at most, he had SOME wickedness on him but it was minimal, he didn't match tom's freak at all, while severus actually sought tom out, swore loyalty, took the mark, called him "my lord", there's sO much material there and actual willingness in both parties, i just find it so much more interesting than whatever people make up about tom and harry 🥱

and i understand feeling insecure about the language and the drawing skills 😔 BUT OMG HONEY NO don't feel bad about your HCs or AUs!!!! god the amount of bullshit i've seen from the t!marrys SHDJHSHDHHSHSHHD the most corny scenarios, they forget it's tom they're talking about, nobody questions the veracity or the portrayal, they just do whatever they want and don't take absolutely no criticism at all, so why would you feel bad? besides, your portrayal of them isn't ooc!!!! and if it's supposed to be ooc, so what??? we're talking about two very repressed gifted prodigious fucked up boys/men, and they don't need to be "good" together. unlike t!marrys that make up scenarios where they want harry to "fix" tom, severus and tom would just keep each other company and "love" each other without altering the other's plans and ambitions, no matter how ruin or messed up they're. they're not together to become "better people", they're the same as ever, but loved by one another, i reckon your portrayal of tom is loyal to his scent, so please don't fret, i love reading your posts and scenarios whenever i have time 🥺🥺🥺🩷🩷🩷 sorry if i sent too much 🙏 i may be the same as you, nobody else talks about them and whenever i speak it just spills and spills JDJDJSHDHHDHD have a good day xoxo 🩷 (2/2)

Omg you said the thing I couldn't name about Harry😭 you're so right I just see him as a kid, I do ship lunnary, ronarry but overall? They're sweet kids playing together in the playground lol.

Well you kinda could make the unwanted soul thingy interesting but not for me(maybe because it's not Tomerus lmaokdmdkdmd)

I think Harry could be wicked but I'm not sure if he could match Tom's level,, or he would accept him like that, (if they go with I can fix him trope well I hate that trope)

I only saw them before I was in fandom and I literally didn't remember anything about HP so I can't say how fandom makes their relationship, it's not for me so I didn't look into it personally. Just gonna ignore them because sorry I'm kind of jealous personn,, I'm like "Tom how could you cheat on my son!/J"

Joke aside I'm really jealous how good their artist is😭 I hope one day I could do same for Tomerus nation😔

Thank you love 😭 thanks to you my confidence really increased about posting them freely since your first question, thank you so much 🥹. And don't ever think you send too much I would always enjoy anything you send, feel free🧡🧡 have a good day(night? Mine is lol) too love thank you for writing this, again I enjoyed it so much 😙

[asteria7fics]

I have no clue how this works but uhhhhh mayybeeeeee butters (or butters when he’s professor chaos) uhhhhh

👻 A headcanon about what scares them

💝 A headcanon about their love language

💔 An angsty headcanon

👗 A headcanon about their clothes

🔪 A headcanon relating to fighting/violence

🌟 A headcanon about their desires/wishes

🥇 A headcanon about what they’re best at

🎭 A headcanon about what they lie about

🖕 A headcanon relating to anger

😬 A headcanon about the worst thing they’ve done

😭 A headcanon about the worst thing that happened to them.

😶 A random headcanon!

(Yes I had to copy paste it to remember the emojis) I don’t think I read the reblog correctly so idk if I’m allowed to have this many😨😨 you don’t have to do them if u dont want but I would love to learn more abt your butters headcanon for ur fic (specifically for ewily if I remember the acronym correctly)

RAHHHHHH -😨

AAAH BUTTERS!!! MY BOY!!!! (*꒦ິ꒳꒦ີ)♡

I’ll do my best to cover all of these!! I never get to blab about the boy with a heart full of magic!!!

Barely spoilers for the chapter 9 of EWILY under the cut, and a couple of other small details I do include in the fic but aren’t really super plot relevant.

👻 - A silly one to start with, but I think he’s a little bit afraid of the dark. I’m gonna probably say this a lot, but after some of the shit that’s happened to him in the context of canon, he gets really uncomfortable being left completely alone in pitch darkness. Oh! And of course he’s always afraid of doing something wrong and getting grounded!

💝- Words of affirmation. I won’t go into any greater detail, but it will all make sense soon enough ehehehe

💔- I personally think Butters struggles a lot with the fact that he doesn’t quite fit in with the other boys. They’re all pretty abrasive towards him still, and he’s really not cool enough to fit in with most of them. He doesn’t show it, but his insistence on still ‘playing superheroes’ with Kenny is kind of a greater symptom of this insecurity. I imagine he was very excited to be included when Stan got Crimson Dawn back together as they got older, probably late middle school or so.

👗- Wears whatever his mom picks out for him, which is why he’s such an über dork. Lots of lumpy sweaters with dress slacks and straight leg jeans that are all a little too short on his long ass legs, meaning his socks are always showing so they have to coordinate with his outfit, too. And of course, he owns an impressive collection of button up shirts and sweater vests.

🔪- Butters is not a fighter, but he’s certainly had lots of violence enacted on him. Bullied pretty bad as a kid, on top of (tw for child abuse) his father’s liberal use of physical punishments. These are all pretty much canon though, so suffice to say I personally think Butters CAN fight if he needs to, he just generally chooses not to. (This is where the Professor Chaos headcanons come in hehe)

🌟- He wants to be happy, above all else. It doesn’t really matter what it is that will get him there, he just wants to experience the joys of living without worrying about the consequences for once in his silly little life. Aah, now I’ve gone and made myself sad!

🥇- Canonically Butters is good at a ton of stuff! He’s such a highly creative person with a massive imagination, and though The Poop That Took a Pee is a horrible example, I think he’d actually be a really good fiction writer! Hm, maybe that’s something I should explore more.

���� - Everything, all the time. Naw, I’m being hyperbolic, though he definitely tells white lies to his parents to avoid getting in trouble. I think he’s also very dishonest when things upset him, at least when people like Stan, Kyle or Cartman hurt his feelings. He knows better than to show weakness around those assholes! (Sometimes RIP)

🖕- I actually think Butters’ anger is under appreciated! He’s an angry little guy when he wants to be, and while I think he’s quick to anger when something finally does irritate him enough, he’s also very quick to cool back down. He doesn’t really hold grudges, though he makes a few exceptions.

😬 - AHAHAAHAH!!! Where do I even begin?? Butters does worse things in canon than pretty much anything I’ll ever have him do, though I would argue that inadvertently inspiring his entire class to wage a war over him wasn’t, uh, great. Oh, and shooting that guy in the dick, I guess.

😭 - Again, where do I begin?? I think the trauma he’s experienced in canon sort of speaks for itself, though I also think that though maybe he didn’t get anything quite as bad in the Asteria-verse, the bullying he withstood affected him more than he would be willing to admit. Poor child, can someone please get him a therapist?

😶 - Butters’ eternal sunshine, happy boy disposition is at least partially a front. While he’s naturally an optimist person, and does generally see the good in everyone around him, but he’s not a complete idiot. He acknowledges, again, that he’s not fully accepted by his peers, but chooses to disregard a lot of the things they do to isolate him. As a little boy it was a more honest representation of who he was, but as he’s gotten older (and more hormonal oof) he’s latched onto it as a means of protection, so to speak. The only person who really, truly sees Butters in his most honest form is Kenny.

