#I'm from one of the villages. it takes me more than an hour to get to the center

[yevrosima-the-third]

For the ask game: 1, 11, 18, 24 and 29 :)

- Parlerenfleur

Hey :)

No. 1 - favourite place in my country. Place, place, place. That's hard. Oh right! Sombor. Best town I've been in. Just so beautiful. Going there made me realize why someone would want to stay in one place, in the place they were born in, their whole life.

No. 11 - My favourite native writer/poet is Vasko Popa for sure. He's my favourite poet in general. His poetry feels like a wind that goes through you. In the original at least. Never read any translations

No. 18 - Do I speak with a dialect of my native language - Well yeah. I mean, everyone does, right? But my dialect is like. The one they use on tv. So the most basic one. Still recognisable though. People kinda hate us lol. Hm, sometimes I sound sort of Bosnian because I have some family that's from there

No. 24 - What other nation is joked about most often in my country... You know, I actually have no idea. I know there are jokes about our neighbours, Montenegrins and Bosnians, and I think we joke about Germans. But most joked about? Not a clue

No. 29 - Well my region, or rather, city, doesn't exactly have beef with anyone... Everyone else just kinda hates us lol. I live in the capital of my country, so, yeah, I think that's kinda common - everyone hating the capital. It gets a lot of attention and a lot of resources while other parts of the country are neglected. Unless the elections are nigh, of course :))))) Also, people from here can be quite... Entitled? I can't remember how to translate bahati. When they visit other places in our country as tourists. So like, it's justified, it's not without reason that everyone hates us. Also, people from here tend to look down on people from other places, I even catch myself doing it sometimes. I try not to.

[mydadleft471]

For The Love Of A Daughter

Summary: After getting caught looking for food to feed your daughter, Lord Messmer takes pity on you and extends mercy.

Spoilers for Elden Ring and Shadow of the Erdtree. Slight warning for descriptions of violence and death.

This was requested by anonymous! I'll link the request here. This was SO MUCH FUN. I've never really wrote anything involving young children before, so I'm going off of the scant interactions I've had with some younger family members. I've also never wrote for a GN! reader. It was easier than I thought lmao. Thank you for the request anon!

I'm really considering making this a series tbh! If you'd like to see more, please let me know! I could've spent the whole day writing but I need to go eat lmao. (I've been writing for 2 hours help)

As always, thank you so much for reading, liking, commenting, and reblogging! I haven't had this much fun writing in such a long time and it makes me so unbelievably happy that I'm able to write things that make other people happy. Hope everyone enjoys!

Your lungs were on fire.

You hadn’t stopped running from the moment you entered the Land of Shadow. A few Tarnished once accompanied you, but they had been slain and you had no choice to move on for your sake and hers.

The little girl carefully strapped to your shoulders was maybe about 4 years old. You’d found her in the rubble of an old village in Caelid accompanied by two corpses, most likely her mother and father. Her sweet green eyes pierced yours and you knew you couldn’t leave her there. You were never much of a fighter anyways. Your hands were gentle and steady and your nerves did not hold strong in the throes of battle.

She only had one thing with her: a golden locket with a piece of folded paper inside with the name Jasmine written on it. You were unsure if that was her name or her mother’s, but you called her that. You found it fitting for her.

Currently, you were running from a pack of armed men all wielding the same unnatural fire. You had carefully snuck up to a dark looking castle in search of any food you could find, when suddenly, guards had honed in on your position and you ran for it, not knowing if they would be kind to you and your child.

Booking it straight for a charred town, you tried to maneuver your way around its buildings to confuse the men chasing you. After randomly choosing directions to turn and heading down a few alleyways, you found your way to a staircase. You squeezed yourself down into it, hoping that you were out of sight to go unnoticed.

You heard the thundering of footsteps approach your position and you held your breath. Jasmine began to squirm from where she was attached to your shoulders, so you quietly repositioned her in your arms. Her little hands meekly clutched your arm; it had been two days since she had last had something semi-filling.

You froze as you heard the sound of clanking metal approaching you. A man ducked down and his eyes found yours, your heart nearly stopping. He shouted to alert the other guards and they soon surrounded you. You couldn’t see them, but you heard so many footsteps. You were found.

“Come out, or we’ll drag you out.”

Slowly, you slid yourself from your hiding place, clutching Jasmine to your chest defensively.

“Please, I beg of you, let me go. She’s hungry. I was looking for food, that’s all.” Your voice wavers at the sight of so many weapons.

“Lord Messmer will decide your fate. You will come with us.”

With your head hung low, you follow their orders. They search you for any possessions you might have, which is basically nothing but a half-empty waterskin and a dull dagger, and confiscate them. They eye Jasmine, looking for anything she might be hiding, but they don’t dare touch her. Mercifully, they allow you to hold her as they march you back to the blackened castle you ran from.

You make your way up what must be a thousand stairs and your legs ache from the amount of walking you’ve done. Slowing down causes a guard to firmly grab your shoulder and keep you going at a brisk pace. Jasmine hides her face in your shoulder and you try to calm her by rubbing circles into her back. You would promise her that it would be okay, but you can imagine her parents promising that same thing, and now they were dead and she was being carried into an unknown place.

If it came down to it, you’d beg for her to remain safe and allow them to kill you.

Finally, the guards stopped you in front of a large metal door. It was intricately decorated and instilled true fear into you. This must be where Lord Messmer resided

“You will show respect at all times. Speak only when spoken to, or we will put you to the sword.”

You merely nod in response, not willing to test how quickly they would kill you.

The doors open with a protesting creak and the metal slides against the stone floor with an unnatural sound. It grates your ears and you cover Jasmine’s to save her from the awful noise. Two guards flank your shoulders and tap your shoulder, signaling for you to move forwards.

The room is lit with a few candles shimmering in the stagnant air. It smells like sulfur and blood. The guards stop you and push down on your shoulders, and you kneel. Jasmine stays in your arms, small hands wrapped tightly around your neck.

“My Lord, we’ve found an intruder. They were scouring around the castle and fled when seen. They say that they were looking for food for their child.” The guard barks out.

You keep your head down, terrified to look up. 

“A child, here?” A new, lower voice cascades across the room sending shivers down your spine.

“Yes, My Lord.”

“A child does not belong in the Land of Shadow. Thou hast endangered them.” He doesn’t sound pleased. “Prithee, tell me thy reasoning for bringing one so fragile here.”

“I found her in Caelid, My Lord. Since then, we’ve been traveling with a group of Tarnished and our path led us here.” Your voice shakes as you speak.

“‘Tis not thy child in thine arms?”

You shake your head. “No, My Lord. She was in a ruined village, surrounded by rubble and rot. I couldn’t leave her there.” Your heart stings at the painful memory.

“Intriguing. What reason didst thou have to come to my castle?”

“As your guard said, My Lord. She is hungry. Food is not easy to come by here.”

“Dost thou remember when last she ate?”

“Two days ago was her last full meal. Since then, we’ve been living off of rowa fruits.”

Silence is your response, until you hear heavy footsteps approaching you. You squeeze your eyes shut and hug Jasmine tight. She trembles in your arms.

“The child has a name, I presume?” His voice is only a few feet away from you now.

“Jasmine, My Lord.”

He sighs. “How was thee treated by my men?”

“They didn’t take her away from me, My Lord. They never hurt us.”

He lets out what you assume is a sigh of relief. Something thumps against the ground making you jump. Out of the corner of your eye, you see the hilt of his weapon. You remember other Tarnished referring to Lord Messmer as the Impaler, and you shuddered in fear.

“Thy only crime is trespassing, but do not thinkest me heartless. Thou art forgiven, and I shall extend mercy unto thee.” His tone changes as he addresses one of his men. “They shalt be taken to comfortable quarters and attended by female staff only. Shall any man lay a hand upon the child, they shalt be killed immediately, without mercy.”

“Yes, My Lord.” The guard leaves the room quickly, probably thanking his lucky stars for permission to exit the room.

“Rise. Thou needn’t stare at the floors any longer.” His voice softens as he speaks to you.

With shaking legs, you do as he asks and you spare a glance in his direction. He towers over you, serpents coiling around his slender frame, and you notice he has one eye that glimmers a brilliant gold. His great spear is held firmly in his right hand.

“Thank you. Truly.” You do your best to bow in your current state. Without adrenaline, you’re extremely shaky. You almost collapse, but a serpent gently coils around your waist and holds you up.

“I shall have food sent to thine quarters immediately.” You can almost hear worry in his voice.

You nod and mindlessly pat the serpent holding you up gently. It nuzzles into your palm.

As if on cue, a female servant with deep brown hair enters the room and you see a smile work her way onto her face at the sight of Jasmine.

“Is this who you would have me attend to, My Lord?”

“Yes. They are exhausted and have been without proper food for days. Ensure they are looked after.”

The woman places a hand on your shoulder and the serpent withdraws itself from your waist. You feel extremely unsteady, but the woman is stronger than she looks. 

“Come on now, love. Let’s get you some food.” She hooks your arm over her shoulder and wraps her other arm around your back. 

Slowly, she guides you out of the stagnant room and towards your quarters. She keeps you upright and doesn’t allow you to sway.

“Lord Messmer has taken pity on you, truly. Usually, trespassers are not dealt with so lightly.” She explains to you.

You don’t desire to dwell on what your fate could’ve been, so you quickly change the subject. “Do you have a name?” You ask her and she smiles once more.

“Sianet. A pleasure to serve you.”

You reach your room and Sianet gently helps you inside, settling you on a large, extremely comfortable bed. She goes to shut your door, then grabs a large pitcher of water. She helps you drink, the cold water a welcome luxury.

“Would you like some, little one?” She holds out the glass to Jasmine who keeps her head tucked into your shoulder.

“Hey, it’s okay. You should drink some water. It’s cold.” You keep your voice steady and she slowly raises her head. Her eyes quickly scan around the room and she looks at Sianet.

“Hello, sweet thing. Do you have a name?”

You prepare yourself to answer for her, as Jasmine really only speaks to you, but you’re shocked when she replies on her own, her voice a meek whisper.

“My name is Jasmine.”

Sianet smiles wider, her white teeth almost blinding. “That’s a lovely name, Jasmine. Would you have some water for me?”

Jasmine nods and grabs at the glass. Sianet helps her drink, tipping the cup back slowly. Once she finishes drinking, the glass is put beside the pitcher on the table next to your bed.

“Your dinner should be ready soon. While we wait, shall I draw a bath for the little one?”

Jasmine’s eyes light up and she nods furiously. Sianet laughs and makes her way to the corner of the room, beckoning for her to follow. Jasmine looks at you with wide eyes.

“Can I follow her?”

“Go on. You stink.” She giggles and launches herself off your lap, toddling off after Sianet.

You flop unceremoniously onto the bed and shut your eyes. You had been wandering for so long that you almost forgot what a proper bed felt like. You remind yourself that you’re safe, even if only for a little while. You can relax and rest. You’ve earned it.

A sudden knock at the door interrupts your thoughts. You hear Jasmine and Sianet talking in the next room, so you make your way to the door yourself. Opening it, you are surprised to see Lord Messmer himself. His serpents flick their tongues at you, almost like a greeting.

“What can I do for you, Lord Messmer?”

“I came to ensure thy room was to thine liking.”

You smile at him. “I’ve never stayed somewhere so beautiful. I have no complaints, My Lord.”

His eye twinkles and he peers around you to look inside the room. You silently berate yourself for your horrible manners.

“My apologies, My Lord. Would you like to come in?”

“I shalt not invade thy privacy. Where hast thy child gone?”

“She’s currently taking a much needed bath. She’s okay.” To confirm your words, Jasmine lets out a delighted squeak. The corners of his lip turn up in a small smile.

“Sianet: is she to thine liking as well?”

“She’s very attentive and sweet. You don’t need to worry.”

He clears his throat. “Thy room is guarded well. If thou have need for anything, thou must only ask.”

“Thank you, My Lord. I hope you know how much this means to us.”

“‘Tis no matter. ‘Twould make me a monster to not attend to thee, especially the child.”

“Not that I’m not grateful, but… why are you helping us? Sianet told me that trespassers are usually not dealt with in such a manner.”

His expression falters a little. You worry you overstepped.

“Thou did not hurt my men. Thou did not invade my castle with ill intent.” He pauses, looking away from you. “And it hath been countless moons since a child has inhabited the Land of Shadow.”

“I see.”

Silence encompasses you both, and you take in the details of his face. He has strong cheekbones and a proud, regal nose. His golden eye shimmers in the dim candlelight around you.

“I shalt not bother thee any longer. Give my regards to thy child, and if thou hast need for anything, I permit thee ask.”

“Thank you, Lord Messmer. I’m lucky to have met you.”

His eye widens and a peaceful smile finds itself on his face. He looks handsome like that, you think to yourself.

He bows slightly and leaves you, his serpents coiling themselves around him as he gets further from your door. You shut it and sigh, returning to your bed. The mattress envelops you in a comfortable embrace, and you swear you could fall asleep now and not wake up for a few days. Exhaustion clings to your nerves and bones, and your eyelids grow heavy. You shut them and find yourself immediately succumbing to slumber.

“Wake up! Food’s here!” You’re rudely awoken by Jasmine bouncing excitedly on the bed. You groan and sit up, your body creaking in protest at the sudden movement.

“Alright! I’m up.” She giggles and grabs your hand, pulling you to stand.

Yawning, you do. Rubbing your eyes, you notice that Sianet is carefully arranging a table of food. The smell makes your mouth water. Jasmine runs to help her, her skin now cleaned and clothed in a new dress. Her little feet pad across the marble floors and you don’t remember ever seeing her so excited.

“Sleep well?” Sianet asks, turning her head to meet your gaze.

“Better than I’ve ever slept before. Until someone interrupted.” Jasmine giggles and runs behind a chair, hiding from your teasing.

“I am glad.” She dusts her hands off on her apron and stands back. “Your dinner is ready.”

“Thank you, Sianet.”

You make your way over to the table and sit down in one of the chairs. Just like your bed, it is extremely comfortable. Before you is a large spread of meats, fruits, and a few desserts. You had been given a bottle of wine to indulge in if you so desired. You can’t remember a time when you had so much choice in what to eat.

Jasmine is lifted into her chair by Sianet, which has been outfitted with a booster seat, and her eyes go wide at the amount of food. You see her gaze immediately lock onto a small tray of chocolate.

“You can’t have just chocolate for dinner, Jasmine.”

She scowls. “You’re right. There’s not enough.” You laugh and shake your head.

“If you need me, say something to the guards. I must go and ensure you have clothes. A bath has been drawn for you already.” 

“Thank you, Sianet. We appreciate it.”

“Thank you for giving me a bath.” Jasmine has already stuffed a piece of chocolate in her mouth.

“Of course. I will be back shortly.” She bows her head and takes her leave.

You and Jasmine have your fill of whatever you want. You indulge in some chocolate and a glass of wine and eat until you’re completely full. You imagine this is how Messmer lives each and every day.

You could get used to this.

You make an effort to clean up your plates and stack them so they can be easily taken away and Jasmine makes her way over to the bed. Once you’re finished, you sit beside her.

“Will you tuck me in?”

“Of course.” You pull the soft blankets up and over her, folding them delicately so she can keep her arms out. She smiles and wiggles, getting comfy.

“Mother used to tuck me in every night.” She never spoke of her parents, so this was surprising to you. “She had long hair and a pretty smile. But that’s all I can remember.”

Your heart pinches painfully. “I’m sorry, little one.” You grab her hand and squeeze it.

“Why?”

“Because you can’t really remember your mother.”

“That’s okay. I have you.” She smiles at you and you feel tears well up in your eyes. You finally know that she’s safe and fed and warm, unlike so many other nights. She is protected by a demigod in his home. Nobody can touch her. She can finally be a child.

“You will always have me,” you promise.

She shuts her eyes and you gently stroke her hair. The brown shimmers in the candlelight. You wonder if her mother had brown hair. When you found her parents, you were so worried about Jasmine that you never looked at them hard enough to remember. Maybe that was for the best.

You rise slowly from the bed to not disturb her sleep, and gently tip-toe your way to the bathroom. Like the bedroom, it was extravagant. Marble floors and tiles and a large candelabra hung from the ceiling, painting the room in a serene glow. The bath sat full, the water still steaming with some petals gently floating on the water. The room smelled like vanilla.

Undressing yourself, you catch your reflection in the mirror. Bruises litter your body like constellations and scars are forever etched on your flesh. You’ve grown skinny, far too skinny, from not eating. You prioritized Jasmine’s food over yours. You did not want her to grow up malnourished.

Tearing your gaze away from yourself, you step into the water and sit down, your body relaxing into the water immediately. The warmth permeates your skin and soothes your bones. The tub is big enough for you to full submerge yourself if you so choose, and you do. The only noise you hear is the gentle swooshing of water. It’s almost like being in a void.  You remain under the water until your lungs quickly remind you that you need to resurface for air, and you do. Your hair now wet, you shampoo and condition it, leaving it soft and silky smooth. You choose a purple soap sitting on the edge of the tub and thoroughly lather yourself in it, basking in the lavender scent.

You remain in the water until it begins to chill, and you step out. Drying yourself off, you notice a silk robe hanging on the rack by the door. It is much too large for you, but you don’t really care. You take it and wrap yourself in it. Once more, you look at yourself in the mirror, and you don’t recognize who stands there. They have soft hair and smooth, clean skin wrapped in fine silks. You remind yourself that it is, in fact, you who stands there.

Making your way out of the washroom, you smile as you see Jasmine still sleeping soundly in the bed. The fireplace nearby roars and you begin to extinguish a few candles. Gently settling into the bed beside Jasmine, you lay a kiss to her forehead before shutting your eyes and returning to St. Trina’s domain once more.

Little did you know that Messmer himself had ignited the fireplace and brought you one of his robes. He doubted that he’d tell you. But he’d be a liar if he said seeing you in his robe didn’t make his heart flutter in his chest.

[celestialgalaxyglow]

Batfam and Danny, Part 9

At the Justice League Watchtower.

Diana: Good morning everyone and thank you for coming to this pronto meeting. I known we all have busy schedules so I'll make this quick. Bruce, Clark, and I have been investigating an operation by Lex Luthor. He has been moving round large amounts of radioactive material to a secret lab in the Sahara Desert, we currently do not know what he is planning but last night the radioactivity around the base spiked. We believe that there was some leak of the radioactive materials and we need a plan to contain it.

J'ohn: Are there any civilians in the region?

Clark: No, the lab is far out into the desert. The closest town is a small village with a population of about 1000 people an hour and a half away.

Hal: I could but up a temporary shield around the lab and try to contain the radiation as much as possible.

Bruce: That would be a good start.

Arthur: This is concerning, how can I help?

Diana: There is another shipment currently on a Lexcorp boat heading towards a port in Algiers we need you to stop it.

Bruce: Oliver, you will help Arthur take control of the ship.

Oliver: Got it.

Diana: Barry, while we believe the town and its residents will be safe, we'd like to keep you on stand by just in case.

Barry: Yes ma'am!

Diana: That's all from us. Now that we are together we should start making a solid plan, we start this operation 10pm, local time in Algeria. That gives us 8 hours to prepare. Any questions?

Oliver: Just one question, who's Bruce's new kid?

Everyone turned to look at Danny.

Danny: Hi!

Bruce: This is Danny, alias Phantom, he's Jason's kid... and my grandson.

Barry (laughing): Congratulations Bruce, you're a thirty-one-year-old grandfather.

Arthur: Is he helping us with the operation?

Diana: Yes, Danny is half-ghost and immune to radiation, he'll be helpful if the radiation levels are higher than we expect.

J'onn: You have a quite mind young one.

Danny: If I let you read my thoughts there's a fifty-fifty chance your brain may get scrambled.

J'onn: I see...

Billy: I'm here! Sorry I'm late, just had to finish something before I could leave- Billy looked around the room till he saw Danny. He jumped back and covered his ears.

Clark: You ok there Billy?

Billy: Who is that kid?

Danny: I'm Bruce's grandson.

Billy: ...

Clark: Why?

J'ohn: The gods in Billy's mind all just screamed bloody murder and told him that under no circumstances, should he make Danny mad.

Everyone looked at Danny but before anyone could ask question Constantine walked in.

Constantine: You known if you're going to call a random meeting at least give us more than 3 hours to get ready- Constantine froze when he saw Danny. Shit...

Danny (grinning): Constantine!

Bruce: You two know each other?

Danny: Yes, he's the fool that sold his sold his soul to a hundred separate demons who are all now petition me to decide who actually owns his soul.

Constantine: ...

Hal: Why would they petition you?

Danny: I'm their king.

JL: What!?

Danny: And another thing Constantine, come over here. A green light encircled Constantine throwing him across the room, placing down in a chair next to Danny. You didn't pay your taxes for the last tax season.

Constantine: I- your majesty, I'm not a citizen of the Infinite Realms.

Danny: Actually you are! Danny summoned a scroll. According to section 8, subsection 45, clause B of the Infinite Realms Citizenship and Nationality Status Governing Deaths, Resurrections, and All Other Avoidances of Death Act, also known as the IRCNSGDRAOADA, due to your soul being more than 80% owned by citizens of the Infinite Realms, you too are a citizen of the Infinite Realms, and thus have to pay taxes.

Constantine: I-

Danny: You owe the Crown, aka me, $25,000.

Constantine (nervous): Would your majesty be so kind as to wave my taxes for this year, given I did not know I had to pay?

Danny: I'll give you... 120 days to come up with the money, if not I'll send the tax collectors after you.

Constantine (terrified): You- you're too kind your majesty. Constantine picked up a folder from the table. I'll just read the report... I- got to go. Constantine left the room.

Bruce (tired): Danny...

Danny: I was joking, I'll wave the his missing taxes.

Hal: Why is he so scared of tax collectors?

Danny: The tax collectors in the Infinite Realms are not just nerds with suitcases, they are nerds with suitcases that also carry paintball guns.

J'onn: Paintball guns?

Danny: The paint will never come off till you pay your taxes.

Berry: That sounds so fun!

Arthur: I'm happy to have another king on the team. Finally I have some to talk to about the duties of ruling.

Danny: Tell me about it, for some reason, people can't just do as their told.

Arthur (crying): You understand me my pain.

Clark: Where does your family find these children?

Bruce: We don't find them, they find us!

Diana: As fun as this whole conversation is we do need to prepare for the mission. Let's get to work.

JL: Yes ma'am!

(Master Post)

[thisonehere]

Meanwhile...

A Match Made in Hell

Part 3 of (???)

1st part | 2nd part | Next part

A/n: This is so late, I'm so sorry for the wait. A lot of things have been going on lately.

I know it was originally going to be 4 parts but I had a few more ideas so I've been considering making it slightly longer.

Tags: @maulsgf @sweetpanda18 @thickemadame @posterbunny @strawbisane @fandom-garbage @sleepyfxce @livingdeadgirly

C/w:

"You sure there's nothing else I can get you?" The waitress says with a smile. You just look up to the kind face and try your best to smile back. "Oh, no, thank you, though." It was evening time at Madame Bo's but you've been occupying this booth for hours now, not sure where else to go. The light of the setting glowed throughout the place and radiated a nice warmth, causing you to feel at ease, causing you to doze off once or twice. "Alright, but Madame Bo insists that you have this until you're ready." They reach up to their tray and set a plate of bread sticks and rolls. This helps you keep your smile longer, helping it feel less strained.

You give a thankfully nod and reach out for one of the bread sticks. The waitress left, leaving you alone with your thoughts. You stared almost blankly at the bread sticks, feeling it's warm and crunchy texture in your hand. You didn't really feel hungry right now, in general, you didn't eat that much anymore. If it wasn't for Bo, you probably would've starved yourself.

