#Part of it is I think a crazy act of protecting myself

[ladsonlads]

Impartial Hearts | Sylus - Part Two

Pairing -> Boss Sylus x Non MC Reader

Parts -> Part One | Part Two

Synopsis -> You’ve been working as Onychinus’s accountant for two years, and you’ve been carrying two heavy secrets for a third of it. You were in love with your boss, and your mother was dying.

A/N -> I'm sorry it took so long. I have been obsessing over trying to make part two perfect but I don't think I can. It's time I share my baby with you, and I really hope you enjoy it.

Tags -> Angst, fluff :)

Trigger Warnings -> Character death, heavily mentions grief. Some parts are suggestive but there is no smut.

Word Count -> 18.8K (it got kinda crazy)

Late October

It was cold, dark and gloomy; the weather a perfect pathetic fallacy to the narrative of your life. The freshly disturbed patch of grass failed to convey the significance of who laid underneath it. It was vexing, how the world continued to spin on it’s axis despite the fact that it stopped spinning for you. 

It hurt to think about the events that led to your undoing. The weeks prior to the moment your mother drew her last breath. You were a cracked vase filled with wilting flowers and overflowing regret. Every breath you took consumed more energy than you could spare and yet the world just. Kept. Spinning. 

“I brought you flowers. Yellow tulips, by the way.” The words felt like lead on your tongue. It was one thing to accept your mother was never coming back, it was another to try to act normal about it. “I know you never cared for them, but I didn’t think leaving a pack of cigarettes on your grave was very tasteful.” You bitterly smiled to yourself at the memories of your mom sneaking a cigarette in the backyard when she thought you were asleep. It was a nasty habit you did everything to rid her of. A fruitless attempt to protect her from the inevitable. 

“I’m sorry I haven’t figured out your epitaph yet. It’s just so hard to condense your entire life into a few words. Plus, they charge by the letter, so I’m trying to be really selective.” It felt weird, speaking into empty space, but you read online that it helped with grief, so you tried anyway. 

That was how you approached most things nowadays. Eating, drinking, sleeping, they all seemed meaningless. But, you knew you couldn’t survive on just antagonism and mourning, so you did it anyway. 

“Zayne called again. I know you told me not to hate him and that it wasn’t his fault, but I can’t bring myself to agree.” 

The moment Zayne told you that the heart that could save your mother’s life was going to someone else replayed in your mind like a scratched vinyl stuck on an aggravating note.

“I got so frustrated by his constant calls that I threw my phone into the ocean.” You let out a sad laugh. “Guess that’s the last time I bring anything with me when I’m walking along the coast.” 

You paused for a moment, feeling stupid. But you had so much to say to her, it all just began spilling out.

“I know you don’t want to hear this, but I might lose the house. I burned through all my paid leave, and the idea of going back to work for Sylus makes me want to put my head through a wood-chipper. I know I have to, but how can I focus on work when I have nothing left to work for?” You tasted the tears before you felt them, the saltiness reminded you of your weekends at the beach with your mom. You did everything to get out of joining her, you hated the beach, but it was her favourite place to be and in a desperate attempt to cling on to whatever was left of her, you forced it to be yours too.

“I’m sorry I never got you that house you dreamed of, or the dog. I’m sure there are lots of dogs in heaven, and at least the dogs there have been screened. With my luck any dog I would’ve gotten you would’ve been evil.” You teetered around the grievance you truly wanted to apologise for. 

“I’m sorry I couldn’t spend much time with you before you passed away. I was so sure you would get the transplant. I tried so hard to save for it. I should’ve been with you. If I knew—” The sobs raked through you with a force that knocked the air out of your lungs. You sat down next to her tombstone, leaning your head against the chiseled rock. 

There were moments when you’d wake up, and in the haze of your muddled mind you’d forget she was dead. But then the ache in your body is deciphered by your mind, and you’re reminded of just how much you’ve lost. Maybe that’s why they called it mourning. Grief dawned on you like the rising sun.

Life had a way of being entirely unfair, and there was nowhere to hide from fate’s piercing claws. And as if to ensure you hadn’t forgotten just how cruel life could be, your head whipped around at the sound of footsteps behind you to find the last person you wanted to see.

Sylus was dressed in a long black coat hanging effortlessly off of his broad shoulders, a black dress shirt that really should’ve been buttoned up to the top, and a pair of black slacks that made his long legs look impossibly longer. He looked every bit the cunning grim reaper, and it wasn’t just because he was surrounded by graves.

“I didn’t know you were back in the N109 Zone.” The words came out harsher than you intended as your head returned to it’s position against the rock. 

Sylus stopped in front of you, lowering himself to his haunches so that you would be face-to-face. It stung to look at him, so you focused on picking at the grass instead. 

“I only got back a few hours ago. I heard about your mother. I’m sorry.” Having been deprived of his voice for over a month, you cursed the butterflies that coursed through you like muscle memory. Part of you wished he’d returned disfigured, but you knew it wouldn’t have made much of a difference. Ugly or devastatingly beautiful, the storm that was Sylus could not be stopped, only weathered. 

“Sorry that she died or sorry that you weren’t there?” The bitterness in your tone was unfamiliar to you. Even though you knew it was unfair of you to expect him to have stayed, he left immediately after he dropped you off at the hospital and you hoped he’d have been there just a little longer. It didn’t help that you didn’t hear from him until two weeks later, and by then you were too engrossed in your battle against Akso hospital’s medical board to respond. 

“You haven’t been answering my calls; they’re not even going through anymore. You haven’t blocked me, have you?” Sylus countered your question with one of his own. If you cared enough, you might’ve called him out on his diversion. 

“No, my phone broke.” That was an understatement if there ever was one. 

“How long ago?”

“A week.” That much was true and since you couldn’t afford a smart phone, a shitty $30 flip phone weighed down your pocket. 

“And all the times I called before then?” Sylus’s eyes perused you with intensity, and you suddenly felt self-conscious. You weren’t dressed well, in a pair of black sweatpants that were too big on you and a matching hoodie. Grieving people were allowed to dress terribly without judgement, Y/N. It’s okay.

“I didn’t feel like picking up.” The grass continued to bare the brunt of your nerves as you answered. The you that wasn’t effectively an orphan would’ve made up some excuse to protect his feelings, but you were resolved to change that. Your mother was strong, independent, and she never backed down from a fight. Not against men like Sylus, and not against her illness. If you wanted to honour her memory then you had to live your life the way she’d want you to.

