#On a night when she's not in you have free reign at the icing my dude

[starrihan]

Higher Than Heaven (Yeonjun Fic)

→ Pairing: Yeonjun x afab! Reader

→ Plot: a group project is the last thing you want for your midterm, but working with the student who smokes makes it 10x worse

→ Genre: smut, tiny tiny bit of angst, protection (yes!!), kissing, hickeys, piv sex, reader is judgmental + hates smoking, swearing (Imk if i missed any!!)

→ Warnings: smoking, mentions of food, joke about dead grandparents

→ Word Count: 7,746

→ Notes: hey guys! This is the first fic of my Sanctuary Series! For more information about the series I would recommend going to this post here!I just want to clarify that I do not share the same views as the reader does in this fic, it was purely for plot purposes! Hope you enjoy pt 1 of the series 😚

༄ ༄ ༄

You were always a goodie two-shoes. Perfect attendance, good grades, class president, the story writes itself. You grew up playing different instruments and were always enrolled in a sport or after-school club to keep yourself busy and your portfolio reflecting nothing less than perfection. So how did you go from valedictorian and class president of your high school to a college student who is on the verge or dropping out? 

The amount of work you’d allowed to accumulate over the past few weeks was enough to scare even the professors, making them question whether they actually assigned that much work. You could feel your grays coming in at the sight of all your work, exhaling as you decide to tackle the easy assignments first. 

It’s the middle of the day on a Thursday. You had a couple of assignments due tomorrow night that you absolutely could not afford to push off any longer. You had already asked for extensions on most of your assignments so far and you didn’t know how many more dead grandparents you could have before your professors questioned the validity of your failed punctuality when it came to turning in your assignments on time. You had class at 3 p.m, giving you a good two and half hours to get some work done. 

༄ ༄ ༄

You pack up your belongings as the clock strikes 2:30 p.m. You had gotten a couple of your easy assignments done, though it was very taxing to say the least. You make your way to your class, bundling up as the cold was brutal enough to warrant a cancelation, though, your university would never do that (speaking from experience because wdym its 2℉ out and i have to walk to class when theres black ice on the ground??).

You make it to your class about 15 minutes later, shivering from being cold yet sweating due to the many layers you had on. You take a seat next to your best friend, who had gotten there before you and saved your seat. 

“Can we go get food after class? I’ve had back to back classes and meetings all day and I’m starving.”

She drones on. You nod as you take out your laptop, waiting for the professor to start class. You’re prepared to mindlessly take notes for the next hour and half during lecture, but are pleasantly surprised when the professor doesn’t pull up the lecture slides. 

“Good afternoon class. I can all tell you guys are doing great so far.”

Her joke lands for some people, getting little chuckles and giggles from different corners of the lecture hall.

“Your midterms are a month away. I would normally give an exam for this class, but this year I have decided to switch it up. I have you all in pairs and you will be submitting a group assignment as your midterm. You will not be required to present but I will give you free reign on the design, layout and mode of presentation on the project meaning you can use any platform or software you would like to get the information across. I have sent you all emails with the name of the person you will be paired up with.”

You and friend look at each other and groan, knowing that the chance of you two being in a group is slim to none. Surely enough, you check your emails for your project partners.

“Who is Choi Yeonjun?” 

You ask, looking to your friend to see if she has any answers. She scans the room, presumably to see if he’s in class to point him out to you. 

“You see that kid in the middle row to the left? The one with the red hair? That’s him.

You look at the back of his head, sighing as you realize you don’t know this person and that this project is going to take a lot more time out of your busy schedule. 

“At least you’re not working with Choi Beomgyu. I heard he can be a handful.” 

Your friend rolls her eyes, burning holes in the back of the blonde boy's head, who happens to be sitting next to Yeonjun. You follow your eyes to see the boy, laughing at the irony of your partners sitting next to each other, just like their partners were. 

The rest of the class is drag, the growling of your stomach making it seem longer than it was as hunger consumes you. 

“Let’s go to the dining hall. I can’t afford to spend any more money on that overpriced cafe.”

Your friend says as you follow her out. It’s gotten pretty dark outside and there weren’t many students walking around in the cold. There were a couple of people here and there, probably walking back to their dorms after class. You two find yourself walking behind a person with their hood up, paying no mind to him until a cloud of smoke hits your face. Your audible groan at the smell of weed alerts his attention as he turns around and apologizes for smoking right in front of you. As he pulls his hood down, you recognize the tuft of bright red hair sitting on the top of his head. 

“I’m so sorry! I didn’t know you guys were behind me. I didn’t mean for the smoke to hit you.” 

‘Great,’ you thought. Not only did you have to work with a random stranger, but he also smokes publically on campus. You didn’t like smoking or people who smoked. You couldn’t understand why people do it or what joy butchering your throat and lungs could bring you. Your friend knew that about you and sensing your irritation, she speaks up for you, dismissing the incident on your behalf while you both walk ahead of him. 

As soon as you know that you’re far enough away from Yeonjun, you ask,

“Can we switch partners?”

Your friend snickers.

“If he smokes, I can almost assure you that his friend does too, so switching partners wouldn’t help.” 

You finally enter the dining hall, taking in the heated building before putting your stuff down in search of mediocre food. 

༄ ༄ ༄

You spend the next few days catching up on any missing work, putting the project aside since you still have a month left to do it. You decide to use Sunday as your rest day, drained from the assignments you were able to get done. You still had many assignments left to do, but you could only do so much work and you were already feeling burnt out. Doing more work wouldn’t be eventful in any way. 

You prepare for your day as normal, showering and throwing on a cute, weather appropriate, outfit as you make your way to the cafe on campus. You needed something better than the dining hall coffee for a change. You went there quite often, as you were high school friends with one of the baristas there. You smile as you spot him, walking up to the counter. 

“Taehyun! How’ve you been?”

The boy beams brightly at you, loving your cheerful spirit upon seeing him.

“Y/N! I haven’t seen you for a couple days! I’m good, how are you? And, do you want your usual?”

“I know, I’ve been busy and broke. But I’m doing alright, just catching up on all of my assignments. And yes please.”

“Oh, that’s good at least! Also we have a new employee that I’m training so it might take a minute to get your order. Is that okay?”

“Yeah of course! Take your time. Thank you!” 

You say, paying the balance of your meal and waiting at the end of the counter to get your food. You see a tall boy with red hair come out from the kitchen. You scoff to yourself as you recognize Yeonjun. ‘Of course he works here,’ you think. It takes him a couple of minutes to make your drink, still new to all the syrups and flavors that are available. As he finishes he calls out your name. 

“Y/N!” 

You walk up to him, remaining polite as you thank him for your order.

“Thank you.”

“Sorry if it took a while, it’s only my third day here.” 

“It’s okay, thank you for the food!” 

He stares at you and you’re about to grab your stuff and walk out, but he stops you.

“Wait, Y/N? Are you taking history 2204? With Professor X?” 

“Yeah?”

You feign ignorance, pretending not to know who he is. 

“Ah, I see. I’m Yeonjun. I think we’re partners for this project. It was nice to meet you.” 

He says as he smiles. You felt a little guilty about your prejudiced dislike towards him. He seemed nice enough, so what if he smokes? And you couldn’t lie to yourself, finding his smile and crinkled eyes cute.

“Oh yeah! It’s nice to meet you too!” 

“Can I give you my number? So we can discuss what days work for us to meet up and work on the project?” 

You nod as you hand him your phone. You watch as he types away his number, smiling as he hands it back to you.

“Thank you, Yeonjun. I’ll text you my schedule and we can figure out what works then.” 

He wished you a good day and you smile, finding his manners charming. 

༄ ༄ ༄

A week had passed since you met Yeonjun at the cafe. You were officially back on track as you submitted the last of your missing assignments the night before, finally being able to focus your time and energy on this project. You had yet to message Yeonjun and you didn’t know why you were nervous to text him. You didn’t want to start off the messages awkwardly so you went with a simple yet forward message to start the conversation.

“Hey! This is Y/N from history class. You gave me your number last week at the cafe.”

You release the breath you were subconsciously holding, hitting ‘send’ and waiting for a response. You didn’t want it to seem like you were glued to your phone, waiting for him to message you back so you bide your time by doing other things around your space. Cleaning up your desk, putting away your clothes, etc. 

You hear your phone go off, waiting a couple minutes to check who the message is from. You groan when it’s just one of your friends asking if you wanted to hang out later. You replied ‘sure,’ and went back to doing anything you could occupy yourself. 

It had been a couple of hours since you messaged him and still no response. Now pissed that he hadn’t yet gotten back to you, you decided to get ready to go out with your friends. There was a party at a bar on campus and you allowed yourself to go out as a reward for completing all your assignments. Putting on some light makeup, you chose a rather revealing outfit despite the winter weather, assuming that it was probably going to be hot in the bar. 

You met your friends there and all started with some drinks. You were talking about your days, just checking up on them. You had all been so busy with midterms coming up that you barely had time to hang out. After having about two more drinks, your friends dragged you onto the floor, dancing to whatever music the band was playing. 

“Y/N!!” 

You hear your name being called and turned around to find the source of the noise. You spot Taehyun and instantly your mood brightens up. 

“Taehyun! I didn’t know you’d be here!” 

“I wasn’t planning on coming but my friend asked me to come with him. I think you’ve met him before, Yeonjun? He’s the one that made your order a week ago.” 

You grimace upon hearing his name. At first, you cut him some slack because he seemed nice enough. You felt guilty about judging him because he smoked. But after not messaging you all day and then hearing that he was at this party, you went back on your word, the idea of disliking him appealing to you again. 

“Oh yeah, I know him. I remember meeting him last week.” 

You say, emotionless. 

“I want you to meet him again. And my other friends too, they’re all cool so I think you’ll like them.” 

You trusted Taehyun so maybe you had to hold off on your hatred a little longer. Though you were good at using your words, your expression and body language always failed you, never being able to hide your negative emotions. 

“These are my friends, Yeonjun, Soobin, Beomgyu and Kai.” 

“Hello, it’s nice to meet you guys, I’m Y/N!” 

“Ah yes, we’ve heard a lot about you. Taehyun told us how you guys were best friends in high school.” 

Soobin said, his tall frame and black hair are easy on the eyes. 

“Yeah, me and Terry go way back! It feels like we met just a year ago but it’s already been 7 years”

You say, laughing. Yeonjun chuckles at your comment, sipping at his beer. 

“It’s nice to formally meet you Y/N. And I like your outfit, it suits you.” 

You stare towards him is cold but your cheeks betray you, heating up at his compliment towards your outfit. 

“Thank you…” 

Your night goes on, hopping between your friend group and Taehyun and his friends. One by one, they all start to leave as you’re left with one of your friends, Taehyun and Yeonjun. You introduce them all to each other and stay at the party for a little longer before deciding to leave. 

“I think I’m going to head back, Y/N. I’m tired and I have classes back to back tomorrow,” 

Your friend says, gathering her things.

“Alright but you can’t walk back by yourself? It’s too dark and you know how dangerous it can be.” 

You look around, trying to find a solution so that your friend doesn’t go back by herself. 

“Taehyun! You live on this side of campus right? Can you walk back with her?”

Taehyun looks to your friend, who’s blushing a little as you try to help her out. 

“Yeah sure but, what about you? You live on the opposite side so what are you gonna do?” 

“I can walk her back. I live around there anyways. It would be no trouble, really.” 

Yeonjun says, smiling as his eyes disappear. You mentally curse yourself for being left with Yeonjun, even though there was nothing else you can do about it. You all nod and go your separate ways, Taehyun with your friend and you with Yeonjun. 

On your walk back to your dorm, Yeonjun fishes a lighter out of his pocket, using it to light the joint that was in his other hand. Taking a drag, you immediately smell the inebriating plant and walk faster. He can sense something off between the two of you, the tension weighing down the atmosphere. 

“Did I do something to upset you? It just… seems like you don’t like me or don’t want me around?” 

You stop in your tracks, having been walking in front of him this entire time and turn around to face him. You exhale loudly before starting:

“First of all, I was not in the best state when the professor announced we were working in random pairs for this project. Not really your fault but then I’m walking behind you as we leave class and you’re smoking! Let alone, the smoke blows into my face and I hate smoking, let alone people who smoke. Then I met you at the cafe and you seemed really nice so I gave you the benefit of the doubt and thought that maybe I judged you too quickly and then I felt guilty. But then this morning, I text you and you left me on delivered all day and then I find you here, at this party and now you’re walking me back to my dorm. So yeah, you can say I’m not really fond of you.” 

You huff, the feeling of letting all of that off your chest almost euphoric. He puts his hand with the joint down next to him, taking his phone and checking his messages, and found that you did in fact text him and he didn’t read it. 

“I’m sorry for not reading your message, I was busy all day and I’m not allowed to use my phone during work. And I do apologize for smoking in front of you, even though it blowing in your face isn’t my fault. But that’s it? I didn’t actually do anything to you, so what’s the judgment for? Why do you hate people who smoke?” 

You didn’t want to stand in the cold any longer, and you didn’t want to have this conversation either. Really, you were avoiding his gaze because you really did have no valid reason to hate him. He never actually did anything to you. But you couldn’t back down now, otherwise you’d be embarrassed. You just huff as you turn on your heel, walking in the direction of your door, the rest of the walk back remaining silent. 

He walks you up to your building. You feel your phone ding, grabbing it from your pocket to check the notification. 

“I sent you my schedule. Let’s get this project done as quickly as we can so we don’t have to see each other again.” 

You hang your head low, guilt hitting you like a truck at the sight of an upset and hurt Yeonjun waiting for you to walk in. Even though you told him that you didn’t like him straight to his face, he still had the courtesy of waiting for you to enter your building so he can say he waited until you were safe to leave. You look back at him one last time, feeling worse than before as you run in and take the stairs up to your room. 

༄ ༄ ༄

You stare at Yeonjun’s schedule that sits in your messages, debating on whether or not you should ask your professor if you could work alone. You’re seriously contemplating it but ultimately decide that you should at least fix whatever you started, as it would be unfair to Yeonjun to leave him to do the project alone, though after your encounter last night, you’re sure he would appreciate not being your partner anymore. 

“Hey. I’m free this weekend if you are to work on the project.”

His reply is almost immediate, like he had been waiting for you to text him back. 

“Yeah, I’m free this weekend as well. Time and place?”

“Would you be comfortable coming over to my dorm at like 12 o’clock tomorrow? I want to apologize for the things I said and the way I acted…”

You bite your lip as you send the message, waiting for the rejection message to pop up.

“Sounds cool. I’ll see you at 12 tmr.”

No rejection? You were utterly surprised at this chance of redemption though, a little taken aback at how nonchalant he sounded. You lived in a single dorm so cleaning up wasn't that bad. You made sure to have plenty of snacks and drinks stocked in your mini fridge and made a little cozy corner for him to work in, while you would sit at your desk. You even made sure to text Taehyun and to ask what Yeonjun’s favorite drink was so you could have it ready for him when he arrived. 

༄ ༄ ༄

You woke up early in the morning, getting ready for the day as you make your way to the cafe to pick up the drinks you had ordered for both yourself and Yeonjun. 

“Hey Taehyun! Do you have those drinks ready for me?”

“Hey! Yeah I do. I have your usual and an iced americano for Yeonjun!”

The boy says, big eyes gleaming as he hands you the drinks. 

“Thank you! I’ll see you later!”

You didn’t tell him about the events that transpired after the party, and from the looks of it Yeonjun hadn't told him anything either. You say your goodbyes and make your way to a little pop-up event on your campus. They were selling cookies and cupcakes to support their club, so you thought it would be a nice gesture to buy you and Yeonjun both a cookie and a cupcake each. 

Struggling to open your door with all the treats in your hands, you manage to get inside of your room and put all your stuff down. You check the time to see that it’s only 11:30 a.m, relieved to see that you still had some time to yourself. 

You hear a knock on your door a little bit later. You had sent Yeonjun the details of your dorm room before he got there but were still startled by the knock. You compose yourself, nervously opening the door to see a blank-faced Yeonjun staring back at you, this time wearing a loose sweater that hangs off his shoulder on one side, gray sweats and black, thick framed glasses. 

“Hey Yeonjun. Come in, I have some things prepared.” 

He nods as he walks in, slipping off his shoes at the little welcome mat you have placed in front of the door. The dorm itself is pretty small, enough for one person but it could still comfortably afford a guest. 

“First of all, I want to start with a verbal apology. I’m sorry for being prejudiced against you based on your smoking habits. And I’m sorry for lashing out on you last night when you asked a valid question. I know it wasn’t your fault that the smoke blew into my face and I guess I was just anxious about this project and texting you that I didn’t even stop to think and consider the fact that you could’ve been busy and didn’t have time to check your phone. Secondly, I asked Taehyun what your favorite drink at the cafe was so I got you an iced americano, and a cookie and cupcake from the fundraiser one of the clubs on campus is having.” 

You shyly hand over the cup with his drink and the snacks that were packed into a little plastic box. He takes the snacks out of your hand and for the first time all week, you relax your shoulders as Yeonjun smiles, accepting your apology and finding it cute in the process. 

“Thank you Y/N. I know you don’t know me and I don’t know what your deal with hating smoking is, but I accept and appreciate the apology nonetheless. Shall we get started?” 

You nod as you instruct him to put his stuff down in the little workspace you created for him, a small throw pillow and fox blanket resting on the inflatable chair you had blown up for him to make use of. He chuckles at the cute setup, settling his stuff down and getting comfy to start working.

༄ ༄ ༄

Throughout your working session, you had some conversation here and there when things got boring or you ran into a particularly difficult part of the project. A couple hours into working you both decide to tap out, noticing the time and finding that you had been working for 6 hours straight. 

“Oh my god, it’s been 6 hours!” 

You say, surprised that you were able to focus on the same assignment for so long though, to your credit, it felt like many different assignments bundled into one. 

“Damn, I didn’t even notice how late it was. That wasn’t so bad actually.” 

Yeonjun says, getting up to stretch his legs, americano and snack box empty as you both refused to leave the room to eat lunch. He picked up his trash, throwing it in the garbage before returning to his corner, looking at you before asking you a question you didn’t think he’d ask:

“Would you ever try it? Smoking I mean?

You stare at him blankly. Your immediate answer was no. Smoking is bad for you, it can cause illness or death. But when you opened your mouth to answer, you didn’t expect this to come out: 

“Maybe one day?” 

You’re speechless yourself at your answer. You were so adamant on hating smoking and never wanting to try it. What about Yeonjun asking you made you change your answer? Was it the way he so confidently stood up to you last night? Or the way he walked you to your dorm despite learning about your true feelings for him at the time? Or the way you wanted him to find you different from the character you first gave off, the one that judged him for smoking in the first place? As if he could see the inner struggle etched onto your face he remarks,

“I thought you hated smoking? What makes you want to try it?” 

Your face heats up at your own silence, but you respond anyway.

“I do hate it. And I actually don’t want to try it. I don't know why I said that. But why do you smoke in the first place?” 

You ask, trying to change the subject to be towards him. Catching onto your little trick, he humors you. 

“It’s a relaxing way to unwind after a stressful day. Sit back, throw on a movie and take a couple hits and you’re there. Relaxed as can be with no other care in the world. You should try it, maybe then you won’t be as tightly wound.” 

You scoff at his little jab at you towards the end of his explanation. You couldn’t lie, with the way he was explaining it to you, the idea of smoking did sound very enticing. But nonetheless, you were willing to stand your ground on this topic, after all, this whole situation you were in with Yeonjun stemmed from your hatred towards smoking and you weren’t going to back down now. 

“As if. And I am not tightly wound, thank you very much. Maybe you can’t tell because you’re brain fried from all the weed you smoke.” 

Thinking your remark has granted you victory in this argument, Yeonjun smirks, offering you a challenge. 

“Try it. Prove me wrong that you won’t feel relaxed. That it won’t make you feel like a weight has been temporarily lifted off of you.” 

He reached down into his bag, pulling out a metal box and setting it on your desk. Upon clicking it open, the smell of weed immediately wafts through the room, filling your nose and causing you to cough slightly. 

“Do you mind not opening that up in my room? We’re not supposed to smoke in the dorms anyways!” 

You said, grabbing air freshener to dilute the smell of the weed. 

“Relax, it's fine. Plus the hall directors on this floor all do it too, so they won’t care.” 

You scoff as he takes a seat, carefully grinding the bud so as not to get any on your desk. He then fiddles with the contraption used to pack the weed into the paper, sealing it off after having packed it fully. 

“I’ll demonstrate how to do it and then you take a hit, okay?” 

You gulp nervously, teetering between the idea of kicking him out or waiting to see how this all plays out. Were you really going to get high because a cute boy challenged you? You’re quickly broken out of your thoughts as you see him flick open the lighter, the smell of burning paper replacing the smell of weed in your nose. He lets it burn for a while, opening your window in the process. 

“When you take a hit, blow out of the window otherwise you’ll set off the fire alarm.” 