This was so much fun!!! Thank you for humoring me and sending this, and I hope you enjoyed learning a lil something about the way I portray Butters in my work!! (ㅅ´ ˘ `)

[countessofravenclaw]

🏳️‍🌈💝🧸💔😶 for Luna and Ramiro

🏳️‍🌈A sexuality headcanon

I subcripe to the popular opinion of Luna being a panramantic asexual. She's my innocent baby girl.

I think Ramiro's bi. I love me some Ramtteo, but I have certain plan for him to end up with a certain girl... She's an OC, who you have met. You can leave quesses

💝A headcanon about their love language

Luna feels like a acts of service type of person with a smidgen of quality time.

Ramiro's seems to be words of affirmation.

🧸A headcanon about their childhood

When Monica and Miguel went to see kids at the orphanage, Luna wasn't interested at all. Then she saw a ladybug outside and started running after it and fully on chrashed into Monica and Miguel and fell on her face and no one was able to tell if she teacherswas crying or laughing

Both Ramiro's parenst are renouwed teachers at Colon Theater Superior Institute of Art, the official schoo of Colon Theater Ballet, Buenos Aires Philharmonic and Colon Theater Opera company. They met as ballet dancers at Chilean National Ballet and moved to Aregntina after when Ramiro was 12.

💔An angsty headcanon

Luna almost broke her leg during her second seaosn as a professional skater after a bad fall.

When Ramiro got a lead at a big ice ballet perfromance, he had huge amouth of anxiety and imposter syndrome

😶A random headcanon!

Luna got colorful highlights on her heair after turning 18, which she kept for years

Ramiro cares more about his hair and make-up for the competition than Luna does. He often ends up doing her eyeliner because he's better

[doodle17]

🏳️‍🌈, 🏳️‍⚧️, 🧸, 👻, 🎶, 👽, 💤, 🦾, 💝, 🫂, 💔, 🪢, 📓, 👗, 🔪, 🌟, 🥇, 🍫, 🎭, ❤️‍🔥, 💄, 🖕, 😺, 😬, 😭, 😶, Pooter

LOOOONG ass post below, lots of reading. I have like- 2 more of these for other characters in my drafts rn. Yall gonna be reading a shit ton 😭

Your welcome/I'm so sorry

I think Raz is Bisexual

I think Raz is Cis Male (I should probably tell yall now that, unless canonically stated otherwise, I usually consider characters being Cis)

Raz was a wild child! He was always running around and getting into things he wasn't supposed to.

I think after getting over his fear of Hydrophobia, he'd probably be afraid of thinhs in water. I think he'd be a submechaniphobic or something like that. Can't say I blame him. *shudders*

I think he'd like rock songs similar to "be my girl" by the Jets or "You're gonna go far kid" by Offspring. I also think he likes songs like "Groove is in the Heart" by Dee-lite or "September" by Earth Wind and Fire (courtesy of Milla)

He opens bottles with his teeth. He was surprised to find out not everyone did, and how people freaked out and asked his his teeth were okay.

Sleep walks if he has caffeine before bed. (I've shared this one a lot but I just love it ok it's one of my fav hc)

Hmmm.... I don't think I have any disability hc for ol Razzle

I think Raz's love language is being openly, in use of a better word, honest. Like- once he's warmed up to someone he will say anything that's on his mind about them.

pretty loyal buddy! He'll stay up late with you, play video games with you, he'll sit patiently and listen to you ramble about your interests, listening happily.

Not sure if this is really angsty, but, he was pretty prone to nightmares a few days after the whole Maligula incident. He had to be comforted by his mom and sister for a while.

HUGE smugglers. All of them. Raz is not left out of the snuggle piles.

Idk if this counts as a hobby, but he likes making his own comics! He's usually scribbling in a notebook with pens and crayons.

I think the clothes Sasha gives him in 2 are the same clothes he ran away in. Why else would he have clothes small enough to fit a young boy? They shrunk in the washer? We all know Sasha is to smart to make a mistake like that.

WILL fight ANYONE. Always ready to throw hands, whether that be for a dare, to defend one of his friends, or just for fun.

Wants be grown up already! He can't wait until he's an adult and be able to go even "cooler" missions! (Little does he know it's a lot more paperwork than spy stuff)

Acrobatics, Hydrokenisis, especially making those two work together.

This kid has a stomach of IRON. He can eat ANYTHING. Not that he likes everything he eats, but he can definitely eat it.

He lies about his authority/ what he's allowed to do quite often. "Oh yeah! They let me do this all the time!" "Of COURSE they gave me permission to do this!"

(This is more for my older ver of Raz) He LOVES resting his head on Lilis chest like pillow, and vice versa. He loves it when they're just resting there, and she's reading stuff from old comics, newspapers or paperwork, making fun of it or commentary. He likes the way her voice sounds, how warm she is, hearing her calming heartbeat... when she lays on his chest, she likes it because "its f*cking cold"

His hair is actually (kind of) curly! But he uses Dions hair gel or a hair straightener.

He WILL let you know he is mad. Trust me.

Hes definitely been a lot softer on animals than he used to be. I believe it's because he befriended Harold.

idrk, I have stories I made up of stuff but Idk if they count as Hcs exactly lol

Not exactly the worst thing, but, when he and Lili stopped dating for like- 7 years and they barely interacted the whole time.

[natasha-in-space]

Hello hello! I'm here with some fanfic writer asks! 🤡, 🛠, 💋 and 👀 please!

Ohhh these are all very interesting indeed! Thanks for giving me a chance to ramble about my writing Faye <33

🤡 - What's a line, scene, or exchange you've written that made you laugh?

Oh, I love writing silly or playful banter in my works. It happens naturally most of the time, as I imagine characters interacting with one another. I think that's reflective of my own personality. I often use playfulness as a form of expressing affection! I'm kind of similar to Saeyoung on that front, hehe.

I think one of my favorites with this in mind is the favorite character/first date fic I did for last year's Mystictober with Unknown and Natasha. I don't know how my writing holds up there now, as it was a year ago, and I always see a huge improvement in my style as I look back on my old works, but I remember having a blast with that one! I was giggling away the whole time writing it. Natasha is someone who usually gets teased, and not the other way around, but with the Mint Eye version of her, I can put her into situations where she gets noticeably bolder. Fractured Heart is an angst story, though, so we don't get much of that side of her there.

A playful afternoon with Vanderwood and reader is also one of my favorites. Who knew being called old-fashioned meant calling someone old!?

Looking back, I think there's a pattern here of teasing grumpy characters... 😶😶😶

🛠 - What tools/programs/apps do you use to write?

Depends on where I am! Believe or not, I usually don't have access to my laptop, so I end up writing on my phone more often than not. For that, I just use an old fashioned phone notes app! I figured out that I easily get distracted if I'm trying to write in an app that looks too janky, so I need there to be only my writing for me to see. If I do have my laptop at hand, I use google docs! But, I usually end up using it for writing out helpful notes and reminders that I'll use in the bigger fics. Now, with editing, things go a little bit more in depth. English is not my native language, and while I did get tremendously better at it (in part thanks to this lovely blog of mine!), I can still make a silly mistake or two. I use Grammarly to check for those, but only sparingly, as it can get confused with dialogue scenes specifically. The other two things I use fairly regularly are OneLook (kind of a reverse dictionary: you put in a vague description and get a word for it. Very helpful when English is not your first language) and many different cheat lists I have saved up in case I get lost on what I'm trying to convey.