“Do you have a phone now?” 

You reached into the pocket of your sweatpants to take out the grey flip phone. You watched as Sylus bit back a laugh.

“I’ll get you a new one.”

“I don’t need you to get me anything.” You quickly retorted.

“You’re going to need a phone from this century if you’re working for me, Y/N.” He said it so casually, as if you were put on this earth solely to serve him as his accountant. 

“Right, about that…” Your determination to be confident and unapologetic began to dwindle as you wondered how to tell Sylus you needed more time.

“No. Resigning is not an option.” Twelve minutes. It took Sylus twelve minutes to return to his usual controlling self. You were impressed, truly, it was a new record after all. 

“We don’t have a blood pact, Sylus. I can resign if I want to. Besides, that’s not what I was going to say. I need more time off.” You didn’t sound very convincing, but it wasn’t like you could change who you were overnight. It would take a lifetime to unlearn your bad habits. 

Sylus looked conflicted, as if he didn’t know what to say. When he chose to finally open his mouth, you wished he hadn’t.

“I’ve given you a month, Y/N. That’s enough.” His statement came out so matter-of-factly, you wondered if you had imagined it. A month was not nearly enough to recover from losing your mom, but you figured a man who killed people for a living wouldn’t understand. 

“It’s only been two weeks since she died. And I’m sure the temp you’ve got is perfectly competent.”

“The temp doesn’t know the company like you do and I haven’t bothered teaching him on the premise that you were returning. If you’re not back soon I can’t promise you’ll have a job to come back to.” 

The tension in the air dissipated as you began to laugh. Loudly. Obnoxiously. Hysterically. 

“You— You seriously think I care whether or not I have a job? I can barely will myself to eat right now—employment is not my priority.” You wiped back the tears that began to spill out. Their origin unknown, between your hysteria and sorrow, your eyes were constantly puffy.

“People die all the time, sweetheart. It’s no reason to throw your future away.” Sylus stood up straight at the end of his statement, holding his hand out to you. 

The angel on your shoulder whispered that in his own peculiar way, this was his attempt at comforting you. But you stopped listening to that angel when they buried your mom under six-feet of dirt, and you couldn’t help the word vomit that escaped you like water barrelling out of a splintered dam. 

You pushed away his hand, and stood up to look at him with a ferocity you didn’t know you possessed.

“I get that something really dark and twisted must have happened in your youth to make you so heartless, but most people have shitty childhoods, sweetheart. We choose not to be terrible, insufferable people because of it.” The unbridled rage you’d spend so long trying to suppress seeped out of you uncontrollably as you screamed at Sylus. You walked toward him, your anger taking hold of you as you began to push him away. A few months ago you would’ve given anything to touch him, now all you cared about was making him feel a semblance of the pain he instilled in you. 

“Some of us choose to feel our emotions in their entirety, regardless of how much it hurts, because we’re not scared to love and lose. You’re a coward, Sylus and you may think that my mother dying is just an inevitable consequence of life, but my world will never be the same.” In an attempt to calm down, you took a deep breath.

“You can judge me all you want, but it won’t change the fact that when you die, no one will mourn you.” The word vomit continued, and when you saw the hurt flash briefly within his eyes, you felt the arms of regret begin to sink their claws into you. 

You shouldn’t have said that. It wasn’t you.

But before you could take it all back, Sylus’s phone began ringing and you figured from the urgency in which he answered it must’ve been her. 

“I lost track of time, I’ll be right there.” He spoke in a low voice in what you could only assume was an attempt to mask the fact that he was leaving you for something more important, again. 

He opened his mouth to speak, but you beat him to it.

“Just go.” You waved him off and turned back around to face your mother’s grave, though now the tears welling up in your eyes couldn’t be entirely attributed to the grief. 

Early November

You weren’t sure time could heal the gaping wound your mother’s passing left behind, but grief had settled into your life like an imposing aunt. It was in your home, touching your things, ruining your food, and never once leaving you alone. It didn’t feel so all-consuming anymore, but it clung onto you constantly like a shadow. 

You were watching the third Harry Potter movie at 8am when you received the eviction notice via Email. You’d been expecting it, ultimately you were behind on rent, but the reason plastered on the paper was exponentially worse than your own incompetence.

…Selling to developers…suburban expansion project…

As if losing your childhood home wasn’t bad enough, they were planning on destroying it. Memories were bound to decay with time, that was an inevitable consequence of being human. Sooner or later you’d forget the way your mom dressed, or the smell of her perfume. Tangible things like photographs, places, they kept those memories anchored. You couldn’t lose the house, it wasn’t an option. 

You spent the next hour trying to reason with your landlord over the phone, but he was committed to selling. He rejected every single one of your proposals, though even you knew they were weak at best. The developers were offering significantly more than market value, there was no way you could beat that. Stupid gentrification. But, your landlord told you he was sympathetic, and the deal hadn’t been finalised just yet. If you could match the developer’s offer by the end of the month, he’d gladly sell it to you instead.

Of course the developer’s offer was $800,000, and by the looks of your financials, you were about $796,312 short. 

Desperate for a catharsis for your unending frustration, you screamed into the throw pillow on your couch until your throat felt raw. Then, you opened up your laptop to figure out a plan. 

30 minutes later you had:

Sell your kidney to an organ broker and use the money to get a loan from any dodgy bank that would accept your mediocre credit score. 

Dabble briefly in prostitution and use the money to get a loan from any dodgy bank that would accept your mediocre credit score.

Become a squatter and protest the demolition of your home environmental-activist style. 

“Wow, Y/N. Graduated top of your class and this was all you could come up with, huh?” You muttered to yourself as you stared at the list of terrible ideas. Your mind hadn’t come up with something so horrific since the bed-in-breakfast Mother’s Day fiasco when you were 11. 

The only option that didn’t end in bodily harm or a prison sentence was to work as many jobs as humanly possible for the next few weeks in hopes you could somehow manage to accumulate the deposit for a loan. You could probably sell some appliances too, and maybe revisit the kidney idea if it came to it. 

Despite it being a long-shot, you had to try. You changed into a pair of flared leggings and a sweater. It was basic and borderline mismatched but traversing your explosive closet was a large undertaking you tended to avoid. You dug a copy of your old resume out from your file drawer, after all, it wasn’t like your experience as Onychinus’s accountant was going to do you any good. Further, listing Sylus as a reference would ensure you never got a job again. 

