#My Way: Top Experts Reveal How to Create Yours Today

[thepersonalquotes]

More than attitude, posture has also been used throughout history to communicate one’s status in society.

Cindy Ann Peterson, My Style, My Way: Top Experts Reveal How to Create Yours Today

[keirmoonrock]

Top Five Behind the Scenes: The Name of the Shinigami King

Hey, so after drinking too much coffee and wondering whether or not it would make sense, I’ve decided to scream into the void purely for my own amusement and break down the given name of the Shinigami King I use in my Death Note fanfiction, Top Five! 

Full disclosure: I do not speak Japanese, my only experience is a year’s worth of Duolingo and listening to subbed anime... though I am going to start classes later this year. I am also no linguistic expert, and cite all of my sources from Wikipedia, YouTube, and Google... this isn’t meant to be super serious, just a look into one of the more interesting characters in my fanfic and how I named him/how his name would evolve linguistically.

So in Top Five, the Shinigami King or King of Death is only referred to in those titles, or otherwise by the direct integration of them into speech (ex. Your Majesty, His Majesty). However, it’s revealed during The Search in To The Generosity of Mr. Higuchi! that he does have a given name, the same way Rem is called Rem and not The Executioner, her official court title. His name is Siuja, though it enrages him to hear it outside of the play preformed by the other shinigami in that chapter, because it is associated with his inferiority under Izanami, who cursed him.

Real talk... my beta reader and I came up with a random string of syllables for his name after looking on FantasyNameGenerator.com, and that’s how I decided on Siuja, thinking it was at least adaptable to Japanese, and could pay homage to Siuja’s origin as a mythological creature, whose origin would have first been recorded using Chinese characters. From an uninformed, non-Chinese speaking American perspective, Siuja sounds like it could be pronounced in some dialect of Chinese, or otherwise grounded in an older dialect. 

So in modern day Japanese, the name Siuja would most likely be written and pronounced as シュジャ (Shu-ja), spelled in katakana... for now. The syllables shu and ja, however, are unique in katakana, because they require two symbols each. Shu is first written with the character shi ( シ) and then a smaller yu ( ュ ) to represent it is read as one syllable. The same is true of Ja, with a larger ji and smaller ya. Hold onto that! It comes back later! 

Why do I write it as Siuja, then? The real answer is, I didn’t start learning Japanese until after he was introduced... But my god-given talent is to take my mistakes and turn them into Top Five lore, so let’s go! 

Izanami no Mikoto’s exile of the shinigami from Yomi--the event recounted during the Search--is dated around 1000 A.D. in my Top Five timeline. I don’t quite remember why, but I’m sure at some point I did come up with an explanation for that year specifically... but Siuja was still pretty old when that happened, having been created early on in the Shinto canon, soon after Izanagi failed to rescue Izanami from Yomi. If the earliest recorded period of Japanese history, the Jomon Period, is considered to begin around 13,000 B.C., this means that Siuja was also created around this time. Today, it is unknown what language the people of the Jomon Period would have spoken, so unfortunately, I can’t seem to piece together what his original name might have been. 

Scholars believe, though, that the Japonic language family began to spread through Japan in the next period, the Yayoi Period, primarily dated from 300 B.C. - 300 A.D. The first attestation of what would become modern day Japanese, however, occurs in the 700s and 800s (both AD) with Old Japanese, so now I can try to construct my first iteration of the Shinigami King’s name.

In Old Japanese, some of the characters used for the modern day pronunciation of Shuja do not exist. For that reason, we’ll have to replace it with sounds that would have existed in Old Japanese. Remember how you held onto the unique spellings of shu and ja in katakana? Here’s where they come back: My guess from a solid 20 minutes of research is that the syllable si in Old Japanese later morphed into the modern shi, which is the basis of shu. Since no shi-based syllables existed in Old Japanese, we’ll start by splitting shu into the Old Japanese si and yu. For the ja syllable, however, we have a bigger problem: the j sound did not exist in old Japanese. Of the sounds that did, za probably sounds the most similar to ja, although it seems like this syllable was somewhat rare in the language, so I won’t use it. Again, based on ~no linguistic scholarship or knowledge~, I will therefore guess that the next closest usable sound would be ya... because in Early Middle Japanese ya seems to change to ja. This gives us the first iteration of Siuja’s name: Siyuya. 

Old Japanese was also written using Chinese characters, and so using the most common depictions of those syllables (according to the Wikipedia Page Old Japanese) , we can write it out as  斯 由 夜 . (fun fact, that ya character is the same used in Yagami in the series!) 

Without going through the intense linguistic guessing we did with Old Japanese, in Early Middle Japanese (app. 794-1185 AD) Siyuya actually changes to Si-u-ja! That’s right, for some reason it seems like the y syllables have disappeared, and j sounds have now taken root, which for some reason makes my made up name historically accurate to his period???? Katakana and Hiragana are invented in this time period, and Chinese character usage has changed, so it can now be spelled in one of three ways:  之 宇 也 (kanji),  し う や (hiragana), or  シ ウ ヤ (katakana).  The modern kana for y-sounds are also used to write j-sounds like ja, so it actually works out perfectly from Siyuya!

So this raises an interesting question: is the spelling of Siuja’s name in Top Five derived from this Early Middle Japanese pronunciation? I say... probably! By the time of the shinigami exile in 1000, these linguistic changes seem mostly possible! In the chapter Hearsay, Aiber mentions reading the Fuso Ryakuki, an account of Japanese history written in the 1100s. It mentions a plague spreading through Japan in the year 1002, implied to be the plague Siuja, Nu, and Armonia created to try to impress Izanami, which ultimately led to their exile. Much of the Fuso Ryakuki is lost, especially a section chronicling the Age of the Gods in Shintoism... I say it’s possible Siuja’s name may have first been written in those lost sections as Siuja, using one of the spellings above. 

Shinigami stories mostly appear during the 18th century in Japan, however, which is how I landed on 1600-1850 as the Golden Age of the Shinigami within the Shinigami Realm. Here, Siuja’s name may have been written much more frequently, influenced by the earlier spelling of Siuja to later become pronounced as Shuja. 

In short, because Siuja was first referred to in writing as Siuja, although to shinigami he is more likely known as Siyuya, his original name, this is the way it’s written in Top Five. 

Uhhhh what did we learn from this??? Sometimes you come up with something that manages to work out perfectly for the linguistics of your Death Note fanfiction without knowing it! I am genuinely baffled by this, I just wondered and ended up on a 2 hour rabbit hole finding this all out. 

There’s our next lesson... Keir is positively obsessed with their funny little Death Note AU and headcanons. 

If anyone is interested in more Top Five Behind the Scenes (which would genuinely be impressive, because this was a doozy that even I barely understand... and I’m the author), feel free to drop questions into my ask box, labelled Beseech Mine Humble Heart... I might also just make another post about random Top Five shit, if I think of fun stuff to share! Of course, I can’t spoil anything... but you can try ;)

[mdmenewyork]

ChatGPT For Business.. Growth Marketing Hack Revealed 📈

ChatGPT can be used for business, marketing, and growth hacking your way to the top. Want help? https://GoHere.Click/ChatGPT-Helper today! Discover magic prompts that skyrocket conversions and drive sales for years to come WITHOUT having to be an expert. // Time Stamps 00:00 Introduction to ChatGPT Tutorial for Business 00:24 Create ChatGPT account 00:52 How to use ChatGPT 02:32 ChatGPT Prompt Engineering: Examples & Use Cases 13:20 ChatGPT Prompts (database) 19:59 Growth Marketing Hack Revealed // Let's grow together, Subscribe Now! ○ https://youtube.com/@MyDigitalMarketingEmpire?sub_confirmation=1 // Have a question? Tag me below @MyDigitalMarketingEmpire // DISCLAIMER Results are not typical nor implied and are not guaranteed. The information given on this YouTube Channel and the resources made available are for educational and informational purposes only.​ This video and description may contain affiliate links, which means that if you go to one of the products from my link, I'll receive a small commission. This is at no extra cost to you and in many cases include exclusive discounts where applicable. This helps support the channel and allows me to continue to make free videos like this to help you and everyone who watches them, so thank you! // CONTACT ME My Digital Marketing Empire 42 Broadway, Suite 12-447 New York, NY 10004, USA Phone: (800) 792-5702 Email: hello@mydigitalmarketingempire.com Website: https://mydigitalmarketingempire.com // HASHTAG #mydigitalmarketingempire Originally published here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_p_DvXLhsI

[ijustwant2write]

A Secret Romantic-Benedict Bridgerton x Reader x Eloise Bridgerton (Platonic) (Part 2)

(GIF credit to @elenawinchstr)

Part 1

Masterlist

Tags: @marvel-ousnesss @myficplace @yelenas-lova @lavxnder @s-unflowxr 

Summary: Benedict and Eloise both anticipate Lady (Y/N)’s social event, as does their mother, causing tensions to rise and panic to ensue. Benedict doesn’t want his mother ruining what he may have with (Y/N), asking Eloise for her help, who gladly plays the role of a good sister.

Characters: Benedict Bridgerton x Reader, Eloise Bridgerton x Reader (platonic), mentions of Anthony Bridgerton and Violet Bridgerton

Meanings: (Y/N)=Your name

(Y/L/N)=Your last name

Warnings: Fluff, fluff, fluff

                                   *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Benedict hastily moved around the house, avoiding his mama at all costs. She called out his name repeatedly, growing frustrated at his childish manner. He was supposed to discuss a plan with her about how he should prepare to court Lady (Y/N), but he knew better; his mama knew nothing of (Y/N) (he admitted, he still had much to learn about her too), and he didn’t want his chance to slip away. Although he was confident at her house when he called upon her, there was a sickening doubt looming in his mind that if he did anything wrong, another suitor could easily take his place.

“You have no where else to hide brother.” Anthony smirked, his eyes skimming over the top of his newspaper.

Benedict sighed, accepting defeat. She would find him in a matter of minutes, especially since Anthony’s office was the last place she would look. 

“Please, just let me stay her for a few moments.” Benedict begged.

Anthony chuckled, putting down the papers as he reclined in his chair.“Oh dear, I see things are turning serious quite quickly.”

“Yes, which wouldn’t be a problem if mama wasn’t making this such a big ordeal.”

“But it is to her.”

Benedict knew this.“I know that, because someone hasn’t found a woman to marry, so it then falls onto my shoulders.”

“I haven’t seen you so anxious before. Sit down, try to relax.”

Benedict took his offer, practically collapsing into the chair on the other side of the desk. Anthony stood, pouring out a drink each and handing one to Benedict. Though not one to drink in the early afternoon, he gladly sipped at it, wishing he would just calm down.

“Besides mama, what is going on in that head of yours?” Anthony asked. 

He genuinely wanted to help. He felt a slight guilt knowing that his mama was more excited about this possible partnership, seeing as he never gave her the satisfaction of even socialising with women. 

“I worry that I may not be enough for (Y/N).” he said.“Of course, I have talked to women, I know the right things to say, but I also know that I will not want to engage in further conversation. Whereas with (Y/N), she intrigues me, so much that even after we danced and talked for hours, I still felt like I hardly spent any time with her. I thought about every word I said, listened intently to everything that poured out of her mouth. There are no other women like her.”

Anthony didn’t speak for a few seconds.“You should write poems alongside your art work.”

Benedict groaned, about to stand when Anthony stopped him.

“I am teasing you brother. Look, it’s extremely obvious that you have fallen for this woman. Putting feelings aside for a moment, she also comes from a well off family with a respectable background, so you’ve done very well in that department. This art exhibition will allow me to also see what Lady (Y/N) and her family are like, as well as keep mama away from you both as much as I can.”

“You would do that for me?”

“You seem shocked. I will pretend not to be offended.”

“I didn’t mean it like that. I know that you too do not like to be....bothered by mama at these events. No doubt she’ll talk to you about my potential courtship all night.”

The door opened as he finished speaking, Violet popping her head in. Her smile widened when she saw both her sons in the same room, now able to speak with them both about Lady (Y/N). Anthony and Benedict shared a look, knowing they would be there for some time.

Elsewhere in the house, Eloise was suffering through a conversation with Hyacinth. As Daphne had to endure, Hyacinth was questioning her older sister, wanting to know everything there was to know about the balls they attended. She wanted to make sure she had all the knowledge she needed when it was her turn to debut. They never spoke of these things in front of her or Gregory and she wanted all the answers. However, Eloise was not revealing anything, and making it seems that everything to do with debuting was awful.

“Go away and pester somebody else.” Eloise huffed as she descended the stairs away from her sister.

“Why are you always so mean to me? I’m just asking questions!” Hyacinth protested.

Eloise felt guilty, especially since Hyacinth was still young and didn’t understand many things about the world yet.“I’m sorry, but I’m not the best person to ask these questions.”

“Why don’t you want to get married?”

“If I explain, you won’t understand.”

“Yes I will!”

“You won’t Hyacinth.”

“You’re so mean!”

The young girl stomped off, having a tantrum to herself. Eloise did feel bad for being so snappy with her sister, but she really didn’t like talking about these things, doing all she could to avoid it where possible. It just made her feel miserable. And who wants to dote on a topic that eliminates all happiness from them?

However, Eloise did find that she was excited about the art exhibition. She was curious as to how (Y/N) and her brother’s encounter would go. For a moment, she felt like her mama. It sent shudders down her spine. It was nice to have the pressure and attention off of her, and to see her brothers in the spotlight. She knew too many friends with brothers who had it easier than the women of the family. Of course they had certain expectations, but Eloise did not see any men parading around in uncomfortable, tight dresses, with over the top embellishments and feathers. 

The remaining days leading up to the art exhibition were filled with dress and suit fittings, lessons on the (Y/L/N) family, and making sure everyone knew how important this day could be. Benedict grew more and more nervous as it approached, his mama making him realise that this could be a turning point in his life. Before this was all about him being excited to see (Y/N), to be in her company again, now it was as if he was proposing to her.

Eloise stepped out into the garden, welcoming the warmth that was still lingering at this time of night. She couldn’t sleep, knowing what was on her mind, but not wanting to admit it. She wasn’t surprised to see Benedict already on the swing set, secretly smoking as they had both done before. A small smile appeared on her face as she approached him, making sure to create some sort of noise as to not startle him.

“I’m glad I’m not the only one being kept awake.” she said as she sat down.

“I haven’t even tried to sleep yet.” Benedict said before inhaling through his cigarette again.

“Is someone nervous?” she wasn’t teasing him, she was concerned.

“Yes.” he surprisingly said.“I’m nervous because mother has made me believe everything is depending on this next meeting. Yet she forgets how long Daphne took to decide who she was marrying.”

“You shouldn’t be nervous.”

“And why is that?”

“Because (Y/N) likes you.” 

Benedict chuckled."Ah, I forgot you were the expert on such topics."

"I may not know a lot about...feelings and love, but I am not a fool. I saw the way your eyes lit up when you first saw her. (Y/N) was practically speechless too. But not like the other women who fawn over the Bridgerton name, she actually liked you for your face, for some reason. I don't know, it just seemed that there was something natural between you."

"Eloise Bridgerton, what a doting thing to say."

"I am trying to be nice to you brother."

"I know. And I appreciate it, but...I feel at ease with (Y/N), and I don't like the thought of mother's eyes burning into the back of my head. Anthony has said that he will do what he can to help, but I fear that mother will not be totally distracted by him. She’ll know his sudden interest will be fake.”

Eloise had an idea, and even if she didn’t want to go through with it, she knew it would help Benedict.“I will regret saying this, but I shall help too. I will make sure mama is paying attention to me, I’ll let her drag me around and indulge in hideously, dull conversations.”

Benedict had been shocked for the second time that day. Two of his siblings, both detesting the thought of marriage, had offered to suffer through this social event in order to give him time with (Y/N).

“What has happened to you two today?” Benedict asked.

“We are merely being charitable. Hopefully you return the favour in future. God knows I’ll be in need of saving soon.”

(Y/N) was all a flutter on the morning of the exhibition. Her mother had bought a new dress just for this, wanting to impress the Bridgerton family, prepping their halls and rooms for the exhibition for the last week. (Y/N)’s father was proud of what he had created, and that his daughter may be on her way to marrying a family who were held highly in their society. (Y/N) couldn’t focus at all, relieved that her maids were the ones in charge of getting her dressed and ready for the day; if left to her own devices, she surely would have put her dress on backwards. 

Guests streamed in, but (Y/N) was only on the lookout for one person. She remained polite, trying to stay in the moment as more and more people arrived. However, she still kept an eye out for Benedict, also staying on her toes. She had many things in mind to say to him, and she wanted to keep them in her mind. There was no way she was going to humiliate herself. 

Her heart started beating a thousand times faster when she saw Benedict enter the main hall, the one holding the biggest and most expensive pieces of art. She smiled, and somehow it grew even bigger when he made eye contact with him. His smile was so sweet, it made you fall for his charms even more. Benedict felt his stomach twist in anticipation, desperate to have just a few moments with (Y/N). Alas, that did not come when his mama latched onto his arm, steering him in (Y/N)’s direction. Although he wanted to speak with her, he found it all rather forceful, especially when (Y/N)’s parents suddenly appeared behind her.

Formal introductions were made, each set of parents making small talk about the last time they were in each others company. (Y/N) and Benedict were silent, nodding along with what was being said as they sneaked glances at each other. The conversation was dragging for them, they knew their parents wanted to figure out if this could be a potential arrangement. It didn’t seem that they were going to stop talking at any point, neither child wanting to be rude, until Eloise intruded.

“Pardon me,” she started, sending a subtle smile to Benedict,“mama, I have been looking everywhere for you.”

“Ah, another Bridgerton. The next daughter to find a suitor, I presume?” (Y/N)’s mother beamed.

Eloise hid the urge to frown. Luckily her mother stepped in.“Yes, this is Eloise. I’m sorry darling, I did not mean to leave you stranded.”

“Yes, well, shall we?” Eloise tugged at her mother’s arm.

“Alright dear. It was lovely to see you both again.” 

As Violet eagerly followed Eloise, (Y/N)’s parents also dispersed. Benedict and (Y/N) were now finally together, just as they had wished; so why did it suddenly feel awkward?

“Well, that seemed to easy.” Benedict cleared his throat.

“What was?” (Y/N) asked.

“Getting rid of them.” he grinned, holding out his arm.

(Y/N) smiled back, happy to hold onto him.“I was trying to come up with something to say that would not be rude, but would also mean we could leave. I hope that it wasn’t obvious I wanted to leave.”

“Even if it was, I doubt they would care too much. We both know they are over excited.”

“Oh how right you are. I’m assuming your mother has been acting the same as mine this whole week?”

“Overbearing? Overthinking? Over-”

(Y/N) giggled.“Yes, yes, I do not wish to dote on the memory. I am happy that you are here though Benedict.”

“You are?”

“I am.”

The pair’s arms stayed linked as (Y/N) guided Benedict around the art work. Sometimes they joined other conversations, though liked to keep to themselves. It was easy to bond over artwork, especially since it was a passion both of them had. There were no pauses or silences after a few minutes of talking, conversation flowed naturally between them. Men and women also searching for suitors were jealous; a Bridgerton boy had been swept up all too quickly and (Y/N) had been a popular choice amongst the men. However, people could not deny they made a fitting pair.

"Come, let me show you something." (Y/N) muttered to Benedict, easily slipping away from the crowds and leaving the room.

"We really shouldn't be alone (Y/N)." Benedict said, even though this was all he had been wanting.

(Y/N) had a cheeky smile on her face as she tugged on his arm, her steps gradually getting quicker. Benedict didn't even take in her elaborate house, only looking at her beautiful face every time she glanced up at him. They stopped before two grand doors, which (Y/N) cautiously opened, slipping inside with Benedict close behind her.

In the middle of the room was a huge painting covered by a fine piece of cloth. Benedict was confused why (Y/N) brought him to this, until she let go of his hand (him instantly missing the feeling), and theatrically pulled the piece of fabric down. Benedict's jaw dropped as the piece was revealed. He had never seen a painting like it.

It was a large, landscape painting of a ballroom. It captured dancing pairs in the middle of some sort of waltz, musicians huddled in the corner whilst the other guests stood watching; and it was so intricate, Benedict guessed it must have taken the artist months to complete it. All the colours, the detail, it almost looked real.

"This is amazing." he breathed out.

(Y/N) was happy when she saw Benedict's shock."Isn't it? It's supposed to be revealed later, but I wanted to see your expression properly."

"Who painted it?"

"I don't know. Father said he is going to inform everyone later, but it is a new artist. I just think they're work is dazzling to look at. I become mesmerised."

Benedict's focus changed back to (Y/N)."Yes, that does tend to happen."

She didn't notice that he was referring to her, nodding along in agreement. Her smile faltered slightly, which Benedict was able to see immediately.

"What's wrong?" he asked as he neared her, hating the gap that was created

(Y/N) covered her slip up, as her mother had told her."I'm sorry, it's really nothing..." she started, but found herself relaxed, and wanting to tell Benedict all her problems."It's only that...I used to paint frequently, well, I sketched more, though I enjoyed both. Like all girls, my mother told me to stop that and focus on becoming the most desired lady in society. I shouldn't have even told you about that when we first met."

"That's what made me desire you (Y/N)."

She blushed, realising how intense his gaze was."Oh, Lord Bridgerton-"

"What's with all the formalities all of a sudden?"

"I-I don't know. I don't want to ruin anything and it's only our second meeting. Third if you count when you called upon me."

"And I called upon you for a very good reason."

"I was wishing that everyone else would leave, so I could spend more time with you."

Benedict loved hearing her say that."As did I."

Subconsciously they had moved closer, though they both knew what they were doing. Benedict reached down to tenderly hold her hands, causing her heart to beat erratically. (Y/N) had no idea what to do, she only had experience from the books she read. It seemed simple enough to kiss someone, but also the hardest thing in the world. How much pressure should she apply? How long should they kiss for? Where would she put her hands? Where would he put his hands? She didn't have anytime to think as he was already leaning in towards her.

Eloise and Anthony were finding it extremely hard to keep the fake smiles plastered on their faces. Benedict was really in for it once this was all over. Their mama had kept a tight grip on them both, because as soon as they saw their chance to flee, they would. Both had to suffer through extremely long, boring and repetitive conversations, listening to parents boast about their children's achievements. Everyone knew how this worked, yet they all had to pretend to be happy about it.

"Where is Benedict? He's been away for a long time." their mama pondered as they took a break for refreshments.

"He's probably wooing Lady (Y/N), just as you wanted." Eloise slurped on her drink.

"Do not fret mother, he knows what he's doing. He truly likes her and will be doing all he can to...well, yes, woo her." Anthony said.

"I suppose you are right. It feels strange that one of my children are making an effort for once."

Eloise huffed."Oh, do not chastise us mama. We've been doing this all afternoon, haven't we?"

Violet squinted her eyes at them, suspicious that they were up to something. She was about to question it, but stopped herself. They were doing what she always wanted, finding someone to spend their future with. She wouldn't jeopardise that. Lucky for them, a servant announced that Lord (Y/L/N) requested for everyone's presence inside. The guests were intrigued, following orders and grabbing full glasses of whatever quenched their thirst. Eloise and Anthony had got away with their plan for now, they just hoped Benedict and (Y/N) had had enough time together. 

[tennessoui]

oh my god literally every single prompt on that list is gold and i'd love to see your obikin take for all of them. hmmm... if i had to choose i guess first 13. co-stars au?? thank you lots of love !!!

ah bless!! thank you so much!! i'm slowly working my way through most of the prompts on that list so you might see many many more before I'm done with my ask box. I think after two more, I'll put em on ao3 to keep em more organized too. this has been soooo fun!!

13. Co-Stars AU(/7. Fake Relationship AU)(2.5 k)

“No.”

“Ani, darling, you can’t say no.”

“Don’t call me that. And secondly, I can. I just did. This is my personal life, the company has no control over that.”

“While you’re filming its movie and it’s giving you money, you’ll actually find that it does, Anakin.”

Anakin sits down heavily on the bench outside his trailer, leaning forward until he can put his head in his hands. He wants to run his fingers through the mess on his head, but they’re in between takes right now and the make-up department will definitely kill him if they have to fix him up again.

“Asajj, please. You know how hard it was to get to come out as bisexual. If the first person I date after that is a woman, no one will remember! It’ll just be completely erased, and I’ll be Anakin Skywalker, Playboy Actor again.”

“But you do like women,” Asajj points out. “So either way, you’d be confirming your sexuality.”

Anakin sighs and leans his head back against the metal of the trailer. “And it would be different if I was actually in love with Padme, but she’s just my co-star and--”

“Anakin, she’s your co-star. You’re in a blockbuster movie where you dramatically save her life and then kiss her as the credits roll. This is just business. You like her. You’re friends. Think of it less like dating, and more like going to grab lunch together. And coffee. Maybe a fancy dinner. Several times a week.”

“For how long?” Anakin asks, resigned and despairing and hating the fact that he ever got into acting.

Asajj sounds relieved. “Just until the movie’s out and sales are doing well.”

That could be months. That would be months. “And I have to?” he asks.

“Yes,” she says. “I’m sorry.”

Anakin doesn’t say it’s fine. It doesn’t feel like it is fine.

“They’re not looking for anything to be confirmed. If asked about your relationship with Padme, tell them you think she’s a great woman and you’re enjoying spending time with her. No comment on any sort of serious relationship.”

“Because a break-up afterwards might hurt the chances for a sequel?” Anakin asks drily.

“Exactly! We’ll get you a head for the business yet, Anakin. Okay, I have to go, but I’ll send you the information now, just so you know what you’ll be expected to do. We’re thinking a dinner tomorrow to start things off strong, and then slow afterwards!”

She hangs up before he can say anything else and he slumps back boneless against the metal trailer. God.

It’s not that he doesn’t like Padme. Ventress is right. They were friends before this project and Anakin knows they’ll be friends after as well. They genuinely get along, and it’s probably one of the reasons Anakin was cast in such a big name production: the chemistry between them when they’re acting is undeniable. She’s one of his favorite people in the entire industry.

“Anakin?” One of his other favorite people in the entire industry asks hesitantly from in front of him. “Are you alright?”

“No,” he says.

“May I sit?”

“Yeah,” he says.

Like he’d ever turn Obi-Wan Kenobi away.

“Are you wearing your costume?” he asks, without opening his eyes. Obi-Wan’s playing the villain of the movie, and Anakin has a hard time focusing on anything else when Obi-Wan’s around him wearing that skin-tight white turtleneck and cape combination, with his hair slicked back and fake glasses perched on his nose.

Obi-Wan sounds amused. “No, I’m finished for the day. Heading home now. You don’t have to see how silly I look today.”

Anakin smiles slightly, despite everything. In one of his better acting moments, he’d told Obi-Wan that his costume was distracting because it looked so funny on him. Really, it was just hot.