You mock a smile as he laughs, bringing the joint up to his lips as he takes a small inhale. You watch as the fibers of the paper burn, the weed contents turning gray. You analyze the way he takes the hit and hold it in his throat for a second before slowly blowing the cloud of smoke out of the window. 

“Your turn.” 

He passes you the joint, as your clammy hands impatiently reach for it. You look at him one more time nervously, bringing the joint up to your mouth and inhaling. You don’t know how fast you ripped it, throat burning and violently coughing as Yeonjun scrambles in your fridge to bring you a bottle of water. You chug the water to stop your coughs, handing the joint back to him as you catch your breath. 

“Nothing about that was relaxing in any way.” 

“That’s because you did it too fast. Look, watch me. You slowly inhale, don’t let the feeling of it in your throat bother you otherwise you’ll start to cough.” 

You hold a little grudge in your stare, cursing at the fact that you were so easily convinced to try the one thing you spited and how your resolve crumbles so easily before your very eyes. You watch him bring the joint up to his lips again, Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat before taking another hit. This time you watch how he holds it in his mouth, counting the seconds before he blows it out. 

“Think you got it this time?”

You take the joint from his hand, silently reassuring him that you’d be fine. You try again, this time slowly inhaling. Remember his words from just a few moments ago, you let the particles settle in your throat for a moment, slightly inhaling before releasing the breath, successfully blowing the smoke out of the window. You look up at Yeonjun with big eyes and a proud smile. 

“I still don’t feel relaxed.” 

“You will in about 3 more hits and 15 minutes.” 

You continue to pass the joint to each other, careful not to rip it too fast or inhale too much. You can feel your eyes start to get a little droopy, a constant smile appearing on your face as you feel your body loosen. You feel slower but not heavy as you turn to Yeonjun and start giggling. 

“I can tell that you’re starting to feel it now. Gonna tell me you don’t feel relaxed?” 

You nod, giggling at his smile. The longer you stare at him, the cuter you think he is. Even in your high state, you couldn’t blame the weed for the attraction you felt for the red-haired man. Maybe you were starting to form a little crush. You think about the sweater he’s wearing, how his neck and collarbone are so perfectly on display, longing to be nipped at. Or the way the glasses make him look more sophisticated and smart, you did like nerdy looking boys. And the way his thick lips wrapped around the joint, eyes following his every move as he takes another drag. You couldn’t help the way you were rubbing your thighs together, the idea of his lips on yours creating a need to form within you. He looks at you, dumbfounded as he himself is now high as well. 

“How are you feeling Y/N? Do you feel good? Do you feel relaxed?” 

This time, you could blame the weed for what you say next:

“I feel great. I would feel even better if you kissed me.”

You laugh at your own comment, finding Yeonjun’s shocked expression priceless and thus further causing you to laugh. You allowed yourself to be bold, not knowing when again you’d have this opportunity. 

“Don’t say things you don’t mean, Y/N. You’re high right now and so am I. Neither of our judgments can be trusted right now.” 

He tries to play the mature, responsible role. He was the one that got you high so he felt responsible for any and all actions made by you or towards you by himself. But the slight, ever-growing tent in his pants was giving him away, revealing that he was not as grounded in his resolve as he wanted to be.

“What? You don’t believe me? Should I prove it to you?”

You take his previous words of challenge and use it against him, playing him at his own game. You walk up to him slowly, eyes red and droopy as you stare into his. You place your hand on his chest, tippy toeing to try to reach up to his lips. 

“Help me out a little?” 

As if all rhyme and reason was thrown out the window, Yeonjun doesn’t hesitate to lean down, capturing your lips with his own. He throws one arm around your waist, the other carefully holding the joint so as not to get any ash over your floor. Your hands remain on his chest as your lips move slowly in sync, breaths heavy from the temporarily shortened capacity of your lungs. You still feel a burn every time you inhale, but it’s worth it for the way Yeonjun has you feeling right now; completely relaxed and carefree. 

He pulls away for a second, grabbing your hand with his free one and placing the joint in between your lips, guiding you to take a hit before he puts it in the metal box with his other weed essentials. His eyes watch you in awe as you close your eyes to take the hit. He pulls you onto his lap as he takes a seat on your desk chair and you happily follow, hands around the nape of his neck as you play with the hairs there. You take your time holding the smoke in and he kisses you again, running his hands along your sides, squeezing as you gasp, letting the smoke out from your mouth into his. He takes the opportunity to gently slip his tongue into your mouth, causing you to moan at the contact, grinding down a bit into his thigh. Your mouth is dry, partly due to the cotton mouth you're experiencing, and partly due to the nerves that had worked their way into your body when you decided to be bold and admit to wanting to kiss him. 

He licks the inside of your mouth before pulling away a little to suck on your tongue, teeth grazing it as he pulls away to trails kisses down your jaw and neck. You’re panting out of breath at his actions, the wetness between your legs only growing as you feel his hard-on press against the side of your thigh. You giggle as he nips a particularly ticklish spot on your neck, the effects of the weed present and causing him to giggle as well. 

“Can I kiss your neck?” 

“Well when you ask so nicely…”

He laughs, pulling away from your neck and tilting his head to the side, granting you permission to mark him up. You lean down, lightly nipping at his milky skin, biting around the area of his collarbones and he rests his hands on your hips, rocking you back and forth on his thigh. Your little whimpers at the contact only turn him on more, hard cock throbbing against his sweats as you eye the clear outline of them. Pulling back to look at your little marks, you’re satisfied as you pull him into your lips once again, this time more hungry. His hands that were settled on your hips move to grab your ass, squeezing as he presses you down harder on his thigh. Your moans are drowned out by his lips as the makeout becomes heavier and messier, saliva escaping from the corner of your lips and dripping down your chin. He pulls away first, admiring your red and puffy lips with a dazed smile. He stands you up, grabbing the joint and taking a big hit, holding it as his hands sweetly caress your face and he gives you another kiss, letting the smoke cascade into your mouth as you try your best to inhale and not choke. He smirks watching the excess smoke slip between your mouths, putting down the remainder of the joint and feeling you up underneath your shirt. 

“No bra?”

“I was in here all day. There was no need for it.”

You respond simply, taking a step back to fully take your shirt off, giggling as you watch his eyes open dramatically at the sight of your bare tits, nipples hardened as a result of the cold air. He pushes you against your desk, leaning you back over it as he takes one of your nipples into his mouth, not even bothering to get you both on the bed. He swirls his tongue around the sensitive bud. You moan at the contact, harshly gripping his hair as he grazed his teeth against them. He takes the chance to slide his hands down the waistband of your pants, settling just above your pussy. 

“Yeonjun…” 

Your whimpers turn him on further as he begins rubbing circles on your clit through your panties and you throw your head back at the sheer amount of pleasure you’re feeling at the moment. He switches his attention from one nipple to the other, trading his fingers up and down your slit, feeling the wetness collect on the fabric separating his fingers from your heat. You don’t realize your grip has gotten impossibly tighter, accidentally pushing his head further into your chest, not that he minded. 

“You’re rough, I like it.” 

He pulls his head away from your chest and you whine at the loss of contact, the warmth his hold brought you being replaced by the cooling of his saliva all over your boobs. He pulls you close enough to him to help you take off your pants and underwear, sitting you back down on your desk as he admires your glistening lips, sliding down both his sweats and his boxers. 

He goes over to his bag and pulls out a condom before rolling it on to his painfully hard erection. 

“You just carry condoms on you at all times?”

“It came in handy, didn’t it?” 

He smirks at your failed attempt at being snarky, grabbing your waist as he slides the head between your folds. Your arms rest on his shoulders, one hand playing with his hair as the other twiddles with the necklace he has on.  

“You tease too much…” 

Yeonjun guides you back and forth on his dick, relishing in the little yet satisfying pleasure he’s giving himself right now. One hand rests on your pelvis, thumb reaching down to circle your clit as you hiss, biting your lip to suppress the moan you desperately want to let out. 

“Please Yeonjun…” 

Your begging only made it harder for him to resist you, slowly bringing the head down to your sopping entrance, groaning as he pushes it past your walls.

“Fuck you’re so tight. Gotta stretch you out on my cock.”

You wince as he pushes himself in deeper, releasing a sigh of content as he fully sheathes himself inside you. He keeps his thumb on your clit, the speed of his actions constant. 

“Y-you can move now…” 

He moves slowly, still letting you adjust before moving at a more constant pace. You’re mindful of the moans pushing past your open lips, finding it hard to contain them as he sets a firm rhythm. You look down beside you and pick up what’s left of the joint. Yeonjun takes note of your actions, holding you steady with both of his hands as you grab the lighter to reignite the substance. You bring it to your lips once again, letting the effect of the weed wash over you, reveling in the heightened effect of the drug. 

You hold the joint up to Yeonjun’s mouth, smiling lazily as he takes a hit, his hips never stopping their relentless pounding into your pussy. He attaches his lips to your neck once again allowing the smoke to escape and you to stabilize yourself while his thumb goes back to circling your clit, this time much faster than before. He also speeds up thrusts, the volume of your moans increasing as his harsh thrusts knock the desk back into the wall over and over again. You’re afraid of the amount of noise you’re making, worried about whether or not your neighbors can hear the scandalous sounds coming from your room, but all worry flies out the window when Yeonjun leans you back, bringing your hips up to a whole new angle for him. 

“Yeonjun!!” 

You scream as his tip hits your spot so deliciously, legs wrapping around him, pulling him that much closer. He chuckles as your face scrunches up, indicative of your close release. He can’t help but to move faster, pistoning his hips at an incredible speed, one that has your eyes rolling to the back of your head as a gush of liquid comes rushing out of you. 

“Yeah that’s it, squirt all over my cock for me. Let it all out…” 

You’re so high that you barely even register the fact that you just squirted all over him, creating a mess on your floor. Your feelings only seem to intensify as the overstimulation kicks in, sensitive walls clenching down on him as your second orgasm approaches you quickly, his fingers still working your clit. 

“I’m… I’m gonna cum again… Y-yeonjun please…” 

Your whines come out broken and sporadic, not sure how much more you can take. 

“Hold on for me a little longer baby, I’m almost there.” 

You nod as you pull his head back down to you, kissing him one last time as he nails his final thrust, hips stilling in you as he feels himself fill the condom. Your pants and sighs fill the now smokey room. 

“I didn’t know you could squirt like that baby girl. You’re so fucking hot”

He carefully pulls out of you, making sure not to let any cum seep out of the condom. You wince as he pulls out, legs feeling like jelly as you release him from your hold. After discarding the condom, he quickly reaches for the napkins you have sitting on top of the fridge, cleaning you up before kneeling on the cold floor to wipe up any remnants of your release. 

“You look good when you’re on your knees,”

You say playfully, biting your lip as you watch him clean your floor. 

“I was right.” 

Your head feels empty and you’re slightly tingly. The high you were having definitely intensified the feeling you were having during sex but it did nothing to help jog your memory. 

“What are you talking about” 

“Have you already forgotten”

You shrug as you jump off the desk, using his shoulder to help ground yourself as your legs recover from their jelly-like state and proceed to put your clothes back on. 

“I told you that smoking would help you feel more relaxed. I guess in your case it also helped you be more bold.” 

Your usual eye roll was replaced by a giggle. 

“Did I really say that? I guess I had no idea what I was talking about?” 

He laughs with you as he finishes cleaning the floor, pulling his pants back on before putting his weed materials away, shirtless. 

You keep staring at him, realizing that you were too high and too needy to notice his toned abs before. 

“I can send you a picture of them if you want? You don’t have to keep staring at me like that.” 

He pulls his sweater over his head to which you pout, upset that your view was now covered. 

“Relax, you’ll see them again the next time we do this.” 

“Next time?” 

You couldn’t say that you hated the feeling of being high, but maybe you weren’t in the right mind to be making decisions like that. 

“Yeah? Next time we work on the project we can get high and do this again. It was fun.” 

He puts his stuff away in his bag, leaving it on your inflatable chair. He wasn’t just gonna leave you after fucking you whilst you were still high. 

“We got a pretty good portion of the project done today. We don’t even have to meet up to finish out individual parts.” 

You say, reminding him about your 6 hour grind to finish as much of the project as you could. 

“What are you trying to say?” 

He says while fixing his glasses and hair in your mirror.

“I’m saying the next time we meet we don’t have to do work.”

He makes eye contact with you through the mirror, his smirk hard to hide at your insinuation.

“You dirty girl. So bold when you’re high, only want me over to have sex.” 

“Well… to have sex and get high! I do enjoy your presence but I’ve never felt so good before. That was like heaven.” 

Even though he didn’t know you that well, he could tell the effects of the weed were still strong on you, watching you yap away, knowing you probably won’t remember this conversation in the morning. He just laughs at your comment as you put your stuff away. 

You watch as he goes back to his seat, moving his bag back to the floor. You walk up to him, sitting down on his lap. You tangle your fingers in his hair, staring at his lips again, which are also swollen. His eyes follow your gaze and he throws his head back in laughter, scaring you a little as you flinch at unexpected sound. 

“You’re still horny?” 

“What makes you say that?”

You play dumb as if you weren’t just drooling over his lips. 

“But we just put our clothes back on!” 

He whines, fixing your position so that you’re properly straddling him. 

“Yeah but, you aren’t gonna reject me right? Not when I’m high and needy because of you?” 

You feign your best soft voice and puppy eyes, trying your best to hold back from laughing in his face at your own antics. Yeonjun takes your face in his hand, giving you a sweet smile.

“No of course not, that would make me a monster.”

He says, pulling you back in for another kiss as you settle in. Maybe smoking a little bit of weed wasn’t so bad after all. 

[oculusxcaro]

🍳 [Rorschach will beat up Khare's landlord for being a creep and a lazy slob (งಠل͜ಠ)ง ]

Send a 🍳 and my muse will cook something for you

Ever since the landlord came back from hospital, life had improved considerably. Things had stopped disappearing from her apartment other than the snacks that Khare left specifically for Rorschach to enjoy whenever he needed to lay low for an hour or two or the use of utilities he couldn't access out on the streets. She didn't mind, even when he didn't clean up after himself because it wasn't that big of a deal and she'd come to adore him as a friend. Khare wondered briefly how things might have turned out had she never ran into the masked vigilante. It wasn't a pleasant thought, not after some of the close calls she'd had that had been prevented because of him, be it because of his street smarts and natural disposition to violence making him right at home in a city as unfriendly as Gotham. As aloof as Rorschach could be, she did consider him a friend, a good one and wanted to do something nice for him, but what? Food was always a good choice since the man never carried anything other than the bare necessities, not trusting anything but canned food he could carry around. More tins of food wouldn't be turned away, she imagined, but maybe he'd like something else? Cold tins of beans day in and day out had to get boring, even if he didn't seem to like other foods very much. Khare perked up. There was something Rorschach liked very much, not the healthiest thing exactly but something she had easy access to - sugar. Rorschach loved sweet things, she'd even caught him sucking on sugar cubes, making her think about the sorrel horse she'd grown up watching back home in Hull. The next time she went to Pauli's Diner, Khare had a plan. A simple enough plan that should Rorschach pay a visit tonight, she'd have something nice for him to try - Vanilla Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting. It wasn't a regular item on the menu but other than the buttercream frosting used for other desserts, a few eggs, sticks of butter and flour wouldn't go amiss in the kitchens. Besides, she needed the icing piper to be able to put the buttercream frosting on top, which was what she suspected Rorschach would be more interested in than the cupcake itself. With fresh vanilla buttercream whipped and whirled, the time came to pipe the stuff on top when the familiar *ting* of the diner entrance caught her attention. "Just a sec, I'll be right with you!" Khare called out as she washed her hands quickly, breaking out into a smile when she saw it was Rorschach. He was in his disguise, hard-lined face impassive as he approached the counter in the same manner he always did. His face free of the scruffy beginnings of a beard marked him as the culprit of the mess in her bathroom the other morning when she came home from work but Khare wasn't thinking to reprimand the man about the untidy way he'd left the place, rather that she had something important to share... "Hey Walter, long time no see! We've got some tins out in the kitchen if you'd like to take them off our hands but we just finished baking too if you'd like something fresh out of the oven? One time special per customer tonight, and since you're the first..." Khare said, retrieving the bag of canned beans along with a plated cupcake topped with extra buttercream. "Thought you might like something different from beans for a change, at no extra charge."

[maximotts]

I just have this gut feeling that if you made yeehaw wanda dinner and forgot to make dessert, she’d just look at you with the biggest grin and go “Oh I’ll just have you for dessert, honey.”

Sorry for going a wild with this one I'm not sorry but I just… yeah.. this was supposed to be like three paragraphs max; @caroldantops said it didn’t need edits so blame them for any typos 💖

18+ only please . wc: 1.2k . cw: oral, dirty talk, oversensitivity, Wanda just being a silly cowgirl who wants kitchen table sex after a long week of hard work

Wanda cleaned her plate effortlessly, your long labored over dinner fully appreciated by the woman across the small kitchen table. “You must’ve spent all day on that stew and it was well worth it. What’s for dessert?”

It wasn’t an unfair question; typically every night ended with a sweet treat handmade by you, Wanda eagerly awaiting whatever surprise you had in store. But tonight you stayed seated, head hung low to mumble out your ashamed response, “I forgot.. I thought we had pie left, but I didn’t realize you’d snuck the last piece off to work with you until it was too late to make anything new. I’m sorry, Wands…”

The brunette was silent for a moment while you fidgeted nervously in your seat, tapping her fork against her plate as she thought over your mistake. “Come over here for a second, bunny, lemme talk to you.”

You rose from your seat slowly, rounding the table to hover at Wanda’s side. She pushed her plate far out of the way before pointing to the now clear surface, confusing you until she gently nudged you over, “Sit down, right in front.. there ya go.”

“Are you mad? I’m sure I can make find something in the cupboards to-��� But Wanda shushed you, scooting her chair forward once she’d settled in place between your legs. You felt terrible about forgetting one of your girlfriend’s favorite things; the only thing keeping you from tears was Wanda’s strong hands smoothing up your thighs. “Would you be opposed to going out? It’s the weekend, we could get ice cream.”

“Nah, I don’t want any of that,” Wanda shook her head, playing with the short hem of your dress. She could care less if you never made dessert for her again, all she wanted was time with you at the end of every long day. “I’ve got my dessert right here, honey.”

A curious eyebrow cocked down at her, confusedly searching for whatever sweet she was seeing that you couldn’t, “You didn’t forget to eat the pie at lunch, did you? Because it can’t be good anymore if it’s been sitting out all day…”

“Oh no, I ended up eating that way before break time, couldn’t help myself,” Wanda dragged you to the table’s edge, letting your dress ride up with it. The second she spied those pink lace panties she practically begged to let her buy for you, she fought not to rip them right off. “Thankfully you’re sweeter than any pie or cake in the world… You’ll let me have a taste, won’t you?”

The forwardness of it all made your entire face hot, Wanda's wolfish grin and shameless groping of your now exposed ass making you feel like captured prey. It wasn't the first time either, Wanda loved to overwhelm, to make you feel like the owned plaything you longed to be, but couldn't dare say aloud.... until she came along. She didn't mind if you were bashful about your desires, not in the slightest; if she was honest, it only served to turn her on more.

So when you nodded, whispering out a yes and spreading your legs to give her free reign where she couldn't wait to get her hands on, Wanda barely held back a feral growl. "That's a good girl. Now relax and let daddy get her fill of dessert."

She lifted you just enough to tug that temptatious lace off, tucking it in her back jeans pocket for safe keeping. Wanda had never been a patient woman, not in work and certainly not when it came to you. Tilting you back just enough, she hitched soft thighs over her strong shoulders and dove in, mouth devouring you as if she hadn't just eaten two helpings of dinner.

"Such a pretty little cunt... always so wet and ready, all for me," Wanda loved to mumble her way through eating you out, bestowing endless praise on the girl she grew helplessly drunk on. Your hands buried themselves in Wanda's hair, hips stuttering as her tongue rippled over your clit, "Go on, bunny, you can fuck yourself on my face if you wanna. Use me all you want."

And use her you did, rutting over the rough surface until your back arched and you were clamoring with your arms and legs to try to bring Wanda impossibly closer. You could've been ashamed of how needy your girlfriend made you in so short a time, but you knew she loved you just like this, willing and pliant, and all you ever wanted was to make her happy. "Can you go inside? P-Please..."

She had her tongue in you before you could finish your sentence, pushing deep as she could manage and your groan was so loud, Wanda swore it rattled the walls. It was enough to leave her grinding against the ridge at the front of her chair; you always managed to do such a number on her, Wanda's head already swirling with ideas how to have you help her get off in bed later.

"Wanda.. Wands, I'm so-" The tip of her nose bumped against your clit as she tongue fucked you as best she could in time with your erratic thrusts. It dawned on you that you were going to cum on her face, right on the kitchen table Wanda'd built with her own two hands out back and you've never been so in love.