You figured the easiest place to start was the central district of the N109 zone, bars and restaurants there were constantly hiring and from what you’d heard their only requirement was that you had two functioning legs and arms. But when you tried to leave through the door to begin the job search you collided with a formidable wall. 

Since when was there a—

“Where you headed to, Y/N?” The familiar voice was so surprising it made you jump, the action accompanied by a shrill scream.

“What the fuck? Why are you just standing outside my door?” You rarely ever swore and you were sure that if your mother was still alive she’d throw her shoe at you for using the devil’s language. But of all the things you expected to see that morning, Sylus outside your door was not one of them. 

“Is that any way to welcome your old employer?” Sylus stepped into your home without an invitation. Conclusive proof against your theory that he was secretly a vampire. 

“What are you doing here?” You asked again, still staring at Sylus like he sprouted a second head. You couldn’t think of a single reason why he’d show up at your place of residence, he never did while you were still his employee.

“I need you to come back.” You choked back a laugh at his ridiculous request. Was he insane?

“Go to hell.” Your vicious response didn’t sway Sylus. 

“I’ve fired an accountant every week since you left. The accounts are in complete disarray, half my businesses are behind on their bills, the other half have been paying the wrong amounts to the wrong companies. My investors are unhappy, my debtors are one week away from assuming I’ve gone bankrupt and I haven’t slept in weeks. Come. Back.” While it stroked your ego to hear that the organisation was suffering in your absence, you couldn’t just forget the terrible way he’d treated you in and out of the workplace. 

“You insisted I was especially replaceable and now you’re saying you can’t replace me?” You chose to remind him of just how horrid of an employer he was, an action he didn’t appreciate. 

“If you’re going to dwell on the semantics I’d rather just cut to the chase. What’s it going to take to get you back?” Sylus’s tone suggested he was truly trying to negotiate with you. Of course a man like him didn’t know how to take no for an answer. 

“Pigs to fly.” You quipped, opening your door in hopes he’d get the hint and leave. 

“Y/N, I’m serious. We can’t survive without you.” His desperation went straight to your head, but you stood your ground. 

“Then die.” You tried to shove him out of your doorway, but he was about as easy to move as a truck. 

“Everyone has something they desire, sweetheart. Name your price.” While you were ready to fire up a quick retort, his suggestion reminded you of the very reason you were about to leave the house. 

Perhaps this was a sign; you could swallow your pride if it meant you got to keep your home. 

You pretended to give it thought, sighing loudly in contemplation. “Fine. I want a sign-on bonus. Or in this case, a re-sign-on bonus, I guess…” You trailed off, unsure if he would agree. 

“Alright, how much?” He was quick to accept your terms, and you decided to test the waters of just how desperate he was for your return. 

“A million dollars.” 

“Done.” 

Dammit, you should’ve asked for more. 

“I want a personal driver too, I’m sick of biking to work.” You would’ve been okay with just the bonus, after all, it was insanely generous. But you’d be a fool not to milk this opportunity for what it was worth.

“Anything else, princess?” The condescending nickname only added fuel to the fire as you fired off more requests. 

“I don’t want to share my office with the twins anymore, they’re loud and annoying and they have no respect for the sanctity of my monthly budgets.”

“Okay.”

You masked your shock at his sudden magnanimity. “One last thing. Since you’ve come to the realisation that I am, in fact, a valuable asset to your organisation, you’re not allowed to be a dick to me anymore.” 

“Elaborate.”

“No more calling me stupid or other degrading insults, threatening my job security, threatening my life — just no more threats in general — and if you’re going to assign me extra work that is beyond the scope of my job description, a please and thank you would be nice.”

“You’re pushing it, Y/N.” Of course treating his employees like human beings was the most difficult request. 

“You just agreed to give me a million dollars and being nice to me is where you draw the line?” 

Sylus sighed, deliberating in silence for a moment. When he saw that your resolve was unrelenting, he begrudgingly agreed. He wasn’t sure where your newfound confidence was coming from, but he would be lying if he said he didn’t find it the slightest bit attractive. 

“Alright, you’ve made your case. I’ll agree to your conditions. Now, please fix it.” 

It took every fibre of your being not to break out into song and dance at your victory. “Let me get my coat.”

______________

You stared at the horrific mess your beautiful spreadsheet had turned in to. This was a disaster. A colossal, unfathomable disaster. “How could you let it get this bad?” Your voice was dripping with fear, it was like staring a train wreck. 

“It wasn’t like it happened on purpose. Besides, if you’d never—” Sylus interrupted his own sentence which you were sure contained an insult, and you could almost hear the evil chuckle resounding in your head at the sight of his obedience. This was going to be fun. 

“This is going to take forever to fix.” It would actually only take the day, but you didn’t need to tell him that.

“I need it fixed by the end of the week. Please.” He looked pained as he added the nicety. Soooooo much fun.

“Add on a massage chair for my office and I’ll get it done by Wednesday.” You wondered just how far you could push his desperation. 

“Deal.” He held his hand out for you to shake and when you did, you felt a strange sense of accomplishment. Now you could tell people ‘How to Tame Your Dragon’ was loosely based on your life. 

“You know, Sylus, I’m liking this new dynamic.” Your shit-eating grin couldn’t be wiped off of your face no matter how hard you tried.

“Oh I can tell. Now, get to work.” Sylus made a show of pulling out your office chair for you, and when you sat in it for the first time in two months, you felt an overwhelming sense of nostalgia. And for once, the recollection of your past didn’t hurt as much as it usually did.  

Mid-November

This time around, your employment under Sylus was much more pleasant. Surprisingly, he’d actually adhered to your conditions. 

The twins were slightly offended that you no longer wanted to share your office with them, but their gratefulness for your return trumped any antagonism they had for you. You were kind of a celebrity in Onychinus’s executive team, their saviour, if you will. 

But, the enjoyment of your newly established status could not be savoured. Undoing months of mistakes was turning out to be positively exhausting. You were an accountant; socially awkward, stuck to her Excel sheets, spent most of her free time indulging in shitty rom-coms. You were not built for briefing CEOs, Chairmen, investors, subsidiaries and of course, debtors, on your commitment to stability via video call.