It was so strange. Back at the Artika it was you constantly running around people making sure they were fed. Tomas, Kuai, and Cyrax were always so busy that you often had to remind them to eat. You giggle to yourself, oh, how the tables have turned.

"Well, are you going to finish that?" You're brought back to the present. You look up, Kung Lao and you feel your body relax. "Lao, you're early." You get up to hug him. "I know, try not to get used to it." He mused as he smiled to you. He said as he sat himself on the other side of the booth. He immediately attacked the appetizers, shoving bread sticks and rolls hungry into his mouth. You tried not to laugh at the sight of it, "Where's Raiden?" At this, Lao pointed outside the booth, you lean to the side to see and there is Raiden, or you think it's Raiden. You see him struggling towards you, trying to balance two giant trays of food and drinks. He slowly approached, wobbling this way and that, trying desperately not to spill anything.

You giggle a little as you rise from your seat and walk over to him. You take the tray off revealing Raiden's anxious face. "Oh, Hello there, Y/n." He sighs in relief as you take some of the load off. "Need some help?" You muse as you hold try in your arms. "That would be much appreciated." He nods gratefully as follows you to the booth, once there he side eyes as he sets the tray down . "This one was supposed to help me. But when I reached for the trays, I looked over and his was gone." By now, Lao ate almost all the appetizers, his mouth was crammed full of bread sticks, he looked at Raiden innocently with puppy dog eyes as if he was trying to say 'who, me?'. Raiden fixed him a hard stern as the two began to face off for a moment. Everything went still, your eyes darted from one to the other. Finally Raiden defaulted and chuckled to himself, "Oh, how could I ever stay mad at that face?" With a sigh he plopped down next to Lao.

---

You had met Kung Lao and Raiden when you first came to the village. Madem bo had introduced you to them, encouraged them to let you stay with them, and they were so nervous. They remembered just how horrible Bi-Han was, they immediately assumed that since you were his wife, you'd be just as bad or even worse. Maybe you'd have a temper like him, maybe you would snap any second and attack them, they didn't know. When you first moved in with them they walked on eggshells and avoided you at all costs.

This didn't help your mental state at all, making you feel even more alone and isolated than when you first arrived. The journey from the Artika was lonely as it was scary, you wish you had someone to keep you company. When you arrived in Fengjian you had hoped to find someone, anyone to talk to. Madame Bo was wonderful, but she was always busy. So when she introduced you to them, she described them so wonderfully, maybe you believed every word she said because you were desperate to find some form of friendship, but you were excited to meet them.

So imagine your disappointment to see that they seem to want nothing to do with you. You'd wake and they'd be gone, you come home and they'd come when you were asleep. So one day you beat them before they woke up before they did. Lung awoke to the scent of something really good baking. It was like he was in trance as he rose up from his bed and basically slept walking into the kitchen. When Raiden awoke to leave, he found You and Lao in the kitchen. You were at the stove cheerfully cooking as Lao stuffed his face with pancakes.

They were in shock at how different you were compared to Bi-Han. They wanted to ask you so many questions. How did you and Bi-Han meet? How did someone Bi-Han bag an angel like you? Why did you leave him? But the moment they brought up Bi-Han, they noticed a look in you eyes. As if talking about him was too painful. They often wondered what happened between you two

Whatever it was, it had to have been really bad, they saw how heartbroken and miserable you were despite how hard you tried to hide it. They often hear you up in the middle of the night crying for hours on end. They wanted so badly to help you, maybe sit you down and talk to you about it. But even now, they fear that you're not ready to talk about it. So they decided it would be best to leave it alone for now, going as far as using code names to about him in front of you with upsetting you.

---

"Lao and I can't stay long." You stop stirring your food around to look up to meet Raiden's eyes. It was dark outside now. You had spent hours laughing with the two that you hadn't noticed just his late it was. "Oh, what happened?" You say, trying not to sound too distressed by this. Raiden and Kung Lao were often busy training at the Wu Shi. They were gone for quite a few weeks, sometimes even months, and they got only just a few days to stay in Fengjian. You enjoyed it whenever they were here, things were so lonely back at their place. "When will you be leaving?"

"We have to go back tonight. We came here to see you one last time before we leave. Liu Kang's says something as about a potential threat. Something about a sorcerer called 'Shang Tsung'." Raiden says, a hint of worry in his voice. You once heard a sorcerer called Shang Tsung, it was one of the names Sektor mentioned had became allied with the Lin Kuei through "you-know-who". You didn't know much about who he was, you knew more about his Quan Chi and his sisterhood of shadow. One of them most especially. You felt a shiver down your spine. "I...be careful, okay? This sounds dangerous." You say fearfully. "You worry too much, Y/n," Lao gives you a reassuring smile. "We're warriors, this is what we trained for. We should be worrying about you." You would be home alone all over again. Raiden and Lao often wondered about you whenever they were away, you were still so new here, hardly knowing anyone besides them and Madam Bo. It sounded quite lonely.

"Oh, don't worry about me...I-I won't be alone tonight." You say sheepishly. Raiden raised his brow as Kung Lao sat up in his seat. "Oh? Are we talking about that "special friend" of yours?" Lao looked at you with a knowing gaze. You felt your face run hot under gaze. "He's just a friend! He's visiting me before he leaves to do business." You try to explain yourself, but Lao still looks at you as if he knows that it isn't that simple. "I hope you have a wonderful time with him, Y/n." Raiden tries to cut in, he has an encouraging look in his eyes. Your face felt hotter as he looked at you with his smile. "I-I mean I hope he has a wonderful time with you-WAIT NO!- I-I mean I hope you have...um...uh" it was now Raiden who was blushing as he tried to correct himself. You both avoid each other's eyes as you look down as your faces burn bright red with blush. Lao Burt's out laughing at the state you two are in, causing many people in the restaurant to look at your booth.

"W-We should be going." Raiden quickly rises to his feet. "So soon? We haven't even given Y/n any good advice so she can have a 'wonderful time'." Raiden grabs Kung Lao ear forcing him to rise out of his seat with a 'ow'. "Last I checked, you have never had a 'wonderful time' so I don't know what advice you could give her." Raiden looks at you embarrassed, "Y/n, be safe, okay? You know how to contact us if anything goes wrong." And with that he turns and leaves. "Be sure to breathe through your nose and maintain eye contact when you-Ow!" Lao tried to call back before Raiden drags him away.

Now you're here alone in your booth. More importantly, alone with your thoughts. You enjoy Raiden and Kung Lao company because for a while, you don't think about what happened. But when you're alone, you remember the memory of your husband, arms wrapped tight around another woman, a demon no less. "I need you." He whispers into her ear as he begins to undo his pants.

In Fengjian you have found a great amount of peace and joy. You've made new friends and finally found some stability that makes you feel safe. And with that, you found the time to finally think about all that happened. You've tried to do not to think of it that much, to think of Bi-Han. But it's so hard. What happened? How did it come to this? You did everything right. You stayed quiet unless he spoke to you, you taught yourself how to cook just for him, you learned every way you could satisfy him, you diminished yourself completely just so he could have his perfect little wife. You even tried to get pregnant multiple times, not because you generally wanted a child, but because he had dreams of being a father. Where did you go wrong? You thought you did everything right.

Why weren't you enough for him? You threw away your entire life just for him. You stopped talking tof69 all your friends and family because they warned you that he was no good. You had nothing now, because you made Bi-Han your everything, you loved him so much it hurted sometimes. You felt everything inside you crumble when you saw him with that Demon. Her smile still haunts you at night when you try to sleep. Now that you think about it, you struggle to sleep many nights. Your mind wonders. Was that the first time he cheated on you, or did he do it multiple times and you just never found out. Bi-Han and Sektor always seemed close, were they sleeping together behind your back too!?!

---

Outside, the sun had set and you were climbing down the stairs of warm chaos of the restaurant and into the cool night. The fresh air of the outside and the sound of crickets made you feel at ease. "Leaving without saying goodbye, how rude." You hear a sweet elderly voice as you walk out of the restaurant. "I'm sorry, Madame Bo, it's getting late a-and I have to meet someone." Madame Bo climbed down the steps to, the lanterns outside her restaurant illuminated her skin giving it an ethereal glow. "You left so soon you almost forgot this." In Bo' hands was a to-go plate, steam flowed out of it's opening as she handed it to you. You could smell the food inside, it caused to form a wide smile as you sighed at the scent. "You're too good to me." You sigh gratefully as you enjoy the heat emanating from the box.

Ever since you arrived in Fengjian Bo had made it her job to look after you. She offered you a job at her restaurant, whenever you came here Bo would insist on feeding you until you could hardly breathe, and best of all, she only charged you half the price. Honestly, it was the most loved thing you felt in a while. You cut ties with your mother because she didn't approve of your marriage to Bi-Han. You haven't seen her years. By the Elder Gods, you miss her so much. You eyes get hot, you try to open your mouth thank Bo but you can already feel how shaky your voice is. "Y/n..." Bo's eyes drowned with sympathy for you. "I-I'm fine..." You softly reassured her, battling tears from coming out your eyes. You did know which one you felt so stupid for, the fact that you left everything behind for him or because you still loved him. You still dreamed of him coming here to bring you back home, where there was no Sareena, just you and him.

"I don't know what happened between you two, but..." Bo found herself lost in her thoughts as she looked at you sadly, her concern making you feel worse inside. "Bo..." You say as you take her hand and give her a reassuring smile. "...there's no need to worry about me." You squeeze her hand gently as you try to force the smile to be bigger. "I promise... I-I'm just fine." You forced a smile on your face. Madame Bo let out a soft sigh as she lays a cup on your cheek. "Well, I'm here when you're not fine." Bo turned from you, she slowly climbed the steps until she was at the door. "Take care, Y/n. Tell that 'special friend' of yours that I said hi." And with that, she gently closes the door.

---

The road home was quiet, just what you needed. A cold breeze flowed through the night air, it was nice. You felt at peace. You just focused on the sound of your heart against the quiet of trees. Kung Lao and Raiden lived just a little farther, in a house you'd be alone in. It'll only be for just a few days, you tried to convince yourself. Besides, your friend will keep you company just enough.

"Lady Y/n." You sound around so fast that you were dizzy for a few seconds. Standing before you was a Lin Kuei. A young man, you recognized his voice immediately. You remember he was one of the newest members to pass their training as become full fledged Lin Kuei. You stumbled back a few steps. Your eyes darted all over him as you begin to panic. "Forgive me, but I couldn't wait another minute." You clear your throat and straighten up. "State your purpose." you say firmly, hoping that he doesn't see the fear in your eyes. He nods, "The Grandmaster requests your presence," he walked up to you, a cold and discoplined look in his eyes. "I have come to collect you."

---

The restaurant was a lot busier today. Waitresses busied around the place with trays of food for their waiting customers. You chose a different booth today, one on a higher level, the highest one you could get. There were always less people up here during noon so you were basically alone besides maybe at least 5 other people. You always picked your booth at a lower level, so Madame assumed you'd be down there so she didn't think to look for you up here. That was for the best. You needed to be alone to think. You replay what was said over and over again in your head, a blank look on your face. You look like you're in a daze, like your body was here but your mind was far away, add that with a hint of dread in your eyes and you looked insane. You've been like that since last night. Your friend asked you if you were okay, you had rushed into the house in a panic as if you were running from something. You assured him you were fine, you were just really excited to see him. Thank God he couldn't hear how hard your heart was pounding.

You couldn't sleep, you came to Madame Bo's the moment it opened early in the morning and you've stayed in this booth ever since. Your booth was right next to a window, since you were so high up you had a nice view of Fengjian. The village looked so busy with people buzzing here and there to get on with their lives, the fields where farmers slaved under the hot sun to bare fruit, the valleys just beyond the village glowed under the sun's rays. You look at the picture before you. This place brought you so much peace, so much joy. The most joy you've felt in so long. It's a shame you'll have to leave it all behind.

"Is this seat taken." A voice drew you out of your thoughts by a familiar voice. "Raiden!" you gasp as you rise to your feet to meet him. You find yourself quick to wrap your arms around him; you take in his warmth; you stay there for a few seconds. "I thought you were supposed to be at the Academy." You finally let Raiden go and fall back into your seat, "I am...but I wanted to see you one last time before I left." Raiden says as he sits himself across the table from you. You stared at Raiden questionably, a flattered stare painted your face. "You came back just for me?" Raiden smiles sheepishly as he blushes a little. "Yes, I...I...uh...wow that is a wonderful view." Raiden quickly changes the subject, he stares longingly at the window.

Raiden was acting weird, but you didn't care. You actually welcomed the distraction, your mind was so middled and conflicted, it felt nice to be taken out of it for just a few seconds. "Fengjian..." He sighs. "Fengjian..." You sigh in agreeance. You both stared out the window for a pleasant while. Raiden was bathed under the light from the window. You admire how he glowed, coupled with the gentle smile on his face, it was almost like he was a god with how much he glowed. Can you imagine that, Raiden, a god? You found yourself let out another soft giggle.

"What?" Sight of your giggling was contagious, Raiden found himself smiling even wider and trying not to laugh. "Oh, nothing. I-I think you just look really...nice." you found your face burning and you weren't why. Because of the sun or because of the blush painting your face a suble red. You noticed Raiden also blushing as he nodded gratefully. "Uh, thank you. I think you look nice as well."

Silence, again. Raiden finally interrupted it with a gulp, "So...how did you you...uh...date-thing go?" You felt yourself blushing ever harder as you remember. You were so caught up with the bigger half that you barely thought about it. "It went, I guess, we watched Johnny's new movie. It was really nice." You recalled it all so fondly. A large smile spreads across your face, Raiden shifts uncontrollably at this. "That's good, I'm happy that you enjoyed yourself." Once again, silence. But this time, you noticed nothing about Raiden. It's written all over his face, it's like he wants to say something. Something important.

"Y/n. I can't stay for much longer. I came back because I wanted to tell you...I lo-" Raiden immediately bites his lips as he stops himself. He clears his throat and straightens up. "....I don't know what happened between you and...him, but me, Lao, Madame Bo are here for you. We won't let him hurt you." Raiden looks you dead in the eyes as he makes this promise. You feel your eyes begin to burn with tears again. And again, you fight them off. "I...thank you, Raiden. I love you all so much..." You rise from your seat. "But some things...some things I need to deal with by myself." You walk out of the booth and walk to the stairs. You don't look back, you don't see Raiden longingly looking at you as you leave.

---

It was colder tonight. Cold and unforgiving, as if Bi-Han himself were. You paced back and forth as you waited uneasily for any sign of the Lin Kuei. He was insistent, almost forceful, about his mission. And you were unsure what to say. You wanted to go back to Bi-Han, but after all he's done to you, how he betrayed you, how he shattered you. And you build an entirely new life, you loved it here, you loved all the people you met and made bonds with, the longer you stayed here the less you missed the Artika. You hated how conflicted you were. You were scared too, what if Bi-Han sends more Lin Kuei. Ones who aren't as patient as this one? What lengths will he go to get you back to the Artika?

At that second, you see a figure forming in a dark distance. The Lin Kuei's hard eyes are the first thing you see as he approaches. You take a deep breath as you walk up to meet him. "Thank you for waiting." You find the strength to settle your voice so it Isn't as shaky as when you rehearsed what you were going to say. He stares at you coldly, you stare back at him in the eye.

"As for what Bi-Han orders, tell him that he can go back to hell."

---

A/n: In the next part... Bi-Han isn't happy, also Y/n's "special friend".

[mrs-kodzuken]

early christmas ⟢ rintarou s.

synopsis: you get an early christmas gift from your boyfriend and love it beyond no end, timeskip!suna x fem!reader, christmas time, fluff, short fic

“You've been on that thing forever, at this rate you’re likely to forget me soon.” Rin deadpanned, almost regretting buying that damned thing for you.

Almost.

He could see how happy it made you, especially now that when he got on the game with his friends, you weren’t completely lonely with your new switch lite.

Of course, Christmas was coming up but with being stuck in the house for days due to snow and not being able to make it to work, he knew the best solution for his dear girlfriend.

He watched carefully as you concentrated on digging perfect holes to place trees in, your face was definitely one to remember. He loved seeing your joy filled face as you explained the animal crossing terms to him, even though he'd probably forget half of them within the next hour.

"Uhh, nuh uh." you retorted, not even looking up at him from where he was standing. After Rintarou surprised you with an early Christmas present, even though the big day was less than a week away, you could not stop playing. It was like an excitement that was slowly becoming an addiction.

You took your nintendo lite with you everywhere, to the bathroom when taking long, relaxing baths, to the bar in the kitchen where you both eat breakfast.

And even so far as playing it in public during downtime if you both were able to leave the house. You loved every minute of your new game console, especially since it was in your favorite color too.

However, Suna had to draw some lines when you pulled an all-nighter playing your game because you 'just had to get something done'.

"I think it's mostly your fault though, you let me open it early, so." you trailed off, sticking your tongue out wherever you thought he was from your peripheral.

Your eyes stuck to your little character as she ran around the plaza trying to talk with every villager. You couldn’t help but to get so happy when you saw the Christmas decorations around your island. As well as hounding on your game for so long, day and night, you were able to make lots of progress.

You barely noticed that Suna sat down beside you on the king sized bed, his PS5 left on and if you really paid attention, you could hear his friends calling for him.

"Love, at least give me a kiss before you leave off into the island of Y/n." he joked, you tore your eyes away from the screen and started to feel bad in the way that you were ignoring your boyfriend.

"I'm sorry Rinnie, I just really love the game, but I'll be sure to take breaks and spend actual quality time with you." you promised, saving and putting your game console away.

The relief basically melted off of Suna, now he finally understands the other side of the story when he used to not pay enough attention to you when gaming.

"Thanks, love." he murmured, pressing a soft kiss to your lips, relishing in the fact that he could taste the leftover dark chocolate crumbs on your lips from when you snack as you play.

"You're such an angel, you know that right? My angel." he couldn't help the smile that broke out across his face when you laughed and rolled your eyes. You were such the purest sight ever to him, this is what he missed. Of course he loves when you have an enjoyable hobby but physical contact was so much better in his opinion.

"Want to ditch the games for the rest of the night and watch a Christmas movie with me?" you giggled into his black sweatshirt, it smelling of his fancy body wash that you gifted him as a 'just because' gift.

"Obviously, anything to spend more time with you love." he hopped up, turning off his own gaming console and sending a text to his group chat before lounging with you in bed.

After a small discussion on which streaming service, you both finally decided on Hulu to watch Elf.

As the movie played and the lights were dimmed in the bedroom, you got sentimental, watching Rintarou’s handsome features being lit up by the movie.

"You know, I'm really grateful for my gift. I love it." you said quietly, hiding your face even though you both have been together for almost four years now.

He squeezed you tighter to him, loving your small confession, his heart felt unbearably warm at the act.

"I'm glad love, only the best for you." he kissed your temple knowing that his small confession would ring true when he got the balls to get the ring box out of his sock drawer and pop the question.

But for now, he smiled and watched your reactions to the movie, wondering how he got so lucky. 

a/n: hihi! i've been obsessed with animal crossing lately, so sorry i've been inactive!! i hope you enjoy, and requests are open! <3

[shankss-magnificent-ass]

Imagine Shanks turning into a cat

Benn: supposedly the ruins are guarded by some sort of shapeshifting enchanter.

Shanks: I heard that and asked the locals at the bars and the marketplace, and they said there hasn't been a sighting of the creature in a few hundred years. But they all told me that no one has gone up there in a long time because they avoid it.

You: then is it really a good idea to go there?

Shanks: meh, [waggles his hand side to side] We'll probably be fine.

You: ... count me out, I don't want to risk it.

Benn: you'll lose your cut of any treasure we find.

You: that's fine, I'll look after the ship with Hongo while y'all go into the creepy ruins. [watches them leave]

The next morning

You: [wakes up from someone pounding on your door]

Hongo: [yells on the other side of the door] Wake the fuck up! We have an emergency, we need all hands on deck.

You: [follows him up on deck to see the group that went to explore the ruins looking winded, tired, and dirtier than usual.] What on Earth is going on? What happened?

Benn: The villagers were right, we shouldn't have gone there to attempt to claim the treasure.

You: sounds about right

Benn: Although they were wrong about one thing, the sorcerer wasn't a shape-shifter himself. He changes other people's shapes.

You: oh gods, who got changed?

Benn: [pulls a large Somali cat out of his pack and holds him at arm's length.] Guess

You: ... is that... the boss?

Benn: [does that lipless awkward white-people smile and nods his head]

You: [takes the cat into your arms] Is he lucid?

Shanks: [thoroughly enjoying the scratches he's getting, and purring up a storm]

Benn: No idea, he's been like this for only two hours, most of which I spent running. But Yassop and Lucky Roux are in the village looking for anyone to help us, so we'll have more information soon.

Shanks: [meows loudly, and clings to your shoulder when you try to put him down]

Hongo: as a cat, he's a real mama's boy.

An hour later when Yassop and Lucky Roux return

Yassop: So we found the village historian lady, who had some information for us. She said that he is a cat for all intents and purposes. He can understand us, though, which should make it easier. She showed a scroll from three hundred years ago, detailing how a bandit robbed the ruins of its treasures. For which the sorcerer changed him into some animal, forget which one, but that's not the important part. The important part is that to undo the spell, we must take the treasure back to the ruins and put it back where we found it.

Shanks: [decides this is a great time to ask for food, and makes a chewing noise with this mouth to let you know.]

You: [rolls your eyes and puts him down] Not to interrupt, but Lucky, is there any canned chicken in the kitchen?

Lucky Roux: yeah

You: Alright, follow me, captain. [goes into the kitchen and starts prepping his food]

Shanks: [meowing at you and standing up with his front paws on the cabinet door]

You: [meowing back condescendingly] You know what? I hope that old lady was right, and you still understand me, just so you know I'm mocking you.

Shanks: [bites your foot]

You: OW, fuck you [puts the plate of food on the floor and goes back out on deck] soon as that little shit is done eating, take him and the treasure straight back before he has another chance to bite me.

List of Up-and-coming works || Master list || Twitter| Kofi || Patreon

[frostsinth]

Your Heart's Got Teeth - Pt. 1

Oh hey there... I guess I'm trying my hand at writing some short stuff. Which takes me back to my old and original love of orcs. So have a new story. On the house.

Just playing around with this, so we'll see where it goes. Likes and comments feed my fingers, so drop a word to tell me what you think! Tally ho!

Masterlist

---

The soldiers had come to the village more than a month ago, by order of the King. More than a month of them hoarding supplies, taking the best livestock and biggest shares, drinking the taverns dry. All in the name of “protection”. Though I had yet to see any do more than bully the villagers. Not to mention all their rules. No loitering in the streets after dark. No open campfires.

And absolutely no going outside the village walls. Making my usual trade as a hunter impossible.

This left me idle, a thing I detested more than anything. Lay in wait for the perfect ambush of elk or deer? Sign me up. Sit and twiddle my thumbs for weeks on end? I was very nearly ripping my hair out by the roots. Which was probably why, when the soldiers commandeered the main well, I had taken it upon myself to slip out past the patrol with as many huge earthen jugs as I could fit in my small hand cart. Rolling it out to the river on the outskirts of the wood. I imagined one small water cart was easier to slip in and out unnoticed than disappearing for hours to hunt only to have fresh meat flood the streets.

I grumbled under my breath as I navigated the last of the mulch. Cursing the soldiers, the King, and anyone else I could think of for my current plight. But what else could I do? The village had all but raised me and my brother after our parents had passed. I owed them everything I could manage. Even though I preferred my solitude these days, and knew very few of the villagers personally anymore. It was better to keep busy, to have a purpose.