When that coil in your belly finally snapped, you swore you blacked out for a minute, the euphoria too great for your body to cope with. Your girlfriend worked you through your orgasm effortlessly, not minding how you suffocated her between your sex and thighs, lapping every drop of wetness she could before you leaked onto the table.

Pulling away was hard, but you were panting so heavily, Wanda knew she had to lay you back before you fell, prying your legs apart to safely lower you down. She laid her head on the top of your thigh, using her fingers now to play in the mess she'd made while you still twitched and shook. "Best dessert anyone could ever get, honey. You're such a gift..."

"You're sure you're not mad? Even a little?" Your question was still quiet, tone wavering as earlier insecurities crept in again. Wanda hated hurting your feelings; even though you insisted she be honest with you, she'd clocked your sensitivity from day one and always covered up any frustrations with you as best as possible.

But Wanda was too busy smothering your legs with kisses, marking your inner thighs with love bites to worry about one night of missed baked goods. "I'd never be mad over something so silly. I'm lucky enough to have my sweetheart to come home to every single evening."

The brunette sat up then, only to bend over when your arms reached out for her. It was a painfully awkward angle, but she could care less, brushing the hairs that'd shaken loose from your pigtails back behind your ears. Wanda had that silly grin on her face again, the one you couldn't help but melt for, and just like that you felt yourself smiling right back at your girlfriend. "You're so sweet to me, Wanda, it's adorable."

"I love ya, you've got nothing to worry about, bunny." As her lips met yours, Wanda fiddled with the thin bow on the front of your dress, her free hand hitching your leg over her hip to press your bare lower half to her denim-covered one. "Now... am I adorable enough to get a second bit of dessert or do I have to sneak it again?"

[ladylooch]

Bones - Part 6 [Mack x David]

A/N: This chapter has a lot of items in it for what was sent in as requests for the series! I hope you loooooove it! It's spicy, funny, and sweet all wrapped up in one. Happy Saturday, bbys!

Favorite quote? "You my girl, Hischier?" 😍🥵😩

Word Count: 4.5k

It’s almost laughable about what is currently happening right now. 

If Mack thinks about the last year of her life, she really could not have imagined everything that has transpired. A year ago, she was still seeing David as a fling, a hot fuck whenever she felt the itch needed to be scratched. Which was a lot because, well, he’s David. Now, all her belongings are packed into brown boxes, ready to be carted away to David’s apartment. Well, their apartment.

This is all happening willingly. A lot of conversations have been had about this in the months since Mack returned to New York. As much as David assured her they could slow things down, Mack didn’t see the point. If they’re gonna do this, they should really do it. Commit. Go all in the way they both deserve now. She already ran once and she’s not doing it again. 

So when Mack went the whole month of February without going back to her place, she brought the topic up.

“What if I move in?” Mack had asked in his arms as they watched TV together on a Wednesday night. Mack had terrible cramps and his hand laid across the warm, heating pad covering her lower abdomen, massaging lightly. 

“Haven’t you already?” He murmured. Mack looked around his place, seeing her stuff littered everywhere. Maybe she’s made herself a little too at home. 

“Okay, what if I brought everything here?” She reframed.

“I’d say it would finally be home for me too.” He answered, kissing her puckered lips.

That was a month ago. Mack broke her lease four months early and now she is here, monitoring the move with an iced espresso in her hand.

She grabs her phone, taking a picture of her by all her boxes and sending it to her boyfriend. David is currently out of town for the last Rangers road game of the season in Philadelphia. It was exciting to send him off knowing when he came back they would be living together. Her and David discussed their furniture and were able to consolidate it all down to fit into his place. Most of her decor has been donated though. The overly feminine pieces wouldn’t have made sense in the current modern, masculine design. David has already given her free reign to make changes. 

Right now, Mack doesn’t have the desire. She likes it just the way it is.

After the movers pack up the last of her boxes, Mack walks down to the office to turn her keys in. She waves goodbye to the leasing office agents then moves to the lobby where Ron waits, already teary.

“I knew you would be gone after that first kiss.” Ron admits to her. Mack tears up, nodding her head.

“He is impossible to say no to.”

“I am happy for you, Mack.” He says as she hugs him. “This is good for you. Being closer to Lucie will be good too.” Ron is right about this, especially as Lucie is expecting her second daughter later in the year.

“Thank you, Ron. For everything. I’ll pop by and visit, okay? Bring you some Swiss Chocolate when I go back home.”

“I would love that. Tell your parents I said goodbye." Mack nods. 

“How about see you later instead?” Ron smiles then waves her off to her next chapter like the good, kind man he is.

The movers are already in motion when she arrives to her new, familiar building. She quickly rushes upstairs and then gets out of their way again. She sits at the dining room table, checking in on work chats and emails. They are done in under an hour. Mack tips them in extra cash for the quick service, then shuts the door behind them all. She leans back against the door and grins. She snaps another picture to send to David.

Welcome home, honey 

Come home to me soon 🥺

I will. Don’t give away any of my shit until I get home.

Say please.

Please. Brat.

Mack snickers then sends him a thumbs up in response.

The rest of the day she unpacks her things. She is able to get all of her clothes and bathroom items put away before the game starts. Then once it does, she moves to the kitchen so she can multitask. Anything that there is double of, she leaves out on the counter for them to discuss.

Mack raises her gaze to the TV when the announcers exclaim that David is fighting with another player. She winces as David’s fist connects with the guys face, sending him to the ice with a bloody cheek. She shakes her head as David skates lazily towards the penalty box, unaffected. Men.

Mack is still unwrapping glassware in the kitchen when David comes home. She took a long, extended break to have dinner with Lucie downstairs. Then she helped read Stella bed time stories until she fell asleep. By the time Mack left, Lucie had been asleep on the couch too. This arrangement is already working out wonderfully for the Hischier girls.

“Honey, I’m home.” David calls out as he walks in. She laughs. 

“How long have you been dying to do that?”

“Oh, forever.” He admits. He tosses his bag by the door, then walks into hug her in the kitchen. “Look at you lil unpacking machine.” He kisses her lips. “What’s all this?”

“This is the stuff we have doubles of.”

“Cool. I do not want to do this tonight.”

“No, tomorrow. I’m sleepy.”

“Did they set the bed up?” Mack and David decided to keep Mack’s bed and move his into the second bedroom where her office will be. 

“Yep. I washed the sheets. We’re all set.”

“I have been so excited to go to bed tonight.” He chuckles. “Not just because of your bed, but knowing I get you in it every night now…” He trails off. Mack smiles softly up at him, then tugs him by his tie down to kiss him again. David’s hands wind along her back. “You happy, baby?”

“So happy.” She murmurs, chin resting on his chest. He smoothes her hair down at the sides, then leans forward to smooch her lips longingly. “My pretty girl.” He says against her lips, then kisses her deeper.

“You feeling lucky tonight?”

“Mhm.” He mumbles, hands sliding down to her ass. They grip there for a moment, then go to the backs of her thighs to lift her up. As he is walking her to the hallway, his phone rings in his pocket. He sets Mack down on the bed, then pulls the phone out to see who is calling so late.

“Hey Woody.” He answers. He pops the phone on speaker so Mack can hear.

“Hey, uh, can one of you, or both of you, I don’t care, come down and sit with Stella? She’s asleep, but Lucie woke up and is bleeding. We called her doctor and they want her to come in.” Mack sits up quickly. 

“Yeah I’ll come down.” Mack says to Connor. 

“Thank you. Can you hurry? I’m trying to get Luc there ASAP.”

“Yep, I’m on my way,” Mack reaches for her phone that was charging on the nightstand. She grabs a sweatshirt from the closet, then kisses David goodbye.

“I’ll change and come down.” He calls to her.

“Okay.” 

When Mack gets to Connor and Lucie’s apartment, they have the door open, waiting for her.

“Good luck. I love you.” Mack offers to them both. “Text me whats going on when you can.”

“We will.” Connor answers for his wife who looks white as a ghost. Tears line her brown eyes as her husband leads her from the apartment. The door softly shuts behind them. Mack goes to the kitchen to get herself a glass of water, then gets to work on loading dirty dishes from the sink into the dishwasher. She needs to be doing something with her hands after that interaction.

A knock sounds on the door, then David comes popping in. 

“Hey honey, did you talk with them?”

“Not really. Lucie looked pretty worried. They were anxious to get going.”

“Hopefully everything is okay.” He brings a hand to her shoulder, rubbing at it, providing her comfort. Mack nods, feeling her throat clog up with emotion. She’s scared for her sister. Pregnancy is no joke. The issues that both mom’s and babies can have are sometimes life threatening. Mack feels queasy just thinking about something being wrong with Lucie or the baby. 

“I’m gonna go sit down I think.” Mack murmurs. David follows her to the couch, helping her sit. Mack swallows hard as David wanders back to the kitchen to grab her water for her. He hands it to her. Mack thanks him. 

Little, bare footprints hit the hallway. David turns around, seeing a sleepy, pouty Stella appear in the lit hallway arch.

“Where’s daddy?” She asks, rubbing her little eyes tiredly.

“Him and mommy went to go check on your baby sister.” Mack tells her. She opens her arms of her niece and sighs contently when Stella wiggles into her lap. David sits down next to the two girls, offering his hand to Stella for her to hold. She grips two of his fingers with her little hand. 

“Why didn’t I get to go?”

“Cause it’s late.”

“I got to go last time.” Lucie and Connor took her to the 20 week appointment so Stella could see her little sister on the ultrasound. It was the talk of her entire week.

“Yeah, this one is a little different, babe.” Mack murmurs, kissing her head as Stella drops it to her shoulder. David reaches up, smoothing back Stella’s wild brown curls. 

The three of them sit on the couch like that, quietly comforting one another until Mack gets a text from Connor.

On our way back. Everything is okay.

Mack and David sigh in pure relief. David peeks at Stella’s face, seeing her passed out.

“I’ll take her back to bed.”

Mack allows him to pick her up then follows him down to Stella’s bedroom. In the doorway, she watches David tuck Stella into her little pink, princess bed. He brings the blankets back up to her mid chest, then re-arranges her stuffed animals around her like she prefers. Mack smiles. He’s so good at taking care of his people. Then with a gentle pat of her hair, David walks quietly out of the room. He weaves his and Mack’s fingers together and leads her back to the living room where they wait for Lucie and Connor to return. When they do, the four of them share hugs between each other. 

“Thank you, guys.” Connor murmurs as he walks them to the door. Lucie has already padded down the hallway to go to bed, utterly exhausted. 

“Of course. We are so thankful everything is okay too.” Mack tells him.

“How did the move go?”

“Good.” She assures him. Connor nods.

“I’m glad your close by now with this guy.” Connor clasps David’s shoulder. “Now I just need him to officially be my brother…” Connor’s blue eyes sparkle playfully.

“Okay, goodnight.” Mack smiles, patting Connor’s arm as she walks through the door. 

“What, nothing? You two are really not gonna give me anything?”

“Nope.” David shrugs. “Goodnight.” He tosses an arm around Mack’s shoulders. He kisses her head, then looks back, smirking at his defense partner. Connor scoffs at them then begrudgingly calls goodnight down the hallway. The soft click of the door has Mack and David snickering to each other. 

“We’ll never tell.” David jokes to her.

“Never. When we get married, let’s not tell him for like six months.” Mack tangles their fingers together at her right shoulder.

“Oh we’re getting married?” David asks slyly.

“You know we are.”

“I do. Just didn’t realize you did…” He trails off with a smug smirk.

“I don’t move in with guys I don’t see as my future husband.”

“Plural, huh? Damn, I thought I was special.” Mack laughs loudly as they step into the elevator.

“You know what I mean!”

“Yeah that apparently I got some competition somewhere.”

“No, you don’t.” Mack shakes her head. “It’s only ever gonna be you.” 

“Ditto, beautiful.” He puckers his lips like a duck at her.

Mack kisses him deeply, then leads him out of the elevator to continue what they started in their bedroom before.

- - - & - - -

The heavy purr of David’s motorcycle beneath Mack’s thighs is weirdly comforting. Playoffs are starting tomorrow and all David wanted to do with his last, non-hectic day was to take out the bike. The weather is cooperating. It’s a warm enough day that Mack won’t freeze in the wind and the streets are mostly cleaned off from the winter time gunk. David had called Mack on his way back from practice, asking her to play hooky with her work day. So she did.

The breeze rolls through Mack’s hair, whipping it about in it’s pony tail that trails down her back. The helmet is making her face and head sweaty, but she doesn’t mind. Her hands spread out along David’s stomach, holding on to him as they take each lazy turn of the Hudson River trail. They’re well out of the city now, seeing the budding trees and the expansive rolling river as it climbs further North. Mack and David did this ride in the fall to see the changing leaves during a few day break for training camp. It’s fun to see the trees coming full circle with their Spring blooms. 

David taps Mack’s thigh, letting her know they are going to be changing speeds. He slows down as they come to a scenic overlook. It’s a Tuesday afternoon, so they are alone on the road. David brings the bike to a stop. The shudders of the engine shake Mack as she flips her helmet off. David kicks the stand down, then stands, holding a hand out to help her off.

“You’re getting good at this, honey.” He compliments her as she fixes her hair back into a smoother hairstyle. He puts his helmet next to hers on the bike then stretches out his neck and shoulders as he walks towards the stone wall curving around the cliff. “Damn. If we didn’t start off in the city, I might almost be able to believe we are back home.” Mack smiles in agreement. They are quiet, observing the gorgeous, rolling hills of trees and the lazy flow of the river.

“This was such a good idea. Thank you.” Mack acknowledges. She has been feeling uninspired and antsy in her professional life, even as her personal life smoothes to a steady, comfortable cruise. She just hates everything she is writing. How is it possible she can be in such different places, but her words all sound the same? 

“Thank you for coming with me.”

“Of course.” She acknowledges. “I’d go anywhere with you.” David smiles.

“Except Dallas?” Mack stills. Dallas and David haven’t come up together in months. Well maybe it has, but she hasn’t been searching it out like before.

“Oh?”

“What about New York?” Mack looks away, thinking about where this is going.

“I mean, yeah? We were just there.”

“What about if we are there for 8 more years?” Mack startles.

“What?” Her voice already is small and timid from trying to control her emotions.

“Paperwork is coming today.”

“I thought…”

“I did too. But they approached my agent about it last week and I said get it done. Whatever they’re willing to pay me, I’ll take it.”

“So a dollar?” Mack jokes. David tilts his head back and laughs loudly at the sky. Then he reaches for her, pulling her into his chest to hold her close.

“I’m already a rich man having you, honey. I don’t need anything else. I know I tell you stuff like that all the time, but I mean it. This is the first time something big is happening for me when I have someone in my life. I’m so glad it’s you. I love sharing all this with you.”

“Is this the same speech you’re going to give to Connor?”

“Yes.” David smirks. “Can’t live without him either.” Mack giggles, gripping the opening of his leather jacket.

“Wow. New York for eight years. A Ranger for life?” 

“Mhm.”

“You’re going to be so old in 8 years… And I’ll still be young.”

“Yeah, don’t worry, we’ll get you passed on to your second husband by then.” 

“I can do 8 years with you.” Mack nods in agreement. “I get half though?”

“Sure! If I get half of yours.” Mack gasps then shakes her head no immediately. Despite David’s NHL salary and his lucrative farming business, Mack’s money surpasses his by close to 10 million. Daddy’s money grew well over the years with various, hands-off investments. It will continue to do so in the next 8 years too.

“I’m happy for you. Proud too. You’ve worked so hard to get here. You deserve this.”

“Thank you.” He nods, looking stoic and proud. “I’m excited to see where we are in 8 years.” He squeeze her fingers as they pull apart, looking back out over the gorgeous view they’re in front of.

“Yeah.” Mack murmurs. 

But after this last year, Mack knows there is no use trying to picture it now. She’s sure it’s all going to come together the way it should, better than she could even imagine it anyway. Plus right now, all she cares about is being who they are in this moment. 

Two people at the starting line of love with a whole life left to live.

- - - & - - -

Inside MSG, Mack and Lucie hold hands with Stella as they walk down the concourse to their seats. All three ladies are decked out in their Rangers playoffs gear. Lucie and Stella have bold white letters with their last name and Connor’s number while Mack is adorned in Carlson and 14. Butterflies are swarming in Mack’s stomach that the margarita at dinner did nothing to fix. 

“I wish I could drink right now.” Lucie mutters to her sister as the national anthem ends. The boys are in their home blues, circling around and then gathering at the bench for the opening face off.

“Yeah.” Mack breathes out. Usually, she doesn’t care. But today she does. It’s playoffs. The team has a real chance this year and honestly, with David’s long term investment being announced today, she wants him to play well. She wants him to show the fans and the team exactly what they’re going to get for the next eight years. 

As David lines up on Connor’s right side. Mack folds her lip into her mouth. She crosses her legs, sending out safe vibes for her man. 

Then the puck drops and utter chaos breaks out. 

The game is intense. The crowd loud and in the opposing team’s face. Constant cheering and buzz swirls round them as the teams battle on the ice. David keeps getting into little scrums. Mack sighs every time she sees his gloved hand face wash someone. He jaws at number 44 on the opposing team half the time they’re on the ice together. 

At the start of the third period, the game is tied 1-1. The Rangers need a push and it’s no surprise to anyone that David drops the gloves with 44. The two of them swing heavy blows at each other, some connecting, some wizzing by the others head. It’s David that ends up on top. As he skates to the box, he swings his arms up in the air, yelling at the crowd to get pumped. Mack giggles, looking over at her sister.

“Why is that so hot?” Mack nibbles her lip seductively, looking down at him in the penalty box. He runs a towel over his face and hair, leaving the black strands sticking up in places. 

“I don’t know.” Lucie shrugs. 

“Why did he fight?” Stella asks, looking over at Mack like she should answer for him. “Was he mean?”

“Yeah.” Mack settles on. She isn’t sure what else she could say. Stella is too young to understand the nuances of the game and truthfully, Mack doesn’t think she would care anyway. She’s all about trying to get her second bundle of cotton candy. 

The team battles to hold their 1-1 tie game while David is in the box. Several dangerous looks are tossed on goal but the Rangers goalie keeps the team in the game. The crowd cheers loudly when David skates out of the box after his time is done. Now that they have fought, 44 and David keep their distance from each other. David has a game to win and his focus is on the next 10 minutes to get them the W. 

It takes another 5 minutes, but the Rangers score. Lucie and Mack fly out of their seats, high-fiving and yelling loudly for their boys as they roll through the bench handshake line.

“Connor assisted on that.” Lucie beams proudly. 

The next five minutes feel like hours. Several quick whistles hit. TV time outs play out then an on the ice time out before the opponents pull their goalie. Mack watches through her fingers as the clock winds down. David goes down to block a shot that has Mack yelping. He is fine, but she didn’t like that one. When the final buzzer sounds to signal a Rangers win, the building erupts. Fans wave their white towels furiously with their cheers. 

The Rangers have one of their 16 wins. 

After the game, Lucie and Mack hang out to wait for the boys. Media takes longer in the playoffs and it’s no surprise that both Connor and David are pulled aside for interviews. They walk out of the locker room together, dressed, with still wet hair as they discuss a few plays from the game.

“Next time, let’s look for a reverse there. I don’t think their forecheck can pick that off behind the net.” David says to Connor.

“I agree. Also I wanna see us stepping up more at the blue line. Light ‘em up.” Connor smirks at his partner as they come to stop by the girls.

“Really?” Lucie whines. “Don’t forget someone here is pregnant.” Her belly pokes out of her jacket as she puts her hands on her hips. 

“I did that.” Connor sighs happily. He puts a hand on her belly then leans down to kiss her. David does the same with Mack, minus the hand on her stomach.

“Couldn’t resist, huh?” Mack asks David.

“Never.” He grins.

“I liked it.” She admits. “There is something about you all sexy and ruffled in the penalty box that gets to me.”

“Alright. Bye Woods!” David announces. He wraps Mack up tight into his side, almost head locking her in place. Mack laughs, holding onto his back as he drags her forward.

“Bye!” Mack yells, waving to them without looking back. David’s fingers run over the Carlson on her back as he opens the passenger side door for her. 

“Speaking of looking sexy…” He trails off, grinning at her. 

“Take me home, cowboy.”

David races home, weaving through traffic quickly so he can get Mackenzie Hischier stripped down to just that jacket on her body. When he slides his cock into her from behind, his low groan of appreciation has Mack buzzing as hard as the arena was earlier. 

“Fuck. Look so good with me all over you.” David murmurs. His hands run under her jacket to grab her bare hips. His eyes take in her Carlson covered back as he pumps deep inside of her. Mack whimpers at the delicious fullness of him. His palms slide up to her chest, cupping her breasts as she takes him deep. Mack presses up on her hands so his chest meets her back, then she turns her face to moan into his mouth. “You my girl, Hischier?”

“Yes.” 

