#ILL POST WHEN I FINISH CH 3

[06strawberrylemonade28]

guys pro tip don't listen to phoebe bridgers and think about jelsa

(just kidding do it)

waiting room?! graceland too? so them dude. so them.

[pernesophe]

Post Apocalyptic AU Kaji x Reader

Chapter 1: The Witch and the Vampire

(Minors, Ageless and Blank Blogs DNI)

WC: 6490. Ch 2, Ch 3, Ch 4 (links will be added as they are finished)

MDNI. TW for this post: fluff, angst, biting, blood drinking, past character deaths mentioned (Multi-part story, so TW for the whole series are fluff, angst, smut, character death(s)).

Synopsis: Set after an apocalyptic war where reader was born and raised in Furin centuries after the fall of society. Her town is the last patch of green in an otherwise barren world. Nobody knows what caused the war, just that a group of young heroes who were called "Bofurin" fought to save the town. Though records say there were no survivors, it is rumored one Bofurin managed to survive, and is still somehow alive all these years later. (This chapter is more to set the scene for the story).

Song: Playlist Post Kaji's Scent: Based on Brother Night by Apoteker Tepe Reader's Scent: Based on Basilica by Milano

Death is defined in many ways:

1. the action or act of dying or being killed; the end of the life of a person or organism.

2.the state of being dead.

3.the permanent ending of vital processes in a cell or tissue.

In this story a lot of people live, but a lot more die… and yet, with the definition of death provided and the knowledge that it occurs in the following story, it remains to be a fairly unknown concept. So, before beginning this story, I pose to you three questions:

What occurs after death?

Where does one go when they die?

Does existence persist?

“Y/N! Make sure you get more mint and rosemary while you’re out there. We’re gonna need to dry a ton for this winter - I can feel illness coming with the cold,” Kiyoko called out as you stepped through the door. With a cheerful wave and nod, you pulled the rickety wooden door of the hut shut and headed towards the edge of town.

The little town you had grown up in was a little damaged from the war, but what was left of the buildings made for a good home. It also didn’t hurt that the green overgrowth on the buildings and over the former streets were edible. Despite the barren grounds on the edge of the town, your little spot of green housed and fed the sizable community. Many elders credited the witches for coming out of hiding a few centuries prior and warding the town against the threats beyond the verdant foliage, but thanks to Kiyoko you were reminded often that your town has a different group to thank.

As you approached the abandoned building on the edge of town - rectangular with a tree sprouting out of the roof, and a high wall around the edge of the property that still had colorful drawings etched into the stone - you were reminded of the stories of Bofurin. The war had ended long before you were born, so you had no idea what caused the fall of society or why the world was how it was now. What Kiyoko did tell you was that your little community only survived because of Bofurin, a group of young men who defended the town during the height of the war. Unfortunately, none survived through the end.

Despite the lack of survivors, one woman - Kotoha Tachibana - carried on their story and the good they did. That’s why your little village still held a vigil every year on the day the last Bofurin died. A young man with locks split down the middle like the half moon, and dual toned eyes - one slate gray and the other amber. Sakura Haruka was his name, and it was rumored that Kotoha was inconsolable for months after his death. Proven by the fact that she wore black in mourning for the rest of her days. Even though it was recorded that Kotoha celebrated in the vigil as well, she also insisted that there was still one Bofurin remaining until her last breath. His name was never recorded, but it’s rumored that he still lived in the abandoned building on the edge of town.

Surveying the structure riddled with green overgrowth, you thought you caught a glimpse of a shadow pass by one of the dusty windows backlit by the setting sun. But you just chuckled and shook your head before pushing onward. Though a witch, even you had to draw a line at some myths and superstitions.

Ambling through the doorway devoid of any door, making your way up the stairs - stepping over roots as you climbed. Once on the third floor, a quiet cough drew your attention down the hall to your left. Immediately the hair on the back of your neck stood on end. This building had always been eerily silent until now.

“He-hello…?” you called out quietly. Hoping, praying, that no one responded.

A soft melodic voice, timid in nature, pricked Kaji’s ears towards the long forgotten sound of another person. Silently, he moved to the door of the classroom he’d decided to make home centuries ago. Peering out around a thick vine, he saw you. A mousy girl clad in knitted black tights, a red-orange floral patchwork tunic, and a marigold-yellow cardigan. A leather cord looped around your neck with a black stone pendant wrapped in copper wire hung low on your chest. Old, worn leather boots laced up to your ankles with gray wool socks peeking out the tops. A large, aged sack, the same worn brown as your boots, was slung over your shoulder. Notes of resinous camphor, fresh greens and incense clung to your clothes and hair. Just from your clothes and scent Kaji could tell you were a witch, and deduced you were probably coming to collect herbs from Umemiya’s garden. 

Releasing a soft sigh, the remaining Bofurin sadly smiled to himself knowing the old leader would have loved that his garden was still helping the town. Stepping back into the classroom, Kaji silently waited for you to pass on. The sun would be setting soon, and no one in town has stayed or come to visit the school at night in a long time. Not since Kotoha’s last visit. Resting the back of his head against the wall of the classroom, he sadly reminisced over his last remaining friend and just how long it had been since he’d spoken to anyone. 100 years? 150…? 200 years seemed too high, he concluded. 

“U-um,” a quiet murmur from the doorway tore Kaji from his rumination as his eyes snapped to yours. He hadn’t even heard you approaching - how could he be so careless? Silently he kicked himself before your gentle voice filled the room once more, “He-hello!”

This time you forced a bit more cheer into your tone and offered the silent stranger a smile. The man before you had medium-length blonde hair, cerulean irises, and a severe expression on his face. From the looks of the room, you could tell he’d been living here a while - alone. A bedroll was spread out in the corner with a standing lamp next to it, but other than that it seemed to be what the elders had described as a ‘classroom’. 

Even though his face was intimidating, with fists clenched by his sides, his eyes reflected a deep sorrow that tore at your heart. Eyeing his pale skin, incredibly aged clothes that you immediately recognized to be a Furin Uniform, along with the aroma of vaporous amber and rich marigolds you realized that he couldn’t be human. Not anymore at least.

“I’m Y/N,” offering softly as you took a slight step forward to not block the door, “what’s your name?” Inquiring hopefully as you tossed him another reassuring smile. The closer you drew, the more intense your scent became as creamy balsamic and crisp wood reminiscent of pencils enveloped his senses. Suddenly, he was struck with the memory of being in class with his friends just before heading out for patrol, when everyone was still… alive.

Overcome with a sense of melancholy and nostalgia, Kaji moved towards you with widened eyes and fangs poking out over his lips. Taking a slight step back, your heart hammered in your chest as you shook your head lightly and extended your hand to keep him back. In an instant he was sinking his fangs into your neck while gripping your upper arms bruisingly. Hints of rich, peppery smoke drifted from his jacket and tickled your nose while all you could do was squeak and tremble in his powerful hold. 

Kaji’s mind filled with the old days in Furin - patrol, Pothos, Kusumi and Enomoto - as the thick, warm liquid flowed over his tongue, soothing his parched throat. Now closer than before, he caught a comforting aroma of pure sweet-wood and velvety leather clinging to your skin. Then, an old yet familiar flavor cascaded over his taste buds that brought tears to his eyes. Peach Chupa Chups. All at once, he released your throat before collapsing - dragging you to the floor with him - his body violently racked with sobs. 

Stunned into silence, you sat there for several minutes as he clung to you with his face buried in your neck, shaking. Ever so slowly, you pulled your arms out of his hold and looped them around his neck - one hand gripping the back of his head gently while the other rubbed his shoulder blade. Softly, you hummed an old lullaby that Kiyoko would sing to the children during the dead of winter. Kaji instantly recognized the melody that had carried through the snow covered streets to the old abandoned school many winters in a row now. Gradually he quieted until he was just clinging to you like a life preserve, his face still buried in the crook of your neck where the comforting scent of creamy peach chupa chups flooded his senses.

“Ar-are you okay?” Whispering softly as you slowly released your hold around him. Gingerly, he pulled away from your neck to look you in the eye, his expression wrought with remorse. Parting his lips to respond, but a notch swiftly formed in his brow as nothing but squeaky air came out. Blinking rapidly at his perturbed expression that slipped into one of defeat, then you tilted your head and swept your hair away from your neck.

“Here,” urging softly as you leaned closer to him, but Kaji just stared back in disbelief. “You’re parched and can’t speak…” clarifying your reasoning as you leaned even closer, but he just shook his head lightly instead. “It’s okay - I’m a witch - I know a blood replenishing spell,” assuring him as you brought your neck inches away from his face. 

Kaji looked torn as his cerulean irises flicked from the blood still staining your neck, to your trusting gaze, and then back again. At this distance, your sweet-wood incense and crisply herbaceous essence was inescapable. Swallowing thickly, Kaji gently cupped your cheek so you could rest your head in his palm as he wrapped his other arm around your waist and pulled you into his lap. Drawing his mouth to the crook of your neck as he parted his lips, then he sank his teeth into your sensitive flesh before latching on once more.

The second your blood touched his tongue, Kaji’s grip on you tightened as he groaned against your neck greedily. Flavors he hasn’t tasted in God knows how long spilled over his taste buds. Fresh rosemary and sharp thyme clung to the red liquid first, quickly followed by delicate dairy like he’d find in sweet pastries from the Cactus Bakery. Then smoked, earthy cinnamon flooded his mouth the same as the liquor he’d drank with his friends at the start of the war. Finally, that old addicting flavor of Peach Chupa Chups swirled across his wet muscle as tears pricked his eyes. Kaji could feel his cheeks warming from your blood as he clung tighter to your smaller form and grunted deliriously into your neck.

At first you felt completely okay, but then as Kaji swallowed more of your blood the room began to spin. Your head felt heavy as you leaned fully into the palm of his hand. Heat pricked at you and sweat dewed across your skin as nausea pulled uncomfortably in the pit of your stomach. The edges of your vision grew dark and fuzzy before you realized he wasn’t stopping.

“Hm, um-” your slurred speech finally broke him out of his trance as he felt the light tapping of your hand against his forearm. Immediately he detached from your throat and leaned back to see your incredibly pale face and half lidded eyes, a thin sheen of sweat covered your forehead. Your labored breathing caused your chest to rise and fall shallowly while a slight shivering overtook your body.

“N-no!” Kaji emitted a terrified gasp, while repositioning your shivering form so you were cradled in his lap as your head lolled against his chest. “Hey,” murmuring desperately as he began tapping your cheek lightly with his fingertips, “don’t pass out. Please don’t pass out,” he pleaded softly as your eyelids fluttered shut and then gradually cracked open again.

“Th-the spell! Hey, you need to do the spell,” his voice grew louder with urgency as he shook you gently. The sound of your weak heartbeat thundered in his ears tauntingly while primal fear stabbed through his own.

Blinking slowly, you nodded and reached up to grab the stone pendant around your neck. To Kaji’s relief, you brought it to your lips and whispered a foreign word he had never heard before, and then the color started returning to your face as the bite wound on your neck slowly closed. 

Humming softly, you tried to sit up but your face scrunched from still feeling light headed. Kaji gingerly helped you sit up, though he bore most of your weight on his chest, and looped an arm around your back to keep you upright. Ever so gently he cupped your cheek and tilted your head so he could look at your face clearly.

“Y/N? Are you okay?” He asked quietly, cerulean irises swimming in guilt and remorse.

“Uh, mhm,” intoning just loud enough for his perceptive ears to catch it. Blinking slowly, vision slowly focused on his face as you tossed him a weak smile. “I’m okay… Wh-who are you by the way?” You inquired again, eyes flicking to the worn Furin button on the collar of his uniform. A pregnant pause passed as he seemed to be debating whether he should answer you or not.

“Kaji.” He finally responded. Instantly, your eyebrows shot up as you not so subtly waited for the rest of his name. Instead he just stared at you, stubbornly silent.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you Kaji,” offering kindly and sitting up a bit more as the light headedness subsided. Despite bearing your own weight, he kept his arm securely around your back as he continued staring at you apprehensively. Tilting your head in question and peering at him, then you chirped out a cheery, “are you feeling better?”

“You taste like peach Chupa Chups,” he blurted out immediately as a notch formed in his brow at his own admission. Then his expression turned accusatory before he asked, “did you do that on purpose? Can witches do that?”

“Uh-um,” chuckling nervously as a crease formed in your brow as well. Slowly you shook your head as the mounting confusion showed clearly on your face. “N-no, we can’t… um, what are Peach Chupa Chups?” Inquiring with a curious titter as Kaji just blinked at you, completely perplexed. Silence filled the room for several tense moments - him regarding you suspiciously and you staring back obliviously - before his cracked voice broke it.

“They’re these… suckers,” his fingers twitched in your tunic at the word, but when you just looked confused he corrected himself. “Candies that I used to eat… all of the time,” he spoke slowly as tears collected along his lash line. Intaking a hissing breath, he then looked to the floor - trying to blink away his tears.

“Oh… I’m so sorry,” whispering softly as you searched for the proper words. Honestly, you couldn’t relate to having something all of the time like that, or what it would feel like to lose it. But it was evident that Kaji was deeply affected, so you gently placed your hand on his shoulder and squeezed comfortingly.

“Is there anything I can do?” You asked tentatively, and Kaji just looked at you with a mirthless twitch of his lips.

“Unless you can summon a millenia-old candy, then no, I don’t think so,” he said with a defeated sigh. Then he added with genuine gratitude reflecting in his eyes, “thank you though.”

“No problem,” whispering as you stared at his melancholic expression. Desperately you wanted to ask him if he was the last Bofurin, about the war, and everyone who fought to save your little town. But the look on his face told you it was better to leave it be.

Wordlessly the two of you sat like that in the darkening classroom for several minutes. You studied the fabled individual curled around you, and Kaji subtly inhaled your ambery oud-musk that enveloped him - knowing that you would be going soon. As dusk set upon the world outside, that moment finally arrived as you twitched in his arms and moved to speak. Kaji sadly met your gaze and awaited your goodbye.

“I-I have to go…” murmuring softly, your own heart breaking from his sorrowful nod. “But, um, would it be okay if I came back tomorrow?” Querying cautiously as you clasped your hands in your lap, twirling your thumbs nervously. Instantly, his whole demeanor brightened with surprise as he began bobbing his head without any hesitation.

Rising to your feet, a relieved smile tugged at the corners of your mouth as you uttered a quiet goodbye and made your way to the doorway. Kaji just stared at you, a little dumbfounded, but with longing filled eyes. At the door, you turned back with a reassuring look as you promised you would be back first thing tomorrow evening. Silently, he nodded as you disappeared through the doorway, and then he listened to your quiet footsteps until you exited the building. 

The walk home was a little brisk with the coming autumn, but not cold enough to make you shiver. As you stepped over twisted roots and ducked under thick vines draped between abandoned buildings, you pondered what you could do for the lonely soul in that classroom. So deep in your rumination that when you walked through the wooden door of the hut you didn’t even hear Kiyoko speaking.

“Y/N? Did you get more mint and rosemary?” She asked again, regarding you with a worried expression from where she stood in front of the wood stove. Blinking slowly as you processed her words, and then you realized you hadn’t gone to the garden at all.

Guiltily admitting that you didn’t get them or any herbs while hanging your head, but Kiyoko didn’t chide you and simply asked what happened. She brewed a calming tea and sat on the floor with you at the short wooden table that dated back to before the war. There, over a cup of lilac-chamomile tea, you told her about your encounter with Kaji as you begged her not to tell anyone else throughout the entire tale.

At first she was too stunned to respond, but eventually agreed and urged you to tell her everything. So you told her as much as you could, even though you and Kaji hadn’t shared many words. Once finished, you made sure to convey to her that he wasn’t dangerous and seemed remorseful to have bitten you. Luckily, Kiyoko believed you so, taking a chance, you asked if she knew anything about “blood preserves”. A perplexed look crossed her face until you clarified that you meant “candies” - using the word Kaji mentioned before - hoping she’d recognize it.

Nodding slowly, she told you she might and went to find her grimoire. The room was quiet except for the flipping of pages, pausing at points to read more thoroughly, and then flipping once more. Several minutes passed like this until she stopped on a page with a tap of her finger and a triumphant aha! Returning to the table, she handed you the page with a prideful smile.

Gratefully, you thanked her and then asked if she knew of any elders who had pictures or writings from before the war. Kiyoko cocked her head to the side and pursed her lips before directing you to ask Mr. Sato, since he inherited everything from his ancestors who owned a popular store in Furin before the war. Again, you thanked her genuinely and promised that you would get the herbs tomorrow evening. You also told her that you wouldn’t be returning until the morning after and to not worry or send anyone looking for you. Apprehensive, she asked if you were sure, but you just smiled and nodded confidently in response.

After that, the conversation turned to town affairs. Mostly about the uptick in the birth rate and overall population, which was a major boon for the town, but also the fact that resources weren’t keeping up with growth. Kiyoko mentioned that the elders were becoming worried about what that would mean for future generations. Unfortunately you didn’t have any words to quell her stress, so you just gently took her hand and squeezed it. The two of you let the quiet consume the small hut before turning in for the night.

First thing the next morning you went straight to Mr. Sato and asked about anything he had from before the war. Surprised, but giddy to show anyone his memorabilia, he dragged you to the lower level of the old building he lived in to show you boxes upon boxes of magazines. After about 30 minutes of his excited babbling, he finally let you loose on the boxes and told you to let him know if you needed any help. It took you another 45 minutes of gingerly flipping through the aged pages until you came upon a printed word that you recognized. 

“Candies” was printed small in the bottom right hand corner of the page. In the center was a blown up picture of an oval, green candy on a stick. Printed at the top of the page, above the picture, were a sequence of letters that if you sounded out were similar to the word Kaji said. “Suckers.” 

The design seemed simple enough for you to replicate, so after that you sought out a few of the town’s children and asked them to help you find sticks. More importantly, ones that you could put food on, so not poisonous or toxic. Excited by the mystery of the task, they all pitched and then happily whittled their findings into long, smooth, uniform sticks. 

With all the materials gathered, you prepared to extract the final ingredient. Blood. More specifically, yours. Kiyoko was kind enough to help you collect enough to make about 30 suckers, and once they were set in their molds you not so patiently waited for them to dry. Multiple times Kiyoko shooed you out of the kitchen, and finally the hut altogether, and told you not to come back until the sun had set. As you ambled away from the hut she chided you about being so antsy that you were stressing her out.

So to pass the time and repay the kid’s hard work, you played a few games of hide and seek as well as sharks and minnows with them. As the sun began to dip behind rubbled buildings, casting long shadows from the vines over the streets, you promised to make them some treats soon while returning to the hut. Even though it was growing late in the year, you suspected there may be some late yields of berries that you could make suckers from as well. 

Kiyoko met you at the door of the hut with the suckers already wrapped up and your overnight bag in her hand. With a laugh she told you that she couldn’t let your antsiness back into the hut, lest she’d catch your stress for the rest of the night. Gratefully, you thanked her with a chuckle of your own and took both items before she shooed you off with a bright smile.

Frigid weather grew ever nearer as you approached the abandoned school. A harsh wind tore through your cardigan despite wrapping it tightly around yourself to brace against the swiftly approaching autumn. Though the mild season seemed to turn to winter quicker and quicker with each passing year. Soon you would have to break out the large Furin jacket that had been passed down to you from Kiyoko - she said it belonged to one of the Kings. Hiragi Toma.

Making your way through the doorway and up the gnarled, rooted stairs, you wondered how Kaji would feel about the town putting so many items from Bofurin to use. Halting at the top on the third floor, once again the building was eerily silent but this time you knew where to search for the fabled resident. 

Except when you stepped into the doorway of the classroom, you found it to be devoid of any sign of Kaji. The bedroll now gone, the small duffel bag strewn to the side replaced with papers shifting from a wayward breeze. Your heart wrenched as your eyes confirmed that all signs of Kaji had been swept away, though you weren’t sure why but you felt a lump forming in your throat and tears collecting along your lash line over someone you’d just met.

Hanging your head with a sorrowful sigh as you stepped backwards out of the classroom, but then a loud gasp escaped you as your back hit something incredibly hard and unmoving. Swiftly turning on your heel with raised fists to face the offending obstruction, but you were instead met with a pair of familiar cerulean irises.

“Kaji!” Crying out immediately as a wide smile spread across your face, the sound of your hammering heart echoed in his ears. He stared back in shock, mostly due to your expression that was mixed with excitement and… relief. “I thought you had left. Where’d all of your stuff go?” You asked with a worried tilt of your head, and again Kaji just blinked at your genuine concern.

“Uh,” his voice sounded a little hoarse before he cleared it with a cough behind his fist. “Winter’s coming, and the direction of the sun starts changing day by day, so I have to move a lot throughout autumn and spring to be safe.” He explained, and your gaze followed his gesture to one classroom over before coming back to his still regarding you with a mix of solace and disbelief. 

Nodding slowly as you took in all of the windows in the hallway, and the large ones in the classroom. For a moment you wondered why he wouldn’t just cover them, but as your gaze returned to his worn Furin jacket it dawned on you that it was probably familiar to him this way. Awkwardly, Kaji averted his gaze to the end of the hall with another cough behind his fist, which reminded you of the suckers. Quickly patting the pockets of your cardigan and tunic, drawing Kaji’s attention back to you with interest, and then you suddenly produced the wrapped bundle with a triumphant aha! Beaming brightly as you thrusted the wrapped package into his hands, but Kaji just stared at them for a moment before looking at you, completely perplexed.

“Open it!” You urged him with a laugh. Blinking slowly, then turned his attention back to the cloth in his hands as he slowly unwrapped it to reveal a slew of blood red candies on beige, whittled sticks. 

Suckers. 

All he could do was stare at them for a long, long moment. Then, ardently, he took one of the sticks between his thumb and index finger before bringing the candy to his lips and stuck it between his teeth. Iron was the first thing he tasted, then something freshly herbaceous, and finally creamy Peach Chupa Chup flooded his mouth. 

You observed the sucker pass his lips closely as his eyes fell shut, and then his brow creased in recognition before smoothing out completely with an expression of unbridled satisfaction. When his eyes cracked open to meet your gaze again, they were misty and filled with deep, nostalgic longing. Tentatively, you threw him a tiny smile - hoping that you did something right by him, instead of making him sadder. Instantly, he stifled a sob - trying to swallow it down - as he was reminded of all the times the townspeople offered him food and sweets with a grateful smile. 

“Oh God, I’m so sorry!” Exclaiming as you shifted your weight from foot to foot, having no idea how to comfort him. His face crumpled as he just shook his head at you and choked on his words. After several seconds of the hall being filled with echoing chokes and sniffles, you swallowed thickly and stepped forward. 

Kaji stilled as he felt your arms wrap around his torso and squeeze him tightly. Words were never something that came easily to you in these situations, but you had some experience with the town’s children. Whenever they would cry and couldn’t speak about it, you’d just hug them as tight as you could until they were able to speak again. So that’s what you did - hugged Kaji with all of your strength while rubbing his back comfortingly while softly humming the same tune from the day before. With each intake of breath, your lungs were filled with his essence of wood smoke, copal incense, and bitter marigolds.

Eventually the trembling from his sobs subsided and he was stuck standing in your embrace, utterly stunned. Peering down, he had to stifle a laugh at your scrunched face pressed against his chest to counter the melodic lullaby you were humming into his jacket; accentuated by you clinging onto him with all your might. Slowly, he wrapped his arms around you as well, the lullaby stopping short in your throat, as he buried his nose into the top of your head while crushing you into his chest.

“Thank you for the suckers,” susurrating into your hair as his eyelids fell shut. Several minutes passed of you remaining perfectly still while Kaji held you close, breath puffing into your hair rhythmically.

To him you smelled like any other witch that has wandered through: cedar soaked in cypriol oil, clouded in labdanum incense - reminiscent of the old candlelit rituals that would be held by the stone walls of the school. But underneath he kept catching whiffs of creamy, sweet peaches - the aroma that drew him to you and filled his mind with dreams of the old days. The aroma that kept weaving visions of you into those same dreams with a sense of comforting nostalgia he didn’t quite understand. 

Eventually, you felt your legs going to sleep from standing for so long, so you peered up at him cautiously. Kaji jumped slightly as your hair shifted against his nose, and when he cracked his eyes he was met with yours just inches away. From here he could feel the warmth of your breath fanning against his neck and jaw. Swallowing thickly, the sucker clinked against his teeth, as he gradually released you though he didn’t step away - your body heat still radiated through the gray sweatshirt to his skin underneath.

“Um,” murmuring as you shifted your weight awkwardly under his unblinking stare. “I hope it’s okay - I brought an overnight bag,” declaring as you held up the burlap sack, “to stay the night…” you quietly trailed off as Kaji’s eyes widened to an impossible degree. 

Before you could tell him that it was okay if not, or that you could even sleep in a different classroom, he nodded his head stiffly. Grinning wide, you started to ask him where you should put your stuff, but he grabbed your hand tightly and led you to the classroom he gestured at earlier. To your surprise, he didn’t let go until you were settled across from him on his bedroll, and when he finally did his eyes stayed glued to your hand for a moment before meeting your sympathetic gaze. Everything about him - from his eyes, to his expression and demeanor, to the clothes he wore and the place he resided - screamed loneliness. 

“Did you bring anything to sleep on?” He finally spoke, gaze drifting to your bag that couldn’t possibly hold a bedroll, then back to your bright red face.

“Well, um, kind of…” you laughed out sheepishly. “But I don’t really sleep on a bedroll at home - me and Kiyoko sleep on some old rugs that have lasted. So I just brought one that would fit,” explaining quickly as you opened the sac to reveal a printed mat that would maybe fit about half of your body. Kaji just stared at it incredulously for a moment before shooting you a deadpan look.

“You can take my spot,” he stated with a nod to the bedding the two of you were currently sitting on. Your mouth fell open as a hot, prickly sensation crawled over your body.

“Absolutely not! I can’t take your bed.” Arguing with a vehement shake of your head, before you continued seriously, “I sleep on the floor all the time anyway, so I’m used to it, and I just showed up without any real invitation. It would be rude of me to take it,” finishing your point with a decisive nod of your head. The corner of Kaji’s mouth twitched at your change in tone and the determined notch in your brow.

“Then we’ll share it,” Kaji conceded, despite the subtle twitch of his lips, his expression had returned to deadpan at this point. Before you could argue any further, he smoothly added, “you did show up without any real invitation. It would be rude of you not to take the sleeping arrangements offered.” 

All protests died on your tongue as you slowly closed your mouth and relented with a small nod. Though there was barely any change in his expression, you did catch a triumphant gleam in his cerulean eyes and your heart swelled at the tiny change in his affect. The two of you sat there quietly as the dusk turned dark while the classroom became shadowy. Eventually it was difficult to see Kaji at all, and when you heard a bang from the roof you jumped with a high pitched squeak.

Click, click, click. Suddenly the room was bathed in soft yellow light from a lamp in the corner where Kaji now stood. Breathing a sigh of relief, you watched as he settled on the bedding once more - your expression worried and questioning.

“Animals,” he explained after a moment - finally catching on to your silent inquiry. Instantly your eyes lit up with intrigue. It’s been years since any animals other than humans have been recorded in town. Honestly, it was assumed most died out centuries ago. “I guess you all don’t really get the chance to see them - most turned nocturnal a few hundred years after the war. Just generally safer for them I guess,” he elaborated, satiating your intrigue. 

“How big?” Leaning forward, bringing notes of sweet herbs and warm incense to his nose, as your eyes widened with excitement. Kaji smiled softly at you, relishing in the genuine human connection he’s missed for… God knows how long at this point. Then, he went on to tell you that it was mostly small animals: birds, rodents, some insects that have survived, and on occasion larger animals (mostly in the winter): deer, coyotes, the occasional bear. The latter, he explained that he’d scare them away from the paths that lead to town, but still let them eat what they needed.

You listened intently, eyebrows shooting up at the mention of bears, and your entire face lit up when he mentioned seeing a butterfly only a few summers back. Seeing Kaji being so open, you took the opportunity to ask about the old town, and he was gracious enough to share. 

He told you about how the town was kind of dangerous back in the day, because of turf wars between people, and how that led to the creation of Bofurin. You observed his face light up and eyes become distant as he regaled the times he had with his friends, even naming and telling you about some of them. Most you already knew from the records - Umemiya, Hiragi, Enomoto, Kusumi - but it was different hearing about them first hand. When he told you about how the townspeople used to depend on them, and celebrated them for protecting the town by giving them treats, you started to understand his reaction from before.

Eventually, as Kaji’s stories petered out, he finally asked what he’s been most worried about. How is the town doing now?

Throwing him a kind smile, you told him everything you could. First you told him about the elders, most of whom were designated to keep and care for the items passed down from Bofurin members. Though he looked happy about it, you still didn’t mention the piece you inherited - Hiragi Toma’s Furin jacket. Next, you mentioned how things were scarce sometimes, but for the most part you all managed, and how the population has actually been growing as of late. He seemed overjoyed by that fact, so you were careful when sharing some of Kiyoko’s fears about resources not keeping up with the new growth. 

Kaji looked perturbed over this and asked why you all couldn’t make more - assuming that the greenery was due to the witches’ magic. With a sad shrug you explained that magic couldn’t fix everything, and that the greenery was a bit of its own miracle that the witches couldn’t really take credit for. At your admission Kaji seemed confused, but also maybe a little happy that it wasn’t the witches’ doing. Though you didn’t ask him outright, after a quiet moment he shared that the original garden was Umemiya’s that was started at least half a century ago at this point. He didn’t know how or why it took over the town, but he was glad that it did because he knew Umemiya would be really happy about it still helping the town. 

