#NOTHING about hot water. i am so glad the knob was missing or i would have gone for a slow and labor intensive method and cried real tears

[gendzl]

I took a break yesterday to let my hands recover some (I cannot overstate how much I should not have sanded the whole box in one go; my hands feel deeply, deeply bruised), and this morning I brought the box down to the car wash stall in the parking garage to hose the sawdust off.

the cold water knob down there is missing, which turned out to be a very good thing because I 100% would have used that one and wouldn't have found out that scorching hot water washes [this particular?] glue off wood. it is spotless, all for the low, low effort of pointing a nozzle at it. baruch hashem.

I have plopped it out on the balcony to air dry. up next: deciding on a paint color.

I just spent three (3) hours sanding that silverware box I found. by hand. I got all the paint off the outside, which is great, but the inside is still full of dried glue with bits of paper and maroon felt stuck to it and ohhhh my hands hurt so badly.

[trulylino]

=> When You're Sick - BTS

Pairing: bts x gn!reader

Genre: fluff

Summary: a reaction style compilation of what the bts members would do when you are sick.

Warnings: mentions of vomit, generally being ill, covid

Word Count: 1.7k

Masterlist

Jin

You woke up in a cold sweat, your head pounding rapidly. You felt like you were constantly breathing dust up your nose. Yep, this was horrible. And where on earth was Jin. You missed his usual warmth from beside you, feeling even more miserable in its absence.

The door swung open to reveal your boyfriend, adorned with a cute apron around his waist. In his hands was a bowl of steaming soup and a mug of hot tea.

"Jin!" You rasped gleefully, before wholeheartedly regretting your decision to open your mouth in the first place as your throat burned in agony.

"Don't talk, you'll make your throat worse," he scolded lovingly, placing the tray on your lap. When he had woken up an hour ago to your strained breathing during your sleep he immediately realised you were sick before leaning over to touch your forehead. Definitely sick, he concluded.

So, alas, he had spent the last hour making you homemade soup, because only the best for you.

Yoongi

You were so glad to finally be able to have some alone time with your boyfriend. He had been away in the US for what seemed like forever and he had been home for mere days when an unexpected covid test had been positive. So, alas you had to be separated yet again. You were not pleased to put it lightly.

But when you woke up one morning to the lonely bed (yoongi had been sleeping in the spare room for the time being) with a runny nose you felt a spark of excitement. You knew you shouldn't be happy about the possibility of you having covid, but it would cut your separation short. You sprang out of bed and rushed to the bathroom cupboard where you kept the lateral flow tests.

It didn't take long for the two lines to show up. To be honest you didn't feel completely horrendous, to your surprise, and to your knowledge you could still smell and taste. You must have gotten lucky.

You saunted over to the guest bedroom giving the door a little wrap with your knuckles before turning the knob and peeking in. Your boyfriend was half asleep with his knees up to his chest while hugging a pillow.

"What are you doing here? You'll get sick." He questioned, groggily, morning voice evident.

"Bit late for that, I already am."

"C'mon then, this pillow isn't quite the same as you."

Hobi

You were snuggled up on your living room sofa, watching a random show on netflix, not that you were particularly concentrating on it. Your head was just a mess. You couldn't think straight and it felt like you were about to explode completely.

You let out a sneeze for approximately the fifth time that hour and finally Hoseok spoke up.

"Y/n are you sure you're not coming down with something? You've been coughing and sneezing all day."

"It's nothing Hobi, I'm fine." You reassured him, before promptly breaking out into a fit of coughing.

"Hey, let me get you a drink to soothe your throat. And how about some instant ramen?"

"You're the best," you nodded gratefully.

Your boyfriend returned a few minutes later, saucepan in one hand, glass of water in the other.

"We can just eat it straight of the pot, as long as you don't scratch it, Jin would kill me if he found out."

As you dug into your noodles, and God they were good, you noticed Hobi come over to sit behind you on the sofa. You practically moaned as he began massaging your scalp the pain subsiding for a blissful moment. He was literally the best boyfriend ever, you decided.

Namjoon

"What do you mean you're sick?" Namjoon asked, his voice laced with concern as you told him over the phone you had to cancel your plans to study together.

"I mean what I said. I'm sick. Just woke up this morning and boom." You replied, dryly. Namjoon was a smart guy anyway, he didn't need your help to study. If anything you would be more of a hindrance than a help.

Namjoon frowned from the other side of the phone. It wasn't like you to get sick. "Have you taken anything? I don't want you to just sit and wallow in pain."

"No I must have finished my ibuprofen off last week," you sighed. If only you had some pain killers, or something.

"OK, I'm on my way." Then the line went dead.

"Joon? Joon? Oh for fuck's sake," you cursed at seemingly no one as you turned back over in bed, defeated.

The doorbell woke you up from your extremely short lived nap. Namjoon was standing in your hallway holding a convenience store bag in his hand.

"What was the point in ringing the doorbell?" You huffed, taking the bag which he handed to you. You took a peek inside, finding not only about one of every kind of medicine someone could buy, but also several candy bars and packets of sweets.

Sniffing you siddled over to Namjoon, "Thank you, Joon." You whispered, enveloping him in a hug.

Jimin

It felt like you had been dancing for hours and you were on the verge of collapsing right here and now. Your muscles had never felt so on fire but both you and Jimin were determined to perfect this routine.

"Can we take a break?" You gasped out, sweat practically gushing from every pore of your body.

"Sure thing y/n!" Jimin smiled. He had hardly been affected by the vigorous exercise. You were completely astounded at how he had be going for so long, being as little as out of breath. He was used to it you reasoned.

"Actually, can we call it a day, I don't think I can take anymore." Your eyes pleaded with him.

"Fine, fine. I'm starting to get pretty tired anyway." He smiled reassuringly at you.

You packed all your things into your dance bag and stood up to walk to the door to leave before immediately collapsing, your legs buckling. Jimin rushed over to you, worry painting his features.

"Are you OK? Y/n?"

"Sorry, my legs are just burning."

"Let's get you home and run a hot bath for you. That'll relax your muscles, ok?"

Upon arriving home you practically crawled to the sofa, sinking into it as you heard the hot water begin to roar out of the taps into the bath.

"Come here y/n, bath's full." Jimin's voice called you through and you begrudgingly exited your comfortable den.

You were so glad that you did however, because the second your legs entered the steaming bath you felt one hundred times better. Maybe Jimin was right after all. This felt like heaven.

Taehyung

"Tae, does my forehead feel hot to you or am I just imagining it?" You asked, walking in the room where Tae was reading. He beckoned you over and put his hand on your head before retracting it straight away.

"Y/n, you're definitely not imagining it. Let's go lie down or something. I don't want you doing anything just now. You'll make yourself worse."

Such a nag.

You pouted, "Goodnight then." You turned on your heel ready to leave before he caught you from behind, giving you one of the tightest back hugs you had ever had.

"Hey, you'll get sick too, go away," you snorted at him, trying to wiggle away from his hug. He only turned you round before giving you a kiss on the forehead.

"I don't care. You need cuddles," he whined. Yeah sure, YOU needed cuddles, definitely not him. You rolled your eyes before looking up at him to give him a kiss.

You practically dragged him to bed, spending the next two hours lying there, not really sleeping and just talking, your head using his chest as a pillow the whole time.

The next day Taehyung woke up with a temperature to match yours. You guessed you were going to have to take care of each other, which would involve a whole lot more cuddling and kisses.

Jungkook

"Kookie, can you pick me up from work? I have a migraine and I don't wanna drive." You made an effort to sound particularly frail, hoping your condition would translate over the phone. You needn't have bothered Jungkook would've picked you up anyway, but precautions had to be made.

"Of course, I'm on my way right now!" It was strange how quickly the youngest member of his friend group became so motherly the second anyone was sick. It was sweet, endearing.

Last year you had gone through a spell of throwing up in the whenever you ate in the mornings. It got so bad you sometimes couldn't even get out of bed in fear of throwing up everywhere.

Jungkook had been particularly sweet to you then, bringing you hot water bottles, sitting with you, holding your hair back when you needed him to do so. Now was no different. He had nearly run out to his car to come and get you, worried that you would faint or throw up before he arrived to take care of you.

When he pulled up to your office building you were already waiting outside and he jumped out the car to help you in.

"Are you ok, Jagi?" He asked, knowing the answer full well.

"Mhm, I just felt horrible," you mumbled.

"It's gonna be ok, I'll take you home and you can sleep it off. In fact you can sleep in the car. I can carry you in."

You had to admit his car was sleep worthy. The plush heated seats were definitely a bonus too. You followed his instructions drifting off to sleep. Jungkook couldn't help but continuously glance over at you to make sure you were ok the whole ride home, but you managed to make it without any internal liquids making an appearance, to his relief.

The car came to a halt and your eyes fluttered open, "Thanks for looking after me, Kookie." You smiled, still half asleep.

"Of course, y/n."

Taglist: @dreamescapeswriting

Credit: Header by @kookfly

[lovewriting-5]

Until Dawn

Chapter 1

Chapter 2, part 1

Chapter 2, part 2

We walk down the stairs and Ashley and Chris were already in the living room by the fire. “Well...well, what took the two of you so long?” Chris asks. I had a hard time keeping a straight face. It felt good to be close with Josh again after a few days.

The four of us were talking about how cold it was in the lodge. The heat had to get turned on. I tell Josh “The fire is nice but it would be great if the heat was on.” I wrap my arms around myself for warmth. He wraps his arms around me to help. He says “Come on...”

Chris, Ashley and I were betting how long it would take him to get it started. Chris asks “How long do you think it’ll take him?” To be nice, I bet “An hour.” Ashley says “My money’s on blankets for everyone!” Chris tells him “You can do it, man. We believe in you.” She says “Yeah! Totally! Woo!” I do a chant “Let’s go Jo-osh, let’s go!” His arms tighten around me. I laugh.

There was the sound of footsteps moving around upstairs. Josh removes his arms. He tells all three of us, “Alright, peanut gallery, you know what? I got an idea.” I ask, suspiciously “What?” He continues “Okay well I am pretty sure that somewhere in this crazy place we used to have...a spirit board.” Ashley asks “A what?”

Sarcastically, Chris asks “Wow you have a ‘spirit board’?” I ask him, concerned “Wait are you saying...we should have a séance?” Still joking, Chris says “Those things are a joke, man. They don’t do shit.” Josh says with a little difficulty, “No way bro. We used to do it all the time. Me and...well...” This isn’t a good idea.

The footsteps reach the bottom. I turn and say “Hey Sam.” As she gets closer to us, she says “Hi. Hey Josh. No hot water’s kinda major oversight doncha think?” He tells her “Yeah yeah, just gotta fire up the boiler. It’s in the basement.” Turns back to Chris and Ashley, “You guys see if you can find the spirit board.”

Ashley gets up from the ottoman, “Chris, let’s go find it! It’ll be like a scavenger hunt!” Hesitantly, he says “Ummm...okay...guess so.” Josh says “Rad. You’re not gonna regret it.” The two of them leave.

Josh asks me “You up for a ride-along?” Nervously, I say “Sure.” I turn to Sam, “Sam, do you want to help us?” She looks behind me, “Uhhh...no, you two go for it. I’ll wait up here.”

We make our way to the direction of the basement. He pauses and says, mischievously “Hey. You notice how I gave Chris and Ashley a mission together? Yeah I was thinking they could use some ‘alone time.’” Supportively, I say “They are very sweet together. I wish they’d just freakin’ get on with it already.” A little too enthused, he says “I swear they just need like...something to bond over, y’know? Some sort of traumatic event to send them into each other’s arms.”

He opens a drawer and takes out a flashlight. I open the door that leads to the basement. Standing by the doorframe, it takes Josh a few minutes. He says “You know...” I ask “Yes?” He begins “I just wanted to say...” I ask “What?” Thoughtfully, he tells me “It really means a lot to me that everyone came back this year and you know, that you came.”

I smile, “Josh. I care about you and glad to hear you are doing a little better. We’re here for you. Really. Whatever you need. Whenever. We’re all gonna make it through this...together.” I give him a kiss on the cheek. He says with a sort of devilish smile, “Um...I want us to have a good time, you know...”

We continue down the stairs of the basement. Knowing that the stairs are crumbling a little, he tells me “Watch your step.” Jokingly, I tell him “I think I can handle a little old set of stairs.” Sarcastically, he says “Uh-huh.”

I follow him to the boiler cabinet. As he opens the cabinet, he says “Sorry to drag you down into the bowels.” I say “It’s fine. Like I said the fire is nice but some heat and hot water would be nice.” He says “I mean I wouldn’t want you coming down here on your own, you know?” Jokingly, I say “Such a gentleman.”

Looking around at the dark basement with a ton of boxes and the only other light is coming from the small windows. I tell him “Well it’s definitely creepy down here.” He says “Yep. Not a place to be on your own.”

He hands me the flashlight, “Here, can you...can you hold this steady?” There was a noise in the distance. I turn around to see where it came from. Now I’m starting to get a little freaked out.

I tighten my grip on the flashlight. I ask a little freaked out, “Josh...what was that?” Not believing, he says “What was what? Just shine it here so I can see what I’m doing.” I say “Fine.”

There was another sound, I turned to see where it came from. Josh says from the boiler cabinet, “(Y/N)...Can you just keep the light still so I can see, okay?”

This time I finally held the flashlight steady. He got everything hooked up. He stands up and smiles, “Nice one. Okay first things first: we gotta increase the water pressure before we get the boiler fired up.” I look at the machine, “Sounds kinda complicated.” Reassuringly, he tells me “No, it’s actually pretty simple.”

I turn the knob, waited and saw the light turn on. I pushed the button but apparently it didn’t work, “Damn!” He says “It’s okay, just try again.” I tried again but missed it, “Ugh!” He tells me “Relax...It’s not that hard. Just press the button when the light comes on.” I take a deep breath and let it out. I try again and got it.

The boiler fired up. Proud of myself, I say “Whoa!!” Josh was pretty proud too, “That’s more like it. Alright! Five, girl!” He holds up his hand and I slap it. I excitedly, say “Yeah!” He closes the boiler cabinet and locks it.

Curiosity hits me, I ask “Josh...so upstairs when I asked Sam if she would like to help...Did you tell her not to join us?” He gets a shocked expression, “What? No...why would I do that?” I tell him as I step a little closer, “Are you sure? Because I swear Sam looked behind me to see if she should.” Looking a little guilty, he begins “Well....I might -“

In the dark, damp basement there was another noise. I turn in the direction that I think it’s coming from, “What the hell is that?” I back a little closer to him. He says, jokingly “Could be a lot of things...and none of them nice...” as he wiggles his finger on my arm. I push it away, “Hey, quit it.”

He says with a chuckle “I’m just...just ‘Joshing’ ya.” “Har har.” I tell him. Trying to point it out, he says “You were really freaked out.”

Shaking my head in protest, “I was not scared.” With a sly grin, he says as he looks me up and down “No, no, you just jumped because you wanted to squeeze in some aerobics?” I roll my eyes.

After a few years of hanging out with the Washington family, I have picked up on some acting skills. I put on a terrified look and look behind him. I look from him to behind, “Oh my God - - don’t move - -“ Sounding a little concerned, he asks “What?” Sounding more terrified, I tell him “There’s something behind you.” Trying to sound brave, he says “Yeah right.”

Really wanting to get him, I continue “Josh...Seriously. There’s something back there...” He turns and looks over his shoulder. I tell him, very satisfied “Ha...Got - -ch - -ah.” Putting an arm around my waist as he pulls me closer, “Alright. Alright. Your point.” I wrap my arms around the back of his neck, “Thirty - - Love.” Josh raises an eyebrow, “What? No...Where’d you get the first point?” I ask “It doesn’t start at thirty?” He says “No. Fifteen.” I say, confidently “Oh. Well, I’m more of a ping-pong gal.” As I get the last sentence out, he kisses me.

The two of us probably would have stayed down there for awhile, if the sound didn’t happen again. We pull away. Really? I was just starting to get used to being down here.

Catching my breath, I ask “Okay, so you hear that too, right?” I look at Josh, “Josh?” He removes his arm and moves in front of me. He asks “What?” Starting to get freaked out again, “The rhythm’s like, weirdly regular...” We walk a little closer to the sound. He says “Not...No...Nothing ‘regular’ about it...”

As we walk closer to it, I place my right hand on his arm and my left hand in his right. His hand grip tightens. I ask “Maybe we should, you know, check it out?” He asks “Why?” Not really knowing what to say, I tell him “I dunno, what if it’s like, a pipe that’s about to burst or some problem with the furnace?” He tells me “Unlikely.” I say to convince him, “If it were me I wouldn’t want this place to burn down on my watch.” He pauses and then says “...Yeah. Right.”

As we venture farther into the basement, all of a sudden, a figure in a brown robe and hockey mask jumps out. Josh and I scream and run for our lives. Josh in front, says “Whoa - (Y/N) - whoa.” Along the path, I grab an obstacle and pull it down. The figure is blocked. Josh and I make it up the stairs and I try to open the door. I am struggling to get it open. The figure is getting closer.

I am throwing all my weight against this door, “Oh come ON now why are these doors locked?!” In a panic, Josh says “To...To keep out strangers!!”

I feel Josh get closer. The figure stops right in front of us, “Hey...” Confused, I ask “...What?” The figure says, again “Heeyyyyyy...” Still confused, I ask “...WHAT THE HELL?!”

The figure removes the mask and hood. He revealed himself as Chris. Thinking it is funny, Chris says “Boom! You just got monked!” I can feel anger starting to rise, “WHAT!!!” Josh says, proudly “Nice. Nice one. That was good.” First to Josh and then to Chris, I ask “No it was not. Why w...Why would you do that?”

Holding his arm out, Chris says “There’s all this cool old movie crap down here. What, was I...was I not supposed to take advantage of the opportunity?” To Chris, I ask “Are you...are you serious?” I turn to Josh and push him a little, “Were you in on this, you putz?” As he gives Chris a high-five, he says “Nope. But I wish I was! That was too good!” I tell him “Don’t high-five that.”

The three of us get back to the main part of the lodge. After calming down a little, I tell them “I’m ready to admit that your dumb little prank may have had a slight whiff of humor to it.” Chris says “Jokemaster!” I tell him to make myself clear, “I said nothing about jokes. I said your prank, which was dumb -“ Chris begins ascending the stairs. Josh walks over to the table to set the flashlight down. I wait at the bottom of the steps with my arms crossed for him.

Josh jokingly, says “Holy crap you were scared. Admit it.” Sternly, I tell him “I was not!” I begin ascending the stairs. Not giving up, he says “Come on, you totally pissed yourself!” Done with the joke, I say “Josh!”

We joined the others upstairs. I go and stand near the fireplace. Josh places his arms around my waist and places a kiss on my right temple. I whisper, trying to hide a smile “I hate you.” Knowing I can’t stay mad at him long, he whispers “No, you don’t.” I lay my cheek on his arm. Ashley walks over to Chris and notices his outfit of choice. She asks in disgust, “What...in god’s name...are you wearing?” Playing along, Chris tells her “I found my true calling.” He makes the sign of the cross in the air. Putting her hands in a praying motion, she tells him, sarcastically “Please tell me you’re going to take a vow of silence.”

Chris moves his mouth without sound. To make him quit the charade, I ask “Okay okay...Did you at least find the thingy?” Chris looks at me and pulls a board out of his robe, “Boi - oi - oi - oing! Here’s our one way ticket to the spirit realm!” Ashley says “Hmmm.”

Josh tells Sam “Sam, we got the boiler up and running. So the hot water should be working.” Grateful, she says “Thank you. I see a hot bath in my crystal ball. So have fun!”

[hopeless-ro-simptic]

Familiar Cerulean Eyes Pt. 6

Click here for other parts! Part 7 is up now!

Just gonna leave this here... 

Warnings! Seriously read this before continuing!: This part contains an attempted rape scene. Please just skip to the next part if you are uncomfortable reading that. 

Word Count: 3.3 k 

TAGLIST: @skzero-99​ @superblyspeedydragon​ @jparra4587​ @flyingowls​ @emrysaaryn​ @imuziawi​ @sheedaabee​ @peculiarinsomniac​ @littlelovebug98​ @plutoneu​ @giftofwonder​ @kitty-kat-ash​ @fukyouthink​ @anarchys-bnha-mess​ @threbony​ @orenjineki​ @toobsessedsstuff​ @bamf-barnes​ @x-a-delama-x​ @inanabsentia​ @reallyshey​ @godsblesstheboi​ @operatorsdime @drownedbytears​ @emilymikado​ @fluidfandoms​

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The walkie-talkie they had provided to you only had one station. The station that spoke directly to Kurogiri. You had tried fiddling with the knobs to see if you could get literally anyone else on the line but after 30 minutes of messing with the stupid thing you gave up. At least it told you the date and time so you could keep track of how long it has been since you were left alone in this damned cell.

You hadn’t moved from your spot in the corner since everyone left, curled up with your snack bag and blanket, using the pillow to prop yourself up against the cold wall, choosing instead to sleep the time away. Your body however decided you could only sleep for so long. Apparently 14 hours was the mark. 14 hours of off and on sleeping and now all you could do was pace.

You never thought you would be bored when you were kidnapped, but if you had to go one more minute with nothing to do you were going to start trying to dig your way out of this cell with your fingernails. So you caved.

Picking up the walkie-talkie you pressed the call button and cautiously spoke out loud into the room.

“Kurogiri?”  

The mist beta conjured himself into the room within seconds, well dressed as always. A calming aura surrounding him.

“Yes Y/N? What can I do for you?”

Your cheeks heated up as you thought about your request, suddenly feeling like a child. You didn’t want to come off as whiney, you definitely didn’t want the League to deem you as annoying and decide to kill you. But you were so bored. Bored enough to threaten your life with the company of villains.

“H-hi… um… I just wanted to know if there was like…I just wanted…”

“Company?” The knowing eyes of the mist in front of you was a little unsettling as he immediately guessed as to what you wanted.

“H-how did you know?”

“Omega’s are very social beings, it’s a wonder you lasted this long with nothing to do…and you have been pacing for the last 45 minutes” You glanced up at the camera a shiver going down your spine.

“You’ve been watching me?”

“Only for a brief bit, I was concerned when you didn’t reach out earlier for food. I am surprised it took your this long to reach out for anything at all. I was simply checking to make sure you were alive.”

You relaxed a bit at this. The beta didn’t seem in a hurry to get out of here, and even though he was a villain, you were more than happy for the company. So you sat back down in your nonexistent nest, pushing your hair behind your ears as you thought of how to keep a conversation going.

“So you have to babysit me.. I bet that’s annoying.” You cringed at your words. Why would you say that? What were you supposed to say to a villain to strike up a conversation?

“Not at all, Y/N. I have many jobs here at the league, making sure our guests are fed and comfortable is just another thing that I have been tasked with. If it makes one of our members happy then it makes me happy. Dabi seemed particularly concerned with your treatment while he was gone.”

“Oh…” You paused for a minute unsure of how to proceed. It sounded like Kurogiri did a lot for the league, you wondered why.

“Can I ask you something?”

“You may, though I may not be able to answer it.” He nodded at you to proceed and you fiddled with the blanket in front of you.

“Why are you a ..” You paused, unsure if this was a good way to start, only to be encouraged by the mist in front of you. “Why did you join the league? You don’t strike me as the same as the others.”

“Well Y/N, I have been with Shigaraki for some time now, long before this group was formed... I believe in his cause, and I want to help him achieve it. The hero society is not as pretty as it seems from the outside, I promise you that.”

“You don’t have to tell me,” You mumbled it softly, enough that if you weren’t in a completely silent room you don’t think you would have even heard yourself. But the beta in front of you didn’t miss your comment.

“The question is Y/N, what side of the fight are you going to choose to be on.”  

“I’m not in the fight.. I’m not a hero..” You looked at Kurogiri, confusion across your face.

“Everyone is in the fight… even if they don’t want to be.”

Kurogiri had brought you a deck of playing cards after that little chat, advising you of how to set up a solitaire game to keep yourself busy. You couldn’t help but feel grateful for the kindness he was showing you. Even though you were literally their prisoner right now, he did seem like he was trying to make you as comfortable as he could.

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The next time that you called on Kurogiri was because you ran out of food several hours later. Part of you felt really bad, whispering softly into the walkie-talkie that showed a time of 4am. You didn’t want to wake the villain up, but your stomach was growling so loud you couldn’t sleep. You had just resigned yourself to the fact that you would have to wait until a more appropriate time when the black mist swirled in front of you, the man appearing with what looked like a freshly made bowl of meat and veggies with rice balls on the side. The smell had your mouth watering as he presented the bowl to you.

“I’m so sorry to wake you up this late Kurogiri, you didn’t have to cook…” You immediately dug into the food after thanking him, your stomach thanking you for waking him up anyways.

“No worries Y/N, I wasn’t asleep. We are quite used to being up late at night here, and I usually cook for the other members anyways when time permits.” You had to force yourself not to imagine the mist man in an apron, doting on the other league members like a mother would a young child. He was so different. You also ignored the way he mentioned the other members, like he was already considering you as one as well.

“Is Dabi back yet? Is he okay?” You didn’t even notice yourself asking the question as you continued to eat, just glad for company once again, after your chat last time, it was easier to slip into conversation with Kurogiri, but still a little awkward.

“He has not returned yet, but he has checked in and is fine. He should be returning tomorrow afternoon if all goes well with his mission.”

That’s good you thought, you were halfway through this. Just another day and a half and then you could at the very least have a semi-comfortable bed. You found yourself missing the cinnamon scent mixed with smoke and whiskey, like your omega couldn’t relax without it, finding a comfort in the warm and spicey smell that you shouldn’t have. Maybe you should have had him scent the blanket for you…

“May I ask just who you are to Dabi? I must say we are all quite confused on the two of you’s relationship seeing as you are not bonded.”

“Hmm? Oh…” You could feel your cheeks heat up, realizing you were daydreaming again. You had been thinking about those blue eyes a lot when you were by yourself, the handwriting on his note etched into your mind, it nagging you in the back of your mind like you were missing something about it. You were still upset at the alpha, but your omega was polluting your mind with thoughts that you rather ignore, images being burned into your brain at his words before he left.. he wasn’t wrong. You did want him. You just didn’t want to want him.

“It’s nothing…. He just kidnapped me is all...” That’s all you thought, just a villain kidnapping a random omega off the street. You snorted internally at how silly that sounded while your omega was yearning for him. Maybe you have Stockholm syndrome.

“Interesting…” Kurogiri looked like he was about to say something else, when the familiar click of a walkie-talkie sounded, a voice ringing out.

“Kurogiri, ready for pickup.”

“Ah, it seems Mr. Compress has finished his part. I will return later for your dishes Y/N. Please enjoy your meal.” And with that, the mist man disappeared again without a trace.

Once Kurogiri had gone, and you had finished up your meal, you curled up onto the crappy mattress, pulling the blanket tight around yourself as you cuddled up against his pillow, breathing in the scent as you replayed every moment since you woke up in his room, thinking of those familiar cerulean eyes as you drifted back to sleep.

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You were playing solitaire, like Kurogiri had shown you, several hours later when you decided to check the time again for what was probably the sixth time in the last hour. You glanced at the time on the walkie-talkie, trying to decide if you wanted to bother Kurogiri again for some more food, when you heard a creak. Looking up you noticed that the wall was opening up and in stepped Mr. Compress, a hot plate of food in his hands, only for him to close the wall behind him, locking it in place his scent enveloping the room immediately.

So there was a door.