(Of course, Obi-Wan had taken his criticism seriously and gone to the director and the costume department. They had decided that it would make Obi-Wan’s character more threatening if he pushed up his sleeves in almost every scene to reveal heavily tattooed forearms. Anakin had hated himself and his big stupid mouth for days afterwards.)

“Is...there anything I can do to help, Anakin? I hate to see you like this,” Obi-Wan places a hand gently on Anakin’s knee, and Anakin has to fight a shiver at the touch.

They’d met at the script-reading for the movie, a handful of months ago. Anakin had set two clocks in his head the moment their hands grasped each other and Obi-Wan smiled charmingly up at him. “So you’re the one to kill me?” He’d winked. “Tall order.”

One clock signified the weeks it would take for him to fall in love with the older man. The starting number was pitifully small, but Anakin had been watching Obi-Wan’s movies and interviews for years before meeting him. He’d known something about the man, which of course had paled in comparison to knowing the man himself. They’d spent two weeks choreographing the steps of the final fight scene, just the two of them in a repurposed ballet studio.

Looking back, Anakin isn’t sure how he’d survived. And he had never wanted it to end.

Which is the other clock, still ticking down in his head. The moment filming ends, and they go their separate ways. They’ll probably keep in touch, but Anakin won’t see him constantly, won’t be able to lean into the weight of Obi-Wan’s hand on his shoulder, his knee, sometimes even on his cheek when he leans down in between takes to tell him how good of a job he’s done.

“Anakin?”

“Sorry,” Anakin snaps to the present. “Sorry. I was in my head. I. I don’t think so, no.”

“Oh,” Obi-Wan says, tensing his hand as if he’s planning to remove it, which Anakin wouldn’t appreciate in the slightest.

“My agent says that the executives want me to date Padme. To drum up hype for the movie. Because I guess people will think it must be good if the co-stars start fucking each other?” He runs a hand across his face. “Um. Sorry, excuse my language.”

“Anakin, I’m forty-one, I think I’ve heard someone say fuck before,” Obi-Wan sounds amused again.

“Yeah, I just. Don’t want to? I guess maybe--I mean you probably didn’t see, but I came out as bisexual a year ago, and I haven’t dated anyone since, and I just know the way the rags will write about me and Padme if we’re seen together. And it’ll be like I just. Never came out.”

Obi-Wan makes a sympathetic noise but doesn’t interrupt. It’s one of the reasons Anakin loves talking to him.

“And my agent just sent me this contract, or I don’t know, list of things I have to do because there’s no way for me to get out of this and it just makes me feel trapped. But they don’t even want me to confirm if we're dating or not dating, they just want to create rumors about it, but it’s my life. I want to do what I want to do with my life, date who I want to date.”

“Do you...have anyone you want to date?” Obi-Wan asks, hand stilling from where he’s been casually rubbing circles on Anakin’s knee.

“No,” Anakin says too quickly and then grimaces. Does he really get paid for acting? He’s always so terrible at lying.

Obi-Wan hums. “I could...take a look at whatever papers your agent sent you?” He suggests. “I’m obviously not really an expert, but I have been in the business a fair bit longer than you.”

“You’re not that old,” Anakin responds by rote, but hesitates, curious despite himself. “You wouldn’t mind?”

“I’ve nothing planned tonight except to have a glass of wine and pet my cat, Anakin. It would be a pleasure to help you any way I could.”

“Okay,” Anakin says, reaching out to lay his hand gently on top of Obi-Wan’s. He’s never done that before, never responded so openly to Obi-Wan’s touches. It’s an amazing thrill.

Obi-Wan flips his hand around until they’re holding hands, basically. In the middle of a public area. God, Anakin’s letting his crush get the best of him when Obi-Wan isn’t even gay. “Thank you,” he says, standing up and pulling away from the older man. It’s the right thing to do. The last thing he wants is for Obi-Wan to think he’s...predatory.

A harried looking crew member spots him as he stands and gestures to him to get back to the set. He smiles ruefully at Obi-Wan who gives him an unreadable expression but also a soft goodbye.

Later, in between takes, he forwards Obi-Wan the emails Asajj sent him, both the papers and the message at the top that says “dress nice for tomorrow at Delfino’s!” followed by a little smiley face he can’t believe she’d ever mean.

He knows nothing’s going to come of it, but. But he has to try.

----

Padme’s dressed to the nines in front of him. He’d compliment her outfit, but he’s already complimented her hair and her make-up, and he thinks she��ll scream if he continues to act as stilted as he’s being now.

“I’m sorry,” he murmurs quietly after the waiter leaves with their drink orders. “I know I’m being--awkward. I just.”

They’re seated in the middle of the restaurant, and Anakin knows there’s two paps already outside, taking pictures through the windows. The rest will have arrived by the time they pay the bill and leave. It’s a circus and he’s the main event.

“I understand,” Padme responds, the angel that she is. “I don’t particularly want to be doing this either.”

Anakin presses his hand to his chest, jokingly wounded. “What are you trying to say, Padme, my beloved, my dearest?”

She laughs and he does too, but in the back of his head he can hear the sound of a camera’s shutter clicking. Everything feels fake, and he feels like he’s about to crawl out of his skin.

A hand lands on his shoulder with startling familiarity and for a second he thinks it’s a very brave member of the wait-staff, before Obi-Wan Kenobi is swinging into his field of vision, pulling up a chair from god knows where and sitting right in between Anakin and Padme, never once removing his hand from Anakin’s jacket.

“Sir--” someone says in distress, “This is a two-person table.”

Obi-Wan raises an eyebrow and looks down at the table. “Well it certainly can fit three, so I would go as far as to say that tonight it can be a three-person table. Anakin, what did you order to drink?”

“The house white,” Padme supplies when Anakin makes no move to respond, instead choosing to gape at Obi-Wan like a fish out of water.

“Excellent choice, darling,” Obi-Wan says, rubbing at his upper arm absent-mindedly. “I’ve never been here, tell me. Do you serve a good seafood dish?”

The waiter stammers. “We have an acclaimed oyster platter, sir--”

“Oysters?” Obi-Wan smiles at the man, all teeth. “The aphrodisiac? What are you trying to get these kids in the mood for?”

Anakin blushes. “Obi-Wan!” He hisses, aghast. Obi-Wan’s eyes cut to him for a second before he smirks back at the waiter.

“I’ll take the oysters for the main course,” he says dismissively.

Somehow it’s that sentence that tips Anakin off, more than anything else he’s done tonight. Obi-Wan spends hours talking to the people that run the crafts table. He would never be so cold or rude naturally. He’s...playing a character, one that Anakin recognizes as being the villain from their movie (although without all the blood and murder).

Anakin only recedes into personas when he’s nervous about something. Can the same be said for Obi-Wan?

Padme, at least, looks amused. “Hello, Obi-Wan,” she says. “I see you’ve decided to crash our very romantic date.”

“Well that’s interesting, isn’t it?” Obi-Wan replies, turning to face her but keeping his hand on Anakin, although it slides down to rest on the crook of his arm. “I had Anakin send me the paperwork, mild curiosity, you know how it is, and I realized the strangest thing while I was reading over it.”

“Oh?” Padme asks.

“It never states which co-star Anakin should be seen with, just that he must be seen with a leading actor. And I don’t want to focus on the numbers here, of course, but in the rough-cut of the movie, I have thirty-four minutes of screentime. And you, my dear, have thirty-two and fifteen seconds.”

“Tragic,” Padme says, taking a sip of her water. "You may be considered more of a leading actor than I am."

“Certainly,” Obi-Wan gives her a friendly smile. Anakin is still stuck on the fact that Obi-Wan is here, that he read the paperwork, that he’s arguing semantics for the purpose of--of--

“And I suppose you’re here to offer yourself as a replacement?” Padme asks, leaning her head on her hand as she watches the two of them.

“Only if Anakin wouldn’t mind,” Obi-Wan says, turning to face him.

Anakin isn’t sure what he’s thinking right now. “But you’re not interested in men.”

“I am,” Obi-Wan says.

“But...you’re not interested in me.”

“I am,” Obi-Wan says.

“You are?”

“Excuse me,” Padme says. “I’m going to go to the restroom.”

“We’ll wait to order until you come back,” Obi-Wan reassures her, without taking his eyes off of Anakin.

Anakin bites his lip and hesitantly brings his hand up to sit palm up on the table. Obi-Wan doesn’t hesitate to intertwine their fingers again, like they had been just yesterday.

“I’m a very private person, Anakin,” Obi-Wan says quietly, all traces of any sort of persona dropped from his voice. “I’ve never come out, never wanted to. But I was so proud that you had when you did. And I--well. I suppose. You already get to fake-kiss Padme on screen, I thought that perhaps you’d like to try to fake-kiss someone else for a change.”

Anakin ducks his head and gathers his courage. He can’t not ask. A fake relationship with Padme would be awful, but one with Obi-Wan? That would be torture. Cruel and unusual punishment. He’s still reeling from the information that apparently Obi-Wan does like men and apparently he likes Anakin enough to come out for him.

But does he like Anakin enough to touch him and mean it? He has to know. He looks up at Obi-Wan’s earnest face from beneath his eyelashes. “What if I want to real-kiss you?”

Obi-Wan blinks, and a smile breaks out across his face. “Then you don’t even need to have to ask, darling. Kiss me all you want, if you’re okay with a clingy old man in your bed.”

“Not that old,” Anakin argues, smiling so hard he’s afraid his face will crack in two. “But I don’t want to kiss you tonight.”

Obi-Wan turns solemn, although his grip on Anakin remains tight. “We can go as slow as you’re comfortable with.”

“Oh, you can have me later,” Anakin says, waving his free hand in the air. “I just don’t want our first kiss to be for the cameras.”

Obi-Wan catches Anakin’s palm and brings it up to kiss lightly. “You’re right, Anakin. That should just be for you and me.”

The rough brush of his lips over his skin causes Anakin to shiver. He’s never felt so on edge, as if his body is a live-wire. “Good thing you ordered the oysters,” he mumbles, blushing bright red as Obi-Wan laughs loud enough to fill the whole restaurant with its sound.

[princess-of-riviaa]

Dark Minx: Showing the Asset

Pairing: Hydra Agent!Steve Rogers x OFC (Larisa Antonov), Winter Soldier x OFC (Larisa Antonov) (mentioned)

Summary: Steve Rogers was the first successful super soldier that Hydra had created. He had also been Larisa’s first student. He excelled in every category, proving to be the most skilled super soldier on both the field and in the bedroom. James was the only one who could compare to Hydra’s Golden Boy, the only one who proved to be a better shot when it came to sharpshooting. It made sense, then, that Steve would be the one to show James how to properly fuck a woman into submission.

Warning(s): exhibitionism, voyeurism, dominant!Steve Rogers, dark!Steve Rogers, (kind of) cuckolding, dirty talk, degradation, teasing, oral (F receiving; M receiving); mention of overstimulation, pain kink, primal kink, angst ending

Word Count: 3.5k

James stared at Larisa with the same kind of dark desire he’d had for her since last week, when she finally showed him a glimpse of the pleasure he’d been missing out on for decades now. She ignored the way her body burned under his heated gaze. Looking into the emotions he stirred up inside of her would only lead to a mess that she couldn’t afford to deal with, not while they were both under Hydra’s command.

But her body only continued to burn hotter as he fully stepped into her chamber and took in her outfit: a red lingerie piece that fell nicely against her pale skin. The stockings were a bit much in her opinion, but the Hydra Agent who had handed her the clothes hadn’t stopped to ask for her expert advice on the outfit.

James’s eyes lingered on her breasts, and the hungry look in them… She squeezed her thighs together, ignoring the desire now pooling between her legs at just that look he gave her. When they finally fucked, when she was finally able to show him how to truly please a woman, it would be the hottest thing she’d ever experienced. Larisa knew that without a doubt. But there were different plans for today, so she threw that fantasy to the side and cleared her throat.

“Today you’re going to learn how to be unforgettable in bed,” Larisa told James, forcing her voice to remain steady. “You’ll learn the perfect ways to please a partner, whether they be man or woman or something in between. Fuck your target like this, and they’ll be putty in your hands after.”

His hungry gaze didn’t waver, his pupils only dilating further. James took a step towards her at the same moment her chamber door opened again, and the other man walked in. With a frown on his face and his shoulders tensing in a defense position, James turned to find who was at the door.

Steve Rogers was the first successful super soldier that Hydra had created. He had also been Larisa’s first student. He excelled in every category, proving to be the most skilled super soldier on both the field and in the bedroom. James was the only one who could compare to Hydra’s Golden Boy, the only one who proved to be a better shot when it came to sharpshooting. It made sense, then, that Steve would be the one to show James how to properly fuck a woman into submission.

The two soldiers exchanged a glance, giving each other a look too full of emotion that Larisa couldn’t place it. She looked away, feeling like she was intruding on a private conversation.

“Looks like you’re finally gonna learn how to properly fuck,” was all Steve said to James before he turned to Larisa and closed the distance between them.

He brought a hand to her throat and squeezed. Though it was gentle, the look in his eyes told her that he could turn rough in half a second. It was thrilling enough that she found herself smiling as he forced her to look up at him. His gaze was dark, dominant, demanding. She had taught him that look, showed him how to use it to his advantage. And he had mastered it well enough to make Larisa gulp as she realized how badly she wanted to be fucked by him.

“Nice to see you again, Dark Minx,” Steve growled, using the formal nickname Hydra had given her when she’d first proved her usefulness in the bedroom.

And then he was spinning her around and pulling her back flush against his chest. His right hand stayed wrapped around her throat as his other hand explored the valley between her breasts, touching her like she belonged solely to him. She fixed her gaze on James, and suddenly she was imagining it was him touching her like this, owning her body.

Steve ripped a shaky gasp of pleasure from Larisa when he palmed her heat over her panties. He bit her ear when he found that she was already wet, her arousal already soaking through her lingerie.

“Women like Larisa may act tough,” Steve said to James, “but in the bedroom, what they crave most is to be dominated. Larisa’s already dripping for me, and I’ve barely touched her. All it takes is for me to show my control over her body and she’s mine.”

Steve continued to rub her over her panties. It wasn’t long before Larisa’s body moved on its own, her hips bucking up to meet every movement of his skilled fingers.

Her eyes fluttered as her pleasure grew, but she managed to keep her gaze on James. His lips parted as he took in the erotic sight before him. Larisa didn’t miss the way his hands clenched at his sides, as if it was taking every ounce of self-control for him to not reach out and touch her. His eyes moved up and down her body, desperate to take it all in. When he finally looked up at her face to meet her gaze, she threw her head back onto Steve’s shoulder and began to grind against the other man. The look in her eyes told James just how badly she wished it could be him she was grinding against.

And then she was on the bed on her stomach. Steve was rough and quick as he moved her legs how he wanted them until she was on all fours for him, her ass sticking up in the air and her glistening folds spread for both men to see.

“She’s already soaked for me,” Steve told James. Larisa could feel both of the men’s lustful stares on her and it made the fire inside of her burn even hotter. “Which means she’s desperate. Exactly how you want your target to be. You want them begging you to give them release, and then they’ll give you exactly what you ask of them, no matter how classified the information is. If done the right way, pleasure can become the best form of torture.”

And then his mouth was on her, kissing and sucking and biting along the insides of her thighs. Her pussy clenched around nothing, desperate for him to fill her up. She couldn’t fight the urge as she ground her ass back against him, and though she knew it was coming, she still gasped when Steve brought a hand down on her ass, marking her skin a bright red.

Steve pulled away from her long enough to tell James, “It’s important to know your partners kinks, and when to implement them. Larisa, for example, has a pain kink. She loves it when you bite her and mark her skin. And she’ll practically beg for you to spank her. It’s fucking sinful.” The dark chuckle he gave revealed his approval of her dirty kink.

“Steve loves giving it as much as I love taking it,” Larisa breathed, her voice steady despite her racing heartbeat. “Don’t let the title of ‘Golden Boy’ throw you off. He’s a sadist through and—”

She didn’t have the chance to finish her sentence before Steve ripped her panties in half. Then his mouth was on her core, licking from her hole to the top of her clit. A surprised gasp fell from her. But before her pleasure could rise too much, he pulled away, as if he’d never touched her at all. Larisa whined, already needy and desperate.

“Teasing your partner through delayed gratification is one of the quickest ways to make them desperate,” Steve explained. “They’ll do whatever you want if it means giving them what they so desperately need.”

James cleared his throat before speaking up. “What about… doing the opposite? Giving too much?”

Larisa shivered, her thoughts going down dark places at that question.

Steve merely turned to James with a raised eyebrow, his interest piqued. “You mean overstimulation?” He shrugged. “It can work just as well, but that’s not my preferred method.”

“You prefer to not give her enough?” James wondered.

When Steve turned back to Larisa, he was smirking in a way that made her nervous. “I prefer her on her knees.”

And then his hand was in her hair, and he was yanking her to the floor, forcing her to her knees and shoving his cock in her face. She rubbed her nose across his clothed erection before quickly going to remove his pants. His cock sprung free, leaking precum as it bounced in front of her. She’d seen his manhood before, but that didn’t make it any less impressive. At eight inches, Larisa struggled to fit all of it in her mouth, though Steve loved forcing it all in anyways. The red tip shined with precum. She licked her lips at the sight as she remembered the salty taste of Steve’s cum, different from any other man’s due to the serum pumping through his veins.

“You know what to do,” was all the direction Steve gave as he stared down at her with an expectant look.

She didn’t waste a second to put him in her mouth, her hand instantly wrapping around the base. She worked her mouth and hand in tandem, twisting and slurping until Steve’s cock was soaked with spit and precum.

“Fuck,” Steve growled under his breath after a minute. He wrapped his hand in her hair before starting to fuck her throat, taking matters into his own hands.

Larisa hollowed out her cheeks, letting him use her mouth how he liked. Her eyes watered as she looked up at him. Steve held her gaze as he fucked her mouth, his breathing growing quicker and louder. He ignored the way she coughed and choked around his length, only stopping when his cock began to spasm with an oncoming orgasm. Reluctantly, he pulled his dripping cock out of her mouth.

Larisa moved to the bed as Steve said to James, “It’s important you don’t let yourself cum before you’ve fucked them. If you do, the whole job is over. Not only does it show that you can’t control your own pleasure—and therefore you don’t have control over theirs, either—but the whole point is to fuck them. That’s what everything is leading up to. Once you’ve been inside of them, they’re yours. You can’t turn an innocent woman into your dumb little slut if you don’t fuck them like one.”

Larisa moved onto her back and spread her legs. The bedsheets were cool against her burning skin, and she was suddenly reminded of the sharp spanking Steve had given her just minutes ago. Judging by the way her skin still burned, she knew it was going to leave a mark. She wasn’t surprised by that. Steve had an inherent primal kink, which she had helped him discover, and he had a habit of marking every one of his lovers—whether it be with his hands, his lips, or his teeth. He had once given Larisa a necklace of hickies that basically screamed “Property of Steve Rogers.” She had enjoyed being marked, enjoyed the thought of someone being possessive over her.

But she wanted James’s mark on her now.

That thought occupied her thoughts as Steve moved to the bed, resting on his knees as he stroked his cock. At some point he had undressed himself, but Larisa had been too caught up in thoughts of James to notice the unveiling of the soldier’s glorious body. Steve ran the tip of his cock along her folds, though, and suddenly she was back in the present, remembering how badly she needed to be fucked. But Steve didn’t enter her, didn’t do anything other than tease her as he ran his cock between her folds.

She looked up at him to find him already staring down at her, his blue eyes dark and dangerous. “Tell me what you want.” His voice was quiet, soft, but it sent a shiver of want through her anyways. “Beg for it. You’re such a pretty little slut when you tell me how badly you need me to fuck you.”

“Please, Steve!” she complied, her desire overpowering her dignity. “I need you inside of me, need you to fuck me until I’m coming around you. I want to milk your cock—”

He shut her up with a spank to her pussy that made her legs shake and ripped a gasp from her.

“Speak up,” he growled. “I want the entire Hydra base to know how desperate I’ve made my little cockslut.”

Her gaze drifted to James in the corner as she started to beg. And then suddenly she wasn’t begging for Steve, but for James. For the man she couldn’t have. Not yet.

“I want you to make me scream so loud I lose my voice,” she said. “Please, let me feel you when I’m walking around tomorrow. I want you to fuck me that deep. Please, please, please!” She screamed the last part, knowing her volume directly correlated with how hard Steve would fuck her.

The breath was ripped from her lungs when he entered her, shoving all the way in with one sharp thrust. Her whimper drew a growl from him.

“Fuck, you’re so fucking tight.” Steve moaned and allowed himself a moment to bask in the pleasure now overwhelming his body. He squeezed his eyes shut as he let his senses overpower him, keeping him locked in place. His cock twitched inside of her but otherwise didn’t move.

Larisa brought her hands to Steve’s chest. She paused for a moment, letting herself soak in the sight of Steve like this—vulnerable with want and desire. It wasn’t something she saw often anymore. It brought her back to the days when he had been her student, long before he’d mastered the bedroom. Back when he was still soft and gentle and almost sweet. Before sex had become a weapon to him.

She shook her head, forcing herself back to the present. And then she dragged her nails down his chest hard enough to draw blood. That awoke the feral beast in him, and suddenly he was fucking her so fast she couldn’t breathe. The room filled with the sounds of rough breathing, moans, and skin slapping skin. Larisa threw her head back in pleasure, a gasp trapped in the back of her throat that she only released when Steve began to rub her clit with a rough, calloused finger. Fuck, she was going to cum.

Steve’s movements changed. They became sloppy. He was on the verge of orgasm, too. He rubbed her clit faster, desperate to push her over the edge first. This was a game he wasn’t going to lose.

Larisa opened her eyes for just a second, just long enough to glance over at James. To notice the way he couldn’t take his eyes off of her writhing body. To notice the bulge that he now palmed over his pants. That was what threw Larisa over the edge—seeing James’s arousal, imagining him inside of her, fucking her like this. She came so hard she saw stars.

Steve fucked her through her orgasm, pushing past his own desire to ensure she found a complete release. And then he pulled out of her, jerking his cock off until he was coating her stomach with his seed, even getting a little bit on her breasts.

“Fuck.” Steve released a heady breath, suddenly looking exhausted. Larisa recalled how he always used to fall asleep in her bed right after their lessons, and she’d never had the heart to kick him out right away, always letting him get in a good thirty minutes before shaking him awake and telling him he had to go.

But now he forced himself to his feet. He dressed quickly as he asked James, “Any questions?”

James swallowed, looking between Steve and Larisa. There was something in The Asset’s eyes that Larisa couldn’t place. But finally he turned to Steve and shook his head. “No, I got everything.”

Steve nodded at him, gave Larisa a wink, and was gone.

Larisa forced energy back into her limbs and rose into a sitting position. James swallowed as he looked back at her, and it was only then that she realized she was completely naked, save for the red stockings. He eyed her body with lust-filled eyes. She’d had countless people look at her like that—like she was no more than fresh meat, and they hungry animals—and she had long ago gotten used to it. But when James looked at her like that… She found herself swallowing, too, her face burning as she blushed.

“What are you thinking right now?” She had to ask the question for training purposes, but her voice shook in an unprofessional way as she anticipated his answer.

James hesitated, focusing his gaze on the floor.

“You don’t have to hold back with me, James,” she reminded him. “Whatever you say stays in this room.”

He looked back at her, a flurry of emotions trapped in those blue eyes. They were beautiful, she realized. A mix of grey and blue that reminded her of the sky just before a heavy storm. “I’m thinking…” He took a deep breath as he stepped towards her until only a few inches remained between them. “I’m thinking that next time, I want to be the one to fuck you.”

Her breath caught in the back of her throat. She forced herself to look away, knowing she would do something dangerous if she didn’t. It was a long time later when she finally managed to say, “That will happen. Eventually. I have to ensure you can do it right before they send you out to the field again.”

Out to the field—where he would fuck other women. Because that was his job. And her job was to train him for that, so he could satisfy each and every person he brought into his bed, because it could be a lot. She was his trainer, nothing more. That’s all she could be. All she should be. For both of their sakes.

“That’s not what I meant,” James said, but he didn’t elaborate. Instead, Larisa watched as he strode over to the desk, where a cloth and a bucket of water was waiting. James dipped the cloth in the water before ringing it out. Steve had forgotten to clean himself up before leaving, so the water was still fresh as James brought the cloth over to her.

She reached out for it, trying to take it from his hands.

He pulled away. “Let me.”

So she did. James was gentle as he dragged the warm cloth down her body—the opposite of everything Steve had been today. She swallowed as he wiped off the cum on her breasts. The room grew warmer as James’s movements slowed, not-so-discretely basking in the feeling of her breasts through the cloth. It wasn’t any easier to breathe when he moved onto her stomach. She froze, forcing herself not to move as he kneeled in front of her to get a better position for cleaning her off.

It was sweet. Generous. Nothing she thought The Asset was capable of. It made her burn in more ways than one.

A small whimper pushed past her lips as he spread her legs and wiped off the inside of her thighs. She had to squeeze her eyes shut to keep from looking at him, to keep from begging her to kiss her, to take her right here and now, screw the consequences. And when he dragged the cloth between her folds, she thought she was going to combust. She had to clamp a hand over her mouth to keep from begging him to touch her.

Yeah, James had learned his lesson for today. Larisa was already desperate for him, and he wasn’t even touching her sensually.

She didn’t hear him move, wasn’t aware of it until she heard his voice at her ear, low and husky. “Does that feel good, Larisa?”

She whimpered.

“Can I… touch you?” he asked, sounding as turned on as she felt. “Without the cloth?”

Yes. Please yes, the voice in her mind begged. But she fought it back. “That isn’t today’s lesson.”

“Maybe we can go off book,” he suggested.

Fuck, she wanted that. But she also wanted him safe. Whole. And the exact opposite would happen if anyone found out they were getting any sort of personal pleasure out of these lessons.

So she rose to her feet, jutted her chin out, and looked him out the eye as she said, “That wouldn’t be appropriate. We have rules to follow. I think you should go, James.”

Hurt flashed in his eyes, but he blinked it away before she could be sure it was really there.

And then he was gone.

...

Tag Squad:

@thereisa8ella @geralt-of-baevia @the-soot-sprite @bitchyikes @captainsy-cookiemonster

[thiswasinevitableid]

Could you combine 15 transformation and 18 amulet for Sternclay nsfw, please? Joseph can’t get close enough to any mers to study them because of how deep they live beneath the surface. Thanks to a treasure he found on the beach that’s about to change and a world he couldn’t have imagined is about to open wide.

Here you go! Barclay is an Pacific Octopus in this and Joseph is based on an Orca.

It’s such a small thing. A piece of eight, pierced and strung on a corroded silver chain; the treasure he’s searched for the last two years.