Sylus insisted it had to be you, even though he usually handled the bureaucratic part of the organisation. Something about him not being able to answer their questions regarding the numbers. You told him you would tell him what to say through an ear piece like a spy movie, but he responded with a resounding no. 

It was more like ‘hell will freeze over before I turn into a glorified puppet, Y/N, blah blah blah’.

Every single one-on-one conference call made you feel like you were getting hives. Not to mention the active effort it took you to refrain from making stupid jokes at every opportunity. When the last one with the representative from Onychinus’s main bank was over, you had officially smoothed over all bad blood between Onychinus and it’s stakeholders.

Giving yourself a moment to recalibrate from the sheer amount of social interaction you had been subjected to, you glared at the shared calendar event. ‘Miss Hunter’s Birthday in 13 days’.

You tried to distract yourself from that familiar sinking feeling in your gut with your work. Sylus never remembered your birthday, but it wasn’t like it mattered. You were his accountant, he was your boss. That was the extent of your relationship, even though you’d both said things to each other that would cause your HR department, if you had one, to self-emulate. But in the chaos of buying your home, going back to work and learning how to navigate life with your unwanted companion; grief, you’d forgotten all about your feelings for Sylus.

They weren’t gone but they were muted, like a voice screaming out to you while your head was underwater. Most of the time they were easy to ignore, but in times like these they were too loud to overlook.

You couldn’t dwell on your self-pity for long because there was a knock at your door. No one ever knocked on your door, people just tended to barge in.

“Come in?” Confusion dripped from your voice. When the door opened to a pair of twins with shameful smiles, you knew they were about to ask you for a favour.

“We… fucked up.” Three words you never wanted to hear coming out of either Luke or Kieran’s mouth.

“What have you done?”

“Long story short. Boss sent us to pick up a gem for Miss Hunter’s birthday. It’s really rare. The man who owns them is this older, heart of gold type old guy who refuses to sell to nefarious people because of his outdated principles. He wouldn’t give it to us, said something about us being part of Onychinus. We knew if boss didn’t get this gem today he’d have our heads displayed on mantels in his office, so we threatened the old man with a gun and then an entire arsenal of security appeared out of thin air and we were blacklisted from the property.” Kieran’s explanation left you astounded. 

The twins had their fair share of asinine mistakes, but this one might have taken the cake. 

“You threatened an old man with a gun…” 

“Yes.” Kieran responded. 

“Over a gem?” You asked in disbelief. 

“A very rare gem!” Luke corrected. 

“Huh. How am I supposed to help?” It was a genuine question, you didn’t really see a way out of this one. 

“Can you go and convince the old man to sell the gem to you?” Kieran’s request made your eyes widen in protest.

“No way! I’ve had my fill of uncomfortable business meetings.” And wasn’t that the truth. If you had to see one more man in a business suit ask you ‘if you even knew what you were talking about’ you might throw your laptop into the first body of water you could find. 

“Please, Y/N. Sylus will kill us. Do you want our deaths to hang over your conscience?” 

Luke’s question was an innocent hyperbole, but at the mention of deaths hanging over your conscience, you were reminded of your mom. Your face dropped, your fingers slowly forgetting what they were supposed to type. Kieran, the more observant twin, elbowed Luke.

“Fuck, Y/N. I’m sorry, I forgot.”

“No, no, it’s fine. You don’t have to walk on eggshells around me, I’m not going to burst into tears.” You weren’t sure that was true quite yet, but fake it till you make it, right? 

“Will you help us? Please. We’ll owe you big time.” The line was clearly rehearsed since they said it in unison, or maybe it was some weird twin telepathy thing. Either way, it freaked you out so much you agreed. 

“Fine, what’s the address?”

_____________

You knocked on the large wooden door of a beautiful home. It was classically designed, a perfect intersection between modernity and the timeless complexity of archaic house designs. It was rare to see homes like these in a society that prided itself on progress. 

When you heard the sound of soft feet shuffling toward the door, you felt the guilt eat at you internally. You were tricking an old man into selling a gem to people he very reasonably did not want to sell to.

“Y/M/N?” 

Did he— why did he call you by your mother’s name?

“That was my mother, I’m her daughter, Y/N.”

“Oh, thank god, I was beginning to think I’d finally lost it. Come in, come in.” 

Your interest had been piqued, and you forgot all about the gem as you entered the old man’s home.

“I must say, I’m surprised you’re here. Did your mother send you?”

You swallowed the lump in your throat. “She passed away just over a month ago.”

“Oh god. I’m so sorry, dear. Are you alright?” The question was filled with so much warmth it made tears well up in your eyes. Your mother never had any friends, and you were estranged from your extended family. You were all alone in your grief, and hearing someone who knew your mom in some capacity ask you if you were alright felt bittersweet.

“Yeah. I’m doing okay. If you don’t mind me asking, how did you know her?”

“You don’t know? I figured that was why you were here.” 

Right. The reason you were here, the gem.

“No, I’m actually here entirely coincidentally, I came to acquire a gem.”

“Which gem were you after, dear?” He asked the question as he looked around his living room for something.

“The Painite one.”

He stopped pacing and turned to you with an accusatory stare. “This wouldn’t happen to be related to those two rowdy boys who came by earlier, right?”

“Well…” You couldn’t lie to him. He looked like the old man from ‘Up’, it was entirely unfair. 

“I’m afraid I can’t sell to you. I’m concerned you’ve even gotten yourself wrapped up in such a terrible organisation.” He shook his head, his disappointment evident in his tone. 

“Look, I know what you’ve heard, but most of the rumours you hear about Onychinus don’t have a modicum of truth to them.”

“Then why hasn’t your boss cleared them up?” A great question. 

“In this business its good to have a reputation that instills fear in others. You’ve seen what people do for Protocores and black-market items. Onychinus serves as a… regulatory body of the underworld, the only people they harm are those that harm others.” The practiced speech came from years of listening to Sylus give it to yourself and others. 

“I don’t know dear, I’ve heard some horrific things about their leader, Sylus.” You were probably responsible for a few of those rumours…

“The only horrific thing about him is his sharp tongue. Seriously, he has a way of finding your worst insecurity and then using it to drag you through the dirt.” Recognising the unhelpful tangent, you digressed.

“But when it comes to business, he’s fair and when someone hurts the people he cares about, he’s merciless. He has a good heart, it’s just encased under a very thick layer of stone.” When he didn’t look convinced, you continued. 