“Hello Y/N, Kurogiri said you would probably be hungry around this time. He’s a little busy right now so he sent me instead.”

You shuffled in your place on the bed, you weren’t expecting this, to have to deal with another alpha by yourself. You didn’t trust the alpha in front of you but he wasn’t lunging at you to kill you, and Kurogiri and Dabi had been nice so far..and he brought food. He sat the plate down at the end of the bed, bowing to you lowly glancing up through his eyelashes a polite smile on his face. This one wasn’t as comforting as the mist mans but it wasn’t threatening either.

“I don’t believe I got to properly introduce myself last time we spoke. I’m Mr. Compress.”

“H-hi… thank you for the food.” You expected the alpha to leave it at that and disappear back the way he came, but instead he straightened up, twirling his cain in his hands as he watched you with interest.

“What an interesting quirk you have, might I say. We were all very shocked at the little show that you and pretty boy put on.” The smile on his face grew wider as you cautiously reached for the plate of food, taking a whiff of the air. He was pumping out his pheromones like an omega in heat, like he was trying to cover every other smell in this tiny room. It wasn’t a particularly unpleasant smell, you think it was a mix of amber and leather, but there was something about it that made your omega tense up. It was like he was peacocking and you could only guess at why.

“So you and Dabi? What’s going on there, that is of course, if you don’t mind the intrusion?”

Your omega chirped in the back of your brain, encouraging you to claim Dabi as your alpha, if only to get this other alpha to back down. You ignored it though, telling yourself that the alpha in front of you was being nothing but kind to you. He hadn’t done anything remotely threatening to you, like Kurogiri he was probably just trying to make you more comfortable and was looking for gossip, he seemed like the type.

“Nothing…”

“Hmm… see I don’t believe that, and neither does anyone else in the league. You see, we’ve never seen Dabi act so… interested in an Omega before. Can’t say I blame him, you do smell delicious.” You could feel his eyes slowly moving across your form, drinking you in much like Dabi had done a few times now, but this felt different. The alpha in front of you had a weird look on his face that made your chest tighten and not in a good way. You had seen a similar look before from alpha’s. 

“I don’t know what you mean. I barely know Dabi..” You shifted uncomfortably under the alpha’s gaze, your heartrate picking up as you glanced briefly at where the door had been. Your omega was taking over, the alarms in your brain ringing louder. Were you sure it was locked? He had to get out of here somehow, meaning you could get out too.

“Oh? Well in that case, why don’t I get you out of here? There’s no need for a pretty little omega like you to be cooped up in this cage, waiting on a disfigured manchild. Wouldn’t you like that? A chance to get out of here.”

You stayed silent as the alpha leaned down to you flicking your eyes back to his own, his gloved hand reaching up to stroke your cheek gently before he lightly grabbed your hand, lifting it to his lips in a gentle kiss.

“I-I’m good right here.. I’ll wait for Dabi..” The charming alpha stood up, straightening his glove as his lips a sigh leaving his mouth.

“Why would you want to stay here? In a cell, waiting for the walking cigarette? I can provide so much more for you, you just need to say the word and I could treat you like a queen.”

“I-I’m okay… Dabi will be back in a couple hours…actually if you could leave I really need to go to the bath-” you were standing up, the words barely leaving your mouth as you watched the façade in front of you crack. You weren’t prepared for the wind to be knocked out of you, his cane jabbing you in the stomach forcing you to drop to your knees holding your stomach gasping for breath as he looked down at you.

“Look, I tried to ask nicely but you’re apparently too dumb to get the hint little omega. You are coming with me, you are going to be mine, and you are going to like it.”

Compress gripped your wrists pulling you up to be standing, an annoyed look on his face as you struggled against him. You immediately raised your knee up in reaction, hitting him right in the crotch. You expected him to go down. To let you go. You only succeeded in making him more angry. He slammed you harshly against the wall with a sickening thud, your vision going blurry at the pain in the back of your head. You were pretty sure that you were bleeding. He pushed you stomach down onto the mattress, your face landing down onto the pillow thankfully, instead of the wall behind it. He dropped down on top of you, his weight holding you down from behind, immediately trapping your legs with his own to stop you from kicking at him again. He leaned down, running his nose up along your scent glands, his tongue following shortly after.

“Don’t fight it. If you’re good maybe I’ll even end your suffering and bond you like someone should have a long time ago.”

You couldn’t help but let out a soft whimper, your hands reaching up searching around wildly for the one thing that could save you, gripping the fur blanket.

Compress smirked at your response as he scented you heavily to the point where you were dripping in the smell of leather, softly cooing in your ear at an attempt to sooth your omega. “Don’t worry, you don’t have to smell like that burnt idiot anymore.” You could feel the tears welling in your eyes as you wriggled against him, you didn’t want this. You didn’t want the smell to go away. You deeply inhaled the pillow in front of you, trying to block out your senses, only for Compress to snatch the pillow away with a growl. His alpha canines leaning in close to your face as he wrapped his hand into your hair yanking hard on it.

“What did I just say my dear?”

“Please..”

“Darling, quit whining. What do you think Dabi was going to do to you? Wouldn’t you rather it be me instead of that walking patchwork? At least this way you can have pretty pups to entertain yourself with, I doubt that ashtray can even breed.” He was yanking down your sweatpants now, ripping the drawstring that held them tight around your waist. You could feel his eyes roaming along your body, could feel his erection twitch when he noticed the lack of layers to deal with.

You wanted to vomit. Reaching your hands further under the fur blanket you finally found what you were looking for. Dragging the walkie-talkie out from under the blanket you clicked the call button and sobbed into it.

“Help me! Da- Dabi! Help!” You were practically screaming into the microphone, hiccupping through your tears, but Mr. Compress snatched the walkie-talkie away from you throwing it against the wall and shattering it with the force.

“Naïve Omega, no one is coming for you. Stay still” The alpha’s voice rang out and you froze your omega immediately tucking tail at the demand. You couldn’t help it. You fought as hard as you could against your instincts forcing you to listen to the alpha, begged your body to move, to react, to fight back. You heard the zipper of his pants, felt it as he shoved them down past his knees, his legs rubbing against you as he moved, felt his erection hot against your skin as he lined it up to your entrance, not even bothering to prepare you for what was to come. All you could do was lay there and hiccup through your tears and snot and pray that this would be over quickly. You knew better than that though. You had heard the stories of what happens when an alpha goes into a rut. How they can and will go for hours on end until they finally run out of steam. How they usually tended to go a little more feral than normal, and sometimes ended up hurting omega’s especially if they didn’t want it.

You knew that you would rather die in this moment then have to live through the next few hours, but you wouldn’t have such luck. So instead you let your mind wander, focusing on the smallest hint of cinnamon coming from the pillow behind you across the room. Focusing on the singular word that was etched into your brain as clear as day, the handwriting nagging at you. Focusing on the blue eyes that haunted your dreams that were too close to the ones that had been trained on you when you woke up in his apartment just the other day covered in soot and the smell of smoke. You closed your eyes, bracing yourself, a single thought on your mind, of two boys with cerulean eyes.

You could vaguely hear the sound of an anguished scream in the back of your mind, but you ignored it and focused on the growing smell of cinnamon, whiskey and smoke. Lot’s of smoke. You felt warm, uncomfortably so, but you forced yourself to ignore it, focusing on the feeling of floating away.

Your eyes fluttered open looking up at a familiar red-head, cerulean eyes staring down at you with worry. He had you cradled in his arms, and didn’t look like he was going to let you go any time soon. He was saying something… maybe your name?

“Touya... I had the weirdest dream…”

“Y/N thank god, stay awake for me princess, it’s okay, you’re okay.”

“You died…. And I got kidnapped… and then… Touya it was a nightmare.” You felt your eyes fluttering shut again, your head really hurt. Everything was so bright.

“No, don’t go to sleep yet, princess come on wake up.”

“Touya... please don’t leave me.”

With that you were out, the world going black.

[jessie9008]

Coffee and Bread

Hey guys so this is my first fanfic ever so I really hope you enjoy it!!!! I based some of it on my life. Sorry if it sucks. 

Summary: Y/N’s grandpa had recently just passed away and they have been really sad and no one from class 1-A has been able to make her feel better. Until little Eri comes in and wants to make Y/N’s sadness go away. Eri thinks of YN as an older sibling so she really wants to cheer YN up. 

(Sorry if I’m bad at summaries)

Word Count: 1.6K 

Contains: Mentions of death and a little bit of angst but with a happy ending!!!

Coffee and Bread 

It has been 3 weeks since the passing of YN’s grandpa, and it feels that their heart has been torn to pieces. YN has worked so hard to make their grandfather proud, but now that he's gone there is no point to continuing. Being once filled with ambition, they are now hollow. They’ve locked themselves in their room, unable to go outside because everywhere they look they see their grandpa. Leading to them refusing to speak  to anyone in fear of breaking down and looking weaker than they already do now. Many of their classmates wonder what is going on with their friend’s head wishing that they can help them through this difficult time. All YN is able to do now is replay all the memories of their grandfather in their head day and night with tears streaming down their face. YN is drowning in endless pain, desperately reaching out for salvation even when knowing that nothing or no one will be able to make them feel happy again. 

Mina stared at YN’s door taking a deep breath before she knocked.  “Hey YN the whole class is going to the mall just to hang out, why don’t you come with us?”  she asked.  

I stared at the door with sunken eyes, licked my chapped lips and whispered “No thank you”. I curled deeper into my blankets hoping that Mina would understand that I don’t want to go out. 

“YN you’ve been in your room for days now, you need to go out and get some fresh air”

“Please Mina I just want to be left alone” I begged. “I know you are hurting YN, but we are here to help you. You shouldn’t be suffering all by yourself” Mina pleaded. 

I yelled back “please just leave me alone” 

There was silence on the other side of the door. Mina let out a tired sigh and walked away in defeat.

I let out a tired sigh, relieved that she finally left me alone. I walked to my balcony to see what the outside looked like. I opened up my blinds and winced at how bright it is.  It looks so beautiful outside, it reminded me of how my grandpa would set up a table outside on days like these, turn on his radio, and pull out a deck of cards to play a game of war. This memory brought tears to my eyes. It hurts so much, all I think about is him, and how I won’t be able to hear his laugh, see his smile, or feel his hug. Why did he have to leave me so soon? It’s not fair he was supposed to see me graduate, give me the biggest hug and tell me how proud he is that I’m going to be a pro hero. I just wished that I could have said goodbye, and told him that I loved him one more time. I let out another sob, my knees grow weak, and I fall to the ground. I look up at my ceiling closing my eyes as I cry myself to sleep. 

Timeskip

Midoriya places the plate of food in front of YN’s door after getting no response from them. He walks back to his classmates with a defeated look. Eri looks up from her plate and  notices that YN isn’t with them eating dinner. She goes up to Midoriya with a confused face. 

“Deku why isn’t YN eating dinner with us?” Midoriya crouched down to Eri’s level “YN is really sad right now. They lost their grandpa, and he meant a lot to them.” 

“Will their grandpa come back soon so they can be happy again?” Midoriya gives her a sad look, “YN grandpa passed away, so he won’t be able to come back to make YN happy.” 

With a determined look on her face “Well if their grandpa can’t make them happy anymore then I’ll be the one to do it.” A small smile spreads on Midoriya’s face, “Maybe you will make them happy again.” He stood up and held out his hand to Eri, and he led her to the dining room so they could have dinner. While eating Eri decided that once she finished her food, she would go to YN’s room to cheer her up. 

Once finished Eri ran to put her dish in the sink, and rushed towards YN’s room. She stood in front of the door and took a deep breath in. Her small hands grabbed on to the door knob and slowly opened the door. She quietly closed the door and walked towards YN. She can hear their quiet sobs and it breaks her heart that they are hurting all alone. She climbs onto their bed and lays next to them, Eri pulls YN into a hug and they start to sob uncontrollably. “It’s okay YN, I know you miss him, but I am here to take care of you” she softly pats their head. “Can you tell me about your grandpa? I want to hear all your stories about him.” YN looked up at the young girl and gave her a weak smile “Okay” They went into a sitting position, now Eri is leaning against them. YN clears their throat “When I was about your age I used to sleepover at my grandpa’s every weekend. Around 5 in the morning he would wake me up with a big cup of coffee and some bread, and he would turn on the TV to our favorite show. Once we finished our coffee and bread, he would put everything and go outside so we could water his plants. This is one of my favorite memories of him.” YN’s voice cracked in the end. “He was such an amazing person. He is the main reason why I want to become a hero because all he did was help others and try to bring a smile to their face.” Tears were streaming down YN’s face and Eri pulled them into a hug. Eri rubbed YN’s back gently putting her into a deep sleep. She got off their bed and started to plan out how to make YN happy. 

Eri heads to Mr. Aizawa’s room “Mr. Aizawa can you help me with something?” He looked up from his computer, “Of course what do you need help with?” 

“YN has been really sad and I want to make them happy. They just told me that their grandpa and them would wake up early to eat coffee and bread and watch their favorite show. Can you help me make the coffee?’’

With a small smile on his face “How about we make you both hot chocolate instead because you are still too young to drink coffee.” 

With a big smile on her face Eri exclaimed “Okay”

Time Skip 

The next morning comes and Eri wakes up with a determined look on her face. She jumped out of bed, and woke up Aizawa so he could heat up some hot chocolate and make toast for her and YN. Eri goes to the common room and places a couple of blankets and pillows on the couch to use while they watch some morning cartoons. Once Aizawa put the toast and hot chocolate on the table, Eri ran up to YN’s dorm room. Once in front of the door Eri knocked very timidly. YN groans at the light knocking, and gets up from her warm bed. They cracked the door open to see Eri staring at them with bright eyes and a smile. 

“Good morning YN! Can you come with me to the common room please? I have a surprise for you!” Eri exclaimed. 

YN let out a small sigh and nodded. Eri excitedly grabbed their hand and led them to the common area. As they enter the common area YN notices the toast and hot coco on the coffee table and a bundle of blanket and pillows on the couches. They look down at Eri with a confused look on her face and ask “What's all this?”

Eri smiled wide “This is to cheer you up, I wanted to remake one of your memories that you had with your grandpa. Do you like it?” 

YN smiled at the young girl with tears in her eyes, and hugged the young girl, “I love it thank you so much” 

Eri giggled and led them to the couch to get under the covers and watch cartoons. YN sat down and Eri climbed onto their lap and pulled the blanket over them. 

“Thank you so much Eri, this really nice, it makes me feel like I am with my grandpa.” 

“I’m glad you like it YN! If you want we can do this every weekend?”

“I would love that Eri”

Eri smiled and cuddled into YN's chest and started to eat her toast and drink her hot coco. 

After a couple of minutes Aizawa enters the common area to check on them and he notices them fast asleep on the couch, he smiles slightly and starts to pick up the mugs and plates. He goes to the couch and places another blanket over the two sleeping children and heads back to his room to go back to bed. 

[crimsonfluidessence]

Prompt 25: Silver Lining

Just another day, like any other. Esredes was on his walk to work, and in a particular mood. His mind was wandering once more as he passed the Vault, to fantasies that faded far beyond reality. Imagine if the Warrior hadn't interfered until Nidhogg reared his ugly head. Imagine if Ysayle had killed the Archbishop, before he could take on his own transformation, and the two of them had dealt with Nidhogg. Esredes hadn't trusted Ishgard's people enough, perhaps even less than Ysayle herself. He was fully mentally prepared for having to subjugate Ishgard to get it to listen to them. But perhaps, as things had turned out, not nearly as many would have needed subjugation. Perhaps he wouldn't need to help manage a fragile, in chaos city-state that had been taken over, especially when so many of his own had nothing even close to management skills, perhaps a proper parley would've been possible. And yet, Esredes pulled himself back to reality and reminded himself, that was never quite the case. Peace had been agreed to, and that was it. Himself and all of his were only here on Ishgard's terms or else, and the rest simply had to be dealt with. Still he went through his days in anticipation of being fired for shining progressives who repeated his ideologies on Ishgard's side, or of his house burning down when he got home. Ah, what would life have been like if he wasn't a failure who couldn't match up to idiotic children with goddess powers? It was a question he asked himself here and there, swirling around with all the others, and in his head, timelines began to split off, mirrors into other worlds for him to glance into. In one, he saw himself back with his family in Thanalan. He lived under a new identity and kept quiet and to himself, always afraid of the Ishgardian government finding him out. He worked a simple job that had him feeling nothing, and though he hoped to earn his parents' forgiveness through it, things didn't really change. Esredes looked away from the mirror and towards the approaching door to his office, and opened it and went inside. He greeted the receptionist as always, then greeted Heilyn and Ferrant, quipped with Heilyn about the fact he would never brush his damn hair properly and it looked like ass or something stupid like that. Work went steady today- Esredes cozied himself up with a cup of white tea and busied himself writing some in depth notes on Dragon Blood observations to use as a reference. With how many people he had encountered here and there who would do any amount of dubious things to obtain such information, the casual scrawl on the paper gave no indication of awareness of this. Just another day, just another paper amongst many, cloaked in the tranquility of absurdity. Another mirror opened in Esredes' head as he worked. In this one, Esredes had gone through with one of his fleeting ideas and fled to the Far East when Ishgard rejoined the Alliance, and oh my, was he lost. Completely out of his depth, he had to fight off multiple people trying to mug him in Kugane until someone watched his latest skirmish and approached him. "You're good with a sword," the man said as Esredes shrunk back and kept his hand wrapped around its handle. "How would you like an opportunity to put it to the test?" And so Esredes watched himself hesitantly agree after sixty and a half questions to work for a Kugane lord as a bodyguard. It was a place to stay and decent pay, to stand around and observe everyone like a hawk. He got to know some people around the home and the streets of Kugane who looked upon him with respect, yet caught himself glancing over the sea even on a good day and remembering everything he left completely behind. Esredes got up to refill his tea, and the mirror closed. Soon after, Heilyn called him over to the office across the hall, and surprised him with a sweater- knit entirely by him in that periwinkle blue reminiscent of Shiva. So that he had more than one sweater, Heilyn said. Esredes smiled and thanked the man back, giving him a soft hug of gratitude. Ferrant was also his usual cheerful self today, asking after if Esredes was feeling all right and letting him know he appreciated him. All very routine, yet he never tired of it. At lunch hour, he had an appointment of the strangest sort, so he retrieved his coat and exited the building and made his way down to the Firmament. Esredes was in a little bit of hot water recently, having chased down a double agent to his people and getting in trouble after he was arrested for the act of vigilantism- as if that was the worst thing he had done while back in the city. And yet the head Inquisitor on the chase wrote to him and invited him out to lunch with his friend who also got involved with the chase. To know them both as a person, she claimed. He was completely lost as to the motivation, but Esredes could tell she was an Inquisitor who had an actual soul, a normal person's thought process. So he accepted and went on a picnic. She served arancini, an imitation recipe from the Far East. Elouan took most of the conversation as Esredes anticipated, and he didn't have to do much work as he listened to her and her bodyguard talk about how much they want to visit the Far East, and Elouan filled them in on his own travels. What a nice and unexpected little bubble in the veil of absurdity. Another mirror manifested during the picnic, and Esredes saw himself with his knees curled up, sitting on the ground in a pathetically tiny cell, and from the expression on his face alone, clearly having lost his mind. He flinched and ignored the mirror after his initial glance, focusing his attention on Elouan's babbling exclusively. When everything wrapped up and he returned for the second half of work, Esredes made a few discreet calls in his office to the network about arrangements for later. A little outing with an actually human Inquisitor was nice, but the man knew what he was, and there was always work to do. He took a break in the middle to move over to the Blue Room for an appointment. Clover's ward Teagan had begun seeing him in the past couple months, a woman rescued from life in a fighting ring in Ul'dah who was still perpetually trying to learn and adjust to life beyond. They always had good discussions, even after he put her to looking into the water. This time, to teach her about Ishgardian culture, he had ended up going into his own story up until everything fell. "How did you do it? Turn it around, I mean? It must have been hard, pulling yourself out of that... how did you manage?" She asked him after that. Esredes had to pause a moment to think about his answer. "I had to take it a day at a time. The other members of the camp were not unsupportive. They were concerned, they wish they knew what to say or do, but I was completely unreachable. So, for one thing, I'm someone who doesn't believe in meeting your death unless you have to. It's more productive to die so someone else lives than to simply off yourself. So every day, it was get from start to finish. There was a routine. Do your tasks, break for meals, read in your tent, avoid talking to anyone any longer than you had to. Keep doing this, and eventually you would either die, or something would happen that you were waiting for. Just, something to happen. It was all I really had besides keeping in mind my family- what if I missed something happening? Eventually, I realized these people were that, people. Who cared. Who did not want to kill me for being a knight as I thought. And I decided that, while I could've fled to Thanalan and tried to live as a normal person, I wanted to stay and make a difference, even a small one. Help people in my situation to be saved and survive, not perish to Ishgard, even if there was no chance of making a bigger difference by that point. And when Ysayle entered the picture, that changed everything, and the rest is history." "I think I can understand that... I, for one, am glad the sun continued to rise for you...that you were able to find reasons to keep going, ways to help people." She gave a small smile. "I bet you've made plenty of differences with all the folks you've helped along your journey. Cause it's not just the big ones that matter, yeah?""Well, had I not been concerned about the small child who was alone in the woods, we wouldn't be here, so yes. And that's what I enjoy about doing this on the side nowadays- the pleasure of seeing it affect individual people in real time. The way I ended up discussing it with another client, is you have to figure out the way to get out of the room. You're in a room, and you can get out and see what's beyond it, but you're just not ready to yet, you find yourself unable. Once you can manage to get out of the room and see what's beyond it, everything becomes a little easier." Teagan tilted her head at this. "A... room? So... you finding the drive to help others helped you open your 'room'?" "It helped me get out of it, yes. I realized I still had something to do and people cared. People really helped a lot, even though I was pushing them away. Just knowing they wanted me to feel better and believed in me as a person.... after everything else fell through, it was all I had." She nodded and smiled a little. "I'm glad you were able to find the door, and that you had people there to help you find the knob." She paused for a brief moment. "... Thank you for sharing your story with me, Esredes. It's been really eye-opening." And so the session concluded, and soon Esredes was back out into the world. First half of the day was over, and then it was time for the second. There was not a formal meeting happening with his people tonight, but instead a get together of sorts at Vette's more recently acquired mansion she had made into a space for all of them to convene safely. Esredes went to and from everybody, making sure everyone was doing well, holding conversations and watching everyone enjoy themselves with a faint smile on his face. He stepped into the bathroom at one point to do his business, and washed his hands after. He was confused why there was a second bathroom mirror for a moment until it began to show him another reality. Esredes stepped back from the sink and put a hand against the wall to his left, the other going over his heart. Reflected back at him in the mirror was a collection of all the people he knew and loved close together, with himself standing further away on the platform and forced to stare at them. A mass public execution. Esredes rushed out of the bathroom and slammed the door shut, pressing his entire body against the door and breathing in and out, in and out. It's not real. It's not real. "Esredes?" Came a gentle voice, as Vette approached the man. She had most definitely felt the spike in distress from the aetherial bond they shared. She asked about how he was doing and put a soft hand to his cheek. "I'm all right, really." Esredes said. "I just had... an unexpected wave of fear come over me." Vette was always in tune with how he felt. She helped him calm down the rest of the way, and then lead him back to the gathering. The anxiety soon faded, and replaced by it, a warm feeling heated the blood inside him. For the rest of the evening, Esredes continued to engage with his family, waves of laughter and elation surging and falling in with the tide. He only hoped that the droplets of gratitude leaking from his fingertips and voice washed over everyone attending like a cool rain on a summer's day, for as he closed his eyes and let each droplet of noise from their voices and words hit him, everything stood right into place where it belonged.

--- @thecalmnessandthestorms / @heartofthefury Heilyn, Ferrant, Sartorius (unnamed mention) @eternal-finis Lieuvanne (unnamed mention) @shieldbcund Elouan @punches-and-cream-puffs Teagan @syerraffxiv Vette

[niksixx]

Homecoming

Requested: By a lovely Anon! 

Pairing: Nikki Sixx x Female Reader 

Description: “I’m sending an ask now for tomorrow (12th) bc I’m in a different time zone and don’t wanna miss the first day submitting requests because I love your writing so much! Can you do a Nikki x Reader, of Nikki having been on tour, and when he gets back he’s missed the reader so much that all he wants to do is please her, and he asks her to ride his thigh and then his face? Ahhh! With lots of dirty talk and praise. Thankyouuuuu”

Warning: Smut

A/N: If you enjoyed this, leave a comment! 

*GIF is not mine, credits to the owner*

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ten more minutes, just ten more minutes Nikki thought to himself, eagerly drumming his fingers on the steering wheel. It had been a long seven months of touring different cities in Europe, and though Nikki was living the dream with his three best friends, there was a woman waiting for him at home who he could not wait to see.

The calls, the texts, the sexts, nothing compared to seeing your face and holding you against his chest. He couldn’t wait to get his hands on your body, his mouth on your sweet lips. Just thinking about all the sex he’d be having to make up for lost time caused him to groan loudly inside his car as the fabric of his jeans constricted against his tight bulge.

As your house came into view, goosebumps littered Nikki’s arms. Intense excitement coursed through his body. Nikki wanted his homecoming to be a surprise, so he had given you a fake return home date when you’d called him the week prior.

With suitcases beside him and other bags slung over his shoulders, Nikki quietly fished for his key, gently turning it in the knob before pushing the door open. The house was unusually quiet, and for a moment Nikki thought you may have gotten stuck at work, but when he heard the shower running as he approached your bedroom, his face broke out in a smirk.

He perched himself on the bed just as the water shut off, clasping his hands together between his legs. Any second now…

Nikki’s heart raced as you stepped in the room, body covered by a towel as water droplets slid down your body. Looking up from the floor, you immediately let out a scream, running forward and tackling Nikki to the bed.

“Oh, my god! Baby, what? You’re here!” The words came rushing out of your mouth, smushing together in one erratic sentence. Never in a million years did you expect Nikki to surprise you, but boy were you glad he did. “How is this possible?”

“I was always coming home today,” Nikki grinned, pressing a kiss to your cheek. Sitting up off the bed, Nikki adjusted you against his lap. “How are you, baby girl?”

“A lot better now,” you admitted, the tears in the corners of your eyes betraying you. It had been so long since you last hugged your boyfriend, felt his skin, touched his hair, kissed his lips. The last few months had been so lonely with just you at home, trying to come up with new ways to distract yourself. You cooked, painted, learned how to sew, but none of those activities made the time pass. “I’ve been so lonely without you, Sixx. I know touring is your job, and no one supports you more than I do, you know that baby, but it’s been hard for me.”

Pulling you against his chest, Nikki buried his face in the crook of your neck, the fresh scent of soap filling his nostrils. “I’m here now, love. I promise. And I’m not going anywhere for a long time, so you’ll have me all to yourself.”

You hummed against Nikki’s head, the soft sound sending a rush of blood straight to his cock. God, he couldn’t wait to completely ravish you for hours. Seven months without sex? How the fuck had he managed that?

“I haven’t even been able to…you know…please myself properly,” you whispered, cheeks burning as Nikki’s jaw clenched. To your surprise, the towel wrapped around you had been peeled off by Nikki’s hands, and now you were perched against his jean-clad thigh, completely exposed. Your bare clit brushed against the rough fabric, eliciting a soft moan from your lips.