“That makes me really happy too,” murmuring earnestly, which earned you a surprised glance from Kaji. “I’m really grateful to you, and the rest of Bofurin. None of us would be here if you all hadn’t fought for us,” you said genuinely with a firm nod. Kaji simpered despite his gruff demeanor before nodding as well, then the bright white moon caught his eye through the window. He hadn’t noticed how high it was in the sky until now.

“Did you sleep at all before coming here?” He asked as his gaze cut sharply to yours. Again, you sheepishly laughed and shook your head. Kaji rolled his eyes at you before moving to pull back the blanket.

“It’s already 3am - go to sleep,” he instructed, his tone slightly admonishing but lacked any true malice. Tittering softly, you crawled up the bedroll and slipped under the blanket. Kaji laid the blanket over you, and then began to settle on top of the bedding next to you.

“What are you doing?” Demanding as you sat up, untucking the blanket completely, Kaji just blinked at you before gesturing at the bed.

“Going to sleep. Like you should be doing,” he admonished you, but his cerulean irises couldn’t hide the amusement from the look of disbelief plastered on your face.

“You said we would share,” arguing petulantly which did elicit a chuckle from Kaji - he didn’t realize you had so much personality. “This isn’t sharing.” Defending your point as you tugged gently on the blanket that was over you and under Kaji for emphasis.

“Do witches not care about their virtue in this century?” Kaji posed with an arched brow. To his credit, he was able to maintain a cool facade as your face turned three shades redder while your mouth opened and closed like a guppy.

“That’s not it!” You snapped, crossing your arms over your chest defensively. Kaji stifled a titter at your reaction - it reminded him of Kotoha or Tsubaki. Then your shoulders drooped slightly as you threw him an earnest look before tentatively adding, “it’s just getting close to winter… I thought you’d be cold.”

Kaji was taken aback by your genuine nature, and was unable to hide the surprise on his face - brows raised, wide eyes, lips slightly parted from speechlessness. Quietly he relented with a curt nod as he climbed under the blanket, immediately you tucked yourself into his side, wrapping your arms around him and burying your face into his chest. Kaji laid there for a moment before hesitantly wrapping his arms around you as well, pulling you into his embrace. 

Notes of piney-amber incense and earth-smoked musk enveloped your dreams as sleep swiftly claimed you. Kaji laid there silently as your breathing slowed within a few minutes, hot breath puffing into his sweatshirt and warming his chest. That crisp, pencil-like wood scent, accompanied by sweet cinnamon clung to you and filled the space with your soft exhalations. An indescribable amount of time had passed since the last time he had felt such warmth, and even though it had been comfortingly shared between friends, it had also been short lived. But this was different - it felt inexhaustible and safe. 

When Kaji finally drifted off to sleep, his dreams were set in old Furin - patrolling with his friends, but oddly enough he kept catching glimpses of you. Never directly, just a swish of your tunic as you turned a corner, or a flick of your hair through the window of Pothos but when he looked you were gone. Near the end he was certain you were there, somewhere in town, as he desperately trailed after your scent through the streets and down alleyways. He woke before he could find you in his dreams, but his body sagged with relief the moment he found you still sleeping soundly in his arms.

Ch 2, Ch 3, Ch 4 (links will be added as they are finished)

Master List (I have no rights to these characters, the works they come from, or the art/screenshots/manga panels used in this post. Screenshots taken from pinterest or google, so if you know the creator please lmk! Divider is from @sweetmelodygraphics )

Tag List: None so far, but lmk if you would like to be added for this series or my other Wind Breaker Works!

[p1a9u3]

PeepHole Ch.1: Moving Day

Masterpost Ch.1 - Ch.2 Pairing: Dylan Matthews x Fem Oc

Rating: 18+ (mdni)

Genre: Neighbors/Strangers to Lovers, Smut, Angst, Fluff, Slow-burn

Summary: Moving isn't as exciting as Amoya thought, plus she may have pissed off her new neighbor.

Words: 3.2k

Warnings: (This story takes place in 2024) Mental illness (anxiety, ocd), Violent intrusive thoughts, Language, Age gap (5years), Using phone while driving

Status: Unedited

Author note: This is the first fic that I've ever posted, I've written before but I've never finished anything and published it so don't tear me to shreds, please. I chose to make an oc instead of just writing as a reader mainly because I made a whole character in my head before I wrote this so I decided to just make her an oc, if you would like a post going more into this oc of mine feel free to ask (I might post it anyway because I like her), there is no smut in this chapter btw. Please give me feedback and suggestions, constructive criticism, etc. Don't be a bitch about it though...please. I'm thinking of making this a series POSSIBLY, but I procrastinate a lot so that may never happen. To my fellow troublemakers hopefully, I do Dylan justice and my writing is at least a little bit accurate to his personality. Still, to be fair I'm a fairly new troublemaker having only found out about this man a few weeks ago, so if something isn't accurate please correct me...politely. He's become my new hyper fixation so when I saw there aren't really any fics about him I decided I should make my own so here we are. Anyway with that being said Enjoy <3. Update: Dylan is barely in this chapter

Monday, February 26, 2024 Time: 8:30AM Moving out was less relieving than you thought it would be. Having been by your mother's side for almost all your life, you'd gotten comfortable always having someone around.

'You can't live with your parents forever'

People would remind you whenever the topic of anyone's living situation would be brought up. Being twenty-seven and still living with your mother wasn't something you wanted to keep telling people, no one would take you seriously. Though your mother never pushed for you to move out, never mentioned it actually. You think you know why. You never say anything though, so you deal with the slight embarrassment, and ignore the judgmental stares you get whenever someone brings it up.

'They don't know our relationship'

More excuses you make up to justify your obstinance; and to mask the anxiety you're feeling as finish up packing your U-Haul. You had finished packing your stuff from your shared apartment and were now finishing the few boxes you had in storage. Now in the elevator mustering up the strength to carry the last two boxes back down to the truck. Grabbing the lock you had left on the floor, you place it on top of one of the boxes and stack the box onto the second one, bending down and lifting with a soft grunt. Long strides carrying you to the elevator, you push the down button with your foot. The doors open soon after, you step inside setting the boxes down as you push the bottom floor and wait. Pushing off the wall as the doors open you pick up the boxes once again, you quickly load them up into the U-Haul before grabbing the padlock from on top of the box, and then heading to the front desk of the storage building.

"Here, the unit is clean and empty." You smile at the woman as she takes the lock and keys with a thank you.

Turning on your heels you walk back to your U-Haul giving everything a once-over before locking it all up, now turning your attention to the hitch attached to the back of the Truck where your precious car is hitched too. It was a black and cherry red 1993 Nissan 240SX with a red interior, you had seen it while driving with your mom past a repair shop when you were 25, back then it had no windshield or wheels. You won't lie and say you fixed it yourself but you did invest all the money you had at that time to fix it up and color it how you wanted; you still would say it was worth it. Checking the hitch and chains attached to the bottom of the car making sure everything was set and ready.

"Everything looks good?" Your mother said making you jump

"Yah! A warning ma, please! And yes everything looks good, I packed up the last two boxes and returned the keys and lock to the front desk while you were in the bathroom." You let out a breath calming your heart from the scare you just had, your mom snickering next to you. You turn to her rolling your eyes playfully as you walk to the front of the truck, your mom following behind you.

"Good, let's get on the road." Your mom hops into the passenger seat and rolls down the window. "I wanna get home by Wednesday."

You climb into the driver's seat, buckling your seatbelt then checking your mirrors. You two had agreed on driving to your new apartment, taking turns every 5 hours, once you got there she'd help you unload and unpack on Tuesday, and your mom would then fly back to New Orleans on Wednesday. The more you think about it the more you feel yourself panic a bit.

"Okay."

Time: 9:00AM Starting the car, you let out a breath putting the car in drive and pulling out of the parking lot of the storage building. You could tell your mom was trying to keep herself calm by the way she would rub her right thigh with her right hand, it was a nervous tick she passed down to you. Unfortunately, you were just as nervous, so you decided to turn on the playlist you and your mom made while eating the night before, mixes of all kinds of genres put into one playlist to keep you both entertained during the drive. Pulling off the main road and merging onto the freeway, you glance over to your mom to see her smiling wide looking back at you. She has that look in her eyes, you know it well.

"Its happening ma." You smile back at your mom then look back to the road

Your mother places her hand on your thigh, letting out a long sigh and a soft squeeze before returning it back to her own lap. You see her wipe a single tear from your peripheral; you don't acknowledge it. She'll start bawling the second you tell her not to cry. So you pretend not to see it and start singing along to Erykah Badu, your mom turns the music up a bit and starts singing along too. You smile to yourself as you glance out your side window, watching as familiar buildings pass by in a blur, You think you'll miss this place. No, you know you will, but a part of you is kinda excited, relieved almost. You've silently always longed to live on your own, but another part of you calls you selfish for even wanting that until now

'How could want to leave your mother'

You know it's normal to want to move out of your parent's home, every grown adult has to move out at some point, and twenty-seven is a perfectly normal age to do so, You wanted to move when you were twenty-four. Hell, some people live with their parents till they are far in their thirties.

'But you know your mother may need you right'

All your brothers have moved out, they are doing good on their own, and you're the only one left. It was only a matter of time; you tell yourself. Your mom will be fine, she's dating a new man who treats her great and takes care of her. Hell he tried to hire a moving crew to move all your stuff, but you wanted to do it yourself and your mom wasn't going to let you drive almost halfway across the country by yourself.

'you could've found a place closer to her you know'

Phoenix, Arizona. You chose Phenix simply because it was affordable for you and close to LA, your mom agreed it was a good choice. There is work in LA, California is just so expensive, so you chose the next best thing. The apartment is nice from what you saw as well, one bedroom, two baths with a study. It was perfect for you.

Time: 11:23AM The drive was going well so far, your mother eating a bag of chips she packed along with all the other snacks and drinks. You were eating a Honeybun, one of your favorite snacks, and drinking water. Your mom had turned off the music and started watching YouTube with mostly commentary so you could listen and drive, Right now a video was playing talking about some ice cream drama in North Dakota. Author note: if you watched this video featuring Dylan is in Trouble, I know it's technically in the future but I don't care, this is all fake anyway. You found it interesting and kinda funny, laughing every now and then when your mom would pause to add her opinion. About two-thirds of the way into the video you glance down at the screen, there are two guys now instead of one, and one of them is wearing glasses, you glance back down looking at the title of the video 'Insane Local Ice Cream Shop Drama (w/ Dylan Is In Trouble)' You made a mental note of the second guy's name for later, his voice was nice you told yourself, he was also fine as fuck. You leaned your seat back as far as it would go, which wasn't very far, getting comfortable. You still have two more hours left to drive.

Time: 12:35PM Your mom had fallen asleep about ten minutes ago, YouTube was still playing, The next video had been the same guy as before. You looked down for a second, looking at the title of the video that had been playing for about fifteen minutes. 'Guessing Finales After ONE Episode (ft. Dylan Is In Trouble)' You smile to yourself a bit recognizing the name at the end of the title, you let the video play just listening to the guy talk for ten more minutes. You caught yourself smiling again when you recognized the second guy's voice as he joined in for the rest of the video, you took a sip of your water glancing down at the video, seeing him pop on screen whenever he had something to say

"he's funny." You mutter to yourself quietly, thinking out loud.

The video had ended and your lips fell back into their original position, as an ad played before the next queued-up video, you looked down at your GPS. 1322 miles to go; you let out a sigh.

'200 miles closer to leaving you mom'

She was helping you unpack, so you technically wouldn't be leaving her really. If anything she was leaving you since she had to fly back home. You prop your left elbow on the open window, your left hand holding the steering wheel, and your right hand comes down to your thigh, rubbing small circles back and forth.

'What happens if Devon goes back home'

Your oldest brother Devon was working at a mental facility. He was on his medication and was doing good, he managed to get a job there and has been making decent money. He was doing fine, He is doing fine.

'What if he stops taking his medication again.'

They will keep tabs on him, they know his habits, his symptoms, He is fine.

'Has another episode and gets out'

That wouldn't happen. He's fine

'He'll be there when mom gets back'

No.

"Hes gonna ki-'

-beep! beep! beep!-

Time: 2:00PM Your mom's alarm goes off, making you jump a bit. Reaching over to turn it off, your mom moans a bit as she wakes up from her short nap, stretching her arms a bit as she yawns.

"Jeste li spremni za promjenu." she yawns out, going for a sip of her water ( translation: Are you ready to switch)

Your mother's Croatian tends to slip when she's just woken up, or delirious. You nod your head looking at the next exit sign to find a gas station, spotting a Love's off the side of the freeway. Slipping off the freeway you pull up to the gas station before parking next to a pump.

"Bathroom?" You look over at your mom, she nods, unbuckling her seatbelt and hopping out of the truck, you do the same.

You both enter opposing stalls to relieve yourselves of all the water you had been drinking, washing your hands after. Your mother heads back to the truck to pump the gas as you browse the aisles for any extra snacks, spotting a honeybun you instinctively grab one, then two, and head to the cashier. You place your honeybuns on the counter and then look up at the cashier who seems to be invested in something on her phone, she wasn't wearing headphones phone volume at maybe thirty percent, you could hear what she was watching. You recognize the voice, the cashier finally looks up from her phone quickly apologizing for not paying attention.

"Oh I'm so sorry, will this be all" She quickly rings up the two honeybuns.

"No you're fine, that'll be it actually." You dismissively wave your hand pulling out your wallet to pay.

Looking down you notice her phone, she had put it on the counter, and the video on it had been paused but on the screen was that guy again, though it seemed to be a video of his own this time. You pull out some cash and hand it to the young woman behind the counter, she takes the cash, counts it, and then goes to get your change.

"No, it's fine, keep the change" Flashing a smile then grabbing your honeybuns you take another glance at the women's screen before it turns off from being left alone for too long.

Opening the passenger seat door, you climb into the seat buckling yourself in. Pulling out of the gas station your mom pulls off back onto the freeway continuing your journey. You pull out the bag you had brought for little activities, pulling out your book of choice. You had splurged at a Barnes and Noble a few weeks before you began packing, picking up a bunch of books you had either heard good things about or had been wanting to read. Red Rising was one of the books, it was also the one you were currently holding.

"I'm gonna put my headphones on, so you can listen to whatever you want." You tell your mom as you put your headphones on and pull out your phone.

You had gotten the book on Audible a while back and wanted to read and listen at the same time. Pressing play you turn to the first chapter and begin reading as the narrator spoke. Your mom seemed to have put music on, you could feel the bass as she turned up the volume and began singing along.

Time: 10:56PM Hours had passed, it was your turn now with two hours left till your next switch. Your mother was knocked out, lightly snoring as you drove in silence, you had stopped reading once you had switched. You also decide to put off reading it until you were moved in, the book had grabbed your attention, so much so, that you wanted to be able to focus on it solely; so you chose to wait. You had a couple hundred miles left to go and things were sinking in more as you drove silently. Your mind doing its usual thing, making you worry about things that most likely won't happen, even if it did, you know it wouldn't be your fault. You couldn't help but think maybe it would be though, it was a dumb thought but you couldn't help it

'What was that guys name again'

Your brain blanked for a second, random but ok, your brain goes back to the YouTube video your mom had been watching, that cashier was watching him as well. Dylan is in Trouble, you wonder what kind of videos he makes, most likely commentary. You pull your phone out glancing down and go to YouTube, you use the voice to text and hold your phone up to your mouth.

"Dylan is in trouble"

You press search, going back and forth between looking at your phone and watching the road. You look down to find his channel, press his icon, and scroll through some of his videos. Movie commentary is what you mostly see, occasionally you'd spot something different, you decided you'd dive into his channel later when you weren't driving.

Time: 5:00AM You were in the driver's seat, you had let your mom sleep more after she had been driving for about three hours. She was up now though, you could tell things were starting to catch up to her again. She was fidgeting a lot more now, well so were you, she looked very tense. She helped you find this apartment, but you assume she wants to see the neighborhood for herself, in person, wants to see how good the security is and what the neighbors are like. It's only natural, she's a mother and her only daughter is moving twenty hours away from her. You look down at your phone, your GPS says you are pulling up now, you look around the area, it was very nice, wasn't too far from the city. You spot the complex to the left, it was pretty big with multiple sections with apartments, you were building three, kind of in the middle of everything. You pull into the complex parking in front of the leasing office to speak to your landlord and to get your keys, your mom comes with you of course, sizing everything up.

"Hi welcome to Arts District Apartments, it's Amaya correct, my name is George?" An old-looking man stands from his desk, his hand reaching out to shake yours

"Thank you, George, it's Amoya actually" You reach out and shake his hand with a smile.

You two talk a bit about the complex and its rules etc. Your mom chimed in every now and then to ask her questions. Before you know it you're unloading the truck into your new apartment, you're realizing now that you didn't have as much stuff as you thought. The last thing you had left was your bed, you and your mom had been doing well with just the two of you, but after you two had gotten the mattress inside your mother's back began to bother her. Now you had your bed frame, you told your mom to relax for now and that you could get the frame up yourself. Partial lie, you previously took apart the bed frame and so there were mainly long pieces that weren't too heavy except the backboard, that thing was heavy as fuck, luckily you had a dolly at the storage building to help you carry it out, but now you have to carry it to the elevator and down the hall. You managed to get it down from the truck, and from there you lifted it and sped walked to the elevator, almost dropping the bed frame on your foot as you set it down to push the button. The doors had closed on you twice as you tried to pick the frame back up and lift it into the elevator, but alas you made it, now on the third floor and outside the elevator. You took pride in your body, you considered yourself strong, regularly went to the gym, and you would say your legs were the strongest part of your body, with that being said, you tried to make as little noise as possible since it was still early in the morning, you lost your footing. You were almost there, your door being right in front of you; but you fell. Landing on the door behind you hitting your head with a very loud thud.

"Bumbo." You whisper yelled at yourself in Jamaican as you set the frame down and leaned off of the door. (translation: Fuck)

Holding the frame upright you walk around it reaching for your door, the frame slipping from your fingers and falling against your neighbor's door again. You prayed that your new neighbor was either a very deep sleeper or wasn't home right now, though maybe you didn't pray hard enough. You lift the bed frame from your neighbor's door, getting your phone to get your mom to hold the door open for you so you can slide it the rest of the way inside. Stopping, you hear the door behind you click open. Your bed frame blocked your view of whoever had stepped out, but you could hear him.

Ch.1 - Ch.2

Updated Author note: Hopefully this was an enjoyable first chapter or part. The apartment is just a random apartment complex I saw on Zillow, everything in this is all fictional besides the YouTube videos and things that are obviously real. Anyway, I have decided to make this a series, I've gone into too much detail on little things like Amoya's intrusive thoughts and all that, and it'd be a waste to shorten and delete half of what I put and speed through everything, Amoya's intrusive thoughts and anxiety is a trait I added from myself, so you'll notice a lot of internal thinking and scenarios she makes up in her head. Hopefully, the idea is as cool as what I thought of in my head. If this does well, I will upload the other chapters one after the other, If it does bad I'll just delete everything, but please be patient I procrastinate a lot and I want the writing to be good. Please be honest and let me know how you all feel about this, if you like the writing, the main character, the pacing, the storyline, length, anything, and everything, I need criticism but don't be a bitch about it.

[lauronk]

been on vacation the last few days, and despite the fact that it hasn’t always been relaxing, i’ve gotten more writing done than i have in the last few weeks. made progress/starts on

if you can wait till i get home ch.3

three bthb fics (appendicitis, hiding an illness, and bleeding out)

jelly fic 2

two new alterations fics

a gthb fic (naps)

two ficlet prompts (sorry these have been taking me so long even though they’re supposed to be short)

two general fic ideas (hopefully one to be posted in the next month and the other who knows when)

honestly after having so much writers block the last few weeks/months, i was a little afraid i was never gonna be able to finish something ever again, at least not without lots of struggle. these last few days have been very reassuring

[orivaa-kun]

ride for me | chapter 3: go

ch. 1 | ch. 2

chapter word count: 16.3k warnings: mature (18+), drinking, drug use, smut, fluff, angst, feels pairings: Gojo Satoru x Fem OC, Geto Suguru x Fem OC, Gojo Satoru x Geto Suguru x Fem OC series summary: Lena Okamoto was emotionally estranged from her father—the CEO of Okamoto Group, a Tokyo-based, multi billion-dollar sports car manufacturing company—after her mother died due to a longterm, post-pregnancy related illness when she was a kid. Amidst her father’s misdirected blame for this, now 27, Lena is finally back in the city. She’s introverted and troubled by her past with her father and step-family, but hardworking and anxious to prove herself to everyone: that she can create the best cars for the Okamoto brand and the fastest engines for their Formula 1 cars. Satoru Gojo is the face of Gojo Industries—the corporation that practically owns Tokyo with its advanced tech that can be found all over the city. Unlike Lena in many ways, the confident and extroverted man leads a completely different, unblemished life—having basically had a spoiled upbringing, and the only trying aspect of his life being the sheer amount of his company responsibilities, obligations, and public appearances. When the two meet, both of their lives change completely. Will they be able to juggle their relationship, trying professional careers, family dynamics, and public image all at once? Sacrifices will have to be made.

It had to be around noon when I woke up from the nap I’d immediately taken after returning to my other home—I could tell from the way the light poured in through the floor-to-ceiling length picture windows alongside the back wall of it. I still occasionally had to reorient myself whenever I woke up in this room, especially as I’d just finished remodeling this side of the house weeks ago, but today I immediately knew exactly where I was upon waking—my mom’s old home in Yamanashi. The sun had pleasantly warmed up my cream-colored duvet and sheets, and much unlike most days, the piercing chime of my phone alarm hadn’t abruptly shaken me awake. It was nice. Maybe Yuko was right about taking more time off... 

I reached under one of my pillows and fished for my phone on the edge of my bed, flipping it over to reveal the actual time—11:48am. Close enough. I sorted through my email for a bit, checking on my shipping notifications for the house and discovering that the wood fire pizza oven was going to be delivered early this afternoon. It was a good thing I’d planned to spend the day here. 

 After responding to messages and aimlessly scrolling though my phone, I finally slipped out of bed, adjusting the white, teddy sleepwear tube top and long pants that had moved around a bit during my sleep. I was about to make my way to the kitchen, but the sound of the doorbell jolted me instead. I reached for my matching robe nearby, quickly fastening the sash around my waist before approaching the front door. The guys delivering the pizza oven were here already?

I opened the door to a tall man with red-dyed hair and wearing an all-black uniform with a tablet in his hand. His hair was tucked into a black cap, and I glanced behind him to see another man in the same uniform beginning to get out of a large truck, “Good morning.” I offered the red-haired man a polite smile.

“Hi. Are you Ms. Lena Okamoto?” He lifted his tablet, seemingly pulling up some sort of page on it.

“Yes. You two are here to deliver the pizza oven, right?”

“Pizza oven…? The man lifted a brow in confusion, “Um, no. We’re here to deliver the painting. Can you sign here, please?” He extended the tablet and attached pen to me.

My brows furrowed together, “Painting? I didn’t buy a painting…”

“It’s a gift from, uh,” The man checked the tablet again, seemingly surprised by the name he saw, “Satoru Gojo?? Shit, you know Satoru Gojo?!” He seemed surprised by the information, like he hadn’t checked the delivery information until now.

“Oh…” I blinked a few times and rubbed my temple, still waking up, “Right.” He did say there’d be a gift waiting for me when I woke up, “Yes, thank you.” A painting?

“Whoa, that’s awesome. Well, where would you like us to put it? It’s pretty heavy.” The red-haired man turned back to glance to the other man in uniform, who unlatched the back hatch of the truck to reveal a long, rectangular box wrapped with white, heavy-duty paper. It looked pretty big, almost as big as… No way. There was no way it could be that painting.

“Oh shit…” I muttered under my breath, in disbelief.

“What was that?” The man asked.

“Oh! Nothing, sorry, um…” I pushed the front door open wider, “Is there any way you two can bring it into my office in here?”

Less than 30 minutes later, I was staring blankly at the wall of my study, jaw practically on the floor as the two art installers mounted the exact Nakamura painting the from me and Satoru’s date yesterday at the art gallery—the modern piece that depicted a calm or storming ocean, depending on how one looked at it. I didn’t even want to think about what a painting like this would be worth… Yes, I did. I’d have to remember to call Yuko about it later. She was an art enthusiast, herself, and would definitely be able to estimate its price point. Was this supposed to be normal for rich boys like Satoru? Did he go around handing out expensive gifts to girls after every first date we went on?!

I slipped my phone out of my robe pocket, immediately beginning to text Satoru.

Though it was a shocking first date gift, the painting was something I wanted… I just thought it was something that would take me a few years to save up for—not one day of dating Satoru Gojo. But who knows if the painting would’ve still been on the market by then… Maybe I should just take the gift? It’s not like Satoru would miss the money, anyways. My heart was about to jump out of my chest. This piece alone was probably worth more than all nine of my sports cars combined!

I took a deep exhale and pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to calm myself about the situation. I needed to tell Shoko and Yuko about this, like immediately.

~ 

The next morning, I didn’t wake up from my alarm but instead much earlier, before dawn at 4am, to the sound of my phone buzzing repeatedly. I grumbled and pouted, irritated from whoever or whatever was determined to wake me up so damn early. When I flipped my phone over, I discovered the hundreds of notifications—mostly from Instagram. My eyes went from narrowed to wide as I scrolled through, and I immediately sat up, turning on my bedside lamp before reading just a few of the thousand-plus comments that had been posted on a number of my recent posts. 

“don’t take pics with my man!!! 😤🤬” 

“There’s no way satoru gojo’s with a girl who’s barely even Japanese lol” 

“r u dating gojo????” 

“She looks like a uniqlo diversity model 🤣🤣🤣” 

“OMG I found her page!!” 

“back off he’s mineeee” 

“slut” 

The last comment sank heavily in my chest. Was this because I was dating Satoru?? I rapidly scrolled to the top of my page, rubbing my eyes in disbelief at the number of followers I saw. Just a few days ago it had to be around 409K... now it was... 893K?! Overnight?!! How did people find out about us in the first place? 

I exited the app, navigating my search engine. I began to type in my name, and immediately the first autocomplete read, “...and Satoru Gojo picture at docks.” I paused and sighed, roughly running a hand through my curls before reluctantly tapping the ‘search’ icon. And there it was, all over the image search results—Satoru and I pictured mid-kiss in front of the Tokyo Bay Yacht Club entrance. I fucking knew I’d heard the sound of a camera that morning. To top it off, my hair even looked kind of messy from the wind down by the docks. Satoru looked perfect, of course, and was in a full tailored suit compared to my slightly wrinkled, high waisted jeans and long coat that I’d worn the day before. 

After scrolling through a few of the image result photos, I realized that there was not one, but three photos circulating of us—one with Gojo kissing my fingers, one with him kissing my forehead, and one of us kissing each other. It was such an intimate moment... The comments were one thing, but the fact that some random paparazzi had intruded on this sweet moment between Satoru and I, it was off-putting, to say the least. I still remembered the feeling of the brisk wind on my cheeks, the way the cold morning air burned my nose red, and how Satoru’s lips had warmed me up. It was a private moment—one I wished had stayed as such. 

I navigated back to Instagram, tapping a completely different photo on my profile that had nothing to do with this paparazzi fiasco at all. It was one of the stills from my GQ shoot and article from a few months ago—a simple picture of me sitting on the track at sunset beside an older Okamoto model, dressed in a tight-fitting, full black and red leather (and more fashionable than functional) racing suit. What had once been ten or so comments from car fans and my friends was now over a hundred spam-like comments from people who were clearly obsessive fans of Satoru. 

“Is she like a tomboy or something?” 

“ur not even gojo’s type” 

“idk she’s kinda cute!” 

“Oof looks like Gojo is in his hafu phase 🥴 don’t worry GojoGirlies it’ll be over soon 🤣” 

“all of you are just hating b/c she’s tan smh” 

“Why is she even dressed like that if she really makes cars? Seems fake” 

“it’s from a GQ shoot, not a car factory u idiot.” 

“smash” 

I navigated to the search bar, half-typing in the name of a popular Tokyo gossip and entertainment news account—@thesorceryroom. Of course, when I tapped the profile, I saw that there were already four different posts on me and Satoru. What the hell did they even have to go on about us? All we did was kiss!  

Without a second thought, I immediately pulled up Satoru’s contact and hit the call icon, bringing my phone to my ear and biting my lip stressfully as I impatiently waited for him to pick up. It wasn’t until I heard his voice upon answering that it fully dawned on me how early in the morning it was, “Hey, Lena. You’re up early.” Satou noted, voice far from groggy or sleep-ridden... Was he already awake? 

“Oh! Uh, hey... Sorry, Satoru, did I wake you?” I suddenly felt way more nervous. 

“Nah, I’ve been up for a bit working. How about you, though? Everything okay?” He questioned, clearly curious to why I’d called him at 4am. 

“Um...” I trailed off, voice a bit uneasy, “Sorry for calling this early, it’s just my phone’s been blowing up so I woke up, and then I just had to call you when I saw what’s happening online...” I rambled, beginning to slide out of bed and pace around my bedroom. 

“What’s happening online?” Satoru asked, sounding completely clueless. 

“Uh, the pictures? There’s pictures floating around the internet of us kissing in front of the yacht club yesterday morning...” I explained. He didn’t know?  

“Oh, there are? Huh.” Satoru didn’t sound phased by this information at all. 