Joseph’s never been so close to tears in his entire career.

He promised his superiors he wouldn’t experiment with occult objects while working alone. But he knows for damn sure that all of them think his beliefs in the occult, or the city beneath the sea, is foolishness, the price they have to pay for an otherwise talented agent.

It’s only due diligence to see if the amulet is dangerous while he’s alone on his boat, rather than near fellow agents or innocent bystanders.

Joseph strips down to his swim trunks, climbs down into the water, amulet wrapped around his fingers so he won’t drop it. Treading water, he slips the chain over his head. His legs twists, heat engulfing his body, and he sinks beneath the waves.

--------------------------------------------------------

“Dani, how’s table five doing?”

“Good!” Dani picks up the two plates of seaweed salad, “think it’s slowing down finally.”

“Thank fuck.” Barclay murmurs, turning back to the cutting board. He falls into his rhythm as guests gradually filter and flit away from their tables back onto the street and towards Atlantis proper. His focus is broken by a body colliding with a chair.

“Ouch.”

“Are you okay sir?” Dani, on top of things as always.

“Oh, yes, better than if I’m being honest. I’m just, um, having some trouble with my tail.”

“Right. Uh, here, we only have room at the counter right now, but if you want a table-”

“This is perfect, thank you so much.”

A clamor, and out of the corner of his eye Barclay sees an eight top swim in the door.

“I got him, Dani.” He turns and all eight tentacles freeze mid-task. Sitting on the stool is the most incredible merman he’s ever seen. His short, black hair dusts his forehead, leading his gaze to eyes as blue as the open sea. His torso is lean, a small tattoo on either arm, two scars on his chest, and a stomach that suggests his job requires a great deal of athleticism.

And his tail?

His tail is black and white, smooth rather than scaled, and Barclay wants to wrap all eight tentacles around it while he sinks his teeth into the mers neck.

The other mer notices him, smiles politely, and goes back to studying the menu.

“Do you need a few minutes to decide?”

That perfect brow creases, as if the other mer can’t make sense of what he’s looking at, “Um, what do you recommend?”

“I mean, I like to think everything on the menu is good, but the crab rolls are really good this time of year.”

“I’ll have those then, please and thank you.”

Barclay nods, returns to his station, churning out orders as Dani and Jake bring them, and calling directions to Thacker when the older mer returns from his ten minute break. The entire time, he aches to turn around and watch the newcomer. But even though he can move through his kitchen blindfolded, he’d rather not take off his own tentacle. Sure, it’ll grow back, but last time one got bit off, it threw his whole cooking routine out of whack.

The new mers face lights up when Barclay sets the plate in front of him, and he eats with an enthusiasm that is the sexiest thing Barclay’s seen at work in years. Now and then, the mer starts to float away from his stool, or accidentally takes out the nearby furniture with his tail.

When he’s finished, he compliments Barclay profusely, smiling right up until Barclay tells him how much it will be.

“Oh no. I, I don’t, I can’t pay that.”

“If you’re a few coins short I could discount it-”

“No, no that’s not it. I, I didn’t bring any money with me. It didn’t even occur to me.” He says this last part to himself, carding his hand through his hair, “I’m so sorry, this is entirely my oversight. Is there anything else I can do to cover the meal?”

Barclay bites back his first thought, schooling the tentacle creeping towards the mers hand back into line, “Uh, you know how to wash dishes?”

“Yes. In fact, I’m pretty good at it.”

This does not turn out to be a joke. His new dishwasher is somehow meticulous and efficient, leaving not only the plates but the entire kitchen spotless by the time Barclay tells him he can go. He’s still bumping into things, his tail obviously not doing what he wants it to.

“If you don’t mind waiting a bit, I can swim you home. This neighborhood isn’t as bad as most mers think, but it’s still not a great place to be drunk and alone.

The mer blinks, taken aback, “I’m not drunk.”

Barclay raises his eyebrow.

“Really, I’m not.”

“No offense, but your tail only works like sixty percent of the time and, going from those bruises on your side, looks like you’ve been having that problem most of today.”

“I mean, I have but, um, not for that reason. I’m just very clumsy.”

“O-kay” Barclay’s about to reiterate his offer, but the other mer is already swimming out the door.

“I’ll be fine, don’t worry, thank you again for being so understanding about the meal!”

Barclay’s not about to chase down a customer, but his tentacles go a little pale the rest of the night whenever he remembers he never even got his name.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

“My, my good sir, this is quite a treasure trove you’ve brought me!” The merman with a gold and orange tail who introduced himself as Ned Chicane, preeminent archiver of human items. Were they on land, Joseph would be positive that Ned has several warrants out for his arrest. For all he knows, that’s the case down here too, but he hasn’t gotten to learning about the Atlantian legal system yet.

“What can I say, I’m an expert on humans.” Joseph smiles.

“I can make a whole new wing of the museum for these. Now, about your payment, I can give you, hmmmmm, two hundred coins?”

“Five hundred.”

“Two fifty.”

“No.”

“Three hundred.”

“I can just take it all back.”

“Fine, fine, four fifty but now higher.”

Joseph flicks his tail, pleased, “Deal.”

Ten minutes later, he’s cresting the subterranean hills, Atlantis glittering in the distance. The ruins of the sunken city form the skeleton of it’s current incarnation. The whole city is now a reef, a rainbow of coral growing from once proud columns or taking the place of formidable walls. The buildings are made of stone or glass which, upon further research, he learned was made by enchanting sand, in much the same way the coins are. But even there, the stones are speckled with sea plants or coral.

It’s beautiful, and if he has his way he’ll explore every street. He’s already swum the length and breadth of it, half to build up his skill with his tail and half to create a map of it in his mind. The center of the city shines like sunken treasure, unmistakably built and maintained by forces other than nature. The outer neighborhoods are rougher around the edges, more of the houses built into the environment rather than from it. That doesn’t make it any less beautiful.

Besides, it has the best food in the city.

He’s used the same trick of asking what his cook or server recommends to hide the fact he can’t read the language on the menus, and after selling a few things second hand, he stumbled on Ned’s museum and knew he could make enough in one go that he won’t have to surface for several days. None of the places he’s gone can even compare to the first establishment, but he’s been unwilling to go back to it until he’s damn sure he can pay the handsome cook what he’s due.

“Hello again.” He waves politely from his spot at the counter.

The cook turns, tentacles still sitting and chopping and flipping away, “Hey! Good to see you again.”

“I even have money this time.”

“Dunno, might just make you do dishes again. Cutlery’s never looked so good.” He winks. One tentacle sets down a spoon, creeping towards Joseph. Barclay notices, pulls it back, and asks, “what’ll you have?”

“What’s good today?”

The answer is shrimp wraps, seasoned so perfectly Joseph wishes it was customary for merpeople to lick their plates.

“So good” He sighs, more to himself than anyone else, as he watches Barclay work. Do all tentacled mers take up this kind of profession? It seems like mechanics or other hands-on jobs might also benefit. Do they use them to show affection? Is that allowed?

“All done?”

“Yes. It was incredible, just like last time.”

“Glad to hear it. So” his tentacles clear the counter as Barclay continues talking with him, “you enjoying Atlantis? Seems like you’re pretty new here.”

“Very. I’m from a ways away. I...I’ve never seen anything like this place. It’s breathtaking. I’m even getting better at not just bumbling my way down random streets, hoping to find something interesting.”

“Uh, if, if you want, I’m happy to show you around, Can’t get you into hip parties or anything, but I know where all the good food is, and some of my friends work at some really cool places.”

Joseph tries not to squeal with glee, “That would be fantastic!”

Barclay grins, blush creeping up his cheeks, which Joseph sincerely hopes has the same meaning it does for humans, “I get off at sunset.”

----------------------------------------------------------------

“You know, when I asked you to take me to your favorite place, I suspected it was food based, but I never envisioned this.” Joseph stares at the massive marketplace, the woven seaweed ceiling studded with glowing shells and the floor is filled with miles of stalls, piled high with all kinds of ingredients and delicacies.

As they swim deeper into the market, Barclay stops to examine different foods, chatting with vendors and buying Joseph so many snacks he jokes the mer will have to carry him home.

“Happy to” Barclay rubs his cheek against Joseph’s own. This startled him the first time it happened, but he hid it well enough to not reveal his secret. It seems to be a general expression of fondness between mers, but he gets pleasant chills whenever Barclay’s beard tickles his skin.

The first time it happened, Barclay had taken him to see the massive aquatic gardens that form one of the central rings of town. Barclay’s friend, Duck, is head gardener and was more than happy to answer Joseph’s many, many questions. At some point, Joseph apologized for asking so much. Barclay swam closer, rubbed their cheeks together, and told him not to be sorry for being excited about something.

“I don’t know, I’m not a small mer.” He teases; his height stayed with him when he put on the amulet

Barclay twines three tentacles around his waist and yanks him closer, “Trust me, I could carry you and the groceries home without getting the least bit tired.”

“I see that.” He whispers.

The mer leans in a millimeter then stops, letting Joseph go, “C’mon, gotta show you the place with the best sea blossom wine you’ve ever had.”

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

“This was incredible, thank you so much for bringing me.” Joseph bumps their shoulders together as they swim out of the Atlantis History Museum. The other mer’s face lit up when Barclay showed him where they were, making him so handsome that Barclay nearly missed his tentacles trying to pet his tail. Joseph will swim arm in arm with him, rub their cheeks together, even dance with him the one time they went to a party that didn’t involve Duck eagerly teaching Joseph new board games and Aubrey beating him at them. But getting felt up is a conversation they haven’t had yet.

At least he finally got an explanation for why Joseph seems so lost at times; apparently, the town he’s from is so remote, the dialect of Atlantian he knows is different enough from the standard that he can’t read the signs in the city. Which meant Barclay read the informational plaques in the museum to him. His throat is a little sore from all the talking, but Joseph’s delight is more than worth it.

They say goodnight, Joseph keeping them cheek to cheek in order to hug him.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He’s nearly out of sight when Barclay realizes he still has the robe Joseph bought as a souvenir in his bag, so he swims after him, using his tentacles to track his trail when he loses sight of him. Soon he’s outside the bounds of the city and wondering where in the hell Joseph even lives, because the homes out here are sparse.

When Joseph turns surfacewards, Barclay wills his tentacles to propel him faster; doesn’t the other mer see the hull of the boat above them? Someone could see him, hurt him, or he could get sliced by a motor.

Barclay’s about to call his name when Joseph breaks the surface. The words die in his mouth, their corpses floating out and away in the tides as his friend’s tail turns to legs. He swims upwards, and when he peeks into the air a human with an unmistakable face is drying himself off on the deck of the small boat.

“What the fuck, Joseph?”

“SHIT!” Joseph jumps backwards, startled, then seems to register who Barclay is, “shit, Barclay, I can explain everything.”

“You don’t need to, it’s pretty fucking obvious you’re human and you’ve been pretending to be a mer for, for what? So you can tell the other humans where we are? How to catch us?”

“No” Joseph drops to his knees, shuffling to the edge of the ladder, “no, never. I’d never let anyone hurt you, or any other mer. I’m an FBI agent, with an assignment to learn whether or not merfolk exist and, if they do, what that means for humans. I...I’ve searched for some kind, any kind of proof that mers exist, and that led me to this” he holds up the necklace he always wears, “which transforms me into a mer.”

“So I was what, a research subject?” Barclay crosses his arms to cover the crack he’s certain his forming in his chest.

“A guide. A friend. Barclay, I thought Atlantis was more incredible and wondrous than anything else in the world. Then I met you, and saw it could be even more wonderful when seen through the eyes of someone I care about.”

“If you care about me, why did you lie to me?”

“I didn’t want to blow my cover. Even if I told you, if the word got out that I was really human, everyone else may have barred me from the city. Kept me from all the things there are to learn. Kept me from you.”

Barclay wants to say it’s fine, that he understands and isn’t angry, that he’ll see him tomorrow. But his heart feels like it’s been dragged across miles of jagged rock.

“Well, good news, Joseph. The rest of the city won’t keep you from me, because I don’t wanna see you for a long, long time.”

He sinks before Joseph can reply and trawls the sand all the way home, too tired to swim.

------------------------------------------------------------

Joseph stays out of the water for two weeks. He sails into port, stocking up on supplies and using the wi-fi in the little library to send in his reports. He’s never lied in a report before. First time for everything.

When he finally slips the amulet on again, the plan is to swim the opposite direction of Atlantis, looking for new pockets of mers to learn from (and how aren’t angry with him). The trouble is, he’s only submerged for a few minutes when his whole body shudders and his head aches. He feels feverish, frantic, like he’s on the edge of the panic attack. Then he’s in the center of a panic attack because he realizes his foggy and pounding head has led him the wrong direction and he’s now floating aimlessly through a familiar neighborhood. Then his abdomen cramps and he doubles forward with a groan.

“Joseph?”

He manages to turn, finds Barclay peering out his door, worried.

“H-hi. I, I didn’t come here on purpose, I swear. I, I don’t know what’s happening. I feel sick.” He closes his eyes as another shudder rattles his spine.

A tentacle gently wraps around his wrist, guiding him into the house, “Joseph, I-”

“Wait, please, let me say something first. I, I’m so, so sorry Barclay. I should have told you sooner, should have trusted you, you deserved to know I was human. I never meant to hurt you, but I did, and I hope you know I regret it with every fiber of my being.”

Strong arms loop around his shoulder and a coppery beard tickles his cheek, “Apology accepted. Yeah, it fucking sucked to find out you’d been lying but, uh, I realized I didn’t want to lose you. I just couldn’t figure out how to reach out again and I didn’t wanna fuck things up.”

Joseph clings to him, “Thank the lord. I have no idea how severe this illness is, and if it turns out to be fatal I didn’t want to die without you knowing how much you meant to me.”

Barclay laughs, the most confusing reaction possible.

“You’re not dying, Joseph. You’re in heat.”

“.....I didn’t know that was a thing that could happen. How could you even tell?” He pulls back, finds Barclay’s pupils so wide his eyes look black.

“I can smell it. Most mers can, but these suckers are especially sensitive to it” he wiggles his tentacles.

“So I need to get off and I’ll stop feeling like this, right?”

“Basically, yeah. You’ll probably be really horny for a few days, but the aching and stuff will stop. Oh, that probably feels like you’re dying; if you didn’t know this was a thing you could experience, your body probably thought all the adrenaline you’re supposed to use to help you have a bunch of sex in a short amount of time was a sign something was seriously wrong.”

“That makes sense.” He tentatively rubs his stomach, trying to make the muscles ache less, “uh, how should-”

“Oh fuck, right, uh, I’ve got a little guest room. You can hole up there if you want.”

He’s so sweet. He’d be such a good mate.

“I’ve got a few toys too. I could, uh, clean ‘em so you can use them.”

He’s thoughtful too.

Joseph shakes his head to clear his increasingly Barclay-focused thoughts, “Thank you. I’ll use the room but not the toys. The problem is I, um, literally don’t know what to do.”

“.......”

“......I figured out how to go to the bathroom but that was the extent of my exploration of that area.”

“.......you didn’t get the least bit curious?”

“I had lots of other things to focus on. I didn’t have time to masturbate when there was an entire civilization to learn about!”

Barclay full on guffaws, draping his arms around Joseph’s shoulders, “That is the cutest fucking thing I’ve ever, babe.” He nuzzles Joseph’s hair, several tentacles gently stroking the tip of his tail.

“Barclay? Will you, um, will you help me?”

A darker chuckle, “That’s cute too. My favorite interloper needs me to help him find his dick.”

“Ohmylord” He shivers as the hold on his tail tightens.

“Got yourself the best fucking body I’ve ever seen on a mer but not idea how to make it feel good.”

“Barclay please” He whines, only for a tentacle tip to press against his lips, shushing him while Barclay firmly but tenderly rubs his back.

“I’ll help you babe, don’t worry. First you gotta tell me how you like it.”

“I, um, I like being tied down. And given orders. But, but we don’t have to do any of that if you don’t want to. All I want is to be with you.”

“I wanna be with you too, babe. And I’ve got an idea.” The mer guides them into his bedroom; it’s so charmingly Barclay-like, pictures of food and friends on the walls, deep green and blue in the windows and the glass containing the lights.

“Lay down for me.”

Joseph wriggles down onto the bed. Barclay opens a carved coral dresser, pulling out two lengths of seagrass rope. He settles at the foot of the bed, begins tying one rope around the base of Joseph’s tail as his tentacles caress the black and white skin, “I’ve wanted to touch your tail since we met.”

“I c-could tell.”

“That why you were always waving it in my face?” Barclay ties the rope to one of the bedposts.

“I did no such thing.”

A tentacle tightens around his waist, “Don’t lie, babe.”

“Okay, I did it once or twice.”

“That’s better. Wrists in front of you.”

He obeys instantly. Soft green rope twines around his wrists, Barclay checking to be sure it’s not too tight before lifting his hands to his mouth to kiss each in turn.

“Now, here’s what you’re gonna do. Since you’ve got no idea how to get off, I’m gonna tell you exactly what to do. Then you’re gonna reward me like the well-behaved mate I know you can be.”

“Holyshityes.” He strains up to kiss him. Barclay obliges, kisses slow and deep until heat rippled up and down his tail.

“Let’s see” Barclay continues kissing him, cupping his face in his hands, as two tentacles tease the upper part of his tail, “guessing you don’t know what kind of set-up you have.”

“Not at all. You’ll have to explain it to me. Which is in stark contrast to how I usually have to explain my dick to partnersOH, ohshit” He bucks his hips as one tentacle presses a sensitive patch of his tail.

“There it is. Start touching there, you should be able to reach it.”

Joseph slides his hands down to where the tentacle is still tormenting him with pleasure. Barclay pulls back, watches hungrily as Joseph rubs himself. Whenever the sensation intensifies the tip of his tail curls, so he chases those sensations.

“Go faster.”

He moves his fingers in swift circles, gasps as a slit begins opening beneath them.

“That’s it babe, open up for me.”

“I, it’s, ohwhatthefuck?” small tendrils emerge from the slit, three of them curling around his fingers. He tugs experimentally and moans when it sends a wave of delight from head to tail.

“Oh this is gonna be fun” Barclay watches his hand toy with the tendrils, the thicker ones hardening when he rubs them, “you’re doing so good, Joseph, you’re getting the hang of it real fast.”

“ThaAAAAnk you.”

“Get some of those fingers inside, babe, fuck yourself for me.”

He pushes two fingers in, his body slick and oddly ridged the further he gets. Joseph has to curl forward to go deeper, whimpering as the tendrils catch and tug on his hand.

A tentacle wraps around his tail and twists, making him cry out in surprise and delighted pain.

“What part of fuck yourself was unclear?”

He moves his fingers faster, adds a third one and hears Barclay growl in reply.

“How’s that feel?”

“Good, so good, fuck, Barclay, I think I can cum from this.”

“You better. Keep playing with those upper tendrils, they’ve got more nerves in them.”

“Nnngh” following Barclay’ instructions sends a spike of pleasure into his stomach, “shit, I never cum this fast.”

“Could be the heat” Barclay swims closer, “or being a mer instead of human. Or maybe” a slit opens in the fold between his front tentacles, “maybe you just needed someone to tie you up and boss you around the right way, because you’re a horny little thing who needs to be put in his place.”

“Ohfuck.” He cums, tightening around his fingers, tingling from the slick they’re now coated in. It’s much slower than a human orgasm, and as he shakes and whimpers Barclay uses all the appendages he can to soothe his burning muscles and caress his too-sensitive skin.

“That was so good babe. You pick stuff up so quick, you’re so smart, love that about you.”

“Lord almighty” he gulps down oxygen, “if it’s that good on my own, I can’t wait to see how it is with you.”

“You still wanna do that now? We don’t have to, you can rest, I can bring you lunch-”

“Barclay, if you do not claim your reward right now I’ll, I’ll” he searches for a threat, but all he comes up with is, “I’ll find someone who will.”

A tentacle yanks his wrists up and back, pinning them above his head.

“Not a fucking chance, babe. Why do you think I tied you down? You’re all mine” another tentacle drapes across his neck, “and you’re gonna do what I want, for as long as I want you to.”

“Yes” Joseph arches off the bed, allowing Barclay to loop an arm beneath his shoulder blades. His free hand rests on Joseph’s hip, keeping him in place as a long, ridged cock presses into him, “shit, Barclay, that’s incredible, fuck that feels good.”

“Glad to hear it, handsome, because that’s where my cock is gonna stay for at least the next hour.” He rocks his hips, and Joseph’s tendrils cling to the base of his cock, making Joseph moan with every motion.

Barclay pauses, looking down with a thoughtful expression, “You know one of the best things about this kind of set-up?”

Panting, he shakes his head.

“You can take a whole hell of a lot at once.” With that, two tentacles shove in alongside his cock.

“SHIT!” He thrashes as Barclay snaps his hips, his cock driving deep with every thrust and the tentacles writhe and press and stroke, and at this rate he’s certain he’ll lose his voice

Barclay brings them face to face, “H-here’s what we’re gonna do. I’m gonna kiss you, and you’re gonna kiss back like a good mate, and you’re not gonna stop kissing until I cum. If you’re gonna scream and beg like a needy little mer, it’s gonna be only me that hears it, not the, fuck, the whole fucking neighborhood.”

Joseph nods and Barclay smashes their mouths together. To his joy, he discovers that gills mean you can kiss for as long as you want without stopping to breathe.

When Barclay comes it’s with the most delicious sound he’s ever heard. The two tentacles alongside his cock press Joseph further open, which turns out to be very necessary because Barclay immediately begins fucking his cum back into him. At that sensation, Joseph cums a second time, wrists twisting in the rope.

Barclay grins at him, “You see how things work now?”

“Definitely. But, um, I think I could use as many demonstrations as you’re up for.”

“In that case, babe, it’s time for your next lesson. Open your mouth.”

-----------------------------------------------

“Hey Barclay, Dani asked me to drop--woah, what the fuck happened to you?” Aubrey takes in his disheveled state and the bite marks covering his chest.

“Joseph and I made up.”

“Clearly. Didn’t know humans bit during sex.”

“I think that might just be a him thing. Uh, what did Dani want?”

“We made some cookies! They were supposed to be a feel-better present, but I guess now it’s a” she bounces her eyebrows “congratulatory one.”

“Get outta here you” Barclay smiles, “and tell Dani thanks.” He waves goodbye, shuts the door, and carries the treats into the bedroom where Joseph is fucked out and fast asleep. He knows Joseph has to go to the surface today for work, but they can eat these when he gets back. After all, they’ve decided they’re mates now, and Barclay couldn’t be happier.

He should probably get him a guide to learning Atlantian, though. He;s gonna flip his shit when he finds out about the Atlantis Library.

[echo-three-one]

Hello, can you please do a one about how a threesome would be between Frank, his partner and Alex Mason

This was a wild request anon. And here you go. I can't say no to askers. Besides I think I liked where this one went... 🥴

⚠️ NSFW CONTENT DO NOT INTERACT IF THIS BOTHERS YOU

Graphic descriptions of Sexual Acts and Anal ⚠️

There I said it. and for those hard headed enough to be warned, here you go.

Wish Granted

Frank Woods x Partner x Alex Mason

Frank's girlfriend placed the tray of lasagna on the dinner table. It was their anniversary and he said he'd try to grant one of her wishes. She didn't exactly know which wish it was but she was prepared for it, in fact she was excited that she felt giddy all day.

The doorbell rang multiple times, like some kid pressed the button rapidly while playing a video game. She chuckled as she knew it was Frank, it meant something else when he does that, an inside joke that had been running ever since you lived together.

She placed her apron by the counter and hurriedly rushed to open the door. Behind it was one sexy Frank Woods, holding a bouquet of roses and a box of chocolates and much to her surprise, Alex Mason, Frank's partner in crime, hugging a huge teddy bear.

"Hey, you." she greeted as Frank quickly entered the room and placed his gifts on the table to hug her tight, squeezing her ass in the process. Alex shyly followed and sat by the sofa, his hands not leaving the gigantic pink stuffed animal.

"I brought Alex over, if you don't mind. hehe" he winked and she smiled at Alex, a smile with a little bit of hidden meaning. Alex smiled back but he had actually no idea what is going on. The only reason he was here was because Frank needed help carrying the bear.

"I should get going." he excused himself only to be stopped by Frank, whose hand was holding his shoulder.

"Oh no no no. Let's have dinner first! My baby makes the meanest lasagna!" he boasted Alex agreed as he was quite hungry and it smelled really good, so they made their wsy to the table.

Dinner was awkwardly quiet. Alex noticed that Frank and his gorgeous girlfriend were just staring at each other, no other words but he felt like they were talking in subliminal messages, something he doesn't quite understand how it works.

"So, how was your day?" she asked, her voice was cute and endearing. It's like a spell forcing you to tell the truth.

"Same shit. Different day. Except this day just got a whole lot better now that you're here." Frank answered. Alex couldn't believe what he was seeing and hearing. This was far from what he predicted Frank to be in a relationship.

"What about you, Alex?" she continued. Alex stopped his hands midway. His mouth was open and the lasagna fell back to his plate.

"I um…. It was good." Alex's voice croaked. He was surprised that she asked him. And to be honest, he was intimidated by her presence. Someone who had the power to control Woods' temper is a force that shouldn't be meddled with.

"Great! It's a good thing you two are having nice days. Frank told me a LOT about you!" she mused and Alex shifted uncomfortably, his eyes shifted to Frank, who was smiling oddly toward him.

"Get this, pal." Frank nudged him and he snapped back to reality, eating his last slice of the pasta.

"Today marks the first year my babe and I got together and we were kind of exploring a little bit…." he trailed. Alex swallowed his food with caution, he wasn't sure how this night is going to turn out as the couple began radiating a bizarre aura and tone in their voices.

"… so we were wondering if you are uhm.. how do I say this… open for a menage a trois." Frank completed, causing Alex to almost choke on his food. It explained everything, how Frank was too giddy at work and how he treated him quite well throughout the rest of the day. It was all because of this.

"I mean if you're not into it, then you could just say no and we'll forget this happened." he added, his hands waving surrender.

Alex cleared his throat and the couple turned to him, awkward silence filled the room as they waited for him to speak. He sighed.

"Just this one time." 

~

Frank's partner emerged from the bathroom wearing lingerie that hugged her curves tightly, as if inviting everyone who could see it to slowly strip it away. The men were sitting on the edge of the bed, a huge space beside them reserved for her. Frank's jaw dropped at the view, while Alex still felt awkward and evaded eye contact. 

"Hot damn." Frank whispered and followed it with a whistle as she catwalked across the area and knelt infront of them. Her hands touched their bodies, Frank on the left, Alex on the right trailing her touch across their chests, down to their crotches. She cupped each of their slowly hardening cocks and smiled at their reaction. Alex's shoulders started to relax letting his tension clear out and accept that this was truly happening.