“Mmm that’s right.” He grabs her cheek, keeping her face turned towards his so he can kiss her and fuck her at the same time. He helps her raised more on her knees so it’s easier for them to stay connected everywhere. “All mine.” 

Their change in position makes everything deeper. Mack grasps at his neck to hold on while he pistons into her wet core. His other hand trails down her stomach, wiggling her clit in wild strokes.

“I love you.” He says, resting their noses together as he fucks harder into her.

“I love you.” She moans back. The back of her head hits his shoulder and he finishes her off after her desperate pleas for him to make her come. 

He pulls out of her afterwards, gently peeling her jacket off to put it in the closet for the game on Thursday. Then he cleans up in the bathroom before coming back to take care of her.

After he is done wiping her clean, he kisses her deeply. Mack’s heart aches for him to be closer even as he pulls her into his chest to cuddle. It never feels like they are close enough for her. She wants to be pasted to him at all times. Mack brings the fingers of her left hand up to his chest. She traces zig zags down his sternum as a tiredness from their big day of activity begins to descend. 

A thought comes to her as she thinks about the next eight years spent right here with him.

“I would have gone to Dallas with you. Or Seattle. Or anywhere.” She murmurs to him. “I only want us to be together. It doesn’t matter where.”

“I’m glad you say that because… I wanna be honest with you. This is my last deal and when it’s done, I wanna head home. Build a life there with you that is slower and quieter than this.” His fingers massage her scalp as he talks.

“I would really like that.” Mack tells him. “We can have matching rocking chairs?”

“Of course. I’ll build you one this summer.” Mack nods.

“I know we have some time before then, but I’m hoping you’ll come home with me this summer. Maybe the end of June? Depending on how things go?” Mack offers to him. She’s been thinking about how much she wants to show him of home. She got to experience him in Iowa and she wants him to see her at home too. In her parents lake house where he can get to know her parents and Sophie better.

“Yes. Of course. If things end early here, we can go right away. We could spend a whole month there if you want.”

“Okay.” Mack nods, smiling into his chest. “I’ll take you to the cabin. Show you were I realized how much I wanted this with you.”

“I’d love that.” He acknowledges, squeezing her in tighter. 

It all sounds so easy, wrapped up naked in each other now. All the fear about how hard this could be or how it could not work out is gone. Instead, they’re communicating. They’re asking each other to lean in and sometimes compromise too. Both of them are so willing to do that now.

Because this is worth it. 

No matter where. No matter what.

Read more Mack and David here.

[quill-pen]

The day Connie moves out of the cottage and loads the last box into Adonis’ car, she is full-on teary-eyed as she hugs all the girls so tight.

Yes, she’ll see them literally later that night for a dinner. Yes, she’s going to come over that Sunday for brunch.

But she can’t go to their doors for late-night chats anymore. They can’t cry over old movies while eating ice cream at 2 a.m. anymore ( well, not without some planning). She can’t see them when she wakes up.

They all get hugs, but Bess, her soul-sister, gets an embrace that makes the tears finally fall.

Those years in the cottage changed her. Helped her grow. Helped her quit addictions. Helped her realize she wants to live.

“Thank you for everything. For the support, for your kindness and patience, and for the love.”

It’s just a location change, but it’s an emotional one.

Adonis driving away with her like, “…Darling, if you think it’s not the right time, I promise I-“

“No, I-it is. We could move in together five years from now, and I’d react the same. I love them, and I love you. It’s just a change. But a good one.”

By the way, before leaving, Adonis gives every 1843D girl a key. Bess probably knows the lock code to his flat, but she gets a key so they can all come over and see each other whenever they desire.

A symbol that he’ll never keep the girls apart behind any doors, especially not his own.

Oh, Connie.🥹 She's not moving away, just to a different section of town, but it's still a big change and an end of an era. It is worth emotion and tears. Tears that are both sad for the end, but happy because it's been a good run and this is a good change. Of course, the girls are sad their "big sister" won't be right there anymore and that every night isn't going to be a girls' night with the lot of them, but they are so thrilled for her getting to take this step with a man who is completely worthy of her and loves her so much. Of course, the girls assure her she is always welcome to move back if need be or just to come and stay whenever she wants.

Addie is definitely the biggest crier. She's sobbing and sniffling as they help Connie pack up, and she wails when giving Connie her goodbye hugs and kisses. Gal is always the more stoic one, but even she's shedding some tears and sniffing a bit.

Bess? She's not wailing, but the waterworks are on full-bore. But so is her genuine, happy smile. "I'm so happy for you," she sniffs. "You're gonna have an amazing life." What Connie doesn't know, is Bess had a sit-down with Adonis before he asked Connie to move in just to be sure of what his intentions were. ("I trust you, but this is my soul-sister--my other half. I just want to be extra clear that you intend to have a future with Connie. We both know she's still a little apprehensive about marrying again, but if it turns out that is what she wants, I want to be sure you're in line with her, and not just stringing her along to shack up with for a good time until you want something else.") Of course, Adonis gave her assurances and that he was already thinking marriage.

The keys are a huge deal for the girls and a sure sign of trust. If there were any reservations left for any of them about Adonis, they evaporate. Of course, they will respect the boundaries Connie and Adonis set for their place, but to know they have free reign to come and visit their best friend whenever, that they're welcome any time, it means everything.

[shadowqueenjude]

Tamlin's villain origin story part 6

Warning: there's like one line of crude language. Tamlin and co. have just duped the Inner Circle's attempts to ally with Helion! But Tamlin is not done plotting. He's determined to crush the IC under his thumb.

Tamlin’s POV “Summer will almost certainly ally with us,” Tamlin said, taking a swig of his drink. “Spring and Summer have been allies for ages.”

“Wouldn’t hurt to pay them a visit,” Lucien drawled from his place at the table. He had tipped his chair halfway back and draped his leg on the table, dangling grapes from his mouth. Tamlin didn’t bother to tell him to put his foot down. Lucien basically had free reign to do whatever the hell he wanted. He could’ve commanded Tamlin to get on his knees and beg, could’ve commanded him to abdicate his throne and hand it to him, and Tamlin would obey. Nothing in the world was worth more than Lucien’s friendship. Feyre had broken his heart. His sentinels had let him down. But Lucien had never disappointed him, never abandoned him. Not even when he ventured to the Night Court to find his mate. The mate in question had been granted a room in Tamlin’s manor, and she had agreed to stay there; however, she still avoided Lucien at all costs. Tamlin could tell it affected his friend far more than he let on but didn’t voice the negative thoughts in his head.

The Archeron sisters are not worth it. They’ll just rob you of your sanity.

No, Tamlin wouldn’t say that because Elain was Lucien’s mate. And Tamlin didn’t get to spend very much time with Lucien ever since he took control of Hybern, so he wasn’t about to waste that time getting into arguments.

“Tarquin forgave Feyre and Rhysand too easily,” Lucien continued. “Even if they did accept our refugees. You should definitely talk to him. Charm him. Make sure he wants to help us.”

“Why don’t you do it?” Tamlin grumbled. He hated the whole talking thing, even though he had done plenty of it by this point.

Lucien snorted. “Did you forget I’m ruling a country now? I mainly came to check on you and my mate.” He said the words my mate very quietly, as if he was afraid Elain might hear. “Besides, I could probably have Tarquin under my thumb in about 30 minutes time, but I think he’d appreciate hearing from Spring’s High Lord. Besides, he seems like he’d be more into pathetic males.”

Tamlin snorted. Lucien said the words casually, like it wasn’t absolutely incredible that he could work people like that, much less a High Lord. But his last line… “What do you mean, pathetic males? Do you find me pathetic?”

Lucien scoffed. “Please, Tam. After everything you did for Feyre after she ditched you? After all you’ve been doing for me? I could ask you to suck my dick and you’d ask how hard.” Tamlin scowled. Lucien wasn’t wrong, though.

“Besides, both you and Tarquin were duped by Feyre romantically. You can bond over that and convince Tarquin to side with you. My contacts at the Winter Court and Dawn Court have been working Kallias and Thesan. It won’t take much to convince them, especially Kallias after the dozen younglings. And my second Dawn contact, Nuan…” Lucien grinned wickedly. “She’s been working on a little project, courtesy of yours truly. It won’t be long before every Illyrian female rebels against their masters.”

Tamlin’s eyes widened. Oh, the Night Court had no idea how valuable Lucien was. They had no idea what kind of ally they missed out on by treating him like shit. “What do you mean?”

“Let’s just say the Illyrian females will fly high above their enemies,” Lucien said. He got up and patted Tamlin’s shoulder. “Don’t be afraid to turn up the charm, Tam. Tarquin is a pretty sweet guy; he’s young too. Flirting with him a little bit will definitely help your case. And for once, the ‘your hair is clean’ comments won’t be disastrous, but rather help your case.”

Tamlin blinked. “Isn’t Tarquin into females, though?”

Lucien laughed.  “Please, Tam. You don’t live as long as we do and not experiment.” He walked towards the door, then turned back. “Come on, Tam. You know what to do; you’ve been a High Lord for so long. I’m going to go check on Elain before I leave.”

Tamlin watched Lucien walk away, wondering how the hell he was going to flirt with Tarquin without absolutely fumbling everything like he did with Feyre. Although maybe a little fumbling would actually help his case this time. That’s what Lucien had meant, wasn’t it? To be genuine and awkward, Tarquin would appreciate it.

Hmm…

Lucien’s POV Sometimes, Lucien wondered why he bothered.

It had been months since Lucien and Elain had locked eyes and the mating bond had clicked into place. Months since where Elain refused to speak with him almost in any capacity. He knew she had gone through something horrible, that he had to be patient and respectful and give her space, but sometimes it was just so damn hard.

At least she hadn’t objected to staying at the Spring Court rather than the Night Court. He had expected her to protest, but she hadn’t. That was something, at least.

When she had first settled here, Lucien had spoken to her. It had gone like this:

“Are you ok, lady? With staying here,” he had said. “I know it’s not Velaris, but…”

“There are flowers here,” Elain had said quietly. Lucien’s heart rate had kicked up at the response. He was a flirt, a smooth talker, an expert emissary with friends in every court in Prythian and the human lands, yet all words failed him when she looked at him, spoke with him. He’d stumbled, saying “Y-yes, my lady,” cursing himself for stuttering. Why was it so hard? Why were his instincts, the weapons he used to work with people, now his own worst enemies? Taste her, touch her, smell her, claim her. Anyone else seeing him in her presence would think he was angry, but it was only him resisting the innate urge to take her in ways she was in no way ready for. The mating bond he’d grown up revering was proving to be more a curse than a blessing. At least at the moment.

“There is no need for a gardener here,” Elain had murmured, so quietly Lucien wasn’t sure if it was even directed at him. “The magic of the land means that flowers are always in bloom.”

“That leaves you available to do other things. Not just hobbies like baking. But something more than that.” Lucien grasped for the speech that always abandoned him when she was around, but to no avail. “Sorry. That sounded wrong. Did I offend you, my lady?”

“A bit harsh, perhaps.” Elain smoothed the skirts of her dress. Lucien couldn’t believe how beautiful she was every time she looked at him. Her long brown hair tumbled down her shoulders in waves like the stunning fall of Autumn leaves. It perfectly framed her soft face and doe eyes. What about Jesminda? Some small part of him screamed, even now. But the rest of his body was overtaken by the mating bond.

“But you’re correct,” Elain mused. “I cannot tend to my little garden forever.” She met his eyes then. “But I’m not certain I am ready for more now, Lucien.”

He understood the double entendre in the words. “I understand, my lady. I shall take my leave now.” He bowed as he left the room.

That wasn’t the same Elain he saw now, talking and laughing with Alis.

Some light had returned to her eyes, some spark that he hadn’t seen before. And just that little bit of joy made her look so heartbreakingly gorgeous that Lucien’s heart hurt.

Well, there was no need to speak to her. She looked perfect. Lucien made to turn away when Elain sensed him. Her smile faded slightly, but Alis beamed at him. “Lucien, you scoundrel.” She wrapped him in a hug and Lucien couldn’t contain his grin. “Lady Alis,” he bowed.

“None of that,” Alis said. “I swear you grow more and more handsome by the day. What is your secret?” Alis tossed him an apron.

Lucien replied with, “Lots and lots of exercise.” He winked at her, and Alis swatted his arm. “I’m surprised you have time for little old me when you’re off ruling a kingdom now.”

“I’ll always have time for you, lady,” Lucien replied. Alis just laughed. “You don’t fool me with your gentlemanly act, Lucien. But I’m glad you haven’t forgotten about us.” Lucien smiled at Alis, and was so determinedly avoiding Elain’s gaze that he didn’t realize that the way Elain was looking at him was slightly awed- and quite infatuated. As if seeing Lucien in his element had brought something out in her.

[im-probably-crying-rn-ngl]

my wips

i wanted to organise and share my wips and i am actually sorry to whomever has ever tagged me in a tag game, i actually just don't know how to do them✨ if anyone is curious about any of these please do drop me an ask because i do love the sound of my own voice/sight of my own words and will provide detail 😌

okay so we have britcedes (rip to them ig) to start off, rn trying to figure out how the actual fuck i will write lewis' move to ferrari into them:

End Game: okay so a/b/o au where lewis is coparenting his son with his ex (teammate and boyfriend, buy 1 get 1 free) nico rosberg. lewis might have a lot on his plate but he finds himself attracted to his new teammate (he has a bit of a type) and against his better judgement they start up a "thing". what lewis doesn't realise george is absolutely head over heels in love with him and has been for YEARS. but george tries to play it cool, he fails, shit happens, gax happens (yes okay i don't want to fumble with this, max is incredibly complex in this but i still love him in it) but yes they get their end game of course.

Chasing Silver: set in canon universe, starting from the 2021 season. honestly like yeah that's it. i think this fic is just an excuse to ramble about their racing and ever shifting dynamics.

My Girl: OH THIS FIC. its absolutely one of my favourites if not the favourite. so lesbian britcedes, lady louise hamilton is the first black and female driver to make it to f1 and she is the champion of the sport. its 2022, she has won 7 wdcs and is looking for one more but it is just not clicking, neither is her personal life really. love left her a long time ago, walked away on 6 inch red stilettos. but enter george russell (yes her name is george and no it is NOT short for georgia and yes she will correct you on that every single time) louise's new teammate alex albon's race engineer. all george ever wanted was everything and being louise's girl might just give it to her or maybe it will be what takes it it all?

then there is gax my beloveds, i adore writing them, gax nation will always have my loyalty, i really want them to give me more this season:

Lovely: this is a/b/o, childhood sweethearts, non-driver george, son of toto wolff au i have shared snippets of before. writing this fic feels never ending and i am slowly losing my mind haha but its still! my! baby! and! i! won't! abandon! it!

Mad Max's Princess: this is pure self indulgent fluff. girl george who is once again is casted as alex albon's race engineer in this fic. her (mostly) loving boyfriend of 10 years is none other than rival team red bull racing's star and the reigning world champion. the guy they have to beat to get her driver and team to the top. oh when the love of your life is your biggest fan and your biggest hater. this is gax, of course hijinks ensue.

Fire & Blood: medieval fantasy/game of thrones (a song of ice and fire for the ones who know) au with a/b/o dynamics. mercedes are the rulers of the land and their dragons' fire melted the gold in their crowns and the moulded their iron throne. but a dragon can die and a dragon can be killed. a dragon can be shot from the sky and brought down to earth or a dragon can be trapped in a dungeon till it can fly no more. a dragon's neck can be pierced by a lion's teeth.

galex because okay who am i to argue against true love and george's russell's wishes:

Hell is a Teenager: this is a pretty dark fic where i actually do some social commentary on the a/b/o universe. so george and alex are neighbours and the best of friends who are just on the edge of more. at 14 george presents as an omega and is shipped off to an all-omega private boarding school. alex doesn't hear from him till their final year of high school and all of a sudden george is back in town. he is not the same boy that cried in alex's arms the night before he left begging for him to love him. george has changed even if no one else can tell, what happened in there? why is he back? why does alex's heart still give a stutter when he looks into those blue eyes? even if those eyes no longer sparkle. *sigh* yeah this is a toughie

lastly there is my landoscar wip, they write themselves into ffs not us:

The Only Exception: another a/b/o au (one hit wonder i know), basically its the good boy/play boy trope. lando can't get his shit together and oscar is too oblivious for his own good. it would be angst if they weren't so incredibly adorable and down bad for each other.

[hockeylvr59]

Here With Me Part 16 || Taylor Makar

Author’s Note: Taylor shows off his romantic side by spoiling Kelsey for Valentine’s day and a very important person finds out about the relationship.  FC: Marina Laswick (@marooshk on instagram).