I had just finished lining up the empty jugs beside the cart and carried the first to the water when I realized the woods around me had fallen eerily silent. Not even a single bird whistling among the early winter boughs. I cocked my head to the side, tensing in wariness.

I still jumped in surprise at the crack of branches behind me. Dropping the jug of water to roll on its side and spill what I had managed to just hoist out of the riverbed. Quickly, I spun, the hairs on the back of my neck rising, my breath catching in my throat.

“Who’s there?” I called sharply, my eyes skimming the low fog between the pine trunks. Trying to pick out the disturbance. But the fog was always deceptive. It carried sounds in weird ways. What you thought might be from behind you might actually be in front. I pivoted slowly in place, trying to listen over the sound of my heart thudding in my ears.

Another snap, louder, closer, and I spun again just in time for a large, solid object to crash straight into me. Taking my feet off the ground and landing me on my backside with an exaggerated “Ooof!”, one that was echoed by whatever, or whomever, had just crashed into me.

I would have quickly scrambled back to my feet, but was impeded by the over sized lanky body currently half on top of me. A soldier, I thought at first, given the armor. And the fact that they were outside the walls as well. I couldn’t think of another villager who would dare.

“Get off me!” I snapped, wriggling beneath the weight.

Then I shoved at it, my senses starting to come back to me after my initial upset. And my eyes went wide as I realized whomever it was… they were not human. A point that made itself evident by the vibrant green skin poking out beneath the dark leather armor.

But at my frantic movements, my knees knocking into them, my hands shoving as I tried to tear myself free, had the figure groaning. Pain, I recognized belatedly. I managed to get my shoulder under theirs, and shoved hard. Rolling them off and onto their back with a heavy thud. My hand went quickly to the dagger tucked in my boot, and I sprung into action. Jumping to my knees and poising its point straight down at my attacker.

I stopped as I stared down at them. Hesitating. My breath coming in shallow little pants that joined the low fog around us.

The boy, as I realized now that I was looking at him properly, was barely a teenager. If that. An orc teenager, I corrected, for he was already almost a head taller than me. Coupled with the green skin, the small tusks, and the slightly protruding brow. Now that I was crouched over him, dagger in hand, I saw his bright yellow eyes go wide. His hands coming up as if to shield himself. Revealing bloody palms that shook a little as I watched.

A quick assessment for the source found an arrow half sticking out of his side. Somewhere between the ribs, not deep, but definitely enough to make for hard breathing and lots of blood. And I supposed he looked pale too, though that was a bit hard to tell considering his skin tone was no where close to mine.

I heard shouts and commotion from somewhere behind us. I saw his eyes dart back the way he had come, and I followed his gaze. Hearing the thudding of boots and the clatter of steel. When I looked back, real fear was beginning to fill the young orc’s face. He managed to scramble back a few inches, creeping along the ground without turning his back to me. But I saw him grimace, then crumple. Hands going back to his side.

I stared at him, dumbfounded, then glanced back over my shoulder. Then down at his panicked face again.

“Damn it.” I grumbled.

I dropped the knife back into the sheath in my boot in one smooth motion, reaching out and grabbing his arm. Hauling him up with a grunt and shoving him back a few steps to my hand cart. He wriggled against me, yet I didn’t have time to explain. I gave him a gentle jab in the ribs, enough to have him doubling over. And all but hoisted him clear off the ground to get him those last few feet to the resting cart. Huffing with the effort and feeling sweat quickly breaking over my brow.

He stumbled the last step, toppling into the cart ungracefully. All legs and limbs flailing. I shoved both his knees up to his chest, already grabbing the coarse burlap blanket to pull over him.

“Keep quiet, keep still.” I hissed to him. Hoping against hope that he at least understood the urgency of my tone if not my words themselves.

I flipped the corner of the blanket over the last of him just in time for the source of the shouts to come clattering between the trees. Trailing along the riverbank. I spun sharply, gathering my skirts in one hand and giving an exasperated huff.

“You there, what are you doing here?” Demanded the front most soldier, brandishing his sword at me briefly. “The woods are off limits to the villagers.”

That had a sharp ire rising in me, and I scoffed loudly. Still trying to catch my breath.

“You soldiers have commandeered the main well!” I pointed out angrily. “We needed water.”

“Orcs have been spotted in the area, you daft woman!” Growled the soldier. “Get back to the village. Immediately! Or I’ll have you arrested myself for disobeying the captain’s direct order!”

“That’s always your excuse for trashing a village, isn’t it?” I huffed. “Kicking people out of their homes, stealing all their food.”

“The men need shelter and sustenance to protect you.” He replied, sheathing his sword with his brow furrowing angrily. “A small price to pay. Don’t be so ungrateful.” I saw him glance about, noting my jug still rocking on its side with water dripping from its spout. “What happened here?”

“Some use you lot are!” I scoffed, placing one hand on my hip. “Supposed to keep out the orcs, yes?” I waved my hand. “Then why did I just get bowled over by one sprinting through here?”

“The orc?? You blasted woman!” He stalked over, grabbing my collar sharply and giving me a sound shake. “You saw it and you have the damned nerve to waste my time with this nonsense!”

I shoved at his arm, trying to pull myself loose. “You’re the one who wasted time with threats!” I shot back. “I’ve done nothing wrong. Let me go!”

I gasped loudly in shock as his palm connected soundly with my cheek.

“Shut up! Which way did it go??”

He gave me another shake, then tossed me to the ground. I rubbed at my face, glaring up at him with tears stinging my eyes. But pointed off to the right bitterly. The soldier waved the others in pursuit, lingering momentarily over me as they rushed off.

“Be grateful I don’t have time to throw you in a cell for your insolence, bitch.” He hissed at me. Throwing a light kick into the ground and splattering cold mud at me. “But if I see you again, I’ll be sure to provide proper punishment.”

He didn’t bother with anything else, running off after his companions. I slowly stood, wiping down my skirts momentarily and rubbing at my sore cheek with the back of my hand.

“Good riddance.” I mumbled, picking up the jug on my way by and resting it beside the hand cart. I knocked lightly on the side. “They are gone now.” I told him, then tossed up the blanket.

Bright yellow eyes stared up at me as I uncovered the young orc once more. Slowly, he unfolded himself, easing to a sitting position. The cart groaned in complaint of his added weight to its old axles. I ignored him, going back to the river to slowly fill the jug. I glanced over my shoulder eventually as I waited for it to fill.

“… What, are you waiting for the next patrol?” I quipped. “You should get out of here while you can.”

He was still staring, chewing at his fat lip, as I finished filling the jug and hoisted it to my hip. A frown pinching his brow.

“… Why did you do that?” He asked finally, a heavy accent on his Common.

I sighed, waving him out of the cart so that I could load the jug into it. Making sure to cork it before moving to the next. He winced as he found his feet, but slowly stood as bidden. At least he seemed to know Common.

“Look, I don’t owe those jerks anything,” I told him, “And I certainly don’t want some kid’s death on my conscience. So just… get out of here before I change my mind.”

He puffed up his chest indignantly. “I’m not a kid!” His voice almost squeaked in his outrage, then he winced. His hand going back to his side. “… I’m nearly 15.”

I raised an eyebrow at him. He was tall, certainly. Lanky with lean muscles. But 15? That I doubted, even with what little I knew about orcs. He huffed at my expression, glancing down at his feet. I couldn’t help glancing at his bloody hands once more as he did.

“… I said nearly.”

I shook my head. Then I sighed again. “Sit down. Let me look you over quickly.”

I reached into my pocket, pulling out some clean cloth and walking over to dip it into the river. Making my way back to him to study the broken arrow still jutting out of his side. I reached out, gently wiping away a bit of the blood. He grimaced again, making a soft sound of distress.

“I’m not going to pull it out.” I assured him, grabbing near the base and deftly snapping off a bit more of the shaft with my other hand. “You’ll bleed like a stuck pig and I don’t have anything here to stop that.” I glanced at him. “Do you think you can manage getting back to wherever you came from?” He puffed out his chest again, nodding. “Good”.

I reached down, lifting the hem of my skirt and using my teeth to rip it. Then ripped a long piece before using my teeth to tear the end of it off. He watched me in surprise. I spared him a small glance, passing him my own water skin to drink as I did.

“I’m going to stabilize it a bit.” I explained quietly. “Won’t stop the bleeding, won’t keep it from hurting. But might keep it from making this wound worse.” I gently surrounded what was left protruding from his side with the wet rag, then wound the skirt pieces around his torso to hold it in place as best I could. “Get it looked at as soon as you can.”

“… Did they hurt you?”

I jumped as his spindly fingers came up to my cheek. Quickly, I swatted his hand back.

“Don’t worry about it.”

He shook his head, straightening once I stepped back. “I owe you a great debt.” He insisted. “I am bound by honor to repay it.”

“Don’t worry about it.” I told him again. “If you want to repay me, maybe just don’t let your clan raid my village, yes?” I took him by the shoulders, guiding him forward a step then spinning him in place. Taking the water skin back from his hand. “Now please, just go.”

He did stay facing the outskirts of the woods for a moment, then turned back to me. I sighed, already beginning to regret my decisions thus far that day.

“I will come back.” He promised me. “… When I’m older. And… and then I’m going to marry you.”

“Oh for the love of-” I half-groaned even as he smacked his fist soundly across his mostly bare chest. “Kid, seriously. Just go.”

“I will!” He insisted. “I owe you my life. I will give you my life.”

I placed one hand on my hip, pointing with the other. Raising my eyebrows. Waving him on after a moment when he still didn’t leave. He looked over his shoulder, then back at me. Bowing his head finally, then slowly jogging off.

“I will come for you!” He assured me as he left.

“I’m sure this won’t come back to haunt me.” I mumbled under my breath as I went to grab the next jug to carry to the river. Hoping at least that he might not tell his fellows where his ‘future bride’ was.

Orcs attacked the village a week later.

----

I pushed my hand cart down the cobblestones, glancing about warily. Its squeaky wheel resounding almost hauntingly through the mostly empty streets. Feeling eyes watching me the entire time.

The village was a ghost of its former self. The buildings half in ruins, the scent of blood and soot still thick in the air. Most of the young men had been killed in the attack, any that remained were being kept in the old barn on the hill. Leaving the women, children, and old to fend for themselves in the crumbles of our former homes. At least the farms were mostly intact, though there were few patches close enough to the walls that our hosts would allow us to tend them. And being early winter, most that could be done was sowing seeds for the next spring. Assuming we would see it. Our stores had been halved when the fire from the town hall had caught on the nearby buildings. I didn’t see us being able to replenish them anytime soon. Especially as I still wasn’t able to leave to hunt.

I didn’t miss the human soldiers. Little better than thugs and bullies. So far the orcs were… better, surprisingly. They left us alone for the most part after the initial battle. Aside from not letting us leave, they occupied just the center most building and kept to themselves. A few tussles here and there I heard of, but there wasn’t much fight left in those who remained within the walls. The soldiers had already scarred the residents, they weren’t about to make trouble with behemoths twice their size. We had no idea what they wanted, no one remaining had spoken to them directly, but every day more and more arrived from outside the city walls. Doubling their original numbers.

I stopped at the next door, walking over to knock lightly and pull the small sack of grain to pass to the frail old woman within. She bowed her head and thanked me graciously. Her thin frame quivering with even the slight weight of the tiny sack. Which had yet another jolt of guilt racing through me.

I shouldn’t have let that orc go, I told myself for the thousandth time. This whole calamity, it was my fault. The soldiers were all dead, or worse. As were many of the villagers. Entire families, broken and shattered. Decimated. I did what I could, being one of the few able bodied adults left. But it was never enough. Not for what I had done. I wrung my hands and went back to the cart. Pulling on that guilt to fuel me. To do what I could for those that remained. Without tiring. Without rest. This was my atonement, even if none of the villagers knew my crime. I feared what would happen if they did…

A terrified shout had me dropping the handles of my cart sharply. Spinning in place and looking around in a panic. Before I could even think, I was running towards the sound. In between two crumpled houses. Vaulting over the remains of a wall. Into the old square near the center of the village.

A little girl was cornered, her hands raised over her head in fear. One broad shouldered orc stalking her menacingly. A few other orcs leaned against a nearby building, watching with amused looks on their faces. I saw behind her tiny, dirty body was another child. Cowering against the stone. Neither could have been older than six or seven.

“Less meat than I like,” The orc rumbled, “But I’ll catch another.”

I still didn’t dare stop to think. Grabbing a long, loose board of wood from the rubble without slowing as I strode forward angrily. Using my momentum to swing the plank with as much force as I could muster. Cracking it loudly against the offending orc’s head.

Instantly the square erupted with roars. The orcs on the building springing forward, their faces filled with surprise, their hands going to their weapons. I quickly put myself between all of them and the children. Brandishing what was left of the wooden board before me.

“Back off!” I shouted.

The orc I had hit had staggered to one knee. More likely out of surprise than anything else. He shook his head, a huff coming from him as he rolled his shoulders back. Dark copper eyes glowered at me beneath heavy black brows. A snarl forming on his lips as he slowly rose. Straightening up to his full height, which was nearly two feet more than mine. His hair had thick black braids, woven with bone and silver, which clinked as he stood and shook his head. His beard had another pair of small braids trailing in neat lines on either side of his chin, framing his thick, square jaw and running up to his wide, flat ears. He was dressed in just the fur wrapping about his waist that most of the orcs were, though I noticed a large silver pin holding it in place. His broad shoulders were bare save for the thick braids, and the dark green of his skin rippled as he flexed the sculpted muscles there. I was rather certain his fist was as large as my head. But I didn’t let that weaken my resolve. Fixing him with a stubborn scowl.

He reached up one meaty hand, rubbing at the corner of his thick lips. Bringing my attention to the huge tusks there, one broken at the very tip.

“I was teasing before.” He told me in clear Common, then spat at the cobblestones. “But now I think I might just like a bite after all.”

“You’re welcome to try.” I replied, tightening my grip on the splintered board. Glad to hear my voice didn’t shake.

The other gathered orcs had stalked closer, though seemed content to keep their distance despite their initial outrage. No weapons were drawn yet, but they weren’t about to let me go that easily. I looked around at them warily, taking a side step to better block the two children behind me.

The big orc before me smirked, considering me with a dark eye. “I like a bold woman.” His grin grew. “Perhaps I’ll take two bites. Just to see how deep it runs.”

“Deeper than your wit.” I shot back.

“Maybe three.” He snarled, his brow pinching as his smirk shrunk.

“Good. You can count at least.” I brandished my board again. “Know what comes next?”

“What comes next is my fist in your face.” He returned.

“No teeth?” I prodded. “How do you bite with your hands?”

“You like digging your own grave, woman?” His brow was dark, and I felt my stomach flip. But I’d be damned if I would let him see it. “Let’s see if it fits.”

“Dug enough graves lately.” I replied. “What’s one more?”

He stalked closer. Closing the distance between us with two huge strides. I readied my feeble weapon, my scowl and determination growing. I might get a good strike in or two. Enough to let the little kids bolt to safety. And that’s all that mattered. I didn’t care what happened to me after that. I saw him shake out one hand, then ball it into a fist.

“Stop!”

We both started as a lean, lanky frame darted between us. His back to me, hands raised to the behemoth. The orc’s yellow eyes darted to the intruder, his own scowl forming. It took half a heartbeat for me to realize I recognized the sound of the young orc’s voice, and noticed the bandages still half wrapped about his middle. A pit formed in my stomach, and I nearly took a swing at the back of his head. I hadn’t seen him among the orcs in the village yet. I had dreaded seeing him. And now, here he was…

“Izu, what-”

“I won’t let you touch her!” He snapped at the larger orc, his hands balling into fists and dropping to his sides. “Whatever punishment you think she deserves, I will bear it instead!”

The orc looked at the lanky youth, then over his shoulder at me. Then back at the other orc. Then he heaved his shoulders, shaking his head with a soft groan.

“Not this one.” He growled, and I heard a quiet chuckle spreading through the gathered orcs. “Tell me its not this one.”

“I owe her my life!” Izu proclaimed, smacking his fist against his chest stubbornly. “I won’t let you touch her!”

The larger orc looked between us again a moment more. Then threw up his hands. Snarling quietly and shaking his head.

“You have got to be fucking kidding me.”

I jumped a little as the ‘almost’ teenager spun to me eagerly. His yellow eyes bright.

“I told you I would come back.” He reminded me.

I couldn’t help glancing over his shoulder as he all but bounced in place. Then I peeked at the children behind me. Deciding the immediate danger was over and crouching down next to them. They looked at me with wide, tearful eyes.

“Time to get you out of here.” I whispered, then glanced back at Izu.

He cocked his head to one side, then seemed to get my meaning. Turning and waving one hand. Shouting something in orcish to the gathered. A clear path opened as the orcs dispersed, and I ushered the girls down it. I moved to follow them, but was halted by the young orc grabbing my arm.

“Wait!” He protested. “I want to speak with you.”

“Listen, kid,” I said softly, pulling my arm from his grip, feeling a brief wave of relief as I saw the two children dart out of sight, “Thank you, I guess, for that. But-”

“I’m not a kid.” He protested.

“It doesn’t matter-”

“Yes it does!” He interrupted again. “I told you. When I’m older, I’m going to marry you. I swear!”

“Izu.” Snapped the big orc, striding over and then hissing sharply to the teenager in orcish.

They went back and forth for a moment, gesturing and half-whispering wildly. Their tones becoming harsher and angrier as they went. I glanced about, but the three of us were almost entirely alone now. With no one else in close proximity, I inched back a few steps. Then took the opportunity to turn on heel and dart down the nearest alley. Hoping to go unnoticed in my retreat.

I kept up a quick pace, but not a minute later I heard heavy footfalls behind me. I rounded a corner, looking to lose my tail, and almost ran smack into the broad, bare chest of the older orc. I staggered back a step, scowled at him, then turned quickly to make my escape again.

“Wait.” He grabbed me, firmly but lightly. Halting my progress.

“Get off me!”

I pushed his hand away, or at least attempted to. I might as well have clawed at brick for all the good it did me. He scowled back, shaking his wild mane and sending the rattling clink of his beads and pins echoing around us.

“Just wait, you foul woman.” He snapped. “Listen-”

He ducked as a clod of dirt came zipping towards his head. It thudded into the wall behind him in a little cloud, leaving us both spinning. Looking around and seeing the tail end of two little pairs of heels darting back around the corner. I tried to wriggle in his grasp while he was distracted but had no luck. His huge fingers were like iron.

“Yours?” He guessed, sounding bitter.

I shook my head, still trying to free myself. “Orphans.” I dug at his fingers with my own. “You have certainly left enough of them in your bloody wake.”

He yanked me in close and curled down to sneer in my face. “Your people are the ones who attacked us. They are the ones who crossed our borders. Slaughtered our people, for nothing.”

“An eye for an eye.” I quipped bitterly. “An orphan for three. Let me go.”

He tossed me back a step, shaking his head. “We’ve done nothing but defend ourselves.”

I glanced at him. “Which is why you’re currently sitting in the ruins of this village, right?”

He followed after me as I stalked away down the alley. Having to turn sideways to fit down the narrow stretch.

“Your King brought us here.” He argued, then tossed up his hands. “But that’s not… I’m not chasing after you because of all that.” He snarled, reaching out to yank my arm again. “Would you just stop!”

I spun back to face him, but did stop. He was obviously agitated, though didn’t seem particularly inclined to act upon former threats. I decided this was the better place to hear out whatever he might have to say… rather than closer to more prying ears. He scowled down at me before dropping my arm crossing his own back over his chest.

“I’m here about Izu.”

“And who’s that?”

He looked like he wanted to swat at me, but instead scowled deeper. “The boy who saved your hide from a beating just now.

“Cute kid.” I grumbled, scoffing at his assessment. “Good heart. Just wrong place.”

The orc snorted in obvious agreement. “Exactly. But to hear him tell it, he owes you.” His scowl grew. “Which means I owe you. And I don’t like owing you anything.”

“Thought you owed me a grave?” I said bitterly, then shook my head. “Why would you owe me anything? Not that Izu owes me anything either.”

He heaved a heft breath through his wide nose. Shaking his head again.

“Izu’lemi is my son.” He told me with a hint of exasperation to his voice. “If he owes a debt, I owe a debt.”

My eyes widened slightly. I looked the big orc up and down for a moment. But the way he said it made me think perhaps this wasn’t the first time his son had put him in such a position. I almost amused myself with the boy wandering around, getting into trouble, then promising favors. Almost. I considered the orc again, glancing over my shoulder as if I might just take my leave after all.

“… Lucky for him if he doesn’t take after you then.” I said finally.

He snarled at me again. “What do you want, woman?” He snapped. “Name your price.”

“I have a name, man.” I shot back. “And I don’t want anything. Not from you. Certainly not from your son.”

“You didn’t ask for mine, I didn’t ask for yours.” He replied piercingly. “And you have to have a price. Everyone has a price.”

“What’s Izu’s?”

He tossed up his hands. “Don’t irk me, woman. You know his price.”

“Do I, man?”

He scowled at me again. “He wants your hand. For saving his life.”

“He’s a kid.” I turned and started to leave once more. “In my experience, kids don’t really know what they want.”

“Stop.” He grabbed my arm again.

“Would you stop doing that?” I yanked my arm back. “What’s with your family and all the grabbing??”

He gritted his teeth. “Why did you?”

“What?”

“Save his life.” His brow furrowed, and he looked at me suspiciously. “Did you know who he was?”

I studied the orc for a moment, pursing my lips. “… I knew he was a kid. And he was hurt. And maybe a little scared.” I glanced down at my feet. “I didn’t want to see him beaten and hanged just for being…”

The orc huffed. Silent for a long moment. I waited a breath, then sighed.

“Can I go now or-”

“Jou’kiel.” He told me.

“What?”

“That’s my name.”

“Surprising.”

“Why?”

I shrugged. “Sounds rather normal. Would’ve thought you’d have some meathead name like Grug or something.”

I saw his hands ball into fists. “Watch your tongue.”

“Or what, you’ll bite it?”

He stepped closer, towering over me and bearing his sharp teeth. “Don’t tempt me.” I craned my neck back to look up at him, and crossed my arms over my chest. “… And? Unless you prefer ‘woman’, I need your name now. Though I could also be persuaded for ‘bitch’.”

I scoffed. “Calliope.”

He watched me for a moment, his hand coming out. Catching my chin in his meaty fingers. I jerked in surprise, but didn’t otherwise resist. Partly in surprise. Partly as his grip, while firm, was surprisingly gentle. His rough fingers warm against my skin.

“You’ve captured the favor of a Tlaloc prince.” He told me. “By saving Izu’s life, our entire family is indebted to you.”

My wariness turned to shock, and I couldn’t help staring at him a bit more dumbfounded. His scowl became a smirk, and he crouched down a little to put us eye to eye. His nose almost brushed mine, he was so close, and I felt my breath hitch strangely. He tilted his head slightly to one side.

“Have you any favors to ask of us now, Calliope?”

I reached up finally, pushing his hand away. His weird hold over me broken with his words. My scowl returned.

“How about some consideration for the people you are currently leaving to starve to death in the streets?” I snapped.

Then spun on heel and marched away. Slipping down a few zig zagging paths just for good measure.

---

UPDATE: Part Two HERE

[pseudoartistpostsstuff]

Alright alright- Bear with me here. Could I perhaps ask for a Yandere LU Chain, where Reader is like HUGE adventurer. Kinda like Wild in his game, exploring everywhere and stuff. But one day maybe Reader gets hurt on an adventure by a black-blooded creature, and the Chain is bit too late to save them. So Reader is like Twilight for a bit, although maybe they can also recover due to the Chain likely supporting them as much if not more than with Twilight. How would the Chain react to this afterwards? Would they be relieved, angry, or...? Both? Tbh I think overprotectiveness would just go brrrr after this-

Also, love love LOVE your writing! Seriously, HOW DO YOU DO THIS MAGIC? It's put together so well and istg i get goosebumps sometimes from this stuff.