💋 - First kiss fics. Love em or hate em?

Oh, I adore first kiss fics. What I find so damn fun about them is how many varieties there are. There are so many ways to make your characters smooch for the first time! Is it planned? Or not? Is it slow? Fast? Do they get to talk about it afterwards? So many possibilities. I must admit, I mostly make my characters kiss for the first time in a spur of a moment. It's usually very emotional, and more often than not, in the middle of conflict. What can I say, I love myself some drama :)

👀 - Tell me about an up and coming wip please!

I'm working on chapter 2 for Wilted Daffodil currently! I won't spoil much, but it is focused on Chaewon and Yoosung specifically. It sure is an odd experience to write for Chaewon while she's in a sound state of mind (more or less). Makes me laugh, because most of the content you see of her on my blog is how she is at the time Natasha meets her. We'll get there! Here's a rough wip from the first draft!

[borathae]

I feel like we don't talk about Emma and seokjin enough like.. That domestic goodness, never involved in drama, always cooking amazing food like they're the real mom and dad here while hobi is always the mischievous son😂😂😂😂

MY MOM AND DAD COOKED A WHOLE ASS WINTER STYLE MEAL? That is wholesome. Also I remember how sus I used to be of Emma? Bcz my baby bean JIN deserved a happy story and that entire chase towards finding Emma was such a never ending trail..

There's no point to this ask I'm just trying to distract myself enough or gather enough courage to push a hypothetical Emma x OC drabble in my head. My mind turns into a whole gutter on this blog 🥺😩

Anyway I loved the Jimin portion of the chapter, Sibi you wrote it so simply but it was so impactful. He never once broke character but the cracks of his healing were peeking through. I enjoy how awkward he gets sometimes around her. I still don't want them romantically I feel like this girl has enough partners 😂😂 ( maybe Emma can-shut up shut up)

I feel like the storm is coming. Ngl I'm looking forward to NJ.. I miss his demonic sexiness. Can you hint if he's coming soon or if there's time?

Did jimin abuse tae sexually? Or is he like rough and demanding? That speaking I love you in their ancient language had me sobbing 😭😭😭😭

Anyway so what do you think about Emma and OC? 😂

We need a whole ass ask your character run with just hoseok to know his thoughts. He's the only sane person around here. Except mom and dad ofcourse. And jungkook. Yes that's it.

RIGHT??? They are so unproblematic, always just there for good times and some sweet domestic moments. istfg I love this couple so much 🥺

Also I remember how sus I used to be of Emma? Bcz my baby bean JIN deserved a happy story and that entire chase towards finding Emma was such a never ending trail..

YES HAHAH you guys were all so sus of her and I was over here like "just wait and see, you'll love her" she is nothing but an unproblematic queen ahahha

He never once broke character but the cracks of his healing were peeking through. I enjoy how awkward he gets sometimes around her.

I like that you think this way!! Thank you so much!! I want Jimin to be better and to find happiness, but I really enjoy him being a lil bit feistier than the others. So I'm happy you enjoy the way he acts rn ALSO HAHA HIM BEING AWKWARD IN FRONT OF HER IS SO CUTE FANDSF it kinda reminds me of when Yoongi started warming up to her HAHAH I LOVE THEM FANDNS Fplease fadsfds

I feel like the storm is coming. Ngl I'm looking forward to NJ.. I miss his demonic sexiness. Can you hint if he's coming soon or if there's time?

He may be closer than one may think 😶 that is already way too much to say but JFADJF

Did jimin abuse tae sexually? Or is he like rough and demanding?

It was more that Jimin had a "I take what I want and how I want it" mindset in the past and most nights he didn't even really provide aftercare to Tae. So while he never fucked him without consent he was still more on the "I want this so I hope you want this too" side which still very problematic honey, don't do that BUT HE WANTS TO DO BETTER NOW SO PLEASE GIVE HIM A CHANCE ANDNF

Anyway so what do you think about Emma and OC? 😂

I'm so surprised that you guys are so into the idea of Emma and OC. This is so interesting because I only see them as platonic friends with Emma having a lil bit of an "older sister" role to OC FJADSF BUT IF YOU GUYS REALLY WANT THEM TO FUCK I AINT STOPPING YOU FROM FANTASISING ABOUT THEM we're all horny here on this blog

[still-a-morosexual-help]

okay so lately I have seen a lot of people claim they hate mammon bc he steals from mc, and like there's nothing wrong with disliking a character lol but I don't recall mammon ever stealing from mc?? like the only thing I can think of is that one time in season 1 I think where he was going through their stuff and said he was looking for something to sell (I think?? it's been a while) and beel straight up calling him a liar lmao l'm just wondered if I missed something? or if this is just newer players who maybe misunderstood that one scene? and I figured if anyone would know it would be you lmao

I got so fucking pissed about this (not at you anon <3) cos this is the third time I got an ask like this, that I scrolled all the way down my 'Obey Me Mammon' tag to June/July 2020 and then slowly scrolled my way up pulling all the receipts I could.....I saw this immediately after you sent it and I just finished now...... turns out it takes 5 straight hours to go through my Mammon tag😶

I have answered this exact same ask twice before and I can only assume it's new people? Like honestly you can't play the game for a long time and still think this (they prove this false within the game in LESSON FOUR)

Not only does Mammon NOT steal from MC, he also:

a.) Gets legitimate/legal jobs whenever he wants to buy MC something (which is pretty frequently)

b.) Shares the money with them when he comes into a large sum of money

But anyway here are the links to the posts talking about all this:

(everything is directly taken from canon or based off canon)

A.) No he doesn't steal from MC

• Full Summary of the Lesson 4 locked chapter where he goes through MC's stuff and a compare and contrast of what we know about Mammon from future lessons, events, devilgrams

• First post talking about this, goes more into detail about him not stealing from them

• Second shorter post about how he doesn't steal from them

• They're literally Partners in Crime

• He straight up refuses the Midas touch (multiple times I believe) after realising it means he won't be able to touch MC anymore

• HEADCANON that maybe he steals/borrows their clothes, with their knowledge, to wear

• In the small introductory manga page they say the thing he likes as much as money is MC

• In S3 he admits to loving MC more than he loves money

B.) He goes out of his way to get MC Presents (which we works actual jobs to earn money for)

• Mammon at the Office Devilgram, where he gets an actual office job so he can buy MC a watch he saw them looking at

• In the Movie Date Devilgram he rents out an entire theatre for the two of them because it was the anniversary of the day they first met

• In the You Always Ride Shotgun Devilgram he rents out a pool for the two of them

• He's always giving MC presents

• Usually he buys matching things for them

• He buys them shoes in their favourite colour

• Mammon's love language

• He wants to share his winnings from a lottery with MC

• He finds a secret second map in the pirate au event and tells only MC so they can share the treasure

C.) It's not just MC, he puts the others before Money too

• In the Presents From Mammon Devilgram he buys presents for everyone

• In The Guardian Demon Devilgram he saves a 9yr old orphaned homeless human girl from a mugger, fosters her and plans to pay for all her needs until she's an adult/can provide for herself - which is why he's always in debt to the three witches who look after her for him, there's also extortion going on from them towards him