“And it’s blowing up online! There’s like, thousands of people stalking my page and dropping random comments on my old posts about it. Just random shit about us, and there’s some wacky shit directed to me, specifically!” I rubbed the back of my neck anxiously as I paced. 

“Damn, I didn’t expect this would happen this soon...” 

“You expected it??” I couldn’t help but raise my voice a little bit. Would’ve been nice to get a little heads up... 

“Well, yes and no. To be honest, I don’t usually date so publicly. The last time I did, many years ago, stuff like this happened all the time.” 

“Couldn’t you at least have warned me or something beforehand...?” I’m sure my tone sounded a little frustrated. I was trying to keep my composure about the situation and hear Satoru out, but it didn’t really seem like he empathized with what I was going through at all... 

“Sorry, Lena, it was the furthest thing from my mind.” Satoru’s tone sounded sincere, but I still felt thrown off from this whole situation, “But, don’t think about that, babe. Just ignore them.” 

I turned my face a bit at his response—as if it was that simple to let go of the countless things people were saying about you, “Satoru, it’s not that easy... I mean, have you seen all the shit people are saying about me? There’s gotta be damn near a thousand comments!” 

“Oh, I haven’t been on social media since high school. My publicist handles my accounts. I learned pretty early that shit really starts to mess with your head if you’re on it for too long.” Satoru sounded a bit aloof, even over the phone, like he was talking to an interviewer and not the girl he was dating. 

I was confused, “Okay, but I don’t have a publicist, or an assistant. I handle my own accounts.” I was starting to get irritated now, “I didn’t have the luxury of having one—especially when I was fresh out of high school and my dad no longer legally had to support me. I had to scrape to market myself, find jobs on my own and work my way up in the car manufacturing industry... It wasn’t until recently that I was able to afford to streamline some of the work I do, and social media’s never been an issue for me, well, not until now.” 

There was a short pause, and then I heard Satoru take a breath before speaking, “Wait—I’m sorry, Lena. I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just that my mind’s kinda split this morning with this project I’ve been... Never mind that. I apologize. I should’ve mentioned that something like this might happen, and taken the steps to get ahead of it.” He exhaled, “How’s this; why don’t we meet for lunch today to talk some more? I can even come to you, if you don’t have much time.” 

I inhaled deeply, trying to calm my nerves; Satoru’s apology had helped cool me off some, “Okay. Yeah, lunch would be good.” I finally stopped pacing, moving my hand that wasn’t holding my phone to my forehead to swoop my hair back, “There’s some things we should talk about, I guess.” I trapped the corner of my lower lip between my teeth at the sort of uncomfortable air around our current conversation. There were definitely some things I wanted to ask him, at the very least. Like why was Satoru suddenly so okay with dating publicly after meeting me? 

“Alright, then.” Satoru said conclusively. 

There was a long silence that followed, neither of us sure of what to say next. But the obvious thought remained. We shouldn’t’ve had to deal with all this after only one freaking date. 

“Look, Lena, I really like you. And I don’t wanna fuck this up. Let’s talk and get this situation cleared up so we can go back to having fun and getting to know one another, ‘kay?” 

“Okay.” I finally managed a small smile, taking another deep breath. 

“As far as social media—maybe mute the apps for today. I’ll get a social strategist from my team to look into the situation and see how we can go about protecting your accounts.” 

I began to protest, “Oh you don’t have to do that—” 

“I insist.” Satoru cut in, “As long as you’re dating me, you shouldn’t have to worry about handling these things by yourself. You shouldn’t have to worry at all, about anything, really.” 

And there he was, the sweet Satoru whose words and actions made me blush and my heart flutter... I sat down on the end of my bed, nudging my toes into the soft, plush rug beneath my feet, “...Okay.” I finally agreed, a small smile on my face. 

“Now, get some rest, Lena. Sorry that all of this disturbed your sleep.” 

“It’s fine.” There was a part of me that wished I could fall back asleep in Satoru’s arms, like I had last night, “You should get some sleep, too!” 

“It’s alright, I’ve got some work to do for this project this morning. Plus, I don’t need to sleep much, anyways.” 

“If you say so.” Though I wasn’t nearly as straight-forward as Satoru when it came to expressing feelings, I wanted to make him feel wanted, too. My smile grew into a warm smirk before I spoke again, “Well, I’m looking forward to seeing you at lunch...” I aimlessly fiddled with the duvet on my bed. 

“Yeah?” I heard Satoru’s tone soften considerably, his smile practically audible through the way he’d asked the word alone, “I’m glad to hear it. I’m always excited to see you.” Just like that, he one-upped me so effortlessly. 

I giggled to his words and the sexual implications of them, seeing as I’d already had a few run-ins with Satoru’s hard-on. 

“Hey...! Get your mind outta the gutter. I meant that in a nice, respectable way.” Satoru said matter-of-factly. 

I laughed and teased back, “You said it first!” 

“Well, maybe not just respectable...” Satoru trailed off, but then suddenly tore himself from his own line of thought, “Alright, that’s it. Goodbye, Lena, before you get me worked up.” 

“Night, Satoru.” My laugh lowered back into a giggle. 

“Goodnight, beautiful.” 

~ 

Since the internet had woken me up before sunrise, I’d decided to head into Okamoto’s HQ early as well, and was grateful for the bit of peace and quiet the near-empty building provided—outside of the occasional custodian staff member who would simply greet me.

But now closer to 9am, the more my production and mechanic team members entered the office, the more of them asked me about the Satoru situation. How the hell had everyone found out so fast, anyways? Was there a city-wide alert or something?? Okay, I was exaggerating in my thoughts, but this attention was still ridiculous. You’d think I was running for fucking prime minister.

I was currently tucked behind the desktop computer monitors in my office, following up on emails from the carbon fiber manufacturing group in Kyoto to ask them questions about the material specifics and safety. I suddenly saw Jin walk by the glass door in his racing mechanics suit—probably headed to the vehicle production building.

“Morning, Lena.” He opened the door and poked his head into my office, an amused look on his face.

“Hey, Jin.” I kept focused on and typed away on my keyboard, still a little overwhelmed from this whole dating rumor situation.

“You’re dating Satoru Gojo?” Jin’s amused look grew into an intrigued smirk. This was at least the seventh time I’d gotten the question in the last hour.

“Oh my god, not you, too…” I paused in my typing to drop my face into my hands, releasing a sigh.

“And you didn’t tell me??” He grinned, obviously interested in the gossip.

“One date! We only went on one date, okay…?!” I sat back up to exclaim, exasperated.

Jin raised his hands, “Hey, I’m just telling you what I heard! Wait, was that why you were almost late to the test drive a few days ago?”

“No!” I quickly replied, then actually thought aloud for a moment, “Well, not really…”

“Ooo, Lena…!” Jin teased me, grade-school style, “You better be careful hanging around big shot rich boys like that.” He chuckled, beginning to walk away from my office door, “Then again, it might just be good PR for Okamoto Group!”

I groaned dramatically and dropped my forehead onto the flat of my desk, “Ugh, leave me alone!”

“See you at the production status meeting later!”

I sighed for what felt like the millionth time this morning, suddenly feeling my phone buzz in my pocket. I reluctantly retrieved it from my mechanic suit pocket, eyes widening to the Instagram direct message notification on my screen.

Francesco De Luca… my ex, and the Lamborghini Chief Designer I’d met almost five years ago at a F1 race on England’s Knockhill track. It was back when I was on the Ferrari team, still working my way up the mechanics and design ranks and making a name for myself in the industry.

I hadn’t heard from him in two years, not since the day he’d broken up with me when I told him I was returning to Tokyo. He’d let anger take over him after I told him the news, and had brushed off our two and a half years together like it was nothing. Needless to say, I was heartbroken for months; but I eventually had to move on and took it as my sign to start over at home in Tokyo. No dating, no boyfriends, no nothing—just work. I was turned off and frightened by the idea of dating, in fact. Well, until Satoru had randomly dropped himself into my life, that was.

Why was he DMing me on Instagram? I opened the message.

Though I’d finally managed to get over him a year ago, his message still made my stomach sink. What. The. Fuck. What the hell was wrong with men?! Why did they always love to pop up, as soon as you moved on to someone new??!? There was no questioning it. He’d definitely heard the news online about me and Satoru. I wanted to curse him out—for this bullshit, and for everything he’d done to me. For never answering any of my calls, for abandoning me when I was so anxious about returning home, even though I was excited for the big, new position at my family’s company. For brushing me off and erasing me from his life like we hadn’t been together for nearly three years. Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you!!!

I didn’t even realize I hadn’t blocked him on my socials. I typed back my brief reply before hitting the block button, somehow managing to hold back all the fire and anger I was more than ready to hurl his way.

~ 

Now 12:01pm, I strode into the restaurant just a few blocks down from the Okamoto headquarters—a steakhouse named Gyushi that normally was buzzing with business professionals from the surrounding buildings at this time. I now wore a taupe blazer that had pronounced shoulder pads and accentuated my shape, and a matching miniskirt with black sheer tights underneath. My curls were fastened up in a high braided ponytail, and my small black stilettos lightly clacked against the black and white marble floor when I walked in. It was then I realized that the restaurant was completely empty. Shit—were they closed today? Then why was the door open? 

A shorter man in uniform approached me just then, “Ms. Okamoto?” 

“Yes.” 

“Welcome to Gyushi. Mr. Gojo is already here. Allow me to escort you to your table.” 

“Oh, thank you.” I nodded, curving up the corners of my lips in a polite smile. 

I looked around the western style steakhouse as I followed the man through the front and towards the back; I’d never seen it this empty before... Were they remodeling? We made our way through the spacious restaurant, and eventually I spotted the head of white hair at a plush booth in the center of the back area—an area of the place which I’d never seen, let alone eaten in. Normally I could only grab a seat at the bar in the front for lunch; and trying to book a reservation for dinner? Forget about it. 

The man in uniform bowed his head once we arrived at the booth, “A waiter will come by shortly to get your drink order, and anything else you’d like to start with. Please enjoy.” 

“Thank you.” I matched the man’s small bow, then turned my attention to Satoru who was already standing up, “Hey, you.” My smile grew when my eyes met his. I looked him over once, appreciating the tailored fit of his navy blue and thin white striped suit as I approached him. 

“Hey, Lena, you look great.” Satoru’s eyes traced over my body as well, smirking. He opened his arms, and I joined him in a tight hug, watching him bend down to plant his usual, quick peck on my cheek. Satoru kept his arms locked around my waist but backed up his head a bit to get a better look at me, “You doing okay?” His thumbs rubbed over the fabric at my lower back. 

“I mean, crazy morning but yeah, I’m managing.” I said a bit dramatically yet truthfully, smiling up at Satoru. 

Satoru grumbled low and playfully, eyes moving up from my lips to meet my gaze again, “Hm, I’d rather you were relaxing.” 

I giggled lightly, “It’s fine.” I made a bold move, for me, and stretched up to press a small kiss to Satoru’s cheek. 

Satoru’s eyes softened and he responded by bending down and pressing his lips to mine in a long kiss. He always seemed to one-up me when it came to sweet gestures—even in this romantic way, he was competitive and could never just let me win. 

We sat down in the booth after we pulled apart, and my eyes flickered to the menu before me on the table. I’d only ever seen the short list of lunch specials, not the full menu. 

“You been here before?” Satoru asked, picking up his menu opposite me and skimming through it. 

“Yeah, for lunch. Crazy, it’s usually packed to the brim around this time of day...” I trailed off, looking around the wide-open dining area, “I wonder why it’s empty.” 

Satoru gently placed his menu back down and met my gaze with his own, “The place is ours for the next hour.” He clarified, “I wanted to make sure we could talk privately without anyone butting in—especially with all the media buzz around us this morning.” He said so simply, as if it was the most normal thing in the world. 

“Oh...!” I said, eyes slightly widened in surprise. He reserved the entire steakhouse for us?? With only a few hours' notice?! I was just really starting to see the breadth of the Gojo family’s influence. I mean I’d been trying to get a dinner reservation here for the past two years with no luck! 

Satoru quirked a brow, curious to the expression on my face, “Is that alright?” 

I quickly nodded over and over, still a little shocked, “Oh, yes, of course!” Act cool, Lena. I settled back into the comfy leather booth, picking up my tall menu card to hide my blushing. My eyes scanned through the long list of starters and entrees with no prices. 

“You want anything to start?” Satoru asked and I slid my menu down, so my eyes peeked over the top. 

“Um, I don’t know, everything looks so good.” I finally placed my menu back down on the table when my cheeks no longer felt as warm, biting the inside of my lip. 

“I’m pretty hungry.” Satoru noted, “If I got the chilled grand plateau for two, would you share it with me?” 

My eyes spotted the appetizer on the menu; it was a chilled platter with lobster tails, grilled clams, shrimp cocktail and oysters on the half shell. I gulped at the sound of it all. Seafood was my favorite food, “Yeah, that looks delicious. I’d have some.” I said calmly, trying to hide my excitement. 

“What do you like to drink here?” Satoru continued to scan his menu, flipping it over to check out the cocktails. 

“Well, I usually don’t since I’ve only come for lunch and typically have to go back to work after, but the highball spritzer mocktail is yummy.” 

“Sounds good to me.” Just as Satoru spoke, a waitress with short black hair approached our booth. 

“Hi, I’m Mai. I’ll be your server for today.” Her face looked strangely familiar... Almost like Maki Zenin, the young F1 driver who’d shown quite some promise over the past year, “Can I start you with anything?” She turned to Satoru first. 

“We’ll start with the grand plateau, and two highball spritzers. Thank you.” 

The girl nodded once and started to move back towards the kitchen. 

Gojo turned his attention back to me, “So, how are you really doing, since this morning? Any updates?” 

“Uh, well, nothing too crazy since I muted the apps—just a few friends and people I work with texting, calling, and asking me about it.” I rubbed my hands together, then neatly interlocked my fingers on the table in front of me. My ex, too. I thought, but Satoru didn’t need to know all that. 

Satoru hummed, half-frowning, “I’m sorry this happened like this. I should’ve known better.” He shook his head to himself, “I guess it’d been so long since I’d dated, let alone publicly, I wasn’t even thinking about that.” 

“It’s ok—it's not like you’re the one who posted the pictures everywhere. When is the last time you dated?” I asked, curious. 

Satoru crossed his arms over his chest, thoughtfully, “Like, seriously tried to pursue someone? Maybe... three years ago?” 

“Wow, that is a long time.” My eyes widened to Satoru’s revelation. It was longer than me. If that was true, then I could definitely understand him forgetting about his obsessive fanbase and the nature of celebrity gossip in Tokyo. 

“It’s not like I haven’t done other things in the meantime, but yeah, the last time I seriously dated someone was years ago.” 

“Why’s that? And what do you mean by other things?” I asked, clueless. I picked up the glass of water closest to me and began to take a sip. 

Satoru shrugged, “Just no time, really. Or, maybe unconsciously I was too focused on work and didn’t want to make time for it. And by ‘other things’ I mean casual sex.” 

I nearly choked on my water but cleared my throat instead, taking a quick sip from my glass before setting it back down. Of course he was sexually active. Of course that was what he meant by ‘other things,’ “Oh... right.” I nodded. 

Satoru watched me with intrigue, the corners of his mouth just barely curving upwards, “What about you? When’s the last time you dated?” 

“Two years ago. It was before I moved back here.” I explained, playing with the stem of my water glass. 

Satoru cocked his head to one side, arms still crossed, “Relationship?” I nodded in response to his question. He swiftly asked another, “Did you love him?” 

I blinked a few times to the intimate nature of the question, a bit thrown off guard, “Uh, yeah. I don't think he did, though…” I said honestly, “Did you... love the last person you dated?” I looked back up at Satoru. 

He simply shook his head, “It was someone my parents wanted for me, so it didn’t work out.” 

I nodded, unable to help biting my lip at the silence that followed the last of Satoru’s words. I finally spoke up, remembering what I wanted to say, “Can I ask you something?” 

“Of course.” Satoru said, unfolding his thick arms and gently resting them on the table. 

“Why are you okay with dating me publicly, but not the other girls you dated in the past?” I wanted to know his reasoning. Why was he okay with being seen with me, and why was he initially incognizant of how people and the media would react? 

Satoru leaned over the table, extending his hand to me. In response, I reached forward to place my hand in his. He really was the touchy type—I wouldn’t be surprised if his top love language was physical touch. Well, nearly every man’s top love language was. Was Satoru touchy, or was I just unused to all of this? Some part of me had a feeling it was mostly the latter. We were dating, after all; the only difference was, he was used to more intimate touching, while I hadn’t done it in two years. 

Satoru smiled at me admiringly as he spoke, “Lena, you’re smart... beautiful... kind... and you care about your work, just as much as I care about my own. I’m okay with dating you publicly, because you’re the woman I want to be seen with. No offense to the others I’ve dated and been unsure about, and I know things are still fresh and new between us, but I know that much—that I haven’t met anyone like you before.” Satoru paused, “Sorry I didn’t say all of this before, but I don’t think I even consciously knew how I felt until I really thought about it this morning. It’s only been four days since we met, after all.” He grinned. 

“Yeah,” I exhaled, smile growing, “it feels like it’s been much longer.” I admitted, propping my free arm up on the table to rest my chin in my palm. I slid my hand up to cover my mouth and cheeks, already blushing again. 

“Glad I’m not alone.” Satoru mirrored my expression, blue eyes softening as he gazed over me. His fingers began to gently knead at mine, “You shouldn’t hide your face so much, you know.” He added, and his voice sounded completely different, like there was no one else in this restaurant but us. 

I allowed my hand that was covering my lips and cheeks to slip back down to the white tablecloth, bashfully revealing my face once more. Just then, or waitress returned with our drinks. We let go of each other’s hands, giving the girl room to place our mocktails on the table, “Two highball spritzers... And your appetizer will be out soon.” She nodded once and departed again. 

“Thank you.” I smiled at her, while Satoru still kept his eyes on me. I wondered what he was thinking about? From the look in his eyes, it wasn’t anything family friendly. I took a sip of my mocktail, and Satoru did the same. 

“This is pretty good.” He noted, looking down at the glass, “Almost tastes like soda. Oh—” He seemed to remember something, “there’s a publicist I want you to meet; she’s a social media expert, too. Name’s Nobara Kugisaki. We briefly chatted earlier, but it seems like the situation on your social accounts is something she can easily fix by deleting and limiting comments from people you aren’t following. She had some more recommendations, too. If you want, I could give her your info...” 

“Yeah, that’s... probably a good idea.” I fidgeted with my fingers for a moment, “That would be great. Thanks, Satoru.” 

“You’re the Style VP of one of the biggest luxury sports car companies in the country, let alone world—you should have a publicist. Geez, I can’t imagine all the work you’ve had to do on your own these past few years.” Satoru smiled, shaking his head. 

“Yeah, sifting through media opps on my own has taken a lot more time since I got my role, almost feels like a job on its own, sometimes.” 

“That’s because it is.” Satoru pulled out his phone and began to tap around before typing something, “I’m sending her your number. She should give you a call later today so you can connect on next steps.” 

“Thanks, Satoru, for doing all this...” I smiled over at him, and he looked up from his phone to wink at me. 

 “Of course, babe. It’s the least I can do.” He paused, continuing to type out a message before seemingly hitting send and locking his phone again, “Now, with that settled... We still on for our date this weekend?” Satoru grinned. 

I rolled my eyes playfully, “Oh my god, you and this date!” I smiled and shook my head, “Yes, we’re still on.” 

Satoru silently cheered to himself, then responded, “Anything you’re in the mood for?” 

“Well, I did just get this outdoor pizza oven at my place in Yamanashi... Wanna come over and test it out? Plus, I’d really like to look at my new Nakamura painting there some more...” I trailed off, alluding to the piece he’d bought me on our first date; even though its insane cost of 521 million yen was nothing to Satoru, it meant a lot to me. 

“I’m glad you’re enjoying it so much.” Satoru smiled sincerely, before taking another sip of his mocktail, “Would rather you were looking at me though.” He winked before taking another sip. 

I rolled my eyes, dropping my face into my hands dramatically, “You and these cheesy fucking lines... Stop it!” I laughed. 

~ 

Later that week, on Friday night to be specific, I made sure to take off work exactly at six so I could grab a few things from the grocery store before heading to grandpa’s place: apple cider, cinnamon sticks, and barrel-aged whisky—the three main components of his favorite fall time cocktail. After a day of reviewing the new Okamoto model’s safety checks with the legal team at work, I’d changed out of my usual business clothes and into a comfy, myrtle green, silk midi skirt and a slightly lighter mock neck sweater. 

When I arrived at grandpa’s, I pulled into the short driveway. Even with all of his wealth, not only as the past CEO of Okamoto group but as a retired F1 driver himself, grandpa was never one to live grandly. He enjoyed simplicity, saving money, fine-tuning his cars in the garage, and enjoying the retired life in his tight-knit neighborhood’s community. I parked my sky blue, 1968 Lamborghini Miura S and hopped out with my tote bag of cocktail supplies slung over my shoulder, fishing for my key to grandpa’s place as I shut the heavy car door behind me. 

“Grandpa, I’m home!” I called from the entryway when I opened his front door, quirking a brow upwards when I didn’t hear a reply, “Grandpa...?” Maybe he was in the garage? I walked down the hall and towards the kitchen, breathing a little sigh of relief when I heard the familiar metal clink of a tire rim coming from the room just behind it. I dropped my bags on the countertop and headed towards the stream of warm light pouring out from the open door to the garage. It was a big, open space—perhaps larger than the rest of the house combined. It was a ten-car garage with all the tools, gear, and vintage tech a car nerd could dream of. I spotted him in a small folding chair beside the front passenger tire, fastening a lug nut onto it. I furrowed my brows in concern, “Grandpa...! You’re not supposed to be bending like that!” I put my hands on my hips, disapprovingly. 

“Hey, Lena-chan—perfect timing!” He stood from his seated and bent position next to the tire, a long, metal lug nut wrench in his hand, “Help your old man out, would you?” 

I pouted as I approached my grandfather, but hugged him tight, regardless, “Hi, grandpa. You should’ve waited for me to get here! The doctor told you not to strain your back, you know.” I reminded him, offering him an accusatory point before retrieving the wrench from his hand. He was a few inches shorter than me with short gray hair and a small beer belly, and he currently wore an old, slightly oily mechanic’s jumpsuit. I hiked my skirt up a little, and moved the chair away from the old, cherry-colored 1971 Okamoto H7 model as I didn’t need it. I knelt on one knee and tightly fastened the remaining lug nut before checking and tightening the ones on the other tires, “Did you fasten all of these by yourself??” 

“I’m fine, Lena-chan. Your grandpa’s not that old!” The man laughed heartily, and the way his deep dimples and wrinkles curved up into a full-face smile made my heart warm. No matter where I found myself, if I was away from home then I was always missing him. 

I pointed the long end of the wrench in my grandpa’s direction, “If you don’t take it easy, I’m gonna change the locks to your garage!” My pout grew. 

Grandpa raised his hands in surrender, “Okay, okay! I promise to take it easy. Now, more importantly, did you bring the goodies?” He clasped his hands together with a grin. 

“Mhm, all the ingredients for our special cider!” I nodded, putting the wrench back in its place on a nearby worktable. I wiped my hands off with a rag that rested on the corner of it. 

"Let’s get to it, then!” 

A little later, we sat on the couch in front of the western style fireplace with mugs of spiked apple cider in our hands. Remote in his free hand, Grandpa flipped through the various movie channels on the TV that was mounted up above the fire. He passed through various movie channels but paused when I rested my head on his shoulder, tired and already feeling the alcohol settle throughout my body. I realized that I hadn’t drank in a while, and that I was exhausted—even after a half-week of work, “Grandpa? Can I stay here for the night?” I nudged his shoulder with my cheek. 

Grandpa put the remote down on his lap and wrapped his arm around me, eyes currently fixed on an old western movie that played on the large screen before us, “Of course you can stay. It’s your home.” He stroked my hair with his hand, and I put my mug down on the coffee table before us to wrap my arms around him comfortably. 

Before I’d gone to boarding school for high school, Grandpa’s place had become a real home to me since I was a kid. I’d found myself in constant fights with my dad and stepfamily growing up, so much so that grandpa decided to take me in. Grandpa had been there when my nightmares were at their worst, too, always there to scoop me up into his arms and soothe me back to sleep after the painful memories of losing my mom and of my father’s fits of anger tormented me. Grandpa was the closest thing I had to a dad. In fact, after legally being my guardian for some time, teaching me everything he knew, and caring for me when no one else would, he truly was. 

Grandpa put his mug down on the table next to mine and picked up the remote again, continuing to scroll through the channels until he passed a local celebrity news channel—the image of Satoru and I kissing plastered all over the big screen. I jumped upright and made a noise of surprise at the image on the local channel, jaw dropping to the sight of a celebrity news reporter talking about the situation. 

“-the steamy picture seems to have been taken in front of the Tokyo Bay Yacht Club, and features Okamoto Group Chief Designer and VP of Style, Lena Okamoto, mid-kiss with Satoru Gojo. Gojo fans all over the internet have buzzing about these photos, primarily wondering if this is Tokyo's most eligible bachelor’s new girlfriend. What do you think? Tweet us your thoughts at—” 

“Agh!!” I reached over and clicked the channel button in grandpa’s hand, quickly flipping it to some variety TV show on the one following. 

I looked over at grandpa, then threw my face into my hands, embarrassed. Even without looking, I could feel his direct eyes on me. He was silent for a moment, then suddenly spoke up, “You think I haven’t heard about you and the Gojo kid?” He asked simply. 

I sat up again, dropping my hands to my lap and returning my gaze to grandpa, “You... you know about this?” 

“It’s all everyone’s been talking to me about.” Grandpa scoffed out a quick laugh, “You wouldn’t believe the people who’ve called to ask me about that in the past few days...” He trailed off. 

“People have been asking you about it??” I suddenly felt anxious. 

“Just some old connections, and friends from Okamoto Group.” He crossed his arms over his chest, “You think ‘cause I’m old I don’t keep up with the latest news? You two are quite the talk of the city right now.” 

I groaned and leaned back into the sofa, allowing my head to roll back on it so that I was looking up at the ceiling, “This is crazy...!” 

“I was just wondering when you were going to tell me about this. You used to always talk to me about your boyfriends and such.” He half-frowned, seemingly disappointed about being left out of the loop—except I’d never intended him to be. Things were just too new with Satoru! 

I straightened up once more, looking at grandpa, “That’s because he’s not even my boyfriend! We’ve only been on one date! Of course, I would’ve told you if it was serious.” 

Grandpa retrieved his mug from the table, “Well, you already know what I have to say about it. I don’t care who the guy is; if he hurts you, then I have to kill him.” He simply shrugged before taking a long swig of spiked cider. 

I rolled my eyes and laughed once, “Oh my god, grandpa... Please be serious.” 

“What do you mean? I’m completely serious.” Grandpa blinked, having said the words without emotion. 

Grandpa simply stared at me, and I, back at him. Then, we abruptly busted out laughing. 

He placed his hand on my shoulder as our laughing died down, “But Lena-chan, I know how you can get about these sorts of things. I know you’re an introverted person, and this situation with the Gojo kid is probably a shock for you, but you can’t let these people get to you. People will always want something or someone to gossip about. It’s up to you to live your life confidently without any reservations. The best thing you can do in these kinds of situations, situations where it seems like everyone has something to say, is to be successful—to be your very best self.” 

I nodded to grandpa’s words, staring aimlessly into the space before me after he finished talking to think for a moment. Then I turned back to him, “But what about the board? What if all this news impacts my job?” 

“Something this small?” Grandpa crossed his arms again and shook his head, “It won’t. If anything, all this talk about you is good for the business. Actually, I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw a spike in vehicle sales soon. Trust me, people much higher in leadership have given our family company far worse press.” 

I knew exactly who he was talking about. Toji. Though Toji was undefeated in his business endeavors whenever he actually was working, his issues were the situations he found himself in after working hours, “That’s true.” I agreed, reaching over to retrieve my cup once more to take a sip. 

“So, when am I going to meet Satoru Gojo?” 

“Grandpa!” 

“What?? I just want to give him a stern talking-to.” 

I shook my head, laughing softly, “Don’t try to scare him off yet, we’ve only had one date! I’ll bring him over and introduce him only when we’re serious... If things become serious, that is.” 

“If he can’t take the heat then he’s no good for you anyways.” Grandpa shrugged, “But seriously, Lena-chan, as long as he treats you like the princess you are, then he’s alright with me.” He nodded with finality, then cleared his throat, “But if he hurts you, I’ll kill him.” 

“Grandpa!” I guffawed. 

~ 

 The following night I found myself diligently organizing pizza ingredients into small bowls on my long kitchen island, my homemade pizza dough already portioned out, proofed, and stretched over two personal sized pizza pans for Satoru and me. I kept the toppings fairly simple: marinara, fresh mozzarella, basil, tomatoes, prosciutto, chicken, caramelized onions, and grated parmesan. I’d popped a bottle of dry red sangiovese for myself, and even managed to find a sweet, non-alcoholic red for Satoru from a specialty bar in Yamanashi.

I’d checked the entire house at least four times by now, making sure that there were a few scented candles lit around the wide living room and kitchen area, and that the old record player was lowly buzzing and crackling with jazz music from my Italian grandma’s favorite—the Live John Coltrane Newport ’63 album. Everything was in its place, or, as much as it could be, seeing as the renovations on the back deck were still a work in progress. I took a long sip of sangiovese to calm my nerves, swirling the remaining liquid around in my wine glass after and biting my bottom lip. I couldn’t help but be a bit nervous. I hadn’t organized a date in years, let alone invited a man to my place in Yamanashi before. Maybe, in that way, I was a lot like Satoru when it came to his favorite boat. But it was a cozy date at my house, and my period had ended a few days ago, now, so… What if we ended up having se—

The sound of the doorbell jolted me from my thoughts, and I put my glass down on the countertop before making my way toward the front entrance in a maxi, light sepia lounge dress and long taupe cardigan that were both soft to the touch. I smoothed out the material one last time before opening the door with a smile, “Hi.”