Thank you!!!

Thank you very much for requesting, and I hope you enjoy this very late reply!

Notes aka author ramblings: Apollo slapped me in the face with random energy and motivation to write this, the inspiration came along the way and faded a bit more towards the end, so please take that into consideration 😭

Basically I wrote this on the span of 2-3 hours

What may look like a few plot holes was some ties I left untied on purpose because I felt like it'd probably sound too much like an info dump in the oneshot

But I have so many thoughts

And yes reader's codename is Stray

I hope I'm not rusty fr

TWs: Light yanderism, blood and wounds (not graphic), mentioned spiders, bullying, childhood trauma and exclusion.

Yandere! LU! Chain x Reader

Stray at heart, collared in body.

The world is big and full of stuff, and to say that you loved to explore it would be an understatement. Sometimes it felt like your biggest love was for adventuring, cause’ of course it was! How could anyone not love to find new places, objects, people— Even animals and magical creatures!

It was the type of subject that got you rambling and all excited.

Of course, you weren't exactly one of those pure born hyruleans, you weren't even from Hyrule, for starters, so you lacked the elegant pointy ears, and, well, the actual magic and luck that came with being one so close to Hylia as the race that descended from the Goddess herself.

That definitely hindered your explorations, leaving you bare handed when it came to healing and all things good and helpful for explorers like you. Still, none of that ever stopped you.

Actually, it was the thing that moved you to start in the first place, back when you were very young.

Back then, in the village you came from yet never considered home, the whole place felt filled to the brim with boredom-inducing stillness — or so you remembered, and so your childish eyes told you — you felt like it wasn't worth staying there.

It was going to be still and empty of fun forever, you could never be happy staying locked down there when so many new and yet ancient things were waiting for you everywhere else!

Needless to say, your head was constantly in the clouds, though, maybe that was a good thing after a while. It certainly shielded you from feeling too lonely when you started to actually notice you were being excluded by the rest of the children.

The stares and quiet giggles weren't easy to bear, but you just learned to deal with them with time, keeping yourself focused on your future instead, the future you wanted to build far away from that place.

Of course, as you are now today, and after learning about and interacting with so many different cultures, learning what you could from their knowledge, some things stuck with you.

Like the knowledge that now you had, that the children weren't ever the ones at fault in the first place.

Their stares and giggles mainly mimicked, almost perfectly, the ones who teached them to act that way, their glares and mockery.

Sometimes you wondered how your own parents managed to cope with being badly spoken about in the mouths of other adults from that village, the ones who insisted in believing your restless adventurous spirit from such a young age could be nothing else but bad parenting or a curse to the family.

You used to believe it, wish it was real and you either were or had a curse. That would mean that you at least had a percentage of magic in your veins, even if it wasn't exactly the best type.

Because it turns out, you didn't fit in with the most of Hyrule, either. Your normalness kept them away just like your strangeness used to keep away those around you during your childhood.

In fact, that acquired you the nickname of “Stray”.

Stray. Stray because at heart, no matter the community you shoved your way into, you didn't truly belong anywhere. You belonged to the world around you, and nothing could force that out of you.

It was deeply etched into your very soul.

Or so they said.

Well, a group of people begged to differ.

You've heard of a “hero” and a “triangle trio” thing more than a few times already when you roamed the remaining villages of Hyrule, but the last thing you were expecting to find was nine heroes traveling together in a group.

However, none of them belonged here anymore, and so that spoke directly to your inner child, the one who was used to being the only one, always related to some synonym of lonely.

You were often called “Stray” by them rather than your own name, but you still wore the name with pride, because now you were in no way the only stray present anymore.

They were also the reason you stopped wishing for a curse of a magic of some kind. Because you were more than aware that then they'd also have to force you into an imprisonment of some kind.

Still, you already felt achieved.

Finally.

What else could you wish for? You were finally able to explore to your heart's content.

Though not without many worried glances and startled yells sent your way every time you got near anything that left you endangered in some way.

And the best part, you weren't shunned anymore.

At least not by them. Villager's still gave you uneasy and passive aggressive glances.

The one you were probably the closest to was the one named “Wild”, or so they called him — calling all of them “Link” wasn't ideal — after all, out of all of them, he was the one who was most in tune with you.

You were both from the same time period, which already differed from the others, but he wasn't able to fit in anymore due to his lack of ties to any community.

Of course, you were more than aware you still weren't the same. If he tried, he'd still be able to settle down anywhere he wanted, but he still had a job to do which rendered him unable to do so, therefore you made yourself believe you were still alike in some way.

It would hurt too much to not do so, your sanity was at sake here.

They made it so easy too. being all friendly and welcoming. You finally felt at home, in peace.

What else could you truly wish for?

Although, maybe singing victory and yapping about happiness wasn't the smartest idea when they were all in a dangerous mission. And you, of course, were involved.

You were all exploring — or rather, just walking through — a forest on the way to some village at the very ends of Hyrule.

The people of that village didn't travel much, but they had something your group wanted, therefore, your group had to go to them instead.

Being the dumbass, air head, you were, instead of walking in the middle of the moving crowd of fully capable heroes, you found yourself roaming the edges, gawking at whatever you could see yet not reach for past the edges of the path you were all following.

Time was keeping his eye on you — the only working one he had — the whole time, making sure you wouldn't wander off. You felt like a kid.

And just like a kid, the very moment he got distracted, killing a Skulltula, you wandered off.

However, turns out there wasn't just one spider.

The forest was infested, which definitely explained why the village folk were so against the idea of wandering too far past the starts of the foliage and the big thick bushes surrounding and protecting the narrow path you traveled by.

Didn't take too long for you to be found by something else rather than your friends, who by now, must have been definitely looking for you.

They never took long to notice your disappearances, the opposite actually, which used to annoy you a lot since Wild never had to face the same overprotectiveness. Not even Wind!

Now, your desire to prove them wrong brought you face to face with one of said spiders.

Maybe they weren't that wrong...?

And, just you luck! The thing undoubtedly had black blood.

Just like a kid, you failed to remember or acknowledge the fact your group just happened to be chased by those types of monsters earlier, some still following you.

It just slipped your mind, completely.

Just like you slipped on the mud on your way out of the trees and back to the narrow path where your friends’ yells and blurry faces were awaiting and rushing towards you worriedly.

When did it start raining enough to create mud?

The mud smelled metallic.

Your memory was blurry, the world itself felt blurry.

Still, you half remembered, like a far away memory, stumbling out of the thick bushes and into many arms, blood equally as thick dripping from a gash in your abdomen like a waterfall in a rainy — stormy, more like — day.

Then, like a blink, a very long blink, your consciousness was gone.

It took an overly long while for you to wake up. It felt like sleeping during a rainy night, you never wanted to wake up the morning after, and even if you felt like waking up was the best idea, your body refused to open it's eyes.

Only difference was that for you it felt like an overly long rainy night, and like you spent the following week still asleep.

At some point sleeping even became boring.

And you had 9 voices in your head telling you to wake up “please”, when they weren't chatting — worriedly, most of the time — amongst each other. Didn't sound like the usual, to be honest.

When you did come to it, it was in a slow, painful way.

Your head felt like someone banged their shield against it multiple times. If bone was able to bleed, your skull would have been bleeding.

Your eyes also felt tired, despite having just woken up from a long, restless and dreamless nap.

However, your throat felt surprisingly fine, and so did the rest of your body, though you felt numb and weak.

Instantly, your senses were crowded by familiar scents a bit too close to you.

Twilight's was the one which overwhelmed the others, and was paired with the feeling of fur and warmth, overwhelming warmth.

Your body definitely felt too hot. that much you could tell. Though the sight of the many blankets, coats and furs — one specific dark gray fur, actually — explained that, and also the weight on top of you.

With some strain and trembling limbs, you sat up. Instantly regretting it when the sleepy feeling which was still clouding your mind and leaving your movements sluggish got torn away from your body by the force of a sharp pain on your abdomen, strong enough to challenge the dull one still hammering inside your head.

You made a groan of pain and pushed the pile of warmth on top of you to the side, making it fall off the cot you were laying in, exposing the reason for your pain.

This triggered a gasp from somewhere near you. You didn't pay attention, too focused on the strange sight of a large bandaged wound on your belly.

“Stray! You're awake! You're finally awake...” The voice came from above, you could recognize the soft yet shaky tone of Hyrule.

Yet the body which wrapped around your shoulders carefully, and clearly as gently as possible, were definitely from Sky.

“We thought we wouldn't be able to…” Sky swallowed some of his shaky words, trying to spare you from listening to his rambling and sobbing at the same time.

Hyrule grabbed your hand on the bed, opposite to Sky's side.

“You're even worse than Twilight in the “no response to potions or enchantments” aspect…” He gave you a weak smile, now you could guess why it took you so long to wake up.

They had to resort to different methods to try and keep you alive.

You made a face and nodded slowly, also leaning a bit more into Sky now that you weren’t that surprised anymore.

It took less than about 2 minutes for the rest of the group to come back to see you, which was quite curious for you, considering there weren't any messages exchanged through anyone — Sky and Hyrule refused to leave your side, and nobody else was around — and they were all the way out of camp and into a village's market.

Guess you'd never know how they found out.

Your recovery took far longer to finish than Twilight's, considering you had no previous strength built against the black stuff, so you just spent your time sitting around or being carried.

The fact you were, in fact, able to walk, was just another reason for that extreme boredom.

And you weren't even carried to many places! Just around camp!

To say you were itching to touch the grass with your actual flesh and feel the thrill of seeing new things again would be an absolute misunderstanding.

And of course you wanted to bound to the first available place you could the very moment you were released from your inability to carry yourself around.

Did you, though? No, not really.

“I'm gonna check out that pond.” You yawned with serotonin coursing through your veins. The same restless feeling you always got when you saw the beach, despite having seen it many times.

It was around the fourth or fifth time you asked to go check out something. The answer was always the same.

This time you felt completely healed though, so you were hopeful!

“And get attacked by that bokoblin?” Legend crossed his arm with a deep frown, he was always frowning, but that frown just seemed more deeper than the others you've seen before.

“What bokoblin?” It confused you, the pond was absolutely empty when it came to any live beings, though maybe not if you counted the greenery and a few fish.

“There could be one. You didn't see the skulltula last time, did you?”

Well that made you frown. It hit you directly where it hurt.

And now you were unsure about venturing that way.

You nodded, slowly.

“I'll get Warriors to go with you, if you want, once he's back from the planning with Time and Twilight. For now, let's just do some crocheting?”

You always tried to convince him you could go alone.

This time, you voiced no opinion.

[solaris-amethyst]

💫You are my sunshine💫

✨Pairing: Seonghwa x gn!reader ✨Prompt: a while back an aquarium did this partnership with animal crossing to do a theme experience around it. I think it be a lot of fun to see the reader surprise Seonghwa with tickets to the event. also for them to be dress up as their favorite villager. ✨Requested by @beabatiny🫶🏻 ✨Word Count: 1.8k ✨Genre: fluff, non idol au, partners au ☀️Authors Note: I'm sorry it took me a while to get this one out! I'm working on your other request as well💓 Here's a link to his favorite characters! I hope you like this one💓

Your plan had been in motion for a really long time now. The tickets to the aquarium and their animal crossing theme experience had been booked a month in advance. The outfits inspired by your favorite villagers were already prepared and hidden away so Seonghwa wouldn't find them and ask you about it before you could surprise him.

Your boyfriend had been working hard at his newest job, it had been hard and sometimes very emotional and it had been very clear that he was stressed, more stressed than you would have liked him to be.

So as a way to get him to relax and have some fun you'd surprise him with this. He was a big fan of Animal Crossing, he could sit hours on end playing that game, creating his island, designing clothes and finding the villagers he wanted to have around.

You enjoyed it as well, perhaps not as much as him but seeing the indescribable joy on his cute little face whenever you surprised him with something related to said game had made you commit to knowing more about it.

You had first in secret bought the game and played it on your own switch, wanting to be able to share his joy on a deeper level.

The look on his face when you asked if he wanted to visit your island for the first time had been so cute, his eyes looking big and shiny and the wide smile was something you wish you could see every day.

And hopefully you will see it again today when you give him his surprise.

Looking down at the letter containing the two tickets you hurried into the kitchen and put it down next to Hwas cup which you filled with coffee as you heard the front door open.

"Hi sunshine! I'm back!" He called as he took off his jacket and shoes before walking in wondering where you might be.

"In the kitchen! I got a little surprise for you!" You let him know as he takes you into his embrace.

"A surprise? For me? Why??" He looks at you curiously with a smile on his face causing you to give his cheek a quick kiss unable to resist.

"Well you've worked so hard at your new job and I thought you deserved a little treat where we do something very fun together." You tell him as you lead him to his seat and to the envelope.

He looks puzzled before carefully picking up the letter.

"Open it." You encourage him as you take a sip from your drink.

He opens it carefully and starts reading:

"My dear sunshine, you have been working so hard at your new job. It's been perhaps a little bit more of rainclouds and storms than sunny days and happiness these few months. You've powered through so hard and I am so proud over you. Today will be a day of fun and joy as we dress up as Flurry and Sasha." He let out a little gasp at the name of his two favorite villagers as he glanced up at you quickly before continuing. "As we go to our local aquarium for an Animal Crossing themed date and experience their Animal Crossing experience! Where we will be able to meet characters, enjoy snacks and beautiful scenery together."

He looks close to tears as he looks up to you.

"Is this true?"

"Of course! I wouldn't be that cruel getting your hopes up just to crush them! Come on we gotta get changed." You say with a wink stretching out your hand for him to take it.

"Thank you!"

He muttered over and over as he pulled you in for a hug, feeling overwhelmed with happiness that you had organized something like this for him.

You patted his back gently, enjoying the hug and allowing it to happen for as long as he wanted to.

After a while Seonghwa broke the hug and took your face into his hand staring at a you adoringly before pressing a kiss against the temple of your head, mumbling a thank you again.

"You're welcome sunshine, now come on we gotta get changed! I got some outfits inspired by your favorite characters." You tell him as you take his hand gently leading him to your shared bedroom.

"But what about your favorite characters? Don't you wanna dress up as Antonio or Molly?" He wonders and you shake your head

"Nah it's okay, plus we could always book tickets again and go as my favorites next time, but today we're going with Flurry and Sasha."

You let his hand go and hurries to find the clothes laying them out on the bed for him to see, the red fluffy shirt with flowers on paired with some jeans and a cute little hat just to complete the outfit and a blue grey jacket, a pair of black jeans and a cute beanie to go with it.

It was the closest you could get to finding clothes like theirs so while it wasn't a full on cosplay it was at least clear which characters you two were dressing up as.

Seonghwa took some time choosing between the outfits until he settled on dressing as the first villager he had gotten in the game which was Flurry.

After you two had changed and already taken some cute pictures in the outfits you hurried out to the aquarium. Hwa was almost vibrating with excitement from it all.

Luckily you only lived 10 minutes away from the aquarium so getting there before the line became too long was no biggie.

"I'm so excited!! Who do you think we will see today?? Can we take loads of pictures? Oh! and did they have snacks or desserts??" He rambles on looking at you with his big round eyes and a wide smile.

"Someone's excited I see." you chuckle before continuing "I'm not gonna spoil who we get to see and all of that! I want it all to be a surprise for you love."

You almost laugh when he starts pouting and whining about how he'd wanna know now. He swings your hands back and forth as you scan the tickets at the ticket desk and you notice his eyes sparkle when the lady working at the ticket desks gave the two of you some special lanyards with the characters on it.

"Wait we get goodie bags as well?" He gasps after you two have picked up your goodie bags as you enter the aquarium, marveling at the way they have decorated the place.

"Yeah isn't it awesome?"

You sneak some pictures of your boyfriend. He looks adorable looking around in wonder at not only the real fishes in the aquarium but at the new decorations. Filming and taking pictures as he spots a cute little photography area rushing towards it and immediately starts posing for you.

"Look at you! You fit right in!!" You gush as he gives you some poses before urging you to switch places with him.

"Now give me some poses!" He guides you through the poses he'd think look cute and you fight the feeling of embarrassment as others walking past the two of you look on curiously.

Hwa seems to pay them no mind continuing to take photos and guiding you before he bounds up to you, wanting to take some selfies together.

It was a struggle at first, figuring out how to hold the phone so the two of you and some of the background would be noticed and working through poses as he just snapped a bunch of pictures.

There were poses with your hands at your cheeks creating hearts, pouting, making ears on the top of your head with your hands, laughter and smiles and some sneak kisses on each other's cheeks.

"Do you want me to take some photos of the two of you?" An older gentle man asked as he was passing by noticing the two of you trying to figure out how to get some pictures of all of you.

"Oh that would be really nice of you if you'd help us." You two told him and showed him quickly how to take the pictures on Hwas phone.

The older gentle man took some pictures of you two which ended up being your favorites from the day. His photos had been normal candid photos that in your opinion really showcased the love between you two beautifully.

After thanking the man the two of you had continued your way down the aquarium. Enjoying the view, snapping pictures here and there.

"Look! I've caught that fish in the game!!" He points at a random fish saying very proudly that he had caught it, doing the little pose you do in the game when you've caught something.

"My little fisherman!" You say poking his cheek and he's just about to respond when he glance over your shoulder and gasps causing you to raise your eyebrow before turning to look at what hes staring at.

"It's Tom Nook and Isabella!!" He gasps at the characters walking around taking pictures with people.

"Let's go! We should get some pictures with them! Before we go to the cafe to enjoy the desserts!" You drag him over as he looks starstruck.

"Hello! We would want some pictures if that's okay?" You ask the worker and he nods taking your phone to take the pictures.

Hwa is the first one on the little platform with the two characters, grinning and playing with the two characters. The two of you poses with Isabella and Tom Nook and at the end of the session you two get to hug them both and your boyfriend acts adorable around them.

"I love seeing happiness on you. You always look glowing you know." You tell him as he gushes on about how cute they were and how much this day has meant to him so far as the two of you ventured towards the café within the aquarium.

"Find a seat as I go get us some desserts sunshine!" You tell him and he finds a seat near some animal crossing decorations, waiting as you go and order some drinks and themed desserts.

As you two sit and enjoy the desert you can't help but ask: "Have you been enjoying today?"

"I have! This is honestly one of the best presents ever. Thank you. Genuinely thank you. I am so lucky to have you in my life who cares so much that you'd fix tickets and clothing and everything for this experience. Not everyone would have. I truly love you so much."

The smile on his face was worth all the time you had put down for this experience. Finding the clothes had been the hard part and seeing him enjoying the day the way you had hoped he would made you so unbelievably happy.

"You're very welcome sunshine. I'm glad I could bring you some extra joy." You say before the two of you continue to talk about the day and what's left to explore together.

[himezoro]

love wins all (a roronoa zoro story, part 2) (smut)

tysm for your support on part 1 !! this story means a lot to me, i've had a lot of vision to write it etc. it's not proofread, and it's written by a tired lawyer who's been up for the past 15 hours because of a few cases. anyway, thanks for your support, and thank you for making my days so much more bearable. ilysm !! ˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

inspired by this song!!

@sanjisprincesswifey i know you liked the first part, so i'm dedicated it to you (i hope it doesn't suck lmao)

warning!! : nsfw (minor DNI), gender (female), mention of (Y/N), slight angst ? angry sex/cheating involved.

.・゜゜・ 1 hour before ・゜゜・．

Zoro’s years of superhuman training were a benefit here. His body was moving on its own, as fast as he could, barely paying attention to the people he was bumping into with his broad shoulders. Just like a race horse, he had blinkers preventing him from seeing the rejoice faces of the villagers preparing for the reception, dancing to the musicians’ plays on the streets and basically creating a path to the palace where the festivities were to take place.

These poor people don’t know what they’re talking about.

While he made his way closer to the palace, his mind was too busy thinking about the last words you two shared rather than thinking of an infiltration strategy. From the way your plumped lips traced thousands of “I love you” to the harsh “I hate you” they uttered when he took off, from the laughters they shared to the silent cry they failed to conceal. From the lewd sounds they let escape when his cock thrusted into your wet cunt, to the sensual moans they purred onto his lips.

For a second he felt his heart sink, and a weird feeling to his stomach. Was it anxiety because he was about to enter a restricted area? Mad, that you forgot about him so easily? Jealous, that another man, and a ridiculous one he thought, got to spend the rest of his life by your side? Sick, that a man that is not him, was to touch you in ways only he could?

He couldn’t pinpoint the right word for what he was feeling, and he frankly did not care. His goal was set, and it was to enter that palace and get to you. How would he achieve that was apparently not an important matter to him, because he just barged in, breaking through the guards with undiscovered strength, not giving a damn about the consequences.

I’m sorry guys, we’ll have some mess to clean up before tasting the banquet.

His ears almost failed to hear the guards crying for help and threatening to call the Marines, as he climbed all the stairs he found at once, his heart knowing that at the top, they led to you.

And it did.

.・゜゜・3 minutes left・゜゜・．

Zoro was facing a long corridor with a large room down the hall. The doors were slightly opened, as if he was awaited all along. Even though he knew he probably was not the person you wished to see, he still felt like the small light peering through the doors was a way to your heart. Like there was hope.

His pace slowed as he approached your doors, and his hand lingered on the door before slowly pushing it open, his good eye widening at the sight he was bestowed with.

There you were, in all your glory, your back facing the door as you looked at yourself in the huge mirror standing in front of you, gently trying out earrings that would complement your hairstyle of the day. The white dress you were wearing hugged your curves perfectly. The corset on top carved the shape of your waist, only for it to enhance the curves of your ass. The silk material left little to the imagination, and he could stay watching forever. He swore he could smell your perfume from here, already enamoring him much more. He could see the glistening of your skin as the so-short sleeves of your dress lovingly fell off your shoulders.

You were a mythology goddess. A legend, only for him to see.

And he had a chance to conquer.

・゜゜・00・゜゜・．

« So I guess my invitation got lost in the mail? » you heard the hoarse voice speaking through the opened door of your quarters. You kept on looking at yourself in the magnificent mirror standing in front of you, looking at how the white dress hugged your form, pretending not to have heard the said voice, ignoring the immediate chills it sent down your spine. You knew who these words belonged to, and so did your racing heartbeat.

You slowly reached down to the table by your side to pick another pair of earing to try out, letting Zoro enter as you calmly and sternly responded.

“The only thing that appears to have lost itself here, is you.”

Zoro scoffed as he fully entered your quarters, closing the door behind him as he stands, looking at you intently. Gosh, you were even more beautiful than in his memories. The way your hair fell so beautifully around your face. He missed your comebacks, your confidence, the way your brain seemed to understand his better than anyone else, better than he knew his own.

He slowly walked behind you, so close that you could feel his hot breath tickling the nape of your neck. He only looked at you through the mirror in front of you, feeling like, at some point, this would help him keep his façade. He bore his poker and stern face while taking in your presence.

Gosh, how he wanted to pin you to that mirror and kiss you until your lips turn bloody red from how much he would bite them.

“Looking great here. Nice big ring too.” he said, the hot breath of his lips tickling your ear.

It was hard for you to ignore how fast your heart was beating, and the tension between the two of you. It was electric, deep, high. You hated the effect he had on you, how he would always manage to have you wrapped around his finger. How he could make you kneel in front of him, happily opening your mouth to welcome his hot length. How he could make you melt from the simplest of words.