“Don’t you worry,” Nikki said, lips brushing against yours as his hands squeezed your hips. “I’m gonna take good care of you.” His hands guided your hips in a slow back and forth motion, a harsh breath escaping your mouth. You held on to Nikki’s shoulders as your hips followed his motions, the feeling of the crisp material meshing perfectly with your delicate clit.

“That’s right, baby, keep that pretty pussy right here for me,” Nikki was an expert at dirty talk, always had been. He never held back either, always whispering in your ear with his low, gravelly voice. “How’s that feel, baby?”

A hushed moan, followed by a drawn out “fuck” was the only answer you could manage. It pleased Nikki to see you get off on just his thigh. It was something you’d never tried in the bedroom, but now it was the only thing Nikki wanted to do. He was fully clothed himself, but seeing his woman, his sweet, beautiful lady, naked and writhing as her pussy rubbed against his thigh was the best sight to come home to.

“Nikki, fuck, faster,” Pleading wasn’t something you found yourself doing much with Nikki. Occasionally, he’d make you beg for it, whether it be his fingers or his tongue, but for the most part, Nikki didn’t play games when it came to sex. “Please, please, faster.”

Nikki gripped your waist tighter, fingertips digging into your skin. Hard enough to keep you steady, but not enough to cause you pain. Your head fell back in total pleasure, a groan slipping past your mouth as that familiar ball of pressure built up in your lower stomach.

“Oh God, Nikki, I’m gonna come,” Pushing forward, desperate for a release, you rubbed your clit harder against his jeans, collapsing into Nikki’s arms as your orgasm rocked through your body. You rode out the high, juices sliding down your thigh and staining Nikki’s pants. You glanced up from the wet spot on Nikki’s pants, the lust in his eyes making you hot all over again. “Holy fuck, I needed that,” you said, flashing a satisfied smile. As you went to stand and clean off your legs, Nikki pulled you toward him.

“I’m not finished with you yet,” Desire dripped from Nikki’s voice as he pulled off his shirt, licking his lips as he lie on his back. “Come sit on your throne, princess.”

His voice alone sent jolts of electricity through your body. With shaky legs, you crawled up Nikki’s body, positioning your pussy at his mouth. A squeal fell from your lips as he pulled you down to his mouth, his warm tongue darting up and down your pussy skillfully. As Nikki feasted on your body, your fingers tangled in his hair, pulling gently, which you knew he loved.

“The sweetest pussy I’ve ever had,” The quick flits of his tongue drove you wild, the vibrations from his voice sending you into a frenzy. “So fucking good, baby.”

Aside from today, the last time you had experienced an orgasm was the night before Nikki left for tour. It’d been a night of sensual foreplay and making love until three in the morning. After he left, you found it extremely hard to get off. Vibrators, dildos, and even your own fingers didn’t seem to do the trick. But now that Nikki was back, you were on the brink of your second orgasm.

“You ready to come for me, sweetheart?” Nikki asked, sucking your clit between his lips. Your face scrunched as Nikki flattened his tongue against your pussy one last time. “Come for me, baby.”

And his words had you come undone. Your legs shook violently as your second orgasm crashed over your body, whimpers leaving your lips and Nikki continued to lap at your clit. After what seemed to be a minute-long orgasm, you buckled next to Nikki, sweat coating your body.

“I am so glad you’re home,” you said, finally catching your breath.

Chuckling, Nikki gathered you in his arms, lovingly kissing your head. “Me too, pretty girl, me too. I’ve missed you,” he stated honestly. “And since I’m not going anywhere for a very long time,” Rolling on top of your body, Nikki kissed your lips before reaching a hand between your thighs, fingers gently rubbing your sore clit. “I’m going to please you. All. Night. Long.”

And as his fingers dipped between your slick folds, you knew that Nikki would be determined to give you one more orgasm until he was completely and utterly satisfied. And you? Well, you didn’t mind one bit. 

[katattacktime]

Self Care (Asmo x GN!Reader)

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NSFW, V Soft, making love

4,400 ish words

I haven’t written in like 8 years and this was written all at once until like 4 in the morning because Asmo Simping Hours

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It had been a long, long week at RAD. You arrived back at the House of Lamentation and trudged through the entrance hall to your room. Every step weighed heavier as the exhaustion set into your bones. You took your bag and unceremoniously dumped it on the table in your room, a heavy thunk from overstuffed tomes and clinking of writing utensils rolling against each other. You let out a deep sigh, shuffled over to your bed, and flopped face down, letting out a groan as your shoulders relaxed at the promise of the weekend to look forward to.

You pulled your DDD out of your pocket and scrolled through your notifications. Group chats with new messages, a missed text from Satan asking if you’d seen the book he’d started last night followed by a “Never mind. Found it.” less than a minute after. A few notifications from the popular Devildom social media sites. Devilgram in particular seemed to be booming tonight; demons ramping up for a Friday night of parties and drinking to celebrate the well-earned break.

A soft knock sounded at your door. You sat up and jerked your head away from your phone toward the intruder.

Asmodeus leaned against the door frame with his arms crossed, eyes raking up and down taking in your appearance.

“You,” he said pointedly, “look like you could use a self-care night.”

You could feel your cheeks get warm at his assessment. “Is it really that bad?”

Asmo chuckled good-naturedly.

“No, dear. I promise. I would never let you walk around like that without telling you, no, but, I did see you walk in here like a zombie and heard you toss everything related to school as far away from you as possible.” He grinned.

You groaned. “It wouldn’t be so bad if I wasn’t starting from nothing with magic and knowledge of the three realms in general,” you pouted.

“Well, what do you say you and I go relax in my room? It takes work to stay this pretty for my admirers and I’ve got a new bath bomb I’ve been dying to try out. Company as pretty as me will make it that much more enjoyable,” he flirted.

“Hmmmm. I dunno—“ you drawled. You flashed a smile at him and coyly pretended to consider your options. “In all seriousness though, how would we do that without being disturbed? I love you and your brothers dearly, but you all have a habit of causing problems for each other at the worst moments.” You grimaced at the thoughts of all the quiet moments you’d had with each of them that had been suddenly ruined by an ill-timed appearance of someone else.

Asmo smiled, “I have good news for you then. It’s just you and me home tonight.”

“What? Really? Where did everyone else go?”

“Lucifer got called to some meeting at the castle. Apparently they forgot something while at the council meeting earlier,” he counted on his fingers for each brother he named, “One of Mammon’s witches called him for something last minute. Satan is holing himself up at the library with Solomon until really late tonight. Supposedly, they found something or other in a manuscript that could ‘change the concept of curses as we know it.” He rolled his eyes and continued. “The twins are at Hell’s Kitchen with Levi. Levi lost a bet with Belphie, and now he’s paying the price, literally.” He grinned and held up six fingers to you. “So that just leaves you and me! And I was in charge of dinner tonight anyways, so this works out in my favor too that no one is here,” he stated.

You chuckled. “I am always impressed with how up-to-date with everything you seem to be,” you complimented. “I would love to have a self-care night with you tonight, Asmo.”

Asmo smiled broadly and you could swear a blush dusted his face before he turned to lead you into the kitchen situated next to your room.

“I figure we might as well order in tonight, my treat, since it’s just us two. No point in messing up the kitchen, and we can get started that much sooner.” He grabbed a few menus from under a magnet on the side of the fridge and spread them out on the butcher block island in the center.

“What are you hungry for? I was thinking we get something from that little restaurant across the street from Madame Scream’s and follow up with some dessert from Madame Scream’s too. Maybe some bufo egg tea to sip on while we’re at it?”

You looked down at the menus spread out before you and considered for a moment. “Sounds good to me!”

Asmo pulled out his phone and called both places to make your orders while you gathered up the menus and set them back under the magnet on the side of the fridge. You piped in here and there as needed, but soon enough, your food was ordered, on its way, and at the front door ready for you. You helped Asmo bring it in, while he made small talk with the delivery guys and shut the door.

He grabbed some of the bags from you and gestured for you to lead the way.

“After you,” he said politely.

You smiled at him and you two sauntered into the dining room to eat together. Asmo, being ever attentive, made sure to ask about your week and if there was anything he could help with, complained about the work load at RAD, and gossiped about who was throwing parties and who wasn’t.

When you asked why he wasn’t out and about, he waved his hand in dismissal stating that even he needed a night off every now and then. He grabbed a cupcake out of the box of sweets you’d ordered from Madame Scream’s.

“If I went out and partied every night, my skin would never forgive me. That and sometimes I get tired of being in big crowds too. I have my parties that I host a couple of nights a month anyways, so I can’t let everyone be oversaturated by my presence. Then I become boring, and that just wouldn’t be fair to my admirers,” he explained.

You hummed in acknowledgment and swallowed the last bite of the sweet you’d ordered. “Well, I’m glad you’re here with me. I don’t know what I would have done if I’d been suddenly alone.”

Asmo smiled at you and the both of you stood up to clear the table.

You thought about what your night might have turned out to be had he gone out instead of staying in. You’d completed your homework earlier before you got home. You could have watched a movie, scrolled on your DDD endlessly, maybe dressed yourself up just because you could. Your face heated when you realized that if no one had been home you could have spent hours unwinding in another, more carnal way with yourself without worrying if someone would interrupt. It had been a while.

If Asmo noticed the blush on your cheeks, he didn’t say anything, instead opting to usher you by your room for pajamas and through his room to the bathroom for your joint pampering session. He snapped his fingers and lit the candles in the room to create a dim, calming atmosphere.

“So,” he began, “I’m going to gather everything together in one place and pick some things out for you. It’ll take me a bit because I want to make sure everything I pick will suit your skin well, and I have to fill the bath and figure out where I put that bath bomb. We’re not going to do anything tonight that you don’t want to do, so if you really just can’t stand the texture or smell of something let me know, we can skip it or I can find a substitute.” He pointed a look over to a countertop filled with organized bottles and containers. “I have plenty to choose from.”

He turned and walked to the glass-paned french doors that lead into his closet, opening them and disappearing inside the mood lit room for a moment. He returned with two soft, silky, cream robes and matching slippers.

“I need you to hop your lovely self into the shower and get clean. I need a clean canvas to work with so that everything will soak in better.”

He shot a flirtatious look at you. “I would join you but I’m afraid we wouldn’t get anywhere with our pampering night unless you wanted me to pamper you another way.”

“Maybe once my muscles don’t feel like knots,” you acquiesced and blushed at the innuendo.

Asmo grinned and exchanged the pajamas from your arms for a robe and slippers and pointed you over to the walk-in shower behind him. A half wall with a glass partition and glass door separated it from the rest of the bathroom.

“Everything you need should be in there. There’s even a fresh razor should you want to shave anything and I just changed out the washcloths last night, so everything is new. There’s a sugar scrub on the shelf in the wall and a bunch of other things you can feel free to test.”

The shower itself was easily as spacious as his bath. Smooth, unbroken, white marble formed the walls with a tiled ceiling. Plenty of room for several people to enjoy the steamy water and relax. A tiled bench stood prominently in the center of the shower room (as you were now calling it) for resting under the stream of the rainfall shower positioned above it. Towels sat rolled neatly on a shelf by the entrance.

You placed the robe and slippers onto the shelf and stripped down. You neatly folded your uniform and placed it aside, unsure what to do with it otherwise.

You turned and made your way deeper into the room to the knobs on the wall, fiddling with them to figure out what turned on where when you messed with them. You found a hot, soothing temperature you could bear and stood under the stream, melting away the knots in your shoulders and back.

Curiosity overtook you and you took your time to explore his products as you relaxed. A couple you even decided to pamper yourself with since he so graciously offered. You cleaned yourself as you normally did when you weren’t rushed for time and shut off the valves when you finished, toweling dry.

You peered through the glass partition over the half wall into the rest of the bathroom. Asmo, dressed in his cream robe and slippers, had poised on the rim of his tub while you showered. He watched the water fill the bath and swirl the bath bombs and flower petals he had dropped in. You shrugged on the robe, tying it loosely in front of you, and placed your feet in the slippers before opening the glass door leading out.

Asmo glanced up at you and raked his gaze across your frame. Soft music played from a speaker he’d set up.

“As beautiful as ever,” he commented appreciatively. He shut off the water and removed himself from the side of the bath. He grabbed a tray of items he’d gathered.

“Feel free to go through these and remove anything you don’t like. The bath is ready, and I’ll join you as soon as I’m done showering.” He strutted toward the shower, but you grabbed his arm before he passed.

“Thank you, Asmo. Really.” You leaned toward him and pressed a chaste kiss on the cheek of the Avatar of Lust. “This all really means a lot to me.”

Asmo looked down at you in surprise, a deep, coral blush painted across his face. He lifted his hand to where you’d kissed his cheek and looked away.

“Y-you’re welcome. Of course I’d do something as simple as this,” he gestured to the room around him, “People as beautiful as us have to make sure we stay that way, right?”

“Of course,” you smiled at him softly and walked away from him toward the tray to go through the items he selected.

Asmo stood there for a second longer than he intended, watching you languidly make your way through his bathroom, completely relaxed around him. His heart swelled as he watched you take an interest in the things he’d spent so much time curating with you in mind. He turned toward the shower before he couldn’t bear to be away from your side any longer, determined to continue with the night on your terms when you were ready.

You untied the robe and gently set it on the side of the tub, sitting beside the silky, folded fabric and kicking off the slippers next to the tub. You swung your legs over the edge and lowered yourself into the warm, cloudy light pink water. Specks of gold glitter rolled around your legs as you disturbed the bath, yellow petals swirling gently on top. The scent of chamomile, honey, and almond milk wafted up as you sunk in.

You settled yourself onto the bench encircling the bath and stretched your arms high above your head, before resting them on the edge behind you, enjoying the contrast between the warm bath and cool, smooth tile. You closed your eyes and laid your head back against a pillar and dozed.

Asmo emerged from the shower, his robe draped over his shoulders and towel wrapped around his hips. He walked to the bath across from where you’d situated. Your eyes opened slightly to acknowledge him, and you smiled sweetly at him before patting the top of the water to invite him in with you.

He peeled off the robe, dropped the towel to the floor, and stepped over the side of the tub, humming contentedly as the water rose above his hips up to his waist and chest. The water swirled around him as he waded to the tray of items he’d collected and picked one up: a small blue glass container filled with some sort of face mask.

“I wanted to start us out easy with something simple. This is a mask good for exfoliating and brightening your skin. It’s had a ton of rave reviews and I’ve used it for a while,” he explained.

Asmo scooped some product out with his fingers and warmed it in his palms. He gently smoothed a layer onto your face and settled next to you as you sat up to do the same for him.

You rubbed the mask between your fingertips and swiped long, tender touches over his forehead, nose, and warm cheeks. Asmo leaned into your touch; a soft sigh escaped his lips. He gazed into your eyes as you studied his face, fingers memorizing every plane.

Your fingers dipped back below the water’s surface to find his hand and hold it between yours, rubbing loving circles over his knuckles. You brought his hand to your lips and kissed it softly before resting your head on his shoulder.

He pressed a kiss into your hair and grabbed your hand back, intertwining your fingers together. You enjoyed each other’s presence and touch. Asmo quietly hummed to whatever song played on his speaker into your hair.

You washed the masks off your faces and continued going through the tray of serums and essences Asmo selected for the both of you, giggling together when you pinched each other’s cheeks or booped his nose. Playfulness came easy with him. All the stress from the week had sloughed off your shoulders thanks to his caring and attentiveness.

When you were done, the water had cooled. Asmo stood and pulled the plug from the drain and stepped out. He grabbed your robe and extended his hand back to you to help you out, throwing your robe over your nakedness as soon as you were safely out.

“What we do from here is up to you,” he stated. He rested his hand on the back of his neck and tried not to stare too much as you adjusted your robe, watching your reaction as he put on his own robe and deftly tried to cover his growing problem. “We can get in pajamas and watch something together or, if you want to do something else, we could do that instead.”

You thought for a moment. The bath ended almost too soon for your liking. You still wanted to be held and enjoy his company, not to mention the warmth that had pooled in your belly from being so innocently intimate and affectionate with him. You looked up at his expectant face, waiting for a response.

“I think I’d like to touch you some more and actually show you how much fun tonight has been for me and how much I appreciate all this.” you answered. “Lotion would be a good place to start.” You blushed and looked away from him. His gaze quickly heated at your suggestion.

“I don’t know if I can keep my hands off of you if you do that,” he warned.

“Good, because I don’t want you to keep your hands off me.”

Asmo leveled his gaze with you and nodded his head. He turned to the countertop to grab a bottle, taking a second to compose himself. As much as he wanted to ravish you this very second and have you moaning his name under him, he wanted even more for you to relax and feel cherished and important.

He pulled away from the counter, bottle acquired, and placed his hand on your lower back, steering you out to his room. You nestled into his shoulder almost self-consciously and grabbed the lotion from him before you could consider otherwise.

“On the bed,” you instructed.

Asmo grinned at you as he followed your command punctuated by a flirtatious comment. “Only if you join me.”

You smiled back, joining him and kneeling on the bed in front of him. The dusty pink sheets of his bed were soft and cool. You could picture yourself spending hours in them.

You looked down at your robes, the only thing interrupting your progress. “We should probably get rid of these for what I have planned,” you commented.

Asmo chuckled and undid the ties holding the fabric closed on both of you, while you popped the cap open on the lotion bottle. You dispensed some into your hand after he’d discarded your robe and held the bottle out to him, waiting for him to hold out his palm for you to give him some as well. Rubbing your hands together awakened the fragrance and warmed the cold substance. It smelled bright and pleasant and soothing, just what you needed.

Starting at each other’s chests, you smoothed the lotion into tense muscle and along collarbones and shoulders. You traveled down arms and sides, being careful of ticklish spots and sore spots alike. You looked down between you at Asmo’s growing member, watching it engorge as you skimmed your fingers over sensitive areas. You moved closer to him, legs spreading to either side of his knees, and wrapped your arms around his neck, trailing light kisses up his chest as you massaged your hands into the top of his shoulders and back.

Asmo pulled you closer to him, hand trailing up your back, watching you in awe as you shivered at his affection and showered him with love. He captured your lips as you pulled away from one of the many kisses you’d peppered against his chest. He cupped the back of your head and angled you so he could kiss you deeper, harder, unsure of how to describe the fluttering and warmth in his chest but determined to show you.

You moaned into his lips and pressed yourself as close as you could, rocking against him, making him hiss in pleasure and ball his fist in your hair. The action sent more electricity to your core. He cupped your ass and helped you grind against him.

He laid you back against the pillows, hands resting on either side of your face and dipped in for another kiss which you enthusiastically returned. He leaned over to his nightstand and opened the drawer, grabbing some items and setting them on the sheets before returning to hover over you.

He pressed his forehead against yours and kissed you deeply once more. Rose gold eyes met with your own and searched for any sign of hesitation. “Should I continue?”

“Yes, more, please,” you breathed.

He kissed you once more on your lips. His hands trailed down your body, appreciating every inch you had allowed him to see. Deft fingers pinched and rolled your nipples as he began kissing a path down your jaw and neck, nipping and kissing particularly at the sensitive spot under your ear. You could feel the light trace of teeth as he sucked marks into your collarbone, soothing them with a press of his tongue. You mewled at every kiss and bite and touch he gave you.

He moved further down and trailed kisses over your tummy until his face hovered above your heat. You felt his breath ghost over you, teasing, causing you to clench and twitch beneath him, watching him carefully in anticipation. His eyes flicked up to you and he grinned at your rapt attention before cheekily sucking you into his mouth in one smooth motion. He held your hips down and watched your face contort in pleasure with every lick, kiss, and hollowing of his cheeks. You threaded your hand through his strawberry blond curls and tensed against him.

“Hah, A-Asmo,” you panted. He hummed against you and you curled your toes. “Asmo please, I’m so close.”

He placed a kiss against you and pulled away.

“Asmo please!” you begged, not caring for how needy you may have just sounded.

“Shhhh shhh,” he hushed you gently, “I promise I’ll take care of you. Be good for me and let me make sure you’re prepared. Yeah?”

He reached up to one of the items he’d grabbed from his nightstand and showed it to you. A small bottle with a clear liquid inside. Lube you guessed. You groaned but nodded nonetheless, anticipation building in your throat in the form of a whine. You wanted to make him feel good too.

Asmo opened the cap and dribbled lube on his fingers, pressing them to your entrance and spreading the slick over you.

He pressed one finger in and then two, slowly opening you up and making sure you were ready to take him. He felt himself dripping precum onto the sheets as he grinned himself into the mattress to relieve some of the ache. You had no idea what your moans alone did to him.

You begged once more. “Asmo, please, I’m definitely ready! I just really need you inside me now. Please! I want to feel you.” You covered your face with your hands, sure you were redder than you had ever been before.

Asmo cursed under his breath. He couldn’t deny you anymore. Not when you said things like that and begged so pretty for him. He grabbed the condom he’d retrieved from his nightstand earlier and rolled it on. He positioned himself back above you, his cock pressing against you as he slowly pressed in. He threw his head back and groaned as your heat enveloped him and clenched around him.

You felt him press inch by inch into you until he bottomed out, fully sheathed inside you, hips pressed up against you. You panted at the feeling of being fully filled by him, letting out a breathy low moan when he experimentally rolled his hips. You felt his hands tug your wrists and palms away from your face.

“Let me see you.”

He laced your fingers together and rested on his elbows above you, kissing you deeply before beginning to thrust with long, slow, deep drags inside you, gazing into your eyes like you were his whole world.

He kissed you tenderly, taking his time, studying your lips with his. He wanted to remember this forever. Your voice, your smell, the way your face contorted in pleasure with every roll of his hips. He couldn’t hold on for long. Not with the way you had openly admitted to wanting to touch him earlier or the way you’d begged just now. It was part of the reason he’d gotten you so close to the edge. He wanted to feel you come undone around him.

Asmo kissed you once more and sat up on his knees, one hand letting go of one of yours in favor of reaching down between you and rubbing you closer to completion. The coil in your belly tightened impossibly further as he pressed faster into you, the sound of skin against skin and him pumping inside you echoing with his and your moans. His thrusts started faltering, his timing off ever so slightly you could tell he was close too. He squeezed your hand once more and looked into your eyes.

“I love you.”

And you came undone.

Your orgasm took over and caused you to arch your back up, hips pressed down against him, legs curling around his torso. He cursed and followed you over, thrusting a few more times before settling deep inside you to ride out his own orgasm, moaning your name like a mantra. He caught himself as he buckled over you, letting the last of it wash over him.

You cupped his face and pulled him down for another kiss. When you separated, you stroked his face and replied, “I love you too.” You kissed his nose once and twice more on his lips for good measure.

He slowly pulled out from you, both groaning at the loss, but you were both tired and sated. He could see sleep slowly starting to haze your eyes as you struggled to stay awake. He smiled gently at you. You gently smiled back.

He slid off the bed into the bathroom to discard the condom and grab a warm cloth to clean the both of you up. When he returned, you were barely conscious.

Asmo wiped a warm cloth over the mess you had created together on your skin and tucked you into bed beside him. He gently kissed your forehead and wrapped you in his arms, following you into a restful sleep.

[dontasktheradiodemon]

Post-Extermination Cleanup (1/17/2021)

Hey look it’s a chat log that has nothing to do with that event I’ve been logging for the past few weeks

Alastor helps dig out @usedhearts​ Sir Pentious’s airship after it got crushed during the annual extermination, and totally overexerts himself in an effort to show off. Sir Pentious gives Alastor a tour and plans what ship repairs are needed. They talk about their deaths, play a violin duet, and somehow manage to act incredibly gay without either one noticing the other one has a crush. “How incredibly gay?” you ask, and I answer: at one point they just start smelling each other’s perfume/body wash and neither one thinks this is weird. Radio waves interfere with gaydar.

usedhearts

🎩 I WAS PLANNING TO REPAIR THE WAREHOUSE SO THE SHIP WOULD NOT NEED TO BE MOVED AS IT IS REPAIRED!

🎩 BUT HERE IS THE LOCATION TO CLEAR AWAY THE DEBRIS! [location info lmao]

dontasktheradiodemon

🎶 Wonderful! Is now a good time for me to come over?

usedhearts

🎩 IT IS! I AM AT THE HOTEL, AND I WOULD LIKE TO BE THERE TO SEE YOU DO IT, SO COULD YOU COME GET ME FIRST?

🎩 I HAVE NOW REALIZED THAT DOING IT THAT WAS MAKES ME GIVING YOU THE LOCATION OVER THIS OBSOLETE! L-O-L

dontasktheradiodemon

🎶 Ha! Glad to have it anyway. I was actually just about to ask whether you were going to be there or if you were just going to trust me to clean off the debris unsupervised!

🎶 I’ll be right over! And I’ll bring brunch!

usedhearts

🎩 OH, YES, THANK YOU! I HAVEN'T EATEN YET TODAY!

🎩 I WILL AWAIT YOU WITH BAITED BREATH!

dontasktheradiodemon

🎶 And a hearty appetite, I hope!

🎶 And for my next magic trick, I’ll be silently appearing half a foot behind my audience! In three, two, one...

Alastor

Guess who is now, as promised, six inches behind Sir Pentious. And menacingly whispering “Ta-daaa~”

In order to get six inches behind Sir Pentious he had to position his feet to straddle Telly’s tail. It’s honestly not a very intimidating stance.

Sir Pentious

And there goes his hood in surprise! Even when he was expecting it, he was still done a startle.

"OH!" He laughed after, turning to see Alastor. "GOOD MORNING, ALASTOR!"

Alastor

Alastor comes *this close* to receiving a broken nose. Luckily, he was expecting the hood fwoop. "Good morning!"

For a split second he was desperately tempted to just lean forward, wrap his arms around Sir Pentious, and plop his chin down on his shoulder... but no, no doing that. Instead he stepped back and held up a box. "And here I am with brunch, as promised!"

Sir Pentious

Well, if Alastor wasn't, Telly would then! He turned around enough to be face to face and then hugged him, letting out a little snakey purr.

"It's good to see you, I missed you!" Was that weird to say? Friends missed on another right?

He pulled back and cleared his throat. "YES, WHAT'S ON THE MENU TODAY?"

Alastor

Oh! Okay. Hold on, he's going to melt into the hug. If he hugged back tightly enough it would crush the butterflies in his stomach right?

Apparently not, that *I missed you* made them multiply. "I missed you, too."

Stepping back felt like trying to rip his own arms off. Impressive enough that he succeeded, absolutely astounding that he did it without demonstrating any pain. "I hope you're not sick of eggs—I made a frittata! Just a lazy, simple thing, I'm afraid." This lazy, simple thing was stuffed with pesto chicken and two different kinds of cheese and even a tomato he'd shanked a man in an alley for in order to get it fresh. Never trust Alastor when he calls food simple.

It also, as it happened, had been *his* frittata, until suddenly he'd discovered an opportunity to pass it on to a snake who needed it more than him. He'd carefully trimmed off the part he'd already eaten in a way that disguised the fact that it wasn't a whole piece, devoured the scraps, and hurried over. He wasn't about to waste time making more food when he could just hand over the food he already had.

Sir Pentious

Oh his eyes are big! They are Big and Wibbly, as he stares at that frittata!

"It looks delicious! Oh, thank you, Alastor!" He took it, almost reverently, and sat on his coils to just....start eating right there. He's eating fast but somehow still savoring it! He's making some very happy snake noises, and when he finishes, he's coming back to give him another hug!

"It was delicious, thank you!" He pulled back, but ran his hand down Alastor's arm to hold his hand. "Did you get fresh tomato? It didn't taste dried!"