• He'd rather lose the entire fortune he won than make Luke upset

• List of times he's put others before money

• He straight up tells Luke he doesn't mind missing out on a reward as long as it means Luke is alright

• Socks for Beel

• He gets a stone for his birthday which can give him whatever he wishes for, he wishes for fortune to come to whoever has the stone and then gives the stone to a student who tried to hurt him

D.) How Mammon works as a character

• Solmare makes you form certain expectations about him and then starts breaking them within the next few lessons and it's amazing to witness

• Friendship, Actions & Reality Vs Calling MC 'Servant'

• Mammon, MC and their Friendship

• Mammon being smart and why he comes off as an idiot

• His thoughts about himself vs MC

• He's actively changing and growing as a character and he knows it

• How Mammon actually views himself

• Why there's a difference in his level of affection in public vs privately

• Jerk with a heart of gold trope but better

• Mammon and how much he cares about consent

• How outsiders see Mammon vs how people from the city see Mammon vs how his close friends and family see him

• Chasing some creep away from MC

• How his relationship with MC changes and grows throughout the season

E.) Other reasons to love him

• Examples of how much he loves MC

• How supportive he & MC are of each other

• Some of his funniest moments

• He's objectively terrifying

• Mammon being a good brother

• He's extremely ride or die for MC

• He waits for MC when they've got to stay late at RAD for other work

• Despite being an ancient being all his best memories consist of the time he's spent with MC

• He created a whole line of toys based around missing MC

• Everything he says about loving MC in his 2022 birthday event

• List of things he's good at

• The amount he loves MC

And this is just a few of my posts about mammon, his character and what there's to love about him

And look it's MORE than okay for people to dislike a character but at least dislike them for something that actually happened?

[guerrerajaguar]

Hey dearest, I'm so happy that you open your requests! I still don't know your rules, but I believe that you write for Kimetsu. When you post your rules tell me... So I can annoying you with more requests 😁

Aaand...The honor it's mine to be your first!

Can I be greedy??? 😶

Basically my fav pilars X Female Reader (separate)...

Kyojuro X Reader

Uzui X Reader

Sanemi X Reader

💓Gyomei (this man drive me crazy) X Reader

Sanemi X Reader

I thought about this scenario... The darling gives a sudden and affectionate hug from behind them, and for the pilars surprise she whispers revealing her feelings to them. And according with every personality they gonna react to it... It can have whatever your want... Deep kisses, hugs, and more and more... If all of them are too much, because don't need be huge if you don't want, you can get just one or many as you feel like writing....

Actually I just want you feel free and let your creativity flow.

And thank you already darling, for your kind words 💓☺

Hi love! I'm so honored for you to be my first request <3. I have decided to complete every single one of them. I will post the first one for my fav KnY character, the adorable Kyojuro Rengoku. I melt for this man so bad. Let me tell you that it was really fun to write in english but I felt it was equally hard! I've just found out that most of my english vocabulary is related to technical language (I am an electrical engineer) hahaha so it was really challenging to make it sound cute!

I really hope you like it and please, please let me know what you think and I will definitely love to receive feedback from you (grammar, description, vocabulary, etc).

Kyojuo Rengoku x fem!reader(Reacting to a love confession of his darling hugging him from behind)

warning: none

Fluff, lots of fluff

The flame Pilar was staring at his trainees at his state, secretly waiting for your arrival. He knew that every single evening, without a miss, you will pay him a visit with a great variety of reasons from which he fantasized to be mere excuses of, according to him, your failed attempts in trying to hide how much you earned to be alone with him.

Some minutes past the time of your usual arrival, started to make Kyojuro a little bit anxious. “Where you not planning to come today?” “Did something else pop up in your agenda?” His signature smile started to drop little by little but was suddenly replaced with a heart skip when he felt your embrace from behind, crossing your arms in front of his chest and resting your cheek in his right ear. “Y/N is that you?” asked the pillar placing one of his hands over yours and with his heart racing wildly. “Sorry for running a little late, had to do some errands and took me longer than expected” you answered curling closer to him.

Kyojuro smiled tenderly as he closed his eyes, memorizing your fragrance and the softness of your skin. He was literally melting in your arms, absolutely submitted to your touch. You took a deep breath and whispered softly, so quiet and sweet that Kyojuro will be the only one to hear you, after all, these words were only meant for him; “Kyo… I Love you”.

As his beautiful red and golden eyes widened, a gorgeous red tint flustered his entire face. Did he really hear that? Have you just confessed? This man was so madly in love with you since the first time he met you, he adored every single trait of you, your voice, your hair, your eyes, your body, especially the way you called his name.

And there you were, whispering the sweetest words of love. How many times had he dreamed of this moment? He was planning to confess very soon anyway, he wanted to be your protector, holding your hand under the rain, be the first person to greet you every morning and falling asleep with you curled up in his chest. And to kiss you, oh by the gods, he will trade anything and everything he possesses for being able to have a taste of your soft, plump and beautiful lips. How many times has he fantasized about them while talking with you? So many that he has lost count and that definitely, made him feel ashamed.

His chest growing warmer and wider at every second, pushed him to take the next step. Without releasing your hand, he turned to face you and lifted you from the floor placing both of his strong hands in your waist spinning around with you. And with the most charming smile you have ever seen in his handsome face, directly gazing at your eyes he claimed “Y/N, I am definitely the luckiest man alive… I love you too” .

With you back on the floor, he pulled you into the warmest and most protective hug you have ever received, cupping his face in your neck and caressing your back. Pulling a little apart, he cupped your cheek with his hand and tenderly asked; “May I kiss you?”. You blushed and as you nodded, he cupped your other cheek and gently leaned closer for touching your lips with his, the initial peck was soft but you went forward and deepened the contact by slightly biting his lower lip.

And as he released a soft moan, he placed his hands around your waist to get you closer to him. You had to break out the kiss since you were holding for dear breath. Looking at how agitated you were, Kyojuro snickered loudly, hugged you once more and showered your face with kisses.

He guided you inside his state grabbing your hand, it was about to be dinner time and he wanted to pamper you with the most delicious meal you have ever tasted. With the proudest smile he confessed;” I can’t wait to tell Senjuro!”. Your mind and heart were dizzy with so much happiness that you could only tell to yourself how much you loved this amazing man.

[leslie-lyman]

Stranger At My Gate - Chapter 9 (Pero Tovar x modern!OFC)

A time-traveling Pero. A modern woman trying her best. A kitchen full of possibility. A helping of Midwest kindness. A dash of magic. And a lot of Christmas spirit.

pairing: Pero Tovar x modern!OFC

rating: E 🚨 [18+ ONLY, minors DNI]

warnings: so there’s no actual smut in this chapter, sorry y’all, but we’re just keeping the rating where it is; like the smallest possible lil allusions to sexy times; probably super inaccurate depictions of how book publishing actually works; aaaaaaangst

word count: 6.4k

a/n: 😶

Previous chapter.

Masterlist.

———

Nine.

Henry comes to pick Pero up just after 8 the next morning. Tessa hopes she’s adequately hiding how nervous she is. She has no reason to believe Pero won’t want to stay. That he wouldn’t choose to be with her. But the imminent prospect of having that conversation with him and finding out for sure still twists her gut and makes her hands shake.