“Hey, Lena.” Satoru leaned coolly against the entryway with his arm propped up above him, wearing a brown, knitted crewneck sweater with a simple white t-shirt underneath, and loose-fitting, dark brown, and pleated corduroy trousers with black tabi boots. He had a huge and carefully arranged bouquet of white orchids in his hand that he extended to me, “These are for you. They say orchids are good for new homes, and I thought that since you’re renovating the place…”

“Oh my god, thank you, Satoru! I love white flowers.” My smile grew as he passed me the bouquet and I took a deep inhale, “Come in!”

I embraced Satoru in a hug after he slipped off his boots in the genkan area by the door, stretching up on my tip toes to press a kiss to his cheek. He hugged me and pecked my cheek back in return, pausing to appreciate the fabric of my lounge dress after doing so, “Oh, this is nice… I like it.” Satoru rubbed up and down my back and sides with an intrigued hum and I giggled to his exploring hands.

“Thank you. You look handsome, too.” I smiled sweetly, and we finally broke apart, “You want a little tour before we make pizzas?”

“Absolutely.”

“Oh, let me put these in some water first.” I walked back toward the kitchen, fetching the pair of green stem trimmers out of a drawer in the kitchen island, and a large ceramic vase from a cabinet underneath the sink. I set all of the supplies on the table and turned back to Satoru to find him sitting down on one of the highchairs on the opposite side of island counter, “Want something to drink? There’s…” I picked up the unopened specialty bottle I’d gotten for Satoru to jog my memory, “a non-alc, sweet red wine, if you wanna try some.”

“Thanks, babe, you didn’t have to get a special bottle for me. But yeah, I’d love some.”

“I’m part Italian, you know. My mom and grandma would turn in their graves if I served you pizza without any wine.” I opened the twist cap and poured out a small serving into the bulbous, wide rimmed glass that matched mine, sliding it across the granite counter for Satoru to try, “Let me know what you think.”

Satoru poked his nose into the opening of the glass to take a light sniff, then took a small sip and paused before quickly downing the rest of the bit of liquid. He set the glass back down, “Damn, that’s good… Tastes like juice!”

“I’m glad you like it.” I smiled, before pouring him a more generous serving. I moved on to the orchids after, filling the vase with a little water then beginning to trim each of the thick ends of the flowers’ stems.

“How was your day so far?” Satoru asked before taking another sip of his drink.

“Pretty good, just was getting the house ready for this.” I clipped the end of a stem at the end of my words.

“All day?” Satoru rose a brow.

“Mhm, there’s been a lot of construction here over the past few months, so there was a lot of dust and stuff to clean up.”

“You don’t have to do all that for me.” Satoru said with a slightly contradicting, pleased smirk.

“Satoru, I’m not bringing you or anyone into a dirty house—which was why I was so caught off guard by the painting you sent me earlier this week. I mean, thankfully my study’s been in good condition, but still…” I shook my head, thinking of the crazy price point on that first date gift yet again, “But I love it, so thank you.” I said the last part with an endearing tone.

“You’re very welcome, Lena.” Satoru matched my tone but with a much lower voice.

“What about you? How was your day?” I continued snapping away at the ends of the flowers, curling my mouth a bit as I struggled with one particular stem that felt hard as steel.

“It was good, did a little work then—” Satoru was cut off when I finally trimmed the end of one of the orchids; the piece of stem immediately went flying in the air and hit him square in the forehead, “Ow.”

Though it had been a complete accident, I couldn’t help the deep, honest laugh that followed when I saw the small red mark on Satoru’s head. I even pointed in his direction as I guffawed.

Satoru stood to his feet, beginning to grin, “Oh you think that’s funny?” He started to approach me, walking around the kitchen island, “You think that’s funny, Lena?” Satoru easily grabbed and lifted me up, nuzzling his head into the crook of my neck to gently nibble at my skin there, “Attacking people with flower stems??”

“No…!” I giggled out with a big smile, nearly out of breath from laughing so much, “I didn’t mean to…!” I playfully fought back, wriggling around in Satoru’s grasp.

“You’ll pay for that!” Satoru lifted my hips up so that I sat on the counter closest to the wall, continuing to nibble at my neck and earlobe as he prodded and tickled me with his fingers.

I jerked around in Satoru’s hands, “Stop…! Haha, I can’t breathe!” I laughed out, but stopped when I noticed that Satoru had suddenly froze, his hands resting on my butt, “What’s—” I started, but Satoru jumped in.

Satoru backed his head up enough to look me in my eyes, “You’re not wearing any underwear…” It was definitely a statement, but Satoru had said the words more like a question. Then it dawned on me: The fabric of my lounge dress was thin; he could probably easily feel my bare skin just beneath it…

My entire face burned bright red to Satoru’s words. I wasn’t. But who could blame me? I’d been at the house all day and had honestly forgotten!

Satoru pressed his forehead to mine, voice turning deep and velvety, “You always walk around like that…?”

“N-No!” I stuttered out, embarrassed, yet intoxicated by the way Satoru spoke.

“Or is it just for me?” Satoru cooed shameless and confidently, lips now ghosting over my ear. It was like he knew he was driving me crazy. He began to kiss my neck just below, gently licking and sucking there as soft moans fled my sighing mouth.

Somehow, against my own physical desires, I managed to tap Satoru’s shoulder for him to stop, “T-Tour…! The tour!” I gasped out. I spoke again when I caught my breath, “Let me show you the house.” I tucked my curls behind my ear, still blushing profusely. I shifted my legs as well, feeling a familiar, wetness between them when I moved.

Satoru broke away, now looking into my eyes with his piercing blue, and very visibly turned on as his breathing had grown slightly deeper, “Sure. Yeah, let’s see the place.” He nodded a bit mindlessly, still sort of regaining his composure.

I hopped off the counter and took Satoru’s hand, leading him to the next room, “Come with me.” I smirked, looking over my shoulder at him.

About an hour or so later, Satoru and I had ended the house tour in my study; with me admiring the Nakamura painting with my glass of wine in hand, and Satoru at my desk checking out my car design sketch book. We’d paused for a quick pizza break as well, and while I’d decided on marinara, mozzarella, prosciutto, parmesan and basil for my toppings, Satoru had fished the barbeque sauce out of my fridge to create a barbecue chicken pizza with mozzarella and caramelized onions on top—a choice I’d initially refused to try at first, especially as a pizza purist, but ended up taking a bite of anyways. The new pizza oven on the back patio must’ve had magic in it, because every pizza that that we put in it came out absolutely delicious.

“These are fucking amazing.” Satoru noted, before flipping a page in my sketchbook, “How the hell do you even think up this kinda stuff?” He looked up from the desk at me.

I shrugged, then took another sip of sangiovese.

Satoru put down the sketch pad, then stood up to approach a glass-lined bookcase filled with black binders, each labeled with different car model names. They weren’t all Okamoto cars, either. There were a number of Porsche, Lamborghini, Ferrari, Maserati, Mercedes, BMW, Corvette, Bugatti, Toyota, and Alfa Romeo ones as well, and they all totaled to about 75 binders, “What’s all this?” Satoru asked, picking up the 2022 Ferrari F8 Tributa binder with white lining and flipping through it.

“Those are some of my favorite car models, organized by make and in order by my personal most to least favorites. Each binder has full engine and body mechanics mockups, notes, and news clippings; and the black binders with white lining are ones I’ve worked on. I strode a little close to Satoru, looking over his shoulder as he flipped through the laminated pages. A few of the pages were even scrapbook-style, featuring cute mementos like article clippings from F1 races and ‘eureka’ moment-esque physics equations my team and I had scribbled down on pub napkins after hours. After all the pages with engine and car images, the last page in this binder featured a polaroid picture of me and my old mechanics production team at Ferrari, signed with everyone’s names and farewell messages written all over the page in Italian. In the black and white image, we were all beside the Autodromo Nazionale Monza track, and the team had snapped a picture of us all mid-laugh as they tossed me into the air above them.

Satoru chuckled at the sight of the picture of me laughing in my greasy racing mechanic suit, then turned to me with an admiring smile, “Lena, you’re amazing… You put all of these binders together yourself?”

I nodded shyly, as this sort of car model scrapbooking had become a personal passion and nerdy obsession of mine. Though I’d only started making the binders ten years ago, my goal was at least to have 500 of them by the time I was old and retired. I wanted enough black binders to fill an entire wall—not just a bookcase.

Satoru closed the binder and put it back, slowly turning to fully face me. His affectionate smile remained on his lips, and he reached out to gently retrieve the glass of wine in my hand before safely placing it on the desk beside us. He then pulled me close, wrapping me in his arms before raising one of his hands to stroke my cheek. I rested my hands on Satoru’s white t-shirt, his brown sweater now long tossed aside to the corner of the room as he’d accidentally gotten some barbecue sauce on it earlier. I felt his chest muscles ripple beneath his shirt when he slid his hand down my back, eyes peering directly down into mine as his fingers brushed over my cheek.

Satoru looked at me in a way that was so sweet, calm, and unflinching, making me realize I didn’t believe I’d ever been looked at so intimately in my life. And he was so handsome, with his messily styled yet neatly trimmed white locks of hair, piercing azure gaze, toned body, spotless skin, and chiseled jaw. He opened his mouth to speak, “You’re the smartest, most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen.”

I tilted my head backwards to chuckle, “Oh, stop.” I was flattered but shook my head in disbelief.

“No, seriously, Lena…” Satoru tilted my had back down so that I was looking up at him once more, “I’ve never met a woman as passionate about something as you are. That passion for something you love… It looks so beautiful on you.” Satoru stroked his thumb over my cheek, and I felt my face redden at his words. They were the kind that pulled on my heartstrings.

I stretched up a little more, closing the space between us more as I closed my eyes, and Satoru dipped his head down to press his lips to mine, sharply inhaling through his nose as he immediately deepened our kiss into a wildly passionate one. I reciprocated his energy, beginning to feel just as impatient. Even though it was only our second official date, I felt I’d ignored my desires to touch and be touched by Satoru so many times that I’d lost count.

I wrapped my arms around Satoru’s neck, pulling him into me even further. Our kiss turned far more heated when Satoru slid his tongue into my mouth, both of his hands now slipping up and down the curves of my lightly covered waist. The fabric shifted up under his touch, and the combination of his hand movements with his kissing started to make my head spin. I took the opportunity to push my hands up underneath his shirt, appreciating the solid muscles of his chest and abdomen.

Satoru huffed out a short chuckle between open-mouthed kisses, tongue swirling around mine, “That’s not fair…” He teased lowly, sliding the hands that had been on my waist down to my ass before tightly squeezing my cheeks there.

I moaned into his mouth and felt desire pool in my abdomen. I wanted to be out of this dress already. It was too damn long and warm. Satoru planted kisses down my face to my chin, neck, then finally my shoulder, prodding his hot tongue over the skin there every so often. I had the feeling he was starting to learn that I really liked being kissed there. Maybe it was the way light moans squeezed their way up and out my throat every time his mouth was there.

With Satoru’s squeezing hands and skilled lips moving all over me, I began to pant to the lust that was taking over me. Somehow, I mustered up the strength to tell him for the first time what I really wanted, “Satoru, c-can we… move to my bedroom?”

“Baby, you can have whatever you want.” Satoru abruptly reached down to grab the backs of my thighs, pulling me up into his arms. I made a sound of surprise but smirked, quickly wrapping my legs around his waist and my arms around his shoulders to regain some balance. Satoru easily walked us out of my study, down the hall, and into my bedroom, kissing me all the while. And instead of tossing me onto the bed and ripping his clothes off like I was typically used to, Satoru sat me down on the bed, sitting right beside me and joining our lips once more before tipping us back onto the bed.

Satoru hovered into the space above me, holding his weight in his forearms on either side of my head as he kissed me hungrily. He broke away after a moment, resting back on his knees in the space before me on the bed so that he could watch my every movement. His hands found my bare ankles and he raised them just a bit, slowly opening up my legs so that the fabric of my lounge dress slid up my smooth thighs, “So pretty…” Satoru’s eyes and attention then fully fixed themselves on the space between my legs, licking his lips and only looking back up into my eyes to ask me something, “Can I touch you…?” He asked, voice turning deep and sultry as he slid one of his hands up my inner thigh.

“Yes, please.” I begged in a small voice with a quick nod.

Gojo’s left hand continued to slowly slip up my inner thigh until he finally reached my pussy, long fingers finding the small nub of flesh before rubbing with an intensity I wasn’t expecting. I jerked on the bed a little, brows pushing together with a small wince. But Satoru immediately adjusted his pressure, easing up into small, gentle circles around my clit. My body quickly eased in response, and I sighed, beginning to feel the pleasure from his movements.

“You’re really sensitive, huh, Lena?” Satoru said lowly, voice pure velvet, “And wet…” He noted, settling himself down on the bed at my left side. He rested on his side as he rubbed me, watching my every expression and movement as I laid on my back. I looked down at his thick, toned arm between my legs, fingers rubbing, circling, and gently pinching my clit in a practiced sort-of-way that made my breath catch in my throat.

“Look at me, baby.” Satoru asked and I immediately complied, turning my head to look at him beside me, “How long have you been this wet? There’s no way you’re this drenched after a few minutes of kissing...” Satoru paused in his circling to retrieve his and from between my legs, showing me his wet fingers in the dim light of my bedroom, “See? Look…” He turned his hand around and slowly parted his index and middle fingers, a lewd string of my juices appearing and on full display.

I blushed and turned my eyes back to Satoru’s face, nearly whimpering my answer I was so turned on, “Since… you kissed me on the counter…” I panted out, honestly.

“Oh, beautiful… That was over an hour ago.” Satoru returned his hand to the spot between my legs, continuing to rub me gently, just how I liked, “You’ve wanted to be touched for that long?”

I nodded shyly.

“Say it.” Satoru’s attention lowered to my neck, and he slid my long curls away to kiss it. I moaned at the combination of his lips and fingers on my body.

“I’ve wanted you to touch me for so long…!” I nearly cried out, still only speaking just above a whisper.

“Fuck, Lena…” Satoru cursed, burying his face into the pillow beside my head, before turning to speak again, “I’m trying my fucking hardest to take things slow with you…” He pressed his lips to my ear to say the next part, “But every part of me craves you.” Satoru’s fingers continued to rub gentle circles around my clit and I moaned, rocking my hips up into his hand. He chuckled to this, teasingly pulling his hand back to leave me wanting. His hand slid up my thigh instead, pushing up the fabric even further, “Let’s get this off.”

I aided Satoru in removing my lounge dress, lifting my hips and pulling the fabric up and over my head. I do my best to push my long black curls away from my face that had been frazzled by taking off my clothes, only then realizing I was completely bare as the dress had a built-in bra. I watched Satoru slowly look my entire body over, before he mouthed the word ‘fuck.’

I suddenly felt a bit shy, as I was the only one naked while Satoru was still fully clothed, “Um, what about you?” I asked, looking up at him.

Satoru stroked my cheek, then allowed his hand to slide down my neck and chest, “Patience, Lena…” He cooed and leaned in to kiss my lips, down my neck, and to my chest—already grabbing handfuls of my breasts and taking turns licking and sucking each of my nipples.

“Mmh…!” I moaned abruptly to the new sensation, mind starting to spin from all the attention Satoru was paying to my body.

“God, you’re fucking perfect…” Satoru paused to look me up and down again, then his gaze lifted and directly met mine, “You got any toys here, babe?” He continued to hold my chest, thumbs circling over my hardened nipples.

I blinked to the question. A man had never asked me that before, “Uh, yeah. Just one… Why?”

Satoru immediately slipped off the bed and stood up, “Where?”

“Um, bottom drawer.” I tilted my head in the direction of the bedside dresser to my right, swallowing a bit nervously as I was unsure of what Satoru would do next.

Satoru dropped into a squat and opened the drawer, retrieving the only item that was in it—a clit sucking and stimulating device. He grinned when he grabbed the handle and brandished it at me, “You keep it this close, huh?”

I shrugged silently, cheeks still red.

Satoru returned to his spot right next to me on the bed, lying on his side once more before offering me the toy, “Show me how you do it.” He smirked.

I took the toy’s handle into my hand, then glanced up to meet Satoru’s eyes, “By myself?” I questioned, “But I want you to touch me…” I batted my eyelashes up at him, pleading.

“We have all night for that.” He stroked my cheek, brushing a curl away from my face, “Don’t worry, beautiful, I’ll give you everything you want.”

I held the white button on the toy with my index and it softly buzzed to life. I turned its head downwards, closing my eyes as I placed the small silicone opening on my clit. I sighed in relief from the stimulation—though it wasn’t exactly what I wanted in this moment, it was something. I pressed the button again, increasing the toy’s vibration just slightly.

Though I had my eyes closed, I was sure that Satoru was watching me intently. His lips pressed to my ear and his tongue lapped over the shell of it, lewdly dipping in before sucking my earlobe, “Tell me what you’re thinking about, baby.” He breathed out, and his low voice made me twitch with excitement.

I propped my legs up on the bed, giving myself and the toy more access to my pussy. I furrowed my brows, mind going foggy at the pleasure I was receiving, “I don’t know…” I trailed off; though the last time I’d touched myself yesterday morning, it was the thought of Satoru’s hands that had sent me over the edge. He didn’t need to know that.

“Yes, you do.” Satoru nearly growled into my ear, “What, are you embarrassed? You can tell me…” He kissed just under my ear, then hotly lapped and sucked the skin at the crook of my neck. At this point, he was definitely going to leave a mark there.

I swallowed down the saliva that was pooling in my mouth, “Y-Your hands.” I admitted, blinking my eyes open to gaze at Satoru.

“Oh, these?” Satoru rose his brows and sat up so he could rub his hands over my legs and up my abdomen, all the way to my chest, “What about them?” He repeated his hand motions again, slowly stroking from my legs up to my breasts, “What do you think about them doing to you?”

I could feel my heart beat thickly in my chest. I bit my lip and remained silent, not really wanting to tell him about my licentious thoughts and desires. I was beginning to get lost in pleasure from the toy’s stimulation, anyhow.

Satoru paused in his rubbing and awaited my answer, then realized I wasn’t going to speak. In response, he swiftly reached down to retrieve the toy from between my legs and out of my grasp, “Now, that’s not fair,” Satoru started, half-frowning but only teasingly, “I’m part of your fantasies, but don’t even get to know how?”

I groaned out a whimper and shifted my hips on the bed, now that the source of my pleasure was gone. I pouted, already giving in, “Fine…!” I whined, speaking in a small voice, “I think about your hands… wrapping around my neck, and choking me.” I admitted and tucked my arms at my sides, unsure of what to do with them.

Satoru looked amused, like he wasn’t expecting me to say that. A wicked grin spread across his face, “Shit, babe. I thought you were gonna say something sweet like me holding you, or something…” He leaned close to me, gently placing his free hand around my neck. It was big and warm, and I could feel his thumb and index just barely press into the sides of it, “You’ve got a dirty mind, don’t you, Lena?” Satoru sighed out a single laugh, then returned the toy to the spot between my legs, causing me to jump a little when the silicone opening directly collided with my clit.

“Ah!” A moan fled from my lips, and my brows pushed together in a straight line when Satoru simultaneously pressed a little harder on the sides of my neck with his fingers. I felt wildly turned on all of a sudden; if this continued on, it wouldn’t be long before I came.

“Fuck, you’re sensitive. This is only the second setting on this thing…” Satoru eyed the toy in his hand curiously, then tapped the button, slightly increasing its vibration on the next setting.

My hips jerked upwards, and I began to moan repeatedly, feeling the pleasure start to radiate all over my body, “Satoru…” I warned, “M’gonna cum…!”

“Hm, enough of this.” Satoru pulled the toy away from between my legs and clicked around on the buttons until finally turning it off. He tossed it on the other end of the bed somewhere and let go of my neck as well.

“No!” I softly cried out, “Please…” I begged, upset at having been denied my orgasm.

“Please what?” Satoru asked for clarification, far calmer and more collected than I was presently.

“Please let me cum!” I said desperately, my pleading eyes looking up at Satoru who was hovering over me.

“I’ll let you cum as many times as you want, beautiful…” Satoru kissed between my breasts, slowly pecking his way down my abdomen, “You just have to be patient.” He said in between kisses, “I promise you’ll love it. Now, can I taste you?” Satoru asked, eyes staring up at mine as he moved to trail kisses up the inside of my thigh. He lowered himself flat on the bed before me, thick arms already propping my bent legs over his shoulders.

“Please!”

“Mm… Good girl. Begging so nicely…” Those two words made my head spin. Satoru finally descended his lips to between my legs, starting with a long lick up the glistening folds of my pussy—his eyes on me the entire time. I shuddered and gasped to his licking, my right hand moving to grip the white locks of hair at the back of his head. He paused to speak briefly, gently rubbing my clit with the pads of his fingers while he talked, “You taste so good, Lena. Knew this pussy would be perfect.”

I moaned when his mouth returned to my pussy, especially when he continued on to gently suck and tug on my labia with his lips. The slurping noises he made as he shamelessly ate me out were driving me mad, and my hips jerked around to all the strong sensations and pleasure he was giving me. I settled down a bit when Satoru returned to focusing and licking up, down, and around my pussy lips and clit; a pathetic and desperate moan fleeing my panting mouth when he found a particularly pleasing spot right next to my clit—my favorite spot… How the hell had he found that so fast?? Satoru’s gaze lifted back up to my face at my reaction, and he continued to lick, flick, and prod his tongue there at a steady pace.

I watched as Satoru devoured me and gripped his hair tighter at the sudden uptick in pleasure I was experiencing. I nodded my head quickly, “Yes! Ahh, right, there…!” My legs bent even tighter over Satoru’s shoulders, pulling him close to me while rocking my hips up into his mouth.

Satoru didn’t respond with words, but I watched the corners of his mouth curve up into a smirk as he licked me, “Mhm…” He hummed, picking up the pace even more and shifting one of his arms to press his middle finger to my wet entrance. Satoru slowly pushed his finger into my pussy, working the long digit in and out of me while he continued to lick my clit.

I didn’t need to warn him this time. The loud desperation on my face and in my helpless moans were enough to signal to Satoru that I was going to cum, and hard, at that. But I cried his name, regardless, “Satoru!” My mind went blank just after, and the noise that escaped my throat was hardly human. I grunted and clenched hard around Satoru’s finger and my eyes briefly rolled back, hips jerking and spasming with every wave of the intense orgasm that took over me. Though Satoru didn’t back away and held my hips down with his arm, licking me through every second of my climax.

I was left a panting mess beneath him when he was finished with me, my legs shaking and trembling when his mouth and hand parted with my pussy. I looked up to catch my wetness all over Satoru’s lips and chin, nearly dripping down to his t-shirt from the abundance of it. He wiped his chin and grinned. I needed to be close to him again. I was grateful when he lowered himself down over me, his lips taking mine in a deep, lewd kiss. I tasted myself on his tongue and hummed into his mouth, slowly coming down from my mind-altering orgasm.

“Better?” Satoru asked between kisses, smirking.

I quickly nodded over and over, “Yeah…” I sighed, still a little out of breath, “Much better.” The toy was nothing in comparison to Satoru’s mouth.

“See? You just gotta trust me… You’re so cute.” Satoru grinned, showering me in light kisses.

“Satoru?”

“Yes, babe?”

“Do you have a condom?”

Satoru looked surprised by my words, yet again, and quirked a brow upwards, his smile just slightly growing, “Yeah, I always keep one in my wallet. Why do you ask?” He feigned cluelessness, just trying to get me to utter my desires aloud once more.

“I want you.” I said in a soft voice, trailing my hand down his chest and to his abdomen, “I want you to feel good, too.”

“What do you want of me? Be specific, Lena… Communication is important.” He cooed deeply into my ear, his tone flirty and enticing.

“I… I want your dick inside of me…!” My face reddened bashfully as I admitted what I wanted.

Satoru chuckled and sat back for a moment, amused, “You just came and already want more, beautiful? I mean it’s fine by me, but, just curious… How many rounds do you typically like?”

I blinked a few times, still dazed, “I don’t know, I haven’t had sex in a few years.”

Satoru looked the most shocked I’d ever seen him, eyes blown wide and jaw practically on the floor, “A few years??!?! How long is a few years??!!”

“Like, two?”

“Shit, Lena. How the hell do you manage that?” Satoru asked the clearly rhetorical question just above a whisper, shaking his head to himself and already reaching for his wallet in the back of his trousers. He opened one of the pockets and retrieved a large foil packet before passing it to me, “Hold that for me, please.”

Satoru stood to his feet beside the bed, quickly making work of his shirt by pulling it over his head, then undoing his belt before sliding it, his pants, and his underwear down and off his legs in one go. Now freed from the confines of his pants, Satoru’s dick sprang to life, and nothing could’ve prepared me for seeing the size of it—not even having already seen his bulge a few times now. He was massive. At least 24cm or 9.5in long, girthy, cut, and completely shaved other than the light trail of white hair below his navel. I blinked, wide-eyed and mouth agape as he rejoined me on the bed, slipping the condom from my seemingly frozen fingers, I was so still with shock, “Uhh… wow, um… You’re huge.”

Satoru exhaled a short chuckle and leaned close to me while he broke open the packet, pecking my lips before speaking, “Don’t worry babe, it’ll fit.” He assured me. But would it, really?! I couldn’t help but wonder, “It’ll be a tight fit, but it will, and I’ll make you feel amazing. You just have to trust me, okay?” Satoru glanced down to roll the condom down the thick length of his dick, slowly spitting down onto himself to make it extra slick. He leaned in again, holding his weight on one arm beside my waist, and using his other hand to guide his dick to my pussy. I felt him, impossibly thick and heavy, press and prod against my entrance, “You trust me, babe?” Satoru spoke lowly into my ear, tone husky and heavy with lust.

“Yes…” I sighed lightly, beginning to feel slightly nervous. Satoru hadn’t given me a reason not to trust him.

“Then relax for me.” Satoru’s voice nearly made me dizzy, it was so hot. My pelvic floor muscles clenched in response. I took a deep breath, trying to release the tension in my body. Just as I relaxed some, I felt Satoru push in a little. I released a high-pitched moan in response and Satoru mumbled praises into my ear, “That’s good, Lena, now relax your hips for me…” He talked me through every inch of him, and now that the tip was in, his hand that had guided his dick slid around my side to sweetly rub and knead my hip, “Come on, baby, open up for me.” Satoru murmured the words into my ear, nearly whispering.

“Oh, fuck… You’re too fucking big…” I whined at Satoru’s size, doing my best to relax though his dick was stretching me unlike anything I’d ever experienced before. It didn’t help that I’d been out of practice for two years. The next time I exhaled, his length pushed in some more, and I reflexively pulsed around his dick, a groan falling from my lips.

“Yes.” Satoru praised, “That’s it—you’re doing so well, baby.” He slowly pushed into me even more and I moaned again, unable to help but briefly clench around him again. Satoru buried his face in the pillow beside me with a long groan, “Fuck… You feel fucking insane, Lena…” His lips returned to my ear, tone absolutely wanton, “You know you keep squeezing me like crazy? You want me that much? Let me give you what you need then, beautiful.” His dirty talk was going to drive me insane.

Satoru slowly thrusted in a little more, and I sighed in relief, assuming that was the last bit of him.

“Just a little bit more, okay?”

“M-More?!” I gasped, in disbelief. I rolled my head back on the pillow and moaned helplessly to the surprising yet pleasant fullness in my abdomen. Though Satoru was huge, he’d gone so slow enough that I’d hardly felt any discomfort. He hotly licked up the length of my exposed neck before joining our mouths in a messy kiss. He pushed the rest of the way in, and we broke our kiss with moans as we were finally skin to skin. I’d never been stretched and filled to capacity like this—it was making my mind fuzzy.

Satoru moved his hand from my hip to my knee, lifting the underside of it to prop over his shoulder. My hips rose slightly from this new position, and I felt Satoru’s dick press and nudge against my cervix because of it. I whimpered and shuddered to this, and Satoru backed up enough to gaze gown at me, eyes examining my expression in a protective sort-of-way, “You okay?”

“Yes,” I started, brows knit tightly, “just, slow, please…” I moaned lightly and allowed my eyes to flutter shut for a moment, “Shit, you’re deep.”

Satoru rolled his hips against mine and I opened my eyes again, a smirk spread across his face, “Yeah, think I’m the deepest I can go.” He teased cockily, feeling his tip press against my cervix, “But I told you it would fit, didn’t I?”

“Shut up.” I huffed out, managing a quick laugh. Satoru joined in with a chuckle of his own, and I immediately felt the tension and anxiety release from my body.

Satoru rested his forehead against mine, “Only if you make me, babe.” He challenged, retreating his hips before pumping into me again. I gasped to the feeling, unable to help my loud moaning and groaning with every one of his thrusts that followed. Though slow in speed, they had a good amount of force behind them, and the delicious friction of Satoru slipping his cock almost completely out before fully pumping back into me was starting to make a familiar, hot pressure build in my abdomen. Satoru continued to tease with his dirty talk as he peered down at me, “I think I have a better chance of making you scream my name. What do you think?”