“In fact, he wants this gem for a woman. She’s special to him and its her birthday in a few days. She’s a hunter, by the way, she saves lives. So, even if you don’t want to sell to Sylus because he’s probably half demon, you should sell it to her. You know, by proxy.” The argument was a stretch but you couldn’t help your rambling. 

“You are the spitting image of your mother.” 

The comment caught you off-guard.

“You think so?”

“I knew your mother when she was your age. She used to sing live at a bar I frequented with my friends. It was a simpler time, before wanderers attacked. I was head over heels in love with her, and I knew she felt the same way about me. But, she got wrapped up with the wrong guy, a real bad man, and it took finding out she was pregnant with you to break it off with him.” He recounted his past as he continued to search his drawers for something, when he came back to the couch in front of yours, he handed you a photo.

It was of your mother, except she was much younger. She was on a stage performing, a part of her life she never told you about. She looked happy and was glowing with the kind of ethereal beauty that never dwindled with time. He was right, you looked a lot like her. 

“Can I keep this?” You looked up at the man, and he gave you a small nod. 

“Of course. You know, I offered to help her when I found out, said I’d raise the baby as my own, but she told me I was destined for more than she could give me. Said she had to do this on her own. She was stubborn but she loved boundlessly, Y/N, just like you.”

You were confused, this man hadn’t known you for very long, how could he know such a thing? “What do you mean?”

“I don’t know what that Sylus man has done to deserve your adoration, but I can tell you love him. And for you to come here on his behalf to convince me to sell him the rarest gem in the world for another woman? You truly do have your mother’s heart.” 

His words sprouted doubt and introspection. Why were you trying so hard to get Sylus such a romantic gift when it was meant for someone else? Were you secretly a masochist?

“If it’s alright with you Y/N, I’d love to get to know you. Your mother was my first love, and it’s nice to have someone to talk to about her.” 

You gave him the sincerest smile you could come up with. “I’d like that. I don’t really have anyone to talk to about her either.”

“As for the gem, I’ll sell it to you but only if you promise to love a man who will go to these lengths for you, not someone else.” 

“I promise.” You’d promise to try, at least. You told the man, who you now knew was Dr Jeffery Hunt the geologist, that you needed to get back to work. You exchanged contact information with a promise to catch up later and trade stories about your mom. 

You left the house with the rarest gem in the world in one hand, and an infinitely more valuable picture of your mother in the other. 

___________

You walked toward your office where Luke and Kieran should have been to find the door slightly ajar. You stopped just outside the door when you heard Sylus’s voice from inside your office.

“You sent Y/N to get the gem? Was the task too difficult for the two of you?” You tried to sympathise with the twins, but it was kind of funny to see Sylus berate someone else for once.

“The owner said he wouldn’t sell to Onychinus—” Kieran’s attempt at an explanation was shot down instantly.

“So you pick some random person off the street and send them in instead. You don’t send the girl the gem is for to go retrieve her own present. You have completely ruined the surprise.”

Wait, what?

“No, it’s fine, we sent Y/N not Miss Hunter.”

“Miss Hun— why would you assume it’s for her?” The question hung in there for an uncomfortable moment, after all you assumed the same thing. 

“Her birthday’s in a few days.” Luke timidly added. 

“How do you know that?” 

“It’s in the shared calendar.”

“Fuck.” 

With your ear plastered shamelessly against the door, you smiled to yourself. He had a bad habit of putting personal events in the shared calendar.

“The gem was for Y/N. Thanks to you imbeciles I have to figure something else out.” 

Why was the gem for you? Was it poisonous? You started down at the velvet box in your hand and wondered if the gem was secretly a teeny tiny bomb. 

“Is it Y/N’s birthday soon too?” Kieran’s question offended you. Your birthday was in March and both he and Luke were at your celebratory birthday dinner last year. 

“No, that’s in March. It’s to celebrate her 3rd year with Onychinus. Although now I’m wondering if your time here has come to an end.” It was kind of sadistic, but it was comforting to know that Sylus threatened other people’s job security over minor inconveniences too. 

“No! Please, we promise we’ll make it up to you.” 

You stopped listening to the conversation as you opened the box in your hand. The gem glistened under the artificial lights as questions fired off in your brain. He wanted to give this gem to you? How did he even remember the day you started at Onychinus? And he knew your birthday?

Before you could search for the answers, the sound of footsteps approaching the door made you panic. You tried fruitlessly to escape the long hallway but Sylus stormed out before you could.

“I um, got that gem for you.” You pretended you weren’t eavesdropping and held the gem out to him, but he pushed it back toward you. 

“Thanks. I was going to have it turned into a necklace, but since the cat’s out of the bag, you can decide what to do with it.” He clearly knew you’d heard everything and gave the twins a pointed glare as they scurried out of your office. 

“It’s really too much. Most employers get their employees a gift card or something.” You tried to hand it back again, but he was unrelenting. 

“I’m not most employers, and you definitely aren’t most employees.” The loaded compliment made you bite back a smile. 

“In that case, a necklace would be nice. I have a photo of my mom when she was my age, she wore a necklace with a similar looking gem. Do you think you could find someone who can copy the design? It would mean a lot. I’d pay for it, of course.” You kept the photo in your wallet now, it quickly became one of your favourites. When you passed the photo to him, he looked at it for far longer than necessary. 

“Consider it done, and your money’s no good with me. Save it for something else.” He paused for a moment, took a photo of the necklace on his phone and returned the photograph. “I see where you get your beauty from.” The comment was so nonchalant and inconsistent with Sylus’s usual dialogue that you were left speechless. Your heart battered against your ribcage as if it were trying to escape and mount itself onto him instead. Traitorous organ. 

You watched him turn around and walk toward his office. The sight of him walking away from you brought back memories of that day in the graveyard and what you’d said to Sylus before he left. 

“You can judge me all you want, but it won’t change the fact that when you die, no one will mourn you.”

The guilt was eating away at your conscience, and you knew you had to let him know that you didn’t mean what you said. Especially not now. 

“Sylus, wait.” He stopped just as his hand reached the doorknob of his office door and looked up at you expectantly.

You raked your mind for the right thing to say, and Sylus didn’t make a sound as you prolonged the silence. 

“If you died, I’d mourn you.” And you meant it. You maintained eye contact despite the urge to look away from his intense gaze in an attempt to convey your sincerity. 

He shook his head with a slight chuckle in response, and walked into his office wordlessly. 