How he could break your facade, break your heart and confidence under a minute.

Your eyes met through the mirror, and that’s when you noticed his new scar. It hurt, knowing that you did not have the opportunity to mend his wounds and see his progress.

“I can’t say the same for you.” You lied, breaking the eye contact by focusing on removing the earrings you had just put on.

Zoro laughed, never looking away. He agreed: beside you, he looked like a picturesque character. You were the epitome of beauty, an ethereal image. If he were Sanji, he would have probably died on the spot.

Your eyes met again.

“You could have told me you were getting married. I had the right to-“

“How dare you?” you cut him mid-sentence, turning around to face him. His new built caught you off guard, but you didn’t let that stop you from finally, cutting the air.

“Zoro you better not finish that sentence. You have no right whatsoever to know a thing about my life. Not after what you did.” You explained, clear annoyance and a hint of hurt in your voice.

“Oh, is that how it is? How it’s going to be, (Y/N)? Of course you should have told me ! How dare you not tell me?” Zoro responded, mad, stubborn, scratched. “You can’t just get married, with this creep, and believe that I don’t have MY say in this? Or are you stupid?!” he continued, not noticing he started yelling.

You slightly pushed him away to get behind him, clearly needing the space. And he was surprised he let you push him, following your movements, wondering what your dress would feel like under his touch. He stared at your dress, your bosom and the way the corset enhanced the roundness of your boobs.

He wanted to eat them out right now and tear this corset apart.

“Oh you’re the stupid one here! Zoro you cannot expect me to tell you a thing about my love life, or anything about my life for that matter, when you walked away, in the middle of the night, saying your dream was more important, right after making love to me, and leaving to the sea without as much as a note?!” you stated, yelling the last words.

“It was not the right time for us and you know it! Come on, don’t act like I forced my decision on you. You know it was the best choice.”

“I beg your pardon?” you asked, walking closer to him, closing the distance between the two of you to state your thoughts loud and clear. You shook your head, gathering your thoughts after Zoro’s unreasonable rambling.

“Let me ask you. What do you call someone leaving in the middle of the night, saying how his dream is more important than the night he just spent with who he called to be the love of his life, while the later cried her heart out? Do you call that a consensual decision? A mature talk? Enlighten me, Roronoa Zoro. Please, enlighten me.”

Zoro just dived into your eyes at your words. Enlighten me. The words echoed in his ears, and for a couple of seconds his brain just stopped working. Noticing his lack of response, you sighed, trying to walk past him to finally put your veil on.

But this time, he did not let you past him.

Zoro grabbed your hips and looked into your eyes before diving in and kiss you. The taste of his lips surprised you, they seemed more mature, but still as soft as they were that night. With Zoro invading your space, it was hard to think, hard to breathe, hard to resist breaking the tension lingering after all these years. Before he could slide his tongue pass your lips, you pulled back, looking at him with half-lidded eyes, whispering, afraid the universe might hear you;

“What are you doing?”

“Enlightening you.” he whispered with a smirk, his breath tickling your lips.

And these words were enough to send all senses of hurt, bitterness and ache to hell. You let him kiss you, putting your hands on his arms as he kept a firm grip on your hips. He kissed you hard, feral. His tongue parted your lips, twirling around yours as he let out a deep groan. He has been waiting for this for years, and feeling your lips respond to his sent him to heaven. He could not help but let his hands glide to your ass and give it a light squeeze, making you yelp. Your reaction made him laugh, a small, intimate laugh only you could hear.

You slowly pulled away to catch your breath, and he took the opportunity to tell you what he really meant to say before rambling the selfish nonsense he let out.

“Don’t marry him. Come with me.” He whispered, his lips meeting the side of your neck, using his tongue to tickle the soft spots he never forgot: your submaxillary triangle, your trapezius.

“What are you talking about?” you responded, still a little out of breath, and mostly, distracted by his shenanigans.

“You got me baby, loud and clear.”

The dress started to bother him, and he took the opportunity to tear the bottom to the side, creating a slit on your left leg, taking advantage of it to massage your thighs and groping your ass once more, with more force and determination. He tapped your ass, a small gesture to wrap your legs around his waist as he pinned you to the mirror.

And when your legs tightened around his waist, he knew your answer.

And so he did not waste any time anymore. He massaged your breasts through the corset of your white dress, admiring how your boobs threatened to escape only for him to lick at your buds, cupping them in between his large hands. Your hands fell into his mossy green hair, slightly pulling on the ends as his tongue danced around your clavicles.

Being the skillful swordsman he is, and having experience with his mouth and hands, his left hand went under your dress, thanks to the slit he made, so he could play with your clothed cunt, feeling its wetness forming. There are so much things he wished to say at that moment, but the way his erection irritated his pants kept him from uttering the slightest of word. And knowing him like the back of your hand, you let out a small laugh.

“Are your pants too small to contain your little friend here?”

“If you call it little then I really should jog your memory.”

With that, he pushed you against the cold mirror surface a little harder so he could unzip his pants, letting his length sprung free against the white silk.

“Be careful, you might tarnish it you idiot!”

“Like you and I care.” he proudly stated, sliding his hand under your dress and pushing his index into your cunt, while rubbing circle on your clit. He never took his eyes off you, appreciating every little of your reactions, bearing your face into his memory.

“Gosh, I missed the feeling of your pussy around my fingers, you know that right?” he desperately uttered, feeling his already hard cock getting harder. “Gosh (Y/N), I missed everything about you.” he added, pumping harder, adding another finger into your pussy, your moans getting louder and lewder.

“And I missed the feeling of your cock, Zo’..” you whimpered, a dark light sparkling in his eye as he heard your plea.

“Well you won’t miss it anymore sweatheart.” he said, removing his fingers out of your cunt and pushing up your dress some more, so he could set your white lace panty aside and slide into you.

“Hmmpf!” you whimpered in extasy, the simple feeling of his cock stretching your tight cunt already answering your needs. He waited for you to adjust and looked at you, his eyes pleading for consent. Once you nodded and gave him a soft, intimate smile, Zoro started pounding into you at a feral pace. His nails dug into your thighs and ass as he held you tight, pumping his thick cock into your warmth. You threw your head back on the cold mirror surface as you tried to keep some sense into you, tears forming in your eyes from how passionate your partner was.

“G-Gosh (Y/N), you’re still taking me so well… completely m-made for me..” Zoro managed to say, as he could feel your pussy tightening around his shaft. This felt so real, so much better than in his memories.

“Please k-keep going!” you plead, only for him to hold you tighter, spanking your ass in the process.

“I’ll k-keep only if you answer my question.” He said, slowing his thrusts, going excruciatingly slow, torturing the both of you.

But he needed to know.

“Are you coming with me to the sea?”

He stared into your eyes for as long as he could, trying to determine what went on in your head.

“Zoro..”

He thrusted hard into you, looking at you again.

“Answer me.”

He thrusted harder, his eye never leaving your beautiful face.

“I..”

He thrusted harder, so hard you swore you could feel it in your guts.

“(Y/N). You love me. I love you. Come with me.”

“Y-Yes for God’s sake I’ll c-come with you!” you cried, only for him to smile in pride and thrust into you without anything as a break. He felt ecstatic and tried his best hiding his smile into your neck, giving it sloppy kisses before giving you one more passionate kiss as you both came together, your dress a total mess, both your bodies a sweaty mess, but a loving one at best.

He looked at you and saw the smile he waited to see for so long. He gently put your legs to the ground as he looked through his pocket.

“Don’t tell me you’re looking for a condom now that we’re just done” you muttered, earning an eye-roll from the swordman.

“I’m looking for the ring I got you, dumbass.” he bluntly stated, pulling the ring out of his pocket before putting it in your hands.

“Let me take off this ugly ass ring so I can give you mine.” He said and you let him have his way, gently laughing at his usual stubbornness. He slid his ring on your finger with a prideful and loving look, trying to conceal his blush by looking away.

“So, what’s the plan now Zo?” you asked, gazing into his good eye with more love than you thought ever existed.

“There’s none. We’ve got all the time in the world.” he responded, kissing your left hand before he heard a familiar ruckus down the hall, curtesy of his captain.

“I promise you’ll get used to it.” he shyly said as he held your hand tight, definitely not letting go, love wins all, after all.

[importantstudentbusinessspy-blog]

Chilling

Pairing: Henry X (f)Reader

Synopsis: You were in love with the blacksmith's boy since you were both children. One day, he stumbles into into the apothecary, covered in blood and wounds, asking for you. As the last survivor of the hunting party, you start to suspect what has changed him.

Tags: fluff, eventual smut, werewolves, friends to lovers, mutual pining, angst, danger, some death, gore,

Chapter 3

Instantly, the room erupted into motion. The healthier patients rushed to help the wounded hunter. Milly, a young girl who had been battling the flu, felt a sudden surge of energy as she sprinted to the village, proclaiming Henry's return. Within the hour, half the village gathered, anxious for news.

Rebecca emerged, her stern voice cutting through the crowd. “disperse unless you are sick! He is not fit for visitors at his state!”

The villagers scattered, leaving the apothecary to focus on the wounded and the healing.

Rebecca tended to the other patients, assigning Henry to you. You washed his battered body, wrapping him in furs to ward off the fever.

Puncture wounds covered him. You delicately applied salve to each one. Gently covering a giant bite mark on his torso with gauze, then taking care of other wounds. He was sweating even when unconscious and unmoving, and each time you reached for his pulse, his heart beat violently and rapidly. His strength now seemed so fragile in his wounded state.

Unconscious for most of the next day, he drifted in and out of awareness. Night fell, and Rebecca, exhausted, retired to sleep. You continued your duties, tending to the other patients, deflecting questions about Henry 's condition.

At one point, as you lifted one of his eyelids to check his pupils' response, Henry 's eyes were an odd yellow color before they fluttered closed again. That was odd. Just as you went to look for a book that may have more information on the weird change, his hand shot out, grabbing yours.

Surprised by his conscious state, he tried to ask him about the attack. "Henry? It's me. You're alright, you're safe."

Henry, still disoriented, looked at you and rasped weakly, “Y/n... my y/n..."

You blushed, nodding, "Yes, y/n."

Henry, his gaze distant, rasped, "Am I dead?"

"No," you couldn't help but laugh. "You're alright. You're at the apothecary." You reassured him, helping him take small sips of broth to aid his recovery. “Let me just get Rebecca, and I'll be right back.”

But as you stood to assist Rebecca, Henry 's grip on your hand remained firm. “Stay,” he looked at you, hazy brown eyes with a yellow ring around the edges of his irises begging. "Please stay."

“Alright,” you took a seat near his bed. He still hadn't let go of your hand, eyeing it in his.

Suddenly, he brought it up to his lips and kissed your palm. “I'm so happy you're here y/n, so fucking happy.”

Your touch unknowingly provoked an animalistic response from him. His breathing deepened, and there was a raw hunger in his veins, though he didn't yet understand what was happening. He felt the sudden urge to pull you closer, to claim you.

You opened your mouth to respond, but his affectionate gesture turned into something unexpected. His kisses became insistent, evolving into licks and nips. Your breath hitched as you felt an odd run feeling down your spine. Torn between concern for him and the growing realization that something wasn't right, you frantically cleared your throat, wondering if his shock caused him to behave this way.

Realizing what he was doing, Henry s eyes widened, and he instantly let go of your hand. "Im sorry. You just smell... so good." He blinked in confusion.

You drew your hand back, turning away so that he doesn't see your furious blush. "I-its alright. You're still in shock."

He nodded, laying back down in the bed, running his hand through his hair. This sickness felt different than any he's lived through. His fever, restlessness, and aches in his body felt unnatural. Throughout the night, he couldn't stop sweating, his heartbeat pounding louder than usual, his breath becoming more ragged.

And he couldn't get your scent out of his mind. Especially not as you tended to him. Your gentle touch when you wiped his brow, your delicate hands tending to his wounds. All while his body started to change beneath your hands.

The scarriest part was that he couldn't remember anything about the encounter with the wolf.

Henry awoke, the heaviness that had gripped him the past few nights lifting as he found himself more or less back to his usual self. But as his eyes focused, he realized that you were nowhere to be seen. Panic seized him, and he stumbled out of bed, frantically searching the apothecary. Other than a sleeping Rebecca and a few patients, there was no one there. He stumbled out to the village.

Covered in sweat, Henry asked every villager he encountered about you, his mind racing with a desperate need to have you by his side, to hold your hand once more, to feel your touch. The villagers were all surprised to see him in perfect shape, especially considering the state hi was in when he returned.

Every time someone asked him about his health, he growled in response, asking for your whereabouts.

As he rushed through the village, his fevered mind playing tricks on him, he crossed paths with Valerie. Concern etched across her face, she asked why he was out of bed, checking his forehead and informing him that his fever still raged. Ignoring her words, he pleaded for information about you.

Valerie tried to calm him, explaining that you had only gone to the well for more water and would be back soon.

"She went into the woods alone?" he nearly snarled.

Before Valerie could respond. Henry was already racing in the direction of the well, on the outskirts of the village, bordering the edge of the forest.

His heart pounded in his chest as he pushed through the village outskirts, your familiar scent creating his path to the well now feeling like an eternity. The trees rustled as he ventured further, fueled by the desperation to find you. Each step echoed yearning and fear intertwining in the cold of the forest.

Henry's breath caught as he finally spotted you at the well. The faint winter sunlight illuminated you as you pulled water. Your braid fell apart in a cascade of loose strands, framing your face that reflected how exhausted you were after the past week. Despite your sunken cheeks and eyebags, you hummed a quiet melody, a tune that he recalled you singing in the apothecary. You were beautiful.

But as Henry gazed upon you, an unusual hunger took over him. It wasn't the hollow ache he had grown accustomed to during those long, lonely nights of sickness when he was a child. This hunger was different. It wasn't for sustenance; it was a hunger for you, an insatiable need to hold you and keep you. Same as a couple of nights ago. He struggled to maintain control. He could smell your sweet scent and... and even heard your heartbeat. Yes, he was certain that the rhythm is coming from you.

Every step toward you is full of urgency, a magnetic pull drawing him closer. Henry's pulse quickened, synchronized with the rhythm of his longing. As he closed the distance, he found himself salivating, the anticipation of being near you.

"Y/n," he called, his voice a mixture of longing and urgency. You jumped at the sound, turning towards him with concern etched on her face. "What are you doing out of bed? You'll catch a cold!"

Henry was beyond caring about the cold. In fact, he barely felt it. His hands ached until they found you, pulling you towards him. In an instant, he enveloped you in his arms, his face buried in the warmth of your neck. Your skin was soft. He whispered your name, a fervent mantra he kept repeating.

You, caught off guard by the intensity of Henry's embrace, felt the warmth of his breath against your skin. Henry's hands roamed over your body, his touch igniting a fire within you that you never knew existed.

You gasped as his lips found yours, the kiss deep and passionate. His hands slid down to your waist, gripping tightly as he lifted you up and sat you on the edge of the well.

"Y/n," he growled, his voice filled with desire. "Dont ever go out in the woods alone again."

Wide-eyed and in shock. You panted as you offered a weak nod, still processing that kiss. You couldn't believe the man you were in love with had just stolen your first kiss.

"Swear it." He ordered, his eyes darkening as he punched up the material of your dress.

"I-I swear." You muttered, blushing.

Everyone gathered in church the next morning. Henry was met with cheers and hugs from the villagers, who were all happy he was back. He walked to sit next to you on the pew, putting his hand on your knee and smiling warmly at you.

The sermon began. The priest spoke about the gruesome killings, trying to raise morale by saying, "Our Henry survived the beast and came back to us. With strong men like him, the village will overcome this threat."

Everyone took a sigh of releif. It was the first time that the village felt this safe in a while.

Henry tried to focus on the priests words, but his senses were overcome with you. He heard your pulse, see every detail of your skin, eyes, hair, lips, to the outline of your breasts under the bodice of your dress. He felt overcome with possessiveness. Is this how other men in the village saw his you as well?

He could also smell you. You smelled so sweet and pure.

Suddenly, you felt Henry's hand slide higher up your thigh, squeezing. She didn't make a sound, afraid people around would notice.

A woman who sat beside you, Margaret, noticed your tense posture and asked you, "Are you alright?"

"She's tired. After all, she was treating me all day yesterday." henry spoke to the woman in your stead.

Not noticing his hand on your skirt, the woman turned to Henry. "Im so happy you're back, dear. We were all worried sick. It's awful. Just awful what happened."

"Thank you." Henry smiled to the woman.

The sermon went on, and you felt a warm sensation spreading in your belly.

The villagers continued to listen to the priestcaught up in the moment, grateful that henry had returned safely after facing the beast that had been terrorizing the village. As the sermon came to an end, you were flushed and out of breath.

[ronwestbreeze]

take a bow

pairing: geto suguru x non-sorcerer!reader warnings: gore and maybe a little bit of angst summary: you smell like coffee...and geto can't seem to shake it. word count: 6.7k author's note: hiiii ;) as you can tell there will be about five parts to this mini series. nothing more and nothing less. i'm kind of excited for this and i've been really wanting to write for my husband so, i hope ya'll enjoy it! and i will not be doing a taglist for this one. sorry guys!

part 2 | read on AO3

There was a cute customer today.

And you were also sure you hadn’t seen him around before. Then again, you moved to this village two weeks ago, and you weren’t too familiar with the regulars yet. Perhaps he was just one you hadn’t seen until now.

You leaned over the front counter a bit, trying to get a better look at him as he moved down one of the aisles to the far left of the store.

He wore what looked like a school uniform, his dark hair tied up with a few strands framing one side of his face. Even though he was further away from you, you could see he was on the younger side, maybe around your age. Possibly older.

You hadn’t met many boys in your life—attractive ones especially—mostly because you were sheltered for half of your childhood and didn’t go outside. So when you did happen to stumble upon a few of them, you were left wondering what to do or say around them. They were almost alien to you.

It was the same with people in general your age. While you weren’t bad at socializing, you still adapted the best way you knew how.

“You’re being creepy.” Your co-worker, Tohru, said passively while scrolling through her phone. A very busy activity she had been at for an hour now.

“I’m not.” You cleared your throat, quickly looking away from the otherwise oblivious customer. “But you can’t deny that he’s pretty cute.”

Tohru drew her eyes from her phone and glanced toward the newcomer who was now in the snack section. Now it was her turn to lean over the counter, a look of interest inching onto her usual bored mask.

“Damn.”

“Told ya.”

“He’s definitely new. No guy that fine lives in a boring ass town like this.”

You hummed, “I wouldn’t exactly call this town boring—but you’ve been here longer than me so I suppose you have the better judgment over that.” Carefully, you snuck another peek at the customer who was studying the back of a bag of chips. “And if he’s that fine, no doubt someone already bagged him.”

“Ugh,” Tohru grumbled with a defeated expression on her face, “you’re probably right. The hotter ones are always taken.”

“Or they end up being a douchebag.” You added with a snort as you organized the stack of gums on the counter.

“Amen to that.”

“Newbie!”

You jumped with a yelp at the loud voice filling the otherwise quiet store. Glancing over your shoulder, you found your manager, a very old and impatient man, stomping over with a toothpick dangling from his mouth, “Are you pullin’ one on me, kid?!”

After getting over your short shock, you furrow your brows, “Um, pulling what, sir?”

“Where the hell is the leftover food from last week?! I told you to save it in the back storage!”

You gave a sheepish smile and rubbed the back of your neck, “Oh yeah, some of it went bad so I had to throw it out.”

“We don’t even do anything with them anyway,” Tohru grumbled under her breath which you tried not to acknowledge.

He eats all the leftovers. Despite his shop advertisement promising to send any leftover food to orphanages and charities.

“Look, newbie, I’ve been real lenient because you’re new. And I get it, you're in a tough spot but I ain’t pityin’ you no more! I have no problem tossin’ you the curb, you hear me?”

Your face burned in embarrassment, especially when his loud ass voice carried throughout the store. No doubt the hot guy heard every word by now. “Yessir.”

The old man huffed, “Good. Now stop messin’ around and help the damn customer! Poor boy’s been waiting for you to notice him!”

God, please don’t be him. Please let it be another boy who's been waiting for a while.

You chanced a glance over your shoulder, only to shrivel up when you found the hot customer standing at the counter, watching your interaction with a small absent frown.

Fuck.

“Someone’s gonna be on dishes tonight.” Tohru sang with a snicker as she disappeared in the back along with your manager.

With your face on fire, you went toward the cash register. You cleared your throat and gestured to the pack of cigarettes and the bag of chips, “Will that be all for you today?”

He seemed to have been lost in thought as it took a beat for him to reply, “Sorry, yes, that’s it.”

You nodded, trying not to look him in the eyes. God, even his voice was attractive.

After giving him the price, you began bagging his items while he fished into his pockets to grab his wallet.

You still had yet to look at him.

The last thing you wanted was to get chewed out by your bum boss in front of a guy that you’d possibly never see again. Before you had been dying to have a quick conversation with him, just to keep looking at him for a little longer. Now all you wanted to do was get him out of the store as soon as possible and hide away in a hole, never to be found again.

“Is he always like that?”

You placed his cigarettes in the bag before you realized he was talking to you. Which only made your cheeks even hotter.

“Uh, yeah, he’s usually getting high in the back, or napping.” You shrugged, glancing up at him every now and then, only to find him directly staring at you. Fuck, you were awful at this. “Only ever out front when the shop closes. He’s always the first out the door before anyone else.”

“Mmm,” By then you looked up to find him not too happy about that piece of information. “And he gives you a hard time to add onto that. Don’t you want to quit?”

At that, you smile, “It would be easy, wouldn’t it? I don’t know if you already heard—probably the whole block had heard him—but I’m not really in the best situation to be quitting a job just cuz I hate my bum ass boss.”

This time he looked sheepish, “Yeah, I wanted to pretend that I didn’t hear him, but I guess there’s no point in that. Sorry.”

“It’s fine.” You chuckled before handing him his bag. “It’s life, you know? I just have to brave it out until I have a stable income of money. Then maybe I can consider the option of kicking myself to the curb from this trash can of a place.”

The male stared at you curiously, the disinterest that he had worn before was now long gone. He searched your face—for what, you didn’t know.

And then he smiled, “You seem to have it all figured out.”

It was infectious, his smile. Even though it didn’t reach his eyes.

“I wouldn’t say all that.” You returned the smile, anyway, hoping it appeared real enough for the both of you. “But I think it’s going to work out for me in the long run. That I can say.”

The male chuckled as he walked toward the store entrance, “I wish you luck then.”

He waved with another smile which took you off guard a bit. You didn’t have much of a chance to respond back to his wave, nor tell him to enjoy his time in town before he was already long gone.

It was now just you and your blushing face.

The back door opened, “Aw, you didn’t even get his number, did you?”

You glanced over your shoulder to find Tohru pouting at you. You grinned sheepishly, “Oops, guess I didn’t.”

“Tsk, tsk,” Tohru sighed, “You really need to learn how to flirt.”

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. Regulars came and went. Your manager was passed out in the back. Tohru’s shift ended sometime before you and booked it out the front door before you had the chance to say goodbye.

Essentially, you had the shop all to yourself. And it was unfortunately horribly boring.

Later in the day is when fewer and fewer customers start coming in. Apparently, many of the people in the village were too cautious about going out once the sun started setting. There were a few rumors here and there, about mysterious deaths all over the village. You weren’t exactly sure how much truth there was to those rumors, all you could do was clock in and clock out and go straight home.

Just because you doubted the stories didn’t mean you weren’t going to be stupid.

You wondered if that hot guy knew about the rumors. It probably would’ve been neighborly to try and warn him.

The sky was filled with oranges and purples as the sun was slinking behind one of the mountains. The evening glow made the shop look almost ominous, especially with the indoor lights off.