“Ah—” I made a quick sound of surprise when Satoru mixed in a few shallow thrusts with his long ones, and my back arched on the bed, his dick perfectly prodding against the bundle of nerves deep inside of me, “Satoru…!” I cried, reaching down with one hand to grasp and attempt to pull his hips into mine.

“Yes, Lena?” Satoru said coolly with a knowing smile. He seemed so perfectly calm and in control, compared to my messy, lust-filled mind.

“Please!” I gripped and pulled his hip in tighter.

“Please what? Remember what I said earlier, about communication?” Satoru continued to stroke into me over and over as he spoke; I was honestly beginning to lose my mind.

“Communication is important…” I somehow managed with a cry, though it felt like my brain was melting every time Satoru hit my spot.

“That’s right. Now, what would you like me to do, baby?” Satoru cooed.

“Please, fuck me d-deep…!” I begged, still trying my best to pull Satoru’s hips closer into mine. I wanted more. More of that sweet friction he was giving me with every deep thrust. The way his dick stretched, pushed, pulled, and prodded the most sensitive parts of me; I wanted to be consumed by him and those sensations he was giving me.

“Like this?” Satoru abruptly picked up his slow pace into a quicker one, ceasing his long thrusts and fucking me instead with shorter, deep thrusts, all perfectly aimed at my a-spot. Instead of pulling out all the way with each pump, he remained deep inside, and the repeated stimulation to the area just beneath my cervix made me want to cry, it felt so fucking good. Satoru sat upright to watch me moan helplessly beneath him as I was completely pleasure-struck. He held the back of my left leg for leverage as he fucked into me, my breasts jumping from the force of each thrust. Satoru grabbed one and squeezed hard, his eyes visibly starting to grow cloudy with lust, “I thought you said I was too big… Now you want me deep?” He released my leg and instead wrapped his hand around my neck, perfectly squeezing the sides of my neck so that his grip was tight, but I could still breathe, “What’s the truth, Lena?” He was so sweet yet cruel at the same time—giving me exactly what I wanted physically yet repeatedly making me say exactly what was on my mind, even when I was too embarrassed or turned on to answer properly.

I cried out pathetically beneath Satoru, clenching tightly around his dick when he choked me, “Please, please don’t s-stop I need this…!” My words were slurred and hardly discernable, I was so drunk with pleasure. I could feel a familiar pressure building up in the pit of my stomach, and knew I was close.

“I know, baby, I know.” Satoru’s eyes looked dark, like he was beginning to lose himself in pleasure just as much as I was. He used his hand that was not around my neck to roughly comb away the white strands of hair from his face, forehead beading with sweat. He then reached down and started to rub my clit with the pads of his fingers as he perfectly fucked into me, over and over, “Why don’t you fucking cum for me?” Clearly worked up with lust as I was, Satoru spat the question between clenched teeth, more like a demand.

Something low in my abdomen twisted with excitement when Satoru spoke to me like that; and I knew that some sick part of me wanted him to be even more cruel to me. Right then, I wanted desperately for him to treat me however he wanted. I groaned messily to the triple attack on my body—Satoru harshly fucking into me, choking me, and gently rubbing my clit all at the same time. My pleasure rapidly increased from the additional sensations he gave me, and my eyes went wide with shock at the extremely intense orgasm that was quickly building up in my body. It was almost scary, “S-Satoru, g-gonna cum… really hard…!” I warned in an uneven voice, my hips involuntarily squirming around to free myself from the pleasure that was too much, and too strong. I even unconsciously clawed my nails at his lower back. But Satoru’s hand around my neck kept me locked square on his dick, that was now driving into me at an even faster pace.

Satoru bent close to me, looking directly into my eyes, “Mm-mnh… Don’t run, baby. You don’t get to run from this. You have to take it, Lena. Now do what I ask and fucking cum.”

I came with a scream at Satoru’s command, feeling tears well up in my eyes at the intense explosion of pleasure that continued in waves as he fucked me through it. My body convulsed harshly with each strong pulse of my pussy, one… two… three… four times; and on the fifth, my hips jerked so hard that I jumped out of Satoru’s grasp and on my side next to him on the bed. I panted heavily, trying to regain my sanity after an orgasm that strong. It was so much, so insanely strong, and so good that I felt the tears finally fall from my eyes.

Satoru followed me to where I’d jumped on side of the bed and chuckled; wiping one of my tears then kissing my cheek, neck, and shoulder, “You’re just a big crybaby, huh?” He said softly, kissing my cheek again, “You okay? That felt like a big one…”

I quickly nodded, wiping the remainder of my tears, “Shit, I’m always fucking crying on our dates, aren’t I?” I sniffled, turning to look up at Satoru after I caught my breath, “Yeah, I’m okay, just had the biggest orgasm of my life—no big deal.” I laughed once.

Satoru smiled, reaching up to stroke my cheek before pressing his lips to mine, “Glad I could be a part of that.” He hummed and closed his eyes, dipping his head down to rest his forehead on mine again. In our current position—with me on my side and Satoru hovering over me—I could feel his condom-covered dick twitch against my ass cheek, “Mind if I finish, baby? I’m really close… Or do you need a break?”

“Oh! No, I don’t mind!” I shook my head and lifted my leg, practically handing it to Satoru as he took it in his grasp and positioned himself at my entrance, “I want you to cum, too.” I said sweetly, grabbing his free hand and interlocking our fingers.

I moaned when Satoru pushed back in, filling me completely in one swift thrust. His forehead remained against mine as he pumped into me over and over, movements growing more and more erratic and unfocused by the second. I heard Satoru’s breathing become ragged and uneven, the sweat from his forehead trickling onto mine as he squeezed my hand. It was satisfying, being able to feel him unravel and lose himself in pleasure as I had, “Fuck… You know you get even tighter after you cum, babe?” Satoru straightened up a bit, enough for him to drive his hips even harder into mine, and enough for me to see his face better. He stroked in and out of me continuously, until I saw his jaw clench considerably, suddenly ceasing with a particularly hard thrust and a loud grunt. Satoru bared his teeth and groaned when he came, tilting his head back for a second, then offering me a few shallow thrusts and looking down at himself buried in my pussy, “Shit, Lena… You’re fucking unreal.” He glanced up into my eyes at the last of his words, then dramatically collapsed onto the bed beside me on his back.

I giggled at Satoru’s dramatics, turning on my other side to face him, “You okay?” I playfully returned his question from earlier.

“Yeah, the best.” Satoru exhaled, wiping his forehead before turning to look at me. He leaned over to peck my lips once… twice, then slowly slid the condom off his dick before slipping off the bed and standing. He tied a knot on the end of the condom and tossed it into the wastebin in the corner of my bedroom. And I appreciated this view of the man walking around naked my room in his full glory, insanely cut and toned all over. The view of his round, muscular butt when he bent over to retrieve and throw away the condom’s foil wrapper was particularly cute. Satoru turned towards me again as I comfortably slipped under my duvet, “You want some water?” He asked.

“Yeah, um, see that white pull-out cabinet under the vanity?” I pointed to it on the opposite side of the bedroom, “There’s a mini fridge in there with glasses and a water dispenser.”

“Well, that’s fucking genius; I was about to go back to the kitchen.” Satoru admitted, instead making a beeline for the mini fridge and filling up a tall glass of water. He returned to the bed and carefully passed me the glass as he slipped under the covers with me.

“Thank you.” I took a number of long sips, nearly drinking half the glass in one go. I passed the glass back to Satoru and he took a short swig before reaching back to rest it on the bedside dresser next to him.

“Of course.”

We gazed at each other for a moment, and I suddenly got up and reoriented myself so that I was straddling Satoru under the covers, a pleased and giddy grin on my face. I rested my hands on Satoru’s chest and felt him gently grasp and knead my hips with his thumbs in response.

“What’s gotten into you?” Satoru cracked a smile, curious to my sudden excitement.

I was just feeling playful. I bent close to Satoru’s ear, “You.” I whispered, “You got into me.” I started with a kiss to his cheek, then kissed down his neck, then to his chest…

“Mm…” Satoru hummed affirmatively, “It was really fun, huh?”

I sat up again and nodded with a smile, next pressing my mouth to Satoru’s in a brief yet passionate kiss. He spoke up again when I broke it.

“You wanna go again?” Satoru challenged with a raised brow.

I flipped my long curls behind my shoulder and tucked a loose strand behind my ear, sure that my hair was a complete mess now, but I was quite unbothered at this point, “Yes.” I nodded, and our lips came together once again—immediately diving into a series of quick, excited, and heated kisses, until Satoru suddenly broke away.

“Shit.” He let go of one of my hips and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“What?” I asked, a little concerned.

Satoru met my gaze once more, “I don’t have any more condoms.”

“Oh.” I bit my lower lip in realization and blinked down at Satoru laying beneath me.

“You on birth control or anything? If so, I could show you my negative test results if you wa—”

“I’m not.” I interrupted. I hadn’t been since I broke up with my ex… Work had picked up so quickly since I’d moved back to Tokyo two years ago, I hadn’t even thought about it. Well, not until now.

“Fuck.”

We simply stared at each other in silence, the unspoken, next natural question on both of our minds hanging heavy in the air: Should we just do it anyways?

[blkkizzat]

i just read the reblog u posted about this particular person not posting their writing anymore due to not being told its loved but instead its secretly loved. i just wanna let u know I LOVE UR WORK REAL BADDDDDD (esp the nursery im waiting and checking everyday for an update on it, it literally has been on my brain since i read it!!!)

Y'ALL FR GONNA MAKE ME CRY TODAY 💗😭

Nonnyyyy tytytytytytyty!!! It really means a lot you took the time to tell me 😭😭😭. I've been feeling a lil bummed cause I haven't been getting as many comments lately and like my lifesblood is comments lol. but i love when people send in asks letting me know too so tytytyty!

ahh im still working on the nursery! its most likely going to be in dec. going to finish the NNN fic i have, finally finish nerd geto p2 (50%) done, invisible man!gojo and then ill put out nursery ch 3! It makes me super happy though thats the fic you want most cause its literally the first JJK fic I wanted to write and it means ALOT to me. so really do appreciate you sm!

[radio-zephyr]

*inhales* (this is the same person as @anulithots) THE SUMMER HIKARU DIED THE SUMMER HIKARU DIED

alskdjfasldkf it's the most underrated thing ever itw ill destory me the characters and emotions and YOSHIKI ONE OF THE BEST CONFUSED QUIET MORAL DILMEMmAING PROGTAGONISTS I'VE EVER SEEENNN

also the CANNON

way that Yoshiki is gay/queer and doesn't like his twon and you can see the enitreee storyyy as a metaphor for being gay in a conservative little village and aldjfalksdfj;lasdkf

ALso the horror and the interactions between all the characters ASAKO (I think I got her name right)

THEM

AND ALSO

HER

ANDDD the horror elements and the everythign and the alksdjfaklsdfj ART STYLE AND THE CHaracter dyanamics and ksljdfklsdjf

(i KNOWWW there's lore and such but honestly my brain never remembers the lore and worldbuilding for anythinggg. IT's still cool though!)

Okay sorry for suddenly comming to your inbox I just saw that you reblogged a lot of tshd posts and my brain went feral

OMG HI :00000000000 no worries ab coming into my inbox!!!!! I love talking to people and answering asks ^-^!!

I only recently finished reading (i think up to chapter 27? that's all i could find) but its SO GOOD! I love the artstyle (stunning absolutely stunning) and I love the characters and I love the worldbuilding so so much-

Yoshiki my beloved <3 I love how quietly but also very integral his queerness and the shame that comes with it is drawn into the story, like in the little moments where his eyes are drawn to hikaru before he averts them, its really nice. And also very integral to who he is. why does he think he's a monster? its not directly stated but We Know. Also yes his conflicting feelings when it comes to 'hikaru'!! It's so scrumptious just *cheffs kiss*

AND ALSO!! Fake hikaru I love him sm, I always enjoy characters who aren't necessarily malicious but still nonetheless their behavior doesn't ever really match up with what larger society does deem proper (cough cough), esp when the character himself is on an almost 'higher' plane of existence and just has a very different fundamental understanding off the universe. (even though he's not really necessarily a higher being!!) Like the way 'hikaru' doesn't really understand the difference between life and death, and operates based on his own wish to be able to stay with yoshiko as he slowly has a place carved out for him by yoshiki's side, but as he spends more time he starts to understand more ab why someone wouldn't want someone else to die (KIND OF like this OTHER character from after god, another manga (orokapi)). And as he learns of the consequences of him being there, especially in regard to how its reflected onto yoshiko, he decides to return to the mountain even though he desperately wants to stay where he has a place to be,,,,,,,,,,laskdgjlskgajgd :(( (like that one post calling him a fragile monster,,,,,like he really is isn't he </3)

and the moments between hikaru and yoshiki are so achingly tender!! I love how this author formats the pages and draws the scenes and expressions and movements sm, especially in ch 9 where yoshiko goes out to look for hikaru and finds his body, that entire sequence is just so stunningly illustrated and drawn you can feel the building panic and cold horror/dissociation once yoshiko finds the body- (I saw someone point out how 'hikaru''s shadow always doesn't have its head shown, indicating how he isn't really hikaru, which is such a fun detail) (and just the tenderness of how yoshiki cups the corpse's face as his mind runs and runs and runs and runs and runs-)

AND THE WAY 'HIKARU' ONLY COMES BACK BC HIKARU'S LAST WISH WAS FOR YOSHIKO TO NOT BE LONELY!!! LIKE DAMN!!!! DEVOTION AS A CURSE FR!!!

(it's kind of almost laughably silly how hikaru actually died bc he got distracted like dang :((( who planted that tree there??? /lh)

ASAKO!! I esp really really liked the chapter where she does confront 'hikaru' ab who he really is, that window into the grief of knowing your friend is truly dead and you weren't able to properly mourn for so long, and he's not really ever coming back again-

but also along the way that creeping, growing suspicion that something is wrong, because your intuition hasn't ever been wrong before when you can see these things-

and in general there friend group is absolutely adorable!! Including all the separate interactions the hair segment was so cute and relatable, my hair is so easy to take care of but i can't say the same for any of my friends lol

AND I LOVE THE ART SM!!!! JUST IT'S SO WHIMSICAL IN A WAY BUT LIKE SUFFOCATING? IDK it communicates the environment and mood SO WELL, and i love how the text/sound fx have been formatted on the page to convey an almost opressing, overbearing heat and weight of summer, and the character designs are all so lovely :0.

I really do love all the characters too, like they're written super nicely in a way that feels very, um idk how to describe it but 'real', like it doesn't feel as much that any single one was necessarily brought in solely for plot purposes even though that is the point of them, like their is at least a hint of deeper though processes for each. This does make their interactions so scrumptious tho :DD

ack this got long-but anyways thank you for the ask!! I'd love to hear more of your thoughts if you want!! Have a lovely day <3

EDIT: I KEPT SPELLING YOSHIKI'S NAME YOSHIKO HAHA OOPS

[lincolndjarin]

i’m about to be so silly but yknow what, fuck it. ill put it together when im on break but like what if i just posted all my kinktober wips and then did a fucking poll of which ones yall wanna see finished and next week mon-friday ill post those. (with no kinktober this week so i can wrap up next weeks)

the plan being that i will just finish those up this week. finish oh honey ch. 3 this weekend and then try to get bks 26&27 out by the first weekend of november?? does that sound okay?? anyone have any thoughts on that LMAOO im just like so fucking fried rn. like im not getting anything done bc im trying to do everything all at once and i think it would help for me to just limit the rest of what im doing for kinktober. especially cause im gonna be ending the month w a pretty hefty one shot. idk if this is dumb send me an anon telling me to stfu. but like currently i feel so busy with writing i struggle to even find time to respond to anyone like my inbox is full rn and idk idk idk someone give me an opinion lol

[rosethornewrites]

Fic: hold the bright moon in my arms, ch. 3

Relationships: Niè Huáisāng & Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn, Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī/Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn

Characters: Niè Huáisāng, Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn, Original Characters, Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī

Additional Tags: Pining, Feelings Realization, Illnesses, ennui, Found Family, Porn Reading, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Manipulation, Manipulative Niè Huáisāng, Memories, Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn Needs a Hug, Post-Canon, Pining Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn, Friendship, Niè Huáisāng Is A Little Shit, POV Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn, POV Third Person, Qi Deviation, Resentful Energy, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Panic Attacks, Triggers, Fainting

Summary: Lan Wangji arrives in Qinghe.

Notes: see end

First fic

1-2

AO3 link

—————

The healers only made him stay in bed for a day before clearing him to all activities except working with resentful energy, which frustrated Wei Wuxian because it meant he couldn’t do any research on the Nie curse, though Nie Huaisang waved off his apologies and said it was his own fault for causing a qi deviation.

On the bright side, Nie Huaisang’s cooks made amazing dishes even when focusing on yin foods, often using neutral spices like saffron and coriander, along with nice soy-based sauces that were flavorful and delicious, very different from food at the Cloud Recesses. He still missed the spiciness of yang foods, but he came away from meals satisfied. The cooks even gave him bags of salted and spiced crunchy dried mushrooms that kept him sated between meals.

Bed rest had been pure hell, giving him far too much time to think about all the hints that he had failed to pick up on over the years about Lan Zhan’s feelings, even times when he likely hurt him in his ignorance, and the problem of the curse would have given him distraction from intrusive thoughts and feelings.

He spent time in the crèche playing with toddlers and telling silly stories, often based on the ones he’d grown up with in Yunmeng, but others based on people he knew and considered fine role models, like A-Yuan and Wen Ning and Lan Zhan.

Wei Wuxian spent time with Nie Huaisang during meals and breaks in his days, though his old friend was testing his patience with pointed gifts left in his quarters. When he’d tried confronting him, he put on his Headshaker mask and pleaded innocent, then attempted to distract him. Worse, the distraction usually worked, to Wei Wuxian’s embarrassment.

He harassed Nie Hengxiang and Nie Yingwei to take him to market, which backfired because he kept noticing bunny figurines or art, and even items with cloud motifs. As if that wasn’t bad enough, apparently the two of them had been told to buy anything Wei Wuxian so much as looked interested in, so his quarters were now decorated with bunnies and clouds, and it kept reminding him of Lan Zhan.

Other than that, he spent time generally wandering the grounds looking for something to do. After a few days a Nie instructor, perhaps taking pity on him, asked him to speak with a class of juniors, which was a very welcome distraction even if he expected they’d want stories about the war or the Yiling Patriarch.

To his surprise, they actually wanted to know what happened when he and Lan Zhan defeated the Xuanwu of Slaughter, delightfully focused and interested in defeating resentful beasts like true Nies.

He had just gotten to the point where he and Lan Zhan were trapped alone in the cave with the Xuanwu guarding their only way out, swordless and without food or water, both injured, with no rescue on the way, when Nie Huaisang came rushing in, looking a bit frantic. Wei Wuxian immediately found a way to pause the story.

“As an exercise, I want all of you to brainstorm what you might do in such a situation before I finish telling you what happened,” he told the students.

They immediately grouped together to do as asked, and the instructor looked pleased, so Wei Wuxian was able to quickly pull Nie Huaisang out into the hall.

“Hanguang-Jun is here,” Nie Huaisang hissed before he could even start to wonder what had him so frantic.

Wei Wuxian had to lean against the corridor wall for a second. He'd expected this as soon as he’d goaded Nie Huaisang into sending the letter—if he was telling the truth about what he’d heard Lan Xichen confide to his brother.

He knew he had to meet with Lan Zhan and talk to him, but he hadn’t expected him so quickly—the missive requesting the texts couldn’t have reached the Cloud Recesses before yesterday, and to get here that fast he must have left immediately. Meaning the Chief Cultivator had dropped everything to fly through the night at top speed to get here so quickly, which gave credence to the idea that Lan Zhan felt as Nie Huaisang said he did.

Even still, he couldn’t bring himself to think the words directly, despite having had dreams featuring him coming home to a small cottage with a basket of produce for dinner to Lan Zhan working at a loom while waiting for him; it wasn’t the only dream he’d had but some of them he blamed Nie Huaisang for. Nie Huaisang, who had left educational cutsleeve porn and lube in his quarters that gave him the sort of dreams he used to have as a teenager before everything went to shit but far more vivid and very centered around Lan Zhan, and then feigned innocence because he was a meddling asshole.

So Wei Wuxian felt justified saying, “Let him know I’m talking to a class of juniors, and I’ll join you in the garden with the fountains when I’m done,” and going back into the classroom, leaving his old friend to deal with Lan Zhan for a bit while he collected himself.

And anyway, Lan Zhan likely wanted to know about his health first, and Nie Huaisang could deal with that conversation.

Nie Huaisang whined “But Wei-xiong!” after him, but Wei Wuxian ignored him and he didn’t come back into the classroom.

He used the results of the exercise to distract himself from the beating of his own heart, the thrill and anxiety that Lan Zhan was here, letting the disciples share the ideas each group came up with for handling such a situation. Interestingly, one group’s idea included a more thorough search of the cave for either exits or weak spots to break through—a retreat for reinforcements and weapons. Wei Wuxian was pleased to see level heads, and a focus beyond killing the legendary beast.

“Sadly,” he told them, “there were no other entrances, and the cave led back and down into the mountain, so we couldn’t find any other way to escape but through the Xuanwu.”

Without access to the typical tools for fighting resentful creatures and monsters, many of the groups came up blank, though one trusted that their fellows who escaped would return and said they would settle in to practice inedia as far from the Xuanwu as possible, which Wei Ying had to admit would have probably been smarter than trying to kill it with limited options. Years later, it was easy to see how they could have avoided attacking the Xuanwu, but they had also been exhausted and injured, and the attack on the Cloud Recesses had weighed on them both, including the idea for Wei Wuxian that Lotus Pier could be next, which ultimately was the case.

He caved to the disciples’ pleas and continued the tale, registering their horror at the idea of going into the Xuanwu’s shell, and at him ultimately ending up in its mouth, clinging to a sword to keep from being eaten for the six hours it took for the thing to die. He made sure to omit the resentment in the sword—few knew even now where the Yin Tiger Seal came from and he had no intention of changing that.

“Honestly, Lan Zhan did most of the work. His hands were so torn up after, I remember.”

“But Wei-qianbei, you went into the shell,” one pupil protested. “Without you, the Chief Cultivator couldn’t have killed the Xuanwu.”

The disciple was so earnest, his brows furrowed, and Wei Wuxian was reminded poignantly of the ducklings.

“True, but without him, I would have been eaten,” he sayid patiently. “Lan Zhan killed it.”

“We killed it together,” a familiar voice interjected.

Wei Wuxian felt his heart squeeze at Lan Zhan’s voice, and realized he’d somehow never noticed that he always felt like that—stupid that he’d never realized—and he turned and leveled a bright smile in his direction. The disciples scrambled to their feet to greet the Chief Cultivator, and he used the furor to study him, noting he seemed tired, more tired than he seemed even when they had been gallivanting across the jianghu seeking the scattered parts of Nie Mingjue’s body and soul, and he hoped at least Lan Jingyi was helping him with his duties with A-Yuan in Qishan paying respects to his birth family.

Nie Huaisang played dirty, bringing Lan Zhan here, and just to prove it he stuck his tongue out at Wei Wuxian while hiding his face from the rest of the room with his fan. Jerk.

“So we did,” Wei Wuxian relented after things had settled, then turned to the disciples, “though the battle sealed the exit and left us trapped still anyway. Fortunately, those who escaped before us came back with reinforcements and freed us.”

Soft footsteps padded to his side, and he could feel Lan Zhan’s heat in a way that made him feel almost giddy, along with the almost imperceptible quirk of his lips in a return smile.

The disciples had questions, of course, and Lan Zhan even helped answer them, his words poetically textbook, as minimal as ever, his voice as placid as the Cold Pond, thrumming with similar power, at least to Wei Wuxian.

Standing beside him felt right, left him centered in a way he hadn’t felt since he left Gusu, settled him.

The feeling vanished when a shy-looking disciple asked haltingly, “Wei-qianbei, why didn’t you use resentful energy to defeat the Xuanwu?”

Wei Wuxian could feel Lan Zhan go utterly still beside him, and in a flash Nie Huaisang intruded, clearly worried the question might be taken poorly, his voice carrying an undercurrent of guilt and anger, maybe with the hapless disciple, who wouldn’t have any way to know better with all the rumors about him; the poor boy looked increasingly mortified.

“No,” he said, “it’s a fair question.”

Nie Huaisang stared at him, his eyes darting to Lan Zhan and back. Wei Wuxian didn’t dare turn to see his expression, too busy finding the words to explain without giving details he’d rather not be known. Just trying to find them made his head hurt almost too badly to think, but Lan Zhan’s hand on his upper arm, a light grip to just let him know he was there, helped.

“I hadn’t yet been put in the situation that forced me to learn to wield resentful energy or be consumed by it, so it wasn’t part of my repertoire at that point.”

Complete silence greeted his statement, and his head throbbed with how terribly loud it was.

“War is a terrible thing,” Nie Huaisang finally said, his voice tight, and Wei Wuxian was reminded of how much his old friend knew about what had happened to him.

Wei Wuxian could practically see the questions swirling in the disciples’ minds, further reminders that Nie Huaisang knew his deepest secret, had either a spy who also knew or had spied himself on the scene at Lotus Pier after he’d passed out. He was able to ground himself through Nie Huaisang’s voice, explaining in a rambling sort of way their departure as “meetings, always meetings, you know how it is,” and Lan Zhan’s hand gently squeezing around his upper arm, tugging gently toward the door, a direction he was happy to follow.

Lan Zhan, when he glanced over in the hallway, looked so concerned—how could anyone think he didn’t have expressions?—which implied that Wei Wuxian was probably having a physical reaction to his spiraling thoughts.

“The healing ward is this way,” whispered by Nie Huaisang, confirmed that.

Wei Wuxian checked to make sure he wasn’t bleeding from the nose just to be sure—nothing so obvious as that, thank goodness. Nothing that might upset the junior disciples, but obvious enough to Lan Zhan and Nie Huaisang to be concerned. He could see their concern even through his daze, but he just couldn’t focus. He drifted the rest of the way to the infirmary, letting Lan Zhan lead him.

The healers looked him over, and Nie Huaisang whispered something to the head healer about the Sunshot Campaign, and Wei Wuxian could recall feeling a bit like this but worse during some points back then, but from the resentful energy rather than spiritual—just that connection snapped him more fully present, the understanding that the disciple’s question had sent him mentally back to that time.

Lan Zhan’s hand was still on his upper arm, acting like an anchor to the present, where the head healer was telling Nie Huaisang she wanted him to rest in the ward for a shichen.

“I’m fine,” Wei Wuxian protested.

He was about to go on when Lan Zhan squeezed his arm gently.

“Wei Ying should rest and recover.”

Any excuses he might make evaporated like smoke in the face of Lan Zhan’s concern—Lan Zhan, who had wanted to help him and whom he’d misunderstood, who’d found A-Yuan and rescued and raised him, who had grieved him for sixteen years, and who had rushed to the Unclean Realm in what had to be record time when he’d learned of Wei Wuxian’s qi deviation. All he could do was capitulate with a nod, feeling oddly relieved at the idea of lying down for a bit after what had happened in the classroom, shaky after everything.

Usually he tried to mask it, but Wei Wuxian was so tired of muscling through and forcing himself to pretend he wasn’t exhausted when he was—he’d done it in his first life to the point of his own destruction, and he’d jumped right back into it when Mo Xuanyu brought him back. It was just so much easier to let himself rest when someone else insisted, which was an uncomfortable realization in itself.

“Dinner’s in a shichen anyway,” Nie Huaisang told him softly, “so we can just come back to get you.”

One of the healers escorted him to a private patient bed and had him drink an unpleasantly bitter draught. Lan Zhan stayed beside him, a silent support, the pleasant weight of his hand only leaving his arm when he finally lay down.

Even then, he settled near the bed, pulled his guqin out, and played for him as the medicine kicked in, and Wei Wuxian drifted on familiar notes, a song whose name he was still owed, to sleep.

—————

I know a lot of folks ascribe to the idea that Wei Wuxian is unbothered by his traumas, but trauma doesn’t really work like that. I think he’d LIKE to be unbothered, would like to focus on his actions over what has been done to him. Frankly, I think everyone with trauma wishes that.

But the human brain doesn’t really work like that, and at the end of CQL most of it is unresolved. This is a man whose first thoughts upon coming back to life is “dammit, I’d rather stay dead,” and that’s a form of suicide ideation.

Do I think at the end of Mo Dao Zu Shi Wei Wuxian is happy? Yes. But being happy doesn’t protect us from our prior traumas. They like to pop up in troublesome places, as when Wei Wuxian saw the child at a toy stall and immediately was filled with grief for A-Yuan.

I think he avoids thinking about it as much as possible, but try not to think about the purple elephant in the room. He’d probably have days where he can barely function, regardless of how happy he is with Lan Wangji, and I think Lan Wangji not only accepts it, but coddles him with whatever he needs on those days until he can function again.

My move happened despite a scam in which I lost about $800. I’m not able to work because my mental health is in the nonfunctional right now myself, which is why updates are somewhat slow. On the bright side, I went to a mental health specialist and my meds are tweaked.

But there are days where I’m just empty and want to cry all day, and it’s going to take a while to process everything. For the last 15 years my main identity has been professor, and now that’s gone (whether temporary or permanent), and I don’t know who I am anymore. I used to have multiple projects going on at once and now I can barely do one. Frustrating af.

Glossary:

shichen = 2 hour period

xiong = brother

Many thanks to adrian_kres for the beta!