Alastor

"Any time!" Just look at him eat. Was the poor man starving? Maybe he should have made a new one, it would have been a little bigger. He was considering whether he could teleport in some toast when he got hugged again and forgot what he was thinking about.

"Er—yes! Straight from the living world, I think! Either that or there's a *very* good greenhouse hidden somewhere nearby, but it certainly tastes like mortal realm quality, doesn't it?"

Sir Pentious

"It did! It was so tasty, I haven't had a fresh tomato in--" He pauses and thinks, his face scrunching. "Well, I can't even remember when!" He laughs a bit.

"Did you want some tea-- or, rather, coffee? I know you don't like tea. I figured we might have a cup before we head to the warehouse?"

Alastor

"I've got something of a knack for tracking down the good ingredients! Most of them, anyway—I haven't scared up any tropical fruit for you yet, but I'm keeping my ear to the ground."

He waved off the offer, "Don't you worry, I'm taken care of!" He opened a portal and a handy travel mug dropped through—the coffee he'd been having with brunch. "But if you want to make yourself some tea before we go, I'm more than happy to wait!" He bowed with a dramatic flourish. "Today, I'm at your disposal, my good Sir."

Sir Pentious

Telly's eyes widened again at the sight of the mug. Oh, how convient! He laughed. "I sssee! Putting that french press to good use then?"

He went over to his hot plate, turning it on as he filled the kettle. "And here I was hoping that perhaps I could con you into trying some more tea." He giggled again.

Alastor

"I most certainly have! Let me tell you, it's kicked up the quality of my breakfast a notch or two!"

Alastor found a counter to lean against. "As I said, I'm at your disposal. If you want me to try some more tea..." he placed a hand over his heart gravely while a solemn military march played faintly, "then I'll endure this trial with quiet dignity and grace." His audience laughed at him. "Anyway, this coffee's got to last me the rest of the day!"

Sir Pentious

"Perhaps just one cup? I made this mix just recently and find it quite delicious, even without honey!" He hummed as he too leaned against the counter, waiting for the kettle to whistle. When it did, he poured the hot water into a prepared pot, and settled on his coils to wait. This pot, however, was clear glass, letting the petals and tea inside be seen, as well as how the water changed color.

"It's a blackberry jasmine tea, with a dash of sweet vanilla!"

Alastor

"Better make it a small cup, I don't want to waste your fancy tea if it turns out it isn't to my tastes." And he didn't think it would be, but he wasn't going to be so rude as to not even try it.

He watched the pot, fascinated by the gradual color change.

Sir Pentious

Telly seemed to know the perfect time to pour it-- probably from how often he made tea-- and poured a full cup for himself and only half of one for Alastor. He slid the cup and saucer over towards him-- the cups matched the pot, clear glass with gilded gold edges.

"I think you may like this, as it's more bold and bitter than some other teas I've made." He took a sip without adding anything and sighed happily.

Alastor

"Thank you!" He sipped it, then considered it in thoughtful silence. The invisible audience murmured among itself like judges debating an Olympic gymnast's score.

"Well—I don't think I'd pick it off the menu myself, but it's not bad," he finally said. "It tastes the way a flower garden smells! It suits you."

Sir Pentious

He smiled, taking another sip. "I try my best. I'll find a tea that you actually like yet!" Telly moved closer, sitting on his coils again.

"Alastor, may I ask you something? I'm curious."

Alastor

"If you don't, rest assured that the fault lies in the nature of tea itself and not in your diligent efforts."

He gave Sir Pentious his full attention. "By all means!"

Sir Pentious

If Alastor was expecting something profound, he'd be sorely disappointed. "Why do you like coffee?"

Alastor

A shrug. "I like the flavor!" If Telly was expecting something profound... "Plus, it helps me focus. Like adjusting a telescope's knobs to get the blurry edges of the moon to sharpen. But isn't that why most folks like their morning coffee?"

Sir Pentious

His tongue sticks out a moment and his head tilts. "Perhaps! Every time I drink something with caffeine in it, all it does is make my brain scream, which is why I avoid it!" He shrugs and 'stands', offering his arm to Alastor.

"Shall we head to the warehouse now, my good sir?" He smirked.

Alastor

"Just means you have to be sharp under your own efforts, doesn't it?"

He accepted the arm. "We shall! Shall we be traveling *my* way?" He held up his free hand, ready to open up a portal.

Sir Pentious

"Yes! Absolutely! I'm looking forward to going through one of these portals and not getting pummeled by a giant tentacle monster!" He laughed, thought the sound was a _little_ forced. Also his Scent for the day was also jasmine and blackberry. He was doing a matching thing.

Alastor

"There's going to be no pummeling on *my* watch." For a moment, his tone was unusually serious. "Today, the giant tentacle monster is going to be making up for sins against airships past."

He contemplated their route, then moved his arm from being linked with Sir Pentious's to wrapping around his waist. "Remember when you took me for a dive? You're going to want to get a grip on me that tight. And probably to keep your eyes closed. The view can be... nauseating."

Sir Pentious

Telly glanced down at his tail, the eyes that remained ever open. "That might be...difficult."

But his arm wrapped around Alastor's waist, and he pressed close to his side, his claws even going so far as the latch onto his coat. "Alright! I think I'm ready as I'll ever be!"

Alastor

"Can't blink them?" Tsk. "Well! Try not to look to hard!"

He resisted the urge to take a scenic route, mentally called for a portal, and tumbled them into it with a little push off the ground like kicking off from the side of a pool. For a moment, they twirled through a dimension of stale air and distant roiling shapes, dead eyes tracking their movement, cacophonous inhuman music playing from every direction—

And then they were out the exit portal. The experience lasted under two seconds. Take 1 point of psychic damage.

Sir Pentious

Just the small amount of time they were inside that....whatever it was, had Telly's mind reeling when they exited. He held tight to Alastor even after they were out, blinking owlishly and trying to keep his tea and frittata down. He took slow, deep breaths, and stilled the shaking in his limbs.

"W-well, you weren't kidding about that, were you?" He laughed, the sound weak, and he closed his eyes (on his face) a moment.

Alastor

"They're wonderful folks once you get to know them!" Not that that was much comfort right now.

Alastor was used to it, but he remembered the first times he'd glimpsed that dimension. He pulled Sir Pentious into a hug—physical grounding was probably good—and played the oldest popular song he could think of off the top of his head, "If I Ever Cease to Love." Hopefully Sir Pentious would recognize it from when he was alive—maybe—perhaps the song was too American?—but even if he didn't, it was still a sound far more familiarly human than the noise in the dimension they'd left behind.

Sir Pentious

He didn't recognize it, no, but it was comforting all the same. He stayed clinging to Alastor until the trembling subsided and the nausea faded. Telly took another few deep breaths as he slowly pulled away, though his hand moved to grip Alastor's shoulder.

He shook his head and then looked at the warehouse-- his expression soured instantly at it, half rubble with half his airship still trapped inside. His mind reeled at how much work it would take to fix it. He'd _just_ gotten it back in order, too...

"It's a pity that the angels didn't just....leave it be. I made sure all the Eggs weren't anywhere near it, that the area around it was empty and abandoned, but noooo, they still had to just...._destroy_ it." That was probably more venom in his voice than Alastor had ever heard-- a real, seething hatred.

Alastor

Alastor squeezed Sir Pentious's shoulder in turn. "What do the jailers care about breaking their prisoners' toys, especially when they're only coming into the prison to execute us?" He shook his head scornfully. "Do you know what all this senseless damage and destruction says? They're scared of what you can make. As they should be."

Sir Pentious

His tongue stuck out, and his face scrunched up as he surveyed it-- the Eggs hadn't noticed them yet, and they were still scrambling over the rubble, clearing it little by little. There were only about two dozen of them here, which probably said more about how many he'd need to replace than anything.

"Perhaps. Or perhaps it was simply collateral damage. I _tried_ not to advertise that this was were I was hiding my ship this year."

Alastor

"Well, if they're not scared, then they're stupid and ought to know better!" He laughed. "So! What's first? Get all the warehouse pieces off of all the ship pieces?"

Sir Pentious

"Yes, that seems best! Let me get the eggs off of the debris before you start." He moved a bit away from Alastor-- just so as not to make such a loud noise right by his ears-- and then put two fingers in his mouth to whistle. It was loud, sharp, and shrill, and the Eggs immediately stopped and turned, en mass, toward him-- before swarming towards him. They all babbled over on another and Telly sighed, hands on his hips.

"YES, YES, HUSH NOW! MOVE OUT OF THE WAY, ALASTOR IS GOING TO CLEAR THE REST!"

They Eggs all turned in unison to stare at Alastor, half confused and half looking just Not Happy. "Mister Bossman?" One stage whispered to Pentious. "Are you sure about letting HIM help?"

Telly sighed and rolled his eyes (all of them). "I DO NOT HAVE THE TIME TO EXPLAIN MULTIVERSE THEORY TO EGGS. HE'S NOT THE MEAN ALASTOR, HE'S HERE TO HELP, NOW _MOVE!_"

He shooed them off to a clear area a small distance away, and the Eggs obeyed, though many still stared at Alastor as they wandered off.

Alastor

"Just tell them the mean one is Alastor Number One and I'm Alastor Number Two! They should get that—that's how the eggs work, isn't it?" He laughed and turned toward the ship.

He was going to regret having such a small breakfast *and* opening several portals and quick succession—he was well below peak energy even before he got started. Still, he had enough in him for some magical manual labor—he'd be starving at the end, but he'd still be on his feet. "This is going to take a bit of concentration, so I'll be back with you when the show's over. Play a round of cards or something."

He cracked his knuckles and surreptitiously jammed one claw into the palm of his hand. His eyes went wide and blank and filled with static as he connected his mind directly to his usual inhuman partner, and he got to work.

The tentacles dangling out of the massive portal above the airship looked slightly uncanny and unreal as they worked, but they didn't look nearly so mind-meltingly horrifying when framed by normal reality rather than the monster's home dimension. Alastor stood stock still for long minutes as he conducted the creature; the only parts of him that twitched were his arms and hands, moving as though he was puppeting a marionette or playing a piano. First the big pieces were picked up and tossed outside (or, occasionally, dragged into the portal for who-knew-what purpose); then the small ones, delicately plucked up and settled on the warehouse floor by the large suckers or the thin tips of tentacles.

Alastor didn't speak and didn't break his concentration for a moment until he felt the airship was sufficiently clean. Then he cut the connection. As the tentacles withdrew into the closing portal, his shoulders sagged and he stumbled a step back. That took more out of him than he'd anticipated. He didn't know when he'd last been connected to the monster for that long.

He turned toward Sir Pentious, trying not to let his fatigue show. "How's that?"

Sir Pentious

Telly watched with rapt attention-- not too the monster that had once destroyed his ship and was now cleaning and clearing the debris from it. No, he was focused on Alastor, watching ever twitch and movement-- and thus, caught the sagging. Instantly, he was at his side, a hand on his back and the other holding his arm. Telly's tail slithered around behind Alastor, gently bumping the back of his knees to try and get him to sit.

"Are you alright?" He asked softly, face creased in concern, the hand on Alastor's back starting to rub in slow circles. "That looked like a lot..."

Alastor

"What? I'm f—" The tail bumps the back of his knees and his legs immediately give out. He flailed with a sound effect like a bookcase falling over as he went down—oh, now he's sitting. Okay. This was fine.

So much for trying to act cool and unaffected, though.

"... As I was saying! Perfectly fine!" He folded his hands primly in his lap.

Sir Pentious

Telly smiled, a bit rueful, and nodded. "Yes, perfectly fine." His hand was still rubbing Alastor's back, though.

He turned to look out over the space, now open and much cleaner, the half of the warehouse that still stood and the half of the airship inside, now exposed.

"It looks good. Now the Eggs can get started on rebuilding the warehouse-- they're much faster at building things than cleaning, that's what they were designed for, after all." He turned his head, hand cupping the side of his mouth as he shouted.

"NOW GET BACK TO WORK YOU SLACKERS!!" The Eggs, of course, burst into motion.

Alastor

The back rub was somehow half soothing and half incredibly grating, highlighting as it did how vulnerable he must seem at the moment. He endured it for only a few seconds before the buildup of unpleasant stimulation had him squirm away from the touch. "Anything I can do to help with the rebuilding efforts?" He said like some kind of a person in any condition to be rebuilding anything.

Sir Pentious

Telly pulled back his hand, setting his hand on his hips instead. He looked out over the Egg Bois and their work and then shook his head.

"No, they'll have it in hand soon enough. But I could give you a tour of the surviving half of the airship, if you like?" He turned to smile at Alastor.

Alastor

"I would absolutely love a tour!" He hopped to his feet and steadied himself as he momentarily almost blacked out—that wasn't visible, right? "Does the surviving half happen to include the kitchen? I realize you had brunch not too long ago, but it's about lunch time for me!"

Sir Pentious

He didn't touch, not again, but his hands flashed out to hover around Alastor as he hopped up-- just in case. At the question, he ran through the mental blueprint of the ship, his tongue stuck out in concentration.

"The bridge is fine, as is my organ, and the kitchen and my bedchambers are right below those, so I should think so! Though, the furnace was in the back...." He frowned. "I do have an old wood stove in there, though, I'll have some of the Eggs gather some things to burn."

He whistled again and called over four of the Eggs, sending them off with instructions before offering Alastor his arm again. "That's settled, let's get you that tour!"

Alastor

"Oh, the organ survived!" He beamed, what a relief. "Well, the ship will pull through all right then, won't it? Just like admitting someone to a hospital after a terrible accident—it doesn't matter how badly mangled she looks from the outside, she'll survive as long as she didn't damage her internal organs!" Studio audience laughter. Alastor thinks he's hysterical.

He looped his arm with Sir Pentious's and summoned up his cane. "Lead away!"

Sir Pentious

He started to slither toward the exposed, open part of the warehouse and ship. He didn't move fast, setting a leisurely pace. Before long they would get to the bottom floor-- just a lot of machinery. And that was when Telly realized...

"Shit. The ramps are gone."

Alastor

Alastor elbowed him lightly. "Have you forgotten who you're with?" He was sure had enough energy left to summon up a temporary ramp.

Sir Pentious

"We'd only need one up to the second floor-- The one from my bedchamber to the bridge should still be there." He's Trying to not look worried about Alastor. And he failed, he looks very worried.

Alastor

"Not a problem! Just let me know when you need me to summon it up! It'll only last a few seconds, so don't let me forget myself and strand you up on the second floor when I go home, hah!"

What's that look for? Alastor's fine! No weakness!

Sir Pentious

"Now would be good, the kitchen is up there too. The Eggs can find their own way up, they always do."

Alastor

*Kitchen.* Oh, that was an appealing place to start their tour. "Well, in that case!" He tapped his cane sharply on the floor. The light disappeared, leaving their surroundings illuminated in a strange blueish glow—and with the lights out, a glowing neon ramp appeared out of thin air. Shadows were good for all sorts of tricks. Alastor gestured grandly up the ramp. "Shall we?"

Sir Pentious

Hold on he's going to need to take a moment too look at the FUCKING NEON that he now was. Well, that was SOMETHING. After that moment, he just started up the ramp, Alastor still on his arm.

"This is so odd looking, but it's....beautiful..."

Alastor

"Isn't it just?" He was looking at Sir Pentious as he said it. His eyes and yellow stripes practically gave off their own light in this darkness, didn't they. "Simply gorgeous." It had been so long since he'd seen *any* Sir Pentious in light like this...

Hey, pal, whaddaya staring at? Eyes forward. "And it's great for parties, too!"

Sir Pentious

The body eyes stare right back at him. They know your sins, Alastor.

"Yes, I'd think so! I doubt you'd like the music but this lighting reminds me of those 'raves' that the kids have noawadays!" How did he know about raves? Who knew. He slithered all the way up the ramp and then blinked at what the neon did to his bedroom. That was....interesting.

Alastor

Everyone's a critic.

"Oh, I've been to one or two! Can't stand them!" He gave Telly an impish grin. "Did you know some of those places are so crowded that you can run the turntables for *five minutes* before security can make it through the crowd to kick you and your Cab Calloway records out?"

No need for the ramp anymore? Alastor dismissed it with a wave, and the strange lighting with it. The fatigue hit him like a basketball to the stomach. Oh, that left him less energy than he'd expected. Good thing he'd had the foresight to pull out his cane.

Sir Pentious

Telly blinked as the light changed back, and then laughed loudly. "Well, one would think they'd enjoy some Cab, at least you can properly dance to that!"

He surveyed his room, humming a bit. "First thing's first, I'll need to get the wall and ramp rebuilt. I don't want to leave this ship again until it's fixed." Now that he was back, he realized just how much he'd missed it. "Then the plumbing, the tanks, get the power back up...."

Alastor

"You want the walls in *before* you have plumbing?" He shrugged. "All right, if chamber pots are your thing..."

Sir Pentious

"A wall can be put up in an hour, plumbing will take the entire rest of the day. And I won't be able to sleep with a big hole right into my bedroom." His face scrunched and he shrugged. "The kitchen is through here, though." He pointed at the door across the room.

"Let's get some food and then I can get out my blueprints, really assess what all needs to be done and in what order..."

Alastor

"An excellent plan!" He's practically dragging Telly toward that door, don't mind him, deer in starvation mode coming through.

Sir Pentious

"Oh no, everything in the ice box has probably gone bad." He moved with Alastor, opening the door for him as they moved from hardwood to tile. "But hopefully the pantry is still intact and filled? There should be cans of food in there, along with other non perishables..."

Alastor

"I'm sure there will be something we can make a decent lunch out of!" He plopped down in one of the kitchen chairs to wait for Sir Pentious to survey his supplies.

Sir Pentious

He's more than willing to let Alastor rest as he opens the pantry to dig through it. "Well, we have the usual staples, beans and rice, some cans of various soups. Dried fruits-- oh! And some jerky." He pulled out the bag of dried meat with a grin.

Alastor

"Toss it here!" He held out a hand.

Sir Pentious

Toss! The bag goes sailing towards Alastor as Telly grabs a couple of the cans, a small bag of rice, and a similar sized one of beans. "Nothing fresh though, unfortunately." He lays the spoils on the table.

Alastor

He opened the bag and stuffed three pieces of jerky in his mouth at once as he surveyed their haul. "What do your spice stocks look like? They'd have survived the power going out." He just kind of assumed Telly had spices.

Sir Pentious

Oh he looks a little embarassed but slithers back to the pantry. "Hmmmmm....Salt. Pepper. Some basil....garlic powder...a bit of rosemary, onion powder...."

Alastor

The fact that the first item worth noting was *salt* was somewhat alarming. Even at that, when Sir Pentious trailed off, Alastor waited for a moment for the rest. Oh. Oh that was it.

"... Well! It's better than nothing!" He considered the options, ran through his mental recipe list, guesstimated how long it would take him to make the few options available, and reluctantly settled his gaze on the pre-made soup cans. Desperate times.

"All right, this will do for lunch," he muttered. "But for dinner—" he set the rice, beans, garlic and onion powders, and bag of jerky in a pile by themselves, "—I'm going to make some red beans and rice that would get me disowned by both sides of the family and half the state of Louisiana. So don't tell anyone about it. Unless it turns out amazing."

Sir Pentious

"I swear, I won't," Telly said with a giggle. "Maybe you can provide me with a list of spices and I can stock my pantry accordingly, for the next time."

Alastor

Was Sir Pentious planning to have Alastor over that often? (Don't get your hopes up too high, buddy.) "I'd be honored to suggest a shopping list! But, for now..." He plucked up a soup can disdainfully. "Is the stove ready to burn?"

Sir Pentious

"Oh! Let me see if the Eggs came back with the wood." He slithered from the room for a few minutes. His voice echoed as he ordered the Eggs bring up what they found and then, in they marched, carrying armloads of wood.

"Starting a fire shouldn't be too difficult, I'll just find the matches...." The Eggs set most of the wood by the stove, and shoved some into it, as Telly looked around for his matches.

Alastor

All right. Time to be vertical again. Heave-ho. Alastor rummaged around for a pot and a spoon to stir with while Sir Pentious got the stove going.

Sir Pentious

He discovered the the matches, and then some alcohol and an old rag. He tore it into strips, dousing them in the alcohol before tossing them in among the wood. Telly lit the match and tossed it in and there was a loud FWOOM as it ignited. He coughed a bit as he closed the stove's door, locking it in place.

He waited a few moments to see if the chimney was working-- and it was. No smoke filled the room, thankfully.

"Shouldn't take long for it to heat up."

Alastor

The soup was probably pre-cooked, so he only needed to put it on the stove long enough to heat it up, right?

While he waited, he asked, "So. Wall and ramp, plumbing, tanks, electricity... What all is it gonna cost to get this bird back up in the air? I don't just mean money-wise—time, labor, materials...

Sir Pentious

A deep, long sigh and he frowns. "A _lot_." He slithered toward the door. "Let me grab the blueprints, I'll be able to get a clearer picture with those."

After he left, there was an odd amount of silence, and then a KA-THUNK that sounded like a safe opening. And then he's back in, carrying a leather tube under his arm. "Here we are, let me get these out."

Alastor

Alastor quickly moved the pantry supplies off the table to make room for the blueprints, then stood near to watch their unveiling.

Sir Pentious

He undid the top of the tube, tapping it lightly to get the blueprints out. Some looked far far older than others, and Telly quickly plucked out the newest looking set, putting them on the table before gently coaxing the rest back inside. He set the tub next to his tail and spread out the papers.

Which clearly showed that much more than half the ship was gone-- more like 3/4ths, and Telly's throat constricted a bit. He cleared it with a cough and taped the front end of the drawing. "All of this is intact-- this is the most important bit, so that's good. There's a lot of one of a kind equipment on the bridge that is all fine..."

Alastor

Alastor leaned over to look, passing off his spoon to his shadow to keep stirring the soup. "So you're not going to need as many finicky, fancy parts, I take it?"

Sir Pentious

"Not as _many_ but there were quite a few things that were of my own design that I now have to rebuild from scratch." His eyes flicked this way and that on the paper, and he removed Hatty, tossing him over to the counter to sit. Telly began to rub his hands over the top and back of his head as he stared.

"This is going to take _eons_," He whispered.

Alastor

Alastor looked at Sir Pentious's dejection, and then at the blueprints. He took a seat across from him. "What can I do to speed up the process?" he asked. "Steal supplies? Conquer a better warehouse? Teach all my ghosts to weld sheet metal? Clone eggs?"

Sir Pentious

He was quiet for a long moment as he thought. "First, we can't kill any more of my Eggs, I'll need them all working round the clock to make any sort of headway. Rebuilding said cloning machine is first thing after the necessities. Getting a source of steel, brass, copper, perhaps some silver and gold. Hardwood and softwood, both of high quality. I'd rather not piss off any suppliers, so no stealing from them. The warehouse will be fixed soon enough, probably within a day or two. Some extra hands would be good, though, if your ghosts can carry large loads...."

He trailed off and rubbed a hand over his face. "That's not to mention how many personal hours I'm going to have to sink into it, rebuilding things like the boiler, the engines, and then redesigning things..."

Alastor

The man who was going to conquer Hell was too down and out to risk so much as stealing a bit of metal? He was in more dire straits than Alastor had thought. "Sure, not a problem, they can carry the loads—my ghosts *and* my many-limbed friend!"

He watched helplessly as Sir Pentious rubbed his face. "But surely I can help with more hauling heavy loads around? Don't get me wrong, if that's what you need, you've got it—but isn't there more I can be doing to help out?"

Sir Pentious

He's quiet for another moment before his head lifts and a thoughtful look crosses his face. "Well....considering you're an accomplished Deal Maker, maybe you'd be able to wrangle better deals from the suppliers than I normally would-- I'm half convinced they upcharge me just for the fun of it." His face scrunched.

"Though I understand if you'd rather not use your reputation for that sort of thing...."

Alastor

"You've got it!" His expression brightened at something he could help with. "We'll have to be clever about it, of course—a little subterfuge here, some cross-universe acquisitions there—because once people know I'm making orders on your behalf, things get *much* harder for *you,* my friend." He flung an arm around Sir Pentious's shoulder and winked conspiratorially. How did he do that, a second ago he was on the other side of the table. "But we're a couple of clever villains, aren't we? I'm sure we can get the supplies you need without tipping our hand."

Sir Pentious

His own expression brightened right back at Alastor's, and he smiled. He leaned into Alastor when he put his arm around him. "Sounds good. We are clever, we can make this work!" He felt a lot more optimistic, all of a sudden! Well, that's nice! "It'll still take a lot of time and hard work, but that will help a lot."

Telly grabbed the blueprint container again, grabbing a few pencils from the side pocket to start scribbling over the blueprint, already making alterations and modifications on the design. "Don't forget your soup, Alastor. Can't help me fix all this on an empty stomach." He winked.

Alastor

"As if I could forget lunch!" He'd totally forgotten lunch. He looked at his shadow, which held out the soup pot and shrugged at him. Alastor took it by the handle, found a soup spoon, and plopped back at the table to eat it straight from the pot. "What all needs changing?" he asked, leaning forward to read the blueprints upside-down. "Angel-proofing it? Say, I think the airship seems vulnerable to attacks from above, don't you? Especially collapsing warehouse attacks.”

Sir Pentious

"Yes, it does need upper reinforcement. That's definitely one thing I'm adding. It was far too fragile. Also more automated defenses that would trigger when registering angelic power...." He hummed and tapped his lip with the pencil.

"Maybe I can prototype that one weapon I was thinking about when we were on Okkylk..." He nodded a little. "Fairly sure angels can be hurt by their own weaponry...."

Alastor

"Careful—once someone manages to hurt an angel, all of Heaven's going to be targeting them to make sure they don't tell everyone else how to do it. Might be better to lay low and accept a few more smashed airships until you're sure you've got something that can take *all* of Heaven out."

All suggestions of caution aside, he was beaming with glee. "Do you really think you've got something that can take out angels, though? We've had black market angelic weapons down here for eons, if all it took was chucking their own spears back at them someone would have managed it by now! There's few beasts humans won't find some way to hunt, after all!" He pantomimed firing a rifle—a gunshot and a startled elephant trumpet rang out. "You must have something with a little more oomph to it?"

Sir Pentious

His hand perched under his chin, Telly's face looked downright dastardly with evil glee as he grinned. "I do, Alastor, I do indeed. You see, Valera told me that she has Angelic and other magical weaponry in her home, and that got me thinking: perhaps these weapons could simply have their energy siphoned and used to make.....perhaps a ray gun?" He started to cackle, first softly and then gaining in volume.

"It's so simple, one would think I would've come up with it before, no?" He settled but his grin still stayed. "Though, that does lead me to another request for you: I would like to learn more about magic, so as to better make this device, what would you say to teaching me?"

Alastor

Under other circumstances, Alastor would wonder how an angelic ray gun would have better odds of injuring an angel than an angelic bullet gun.

But under *these* circumstances, Sir Pentious was wearing an expression fitting on any silent movie dastardly villain and letting out a megalomaniacal laugh that should have won awards, and if he'd told Alastor that this ray gun could cut the moon in half and cause God to spontaneously shit His britches, Alastor would have agreed.

"*Well,* now!" He considered the request, rubbing his chin. "Some things that I know, I can't teach you—it simply isn't *for* you, it's something you only get the right to learn through your ancestors. Other things won't be much use to you, if step one is 'make a deal with so-and-so' and you're gunning to usurp so-and-so's whole chain of command. But the rest?" Another thoughtful pause. "Sure, I think I know a thing or two that might be useful to you."