Warnings: cursing, references to sex, social drinking // Word Count: 4,329

~~~~

Fifteen

Valentine’s Day. There was no doubt that it was a cliche day but this was the first time Kelsey was experiencing it while in a relationship. Plus Taylor seemed really excited to plan something special so she was more than content to let him have free reign. 

Settling into her usual seat in medical ethics, Kelsey got herself situated for class wondering how close her boyfriend was going to cut it this morning. And just a few minutes before class was set to start he sauntered in, dropping his bag beside his usual chair before setting a coffee cup and small bag on her desk. 

“Happy Valentine’s Day Kels.” He murmured softly kissing her cheek. This was a surprise but a welcomed one and she smiled back at him, eyes soft.

“I know I already told you you don’t have to overdo Valentine’s Day but thank you.” She replied, sneaking a kiss to his jaw as well before motioning for him to sit. Though she definitely planned on drinking the iced coffee during class, the food would have to wait though it would be devoured on her way to her next class for sure. 

When they were finally dismissed by the professor, Kelsey moved to pack up her things, looking back at Taylor. 

“What time am I picking you up?” She asked just wanting to make sure that everything was set. 

“6:30.”

Nodding to herself, Kelsey bit her lip. She had been debating telling her uncle about them now knowing that things really were serious. She’d told her parents she had a boyfriend on Sunday and she’d already talked to her aunt about getting ready there tonight since all of her roommates would already be out and she’d need help with her dress. But before she did anything she wanted to make sure that Taylor was okay with it, or at least give him the chance to voice any objections. 

“I’m going to tell my uncle tonight.” She murmured as they walked out of the classroom side by side, Kelsey tossing her empty coffee cup but still holding onto the breakfast Taylor had brought her. 

Though his expression flickered with various feelings, Taylor was quiet for a moment before nodding. 

“Okay. I trust you.” 

Those four words created a warmth in Kelsey and she pressed up to kiss him softly. 

“I’ll see you tonight then.” 

****

It had been a bit of a mad dash after Kelsey’s classes to get home, eat a snack, grab everything she needed for the night and get to her aunt’s to start getting ready. 

Starting with her hair, Kelsey used a curling iron to put loose waves into it. As she was doing so her aunt came to lean against the door of the spare bedroom where Kelsey had set up shop. 

“So your mom called me yesterday asking if I knew anything about this boyfriend of yours.” 

Rolling her eyes slightly Kelsey just shrugged. 

“So who is he? What’s he like?” 

“I mean you already know what he’s like. You’ve met him.” Kelsey replied vaguely, working on another segment of hair. The perplexed look on her aunt’s face just made her smile. “Taylor.” 

It took a minute for her aunt to run through the list of Taylors she knew before her eyes went wide and excitement took over her face. 

“Makar?” She asked softly just to verify and when Kelsey nodded her aunt looked even more thrilled. “Oh Kels. He’s a good one.” 

“I know.” Kelsey grinned. “And before you ask, I’m telling Greg tonight.” 

“How long?” Her aunt inquired as Kelsey finished with her hair, shaking it out a bit to get loose waves before adding a light coat of hairspray. 

“Officially, right after new years.” 

“And unofficially?” Her aunt teased softly. 

“Uh we met in mid October.” Kelsey left it at that knowing that her aunt was probably going to draw the proper conclusions on her own regardless. 

“So he’s here to stay?” Her aunt asked.

“I sure hope so.” Kelsey admitted. “Getting harder to imagine life without him.” 

“Alright well I’ll let you get yourself all glammed up for him. I’ve got to go make dinner for the brood. Let me know when you need help with the dress.” 

Thanking her, Kelsey proceeded to do her makeup keeping it light but flirty. After checking that her nails looked nice enough, Kelsey moved to grab her aunt to zip up her dress. 

After fetching her, Kelsey retreated to the bedroom and worked her way into the dress so that by the time her aunt arrived all she had to do was manage the zipper. Dress on, Kelsey slipped into some ankle height boots before surveying herself in the mirror. 

“You look beautiful.” Her aunt declared. “Though you always look beautiful.” 

Smiling, Kelsey applied a little bit of fashion tape, just to keep everything where it should be before packing up her things and heading downstairs as her uncle’s voice boomed through the house. 

“Why is Kelsey’s car in the driveway?” 

“Well hello to you too.” Kelsey declared, moving through the kitchen just to grab a small glass of water. “I needed to borrow an extra set of hands to get ready for my date with Taylor.” 

There was a long pause before her uncle spoke. 

“You have a date with one of my players?” 

“That is typically what tends to happen, especially on Valentine’s day, when you’re in a relationship with someone, yes.” 

Sipping at the water while careful of her lipstick, Kelsey peeked over her shoulder not sure whether there would be smoke coming out of her uncle’s ears or if he was just dumbstruck. 

Mostly it was a look of gears turning and as she turned around his eyebrows raised. 

“And you’re wearing that…” 

“Yes I am. Not looking for style advice thanks. When you have more than one game tie, maybe I’ll consider it.” 

Gathering up her bag of spare clothes and supplies and moving to get her coat from where she’d draped it over the island Kelsey took a breath. 

“Now I gotta go get Taylor because he told me 6:30. Thanks again Aunt Dana.” Hugging her aunt, Kelsey pulled back with a soft smile before turning to her uncle and growing more serious. 

“And Greg…so help me if you treat Taylor any differently at the rink because we’re together. He’s the most amazing person I’ve ever met and I promised him it wouldn’t happen. I don’t intend to break my promise.” 

With her warning planted, Kelsey headed out into the cold February night to go get her boyfriend and see what kind of romance he had planned for her. 

As Kelsey left their house, Dana moved to pat her husband on the shoulder comfortingly as he processed what his niece had just told him. 

“How the hell? What is happening?” 

“Your niece is fucking your first line winger, how’s that feel?” 

The glare she received from her husband only made Dana laugh and he rubbed at his head. 

“Relax. At least she’s falling in love with him and not just fucking him.” 

“Not. Helping.” 

Patting his shoulder for another minute, Dana turned to check on dinner in the oven. 

“When I told him to work on his game, I didn’t mean that game.” Her husband mumbled.

The fact that he was already half cracking jokes suggested that he was slowly coming around to the idea and Dana smiled. 

“You know he’s a good kid. And he makes Kelsey really happy. So I think you’re gonna have to get used to it.” 

Greg hung his head a bit and groaned. 

“Oh god.” 

****

When she arrived at Taylor’s apartment, Kelsey texted him to come out because she was not bearing the cold any more than she had to in this dress. 

As he slid into the car he settled a small gift bag at his feet and passed a bouquet of flowers over to her. They weren’t anything crazy but they were pretty and it was absolutely the thought and effort that mattered most. 

“Thank you Tay. They’re beautiful. But can you hold them or put them in the back?” 

Though he complied, twisting to set them in the backseat, Kelsey heard him mumbling about he couldn’t wait until he could do the driving so he could do all of this right. 

When he resettled himself, Kelsey shifted in her seat, pulling him in for a soft kiss. It didn’t matter to her that she had to pick him up, it mattered to her that he wanted to take her on a romantic date and he looked so handsome in dress pants and a pinkish or purple button down, though it was hard to tell the exact color in the lighting under his coat. 

Finding out from Taylor where they were headed, Kelsey drove while catching Taylor up on telling her uncle and assuring him that he had seemed confused but not angry. They were once again heading to Northampton but that didn’t bother Kelsey. When she pulled into the lot of the local steakhouse her eyebrows raised a bit. It definitely wasn’t the cheapest date restaurant but she wasn’t going to question Taylor on it. 

Turning the car off, Kelsey let Taylor come around to get her door and leaned into him, hugging him as she climbed out. Opening the backdoor she grabbed the small box she had tied with a ribbon along with the attached card. Only then was she ready to head inside as she saw Taylor grabbing the gift bag. 

Tucked into his side, Kelsey walked with Taylor through the cold into the restaurant where he gave his name for the reservation. Immediately they were led back to a table and Kelsey smiled as Taylor pulled her chair out for her, reaching to help with her jacket. As he draped it over her chair and moved around her front, she watched as his jaw dropped. 

“Woah…Kels you look…wow.” Though he was mostly at a loss for words, the way he was looking at her told her everything and Kelsey grinned settling into her seat. 

“Thank you. That’s a really good color on you.” She replied, setting the box onto the corner of the table. 

It wasn’t long after they sat down that a waitress came over to take their drink order and provide them with menus for the evening. 

Ordering water and a glass of wine, Kelsey looked over at Taylor and nudged his legs under the table. 

“So how was your day?” She asked softly, listening as Taylor mentioned having a bit of a rougher practice and detailed his other classes after the one they share. In return, Kelsey talked about her classes, laughing to herself when he just gave her a look of all of ‘that is going way over my head’. 

With legs still in contact under the table, Kelsey looked at the menu trying to decide what she wanted while staying towards the middle of the price spectrum because prices were already relatively high. 

It made little sense to come to a nice steakhouse and not get steak but that was all definitely at the upper end of the menu. 

When the waitress came back with their drinks, she asked if they were ready or needed more time. Kelsey still hadn’t made up her mind but before she could open her mouth to express that Taylor was stating that they were ready before ordering them both the sirloin gorgonzola done medium. 

“Taylor…” Kelsey murmured once the waitress had stepped away. 

“Kels, don't deny that’s what you really wanted. You were price tag watching and it’s Valentine’s day, I didn’t bring you here for you to pick the cheapest thing on the menu. Just relax.” 

As always, his smile was disarming and Kelsey could only sigh. Nudging her leg slightly, Taylor moved to place the small gift bag in front of her. 

“Open it.” 

Near the top of the bag was a card and when Kelsey pulled it out of its envelope she could only smile. ‘We go together like a cupcake and sprinkles.’  Opening the card itself she giggled softly because yeah this card choice was so Taylor. ‘You’re sweet and I wanna be all over you.’ Underneath was Taylor’s writing saying ‘Happy Valentine’s Day Kels.’ 

Bright smile on her face, Kelsey continued to reach into the bag, next pulling out a bag of her favorite chocolate from the grocery store. It was a sweet touch that he remembered her favorite and didn’t just pick standard chocolates. 

Finally, Kelsey’s fingers touched fabric and pulling it out revealed a UMass hockey hat. Further examination revealed a small 18 along the side and Kelsey smiled because this was her first item proclaiming even subtly that Taylor was hers. 

“I love it. Thank you.” 

Taylor looked a little relieved that though it wasn’t much that his tokens were well received and Kelsey reached across the table to squeeze his hand affectionately. 

Passing the card and box across the table to him, Kelsey motioned for him to open his present as well. 

Kelsey hadn’t gone standard Hallmark card but had instead just used blank white card stock, drawing hearts all over it before leaving a sentimental note inside. 

 Waiting with bated breath while he read, Kelsey almost jumped when Taylor moved to stand and then reached out a hand to pull her from her chair as well. Hugging him tightly, Kelsey felt moisture against her head and rubbed his back. She certainly hadn’t intended on making him cry but once again he wasn’t a man that was afraid of emotions and evidently her heartfelt message had struck a chord. 

After a moment he pulled back and Kelsey reached up to wipe his tears away before pulling him down for a soft, sweet kiss. 

“Go open your present T.” She whispered, urging him to sit back down. 

Back in her own chair she sipped at her wine as she watched Taylor open the small box. 

Inside were two pocket squares, one navy with white polka dots, the other distressed maroon and on both Kelsey had embroidered a monogram of Taylor’s initials in two different styles. 

“Kels, did you make these?” Taylor asked softly as he looked them over, fingering the fabric softly. 

“Yeah, they aren’t hard to make and I had plenty of scrap fabric so it was the embroidery that took the most time.” 

“Kels these are awesome. Seriously. Thank you.” She hadn’t been sure how her gift would go over so she was relieved that Taylor seemed to genuinely love them. 

Gifts having been exchanged, Kelsey and Taylor continued to talk about everything and nothing until their meals arrived, the steak dominating two thirds of the plate.  It all looked and smelled delicious and Kelsey knew there was no way she was going to be able to finish all of this food. 

Conversation lulled while they were eating but it was a comfortable silence that filled the space, other diners chatting providing background noise. 

When Kelsey was unable to eat anymore she pushed her plate in slightly and took a few more sips to finish off her wine. 

“God that was good.” She murmured softly, watching as Taylor put away the rest of his steak into his stomach. 

When their waitress circled back around, Kelsey asked for a box for her leftovers and Taylor took the check, whipping out a card to pay without any hesitation. 

When she returned a final time, Kelsey asked if she could do them one more favor and take a picture of them. With their waitress agreeing, Kelsey pulled out her phone and pulled the camera up before handing it over and requesting Taylor stand up beside her for a minute. Checking to see that there was at least one cute one of the photos taken, Kelsey thanked her again and moved to box up her leftovers while Taylor finished up with signing the receipt. 

Once complete, Kelsey let Taylor help her into her jacket before gathering up her purse, gift, and leftovers to head back out to the car. There she let Taylor kiss her before she settled everything inside and slid behind the wheel cranking the heat. 

“Thanks for dinner Tay. That was so good.” She declared looking over at him. 

“Glad you enjoyed it.” He replied, lacing his fingers with hers after buckling his seatbelt. Just basking in the moment for a bit, Kelsey took it all in. Sighing softly she finally spoke. “I guess we should head back to Amherst. We both have busy days tomorrow.” 

“That is true.” Taylor agreed, squeezing her hand before releasing it to let her get them safely on the road home. 

As she drove, Kelsey focused on the music playing but also the weight of Taylor’s hand against her thigh. It was warm and comforting and she couldn’t help but smile. 

“Are you okay if I post that picture on insta?” She asked softly. They weren’t hiding things but she knew that he didn’t have the biggest social media presence all the same. 

“‘Course Kels, you can share whatever you want to.” 

Nodding, Kelsey just continued to drive until she reached the parking lot for his apartment. Holding onto his hand, Kelsey twisted in her seat and motioned for him to lean in for a kiss. It was a weeknight so she wasn’t going to go up to his room but that didn’t mean that they couldn’t make out a little before he headed inside. 

As they kissed, slowly Taylor’s hand slid further up Kelsey’s thigh and she just sighed into his mouth enjoying this stolen intimacy. 

“Selfie for the road?” Taylor questioned, his voice soft as always but filled with the undertones of lust. His question caused Kelsey to nod because yeah she’d like that. The more memories with him she could capture the better. 

Letting him take it with her phone, Kelsey smiled for the camera before turning to steal one more soft kiss. 

“If you’re still at the rink when my girls have their practice I’ll see you tomorrow, if not then I’ll see you in class Thursday morning.” 

“Yeah for sure. Night Kels. Let me know when you’re home safe.” 

“Before you go can you do me a favor?” Kelsey questioned turning a bit so her back was toward him. “Can you tug my zipper down so I can get this dress off when I get home?” 

After Taylor’s deft fingers slid under her jacket to partway unzip her dress, he kissed her head and climbed out of her car grabbing his gift box and card. Kelsey watched until he was safely inside before backing out of her spot and proceeding on to her apartment where she gathered all of her things up before heading inside. 

Texting Taylor that she was home, Kelsey hung her coat up and moved to her room to strip and throw on pjs before returning to the kitchen. There she put the leftover container in the fridge and then grabbed a vase for the flowers, getting them all trimmed and settled so she could take them into her room. 

Before she could go to bed she still had to wash her face and brush her teeth but first Kelsey settled onto her bed, scrolling through the photos from tonight. There were a couple semi candid from the restaurant as they were getting ready that were hit or miss but the posed one was really cute. Taylor had gotten a cute one of them in her car and oh he’d taken one of their final kiss of the night as well. Seeing it made the butterflies swarm in her stomach and she grinned to herself. 

Opening instagram, Kelsey made a collaged story with the posed picture from the restaurant and the kiss in the car. Tagging Taylor she added “Our First Valentine’s” and posted it to her story before getting up to go about the rest of her nightly routine. 

In his room, Taylor was texting his parents after touching base with his roommates about how Kels had told their coach about them and how his date had gone with her. Taking a picture of the pocket squares he sent them off to his parents. 

Taylor: Kels made these for me for Valentine’s day. 

As he waited for their response the instagram notification of being tagged in Kelsey’s story came through and he opened smiling seeing that she had used the one of them kissing softly. Screenshotting her story, Taylor sent it off in his text thread to his parents as well, knowing that they’d want to see the photos from tonight too. 

Within a minute or two a text from his cousin was coming in, making Taylor chuckle. 

Mark: Dude your gf is posting about you on her stories. 

Taylor: I know. I told her she could. 

Mark: Aren’t you worried someone will see and tell Carvy? 

Taylor: Considering Kels already told him nah. 

Mark: Wait what. She told your coach? 

Taylor: Yeah before picking me up for dinner tonight. So hopefully I’m not dead at practice tomorrow. She said he just seemed confused though. 

Mark: Welp. Good luck dude. 

Mark: Guess death might be worth it though with her looking like that. 

Taylor: She looked incredible. 

***

Gary: Well don’t you two look cute. And those are some snazzy pocket squares. 

Laura: Beautiful. Get me the original of the bottom one please.  I hope you know that those must have taken her at least ten hours to make Taylor. That’s a labor of love right there. 

Taylor would ask Kelsey to air drop him the originals in class on Thursday and hearing just how much time she put into his present made him feel like he had gotten even more outclassed by her in regards to Valentine’s day than he already did. 

****

Bobby T: First Valentine’s day with Kelsey…nice to see you guys are official now, you guys look good together and are good for each other. Just don’t hurt her, she’s been through enough. 

Taylor had known that Bobby knew Kelsey since before Christmas but he still didn’t know how they knew each other or to what extent. There was still something that it seemed like Bobby knew that he didn’t and Taylor tried not to let that make him feel uneasy. If it was something worth sharing, Kels would tell him eventually right? He didn’t need to know all the details of any past relationships if she didn’t think they were worth sharing. 

*****

After finishing getting ready for bed, Kelsey crawled under her sheets and reached for her phone again. Before checking her instagram notifications, Kelsey texted just the photo from the restaurant to her aunt thanking her again for her help. 

Dana: My pleasure Kels. You guys are adorable. 

***

Her instagram dms were full of her female friends squealing now that the guy she was so into was finally revealed. Shooting back replies she couldn’t help but smile because she really was so lucky to find someone like Taylor. Among the squeals was a dm from umass’s walk on goalie Henry and curious what his said, Kelsey opened it next.  

Hfg_30: Since when are you and tmak a thing?!

Laughing to herself, Kelsey ignored it not really wanting to get into that with Taylor’s teammates. 

As she was scrolling back through her chats with friends an older dm thread popped its way up to the top. 

Bobby Trivigno: T’s girl now huh? Things going well with the gentle giant? 

It had been ages since she’d actually talked to Bobby but once upon a time they’d actually been really close. 

Kelsey: Yeah things are good. Taylor is special. I told Greg tonight. 

Bobby: while wearing that dress? Oh man I would have paid to see that. Coach is gonna have nightmares tonight. 

Kelsey: He can get over it. Not like I’m asking his permission or need his blessing. 

Bobby: That’s cause you’re stubborn. You and T both are. 

Bobby: He’s good to you? Respects your boundaries? 

Kelsey: Knowing him, did you have any doubt he would? I’ve heard zero complaints from him about my being a stickler for protection. 

Bobby: Nah T is a good guy. But glad to hear it. How long have you two been official? 

Kelsey: Six weeks tomorrow. Feels longer though. 

Bobby: And you told Coach so it must be serious. 

Kelsey: I don’t know what the future holds but I can’t picture one where I don’t want him by my side. 

Bobby: Have you told him yet? About…you know? 

Kelsey: No. 

Bobby: Kelsey you need to tell him. This isn’t a secret you can keep if you want forever with him. 

Kelsey: I can’t. You don’t understand. He had a literal panic attack when he found one of my monthly negative pregnancy tests. I can’t even imagine how he’d take that. 

Bobby: You still have to tell him Kels. Wait until the season is over but before he leaves for the summer you have to tell him. 

Bobby: He might be more supportive than you give him credit for. 

Kelsey: Thanks for the unsolicited advice but please stay out of it Bobby. 

Tossing her phone aside, Kelsey let out a shaky breath. Things were good. The last thing she wanted was to ruin it all.

[legiomiam]

Tagged by @awritingcaitlin x8 PART 2 OF 4. my words are: flicker, work, back, know, afternoon, history, unfortunate, breath, message, bright

I’ll tag: @samplewriting, @turnips-creates, @winglesswriter

your words are: turn, rummage, scream, pet, snow

Some backstory: these are going to be from scenes I did before This Dark And Divine Place was nothing but vibes. When Rashka and Bahram (guess who found out they were spelling their own character’s name wrong) were just starting out.

Some character’s names were changed- any form of Verrance/Verence/Varence, etc are Klaas. Sonya is Marjorie. Neecey/Neesy is the nickname the kids gave to Synthian before she had a name.

Also the tense shifts ALOT because I did not write any of this in order and bounced around so this isn’t stuff A to Z it’s just scenes I wrote for sprinting to get a feel of the story. So when the timer ran out I stopped writing the scene.

I’ll apply appropriate warnings… but most of this is probably NSFW

☙❦❧

FLICKER

I heard a chirp and my body stilled, Reign had made that coo, that littlest of noises but it was enough that Varrence dropped the little girl and his eyes flickered around the room. Searching for anything that would have given that melodic noise, that tone of the fair folk that came from his enemy, and my child’s father.

He took a step towards me head tilting with that blank searching stare and I steeled myself against his invasiveness. Where I knew he still couldn’t get into my mind he could shout into it with such cruel images, such overpowering vileness that I could slip up and send back something just to make it stop.

I kept my eyes on the child and with a slow creeping understanding she made a chirp much like what my son did and Verrance whirled around, fangs ready as he spit, her blood staining his front.

☙❦❧

WORK

I touch one lone petal as I stare out the window, I spent days in this room, Verrance not wanting anyone to see me since the night he had forcibly taken me in the library. The bruises on my arms slowly fading thanks to the monitored blood intake I was under. Punishment for denying Varrence anything, he always gets what he wants.