Frank grunted and sighed, her hands weren't even touching their cocks yet but she could feel the heat building inside them already. She slipped her bouncy breasts free from her bra and guided both their hands to play with it. Frank chuckled and quickly devoured his side while Alex was just stuck there. She felt his cold hands and prompted to guide him all the way, get him comfortable as it was going to be a long night.

Soft groans escaped her lips as Frank's mouth made wonders to her senses while Alex's conservative hands were slowly enjoying the feel of her nipples. Then as soon as they enjoyed themselves on her tits, it was time for her to move down.

She had known Frank's every inch quite well. She knew which jeans were buttoned, which were locked and which had belts and as soon as Frank knew it, his pants were already on his feet and his cock sprung against his shirt.

"Someone went through the day on commando…" she mused, her lips started trailing on his veiny manhood. Her hot breaths wrapped around Frank's cock. Her other hand was cupped against Alex's black boxers, he helped himself pull his pants down while she focused on Frank and her hands teasingly rubbed him against the polyester fabric. 

"Mmmm…" she moaned in unison with Frank whose head was now looking up and enjoying her mouth wrapped around his cock, making circles using her tongue not leaving every inch unexplored. Alex watched, feeling a little jealous and a lot turned on, he felt the pain of his erection trying to cut free but she was gripping it quite aggressively, he can't pull the underwear down.

She choked as she slowly lifted her head up his length, leaving trails of saliva drip down his cock, making his boyfriend smile in delight. Her hand gripped on him, slowly jerking it up and down with ease, thanks to the lubricant which came from her mouth. She then turned to Alex, who looked uneasy, and released her grip making Alex drop his underwear immediately revealing an equally impressive package. She giggled in delight as she started to plant soft kisses around him, while still jerking Frank. One kiss lead to another until such time that her mouth was already sliding up and down his length and making gagging noises.

The trio were taking turns exchanging gasps and moans, not caring if they were too loud enough to disturb people. They were having a wonderful time.

A few more gags and jerks and Frank and Alex stood in unison, tossing their pants away and pointed their tips on her mouth as she slid it sideways, giving each cock an equal amount of attention. The men's hands were lifting their shirts up as to not disturb her pleasure-filled performance, swallowing each length alternatively while the other one gets jerked and leaving no man unsatisfied.

Frank started to feel excited as he quickly grabbed something by the nightstand and instructed Alex to lie down on the bed. The friend followed and spread his legs wide enough for her body to fit while his cock wiggled through the erection. She slowly positioned herself on top of her boyfriends best pal and sat on his mouth. Alex immediately understood what this meant and started slurping her pussy, his tongue explored each of her lady parts while Frank gave her a kiss that the French people would start to take notes and update their ways.

They continued this until she was wet enough for action, thanks to Frank's mouth play and Alex's expert tongue painting skills, she was ready to take them both at the same time. 

She positioned herself atop of Alex's tip and slowly teased it by letting it feel a little bit of the sides. Alex brows furrowed in anticipation, his previous hesitation was engulfed by the lust and now he was willing to partake seriously at the initial proposal.

Frank gritted his teeth and pulled the foil wrapper open, quickly wrapping his length with the thin rubber, rolling it with ease. She flattened herself against Alex's firm chest, letting him feel her perked nipples against his and at the same time giving his boyfriend the perfect angle of her asshole.

Alex grunted as she slowly slid herself letting him in smoothly, their combined efforts made it easy for Alex's cock to slide in her as she moaned at each of his movement. 

"Aaaah..." she gasped as Frank's lubed cock simultaneously entered her other hole, his whole sensory organs confused as to which part of her should feel more overpowering. The newness of Alex's rod, or the pain from Frank's stick. Both of them moved differently inside her, making her create a different sound of mixed emotions.

"Damn babe, I like how tight this is... It feels.. new." Frank mused, his thrusts were slower as she was tighter, but he considered how this would initially hurt so he let her have him on her own accord. Alex on the other hand, was feeling the rush, once he got accustomed to her tightness, he immediately picked up his pace, like someone who was depraved of such feeling. Like a caged animal to explore in the wild.

Frank's partner didn't complain, she couldn't and she wasn't able to. Only short inaudible noises escaped her mouth as she was penetrated by two men like the way she dreamed of. It was a wish come true.

Red scratch marks filled Alex's strong arms as she gripped them tightly, nails almost deep enough to create scars. Alex was already biting his lip, hands locked onto his other one on the small of her back as his hips swayed like there was no tomorrow.

Frank was starting to feel the ease as he drops a few more of his lubricant, as he felt the slides were easy, he began matching his pace with his friend, sending the girl into a ride to pleasure town.

It went on for quite a while until they both stopped and slowed down. They were almost reaching their peaks and needed to settle down a while for more.

Alex got up and took a taste of her breasts, this time he was holding the both of them and was no longer shy, she liked this side of Alex, the one that always wanted to go out and get wild. Frank went down to her pussy, and boy did he know how to make her happy. His fingers expertly maneuvered its way inside her, making her lift herself up using her legs. She was squirming while trying to react to multiple pleasure impulses as both men were driving her crazy.

She now went on her knees and Frank effortlessly pulled the rubber away tossing it by the bed. Alex stood up and unbuttoned his clothes, showing her his marvelous body, something she secretly wanted to see. She started swallowing his cock slowly until Frank immediately thrusted from behind making her choke on Alex's. This made her look back at Frank to complain but the wonderful view of his naked boyfriend who's arm muscles clenched while gripping on her hips and the way his chest muscles slightly bounce on each of his thrusts made her forget about it and enjoy it instead. With her head looking back to Alex's cock, she resumed the sucking while being fucked from behind.

They tried every possible combination and positions all throughout the night. The couple took advantage of Alex's participation as they were sure this wasn't going to happen again. They made the best of the moment and the two men came more than once, they burst their loads all around her body drenching her in hot sticky excretions made from lustful desires.

Alex eventually slept at Frank's house claiming he was too exhausted to drive home. The next morning he was slumped on the couch and back to his normal responsible self. Maybe sometimes, you just have to let loose and relax yourself, he thought.

[dropintomanga]

Demon Slayer and My Hero Academia - 2 Sides of the Same Coin?

Whenever you hear about Koyoharu Gotoge’s Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, you tend to hear about the records the series has smashed in Japan since the anime adaptation aired. From taking over entire top 20 Oricon manga charts to being one of Japan’s most highly grossed movies ever to influencing political campaigns, Demon Slayer is a once-in-a-lifetime hit that captivated an entire nation. (Oh, and Gotoge is the 1st mangaka ever selected for the Time 100 Next list)

However, outside of Japan, Demon Slayer isn’t as popular as one of its other Shonen Jump brethren, Kohei Horikoshi’s My Hero Academia. Demon Slayer still sells well and fans love the series over here in The United States, but manga sales charts are filled with more My Hero Academia volumes than Demon Slayer volumes.

I’ve been thinking about both series’ popularity in the context of the East versus West dynamic.

As cultural experts will tell you, Western principles are built on a sense of individualism. You deserve the freedom to choose your own path. You can make it on your own. No one should get in the way of what you want. Eastern principles are all about collectivism. Make sacrifices for the prosperity of the group. Don’t do anything that hurts other people around you. The world doesn’t revolve around you.

When I think about My Hero Academia, it makes sense that Western fans love it a bit/lot more than Demon Slayer. We all want to be heroes of our story. We want to be more than who we are. It’s about youth who are focusing on their own growth and getting away from their comfort zones to find new opportunities to become stronger.

Demon Slayer isn’t about being a hero. It’s about a guy who wanted to make his demon sister human again. He’s not interested in being the absolute best to save the world. While saving Japan ends up being a consequence of his actions, family is what’s important to main lead Tanjiro Kamado. Also, superheroes aren’t nearly as popular in Japan compared to here (with the exception of Spider-Man). 

There was a book I read, Amaia Arrazola’s Tokyo Travel Sketchbook, that briefly discussed the Japanese conventional idea about family. Post-WWII, Japan promoted the idea that it was going to take women to stay home and take care of the home life while the men went out to be the breadwinners. Japan had to, since it had to take everyone together to rebuild the country. However, after the real estate bubble of the 1980s’ was burst, the idea of family being the center really fell apart as Japanese men lost their status as breadwinners due to jobs being finite and gone.

I also remember reading about the history of Western influence in Japan. There’s been a bunch of debate about whether Japan truly embraced Western ideals. To be fair, a lot of voices that claim Western influence being high in non-Western countries tend to be Westerners themselves. Japanese voices on Western ideals may have been been misunderstood in the first place. Demon Slayer takes place during a time of transition where modernity was growing in Japan, while My Hero Academia uses the Western love of comic book superheroes as its basis for its story.

When I think about Demon Slayer and My Hero Academia’s popularities in different parts of the world, it’s perhaps the Western vs. Eastern view of how striving for new opportunities often means loss of community. In My Hero Academia, we do see the psychological effects of bad family influence due to the relentless pursuit of status in a modern world. I saw this mostly early on with Shoto Todoroki (this is being explored even further with the rest of his family as of this writing) and much later in the series with Tomura Shigaraki’s past being revealed.

I noticed that a lot of things are blamed on bad parenting (especially in Western culture). A lot of psychological help does suggest that the family has a big role in influencing a child’s development. However, are they to blame for everything? Outside factors, like social inequality, do play a role. Endeavor, the father of Shoto and top 2 hero at the time, had to deal with so much perceived inequality (i.e. being compared to All Might) that it drove him to abuse his own family. When Deku told Shoto that that his power was his alone regardless of his upbringing, Shoto saw that he was in a place of equality since he was in a supporting environment among his peers compared to his dad. He’s started to understand how life experiences with other people and circumstances can change someone for better or worse as he reluctantly re-connects with Endeavor (who’s trying to redeem himself). 

With Demon Slayer, there’s the infamous Spider Family arc, where the villain, Rui, created a fake family in order to fill a void in their life as a demon. Rui ends up abusing their “family” to drive their superiority. They killed their parents at a young age while they were still human due to a fear of not being loved by them. The whole point of the arc was that everyone deserves some kind of loving family in their life. It’s hard to get through life by yourself even when you’re an independent spirit. I do feel though that certain relationships with family members/friends should be cut off if they are abusive like the case with Rui’s. There’s even more stories similar to this with the rest of the Twelve Moon demons (especially another family-related one with the arc that will be featured in Season 2 of the anime, which I might discuss later this year).

My Hero Academia is about moving forward with some reflection. Strive to be a hero of your life. Don’t think of the consequences as long as you’re saving innocent lives. Demon Slayer is also about moving forward, but remembering that there are points in your life where you need authentic connection and that bad people are still human beings who just feel disconnected from the world.

It also feels like both series address the issue of what connection-seeking traditions to pass on to newer generations that feel family/friendship seem lacking today. In My Hero Academia, there’s All for One’s desires to have successors to pass on his Quirk to even if they are dangerous. In Demon Slayer, there’s Kagaya Ubuyashiki, leader of the Demon Slayer Corps, who wanted to end his family’s curse and realizing over time that demons who wanted to fight back (like Tanjiro’s sister, Nezuko) against Muzan Kibutsuji should live. As someone who’s a Chinese-American, I've thought about what I could pass on as my culture has millennia of history and it does feel like age-old traditions/rituals are being passed over for materialistic convenience. 

I do think it comes down to whether we pass on values or beliefs. Beliefs are basically “What’s good? What’s bad? This is real to me even if it’s not to anyone else!” There’s way too much emphasis on them. Beliefs tend to be very binary because people are often more than just their beliefs. Values are just abstract rules to everyday life and don’t involve personal beliefs. I feel like not enough emphasis is focused on values. For example, things like compassion and respect are values, not beliefs. I had to embrace what values I had to finally grow as a person because some of the beliefs I held to in my mind were hurting me. 

Demon Slayer leans more toward appreciating values (usually ones that appeal to the Japanese mindset) due to Tanjiro’s personality, although My Hero Academia is a mix of appreciating both beliefs and values. While I do wish that “values > beliefs”, My Hero Academia does have some good insight on how beliefs can shape/warp values for both sides. 

Both series take a look at the tension between family and the self in their own ways. It’s much more so with Demon Slayer due to how much the concept of family was important in the growth of Japan in the past. I think we can agree that while there are cultural differences in handling it, the idea of family is lost on both sides of the world. American and Japanese cultures aren’t very tolerate of “gray zones” (i.e. illegal immigrants who have families, sex workers who have families, etc.) and want life to be more black or white. That’s why many fans who don’t feel accepted for who they are look to other outlets for some kind of family that will accept them.

Healthy families of all kinds lead to stronger communities that in turn lead to a better world for everyone. I sometimes feel that modernity does family no favors. It’s fine to grow, but constant growth without self-reflection becomes harmful. Plus, family always comes back to affect you one way or another. You can’t ever fully get away from family as they’re the starting point to everyone’s life. 

The only thing I can say is accept that your family/community, good and/or bad, is a part of your identity when you have conflicting thoughts and then take it from there. Denying that is just like trying to hide all your problems instead of dealing with them. It never ends well.

Blood is thicker than water and as both Demon Slayer and My Hero Academia show, when it’s shed, it can lead to disastrous consequences - both individually and collectively.

[girlmeetsliv3]

Killing Me Softly: I

Sugardaddy!BTS x reader

They were beloved. The very ground they walked on worshiped. It had been that way since before you were born and it would remain that way even after your choice. Decisions decisions, it would decide your future. But why choose one when you could choose them all? If you chose none, well... that wasn’t a decision you could make.

AN: This is for the person who requested an ot7 sugar daddy story where bts are yandere. Sorry, it took so long, but this ended up being a three-part story. Hope everyone enjoys it!

Trigger Warning: The following story contains mentions of manipulation, abuse, and vivid descriptions of abusive acts. The behavior and mindset of the characters in this will be incredibly yandere and toxic. This is a work of fiction and doesn’t represent the character of bangtan sonyeondan. Enjoy ~~~

Word Count: 7,115

     killingmesoftlywithhislove    

Dear Ms. [Y/l/n]

               We regret to inform you that your application has been denied. Unfortunately, you do not have the qualities or qualifications necessary to work as a crew member under McDonalds’ incorporated Inc. We wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors. Have a nice day.

Now, you weren’t conceited enough to think that it was impossible for your job application to be denied. You understood when you graduated university that finding employment would be difficult, but you also weren’t dense enough not to notice a pattern. This had been your tenth application and the same thing would always happen: you’d apply, they interview you, be ecstatic to hire you, and in under forty-eight hours you would receive a polite email where they would tell inform you that you didn’t have the ‘qualifications’ or ‘didn’t fit their image.’ You had done an internship at a top-notch telecommunications company, graduated in three years, and were in the top one percentile. How were you not qualified to flip burgers at McDonald's?! A deep sigh left your body as you pressed your forehead against the kitchen table, trying to calm yourself down. “Bad news again?” Sihyeon said exiting the bathroom, her hair perfectly styled into soft waves and a tight purple cocktail dress adorning her figure. “It just doesn’t make any sense. Why would I keep getting rejected? Is there something I’m not seeing?” You were exasperated and couldn’t help the tears that came to your eyes.

           You wanted independence and to maintain yourself. Here you go…Sure you knew being an adult wasn’t easy and despite how naïve they called you, the struggle was always part of the journey. Despite this, it felt like there was something you were missing as if someone was playing a cruel joke on you. “You could always call them,” Sihyeon remarked as she put on her heels. “No. Absolutely not. I haven’t stooped that low.” Your roommate sighed and walked over to where you were sitting, leaning over the chair and giving you a back hug. “You don’t have to start again, but maybe just ask them for advice. Or at least talk to Hoseok. He always knows what to do.” Sihyeon was just trying to help, had she known everything she would have never suggested you go back. She might have even prohibited it. Her not knowing was for her own safety though and for it not to affect her relationship with her ‘clients’ as she called them. “Maybe, I don’t know. Hurry up you don’t want to be late.” There was fear in your eyes and Sihyeon noticed but being the friend, she is she merely kissed your cheek and promised to text you when she arrived and left. It didn’t matter, Sihyeon wouldn’t come home tonight but it was a matter of precaution. Being a sugar baby was a dangerous profession at times and you, unfortunately, found that out far too late.

           You stared at your phone intensely, the face reflecting back being one of fear but desperation. Maybe she’s right. I just have to text one of them and ask for advice, the others won’t find out and I’ll go on merrily. It couldn’t be Hoseok though, he had been the first one you met and the one you had been the most hurt by. Seokjin was a better option: he was more rational and arguably the one you had spent the least amount of time with. Yes, Seokjin is the better option. Grabbing your phone, you opened the messaging app and pressed create a new message. When you found his contact, you hovered slightly over it, debating whether this was the right choice or not. Seokjin wasn’t fond of texting and preferred talking, saying there was far too much room for misinterpretation through text. You weren’t sure you could hold a conversation with him, but maybe leaving a voice mail might not hurt. So, you pressed the green phone icon and waited until the ringing echoed, it was funny how you knew exactly when he would pick up: always on the fifth ring. “Kim Seokjin speaking.” Fuck. “Hi, it’s [Y/n] [Y/l/n], I’m sorry to call you at such an unfortunate time. Are you busy?” You were tripping over your own words and were anxious at what his reply might be. “I’m always busy. What do you want?” Seokjin had never been the most affectionate individual, but the complete lack of human emotion in his voice let you know he no longer cared.

“You know what, never mind. Forget I called. I apologize for taking up your time.” You bit your lip and began to pace around the small apartment. This had been a mistake. Of course, he would hate your guts now, wouldn’t all of them? They felt used and abandoned. Their worst fear, materializing in the flesh. You waited for him to reply rudely or simply to hang up, but he didn’t. “[Y/n] I don’t have time to discuss this right now. Meet me tonight at St. Pierre’s around seven. I’ll be at the bar.” It was something you would end regretting later, you were sure of it. Nonetheless, you agreed to meet Seokjin there in hopes that he could help. All you could do was hope he didn’t misunderstand the purpose of your call or inform the other six. You could only pray.

St. Pierre’s was an upper-class restaurant that was a hybrid between French and Italian cuisine. It was in the heart of the city, but due to its ridiculous price and it always been booked only the elite of society got to enjoy it. You had the pleasure of being there three times in your life: when you met Hoseok, when you met the others, and now. Its elegant fifteenth-century inspired interior mixed the haunting roman architecture was a sight to behold. The bar, in itself, looked like something crafted by Rafael with it being made completely out of marble. It was something that when you had first come you had been afraid of touching, thinking that your second-class status would somehow ruin its elegance. The bar was mostly desolate except for a couple at the very corner sipping on wine. You could tell by her age and his demeanor their relationship: the younger man laughed but didn’t reach his eyes. His suit while fitted wasn’t of high fabric merely an imitation. The clothes she wore were simple, but anyone with a fine eye could tell the quality far surpassed anything bought at a department store. Before you would’ve never noticed things like this but being around them had changed the way you viewed the world. It also made it easy to spot anyone who was a sugar baby when you had been one not so long ago. Those thoughts brought a soft smile to your face as you remember how it all began…

_Thirteen Months Ago_

           “Lola?”

           You looked up from your phone to see a handsome man in a silk black buttoned-down and tight slacks standing in front of you. His face exactly like the profile picture, you had just been staring at. “Jung Hoseok?” You asked, standing up to greet him. To your surprise, instead of shaking your hand the man immediately went for a hug. “It’s nice to meet you. I have to admit I was a bit worried that you wouldn’t look like your picture.” There was relief in his voice and you too had worried about the same thing. “Yeah, same.” The two of you sat down with a waiter coming over and pouring water into the empty glasses before dismissing himself. Hoseok seemed to be analyzing you, taking in every detail of your face, it was a bit unnerving. As was the silence between the two of you. “Sorry, I’ve never done this before, so I don’t really know what to do…” You trailed off fiddling with the hem of your dress. “It's okay, I’m not an expert either nor do I expect you to be. Why don’t you start out by telling me about yourself? Like what about your name?” Hoseok smiled, leaning back into his chair. How did he? “How do you know Lola isn’t my name?” You questioned before it dawned on you that he didn’t, and you had just revealed it yourself. If you could facepalm at that moment you would’ve. “You don’t look like a Lola. That and I called your name like twice before.” Oh. You licked your lips before speaking, “[Y/n.]” If possible, Hoseok smiled even wider. His lips resembling a heart. “So [Y/n] why do you want to start sugaring?”

_Present_

           “I thought the last time we spoke you said you never wanted to see any of us again.” Kim Seokjin looked like something out a romantic era painting, with his sharp yet delicate features. The way he was human but gave off this grandeurs aura few could give. You toyed around with the straw in your drink, it was sprite with a lime in it to make it look like alcohol. If you were intoxicated, you would make bad decisions and god knows this already was one. “Last time we spoke was today and you said to meet you here.” He hated when you play dumb, you weren’t doing it on purpose, but rather to avoid the inevitable. Best not to dwell on the past for it wouldn’t bring it back. Seokjin took a seat on the barstool next to yours, waving the bartender away when he came forward. It seems he wasn’t keen on drinking either, not that you could blame him. “To what do I owe the pleasure of seeing you? It’s not every day an ex-lover calls to chat.” His words were meant to appear light, but you could see the way his jaw was locked, and his teeth were slightly clenched. Ex-lover. There was a problem.

           “I was never your lover Jin, that isn’t what we agreed on. We also never spoke of becoming lovers.” Subconsciously you reached out towards him, but the second your fingers touched his Seokjin recoiled; as if being burnt by your touch. It hurt. “Well then, why did you call me [Y/n]?” The longer you stared into his eyes, the more you knew this wasn’t going to work. There was pain, wrath, but also insanity swirling around in his pupils. Seokjin could only take so much until he cracked, and you didn’t want a repeat of that night. “I’m sorry Jin, this was a mistake. I’m sorry for wasting your time and taking up your night. I hope you have a good life.” You took out your wallet and dropped what you owed before attempting to slide off the chair. Attempt was the right word, as Seokjin immediately took hold of your forearm prohibiting you from leaving. “We aren’t done talking until you tell me why you called me.” His voice had lowered significantly, his hand applying more pressure to your arm by the second. “Seokjin, you’re hurting me. Let go.” You whimpered, trying to pull your arm away. It only served to have him pull you closer, your body taut against his.

           “You hurt us, [Y/n]. You made us fall for you, only to toss us aside when we weren’t necessary. Now what you come back only to parade in front of me and then abandon me again, I don’t think so.” Tears began to spring to your eyes as a deranged look overtook Seokjin. Your arm turning white from lack of blood. It was the way he had stared at you that night. The way they all stared at you. It made you want to cry out for help, thankfully you didn’t have to. “Is everything okay?” You didn’t recognize the voice, but when you turned you saw it was the older lady with her sugar baby beside her. The woman’s elegant features wrinkled into a frown at your expression. Seokjin immediately released you and masked his face, “Everything is fine. Sorry if we scared you.” You took the opportunity to excuse yourself and head straight for the exit. Ordering an uber and getting in, before Seokjin could find you.

_Eleven Months Ago_

           Hoseok and you had a lunch date scheduled with a business partner of his. The two of them trying to acquire a developing technology from an old ahjussi. You were there to entertain his wife who Hoseok had described as ‘simple-minded but nice.’ You weren’t sure if it was a compliment or not. You also weren’t sure of your role only that you were Hoseok’s date. Though the two of you had spent some time together it was usually alone, Hoseok wasn’t a fan of public outings and since learning of his position as head of a major corporation, neither were you. “You look stunning.” Hoseok had told you, when you had met him at the restaurant thirty minutes before the meeting was scheduled. Hoseok had gifted you a baby blue cap sleeve dress to wear today and you loved it. The two of you had never really agreed on your payment: sometimes it would be gifts, outings, or sometimes he would deposit five hundred dollars to into your PayPal account.

           “Oh, I have a friend I would love for you to meet. His name is Kim Seokjin, we’ve known each other since high school.” From the fondness in his tone, it seemed Seokjin meant a lot to Hoseok. So, you smiled and nodded, hoping the man was as nice as Hoseok described him to be. Not even five minutes later, a black Audi pulled up to the curve and out stepped a man so beautiful, the gods might envy him. He quickly looked around and smiled the moment his eyes met Hoseok’s. That must be him. Seokjin handed the car keys to the valet and walked towards the two of you, his eyes never leaving Hoseok as the two embraced. “How have you been, Hobi? I haven’t seen you in forever.” His voice was higher pitched than you had imagined, but it suited him somehow. The two exchanged pleasantries until the focus shifted onto you. “Jin this is [Y/n]. She’s the one I’ve been telling you about.” You didn’t know why Hoseok had been speaking to his friends about you, but all those thoughts disappeared when Seokjin finally looked at you.

           There was such potency and intimacy in his stare, you felt as if the world around you had faded and all that was left was him and you. Seokjin’s eyes trailed down your body as if he was drinking you in. You should’ve known he was trouble just from that. What should’ve tipped you off to how dangerous he truly was, is how he was able to return to normalcy in the blink of an eye. “Nice to meet you, [Y/n]. Hope we can be friends.” Seokjin had no intention of being friends with you and you had known it since then.

_Present_

           It wasn’t until you reached your apartment and fished your phone out of your clutch that you saw all the missed messages and calls from Sihyeon. Fearing the worst, you immediately called her, “Sihyeon what’s going on?” Tonight had been stressful and things were only going to get worse. “[Y/n] you won’t believe what I just find out. I was speaking to Jeonhan about your situation and he said he would investigate it. Well, he dug around, and you’ve been blacklisted by Kim Communications. That’s why you can’t get a job.” It took all of your will power in that second not to scream, rage, or break down into a fit of tears. “Sihyeon I’ll have to call you back.” You didn’t even wait until she replied, simply hanging up. The sob that had been latched in your throat since this morning finally escaped and you broke down, falling to the floor.

           If you could turn back time and never have met them, you would. If you could turn back time and never had agreed to become their sugar baby or even going on that stupid trip you would’ve. Hindsight is always twenty-twenty, and you would have to live with the consequences of your actions. It would be so much easier to crawl into bed and cry yourself to sleep, but you had already gotten out of that phase weeks ago. Plus, you would be damned if you gave them the satisfaction of seeing you broken without them. You willed yourself to stop crying and opened your phone once again, going straight for the bastard’s contact. He might have blocked you, who knows, Jimin was the pettiest but Taehyung wasn’t too far behind apparently. Not only had he fucked with your feelings, but with your livelihood and that was not acceptable. Nor would you take it in stride. Despite being older it seems Taehyung couldn’t take the high road.

Y/l/n Y/n: I know what you did.

Kim Taehyung: Well if it isn’t Miss Independent.

Y/l/n Y/n: This is serious Taehyung. Why would you do something like this?