Sir Pentious

"I would love to learn whatever you have to teach me, Alastor. I've been curious about magic for a while, but it seems so opposite my technology that I hadn't bothered-- plus, considering how terrible this universe's Alastor is to me, that put me off it too. Now, though, considering I have you, well, it seems the perfect opportunity to start." He chuckled, looking back down at the blueprints. He started sketching again, humming softly.

"Just think of all the new things I could make combining my technological skills with magic...."

Alastor

"Oh, I *do* think of it." He used to fantasize about the sort of doomsday weapons Sir Pentious could make if he had a little magic in his machines. "It's really gonna be something, isn't it?"

Sir Pentious

"Oh I hope so." There's a sort of dreamy cast to his voice, and his smile is wistful. "Things I could only dream of....maybe bring back a few scraped projects..."

Alastor

"*Oh?* What kind of scrapped projects?" He'd barely eaten yet. He scarfed down more soup as he listened. (Tastes like preservatives and salt.)

Sir Pentious

"Hm?" He looked up, having gotten distracted by the blueprints again. "Oh, just things that weren't aerodynamically sound for the airship-- maybe trying a crack at another dual sea/airship..." He shrugged.

Alastor

"Careful with the pipes." Studio laughter.

Sir Pentious

His face fell a little at the crack, and his eyes slid back down. His tail curled around the leg of his chair and he looked back at the blueprints, merely nodding at Alastor's joke. "Yes, certainly." His hand shook a little as he continued to make modifications, his grip a little too tight on his pencil.

Alastor

Alastor's smile wilted slightly. He tisked. "What a terrible comedian I make, don't I? Misjudge a little lighthearted ribbing and it comes across like a knife between one's ribs! My apologies, Telly!" He reached across the table to put a hand on his wrist. "I didn't intend for that to sting. No more death jokes."

Sir Pentious

At the hand on his wrist, he looked up, maybe a little too suddenly, and his breath made a sharp, but soft, intake. An apology from Alastor, any Alastor, was still a strange thing to hear. But his smile returned, smaller, but genuine and he nodded. "Thank you...I would appreciate that-- my death was, as one could assume, quite traumatic."

His eyes unfocused and his face went a bit slack. "My ship crashed, I told you that much but-- I survived the crash itself. Not for long, but long enough to....suffer.... I was pinned under pieces of my ship, my legs were crushed, everything inside...._hurt_, and I was....blinded. My eyes got--" He swallowed. "It was terrible. Dying slowly from bodily trauma, all alone, blind, under tons and tons of metal and glass...."

His breath hitched, and his hand covered his face. "I....I'm sorry, I just need a moment...I didn't mean to--" He took another deep, shuddering breath. No tears, but obviously that was only because he was trying very hard to keep them back.

Alastor

Alastor was completely silent as he listened (a rarity), focused entirely on Telly’s face. When he’d finished, Alastor gave his wrist a comforting squeeze. “Buried alive. I can’t think of many worse ways to go.”

He was silent for a moment; but then he said, “Mine was a lot faster than that. The gap between the wound that killed me and my arrival in Hell was non-existent. Lucky for me, eh? No lingering in pain?” He chuckled weakly. “I was... on a hunting trip. It was deer season. Dead of winter, too—shouldn’t have been out, really, but I was desperate to get a kill. I saw another man out there hunting—we’d actually crossed paths a couple hours earlier—but when he saw me, he must’ve only gotten a glimpse of me through the trees and thought I was a deer, because he fired immediately. I didn’t get a killing wound, but it was, you know, it was still a bullet wound. It was enough to knock me to the ground.

“When he came up to me, I was sure he’d realized his mistake and was coming to give me first aid. Instead, he looked down at me in naked terror, and then pointed his rifle right at my forehead. I guess he’d decided he’d rather get rid of the witness and go home than let a hunting accident ruin his Tuesday.” He played that gunshot sound effect again. This time, the sound seemed to hang in the air dolefully, slowly fading out into dead silence. “I died on my back with my arm trying to shield my face.”

Alastor squeezed Sir Pentious again. “I know yours, now you know mine. That’s fair, right?”

Sir Pentious

As Alastor spoke, Telly uncovered his face, listening intently, and his face started to scrunch. "How....how terrible." The words repeated in his mind, something about them sticking and then it struck him.

"'Get a kill', do you mean a deer? Or something else?" His head tilted, curiousity coloring his expression. "Though, if you don't wish to speak of it, I understand," He added hastily.

He let out a little hum. "Well, it really is no wonder that neither of us had a particularly gentle death, considering how we are now."

Alastor

Alastor gave Telly a wry smirk. “Well, you’ve painted me into a corner, haven’t you? If I *don’t* answer it, that’s just as good as admitting I was out there hunting for something worse than deer, isn’t it?” He scoffed. “I tell you, what’s the point of trying to get clever with ambiguous wording if someone’s just going to ask you to clarify? Some days it just doesn’t pay to tell half truths, you’ve either gotta commit to the truth or to a lie and not split the difference.”

He sighed heavily. “Well, since you asked, I suppose I might as well say this much, but no more than this: the only reason that man survived the day is because he shot me first, and he’ll probably never even know it. And that—that *is* funny. I can laugh about that! But I can’t laugh about much else from that day. I don’t blame you for not laughing about yours.”

Sir Pentious

Telly smiled in return, and nodded. "It is a little funny, yes." He took Alastor's hand and squeezed it. "Thank you for being honest with me, I truly do appreciate it, and I appreciate you."

He looked at Alastor's soup. "It's getting cold, you should eat." He returned to his modifications, humming a little more. "Why is it whenever we're together we end up spilling our guts to one another?" He laughed softly. "Not that I mind it, it's....refreshing, talking so openly about things like this. Trusting someone. It's nice."

Alastor

Telly just had to tack on that *I appreciate you,* didn’t he? Maybe if Alastor shoveled soup into his mouth he could drown the butterflies in his stomach.

“You know, I’ve got this theory—don’t quote me on this—but just a theory that, despite all our grousing and griping about each other, humans actually like humans. And we all go a little stir-crazy down here, not having any humans we can trust. Almost all the trustworthy ones went upstairs and the few that landed down here learned to hide it real quick. So the moment we find someone who doesn’t immediately make us regret a half second of vulnerability, we scramble to put all our eggs in that basket before the bottom of it has a chance to fall out. How does that theory sound?”

Sir Pentious

Telly listened and his face went on a kambucha girl style journey, before he ended it with nodding.

"Yes, that does make sense. Especially for ones who have been in Hell as long as us. Decades and decades, you jump at the chance when you find someone to trust." He smiled, rolling a pencil between his hands. A flip seemed to switch in his mind and he let out a small 'oh'.

"I should survey the pipe damage to get the water running. I can hook it up to the city line, as long as the filters are in place and fine. It would be nice to have water. Would need to cap off any broken pipes before then...."

Alastor

That, and no other version of Sir Pentious had ever given Alastor a reason to regret honesty—and Sir Pentious was the one person Alastor *wanted to know him.* But say that and it invites questions about Alastor’s *local* Sir Pentious. You don’t have to worry about half-truths if you just say nothing at all.

And they’d looped right back around to another opportunity to make a pipe joke. Alastor valiantly restrained himself. “There’s a high priority repair. Without water, it’s going to get pretty unpleasant around here pretty quick. I suppose when you’re in the air you’ve usually got big tank for your water? Do you recycle your water supply onboard or do you land to refill before you run dry?”

Sir Pentious

"Yes, a tank for when it's airborn. Don't need to land it to refill though, it has an extendable pipe that I can deploy to connect and refill anywhere. Most of the water has a double use of cooling the machinery after it goes down a drain from a bath or tap. Anything from the.....toliet, gets put into a seperate tank that can be drained in a similar way to the the water intake. That's certainly the first tank getting repaired." He made a face.

Alastor

Extendable pipe. “*Like a giant straw.*” This concept delights him. “The eggs don’t need to use the toilet, do they? At least not much is going in that tank!”

Sir Pentious

"No, thank G--" He stops from saying that and his face scrunches again. "Thank ME, they don't. They don't need to eat, drink, or breath, either. I'm the only one around here who--"

He stops short and makes an even more scrunched face. "WHY ARE WE TALKING ABOUT THIS, I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT MY BOWEL MOVEMENTS."

Alastor

“Talk about *spilling our guts* to each other!” A toilet flush and more studio laughter. “I know we’ve been doing a story-for-a-story thing, but I doubt you want to hear about mine, so you’ll forgive me if I don’t reciprocate this one.”

Sir Pentious

Telly can't help but laugh at that, his arms on the table and his face buried in them. "YES, PLEASE, I DO NOT WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THAT!" He lifted his head and giggled a few more times. He sighed softly.

"Alright, I need a moment to go siphon some of the Eggs to get started on capping the broken pipes." He stood and slithered out, leaving the door open after him. He loudly called for the Eggs and set them to work before returning.

"I wish I had the PA system working, having to go out and yell for them every time is exhausting."

Alastor

There, that was the sort of laugh Alastor wanted to get from him. One of *many* sorts of laughter he wanted to get from him.

Alastor pointedly cleared his throat. It carried a sound like the amplified rumblings of someone fiddling with a megaphone. “You say you need to get a PA system working?”

Sir Pentious

"Oh!" He laughed again. "Yes, that would be something of your area of expertise, wouldn't it?" He shrugged. "I would love your help, but first the power needs to be fixed, so that it could be properly tested. Though perhaps you could help me with speaker placements on the blueprints?"

Alastor

“*Telly.*” He arched his eyebrows. “You think I need the *power?* To get the *PA system* to work? My *friend.*”

Sir Pentious

Telly laughed, shaking his head. "No, I know you don't! But _I_ would need it for it to work once you leave!"

Alastor

A shrug. “Fair enough! But as long as I *am* on board, let me know if you need to yell anything else at your eggs.”

Sir Pentious

"Oh, that reminds me, you wanted to see the bridge, didn't you?" He stood and started to gather the blueprints on the table, and then his case of them. "I have a work table up there too, and that's where the PA system's main hub is, if you wanted to take a look."

Alastor

“Absolutely!” He devoured the rest of his horrible soup—he’d need that energy if he was going to play with the PA system—and then hopped up to follow Sir Pentious.

Sir Pentious

Telly made sure to grab Hattie before he left the room-- couldn't forget him! And then slithered back into the bedroom. Moving around the bed, he opened another door to a ramp up. "Right this way!"

Alastor

Alastor paused for a moment in the bedroom—goodness, how many doors did this room have? It was Grand Central Station in here—then followed him up the next ramp. He wished he had a chance to get a better look at Telly’s bedroom, but... well, that would *definitely* be weird to ask.

Sir Pentious

And Telly's already halfway up the ramp, slithering and shivering at the cold metal. "I must get the heating back up soon too, it's far too cold in here for ssssomeone coldblooded."

Alastor

Alastor stopped abruptly on the ramp—he *intensely* disliked the combination of cold and airships and snakes—but he forced himself to shake off the awful feeling that had wormed into his gut and continued to follow Sir Pentious up the ramp.

Finally, at the top, he got himself to speak again: "We're in a tin can in Hell with no roof over us. The rooms closer to the hull are probably going to feel like ovens, aren't they?" Like being in a locked car with the engine off.

Sir Pentious

"Yes, unfortunately for you. It'll feel nice to me though." He laughed. He reached the intricate double doors that led to the bridge and paused the appropriate amount of them for a dramatic reveal before flinging them open.

"AND HERE WE ARE! THE BRIDGE OF THE GREAT SIR PENTIOUS'S AIRSHIP!"

....Which was currently filled with broken glass. Looks like the windshield would need replacing wholesale.

Alastor

There was nothing sadder than a dead bridge on a crashed airship, was there? It didn’t do much to lift his sudden morose mood.

All the same, he played an enthusiastic round of applause for the big reveal. He summoned up a couple of his ghosts to sweep aside the nearest glass so Sir Pentious wouldn’t have to slither over it.

“You know, you’re the only one I know who would make the inside of a giant war machine look like the kind of place you’d want to set up a cafe table and have a coffee!” He admired the scale motifs on the wall as he walked further onto the bridge—until he caught sight of the organ. “Well—*hello there,* beautiful. I don’t think I’ve seen *you* around the neighborhood before. New in town?” He propped himself up on it with an elbow. “What’s a pretty thing like you doing in a dangerous place like this?”

Sir Pentious

"Well, I often say that if one cannot make something functional AND beautiful, what's the point?" He laughed, giving a nod to the ghosts. He didn't know if they would respond, but he still had manners.

"It helps that this warship doubles as my home. If its decor was bland it wouldn't be a very good place to live, in my opinion." He waited for the ghosts to clear the path to the organ, and slithered over to it.

"I see you've met my pride and joy." He lovingly stroked the dark wood and metal of the instrument.

Alastor

"I can't stand a conqueror without style. What's the point, indeed!"

One of the enthralled souls gave a dazed nod back. The other looked away. Rude.

"Why, you *should* be proud of her. Amongst all the instruments of destruction, here's an instrument that's wholly different—but no less capable of bringing down the house!" He pressed one of the keys. Nothing happened. "Oh, right." No power.

Sir Pentious

"Yes, she is glorious-- makes it wonderfully fun to score my own battles!" He laughed, stroking his fingers over the keys. He frowned when no sound came from Alastor's press.

"Ah yes, the bellows can't function without Eggs running it." He nodded solemnly. Then he grinned as he slithered to the side of the organ, pressing his hand to a wooden panel. "Fortunately, that's not the only instrument here."

The press of his hand unlocked the panel and he swung it open, revealing a set of three violins. "Do you play, Alastor?"

Alastor

“Score your own battles?!” Alastor slapped a hand over his dead heart. “Oh, you would have been a hit at the picture shows before they added sound! You mean to say you play *while* you’re in battle?” He could swoon. That’s the single most wildly attractive thing he’s ever heard.

He laughed, “The bellows are still powered manually? How marvelously medieval! I would have thought you’d put this thing on electric power!”

His smile stretched even wider when he saw the violins. This instrument had trap doors. Trap doors that hid even more instruments. Move over, Erik Le Fantôme. “*Do* I *play!* You may never hear me at the opera house, but there wasn’t a *fais do-do* in Louisiana where I wouldn’t have been a welcome addition! *You* play?”

Sir Pentious

He laughed, a long cackling one, pulling out a violin. "Do I PLAY? Why would I have these if I didn't!" Telly tucked the violin under his chin, plucking it a few times to make sure it was in tune before grabbing a bow. He took a breath and pressed the bow to the strings and began to play. The number was quiet recognizable, the first notes giving it away as the Phantom of the Opera.

(( the version he's playing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYwqBCskfsM

Alastor

"I don't know—decoration? To coax guests into playing for you?" He picked up a violin himself, hoping to show off—but before he got a chance, Sir Pentious took off; and Alastor sank down onto the organ's seat, eyes wide, spellbound as he watched and listened.

Only when he'd stopped did Alastor speak up. "You know, I've always wanted to hear you play Phantom. I just thought it was going to be on this!" He nodded at the organ.

Sir Pentious

"I often do! It's a good piece to just play on anything." He grinned, settling down into his coils. He set the violin on his lap and stroked it.

"When I was alive, I had a Stradivarius! One of my most prized possessions! Music was one of the few things that my family encouraged!" He chuckled. "Can't get that quality down here, but I hunted these down. They're very precious, which is why I keep them with the organ. Generally, if something survives a crash it's the bridge, and that's why I keep all these here."

Alastor

"If you can play it this well on violin, I can't wait to hear what else you play it on!" He studied the violin he'd picked up, as if he could judge its sound quality just by looking. "Is the entire organ near the bridge, pipes and all? Or were some of them spread out to the parts of the ship that got destroyed?"

Sir Pentious

"Some of it is here in the front of the ship, but some of them were damaged or destroyed, yes. Usually I have the pipes running throughout the ship, so that the sound of it can be heard anywhere-- it helps keep the Egg Bois' moral up, hearing me play!" Was he preening and puffing a bit, proud of himself? Why yes, yes he was.

Alastor

As he should be! "And heard from miles around, I'm sure! I suppose those are going to need repairs, too?"

Sir Pentious

"Oh, yes, they will. Unfortunately, that will have to be left until more vital things are replaced." He looked very sad about that, and gently pressed a silent key on the organ. And then he blinked, looking at Alastor as a slow, sly grin came across his face.

"Unless, I had someone I trusted to help handle the delicate sort of repairs an organ would require. Perhaps someone with a vested interest in musical instrumentation...."

Alastor

Alastor blinked at that. “Well, now! Do I have a vested interest? Sure! But do I have adequate skill? My instrument maintenance capabilities cap out at re-stringing the violin and emptying the spit out of a trumpet. *But*...” He rubbed his chin. “I’m not qualified to rebuild the pipes myself—but if someone else made the pipes and all I had to do was install them... I could also check with the souls I’ve got enthralled, see whether any of them ever worked on pipe organs?” He let out a long, thoughtful sigh. “What all do you think you’d have me be doing?”

Sir Pentious

"Oh the Egg Bois would be able to handle the actual building and repairs, I wouldn't have you doing physical labor, that would be preposterous!" He chuckled. "No, what I had in mind if giving you the blueprint for the organ's pipes and making sure the Egg Bois don't fuck it up, as they are wont to do. So, you'd be supervising! And then, you probably have if not perfect pitch, then damn near it, correct? Tuning it all is a hell of a job, and one I would gladly take your expertise for."

Alastor

“*Do* pipe organs need to be tuned?” He looked bewildered by the suggestion. “I... sort of assumed you just set up the big tubes and let them do their thing! But—sure, that makes sense, doesn’t it, even trumpets need tuning and they’re just big metal tubes too. I suppose a pipe organ has to have some tuning slides somewhere, doesn’t it?”

Sir Pentious

"Yes! Though it's mostly with the reeds and the sizes of the pipes. Usually I'd go through a few weeks of testing and hearing it out before I would feel it's ready to actually play, but someone else who knows music as well as I do would certainly speed up the whole process." He gave a little shrug. "Most pipe organs also never get moved or regularly have parts of them destroyed, so I am in a bit of a unique situation."

Alastor

“Fair! I suppose you’ve also got air pressure and such to worry about. Temperature?” A shrug. “Well, you’re right, I do have impeccable pitch—but you’ll have to show me the ropes before you set me loose in the pipes!”

Sir Pentious

"Once you tune the first pipe, I'm sure you'll catch on fast with the others, but I will be sure to show you how to it beforehand." He smiled brightly, and lifted the violin in his lap to tuck beneath his chin. "Would you like to duet, Alastor? I've never had the chance to play with another violinist."

Alastor

“*Never?*” He was aghast. “Ever? Then by all means!” He quickly started to tune the one he’d claimed. “What song?”

Sir Pentious

"Well, not since death, no." He shrugged, letting his bow drag down the strings, letting out a ringing note. "Perhaps more Phantom? I know almost every song from that."

Alastor

“Sure!” He enthusiastically raises the bow and violin. “Now, you’ve already covered the main theme wonderfully. Usually I’m partial to ‘Music of the Night,’ but... no, not that. For two violins, a *duet* would be more appropriate, wouldn’t it? What do you say to ‘All I Ask of You’—we take turns on playing the main melody and playing a harmony line?”

Sir Pentious

"Oh, yes, that sounds lovely!" He smiled wider and started playing. His eyes (on his face) almost shut to enjoy the tune, but he kept them open instead, to watch Alastor play.

Alastor

Since they’d launched straight into it, Alastor let Telly take the main melody first for Raoul’s parts, improvising a harmony line to compliment it. It was lucky he was as familiar with the song as he was, because less than half of his attention was on his own playing; most of it was on Sir Pentious, the look on his face, the grace with which he played. He barely remembered that they’d agreed to take turns in time for him to switch to the main melody for Christine’s part.

Sir Pentious

He swaps almost effortlessly to the backing melody, weaving harmonies around Alastor's playing. It's clear that he kept up with practicing through all the years since he'd died, so much so that he was able to be absorbed into watching Alastor play with an intense sort of focus, soaking in every detail. When Raoul's part came back around, he slid back into the main melody, and he smiled.

Alastor

He was *good.* Even after hearing him play Phantom, Alastor hadn’t expected him to pick up an improvised duet so easily. Part of that was no doubt thanks to the fact that Alastor himself had been attending improv jam sessions with total strangers for the better part of a century, he knew how to compliment and enhance another player—but this was not jazz, and if Sir Pentious had been terrible even Alastor wouldn’t have been able to cover that up.

But he most certainly was *not* terrible. And Alastor wished he’d picked a longer song.

Sir Pentious

Telly fell into the back and forth of the duet with such an ease that he even started adding flourishes-- unnecessary, yes, but he also wanted to show off for Alastor. And it was for Alastor, every extra movement of his fingers, ever added note and vibrato, they were all for him. Maybe he was putting a little too much passion behind it for being only friends, but caught up as he was, he didn't find it in himself to care about how appropriate or not it was.

Alastor

Alastor was showing off no less. This symphonic style wasn't his forté, he was more of a fiddler than a violinist, but by God did he plan on playing like he did this every night if his afterlife. He'd started the song still seated on the organ bench, but by the end was on his feet, swaying with the music... and if he'd gotten any closer to Sir Pentious, they'd be risking smacking their bows together as they played.

Sir Pentious

The end of the song came, and with a final flourish, he stopped playing. He set the violin on the organ's bench and took a few deep breaths, his face giddy and his body feeling light. Telly laughed a little and took Alastor by his upper arms, grips tight but happy. "That was fun!"

Alastor

The fact that Alastor hadn't put his violin down before his arms were grabbed was probably the only thing saving him from pulling Telly into an embrace and proceeding to ruin everything. He laughed as well, breathlessly, smiling so wide it hurt. "Goodness gracious, you're—you're *good* at that! I can't believe you haven't played a duet since the 1800s! What other talents are you hiding?"

Sir Pentious

In that moment, breathless and smiling and so close, Telly desperately felt the urge to kiss Alastor. The only thing that saved him was Alastor's voice, and he blinked and pulled back a bit, though his hands lingered on his arms.

"Well, you know about the perfume making, I think. And the tea mixing. And now the violin playing...." He ticked them off on his fingers, though he couldn't even play at seriousness. "I'm not sure if there's much else I could surprise you with!"

Alastor

"Hold—hold on, you make your own *perfume*? *Did* I know that? I noticed how often it changes, but I just thought you had a collection!" This was an entirely new discipline as far as he was concerned.

Sir Pentious

"Oh! I guess I can. I could've sworn I told you about that..." He thinks for long moment, head tilted. "Hm, actually I think I told Valera! Apologies, then."

He laughed and turned his wrist towards Alastor's nose, letting him get a whiff of what he was wearing today. "Gardenia and lilac! And yes, I make them myself. Always found that others made floral mixes too strong, decided I'd like something subtler. Florals are my forte, but I can mix most any kind of perfume."

Alastor

Don't mind him as he shuts his eyes and takes a much deeper whiff than necessary, like some kind of creep. "... *Lovely.*" Okay, that was enough lingering. He smiled crookedly. "So, if I wanted to talk to someone about getting some of that gasoline perfume we discussed..." Studio laughter, he's kidding.

Sir Pentious

He laughed as well, giving a shrug. His arm moved from where he'd rested it on Alastor's shoulder to slide around his waist instead. This was fine, right? He'd touched Alastor like this before, it wasn't weird right??

"I could, actually, but gasoline has such a strong smell you'd be better off just dabbing it on by itself!" Another laugh.

Alastor

That was very fine and Alastor was going to immediately tuck the violin and bow under one arm so that he could slide the other around Telly’s shoulders. “Oh, *well* then.” He shrugged. “What’s the point if it doesn’t come in an overpriced fancy little bottle? I’ll stick to the fragrance I’ve got.” (Which was, for the record, a combination of shampoo and body wash that probably had some kind of name like “ocean breeze.” It was a recent change. Probably very faint, since it had been... a bit since he’d showered. Oh god he should have done that before coming over.)

Sir Pentious

Too late, Alastor, you mentioned fragrance and now he's leaning in to Smell. Blelelelele.

"Oh! That's nice. But if you do want another, proper, fancy bottle level fragrance, do let me know. I would love to make some fragrances for you." He grinned, and gave another blelelele that tickled Alastor's cheek. And then he realized he'd just essentially _licked_ Alastor and he sat up straighter. Thank God he couldn't blush.

Alastor

Pay no mind to the way he leaned into the lick. He told himself not to read into it, it was just a snake thing. "I've never been much of a fragrance person, but... I'll keep it in mind. I've got to see you at work on this newest hidden talent of yours sometime, don't I?"

Sir Pentious

"Yes, I think you do! And my tea mixing, but I'm afraid neither are terribly exciting." He gave a shrug.

"Oh yes, the PA system is over there." He pointed across the field of glass still as of yet uncleared.

Alastor

“Right!” That was what they’d been here for. Not music. The music was just a bonus. A beautiful bonus Alastor was going to be thinking about for weeks. “Then shall we?”

He handed off the violin to his shadow so it could stow them both away where they belonged, and let his enthralled souls clear a path to the PA system. He kept one arm around Sir Pentious as they went.

[sabine-leo]

Light my fire... Part 1 of 2

Summary: Tom is one of your best friends for years now. After his stint on Broadway he is back on home soil and accepts Benedict's invitation to join him, Sophie, you and 3 other friends on a long weekend getaway in Scotland´s Highlands. Are the both of you ready to notice that you have missed each other more than you might have wanted to admit to yourself?

Genre: Friends to lovers, FLUFF, Fun and Flirtation

Author: @sabine-leo​ 

Part: 1 of 2

Wordcount: 2573

Note: Thank you for all the comments, notes, pm´s and reactions to the little teaser of this story. I do hope you like Part 1 !! Comments, likes and reblogs are soul-food and very much appreciated! THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Even though he had wanted to decline this invitation at first, he had to admit that he was happy to be here now. The setting could not be more oppositional to his bygone living arrangements in New York the past months. He had loved the buzz of the never sleeping city, the walks with Bobby in Central Park, the excitement before going on stage on Broadway or the view he had out of his apartment window. But breathing in the crisp, clear air that smelled of nothing but natures purest, unpolluted breath was cleansing and calming in a way that was very welcomed by his body and soul. With a smile on his lips and a visible puff of air out of his lungs he saw six figures approaching the deck of the cabin he was standing on. Laughter carried a great length when no noise besides natures own music was there to distract the ears from it. Tom hid his hands in his pockets and watched his friends come closer, the smile on his features getting bigger and more earnest in its depth.

He had missed them all!

The tallest figure of the bunch stopped short for a second and Tom could hear the deep chuckle before a happy statement made him laugh.

“Look who finally made it! Mate you missed one hell of a hike!”

Tom started to move and went down the few steps to greet Benedict with a warm hug.

“Seems like it. I already unpacked and got a decent nap in while waiting for you bunch. Did you get lost in the Highlands?” Tom grinned and patted his friends back.

Benedict leaned in with a laugh and stage whispered “Remind me not to give the map of trails to (Y/N) next time.”

Both men laughed when they saw your slightly flushed face.

“I got us back in one piece, didn´t I?!” You asked with a grin ruining your try on a stern face.

Ben chuckled and rolled his eyes.

“Yes, you did, but only because this is the only smoking chimney around.”

Tom hid his laugh and hugged you next.

“Hey Tom!” You smiled into his embrace and he inched you a bit closer against his warm, snuggly jumper. Taking in a deep breath.

“Hey (Y/N)!” He responded with a smile and whispered

“Good thing I lit a fire then…”

Laughingly you wiggled out of his embrace and swatted the chest of your dearly missed friend.