MY hair hung limply and my stomach churned from hunger. And all I did was stare out the window, stare and miss my home with my parents.

Stare and watch everyone come and go through the gates to the Bear’s Keep, watch Verance go out and smile and woo others, knowing I could see him from where I was.

He wanted to break me and it was working.

The knocking broke me out of my daydream of fields and trees, the rushing river that headed up north.

I turned to the door and Sonya bounced in, her skirts swaying and the curls her hand maids have pinned for her. Her pale blue dress making the paleness of her skin stand out a little more than normal. I start to look back out the window when her nasally laugh rings through my room.

“Rashaka, dear you are looking a bit,” she sniffs and looks me up and down. I can’t bring myself to care about her, even though the blood in her was making my mouth start to water. With a clap of her hands young girls barely clothed entered the room.

☙❦❧

BACK

I thrust forward my ribs burning from my bruised side, the scream that tore through my throat was feral as the guards halted in their tracks. Ice, freezing and solid as a rock, shot up from the ground slicing the walk way into me and them.

My fangs dug into my lower lip as I grit my teeth focused on the tremendous power coursing through me. Maybe, just maybe, I would take up Bahram up on his training once I was free.

Wind shot up and I backed up to the ledge, my eyes briefly opening to glare at Varrence before I launched myself off the side.

Freedom, even if it kills me. Even if I never got to see my parents again.

The wind whipped my hair around my face and I savored the fall before icy cold water filled my nose as my body crashed into the water. I let the current take me down stream as I counted until I felt I couldn’t go without air any longer. 

☙❦❧

KNOW

“I want to be married to you.” I cupped a lily bud, giving it a kiss before pulling away to look at him. “I want everything I can get from you.”

He stared intently at the iridescent leaves considering my words for a few minutes before his dark eyes slid over to me. “What you are suggesting is considered treason to your counsul isn’t it?”

A tentative finger reaches out to stroke the leaf in front of him, eyes moving back to stare at a curled bud that shimmered just enough to symbolize newness and growth. My heart races and I reach out my hands to cup his face, bringing his forehead close to mine, I rest my brow gently on his and let the tears roll down my cheeks.

“It would be treasonous to let us not continue, I love you more than any goddess would know. More than my own grandmother loved her vampyre or any fae that sprung up from the barren world she let them thrive in.” I tilt my head a little, just enough to place a quick kiss to his lips. “The council can burn and I will be the one to do it. Just say the words and I will belong to you wholly. Every little dark crevice that makes up my blood, my mind, my body. All of that they can take and I will still be yours even when I am a whisper of nothing.”

His hands cup my face to let his thumbs wipe away my tears before he embraces me with one arm around me. Using the one still on my face to tilt my head to kiss me back.

☙❦❧

BREATH

“But what is the word of Fae to Vampyres?” A harsh breathy laugh as he pulled at his hair, “dammit. It’s just, it’s good to be me. To see my friends, my sister, just be them. No hunting down anything that could kill us, no needing to be alert. Other than the occasional mishaps I could even forget that—” he stopped flinching, not realizing how much closer to me he had gotten.

“Forget what? That I am a vampyre?” I hiss, letting my fangs slide down into place over my teeth, it’s a show but he tenses. Whatever joking nature we had earlier it was now gone. Lost because I am what I am and he is what he is.

“Shit, I forget just how beautiful you are sometimes.” I go still and his eyes slide over my face.

“What,” I choke out on an unsteady breath.

[treatian]

The Chronicles of the Dark One: Domestic Battles

Chapter 25: For Whom the Dark One Works

What a night.

What a night!

Great and terrible, tiring and troublesome, slow and yet productive all at once!

After dealing with the Ice Queen he'd returned to his shop. He'd needed to pause and change into a suit the back drawer provided him with because the forest mud had wrecked his pants and shoes, but after that, he'd gotten to work.

Nimue was in a frenzy. This hat was what she'd been searching for in her time, something Merlin himself had come up with, she suspected, to capture her! Just like the Elixir of the Wounded Heart, it was made to fix and contain her, only once again, Merlin had failed to follow through. And because Merlin had never designated that it was only to capture Dark Magic, it could also capture Light Magic as well. She was giddy at the thought of that. Destroy all Light Magic, that was what she had always tried to tell him was the goal of every Dark One.

Except him. He'd never had any true interest in eliminating Light Magic. Even now, he had no urge to do it. All he wanted was freedom. Freedom from the dagger and the voices in his head. Helpful as they were, he wanted to be able to kiss his wife without feeling that there were a hundred spectators offering commentary. And if Nimue's suspicions, and the research of half a dozen other Dark Ones were to be believed, then this hat could help with half that problem, from there it would be a hop, skip, and a jump to solving the other. So, for now, Light Magic could stay in this world and reign supreme; freedom from the dagger was his only goal.

According to Nimue, the hat was meant to confine magic, much like the dust that lay in the nickel box. But there was one difference between the vessel once meant to contain magic and this hat. With the right amount of power, Nimue explained, the power within the hat could be wielded by the individual who possessed it.

To him, this all seemed like a far cry, but the Dark Ones…they confirmed it was not. They took over. They invaded his mind, flooding him with encounters and opinions and things they knew about the hat. They directed him to the chronicles that he'd packed away and brought for the occasion. And as it turned out, none of them had done more research on it than his predecessor. Zoso.

"I had to!" he hissed in his ear just before he began circling the table, staring at the object of his greatest desire in awe. "I was desperate to be free of that dagger. You think surrendering my power to you was my first attempt to remedy my situation?! Of course not! I worked and slaved and researched and learned before I came up against that curse you broke with the Arendelle girl's tear!"

"Yes, yes, we're all aware. You walked so that I could run, so show me!" he hissed at Zoso. And show him he did. The Chronicles that Zoso had kept during his time were thorough. There were sketches of the hat, sketches of what it would look like, and the night sky. A list of occupants that he suspected had met their end to the hat. The last was a Churnabog, like the thing he'd encountered on Bald Mountain in search of his Dark Curse. That made sense. The Churnabog were a rare species of Dark Magic descent. He suspected there might have only been three or four left in their world at one point. The Fairies and the Apprentice had been in touch with each other. If the Apprentice had managed to trap a few in the hat, then it stood to reason he would have been willing to provide one to Mother Superior to aid in the guarding of the Curse.

He learned that with every collection of magic, stars took their place on the hat. That had been what he'd seen. But according to Zoso, for the magic to be wielded properly, the space depicted on the hat had to be identical to what was in the night sky.

He worked all night, reading and theorizing and summarizing, and by the first lick of dawn when he finally opened the hat and got to work charting, he realized something quite delicious.

He was close.

Dangerously close, in fact! Zoso had even written out a rough estimate of the properties of the spell he'd need to cast to render the dagger a useless piece of metal, to keep his power and yet end the Dark One lineage Curse with him!

"Not all of it…" Zoso pointed out, tapping is finger on a large question mark that had been circled and underlined in his notes for emphasis. "There's missing something. Something to enact it that I could never quite put my finger on."

That was true. As he quickly looked at the properties and began to run the magical proof in his head, he quickly came to the same conclusion Zoso had years ago. There was something missing, something needed to root the magic and channel it entirely into him, stripping the dagger of it's power. Something he'd have to discover for himself, a final active conduit aside from the spell he'd have to will and the potions he'd have to take. But still, that was a small thing.

He was close, so much closer than he ever dreamed. So much closer than he had to imagine the Apprentice would have known otherwise he wouldn't have just left the hat laying out in the open for anyone to take. What other secrets could be at that house, he wondered…

He was close, but he had work ahead of him. Delicate work. Work that would require some careful manipulation and planning. The hat was close to being charged, but not fully. He needed to add magic users to his collection, very powerful magic users. The Apprentice was obviously a fine candidate since going back to capture Merlin wasn't a possibility. And with no desire to get into Merlin's tower, there was no point in keeping the old man alive. Well…not that he'd be dead inside the hat, not for a while, anyway. Zoso did point out in his research that while the hat harvested magic right away, further research had proved that it didn't harvest the body right away. It was a failsafe that Merlin had built into the hat to reverse what he'd done.

"A sign of his weakness," Nimue sneered.

Weakness indeed. But that delay he'd placed on the hat wasn't permanent. The hat wasn't meant to be an eternal prison sentence, and after time, the hat would absorb not just the magic but the being itself. But before that time passed, they could be called forth by being summoned from the hat.

That was of no matter. Once the Apprentice was in there, he intended to make sure that he stayed in there. For good.

Aside from the Apprentice, he had some other individuals in mind who could get the hat to the power level he wanted. The Fairies would be ideal. Ingrid and Elsa were also top of his mind for power at the moment. But, if his hope was to do this quietly, as under the radar as possible, then he was going to have to think carefully about how to follow through with this. The apprentice could easily disappear quietly. The Fairies were difficult, but he could manage it. Ingrid and Elsa, they'd be almost impossible with the amount of attention on them at the moment. Although, that attention would provide a wonderful distraction he could use to help him continue to fly under the radar.

The possibilities were endless. The ideas were swirling in his head, unformed but becoming clearer with every second until-

Until he climbed the stairs, opened the door to his bedroom, and suddenly realized that it was no longer his bedroom but theirs.

Belle…he'd been up working all night; productively working all night. The hat, the dust, his experiments. He'd had success, a lot of it. Just before he'd left, he'd cleaned it all away and checked the experiment. Both clocks were working again, as he'd planned, and once he checked the time difference, five hours was what he got. That was how long the dust would work in its current state. At least, it was an approximation. It would vary, given the person or magic that it was trying to contain, but for the most part, it was a number that he could work with and use from this point forward. It was a very successful night!

But why? For who? Not for him. He was the one who would easily benefit the most from no longer being tied to the dagger, but…it wasn't just about him anymore. It was about them. Belle was his wife. His family. And yet, they'd been married less than a week, and already he'd made her sleep alone twice for this plan.

It broke his heart to see her alone in their bed. The sheets were a wreck, as though she'd tossed and turned all night. She didn't do that when he slept with her. And it was well past the time that she usually would have been up and getting ready for work. But he was her alarm clock. Without him there, she'd just slept on, none the wiser.

All magic came with a price…

If this were a year ago, before Zelena, before Pan…this would be easy. He'd use his free time to do the work and research he needed to be doing. Now that he was wed and she was so insistent in staying with him at the store, not to mention always helping the people he was going to need to try and keep at a distance, that certainly added an element of difficulty to it that he hadn't expected or factored in last night. Then again, he hadn't done much factoring in of Belle last night at all. If he had, she wouldn't have been here alone. That had to stop.

If he was going to do this without truly giving in to his darker nature, then he had to make sure that everything he did was always for "them." It couldn't be all about him, not anymore. And leaving Belle to sleep alone while he worked…that was certainly all about him.

Maybe there was a way to fix it, a way to get some of their boundaries back. She didn't have to go work in the library, but maybe if he expressed that he needed some time alone in his shop to let his mind work, she'd trust him enough to go. That would most certainly allow him to spend his nights with her. And as for tonight…tonight, he had to make up for what he'd deprived her of.

He tossed his suit jacket at the foot of the bed, then carefully positioned himself beside her. He'd meant to stroke her hair and wake her but instead the motion itself seemed to startle her from a less than peaceful sleep. He knew it was less than peaceful because never in a million years would something as slight as that have brought her fully to consciousness.

"I'm sorry," he whispered as she rolled over. "I thought you'd be awake by now."

"What time is it?"

"Late enough for you to be up by now," he admitted apologetically.

"Were you up all night with that dirt?" she questioned with blurry eyes. Ah, yes…that was the immediate excuse that he'd given her last night. It was an excuse that was truthful, but it wasn't, of course, the entire story. However, for both their sakes, he felt no reason to give the entire story just yet.

"Yes…yes, I was."

"What are you wearing?"

"Oh, I uh…I went over to the shop at some point, and things got a bit dusty." Which wasn't entirely a lie. He did want to purge himself of the dust before he worked with the hat. "This was just what I had lying around."

But nevertheless, he heard her heartbeat suddenly race as sleep fled from her eyes. Danger. He'd made it sound too much like he'd been in danger. She was worried.

"I'm fine," he assured her, reaching for her cheek. "Nothing happened last night but I do want to speak with you about it and considering the time…perhaps you wouldn't mind if we went into town and took a walk first."

He raised his eyebrows expectantly. She always wanted to talk. And a talk about boundaries now that they were married seemed like a good conversation to have. It wasn't that he didn't want her around. He did! He just needed a little more space than she'd afforded him since he'd returned from…well…being gone.

She watched him skeptically at first, then eventually nodded and sat up in bed, giving him a hint of what he'd missed last night, but all the more motivation to get things done properly. A lifetime of this life was what he wanted. Now, he just had to figure out how to get it.

[fkyumerica]

age group

all gay

ms.dahl, anne marie, chris, beth, elizabeth taylor, taylor swift, carrie, john deere

they are all gay

are you keeping any of them?

they send dogs back at people to kill them

odds are they wont be adopted

and they let them in a field

and that gay of a family will do it

i named them off

and ms.dahls mom,, obviously a old woman

you can tell when you see her

not going to lincoln park you did not learn their whoreing

seriously

a field

you saw won

one

amanda

and come in and out of the house

no this was mass group orgies here

homes, bars, outside

and no one complained

and you got to see ol whore her

and him in a truck

your pool

fucking on your trampoline

and a no stop

from anyone

they told me too

no he didnt see it

and shoot her to death for the face plant face lift

top and under ears

disney

cartoon

btch

and he draws all the time

and stole what i drew

to do it

thinking he was touching me the whole time

alix is ms.dahl

and would go up to ttouch me

then finger fuck guiermo from behind

then you in the ass

you just saw em leave

fucked you last night unconcious

and

i told guiermo it

and the younger guys didnt get hooking groups to happen killing them

because they didnt talk to me

and instead

liked them as their family

using them, no wanted a mom got a mom

now watch ugly her who cant brush her hair to wear a ugly dress

like homecoming

all of them

being retarded and fucking liking each other

or i would kill them

i still will

https://www.facebook.com/reel/5507956552662089 ugly dike bitch

wanted to be black oprah courtney

its not what he wanted

so it was free gay irish shit

now st.patricks day

and you all celebrate her

freedom

and her moaning

on microphone

they dont even have pompompurin

the star of this fucking show

curtis mated with all of them

and is her inbred son

and of who

your date for st.patricks day aaron

i say it it happens

they got everyone to do that their switch

and fuck her off

and her and him

4real

will leave you his hat

and she knows it

get her to stop or i will go

heres a video of me doing my hair now tell me not to

and i did learn to whore and no look at this face i am not one i did it for free

no cerebral

you cant spin it around

she did jenny it in front of him too

on the road again metallica

she just wanted you to know it

her next date

so many lines she survives

and kurgan

whose don

honks three times

gay male boston map

from zune

gay disney movies

of her fucking men and their other wives

and she says she is his wife

ms.dahl

renee right

no cidney

and shoot her for 9 lives

two white girls

and a whole black family

we're good right? all she wanted to do was show off to fuck another family. can we get it free this time? and i dunno we only got this. every fucking day get us two. from anyone yea halloween. and it was the school. the house big. big money. and the cars. peepee me. and a name the warners. I dont care you got a name? thats after they got ice cream again. and next day after fishing and car fucks new family with food too paid for all of it. warners. mmm commercial?

her own

now she is crucified

to find tony again

kaori will lose

she didnt go with him at 4

he didnt have a line

or a reign

she is not scottish and neither is her

so they all lose a line

and a def smoke spot

to confuse me

she didnt go either

took her spot

kentucky

now guess whose who

i said it

curtis

angelas mate stevie

and is that you careese

amber said yea

disturbs new wife

and old is out

her 15th

right?

birthday find out youre dead

and 3 face lifts for guys who look it

any time guys

now lets fuck

any time

restuarant guys

i wait for anyone

and she thinks she can point a finger at me

she can fuck herself

it wont let her live

she is already dead

noroi

do it to her

so yea

it happened

no black wig

went straight

dumped him

didnt go

took a dress

edited

instead

to be alix

and fuck you too she said

aaron

seriously

kill her

and all you could do is light her on fire

oh guiermo

you cant kill anyone

look at you

she said it

she is ugly to her and the whole cast

or youd kill her

to not fuck her next

didnt get a marriage

got a hoe

and freedom rings

end of school

just kill her

did it to liane instead

with three guys she didnt know

to fuck them next

and whoa all colored

so stupid, mallory did, her mom courtney

and whose it

to fuck you up still

kill all the whites who moved in to do it

had kids they are perfect

and innocent

thats just the moms

and kids what are ya gonna do

nothing theyre perfect

and innocent

amanda said it

with agnes too

and why go to her

you know it

curtis didnt and fucked agnes too

the disturbed guy is him

and chucky

one in the box

84 stood there to fuck him

black panther movie

and yea

meant she told you to fuck her

know a hoe

and what a hoe

is

still dont know

amanda

get to know her

greg said it

too

decorate cakes and feed it to your kids

find your hoe. the boat with the plastic surgery of only 12 people to live as after crypto life. the 13th is madonna. in movie we can leave mad and brth. O_O

no

haha

then her husband died

or they fuck underwater and its on tv

so they oops run away

illegal

theres william

and they all are

so

took her phone number right

she shot him

it is anne marie on the right

she lost her face right

oh your grandma

you dropped her off to live here everyday

youre shit

to make me what

for your crystal lake

he heard it

he is it

you

are

a pedophile

and other guys they fuck will come in and make them dream shit

and pioneer shit was always ugly

those people too

so why switch

they knew they would die

for having three wives already

and the wives met each other

and could talk

and walk

without drugs once

amanda got them

i made her do it

its about time they fess up

about ruining the country

with mexicans now

to fuck you for free shit

they wanted the pedophile shit

plastic toy store crap

everywhere

for all of them

to fuck her in stores with

and i mean any age

toilet

she kept having kids with him too

anne marie

and i shot off her face

with her gun for her

now whose a whore make your mom ugly

that one took care of her and that ones her mom

they all sit and wait for him

face lift face mask and no, they all had saggy meat faces, the mask is a face lift

im from gilligans island

and we all loved him

forever and ever and ever and ever

and her too

next group here kurgan

to him too goat

and they cant follow up after

next guy head butts them

and drugs shitss in their mouth and oh you found him

and oh i send in pussy drugs you feel it on your pussy now

and the girls heard it oh save me girl

s

get a blow job

and prom dress

i wont pay for it

and she gets one

now show me her naked

and build a bear work shop

he shot his dad then did it

james corbin to megadeth singer

then slayer

then type o negative

she got the map

now shes going to kill him, then drop the gun, then fuck him

never kills him though

makes you listen right youre that way

and molested who

ooh ooh ooh jo have my kid or youre mad i got the drugs in my hand

syringe

and too hoo

found her too

sacajawea

now masturbate to her

same ice skating duo every year

took care of them in lincoln park as kids

whore kathy bell sandradee

retarded too

didnt go outside after one class with her mom ms.dahl

and didnt marry either

and was his wife

kathys male

kathy and james

without a paddle

whose dad now

we got smart

and i was always a old man

jurassic park

https://www.saksfifthavenue.com/product/Jay-Strongwater-Jay-Strongwater-X-Peeps-Rock-Box-0400018961005.html?site_refer=SOC_BEH_S5_STITCH_FBIG_TRAFFIC_Q124_ALL_A18+_oCPM_AutoP_Timeless_ALL_MIO_SAID%3DI4B8A8ShwjTN-2wE&fbclid=IwAR2D27K97i7xySR4CKmDWEjxGIxt4WLATdcQxBti7mHGwJQ-sr3uJsckp1E hahaha what does he make

Shop Jay Strongwater Jay Strongwater X Peeps Rock Box | Saks Fifth Avenue

and kathy is swarowski

https://www.saksfifthavenue.com/product/l-objet-haas-brothers-butts-up-box-0400017689131.html?dwvar_0400017689131_color=WHITE

this is how they fuck

each other

kathy was in the movie too

then after

both looked female

edit

and timmy, our dad

mexican black disney guy out of a hat ol graham glasgow

who she date for a boat ride for him

and 85 women and 300 gay men

hide the women

hahahah

fuck yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

they sscream it

the women do

then their free boat ride after to fuck you

their 3 gears

truck, car, semi, bike

and so slow he cant catch you

so what molested

and james said he made everything in the stores

gay with rick james that is him

right

or whose boat

dont confuse me im gay

now im gay

ahhh mama

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ckvHyBEgnO8 this is james too how gay is he

the other guy is kathy i opened a thing of bread and threw it on the ground now were gonna eat it

kathy is fred/vince mcmahon

and greg is the mcmahon son

carrie is him

and their boat attacks everyone too

then james turns into that white short blonde hair woman in wwf that would come out and yell at them

was it vince mcmahons wife i dunno

it was gregs

caidence

thought he was a gay creator of life

and is a man too or hides

as amanda

take off his wig this is him

amanda did marry chauncey leopardo/tim harris/doctor guy/stone cold dad in trailer park aka steve austin to cheat/luke skywalker/josh walinski/ryan/marilyn manson/mullet/trailer park trash/dad in noroi but wife was a male. he takes the anne maries gets them pregnant and leaves. trailer park showed it. he is david/curtis/bill/tom whoever/jeff/dopey/tony

he doesnt have hair he has that flat of a head

1st inbred

second

noroi

he was his dad in the show