“Pero,” she says out loud to her empty kitchen, wrestling with herself and trying to rehearse what she’s going to say.

“Can we talk?”

No, sound like you have some confidence, come on.

“We need to talk.”

No, any conversation that starts that way never ends well.

“I want to talk to you about something.”

Better.

“I think you should stay. With me. And not go back through the Gate. I want you to stay.”

Not the most eloquent you’ve ever sounded. Didn’t you used to argue in courtrooms for a living?

“Ugh, fuck me.”

That’s more direct, at least.

Barely ten minutes have elapsed since Henry’s car left her driveway when Tessa’s internal debate is interrupted by her phone ringing.

The number of people Tessa would actually answer a call from would not require all her fingers to count, but her agent is absolutely one of them.

“Rachel?”

“Tessa!” The other woman practically yells, instantly reminding Tessa that Rachel Owen’s default state is best described as exceptionally caffeinated.

“Congratulations on finishing the first full draft of your book last week, that is fucking huge.”

Talking with Rachel always made Tessa feel like she was catching up with an old friend - if that catching up were taking place inside a tornado. Rachel was a born-and-bred New Yorker who used her seemingly endless energy to both go to bat for and fiercely protect the authors she took under her wing.

“Listen, I’m calling with glad tidings of great joy. You will never ever guess what I got you for Christmas.”

“Oh, Rachel, you didn’t have to -“

“I got you a meeting with Ed Finley.”

Rachel pauses for what feels like dramatic effect.

“Rachel, am I supposed to know who that is?”

Her agent huffs and Tessa just knows she is rolling her eyes.

“Ed. Finley. The editorial director of Hachette Livre UK.”

Tessa’s gasp is audible. Rachel’s just named the second-largest publisher in the United Kingdom.

“Does that mean - ”

“We’re selling the international rights to your book! Well, almost, it’s not a done deal, but I sent your manuscript to my contact over there and they passed it on up to Ed and apparently he loved it. He wants to meet in person before anybody signs anything, though. Very old-school that way. But I’m sure after a few minutes in your charming company we’ll be dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s.”

Tessa half-collapses down onto her couch. Her current contract was just for the book to be sold in the United States. Publishing outside the country, as Rachel had walked her through more than a year ago when Tessa had signed with her, was a completely different process. Selling the international rights to a book meant new separate contracts, sorting out translation rights, another advance paycheck, a whole new audience and potential source of royalties. And getting published in the UK meant getting a foothold in Europe, not to mention the British Commonwealth, making it easier for Rachel to generate additional interest in the book and for contracts to publish in additional countries in additional languages to follow, even contracts for books beyond this first one. The potential professional and financial implications were huge.

And if Ed wants to meet her in person, that’s more than fine. Tessa’s head spins for a moment with ideas of flying to London to chat with him, presumably after the holidays. It’s been over a decade since her semester abroad there and she’s missed it dearly. Maybe she could even figure out a way to have Pero come with her -

“I - oh my god, Rachel, I don’t know what to say. This is amazing. When does he want to meet?”

“Okay so don’t shoot the messenger but - today at four.”

Tessa swears she can hear the cartoon sound effect of tires screeching to a halt.

“Wait, what?”

“I know! Apparently he’s in New York right now for a few days and can squeeze you in this afternoon. I know it’s last-minute but this all just came together so fast - ”

“Wait, wait, wait, Rachel. He’s in New York? He wants to meet, with me, at four pm today…in New York?”

“Yes, haven’t you been listening? Don’t worry about it, it’s all being arranged by my assistant as we speak. Plane tickets, hotel, the works. Just throw some shit in a bag and get your ass to O’Hare pronto.”

“Hotel? Rachel, I can’t just, I can’t just leave, I have - I have something I have to -“

“Whatever it is, it can wait until tomorrow, can’t it? Look, if it will make you feel better, I promise we will get you on the first flight home in the morning. Come out here, meet with this guy, and then while you’re here let me take you to meet with some other folks. My agency’s big annual Christmas party is tonight - people from all over the publishing world are going to be there, I’m talking publicists, food writers for national outlets, buyers for booksellers of all sizes. You’ve done the hard part, you’ve written the thing, now it’s time to really start hyping you up. Especially if you have a freshly signed international rights contract to brag about! And all of this happening on the same day? It’s fate, Tessa. Kismet. Meant to be.”

Tessa cycles through a litany of responses but can’t quite articulate any of them. Rachel must be able to tell that she’s floundering, because the next time she speaks, it’s with a quiet reassurance.

“Tessa, honey, this is a great thing. I know it’s sudden, but it’s going to be fine. I will be there with you every step of the way. That’s my job, remember?”

Nerves. That’s what Rachel thinks it is. That the meeting is the source of Tessa’s trepidation, rather than the timing. Tessa lets herself fall back against the cushions with a heavy exhale.

“It has to be today?”

“Gotta strike while the iron is hot, babe. Plus I already told Ed’s assistant yes.”

Tessa can hardly fault Rachel for that. The process of publishing may be lengthy, but there are moments where things move fast. And if you didn’t act right then to meet the moment, it would pass you by. It reminds Tessa a lot of her previous profession, the way cases could drag on for years but when the circumstances were just right to reach a deal, you acted, and hoped you were quick enough.

“I want to be on the first flight out tomorrow, Rachel. I have to be back as early as possible.”

“You got it. Check your email, all the details should be there in the next few minutes. I’ll see you soon.”

The call ends.

Sure enough, flight and hotel confirmations are already in Tessa’s inbox. Tessa does the math in her head. The flight from O’Hare leaves in three hours, factoring in the change to central time. On a decent day the drive from Grennich takes just over ninety minutes. She factors in ten minutes to pack a bag, another ten to get from the parking lot to the main terminal once she gets to the airport, a solid thirty for security given the probable start of the holiday crowds…

She can make it. But there’s no time to stop at Henry’s on the way, no way she can have the conversation she needs to have with Pero before she gets on a plane. And this is not the kind of chat she should be having over the phone. Even if it were with someone who understood how to use a phone.

Her return flight gets her back mid-morning. If all goes smoothly she could be right back where she’s currently sitting just after noon tomorrow.

She can do this. She can make this work.

It’s with crossed fingers that she throws her overnight bag into the passenger seat twelve minutes later, hoping she’s packed all the things she needs through the blind panic of trying to race against the clock.

She calls Henry from her car.

“Tee, you’ve got to be kidding me,” he says when she’s done catching him up.

“I know.”

“I mean, this is amazing, and I’m so happy for you, you know that I am, but the fucking timing - ”

“I know. Just…just tell Pero I’ll be back tomorrow, okay? And that there are tons of leftovers in the fridge?”

Henry’s sigh is a crackle of static over the phone.

“Tee - ”

“Please, Hank. It’s not like I meant for all this to happen today. What else am I supposed to do?”

Tessa hears a faint rumble of noise in the background followed by the loud squeak of brakes releasing.

“Shit, the delivery guys are here. Yes, alright, I’ll tell Pero you’ll be back tomorrow. But then you need to tell him everything else the second you get back, okay?”

“I will,” Tessa vows.

“And Tee?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m really fucking proud of you, y‘know?”

Tessa’s vision goes slightly watery.

“I know,” she says. “But look, I’m about to merge onto the tollway so I can’t get all mushy. Just keep Pero in one piece for me, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, quit your worrying. I promise I won’t let Pero throw his back out or anything over the course of the morning.”