His following laugh warmed your half-frozen body.

“Make fun of me as much as you like. I am going to take a hot shower and snuggle close to the fire for the rest of the night!”

“WORD!” Sophie jumped in and greeted Tom as did the other three who had already arrived this morning. Ben kissed his wife and lead the way into the big cabin that would host them for the next 4 days. “You lasses go take that shower. Lads we are going to prep Dinner and start the night with a good bottle of Covo Bianco.”

“Oh god no!” Tom laughed and followed his friends inside.

Ben hugged him again. “Glad to have you back on home soil my friend.”

Showering did take a bit longer than usual but finally your legs stopped feeling like getting pinched by thousands of needles. The prospect of good food, lovely company and a lit fireplace made you get dried and dressed instead of jumping into the cosy looking double bed directly. 

Well, hopefully good food. There were 4 men cooking after all, two of them probably knew how to PLAY a chef but besides Bolognese Toms skills in the kitchen remained more useful for breakfast than Dinner. At least he said that himself. When you walked into the open space kitchen you started to laugh nearly directly. Sophie was already taking over and banning the men to set the table, stir the sauce and stoke the fire. Tom tried to set a foot in front of the oven to look at the steaks but the stern looks on Sophies face made him surrender with raised hands, retreating slowly with a charming grin. When he turned, he stood directly before you and tilted his head. 

“Quick. Let me safe you!” His hands softly grabbed your arms and pushed you backwards out of the kitchen. You chuckled. “I think I would have survived.”

Toms smile got even more handsome.

“You don´t know that. Plus, I´d rather have you help me find the wine cellar before Ben really breaks out the Covo Bianco!” Before you could argue Tom had your hand in his and headed towards the stairs. “Really? You did hear that I nearly got us lost in the Highlands today?” You asked with a laugh.

Tom stopped short with a chuckle and you ran into his chest.

“This is a cabin…” he started with an amused look down on you, keeping you close with a hand on your hip.  

“A big cabin…” You interrupted.

“Agreed. A big cabin. But it is not as vast as the Highlands.”

The face you made teased a chuckle out of him.

“Come on (Y/N). Help a friend out…”

“There are probably spiders down there…” you whined.

Tom laughed out loud.

“Undoubtedly. Highland-spiders are monstrous. Now follow me into the darkness. I swear to protect you with my life.”

“You are an idiot!”

Tom turned and squeezed your hand. “An idiot you choose to befriend years ago and one that missed you after your too short a visit to Broadway.”

“You could have missed me 5 more minutes and explore the cellar on your own Hiddleston!”  

All you got was a dark chuckle and a squeeze of his big hand that held yours in a firm but tender grip while he led the way downstairs.

---

Benedict grunted when he sat down, a glass of wine in his hand.

“Blimey, could you hold my wine for a second dear?”

He handed his glass to Sophie and grinned.

“Good thing that we all know each other so well and don´t have to be all prim and proper!”

“What are you doing Ben?” Sophie looked at her husband who just that second opened up is belt and the first knob of his trousers. With a relieved grunt he took back his glass and winked at his wife.

“SO much better!”

Tom chuckled from his spot on the sofa.  “I see you threw composure out of the window for tonight…”

Ben huffed but before he could answer to Toms quip you leaned over Jack, who sat in the middle, a little bit and lifted Toms jumper. “Don´t get all patronizing Hiddleston. I saw you open up your own button before dessert!”

And right you were. His trousers had two open knobs letting his Calvin Klein´s peek out.

Tom grabbed your wrist. “You did not…how could you betray your best friend like that?” he rumbled darkly with a glint in his eyes.

Benedict, grinning broadly, lifted his glass. “Always remember Tom: The only substitute to good manners are fast reflexes!” Laughs that erupted from everybody and Jack leaning forward to grab his own glass broke the contact between you and Tom but you felt his eyes linger on you when you got up some minutes later. Ben and Sophie were talkatively prepping a game of Pictionary. You walked behind the sofa to grab yourself a glass of water in the kitchen when suddenly Toms big hand closed around your wrist and tugged you down. “Teasing me, (Y/N)?”

You snickered. “You started it when you pretended, I had a spider on my shoulder down in the cellar.”

Toms thumb ran circles over your pulse. The waft of his cologne and his chuckle did not go unnoticed by you. He tugged you down even further and placed a quick peck on your cheek. “I missed that.” He whispered and let go of you slowly. You smiled and touched his shoulder while standing up straight.

“Missed you too scamp!”

 ---

“Banana! Moon!... Fruit bowl?” Christine jumped up and down hectically. Tom lifted an eyebrow.

“Fruit bowl?! Seriously?”

“Na-ah. No talking.” Ben chastised and you could not hold back your snorted-out laugh.

D-I-N-G. Time was up. Tom fell back onto the sofa with a roll of his eyes.

“Who´s idea was it to draw upside-down?”

“Yours Mister Hiddleston. You wanted to -up the challenge- after you and (Y/N) beat us all bloody.” Ben grinned. Tom started to smirk and laugh. “I did not know that we also had to switch partners at this time. No offense Christine…” Christine smiled. “Non taken. But what did you draw there?”

“Lokis helmet…” You said while nipping at your drink, sitting opposite Tom with Sophie by your side. Christine frowned and turned her head sideways. “Oh dang.”

Tom beamed at you and you winked with a soft smile.

It was the last game for the night. Ben and Sophie bid their good nights with grins on their faces, stating that this would be their first kids’ free night since months. The rest moved closer to the fireplace. Enjoying quiet conversations or the crackling of the fire accompanied by the soft music Tom had put on. Christine, Jack and Philipp shared the sofa. Tom lounged in a wing chair closer to the fire and you had made yourself comfortable on the ground with a cushion. Your back leaning against Toms chair in between his legs. The warmth of the fire made you sleepy after the day outdoors and a phenomenal dinner shared with the people you cared about. Your head fell back against Toms leg. The soft chuckle when he leaned forward and his long fingers brushing your hair to one side made your eyes open up again. “Come on darling, I´ll walk you to bed. Otherwise you might get lost in this big cabin.” He teased and chuckled when you ungallantly snorted.

“I´ll find my room, thank you very much!”

Tom smiled and breathed a kiss into your hair.

“Alright, then help me find mine?”

“Can´t move…too tired…” You responded with a little grin and closed eyes. Tom rolled his beautiful blue orbs in playful exasperation and flung a leg over you to get out of the chair. Bending down he grabbed your hands with his and tugged. “Arise oh trail-finder. It will get cold down here when nobody is there to keep the flames crackling.”

With a moan you let Tom tug you up. Unsteady and tired as you were you bumped into him.

“Sorry!” You mumbled but Tom only laughed and turned you into the right direction.

“Good night everybody.” He said and followed you out into the hallway.

When you had found your room -after you accidentally opened up the door to the storage closet- Tom leaned in and hugged you close for a lingering moment.

“Sleep well darling.”

“You´ll find your room?” You asked sleepily and held on a second longer.  

His chuckle vibrated through your body.

“Yes, it is right next to yours.”

“The storage closet?” You grinned against his chest.

“The other door…” he chuckled again. “…Stop teasing me and get some sleep.”

“You´d have to let go of me for that.” You looked up and the twinkle in your eyes made Tom bite his lip. “Reluctantly…but ok.” He smiled and stepped back a bit rubbing your arms before walking towards his door.

“Tom?” you said halfway into your room.

“Mhmm?!”

“Glad you are back…and decided to come here.”

Tom smiled and tilted his head. “Me too…sweet dreams darling.”

 ---

 Morning came too soon and with it the crisp, chill air through the slightly open window that woke you. The sheet was heavy and warm. So much so, that you did not want to part with it when you climbed out of bed to close the window and grab some clothes before you´d head into the shower. Reluctantly you parted with it three minutes later and quickly tiptoed your way into the hopefully warm bathroom. Still sleepy, you placed your fresh clothes onto the heating unit and got rid of the worn Loki shirt Tom had gifted you some years ago.

It was your favourite shirt to sleep in.

The click from an opening opal glass shower door did not at all sound alarming to your still sleep-hazy brain. But when a deep voice cleared it´s throat with an unmistakable glee to it you turned around with a shocked expression. Your hands desperately grabbing the Loki-shirt to cover your naked breasts.

 “Good morning darling. Would you pass me a towel please? Or did you come in here to join me?”

 Toms grin got bigger when he saw the shock on your face and his alter ego currently pressed against your breasts.  He had gotten a good look on your naked back and the flimsy material covering your fine behind…even when he really had tried to be a gentleman and avert his eyes but failed miserably in nanoseconds.

You could not help but notice his wet hair dripping onto his lean torso. His groin was still covered by the opal glass door by the way he was leaning out sideways.

“Oh my god I am so sorry!” You blurted out.

Tom laughed a soft little laugh and looked into your eyes.

“I don´t think that this god is particularly sorry…I rather thinks he likes the place he´s being pressed at.” I know I would like it…he thought.

“What?” You got out not very eloquently.

Tom laughed again, this time a bit more mischievous and with an accompanying wink when he nodded his head towards the Loki-shirt.

“OH!” You looked down on your shirt and blushed.

“So, towel or joining me?” He dared to say with a grin on his handsome face.

You threw him the next best towel in your reach and missed the playful sad huff he gave before he disappeared fully back into the shower. He stepped outside the next second. Still dripping wet but the towel wrapped around him. Low. Very low. The V shape of his hips in good display…as were his trained abs. You stood there, still clutching the shirt against your front and stared when he walked over and leaned towards you to grab his stash of clothes on the stool behind you. A drop of water fell out of his wet hair directly onto your collarbone and slowly made its way down your still dry skin. From the feel of it you could have sworn that it would evaporate any second because your skin felt as if it was on fire. When he straitened again, he grinned at you and gave a quick peck to your cheek, tugging softly at the shirt you were holding onto like a life-jacket.

“Pick me up in my room before you head for breakfast?” His quiet, deep voice caressed your ears. The breath from his spoken words tickled your shoulder.

“Uh-huh!”

Tom smirked and walked to the door. He had almost closed it behind him but lurked in again.

“You know…That is a rather glorious purpose he is burdened with!”

Your brain really was not working properly this morning because you threw the Loki-shirt towards Toms face. When you noticed your mistake, you made a run for the shower and yelled.

“Close the damn door Hiddleston!”  

“From the inside or the outside?” Was his laughing reply before you heard the door fall close.  

 ---

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[wordynerdygurl]

Who's Sorry Now?

Summary: You and Loki have a disagreement, but it's nothing an apology can't fix.

Loki x Reader

Warnings: Cursing, a little size play, and dom/sub noncon

----------

"No, Loki. Not happening." Crossing your arms over your chest, you glared at The God of Mischief.

Plastering on his best salesman grin, Loki answered, "Darling! I think it's a very reasonable request. Won't you even consider it? For me?"

You lowered your arms and worried your bottom lip as you considered his words. Locking your eyes on his, you nod yes as you move towards him. When he wraps his arm around you, confident in his powers of persuasion, you rise up on your tip toes and huskily purr, "No fucking way, darlin'!" And you punctuate your displeasure with a hard shove against his ribs before storming out of the room.

That was three days ago and in front of half of The Avengers. Since then you'd done your best to keep clear of Loki and, really, anyone else. It wasn't your best moment since joining the team but you also knew that you weren't in the wrong, not about this.

Your rightness wasn't keeping your bed warm at night, however. You had the whole mattress to yourself and for the first time cursed it's king size. It was too big without a long, lean son of Odin under the covers. You didn't even want to sleep here without him.

Growling with frustration, you snatched up your pillow. With that and the throw blanket with Loki's face on it, a birthday gift from the Trickster himself, you resigned yourself to a night on the couch. At least those cushions would cuddle up to you. You could snuggle into thier softness and pretend it was the warm body of Loki.

To the living room, you thought glumly. Your hand was on the bedroom door's knob when it turned on its own. "What the..." you started but then Loki pushed passed you, "We have to talk."

No knock, no permission granted. Just strolling into your room like it was his, like you were his, a thing under his control. But he was nice to look at, you had to admit that.

Damn him. He was too handsome to be walking around here with barefeet. The grey sweat pants barely holding onto to his trim hips, a black tank top doing nothing to hide his wide shoulders, and that hair cascading down his back made your throat go bone dry.

"Talk?" You squeaked. After days of missing his physical presence, Loki was making up for lost time. He seemed to fill your room, sucking up all the air, making it hard for your lungs to work correctly.

Turning to face you, Loki repeated, "Yes, we have to talk."

His gaze flayed you raw. You had on one of his t-shirt, the hem dragging across your upper thighs, barely covering your boy short panties. And you were wearing those fluffy bunny slippers with the sagging ears, you were so adult and so childish all at once. Loki felt a familiar stirring low in his belly but forced himself to ignore it and you until he had his say.

Turning his back on you, Loki began, "About your tantrum..."

You were blinded by a flash of red hot anger. Your tantrum? "No. Nope. No fucking way. You aren't coming in here, uninvited by the way, and lecturing me about anything." Standing toe to toe with Loki, you weren't going to hold back.

Annoyance flashed through Loki's blue eyes, "I will lecture you and I will advise you and you would do well to listen."

Glaring at Loki with a growl you continue, "Ya know what your problem is? You always get what you want. It's bullshit and you know it."

Loki lifted his eyebrow, it was his only discernible movement. "Bullshit? Really? And your behavior? What is the word for that, darling?"

You didn't have a ready answer for that. Loki knew it too.

"Uh huh. I thought so." Taking a deep breath Loki forged on, "Look, I know you think my asking Thor to keep an eye on you when I'm away is... degrading? But I need to know that you're safe and honestly I don't trust anyone on this planet except for you. However, Thor is my brother... and his feelings about my past aside, he would never allow harm to come to you."

You twisted out of Loki's space wanting to put some distance between you two so that you could think straight. You realized why you were so pissed in a burst of clarity and felt your shoulders sag. Loki thought you weren't capable of handling yourself.

Turning your back to him, your voice low, you say, "I can take care of myself, Loki. I've been doing it for years. Since before I ever met you, I somehow managed to keep myself alive."

Reaching for you, Loki captured your wrist and held you firm. "I know, you foolish, head strong woman. Can't you see that's why I want someone looking after you if I am not able to?"

When you turn, facing him fully, Loki can see the shine of unshed tears in your eyes. Shifting his tone, he chides you, "Darling, you are no longer on your own. People around here rely you. They need you! I need you!"

"Ha!" It's a mirthless sound and you hear Loki sigh. After years on your own being with The Avengers was welcome but you had found it hard to shake your lone wolf mentality. The idea of leaning on someone instead of yourself was the scariest thing you could think of, and entirely out of the question.

"What will it take for you to believe me? How can I make you see just how much I worry when I can't touch you, or hold you? And what would I do if something happened to you? Have you ever considered that, my darling? Did you ever think of me when you were pouting and pushing, angry that I offered you my love and protection?"

Advancing on you like a hungry wolf during your dressing down, Loki had cornered you and you were normally smarter than that. You were trapped against the wall by Loki's smoldering anger and his imposing presence. And still you wanted to push back. Your hands balled into fists, ready to fight Loki if you had to, refusing to back down from his challenge, unwilling to give in to The God of Mischief.

Your wide legged stance and squared shoulders gave you away. Loki wasn't expecting you to submit, not without some sort of explanation, but he hadn't considered how hard you'd hold out. And here you were waiting to strike, ready to battle him if it meant you didn't have to bend to his one request.

"Loki... don't." Like a rattlesnake vibrating, you warned him that you were ready to strike.

"ENOUGH!" Slamming his hand into the wall beside you, Loki bellowed his frustration and you flinched at the ferocity of it. You thought you were battling smarmy Loki, sweet talker, silver tongued persuasion master. Furious Loki was another animal all together and truthfully, it shook you. Loki took advantage of your moment of doubt and grabbed your hands, forcing them over your head.

You snapped and squirmed like a fox in a snare. "Let go, Loki!!! Let me fucking go!!"

"Not a chance, love." Loki's strength was more than you were used to, him being a God and all, but this wasn't fair. You were rarely at a disadvantage with an opponent, much less one who'd seen you naked so many times, and you found it infuriating.

"God dammit, Loki! What do you want from me? What?" Loki was so close now that shouting wasn't necessary, but you did it anyway. Even as you jerked and twisted in his solid grip, you knew the only way out was through, but you weren't ready to concede just now. All your struggling had managed to do, beyond provoke Loki, was cause your shirt to ride up, exposing your soft belly. Loki longed to stroke that silky skin once more but not when you were gnashing your teeth like a shark on a hook.

"What I want, dear one, is to be with you forever. And I won't be able to do that if you're dead." Pausing dramatically to press his hips into yours, Loki observed, "Since I have certain responsibilities on planets other than this, I simply want you to allow any other person you know to check in on you until I can get back to you. Back to the toughest, angriest, meanest Midgardian woman I happen to love."

"What?" You froze in place, physically stunned by Loki's words. Then Loki crushed his lips to yours, sealing your squeals between your mouths. He licked your lips, eager to slide his tongue down your throat, but you refused his entry. So Loki did what any mischievous man might, he pulled your earlobe with his teeth and whispered in your ear, "Open up to me, little one. Please just let me love you the way I know you need me to."

His free hand brushed up your bare tummy not stopping until it cupped around your breast. Under your night shirt Loki rolled your hardening nipple, pinching it tighter and tighter while pulling it away from your body. The stretching burn you felt made your knees buckle and you were almost glad that Loki was holding you up because otherwise you'd be on the floor.

Your body flushed with heat, lower lips flooded with arousal, slick with your desire. It had been three days without Loki and your libido was making up for lost time. When Loki nipped at that spot where your collar bone dipped you couldn't help the sigh that escaped you.

Ever watchful, your God seized the moment. He pushed into your mouth with his tongue at the same time his hand began rubbing your mound over your panties. Head spinning, moans bubbling out of you like water out of a fountain, your body responded to every stroke of Loki's. In a part of your mind that was getting harder to hear you knew you should be mad but Loki had just tugged down the waistband of your boy shorts and oh my God! His deft fingers were ghosting over your clit.

Loki traced the line of your slit with his slim digits breaking your kiss to tease, "My, my... did my pet miss me?" You answered, "yes..." so softly that Loki almost didn't believe you had said it.

He released your hands in that second. One arm behind your neck, the other under your knees, Loki swept you off the floor and swung you towards your waiting bed. Laying you down easy, Loki wasn't too far behind, and you felt the mattress dip under his weight.

Dragging your shirt up by the hem, Loki pulled it off you with little effort. You felt the chill night air on your soaked skin and knew your panties were gone. Loki even ripped your bunny slippers off, and finally having you bare before him, smiled down at you. "My fierce warrior queen. So beautiful, so angry, so mine."

His kiss was hungry and you arched into it, meeting his need with your own. Your hands yanked his tank top over his head, ruffling his hair, as your desperate mouth took more and more from him. Rising off the bed, your hips sought out his stiffening steel, anxious to have Loki inside you.

Wasting no time, Loki shimmied out of his sweats, and you gulped at the sight of him hard and unyielding in front of you. "Loki... I'm sorry... I'm so, so sorry." A sob hitched in your throat. You didn't want to ruin the moment but you also wouldn't be able to enjoy Loki's attention without making amends.

"I know you are, dove. Now, on your knees, and count."

Loki's open palm connected with your naked rump in a loud smack! "One!" Your eyes burned with hot tears and your core contracted. Two and three were close together, the sting making you moan out thier numbers. By seven your ass was hot to the touch, your voice raw and your pussy was aching with emptiness. Loki swiped his hand across your drenched folds causing you to jump. "You are so wet. I think you like it when I spank your bottom. Do you?"

"Uhh... yes... Yes!" Loki plunged two fingers inside of your tight canal, coaxing you closer to your orgasm. You shuddered when Loki curled his fingers against your sensitive walls. You groaned when he removed them from you entirely, leaving you empty and wanting.

"Not so fast, dearest. Open." Loki pushed those same fingers over your parted lips. "Taste yourself, taste just how much you want me. Aren't you delicious? Do you see why you're precious to me?"

Between Loki's wicked words and the flavor of your nectar filling your mouth, you were starting to feel the building charge of electricity in your core. That humming of power which signaled your climax was slowly growing in volume.

"You cum when I tell you, is that understood, little one?" Loki always seemed to know when your body was sending out sexy signals but you are disappointed. You huff around his fingers, cross at his denial but you understand that playing this game will pay off in the end.

"Understood?" Loki's free hand grips your chin and forces your head up.

"Yes." You drool. His fingers now free of your juices, Loki holds your head still, his thumb pressing your tongue down. Flashing your wide eyes up to his as he brushes your full bottom lip with his heavy thumb, you hear Loki's silken murmur, "You look unbelievably sexy, kitten." And you practically purr like one at his praise.

Loki presents his hardened cock for you to enjoy and you mewl with pleasure. He's thick and long, already beaded with precum. You reach forward tongue first, licking the sweet release from his sensitive head before swirling your tongue around him. Loki bucks his hips forward and suddenly you're taking him deeper, hollowing your cheeks to accommodate his size and using your fist to keep up the friction where your mouth can't reach.

Loki controls his pleasure by wrapping his hands in your hair. A tug this way, a tug back, holding you still as he pumps into you, not settling on any rhythm, just using you as he sees fit.

"On your back." Growling Loki pulls out of your mouth with a pop and shoves hard on your shoulder. He's between your legs, his quick hands coasting over your milky thighs, his thumbs spreading your lips, exposing your secret skin to the cool air.

"You cum when I tell you." Loki reconfirms your directive as he positions himself at your tight cunt. You're so wet and waiting that he enters you further and faster than he'd intended.

"Loki!" You almost shout at the fullness of him inside of you. He laughs roughly, "I know, you're such a slut for me. It's one of the things I love about you!" Without wasting any time Loki is slamming himself hard into your molten center. You realize this fuck is about his pleasure first, yours second. The pace he sets is fast and firm, your breasts bouncing with each inward drive, wetness running between your ass cheeks with every withdrawal.

"Say it again!" Loki commands. "Wha... what? Say what?" You're confused and fuzzy brained from lust.

"Tell me how sorry you are... make me believe you!" Loki never lets up even as he's giving you orders.

Pitifully you whimper, "Loki! I'm so sorry baby! I was wrong! I... I know you're trying to keep me safe... I'm sorry, so so sorry!"

"You are? You seemed pretty angry earlier." His hips stutter, changing his angle just enough to draw a squeak from you. "I was... but I apologize. I'm sorry baby, so sorry that I messed up."

"Cum for me. Do it! Right now kitten, cum on my cock!" Your body clenches tight around Loki who is buried to the hilt inside of you. Spasms of satisfaction shake you both as you come apart around each other.

You pull Loki down for a kiss, fucking his mouth with your tongue, as you both ride out your climaxes. Flopping down next to you, Loki pulls you into his chest. Pressing a chaste kiss to your forehead, his breathing heavy still, Loki says, "I do love you, you little brat.", a smirk playing over his lips.

"I know. I love you, you big bully." You pant against his ribs, "Just make sure Thor knows that I can handle myself. I don't need him to babysit me."

"Babysit you? Of course not. I want him to make sure you have those little cookies you like so much and that you're not watching Stranger Things without me." You realize then just how off the mark you've been about this Thor situation.

Loki laughs, "Babysit you... Ha! You could take him in a fair fight, no question... But if trouble does come, he'll have your back." Searching your eyes with his blue ones, Loki adds, somber now, "That's all the comfort I'm taking with me on this mission, you know. The idea that you'll be safe and warm and waiting for me here when I get back. Without that... well, I don't know why I'd even bother."

You pull him into your arms, eager to ease his worries. "I'll be here. I'll be waiting." You tuck a strand of black hair behind his ear and kiss his cheek.

"Next time, let's try using our words first." Loki teases you sweetly.

"Maybe next time explain yourself instead of ordering me around?" You counter.

"Ok. I can try that." Nodding Loki agrees.

"Ok. Me too." You mirror his movement, a shy smile playing over your lips. Sitting up with a grunt, you add, "But if you think I'm not watching Stranger Things while you're gone, you're crazy."

"Do it, darling, and you'll be sorry."

[sherlockfanficwriting]

Sherlock “Self Harm” (x reader)

Summary - Life has been depressing for you for a while. You can’t seem to forget about your problems and sad memories. You indulge in bad habits that have everlasting effects on your mind and body. Sherlock finds it hard to help but tries hard to express his love for you. One day you take it over the edge. What will happen?

Warnings - self-harm, blood, angst

A/N - hello so here is a very angsty story someone messaged me about it and i really like it. I do not support these unhealthy habits but I have witnessed acts like these and hope that no one does this stuff, if you do and want to talk i am here and i do not judge. you are gorgeous and beautiful and mean the world to everyone, but do enjoy the story and leave me some requests. @fanfictionsilove​ @bakerstreethound​ @redheaded-hobbit​ @theartisticscientistsworld​ @dancezwithwolvez​

You sat down on the edge of your bed, staring at the buildings across from your window. You were about to leave for a small party with Sherlock. It was more of a fancy one and you weren’t necessarily excited for it, but tried to be happy. You didn’t want to seem selfish. You sighed and relieved yourself up from the bed, walking to the standing mirror. You were wearing a long beige dress with sleeves up to your wrists - thankfully. The dress was beautiful; it seemed as if it came straight from a castle’s closet. You forced yourself to smile and enjoy yourself. Lately, you’ve been sad. More than sad. Depressed. There was such a fine line between sadness and depression. For months you’ve been at an all-time low. Your parents, both, died. One, from a car accident, and the other from suicide. You didn’t remember a time where you didn’t want to cry. Your parents meant the world for you. Memories - good and bad - came pouring inside your head and dreams when they passed away. You felt regret, horror, despair, and pure agony.

You started drinking a lot. You needed something to numb the pain. The agony. It only worked temporarily before you realized it would only work for a small timeframe. You took it to the next level when the pain wore on. You remember the first time. You took the small knife. The smooth one with the deadly pointed tip. You looked at your wrists, innocent and pure, become stained with dark blood. You didn’t panic. You liked the feeling. You didn’t stop there. You did it about four more times on your wrists, then stopped. Instead, you picked up the act of being risky. You would walk on the street without looking anywhere. You would turn corners without waiting or looking. You would walk anywhere and into people, not caring about what would happen, but your emotions peaked at an all-time high today. You needed to feel real pain. You didn’t want to live anymore, but you only cared about the pain to numb your lost heart.

Knock

“I’m done, (Y/N). I’ll be waiting by the door, love.” Sherlock’s voice warmed your body. You loved him, but he couldn't help you. He didn’t even know about your habits. He was too stupid to realize. It wasn’t his fault he was wired differently. When the deaths first occurred, he tried his best to comfort you, but it wasn’t much use to you. You just wanted to be alone.

“I’m coming.”

You put a red shade of lipstick on and applied some more eye makeup. Finally, you put your hair softly down. The loose curls bounced on your collar bone. You put a pair of nude-colored heels on and walked out the door, trying very hard to seem normal. It worked for these months. You saw Sherlock smiling by the door. He was dressed in a dark suit with a blank smile. The time that you’ve known him, he grew happier and more...normal. 

“Look great. I really love it.” Sherlock told you, taking your hand. You smiled at him as you walked down the steps with him. The cold city air hit slapped your face as you got in the cab. 