[hannie-dul-set]

mini writing updates!

no conflict theory update today bcs i'll be posting ch.3 of home for the bitchless! sunghoon centric chapter! woohoo!

sunwater is still in progress with currently 16k. ill be pushing back it's release quite a bit bcs although ive finished planning it, it's currently at an emotional arc and i haven't been in a proper mood to write it 😔 (been feeling rather silly n goofy lately as u can see from my current 2 ongoing series 😭)

peach tree will be finished sometime this year. listening to like we just met and getting flashbacks (ANON THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT) has put that fic in a permanent spot at the back of my mind and i'm rlly itching to continue working on it 😭😭 but it's the same w sunwater, i'm too stupid rn to write something emotional i just wanna write dumb boys being dumb for now 😔.

started reposting some of my fics on ao3! hannie_dul_set on there. i want to change my brand so bad but i've been hannie-dul-set for YEARS now so i've accepted to simply be stuck with it.

not a writing update but i'm awake at 7am because i had really cool really insane dream w a sketchy vampire bf and i woke up just when the plot got good and now i am gravely upset how is ur morning.

[fordanoia]

‘’’

[blorbologist]

Squinting at the blorbos like rats in a lab

Tags are minimal unfortunately, this is a personal blog so it’s a barrage of all sorts! I DO tag critical role spoilers with #critical role spoilers and #cr spoilers, given I often liveblog, and will tag until the episode is on YouTube. 

I also do fanfic! You can find me on AO3 at umwelt! 

My main ongoing project is my 'Age of Arcanum Perc'ahlia AU', where Vax is the Warden of Ravens, Vex'ahlia his (lonely) Champion, and Percival is the creator of aeormatons. I tag posts about the au #age of arcanum AU if interested!

Prologue ... CH 3

Cat's Cradle is currently a WIP on hiatus, under #cat’s cradle AU, a lil modern Perc’ahlia AU with foster kittens. Compiling chapters on AO3, but tumblr stays a few chapters ahead:

CH 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 13 / 14 / 15

My big completed project is my 'Raven Queen’s champion instead ' AU. You can find posts about it under #vex is the raven queen’s champion AU.

Some writing, sneak peaks and ask games happen here on tumblr, too. More than some. oops.

You can [hopefully, assuming Tumblr behaves] find my writing under the tag #my writing, and ask under #ask game usually!

Like what I do? Consider buying me a coffee so I can stay sane enough to finish these WIPs! And my thesis! 

I do not take requests. Prompts are only when I’ve RB’d a relevant prompt game - I’m in gradschool, assume I’m busy by default lol

Projects:

Architect of our demise [onwards to Vasselheim!]

Cat's cradle / Kitten AU [on hiatus for Uni]

Daughters or Dolls [plotting, title is a wip]

Second chapter to My heart’s a vessel for ill intent? [not started]

Perc’ahlia travel troubles comfort fic [half-done?]

Recoil chapter 2 [dusty wip, like a quarter done?]

And so will I chapter 3, Jester [dusty wip]

Nursery rhymes as told by briarpatches chapter 4, Greypool [dusty wip, half done?]

Vex’s menial duties as Grand Mistress of the Grey Hunt [got one thing done?]

Kyssandra hide and seek fic [birthday gift for Burr <3]

Vex and Vax in the Slayer's Take in TLOVM [Vexahra for Nova <33]

AUs:

Vex is the Raven Queen’s Champion AU [One for sorrow / Two for joy]

Modern AU bottlefeeding kittens [Cat’s Cradle]

Age of Arcanum AU [Architect of our demise]

Delilah controls Laudna’s heartbeat [My heart’s a vessel]

Filles du roi Perc'ahlia AU [historical Québec au, plottin]

Ruidusborn!Percy AU [just ideas]

Leona runs off to the Cobalt Soul AU [maybe a quarter done?]

MILF and DILF Perc'ahlia marriage of convenience [posted part 1!]

Percy is the pact weapon AU [Get your hands dirty]

2/3 Vampires Bashter AU [got that one snippet to work off of]

Tiefling!Percy AU [brainchild with Essay <333]

FMA AU [A whole mess, one ficlet posted]

Fox woman dreaming AU [1/2 posted]

Just tons of random Gilmore/Vax’ildan/Keyleth shit bc i lov the thems

Perc’ahlia Atlantis AU [just in my brain and that One Screencap Redraw]

Accurate Jurassic Park AU [just vague mushing my two special interests together thots]

'The tale of Merciful and Lex' [Jester reads a smut novel 100% inspired by the de Rolos]

Ships:

OTPs are currently Perc’ahlia, Imodna and Laudmoore in that order. I usually only read fics of these ships bar rare exceptions.* NOTPs that are common enough to be worth mentioning are Widobrave, Widojest, Riprolo, anything remotely incesty or toeing the grooming line. I don’t want to interact with this content don’t fuckin make me.

Ships that aren’t my absolute feral loves, buuut that I’d be happy to write for are man. All canon CR ships, plus Beaujester, Bashter, Kiki/Vax/Gil, Callowmoore, Dorym, Chetney/Fearne, Widomauk, Kiki/Vex/Percy [with a huge *], onesided Tary/Percy, all fun! Also getting into the rarepair of Cassandra/Laudna for Reasons, and any Ace!Cass x NPCs her age.

Beyond that, just, y’know. Use basic critical thinking. Do I really need to write ‘hey! Don’t send me, a stranger, things you wouldn’t talk to a stranger about’? I have faith in y’all not to, for now ktrgnkrtnkgn

Have fun foraging through my blog - hope you find a few things of interest, writing or otherwise! <3

[pernesophe]

Post Apocalyptic AU Kaji x Reader

Chapter 2: Will They, or Won't They?

(Minors, Ageless and Blank Blogs DNI)

WC: ~13699. Ch 1 , Ch 3, Ch 4 (links will be added as they are finished)

MDNI. TW for this post: fluff, angst, smut: cunnilingus, fingering, vaginal penetration, biting, blood drinking, past character deaths mentioned (Multi-part story, so TW for the whole series are fluff, angst, smut, character death(s)). Both characters are 21+ presenting, but several centuries old.

Synopsis: Resources have grown scarce and reader needs Kaji's help, oh and they're having shared dreams now.

Songs: Playlist Post Kaji's Scent: Based on Brother Night by Apoteker Tepe Reader's Scent: Based on Basilica by Milano

It’s been a week since you woke up to Kaji’s cerulean irises staring back at you. And every morning since you’ve awakened in the hut enveloped by labdanum incense instead of his comforting copal scent. Most nights your dreams have been set in the town centuries before, filled with faces you could only recognize from aged photos, though you weren’t able to interact with anyone. It was like you were a ghost, but sometimes you would catch Kaji’s eye and it seemed like he’d be looking for you, but then his gaze would become unfocused as if he was staring straight through you. Even when you called, yelled, or stood directly in front of him waving your arms - he couldn’t see you. Sighing heavily, you rolled onto your back in frustration to see Kiyoko standing in the darkened corner of the hut, toiling away in front of the wood stove.

“Kiyoko?” murmuring faintly as you sat up and peered at her from the mat. Her body was rigid with stress, the ends of her raven locks brushing her wrists, as she poured over her grimoire. No, not hers… her mother’s maybe? She didn’t respond, apparently your voice was unheard in the wake of her stress. Eyeing the aged book in her hands, you slowly rose to your feet and joined her by the woodstove. Fear prickled over your skin - she only pulled out her mother’s grimoire when something was really bad.

“Kiyoko, what’s wrong?” You whispered while laying your hand on her shoulder. With a jump, she turned to meet your worried look with tears in her eyes.

“Three of the children have fallen ill. High fevers that we just can’t seem to break. I-it’s something they caught from going outside the barrier…” she spoke quickly as her trembling fingers continued thumbing over the pages in desperation. “Y/N…. I don’t think they’re going to make it…” she whispered in a cracked voice as she tearily met your gaze.

“What do we need?” Demanding urgently, already piecing together that it was the lack of resources that led to this situation. Kiyoko shook her head slowly, turning back to the stove barely emitting any heat at this point.

“Witch hazel, but we haven’t seen any in two years…” she whispered in defeat. Squeezing her shoulder reassuringly, she glanced at you in question as you gave her a reassuring nod.

“I’ll find us some,” you promised as Kiyoko shook her head lightly. But she didn’t voice her protests as you turned on your heel and marched out of the hut.

Immediately, an early winter wind smacked you across the cheek. Though mild enough that if there were witch hazel, then it was still harvestable. Shoving your hands deep in your pockets, you beelined directly to the school on the edge of town as dusk began to shift into dark.

Surprisingly, as the abandoned building came into view, a familiar figure stood in the entryway expectantly. Jogging the rest of the distance, waving to him urgently, Kaji moved out of the doorway as darkness finally set in. The two of you met in the courtyard in front of the school.

“Y/N, why are you here so late?” Querying as he peered around you searching for signs of a threat.

“Witch hazel,” blurting out before you could find the words to explain. Kaji’s head tilted slightly as you gulped down some air and steadied your voice. “Three children are really sick, and we need witch hazel to make a remedy for them,” you explained quickly. Kaji blinked, but shook his head after a moment.

“I never heard Umemiya mention planting witch hazel, and if you haven’t seen it at the school, then…” he trailed off slowly as he threw you a sympathetic look.

“Not from the garden, um, can you show me where the animals eat?” Inquiring quickly as you took a step closer. Kaji was a little taken aback, blinking rapidly at your request, but then he nodded slowly - seeing what you were getting at. Relief showed on your face at his response as you quickly followed up with, “Can you show me places where deer, squirrels o-or rabbits usually eat?” 

Bobbing his head more confidently, Kaji took your hand and led you past the school towards the very edges of the town. There, large trees edged the barrier covered in vines with splatterings of shrubbery at the base of them. The closer the two of you approached, the more scurrying and chittering you heard from animals. Jumping at the loud snap from the brush to your left. Instantly, you grabbed Kaji’s arm and pressed into his side, breath stopping short in your throat, heart hammering against your ribs.

“Deer,” Kaji whispered into your ear, fluttering your hair against your cheek. Whipping your head around, you were met with his amused gaze and the slight smirk twerking the corner of his mouth. Warmth spread from where you held his forearm out through his chest - it’d been so long since someone had latched onto him for protection.

Without letting go of his sleeve, you turn to peer into the brush - trying with all your might to catch a glimpse of the timid mammal. Kaji watched you struggle until he gently grabbed your shoulders and turned you in the direction of the deer so your back was flush to his chest. Taking your chin in one hand so you were looking in the right area, and then he slowly brought his pointer finger beside your right eye so your gaze could follow it to the exact spot.

“In front of the big tree, nibbling on that yellowish shrub,” he whispered into your left ear, rich amber and resinous smoke clung to his breath as it fluttered your hair again. 

Vision focusing on the yellow shrub, and then the animal you’ve only seen in old, worn photos before. Magnificent and beautiful - it’s fur the color of smoothed bark, short and sleek, accentuated by a white, flicking tail. Gradually, as it lifted its head in the moonlight, you saw a pair of giant, pointed antlers. Time seemed to still, the air punched completely out of your lungs as its giant, soulful black eyes met your own… and then time continued clicking onward. 

With a twitch of its ears and a turn of its head, the ethereal creature dashed out of sight - kicking off a chorus of thundering hooves and rustling leaves. An entire family of deer came crashing through the undergrowth, hopping and veering through the vines and shrubs as you and Kaji just stood there. Other than him wrapping his arms around you securely, the two of you remained utterly still until the last deer disappeared between the trees.

Kaji felt your hammering heart through your back as it thrummed against his chest. Notes of velvety leather and creamy spices wafted from your pulse point and enveloped him with your spiking heart rate. Involuntarily, he brought his nose to the top of your head and inhaled your scent greedily, almost forgetting why the two of you were here in the first place.

“Kaji!” Your gasp tore him out of his revere, immediately releasing his hold around you with a jump. Turning to him with the brightest grin, you grabbed the front of his sweatshirt excitedly, “it’s witch hazel!” Whispering like it was a secret shared between just you two as you pointed to the bush the deer had been grazing on.

Not wasting another second, both of you quickly began gathering several branches that were still alive and held many uneaten leaves. On the way back to the school, you thanked Kaji profusely for his help, while he trailed next to you and listened to your genuine words. Though your heart had calmed considerably, your intoxicatingly sweet, camphorous aroma enveloped him fully - even clinging to the fabric of his coat.

At the walls of the school, you asked if he wanted to come to town with you - making sure to mention that they would all be thrilled to meet him. Even more so knowing that he helped you find the witch hazel. Kaji’s face turned serious though as he urged you not to mention him to anyone in town. A little taken aback, but you nodded in agreement anyway. Before departing, you made sure to thank him again and promised to be by soon with more suckers. His serious expression smoothed out some from the mention of the candies - he even pulled one out, stuck it in his mouth before waving and returning to the school.

The moon was high in the sky by the time you returned to the hut with the witch hazel in hand, Kiyoko was looking worse for wear by the time you strolled through the door. In her fist she gripped a horn shaped bone, and from where you stood you could smell the rosemary, thyme, rue and fennel crushed in the bowl before her. Without any real treatment all she was able to do in the meantime was make a remedy that would banish pain. Immediately her entire demeanor brightened the moment she spied the familiar foliage in your hand. 

“Y/N, how?” She started to ask, but you swiftly shook your head and thrust the branches into her hands. Because now wasn’t the time to explain - it was time to get to work. 

“Later,” you assured her as you pulled the giant steel pot down from a high shelf and set it on the stove. “I’ll start making the oil. How about you take the last of the pain treatment over to the infirmary. When you come back, we’ll start making the candles.” Instructing her calmly while she bobbed her head, relieved tears collecting at her lash line, as she hurried through the rickety door.

With steady hands you debarked the witch hazel and chopped it into smaller pieces before tossing them into the pot. Then, you crushed 5 sprigs of lavender and a handful of peppermint together until they were finely ground before tossing them into the pot as well. Ducking under a makeshift cupboard, you retrieved a large metal can sealed tight. Using a flat head and your fist, you popped the lid to reveal a light cream colored oil that smelled of almonds. 

Pouring a liberal amount over the herb mixture, then you retrieved more fire wood and tossed the splintered pieces into the stove before stoking the embers. Flames burst and quickly engulfed the wood before you shut the tiny metal door and secured the latch. Not long after the oiled herbs began to bubble and simmer, filling the hut with an overwhelming herbaceous scent. A few moments later, Kiyoko came bursting through the door to find the purification oil almost finished.

“Just in time,” you sighed with a relieved smile thrown in her direction, “I need your help.” Without question, Kiyoko joined you in front of the stove, where she took your hand. 

This is the part of being a witch that was never quite explained, but somehow you just knew what to do. See, with all the ingredients and instructions listed in your grimoire, there were never any incantations. Honestly, you couldn’t even name the language that you spoke to make things fizzle or spark with life. When you were young, Kiyoko explained that’s how it worked for most witches - they understood what things to mix together, but it was an unforeseen force that seemed to channel magic through you. None of you knew if it was a deity, the universe, or your ancestors - but when the time came to perform a spell it always seemed that words just flowed from you. Like snow melting and trickling down a mountainside, that overtime feeds into a river. 

And now, just like so many times before, you and Kiyoko stood hand in hand as foreign words that you two couldn’t translate if you tried, trickled over the oil. Quiet mutterings, that if you listened closely sounded like nothing more than intentional humming, spurred the oil to pop and bubble with iridescent colors the creamy oil hadn’t possessed just seconds ago. Blues, greens, purples, then pinks swirled and arched out of the oil as if they were taking on a life of their own. Finally, as your words tapered off, the bubbling subsided until the oil was smooth but retained a golden incandescent glow about it.

“It’s ready,” you sighed, and Kiyoko took a deep, steadying breath. It was normal for a spell like that to take more out of her than it did you. “How about you sit and rest - prepare the salt mixture if you can. I’ll take the oil to the infirmary and have them start the purification baths for them,” you directed her mildly while eyeing her pale face. Kiyoko nodded slowly, tiredly, as she took a seat at the table.

Bottling the oil, you then made your way out of the hut and through the darkened streets to the tiny, doorless structure. Relieved faces greeted you when you entered the dimly lit hut - Mr. Sato was the first to thank you for finding the witch hazel. His grandson laid in the makeshift bed next to him, flushed skin dampened with sweat, and labored breathing filling the room. Quietly you smiled and nodded, but a part of you felt immensely guilty that you couldn’t tell him that it wasn’t you. It was Kaji.

After you ensured they were set with the oil and baths, you returned to your hut where Kiyoko seemed to have finally caught her breath. The salt mixture was already done and gathered at the table before her, so she followed you to the wood stove to start the healing spell. 

First, the two of you gathered all of the wax you could find, since you would need six candles total. Melting all of the wax down, Kiyoko then helped you pour it into a mold to create one white candle. With the rest of the wax, you added ground lavender, cedarwood, clove, witch hazel, peppermint, bergamot, and then let it simmer until the lavender bled into the wax turning it a pale shade of blue.

Again, Kiyoko joined hands with you before the giant pot and spoke the foreign language that flowed from your teeth like honey over the thick liquid. Though this time it was much shorter, as the mixture bubbled and popped until the ingredients disappeared completely, and a deeper shade of blue rose up from the middle and spread throughout the pot.

Once thoroughly mixed, the two of you poured the wax into five other candle molds and placed them on the worktable by the stove to cool. After a short break, and the wax having set, the two of you went about demolding the candles. On the white candle you carved a protection sigil, and then on the five blue candles you carved one sigil on each to represent Spirit, Earth, Air, Water and Fire.

Finally, with everything prepared, the two of you made your way back to the infirmary. The purification ritual finished up as the two of you walked through the doorway, so without any hesitation, you began setting up the healing ritual. The three children were moved to beds in the center of the room - positioned in a circle so their heads would all be laid in the middle of the room. Then, you set the protection candle in the center, and the five blue candles in a circle around the children. Kiyoko poured the salt mixture around the blue candles to close the children into a protective ring.

Taking your place at the Spirit candle inside the salt circle, Kiyoko at the Earth candle, then three young apprenticed witches took their places at the Air, Water and Fire candles. All of you joined hands before a striking sound hummed from your throat - igniting the white candle with a tiny orange flame. Then, you emitted a slightly lower hum that ignited the Spirit candle, then Kiyoko copied your sound to ignite the Earth candle - the apprenticed witches followed suit, igniting the Air, Water and Fire candles in that order.

Once the last candle was lit, a muted humming carried up from the salt on the floor as traces of smoke-like red, yellow and orange wisped just above the salt in an endless circle. Then, a soft white aura began shining from the blue candles, bringing with it the comforting aroma of baked bread, lavender, and white tea.

The candles burned slowly, since it was a Five Day healing spell, but luckily Kiyoko and the other witches were able to switch out with other members of the coven to keep the ritual in motion. Unfortunately, since it was a spell from your grimoire, you had to be present to oversee the entire ritual. The night turned into day as the Air candle witch stepped out to be replaced by another apprentice, as you remained standing at your post with dark circles forming under your eyes. Unblinking, you observed the children’s flushed, damp skin and labored breathing gradually return to normal, until on the fifth and final day they were just peacefully sleeping. Finally, their fevers had broken.

The other members of the coven promised to take care of cleanup the moment the candles winked out before shooing you out of the infirmary towards your hut. Bleary eyed, you stumbled through the rickety door - not even hearing Kiyoko offering you something to eat - before flopping down on the mat. Sleep swallowed you whole, quickly and greedily, leaving you quartered in its abyss for two and a half days.

If only your dreams had been blank and restful, but instead it felt like a timeless limbo where you were chasing after Kaji endlessly. Every time you got close, or he seemed to actually see you, the dreamscape would change and you’d be in a completely different part of Old Furin - chasing after Kaji once more. The more frustrated you became, the scarier the environment would become. When you were close to screaming over the fact that nobody - least of all the person you wanted to most - could see you, the environment shifted to where you were surrounded by a group of thugs. Only they could see you… and touch you. 

At this point, you couldn’t even focus on finding Kaji as you sprinted away from your attackers, but when you did run directly into him - sobbing with relief - the dream shifted to still Old Furin, but midwar. The buildings were rubbled, and the scent of blood filled the air, when suddenly something you could only describe as a monster lurched out of an alleyway. All you could do was stare in horror as this hulking creature covered in wiry hair, dried blood, and slobber dripping from its fangs set its sights on you. Tossing the severed arm out of its clawed hand before it lunged forward, but as its claws slashed down at you, a black streak collided into its side. With one quick movement, its heart was torn out of its chest and held in the hand of… Kaji.

Blonde hair soaked in blood at the ends, as well as the crimson liquid painting his clothes and hands. Fear closed your throat as your heart hammered away in your chest, and then his ashen glare zeroed in on your trembling form. A deep scowl pulled at his face as he hopped down off the monster’s chest, and then he strode towards you with purpose. Before you could find out how the dream would have ended, a deafening crash made you shoot up straight on the mat.

Gulping down air, you peered around to see you were back in the hut, and then turning around you saw Kiyoko standing at the woodstove - stunned - and the giant metal pot laying at her feet.

“I’m so sorry,” whispering guiltily as she bent down and grabbed the pot, “no amount of magic can fix my butter fingers.” She chuckled weakly, surveying you with a concerned expression - the panic apparent in your stiff body. 

“Ho-how long have I been asleep?” Croaking in a hushed tone, a lump formed in your throat from the continuous nightmares.

“About two and a half days,” she answered in a delicate tone as she placed the pot on the stove and crossed the room to sit on the mat with you. “Y/N, are you okay? You look terrified…” she murmured while lightly squeezing your shoulder. Stifling a sob, you nodded stubbornly without meeting her concerned stare. Two and a half days…? 

“Uh-ahem,” clearing your throat and blinking away your tears, you met her gaze with a barely reassuring smile. “I’m okay. I-I just need to go see Kaji,” you mumbled while rising to your feet. Kiyoko stared at you in shock and started to get to her feet as well.

“You’ve barely recovered, you need to stay here and sleep Y/N.” Taking on a parental tone as she crossed her arms and gave you a pointed stare. Releasing a muted sigh, you gingerly reached out and grasped her arm lightly.

“And I will, Kaji will make sure that I do, but I really need to see him Kiyoko. I don’t think I’ll feel better until I do,” whispering earnestly as tears began pricking your eyes again. After a long, tense moment her shoulders drooped with a relenting nod, and she bid you goodnight while making you promise to come back in no later than two days time.

Nodding in agreement, you rushed out of the hut letting Kiyoko shut the door behind you, before sprinting through the darkening streets towards the abandoned building. Icy wind tore through your clothes, numbing your fingers and ears. Halfway there, embarrassment reared its ugly head as you wondered why this was so important to you - they were just bad dreams anyway. And yet, the lump in your throat grew as tears streamed down your cheeks while the desperate urge to see your newfound friend only strengthened with each thundering footfall.

As the walls of the school came into view, you somehow increased your speed as the blistering cold whipped through your core. The moment you saw the doorless entryway aching sobs tumbled from your mouth as your vision blurred, and the second you crossed the threshold your toe caught on the lip sending you flying forward. 

But before you crashed into anything, something incredibly hard, immovable, and smelling comfortingly like smokey copal caught hold of you, surrounding you in a tight embrace. Lacking any hesitation whatsoever, you grabbed the familiar gray sweatshirt in your fists before crumpling completely against him. Without question, Kaji gingerly scooped you into his arms before carrying you up the gnarled, rooted stairs to his classroom.

Silently, he situated you in his bedroll just the way the two of you were before - laying on your sides, facing each other, your face buried in his chest and his nose pressed into your hair, your arms wrapped around each other. Kaji didn’t ask for any explanation, letting you fall deeper into his smoked balsam and spiced-musk scent until a peaceful slumber took you. All the while, he sunk deeper into your sweet-wood and creamy labdanum aroma that had plagued his mind for almost seven whole days. He couldn’t admit it to you, but on the second night after you came for the witch hazel he crept through the shadows into town just to catch a glimpse of you. 

His fears only subsided when he heard members of your coven whispering about the insane ritual you were performing, and more astonishingly - the fact that it was working. After that, he listened intently to hear any voices carrying news of the ritual to the school. That’s how he found out that once it was finished, you had returned to your hut and collapsed into a deep sleep. He even heard when you woke up, and your stifled sobs the whole way to him, which was how he was there in time to catch you.

That night, instead of nightmares of chasing or being chased, you dreamt of a flowery meadow filled with people wearing black Furin jackets. Still, you couldn’t interact with them since they couldn’t see you, and most were too far away to see their faces. And yet, for some reason in this place, with these people, you felt inexplicably safe. 

It felt like you were asleep for days, when you came to it was from Kaji tenderly stroking your hair. Cerulean irises peered down at you curiously, but you barely registered his expression as you buried your nose back in his sweatshirt before emitting a tired groan. Nuzzling closer, you inhaled his comforting, spiced smoke aroma as his chest vibrated with an amused chuckle.

“Morning sleepyhead,” he rumbled softly as he gently poked your cheek until you tilted your head back to blearily peek up at him. “Your sleep cycle is ruined by the way - it’s almost sunset.” He added, a teasing lilt in his tone, accentuated by a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.

“How long have I been asleep…?” You mumbled groggily, eyes barely cracked, fatigue still weighing heavily on your eyelids.

“Since last night, or maybe this morning?” His gaze flicked towards the ceiling momentarily, “it was around 2am when you showed up,” he finally concluded when he peered back down at you. 

Releasing a sigh of relief, you rolled onto your back so your head rested on the pillow while Kaji’s arm still rested across your waist. Luckily, Kiyoko wouldn’t come looking for you until tomorrow evening. “Uh, so…” he continued awkwardly while you glanced at him curiously.

“What happened?” He tentatively implored you to explain, voice low and overtly soothing, his countenance reflected deep concern. Suddenly, memories of the previous night struck you like lightning.

“Oh, um…” mumbling as heat crawled over your cheeks. “I’m sorry - it’s kind of stupid… I think I was just in a not a great place after being awake for so long,” You admitted quietly. A feeble attempt to avoid the real reason why you were so distraught last night. 

Kaji just stared at you intently, his pearl-gray eyes narrowing as he waited for you to elaborate. When you didn’t he sat up abruptly and crossed his legs before resting his palms on his knees, and then fixed you with an expectant look. Leaning on your forearm, your torso rose off the bedding as well, as you peered up at him dubiously.

“I don’t think you reacted like that because you were tired,” he spoke bluntly - not beating around the bush, and refusing to let it go. Then he added with an air of authority, “so, let’s talk about it.” Sucking in a deep breath and then exhaling it slowly, you quietly relented, and sat up fully - crossing your legs like him before folding your hands in your lap.

“O-okay,” murmuring shyly as you focused on your twirling thumbs, “it was just a bad dream really.” Was all you offered at first, but Kaji just stared at you until he eventually spun his hand in the air to wordlessly say ‘out with it’.

“Well, I crashed after the healing ritual, and I was asleep for like two and a half days…” you began softly but your voice swiftly tapered off, swallowing thickly, you met his gaze before continuing. “But it felt like I was asleep for weeks, and the whole time I was running around Old Furin. Trying to find you…” your admission carried past your lips on a cracked and warbled voice, bringing with it tears that welled up at your lash line. “And I did, find you, but you couldn’t see me. No matter what I did, or said - you just couldn’t see me at all.” Your lips began to tremble throughout the rest of your confession. 

“I kept getting frustrated, which kept making the dream scarier… like eventually I was able to get you to see me, and then the entire dream changed… a few times I ended up in some really bad situations,” you cut yourself off before anything more spilled out. Kaji noticed that you were withholding something right away, but he was far more preoccupied with the similarities between your dream and his of late. A perturbed scowl set into Kaji’s features which spurred a hot, prickly sensation to sweep over your entire body - fearing you may have said too much. 

“I’m sorry if that was weird of me, when Kiyoko told me it had been days I got really emotional about it,” you sighed in shame, focusing on the floor again. “I just wanted to see you after that…” admitting so faintly his keen ears barely picked up your melancholic tone. Suddenly, Kaji’s strong arms scooped you off the bedding, pulling you into his lap, and crushed you in a tight embrace.

“You don’t have to apologize,” he whispered comfortingly into your hair, “you can always come find me when you feel like that,” he added simply. Blinking rapidly, you peered into his serene gaze as one slippery tear slid down your cheek.

“Th-thank you,” you sniffled as you shot him a genuine smile and dried the rest of your tears on the knitted sleeves of your cardigan.

“Ac-actually,” he began quietly, “I’ve been having dreams like that too.” He admitted, a notch forming in his brow from his own embarrassment. When you tilted your head in question, he elaborated, “I’ve been having dreams of Old Furin, except you’re there - I know you are, because I can smell you… but I can’t find you. Every time I think I’ve caught a glimpse of you - you just disappear.” He revealed with a heavy sigh, the stress of his dreams etched into his features. Instantly, your eyebrows shot up at his words, since you’d never had this happen before.

“I’ll ask Kiyoko about it,” you declared in a promising tone with a firm nod, but the notch in Kaji’s brow deepened as he threw you a perplexed look.

“Why would you do that? It’s just a dream,” he inquired with a forced, nonchalant shrug - truly hoping that this wasn’t some magic, witchy thing. But, much to his chagrin, you quickly shook your head gravely at him.

“One dream is just that - a dream - but a shared dream is usually significant somehow,” you insisted with a knowledgeable look in your eyes. Much to his credit, Kaji didn’t let his own apprehension show on his face.