Tessa grins.

“Well good, cause you know, throwing his back out is really more my job - ”

“Good-bye, Tess.”

———

She makes her flight, but it’s a near thing.

In the blink of an eye her plane is landing, and her cab gets her to her hotel in Manhattan with just enough time for Tessa to drop her bag and spend two minutes attempting to no longer look like she’s spent the last several hours rushing across nearly half a dozen states to get here.

Rachel meets her in the lobby, the much taller agent leaning down to immediately fold her into an embrace.

“You look great,” Rachel assures her. “You ready?”

A quick Uber ride drops them off in front of what looks like a private townhome near Gramercy Park. When they enter, it’s clear that it once was indeed a stately residence, but its rooms are now filled with intimate tables and clusters of plush antique furniture.

A tea house, Tessa realizes, biting back a small smile at the slightly cliché notion that her meeting with an Englishman is to be conducted over afternoon tea.

The Englishman in question is seated at a table tucked into a corner near an elaborate antique fireplace. Ed Finley is a balding man in his late fifties. He has the lean build of someone with the dedication and discipline to get in an early morning swim more days than not. His gray tweed jacket and maroon sweater call to mind images of the ivy-covered walls and wood-paneled offices of many English literature departments. If such things were still allowed indoors, Tessa imagines he’d be smoking a pipe.

He stands to greet them with a warm hello and a friendly handshake. Tessa likes him immediately.

For the next hour she, Ed, and Rachel trade pleasant conversation over tea sandwiches of smoked salmon and cream cheese, cucumber and mint, and coronation chicken, raisin-studded scones with dollops of clotted cream and raspberry jam, colorful macarons and chocolate petit fours. Tessa tries not to devour everything with inelegant speed, having not eaten since breakfast many hours before. She orders a pot of Earl Grey and, as her British compatriots taught her during her semester in London, pours a splash of milk into her cup first before filling it the rest of the way with the tea. Ed, she notes with some satisfaction, appears pleasantly surprised at her process.

When the three of them are down to their last lukewarm dregs of tea, Ed finally broaches the subject Tessa has come all this way to discuss.

“I appreciate you coming out here on such short notice, Ms. Walsh. You may think it strange to ask to meet in person - I already have your manuscript, and Ms. Owens here was kind enough to provide extensive information about your career thus far and metrics on your substantial online following. But I find that it is always better to speak to someone face-to-face before agreeing to take them on as an author. There is no substitute for basic human connection, for time spent together when deciding to enter into business with a person, and that strategy has not steered me wrong in thirty years.”

Tessa thinks of her Gift, currently manifesting as a contented flicker of warmth somewhere in the vicinity of her now-full belly as she speaks with Ed, quiet and calm like a cat lazing in the sun.

“I don’t think it’s strange at all, Mr. Finley.”

He swirls the remaining tea around the bottom of his cup, then drains it.

“There is something in the way you write about food, Ms. Walsh, and the preparing of it. Uncomplicated, approachable, earnest. And such a sense of, well, I suppose I’d call it a sense of love. Particularly in the last few recipes you’ve posted on your site this month.”

Tessa’s eyebrows lift in surprise.

“You’ve read those?”

“Indeed,” he nods. “The love you have for this craft comes through quite strongly, but also the love you seem to have towards those for whom you are cooking. You write as though you treat food as a gift, as an act of service, as an expression of love for those with whom you share your table. Whoever that is, I find myself somewhat envious. They must surely have been eating exceptionally well of late.”

A heated blush creeps into Tessa’s face.

“That’s very kind of you to say, Mr. Finley. I believe, well, I certainly hope you are right.”

Ed pulls a pair of thick reading glasses from his breast pocket and fishes several sheets of paper from the briefcase resting on the chair next to him.

“I sent this over to Ms. Owens for her to review earlier today, but this is the contract to purchase the international rights to your book that we’d like to offer you.”

Rachel had told her in the car ride over that there were no red flags in the fairly standard contract; if anything, it was generous, especially for a first-time author.

Tessa reads it over. The additional advance for the international edition of her book is healthy, healthier than she’d been expecting.

It’s scary, sometimes, to have your dreams come true. When she’d signed her original contract Tessa's hands had been shaking so badly with nerves and excitement and disbelief that she’d needed two tries to successfully write her signature. But this time, it’s with confidence and a steady grip that she inks her name on the contract, then passes it to Rachel so that she can do the same.

“I look forward to working with you, Ms. Walsh,” Ed says with a kind smile as he gathers the papers together and stands to leave. “And have a merry Christmas.”

Tessa somehow waits until she and Rachel are back in an Uber before burying her face in her hands and emitting a high-pitched squeal.

“That could not have gone better, babe!” Rachel says, triumphant and pulling Tessa into a hug. “Now, we celebrate. Properly, with booze. The second you get changed we’ll head to the agency’s party, where I believe there will be a number of glasses of champagne with our names on them.”

Tessa can only nod against Rachel’s shoulder, not trusting herself to speak, and only thinking of how much she can’t wait to tell Pero.

———

The party passes in a blur.

It’s in some fancy hotel ballroom just north of Midtown, blue and purple uplighting reflecting garishly off the silver-edged mirrors lining the walls. A live band plays jazzy covers of Christmas songs interspersed with Top 40, and there are no fewer than five full, open bars. Tessa clutches a glass of champagne and tries not to tug nervously at the hem of her dress. It’s been too long since she’s done this, since she’s made herself all fancy and socialized with people. Since she had to be on. She actually put on a full face’s worth of makeup for this and she’s pretty sure her mascara expired sometime around last Easter.

She falls back into a technique she hasn’t used since her days of navigating Chicago’s high-profile, money-soaked legal scene and lets her Gift guide her, letting it dictate her reaction to each new person Rachel introduces her to. She can’t force her Gift into action, but instead tries to open herself up to that sense of intuition, not questioning the way she just knows that this person appreciates a particularly firm handshake, or the feeling that this woman genuinely wants to know about her book while another is just asking to be polite, and Tessa tailors her answers accordingly. She dedicates more time to chatting with a writer for Cherry Bombe when her Gift gives her nothing but a feeling of warmth and trust when the person introduces themselves, and excuses herself from a conversation with a publicist as soon as possible when her Gift immediately morphs into a queasy, slimey notion in the pit of her stomach the moment he walks up to her.

For all she frets about the timing of this trip, there’s no denying her excitement about the things happening with her career. Anxiety about the timing of it all interrupting her plans to ask Pero to stay hasn’t diminished the pride and elation she feels about the new contract, or the thrill of what might come of the conversations she’d had and contacts she’d made at the party tonight. Rachel had been right to convince her to come out for this.

Tessa also thinks about the possibilities for Pero. What would he think of being in a big city? She’d likely be traveling a bunch in the fall when her book came out to promote it - maybe Pero could come with her. The places she could show him, the foods she could introduce him to. The things they might be able to do, together.

After several hours, two full rounds of the ballroom, and three total glasses of champagne, Tessa makes her excuses to Rachel and extricates herself from the party. It’s late for Tessa but still early for New York, and her hotel is a short enough distance from the party that she chooses to walk. It’s a cold but clear night in the city, the street lined with storefronts that boast impressive holiday window displays that blaze brightly even at the late hour.