You should probably turn those on by now. They would’ve been on throughout the whole day like regular shops but your boss was such a cheap stake with the light bill you had to keep it off until evening fell and you practically couldn’t see in the dark.

Just as you stepped away to turn the shop lights on, the bell above the door rang. You glanced toward the clock and grinned.

You moved back to the front counter and grinned at the familiar newcomers. Two young girls, who looked no older than five, stood at the entrance. “Right on time! Looks like someone’s excited for today’s batch.”

The brown-haired girl—you knew as Mimiko—with the stuffed doll approached the counter first. Standing on her tippy toes enough for her chin to rest on top of the counter, “Do you have any more rice balls?”

“You bet.” You gestured toward the two chairs next to the counter. “Why don’t you guys take a seat over there and I’ll go get the food. It’s a real treat this time.”

“Okay.” Mimiko nodded before grabbing her sister’s hand to drag her over toward the chairs.

“Thank you!” The blonde-haired, Nanako, called.

You sent her an adoring smile, “Of course, hon!”

You moved to the back, passing your knocked-out manager, as you grabbed the box of food in your locker and brought it back to the front counter. Mimiko and Nanako got up from their chairs and bounced over to get a better look, “I actually got these rice balls from this place in the city during the weekend. It’s way better than the crap here.”

“Really?” Nanako looked into the box, her eyes widening, “Wow! Those look really good!”

“Anything for my best customers.” You winked and allowed them to grab what they wanted from the box.

Both girls giggled as they grabbed rice balls and ramen from the box. You smiled and patted both their heads before allowing them to sit back down in the chairs and eat.

You hadn’t known the twins for very long. Actually, you met them on your first day at the store two weeks ago. They had been attempting to steal a few snacks when you discovered them. You couldn’t shake the way they were looking at you when you found them. Scared yet desperate for some food. Mimiko had been clutching her stuffed doll tightly in her hands as if she were about to tear its head off at that moment.

They were expecting you to berate them and kick them out of the store. Maybe your manager or Tohru would’ve done that, but you just couldn’t find it in you to turn them away. They were obviously hungry, so what else could you do but feed them?

So you took the leftover food from the storage and gave it to them. They were pretty tight-lipped about their home situation so you didn’t push. But it was pretty clear that they didn’t have a lot to eat, wherever they lived.

“Let’s make a deal.” You had said to them that day. “You guys come back at around five o’clock every day and I will feed you some stuff we don’t need. Hell, I’ll probably even cook and bring it over every now and then. As long as the two of you eat.”

They looked hesitant. The brown-haired girl—she told you her name was Mimiko—spoke first, “Will you really do that for us?”

You smiled softly at her, “Of course. You guys are hungry, right? Why wouldn’t I want to feed you?”

Her twin, Nanako spoke next, eyes cast down, “Most of the people here are scared of us. Because we’re different. So they ignore us whenever we do ask for food.”

You frowned, your heart breaking at the time. Of course, you had some questions about why a bunch of adults would turn a blind eye to two little girls who looked no older than five. You seethed at the thought that the only one willing to help them was a barely surviving sixteen-year-old, who couldn’t even make minimum wage.

Instead of crying for them—which you were definitely close to doing—you patted their heads, “Well, I’m not scared of you. And I don’t care if you’re different. Come back tomorrow and there will be food for you guys. Okay?”

The two girls were stunned at your kindness like it was foreign to them. But they both nodded, hints of a smile making its way to their lips. “Okay!”

“But you also have to promise not to steal anymore so you don’t get in trouble.” Mimiko pouted but you attempted a stern look. “I’m serious, girls. And we’re going to pinky promise on it.”

You held out your pinky. Reluctantly, the two girls took it. Giggling when they fought to cover your own pinky with their little ones.

After your pinky promise, Nanako’s nose scrunched, “You smell like coffee.”

You laughed and cleaned up the trash from their meal, “I get that a lot.”

And since then, the twins have kept coming back every day, after five o’clock. Sometimes you wonder where they went before that. Did they go to school? Did they have any parents taking care of them? Did they even have a home?

You supposed none of that was any of your business in the end. But sometimes you couldn’t help but worry.

If you had a big enough space that wasn’t one small box, then you’d take the girls home with you in a heartbeat.

Once Mimiko was finished with her rice ball, she walked over to you as you were counting through the cash in the register from today’s productivity. “Can I help?”

“Sure,” You hummed trying to find something for her to do. “Do you think you could stack those new packets of gum for me and place them in this small box?” You handed the little box which she took instantly. “Go get your sister to help if she wants, okay?”

Mimiko nodded and took the gum packets and the box back to her sister who was just finishing up her rice ball. You made a mental note to buy some coloring books for them in case they got bored. Sometimes they like to stay a little bit longer after they finish eating, to keep you company. And you enjoyed their presence. It was better than staring at the ceiling for hours on end, waiting for a customer to enter even though you knew they wouldn’t come. And then got done with their little task quite fast. Yeah, you definitely need to get those coloring books.

Thankfully, just in time as you heard your manager shift in the back, the two girls made their leave. Waving goodbye to you with the promise of returning tomorrow.

Sometime later your manager came from the back and left the shop, grumbling about you closing up.

And another hour after that, you leave the shop. Hoping to see the twins again. And maybe—even though it was probably impossible—you hoped to see that hot customer again.

It was delusional, you knew this.

But it didn’t hurt to hope.

“Ugh, why are you eating that shit?” Tohru made a look of disgust at your bag of coffee beans. “Now the whole place is gonna smell.”

That was what you were greeted with upon entering the shop the next morning, “Good morning to you too, Ru. And don’t you think it’s a lot better than cigarettes and booze?”

Surprisingly, it was pretty crowded which was a first for you ever since you started working at the shop. Of course, it was a bunch of older people—middle-aged to elderly—but it was busy, nonetheless.

You went around the counter as an older woman locked Tohru into a conversation, “Did you hear what happened to that little boy? Oh, what an awful thing, I can only imagine what his parents must be feeling right now.”

“It’s that demon terrorizing our home again.” An elderly woman standing in line shivered

A man huffed, “I tell you exactly what’s causing all of this. Those no good—”

You didn’t bother to stay and hear the rest as you made your way to the back to throw your bag into one of the lockers. It was the same old thing. A horrible incident happens at night—a few people die—and people are going on and on about the town being haunted. Something about some demon going on a killing spree in the dead of night. To be honest, you thought it was some sick weirdo having the time of his life and the people haven’t realized it yet.

“Gotta buy some new locks.” You mumbled to yourself as you shrugged off your jacket.

“How was your night?” You glanced over your shoulder to find your manager sitting in the office, the door wide open as he smoked.

“Good, sir!” You offered a friendly smile as you closed your locker. “My mattress was uncomfortable but all in all, I can’t necessarily complain! And what about you, sir? How was your night?”

He grunted but never gave a response, which wasn’t unusual. He never offered to talk about himself, even on his good days.

You nodded, took your bag of coffee beans, and joined Tohru back at the front.

“—This is the fifth incident this week! When will enough be enough?!” This was an older man scowling this time. Next to him was a woman—whom you had to guess was his wife—trying to push him out of the shop as he began his rant. “We need to hunt those monsters down! How many more have to die?!”

You watched the couple leave with a small frown, “Wow, it’s never been this bad before.”

Tohru sighed tiredly, “Yeah, they’re pretty fired up this time around. I wonder how much of this is gonna mess with my precious sleep schedule.”

You hummed, noticing the usual dark bags under her eyes.

“Hi.”

A bag of chips was placed on the counter. Both you and Tohru looked up to find the hot customer from yesterday standing at the counter with a friendly smile sent your way.

Your face both burned with being taken off guard and the fact that he was addressing you directly, “Oh—Hi! Welcome back!” Quickly, you manned the second register while Tohru sent you a side glare. You returned his smile, “To be honest, I didn’t think you were still here.”

“Really?” He raised a brow as you checked his item out. “How come?”

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed but the town’s kind of haunted.” You chuckled as you stuffed his chips into a grocery bag, giving him a sheepish smile, “Scares the tourists away. I should’ve probably warned you about it yesterday, sorry about that.”

He chuckled as you handed him his bag. This time he wasn’t wearing the black top he had on yesterday. The baggy pants were the same, just this time around he wore a white button-up. “Fortunately, I’m not afraid of many scary stories, but I appreciate the warning.”

“How brave of you.” You chuckled, ignoring the subtle glances Tohru kept sending you while attending to her own customer. “I can’t necessarily say the same for myself.”

“Don’t you live here?” His eyes twinkled as he tilted his head, “I’d say you’re a lot braver than me, you know. Tonight’s my last night here.”

You shook your head, ignoring how your chest fell slightly in disappointment at the new piece of information, “Then many would say you’re one of the lucky ones.”

“Oh yeah?” He hummed, his eyes never wavering from yours. Wow, he really loved making eye contact. You couldn’t figure out if that made him even hotter or a bit intimidating. And he was so nonchalant about it too, hand in pocket, stance somewhat relaxed. “What would you say? You count yourself unlucky then?”

The bell above the door rang, “Welcome in!” You called the new customer before replying to him. “Well, to be honest with you, I feel like I’m the luckiest girl alive. It’s not so bad here, you know, despite the obvious flaws of the shop and this town. I’m just grateful to at least have a job and a roof over my head. It’s not perfect but it’s everything I need right now.”

He was observing you again. Tohru was far too distracted with the other customers to notice and make fun of your bashful facial expressions. Or how you were practically malfunctioning on the spot from the way he kept looking at you.

“You know,” He leaned on the counter with a smile turning into somewhat of a smirk, “I’ve never met someone as optimistic as you. I almost think you’re unreal.”

“Don’t we all,” Tohru commented as she made her way to the back. “Your turn to man the front counter, newbie. The last customer nearly made me pop a vein.”

“Sure thing, Ru!” You called, trying to ignore how hot your face was at the moment.

Of course, the hot customer saw this and gave a soft laugh, “I didn’t mean to sound like I’m making fun of you, I promise. It’s endearing. You wouldn’t have a hard time finding someone to marry, that’s for sure.”

Steam was probably coming out of your ears at this point.

“I-I-uh, thanks?” You searched the store to try and distract yourself and prevent further embarrassment. Only when you didn’t find anything, you smile sheepishly, “I-uh, I think it’s a little too soon to be thinking about marriage—uh but thanks for the compliment?”

You watched as his nose twitched, raising a brow, “You smell like coffee. Like a lot.”

“Yeah,” You gulped with a nervous smile, “I get that a lot.”

Another laugh left his lips. He was far too amused now. Meanie. “I’ll see you around.”

With that, he left the store. The bell rang in his wake. You watched him go through the window. He waved to you as he passed. And you waved back.

Once he was finally out of your sight and you out of his, you groaned and dropped your head onto the counter, “I’m such a loser.”

The back door opened and Tohru poked her head out, shaking her head disapprovingly, “Yeah, you can’t handle all that man.”

“Shut up, Ru.”

You were the exception, not the rule, Geto Suguru realized a block away from the store.

He’d never really met anyone like you. It was so rare. Pure. So unheard of in this world.

But it didn’t change how the world was. A bright light like that would be snuffed, almost instantly. You would become exhausted at some point, smiling so genuinely like that.

It would make your fall much harder. Much, much worse.

More curses wreaking havoc through villages. More curses to swallow down, leaving the bitter taste of vomit in his wake.

You, Geto decided, were just like everyone else in the end.

Applause.

Applause.

Applause.

Applause.

He wondered if he would ever stop hearing them clap.

Around the late afternoon, your manager sent you out to pick up a delivery of chips that apparently couldn’t make it. Something about a mix-up with the trucks—you weren’t entirely clear on the details. But your boss was pissed about it and you were left with driving to the city to retrieve the box of chips. The only thing you didn’t like about it was the fact that the drive to the city took almost two hours.

You just hoped you’d make it back in time to meet up with the twins.

So half your day was spent rushing through the city, trying to track down that missing shipment of chips, bringing it back to your car which was almost towed because you happened to park in the wrong place, and then driving back to the village while the sun was beginning to set.

The drive back wasn’t as bad as the drive to the city. But you arrived back at the shop twenty minutes past five. Which wasn’t too bad but you were still late, nonetheless.

“Sorry, I’m late!” You called as you entered the store from the back with the box still in your hands. “I got coloring books this time, hope you guys like to draw!” You brought the box to the front, expecting to find the twins.

Only you stop and find Tohru and your manager there instead. Tohru stared at you in confusion, “Who are you talking to?”

You blushed in embarrassment, “Um, sorry, I thought you were…” Quickly, your mind raced. “Did you guys happen to see two girls walk in at around five—that’s what the coloring books were for, yeah, yeah, that makes sense.”

“Two girls?” Tohru frowned, appearing even more confused. “Did you hit your head or something?”

Just as you were about to quickly explain what you meant, your manager blew out another puff of smoke, “She means those unlucky twins.” At this, you furrowed your brows, opening your mouth to ask what he meant, only for him to continue as if you had already asked the question. “Those two have been poisoning our town ever since they killed their parents. It’s about time they get what they deserve.”

Your eyes widened, heart, falling to your feet, “W-What does…what happened to them? What do you mean get what they deserve?”

“Oh yeah,” Tohru said while hoisting herself up to sit on the counter, “now that you mention it, there were two girls that came in here. They didn’t stay for long, some of the villagers barged in and took them. I think they mentioned taking her to the old temple or something like that, I don’t know, I had a headache and they were all being annoying. They went on about them being the cause of all the deaths happening in town—whatever that meant—”

The box fell from your hands onto the floor, spilling the bag of chips. Your heart thundered with panic and disbelief, “You…You just let them take them?” Surprisingly, your voice wasn’t quivering like the rest of your body. Instead, it was full and firm with distraught. “They didn’t even do anything! They’re children! They’re—oh my god, they’re just babies!”

Tohru rolled her eyes as if you were the one being dramatic and unreasonable, “Dude, relax, they’re probably not going to do anything that bad to them. Maybe send them off to another village. Look, who cares? At least there won’t be any more deaths—hey, where are you going?”

You ignored her, threw off your work apron, and jumped over the counter. “This isn’t right! None of this is fucking right!”

“Hey, you still need to clean your mess up—hey!” Tohru’s voice became further and further away as you bolted out of the shop and ran through the street, heading further into the village.

Tohru had mentioned something about an old temple. You quickly searched your mind until you remembered there was a temple on one of the hills. You always passed it whenever you went jogging on your days off. Yes, you knew exactly where they were.

Running wouldn’t get you there fast enough, you soon realized. So you thought quickly. In front of a flower shop, you spotted a bicycle sitting at the front. Quietly apologizing to whomever this belonged to, you took the bike, got on, and pedaled your way up the hill.

In your haste, the world was silent to you.

All you could think about was those poor girls. All you were worried about was saving them before the townsfolk did something that no one could possibly come back from.

The world was silent to you.

You didn’t see the people running by in terror, even when you nearly ran into an older man who had dashed out into the street in a fit of panic. You didn’t see the smoke in the part of the village you biked through. You didn’t see the blue flames consuming the houses and the people around you until there was nothing but burnt ash left.

This chaos was nothing but white noise.

The world was silent to you.

You ignored the large shape flying over you, spewing the blue flames onto another part of the village.

All you cared about were those girls. Mimiko and Nanako.

You should’ve brought them back to your home. You should’ve taken them in. You should’ve pressed for more information about them. You should’ve known that they didn’t have anyone taking care of them.

You should’ve known. You should’ve done more.

“My god,” You gasped, fear tearing at your heart as the temple finally came into view. “have I failed them?” There were no flames consuming the temple. Strangely enough, it was the only place that wasn’t on fire.

When you were close enough, you jumped off the bike and dashed for the entrance. You slammed into the double doors, attempting to pull it open. Only they were locked and wouldn’t budge.

You backed up, not willing to give up. Not willing to let those two die for this fucked up town. And with all your might, you kicked the doors open, causing them to slam against the walls inside the temple.

“Mimiko! Nanako!” You called as you entered, searching around for the two girls.

Smoke filled your nose and caused you to cough just as small voices responded back to you. Calling your name with childlike desperation. It sounded like it was coming from above you. Like there was a second floor.

The stairs were on your right. You dashed for them, skipping two steps at a time until you made it to the second floor. Until you made it into the first room you spotted. Until you found them both locked in a cage together. Beaten and bruised and scared out of their minds. Until you found the two bodies lying in a puddle of scarlet right in front of the cage.

You didn’t rush toward the cage right away. Struck frozen at the sight of the blood. At the sight of the two bodies. It made the once quiet world around suddenly become loud.

There were screams outside of the temple. There was smoke, so much smoke.

Then there was the blood.

Blood.

Blood.

Blood.

There was a small call of your name, snapping you out of your frozen shock. The two girls were pressed against the cages, Nanako reaching through the bars for you…

“I’m coming, it’s okay.” You said, finally snapping out of your shock before rushing over toward the cage. You ignored how your shoes were stained with scarlet as you walked through the puddle.

You tried at the cage for a bit until you roughly yanked it open, breaking the lock that kept it closed. Both girls ran out of the cage and hugged your waist, nearly knocking you over. Their sniffles were muffled in your sweater as you ran your hand through their hair in an attempt to comfort them.

“It’s okay, I’m gonna get you out of here.” You promised while glancing over your shoulder at the bodies. “Nanako. Mimiko. What happened to them?”

Mimiko buried her face further into your waist while Nanako spoke, “Everyone thought we were the ones behind the deaths so they took us and tried to make the man kill us. But he didn’t, he saved us!”

You nodded as you both listened and led them out of the horrific room. The three of you went down the steps. Just from looking through the wide open doorway of the temple, you saw the flames hitting the village had gotten so much worse. What had caused this, you had no clue, nor did you have time to stop and wonder where it all had come from.

Mimiko tightened her hold on your hand, forcing you to stop, dozens of steps away from the front door, “The man told us to stay put and that he would take us away from here.”

On your right, Nanako nodded, “He said the curses won’t hurt us and that we’re special.”

You let go of their hands and turned to face them, your back to the entrance. Carefully you knelt down in front of them, “Okay, slow down. Before I even think about touching the curses part, I just need to know what man are you guys talking about. There wasn’t a third body in that room.”

“They mean me.”

At the sudden voice, you spun around to find standing at the entrance a male. A familiar one at that.

The same male who had bought chips from your store. The same male who had that gentle smile on his face—similar to the one he wore now but colder. The same male who had laughed at your fumbling and embarrassment just a few hours earlier.

“You.” Was the whisper that fell from your lips.

He stepped forward and instinctively pushed the girls behind you protectively. His brows raised at this and he chuckled.

“Mimiko. Nanako.” His voice was slow, silky, and calculated. “It’s time to go. Those people won’t hurt you anymore. Just as I promised.”

You watched him warily but the girls after a beat started toward him, surprising you. Mimiko was the one who stopped while Nanako went to the male’s side and grabbed his hand. She looked at you and then the male. She then grabbed your hand and tried tugging you forward, “Can’t she come with us?”

Something flickered across his face and instantly disappeared in the next second as he smiled, “Why don’t you two wait for me while I talk to the nice lady?”

You didn’t let go of her hand right away, “Mimiko.”

She looked at you and smiled reassuringly despite one of her eyes being swollen shut, “It’s okay. He’s a nice man. He saved us, remember?”

With that, she followed her sister out of the temple. The male didn’t move from the doorway. The blue flames were menacing in the night, his shadow tall. The heat was just as overwhelming as the smoke.

“Who the hell are you?” You finally muttered.

He started walking toward in slow leisurely steps, “A sorcerer.”

Instinctively, you wanted to back away as he got closer. But you stood firm, “And you were the one that killed those two people upstairs?”

“Yes.” He was now in front of you with very little space left between the two of you. The obvious question was at the tip of your tongue but you never voiced it. Yet he replied anyway, “I’ve decided it’s time I’ve stopped serving non-sorcerers. All they’ve done is create more problems for people like me. I figured I cut the problem down from the roots. For all of us.”

There was no smile on his face now. No traces of the friendly face, of the sheepish boy you met back at the shop. Just someone else entirely.

He leaned forward, staring at you with that same look he had back at the shop. Like he was trying to see right through you. Accusatory. Blame.

“What good are you to me?”

You glared now, clenching your hands into tight fists, “It sounds like you’ve already made up your mind. I don’t see a point in proving a damn thing to you.”

He stared at you for a moment longer and then smirked. “Too bad you’re human.” He turned and walked back to the entrance. “I would’ve liked you a lot. I do like you a lot. But if my new world is going to be without non-sorcerers…”

The curse flew past Geto and into the temple. It was large enough to cause irreparable damage to the temple. It was deadly enough to crush any target in sight. Even your screams were swallowed whole in seconds. That’s how efficient it was. That’s how easy it all became.

Geto didn’t look back at your body. Nor did he watch you get killed by his curse. Instead, he continued out of the temple with a few more curses following him at his tail.

“There are no exceptions.” He muttered to himself.

Applause.

Applause.

Applause.

Applause.

He wondered if he would ever forget that coffee smell.

Applause.

Applause.

Applause.

Applause.

Hours later, once the flames had long settled, you sat up in the rubble. Some of the most severe wounds were nearly done healing. But the only pain you felt was the tight twists in your stomach.

You were starving.

Applause.

Applause.

Applause.

Applause.

Your sweater had been burned off and your skirt was ripped as you dragged yourself away from the ruins of the temple. Saliva dripping from your mouth that you tried to ignore.

For a while, you kept going. Pushing yourself through what used to be a lively village. But now it was filled with ruins and dead bodies alike.

You kept your composure thought. Especially when you pass fallen body parts, scattered along the streets.

Applause.

Applause.

Applause.

Applause.

Eventually, you made it to the store, just on the outskirts of the village. The same one you worked at. The one place that had your coffee beans.

The bell above your head rang as you lugged your way over to the aisle where you knew the coffee beans were. Ignoring the calls of your name—which was just background noise to you.

You were hungry. Really, really hungry.

Just as you found the coffee beans, you grabbed one of the bags and tore it open.

“You know you’ve been fired, right?”

For some reason, your hand never reached into the bag to grab a mouthful of beans and tossed it in your mouth. Instead, you just stared down into it, saliva dripping from your mouth as Tohru continued her taunt.

“Boss’ pretty pissed with you taking off like that. And now I’ve gotta miss my concert because of you.” In the corner of your eye, she sneered, “I hope it was all worth it.”

Applause.

Applause.

Applause.

Applause.

“Risking your job for a bunch of girls you don’t even know. What did you even try to do?”

Applause.

Applause.

Applause.

Applause.

“Hmm, judging how quiet everything is, my guess is they probably finished the job.” Tohru sighed and leaned against the shelf, “Well, at least I can get better sleep.”

The bag of coffee beans fell from your grasp and spilled onto the floor.

Tohru gasped, looking down at the mess, “Hey! You fucking idiot! How many more messes are you going to leave for me to clean?! Ugh, you’re such a brat—hey, what the hell is wrong with your eyes?”

Applause.

Applause.

Applause.

Applause.

Fuck it.

Applause.

Applause.

Applause.

Applause.

The next morning, the shopkeeper was found dead in his office. Half of his face was gone, along with a gaping hole in his chest, where his heart should’ve been.

The girl was behind the front counter. Missing a leg, her organs spilling out of her abdomen. Blood everywhere.

It was a horrid sight.

At least, that’s what you heard.

Applause.

Applause.

Applause.

Applause.

You wiped the blood from your mouth.

“I’m done lying to myself.” You mumbled. A giggle left your lips. “What the hell is the point?”

Applause.

Applause.

Applause.

Applause.