Kim Taehyung: Do what? ;) 

Y/l/n Y/n: I’ll sue you for defamation of character.

Kim Taehyung: You don’t have the money to do that.

You threw your phone against the pillows and watched it bounce back onto the mattress. Taehyung had always caused your blood to boil, but instead of passion, all that you felt was pure hatred. But why? Taehyung had once offered you a job at his company, as his secretary of course. He would often joke about the rendezvous the two of you would have while the rest of the office remained oblivious. Most of the times you would shoot down his ideas, telling him you didn’t want to get a job simply because you were screwing the boss. Sometimes though you would entertain his delusions. Teasing him about this or that: anywhere from getting him coffee in the mornings to quickies during the break. Taehyung never seemed to understand that you were joking, however. It got to the point where he nearly submitted a fake application for you, the only reason it didn’t happen was because of the trip the eight of you took and the aftermath of it. Your phone’s screen lit up once again, Taehyung having sent another message.

Kim Taehyung: Meet me for lunch tomorrow and we can discuss it.

Y/l/n Y/n: You wish.

           You received an email from Paypal, the subject being a new transaction. Your curiosity was piqued, so you opened the app: seven hundred dollars had just been sent to you from Taehyung’s account. If you had been upset before that action was a slap to the face. A scoff exited your lips and you went back to the previous screen, typing away as fast as you could.

Y/l/n Y/n: Go fuck yourself Kim Taehyung.

Kim Taehyung: Why when I can pay you to do it?

           At that point, no words could describe how you felt. You blocked his number, refunded the money, and turned off your phone. Today had been a long day and tomorrow would be even longer. You quickly changed into your pajamas and got into bed, turning off the lights in an attempt to sleep peacefully. That wouldn’t happen. Your brain was in overdrive: recalling and analyzing every single moment shared between you and the men trying to figure out where it went wrong. Where their feelings changed or where their obsession began. Why you had agreed on going on that trip and what you could’ve avoided had you simply never met Hoseok, to begin with. Eventually, you grew so tired that sleep came to you.

           You didn’t know how long you had been asleep, but it felt like four-five hours maximum. Though your eyelids were heavy something willed you to wake up, an uncomfortable feeling overtaking your body. You flipped your body around, so you were laying on your back and facing your bedroom door. Slowly you willed one eye open, though your eyesight was still blurry you managed to make out a figure standing by your door. The sun hadn’t yet risen, so a greyish hue took over your room. “Sihyeon? Did you just get back?” You croaked, still trying to focus your eyes. Sihyeon didn’t respond and you frowned but were finally able to see who was standing there: none other than Kim Namjoon. Immediately you jumped back pressing yourself against the headrest while looking over to where your phone was charging on your bedside table. It was gone. “Your friend was a little intoxicated, so I offered her a ride home. I didn’t know you had switched apartments.” There was something so smooth about the way Namjoon spoke, he reminded you of a television villain. Someone who could describe the way he was about to murder your entire family but do it in the most charismatic and charming way possible. That’s how you knew you were fucked when he spoke like that.

           Namjoon was waiting for you to respond but you refused. Knowing that one wrong word would set him off and he could either pounce on you or destroy your life with a simple phone call. Taehyung had already done that, so he didn’t need to do that much. Oh my god, Sihyeon. Your eyes dragged from him over to your door, he seemed to notice for Namjoon rolled his eyes and scoffed. “Don’t worry she’s just had a bit too much to drink. I found her stumbling around her boyfriend’s hotel lobby, figured she could use some help. He’s not her boyfriend. “Jeonhan isn’t her boyfriend.”  You snapped back, you could see the anger in his face by the way his jaw tightened. His eyebrow-raising, before he decided to walk around the bed, taking a seat right in front of you. You tried to push yourself up against the headboard as much as you could, but he was still only at armlengths. “Where’s my phone Namjoon?” He shrugged as if he had no idea what you were talking about. “I hear you went to meet Seokjin yesterday and that you spoke to Taehyung. Why?” Of course, he would find out the men shared everything. Even things which shouldn’t be shared. “I went to Seokjin for advice about not being able to find a job. Imagine my surprise when I found out the reason was that Taehyung had me blacklisted for no fucking reason.” The words came out without much thought, your emotions taking control.

           Truthfully you were seething but it had little impact on the man in front of you, who raised his hand to gently cup your cheek. “Taehyung’s hurt and so is Seokjin. That’s why they both acted the way they did. Both called me yesterday crying over how they treated you.” You shook your head, rolling your eyes knowing how much that pissed him off; You succeeded as his palm twitched ever so slightly. “If they wanted to apologize, they should’ve done so to me.” Why is he here? Namjoon was always the peacemaker, that was something you had noticed from the start of your relationship. He always wanted everyone to get along and be friends forever, but that wasn’t going to happen; especially not with them. “Princess, the real world is hard. I warned you didn’t I that it wasn’t a place for people like you.” God was he a great manipulator. Even now as he caressed your face and leaned in towards you, there was something inside you that wanted to believe him. That wanted to give in to him and the rest of them. It had been Namjoon that convinced you to be with all seven of them at the same time, it was he who assured you nothing bad would happen, you’d be damned to repeat the same mistake. “I can’t Namjoon. I won’t. I can’t just lie around and depend on others to maintain me. I can’t live off others like a leech.” They had once commented on how they loved your independence. How refreshing it was to be with someone who could stand on their own, even if you were taking money and gifts from them. They only loved your independence as long as you depended on them for it.

           “You had no problem doing it for an entire year.” On the surface, Namjoon looked remarkably calm but underneath there was fire burning and you weren’t about to get caught in it. Gently you took his hand off your cheek, placing it on top of his other hand resting on the covers. “I think you should go, Namjoon.” When Sihyeon woke up you would explain everything to her. Explain why you had switched apartments and moved in with her. Why if she ever saw the men the smartest thing to do was avoid them entirely. Namjoon stood up, adjusting his blazer and cuffs as he looked down at you. “You’re right now isn’t a good time. I’ll be sure to come by later or maybe I’ll just tell the others to stop by see if they have better luck. Maybe Hoseok might convince you.” At his name, your eyes snapped up. He wouldn’t dare. As if he could read your thoughts Namjoon smirked before leaning over you again, putting his arms on either side: trapping you in. “I would. Even if it meant letting the others know where you’ve been hiding all this time. Even if it meant having to destroy your life just so you would finally understand. Or maybe I would do something far worse…” Namjoon pressed his lips against your forehead, before finally standing back up and leaving the room.

           You stayed frozen in shock until you heard the slamming of the front door. Something far worse…Your eyes widened, and you bolted out of bed running straight towards Sihyeon’s room. When you tried to open the door, it was locked and wouldn’t budge. You tried throwing all your weight onto it, kicking it down, even calling for her was useless. Finally, after what seemed like forever the door gave in and the lock came unhinged, you threw the door open hoping for a miracle.

_Nine and half months ago_

           The upper floor of St. Pierre’s had a private dining room fit with a balcony that could be rented out for special occasions. The minimum the party had to spend along with the rental fee was two hundred dollars, something that was nothing but change for the men you were accompanying. The view from the balcony was splendid getting to see all of the downtown area whilst none could see you because of how high up you were. The view wasn’t why you were out here, it was because you needed to step away and think about what had just been propositioned. This wasn’t what you signed up for and sure the pay would be more than what some people make in their entire lives, but at what cost. At what cost. “How are you holding up?” You couldn’t help but be startled, turning around to see none other than Kim Namjoon walking towards you. He smiled softly, “Didn’t mean to scare you. You’ve just been out here for a while and it’s worrying the others.” Even in the dark night and with the low lighting from the two lanterns secured on the balcony, Namjoon was glowing. He looked ethereal and you wondered how you had managed to attract someone like him. How had you managed to attract all seven of them was beyond you.

           “I don’t know what to do.” You spoke softly, gazing out into the city. You felt his eyes on you but refused to meet them as you were far too anxious. “Say yes.” You chuckled but there was no humor in your voice, “I don’t think I can do what you all are asking me to do. Seven people? I barely know what to do with Hobi and I-” His fingers gripped your chin and turned your face towards him. There was something in his eyes, something you hadn’t seen before, he spoke so carefully and softly as if you were a child. “So say yes. You hold the reigns in the relationship. There’s nothing we can do without your consent first. Sure, you would be ours, but we would be yours.” He stepped closer until the two of you were pressed against each other. “Haven’t you ever wanted just for a second in your life to be cared for? No worrying about rent, taxes, not having enough money for food. You can simply focus on your studies and experience things others only dream of.” There was something about his words, they were a mirage. Something that couldn’t really be achieved, but you wanted it so badly. His tongue was coated in honey and you longed to taste it. Perhaps sensing your reluctance, Namjoon spoke again. “If you ever want to stop or get to a place where you no longer need us, they’ll be no hard feelings. We’ll part ways and leave sweet memories behind.”

           Those had been the words that sold you on the entire idea. They had been whispered so seductively into your ear that you had taken them as facts when they were nothing more than baseless lies. They had lied to you to get you where they wanted. Now that you were no longer theirs, they would do anything to get you back.

_Present_

           The monitor beeped constantly as it tracked Sihyeon’s heart rate and respiration. “[Y/n] I’m fine. You didn’t have to bring me here.” She hadn’t been fine. When you broke into her room, Siheyon had been passed out in a pool of her own vomit. Your first instinct was to check if she was breathing and when you felt a faint pulse, you immediately called the ambulance. Now she was awake and sipping on some Gatorade to help with her alcohol poisoning. You could see the embarrassment on her face, Sihyeon wasn’t an avid drinker nor did she mix drinks. “I honestly don’t know what happened after I left Jeonhan’s room. It’s like I blacked out or something.” Truth be told, you should’ve told Sihyeon everything that had happened once she woke up, but you hadn’t. Not to protect Namjoon or anything, but because Sihyeon was clearly not in the right state of mind and she was the type to overreact: drive over to all their companies and set them ablaze whilst screaming out of a megaphone – overreact. She needed to heal and not stress over your troubles which only seemed to worsen as time went on. Jeonhan had contacted Siheyon and said he would visit when his lunch break rolled around, Sihyeon had groaned when she realized it meant he would see her without makeup.

           “Sihyeon, you’re in a hospital. I’m sure he isn’t expecting you to look like a supermodel or anything.” You rationalized as you braided her hair, she had begged you to claim it ‘looks like a rat’s nest.’ Some color had finally returned to her cheeks and the doctors had said that once the alcohol level in her blood had dropped, she could return home. There had been some judgment on their faces when they noticed her appearance but had quickly changed their expression when you pulled out Jeonhan’s black credit card. There isn’t a thing money can’t buy, well except for love. Sihyeon had received top-notch care and had even been placed in a private hospital room instead of the beds down in the emergency wing. “I hope he doesn’t think this happens all the time. He knows I don’t drink a lot.” Sihyeon played with her fingers anxiously, in her line of work opinions and reputation were everything. If Jeonhan grew bored he could toss her aside and simply find a new sugar baby to satisfy his needs, Sihyeon was beautiful so it's not like she would have trouble finding someone else to maintain her but Jeonhan was her favorite thus far. “Of course, he does. Don’t stress just don’t tell him about the alcohol poisoning and say he tired you out so much you passed out. That’ll boost his ego.” He might not entirely believe her, but it wouldn’t matter. “I’ll keep the doctors out of the room, okay?” You finished up her braid and squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. “Thank you, [Y/n]. You’re the best.”

           A knock on the door caused you to help Sihyeon adjust her gown before speaking out, “Come in.” When you had first met Jeonhan you hadn’t been too sure of him, the man looked disinterested in just about everything. All of that changed whenever he looked at Sihyeon his eyes would fill with joy as he stared at her, the same happened when he walked into the hospital room. The man headed straight for Sihyeon taking in her appearance, before placing a rather large bouquet in her hands. “How are you feeling, sweetheart?” Nicknames were a must, Sihyeon had once told you first names were too intimate. That’s why it always surprised her when that was all the men would call you by unless you were in trouble. “[Y/n].” A raspy voice spoke out and you turned back to the door to find Yoongi standing there. Jeonhan finally acknowledges your presence, more like nodded at you and turned back to Sihyeon. “Yoongi-hyung and I were supposed to have lunch, but I wanted to see you.” Sihyeon giggled in childish glee. A part of you finding their interaction sweet, while the other part of you knew it was all pretending.

           You had been so wrapped up in the two ‘lovebirds’ sitting on the bed, you failed to notice Yoongi had approached you until he grasped your hand. “Can I speak with you?” Yoongi was never awkward and always had a mask of nonchalance present on his face, now he was the complete opposite. Yoongi seemed fidgety and uncomfortable, in his eyes you saw deep frustration and desperation. “Fine.” You excused yourself from the room, going out into the hall waiting for Yoongi to join you. Instead of stopping right beside you, he kept walking heading towards the end of the hall. You debated on whether to follow him before deciding it was best to get these things over with. It was when you passed a phlebotomist pushing a trolley filled with needles that you remembered. How long has he been clean for? Yoongi had begun rehab right before you had parted ways with them, that would explain his behavior. A pang of guilt hit you as you finally met up with him. He still looked the same though the bags under his eyes were more prominent and he seemed more on edge; either cause of the drugs or you. Maybe both.

           “How have you been Yoongi?” He simply snickered at your question, his tone entirely sardonic. “How do you think I’ve been?” Despite being an addict, Yoongi always looked impeccable. Even now when he seemed to be at a breaking point, he still managed to exude power. “I’m sorry Yoongi.” You were sorry, you hadn’t been the cause of his problems, but you had contributed to them in some way. Yoongi simply stared at you intensely before he swooped down pressing his lips against yours. Your first instinct was to pull away, you couldn’t once you tasted the salty tears on your lips. Yoongi kissed you for another minute until he finally pulled back, the tears had stopped but his eyes were swollen and red. “You said you would never leave me and you did [Y/n].” It was as if someone had plunged a knife straight into his heart. “I couldn’t stay when me being near you was making you worse.” Yoongi had taken a hold of your arms and was shaking violently. “So what you use me and get to toss me aside when you don’t want me?! I won’t let you.” The melancholy in his eyes had been replaced by wrath, his hands digging into your skin too harshly you knew there would be bruises. “If you don’t come back to me, to us. I’ll make sure everyone finds out the kind of person you are and not just you, I ruin Sihyeon’s life as well. No one wants to be dating a whore and I’m sure Jeonhan will drop her the moment he finds out everything.”

           Finds out what? You frowned and there was confusion evident on your face, at which Yoongi only smirked. He leaned into your ear and whispered what it is he had against Sihyeon, your eyes widening in fear. “Unless you want to drag your friend down to where you are, you do well to remember your place.” He released you and quickly walked away, leaving you to spiral in the corner of the hall. Your life was falling apart bit by bit and there was nothing you could do about it. A dry heave left you as Yoongi’s frame slowly got smaller and smaller. You glanced around until you noticed a bathroom sign only a few feet away, you practically ran to it. Closing the door behind you and locking it, you stared at the mirror. Your face was devoid of color, eyes wide and fearful, you hadn’t realized you were crying until you saw the tear streaks down your face. Hesitantly you took off your sweater only to see large hand marks on your biceps, where Yoongi had grabbed you.

_Seven Months Ago_

Yoongi was always careless with his strength leaving your body riddled with bruises and tonight would be no different. You were thankful that winter had rolled around, and that wearing scarves or turtlenecks was acceptable, as he was sure to leave a large bruise on your neck with the amount of pressure he was applying. The two of you were naked on top of his custom queen bed, the headboard crashing against the wall mimicking Yoongi’s thumping into your core. You moaned his name which only served to encourage him more, his pace becoming quicker. “Y-yoongi p-please.” The man had spent all afternoon teasing you, taking you to the edge only to never allow you the bliss of coming undone. “Fuck. Do you know what you do to me? You’re better than anything out there [Y/n].” Yoongi was beyond high, his pupils completely dilated and pulse racing. A part of you knew it couldn’t be weed that he was on, but you knew better than to question it. What Yoongi did with his life was his business, you knew your place. “Fuck [Y/n]. Where do you belong? Who do you belong to?” At this point the two of you had become completely erratic, biting and scratching at each other in the name of lust.

When you didn’t immediately reply Yoongi applied more pressure on your throat, making it difficult to breathe properly. “I belong to you Yoongi. I belong underneath you.” He wasn’t satisfied. Yoongi raised your leg placing it on his shoulder and began to grind against you from a new angle, one where he was constantly hitting your g-spot. “Who do you belong to?” A guttural groan exited his lips, as Yoongi tried his hardest not to come. Not until he was sure you knew the answer. “Yoongi, S-seokjin, Hobi, Namjoon, Jimin, Kookie, and Taehyung.” The names escaped your lips as a mantra of sorts, your abdomen beginning to tighten once again. “Yoongi.” You whined, he silenced you with a kiss. “Come with me. You can come, baby girl.”

_Present_

           “Hello? Miss? Is everything alright?” The pounding on the door awakened you from your thoughts. Splashing some water on your face, you pull a smile on your face and exit the bathroom. A concerned nurse standing in front of you, you apologize and head back into Sihyeon’s room finding her alone toying with the flowers on her lap. “Where did you go to?” She asked, a smile on her face. Jeonhan made her happy, you had never seen her as happy with any other client of hers. “I spoke with Yoongi and went to the bathroom. Sorry, I took long.” You shrugged, trying to hide the uneasiness in your voice. “Nah don’t worry. I’m glad the two of you are still friends since you broke up.” You hummed in agreeance and chose to walk over to the chair left of the hospital bed. The moment you sat down all of your muscles relaxed, it felt as if you had run a marathon. Your legs as heavy as lead and your heart even heavier. “Oh, that reminds me Jeonhan said Yoongi forgot to give this to you.” Sihyeon produced your phone from under the flowers, it was exactly as you had left it the night before. “How did Yoongi even have your phone?” You struggled to get the words out, “I accidentally left it when I met Seokjin.” Sihyeon frowned, “Didn’t we talk on the phone last night?” Oh, so that you remember. “I was still with Seokjin when you called. I left in such a hurry, I must’ve forgotten it.” You smiled sheepishly. Sihyeon seemed doubtful but decided to leave it at that.

           The best thing about Sihyeon was she didn’t hover. That’s why she had been the perfect roommate when you suddenly had to move apartments. She had never questioned why you did what you did or how you ended up finding out she had the same ‘profession’ as you. Sihyeon never commented on the paranoia that hung on your shoulders. All she asked is who you had been involved with and displayed recognition upon learning you were the girl who swept ‘the seven’ off their feet. You had waited until Sihyeon drifted off to sleep, to examine your phone. The device was off, so you pressed the power button and waited until your lock screen popped up being horrified when it did. A picture of you decked out in lingerie smiling back at you. Immediately you opened up the gallery only to find similar pictures and even more proactive ones; hundreds flooding the storage space. You looked back at the lock screen picture, analyzing it trying to remember when or who took them. The hardwood floor underneath something you immediately recognized, along with the fuzzy carpet you laid on. Once the phone established a connection again, a text message came in from none other than the photographer himself.

Jeon Jungkook: Let’s talk.

[infinitypassiveincome]

Latitude Review

SEE WHAT A 12-YEAR-OLD BOY CAN HELP YOU TAP INTO THE 330 MILLION BUYERS MARKET

Along with the Bitcoin craze, recently, NFT has become a new item that has received great attention from investors. Many digital artworks were sold for millions of dollars and celebrities and business leaders raced to enter the market.

This digital currency became prominent and attracted a lot of attention because it has 3 characteristics that hold users back.

Uniqueness – each NFT has its own properties that set them apart from the others.

Scarcity –  each NFT is unique, cannot be replaced by any other form, that is what makes NFTs valuable.

Inseparability – a special feature of the NFT is that the NFT cannot be divided in any way.

People see the extremely promising development potential of this digital currency, so they rush to engage in it. Although the nature of cryptocurrencies is similar, it is true that the value that NFTs bring is often more generous and the risk is low, which may be the main reason why it has appeared late but gradually prevailed. You also need to find a way to make your own money. You should not only be too dependent on the methods that people usually do, there must be a breakthrough, success will come to you.

If you want to step into this vast world of NFTs, the Latitude – product that I am about to introduce to you is exactly what you need. Why? Since a 12-year-old can make thousands of dollars a week, why can’t you?

Okay, If you are ready, please take a ride with me and enter my review today. Welcome, all of you coming to Latitude review,

LATITUDE REVIEW – THE OVERVIEW

WHAT IS LATITUDE?

Latitude is the world’s 1st crypto-based income system developed by a 12-year-old (with a protege of Jono’s) who has made thousands from this with zero online marketing experience. Latitude opens you up to the digital goldmine of NFTs where you can make risk-free cash with zero experience or skill at all.

Latitude lets you tap into the crypto-driven world of NFTs for unlimited profit potential without upfront costs, without experience, without risk, even without creating anything yourself.

WHO IS THE CREATOR?

The creator is 12-year-old boy William who is guided and supported by an experienced expert Jono Armstrong.

As you may know, Jono Armstrong is the most successful digital marketer as well as software creator. He is prominent for many previous launches such as Maeve, Stealth, The Lockdown Formula, The Secret Weapon, Paytrix, Aurora, Smash My Campaigns, Invisible, Equinox, Launch Jacking, etc.

If you want to know more details about these products, you can refer them to the Internet. His products will lead you to many different ways to make money online.

WHAT WILL YOU HAVE WHEN OWNING LATITUDE?

Latitude includes free software & free authority traffic from hundreds of millions of buyers. This is the exact system a 12-year-old is cashing in THOUSANDS weekly with. You smash every barrier (and excuse) standing in your way.

From now on, you can enjoy the freedom of a lucrative side hustle that works from your laptop, anywhere in the world just by plugging in a proven system that includes free traffic & software so you can scale as high as you want.

So what are the outrageous features to help you unlock the easiest way to profit from your laptop?

  ♦   OVER THE SHOULDER “LOOK MOM IT REALLY IS THIS EASY” VIDEO TRAINING ($997 VALUE)

It will show you how to duplicate the Latitude blueprint that’s making vendors $1000s per week.

From ‘minting’ to listing, you get every shortcut to help you flip NFTs for big dollars fast.

100% beginner-friendly from A-Z!

  ♦   FREE TRAFFIC FROM OVER 330 MILLION MOTIVATED BUYERS ($1997 VALUE)

You can forget paid ads, FB, or making YouTube videos. This is where the money is: See how to exploit a top authority platform packed full of buyers LOOKING for NFTs.

The best part is  It plugs right into the Latitude system!

Free software automates 99% of the process, and the 330 million buyer traffic source works perfectly with this system.

Ground Floor Profit advantage in the fastest growing crypto market (NFTs) but without the risks!

  ♦   DFY SOFTWARE TO AUTOMATE & SCALE ($997 VALUE)

This is how you get paid for OTHER PEOPLE’S art! With this, you don’t even have to draw a single thing if you don’t want to.

This powerful, free-to-use software lets you leverage pre-made art for your own unique NFTs. This is exactly how vendors are able to scale to $1000s so fast. And now is your turn!

  ♦   5 FIGURE CASE STUDIES FROM SCRATCH TO $1000S IN REAL-TIME ($1497 VALUE)

Latitude is all about getting results, and these case studies show you how.

Watch William reveal the exact steps he took to generate thousands in pure profit across MULTIPLE campaigns from A-Z!

You’ll have the exact same tools he used, making it copy-paste simple to duplicate for yourself!

  ♦   THIS IS A PURE PROFIT MODEL

You keep 100% of the revenues from this. Plus, you can do it with zero monthly overhead costs. Make more, keep more. It’s the Latitude way.

  ♦   30 DAYS UNCONDITIONAL 100% MONEY BACK GUARANTEE

Take Latitude for a test drive with no risk whatsoever! Leverage the free software, free traffic & multiple resources to tap into the fastest-growing opportunity in the crypto game right now.

It lives up to every claim on this page Or your money back.

No questions asked.

Go on, William DOUBLE DARES you to get in and do even better than he is!

Tips: Click on the popup showing up while you are browsing the salespage to get $3 OFF

LATITUDE REVIEW – WHY SHOULD YOU GO WITH THIS ONE?

NFTs are the hottest crypto-driven profit opportunity online right now. In fact, NFTs became famous and popular when many billionaires and celebrities used and entered this goldmine market. Latitude will help you start earning and executing trades quickly even if you have no knowledge or skills like these folks are making:

BECAUSE LATITUDE UNDERSTANDS THE DIFFICULTIES THAT BEGINNERS LIKE YOU FACE!

As far as you know, Crypto is the hottest topic of the year. But making money from it is risky and hard. That’s why you need to switch to NFTs which will be hotter than crypto & risk-free and bring you more profit than affiliate marketing. Because Latitude is 100% free software, it allows you not to build a list or social following with zero upfront costs or monthly fees.

It only takes you 15 minutes per day to earn more than 2000 dollars per week. You will have a chance of getting free traffic from 320 million people using NFTs. Everything is automated, the system will do the rest for you. See the results below:

Do you wonder how you can start a trade while you don’t even have an artwork or pictures? It is true that I also want to reveal it to you right here.

LATITUDE WILL ALLOW YOU TO LEGALLY OWN AND USE THE WORKS.

You are free to sell it on the market with your copyright. The doodles now, thanks to Latitude, will become sought-after works and help sell for thousands of dollars. This is definitely the easiest way to earn money ever for you and I guarantee there is no risk, your money will not be wasted in vain for Latitude.

If you’re a newbie, it’s well worth the experience. I know this product will help you make it happen.

LATITUDE REVIEW – PRICE AND UPGRADES

LATITUDE FE

You just need to spend $12.95 for the software helping you earn up to $2000 per week. It is hard to believe when a 12 year-old boy can do it so why don’t you? But this shoe-basement price is not for good, you can find this same price when the short launching time ends.

More importantly, they offer a 30-day guarantee policy, you can return anytime if the product has any problems and it does not work for you.

Tips: Click on the popup showing up while you are browsing the salespage to get $3 OFF

LATITUDE REVIEW – THE UPGRADES

During 30-day trials, you also can refer to some upgrade options below, hope that they are intended to help you to make more money and more easily:

OTO 1 – LATITUDE PRO: $37 – $47

Latitude Pro is the hands-free way to cash in with this unique system.

It shows you how to effortlessly flip OTHER people’s NFTs for windfall profits Without creating a single thing themselves.

OTO 2 – LATITUDE DELUXE: $47 – $67

Advanced training on leveraging digital art COLLECTIONS to 10X their income.

You will discover how to create or assemble collections, outsource the heavy lifting, and generate life-changing profits.

OTO 3 – LATITUDE ELITE INSIDER’S CLUB: $97 – $197

Direct access to the insider’s only club where the richest NFT players share up-to-the-minute shortcuts & strategies.