“Well, let me know what you find out,” he responded with a simple nod. You threw him a reassuring smile, but Kaji decided to change the subject altogether. “So, do you not own a jacket?” He inquired, eyeing your breathable cardigan and the rest of your thin clothes before arching his brow at your sheepish expression.

“Uh, yeah, I do…” you started delicately, peering down at your lap where you were nervously twirling your thumbs again. Kaji patiently waited until you spoke again - refusing to even peek up at him when you did, “a lot of the town inherited things that belonged to their ancestors… But most of Bofurin didn’t have descendents, so we inherited those too.” 

Hesitating as your timid voice stopped short, then you released a shaky breath before meeting his gaze again. For once, you cursed his deadpan manner, because you couldn’t tell what he was feeling. Finally, you relented as the words passed your lips to hang in the air, “I-I inherited Hiragi Toma’s Furin Jacket…”

Kaji’s eyebrows shot up, eyes widened in shock as he straightened, obviously taken aback by the information. A beat passed before his shoulders gradually relaxed as he blinked slowly, processing your words at an ardent pace. Then, a small, serene smile pulled at the corners of his mouth before he gave you an approving nod.

“You should wear it next time,” he suggested decisively, and when you seemed taken aback as well, he added with a chuckle, “I’m glad it’s being put to use. Honestly I don’t think Hiragi would’ve minded a cute girl wearing his jacket.” 

Immediately a vibrant red bloomed over your cheeks and burned the tips of your ears as you sputtered over your words. Kaji observed your flustered reaction appreciatively, which turned adoring when you conceded with a bashful nod and mumbled, “Thank you, I will.”

Heated silence filled the room as you shyly smoothed down your tunic over your thighs while Kaji eyed your delicate features from your long lashes to your plump lips. Subconsciously he tightened his hold around you, pulling you snugly to his chest as your warm, woody, sweet-cream fragrance enveloped him completely. 

To his delight, you decided to stay another night since Kiyoko wouldn’t expect you home until tomorrow. As the two of you laid together, drifting off to sleep, Kaji started to dread you looking into his dreams. Mostly due to the fact that last night his dreamscape changed, to one he’d never experienced before. His night was filled with salacious visions of you and him. As the abyss of slumber took hold, he found himself half hoping it was a one off thing while the other half hoped it would happen again tonight.

As darkness veiled his eyes, strolling through his subconscious, he maneuvered through silky smoke that smelled just like you. Velvety musk and resinous amber perfumed the air, drawing him deeper into the fog towards a soft light radiating in the distance. As he neared the light, the smoke cleared bit by bit to reveal a mossy forest floor dappled in warm sunlight. 

Kaji stopped at the edge of a line of balsam trees dripping in mossy vines and lichen. A mere 50 feet away stood a magnificent aged tree with wide leaves that plumed sporadically from the top, casting dappled shade across the clearing. The bark was smooth, light mocha, with lines from damage and age. Gnarled roots cut through the mossy floor at its base, tapering out the closer they got to the edge of the clearing.

At its base stood you, wearing a thin, cream colored, cotton tunic that cinched at your waist and plunged low at the neck line. Wide straps cinched at the tops of your shoulders, and though it came to about your midcalf, the sides had slits that stopped near the top of your thighs. Your feet were bare, and other than your signature pendant, you weren’t adorned in anything else. All he could do was stare at you, awestruck, as your intoxicating scent drew him nearer.

Then, you noticed him, with a curious tilt of your head and a welcoming grin you beckoned him closer. Hesitantly Kaji shook his head at you, gesturing to the large circles of light blocking his way to you, but you just simpered at him reassuringly.

“It’s okay, you won’t burn when you’re with me,” promising smoothly while holding your hand out to him, palm facing the leaves of the tree above. He stared at you dubiously for several moments before inhaling deeply, shoulders stiffening, and walking towards you - passing under a beam of pure sunlight. To his surprise, Kaji didn’t smoke or burn, instead he just felt the comforting warmth of the sun, something he hasn’t experienced since becoming a vampire - not even in his dreams until now.

Though he could have crossed the clearing faster, he stalled under the beams of light outstretching his hand occasionally to really feel the sunshine. Patiently you waited for him until he stood before you, his wide palm sliding over yours gingerly as cerulean irises met yours in awe and confusion. Sliding your hand along his palm to his wrist, you wrapped your fingers around him before flashing him a mischievous smirk and tugging him towards you. 

Eliciting a shocked gasp, Kaji scrambled not to fall as your back pressed flush against the bark of the tree and you grabbed his jacket in your other hand - pulling him even closer. All he could do was brace his free hand against the trunk above your head while the other grasped your waist - bracing you against the tree so you both didn’t trip and topple over the roots. The moment the two of you were stable, he shot you an unbridled glare, but you just giggled up at him spurring a swirling heat to pull in his lower abdomen as his mouth ran dry. 

“This is what you wanted, right?” Leaning closer, you whispered teasingly - inches away from his lips - as your rich leather and sweetly herbaceous aroma stoked that heat in his belly. The corner of your mouth twitched into a triumphant smirk when he averted his gaze, fingers twitching in your tunic against your waist, as you heard him gulp loudly. 

“Are you really… Y/N?” He asked dubiously as he slowly peered at you again, a deep furrow in his brow. Your eyebrows shot up in surprise, but then you simpered up at him tenderly.

“This is a dream, but what is a dream other than our fears and desires played out?” Answering his question with a question while a mirthful look crossed your face at his perplexed expression. “I am a version of her that you wish to meet I suppose, but you aren’t ready for that yet, so here I am,” you finally explained with a playful cock of your head.

“So, then, this is okay?” He uttered quickly, a nervous hitch in his voice as leaned a little closer to you as well. Blinking quickly before an approving smile tugged at your mouth as you nodded up at him.

“Yes - though I am a part of your dream - I still have the ability to say no if I wanted to, but I just don’t want to,” you tittered placidly which only grew louder as Kaji’s eyes fell shut and his entire body sagged with relief. Gingerly, you released his wrist and ghosted your hand up his forearm, over his bicep, until you cupped his cheek. His eyelids snapped open to meet yours as you drew his lips to yours, ever so softly your lips brushed against his.

A quiet whine escaped Kaji as his arm snaked around your back, pulling you flush to his chest while he moved to slot his lips with yours. Rosemary and thyme clung to your breath, with hints of peach that spurred him to deepen the kiss hungrily as you carded your fingers through his hair and fisted your other hand in the front of his jacket.

Groaning into your mouth as your fingers tugged lightly on his hair while his hand above your head moved to squeeze your plush breast through the thin tunic. Gently he pinched and rolled your pert nipple through between his fingers, eliciting a salacious gasp from you. Impatiently, he cascaded his palm down your waist and over your hips until his fingertips reached the slit in your tunic. 

Then he dipped his hand under the fabric to find nothing but smooth skin underneath, with a shocked grunt his eyelids shot open as his hand moved between your thighs to feel your comfortingly hot, wet core. Parting from the kiss, he peered down at your satisfied smile as his fingertips brushed over your glistening folds while you spread your thighs to give him better access. 

Studying your expression silently as his touches finally swiped through your folds to your clit, causing you to mewl and buck your hips into his hand. Kaji’s gaze was intense as his digits slid back to press against the ring of muscle at your entrance. Ardently, he pushed one finger through and nestled it deep within your velvety walls, as your head keened back against the trunk in delight. 

At first, he experimentally twitched his fingers - just feeling you - as your grip in his hair and jacket tightened. Pulling your bottom lip between your teeth, you shot him a pleading look as he gradually began pumping his finger. Faint whines tumbled from your lips as his strokes became more purposeful until you turned needy.

“Please Ren, I need more,” you moaned beggingly as you arched your back into him even more. All at once Kaji stopped his movements, hand stilling with the pad of his finger just barely grazing that spongy spot you so desperately wanted him to reach.

“How do you know my name?” He demanded suspiciously, eyes narrowing, but not letting you go. A soft sigh escaped your lips as you leaned back against the tree - of course he wasn’t going to make this easy.

“Well you know your name don’t you?” You posed calmly, to which his brows furrowed, so you sighed before continuing. “This is your dream, your subconscious, so if you know your name - so do I. The more important question is - do you want me to know your name?” Inquiring with an arch of your brow. Stunned, Kaji just stood there staring at you for several minutes.

“I-I don’t know,” he finally murmured with a slight shake of his head as he glanced at the mossy roots below. After a moment, you released his hair to cup his cheek again, his expression was incredibly vulnerable when his gaze met yours again.

“It’s okay - that’s why we’re here too,” you assured him delicately before pulling him closer to slot your lips with his once more. Instantly Kaji was submerged in your taste as he intertwined his tongue with yours, his ministrations continuing until a second digit slid through your entrance. Finally his fingertips prodded and pressed against that spongy spot that made your vision go white as he drank down your wanton cries greedily. As you felt yourself teetering closer to the edge, Kaji parted from you and fixed you with a heated look.

“Say my name,” he directed in an authoritative tone, causing your core to clench around his fingers. But the second the first ‘Ka-’ rolled off your tongue he cut you off, “No. My name.” He corrected with a firm nod.

“Re-Ren-ah!” His name stuttered through your teeth as his thumb pressed tight circles into your clit. His name mingled with needy whines tumbled from your lips as he pushed you closer and closer to your climax. With a press of his fingers and a final swirl of his thumb, you fell over the pleasurable edge into an euphoric abyss below. Clinging to him like a life line as your walls clamped down on his digits and your thighs trembled, knees wobbling and giving way only for Kaji to tighten his hold around your waist - bracing you securely to his chest. 

As you came down, he studied your fucked out expression with intrigue until you cracked your eyes open to meet his. Slowly he slipped his fingers out of your dripping cunt, eliciting a low whine from you. Then, he ever so gently pressed his lips to your forehead as he drew his arm back - placing both hands on your waist to steady you. Simpering up at him adoringly, you leaned up on your tiptoes and placed a chaste kiss on his cheek before pulling away and releasing him completely.

“It’s time to wake up now,” susurrating as smoke surged across the mossy floor to swirl around the base of the tree. Kaji felt torn from your words as the smoke began to rise up between the two of you. “Don’t look so sad - Y/N will be there when you wake up,” you promised him sweetly as the smoke overtook the clearing entirely.

Sleep cleared from his mind and was replaced by the sound of your steady heartbeat and your warm breath puffing into his sweatshirt. Blearily cracking his eyes open, Kaji peered down to find you still buried in his chest with your arms tightly wound around his torso. One of his arms was tightly wrapped under your waist with his hand pressed flat between your shoulder blades so you were flush to his chest. His other hand was securely wrapped around your upper thigh which was slung over his hip, your pelvis was pressed snugly against the hardened bulge in his jeans. 

The moment he realized how he was holding you, Kaji instantly released you and scooted back, gingerly laying your thigh over your other. Despite the sudden movement, your face - which was now resting on your bent arm - was still peaceful with sleep. After the two of you were resituated, he pulled the blanket up to your shoulder before laying his head on his bent arm too as he observed you slumbering. Velvety, sweetened cedar and resinous incense puffed against his lips which each breathy snore that passed yours. Though his keen nose picked on something different about your scent this time… Maybe it was headier? 

With a quiet whine, you pulled him out of his thoughts as your eyelids fluttered until the whites peaked through at him. Immediately, your brows furrowed as unintelligible mumbles and whines tumbled out of you. Kaji’s brows shot up in question before eliciting an amused chuckle when you sleepily reached out and grabbed his sweatshirt, then scooted yourself forward until your nose was buried in his copal redolence once again. 

Slinging an arm over you, he laid his palm flush to your lower back before gently rubbing his thumb against your hip through the tunic. You continued to sleep for another 30 minutes as Kaji replayed his dream while catching whiffs of this new component of your scent that made his mouth water. When you finally did wake, he was surprised to see an embarrassed look cross your face the moment your eyes met his, accompanied by a deep blush blooming over your cheeks.

“Go-good morning!” Chirping out before he could quiz you about your reaction, swiftly you sat up and smoothed down your tunic. Kaji sat up as well, cocking his head at your sudden shy demeanor.

“Good morning,” he replied calmly, but when you didn’t meet his eye right away he asked, “did you have the same dream last night?” 

Whipping your head to gape him, your expression shocked and incredibly ashamed, as you chewed on your words. Kaji couldn’t help but chuckle at your wide eyes and burning ears - he didn’t know what your dream was, but he knew it certainly involved him by your poorly masked humiliation. So, he clarified his inquiry, “was it the same dream where you were looking for me?”

Blinking rapidly, your tongue felt heavy in your mouth as you replayed your dream from last night: It was set in Old Furin. Kaji was there. Except he could see you from the start. It started with you in an alleyway on a sunny afternoon, where three guys were holding you up, but before any of them could touch you, Kaji showed up and beat them. He recognized you when he turned to face you, and was remarkably still a vampire by the look of his fangs - even if the timeline didn’t quite match up.

All of that would be fine to divulge, but the next part… the part where he said he was so glad you were alright and then kissed you. And all of the following scenes where he barely got you back into his house before taking you against the front door. You especially couldn’t tell him about the part where you were cumming around his twitching cocking while babbling how much you love him into the crook of his neck. Kaji was still staring at you expectantly, though his expression had become a little concerned.

“Uh, no, I didn’t. It was entirely different,” you admitted with a small chuckle, and before Kaji could ask anything more you swiftly inquired, “What about you? Same dream?” 

Stunned silence filled the room as he stared at you for a lengthy beat, and then he just shook his head and shrugged.

“Mine too - completely different,” he conceded. Both of you stared at each other for another moment before breaking eye contact - you peering to your left and Kaji to his right. Neither of you voiced any more questions about the other’s dream. The rest of the morning was spent asking each other about the time you two spent apart. Kaji told you about his day to day at school - which hasn’t changed much over the years; while you told him a little about the healing spell. He looked incredibly relieved when you assured him that the spell worked, and that the children made a full recovery.

As midmorning set in, Kaji told you to head back to town so you can get something to eat. You agreed, though it was hard to hide your disappointment when he told you not to come back for a few days - that you needed to rest. Pursing your lips stubbornly at his request, but eventually you nodded along to that as well before he escorted you through the shadowy hallways to the darkened entryway where he bid you goodbye.

Once you returned to the hut Kiyoko kept you under house arrest for about a week while you finished recovering. You were only allowed light duties, which unfortunately gave your thoughts ample room to run. The dream from that night stayed in the corner of your mind’s eye, popping to the forefront at any given moment and sending you into an embarrassing spiral as you remembered what Kaji smelled, tasted, and felt like. Of course it didn’t help that whenever you laid down for sleep, you were immediately met with a new, salacious dream filled with Kaji. Every night it seemed he became more ravenous, which probably should have frightened you as his kisses and touches started feeling more real, harder, and… hungrier. Truly though, you would be lying if you said you weren’t excited to see what your next dream would bring with each passing night.

On the seventh night, when you were plunged in a pleasurable dreamscape filled with Kaji’s lips peppering kisses along your bare torso, you were awoken by a thundering crash as light flashed through the crack in the door. Shooting straight up in bed, you saw Kiyoko sitting up as well before exchanging a terrified look with you. It wasn’t often storms rolled over the town, but when they did they caused a terrifying amount of damage. The two of you drew closer and hunkered down through the worst of it.

With each passing day, that headier scent from before grew stronger, carrying on the cross winds from your hair all the way to Kaji in the school. You were active in the days, so that’s when it was strongest - while he was asleep. With that new element added, his dreams became shrouded in a thicker smoke - smelling of labdanum incense and your heady, creamy musk. Each night passed with him falling deeper and deeper into your scent, your taste, your touch…

And yet, what he wanted most - to taste that fragrant peach nestled between your thighs - escaped him every night. For example, tonight, when he emerged from the smoky treeline, he was met with a dappled shore that was edged by a smooth, clear lake. From its very depths emerged you dripping in water, your cotton tunic clinging to your breasts, hips and thighs as you slicked your wet locks back out of your face. 

Flashing him a bright smile, you sauntered right up to him until you stood before him with his hands laid securely on your hips. Sliding his hands up along your waist until he cupped under your breasts, his appreciative gaze drank in your dewy skin as they traveled down to your pert nipples. Then he snaked his arms around your back, ghosting his palms over your plump behind before grabbing the backs of your thighs and hoisting you up to straddle his hips. Draping your arms around his neck, you simpered down at him as you carded your fingers through his hair and then slotted your lips between his, intertwining your tongue with his soon after. Laying you down on the grassy sand under the trees, he slid one arm under the arch of your back holding you flush to him, while his other hand gripped your thigh bruisingly as he ground his bulge against your hot core.

As the thunder rolled away into the distance, you thought of all the snapping and thudding you heard throughout the night. There was no doubt many vines had been torn away from structures - especially near the edge of the barrier. Opening the door to look at the now clear sky, you see the top of the moon was dipping behind the trees - day would be breaking soon. Without a second thought, you shouted a quick word to Kiyoko before tearing out of the hut in just your boots, tunic and knitted leggings towards the school. Terror clutched at your chest while you desperately hoped you could outrun the rising sun.

Kaji parted from your lips before ghosting them down the valley of your breasts, torso, to your parted legs. Saliva collected along his lower lip as he pushed your tunic up the tops of your plush thighs to reveal your thrumming core. Your heady, creamy musk invaded his senses, drawing him closer until his nose brushed your clit, causing your back to arch off the ground as he inhaled your aroma deeply. Dipping nearer to finally taste you, the tip of his tongue almost brushing your eager cunt, when an urgent voice tore him from the dreamscape completely.

Luckily, you had reached the classroom just before the first rays of light started to stretch over the town, including the formerly vined structure on the edge of the barrier. A disturbing amount of light was creeping into the hallways and over the gnarled steps that led to the floor he slept on. Poking your head in room after room until you saw a bedroll with a man shaped lump under the blanket - the window above Kaji’s head was bare of any greenery with a clear view of the trees that the sun usually rose over. Dropping to your knees by his sleeping form, you grabbed his shoulder and shook him violently.

“Kaij wake up!” Shouting desperately as you worriedly scanned the still darkened trees in the distance. Snapping awake, eyes alert but carrying confusion from the sudden transference of subconscious to conscious, he regarded you with a perplexed expression as a deep crease set in his brow. “The sun is rising! You need to move! Now!” Continuing your shrill instructions as you tugged him roughly to his feet.

Now at his full height, Kaji saw the window was devoid of any vines, as the first rays of light painted the tops of the trees, slowly creeping over the windowsill. Blinking rapidly as the gears in his head spun at hyper speed, and then - on instinct - he turned and dragged you across the room. It happened so fast you barely registered that he had pulled you into the closet with him and shut the door securely just as daybreak began to illuminate the space.

As the room outside lightened with each passing second, streaks of light entered from under the doorway - striking Kaji’s ankles. Smoke puffed up from the floor as he winced and threw himself against the wall to avoid morning rays. As more light crept under the doorway, you swiftly kicked off your boots before removing your knitted leggings and stuffing them under the door until no more direct sunlight could get in. Though dim, it was now just light enough to see Kaji pressed against the wall, an intense look etched into his face.

He felt himself teetering on delirium as aromatic earthen resins, sweet-wood, and the indescribable heady scent lifted off your skin to mingle with wisps of smoke - permeating the small space. Noticing his stiff demeanor, and the way he was staring you down as if you were a threat, you took a slight step forward. A concerned notch in your brow as you started to speak, but Kaji shook his head at you vigorously - holding one arm outstretched to keep you on the other side of the closet.

“Stay over there,” he growled through gritted teeth, causing you to jump back against the wall. Kaji has never spoken to you like this before. Instantly your pulse spiked while you attempted to ascertain whether you were in danger. As your heart hammered away against your chest, blood growing hot with fear, your scent only grew stronger making Kaji’s mouth water.

“Wh-what’s wrong?” You murmured timidly, following his direction to stay on your side of the tiny closet. When you saw the drool collecting along his bottom lip, you wrongly assumed that he was just parched, so you cautiously swept your hair away from your neck. Peering up at him reassuringly, offering your throat as you gently asked, “are you thirsty?”

“That’s not it,” he groaned desperately, flattening himself even more against the wall, eyes slamming shut only to be met with visions of you from his dream moments prior. Only then did he recognize that heady aroma - the one he’s been fantasizing about tasting… Suddenly his eyelids snapped open before he declared firmly, “you need to leave. Now.” 

Utterly stunned, you watched in horror as he pushed off the wall and reached for the door handle. Honestly, you weren’t even thinking as you launched yourself across the tiny closet, grabbing the door handle before bracing your shoulder against it. Reflexively, Kaji glared daggers down at you as an intimidating hiss escaped between his teeth.

”Kaji you can’t! If you go in the sun you’ll die!” The desperate shout echoed in the small space as you stood your ground between him and the door. Time seemed to still as Kaji stared at you - locked in a silent debate with himself.

I should step back. Or just push her out of the way and run out. I can use my jacket as cover - I’d just get a little burnt. Step back. You need to step back. Move away from her before…

The debate still seemed to be taking place as Kaji reached forward, grabbing you by your arms, notes of smoky leather, creamy spices and your sweet, heady musk drew his lips closer to yours as he pressed your back against the door. Tiny, quick breaths fluttered past your trembling lips - in and out, in and out - spiking your pulse even higher so your heart sounded like hummingbird wings beating in his ears. At the last second you screwed your eyes shut, preparing yourself for his sharp fangs to puncture your throat, but then your breath hitched as you felt something smooth and warm pressed against your lips. 

Hints of ripe apples, peppered musk, and rich, balsam smoke tickled your nose as Kaji’s hand slid up your arms to cup your face as he leaned more into the kiss. At first he moved his lips ardently against yours, soft satisfied breaths puffed through his nose, as he parted your lips with his and slid his tongue against yours. Sweet thyme and creamy peaches burst over his taste buds as he groaned deliriously into your mouth.

Your mind went completely blank other than the feeling of Kaji’s lips on yours, and his hands as they moved to snake around your torso. One hand stopped at your hips to grip it bruisingly, pulling you flush against him, while the other curled around your ribs to hold you in place. All you could do was fist your hands in the sleeves of his jacket as Kaji kissed you hungrily. Releasing a muffled gasp when he wedged his leg between yours so the top of his thigh pressed into your core delightfully. Pathetic whines bubbled from deep within before cascading out of you as you grinded down on him, while Kaji drank down your pleasurable little noises with vigor.

His jeans soon became damp with your arousal, as that sweet, heady scent emanating from between your thighs only grew to the point of overwhelming his senses. Suddenly he released you, leaving you staring up at him bewildered before he dropped to his knees in front of you. Wordlessly he slipped his hands under your tunic and slid the thin cotton undergarment down your legs. Then, he grabbed the back of your thigh before propping your knee on his shoulder, your back completely flush with the door now. 

Hooking his other thumb under your tunic, and sweeping it to the side as he wrapped his fingers around your hip to hold it and you in place. Your bare, thrumming cunt fully on display. Swiftly, your entire body stiffened from embarrassment. Kaji peered up to see a bright red blush crawling over your face, but he looked almost unfazed - your intoxicating aroma dividing his attention. Before you could even form a protest, he spoke.

“I’ve been having dreams about you - this,” smoky-pale irises flicking to your core then back to your timid gaze, his voice was calmer now, but still held an edge as if he was barely in control of himself. 

“I haven’t tasted you in any of them, and I feel like if I don’t soon I’ll go insane. Your scent has been haunting me…” his tone strained slightly as his eyes turned more bestial from pure desire. “Y/N,” a quiet whimper tumbled from your lips at your name rolling off his tongue, “can I taste you? Please.” Desperation stained his words as his grip on your hip tightened while the muscles in his arms twitched with anticipation, pinning you to the door.

With an almost imperceptible nod of your head, Kaji’s eyelids fluttered shut as he pressed his nose directly to your clit while releasing a pleased groan. Another gasp escaped you, but the sound of him inhaling you deeply followed by an ardent exhale drowned it out as his breath fanned over your glistening folds. Gingerly, he swiped the tip of his tongue through your lips to your sensitive clit, and then pressed a warm, appreciative kiss to you before plunging his wet muscle directly into your core. Instantly, you carded your fingers into his hair for some stability, which only spurred his urgent ministrations.

Wanton mewls bounced off the walls of the small closet as Kaji mercilessly coaxed you to your climax. His grip on your thigh sure to leave a purple mark by tomorrow as he simultaneously pulled you closer and pressed you against the door with his other hand stayed tethered to your hip. Grunting greedily into your core as his tongue teased more of your sweet arousal over his taste buds. Just as your vision began going white around the edges, that taut feeling in your core threatening to snap, Kaji suddenly pulled back as you whined desperately for him not to. His hands didn’t leave you as he wordlessly set the trembling leg propped over his shoulder on the floor before they slid up your thighs to settle on your hips as he rose to his full height, towering over you with a torn expression.

“I want… more,” speaking bluntly as he squeezed your hips, cerulean irises traveling down the expanse of your form before shooting you a pleading look. “Is that okay?” He requested cautiously, his entire body stiffened in restraint as he awaited your response.

“Mhm th-that’s okay,” you whispered to him, heart already pitter pattering in anticipation for what’s to come next as you gripped his jacket tighter in your fists. Searching your face a moment longer for any signs of displeasure, and when he found none, Kaji gingerly released your hips before unbuttoning his jeans. You watched with overt intrigue as his hard length was revealed. Veined, girthy, with thick veins traveling from the base to the wide mushroom tip, a drop of precum collected at the tip.

Though beyond that you barely had time to really take him in, since a moment later he bent down to hook his arm under your knee before straightening - lifting and spreading your legs at the same time. Luckily your back was still pressed to the door for stability as he lined the head of his cock up to your dripping entrance. Before going any further, his gaze cut from where the two of you were about to join, to yours - his smoky eyes reflected a silent request that you swiftly answered with another bob of your head.

Gradually he pushed past that ring of muscle that gave way to your fluttering, velvety walls. Kaji snaked his other arm around to grip your plump behind as he slowly bottomed out, a low groan tumbling from his mouth as he sheathed himself fully in your hot, wet cunt. Curious silvery gaze observed your expression while you grew accustomed to his size as the notch in your brow slowly smoothed out. When you seemed to have relaxed, he ardently canted his hips back, making sure you felt every inch of him before pushing in at the same pace - your head keened back against the door as you released a stilted whine.

His eyes fell half lidded as his pace picked up marginally - letting you get comfortable with his size and pace before ticking it up, bit by bit. Before long, Kaji’s hard cock pistoned into your greedy cunt as your arousal leaked down yours and his thighs. Lewd, squelching plat plat plats echoed off the walls of the small closet as he tightened his grip around you.

“Ka-Kaji,” you whined into his chest desperately. Tenderly, he knocked his chin into your forehead so you would peer up at him. A smirk tugged at his lips from how fucked out you already looked before he grew serious.

“Ren.” He stated calmly, his brutal pace not slowing for a moment as your brow creased while whimpering moans tumbled from you. That taut feeling in your core threatened to snap as your gummy walls clenched around him.

“My name is Kaji Ren, please call me Ren,” he clarified gently as he pulled you up on your tiptoe by his hand on your behind, eliciting a gasp from you. While your other thigh was still firmly hooked over his strong forearm. 

“Re-ren,” you stuttered out as his hips canted forward more so his tip repeatedly hit that spongy spot that brought euphoric tears to your eyes. “Ren- oh God,” moaning out pathetically as you dropped your forehead into his chest while your core began pulsing sporadically around his twitching cock. Kaji squeezed your ass tighter to keep you immobile, making his thrusts harder and deeper.

“Fu-” a guttural groan escaped your lips as you fisted Kaji’s desperately. Pleasurable electricity synapsed through your core, down your trembling thighs to your curling toes, and up to the very tip of your nose. Teetering on the very edge, your eyes rolled back as your knee began to buckle, but Kaji just held you tighter - not letting you slip an inch. 

Holding you flush to his chest, he took a step forward to press you against the door, gaining better leverage. Gracefully, he hooked his other arm under your thigh so he had you in a mating press against the aged wood. The coarse hair at the base of his cock rubbed and tickled your clit spurring your velvety walls to spasm around him as your vision went white. Salacious ah ah ah’s filled the tiny space as Kaji fucked you relentlessly against the door.

As your climax neared, your heart rate spiked causing your veins to burn with pleasure as your addicting fragrance swirled around Kaji and clouded his mind with hedonistic bliss. Just as that taut feeling snapped, releasing a gush of your arousal down Kaji’s thighs and a surge of euphoric shivers through your entire body, you wantonly cried out Kaji’s name as your head fell back against the door - revealing your throat. 

Your pulse point drew Kaji’s attention instantly as he continued thrusting with abandon, chasing his own release. That musky aroma mixed with creamy peaches took on a new depth as your core clamped down around his twitching cock before pulsing repeatedly, driving him closer to his climax as he brought his lips to your throat. Too caught up in your own pleasure, you barely felt the prick of his fangs as Kaji latched onto your throat, tasting your new flavor. Instead of instinctually draining you dry, Kaji sipped your vermillion ichor slowly. As if he were tasting wine, he let your blood slip over his tongue as peachy-milk and spiced-amber filled his senses. Notes of intense, smoky earth created a full-bodied flavor that caused his hips to stutter.

Drinking your blood was entirely different this time around, because this time he really wasn’t thirsty. But he was craving this. Still in the throes of your release, you didn’t even feel his mouth detach from your throat as his grip on your thighs tightened, and his pelvis met yours with a delicious roughness until he stilled completely. Your redolence and flavor clouded his mind to the point that his climax practically came as a shock - he collapsed against you into the door, heaving air as his cock twitched wildly. Then, his hot release painted your eager walls, filling you, as he groaned low and deep into the crook of your neck.