You figured he hadn’t given what you said a second thought. It was foolish to think you could ever hurt the impenetrable Sylus’s feelings. You weren’t even sure he had feelings. 

But, unbeknownst to you, when Sylus closed the door behind him, he felt himself let out a breath that alleviated a pressure in his chest he didn’t know he’d been carrying. What you’d said to him in the graveyard weighed on him like an uncomfortable tumour. 

Sylus knew you were right, but the idea of no one caring for him never bothered him before, not until you said it. It dawned on him that the only person who’s idea of him actually affected how he thought of himself was yours. 

Late-November

“Finish up, we have a reservation at six.” At the sound of your boss’s  voice, you looked up from your computer screen. Your eyes were watery from staring at the ledger for hours but you still couldn’t reconcile the $15.70 that was missing. It was driving you insane.

“Was there a meeting I forgot existed?” The calendar looked empty from where it stood on your second monitor. Well, it was empty now that Sylus deleted the shared calendar event for Miss Hunter’s birthday which should’ve been yesterday. 

“No, it’s just us. I’m taking you to dinner. Now hurry up.” You couldn’t help the frown on your face. There was surely an ulterior motive. 

“Taking me to dinner? Are you asking me out on a date?” You were teasing; hell would freeze over before Sylus would ask anyone out on a date. Though, maybe he already had, after all he was busy yesterday…

“Don’t be ridiculous. We’re celebrating your third year with Onychinus. As an employer I believe rewarding long-term employees can strengthen their loyalty to the company.” He regurgitated the words like they were toxic. 

“You stole that from the last issue of Forbes magazine. I would know since I was the one who gave you the article.” It was titled ‘Ten foolproof ways to make your employees like you’ and you thought it would be funny to leave it on Sylus’s desk. 

“And I’m responding to your feedback like number 4 on that list suggested. Now, do you want to go to this dinner or should I ask someone else?” 

You quickly scrambled out of your seat, you couldn’t miss out on a chance to see Sylus actively try to be a regular boss. Who could say no to dinner and a show?

“No, no, I’ll go.” You grabbed your bag off of the floor and followed Sylus out of the building. You asked him a series of questions about where you were going, when you’d be back, if you were getting paid for the time you were forced to spend with him, but he answered none of them. 

Sylus was driving for all of 2 minutes before you began to draft an appreciation letter to the inventor of seatbelts in your head. 

“You know, you may be harder to kill than a regular person, but I will die if you crash this car.” Pleading for your life in an expensive sports car was not how you expected to go. 

“It’s a little early in the night for your theatrics, Y/N.” Sylus’s deadpan tone did nothing to soothe your concerns as he turned yet another sharp corner with aggressive speed. 

“It’s also a little early in my life to die.” You unhelpfully added.

“Relax, will you? I’ve never crashed before.” 

Well, there’s a first time for everything. You thought as you tightly gripped the handle of the door. You found yourself suddenly missing the middle-aged man who would grouchily drive you to and from work. At least he drove like he valued his life. 

 _______

When you arrived to the place in one piece you felt severely under dressed. Sylus was wearing his regular attire, a suit without the tie, and you were dressed in linen pants and a turtleneck. Sylus never enforced a business dress code, though in that moment you found yourself wishing he did.

The restaurant was multi-level and sat at the top of a mountain. The exterior screamed affluence and you were sure everyone who dined there was in a different tax-bracket. Sylus reserved a table on the rooftop which unfortunately meant you had to ascend four levels in your mediocre outfit that made you stick out like a sore thumb. 

When you eventually reached your table, you quickly hid in your seat. While it was unrealistic to assume anyone would pay you any attention but your embarrassment was usually irrational. Nor, did it help that Sylus naturally made heads turn wherever he went. He was freakishly tall and unnervingly handsome; next to him anyone struggled to look attractive.

“You’re in a rush. Hungry?” Sylus asked across from you as you buried your face in the menu. You didn’t feel like explaining how being out with him made you feel insecure, so you forewent a response. 

The waiter quickly returned with a bottle of wine. Of course Sylus’s favourite wine was known universally. Why wouldn’t it be? He practically ruled the N109 Zone.

“Thanks, she’ll have a mojito.” Before you could tell the waiter not to bring you your favourite cocktail, he was gone.

“I’m not drinking.” Your protest fell on deaf ears. “Drinking with your boss is like number 1 on the list of things you shouldn’t do if you value your job.”

“You don’t have to worry about embarrassing yourself in front of me, Y/N. You’ve done that plenty of times sober.” Sylus smirked as he made the dry joke and you held back the urge to step on his foot under the table.

Never mind. You needed a drink pronto.

“Asshole.” You muttered under your breath.

“What was that?”

“Artichokes! I said the artichoke salad looks good.” You could tell Sylus wasn’t convinced, but he dropped the matter anyway. 

“Order whatever you’d like.” 

“There’s no prices on the menu.” You flipped it around every which way but not a single price appeared.

“Sweetheart, the people who can afford to dine here aren’t too concerned with prices. Don’t worry and order what you wish.”

Aw, how sweet. Sylus thought you enquired about the prices because you were concerned about overspending. As if. You knew that man’s financials inside and out, if anything, you wanted to order the most expensive things on the menu. 

“Jeez, my bad Mr One-Percent.” Your joke was not well received.

“Can we have one night without your incessant sarcasm?” The plea sounded genuine, but it was denied. 

“We could, but that’s no fun.”

“I find you painfully unfunny, Y/N.” You smiled to yourself at his blatant lie. Everyone found you funny. 

Before you could think of a retort, Sylus pulled out a large velvet box and slid it toward you on the table.

“What’s this?”

“The necklace.”

You opened it up eagerly and the sight of it brought pure bliss to your heart. It was exactly like the one your mother wore, and it was even more beautiful in person.

“It’s perfect. Thank you.” Feeling slightly remorseful for your attitude prior to the gift-exchange, you gave him a sheepish smile.

Sylus watched you lift it up to put it on, but quickly interjected. “Allow me.” He stood up, walking toward your seat. Flushed, you clumsily turned around so your back was facing him. You felt goosebumps on your skin when his cold hands bunched your hair away from your neck, the tips of his fingers leaving a trail of wired nerves in their wake.

You took your hair from his hand to hold it up, the mere feeling of your fingers brushing his gave you heart palpitations. The act was way too intimate, and despite how it good it felt to have him so close, your brain knew it was safest to pray it would be over soon.