You will also be added to our private list and be given early inside info on the hottest upcoming NFTs to profit from.

OTO 4 – LATITUDE UNLIMITED TRAFFIC: $97 – $197

The ultimate traffic solution for you that wants to scale fast.

You get direct access to a huge ad words audience by having your pixels placed on all sales pages for 365 days.

This is a hands-free way for you to grow a MASSIVE traffic source of targeted prospects

OTO 5 – LIMITLESS ULTRA RESELLER RIGHTS BUNDLE: $47 – $67

4 top-converting offers to sell as your own, and keep 100% from every product in each funnel!

Past customers LOVE the reseller bundles – they’re getting an entire library of digital products to profit from forever… and it handles all support.

To make sure you won’t encounter any hassles setting up, that’s why the vendor has added guides not only for the set-up process but also for effectively deploying the product for maximizing profits. Let’s take a look:

WHO SHOULD BUY LATITUDE?

Everyone is equal and has the same right to make money, so there is no reason to stop you no matter who you are. However, in order to exploit as well as make advantages of all the functions of this systems, it is a perfect match for:

  ♥   Freelancers who want to double their income daily

  ♥   ECom Marketers

  ♥   Affiliate Marketers

  ♥   Students who want to increase their saving and start a small business

  ♥   Retired people

  ♥   Stay-at-home parents

  ♥   Hectic people who do not much time but want to earn the second income

  ♥   Anyone who starts to play crypto but want to get a huge profit without a large investment

  ♥   Even Teachers, Salesman, shop owners and other professions.

LATITUDE REVIEW – PROS AND CONS

PROS:

  ♥   This product provides 5 figure per month push-button system

  ♥   Developed & proven by a 12 YEAR OLD – you’ve never seen anything like this!

  ♥  Latitude is a Free software

  ♥   Free buyer traffic from a leading platform!

  ♥   Cash in from the crypto explosion without risk or investment

  ♥   Absolutely NO boring, saturated, BS online marketing crap

  ♥   10,000% beginner friendly – if a 12 year old can do it, why not you?

  ♥   30 days money back – guaranteed

  ♥   Banking crypto profits without risk, investment or expertise

  ♥   Getting paid while you’re asleep or on holiday

  ♥   You can do this without any art skills or  even creating a thing yourself

  ♥   You don’t need to be famous or have any social following for this to work

  ♥   Latitude shares a free software that lets you turn OTHER PEOPLE’S art into your own 100% legally.

  ♥   It’ll show you the top FREE traffic source (over 330 million buyers)

  ♥   No websites, products or funnels to create

  ♥   There’s no video creation, blogging or forum spamming

  ♥   It will be a perfect hassle-free way for even newbies to profit online ASAP.

CONS:

  X   Fortunately, you can rely on this product.

CONCLUSION

All in all, the decision is still up to you, but I just want you to purchase this product at a low-cost. The world is usually the reverse of what happens and meant to put us down so the winner is the one who sees and catches up with. I hope my review puts two and two together and helps you know how worthwhile this product is.

[atc74]

Heartbeat - Chapter One

Warnings: COVID-19, Croatoan, Fluff, quarantine (Each chapter will have additional warnings). 

Summary: Sam, Dean, and Y/N are sheltering in place at the Bunker, researching this new virus that has created a world pandemic. But what happens when one of your own is immune compromised?

Pairing: Dean x Reader

Word Count: 1630

Beta’d by: @amanda-teaches​ because she’s the best

A/N: I’M BAAAAACCKKKK, well, mostly :) I know I’m not the only one struggling with life right now, and writing has been hard. Thank you all for sticking it out until I was able to get something together for you guys. This is only temporary and will pass. Keep your chin up and try on your jeans every few days. 

Italics indicate flashbacks

Like Dean’s scent? Buy it here from @scentsfromthebunker!

“Son of a bitch!” Dean’s voice echoed throughout the halls of the Bunker. Y/N just smiled softly, shaking her head, and returned to her research. The state of the world was part chaos, part terror as a new virus spread far and wide, creating a worldwide pandemic, the likes of which have not been seen in a century. The medical community was calling it COVID-19, but the Winchesters weren’t convinced it was what they were saying it was. The way it spread screamed supernatural to them. 

They had been hunkered down in the Bunker for two weeks, but even Y/N noticed they were running low on the staples and Sam would only tolerate frozen vegetables for so long. She also needed to refill her prescriptions if they were going to quarantine themselves for the foreseeable future. She’d had the foresight to call in a three month supply earlier in the week and just got the text this morning that they were ready for pick up. 

Y/N was diagnosed in her mid-twenties with Multiple Sclerosis. She had good days and bad days. Growing up in a hunting family made things more difficult for her but she kept going despite the tingling, the weakness, and the numbness she had been experiencing. However, when she realized she was more of a liability than an asset, Y/N stepped down and became the go-to for information, quickly becoming an expert in most things in regards to the Lore. The guilt of not being able to contribute physically nearly crippled her when two of her brothers were killed on a hunt. Her mother was long gone, and now it was just her and her dad left. She had no other choice and called some other hunters, and old family friends; the Winchesters. 

Sam and Dean did not hesitate to lend their assistance, and with their help, they were able to neutralize the pack of wolves that had taken part of her family. The Winchesters invited her and her dad to stay with them in the Bunker permanently, and she accepted, not having much left. Her dad came and went, continuing to hunt either solo, or with others. It wasn’t long after she moved in that she and Dean married, unable to deny their feelings any longer. 

“Sammy! We need to make a supply run,” Dean announced, walking into the library, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “Hey, honey. How are you feeling today?” 

“Pretty good today, Winchester.” She smiled up at her husband. “I already started a list.” 

“You’re the best. How’d I get so damn lucky?” Dean pressed a kiss to her lips. 

“I’m a sucker for that car of yours,” she giggled, picking up her notebook and pen to finish the list. 

“It’s always the car,” Dean smiled, shaking his head.

As Y/N finished the list, her left hand started shaking, her wedding band shining in the brightly lit room. Her mind drifted back to the day she and Dean exchanged vows. 

Y/N slipped the circle of silver over Dean’s ring finger, her damp eyes finding his. His verdant irises widened at the sensation he felt when she placed the ring on his finger. He brushed it off as nerves, combined with butterflies, but after a few pictures, and a few drinks, the sensation wasn’t lessening. If anything, it got stronger. 

“Sam, what the hell? I think my ring is cursed!” Dean exclaimed in a hushed voice, cornering his brother in the kitchen. Dean ripped the ring off his finger and the sensation went away. He shoved the ring at his brother. “Go get Y/N’s ring and fix this!” 

“Dean, the rings aren’t cursed,” Sam laughed, opening another beer. 

“It’s giving me a weird feeling man. Like it’s, and this is gonna sound weird, even for me, but I think it’s beating,” Dean whispered the last word, looking expectantly at his brother, waiting for a response, an explanation, anything.

“That’s because it is, Dean,” Sam shrugged, taking a long sip off his beer. 

“What the hell?” Dean said, looking down at the ring in his hand. Tentatively, he turned it over, inspecting it closely, seeing nothing but the heartbeats engraved in the silver, before placing it back on his finger. There it was...ba boom, ba boom, ba boom, just slightly faster than his own. 

“There you are,” Y/N smiled as she entered the kitchen, gliding over to Dean to wrap her arms about his middle. “I love you, husband.” 

“I love you, too, wife,” Dean echoed, kissing her soundly. 

Making his exit, Sam glanced over his shoulder at the bride and groom, a smile playing at his lips. He could relax a little for now; his brother was happy. 

“Hey, honey, um, this is gonna sound weird, but, I think my ring is … beating,” Dean swallowed thickly. It still sounded stupid even as the words left his lips. 

“Mine, too, babe,” Y/N told him. The perplexed look on Dean’s face prompted her to continue. “You know how I always worry about you on a hunt? When you don’t answer, or your phone’s dead, or smashed to bits by yet another monster? I brought the idea to Sam and we spelled the rings. Mine reflects your heartbeat, and yours, mine. This way, I’ll always know you’re okay.” 

“So, it’s not my imagination. I was beginning to think I’d lost my damn mind!” Dean revealed, looking relieved at the information Y/N had supplied. He glanced down at the simple ring, feeling her steady heartbeat inside of it. He smiled. “You’ll always be with me even when we’re apart. I kinda love this.” 

“I kinda love it, too, Dean. it makes me feel better knowing I can always feel you right here.” She held up her ring, wiggling her finger, smiling as it caught the light. 

“Babe!” Y/N called out, waving the list in the air. 

“Got it!” Dean dodged around the table, snatching the slip of paper from her fingers, slowing only enough to place a kiss to the top of her head. He scanned the list as he headed toward the hall leading to the garage. “Really?” 

“Yes, really!” Y/N laughed in response, knowing he hit the part of the list with the tampons and pads on it. “The joys of being married, babe!” 

“This part still sucks ass!” he groaned. “Sammy, get a move on!” 

Y/N grabbed her cane, slowly making her way to the kitchen. She was slightly worried as several times while they’d been gone, did the heartbeat in her ring pick up, like Dean was filled with adrenaline. Things must be getting worse out there, and she wanted to be able to see Dean as soon as he was home, to ensure herself that he was okay. As good as she was with research and theoretical information, she really was a tangible person and knew the worry wouldn’t ease until she had her arms wrapped firmly around him. 

She heard Baby’s engine and doors before she heard Sam or Dean. She waited patiently in the kitchen as Sam came in, arms loaded down with bags. “How was it?” Y/N looked up at Sam for confirmation, knowing Dean tended to sugarcoat information in an effort to protect her. She didn’t need protecting, she just needed the truth. 

“It’s not great. We had to drive over to Smithville to get everything we needed. It’s getting worse by the hour, Y/N,” Sam replied solemnly. “I think this is the last trip we’re making together. It’ll be better if I go alone. If I get sick, I can isolate myself. If you or Dean get sick, I don't know...” Sam stopped, taking a moment. 

“Sam, I’m sure you both took the necessary precautions. Dean’s a germaphobe by nature so I’m sure he is out there now, sanitizing his Baby already. He wore a mask, didn��t he? And gloves?” 

“He sure did. Got some strange looks and things got a little dicey at the liquor store, and the drugstore. I don’t know why people are still hoarding toilet paper and feminine hygiene products,” Sam said, a look of disbelief on his face. 

“It’s actually a psychological response to minimize risk. It’s an emotional contagion as well, so when it starts happening in one part of the country, that news spreads and it drives people, either by fear, anxiety, or panic, into doing the same thing. I get the toilet paper, since that is a need everyone has, but tampons, really? I don't know why I’m surprised by anything at this point,” Y/N chuckled a bit as she reached for one of the bags to help Sam. 

“No!” Sam pulled the bags back from her. “Sorry. It’s just, um, can you please go wait in the library until I get all of this unpacked and sanitized? Please?”

“Yes, I can. Thank you, Sam. I appreciate you and am thankful for your concern,” Y/N smiled as she rose to her feet and made her way down the hall. She loved Sam as more than just a brother and her best friend. He had become her physical therapist of sorts, designing different workouts for her to keep her body strong when the MS wanted to take it from her. Sam had also done extensive research on different dietary and nutrition plans that people with MS have had success with combating their symptoms. Dean was her emotional rock, while Sam became the physical one. She lowered herself into one of the recliners and picked up a book. She’d had enough research for the day and some Harry Potter was what she needed to take her mind off things.

Did you like it? The nicest thing you can do for a writer is reblog their work and tell them, and others, how much you like it!

The Whole Enchilada: @iwantthedean​ @dolphincliffs​ @mrswhozeewhatsis​ @meganwinchester1999​ @cherrycokegirls1​ @closetspngirl​  @roxyspearing​ @flamencodiva​ @blacktithe7​ @sis-tafics​ @just-another-busyfangirl @evansrogerskitten​ @amanda-teaches​ @hannahindie​ @wotinspntarnation​ @winchesterprincessbride​ @winecatsandpizza​ @kickingitwithkirk​  @wi-deangirl77​ @hobby27​ @mogaruke​ @gh0stgurl​ @alleiradayne​ @idreamofplaid​ @seenashwrite​ @manawhaat​ @crashdevlin​ @thoughtslikeaminefield​ @emoryhemsworth​

The Dean’s List: @jerkbitchidjitassbutt​ @dean-winchesters-bacon​ @maddiepants​  @adoptdontshoppets​ @supernatural-jackles​ @fandom-princess-forevermore​ @akshi8278​ @thing-you-do-with-that-thing​

[denizincarptigiseyy]

5 Ways to Know if Your Product Concept is a Winner

Hundreds of brand-new products launch monthly. Just a fraction of those gets enough traction to be considered effective.

Naturally, there are the exemptions-- the outbreak successes that most of us become aware of: Snapchat, Uber, and certainly Pokémon Go.

Although that's not likely to be your product, you can still knock it out of the park. But how do you test market demand early to understand if your concept is a winner?

Throughout my occupation, I've assisted release a dozen effective software including GoToMeeting, AppFolio, and also ProductPlan. I have learned five effective methods that entrepreneurs make use of to find out whether their product will be successful-- before they launch their product.

These methods won't assure success, but will dramatically increase your odds. In my case, these techniques led to products that today currently create numerous countless dollars in revenue yearly. see also InventHelp gets great inventions from the mind to the market

1. Before Anything Else, Locate an Issue Worth Resolving

Before investing a cent on growth, I speak with 10-20 possible consumers to understand the problem I'm solving. This is before I tell them concerning the product features, prices, or just how it's going to change their lives.

I call these "trouble exploration" meetings. They're comprehensive conversations, often performed personally, and last in between 30-60 minutes. They're developed to not just extensively comprehend the troubles but to find out whether the trouble is worth resolving in the first place. A problem needs to be high sufficient on a consumer's top priority list to be thinking about your item.

For example, in the very early interviews for GoToMeeting we found out that other online conference items were awkward, feature puffed up, as well as difficult to budget. By extensively understanding these troubles, we established a product that was less complicated to use, with fewer features, with all-you-can-use rates. Within a short time, that product became a smash hit success.

In very early conversations with customers as well as capitalists, numerous entrepreneurs lead with the product summary and functions. I think this is a mistake-- by not understanding the problem extensively, numerous products fizzle. I assume the solitary crucial trick to item success is asking the right questions regarding their issues.

Here are some concerns you can utilize to recognize whether the issue is necessary sufficient to solve:

" Just how are you fixing that problem today?"

" What is most irritating concerning your current remedy?"

" Where is solving this trouble on your concern listing?"

" If you resolve that issue, how much money will you save/make?"

" What does an effective year for you look like?"

2. It's Not a Service Unless You Can Offer

Numerous entrepreneurs introduce their item and also after that question why their sales are anemic. Exactly how do you understand beforehand whether consumers will pay for your item?

In my experience, knowing how to sell the item in a repeatable means is more important than the product itself. In a feeling, you're verifying sales, not simply validating a product.

For every single effective item I've launched, I formerly had test-sold the item to a minimum of 20 clients. My belief is entrepreneurs do not need a totally useful item to discover whether clients will purchase. My early examination sales are frequently from a slide deck or a harsh prototype.

By test-selling, you can learn about the sales cycle, whether your target customer is the real decision-maker, whether they have a budget to purchase, as well as better fine-tune your rates. Find out more advice by check out InventHelp inventions

If you don't have sales skills or can't manage denial, get over it, and also pick up the phone.

3. Customer Purchase Prices are the Trick to Success

You have seen it before: Incredible products that release with a bang and then could not attain enough traction to make the numbers pencil out. Numerous business owners don't extensively understand just how they will certainly get customers and then how much those consumers will cost to get.

The guideline is straightforward: A customer's procurement expense needs to be dramatically less than their lifetime value. So numerous entrepreneurs go in blind on these standard metrics when introducing items. There are very easy as well as cost-effective experiments that you can utilize to test purchase prices.

At ProductPlan, before we had created any kind of line of code, we established a touchdown page. This primitive web site was designed to check whether anyone was searching for software applications like ours as well as to find out whether the messaging we had defined resonated with our target audience.

We then drove website traffic to the touchdown web page making use of Google Adwords and LinkedIn Ads. We targeted item managers with search phrases that they might make use of to look for a remedy like ours. Once they pertained to our touchdown web page they were motivated to register for an early version of our product.

The experiment was a success because we discovered a lot concerning the purchase cost-- how much it cost to bring somebody to our website, the clickthrough price on advertising and marketing, what percent of people registered for more info, as well as extra.

Via this process, we might roughly estimate the conversion rates as well as purchase prices for every step of the sales channel.

Maybe extra significantly, these potential customers gave their get in touch with information. We then reached out to them to have much deeper conversations about the problem, item attributes, as well as rates.

It was a goldmine of information, as well as we spent less than $1,000 on this straightforward experiment.

4. Know This: Your Original Product Concept is Possibly Wrong

For every single product I've created, the end product we launched was dramatically various from the original idea we began with. Through meetings as well as experiments, we were able to test our assumptions, throw out poor suggestions, reveal cutting-edge features, and tweak our prices.

When we were confirming ProductPlan, we thought our market would certainly be limited to item managers at the software application business. By talking with loads of product managers we uncovered our market was a lot wider and also included business in media, health care, retail, and extra.

Commonly business owners invest an extreme amount of time on company plans and also spreadsheets that are a work of fiction. Or worse, they release their item based on their original suggestion and afterward lose time as well as resources transforming the item and rates to much better fit their market. That's in reverse.

Business owners can obtain closer to the truth-- and construct a better product-- by examining their assumptions before introducing them. Several misuses the "Lean Start-up" technique to throw pasta against a wall surface and also after that wish that people buy. And also when people do not buy (or buy in low numbers) the business owner wastes beneficial time.

Rotating your item ideas throughout this very early validation as opposed to after you have built the product is considerably more affordable.

The method entrepreneurs can test their presumptions: create them down and then go out to check them to see if they resonate with potential consumers specialists (for example, analysts for the industry, individuals who have been employed by the industry, experts, and so on). A healthy and balanced dosage of suspicion goes a long way.

5. Perfect is the Enemy of Great-- Simply Launch Your Item Concept

I'm a believer that business owners should embark on the cliff. This implies, especially for software, that you must introduce as early as feasible.

Reid Hoffman, the creator of LinkedIn, notoriously stated, "If you are not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you have introduced far too late."

I'm not stating that you don't have a terrific first-time client experience. Commonly individuals do not offer you a 2nd opportunity if your product simply does not work. Yet if you are addressing an issue that allows enough, consumers will certainly forgive you if the experience isn't excellent.

With software, in particular, it's feasible to introduce swiftly with a marginal function set if the product supplies adequate worth. If a handful of clients are willing to pay, it suffices and you can enhance gradually.

Launching very early gives you no much better method to determine if you are on the right track. Many entrepreneurs waste time by attempting to assume every situation, please every consumer, as well as make sure every function is included.

A business owner I understand was passionate regarding launching a new mobile application he was certain would certainly be popular. He spent months developing it. He spent countless dollars on mobile programmers and also ultimately took out a second mortgage on his residence to place the finishing touches on the application before releasing. As soon as he ultimately introduced, he was shocked he had so a couple of downloads. It was a depressing, expensive lesson.

Entrepreneurs need to invest even more of their time at the front end-- discovering the troubles out there and validating whether someone will certainly purchase the product-- before they build as well as launch. If you do a reliable task at this front end, the building and introducing the product comes to be so much easier. You're also acquiring evidence for prospective financiers.

There is no other way to methodically recognize with assurance whether you'll succeed. By using these techniques and also launching early you can enhance your probabilities drastically.

https://www.instagram.com/inventhelp/?hl=en

[rebelliouslala]

Hate Is A Strong Word

First Part- pls enjoy and feel free to give feedback :)

ꨄ- Small time skip

ఌ- Flashback

Mark Lee, your rival, your opponent, your enemy. He looks up, a small frown on his face as he eyes the Professor. You hate how he raised an eyebrow when you made a mistake. His smirk when he was about to abolish your opinion into nothing. His scoff at proving him wrong. His evil scowl when you won extra House Points for Ravenclaw. The duels were even worse than in class. He knew you better than you knew yourself.

It sickened you.

“Pay attention!” Your friend, Bianca hisses in your ear. You know you should be. He’s a distraction. A dangerous one. But you couldn’t help it, he’s made you want to scream. His name or how much you hated him.

You widen your eyes at the thought, and class ends thankfully. You should do your Astronomy homework before anything else that has Mark Lee on top of you in your mind could swarm your mind.

But before you could follow your friend, Mark had blocked your exit, the Professor not noticing as he whispers, “Follow me, don’t give me that pout or else, Y/N.”

You barely have time to register what room you’re in by the time his hands grab your ass, his lips smashing against yours. This has been done a hundred times before, and will probably happen a thousand times again. Your leg is hoisted up by his hand, his area nearing your own before your back hits a firm wall. He quickly switches from a grind to rolling his hips against yours, a loud moan escaping you. Yes he was your enemy. You hated every single atom in his body.

But damn did he make you feel good.

“Louder.” He commands, his voice stern.

It made you even more wet, but it festered inside you as you obeyed him. You grab his blonde hair, tugging it as you roll your hips with his. That action grants you a groan from his lips as you feel his bulge grow.

“Stop that,” he growls, and you smirk. You’re getting on his nerves as you trace his chest, feeling his stomach. “No, we have our duel today, remember?” You say in his ear, leaning down to attack his neck.

“You—,” his voice goes deeper but he groans your name as you use your hips to circle around his bulge, making him bite his lip. “F-Fuck, right there. Faster, or else.”

“Or else what? Today I’m going to win, no makeout session will change that.” You whisper in his ear. He holds your hips harder and he raises an eyebrow. If he wasn’t a bastard, you would kiss him.

“Sure, doll.” He smirks and groans your name again, his voice growing raspier. It drove you crazy.

“Stop—,” you grab his shirt, obeying again. “I hate you Mark,” you remind him, as always.

“You don’t seem to hate these sessions though. Especially when I do this~,” he hums in your ear, his hand sliding up your skirt, pinching and rubbing your thighs before using his finger to slide across your folds. You curse him out, moaning his name every time you mention it. “Good,” he bites your ear as his breath gets heavier, your hips becoming desperate to go over the edge, “now scream for me.”

ꨄ

You scowl, ignoring the scene that replays in your mind as the Care for Magical Creatures Professor Kyungsoo looks between his prized students. Mark Lee, the most famous and powerful Slytherin boy besides Draco Malfoy himself. Huang Y/N, twin sister of Renjun, an intelligent girl for someone who never even knew English before transferring here, easily surpassing into a higher grade.

This battle was going to be great.

“Mark, draw your wand. Y/N, follow.” Mark’s nonchalant attitude, like he didn’t make you scream his name earlier, he didn’t just use you made you even angrier. You had to win. “How many points?” The Professor looks at Mark, who shrugs, “None from my house.”

“Y/N?”

“A thousand from Ravenclaw if I lose.” Some students groan of the risk. Mark smirks and raises an eyebrow at you.

You hate him.

“On three. One,” Kyungsoo holds his cloak wide, to block the two of you. Your eyebrow bunch together as your grip on your wand tightens.

Fuck him.

“Two,”

You’re going to win.

“One.”

“PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!” You scream, your wand pointed into the direction of where Mark is. But you’re met with nothing. “Poor baby,” you hear his whisper, his disgusting coo before the sudden sensation of ropes overcomes your arms and legs. You bite your tongue from a distant memory of a week ago with him.

“Mark Lee wins. A thousand points to Slytherin.”

You’re storming back and forth in anger even before your friends close the door. Taeyong had to pull you away before you annihilated his best wizard in Slytherin. This left you to hold a fistful of hair, practically screaming, “He fucking Apparated! That’s not fair!” Taeyong hums as he looks at a Quidditch history book, “It’s not.”

“And—!” You pretend to be squeezing Mark Lee’s throat, much more than he actually did to yours, “He fucking bonded me in ropes! ROPES LUCAS!” Lucas flips, rather slowly through a Quidditch magazine, biting his lip at a photo before he looks up, “What?”

“Did you not see the fucking duel Mark and I had today?” You sigh. “Yeah. He beat your ASS!” Your other friend Ten yells as he hugs you. You shrug him off and resume fuming, “I have to get revenge. I just gave your house, Ten, a thousand points.”

“Yeah thanks for that, stupid.” Ten smiles widely at you as you pace more, “I hate him- I want revenge.” Ten sighs at your tantrum, muttering something about repetition. “Then be smart about it. Do you have anything on him? Can you do anything that can make him bend to your will?” Taeyong asks, as you look over. He shrugs as he sits up, closing his book, “That’s all I’m saying, if you hate him so much. Do whatever you like, just nothing too violent though.”

Lucas sits up and smiles as he points to a Quidditch model, her upper lip moved up slightly because of their broomstick in their mouth, her cloak revealing her right clothing, “Isn’t she hot?” You roll your eyes at your friend, “Lucas, sorry, but we can’t focus on that.”

“Ugh~,” your friend sits up, trying to lead the others in instead but can you at least look at how hot this girl is!” You sit up, your eyes widened as you watch Ten and Taeyong look over, and make some small commentary. Why do boys always focus on girls? Obviously she was trying to sexualize herself to have a bigger fanbase— Something snaps. You grab your wand, your cloak, before hugging your friend, “LUCAS YOU BIG BABY THANK YOU FOR THE IDEA!” He nods as he flips through another, making a loud gasp as you go to the Slytherin dorms, quietly whispering a spell to cloak yourself.

This idea for revenge was perfect- no, genius. You quickly find a mirror in the girl’s restroom, and whisper another spell to make your cloak green. You hated every single bit of him Mark, after all these years he still used you, no way you are going to let him get away with him now.

It was in your 3rd year you were introduced to Mark Lee. “Y/N, meet Mark. He’s doing great on the Quidditch team—,” your twin, Renjun said to you, but the boy smiles. His giggle to you made your heart flutter, and you smiled, “I’m Huang Y/N. Uh, it’s really nice to meet you.” He shook his head, bowing slightly, “T-The pleasure is all mine.”

You all hung out, in a team every Professor called the Dreamies. Sure you all said you were studying, just lounging in the library with stacks and stacks of ancient books. But that was a lie. You all were conjuring, studying, actually making new spells with each other; tucked away in the Forbidden Forest.

Jisung was in the second year when you met him, the youngest besides Chenle, he made a simple spell of changing hair colors, often to red or blonde, the Gryffindor colors. Jisung tricked teachers by coming in everyday with new hair colors, or changing it to a lighter shade every time a professor noticed or looked at him. However, he started to get dragged away, only hanging out with his housemate Lucas now. Chenle was the Hufflepuff, and already knew much more about spells than all of you combined. It could be because he came from a wealthy, popular wizard family. Because of that, he easily and quickly designed -with the help of your twin brother- a spell to make money appear out of thin air, your favorite spell. Jaemin, the flirt of the group, so it was no doubt or wonder when he made a spell to bewitch others, making a scent that attracted anyone who smelled it. Haechan is an expert on flowers, so he used sunflowers to brighten every time he smiles. It was a small party trick spell, but it was fun for him to make. Jeno was the other Hufflepuff, and he was amazing to act. With the help of your studious mind, you helped him make a cloaking spell, to change clothes, facial features. Since your brother was the one to come up with the idea, he made the first spell out of all of you. To change colors and make new ones, so he can perfect his art.