After a few moments, Kaji pushed off the door - you still securely in his arms - as he slipped out of you. Releasing a quiet whine, you lifted your head off his chest to peer up at him, to find his gaze already trained on you. Ever so delicately, he set your feet on the ground but kept his hands on your hips and waist to keep you steady as you leaned back against the door. A pregnant pause passed as the two of you silently stared at each other, until you leaned forward and wrapped your arms around his neck as you simpered up at him. Then, you pressed a chaste kiss to his lips, but before you could pull away Kaji wrapped one strong arm around your back before grabbing the back of your head with his other hand.

Pressing more into the kiss, he moved his lips against yours - deepening the kiss as he slid his tongue along yours. Ripe apples, spiced musk, and the subtle hint of iron flooded your taste buds as you eagerly kissed him back, pressing your body to flush to his once more. Just as your hands started to creep lower down his chest to his abdomen, Kaji parted from the kiss with an amused chuckle.

“Your stamina is admirable, but I think we could both use a break,” he remarked pridefully, his voice and face exuded warmth as he let you go so he could remove his jacket. Tilting your head to the side curiously as he laid it out flat on the floor, and then he took a seat before grabbing your hand and pulling you down beside him. With a satisfied sigh, he leaned back until he was flat on his back and then pulled you down next to him so he could hold you close. As the smoke finally dissipated, vaporous copal, rich marigolds and velvety, herbaceous sweet-wood mingled with both of your soft breaths to fill the silence.

Laying with your head on Kaji’s chest while tucked into his side, one of his arms wrapped around your back and over your waist. It’s been about half an hour since either of you spoke, and while he seemed perfectly content with the silence, you just couldn’t shake your dream from a week prior. The one where you were in Old Furin, during the war, and Kaji had saved you from some kind of… monster. Though, he seemed to pick up on your nerves - catching a glimpse of you chewing on your bottom lip out of the corner of his eye.

“What’s up?” He inquired with an arched brow, shifting his head to the side so he could look at you directly. You stiffened under his stare as you sheepishly averted your eyes to the other side of the room. When he just continued staring at you, waiting for you to speak, finally you relented while meeting his gaze timidly again.

“Um, well,” you began slowly as a notch formed in your brow, “I was wondering about the war? More so, what happened?” You posed cautiously, and immediately regretted your words as a deep crease formed in Kaji’s brow while his face grew hard and distant. 

“I-I’m sorry! I really shouldn’t have asked…” blurting out, stumbling over yourself to apologize for crossing the line, but then Kaji just shook his head at you before sitting up with his back resting against the wall behind him. You sat up as well to be eye level with him, and he kept his arm securely looped around your waist so you were tucked flush against his side still. A pregnant pause passed before he spoke again.

“Does the town know… anything about what happened?” He finally cross-questioned, his voice carrying poorly hidden disbelief. Blinking rapidly, you give a slight nod, but then your brow creased deeply too. 

“Some, I think, um,” you murmured, completely unsure of your response or how he would take it. Though his gaze was still intense, Kaji didn’t push you and waited patiently for you to elaborate. 

So, you told him what you knew. First, you mentioned that all of this you learned from Kiyoko who showed you some older records from before the witches really took over the town. Before you could go any further with your story, Kaji suddenly asked if Kiyoko was your mom, leaving you a little taken aback. Your town was small, and everyone knew each other, so everybody knew about you and your mom.

“Um, no, she isn’t,” your voice grew small as you divulged how you came into her care. “Kiyoko told me that my mom came to town over three centuries ago, but when I was about seven, I guess, she just disappeared,” shrugging your shoulders lightly as you focused on a loose thread around his collar. “It was during a time when things were pretty scarce, Kiyoko said there was a string of bad winters that left us struggling, so since she lived by herself she was the one who took me in.” You finished your explanation with a tiny nod before meeting his gaze again. Though now his hard eyes had softened to become sympathetic.

“I’m sorry,” he offered gently, his expression bore a deeper understanding for your situation than anyone you’ve known before - other than Kiyoko. Throwing him a small smile you just shook your head lightly as you offered a quiet, ‘it’s okay’. 

After a melancholic moment, you continued your story - explaining that the town knows about the war, but not what caused it or who we were fighting. Next you brought up that everyone praises Bofurin - though not as much as you would hope - for fighting and protecting the town. Though you were sure he was already aware due to his keen sense of hearing, you also mentioned the vigil held every year in their honor. Kaji listened intently, eyes twinkling with amusement when you jovially explained how big of an event the vigil was every year. Finally, you mentioned how the records got it wrong - the last Bofurin was recorded to be Sakura Haruka - which is why the vigil is held on the anniversary of his death. Kaji cocked his head curiously before asking how you knew the records were wrong.

“Kotoha Tachibana, she’s kind of a hero to us in her own way,” you replied with a muted simper, which instantly dropped when you saw Kaji’s eyes grow misty from the mention of her name. In a cracked voice he urged you to tell him more, and though you felt a pang of jealousy stab through your heart from his reaction - you obliged his request. Slowly you elaborated that Kotoha’s efforts to record what happened during the war is why the town knows anything about them today, or where to find the items they left for future generations - informational sheets, pamphlets and diagrams of a lot of the items, and appliances from Old Furin.

“She’s actually the reason I found you,” finally you admitted the truth of how you suspected he was there. He blinked in surprise, and tilted his head, wordlessly imploring you for an explanation. “According to the records wh-when Sakura…” you trailed off, and after a beat both Kaji and you nodded sadly - already knowing what happened to him. 

“Well she was distraught, for… the rest of her life I think, and even though she celebrated during the vigil, she also insisted to her dying breath that there was still one Bofurin left,” you confessed in a subdued tone while observing his expression like a hawk. A shameful part of your heart wondered if he had ever been with Kotoha how he had just been with you.

“She was the last person I had,” he finally spoke as stray tears rolled down his cheeks. “Kotoha was a really good friend - she never let me be alone. I-I’m glad she’s such a big part of your history… she really, really deserved the recognition,” he whispered softly as he cleared his bleary vision. As his were wiped away, slippery tears collected along your lash line while stifling your sniffles.

“I’m so-sorry,” blurting out the moment Kaji’s bewildered gaze met watery eyed one, “I’m just really, really grateful for her,” explaining as you quickly tried drying your own tears in embarrassment. 

Suddenly your face was pressed into his copal scented jacket as one of his wide palms gripped the back of your head while the other rubbed your back comfortingly. Then he tenderly whispered into your hair, “me too.” 

Another several minutes passed before Kaji seemed ready to tell you what he knew. Though he tried to be matter of fact, he just didn’t have much to go on. By Kaji’s account, pandemonium just happened one day out of the blue. It was like hell opened up, and by the looks of the land outside of your little green village that was true. Suddenly, creatures that were fabled and feared were on earth and tearing humanity apart. 

Kaji still wasn’t sure of everything that happened, just that the numbers of his friends dwindled rapidly until there were just the strongest fighters left. Some members from other teams who made it into Furin fought with them as well, but not many made it to them in the first place. He did say that the deaths were more difficult as the number of fighters lessened - it just left more and more for the rest of them to do. Though you spied a hue of loneliness in his eyes the same as when you first met him while he spoke.

When he spoke about Hiragi, Umemiya, Sako, Kusumi and Enomoto - he wouldn’t speak of their deaths, and that you respected. It just seemed too hard for him to even think about. He revealed that he was the last one, and instead of killing him some kind of vampire chose to “recognize” him by turning Kaji into one as well. Though he despised his new existence, he decided that he could protect the town like that, so he did. 

First thing he did was take out the vampire who turned him, all of his followers, and then spent the following decades prowling the outskirts and keeping any wayward beasts at bay. For years and years that’s all he did, until the witches felt safe enough to come out of hiding. They warded the town against any and all threats, so Kaji receded to the school to keep watch and protect it from the edge of the barrier. 

After fighting for so long, and losing so many, he really just wanted to be alone. He expressed that he was content with watching society rebuild, even if it didn’t need him anymore. The only person who was able to catch sight of him, let alone visit him in all that time, was Kotoha. Anyone else who came to the school, he would hide away from them. Well, until you, that is.

“I’m so sorry Ren,” you whispered before leaning your face into his chest. Kaji blinked down at you in surprise before wrapping his arms tightly around you and sliding down so you both were lying flat again.

“It’s alright,” he affirmed gently as he rolled onto his side and pressed his nose into the top of your head. “Will you stay with me tonight?” He inquired, warm breath puffing into your locks.

Before you could nod or give any kind of verbal response, Kaji had already fallen asleep with you still in his crushing embrace. Smiling into his jacket, you snuggled closer before drifting off to sleep yourself - hopeful and excited of what this new development could mean for you and him. As the shadowy abyss rose up to submerge you into the subconscious, you half expected another salacious dream between you and Kaji. But as the shadows cleared, the scene revealed before you was of a ritual. 

In a grassy clearing stood a stone altar table, the sun was in its last leg of setting behind the trees. Atop the table sat a salt circle with a creamy white candle in the center. Around the top of the candle sat a dark, metallic ring that seemed to be dripping… blood down the candle. As you grew closer, you saw two vials of red liquid with a red tipped athame sat in front of them within the circle. To the edge of the table, you spied your grimoire. Drawing nearer, you peered over the leather book to see your handwriting written on the pages, but it was a spell you’ve never seen before. Scrawled across the top of the page read:

Daylight Ring

Master List (I have no rights to these characters, the works they come from. The photo / header was created by me, so please don't repost / reuse without credit. Divider is from @sweetmelodygraphics )

Tag List (lmk if you want to be added): @nymphsdomain

[p1a9u3]

PeepHole Ch2: Disturbances

Masterpost Ch.2 - Ch.3 Pairing: Dylan Matthews x Fem Oc

Rating: 18+ (mdni)

Genre: Neighbors/Strangers to Lovers, Smut, Angst, Fluff, Slow-burn

Summary: First impressions are always important, luckily Amoya didn't fuck her's up...right?

Words: 1.4k

Warnings: (This story takes place in 2024) Mental illness (anxiety, OCD), Language, Age gap (5 years), nothing really happens in this chapter.

Status: Unedited

Authors Note: I am so sorry, this took forever to come out, it's not even a long chapter. There happened to be a lot of shit wanting to happen as I was trying to finish this chapter, so things got pushed back. I will try my best to not be so lazy and get shit written and posted in a timely manner, but for now, here is the second chapter, I hope you enjoy

"Hello?"

You silently cursed yourself for waking up your neighbor at six in the morning. You step to the side to apologize profusely. Looking up from the floor your eyes trail up seeing black socks, grey sweatpants, a plain white t-shirt, finally reaching his face to see round glasses and messy hair.

'He looks familiar'

"I am so sorry I didn't mean to wake you I just tripped and this thing is really heavy, I hope I didn't damage your door, I'm sorry if I did and I'm sorry for waking you again." You spewed out

Dylans POV- Tuesday, February 27, 2024 Time: 5:57AM In a deep sleep, Dylan rolled onto his side, dreaming of himself as a best-selling author. He signed books for his fans, gave speeches about how his book was several years in the making, and how happy he was that his fans stayed long enough to see it finished.

-thump!-

Dylan jolted up from his sleep, looking around his room, thinking maybe someone was trying to break in,

"The fuck?" He sits up straight letting his eyes adjust to the dark and looks around the room, not seeing anything.

Or maybe it was in his head. Laying his head back onto his pillow, he closed his eyes slowly falling back to sleep.

-thump!-

Dylan's eyes shoot back open, grabbing his glasses from beside his bed and turning on his side lamp, he looks around his room. Getting out of bed and exiting his room, he quickly and quietly searches around his apartment. Not seeing anything out of order, he silently steps to his front door to look out the peephole. Seeing what looked like a large wall instead of the door that faced his, he also saw fingers wrapped around the side facing him. Letting out a sigh he opens the door

"Hello?" placing his right hand on the door frame and holding the door open with his left, waiting for a reply from the person who woke him from his dream.

Dylan wasn't really the type to get all flustered over a pretty girl, he'd acknowledge a good-looking face but then move on. But he couldn't help himself, you were gorgeous, he almost forgot why he was standing there in the first place until he heard your voice.

"I am so sorry I didn't mean to wake you I just- I tripped and this thing is really heavy, I didn't damage your door- I hope I didn't, I'm sorry if I did and I'm sorry for waking you again." You spewed out, fumbling over your words.

Why did he think that was kind of cute? He's gonna blame it on the fact that he just woke up and is still delirious, he didn't notice how your eyes slowly dragged up his body before, too busy dragging his own eyes over your body. When his eyes finally met yours the first thing he thought of was a siren, not one of those magical mermaids, but a siren, the ones who sing to sailors and drag them to their deaths and eat away at their drowned bodies. He's not going to lie to himself, he definitely thinks it's sexy, your eyes included. If he wasn't supposed to formulate a response to you he'd just keep staring, but he's been staring for too long.

"Ahem- You're fine- it's fine, you're good. Are you ok, that was pretty loud, did you hurt yourself?" If he could slap himself right now he would for sounding so stupid. -End of Dylan's POV

"I'm good, just hit my head a little, again I'm really sorry. You can go back to sleep, I'll be sure to not disturb you anymore." You apologize again, feeling like you probably ruined his routine.

'He really does look familiar'

-click-

You hear your own door open this time, turning to see your mom step out with a worried look on her face until she notices you standing away from her.

"O moj Bože, What is taking so long? Why are you just standing there?" Your mom steps out of your apartment, finally noticing the tall man standing in front of you. (Translation: oh my god)

"Sorry Mama, I tripped and woke him up, the thing is so damn heavy I dropped it twice." You motion to the man standing in front of you finally breaking eye contact with him

You hold onto the bed frame, bracing your shoulder against the side of it and sliding it down a little so it isn't blocking your door anymore.

"Oh we're sorry, please go back to bed we'll be sure to not bother you anymore." Your mom apologized for again you as she looked up at the man.

"Yeah- no it's ok, I wasn't even sleep. I- Do you guys need help?" He lied. He was asleep, having a nice dream too.

"Nonono- you don't have to do that we can figure it out ourselves, please don't let me bother you anymore." You look back up at him, giving him a small smile before turning to your mother.

"Amoya, maybe let the man help. My back is killing me anyway." Your mother looks back at the man smiling up at him. "I strained my back bringing these boxes up here, you wouldn't mind helping my daughter bring this one thing in would you"

Stepping next to you, your mom sly whispers to you. "He's cute" Sighing to yourself, you pinch the bridge of your nose

"No no, not at all." Dylan steps up grabbing onto the headboard. "It's just this right?"

You nod your head as you step to the other end to help him carry it inside as your mom holds the door open "Thank you, again I'm so sorry for waking you up."

You know you're apologizing a lot but you can't help it, you feel like an idiot.

"And again it's fine really." Noticing you stepping to the other end of the headboard "I got it, just hold the door for me, yeah?" Crouching down Dylan lifts the headboard from the middle letting it lean against his chest

'I- oh ok" You step back letting him carry it, stepping next to your mom you hold the door open, your mom stepping inside and out of the way.

Turning to the side Dylan steps into the apartment

"Second door to the left, you can set it against the wall" your mom instructs watching him effortlessly walk to the room. You follow closely behind.

Setting the headboard against the wall. Dylan stands up straight with a huff pushing his glasses further up the bridge of his nose. You stood at the doorway, unintentionally gawking.

"Is there anything else I can help with" Turning to you, he takes a few steps toward you looking down at you.

"I- uh- no no, that's it. Please don't let me keep you any longer." Snapping out of your daze and breaking eye contact, you take a step back and to the side getting out of his way. “I’ll be sure to pay you back sometime soon”

Dylan nods with a smile stepping out of your room to the front door, your mother not far from it smiling to herself. Getting closer

‘I’ve definitely seen his face before’

You trail behind as he approaches the front door “I’m Dylan by the way, forgot to introduce myself” he spins around before stepping out of your apartment.

‘The name’s familiar too’

“Amoya, I’m Amoya.” You replied back meeting him at the door “I won’t apologize again cuz I’m sure it’s annoying but I promise I will pay you back.” Your mom steps next to you placing a hand on your shoulder

“You should let her cook for you sometime, you two could get acquainted with each other” Nudging you slightly she smiles back at Dylan pleased with her suggestion

“I’ll keep that in mind when thinking of my payment, I’ll uh- I’ll go now then” Stepping back to into the hall he gives a small wave before turning to his own apartment and steps inside.

You shut the door after seeing him shut his, turning to your mother who simply smiles back at you playing innocent as she walks into your living room. Sitting on a folded chair you had brought with you, she crosses her legs giving you a look you know well enough.

“I’ve already ruined my first introduction and apologized profusely like a babe who just stole some candy” You already knew what she was thinking; you usually do.

“I didn’t say anything Ini, Znam da misliš da je sladak” She smiles slyly standing up and walking into the kitchen to unpack spices. (Translation: I know you think he's cute)

Walking back into your bedroom, ignoring your mother’s comment you enter your room to set up your bed.

prev. - Ch.2 - Ch.3

Authors Note: Again I am so sorry, this took forever to come out, I wish this chapter was longer to make up for the amount of time it took to be published. I hope I haven't pissed anyone off, and that people are still interested in this story. I genuinely want to write this story, my life just gets really hectic sometimes and I lose the motivation. If you are reading this, Thank you for coming back, or if you weren't here when I uploaded the first chapter. Hi, thanks for checking this story out. This is nowhere near done which scares me a little, but fingers crossed it doesn't take me a lifetime to finish.

[mama-qwerty]

My Handy-Dandy Fic & Writing Link List

I thought I'd gather convenient links for all my current Sonic fics and other bits of writing. Just in case, ya know, anyone out there may be interested.

Listed in order from newest to oldest.

Updated June 21, 2023

Lost and Found - an au in which Knuckles is adopted by Callie instead of the Wachowskis

Fall of the Status Quo - A certain silver hedgehog falls into Callie's life. Literally.

Campfire Tails - Sheriff Prower and the Mystery of the Silver Mine - A campfire story told by Tails, featuring his family in the roles.

A Burden Shared - A close call leaves some lasting feelings, and Tom and Knux have a late night bonding session

After the Dust Settles - Takes place between the Robotnik battle, and baseball scene at the end of Sonic 2

Sick as a Hog - The first time Sonic gets sick with the Wachowskis

The Walls Crack - Sonic finally opens up about his backstory to Tom and Maddie, after an innocent question sends him running

Maddie's First Mother's Day - How with the boys celebrate their first Mother's Day with Maddie?

An End and a Beginning - A tough day at the clinic sends Maddie to the deck for some quiet time, but Knux doesn't think she should be alone

Forced Perspective - One month after the second movie, and Knuckles falls ill

What's In A Name - After the events of Sonic 2, Maddie has some thoughts about what Sonic called Tom--and what he's NOT calling her

Late Night Thoughts - Sonic - Two months after the first movie, and Sonic's still having some trouble settling in with the Wachowskis, specifically Maddie - Told from Sonic's POV

Late Night Thoughts - Maddie - Two months after the first movie, and Sonic's still having some trouble settling in with the Wachowskis, specifically Maddie - Told from Maddie's POV

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Tumblr Exclusive Writing Snippets

I post some snippets of writing that frequently don't get finished and posted to Ao3 or Fanfiction.net. Just stuff that I started writing and either lost interest in, or discovered quickly they weren't going anywhere, but liked how they came out.

Drained Chaos - from a chat with @mcfanely about Knuckles having his chaos energy drained

When Eclipse Met Callie pt 4 - the gremlin saga continues

Base Instincts - something something all the Mobians on Earth revert to their more basic animalistic instincts

Lost and Found Ch 1 - A ‘what if’ au inspired by a story by @appendingfic​ - What if Callie adopted Knuckles instead of the Wachowskis?

Darkling Wade - What’s Right In Front Of You - Wade and Callie were just friends before he turned into a Dark, but now they wonder if there’s something more

Darkling Wade - At the Lake - The MacPherson clan--plus one--head out for a little R & R

Darkling Wade - The Hiss - Wade’s one and only time he’s ever hissed at Callie

When Eclipse Met Callie Pt 3 - Eclipse endears himself to Callie

Darkling Wade and Callie - Instincts - Wade has been feeling a strange instinct lately, and one night it takes control

Darkling Wade and Callie - Qwertyverse Edition - a kind of au in which Wade and Callie are dating when he turns into a Dark

Darkling Wade and Callie v1 - an au of sorts based on an ask and back and forth with @stillafanofsonic and @doomfox

The Curious Case of Miles Prower - a snippet thing based on de-aged Tails au from @dakt37

The Rock - Life in the MacPherson household is always exciting with Eclipse around.

When Eclipse Met Callie Pt 2 - a continuation of the previous part

The Spat - a few months after Eclipse joins the MacPherson household, he and Silver have a disgreement that ends in injury

When Eclipse Met Callie - Tumblr prompt from @stillafanofsonic asking what would happen when gremlin met librarian

Sonic Babysits - Tumblr prompt about Sonic babysitting Tom and Maddie’s baby, his little sister

Sonic’s First Birthday - Tumblr prompt about Sonic’s 1st birthday with Tom and Maddie

After Treatments - Shadow hates doing this treatments, and reacts poorly afterward.

The Bite - Shadow doesn't want to do his testing, and reacts in a less-then-ideal way.

Meeting Shadow - A tentative start to my Shadow story, in which Maria first meets the little hog.

Knuckles and Child - Just a short thing based on an ask about how Knuckles would take care of a baby.

Shopping with Silver - When Callie and Silver hit the grocery store, all seems well. Until Silver goes off on his own and encounters a few unfriendly townfolk.

Meeting Robotnik - A continuation of the previous bit, where Robotnik shows up at Callie's house to search for Sonic.

Meeting Sonic - An alternate movie fic in which Sonic meets Callie instead of Tom.

Hide the Hog - A little moment between Maria and a young Shadow, playing a little game at the start of the day.

Drone Home Snippet - Written in response to an ask I received regarding Knuckles' time between getting stuck in the billboard and returning to "help" Sonic and Tails with the drone.

Two Dorks Fail at Flirting - I have an upcoming fic in which Callie and Wade develop a mutual crush and start dating, but this is a quick little "stick a toe in and see how it feels".

~~~~@anartistwhowrites drew an adorable comic based on this snippet, with absolutely wonderful expressions, and it captures Wade and Callie's awkwardness PERFECTLY! Check it out, and give her a follow because she really is so freaking sweet and talented!~~~~

Chaotix & Callie - In an early version of an upcoming story which introduces Silver, I had the Chaotix come into play. Here's a really short snippet that I thought came out cute.

The Reluctant Tutor - Due to their inability to make sound decisions, the Wachowski boys are in need of a tutor. Callie is called in to assume the role, and here's the tentative start to that fic. Unknown if I'll ever finish it.

Mom's Done - Sometimes motherhood isn't all rainbows and unicorn farts. Maddie has a rough morning.

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Tumblr Shorties

Sometimes an ask (or something I see on my dash) will spark a bit of writing--a shortie. Here’s a convenient list of them.

The First Loss - based on a post of @aphantimes regarding Knuckles dealing with death

Eclipse Does Good

Tainted Energy pt 2 - a continuation of the previous bit, encouraged and enabled by @mcfanely

Tainted Knuckles - based on a post regarding a tainted Master Emerald, and a fanart based on that

Eclipse Loses Pt 2

Tom and Tails Bonding

Eclipse Loses

Sneaking In - Okay, so not technically an ask, more of a shortie I wrote while inspired by art from @quazart

Chaotix Babysit Badly

Eclipse vs. Lobsters

Eclipse Throws Up

Eclipse and the Litter Boxes

Wade and Eclipse’s Pounce Game

Mom Said No

Eclipse’s First Check-up

Eclipse Totally Isn’t Cuddling

Eclipse Back Scratch

Daddy Eclipse

Eclipse the Jedi

Stealing is Wrong

The Truth About the Child Leash

Check 'em out, spread 'em around, lemme know what you think, and share the love!

[clambuoyance]

Deltarune Ch 3 Theory (Spoilers!)

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This will be sort of a ramble, and I’ll do my best to include screenshots, but this is my personal theory and thoughts on what’s happening and where Ch 3 is headed. Most of this stuff has probably been said by others, so this is mostly for me to come back to!

1. Kris

So there are a lot of moments that seems to hint to Kris’ homelife and I’ll just sort of go through them here. 

When you look through the room Queen trapped you in, there’s a calendar with a vacation date circled from a search query about when college has summer break. Given how close Asriel and Kris seem to be, I’m pretty sure Kris is really anxious to see Asriel and have his support back. 

Because Toriel and Asgore seem to have divorced fairly recently? Or at the very least, I think it’s still definitely taking a toll on Kris, and Asriel leaving does NOT help at all. It makes me wonder if there’s more to him leaving for college. 

There’s another curious thing where if you  decide to look through Asriel’s room, Kris shuts their eyes and seems to not want to see what’s inside, despite what the Player might want. Why? Afraid of what they’ll see? What could Asriel possibly be searching for that Kris would be afraid of the truth?

I think some incident happened in the past, one that’s related to the Dreemurr and the Holiday family growing apart, Noelle’s sister “Dess”, and Asgore apparently being removed from the police force. (If maybe he was powerless or cowardly to do something, this could have led to a divorce and Asriel leaving? I’m not sure, but I think Dess has died or its related tot he incident, and Asriel seemed close with them too so I’m sure it was also hard on him.)

(i didnt take a screenshot of the newsclipping with this info but ill put it here later lol)

Circling back to Kris, there’s several details that hint to Kris’ mindset, and basically, I think Kris doesn’t want to grow up because when you grow up you grow apart and don’t live out fun fantasies anymore. Maybe.

If you go to the flyer in the librarby,  and read the one about the ICE-E event that says “Where teens can still be Kids!” Kris is relieved, for some reason. Probably because they’re glad to hear they still technically count as a kid. 

Not directly related but if you go up to the upperright room and read the book about humans, Kris quickly shuts it. Given the similarities and hints to Chara from Undertale, it seems like Kris wanted to get away from other humans or humanity in general. Which also aligns maybe with Kris being fearful of the bunker. I really don’t know what to make it past this though. Crack theory was that the world of Undertale was just a Dark World Kris made as a kid or something. Or that when “Chara” fell, it was a fall similar to how Kris and Susie fall when entering a Dark World. Lmao probably unrelated though.

2. Dark Worlds and Escapism

The Dark Worlds seem to function as some sort of escapism, and it’s interesting that they’re all based on real life things. In Chapter 1, the Dark World was based on the classrooms various toys like checkers, chess, cards, dolls,etc. In Chapter 2, it seems even more so with Noelle. Queen actually wants the best for Noelle and is very nosy and always chasing after her, in contrast to Noelle’s real mom who is always busy being a mayor. After all, Queen does know how sad Noelle’s search history probably is. (Mainly from this post!)

(screenshots to be added lol)

Kris probably feels the same way, as both Noelle and Kris grew up together and seem to be suffering from dysfunctional families or some sort of drama.

And Queen directly says in the boss fight with Berdly that the internet and the screens provide comfort for many people, and she is well-intentioned in wanting to help make people happy. Maybe for Kris it’s video games or roleplaying or toys or silly things, kind of like how many people in the real world do similar things. I wonder if the next chapters will each focus on a different character and other forms of escapism or storytelling. 

3. The Knight

So at the end of Chapter 2, Kris rips out the Player Soul and slashes the tires to Toriel’s car. Then later Susie talks about how cool it would be if they could bring Ralsei and Lancer and everyone to their world and hang out with them. Then Kris takes the Player out once again and pulls out a knife, fills the “Blade” with their “Will”, aka Determination, and creates a new dark fountain that encompasses their whole home (and maybe even the whole town). 

(screenshot laterrrr)

It seems that the tires were to ensure Toriel stays inside the house though, so maybe it’s just the house. If that’s the case, and Kris really is the knight, I think Kris wants to envision a better home where things are better. Escapism right inside your own home.

If it’s the whole town, then maybe Kris already had Susie’s idea and really is going to take everyone in a new Dark World so everyone can be together. That or Susie inadvertently gave Kris the idea..it makes me wonder if we’ll see Toriel in her outfit from Undertale, or something like that. The other reason I could see it being a town-wide thing is because now Kris has the knowledge of the Roaring (thanks to Ralsei).  I’m not too sure what their stance would be, but maybe they see a benefit to it?

After creating a fountain, a smile flashes on the tv, so I think the next chapter will be television based and feature a tv villain (though it does look like flowey...). Again, i wonder if each chapter will be some form of escape for some people. or maybe it’ll be a different theme.

Also, I just want to add that I really don’t see Kris as malicious or doing thing for a sinister reason. Or maybe it’s still fucked up and selfish, but not the evil people imagine. If you do the snowgrave route, Noelle doesn’t even recognize it as Kris’ voice. The sinister voice in that route seems to be the Player rather, being cruel and making Noelle make these traumatizing choices. Which is why I wonder if Kris is the Knight, or if it’s a red herring. Not sure. 

4. ANYWAYS

There’s a lot to unpack. Too much to unpack, like there’s a whole thing I could say about Big Shot and Jevil and Gaster. The way maybe Kris also knows the world is just a game (maybe thats why they hate humans?? were just like go puppet go lol). But i have no idea so this was just focused on Kris mostly, and Maybe i’ll talk more but I finished the game a few hours ago and I just had to get these thoughts out even if others probably already figured it out or think its obvious. It’s just really cool! Again, most of this comes from this theory, cus i havent looked much at others (YET) since i just finished today. Anyways, FUN GAME! 

If anyone has useful screenshots or whatever please feel free to add lol