With that, you took your final bow.

“Things will be different this time.”

[willalove75]

Hi! Love your fics!💕💕 can I request a lady d and r, where alcina eats r out for the first time and r is all squirming and pulling the sheets and she loves it? Thank you id also like you to add your own stuff💖💖

Thank you so much!!💕 And thanks so much for this awesome request! Hehehe

Warnings: A little fluff and lots of smut, mommy kink, pinch of size kink, dash of degradation kink and more fluff.

A/n: Did I get carried away with this one? Me? Never. (Yes. Yes I did and I have no regrets).

18+ only, minors DNI

Life in Castle Dimitrescu wasn't perfect by any means, but compared to the village, it was safe. As safe as living with four bloodthirsty vampires can be, that it. Besides you were given work, were paid well, you had three meals a day and a roof over your head. What more could you ask for?

When you first arrived at the castle you were sent to work in the laundry room, after about a year you were promoted to working in the kitchen. After a year or so of that your duties were split between cleaning and serving meals. Somehow, you must have caught the Countess's attention because when her handmaid disappeared you were one of the candidates selected to fill the position. For one reason or another the other maids were passed over and you were hired for the job.

Although you were intimidated by the Countess at first, slowly but surely you began to feel more comfortable around her, and her around you. As the weeks went by she began to let her walls down when she was with you, something you were pretty sure she's never done for any maid before.

Her afternoon tea would often bleed into dinnertime, the two of you losing track of time while you spoke. Her evening glass of wine turned into two, then three, then the bottle as you talked late into the night. Even into the early hours of the morning on more than one occasion.

Tonight was just another average night. Your task as usual, bringing the Lady her evening wine. After you knocked on the door, you heard a "Who is it?" on the other side. You could tell right away that something was off from the sound of her voice.

"It's me, my Lady."

"Come in."

As you walk into her room you close the door. Lady Dimitrescu was standing with her back to you, looking out the window. A cigarette was perched between her two fingers.

"Just leave it on the table. You're dismissed."

It felt wrong leaving her like this, you could tell right away that she was upset.

"Are you alright my Lady?"

"I said you're dismissed."

"I am aware that I may be overstepping-"

"Then don't."

"My Lady, please, what can I do?"

Lady Dimitrescu stands there in silence, taking drags from her cigarette. After a few long minutes she looks at you out of the corner of her eye.

"You aren't going to leave, are you?"

"Will all due respect, I am not my Lady."

She sighs heavily.

"Alcina."

"I'm sorry?"

"Alcina, my given name. There's no need to be formal when it's just the two of us. Mother Miranda knows we are past the point of formalities." She said walking past you and sits at her vanity.

"It's a beautiful name, fitting for a beautiful woman."

Alcina stares at you through the mirror, you can see the mascara underneath her lashes, how her golden eyes have a hint of red to them from her crying. She still manages to give you a small smile.

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Unfortunately I don't believe there is."

Her hands fiddle with the clasp of her necklace. You watch as she struggles to get it undone, growing more frustrated every second.

"Please, my Lady, allow me."

Standing onto the stepstool behind her, you take her hands off of the clasp. Alcina stares at you bewildered, never has a maid been so bold before. A second later the clasp is undone and you remove the necklace from her neck. Your eyes meet hers in the mirror and you can't decipher the look she's giving you.

"You don't fear me, do you?"

"No, not at all my-" Alcina gives you a look. "Alcina. I do not."

Stepping down, you walk over to the wardrobe and place the necklace on it.

"Why not? I am a monster am I not?"

"Do not say that." You snap. Alcina's posture stiffens and she glares at you. You can feel her eyes burning into the back of your head and you let out an exhale. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you like that. I just- I can't stand hearing people refer to you and the girls as monsters, no less hearing you refer to yourself as such."

Turning towards Alcina, you notice the glare in her eyes fade into something softer.

"You really don't think I am dangerous?"

"No, I know what you're capable of and I know you can certainly be dangerous. But everyone can be dangerous. I've seen monsters, real monsters. None of which are you and your daughters."

"You are so very curious."

"The same can be said about yourself." You say, trying to hold back a smile.

"Cheeky." Alcina says with a smirk. She finishes removing her makeup and lights another cigarette as she makes her way over to the chaise lounge in her room. "Will you please bring me my wine?"

"Of course."

You cross the room and open up the bottle of wine, filling Alcina's glass.

"There you are." You say, handing it to her.

"Come, sit." She says, moving her legs over to open up a spot on the edge of the seat. Alcina takes a sip of wine and looks down at you. "Why don't you see us at monsters?"

"Because you're not." She tilts her head and you continue. "I know what goes on in these castle walls, I am not ignorant to that. But I also know that, for the most part, the reason why you do what you do is to survive. Isn't that what we're all trying to do? Just survive? The maids and the people in the village refuse to acknowledge your humanity, but I see it clear as day."

"I am not human."

"Yes, but that does not mean that you've lost your humanity. You were a human once. If you did, you wouldn't care to tell me about your days as a jazz singer, your eyes wouldn't light up when you spoke of what it was like being on stage singing for people. A gentle smile wouldn't cross your face when you spoke of your daughters and their antics. You wouldn't laugh at my silly jokes if you lost all of your humanity. I see you, Alcina. I see you."

Never has Alcina been so in awe of someone, her handmaiden no less. Never has someone - since she's been mutated - see her for who she is. She leans forward and tucks a strand of hair behind you ear, gazing into your eyes.

The breath in your lungs stalls and you lose yourself in her beautiful gold eyes. She truly is breathtaking. You meant every word you said and you can tell she knew you meant it.

Her long finger traces down your jaw until it stops to rest underneath your chin. On command your lips part and your eyes flick down from hers, to her lips and back up. She's so close you can feel her warm breath on your skin. You can smell the cigarettes and wine on her breath, accompanied by the faint hint of the perfume left on her from the day. It's intoxicating. She's intoxicating.

Alcina captures your lips with hers and you gladly welcome them. Her tongue caresses you and you part your lips more, allowing her entrance into your mouth. The moment her tongue touches yours a moan erupts from the back of your throat into her mouth. She kisses you harder in response and your fingers tangle themselves into her hair.

Before your brain can register what's happening, Alcina wraps her free arm around your waist and lifts you up. Your legs wrap around her and she leans to the side, placing her wine glass down and putting her cigarette out straight onto the side table. To hell with the ashtray, and that table, I guess.

She carries you across the room to her bed and crawls onto it, never once breaking the kiss until she lays you down and hovers above you. Her soft lips leave passionate kisses down your jaw to your neck. Pausing in the crook of your neck, she deeply inhales and exhales with a moan before sucking on your pulse point. A moan escapes from your lips and you arch your back in response. Alcina's hand slides up the front of you, her palm coming to rest on your chest as you arch into it. Her hand is so big it practically covers your whole chest.

Alcina kisses back up your neck and pulls you in for another deep, passionate kiss. Her leg slides between yours and you roll your hips into her with a grunt. She practically purrs when she feels you grind into her.

"You are so beautiful, draga mea." She whispers between kisses. "No one has ever looked at me the way you do."

A passionate fog clouds your mind, you're completely lost in the moment and don't even register your next words until they hang in the air between the two of you.

"I love you."

When your brain finally processes what you said you freeze. The gold in Alcina's eyes shines brighter than you've ever seen before. Her pupils blow and practically turn her eyes black.

"Do you want me to stop?" She says.

"No."

As soon as the words leave your lips Alcina grabs your uniform and tears it down the middle. As effortlessly as one would tear a piece of paper. Her nails extend just enough to cut through your bra and underwear and she throws the scraps of cloth away.

She kisses you again, hard, and her hand travels down your body and one finger slides up your dripping slit. You whine into her and she breaks the kiss.

"So wet for me already." She hums. "I have to taste you."

Her hands grab the back of your thighs and she pushes them apart, positioning herself between them. She licks, sucks, and bites at the inside of your thighs for a few moments and you start to wiggle in her grasp. Your movements only make her tighten her grip and suck and bite down harder.

Just when you think you're about to lose your mind, Alcina drags her large tongue up your slit in one slow experimental lick. Her eyes flutter shut and she hums into you, the reverberation sending chills up your spine.

"So delicious." She says before diving back in.

She laps at your dripping cunt a few times before sucking and pulling at your clit.

"Oh fuck!" You cry as you grasp tightly onto the bedsheets.

Her eyes flick up and meet yours, there's almost no gold left. All of it being swallowed by her blown pupils. There's a hungry look in her eyes. A look you've never seen before and it only makes you crave her more.

Alcina pays close attention to every one of your movements. Every time you squirm, every time you moan, whimper, and cry that spills from your lips. She listens for every breath that hitches in your chest. Adjusting the rhythm and pattern of her tongue, diving between your folds and circling your clit so you can feel the most pleasure at all times.

Each lick, suck, each time she pulls at your clit or hums into you drives you further and further into oblivion. Her hands slid up to grasp onto your hips at some point to keep you steady. You're sure you would have squirmed your way off the bed and onto the floor if she wasn't keeping you in place.

"Alcina... please..." You whine.

"Mmm that name sounds so beautiful falling from those lips." She hums.

She darts her tongue in and out of your soaked core before sliding it into you.

"Oh my god! Oh fuck!"

One of her hands releases your hips and she slides it under your butt, lifting your ass off of the mattress. You have no idea why she did that until you felt her tongue reach deep inside of you, prodding at a spot that made you see stars.

As your eyes roll back into your head you let out the most pornographic moan you've ever heard. You don't see it but the hunger in Alcina's eyes grows. She curls her long tongue deep inside you making you cry out.

You're pulling at her bedsheets so hard you think they might rip, but nothing matters right now. She's sending you straight into outer space and is showing no signs of slowing down.

Alcina rolls her tongue inside of you, hitting every sensitive spot that makes you see stars. You can feel your walls beginning to clench around her tongue and right as she's about to take you to the edge, she pulls out.

The most pathetic and desperate whine leaves your mouth and Alcina presses wet kisses into your thighs.

"What's the matter sweet thing?" She teases.

You look up at her and see a cocky smile spread across her face. She has you absolutely wrapped around her finger and you both know it.

Unable to form words, you let out another whine as a shudder runs through your body.

"What is it? Was there something you wanted?"

She continues to leave slow, tantalizing kisses on the inside of your thighs and tears begin to form in the corners of your eyes.

"Mhm." You whine.

"What? Use your words sweet girl. Tell me, tell mommy what you want."

A moan escapes your lips at the word "mommy." Never did you think that would be such a turn-on but that word alone almost made you cum.

"Please."

"Please what?" She says as she adjusts to hover over you. Her lips ghost yours and she drags her nails up the inside of your thigh. "What is it? Tell mommy."

"Mommy please." You whimper as your legs begin to shake.

"Do you want mommy to make you cum? Is that what you want baby?" She digs her nails a little harder into you and you nod your head.

"Use your words, mommy wants to hear that pretty little voice. To see those pretty lips of yours beg." She drags the tip of her finger up your slit and just barely grazes your clit. You cry out in desperation and throw your head back. Alcina takes the opportunity to slowly kiss your exposed neck. With her lips on your throat she can feel the vibration of your voice.

"Please mommy, please. Make me cum, please!"

She hums into your skin and brushes her lips against yours.

"Good girl." She says against your lips. "You're such a good little slut for mommy aren't you?"

You feel your heart stutter in your chest and she hums in delight.

Alcina drags her finger up your folds once more and circles around your clit before sliding deep into you. Your walls flutter around her, stretching to accommodate her size and your eyes disappear into the back of your head.

She starts off slow, pulling her finger almost all the way out and then sliding it back in until she's knuckle deep inside of you. Gradually she picks up the pace pulling out less and thrusting back in harder. She curls her finger into you and your back arches off of the bed as you cry out.

"Oh fuck yes!"

"Does that feel good baby?" She coos.

"Yes, fuck yes."

"Do you think you can handle more? Can you fit another one of mommy's big fingers inside your tight little cunt?"

"Yes, please mommy, more, I need more!"

"Such a good girl." She whispers into your ear, sending chills down your spine.

She pulls her finger out and immediately slides two fingers back in. The stretch you feel is painful but oh so pleasurable as you cry out for her.

Alcina lets out a low groan when she feels your walls stretch to fit her. So wet, so tight. She wants to utterly destroy you but she's holding herself back.

Once she's sure you've adjusted to the size of her fingers she begins to pump them in and out of you. Each moan that escapes your lips when she pulls out, each whine you cry when she thrusts back in is calling to every primal instinct Alcina has inside of her. She curls her fingers inside of you and you hear a deep, wet noise. Alcina practically purrs at the noise and lowers herself back down between your legs and takes your throbbing clit between her lips and sucks, hard.

You let out a scream so loud, so uncontrolled someone may think you're actually dying. You're convinced she's sucking your soul out of you.

Alcina sends you higher and higher, every time she brings you to the edge she lowers you back down and you cry out in protest. Over and over again she edges you, driving you absolutely insane.

"Please, Alcina please!"

"Use your words, pet. Tell me what you want." She says before pulling at your clit again.

"Make me cum! Fuck me! Please oh god please!"

She curls her fingers into you harder and faster as she sucks on your clit. You grab at the sheets and pull as she fucks you harder and harder. You body begins to shake and your walls clench down around her fingers. Right before you cum Alcina pulls her fingers out and shoves her tongue deep inside of you, sending white hot light through you.

You body convulses under her touch as your orgasm violently rips through you. Screaming out her name with a now hoarse voice.

Alcina draws out your orgasm for longer than you thought was physically possible before expertly guiding you back down. The ride down was almost as pleasurable as the climb was. Something you've never experienced before.

Aftershocks course through your body and your legs twitch each time Alcina places a kiss on them. She slowly kisses up your body, sucking on each of your nipples, nipping at your collarbones and leaving wet, hot kisses up your neck and jaw until she finally reaches your lips.

She kisses you with a soft passion, caressing you each time an aftershock makes your body twitch.

"So beautiful. So delicious. So perfect." She whispers between kisses.

She breaks the kiss and sits up between your legs admiring her work. Proud of just how undone she was able to make you. A dark chuckle rumbles in her chest and you look up at her.

"Well, it seems a new set of sheets is in order." She says.

Looking to the side, you realize the sheets, still in your grasp, have holes torn in them. You let them go and flex your hands since they became stiff from grabbing the sheets so hard.

"Oh god, I'm sorry." You say with a giggle.

"Don't be." She says as she lays next to you and pulls you into her. "I'm rather impressed that I was able to ravish you so well you tore holes into my bedsheets."

"You didn't just ravish me," you say and Alcina gives you a look. "you took my fucking soul."

For the first time, Alcina lets out a laugh. A true, hearty laugh. She throws her head back and you feel her chest bounce against you.

"Such a filthy mouth for such a sweet little thing." She says before placing a chaste kiss on your lips.

You smile up at her and your eyelids begin to feel heavy.

"I should go back," you sleepily say. "it's probably past curfew and-" a yawn cuts you off.

"Nonsense, you will stay here tonight."

"Are you sure?" You say as you fight to keep your eyes open.

"Yes draga mea, I am." Alcina says and places a kiss on your forehead.

"I'm sorry I said 'I love you' before." You say, losing the battle against your eyelids.

"Don't be. It was the truth wasn't it?"

"Mhm." You nod your head. "You're not mad?"

"No draga, not in the slightest."

"Oh, good."

Your last words are barely a whisper before sleep takes over. Alcina pulls the duvet over the two of you and you cuddle into her. A warm smile pulls across her face and she buries her nose into your hair, taking a deep breath in.

"I'll let you in on a little secret, draga." She whispers, knowing you're asleep. "I love you too."

[dilly-dahlia]

The Guard at the Window

pairing: fem!reader x Laurance

content: tangled au, variation of Stockholm syndrome, emotional abuse, kind of slow burn for this being a one shot, they actually don't get together, the world of MCD but not canon compliant, not-so-meet-cute, enemies to lovers (?), vague allusions to a difficult past concerning the mother, use of y/n

summary: Being locked in a tower your whole life can put a damper on your mood. But when your knight in shining armor comes to rescue you, do you really want to go with him?

word count: 5.4k (i'm sorry everyone i got carried away)

masterlist

It was not a pleasant thing to be locked up in your tower.

Yes, you enjoyed the solitude it provided. You had read numerous history books about the horrible things people did beyond the walls, and your mother had told you in great detail the terrible things that had happened to her before she was blessed with you. She wanted to protect you from the troubles she had endured at your age, and you were content with that.

But you had read other stories. The fictional ones your mother brought you as a reward for taking such wonderful care of your tower while she was away were filled with magic. You were transported to another world when you opened the crisp pages, and you could devour those stories in hours.

Those were the stories that told you about love and its different forms. You had read about brave heroines creating everlasting bonds with the people they led or the animals they befriended. You read about relationships of unconditional trust in terrifying situations, and you had read about families that found each other in their darkest times.

But your favorites, as cliche as it may be, were the ones where two people fell in love.

You loved reading about the feelings that developed and the stolen kisses and the romantic outings. They always had you smiling uncontrollably and kicking your feet when you daydreamed about experiencing the same thing later.

You longed to know what it felt like to fall in love the same way the characters in your stories did. You yearned to feel that same flap of butterfly wings in your stomach and have your knees weak at the small action of a kiss. You found yourself fantasizing about it more often than you liked to admit, imagining how it would go.

Perhaps your mother would find a suitor for you. She would bring him up into your tower when she visited and introduce the two of you. She would tell you that he was a lord of high standing and nobility and he would sweep you off your feet.

Or maybe he would find himself at the base of your tower, where the two of you would raise your voices just to communicate with each other. He would catch you when you jumped out to join him and create a life together.

Or, since your birthday was coming up, it might be possible to ask your mother to take you out. You were no longer a little girl or a teenager and you could defend yourself. Surely she would see no problem and allow you to accompany her on her next trip. You would travel to a village that sold the finest silks and paints and meet him on the street corner.

Your mother had other plans.

"Leave the tower?" She didn't even look at you as she cleaned the apples in her basket, rubbing them with a rag until they reflected the candlelight. "And how would we get back up?"

You softly exhaled through your nose, beginning to run your fingers through your hair and ignoring the subtle throbbing in your head. "We can use the same way you used when you originally brought me here."

Your mother scoffed, turning her head to look at you. Her gaze followed your hands for a moment before you got the hint to stop. She didn't like when you played with your hair. She always said it would cause stress and make you lose it.

"Darling," she began, her voice honeyed, "the way I used to get you up here is now so overgrown it's hardly usable anymore. Besides, I don't even remember where the door is."

When she turned her attention back to the apples and began cutting them up, you rolled your eyes. You opened your mouth to say something, but your mother kept talking, drowning the thoughts you were going to voice.

"It's a dangerous world out there, darling. You wouldn't like it. This meadow around the tower is the only safe haven I've found to protect you, and I refuse to put your safety in jeopardy just because you want to see beyond the walls."

This time, you didn't hide your discontent. You groaned and came up behind your mother, wrapping your arms around her body and resting your chin on her shoulder. She was a bit taller than you, so it was uncomfortable and you had to stand on your tiptoes.

"Please, mother. It's for my birthday."

"Yes, yes, darling. Your twenty-fourth, if I recall correctly." It was your twenty-third. "Quite a large number to celebrate. Oh, my baby's getting old."

She hummed as she reached up and pinched your cheek, her focus hardly faltering as she continued to cut up the fruit in her basket. The action left remnants of the sugared juice on your cheek, and you pulled away to wipe it off with the back of your hand.

"Mother, I'm not a little girl anymore. I can protect myself now."

"My answer is no, Y/n," she snapped. She turned her head once again to face you, and her gaze was so burning it made you feel like the small child you had just claimed you weren't. "Why do you want to go outside anyway? Aren't you happy with the luxuries I bring you every year?"

You didn't answer. Of course you were grateful for the gifts she brought you, you just wanted more. You wanted to experience what everyone else did.

"Y/n," your mother said after you had been quiet for a moment too long. "You're a young lady. You have the capability to respond when someone asks you a question."

You only nodded. Your mother let out an exasperated breath at the lack of an answer.

"See? You can barely answer a simple question. What makes you think you'll be able to survive out there?" She vaguely motioned to the open window before she walked past you, attempting to put an end to the conversation by stepping up the stairs that led to her private bedroom.

But you weren't going to let it stop there. You quickly caught up to her and grabbed her wrist with a gentle hold before she reached the curtain to the room, making her stop in her tracks and turn to you.

"It would just be one day, Mother. I'll stay by you the whole time, I-"

"I said no." Her tone was stern, and when she pulled her hand from your grasp it felt as though an arrow had gone through your heart. "I'm not changing my mind. Now, by the time I come out to make dinner, you attitude will be gone, is that understood?"

"But-"

She raised her brows. Her stare was piercing, searching your eyes for every secret you had.

You pressed your lips together for a moment before nodding.

Your mother didn't say anything else, only pulling the dark curtains to her room back enough for her to walk in. You waited until the thick fabric to stop swaying to lift your hand and push against the curtain, seeing if she would let you in.

Your hand met a barrier. Clearly she didn't want you with her at the moment. You weren't allowed in her room unless she had given you explicit permission.

You sighed, going down the stairs and sitting on your own bed. The wisteria flowers you had placed around the columns had started wilting. Maybe, if she wouldn't let you outside, your mother could at least get you new blooms.

—

Attitude. What attitude was she talking about?

You had laid down in your bed, twisting some of the wisteria leaves from your bed together to form a flower crown while you waited until your mother came back down. When she did, your "attitude" had disappeared, but neither of you spoke. Not even when the two of you sat at the table and ate the potato soup she had made.

Neither of you spoke again until the next morning. You wouldn't have at all if your mother hadn't told you she was leaving again. This time, the trip would be longer and you'd be alone.

You had only nodded in response. You waited by the window, watching as your mother gathered what she would need from the pantries and drawers before tossing your hair out the window. You groaned when she took hold of it, closing your hands around the strands near your scalp in an attempt to lessen the pull.

When she finally gave your hair one last tug, you nearly stumbled. You righted yourself before you fell, though, and stood at the window until your mother disappeared behind the veil of leaves that kept you hidden.

She was gone now, leaving you with absolutely nothing to do for hours on end.

Yes, you enjoyed the solitude your tower provided, but sometimes you wished there was someone to keep you company.

—

You heard the harsh grinding of stone against iron while you were seated at the table, mending a pair of slippers that had recently torn along the seams. The sound made you pause. You waited a moment to make sure you weren't going crazy.

When you heard it again, you immediately dropped the material in your hands and lunged for the cupboard. You grabbed a knife and darted across the room, throwing open the door to your wardrobe and pushing your blouses and skirts aside to hide among them. You spent longer than you wanted trying to stuff your hair in the spaces beside you, and you're sure a small amount of it got stuck beneath the doors. You left it open just a crack so you could see out of it.

He grunted as he lifted himself onto the windowsill, muttering a curse when he kicked his leg over the edge and stumbled into the room without grace. He stood up and looked around, his gaze faltering when he caught sight of the wardrobe. He started at it for a moment—a long moment where you thought he would stride right up to you and open the door, but he didn't.

When he turned his head away, you looked at him. His disheveled hair was light brown, parted down the middle. He was wearing gray pants and a blue overcoat. A leather bag wrapped tightly around his body, and a scabbard was secured around his waist, his hand never leaving the hilt of his sword.

The only thought that crossed your mind was that you would have to be sneaky to gain any kind of advantage over him, and when he took tentative steps past the wardrobe, further into the tower, you slowly pushed open the door and stepped out.

Your footsteps were quiet. You approached him slowly, making sure you didn't make any sound. You held the knife in front of you, both hands on the hilt, and aimed it at him.