When Sylus was done he spun you around to face him and shamelessly observed his handiwork. “It looks good.” Your brain short-circuited the moment your eyes met his, so you sat in front of him in complete silence.

The moment was rudely interrupted by the sound of a familiar voice.

“Sylus? Y/N? Fancy seeing you here!” You both turned to the source of the voice to see Miss Hunter in a beautiful baby blue gown. As if you didn’t feel bad enough about your choice in attire. You began to smile until you noticed that the arm linked with hers belonged to your mortal enemy. Dr Zayne. 

You got up to greet them, despite your primal urge to push Zayne off the roof, but Sylus beat you to it. “Miss Hunter, always a pleasure.” You tried not to gag at the sight of Sylus being so gentlemanly. It became particularly hard when he kissed the top of her hand. 

“I didn’t know you knew Dr Zayne.” The comment slipped out of Sylus’s tense smile with a twinge of what you thought was hostility. Was he jealous that she was with Dr Zayne? Were you jealous that he was jealous? Are you in a soap opera?

“Oh, he’s a childhood friend andmy doctor! I’m very lucky. How do you know him?” Before you could whisper to Sylus to make up some excuse, he was firing off information about your personal life to the last two people you wanted to discuss your personal life with. 

“He was Y/N’s mother’s doctor.” Everyone went tense, everyone except for Miss Hunter, of course. 

Your eyes followed her as she turned to you, praying she wouldn’t ask about your mother’s health. Instead, she praised your nemesis. “He’s brilliant, isn’t he?”

You wanted to scream in protest. You wanted to swing a chair into Dr Zayne’s head, and then use the broken scraps to beat him to a pulp. But you opted to force a painful smile instead. 

“He’s definitely something.” You looked right at Zayne, hoping he’d understand the implications of your backhanded compliment.  

“Well, we were just here to celebrate my birthday yesterday, but the hostess said it was all booked out and silly Zayne forgot to make a reservation. We just came up to the rooftop to get some pictures, but you guys should enjoy your dinner!” Miss Hunter’s polite dismissal was the perfect opportunity to end the painfully awkward interaction and move on with your night. 

“Thanks.” You were about to return to your seat when Sylus decided to continue with his commitment to ruining your life.

“You guys should join us, the more the merrier, right Y/N?”

The question you had no idea how to answer only poked at the jar of pent up murderous rage you were trying to suppress. It wasn’t like you were subtle about your hatred for the Doctor, why the hell was Sylus inviting them to stay?

“Right.” You couldn’t have sounded less sincere if you tried, but you couldn’t bring yourself to care. You had to focus on making it out of this building without a homicide charge.

When Miss Hunter happily agreed, Sylus quickly waved down a waiter and made them transform your two-seater table into a four-seater. Unfortunately for you, the seating arrangements somehow ended up with you next to Zayne and Sylus next to Miss Hunter . 

Zayne could feel the hostility radiating off of you in waves, but he was too scared to do anything about it. 

“Happy birthday, by the way.” You offered Miss Hunter the nicety, since she was really the only innocent person at the table. Your unfounded hatred for her took the back-burner when Zayne was around. 

“Thanks, Y/N. I love your necklace, where did you get it?” Yet another question you didn’t know how to answer. If this was how the entire night was going to be you might as well cut your losses and take your chances with jumping off the roof.

“It’s um, custom made.” You avoided Sylus’s glare. 

“Well it’s beautiful.” You couldn’t help but smile at her compliment. Her sunshine-y attitude could rival yours. 

“Sylus knows the guy who made it, I’m sure he could get one for you too.” You glanced at him only to see him quirk an eyebrow at your response. Was he seriously mad? You were practically the world’s greatest wingwoman. 

When Miss Hunter turned to look at him, he quickly shut her down.  “He retired right after making that piece, actually. Something about getting arthritis.” 

He was definitely lying. You weren’t sure why he was gatekeeping this jeweller and you never got the chance to ask. 

“Oh, that’s unfortunate. Hey Zayne, you’ve been awfully quiet. Say something!” Miss Hunter gave him a playful push on the shoulder as she teased him. The sight would’ve been adorable if it weren’t for satan’s incarnate sitting inches away from you.

“Yeah Zayne, how was work? Steal anymore hearts lately?” You asked the deceivingly innocuous question while breaking apart a piece of bread. The double-entendre was like a secret you both shared; though the idea of sharing anything with that waste of space made you inscrutably angry. 

Sylus silently observed the interaction with curiosity. Your passive-aggressiveness was a trait he thought you only reserved for him. You were always nice, to everyone. Seeing you treat Zayne so coldly was like witnessing a beaver play the piano. It was unnatural. 

“Work went as well as expected.” Zayne’s clipped reply left no room for further discussion. The conversation came to do a lull, and you took it as the opportunity to excuse yourself to the bathroom. You immediately beelined away from the table that currently situated your nightmare blunt rotation and toward the women’s bathroom that was positively Zayne-free. 

The bathroom was just as extravagant as the rest of the restaurant but you didn’t get to admire it before you splashed water on your face in an attempt to cool down. There was no way you could last an entire dinner next to Zayne. Maybe you could say you were feeling sick. Probably a bad idea when he’s a doctor. Work emergency wasn’t plausible, your boss was at the table. What if you just ran away? You could live with the shame and embarrassment.

You looked up at the ceiling and silently cursed the heavens for your terrible luck. Seriously, you must’ve been a serial killer in your past life to deserve this fate. It was a never-ending series of unfortunate events, and you were desperate for a break. 

When you eventually left the bathroom, Zayne was standing right outside the door. He startled you, but the moment the shock wore off your face morphed into a deadly glare. 

“Look, I know you think I’m a terrible person but—”

“Monster is the term I’d use, but go on.” You rudely interrupted Zayne. He chose not to acknowledge your comment. 

“I rarely get to spend time with MC and I’d really appreciate it if you didn’t ruin her birthday dinner because of me.” It didn’t take long for you to realise that MC must’ve been Miss Hunter’s first name. 

Zayne ruined everything he touched, he needed no help from you. 

“I’m sorry, does the fact that I’m angry at you for letting my mother die put a damper in your dinner plans?”

“Yes it does, actually.” Zayne responded quickly. He either didn’t understand sarcasm or was an even bigger dick than you thought.