These spells united you all together, making it fun to do in class, and making pranks with each other with them. It was all your bond. The vow between you all was the most important, to never use these spells on each other, only on yourself. But you and Mark never made your own.

ꨄ

“Mark Lee,” He looks up at the mention of his name, a large grin on his face as he laughs with his friend. It was Professor Jongin, who stared at Jaemin, he and Haechan with glares. “Sorry boys,” Mark mutters under his breath, standing up and straightening out his outfit, “Duty calls.”

“Go get ‘em!” Jaemin slaps his ass, laughing. “Yeah man, go beat Y/N!” Haechan teases, making Mark stomp on his foot gently. “Yeah yeah,” Mark bows to his head Professor of Slytherin.

The Professor rolls his eyes, grumbling quietly to himself as he walks towards the boats that lead out to the river, downstairs, where Mark follows.

Mark really wasn’t one to get spooked easily. But he had won at least 49 fuels against you. At least. It should’ve been time for him to see the Headmaster and speak more about the spell he was planning on creating. His own heart was beating out loud in his chest.

“Professor, may I ask where we’re going?” He mumbles quietly. “Shut. You were never asked to speak, were you?” Jongin shoots back. Mark widens his eyes. He was Jongin’s prize student. He had never done anything wrong, what was this attitude?

Nevertheless Mark continues to follow until they both get to the humid docks below the dungeons, boats floating on the river towards the Great Lake. “Professor, I apologize that I know I—,”

“Oh Mark,” he looks over to the Professor growing smaller, and taking off his cloak. “You’re so gullible sometimes,” He gasps quietly, as you turn around with a pout, “You cheated.” Even if Mark was truly astonished, he always had a great comeback, “I didn’t do anything. I went by the rules.”

“You used a rope spell.” You cross your arms. Mark smirks to himself at the idea, as he walks closer, his hands easily slipping to your waist, “Did it bring back any memories?”

“You promised,” your voice shakes with emotion, “We were going to leave our. . .sessions out of it.”

“I wanted to have a little fun, baby.” Mark’s breath is hot on your skin, and he holds you closer. That bastard. All he wanted from you is his body. Just that.

So, he’s going to pay.

You lay on his chest, looking up with wide eyes as you kiss his chest, pecking it, “Oh, well you could’ve said so.” Mark raises an eyebrow, and holds your chin as he gives a chuckle. You hate it when he chuckles. He knew that it turned you on. “Shall we do another rope session then, baby?” He says, his left hand sliding down your ass. Your wand shines gently in your cloak, and you smirk quietly. You take a quiet breath, and say in an airy voice, “I would love to, baby~,” He whispers the spell in your ear, and you gasp, when he pushes you back.

Your surroundings swirl, and you fall back on a soft, but flat surface. You growl quietly, as Mark takes off his shirt and chuckles. “You look adorable like that Y/N. So helpless. All in my control,” he flips you over, and the rope that was tied around your legs fades. He positions you on his thighs as you try your best not to glare, not to break out and scream, spit in his stupid face. “Mark~,” you pretend to whine as he grabs your hips. “I know baby,” his teeth drag on your neck and he opens your legs, letting you sit on his lap. “Put your arms around my neck,”

You obey, and he chuckles, leaning in closer to your lips instead, “Attagirl.” Mark leans back, smashing his lips into yours as you try not to groan his name into his mouth, but he bites your lips, pulling back before coming in to bruise them even more. As soon as his lips smash back into yours, teeth sinking in, you let yourself go. That’s what happens.

That’s what happened the first time.

“M-Mark,” you say before he shoves his tongue in your mouth, his hands sliding to the middle of your thighs, pressing your clit for stimulation. You roll your head back but he grabs your throat, tightly, making you feel dizzy with overwhelming pleasure. “Be good, babydoll,” Mark growls in your ear.

ꨄ

You pant softly on his bed, your eyes zoning in and out of reality until you focus on Mark zipping up his pants. The aching feeling of him gone made you want to melt from embarrassment, right into his sweet scented blankets. Mark’s face appears over yours, giving you a small peck, he kisses down your ear, muttering, “I needed to release some stress, so thank you Y/N. I’ll see you in the next duel,” He kisses on another hickey, making you whimper from the pain.

“Fucker,” you sit up, wincing before you feel his hands around your waist, making you lay back down. He gives you a small smile, “I may be, but I have things to go to. If you can’t get up,” he smooths your hair out as he lets a small smirk appear, “Which I doubt you will, sleep here.”

“I would rather sleep in the Forbidden Forest!” You hiss. Mark laughs quietly and he leans in, going in close you almost puckered your lips from instinct. You groan at your body’s reaction, scrunching your nose. “Just take my bed, Y/N, you’re sore. I know that.” Mark mumbles, leaning in closer to kiss your lips. “Please baby~,” he sings on your lips.

“I hate you,” you mutter, but you nod as he kisses you once more. This time it’s soft, passionate. Something that you’ve only felt once, what felt like years ago. You hold him closer, his lips not using you, instead welcoming you, giving you soft whispers. Could you hear them? No, but you liked how it sounded. What was this feeling?

You pull away, and clear your throat. You frown your lips, forcing it.

“Whatever, go.” You say as Mark gets up, trailing his hand down your leg before squeezing your thigh and letting go. “As you wish, you stubborn witch.” He uses a blanket to cover you up, before nodding, “See you in a few hours.” You look around finally once Mark closes the door, since you didn’t have a chance to observe. The dungeon, or basement, was a lot cleaner than you expected it to be, no greasy walls, posh green furniture. Only rich, pampered students had their own rooms.

That bastard his own room! Before more hateful thoughts could come to mind, the warmth of the covers heated you up as your eyelids fluttered, making you yawn. You grab your wand, whispering for the wand to stop glowing, before taking out a piece of dark green string from the tip, smirking and rolling it on your fingers, and putting it on your wand. Your plan worked. Now all you had to do was wait for Mark to come back and you can finally trap him, and corner him.

Yet you stretch, laying more comfortably after some effort on the bed. Your mind wandering from the plan of revenge to instead how Mark really had been hard on you today, he must’ve very stressed. The way he had kissed you still lingered on your lips, as you pout, closing your eyes and grumbling his name.

“Fucking. . .rich. . .half. . .” Before you can finish an insult you fall asleep to the scent of his pinewood sheets, smelling like that one autumn. . .all those years ago.

Mark goes back outside, adjusting himself. You were so cute after each session, pretending like you weren’t fazed, that you weren’t sore, that he didn’t push you past your limit, or that you actually liked it. Knowing you for years, he can tell you lied. And, he knew when you especially loved it when he chuckled sexily. You easily went into putty just by his touch on your waist or kissing your ear.

You were weak and pathetic, just for him. Mark reveled in that, the fact that his greatest enemy now had just come to him for some sex after a duel, but of course he kept it a secret. Sure he can be your enemy, with benefits, but he wasn’t going to cheat on your promise to each other.

He passes by Jaemin’s room, where he hears quiet groans and moans. Mark closes his eyes, praying quietly before turning his back to the door, finding the handle and closing the door silently. If you’re going to masturbate, Mark thought to himself, at least close the fucking door.

Haechan comes out of his room, before he spots Mark, he points his hands out in exasperation, “SEE WHAT I HAVE TO DEAL WITH?”

“Yes, I do.” Mark hisses quietly, and pushes Haechan away, “It still doesn’t mean we should stop his fun. It’s perfectly normal, you know?”

“Uh huh, perfectly GROSS, Haechan screams the last word, and Mark raises his hand, making his friend flinch. “Listen, I only have two more duels left, and Y/N and I are tied. I need to practice more spells.”

“How many duels are left? You guys have been fighting for the past 5 fucking years.”

“You can have 10, legal duels each year. So, this will be our last one.” Haechan does the quick math in his head before widening his eyes, “50 duels?!”

“There’s been some without teachers, but officially, 49.” He leans back, sitting down on Haechan’s couch in the dorm, “One more, and I can go to the Headmaster to ask for the book I need to complete my spell.”

“Why can’t you just sneak in?”

“I’ll be expelled and Y/N will win!” Haechan nods, thinking before nudging him, “Not unless, you fake it.” Mark makes a confused noise, and Haechan rolls his eyes, “You know, frame her!” The idea lured Mark in, like a horse to a carrot, but the face of you from earlier stains his mind. The way he kissed you, and the way you kissed back; it made his heart thump. Sure you hated him, in some form in another, but like Mark said to himself. He was not going to cheat on the promise, even if it is a secret.

“No, I won’t.”

“But it’s so—!” Mark stands up, sighing, “No, I’m fine. I’ll wait with Jaehyun hyung until Jaemin is, you know, finished. He and I will study and practice so I can beat Y/N in a few weeks.” Haechan sighs, “Fine, whatever. I gave you a simple solution, but that’s fine.” He bites his tongue, hating it when Haechan made him feel guilty, but he wasn’t going to break a promise.

You were both once friends before, there was no reason to add more drama. “Thanks, I don’t need that stuff though,”

“Just go,” Haechan leans back, looking at the sunflowers drooping with his frowns.

ఌ

“Alright now shut up. If you guys get caught I will break your necks next game, understand?” Renjun and you giggled like mad, your eyes wide like kids in a candy store. Your older friend, Taeil gave you and your brother a small stone. “It’s something my friend and I found, the Stone of Freedom.” Your brother whispered to you excitedly, “Now we can meet everyone else!”

“If you guys get caught,” he hissed, putting a cloak over the both of you, “My chances at being Prefect are gone.”

“We won’t!” You and he said, holding the Stone close to your stomachs. Taeil sighed, “Be safe. Repeat after me, the both of you. Cornu fluga.” Renjun eyed you and you both said in a hushed voice, “Cornu fluga.”

Immediately, you and your brother were thrown out the window. Taeil widened his eyes and ran to the window, his plan ruined. You bit your tongue as Renjun hid in your neck, and you hid in his hair. You both wanted to scream. Luckily you both slowly settled on the ground, giving a quiet oof. Renjun giggled at your noise as Jeno clapped, “AYE! IT’S THE HUANGS!” Chenle hugged you tight, “Finally! Jaemin was teasing to use his spell on Jeno!”

“You know what happens if you do, Jaemin.” Renjun frowned, raising his hand to hit his friend. You sighed and looked at Mark, who’s reading a large, old book. Sitting on a stone, his back turned away from the group, he looked all lonesome. You smiled, going behind him, before covering his eyes. “Not now, Jisung.” Mark hums, flipping a page.

“How do you know if it’s me?” Your voice goes as deep as Professor Chanyeol’s, and Mark immediately stood up. You laughed, falling back as Mark sighed, “Y/N! You scared me!”

“That I did~,” you teased, hugging his neck and smiling wide. “Do you have any ideas, yet?” Mark shrugged, his chin on your hair as he mumbles, “I don’t know if I can make one by the end of the year.”

“Neither do I,” you answered, moving your head so your ear is where his heart is. Hearing it go slowly, you closed your eyes. There was a pause, where so many words could’ve been said. But you didn’t want to hear anything. The sound of his heartbeat was enough. “We can,” Mark said finally, and you realized once his fingers pulled away, he was stroking your hair, “We can make a spell together?” You looked up, and Mark chuckled at your puzzled expression. You chuckled as well, shrugging, “Uh, well, sure. Do you have any ideas?” Mark purses his lips, before smiling, “A hate spell? A love—?”

“Jaemin.” You grumbled. His spell was the most unoriginal, but it was the easiest spell. “Good hair?” You laughed, ruffling his black hair by tiptoeing carefully. “It’s pretty like this.”

“I’m thinking about going blonde.”

“Ew no,” you stuck out your tongue. Mark chuckled again, leaning down, your cheeks growing pink. He kissed your nose, rubbing his own with yours after. “Maybe power over someone?” You said quietly, holding him close to your body.

None of the others questioned your and his behavior. Everyone admired you in some way. It was just Mark, who liked you more than the others. Plus it was normal for everyone to kiss each other. That’s how close you and the others were, you talked about crushes, feelings for each other. There would be silence if there were fights. But that was rare.

“Power, you’re just like Jisung. You sure you’re not a Gryffindor?” He laughed. “Very.” You pretend to gag loudly and he laughed only louder. “I was thinking,” he said, petting your hair again, “What about a soulmate spell?”

ఌ

You’re woken up by the gentle feeling on your lips, even more small whispers on your lips. “Get off,” you groan, pushing him away as Mark gets up, rolling his eyes, “You even hate my kisses? How rude. You must be using me for my dick then.”

“Just help me up, what time is it?” You frown before he starts to carry you and place you on the ground. “Almost midnight.” He starts to laugh, holding your hips. “I did fuck you good, your knees are wobbling.” You hit his chest, your knees wobbling still, from being so sore. Mark grabs your hand, laughing in your ear as he finally takes a breath, whispering, “Be good. You don’t want more points to my house, hmm?” He grabs your chin. You glare into his eyes, holding his hand tightly, trying to crush his fingers. Mark smirks, leaning in and cooing at your glare. “Aw, you look so cute when you’re angry. Too bad you’re under my control, baby. You’re mine, and no one knows.” You growl quietly, his fingers gripping it more precisely. He watches your breath grow uneven, your scowl lessening into his grip before leaning in, capturing your lips perfectly.

You hated that it was nothing soft, light like it was before. That is everything you wanted. He wants to show you he can be forceful. You pull away, hating the knot that grew in your stomach. “Didn’t like it? Sorry baby.” Mark chuckles. “You’re a dick.” You say harshly, holding your body close to yourself. You just wanted to go back to your room so you can cuddle next to your brother, so you can ignore Mark’s kiss. “I know. Say the magic words baby and this dick will be gone.”

“Cornu fluga,” you say, and you’re gone. Mark sits back on his bed, pushing his hair back before laying down, gulping quietly.

You appear again in your dorm, and Renjun turns with your friend, Bianca.

Shit.

Renjun grabs your hair, carefully pulling you. It was enough to tug, but not enough to hurt. “Where the FUCK have you been?”

“I’m going to get the spell before Mark!” You say, and he lets go. “What?” Renjun whispers, and your roommate, Bianca goes closer. “I‘m going to make him lose. Just for me. I can control him.” You felt powerful just saying that. Mark always said that to you. To keep you at his side. On your knees. It made you feel regretful that you still let him have his way with you, but you smirk proudly, not letting that faze you.

“That’s great, Y/N! Now we can get the whole gang together, well, you know.” You nod hesitantly. Almost half of your friend group was with Mark, or on their side and in his house. “What happened. . .” asks Bianca, looking blankly at the quiet tension. “Nothing,” you respond quietly, after a minute, Renjun sighs heavily. “Mark and her fought. Mark used a spell on her, he was controlling her.” Bianca pauses, and she sits down, “I still don’t understand.”

“We promised not to use spells on each other.” You say quietly. The memory made you shiver, made you hold yourself gently. “Spells?” She says, scoffing, “But we’re witches, wizards, that’s—,”

“It was a promise. I mean, our whole friend group wanted us to be nice to each other, that’s why we made the pact.”

“For kindness.” You and your brother say. Renjun gets up, hugging you one last time, “I’m going to go, I’ll see you in class tomorrow. Astronomy, right?”

“Exactly, Astronomy.” You smile back, before crawling into bed. Bianca turns off the lights with a flick of her wand, and you try to crawl into bed, before hissing. You hate to admit it. You hate to admit anything good about Mark.

But he had fucked you good.

“Y/N! Are you okay?” Bianca helps your foot up the bed. Gulping, you shake your head, “Fine. Fine. Thanks. Good night.” Bianca pouts, but whispers you good night.

ఌ

The library was crowded, making it hard to spot his dark hair. But Jisung pulled you to a new computer section, where Mark was piled with books around him. “Mark! What’s all of this?” You asked, placing your bag down. “I’m studying of course.”

“O.W.L.s aren’t until—,” you started, cocking your head to the side. Mark held your head, shaking his own as he smiled at you, “For our spell. We’re doing it together, right?” You nodded, sitting on his lap and going through the pages, “You need my Ravenclaw brain.”

“And you need my Slytherin power,” Mark whispered in your ear, making you laugh and hit his chest. “Ew, hyung, stop! Just study!” Jisung rolled his eyes, and Mark held you close as you both read an ancient text. “The soul is the most powerful part of every magical being. It’s our essence, our mind and body internalized.” You read the paragraph, and Mark immediately takes the next. “If properly taken out, one can consume another soul, as it’s the source of your power; your magic.” Mark smiled, holding you closer to his chest as you inhaled his pinewood scent, it was much more powerful than ever time. “But, people can also connect the soul. If the two truly believe they are meant for each other and do so willingly, they can connect their souls to be and feel as one.” You continued the page after you made a small squeal, “Both may stay in their bodies, but their souls will be one. There is no spell, but only a chant and ritual to bring the souls together.”

Mark kissed your cheek, holding your hands, both of your hands could fit into his one hand. “Huang Y/N, do you want to do this?” Your eyes teared up, and you can only see him. The Dreamies behind you, on your shoulders didn’t matter. All you smelled was the scent of pinewood, it filled up your nose. Like a drug.

“Yes, I want to be yours, Mark.”

ఌ

You woke up with a gasp, your eyes looking around. It’s been a few hours, but you still had enough sleep. You rub your eyes, the feeling of being sore still there. That dream; you shake your head, ruffling your hair. You can’t let that go to your mind. Not when you have the perfect chance. You quickly grab your wand as Bianca is in the showers.

Plucking the string, you close your eyes, and listen. “You look adorable like that Y/N. So helpless. All in my control,” Mark’s voice echoes back, and you can hear your response. You sound like you’re enjoying it.

Was that good? After all, you wanted this, you—

You hold the string tightly, stuffing it in your pocket. Your audio spell has worked, that’s all you need to focus on. No point is trying to make sense of your feelings for Mark. They’re long gone, and to bring it up is preposterous. You instead get ready for the day, putting on a short skirt. If you’re going to flirt and get revenge on Mark, why not do it in style? You wore a dark blue sweater, that’s cuffed so it shows your shoulders. Hopefully Mark feels horny soon, or else Renjun will question your outfit. Bianca makes her way back as you pull your hair up with pins. “Hey,” you hum.

“Didn’t know you wore skirts, Y/N.” Bianca says after a moment, before grabbing her things. “Oh, yeah, are you ready?” You throw on your cloak, smiling, “Ready as I’ll ever be.” You grab your small bag of necessary items before walking out to the Grand Hall for breakfast. Taeil and his girlfriend, both Prefects, lead everyone out. It’s so weird how you’ve known him Taeil for so long and he already has a girlfriend. He knew you when you were still crushing on Mark. You groan and hold your head. Not this. You’re too old and too logical to be thinking that you liked, no, even had a crush on Mark.

“Y/N,” You turn and gulp quietly at Mark holding your arm gently. “What are you—?” You hiss, scowling. “Are you able to walk fine?” He looks at you, his expression blank. You would’ve found that kind, but you would rather sock Mark in the face. “Maybe,” you whisper as you feel his thumb stroke your arm as he sighs, “Relax baby, we wouldn’t want anyone to—?” You grab his hand and make it go under your skirt, under your cloak and have him feel your bare ass.

He widens his eyes, but he grabs it, “Already? You wanna play?” You nod, taking in a shaky breath. If this is your way to go, let it be. “Please Mark, I can’t get my mind off you. . .” You say, looking up, biting your lip. “I want you back inside me, make me scream your name again.”

Mark growls, whispering again and he Apparates in another room, the Room of Esired. You would say you hated it. The thrill of him lustfully grabbing your skirt, ripping it down as he kisses your thighs, however, was so much better than you admitting anything. You grab his hair, whining out his name. You want to say you hate him.

But, the way his lips easily know where to peck. His teeth know where to bite and create little bite marks; you moan his name as you tug on his hair. “M-Mark- Fuck!” You say in between moans and pants. You still weren’t over last night’s session, and you try to pull away. “Please, Mark!”

“You asked, baby.” Mark chuckles.

It was that, that little chuckle for dominance which set you off.

You pull your thighs away forcefully, and before Mark can grab your thighs to eat you out, you force the thick, green yarn like string to be shown. In a mocking voice, shoving the string in his face you spit back, “No. You listen to me, and feel what it’s like to be helpless.”

You pluck at it, your other hand has a wand at his throat. Mark stares down at his Muggle shoes, listening to the string. His voice, moaning and groaning your name, whispering how good you were for him. It’s definitely an awkward state to sit in.

You cut the string off before your response. But he knew what happened after. Mark had to hold his smirk back, the memory of you scratching his back as you moaned still stung him. “So, I can show this to your prefect, Taeyong.” Mark’s joking face fades and his eyes turn as wide as saucers. You smirk at his expression. So this is what it felt. You lean down, pretending to pout. “Mark Lee, the Golden Boy of Slytherin, better than Draco Malfoy himself, having constant sex with his enemy, just to try and win the duels.”

“We promised we wouldn’t tell anyone.”

“I won’t. I would only leave this somewhere for Taeyong to find. Who would tell the Headmaster.” Mark scowls, throwing his hands up to protest, but you put the string in his hand, gasping. “Mark, don’t do something you’ll regret.” You look down, and giggle softly. The power is already flooding your mind, as you see his bulge trying to escape his pants. “Did you really get hard from me moaning your name? You’re pathetic,” you scowl back. “Y/N, we had a deal.” You wrap your arms around his neck, pretending to think.

“We did, didn’t we? We also made the pact not to hurt each other, in any way.”

“Y/N,” he repeats, his voice growing with a small hint of desperateness. “You. . .” Your hands clenched his shirt, and finally you’re able to let go. You have Mark right where you want him, and you can finally shut him up. “You fucking used Jaemin’s spell on me! You made me attracted to you! I thought we were actually doing great! We weren’t even dating; we were so close, we didn’t have to say we were in love!” Tears start to form, and just as quickly as they appeared, they fall down. Your grip on his shirt loosens, “I-I thought the soulmate spell would work. . .that we would actually be one. One person, one love,” you mutter into his shirt as you hide in it. You didn’t want to ever hurt Mark. Or so this. You hate him, but you want him to feel what it felt like for you.

Trapped.

“Baby,” you hear his whisper, and you look up as his hands are on your cheeks. His cheeks are tear stained as well. He wipes your tears away. “Sorry-Y/N,” he leans in. “I'm so sorry. I just thought, all of these sessions would be so we can let out our stress,” Another tear falls out of his eye, and you can see it in his eyes. Not the jerk you have dueled against for the past years. The one who tricked his way around you, who seduced you.

You watch as he cries harder, holding you to his chest. “I wanted you to be happy. I never wanted you to be mad at me, I thought it fixed, my mistake.”

“But you did.” You wipe your eyes, shaking your head and pulling away, as if pretending you didn't just break down, “You broke our pact. This is your payment back. One step out line and I’m giving this to Taeyong.” You say, frowning. Mark pauses, but he grabs your hands gently, both of them in his left hand, nodding, “Can I have one thing, before you blackmail me?” You nod automatically, but you regret it. What if he wanted sex? What if he—?

Mark shakily gulps, sighing it out, “I can kiss you, right?” You exhale on his lips. He looked so innocent, so kind. He truly did want to make you happy. You roll your eyes however, the power still controlling your actions, “Fine.”

Mark slowly leans in closer, connecting your lips like puzzle pieces. You kiss back, hating yourself for it but you wanted this as much as he did. He lets you hold his growing stubble in your hands, kissing him softly, somehow hungry. What for? You hate Mark. You want him to die in a hole.

Yet you whimper softly when he pulls away, and you realize his hands are at your hips. Where you always loved them. “Let that be my apology.” Mark whispers, and he pulls away, pursing his lips softly. There’s a few beats of silence, and you sigh. “I’ll-I’ll let you know about what you have to do for the n-next duel.” Mark nods, whispering another apology before turning towards the door.

“Y/N?” You look up, tucking the string back in your pocket. “Uh, yeah?” He pauses, but smiles at you. It’s sad, a little forced, “Your outfit is pretty today.” Mark Apparates away, but the memory of his soft smile still stings you. “I’m sorry too,” you mumble as you wipe your own tears.

ꨄ

Mark looks down at his pancakes. Small slices of watermelon sit at the side. He only picks at it. He should’ve seen this coming. He knows how smart you are. Especially with audio spells. Okay yes you both still made your own tricks but that is genius.

A little hot too.

But he can’t think like that anymore. If you truly felt this way, Mark would have to look back. After all, sex doesn’t fix everything. “Mark?” He looks up to Haechan, who pouts, “You okay? You didn’t even touch your watermelon.”

“Oh, training yesterday, it didn’t work out.” Mark lies after a small stutter. “Markie, don’t lie. What’s wrong?” Haechan says quietly, as Jaemin flirts with some more people, winking at them, leaving them distracted. “Y/N is going to win the duel,” Mark says back. But that was also a lie.

“No, you are. You’re going to win. She and her brother are pussies—.”

“Don’t call Y/N that. She’s a very powerful witch. I’m not in the mood to duel, or eat.”

“Well don’t tell me that,” Haechan rolls his eyes, “Tell Professor Baekhyun that excuse, he’s been waiting for the duel for a whole year,” Haechan takes a bit of friend’s pancake, rolling his eyes, “You better deal with him, I can't save your ass again, Mark.” Haechan sighs at Mark’s silence. “You got to deal with that, he should understand.”

“I know, just,” Mark grumbles as he looks down. He thought this whole process was going well. It bothered him. He just wanted you back. “Dude you’re being way too emo. I’m going to go talk to Jeno, hopefully he could try to get into Renjun and Y/N’s head. Go drink some butterbeer, that’s the remedy for your mood. I’ll meet you at the Hog’s Head okay?” Mark rolls his eyes as his friend gets up, walking away. He wouldn’t understand. He wouldn’t, no, couldn’t tell Haechan his affairs with you. Haechan would probably overreact. He can hear it now. “You’re fucking Y/N? She doesn’t even like you! She’s only—!” Haechan’s voice echoes in his mind. Mark stands, going to the restroom to Apparate away quickly and secretly. He would rather deal with the consequences. If you weren’t happy, then the only solution is trying harder.

Meanwhile, Renjun smiles at you as you come back to the table, “So?”