“Castlewalk.” He told the driver who sped off. You watched out the window at the flashing cars and blank faces. Everything seemed so desolate to you. You grabbed your hands, feeling your wrists. The cab slowed down not much time later in front of a quiet large cottage. You’ve been to a few too many parties and gatherings here before. You walked out the cab, hanging on to your dress and waited for Sherlock. He squeezed your arm lovingly and walked inside with you. You felt awful and dead inside. There was nothing for you to be happy about. 

“(Y/N)!” A voice screamed as you walked inside, blinded by the music and traditional lights. You turned to your side to see John who was cheerfully smiling and held his arms out to you. You smiled back and hugged him coldly. 

“I’m so glad you could make it!” 

“I’m glad to see you too.” You nodded to him and left Sherlock with him and continued to walk around. You didn’t feel like interacting too much. It was bad today. You kept a blank smile on your face as you walked around, looking for a quiet spot. 

“(Y/N)!” Someone else screamed. You silently groaned and turned around to see Lestrade and Molly. They were holding two glasses of wine. 

That’ll end well

“Hi!” You went over and gave them a hug. 

“You look great!” Lestrade told you. 

“You as well. I’m going to get some air. I’ll see you two later.” You made sure you sounded super normal and walked off, trying to avoid people. 

An arm suddenly grabbed yours. You turned around. It was Sherlock. You tried to look happy, hoping he would continue to buy it. 

“Are you feeling okay?” He asked. 

You gulped, but you remained calm. “Just lightheaded. I’m going for some air.” 

“As a matter of fact I’m feeling so too. I might be there later. I would be with you, dear, but you know,” He said, making an annoyed face. You knew he didn’t like this big of a crowd. You thought it was a simple gathering, but turns out it was something you and him didn’t like. 

“Bye.” You told him and continued on. 

The cottage was modern inside and had large windows on almost every wall. You walked down a quiet hallway while moonlight poured along the floor from the window. You looked out at the long dark sea. You opened the exit door and sat down on the cliffside. You thought and remembered certain things. 

They’re dead

The house isn’t there

They don’t want to talk to you 

They’re never coming back 

There’s blood everywhere 

It’s horrendous

Sorry, your interview didn’t go well 

Not the right person for the job 

You felt tears shedding from your eyes. You were no good. No use. You were so close to them, closer than all your friends were to their parents. You felt lost. You still felt as if a dagger was pierced through your heart. Life went downhill from then. You couldn’t concentrate. You could hardly think straight. You’ve always been sharp like Sherlock, but it was too hard now. You tried to get the job. They noticed it. You weren’t you anymore. What good was life if you were like this? 

You hugged yourself and looked at the dark horizon. You walked closer near the edge and thought about it for a minute. You needed to do something. You needed to erase your pain. Suddenly you turned your back and swiftly ran along the rocky path to the front of the building. Once you were on the road you continued running the short distance to the street. As you neared an illuminated corner, you waved your hand for a taxi. You hopped in and drove back to your flat. You couldn’t stop thinking. You needed to end this. Your pain. Now. 

The taxi slowed down in front of your building. You handed the cash and darted to your door. You flung the door open and hopped up your steps, nearly tripping from your dress. You unlocked your door and ran to your bedroom. You ran your hands along your dresser, opening up your drawers and looking for it. All of a sudden you felt the cold metal. You pulled your knife out and held it firmly. Every ounce of all the bottled emotions poured out. You cried harder. Your pain hurt more. Your heart weighed you down. You needed to end this. You were nothing. You walked inside your bathroom, finally looking at yourself in the mirror. You loved Sherlock. You would miss him, but he couldn't fix you. You couldn’t even fix yourself. He wouldn’t understand. You would do something else. Something that wouldn’t hurt him, but you couldn’t. You needed to feel pain. You hadn’t been selfish all your life, but now you could. You stared at yourself. Your eyes, once sparkly and lively were dark and cold. They bore no feelings. You were blank inside. You gripped your knife harder and pressed it on your left wrist. You slid it hard along your smooth skin. You let it all out. Blood dripped from the fine line that became deeper as you went. It hurt you, but it masked your pain. You did it again to yourself. You wanted more. You needed more. You cut yourself another time then repeated on your other arm. You felt on top of the world, high off the pain. You needed this. You watched the blood drop to the floor. It stained your dress. Your arms and hands were covered in red. It didn’t stop. You walked out of the bathroom and opened a cabinet. You pulled out a clear bottle. You inhaled the strong liquid, then swallowed large amounts until you finished about half. Your wrists hurt you, but you wanted them too. It felt good. 

You walked into the bathroom and slumped down in the tub. You rested your head on the outer edge of it. You felt weaker by the moment. You didn’t know why. You didn’t even think why. You felt yourself become confused and lightheaded. You didn’t feel the pain anymore. You just concentrated on the blood continuously pouring from your wrists. You twisted the knob for hot water and let it run until it was about three fourths up. You needed warmth. 

Finally, you did it. You did what you were wishing for. You were tired. You couldn’t think straight. You just hoped this was it. You closed your eyes, enjoying the feeling. You watched your breathing, now becoming ever so slow. You didn’t hear anything but silence. You stayed like this for what it seemed like hours...days....a blissful eternity. 

Thud

You heard this indistinct sound but were too weak to open your eyes. You heard steps. Footsteps. Quick footsteps. Pounding. 

“(Y/N)! Do you hear me?” It was Sherlock. He sounded....angry? You didn’t know. You couldn’t even speak. 

“Are you in here?” 

You prayed he didn’t come in, but you were so out of it that it didn’t even mean much to you. You heard a doorknob rattling. You tried hard to open your eyes, which you managed to do. Suddenly you heard a hard pound in the door. Then another. On the he last pound the door swung open, breaking off the wall partly.

“(Y/N)!” He ran over to you, arching your back up. You saw the look of sadness and despair on his face. You tried to move, but couldn't much. You knew something was coming to an end.  

“What did you do?!” He grabbed your arm, looking at it and tried to press down. The water was already dark red. It was too late to stop the blood. You saw him crying. Sherlock moved quick to pick you up. He wrapped his arm around your legs and one around your back. He held your wrists with his hands and ran out of the room. You closed your eyes involuntarily. 

This was it. 

“Why? How didn’t I know? I’m so sorry! Why did you do this?” He asked frantically. He placed you down and you heard him talking to someone. Time passed by slowly. He placed pressure on your body, wherever he could. 

“(Y/N), please. Open your eyes, love. Please. You can’t do this to me.” He placed a hand on your face, stroking it, begging you for this. You couldn’t. You heard something horrible - the loud choking scream of someone you loved. He wasn’t supposed to come before you died. You could have worked this out better, but you didn’t. This was it for you. You loved him. You would miss him, but like you said it was your turn to be selfish for yourself. 

“Please, don’t.” 

You used your last strength to squeeze his hand twice which caused him to groan loudly. 

Then you rested. 

[malecftw]

You have a fever - Shawn Mendes

Word Count: 1.326

Warnings: errrr, sickness? just flufff pretty much, oh and some nudity ig

Masterlist.

Requests are open!

His keys were rustling as he opens the door to his condo. He felt oddly awake considering he had been up since 6 am to take care of you. The only reason he even went to the studio was because you wanted him to. Even if you were sicker than he’s ever seen you, you still put him first. The cold metal of the door handle brought him to his senses again as he touched it. It felt smooth, his grip on it weakening when he tried to turn the knob to enter his home. Grocery bags in one hand, keys, and phone in the other. His hands were wet, as were the grocery bags caused by the cold Toronto autumn that was beginning to settle in the city. The leafs had started turning a brownish color and people were dropping like flies, being struck with colds and the flu. You being one of them.

He slowly pushed the door open, careful not to wake you in case you were sleeping. He peeked his head around the corner to find you cuddled into the sofa, some daytime tv show playing on the background as you tried to sleep off whatever bug that had decided to come pester you.

He paused for a second, closely looking at your body. When he saw your slow, relaxed breathing he let out the silent breath he didn’t realize he was holding. Grateful for wearing his loose-fitting sneakers, he gently pushed them off of his feet and made his way over to the kitchen, putting down his belongings on the kitchen isle.

He left the groceries out, not really needing to put anything in the fridge right now since he’d just bought some bread, crackers and some snacks. The glass coffee table had no problem holding his weight as he sat down on it, right in front of you to check your temperature. Shawn softly laid a hand on your forehead, cringing at the heat you were emitting he decided it’d be best to wake you.

‘Y/N? Babe? Wake up.’ You groaned at his voice, not because you weren’t glad he was home but because sleeping meant no pain, no struggle to breathe and no hot flashes making their way through your body. ‘I’m sorry for waking you but you are really hot y/n. Open up.’ He said as he put a thermometer in your barely open mouth. ‘Have you eaten anything yet?’ He asked, already knowing the answer as he stroked your wrist knowing you couldn’t deal with any other physical contact right now. You slowly shook your head no as your eyes started drooping again and he had to shake you again to keep you conscious. ‘Hey hey, stay with me. Don’t fall asleep again.’ The sigh that escaped your lips was nothing short of pained and annoyed. You were in really bad shape and Shawn came to the realization that just waiting it out with some over the counter medication was probably not going to cut it.

He held his head in his hands as he looked at your temperature straight away when the small device beeped. Your fever was way too high so he decided to take matters into his own hands. Without saying anything, he slid a hand under your back while the other supported your knees, slowly lifting you up, careful not to hurt you. ‘What’re you doing?’ You croak out, taking a handful of his shirt in your fist. ‘I’m running you a bath, your temp is way too high, we need to get it down.’ 

Shawn didn’t miss the shivers and goosebumps that tortured you after he’d lifted you up, taking you away from the comfort of your warm blanket.

You hissed as he sat you down on the edge of the bath, looking at him through hooded eyes. He made quick work of taking care of the temperature, also throwing in a eucalyptus bath bomb before focussing his attention back on you. ‘Hug?’ Your small, weak voice asked. You just wanted him and his comforting figure close to you. He obliged but the hug didn’t last long when he took the hair band from your wrist, turning your body so your feet were already in the shallow water whilst the bathtub was filling up and started braiding your long hair, in the process, cooling down your neck.

His lips ghosted on the warm skin of your shoulder and neck after he finished the braid, trying to distract you from the chilly air of the bathroom as he lifted your night dress. He didn’t have much trouble getting you out of it since you always bought a size too big, loving the feeling of the airiness and room it gave you. You inhaled sharply, not expecting it to make such a difference, but it did.

He kissed beneath your ear lovingly as he carefully gripped your sides. ‘I’m gonna lower you into the water now okay y/n.’ You nodded, not really having much energy to do anything else. You tried to hold your weight so he didn’t have to lower your full body weight into the bath but you failed horribly, not that he had any issue with holding you up. He loved how he could pick you up whenever he wanted, throw you around like a rag doll when you were teasing or play fighting.

As your body got fully emerged in the water you started shaking uncontrollably. Shawn had made sure to still make it warm so it wouldn’t cause you to go into shock because of a severe change in temperature but because of your fever, it still felt cold to you. ‘Shhh, it’s okay babe. Just let it wash over you. Don’t fight it.’ You tried to speak but your teeth were chattering too much to get anything out so you just grabbed his warm hand, suddenly craving his warm body.

‘P-p-p-please g-g-get in-n.’ Your shaking began to worry him so he quickly stripped, figuring that his body warmth might provide a smoother transition in temperature. He got in behind you and hugged your body close to him. The warm water feeling pleasant on his skin as he held your shivering body close. His arms enveloping your small hands. The contact of his skin making goosebumps appear, not only because of his warmth but just him. His affection, his caring nature towards you, the safety net you never knew you needed until you met him.

‘Shhh calm down y/n, you’re okay.’ He caressed your cheek, allowing you to lean into him even more. After about 10 minutes, the eucalyptus had opened your airways and you were getting used to the different temperature, the water actually feeling pleasant against your skin now.

‘I love you, you know that right?’ You said, mindlessly playing with some foam, coating his arms in small mountains of it, changing their shape ever so often. He tilts his head. ‘Of course, why would you ask that?’ You shrug, ‘I just feel like, like you only deserve the best. You’re such a good human, it’s overwhelming sometimes to think about how much I love you and sometimes I just wonder if I’m doing enough.’ He lowers his head down onto your shoulder and his arms hug you tighter. ‘Y/n, you are the love of my life. The only reason why I’m a good person is because you make me better every day. You make me want to be good, I want to be good. For you.’ 

You turn your head towards him, his head still resting on your shoulder as you press a kiss on his temple and you feel his lips curl into a smile on your skin. ‘I love you. Thank you for taking care of me.’ Your voice softly says as you affectionately touch his cheek with your nose.

‘I love you y/n. Even when you’re a hot mess like you are today.’

[thegreenfairy13]

We Only Come Here To Sleep

A new Gobblepot fic cause I need to do something on the weekend. 

Summary: Three infants have been murdered and their bodies have been found at various places in Gotham City. The public, as well as the mob, want to see a culprit for different reasons. After everything Jim Gordon has been through, one wouldn't think an ordinary case would take its toll on him. But it does.

Read the first chapter on Ao3 or here: 

In the end, it wasn’t one of the Riddler’s elaborate schemes, or one of the Joker’s ludicrous plans. It wasn’t Bruce Wayne and his determination to become a vigilante, or even the Penguin and his golden empire of crime. In the end, it was a usual case, an ordinary crime that did James Gordon in.

Gotham City seems to know only two seasons. Through most of the year, there’s an icy wind sweeping through the city, biting into the grim faces of her inhabitants. Most of her days are dark, giving the impression of an endless night.

But then comes the summer. And for a few weeks, Gotham will be tinged with yellow. But it won’t be a bright summer showing off clear skies painting the city with gentle colors. No, it will be harsh and brutal - like everything in this godforsaken city.

The sun will be beating down, baking pavements and glass-facades until each breath in the overheated air will be painful, until each step will be a battle. And the light! It’s never a bright yellow, but a color reminiscent of piss. It suits this pain-filled place, though.

Jim Gordon curses under his breath as exists his car. When putting his feet on the ground, his soles practically fuse with the ground. A wave of hot air hits his chest, and Jim can instantly feel the sweat covering his chest, causing his shirt to cling uncomfortably to his upper-body. Reaching for his sunglasses, he gestures for Harvey to follow him.

The heavier man pulls a face when being ordered to leave the chilled cocoon of his car. Jim ignores him. Sighing heavily, he nods towards the other officers already crowding the scenery.

Despite the buzz, he feels alone. Out here, Gotham is at her worst. For miles and miles, there’s nothing to see but the grey of the concrete and colorless sand. It’s a place where people disappear in the filthy water never to return again. Jim is certain his colleagues will lay him to rest out here one day in the future - he wouldn’t blame them.  

After taking a few more hesitant steps, Jim hears the sand crunching beneath his shoes. If he closed his eyes for a moment, he could easily pretend to be somewhere else. At a proper beach maybe, under a benevolent sky. Instead, he thinks how annoying it will be to get the sand out of his shoes.

“Where exactly are we?” Harvey asks with a slight growl, startling Jim.

Jim tilts his head. He contemplates giving his partner a snarky reply but thinks better of it. So instead of pointing out that he didn’t spend the car-ride blindfolded and handcuffed, he explains, “Common ground.”

Sucking in a shuddering breath, Harvey tilts his head. “That’s bad.”

Jim doesn’t reply, simply grits his teeth. ‘That’s bad’ doesn’t even start to cover how bad this could be.

One of the younger officers picks up on their conversation. Confusion written all over his face, he addresses Harvey. “What do you mean?” he asks.

Huffing out a humorless laugh, the experienced cop indulges the lad. “That’s the land between the turfs.” Pointing across the river, he elaborates, “That’s the Valeska turf.” He turns slightly to the right, “The Siren’s oasis.” Making a full turn, he points vaguely in the direction Jim is standing, “Tetch’s outdoor amusement park for the hopelessly lunatic, right beside the Scarecrow’s House of Horror.”  

At last, he circles his partner fully. “The Narrows,” he says then, ignoring the slight pang of pain on Jim’s face deliberately. “None other than the Queen rules this shitty piece of the city.”

Taking a deep breath, he finishes his quick initiation to Gotham’s inofficial districts. “But they all pay their tribute to the Penguin.”  Adjusting his sweat-sodden fedora, Bullock spits on the ground. “And this crap place? That’s no one’s ground. If a body is being dropped here , the rogues passed their judgment. Together.”

The young police-man gulps. He stares at Bullock and then back at the riverbank where the coroner is already busy taking samples. “So they…?”

Pushing the lad aside, Jim steps forward. “So if a body ends up here without permission here, that means the mob will interfere,” he states grimly.

Approaching the riverbank, the Commissioner finally takes a good look at the corpse before him. Despite all the horrors Jim had been through before, nothing could have been able to prepare him for the sight before him.

For a long moment, he merely stares, unmoving. He has seen corpses before, has been the cause of untimely deaths more times than he’d like to admit, but this is new.

No, in fact, it isn’t. Jim has been confronted with this kind of death before, has tried his very best to suppress that memory as best as he can, but given the context, this is new .

Looking up, he nods for the coroner to start elaborating. Never before has Jim missed the previous forensic, Edward Nygma, as much as this very second. For once, he wishes for someone to wrap up harsh truths in distracting riddles. Jim would give up his year’s salary and then some, if the forensic would give his mind an opportunity to wander off, to focus on something else than the task at hand.

What he gets, though, are simple facts. “Infant. Male. Probably not more than a couple of days old. Maybe not even that. Probably strangled. No severe trauma,” he rattles on, unfazed by the tiny body lying on the dirty ground. Maybe she hardens you to this point.

A baby. Just a little, innocent baby. Jim can hardly breathe as he stares down at what has been a living being, if only for a few hours. His skin is already peeling off due to the merciless heat, turning black and blue beneath Gotham’s sun. Jim wonders if it was rosy, once. He stares down, unable to look away, takes in the little knobs of fat on its upper arms and legs, and tries to suppress a sob.

Somebody should hold this little thing in their arms. It should still be alive, making happy noises, as one gently pinches those tiny rolls of fat. It should squeal with delight, and only cry if it’s hungry.

At last, Jim has to turn away. This is not right. Nobody should discard a child as if it was trash. Especially not here, at this godforsaken place.

His fingers itch to pick up the small body, to hold it, if only for a moment, the way it deserves. In another life, he would know exactly how to go about it. He and Lee would have awaited their child’s arrival with excitement. Would have picked out a crib, toys, rompers, and books, maybe. They would have laid in bed, Jim’s hand on Lee’s belly, waiting for their kid to move, knowing full-well it’s still shielded from this city, from her .

This reality never happened, though. Will probably never happen to Jim, for he doesn’t deserve such happiness, he knows that. But still. It’s unfair. This infant lies there on the ground, discarded like trash, and it’s everything someone like Jim has ever wished for.

He bends down, almost touches the tiny cheek before remembering he’s still a cop. Swallowing heavily, he disguises the motion by wiping the sweat from his forehead.

A heavy hand lands on his shoulder. “You alright, partner?” Harvey asks quietly enough that nobody else hears them.

Jim’s chest constricts, he has trouble taking a breath, and still, his jaw is set tight. Nobody but Harvey would ever catch on, would note that anything was wrong. Jim is thankful for the warm hand, the solid weight on his shoulder. He’s grounding him in his pain, forcing him back to reality, when all he wants to do is float away and wallow in his grief.

“Of course I am,” he replies, a tad bit too quickly.

Harvey arches an eyebrow at him, but doesn’t reply. This is neither the place nor the time anyway.

“Won’t you finally pack up the evidence?” he snaps when the coroner gives them both a look that is too curious for Harvey’s taste. The coroner squints in disdain, but does what he’s told. After all, Bullock has a natural authority to him, he’s a character only Jim questioned successfully so far, and today, he’s glad for it.

They get back into their car, where it’s cold and sterile and death is but a memory at a riverbank. He blinks as he tries to wrap his head around what he just saw: an entire life, wasted in the sand. Neither of them talks as Harvey drives back to the city, back to the living.

Finally, Harvey glances over at Jim, now and then beating nervously the devil’s tattoo on the steering wheel. “That’s the third,” he whispers.

“I know,” Jim replies. He’s too exhausted to say anything else. Over the course of the last three weeks, they found three dead infants. All scattered around the city. The first two had been siblings according to their DNA-analysis. Jim wouldn’t be surprised if the third one is related to them, too.

“You want me to drop you off at the weasel’s place?” Harvey asks, and Jim flinches.

“What am I supposed to do there?”

The other man shrugs. “We found it on Common Ground.”

Jim hums in agreement. “Doesn’t look like a mob-job, though.”

Tilting his head, Harvey acknowledges the statement. “He could still know something,” he states petulantly and both men know he’s reaching for straws there.

“This case is getting to you,” he adds after a moment. Jim rolls his eyes but can’t find it in him to disagree. “You could at least get a free drink.”

The blonde snorts. “I think I’m outta favors.”

Harvey scratches his chin. “Still. Maybe one of his goons has seen something.” He clears his throat, looks over at Jim. “And it wouldn’t hurt for you to let off some steam. You always seem to be better off after pushing the Penguin around for a while.”

Jim sputters. “That’s not true!” he protests.

Holding up his hand, Harvey interrupts him. “It is. Go there. See what he knows, rough him up, arrest one or two thugs. You’ll feel better.”

Horrified, Jim stares at his partner’s face. “You make it sound like I’m harassing an innocent citizen for nothing. You’re still aware we’re talking about the Penguin?”

Harvey snorts in response. “That’s exactly why I’m suggesting.” He clicks his tongue against his teeth. “Not accusing , just to be clear.”

Jim falls silent as he clenches his fists. He’s so damn tired, he doesn’t even want to put up a fight.

“He’ll find out anyway,” he demurs. “And he’ll want answers. You don’t simply drop off a body at the riverbank and expect Cobblepot to keep his hooked nose outta your business.”

“This is a police investigation,” Jim snaps back, unfazed, and Harvey’s jaw drops.

“Even after becoming the Commissioner, you still sound like a petulant rookie on some days.

Leaning back against the seat, Jim closes his eyes. Even before today, he had been exhausted to the point of not being able to sleep properly for weeks. This city just won’t let him.

And now there’s a body on Common Ground.

This city doesn’t seem to rest when it comes to her sinisterness. If Gotham doesn’t want to swallow her entire population whole, she now goes for her most vulnerable inhabitants. Jim wishes he could for once simply search for stolen paintings or chase a burglar. But no, there’s always something bigger, or something more diabolical lurking in the shadows.

Jim’s shoulders slump as he gives in. “Let’s do the paperwork first,” he suggests, cause he’s still the commissioner. “And then we’ll inform the Penguin like the good, little cops we are.”

[vintagevalentinex]

Yes

So this is my Galentine’s Day Fic!!  

This fic is for @sometimes-iwritee​ so I hope she likes it! :)

This is the longest fic I’ve ever written, and I’m still trying to figure out how I pulled that off.  I used the song At Last by Etta James as inspiration.  Listen to it here!

Admittedly, I’m a little nervous because this fic is pretty long and I’ve never written anything on this scale.  Please let me know what you think!!

Tagging all the Galentine’s Day Ladies!

@kittenofdoomage @ilostmyshoe-79 @bovaria @sometimes-iwritee @unadulteratedstorycollector @winchester-writes @spnashley @icecream-and-winchesters @stephizzle94 @pada-ackles @charliesbackbitches @oriona75 @jensennjared @bkwrm523 @castielspahdehrah @crowlorevstiel @latinenglishfandomblog @manawhaat @balthazars-muse @leatherwhiskeycoffeeplaid @mrswhozeewhatsis @leviathanslovedick @ruby-loves-supernatural @lovemydean-o-saur @ladyfae @vintagevalentinexx @deans-colette @takeitoffwinchester @mysupernaturalfics​ @abaddonwithyall​ @timewasrunningout @blushingsamgirl

@theerinpage​ @aprofoundbondwithdean​ @spnfanficpond​ @ohfora67impala​ @castihelloboys​ @maraisabellegrey​

Title: Yes Author: vintagevalentinex Words: ~4450 (What even.) Pairing: (Benny x Reader) Warnings: Fluff and filth.  Flifth?  Unprotected sex.

It was the same every year.

It seemed like all the witches came out of the woodwork every single year around Valentine’s Day.  There were always dumb suckers who were desperate to have someone to call their own, and would do anything to be with someone.  That’s where you came in.  You always found yourself hunting witches, and if there was one thing that really pissed you off, it was witches.  They are the worst. You definitely weren’t going to call the Winchesters in on this one.  They were the absolute worst dealing with witches.  You rolled your eyes just thinking about it as you sat in yet another dive bar, wishing you were back in Louisiana.  Never thought I’d say that… You had reason to long for that balmy, humid, hot as hell state.  That reason being your burly, bearded, bear-of-a-man who loved you so dearly.  It was hard going on hunts that were so far away when you knew that Benny was waiting on you back home, your home that you shared with him.  Valentine’s Day was never a big deal for you, seeing as you never had anyone to share it with, but this year was different.  This would have been the first Valentine’s Day that you would have someone to be lovey-dovey with, and you could actually be one of those couples you made fun of on the day-at-hand.  Who knows?  Maybe I’ll actually be able to get back there by the 14th.  You swirled around the whiskey in your glass as you looked at the drunken antics of the people in the bar when you felt your phone vibrating.  You smiled as you saw the picture on the screen, Benny in his apron, smiling behind the counter of his little diner.

“Hello sweetheart.”

“Mmm…well in’ dat’ da mos’ beautiful voice in the whole world.”

You grinned to yourself, shaking your head.  “You miss me that much, huh Benny?”

“Course I do, (Y/N).  nothin’ pretty ta look at when yer gone.”

“Is that the only reason you miss me?”

“Naw, shug.  The bed’s been real cold at night…”

You roll your eyes, chewing on your bottom lip.  It was crazy how just hearing his voice could turn your entire mood around.  You could hear him chuckling on the other end.

“I miss you, Benny.”

“Miss ya too, darlin’.  Can’t wait ‘till ya get home.  Would tha’ be anytime soon?”

“I’m trying, baby.  These damn witches are so annoying.”

“Need me ta come help, shug?”

“I should be fine.  I’ll let you know.”

“Well…I hope ya can make it home for Valentine’s Day.  Sure would be nice to spend it with ya.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

“Love you, darlin’.  Stay safe, and I wouldn’t be too offended if you so decided to send me some pictures…”

You laughed loudly, almost catching too much attention in the bar.  “In your dreams, lover boy.”

You hit “end” on your phone, downing the rest of your drink so you could head back to the motel.  You needed to gank these witches pronto.

You were covered in blood, dirt, sweat, and mystery goo, but you were finally able to take out that damn coven.  You were lucky that they were mostly amateurs; you weren’t sure if you would have been able to take down a full coven of witches that were more skilled.  You were driving at high speed down the interstate, wanting nothing but your face meeting the pillows of your bed.  You pulled your phone off the charger, calling the only person you wanted to speak to at the moment.

“Mmm…cher…imagine mah surprise when I look at mah phone an see yer purdy face on the screen…”

“Yeah, yeah…totally not in the mood right now…”

“What’s wrong, cher?  Hunt not shapin’ up how ya like…?”

“No…it’s…I’m fine, I’m just tired.  I’m on my way back, actually.  Just wanted to hear your voice.”

“Oh ‘lil darlin’ I knew ya loved me!  I jus’ knew it!  So yer not stayin’ in a motel tonight?  Might be easier for ya to drive when you’ve had a few hours a’ shut eye.”