The bright twinkle of lights catches Tessa’s eye a few blocks from her hotel and she makes a detour, not having realized she was staying so close to such an iconic Christmas landmark.

The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree towers over its accompanying ice rink, which is still open and full of skaters. The tree is even bigger than it looks on television, thousands upon thousands of lights working valiantly to keep the second-longest night of the year at bay. A speaker system is blaring Christmas music and Tessa joins several other passersby at the railing above the ice rink to take in the unmistakable, unavoidable, overwhelming sense of Christmas the scene imparts upon even the most casual, fleeting viewer.

She fishes her phone out of her pocket and snaps a few pictures, and a series of desires rolls through her with increasing speed and force, like a snowball gathering size and momentum down a hill. Wishing that she could send these to Pero, that she could call him, talk to him, hear his voice -

That he were here.

This last one sticks in her throat. God, she misses him. For as much as she’s resisted having the conversation about having him stay, suddenly, it’s all she wants to do. For one crazy moment, she imagines calling Henry and asking him to drive to her house and wake Pero up, the thought of having to wait another twelve hours at minimum to tell him how she feels all at once seemingly unbearable.

The old-timey, slightly uncomfortable romanticism of Baby, It’s Cold Outside playing over the speakers fades away, replaced by the decidedly unromantic tones of Alvin and the Chipmunks harmonizing about how impatient they are for Christmas to arrive. Tessa shakes her head and smiles to herself, letting her own moment of impatience subside, resolved that her feeling from earlier this morning (and god, had it really just been this morning?) that this was a conversation that should only be had face-to-face is still correct.

She lingers for a few more songs, basking in the slightly hypnotic radiance of the tree, before making the rest of her way to her hotel. The full weight of the day finally hits her as she gets back to her room and peels off her dress, exhaustion pulling at her limbs. It takes several attempts with the hotel soap to wash her makeup off, and even then she doesn’t feel like she’s gotten all of it. But her face looks and feels more like her own now, even if a smudge of eyeliner still lingers.

After several years of sleeping alone, it’s remarkable how odd it now feels to be in bed by herself after just three weeks of sharing her bed with Pero. It doesn’t feel right; there should be a wall of solid warmth stretched out alongside her, the broad planes of Pero’s chest pressed against her back. An arm draped over her stomach, fingers brushing the underside of her breasts. The steady sound of his breathing in her ear. The impressive outline of his cock nestled against her ass. That intangible sense of being safe, of being wanted, of being cared for that settles over her like a favorite blanket whenever Pero is near, even as he sleeps.

One night, she thinks. One night without him, and then, hopefully, never again.

———

Pero cannot believe that he once found Tessa’s house to be full of noise. Sounds made by the modern comforts of the house have faded into the background for him. And without Tessa occupying it, it seems quiet, dull, empty, the person who breathed life into the house, that made it a home, no longer there.

Henry does his best to explain to Pero what’s happened, the circumstances leaving Tessa with little choice but to leave with no notice and a promise to return the following day. Her brother offers to host Pero for the remainder of the afternoon, but Pero politely declines, not wanting to intrude on Henry and Martin’s last bit of time together alone before heading, as Henry had told Pero as they wrestled the new treadmill into place, to spend the rest of the week with Martin’s extended family.

But after Henry brings him back to Tessa’s house, Pero isn’t sure what to do with himself. If Tessa were here, he might help her in the kitchen with a few last batches of Christmas cookies she’d been planning to make and deliver to some of her friends in town as early gifts. Maybe he’d watch her work on a few end-of-year posts for her blog before coaxing her away from her computer and onto his lap, slipping his fingers beneath the waistband of her leggings to give her a well-deserved break. Or maybe he’d simply tuck her beneath his chin and ask her to put on a movie to watch before dinner, the soft presence of her cuddled against him its own kind of pleasure.

But without her, there’s no routine, no tasks, no work, no pleasurable activity to be had. He considers what he’d used to do in such situations: care for his horse, clean and sharpen his weapons, worry about where he was going to sleep that night and where his next meal was going to come from. But none of those is an option now, the realities of Tessa’s time rendering them all moot.

The hours pass slowly, the only eventful moment the one where Pero digs into Tessa’s fridge to find some kind of meal for himself, a pale and meager imitation of what Tessa would no doubt pull together if she were here.

When he decides to turn in for the night, he automatically heads for Tessa’s room, but pauses in the doorway.

It feels so different without her here, and for the first time since she led him into her room he has doubts about whether he’d be welcome. This space is hers more than anywhere else in the house, even the kitchen, and while he’s always eager to share it with her, he’s not sure it’s right for him to sleep there without her. It feels like he’s intruding.

He retreats to the other bedroom and it seems so bare and cold and impersonal, an assessment of his sleeping quarters that would never have bothered him in the past. He slips between the sheets and they smell only of the soap they’ve been washed with, no hint of Tessa’s floral shampoo or the sweet cherry-scented lotion she always puts on before bed.

The tiny clock on the bedside table ticks away the minutes in the darkness and sleep refuses to claim Pero. He considers getting up and padding across the hall to the other room, trying to reason that Tessa most likely would not mind at all, and in any case, would never have to know.

It wouldn’t be the same, it wouldn’t be anywhere near the same as her being there, but he wonders if there’s enough of a ghost of her presence in the space to quiet his mind and soothe his restless body. But as the clock ticks steadily onward, he ultimately stays where he is, finally drifting off into a restless sleep.

———

Pero wakes the next morning to cold, gray skies. Little sunlight makes it through the clouds, leaving the house full of lingering shadows.

Tessa will be back today, Henry had said, though he’d not indicated precisely when.

Tessa had mentioned the likelihood that she’d need to travel more once her book came out. It makes somewhat intuitive sense to Pero, for it seems difficult to gin up interest in and sell a book to many people from the comfort and confines of your own home.

How long she would be gone, she hadn’t said. But is this what it would be like, he wonders? Him, alone in this house, idle and dependent and useless? Just waiting for her to come back?

Perhaps he could go with her.

But this scenario fills Pero’s head with troubles too. Tessa has worked so hard and so long on her book. She deserves for it to be a success, to keep making her way in the world on her own skills and her own merit so that she never has to return to the kind of work that had made her so unhappy before.

Pero fears she cannot do that if he were there. She’s been so patient with him, so endlessly patient during his time here. Every time they go somewhere, she’s always so attentive, making sure he understands things, that he’s not confused or scared or alarmed by anything he encounters, and making sure no one else has reason to be suspicious of his reactions to elements of modern life.

But it also means he’s a distraction. He would not want to pull Tessa’s focus away from her work and he cannot decide what might be worse: that she would never waver from her dedication to looking out for him, even at the expense of other parts of her life, or that one day…one day, her patience might run out. That one day, the care and kindness in her eyes might be replaced with resentment.

He fears that no matter how much time he spends in this century, he will never truly adjust to it. That he will never know enough about this world to move through it with any sort of ease.

That he will never be enough.

You really think you can hold onto her? Be there for her? Keep up with her?

Take it from someone who also couldn’t measure up in the end: one way or another - next week, next year, someday - you will lose her.

He knows he should not allow Ryan’s words to affect him so. He knows what kind of man Tessa’s ex-fiancé is, he knows just how little value he should assign to his judgment.