movie

whatever

that thing holds up its head with that

skin and a stick

star wars

come on

john travolta/dan/hhh

curtis/his son

curtis is james corrbin

and jimmy corbin

and zach juwad

so happy no one knows im in a suit

[bruciemilf]

um....yandere jason for starfire...i'm trying to see somethin👀

(You are so wrong for making me show my possessive jason kink on main sjsjsj)

---

˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊

Honey Don't Feed It [It Will Come Back]

“...Is that Jason’s hoodie?”

Kori pauses, mustard coloring her upper lip a bright yellow. Dick all but covers her entirely when he inches closer, inspecting the large garment hugging her waist, riding past her thighs.

It makes a smitten giggle spill past her lips. It’s a scarce occasion when clothes are too big for her. It feels like safety. “Yes! He was here last week. He needed assistance with something and forgot it here. It’s so comfortable! And he’ll never know.”

Contrary to Jason’s opinion, she could be mischievous.

Dick’s eyebrows join together. “I think he will, Star. He’ll notice if it’s you. You’ve been…Getting closer lately.”

Kori lightly kicks his stomach with her bare feet. “Envy is a bad habit, Nightwing.” She knows there are no strings of resentment attached to their current position, she knows;

But Dick was a friend before anything else. She wasn’t pardoned of his protective streak.

“ Don’t toot your own horn, Koriand’r,” he smirks, ice cream still coating his chin. Even then he manages to look serious.

“I’m serious. Jason likes you. Maybe a little too much. Which happens never. He doesn’t get attached, but when he does, it’s…Hard to push him off.”

She blinks, eyelashes fluttering in confusion, “ I don’t want to push him away. I love having Jason around.”

“That man’s like a cat. Feed him once and he comes back forever.” He says nothing more on the subject, but there’s a note of sigh lacing his words, as if he’s watching Kori make an expected mistake.

A mistake she should’ve seen coming. A landmine she should have dodged.

Dick leaves after their little slumber party, but Kori never feels alone. A protective presence dominates her pretty apartment. It’s been there for weeks.

Something dangerous but harmless, - to her, at least, - and it feels so nice. To be watched over. To be claimed and safe and sleep carelessly, Jason’s scent of gunsmoke and ash covering her like a warm blanket.

She loves it; She hopes it’ll cling.

And Jason does visit her; Not for work, or because he needs a hiding hole, or because of another motive he makes up as excuse to see her.

Lately, he just assembled himself a place in her home, snug, possessive, free reign over her space, which she happily provided. “You had fun with Grayson, baby?”

She purrs inwardly. She loves that name.

“Oh, yes! We watched that TV show you recommended. As you said, he doesn’t understand the romantic motivation behind baking. I don’t understand, it’s impossible to miss, -” she does stop, briefly, because she’s excited to see him, but a drop of hesitance spikes the thrill his presence gives her, “ …I did not tell you Dick was visiting.”

“Nah, just…Happened to run into him and he told me himself,” he says that with a wolfish smile, all teeth and little warmth. He watches her closely and intimately and she wants to preen under his gaze;

Kori does love his attention, - always undivided, always filled with adoration, - and his rough hands grip her waist. She didn’t know he was so comfortable with touch. “ You want me to leave, princess?”

“No! I love having you here,” she pouts, face in his purring chest; it’s cold and pleasant and she loves it. “Dick’s protective instincts blur his clarity.”

Jason hums, deep voice softly tickling her heart, sending a wave of hot shivers down her spine, “Maybe you shouldn’t see him for a while, hm? I’ll have a talk with him. He upset you, huh?”

Kori wants to say no, to say it didn’t, but something in her, something docile and purring, wants to agree.

So she does. The pout still doesn’t leave her lips. “I’m grateful for your company. I hate sharing a space by myself. Loneliness is not a desirable feeling. “

“You’re not alone, baby. I’m always with you. Always.”

“Then please? Stay the night? And watch Barbie with me?”

Jason holds her gaze until he can’t; His will to her ‘puppy eyes’ are a losing battle every time.

“I’ll get the popcorn ready. Just get your pretty self in some pajamas, because I’m not ripping my favorite hoodie off of you.”

He says that while his fingers, big and strong and so handsomely calloused, gently squeeze her neck.

Kori closes her eyes and coos. Maybe Jason sticks to her, but she sticks on him, too.

[thatssonanii]

Masterlist

A/N: I'm still building this. So, if you're looking for fics of mine and they are not linked below, they're coming soon! Check the tags on this post in the meantime to find them!

Bloodline Family Series

Features Roman Reigns, Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso & OCs

Welcome Home

Parent Conference

Embarrassing Moment

Parent Conference

Big Boy Simba

Just Say No 2

Just Say No 3

Just Say No 4

Fed Up 1

Fed Up 2

A New Leaf

Wait … Before You Hit Me

Guess What

Fight

M&M’s

Freshmeat

House Party

Simba’s First Date

Heartbreak Pt. 1

Heartbreak Pt. 2

Clumsy

Studying

Fan

Daddy’s Got You

Todd

Throuple

Meet the Family

Meet the Washingtons

What’s Done in the Dark

Comes to the Light

Birthday Girl

Early Christmas Gift Planning

Dinner & Dessert

New Blessings

Congrats, Grad

Attack

Attack 2

Attack 3

Old Wounds

Old Wounds II

Old Wounds III

Tha Block is Hot

Knock, Knock

Goin’ Off

Lines

Dinner

Surprise

Boxes

Well

Let’s Talk

Draft Night

Bloodline Family Series Shorties

Features Roman Reigns, Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso & OCs

Do You Want It I’ll Buy It For You

Smoke

Haleigh & Carlito

Auntie A

You Don’t Have To Do All The Things You Do

I’m Not Gonna Stop Poking You

I Fell in Love With My Best Friend

It’s A Real Shame No One Asked For Your Opinion

You’re So Cute When You Pout Like That

That doesn’t Even Make Sense

Facetime

Child is Sick & Wants Daddy

Bedtime Temper Tantrum

Parental Paragraph

Is That Mistletoe?

My Parents Will Love You, Don’t Worry

Let’s Bake Cookies!

I Want A Picture with Santa

Daddy, Can you Help Me Write A Letter to Santa?

I Don’t Sing

Baby, Help Me Write Christmas Cards

It’s 1AM, Get Up!

Bloodline Family Series AU

Features Roman Reigns, Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso & OCs

Netflix and …

Privacy

Family Ties

Spinoff from BLFS

(I wrote all fics linked here but this series is co-run with @annoyedkayah2395, go to her blog for the installments that she's written)

Practice

First Day In Cali (Goes with “Todd”)

Video

Cali

1+1=3

Just Because

Coping

Hear Me Out

Carlito’s First Sleepover

Girl Talk

Let Me Tell You

Morgan & Chenice

Nightmare

Father’s Day Prep

Come Get Her

Family Court

Story Time

Dreamin’

Storm

Pop Up

Tragedy

Hey Alexa

MJ

Family Ties AU

(I wrote all fics linked here but this series is co-run with @annoyedkayah2395, go to her blog for the installments that she's written)

Water Balloons

But …

Studio

Co-Parenting

BLFS//FT Crossover

Excuse Me Miss

Icky

Haleigh’s Appointment

Man to Man

Jealous

Charlotte

BBQ

Home Alone

Grandpa King’s Farm

Sour Patch Kid

Birthday Party

Mama Tasha

Caught

Like It?

BLFS//FT AU Crossover

Haleigh’s Visitor

New Kid on the Block

One

Two

Three

Late

Mommy

Gifts

Unicorns & Rainbows

Awkward 2

Movin’ Out

Get Right

My Baby

ER

Visiting

Responsibility

I’m Sorry

Mama Bear

Stop!

I’m Fine

Take Care of It

Runaway Bride

Firsts

Disrespect

First Trip

Kid Free

Have & Have Nots

(I wrote all fics linked her but this series is co-run with @annoyedkayah2395, go to her blog for the installments that she's written)

Officially A Malone

Gotta Go

Bonding

Confrontation

Mind Your Business

Emergency

Recovery

Pop Up

Formal Introduction

The Real Her

My Brother’s Keeper

Family Time

Father

Let’s Talk

The Morning After

Night Out

Checkmate

Saturday

Engagement Dinner

Another Emergency

Beat Down

Sweeties Day

Creepin’

What Are You Doing Here?

Skeletons 2

Why

For You

Blood

To Zion

WTF

First Day

Warning

Just In Case

Lunch

Dumb Broad

Lil Thug Life

Moving

Old Friends

Prep

A Tragic Day

Savannah

Thin Ice

Empty House

Officer

Full Story

Family Dinner

The Last Straw

Listen

Leaving

Unbelievable

Oops

Gee Wiz, It’s Christmas

Oh You Forgot?

Guests

Coach

Who Is She?

I’m Pregnant

Conley

Sneaky

Back In Town

Stop Playin’ With Me

Oliver & Company

Unbothered

Nerves

Plan B

Back Off

Sistas

The First Baby

Switch

You’re …

Caught

Enough

Sibling Rivalry

Another Willis

Have & Have Nots AU

10 Seconds

Trouble Man

Awkward

Be Nice

Dumbass

Tyson

New Leaf

One

Two

Just The Two of Us

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Seven

Eight

Nine

Eleven

Twelve

Thirteen

Fourteen

Fifteen

Sixteen

Seventeen

Eighteen

Nineteen

Twenty

Twenty-One

Twenty-Two

SVU

Familiar Face

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Trial Prep

A Special Victim

The Things We Have to Lose (Pt. 1)

The Canary

Features Roman Reigns & OCs

One

We All Want Love

Features Roman Reigns & OCs

Cast

Chapter One

Line in the Sand

Features Tama Tonga & OCs

One

Two

Three

Four

Five (Pt. 1)

Five (Pt. 2)

Six

Seven

Eight

Empire

(I wrote all fics linked her but this series is co-run with @annoyedkayah2395, go to her blog for the installments that she's written)

Prince of Rap

Group Project

Condo

Come Here

Faded Memories

Ghost

Come Clean

Ghost 2

Rocky

Meeting Ms. Taylor

McIntyre Family Series

Features Drew McIntyre, Montez Ford & OCs

Temper Tantrum

First Night Home

Bonding Time

Daddy, Can You Help Me Write A Letter to Santa?

I’m Pregnant

My Parents Will Love You

Is That A Mistletoe?

Sleeping Headcanon

Anger Headcanon

Kissing Headcnnon

New Years #4

Main Event

Champ

Champ 2

Deja Vú

Features Florian Munteanu & OCs

One

Two

Three

Four

Shorties

Daddy Daughter Time (Seth Rollins)

Twitter Fingers (Tama Tonga)

Baby’s First Shots (Tama Tonga)

Temper Tantrum (Samoa Joe)

First Day of School (Tama Tonga)

Baby’s First Doctor’s Appointment (Jeff Hardy)

Nightmare (Tama Tonga)

Child is Sick (Jeff Hardy)

Breakfast Time (Samoa Joe)

Daddy Daughter Bonding (Jinder Mahal)

Parental Paragraph (Big E)

Director's Commentary

Haleigh & Messiah

Jey & Apryl

Roman & Kandice

Best & Worst Traits of Characters

Drew & Danica

[chasingfictions]

Hi!! I would love to hear all the reasons you think Spuffy are the best match for each other and why you prefer them to Bangel. (Same, by the way :))

ok bestie hello this is an insane question first of all because no one should just give me free reign to talk about spuffy bc i could very well be here all day

first i'll say! i dont like, hate bangel. dkjfkdsf i feel like every time i reblog an anti bangel post i have the tag '#anti bangel #i dont hate them but tagging for blacklists" etc etc. because like, to me spuffy and bangel are just serving very different narrative functions, you know? and i think they both do those narrative functions very effectively! like there are levels and levels and levels to this.

but if we wanna look at it in the most basic terms of story structure, i consider bangel a tragedy in the classical sense and spuffy a comedy in the classical sense. when i say comedy i dont necessarily mean humor (though also i DO bc, as my catchphrase goes, spike btvs said it's always a joke and it's always serious!!!).

simply speaking: tragedy ends in despair and comedy ends in joy. [insert requisite 'obviously it's much more complicated than that but that's not what we're here to talk about' here] ... anyway this is gonna be Long so i'm readmore-ing bon appetit

bangel & the tragedy of heteronormativity

like i know spuffy has the reputation as like the tragic and edgy and depressing of the two ships, and i do get why, but to me bangel fulfills that function much more profoundly. they just ... don't work. like, for this lovely shining moment they do, and they're so caught up in each other, and it's that first love insanity of you can't even process what's happening you're just so totally overcome with the feeling. but critically that lasts for like, a second? like, it's basically "the dark age" to "surprise" that bangel is like, officially together and dating and happy. this is also coincidentally my favorite bangel era! like, just a freaky slayer and her freaky creature of the night boyfriend and they're horny and obsessed with each other and making out in cemeteries and having monster-face makeouts at the ice rink when buffy still has demon blood on her skate blades :))) like :)))) that's the good stuff :)))

ive also seen buffy just like, a million times, and i definitely had a lot more tenderness for them in a romantic sense on earlier watches, and then rewatching this time around i realized really all of that tenderness is basically about that era, which lasts for a narrative second. like the thing that struck me during my current rewatch of s1 and s2 is how long they spend in this weird posturing communication breakdown cycle and circling around each other like cage fighters. and they do have some moments in s3 that romantically-speaking i find compelling — or ok, just the "bad girls" arm jump is coming to mind right now but im sure there are others maybe lol (and even the bad girls arm jump is like,,, okay liam if buffy summers jumped into MY arms at the bronze i would experience a moment of spiritual ecstasy and yet you are not remotely looking like youre having a good time .... get help and appreciate her more).

but also the other thing that struck me in this rewatch of s3 is they break up like, every other episode? which narratively i do find equal parts hilarious and compelling from a structural standpoint. like okay obviously they are broken up to begin with in "beauty and the beasts" (broken up is kind of a hilariously small description for what they are at that point, but we're itemizing here). and then they friend break up in "lovers walk." and then they get back together in "amends" and break up again / go on a break in "enemies" and then reconcile in "earshot" and then break up For Real in "the prom" and then have that mini-reconciliation in that same episode and then are obviously still full of romantic context in "graduation day: part i" and she calls him her lover and they essentially have a sex scene when he bites her, and then they break up for good for good in "graduation day: part ii" ... pause for intake of breath bc i do feel like i just ran a marathon

— and to me that speaks to their asynchronousness!!! like the beauty and also the tragedy of bangel is that they almost work, and they want to work, but they can't, and they don't. like, to me they're just not equally matched as a couple. angel has this frustrating paternalism towards buffy (see: calling xander "just a kid" and telling faith she's "not much more than a child" and soulless angel calling buffy "kiddo" and it's like okay so clearly you do see her as naive and childlike and that's a Weird Relationship To Have To Your Partner...). He's constantly making these unilateral decisions that affect them both without consulting her — "i will remember you" is a great example of this to me. like people lift that up as a reason their relationship would work if they were just "normal." but in that episode angel makes a decision to alter buffy's memories and timeline and doesn't even tell her afterwards. or in "graduation day" — like obviously you can break up with your partner at any time you're allowed to do that, but the fact that he says he's just going to leave town and not say goodbye? to me feels needlessly cold and manipulative. there's also the fact that i think angel is much more of a person when he's not with buffy. neither of them really feel relaxed or silly or lighthearted around each other. it's always life or death and pain and terror and wanting, for the most part, with very minor levity.

and, to that point, i think the other really compelling narrative tragedy of bangel is the impact it has on buffy's relationship to her own slayerness and — conversely — to her queerness. im not gonna go into a big thing here on exactly why being the slayer is analogous to being queer because that's a whole nother essay? but blah blah "have you tried not being a vampire slayer?" / "i've tried marching in the slayer pride parade" / the "new moon rising" conflation of willow dating tara with buffy dating demons etc etc etc. like, one of the reasons i have warm feelings about early/mid-s2 bangel is that I think it's the queerest era of their relationship. it's buffy revelling in her "cradle robbing creature of the night boyfriend" and being attracted to his vampirism and "you're the one freaky thing in my freaky world that still makes sense". s2 bangel is compelling because it's freaky. because it's monstrous. it's sexual and messy and strange has undertones of queerness.

and then, of course, "surprise" / "innocence" happens. buffy is punished by the narrative and by angel for giving into her desire for this monster. buffy spends the next half a season being terrorized and watching people she loves die or almost die because of it. and then when s3 happens, you can't just go back to how it was! they're fundamentally altered by the trauma of s2! the freakiness of them is gone and instead they're playacting heterosexual normality because anything else is Unsafe. it's in the way buffy starts dressing somewhere between a housewife and jackie kennedy (which ok is also related to her feeling destabilized by faith and that whole bi panic but one thing at a time). it's in angel's nightmare about buffy bursting into flames after their big empty church wedding. it's in the mayor, this figure of patriarchy incarnate, telling them they can never have a "normal" relationship and angel believing him. when like, mister liam of galway she's a vampire slayer, normal was never even in play. it's in — critically! — angel breaking up with buffy by calling their relationship a "freakshow." that bit will never not break my heart.

so yeah when i say i don't hate bangel that's kind of what it's about? like they're not my favorite relationship but i do think they're an important story. tbh that's my relationship with most ship media like, even if something isn't your thing it does still fulfill a narrative function. and like, to me the narrative function of angel is to be the boyfriend buffy gets over. to be the first love and the adolescent wound. to be the trauma she can recover from in order to learn how to love again in a healthy and adult way.

spuffy & the comedy of queer futurity

OKAY so that brings us to spuffy im about to get SO insane hello!!! hello!! literally Hello Okay. i dont even?? dfkldsjfsdjf anon i hope u know this is an INSANE ask i think about them all day every day and the idea of summing up WHY and having it be COHERENT is just?????? like bangel i have cohesive enough thoughts about to be like yeah this is my argument for why i feel the way i do but spuffy is like????? ok i have a personal theory that u dont choose ur btvs endgame ship it chooses you. like spuffy gripped me by the throat at age 13 and said hello!! and i said oh ok!!! ok i'll think about you forever thanks!!!!!!!!!!!! thank you!

but OKAY on the narrative thread of bangel as this ship of heteronormative tragedy, to me spuffy is this ship of queer exaltation. spuffy as a queer relationship has been much expounded on already — like we've all seen @johnaeryns's lesbian spuffy manifesto which is art and changed the timeline by the way!!!!

ANYWAY. like queer spuffy is in the secretness of their relationship, it's in "you think i haven't tried not to?" it's in "i'm all stay-inny" it's in "this? with you? i know it's wrong" it's in "it's wrong, i'm wrong, tell me that i'm wrong please," it's buffy turning what angel used to break up with her back on spike, angel saying "you deserve more than this freakshow" and buffy telling spike "last night was the end of this freakshow." it's in the way buffy feels so much shame about her relationship with spike, the way she hides it. the way a lot of that comes from the angel trauma. angel tells her she should find a "normal" guy so that's just what she goes out and does, and pursues riley, except riley can't really Understand her. like biley to me feels like the experience of being bi in a relationship with a straight person who doesn't really Understand.

and that's the thing about spike, is he understands. it's the way spike comes into the narrative as a New Kind of Vampire who does in the old stodgy vampire cults and buffy comes into the narrative as a New Kind of Slayer who has friends and a life. and they're marked as parallels by the text in this way from the Beginning. school hard red stripes my Beloved <3333.

it's the way in becoming part ii which is forever my favorite episode of tv, buffy has no one, by the narrative's own declaration. it's buffy saying "i got nothing left to lose" and spike saying "i'm all you've got" and buffy's "me" to angel's "take all that away and what's left?" it's buffy's "no, i don't" to angel's "you really think you can take us all on by yourself?" and it's the fact that buffy's whole life is falling apart and everything is ending, she's lost kendra, she's lost angel once and is about to lose him again, she's lost her place in the real world with her expulsion from school, she's lost her place in her family by being kicked out and then here's this guy. this vampire who's on her side and who likes the world enough to save it even though he shouldn't want to and there's something about buffy telling whistler "well why don't you try fighting evil for a change because i'm sick and tired of doing it myself" and here she's not doing it herself??? because spike???? is here??????????

it's the queerness of spuffy in how spike is present for her literal coming out, it's the way they fit so easily together when they have no right to, which itself is a queer narrative. it's, all in that same episode, with their easy banter about the band and the way they instinctively work together in a fight and the way the fact that he's even invited to her house indicates this bizarre undercurrent of trust and understanding. this feeling of alignment and affinity that transcends other bonds and boundaries.

it's the way they match each other, and how that matching is explicitly tied to buffy's identity as a slayer, to her as a fighter, to her connection to the demon world, to the things that give her symbolic queerness (she also has lots of non-symbolic queerness, but again, one thing at at a time, like if we had to also get into how gay buffy is for cordelia and kendra and faith we'd be here all day). it's "i'd rather be fighting you anyway" / "mutual" and it's "you think we're dancing?" "that's all we've ever done" and it's "but i can't fool myself. or spike for some reason" and it's the way the fight is a dance to buffy and spike recognizes that, it's the way spike just knows her.

fool for love is insane for this reason (and many others) it's buffy seeking out knowledge about her essence, herself as a slayer, and she turns to spike. it's spike having insight, its the way spike is obsessed with slayers, and that's another element of the queerness of spuffy imo. a vampire psychosexually obsessed with slayers. a slayer psychosexually obsessed with vampires. the way being a slayer is already being a Woman But Wrong and buffy queers it even further with her erotic fascination with the monsters she's meant to kill, and spike's always already meeting her in the middle, because he's been obsessed with slayers since he knew what they were. the way spike's coat, the symbol of his selfhood, is a slayer's coat and a woman's coat and they're both meeting in this middle ground of Wrong Weird Queer Fucky Gender and are Understanding Each Other in that middle ground.

it's the way buffy understands the hero in spike that's not supposed to exist because he's supposed to just be a monster. it's the way spike understands the monster in buffy that's not supposed to exist because she's supposed to just be a hero.

it's season 5, the insanity of spike falling in love with a hero and slowly learning to be good for her, and he doesn't know how and he shouldn't even be able to learn how but he does, the way he's willing to sacrifice his life for dawn and in "intervention" and "the gift" he's prepared to do just that. this is one of the main reasons i talk about spuffy as soulmates but he doesn't have his soul yet. that spike as a human was so full of love, that love is still is guiding principle as a vampire, that it in places acts as almost a bootleg soul. it's "i don't smell a soul anywhere on you, why do you care?" - "i made a promise to a lady." it's buffy kissing spike for the first time because of his heroism in "intervention," and her letting him back in the house in "the gift" because of that same heroism and the trust they've built, it's going back to that same line in becoming part ii. "the truth is, i like this world." like the truth is he likes this world and he's not supposed to and buffy is sworn to protect the world and it's just!!! it's a little symphony is what it is.