“It worked. He’s under my spell, so he’ll do whatever I want.” You say with pride. But your tongue sticks to the back of your throat, dry, sick, regretful. Even your own body knew you were lying. You would rather have let him win, and continue that relationship. That would be weak. If Renjun found out, he would no doubt transfer you to Mahoutokoro, the Hogwarts of Asia. You didn’t want to go back, back to where the drama was all there. “That’s perfect!” Your twin hugs you, and you smile weakly. Force it, you tell yourself. No one can know. “I’m blackmailing him to win the next duel, it’ll be great.”

“Then I’ll definitely be there. Y/N,” Renjun hugs you tighter, before he releases and looks in your eyes, “I’m so proud of you. You’re going to win. I promise.” You nod, looking past him, watching as Mark eyes you, before standing and leaving the Hall. Hate is such a strong word, you didn’t even know if you felt it anymore.

ఌ

“Y/N!” Mark pounded on the door, holding his black locks of hair tightly. “Go away!” You screamed, your pillow stained with tears. You had been crying for a week after Renjun had explained to you, with every detail of the situation. Mark had been using the spell for the past week. He was seen studying Legilimency. That’s why you were always smelling pinewood; his scent, to bind you his will. You were starting to get obsessed with Mark Lee. From muttering his name at night to having to be near him. “I never did that! Y/N believe me! I—!” Mark begged, his eyes looking around your dorm room door, as if wishing to see through it.

You opened the door, and Mark is met with your puffy red eyes, and a red nose. “Baby,” he exhaled. “Then explain.” You said harshly. “I would love to know why you broke our pact. Why I was so obsessed- better yet, why don’t you explain why you wanted to do the soulmate spell. The books you always checked out about Legilimency, huh? YOU JUST WANTED TO BE CLOSER TO ME!” Your voice raised with each word, to the point you were screaming, the Headmaster could’ve heard you.

“It wasn’t me!” Mark pleaded, “Baby I wouldn’t use it on you! I love you!” That was the first time you heard those words out of his mouth. So you smacked him. Hard, it left a blue, almost purple mark as he fell back a few steps. “Well guess what, Lee? I hate you. Stay away from me, my brother and the others. You broke our pact.”

You closed the door, leaning against it, screaming as you cried more.

Because that was a lie.

You loved him too.

ఌ

Mark Apparates back in the classroom, going into his seat right before the bells rang, before realizing you’re next to him. Okay so he did know he was sitting next to a girl, but he forgot today you were cutely wearing your hair pinned back, revealing the birthmark on your face. The one place he used to kiss. He gets out his wand, and a few textbooks.

“Drinking butterbeer again, I see.” You whisper, looking up. “It’s sweet, and there was only a little bit of alcohol, so I’ll be fine.” Mark says, before realizing the situation. “Uh—,” he starts.

“Well, it’s not good. Next time I’ll go with you.” You say softly, looking at the Professor’s new hair color, it’s pink. “You’re not old enough yet.” Mark takes out his wand, lying it next to him. You raise an eyebrow, despite looking ahead. “Neither are you. So, settle down, I won’t do you no harm.” Yes you were regretting the action against Mark, but why not have at least a little fun? Besides, you have the power. Let’s see how long you can use it.

The Professor sits on his desk, looking at the Ravenclaw and Slytherin students. “Have any of you heard of the Triwizard Tournament incident, a couple decades ago yes?” Everyone murmurs, and you and Mark sit up at the same time. You assume that spending at least a year with him, of course you and he would share behavior instincts.

“Well, it was a terrible incident where the beloved Cedric Diggory from the Hufflepuff died at the hands of the Dark Lord. However, we still want to hold it.” Everyone now starts to talk louder. You and Mark eye each other out of your peripheral vision. “So, we invited Mahoutokoro to fight with us, and Ilvermorny. They’re expected to come by lunch. We will choose three wizards from each school instead of one. Remember to be present at lunch. Now, onto our Patronus, please stand.”

Mark stands up with the class, before gently helping you. Baekhyun pauses, and he is mute until he regains his train of thought again, “Oh-Okay class, take out your wands.” Your willow wood wand felt more knotty in your hand as you eye Mark’s pinewood. “As we learned, think of your happiest memory.” That would be hard, as Mark is next to you. But nevertheless you close your eyes, raising your wand slowly as you let the power echo through your body.

The memory of Renjun and you sharing a milkshake, as young children, him making pretty drawings of the sunrise and you singing happily echoes as you open your eyes. “Expecto Patronum!” You shout, pointing out along with a few others as Mark is still focused. Like water, your Patronus of a falcon pours out, screeching before flying around the classroom. “Excellent work Miss Huang! I did not expect your Patronus to come out so easily.” Baekhyun chuckles as he watches your falcon land on your shoulder before fading away.

“Expecto Patronum!” Mark points out, his eyes slightly teary, as was most others trying to think. But luckily his Patronus roars out, a lion coming out and going around the classroom. Mark smiles at him. You both had to pretend you didn’t expect it, so you kept staring at him.

The faint memory of Lucas teaching you, Mark and the rest of the Dreamies the Patronus spell. Lucas’ was a dog, which was no surprise now you think about it. You stop zoning out once the lion is in front of you. It gives a soft nod, bowing its head before fading away. “How amazing! It took me 89 tries to do this when I was your age! I hope you both make it into the Tournament.” Baekhyun claps, and so do a few others. Mark grins, nodding as he says through his teeth, “Your Patronus looks pretty.”

“Compliments won’t do anything, Lee.” You say through your own, and you both sit down at the Professor’s word. “I mean it. Not because you’re fucking blackmailing me.”

“It is a good fucking blackmail, isn’t it?” You make a pun, batting your eyes. “Ha ha,” Mark sarcastically laughs, muttering, “Just as funny as Taeyong.” You snicker softly, “He is, isn’t he?”

Renjun yells out his spell from a few rows in front of you, and out runs out a fox, looking at the rest of the class with focus, before running towards Mark, and fading away. “Another amazing student! And your third try? Third truly is the charm, Mr. Huang. You’re as amazing as your sister.” Baekhyun praises again. Renjun smiles wide, bowing with a thank you as he sits back down. “Do you want to enter that tournament?” Mark says as he writes down his procedures on the Patronus, knowing the Professor would ask. “No, we don’t know the age group either.” You look at your nails, already done with your own paper. “Ah, mm,” Mark says softly before whispering and letting his quill move as he flicks his wand back into his cloak, “I might. It would be fun to prove to the Headmaster we are fit to win against the other schools, it can even get you the book for the spell.”

You flash him a look as he smirks on his face, “Don’t give me that look.” Crossing your arms, you grumble, “You think you can egg me in? Call me chicken?”

“No, I’m saying it’s a good chance for you, Y/N.” Mark looks at you finally, raising an eyebrow. “Just take my advice, it’s good.”

“It’s not going to stop me from destroying the string.”

“I know, I just thought you would like the idea..”

“Shut it Mark Lee.” You growl at him. This is why you hate him. He thought he knew better. He doesn’t. His quill stops writing on it’s own after making a period for the last paragraph. After that class, Renjun steals you away. “Finally! Why were you talking to him?” Renjun hisses at you. “He wanted to negotiate,” you sigh softly, thanking God you have the patience for a whole hour with Mark Lee. “Don’t believe him. I can help you, you know, give him some spells so he can fail.”

“I won’t do what he did to me. That’s not right, Renjun.”

“I thought you wanted him to fail.” Your brother sighs, “I’m here to support you.”

“I know,” you say softly. “Thanks, but I can handle him.”

Instead of riding broomsticks for the free period, everyone had written their names for the Triwizard Tournament. You had opted Renjun to participate in, ignoring his statements that you should enter as well. You would rather die than enter especially with Mark’s suggestions. You even saw Mark write his own name in as well, before racing with Jaemin and Haechan..

Lunch came as fast as Jaemin’s broomstick time. You start to drool with hunger over your food. “Slow down!” Bianca cries, as you shove the food in your mouth before realizing this was not regular English food. “Everyone, please settle down.” The Headmaster Taemin looks among you all, “The Triwizard Tournament pickings start in 20 minutes, and the other schools will—,”

The doors open, and there’s six people standing at the threshold. All look regal, intimidating. Powerful.

You continue to eat, paying no mind, but Bianca makes you sit up. “They’re so hot,” she whispers, and you finally look.

Three Americans, and three Asian students, all boys having to be in their last year no doubt. “From Ilvermorny, we have Mark Tuan, Johnny Suh and Vernon Chwe.” As each one walks down, you’re intimidated by their height and their flawless looks, standing straight to the left of the Headmaster. “Finally, but not the least of course, we have the Mahoutokoro students, Xiao Dejun, Qian Kun, and Dong Sicheng.” One of them stares at you intently after walking in. You give a soft smile to them, trying to remember if you knew them from when you were a student there. They stand next to the Ilvermorny students, a few inches or so shorter than them.

“I didn’t expect you early.” The Headmaster looks at the others. One of the tallest Ilvermorny boys clears his throat, “We wanted to be punctual sir.” The Headmaster mutters something about Americans but he clears his throat as well, “We haven’t chosen ours, but here it goes. Professor Minseok, can you do the honors?” The Professor nods, and with his wand, swirls out the Goblet of Air, the newest one since the last one had been compromised. You watch in awe at the silver cup, the soft sounds of paper swirling inside. A paper whooshes out and he smiles at the name, “Huang Renjun!” The Ravenclaw house roars at the name and you cheer, stomping on the floor and slamming the tables as you yell, “GO RENJUN!”

He stands, being the shortest as he stands in front. Renjun looks so confident, his chest puffed, his face expressionless except the twinkle in his eyes. You were so proud. “Next up,” the Headmaster says, and everyone cheers out different names. But you heard Slytherin's house clearly. “MARK LEE MARK LEE MARK LEE MARK LEE!” They chant like a spell, and you roll your eyes. He was powerful, but not as much as your brother—

“Mark Lee!” The Slytherin house lost it. You turn to see Mark Lee push his blonde hair back, looking around before landing his gaze on you. Mark winks, before walking over and standing next to Renjun. Your brother’s face contorts, trying to stand straighter- although still being short.

“And finally,” The Professor used his wand to grace the last paper. No one chants, why should they? They have the complete set. Bianca grabs your arm, “I wonder who the next one is—!” The Headmaster widens his eyes, looks at the paper again before clearing his throat, “Huang Y/N, please join the stage.”

ꨄ

After the ceremony, you push Mark with all your strength into the Room of Esired, hissing, “What the FUCK did you do?”

“Nothing! It wasn’t—!”

“Just fucking admit it, you piece of shit, you nominated me!” You yell. Mark holds your cheek, his other hand on your arm, he frowns. “Why would I do that? I-It’s probably random! I have blackmail over my head.” He whispers quietly, his fingers stroking your skin with care. The actios eases your emotion, causing you to pant only shallowly. You let out a small exhale, and Mark smiles, chuckling, “There we go. Like I said, you look so cute when you’re angry.”

“Shut it.”

“Sorry,” Mark gulps and you let him continue to hold you. Slowly he leans in more with your permission, hugging you. You listen to his calm breathing, and let it soothe your thoughts. “Y/N, I would never do that to you, especially when you said no. You have your limits,” he holds you closer, and whispers, “And I’ll respect them.” The beat of his breathing is so slow, you close your eyes. You couldn’t say no, as much as you didn’t want to; he was being genuine.

“I’m sorry.” You whisper. “Don’t. I can help you find out,” he leans down, brushing his lips on your head. You rane your head up, sighing softly, “Mark?” He looks down, raising an eyebrow in reply, and you melt. You hated that.

It was hot.

“Can we kiss?”

Mark gulps, and you feel it. You look at him intently, and he smiles softly. “Why not?” You lean up, and Mark closes the gap, holding your chin softly as he kisses your lips, his top lip gently slowly taking over yours, but he’s gentle. What was with him? You still focus on the kiss, and pull away for a breath, making Mark grip on your chin more.

“Just a little peck?” He asks with a teasing grin. You kiss again as a response, your hands going around his neck. Both of you softly let each other take their time before kissing again with more passion, more love. It’s the most healthy way for you both to communicate. As you feel light with each soft tug and each soft push on yours, you jump. Your legs immediately lock around his waist, and Mark catches you. He slowly lets his hands go on your ass before clears his throat, pulling away from the intimate kiss.

“I want to. . .I want to do it with you again,” he says softly, feeling your bare ass, making a small pattern. It felt like a heart. “For real. Without stress. Nothing out of hate.” You bite your lip softly, looking at him. He was being genuine. Just like before. “This is, this isn’t—,” You ask but Mark lets his hands move from your ass and to your hips instead. “I promise. Show it to the world. I thought this whole benefits thing would- could even have you believe I’m good for you again.”

He hides in your neck, and you feel him back. The old Mark Lee. Where you both kissed each other in the library, pranking Professor Jongdae by being each other, cracking jokes with each other Mark Lee. The one you love. “Baby. . .I just want us again.” He whimpers, and you feel a small drop of liquid on your shoulder. You kiss his jawline, whispering, “I’m putting the string away in a safe place. How many minutes—?” Mark mumbles into your skin, “Twenty two.”

“Apparate us to my dorm room. I want to put away my string.” He looks up and you smile, holding his chin gently. “I’m taking a chance on you, Lee. Please, please don’t fuck it up.” He kisses your nose, smiling wider than you have ever seen. “I’m stupid, but not that much, Y/N.”

Once appearing in your room, you push Mark to the wall. “Turn around!” You yell. “I am!” Mark rolls his eyes, his body facing the wall but his head turned around like an owl’s. “Please!” You beg, half regretting this now. “Fine fine,” Mark closes his eyes and turns around, humming a song. “God, you’re so annoying.”

“Yet we’re—,”

“You’re ruining the mood!” You grumble as you hide the string in your panties drawer. You quickly take off your shirt without there being noise as you smile and lean up, covering his eyes from behind. Mark laughs, and you can feel him smiling. “Y/N, what are you doing?”

“Doing what I always wanted to do. Sure we have sex and such, but,” you hold his neck, and he looks down. Mark gulps at your half nude self and he says with a quiet stutter, “O-Oh.”

“I was hoping we could make out? I know this whole thing has been going on for years and we haven’t done that, but—,”

“Baby,” Mark touches the small back before your ass as he whispers, “As long as I see that pretty smile of yours, I’m fine. You deserve to be happy so much more than me; now lay on the bed, and I’ll help your dirty imagination.” You pout, but you lay on the bed after taking off your shoes, “It wasn’t dirty!” Mark takes off his shirt, taking off his own shoes before snaking his hand up your skirt, earning a needy whine from you.

“Hmm, you sure nothing dirty, baby?” Mark says, and you feel immense chills down your body.

“You love to tease,” you moan as he gently plays with the band on your skirt, hearing it snap back. “That I do. But not right now.” Mark kisses you open mouthed, which you thankfully expected, kissing back as his tongue goes in your mouth.

You whine his name as his hand goes to your shirtless chest, playing and pulling on your nipple. Your hands go on his neck, holding it as you both kiss more passionately, and you mutter his name, “M-Mark,” His lips bite on yours for a second, making you whimper before he takes control again, his tongue pushing on yours. Mark knew it as much as you, he will always control, and you love that. “M-Mark~,” you start to moan his name, holding his shoulder with one hand to be stable, to not go crazy.

He knows your body the way he knew how to cast a Transfiguration spell. He pulls away from your mouth, saliva connecting you two as you hold his hair in the other hand. He kisses down your body, whispering, “You’re being so nice, babydoll. Be louder for me, please.”

“Mark!” You moan loudly as he gently makes a hickey on your breast, chuckling. Your core starts to throb, echoing throughout your body. You already wanted him, and he had barely touched your area. “Good girl,” his tongue pulls at your nipple, and he laughs when you grip on his hair tightly, whining his name out. “Want more?” He whispers, his breath warm, making your cheeks heat up even more.

“Yes,” you whisper breathlessly, and he kisses down to your stomach, chuckling, “I won’t make you sore yet, baby. I’ll just make you feel good, are you alright with that?” You flush with embarrassment, and nod. “M-Mark?” He finishes his last kiss before your skirt, he looks up. “Yes, babydoll?”

How fast did you say it, the little words, “I’m so sorry, Mark. Can you ever forgive me?” Mark goes on top of you again, and kisses you softly. “Baby,” he whispers, giving you chills as he holds your hips. He gives you a kiss again. “I,” another kiss, “Will,” *kiss* “Always,” *kiss* “Forgive,” *kiss* “And,” *kiss* “Love,” *kiss -this one had even more passion than the others, and is slightly longer, making you want more when he pulls away,- “You. Y/N I know it was easy to suspect me. Even before when you had a spell on you, when I studied Legilimency. But I love you, that’s why I wanted to do the spell, to study that. I should’ve told you, and I apologize. Honestly, I just want to see that smile on that pretty face of yours, Y/N.” You’re giggling enough from the kisses on your face and birthmark you just kiss and hug him, “Let’s just kiss,” he mumbles in your shoulder, and you tilt his head up, humming with fulfillment, “and never say goodbye,” Mark kisses your body again, as you both giggle and whisper each other’s name.

“Uh-Uh Y/N?”

second part

[sireswhore]

Elephant in the Room

Requested? Yes! “imagine a day at the beach with scott before anybody knows you two are together and getting caught by jason and his kids at the beach when they ask ‘isn't that y/n and scott?”

Summary: you and Scott have been secretly dating for a while, your little secret gets exposed by the vlog squad...

Warnings; language, alcohol usage?

“How about this spot?” Scott asks, looking at an empty site on the sand.

“Oh my gosh yes! Perfect, let’s lay this blanket down,” you said eagerly.

You and Scott have secretly been together for about two months now. None of your friends know, and you both were experts at keeping everything under wraps so far.

You guys were so good, that even the fans didn’t suspect anything between the two of you. You both agreed to keep it between each other until the secret simply couldn’t be contained anymore, after all, secrets do have to eventually come out someday.

But today, in this beautiful weather, the two of you were having a date on the beach. Sunglasses were on at all times so you wouldn’t get recognized, although that isn’t 100% reliable, you still felt like the characters on “Starstruck” and that was good enough for you.

After the two of you finished setting everything down, the first thing Scott did was pull out his sunscreen. And before he could open it to squirt some into his hands, you snatched it.

“I’ll do it for you!” You rushed, just wanting an excuse to let your hands run over his upper body. He smirked while laying down, getting ready to let you get to work.

Scott hissed at the coldness of the product on his chest, making you giggle as you kept spreading it evenly on his tatted skin.

Your hands worked on thoroughly rubbing it in, while your fingers traced over every nook and cranny available. You were definitely having a great time, and you haven’t even done his back yet.

“You’re so pretty,” you said as you admired him, finishing the last of the areas you haven’t covered.

He scoffed, “Says you, gorgeous,” Scott tried to wink but forgot that you couldn’t see it, so he smiled instead.

The two of you spent your day vibing to your favorite music, eating, and cute cheesy shit like writing your initials into the sand and piggyback riding to the shore.

And absolutely nothing could go wrong, right? Wrong.

You guys chose the right day but the wrong beach to visit as you both unknowingly came to the same one that Jason comes to with his kids.

He mentioned he was going to rent a house for that same weekend. That detail must’ve slipped your minds because you both were lounging with each other carefree.

You sat in between Scott’s legs, your back against his chest while his arm hugged across yours. Both your eyes focused on the colors of the sky, watching the sunset and talking about how gorgeous it looks.

You turned your head to look up at him, he looked down at you. Scott smiled when he saw your sunglasses had slid down to the tip of your nose, revealing your eyes to him.

Scott lightly placed a finger under your chin before he leaned in you kiss you.

Except it didn’t happen because both of your sunglasses bumped together instead, causing the two of you to laugh.

“Maybe let's take them off for a few seconds, yeah?” he asked.

You nodded, both of you pushed your glasses to the top of your heads and finally met with a warm embrace, reveling in each other's lips.

From a distance, someone could spot them and their whole cover could be blown.

Except someone did spot them, and that someone might’ve blown their cover. That someone was Charlie.

“Daddy isn’t that y/n and Scott over there?” She pointed Jason to where you both were.

Jason saw exactly what she saw, and he couldn’t believe his eyes. He had no idea what to say.

“No Charlie,” he laughs trying to play it off, “that’s not them, they do look like them though,” he chuckles, scratching the back of his head nervously.

“No daddy, it looks like his tattoos and everything,” Wyatt chimed in.

Jason knew they were right, but he just figured to change the subject so they wouldn’t go around saying that to people.

“Guys come on, Scott literally sent me a picture 5 minutes ago saying he was working out in the garage. There's a lot of people out there who may look really similar to the people you know, it’s not them I promise,” he laughs, “c’mon let's go get ice cream before they close,” he rushes as an attempt to distract them from the thought.

And that they did...

_____

A couple of days after, Jason was already spilling the tea.

“...and there they were, on the beach making out and cuddling,” he was telling Carly and Erin in the car, and their mouths hung open like a flytrap.

“NO WAY,” they both said in unison, both in absolute disbelief.

“Deadass,” Jason finalized, and the girls looked at each other.

“Oh my god,” Carly said.

“Who would have thought...,” Erin chimed in, sipping on her drink.

Then shortly the girls broke the news to Matt, who had an even more exaggerated reaction. Soon he told Todd and Zane, Todd telling Natalie, who told David. Zane telling Heath and Mariah and so on and so forth until the entire friend group knew.

Boy that was a lot.

All of them kept in contact with each other, and soon enough they created a separate group chat just to talk about it.

They exchanged thoughts and tried to connect the dots and figure out when this has started going on. All of a sudden they went from Vlog Squad to Scooby-Doo.

Shortly after that was going on, Scott was over at your place, you both received texts from the original group chat saying that we’re all invited to a get-together at Heath and Mariahs the next day.

“So cute! Its been a while since everyone has hung ou- oh my god what if this is an occasion? Do you think she’s pregnant??,” you immediately jumped to conclusions.

Scott chuckled, “Nah I don’t think it’s that serious, they probably just literally want to get everyone to ‘get together’,” he explained.

“You’re no fun,” you stuck your tongue out at him.

“Oh yeah?” next thing you knew he gave you a tickle attack which sent you into a laughing frenzy until you begged for him to stop so you could breathe.

You guys had no clue about what would happen the next day...

__________

“I’m excited for today, I missed having all of us together. Usually, there’s like about half of us hanging out,” you told Scott who wasn’t in the same car as you but he was on speaker as you both drove down to the house.

“Yeah me too, but I’m gonna miss not being able to *be with you* be with you,” he pouted, you couldn’t see him, but you could hear the disappointment in his voice.

“Aw baby me too, but you can be with me after okay?” you told him.

“Ugh fine,” he said playfully.

You giggled at him, “Okay baby I’m almost here I have to hang up,” you said.

“Nooooooooo,” he groaned.

“Yessssssss, I love you bye for now,” you laughed.

“I love you....see you soon,” and you said ‘bye’ again before you hung up on him.

You and Scott both pulled up separately, like you’ve been doing all this time for the past two months.

Scott goes in first, then five to ten minutes later you arrive and come in like it wasn’t planned.

But this time the vibe in the house felt so strange.

Ever since you were let in through the door, you felt as if everyone was glancing at you a little bit longer than usual. But nonetheless, you took it with a grain of salt and shrugged it off.

You all spent time laughing at jokes, telling stories, and whatnot.

After a while, everyone thought it was a great idea to play a game of truth or dare.

“Alright alright, everyone in a circle! Let's play truth or dare,” David shouted.

Everyone who was already sitting on the couch scooted forward, and the rest found a spot on the carpet or on a LoveSac.

You went and found a seat in between Jonah and Jeff, while Scott found a seat next to Todd and Zane. Everyone was surprised at how good you both were at keeping this up, you didn’t sit next to each other, bravo.

Zane had just finished another bottle of corona, and you all used that to pick people at random.

Natalie gave it a spin because she was the closest. The first person to get picked was Corinna, and she was dared to remove her panties and give it to whoever the bottle landed on.

Hilariously enough, the bottle landed on Todd, while the room echoed with ‘oooooh's’ and laughter. What are the odds...

Second was Ilya, and he was dared to lick Jason's toe for a minute. He spent a good five minutes arguing with David trying to negotiate the time, while Jason argued about how he didn’t even get a say in it.

Ilya still did the dare, he did the deed for a good ten seconds at least. David just wanted to see how long he would go.

And finally, the one who everyone has been secretly waiting for, ....you.

The bottle pointed at you and for some reason, your palms started to sweat, and you looked at Scott for a split second before looking at David, who was asking you to choose between truth or dare.

You knew that it was best if you stood on the safe side if David was the one determining your dare, so you chose truth even though it would be equally as bad.

Scott took a swig of his drink to prepare himself for whatever David had in mind.

“So out of everyone here, who’d you fuck?” David smirked, you obviously felt so put on the spot.

Everyone had eyes on you, waiting for the answer they were hoping to hear while Scott slightly choked on his drink.

“Oh um,” you looked around trying to find someone to pick, but more realistically a way out.

“I’m not gonna lie, probably Ilya...,” you lied, you didn’t even believe yourself at this point.

“Oh really? You’re sure you wouldn’t pick Scott?”Zane asked in a daring tone.

All of a sudden your heart skipped a beat before it started racing while your face felt hotter than a teapot.

‘What do they know?’ you thought to yourself.

“W-What are you talking about?” you still tried to act like you had know idea of what they mean.

“Well Jason found you and him at the beach together and since you guys are obviously dating we’d be sure you’d pick him,” David said.

And there it was. The elephant in the room finally has it’s time to shine.

You genuinely had no idea of what to say this time.

Scott was sitting comfortably in his seat quietly while you were getting all the heat.

“Uh, don’t just look at me! Look at him!,” you pointed at Scott to ease the tension off of you.

Now he knew what that felt like.

“Alright alright, we’re together. We’re sorry you had to find out this way…” he confessed.

Damn he cracked quick...

“Baby but why did you keep it from us? You know we wouldn’t judge you for it. We’re here for you baby,” Zane said to the both of you.

“We know, we just wanted to wait for the right time to tell you,” Scott explains, looking at you.

The both of you made eye contact with each other for a little longer than a second before looking away.

“Well don’t just sit there girl, be with him baby!,” Heath scolded, and you blushed, getting up to sit on Scott’s lap.

Everyone cheered when you wrapped one arm around his neck, and he had his wrapped around your waist, pulling you into a small kiss.

Jonah was already over it and he yelled at David to continue the game.

You all laughed before Natalie spun the bottle again, resuming the game.

Scott loved how he could be closer to you now that everyone was focused on something else. He bought his lips to the spot behind your ear, getting chills from his slight touch.

“So Ilya huh?” he whispered, sounding a little jealous but he was only half-serious.

“Oh shut it, you know it’s not true,” you giggled, squishing his cheeks with one hand.

I guess finally talking about the elephant in the room wasn't as bad as you thought...

<3