“I’m fine.  Sounds like you don’t love me at all, not wanting me home and everything…”

“S’not it, shug.  Jus’ don’t wanna hafta scrape yer hide off the highway…”

You chuckled into the phone, the gravelly warmth of Benny’s voice lightening your mood.  “I’ll be careful, I promise.  I can’t wait to see you, Benny.  I should be home soon.”

“I miss ya too, cher.  Can’t wait ta have ya in my arms…now I noticed tha’ ya didn’t send me any of those pictures we were talkin’ ‘bout…”

You rolled your eyes, shaking your head as you focused on the road.  “You’re an idiot.  I’ll talk to you later.”

You smiled to yourself as you heard the familiar crunching of the gravel underneath your tires as your car arrived to the front of the diner that you helped Benny run.  You drove through the night, wanting to desperately get home to the cozy little apartment at the back of the diner.  The bed and Netflix was calling your name as soon as you took the hottest shower known to man.  After all of that you knew that your burly vampire would be ready to cuddle down with you under the warm blankets of your bed.  You pulled your gear from the car, your clothes wrecked to hell with all kinds of mess as you approached the door, to find a sign in the window.

Closed for Valentine’s Day.  Sorry for the inconvenience.

Your eyebrows furrowed. Hmm…I can’t remember the last time Benny closed for something like this.  Wait, is today Valentine’s Day?  You pulled your phone out of your pocket, checking the date on the phone.  Well damn…it is.  I wonder what he’s up to.  You fished your keys out, opening the door to the diner, seemingly quiet.  You figured Benny would at least be washing dishes or something.  Come to think of it, his truck wasn’t around…  You dialed.

“Ah hope it’s safe to assume yer home, shug…”

“And I’m pretty damn sure it’s safe to assume you’re nowhere to be found?  Seriously, Benny?”

He chuckled.  “Aw cher don’ be like dat.  It is Valentine’s Day after all…”

You huffed.  “So…what?  My present for today is not having to see you…?”

“Awww shug, don’ do me like dat.  Here ah am, tryin’ ta be romantic an’ everythin’…”

“Mmhmm…so…are you planning on coming back tonight…?”

He chucked again.  “Well…not exactly…you’ll see…why don’t ya go take a nice, long bath.  You deserve it, darlin’.”

Well that’s not a terrible idea, actually.  “Alright.  For once you’re actually making sense—“

“Darlin’!”

“Alright, alright!”  You nearly pouted into the phone.  “Will I see you soon, Benny?  I’ve missed you so much, and knowing you’re not here makes the entire place seem so lonely.”

“You’ll find me soon ‘nuff, lil’ baby.  Now go on an’ relax.“

You grumble as you throw your things down in the main room of your apartment, ready to take a hot shower and pout in bed until Benny decided to show his face.  You strip off your clothes, leaving them in a pool on the floor as you pad toward the bathroom, confused as you see the closed door.  That’s weird…we never keep this door closed. Hunter reflexes kicking in, you brace your hand on the knob.  Great…I come home from killing fucking witches, and now I have to fight naked.  What a time to be alive.

Ready to take out whatever is behind the door, you rip it open to find…

Really…?  Is he serious? You huff as you shuffle into the bathroom, shutting the door behind you, your face softening as you note the petal floating on the surface of the water, sweet smelling lavender and citrus wafting up from the tub.  You stepped carefully into the large tub, sinking down low, the water all the way up to your chin.  Scanning the room, you realized you didn’t see the back of the door.  A beautiful, red, lacy dress hung there.

Even if he is a big oaf, he does have impeccable taste.

Smiling to yourself, you soaked in the water, dipping your toes in and out of tub, enjoying the slow, relaxing pace of being able to just soak.  This was usually not a luxury granted to hunters and the lifestyle, so you were definitely going to take advantage.  Benny tried to make life here as normal for the both of you as he could, but he could only do so much.  How normal could our life be?  I’m basically Buffy, and he’s Angel…Spike…?….Angel…?  Hell, I don’t know!  After soaking in the tub until your fingers got pruney, you carefully stepped out, sore muscles completely soothed and relaxed as you wrapped a big fluffy towel around your body.  You grabbed the dress off the door and headed back to the bedroom. I guess I’m supposed to put this on…

You laid the dress on the freshly made bed.  He made the bed?  What the hell is going on? Slipping into the closet, you pull out a pair of black patent leather pumps.  Setting them aside, you change your undergarments, slipping into the set you bought specifically for tonight.  At least he’s not the only one with surprises.

Removing the dress from the velvet hanger, you see a note pinned on the inside.  Carefully unpinning the note, you hold it up as you read:

I’m glad you were able to relax.  Meet me out back so I can hold you close. Xoxo

Smirking, you roll your eyes as you slip on the dress that fit you perfect. I’m going to pretend that’s not creepy.  Slipping on your shoes you clicked through the apartment to the back door, the weather perfect enough to leave your jacket behind.  Opening the back door you were greeted with the loveliest sight.

Flower petals created a trail that lead back into the woods behind your place.  You smiled genuinely as you followed the path into the woods, small little tea lights shaped like hearts lit your way as you traveled deeper into the trees.

After about a peaceful five minute walk, you came into a clearing.  You gasped as you saw what was in front of you, a grin etched on your face.

The most beautiful tent…fort…you didn’t know what to call it, but it was lined with flower petals and fairy lights.  The lights even twinkled in the trees.

As you stepped closer, you could hear one of your favorite songs playing.  When the hell did he have time to do this?

At last my love has come along My lonely days are over and life is like a song, oh yeah

You called out to him.  “Benny?!  Benny are you there?!”  You stepped closer, the smile lingering on your lips as you continued to take in the beautiful scene in front of you.  You were so enthralled that you didn’t notice a pair of thick, muscled arms wrap around your middle until it was too late.  The stranger paced his head on your shoulder, whispering in your ear.

“Hello, shug.  I do good?”

You turned around in his grasp, your hands pressed against his chest.  You leaned in to press a chaste kiss to his lips, smiling as you murmured against him, his beard tickling you.

“This is the most beautiful thing anyone has ever done for me, Benny.  I love you so much.”  You hugged him tightly, pouting when he put you at arm’s length.

“Lemme get a good look at ya, darlin’.  Been missin’ ya somethin’ terrible.”  He takes your hand, twirling you around, taking in your form.  He yanks on your hand, your body slamming against his burly chest.  Chuckling, he links your arm through his as he leads you over to the makeshift fort, plush blankets and pillows all over the area.  The both of you take a seat inside, kicking off your shoes as you scoot closer to him.  You breathe him in, something spicy and woodsy as you link your fingers together, seeing the multitude of stars sparkling over your apartment.

“Benny, I can’t think of anything more perfect than this…thank you.”  You smiled up at him, giggling as he brushed your knuckles across his lips, his eyes twinkling the way they did when he was amused.

“Ain’t no thing, cher.  But the night ain’t over…”

He got up, leaving you there to rearrange the pillows as you heard him shuffling around somewhere behind the fort.  He comes back around, with a bottle of champagne and some fruit to nibble on for you.  You look inquisitively up at him, his smile only growing.

“Ah ate before.  Wanted ta focus on you tonight, darlin’.”

You smiled shyly as he sat back down next to you, pouring the both of you very full glasses of champagne.  You sipped slowly as you leaned against his sturdy frame, letting him feed you strawberries and grapes, his fingers lingering at your lips every so often.

At last the skies above are blue My heart was wrapped up clover the night I looked at you

You hummed contentedly, wanting to remain in this moment for the rest of your life as you smiled up at the man you loved.  You never thought you could be with someone as caring, loyal, and kind as Benny.  The men on the road were merely there one day and gone the next, but when you met Benny, your entire world changed.  He was the only one you saw and wanted to see.  You knew your relationship was…complicated…but that wouldn’t stop you from loving him.  And you knew he felt the same way about you.

The champagne and strawberries were soon forgotten as Benny bent down, pressing his lips to yours once again, his hands going into your hair as he pulled you closer, your dress hiking up as you straddle his lap, hissing as you feel his bulge grinding against your thin panties.  You finally muster enough courage to open your eyes, seeing his staring intently down at you.  His voice was strangled, as if trying to choose between two choices in his mind.

“(Y/N)…’dis isn’t the way I planned this evenin’…”

You smile, looking up at him through your eyelashes, hands running up and down his chest.  “And just how did you want this evening to go, Benny?”

He hesitated a moment before pulling you (begrudgingly) off of his lap and bringing you to his side to star gaze once again.  Pulling you close, you snuggled into his side as he slung an arm around you.  He cleared his throat and shifted a little before he started to speak.

“Darlin’…I know I tell ya I love you all the time, but I don’t think I’ve ever really went into it.  I was a broken man when ya met me.  Hell, I’ve been broken for a long time.  I was in the worst way, and I was on a one way track to completely destroying myself.  I thought I had nothin’ in this worl’ to keep me goin’.  I didn’t belong.  I didn’t belong with my own kind or with anyone else.—“

You try to interject but he just continues.  “And then, by the grace o’ God, or whoever is runnin’ that place now, I met you.  You.  You are everythin’ in this world that is good, that is kind.  You are everythin’ that should be treasured and protected.  I can never thank you enough for lettin’ me be the luckiest man in the universe for being able to hold onto your heart.  I love the way you smile at me, the way you yell at me when I’m actin’ like a plain fool, the way ya fight, the way ya comfort me, hell, even the way your hair makes me suffocate every damn mornin’.”  He chuckles.  “But mostly…I love the way you make me feel like I could be better, that I could be a better man, that I could do good things in this worl’.”  

He took a deep breath, staring tenderly at you as he pulls something out of his pocket, making both of you sit up, face to face.

“Would you do me the honor of being able to hold onto your heart for the rest of our lives, (Y/N)?  Will ya marry me?”  He showed you the ring, pressed between his fingers.

You stared in shock for a moment before your eyes finally made their way back to his nervous ones, your own glimmering with tears as you  nearly tackle him making the both of you crash to the ground as you pepper kisses all over his face, leaving red lipstick marks all over his cheeks and forehead.  He chuckles, holding you by the shoulders.

“I take that as a ‘yes’, shug?”

You grin, letting him slip the ring onto your finger.  “Of course it’s a yes!  I…I don’t even know what to say!  I’m so damn happy right now!”

I found a dream that I could speak to A dream that I can call my own

He laughed, rolling the both of you over, capturing your lips in a searing kiss, your dress hiking up around your hips as you lie on your back.  Benny wedges himself in between your legs, your dress hiking up even higher as he grinds himself against you, the heat from his body penetrating your flesh, your hands gripping at his back, pulling on his shirt.  He chuckles at you as you wantonly pull at his shirt, getting it up and over his head, taking it from you as he tosses it somewhere out of the way.  He pulls your thighs up around his waist, pulling you up into a sitting position, wrapping your arms around his neck as he kisses you again, his hands tracing the zipper running along your spine.  You grind yourself into him as he unzips your dress, making you lift your arms up momentarily to pull the dress off of you.  He throws your dress (hopefully to the same place he threw his shirt as he lays you back down, nearly growling as he takes in your red bra and panties.

“Mmm…well look at ya, cher…all dressed up fer me.”

You could feel yourself blushing as he bent down, nuzzling at the valley between your breasts, his fingers finding the clasp at the back as he rubbed his beard against you, humming into your skin.  Your hips arched up, trying to gain some kind of friction.  You could feel him smiling against your breasts as he finally pulled the straps of your bra down, pulling it slowly off of your body as he began to tease you with soft kisses and licks, not stopping until every last inch of your breasts were tended to by his soft lips.  His eyes locked onto yours as he leisurely took a taut nipple into his mouth, suckling, swirling his tongue around the hardened bud.  You nearly hiss, your back arching from the ground as your hips continue to buck up against him, your hands finding their way into his hair, tugging gently as he switches, giving the other nipple its desperately needed attention.  Your eyes snap shut as you just feel, shivering as his lips begin to travel lower, pressing kisses into your tummy and teasing your belly button.

You whimper, your hands finally finding his.  “Benny…please…now baby, please now…”

All you got back was a smirk.  He went lower, still holding your hands as he pressed his nose against your panties, breathing in deeply, groaning as his eyes darted up to yours.  “Mmm ah know what ya need, darlin’, but I’m not done with you yet.  Be good for me ‘lil baby.”

He presses hot, wet kisses against your inner thighs, the muscles twitching and straining to not squeeze his head off as his beard rubs against the sensitive skin.  He lets go of your hands to hook his fingers into your panties, grunting as he slips them over your hips and off of you.  He sits up on his knees, his hands on the outside of your thighs as he scoops your lower half up, moving his hands to your ass as he pulls your hips up to his mouth, forcing you to grip at the sheets and pillows on the ground.  He smiled, diving face first into your pussy, nearly attacking it with his mouth.  His tongue teased open your folds, mouthing at them, rubbing them between his lips, letting them go with a loud, wet, “pop” as his tongue circled your hole.  You turned your head, biting at your finger as you wriggled against him, his strong arms keeping you immobile, and in the position you were in, there was nothing you could do but take the sweet pleasure he was giving you.  His lips moved languidly to your clit, wrapping around it and suckling, pulling it into his mouth as you whined with pleasure, your mouth hanging open as he continued to slurp and lap at your pussy.  You could feel yourself clenching tightly, wanting him in you so desperately as you began to see white spots before your eyes.  At first you thought it was the stars or the fairy lights, but they began to get brighter and brighter until it was just all white light as you screamed out his name, falling completely over the edge, his tongue continuing to work in you as you rode out your orgasm.  He gently set your legs back down onto the ground, his hips still nudged between yours as your eyes began to refocus, his smiling doting face looking down on you as he wiped some of your slick from his beard.

I found a thrill to press my cheek to A thrill I’ve never known, oh yeah

“Y’alright, darlin’?”

All you could do is nod and smile dopily at him.  You heard him chuckle as he stood up, eyeing your body.  He began to whistle as he unbuttoned and unzipped his pants, pulling his underwear down with them, his erection already dripping with precum, pressed against his belly as he slowly sinks back down onto his knees, falling over you, his hands planted on either side of your head as he takes your lips into another searing kiss, groaning as you taste yourself on him.  You hook your legs around his hips, pulling him closer to you, your heels digging into his muscled ass as you urge him on, feeling his cockhead rubbing against your swollen clit.  With one hand, he guides himself slowly into you, inch by agonizing inch.  By the time he is completely inside of you, you are a trembling, crying mess, your hands raking down his arms and back, clawing at him as he remains unmoving inside of you, bending down to whisper against your lips, “I love you, (Y/N).  And I know I asked ya already, and I know ya said yes already, but I need to ask again.  Will ya marry me, darlin’?”

You couldn’t believe he was trying to ask you questions right now.  You practically screamed.  “Yes! Benny, yes! Yes!  Yes!  Yes!  Please…I need you right now!!”

He grunted against your mouth, as he began to move his hips, starting out hard and slow, deliberate, hard strokes into your pussy, making your body lurch backward over and over again as he took his time.  You could feel him, throbbing and hot inside of you, your walls already clenching and clamping around him, already needy for him to spill inside of you.  Your heels dug harder into his ass as he began to pick up the pace, the sound of his skin slapping against your began to grow louder, the delicious friction of your bodies writhing against each other was heating you up, your brow glistened with sweat, almost glittering in the moonlight as your hands find his face, pulling him down to make his lips crash to yours, kissing him hard as he picks up the pace, slamming into your body now, his hands underneath you, palms against your shoulder blades as he holds you close, driving into you as hard and has fast as he can, now grunting into your ear.  Your walls flutter around him as you cannot hold back any longer and cry out his name as you begin to come, feeling him pump into you roughly a few more times before he groans out your name, spilling into you.  He takes your hands into his own, pressing his forehead to yours as you both remain connected, panting heavily as you just stare at each other.

You smiled, you smiled oh and then the spell was cast And here we are in Heaven

Your stares soon turn into lazy smiles as Benny finally pulls out of you, flopping over onto his back.  He pulled you into his side, and you happily snuggled into him.  Your legs tangled, your hand tracing lazy circles into his chest as he rumbled low with satisfaction.  He dipped his head to press a kiss to your temple, a hand finding purchase in your hair, rubbing at your scalp, feeling a chuckle rumble from his chest as you mew softly at his ministrations.  He spoke softly, as to not break the spell of the moment.

“I had nothin’ ‘till I met you, (Y/N).  And now…now I have everythin’ because I have you.  Will you—“

You slipped your hand over his mouth, giggling softly, already knowing what he was going to say.

“Benny.  I’ve said it several times now.  I can’t wait to spend forever with you, no matter what.  No matter what comes our way, through anything…I want to be with you.”

You slithered up to press a kiss to his mouth before he could speak again.  You mumbled against his mouth.  “Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes…”  chanting that one simple word as if it were a prayer until you fell asleep.  Benny laced his fingers with yours, his eyes unable to stop looking at the ring on your finger.  He covered the both of you with a sheet, keeping you warm, looking forward to waking up with you in the morning.  

He was no longer a broken man, for where he had cracks and holes, your love now filled the spaces.  And he had your heart to cherish and protect.

For you are mine at last.

[aaronhart93-archive]

discord II text Roman & Aaron

Discord thread featuring: Aaron and @romanbeckett​

Mentions: @davieslandon​ @malakhai-ozera​ @jayceelynd​ @alison-haynes​

Where: Aaron is at his house and Roman is at his house.

When: evening of May 26th-monrning of May 27th, 11:30p-2:30a

Description: Roman texts Aaron and they talk all night until they both fall asleep

Trigger Warnings: smut, what I would imagine harry’s peen to look like, really cute shit

Roman.

Hey.

Aaron.

hi

Roman.

Khai broke up with me, so. With us.

with Jay and I. And he left.

Aaron.

oh my god...im sorry Ro

Roman.

Can’t say I didn’t see it coming.

Aaron.

what did he say? Like why...?

Roman.

He told us that he loved us but needed time to work on himself or whatever.

Aaron.

I don’t know Khai that well but it does seem like he’s got a lot of shit to figure out

how are you doing with it?

and jayc? Should I reach out to her or....does she not know we’re talking

Roman.

you can talk to her if you want. I think we both just don’t really know how to feel to be honest.

Aaron.

im sorry

i hope he's okay

and i hope you and Jayc are okay too

Roman.

don’t be lol honestly Aaron, I set myself up for it the second I agreed to close myself off, knowing all of the issues I need to work through as well

contrary to popular belief, I’m far from having it all figured out.

Aaron.

that makes two of us

that was quick tbh

Roman.

Yeah. I just feel like an idiot.

Aaron.

what no....thats not what i meant

Roman.

anyway.

how are you

Aaron.

okay....no please dont feel like an idiot. its his fault not yours

im....okay....getting better than i was last week

miss you though not gonna lie

Roman.

I miss you, too. A lot.

Aaron

:(

im sorry

idk why i am i just feel like i need to apologize

Roman.

you have nothing to be sorry for lol at all

if anything, I’m sorry.

for bringing you into all this drama

and making you eat at a Chinese buffet lol

Aaron.

making me eat at a Chinese buffet is the only thing you have to be sorry for

also

i inserted myself into this mess as well. and didn't pull out once i realized who you were to landon

Roman.

does it make me immature if I laugh at you saying you didn’t pull out once?

Aaron.

RO

YES BUT IM HERE FOR IT

Roman.

I might just be high, but now I can’t stop laughing lol

Aaron.

sksjks

im sober and laughing so

well not sober

i had a few drinks

Roman.

everyone knows you’re a lightweight Aaron, stop tryin’ to be sly lol

Aaron.

who you callin a lightweight, lightweight?

Roman.

only when I haven’t eaten anything LIGHTWEIGHT

Aaron.

https://tenor.com/view/uncalled-gif-5394176

michelle tanner voice

Roman.

You miss me. Just a reminder.

Aaron.

you miss me

another reminder

Roman.

I’m not the one calling you rude lol

Aaron.

you called me out for being a lightweight and i retaliated

forgive me

Roman.

you’re in denial is what you are :fingerguns2:

but I’ll forgive you.

Aaron.

idk you'd think for how much i drink i'd have a higher tolerance

i need therapy

Roman.

probably lol I’ll go with you

Aaron.

lol couples counseling?

jk

jk

Roman.

I actually think it would be quite funny to see what they have to say about US

Aaron.

i need a therapist to tell it like it is

then again i do have ali

that woman calls me out on my shit literally daily

maybe shes just a free therapist

Roman.

LMAO that’s...amazing. I like her already.

Aaron.

she do be driving me up a wall

but

shes family

Roman.

Ah, family. I’ve been trying to get my sister here, but she’s being an ass lol

Aaron.

asshat

who wouldn’t want to move to New York

Roman.

satans demons.

Aaron.

exactly

whats keeping her from coming?

Roman.

she’s not as hellbent on big cities as I am lol

Aaron.

weird

city life has always been for me

arent you from manchester? is that not a big city?

Roman.

it’s not New York lol

she lives in the country now though.

Aaron.

no city is new york

Roman.

exactly lol

Aaron.

what are you doing

besides getting high

Roman.

I’m naked on the couch eating cherry gilato while watching good mythical morning on YouTube

Aaron.

i would very much like to be naked on a couch with you

Roman.

I painted my nails and did a facial first lol i could do yours as well

Aaron.

ill take the facial

i couldn't pull off the nails though

Roman.

you’d look so kickass with some black nails

Aaron.

you think?

Roman.

hell yes. Even a sky blue, like those eyes

Aaron.

i blush

maybe we can try the toe nails first

in case I end up hating them

Roman.

OH, I’m also trained in Swedish massage, head to toe. If you want a personal spa day

Aaron.

that would just give me a boner

Roman.

well, it’s a FULL body massage after all.

Aaron.

sksjsks

dont tempt me

Roman.

Aaron. I just.

is it bad that I don’t want to stay away from you anymore?

that’s a dumb question

I know it’s bad.

Aaron.

its not dumb

I don’t want to stay away from you either

but I promised Landon

Roman.

I know. So did I.

You’re right, I’m sorry.

Aaron.

he’s my best friend

dont be sorry

im glad you’re being honest with me

I just don’t see Landon being okay with this anytime soon

Roman.

I know! I know. He’s mine too, and I care about him more than I care to admit. I shouldn’t be like this.

Aaron.

damn this is fucked up

Roman.

I shouldn’t have said anything

Aaron.

I wish this could be easier

im the one that started with the boner references

Roman.

Not really. I offered you a massage

Aaron.

okay yes but

I told you I wanted to be naked with you

Roman.

because I said I was naked

Aaron.

I just don’t want you blaming yourself that’s all

Roman.

I know, but it is what it is. I made a mess of everything, and now everything I had is ruined lol I deserve it.

Aaron.

Ro

I’m sad you think so little of yourself

Roman.

I don’t. It’s just consequences. I made bad decisions, and now I have to deal with the consequences. That’s all. It’ll all be okay.

Aaron.

I wish I could make you feel better

Roman.

you already do. I promise.

Aaron.

I just smiled

Roman.

show me?

Aaron.

sure

Roman.

omg bad idea my heart

Aaron.

oop

Roman.

you’re so fucking jahshsbzjdndjendj

Aaron.

AKDJDJAKALhdja

Roman.

I’m mad at you

for looking like that

Aaron.

Well i can’t stop thinking about u

Roman.

let me just

Aaron.

yeah I kept drinking

and as we’ve established I’m a lightweight

okay I showed you a selfie now you should be a selfie

Roman.

oh yeah? Trying to boss me around again are ya?

Aaron.

do what daddy says

Roman.BOTToday at 2:02 AM

yes daddy.

Aaron.

brb gotta go jack off

Roman.

stoppppp

Aaron.

not kidding

Roman.

you don’t need a better picture than that to do the deed

??? Lolll

Aaron.

I mean....you could send me some

Roman.BOTToday at 2:09 AM

Does this help?

Aaron.

holy fuck

ugh I wanna fuck you so bad

and put all of you in my mouth

Roman.

I want it too. I shouldn’t, but I do. I want you to fuck me with my hands tied behind my back, and you pulling on my collar from behind.

Aaron.

fuck don’t put those thoughts in my head or I’ll act up

I wanna tie you up so bad

and punish you for being so naughty

Roman.

I’d want to call out your name so loud, but you’d have to let me.

Aaron.

you can’t do anything without my permission

Roman.

I’ll do my best daddy. You know I like to make you proud.

Aaron.

Ro I just came into a sock so hard

I want you so bad but the fact I can’t have you makes that even hotter to me

Roman.

forbidden fruit, hm?

Aaron.

you’re my forbidden fruit for sure

Roman.

wish I could have been there to help

Aaron.

you did enough helping trust me

Roman.

are we terrible people lol

Aaron.

I know

we are

im trying though

so that’s gotta count for something

Roman.

I hope it does, for both our sakes lol

Aaron.

if this doesn’t work out we can always be together in hell

Roman.

that sounds like a rightful ending

at least I’ll be tan.

Aaron.

we’ll both be hot and tan chilling in hell together

and we can fuck all we want

Roman.

sounds like the next big Netflix series.

Aaron.

could you imagine a Netflix series about us

Roman.

no, I’m scared to lol it would be more insane than Tiger King

Aaron.

you think our lives are more insane than Tiger King?!?

Roman.

scary, right??

Aaron.

thats definitely...quite the comparison

Roman.

I would have loved to have seen your face watching it for the first time

Aaron.

watching that together would have been so fun

I can picture us watching that and freaking out together

Roman.

maybe one night we’ll trip acid and watch it again

Aaron.

confession I’ve never tripped before

Roman.

whaaaaaa

do it with me!

Aaron.

I mean yeah I used to do a lot of coke when I got drunk and sometimes still do but that been the extent of my drug use

hahaha I will trip with you, Roman Beckett

Roman.

aces! Just tell me when and where, and it’s a plan!

Aaron.

”aces”

but yeah let’s do it this weekend

Roman.

I’m British you knob. Shut up lol

Aaron.

I know MATE I was making fun of you

Roman.

sends long audio clip making fun of Aaron’s New York accent

Aaron

brooooo

I do say that though

Roman.

I know, I’ve listened to you talk enough

it’s cute though

ready for bed?

Aaron.

just about

I was gonna go to bed a while ago but wanted to keep texting you

Roman.

same.

tuck me in lol

Aaron.

do u want me to tell you a bedtime story

Roman.

yes, but make it snappy

and I want warm milk

Aaron.

damn

so bossy

but okay

Roman.

you know I’m spoiled.

Aaron.

that must’ve been my fault

okay Des like this one:

By the African river, know as the Nile The sun fell away and it rested a while The rhinos had braved all the smoldering heat They lay down to sleep as they wiped off their feet The elephants marched to their elephant beds And gently they rested their elephant heads Slowly the hippos sank into the river The water so cold that it gave them a shiver (Hippos can't swim, like the pelicans think They also can't float, they could easily sink) The hippos went bathing in cool, shallow pools Thinking the rhinos and elephants fools Underwater, they fell to the soft river bed On darkish green plants with a smidgen of red They strolled on the bottom, then bounced up for air They did it for hours, without any care The fish followed closely, and wove in an out Under their belly, and up to their snout Each of the hippos came up to the shore To feed on the grass by the river once more They dried off their bodies by shaking and stomping And took bites of grass, chewing and chomping With night fading fast, they were full from the feast The sun returned back, rising up form the east The hippos crept off to collapse for the day While rhinos and elephants got up to play Enjoying the warmth of the sun and its light Never knowing the story of hippos at night

just read it in my New York accent you’re so good at

goodnight Lois

Roman.

that was perfect. Goodnight Clark.