and it's also!! spike understanding the monstrousness of buffy! this is the bit most people focus on with them, and why they have the reputation they do, but i truly think s6 spuffy is generally just so??? beautiful??? it's spike's"clawed her way out of a coffin that's how. i've done it myself" and it's buffy's "i can be alone with you here" and it's buffy who's died and experienced this insane trauma and the person who can understand it with her and make her feel okay is someone who's died too. it's "you have to go on living, so one of us is living," and just!!! the poetry of a dead man being the one to help you learn to live again.

it's the way that genuinely i read s6 spuffy as making buffy genuinely happy in those moments when her own shame isn't guiding her. it's the ecstasy of "smashed" and the fear of "wrecked" and "if you tell Anyone about last night, i will kill you" and the fact that in "gone" when no one can see buffy having sex with spike, she's giddy about it, she's delighted, she's nibbling his ear in front of xander and having fun doing it, it's her in "older and far away" and "as you were" clearly wanting spike but not wanting it to be in or near her house, where people could see, it's "dead things" and the way she's genuinely happy with him in his crypt and laughing and it's "hells bells" him making her laugh at the wedding and it's the fact that in "normal again" we get this dual glimpse of buffy just wanting to talk to spike about what happened at the wedding / flinching away when her friends so much as see her talking to him in a friendly way / him revealing that when they were together he'd put ice on the back of her neck and giving a peak to this quiet domesticity that existed alongside the torrid affair. it's how in "entropy" all he wants is for her to tell her friends about them. i know i said this above but it's literally tara, a lesbian, asking buffy if she's ready to "come out" about spike and buffy saying no, she's "all stay-inny."

it's the way s6 spuffy is SO easily read as being closeted in a queer relationship. the way that buffy feels free and happy and hot getting to have rough, inhibition-free sex with spike but feels shame whenever it's mentioned in words — "that may be how you get off but it's not my style" "no, it's your calling" / "you were like an animal" "i'm not an animal." like, the more i rewatch the show the more i feel like the fundamental quote-unquote-toxicity of s6 spuffy isn't the relationship itself, it's the resounding shame about the relationship (how many times can i say "shame" in one essay on tumblr dot com about vampires n queerness lmao). the fact that in relationships that are either normative (biley) or trying hard to be normative (bangel), the interplay of sex and violence for slayers is allowed and buffy can revel in it but in relationships that are queer either textually (fuffy) or subtextually (spuffy), suddenly buffy has to be ashamed of that, because what does that say about her?

and it all goes back to becoming ii! it's "mom, i'm a vampire slayer" and "well have you tried not being a vampire slayer?" and she literally HAS, she's tried everything she CAN and will continue to! throughout the series! it's the way that dual trauma—being kicked out of the house for being gay a slayer and having to kill angel after losing him because of her forbidden desire for this monster??? tell her that she's Wrong, that she has to be Normal, that she has to Deny what she wants and the way she is and wants is Wrong.

it's the way that spike is buffy's shadow, the way that in season 6 she goes to him because she wants to feel good, she wants to feel, period, and her expressing affection and desire for this monster who mirrors her is also her expressing affection and desire for the things she feels shame for about herself. it's the way buffy doing violence against spike is textually her doing violence against herself (see: faith beating up her own body in "who are you?" → buffy beating up spike in "dead things).

i also dont want to give the narrative too much credit here because one of the reasons buffy is so compelling as a show is the places where it fails and comes short. it's such a rich text to talk about queerness and shame and desire and womanhood precisely because the show itself is full of hangups about those very things. obviously this is a segue into "seeing red" which i'm Not going to go into in depth here, i dont really feel like talking about it because frankly i dont need to go on a long tangent about sexual violence right now :) but suffice it to say the fact that the writers room was like "okay we need the audience to Hate Spike because they Like Him Too Much" and their immediate thought was "right let's write in a horrific scene of sexual violence that will traumatize our actors and our audience and also shows that we too believe what buffy believes, that she is wrong for wanting this monster, that she should be punished for having outsized desires and not being more careful and now her and the audience will Learn Their Lesson." anyway moving on.

but anyway that brings us to the way spuffy is a comedy, structurally speaking. like i think people often read spuffy as this exclusively dark and twisted story because they a) only associate spuffy with season 6 and b) misread season 6 as being only about dark fucked up sex rather than like, that Desire Can Be Good Actually, Even and Especially When It's Not the Desire You're ~Supposed~ To Have.

but then we get season 7 spuffy???????? season 7 spuffy where they are slowly rebuilding their trust, where spike, who represents the parts of buffy she feels shame about, has sought out his soul, and it gets to be this tangible proof that the things she thought were awful about herself all along were actually always good, always had an innate capacity for goodness!!! and sought out a soul to prove it! the way buffy is so obsessed with spike getting his soul and tells everyone all of the time (see this chef's kiss set from @slayerbuffy ) in part because it's like!! see!!! i'm NOT wrong inside, the vampire im obsessed with had the inherent capacity for goodness all along!!!!! the way spike's ensoulment makes me INSANE because it's AGAIN in the thread of becoming part ii — spike is a vampire and shouldn't be ABLE to want to save the world he shouldn't be ABLE to want a soul or think of it as desirable but he DOES.

it's the way that buffy's relationship trauma has, since angel, been about saying feelings out loud, acknowledging feelings and desires in public, but in season 7 she is fully accepting of her desires verbally. "i'm the one who dates dead guys. and no offense, but they were hotties" and "kind of sallow but in a hot way?" and her and spike getting clocked with their sexual tension by the potentials and andrew and the other scoobies. it's!!! fucking!!!!!!! everywhere!!! it's that buffy hasn't said i love you to any love interests since angel (unless you count the time on ats she told angel she loves riley but i could write a whole separate essay on how THAT is just insane in so many narrative ways) and then?????? in her second to last scene in the series??? she tells spike she loves him???????????? it's spike's speech in "touched" bringing it all home:

I UNDERSTAND EXACTLY WHAT YOU ARE. I LOVE WHAT YOU ARE. WHAT YOU DO. HOW YOU TRY. (excuse me while i WEEP).

it's the way she spends what she thinks are her last three nights on earth with him, cuddling in bed. it's the way her last lines of the series are all his name, and telling him she loves him, and their love which once wasn't even allowed to be mentioned out loud, to be even thought of with anything but revulsion, now burns so bright it makes them burst into flames

it's the way spike is so beautiful in the story as buffy's shadow because it means something that spike loves with his whole heart, that he loves every bit of buffy, that he has understood buffy from the beginning, even when they were enemies (see everything i went insane about above about s2) even when they were unlikely allies (see everything i went insane about above about fool for love). and understands her as a friend !!! (see early s6!!!! spike as buffy's confidante!!!). the way he understands her as a lover!!!!!!! (see the speech in touched!!!!). the way buffy hates herself but spike will always love her and he loves her for the fullness of herself and through loving him and through him loving her she can learn to love herself and accept herself fully, no one kicking her out of the house because she's queer a slayer, no one telling her she should want a normal relationship, just this strange gendery queer vampire who loves her forever for the fullness of her, her kindness and her strength, what she is, what she does, how she tries. the best and the worst of her. the way spuffy is about the ultimate affirmation of the self and specifically the queer self. the way spuffy is about finding each other. the way spuffy is about queer futurity, is about "you have to go on living," is about if you keep going and keep trying you can live your full unabashed queer life and spuffy finds that together, this freaky slayer and this freaky vampire, meeting in the middle, and making something new.

it's the way spuffy is this narrative impossibility that wasn't supposed to happen, the way spike was supposed to be this half-season arc villain. the way so much of spike in-universe shouldn't be able to happen, but it does. the way buffy breaks the laws of slayerhood, dying and coming back, loving vampires, changing the entire slayer line. the way queerness is very much on a level about this thing that isn't "supposed" to exist, but it does. and it's beautiful.

and that's what spuffy is to me.

[dailyadventureprompts]

So, I have been making my own pantheon for a setting by ‘rolling’ on the gods section of the “Motif-Index of Folk-Literature” and what I got for a chief deity was: Mother of the Gods, Supreme God, Culture Hero as Trickster, and God of Dawn. So far I have come up with the idea that the goddess overthrew a previously tyrannical sky/night god either by using trickery to kill them or imprison them and taking over the position as supreme god of the pantheon. Do you have any other ideas that I could use to flesh the goddess out?

So usually when you have a "usurpation of the pantheon" type event in mythology, its a parallel to a cultural/ethnic shift in the region with the old gods being the patrons of that previous culture. Greek mythology is actually a great example of this as there's an initial creation story ( primal chaos gives birth to the earth and sky) then an initial pantheon ( the titans who were birthed from earth and sky) and then a secondary pantheon (the Olympians) who overthrow the titans, who are either killed, imprisoned, or married into the existing pantheon, you then have the emerging pantheon of greek cultural heroes, who if they stuck around long enough before Rome/Christendom took over might've ended up getting deified themselves and overthrowing the Olympians.

The combination of elements you've gotten is very interesting, but actually presents us with an interesting character arc as you've already hit upon. Rather than the night sky (which still happens every night) I'd say that this goddess overthrew a deity of harsh and terrible winter, an event that just so happened to coincide with the end of an ice age.

Here's how I'd set it up: The "Ethnic" god of these lands was a river god, bringing fertility, bounty, life, all that fun stuff. This god had a sibling (younger or older it doesn't matter) who felt snubbed for the position of chief god/unloved, and so brought down an endless winter upon the land, freezing their brother and usurping his place as king. The winter lasted so long that the fields dried up, the animals died, and the offerings stopped, and so and this usurper turned to devouring people (and perhaps other gods) in his hunger for worship and flesh, reigning over a half forgotten dark age.

In comes our trickster, who's family have been one by one eaten by the mad god of winter, until it's just her and (insert sainted family member here). Red-mawed winter comes to devour that person and our trickster says "I bet I can find something more glorious for you to eat, so if I go and get it for you to eat instead, will you spare my family?" "That sounds great" says Red-mawed winter, " But I'm hungry now, so you have to get back to my temple on the riverside by ( insert possible deadline)" Commence heroic quest into the east with unlikely supernatural aid, eventually culminating in trickster getting the sun and placing it in (seemingly innocuous container that will become part of the iconography of the religion, chest, urn, amphora etc) before carrying it back to the palace of Red-mawed winter in the west ( which just so happens to mime the sun's passage across the heavens, and line up with the origin of this river). Red mawed winter is greedy to have this bright and shining prize, but upon taking it out of the vessel, the sun unleashes summer in it's fullest force, melting the ice, freeing the rivergod, and turning red-mawed winter into a pile of bones and bloody slush.

Trickster ends up Marrying the Rivergod (who cedes her authority over the land as she saved his life) and having lots of kids to repopulate the ranks of the devoured pantheon, the bones of Red-mawed winter are imprisoned in a deep vault/scattered across the earth/whatever you need for them to be evil relics later in the campaign. Trickster now rules as the Summer queen, with day being when she presides over the land and night being when she goes back to visit her husband.

[duskandstarlight]

Embers & Light (Chapter 44)

Notes: A short chapter today—but a vital one. This was maybe my favourite moment to write in this entire fic so far. I know I say this every week, but truly, this one is a gem.

Happy reading!

Chapter 44 Nesta

Nesta stayed with Lorrian and Frawley for the next week. She needed the breathing space, the self-imposed distance she’d been afraid of. Cassian did not come to fetch her home. Did not fight for her presence at the bungalow and Nesta was hurt at the same time she was grateful. 

Because Cassian could rile her and say all of the wrong things when she attacked him, but he understood her better than anybody else. Knew that her fiery words were fuelled by anger and that when she demanded that he leave her alone, it was because she needed it.

Even if his absence made it difficult to breathe.

Frawley hadn’t remarked on Nesta’s tear-stained face or the metallic ruby sheen that was slowly fading from her body as Nesta had entered the cottage. The witch hadn’t judged. She’d only coaxed Nesta onto a chair at the kitchen table and brewed her a cup of restorative chai. The drink had only made the tears slip reign free down Nesta’s face, because it reminded her of him. Everything reminded her of him.

At some point, Lorrian appeared with Roksana. Wordlessly, he’d dropped a kiss to the top of Nesta’s head—just once—before he left the room again. Roksana had crawled into Nesta’s lap, the little girl’s wings folding around Nesta’s body in comfort. Later, the youngling had curled up with Nesta and Sala in bed, but when Nesta woke, the tangle of ebony hair on the pillow had been all wrong.

The sun rose and repeatedly retreated below the horizon. Emerie visited every day scenting faintly of pine and musk. Together, she and Nesta trained with Lorrian during the morning and continued to plan the running of the school with the help of Frawley over the afternoon. But at the end of the day, when dusk bled into night, Nesta would stare up at pareho, unable to ignore the gaping hole in her heart and the thoughts that suddenly ran rampant. 

A week passed before Frawley found it in herself to join Nesta after dinner. Nesta was sitting in her usual spot—on a stone bench situated in the small garden tucked away at the back of the house. Three white quartz stones—milky, rough-cut and sparkling—stood before her. Around them were flowers that survived in The Steppes only because of Frawley’s magic—delphiniums, phlox, lupins, lavender, hollyhox and hardy geraniums in dusky pinks, lilacs and soft creams. And above them there was only the night sky. Around them the sounds of faint scuffling came from the forest as small animals scurried around in the debris of the forest floor. An owl hooted from its perch amongst the trees.

And amongst the all-encompassing force of living nature, Nesta stared and stared at the stars, as if they were a compass that might help her find her way.

“Want to talk about the bat?” Frawley asked in time to the final swish of her skirts. In the corner of Nesta’s eye, the witch’s hair was a striking silvery white. 

“No,” Nesta responded shortly, but Frawley brushed down her skirts and sat on the bench beside her anyway.

“I see,” the witch responded stiffly and Nesta didn’t have to look at her friend to know that Frawley’s ice blue eye flared at the scent of Nesta’s lie. “Well, let me guess what happened: You finally addressed that bond between you and Cassian, and everything went wrong.”

Nesta narrowed her eyes, her pupils darts of death as she finally turned her head to stare at the witch. “Lorrian spoke to Cassian.”

It was a statement rather than a question, but Frawley merely snorted. “No, actually.”

Disappointment hollowed out Nesta’s insides. She looked away to hide how her throat worked, but she knew it was to no avail. Frawley saw everything.

Did Cassian not care that Nesta was gone? Did he not miss her? Because Nesta felt like something had been torn from her ribcage, and in its place there was only a gaping, bloody wound. She couldn’t remember having gone so long without feeling Cassian inside of her chest—in her stomach. Even without her empath skills, Nesta sensed Cassian in a way that she hadn’t others, as if her blood was attuned to his, her body a compass for him only. And whilst Nesta had battled against it, she found that she missed the way Cassian’s emotions had squeezed through the gaps in the bond that she tried to clamp shut—a flutter of a bird’s wings, a fleeting caress.

Nesta used to think that Cassian forced his way through in a desperate plea to connect them—to offer a sliver of himself, the vulnerability of his emotions. But now Nesta wondered if she’d just been letting Cassian in slowly, her guard dropping, that icy wall slowly cracking and melting as her body begged for more, more, more. 

The months she’d spent living with him had seen to that. And Nesta should have known it would happen. She’d made such a point of keeping her distance from Cassian before—staying away from the male she was not worthy of—striking at him with fanged retorts, her venom hitting its mark enough that he finally left her alone. But he’d unravelled her as she’d known he would, his kindness and unwavering attempts to get her to grow and heal finally hitting home.

Yet, from the moment they’d fallen into bed with one another, Nesta had thought there was only one ending for them. She would deny him and he would leave her, broken and alone.

So when he’d struck an ultimatum, Nesta had thought the only option was for her to break things off. Because she’d already ruined any chance of going back to how things had been, and Nesta couldn’t find a way forward, her future shrouded in an impenetrable fog.

But their argument still tasted bitter, like bile at the back of the throat. Nesta had tumbled them down the rabbit hole until they were back where they started: separate rather than together, miserable rather than happy.

At least Nesta was. Perhaps Cassian had realised he was better off without her in his life. And the worst thing was that Nesta couldn’t blame him if he’d drawn that conclusion. Couldn’t hold it against him after she’d shut him out.

Do you want me or not?

Leave me alone.

The rustling of skirts pulled Nesta from the thoughts that held her fast. A slim hand rested on Nesta’s shoulder, the touch surprisingly tentative for someone so fierce.

When Frawley sighed, it sounded like the sympathetic sigh of the wind as it wound through the pine trees. “Nesta, this was always going to happen. You can only run from a truth for so long.”

Glaring into the blue hues of dusk, Nesta retorted shortly, “I don’t want it.”

“Is that true?” Frawley responded slowly as she examined the defiant scowl on Nesta’s face. Each word was deliberate, as if the witch was choosing her words carefully.  “Why is that?”

“Because I nearly drowned in that damn Cauldron,” Nesta snapped, her head whipping to her friend’s. Silver washed over her irises but Frawley didn’t flinch. Didn’t so much as blink. “It rearranged my bones. It pulled and snapped me into something else. It violated me and then spat me back out into this miserable life. It made me into something I hated.”

The words were swallowed by the colours of the garden, but Nesta had still said them—things that were true until they fell into something false.

“Hate is often confused with fear,” Frawley said. “The Cauldron doesn’t define who you are, Nesta.”

Nesta’s nostrils flared and her magic rolled over in her veins. “It haunts my every waking breath. This bond is a reminder of that.”

“That may be true. Or it could be a sign that you survived. That you bested it. Nobody has done that in the history of this world, Nesta. And about time, too. That damn Cauldron has been nothing but a pain in my ass.”

A flicker of confusion ate at Nesta’s brow. Frawley simply arched an eyebrow. “Oh yes, I know most in Prythian won’t utter a bad word about that evil creator, but I’ve lived a long time, Nesta. The old Gods are truth and the Cauldron was an experiment gone wrong.”

Frawley’s expression suddenly grew distant, as if her friend was caught in the webs of memory. After a moment, she shook her head. “We must remember that Gods are not perfect. If they were,  we’d all be living in harmony—there’d be no war, no males like Kallon trying to weave resentment into a culture. But the world is a web of possibility and choice. It is unpredictable and can’t be controlled. And whilst the Gods have lived a long time, well before that damn Cauldron, they lost control of it.”

Nesta’s lips parted as Frawley’s words sank in. “The Gods created the Cauldron,” Nesta stated, as a light sparked within the gloomy dark. “But myth says the Cauldron created the world and everything in it—”

Frawley cut Nesta off with a shake of her head. “The Cauldron was an object made by the Gods to birth fae and humans. But this land—this world—was its own place and the Gods oversaw it. But the Cauldron grew too powerful, until it became an entity in its own right—so much so that the Gods could no longer control it.”

“Anyway, we aren’t talking about that horrible thing,” Frawley announced brusquely, her palms hitting the tops of her thighs. She levelled Nesta with an all-seeing gaze. “We’re talking about you and Cassian.”

A huff of disagreement left Nesta. “I wasn’t.”

But Frawley wasn’t having any of it. “You miss him, Nesta. The grief is etched upon your face. You’re barely eating, you don’t smile or laugh. It’s like the colour has left you. You remind me of the girl I first met—when you looked so gaunt, I overfed you at dinner. Don’t let yourself be dragged back to that dark place, not when you know that you can swim towards the light.”

Frawley’s hand inched across her lap, until it was in Nesta’s. The witch’s fingers were cool and slender, but her grip was fierce as she hooked her fingers over Nesta’s. 

The gesture cleaved something open.

“I don’t know what’s real,” Nesta confessed, her voice hoarse as the words tumbled out. “I don’t know what’s the bond and what’s me—my feelings. I just… I don’t want to live a lie. I don’t want to give Cassian something that might not be true, when he deserves so much more than someone so cruel and broken.”

The witch squeezed Nesta’s fingers again until Nesta dragged herself away from staring at one of the rough-hewn white stones before her to look her friend in the eye. 

“You are neither cruel nor broken, you are simply alive and dealing with life in a way that allows you to survive,” Frawley amended seriously. 

The witch turned Nesta’s hand over and clasped her other palm over the top of it. Stared at their intertwined fingers. “We can examine life and get caught up in the grey areas when sometimes the perspective we need is one that’s black and white,” Frawley started. “Lorrian and I are chroi, but do you think that has been an easy decision? He was an Illyrian princeling and I’m a witch of The Steppes. Loving me meant giving up a life he’d been born to ascend to. But one day we just realised that we loved each other, and that would never go away. And that love… it was strong enough to overpower those challenges. And it has been hard, Nesta. Lorrian lost his arm and together we've birthed three stillborn girls.” 

Frawley gestured to the three stones before them with her top hand and Nesta’s windpipes tightened painfully as she suddenly realised that this was not a garden but a graveyard. “But that love… it’s still there,” Frawley continued, tapping at her heart with her spare hand. “It will never die. And I would fight for it until my last dying breath and so would he. That’s what you need to ask yourself. Not whether the bond is the only reason you feel a certain way, because you know the answer to that. A bond doesn’t make you feel love, Nesta. It makes you want and desire someone. But love… that’s its own precious entity. It’s truth. So, you take your time. Know what you want and don’t apologise for making sure you want it. But when you know, don’t hold back from making yourself happy. From loving. Because a fae life is longer than a humans and a slice of happiness is a damn sight better than being miserable.” 

And in that moment, as Frawley stopped talking and took a heaving breath, Nesta knew.

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