And yet.

He can’t help but feel something about Ryan’s harsh assessment struck true. Pero replays their encounter over and over in his mind.

Take it from someone who also couldn’t measure up.

But oh, how Pero wants to. How he wishes he could.

He’s gotten used to the sight of his reflection in the mirror above the bathroom sink over the past seven weeks. Seeing his every feature in crystal clear detail is no longer a shock, but for the first time since he arrived here, Pero stands at the mirror this morning and looks, really looks, at himself.

Weeks of rich and regular meals have softened his body; there’s a little extra padding along his belly that wasn’t there before. The harsh lines of his face have been smoothed out somewhat, the sharp edges of his jaw and cheekbones blunted.

But no amount of Tessa’s cooking can erase the scar from his face, the thick red line of tissue still marking him as a man who has seen far too much violence. Nearly two months of idleness hasn’t coaxed the harsh, untrusting glint from his eyes, nor untwisted the near-constant scowl from his lips. The more he looks at himself, the more the changes his time with Tessa have wrought look and feel like an ill-fitting mask, a hastily constructed facade that does a poor job of hiding the true man underneath.

You’ll never get what you want from this, he had once told William when his friend had tried to convince him to stay and defend the Wall and its people. You think they see you as some kind of hero? A man of virtue? Maybe you can fool them, but I know what you are. You know what you are: a thief, a liar, and a killer. And you can never undo the things you have done.

He’d been trying to goad William into a reaction. He’d been trying to convince him not to stay and fight in a situation where death seemed all but certain. He’d been trying to hide how afraid he was that William would refuse to leave anyway. It had been a purposefully harsh judgment of his friend. Unjustly so.

But even if the things Pero had said hadn’t been true about William, he knew they were true about himself.

And he knew there were no happy endings, not for men like him. Not for thieves, liars, killers. Not for cowards. There was only survival until your luck ran out. The past seven weeks had been a sort of dream, a wondrous fantasy of the kind of life he might have been able to lead had he been born in a better time.

If he’d been born a better man.

But all dreams must come to an inevitable end.

Pero had been alone before. He could learn to do it again.

———

The morning of the solstice finds New York blanketed in the kind of gray, grimey cloud cover that embodies the phrase in the bleak Midwinter. Freezing rain begins to fall during Tessa’s cab ride to the airport and, in hindsight, was probably the first sign of how this day was about to go.

Tessa’s flight, as Rachel had promised, is an early one. But winter weather stretching across the Midwest and along the East Coast has delayed incoming flights to New York despite the local conditions being merely cold and annoying, not debilitating. Fortunately the plane Tessa is meant to get on makes it in from Nashville, albeit an hour or so later than intended.

Time slows to a crawl. Once she’s finally on the plane, Tessa knows it can’t be taking any longer than usual to get everyone settled on the 737, but it feels like the least efficient boarding process of all time. They push back from the gate nearly ninety minutes off schedule.

Then they wait for another twenty minutes for the plane to get de-iced.

Then there’s another nearly half an hour of sitting on the tarmac waiting for the backlog of planes lined up next to the runway to take off.

By the time her flight actually gets into the air, Tessa is clenching her teeth so tightly her jaw begins to ache, the frustration of being helpless to make the process of getting home to Pero go any faster making her want to tear her hair out.

On top of all of that, she spends most of the two-hour flight gripping her armrests for dear life, the rough weather across the Midwest offering no smooth path for the plane no matter the altitude.

It’s not until she makes it to Chicago, gets into her car, cranks up the heater, and starts navigating her way out of O’Hare that she realizes that what she’s feeling isn’t just lingering anxiety over the rough plane ride. It isn’t just nervousness about her conversation with Pero, or leftover adrenaline from yesterday, or a desire to get home after being delayed.

Underneath all of those things is her Gift, trying to warn her that something is wrong.

It’s the tell-tale feeling of cold, black dread hooking itself into her lungs, of ice spreading up her spine and lodging in her throat. It’s the feeling of invisible smoke and grit surrounding and covering her that makes her want to scratch and rub at her skin to make it go away.

It steals her breath and only years and years of learning to live with and react to her Gift keeps Tessa steady at the wheel.

Fear wraps itself around her heart.

Who? She silently shrieks at her Gift. Who am I going to lose this time?

But somewhere, down deep in her being, Tessa already knows, even if she doesn’t have the strength to admit it to herself.

She considers calling Henry, or Amie, or Moira, and asking them to check on Pero. But her phone is some side pocket of her bag that’s sliding around in the backseat, and Tessa doesn’t dare attempt to fish it out while she’s driving. She could pull over, she could take two minutes to stop and find it, but the idea of even the smallest additional delay makes her want to scream. Instead, she flexes her hands against the steering wheel and resists the urge to obsessively count each mile marker she passes.

There’s no denying the holiday travel rush has begun; there’s definitely more traffic on the tollway than there was yesterday, enough to slow things down. Tessa hits thirty minutes on the road, then sixty, then ninety, each half-hour feeling like a year, and she’s still a good distance out from home. She flips through radio stations constantly, no song or commercial or DJ able to hold her attention for longer than a few seconds. Even Christmas music neither distracts nor calms her the way it usually does, not with vehicles constantly surrounding her on every side, hindering her ability to push past the speed limit.

Ninety minutes becomes two hours. Then two and a half. This day is starting to feel like a terrible dream, the kind where you know you have to be somewhere, you have to do something, but the more you fight to move the more the universe pushes back against you until you feel like you’re trying to run through a swimming pool of molasses. The kind of dream where you always wake up before you get to where you need to be.

Storm clouds building off Lake Michigan start to roll across the sky like an omen, chasing away what little sun there is even earlier than usual on the shortest day of the year. Mid-afternoon starts to rapidly feel like twilight and Tessa is twenty minutes from home when the wind picks up with a sudden newfound ferocity. Snowflakes begin to fall and Tessa drives as quickly as she dares, trying to make it home before conditions deteriorate too far.

Hurry, hurry, hurry the gray-blue wall of clouds seems to say as it pushes unceasingly across the horizon. Hurry home, little witch, and hope you are fast enough.

Finally, finally Tessa turns into her driveway, the back end of her car threatening to fishtail at her speed and increasingly slick conditions. She barely takes the time to throw the vehicle into park and turn it off before racing up the steps to her front door.

“Pero, I’m home!” She calls as she bursts in, trying to keep the panic from her voice. But the house is dark and silent, the only lights on are the ones on her tree, set to a timer.

Something is definitely wrong.

“Pero?” Tessa shouts again, hastily checking the rest of the house. There’s no sign of him. And even more worrying, everything he’d arrived on her doorstep with is gone: his swords, his dagger, his clothes.

And the pendant.

No, no, please, no -

Tessa runs back outside and stands under the eaves of her porch, squinting out into the dim remaining light where the snow has now begun to come down in earnest.

When she’d left the day before, the existing snow cover across her front yard had been undisturbed. Now, there is a single set of footprints leading away from the house and towards the woods. Towards the Gate.

Her Gift is a dull roar in her ears as Tessa comes to the inevitable, unmistakable, undeniable conclusion it’s been trying to warn her about:

Pero is gone.

Chapter 10.

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a/n: I know. I know. But reminder that this is not the end. There is one more chapter left, folks. Deep breaths.