Go fast and just get it over with, you told yourself, but something was making you hesitate. This was wrong. This was wrong, but he was trespassing. If something happened to you because you couldn't protect yourself . . . Dear, your mother would be enraged. She would never let you leave.

This was your one chance to prove you could protect yourself.

You stepped closer. Closer and closer until you were in such close proximity that you felt the need to hold your breath.

Just as you reached the point where you could jab out your arm and stab him, you paused. You tried to keep your breaths light and unheard, but your heart was pounding. You could feel it fighting against your rib cage, burning to jump out of your chest.

Your hesitance made you the victim. In one swift move, the man in front of you drew his sword and lunged back. In the same movement, he had successfully disarmed you, your kitchen knife now thrown across the room.

You froze, your hands lifted by your side in what you think is meant to be a defensive pose. Or the beginnings of running away. You aren't sure, since you couldn't think clearly because of the sword pointed at you.

The man looked you up and down, raising his eyebrows when he noticed your bare feet and the bandages wrapped around your fingertips (the result of accidentally stabbing yourself with a needle one too many times). His stance relaxed, but he kept his sword aimed at you.

"Who are you?" he asked. His voice was smooth, and if the circumstances were different you might have swooned from the sound alone.

You were silent, opening and closing your mouth like a fish as you fought to articulate the words you wanted to say. You must have looked like an idiot, wearing an untucked blouse and skirt that had clearly seen better days.

"I- Who are you?" you asked instead. Your voice was quieter than you would have liked. You tried clearing your throat discreetly before saying it louder, but it came out as a cough instead.

You decided not to repeat your question. You didn't want to embarrass yourself more than you already had.

The man was quiet. His gaze traveled over you again, this time lingering on the copious amounts of hair that trailed behind you. His eyes followed it for a moment before snapping back to your face.

He sheathed his sword and stood straighter, though that did nothing to quell your fears of being sliced to pieces.

"My name is Laurance Zvahl." He bowed, which surprised you. You knew that bowing was the typical show of gratitude or courtesy for someone of high standing, but you were just a girl in a tower. "I'm second in command of the guard in Phoenix Drop."

Your brows furrowed as he straightened. Phoenix Drop? It was a town your mother had visited years ago. The only thing she said when she returned from her stay was, "It was nothing special. Just a small, underdeveloped town run by a pacifist."

But . . . Phoenix Drop was so far. What was their second in command doing here?

"May I ask what your name is?" he asked when you had been silent for too long. He crossed your arms, and you figured he must not have pinned you as a threat if he was being this nonchalant about everything.

Which, you weren't a threat, but his comfort in your home unnerved you.

"Y/n," you replied.

Laurance smiled kindly. "A beautiful name for a beautiful woman."

Your eyes slightly widened. You can't say for sure if you blushed, but you knew from the way his smile widened that you weren't doing a very good job of hiding how flustered the single compliment made you.

You cleared your throat again. "Why are you here?"

"Ah." Laurance glanced around as he spoke. "Well, a few guards and I were accompanying our Lord on a trip. Unfortunately, we got separated in the forest and I ended up here. I assumed this tower was vacant since there was so much overgrowth outside, but"—he motions to you—"it clearly wasn't."

You nodded. People got lost in the forest surrounding your tower all the time, but none had ever entered the small circle of rocks that surrounded you. They had tried, but a barrier your mother had set up around it prevented them from getting father.

So how did he get in?

You knew that sometimes your mother's magic faltered, especially if she was far away, but she had redone the spells surrounding you just last week. They should have been stronger, if anything.

Laurance, taking note of your silence, continued talking. "I saw the tip over the rocks and assumed it was hollow. I suppose my guess was rewarded, since I now get to spend a few moments with someone as pretty as you."

He smiled again, and you found yourself relaxing ever so slightly. He hadn't moved to draw his sword again or make any physical advances on you, and you found your mind easing in your presence.

Your mother had always warned you of people like him—of people that seemed easy to trust and talk to. They were the most deceptive. They were the ones that would shatter your entire being with one lie.

You put her warnings in the back of your mind. It couldn't have been possible for someone with such sincere eyes to be a cheat, right?

"There's magicks around this tower," you said. You tried keeping your voice flat. "You shouldn't have been able to see anything, let alone get in."

Laurance's brows furrowed. "Really? Well, it must not be very strong. I didn't pick up on any traces of magic when I came in."

You huffed, any earlier ease you had felt now gone. "There is a barrier surrounding this tower and the rocks around it. My mother is the best witch in Ru'aun. Her magic essence comes from a line of witches so potent and known that armies have fallen at the feeling of it. Her magic doesn't falter for deities, much less a non-magicks user like you."

Your mother had told you stories about your ancestors. She often spoke about how they fought by Lady Irene's side and protected her from Shad the Destroyer. You knew your mother had powerful magicks. She had shown you the extent of her abilities herself.

Laurance's eyebrows raised again. He showed a lot of facial expressions, you noticed.

"Right. Well, I'm here, so maybe your mother's magic just ran out." He shrugged, the charming smile that painted his lips widening.

"Magic doesn't just run out-"

"Then it wore off, or something. Listen, I don't know a lot about magic or witches or . . . anything else like that." Laurance shrugged. You huffed, crossing your arms.

Incompetent little b-

"So, you just stay up here?" Laurance's stare was on your hair again, following the long locks until he reached the pile of hidden strands still in your wardrobe. He walked up to you and you stiffened, but he walked past you to trail your hair instead.

"Obviously," you snapped, as if it were common knowledge that you did. Your mother's words rang in your head. "There would be no way back up if I left."

Laurance hummed. You started running your hands through your hair as he approached the wardrobe, opening the door wider and allowing the pile of hair inside to slide out. "You got a lot of hair," he stated.

You tugged your hair closer to your body, though the action did nothing to move it further from Laurance. "How else is my mother supposed to get up here?"

Laurance lifted his head to face you, his brows raised. "Your mother climbs your hair to get up here?" You nodded. "That doesn't . . . It doesn't hurt?"

"Well, yeah. But I've gotten used to it. It doesn't hurt now as much as it did when I was little."

"People climbing your hair is a regular occurrence?"

You let out an exasperated breath. Who was this guy in thinking he could ask so many questions. "My mother's the only one."

"And you've never left this tower?"

You shook your head.

Laurance let out a low whistle.

You pressed your lips together. You knew he was judging not only your mother, but your lifestyle. Sure, it might not have been the most accepted method of protection, but up until today it had worked. You had been content to be alone in your tower your entire life. You had to be. Who was he to think he could just climb the walls and criticize the way you lived?

Laurance was looking out the window he had come in from. You opened your mouth to snap back, but Laurance started talking before you could.

"Ever consider leaving?"

His question caught you off guard. You started at him gobsmacked for a moment—as if he had just admitted a heinous secret to you—before your mind cleared enough for you to formulate an answer.

"I-I do. Yes." You paused, choosing your words. "But I'm content up here."

Laurance's lips curved into another charming smile. It practically lit up the room, and you found yourself easing once again at the sight of it.

"So you do? Do you even get fresh air up here? Have you ever felt the sun on your skin?"

You huffed. "Of course I have. That window allows me to receive what nature provides."

"But you've never really experienced any of it, have you? You've never laid out in the sun or ran in a field or-or talked to someone that isn't your mother, have you?"

You crossed your arms and looked away. "I'm talking to you right now, aren't I?"

Laurance exhaled. "That's not what I mean. I mean you don't have any friends, or acquaintances, or anyone to talk to at all. You don't get lonely up here?"

You rolled his words over in your head but didn't say anything. You refused to admit he was right. You did get lonely, and you did want to leave your tower even if it was for one day. But your mother wouldn't allow it.

Laurance's expression softened as he realized how sheltered you actually were. He looked around the tower again, taking in the hand painted details and the homemade candles and the stacks of books against the walls. He couldn't imagine living like this—stuck in an inescapable tower with nothing to do for days, years on end. No socialization, no friends, not even an animal of some kind for you to interact with.

"Alright, so clearly your mom's got a little something going on in her head." The words had you snapping your head in his direction as Laurance pointed his finger and moved it in a small circle. Your nose scrunched and you uncrossed your arms, moving to hit him, shove him, something, while you said a few choice words, but Laurance stuck his hand out and held onto your shoulder, keeping you an arm's length away. "But this is genuinely insane." He vaguely motioned to the room. "No one keeps their kid locked in a place like this. Not if they truly love them."

You huffed again, trying to push yourself forward to smack him, but his grip on your shoulder only tightened. It was clear he wasn't going to let you move.

"You don't know what you're talking about!" you yelled. "You don't know what my mother's been through or what she's trying to protect me from."

"Do you even know what she's protecting you from? Because the defenses you claim are surrounding this tower sound like battle tactics. Nothing poses that much of a threat to a place like this."

“People like you do,” you bit back. “My mother’s always warning me about you. The handsome, charming ones that can obviously get girls to smile with every word they say. She says people like you will turn their backs on those they claim to love without a second thought.”

Laurance exhaled. “Okay, so your mother met one bad person that broke her trust and ruined her life. That’s no reason to lock your daughter up forever. Not everyone is like that.”

“Well the good ones are so sparse and hard to find that there isn’t even a point in trying.”

“How would you even know that? You-” Laurance groaned, cutting himself off and taking a moment to gather his thoughts. “Listen, this is insane.” Laurance threw his arms out, motioning to the tower. “No one locks people up like this to protect them. You can’t tell me you seriously want to stay up here for the rest of your life, can you?”

You rolled your eyes and crossed your arms again. “Obviously I don’t, but my mother knows best. If she says that staying up here will keep me safe and away from the people she seems unworthy, then I will stay up here.”

Laurance blew out a breath. He ran a hand through his hair and began pacing for a moment.

“Alright, listen. I know this is crazy, but you clearly don’t. And I now know that you don’t want to stay here forever. So how about this—I get you out of here. You can experience the world for just a little bit, see how people interact, see how life is supposed to be, and then you can decide if your mother truly knows what’s best for you.”

You pursed your lips. His offer was enticing. You had just spoken to your mother about this and refused you. You knew you shouldn’t go with him. Laurance was a stranger you just met. He could be a serial killer for all you knew.

But there was something in his eyes. His gorgeous blue eyes that resembled celestite held something akin to worry. He wanted you to leave, and you realized it wasn’t so he could fulfill whatever sick fantasy he might have had.

He was kind, you could tell that much. He couldn’t seem to handle the thought of anyone stuck in the same situation as you, and he wanted to help you. He needed to help you get out of this tower, even if it was only for a couple days.

You huffed. “How do you propose both of us get out of here?”

Despite himself, a faint smile graced Laurance’s features. “We could get out the way I came in.”

Laurance reached into his bag and pulled out four arrows. You found it odd, since he had no bow on him. He must have found them somewhere.

You looked down at the arrows, your gaze flicking between them and Laurance’s eyes.

“I’m not using those,” you plainly stated.

“Then use your hair. I’m sure you can double it up or something and slide down it. I’ll catch you when you reach the bottom.”

You rolled your eyes, biting your lip to hide a smile.

Nothing else was said. You watched as Laurance sauntered back to the window and kicked his legs over the edge. You stayed standing in your spot, wondering if you should really do this.

Your mother would be gone for weeks. You could afford to spend some time out. But what if something happened to you? You could be kidnapped or killed or worse.

When the top of Laurance’s head disappeared, you took that as your sign to stay behind. If he was out of sight then the whole thing was out of mind. You would never have to tell your mother about this, and maybe one day she would take you out herself.

You were just about to turn and continue mending your slipper’s when you heard his voice.

“You comin’?” he called out. You paused again. Against your better judgment, you walked to the window and peered over the edge.

Laurance wasn’t that far down the tower. He was looking down at where he placed his feet so he didn’t slip.

You looked past him, to the grassy field of flowers below him. You watched a rabbit scurry across your line of vision before it disappeared into a hole beneath a tree before taking a deep breath.

Okay, so maybe out of sight out of mind wasn’t going to work for you. That was alright. It would be just fine if you left with this man you just met, right?

Oh Divines.

You took another deep breath before tossing your hair out the window and winding it around the hook. How does this work? Do you just grab it and then scale down the tower? Do you slide down the hair? What if you got stuck?

You reached out and grabbed ahold on your hair. You tugged on it experimentally, knowing it would hurt your head more than usual since you wouldn’t be able to tug it back toward your scalp.

You slowly inhaled and exhaled again before doing the same as Laurance and kicking your feet over the windowsill.

One deep breath at a time, you gathered the courage to let yourself fall ever so slightly, yelping when you moved farther down than you intended. Your heart jumped to your throat, and it took you another moment to gather yourself and continue.

Laurance had already made it to the bottom. He now stared up at you, poised to move if your slipped and fell. He would catch you, you trusted that much.

It didn’t quell your nerves. It took another minute of deep breaths and closing your eyes before you readjusted yourself and your foot met the warm stone of your tower. You slowly moved down, grunting with the effort of quite literally holding yourself up by the head.

Laurance’s voice talked you through it as you reached closer and closer to the bottom. Your arms felt as though they would give out and your head was pounding. You thought you had good footing on the tower, but the stone was loose. It crumbled beneath your foot as you loosened your hold on your hair to move down and you went tumbling with it.

You let out a scream as you fell, though it was short lived. Laurance was beneath you in an instant, catching you in a mess of bundled fabric and tangled hair. The placement of his hands wasn’t the most appropriate, with one hand just a hair away from groping your chest and the other holding a firm grip on your hip, but you couldn’t find it in yourself to chastise him as you took a second to gather yourself again.

You gently pushed him away when your mind cleared. He set you onto your feet without complaint and waited until your breathing evened out to say anything.

When you finally looked up at him, he smiled.

“Look behind you,” he said. You did so, craning your neck up to see the window of your tower left wide open. It was much taller than you expected, and you had to turn your whole body and take a few steps back to take it all in. “You’re free. For a couple days at least.”

You didn’t let thoughts of how your mother would punish you if she found out plague you. Nor did you let yourself think about the impossible task of getting back up into the tower. You refused to fathom every terrible thing that could happen to you because you were free, albeit for a short period of time.

Your face broke into a wide smile. You tore your gaze from your tower and looked around. You had only ever seen the meadow from an aerial view. You never would have thought that it looked so beautiful seeing everything from where you stood now.

You let out a breath of disbelief, laughing as you knelt in the grass and ran your hands through the soft blades.

How did you live your entire life without this?

You didn’t comment at the sound of Laurance’s footsteps behind you. You just relished in the sound his boots made against the gravel and dirt, an odd sound to love but one you never think you’ll tire of hearing.

You look up at him, bright smile and all.

“What?” you asked, noticing his expression. It seemed content. There was the faintest of smiles on his lips and his eyes were sparkling like the water in the creek across the field.

Laurance shook his head. “Nothing. Just glad I could help.”

If it was possible, your smile would have widened. You pushed yourself back to your feet, rubbing your scalp to loosen the tension as you looked around again.

“So where are we going?” you asked.

“Well, I need to find my lord and the other guards I accompanied,” Laurance said. You turned to him, still running your hands through your hair. “You’re free to join me, if you’d like, or we can go our separate ways. The choice is yours, beautiful.”

That time, you allowed yourself to soften your smile as you gazed at him. “I think I will.”

Looking at him now, with the sun shining against his hair and reflecting off his eyes like they were the rarest crystals, you thought he was handsome. Unbearably so. The corners of his eyes turned up and his face looked as though it would fit in your hands perfectly. His nose had a prominent bump on the bridge that he might have been conscious of at one point, but it now suited him.

You shook yourself of those thoughts, but as you trailed behind him, following him out of the solitude you had known your whole life, you couldn’t help but think that this was the start of your love story.

was this accurate to his character? maybe. i’m not sure since i’m still getting back into the fandom but I hope y’all enjoyed 💙

will this have a part 2? maybe. if y’all want one then let me know. either way i’m probably gonna write a part two but for now it will remain a one shot

[rallamajoop]

More random details from the depths of RE8

With the excuse of trying some shiny new mods, I've been replaying RE8 lately for the umpteenth time. Given the number of hours I've already poured into this game, you'd really think there'd be nothing left to find by this stage ‒ yet here I am, finding still more details I'd somehow missed the first half-dozen times through.

For one, there's the fact you can actually find Eva's grave in the graveyard outside the church. As the only photo we ever see of her shows her as a baby, I'd assumed she was still a baby when she died, but turns out, she was ten years old.

"Eva, June 1909 ‒ August 1919

May you slumber for only a short while"

As expected, her death of the Spanish flu took place in 1919. There's some semi-legible text on the stone, but it doesn't match the caption ‒ it's just the same generic filler text you'll find on half the gravestone assets in this game.

For another, there's Rose's baby monitor. I'd noticed Ethan turning the thing on when he puts her to bed, and even found the assets for its screen ‒ but since I'd never found the monitor itself, I assumed they must be unused.

Until this playthrough, when suddenly I'm just like, oh, there it is, sitting right on the table. You can even interact with it!

How did I miss this so many times? It is pretty easy to overlook, given you'll trigger the cutscene with Mia if you go much closer to the kitchen, but I'm still surprised I never spotted it before. (And you do have to wonder if there was ever any plan for it to show a glimpse of something more sinister than just a still-image of Rose sleeping.)

In other minor details, there's the bit where Ethan arrives on the outskirts of the village at 8AM. You can hear a clock striking 8 times as you get your first view of area.

Granted, this is not going to excite anyone who hasn't spent as long as I have putting together an hour-by-hour timeline of everything that happens in this game, but I still do love that they give you enough detail that that's even possible ‒ and this new timestamp fits right into that timeline. (And why yes I have just gone back and updated that post, what do you take me for?)

Speaking of assets I thought were unused, you know that hidden room under the castle you can't get into until later, where you have to solve a puzzle that involves setting a moroaica on fire? Have you ever looked closely at the tapestries decorating this place? Because I found them in the game files ages ago, and have been trying to figure out if they're actually in the game ever since.

Because seriously, look at these things!

Yes, that is a indeed a man with a sword and spear, wearing a hoplite helmet and sandals and nothing else. And the women seeing him from the front seem to be having a whole range of reactions to all that, er, weaponry being brandished their way. Isn't fine art wonderful?

Another asset I'd innocently assumed was unused is this wonderful bit of bullshit which was labeled simply 'antibow'. It wasn't until I took a long look at it that I realised what they meant was more like 'anti-B.O.W.', as in Bio-Organic-Weapon.

Yes, that is indeed a knife taped to some kind of grenade. Sure is one high-tech outfit we're working with here!

Only now do I spot that this is actually the bomb Chris chucks at the Megamycete in the cavern. It doesn't even come with the knife already attached, he just kind of sticks the knife onto the bomb and presumably straps some tape around them while the camera cuts away.

I still have so much more to share from my ongoing free-camera adventures, but I think we'll leave this one there for today.

[ghostsforghosts]

Restless Night

This is the second part of the COD AU: Beauty & the Beast, the first part can be found here. Reminder, this Reader is male.

You couldn't sleep. You kept tossing and turning in your bed, so unused to the feeling of a soft mattress beneath you.

Everything around you, while kind of dusty, was far luxurious than anything you'd have ever seen in your life before. You suddenly has a room with a huge wardrobe, a bathroom that connected to your bedroom, and so much more.

Eventually, you grew too restless and you sat up in bed, pushing the duvet off and down the bed until you could swing your legs over the side of the bed. Your feet promptly dropped to the ground, you standing on the cold floor.

You walked out of the bedroom and down the halls. You didn't know where you were going and suddenly, your feet were taking you to a nearby balcony that wasn't connected to a bedroom on their own accord.

Opening the doors that led to the balcony, you stepped outside, barely shivering from the cold of the fresh air. Your eyes scanned the stars above you as you walked until your abdomen gently hit the guards of the balcony, your hands resting on said guards.

Suddenly, a dark and large figure dropped down onto the parapet above you. You were so startled that it took you awhile to recognize the brown eyes staring down at you, those same eyes being framed by the wolf skull mask he always wore around others.

"Ghost." Your voice was full of awe, not yet used to the monster—the man above of you. Still clutching your garments tight, your awe faded into pretend annoyance. "Did you have to scare me by dropping down onto the parapet without warning me?"

Ghost huffed in amusement, knowing your annoyance was fake. "Perhaps you shouldn't be out in the open, if you didn't want to be scared." He dropped down from the parapet and onto the balcony, his long strides bringing him to be beside you quickly. "You're lucky it was just me and not an actual enemy. You should be asleep."

You shrugged off his words, unclenching your hands from your garments and letting them fall back down on the guards. "Couldn't sleep." That was all you said, not really wanting to talk about what was keeping you up.

"You can't sleep either apparently," you added, changing the subject onto him.

Staring at him, you noticed just how on edge he seemed. You could see the slightest trembles of his muscles, poised and ready for when/if he needed to jump into action.

"Someone has to make sure no one storms up to the castle with an army of angry villagers," he replied, trying to act nonchalant as his eyes scanned your surroundings. He leaned his fur-covered arms against the guards of the balcony, imitating your stance. "Don't worry, I get sleep, eventually. Just a few more hours of patrolling and making sure everything's safe, then I'll sleep."

Your instinct was to protest and to keep pushing for him to go to sleep now, but you remembered that you barely knew him and thus, it wasn't your place to protest what he was doing with himself. So you simply nodded, hoping he'd make good on his statement about eventually sleeping.

You turned away from Ghost, staring to at the scenery before you again. "Thank you again, for allowing me to stay," you said, feeling as if you hadn't thanked him enough. "I don't know what I would've done if I had to go back to the people who sent my father to you as a sacrifice. I probably would've gotten myself into trouble."

Ghost surprised you by setting his large paw on your hand, his warmth seeping into your skin and warming you. "No need to thank me, {Name}," he murmured in reply, his paw gently squeezing your hand. "I'm just happy I can give you a safe place to be yourself like I've given the rest of those who dwell here. No one deserves to hide themselves."

"You don't deserve to hide either, Ghost." You didn't hesitate to look up at him, keeping your eyes locked with him.

All your life, you were told horror stories of the man in front of you. How much of a beast he was, how much of a monster. How he ate people for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. How he was so bloodthirsty that the people of your little town had to sacrifice someone, for their safety. How it was for everyone's good that they stayed away from the woods surrounding Ghost's castle.

"You're more than the monster they made you out to be," you added, your voice soft. You gave his paw a squeeze, turning your hand so your palm pressed into the underside of his paw as you held it.

Ghost looked down at where his paw was being held by your hand, memorizing the way your palm felt against his digital paws and the metacarpal pad of his paw. The way the touch was gentle, like you would be cradling him gently if you were to cradle him.

No one, not even those who had been with Ghost the longest, willingly touched his paws before and he had accepted that. After all, he couldn't retract his claws and that made a lot of people scared of being accidentally scratched by him. It was a valid concern and that didn't fade with how nice he was to others or how many people he took in.

But here you were, touching him and letting his paw engulf your hand. And it was mesmerizing the way you didn't flinch at the feeling of his claws on your forearm.

You were mesmerizing.

He quickly realized how close you two were and he instinctively (but gently) pulled away, clearing his throat. "I'm sorry to abruptly leave you," he said, trying to hide how flustered he had gotten. "But I've taken a longer break than I meant to. I must get back to patrolling. I hope you can sleep soon."

With those words, he continued to pull away from you until he was close to the parapet and he climbed up onto the parapet again to go to the nearest battlement on the castle. He started to patrol again, you only hearing the paws on his legs patter across the battlement.

You stood there, enjoying the fresh air before you yawned. You decided to go back to sleep, giving a quick glance upwards to try and see Ghost before you went to sleep.

You hoped he was okay.

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