“Then might I suggest you take her someplace else. It’s your fault you couldn’t get a table here. Why should I have to suffer because your incompetence knows no bounds?” You couldn’t think of a time you’d insulted someone so much in such quick succession. Dr Zayne brought out the worst in you, but you could reflect on your actions later. Right now you were at war. 

“We are perfectly capable of having an amicable dinner.” 

You rolled your eyes at his condescending tone. “You might be, I’m not that mature.” 

“Y/N. We’re both adults.” He pleaded.

“Bite me.” 

Before Zayne could open his mouth again, Sylus interrupted.

“Everything all good here?” For once in your life, you were grateful for Sylus’s interruption. 

“No.” You said.

“Yes.” Zayne also said, at the exact same time.

“Zayne you should head back to the table. Miss Hunter's waiting for you.” Zayne didn’t think twice before taking the out and you internally flipped off his retreating form.

Sylus grabbed you by the forearm, his grip tight as he dragged you to a secluded part of the rooftop and away from the bathrooms. 

“What’s going on with you?” He asked the moment you stopped moving, his hand still gripping onto your arm like a vice. 

“Can you let go? You’re hurting me.” He quickly released you, his eyes washing over with something you couldn’t recognise as you soothed the part he’d rubbed raw. 

“Why are you acting so childish?” His question would've angered you had you not been angry already.

“I hate his guts.” The response did not help your case, but you weren’t very articulate when you were upset. 

“What did he do to you?” Sylus’s eyes narrowed, and he spoke in a low tone that was laced with danger. You didn’t think too much of his strange reaction, Sylus acting strange was pretty much the only consistent thing in your life lately. 

You gnawed on your lip, unsure of how to respond. Your grievance against the world-renowned doctor was one you’d always kept to yourself. After all, everyone had nothing but praise for the brilliant Dr Zayne. 

“Y/N, if he touched you I’ll—” Your eyes quickly widened in shock at his interpretation.

“No! Nothing like that. It’s just, a few days before my mom died, a heart came in that was a match. But there was this other guy who was younger and needed it just as badly. The policy was that the hospital's medical board would vote on who got the heart and the entire board, Zayne included, unanimously agreed that the heart should go to the other guy.” They said it wasn't personal, that it had everything to do with survival rates, but there was no way to detach personhood from medicine.

You realised that when you said it out loud, your hate seemed unfounded. “I know it wasn’t entirely his fault, but he didn’t even try to give my mom a fighting chance. He didn't say anything to sway them, he just silently agreed. He was supposed to be her advocate.” The frustration began to boil over, and before you knew it there were tears welling up in your eyes.

“God, I spent every last dollar of my paycheque to make sure she got the greatest medical care money could buy. Everyone said he was the best, but when it really mattered, he did nothing for her. I was such an idiot.” There was an uncontrollable fountain of tears streaming down your face, and you were grateful for Sylus’s decision to drag you to somewhere secluded. 

The familiar tendrils of an oncoming panic attack began to wash over you as you began to hyperventilate. No matter how much you wanted to blame Dr Zayne, or the universe, or your shitty luck, the only person you could really blame was yourself. You sent her to that hospital, you convinced her to hold on for a transplant, you spent her last months on this Earth slaving away in another city instead of by her side. There was no way to get that time back. 

“Y/N, look at me. It’s not your fault.” Sylus’s voice was like a beacon of light that led you through the dark tunnel you were trapped in. He cradled your face in his hands, wiping away your tears as they continued to stream down your face. But when your tears showed no signs of slowing, he pulled you into his arms, his hands holding your tear-stricken face against his chest.

He ran his long fingers through your hair as he whispered everything you wanted to hear. "It’s not your fault. It’s okay to hate him. It will get easier."

You weren’t sure how long you spent with your face buried in his chest, but by the time you’d returned to reality, his white dress shirt was slightly transparent where your tears soaked through the material. 

You laughed a little at the sight, and the corners of Sylus’s lips raised ever so slightly at the sound. When he saw you were okay, Sylus began to speak. “Don’t move. I’ll grab your bag and we’ll get out of here.”

Before he could leave you tugged on the sleeve of his suit jacket. “Hey, I’m sorry I ruined your dinner.” You truly were. Sylus did not deserve to be subjected to yet another one of your meltdowns, but he seemed to have a habit of being at the wrong place at the wrong time. 

“No it's my fault, I ruined it by inviting them to join us. I promise I’ll make it up to you.” Sylus then manoeuvred through the restaurant toward the nightmare table. When he returned with your bag in one hand and the other outstretched toward you, your heart skipped a beat. Or two. He played the role of the knight-in-shining-armour quite seamlessly, and he looked every bit the handsome prince charming. You tried to remind yourself why it was so dangerous to be attracted to a force like Sylus, but when he smiled at you like you were the only two people in the room, all caution was thrown to the wind. 

_____________

In the spirit of making things up to you, you made Sylus take you to a restaurant of your choosing. It was a hole-in-the-wall dumpling place that charged so little one would question if they were serving real meat. But you never found better dumplings, so you took the risk anyway.

The dynamic was completely subverted as you sat on the table that was slightly sticky with cheap cleaning chemicals. Sylus was the one who looked out of place, his suit was unarguably the most expensive thing in the room and it brought joy to your miserable night to see him out of his comfort zone.

“How did you find this place?” The question was warranted, other than you two, the only other occupants in the restaurant were a few middle-schoolers.  

“I used to come here a lot with my friends in high school.”

“Did they all die from food poisoning?” Sylus seemed proud of his quick-witted joke. You gave him a pointed glare to convey just how unfunny that joke was. 

“Funny, but no. We just drifted apart after we graduated.” The clipped reply shut down any further inquiry. You thought back to the fond memories you had in that restaurant. Things were different when you didn’t yet know the cost of failure; before you knew what you’d be losing. And while everyone may have moved on from this small town in the N109 Zone, you never left. 

“Do you even have any friends?” You choked on your drink at the question. He was genuinely asking and the worst part was, you really didn’t.

Your constant struggle to make ends meet and maintain a high GPA for your academic scholarships made it impossible to have a social life. It didn’t help that you went to a college you couldn’t afford. It was hard to find people to relate to when everyone had grown up with silver spoons. Then after you graduated you landed at Onychinus, and it wasn’t exactly a friendly environment.

“Of course I have friends.” Your lie was a feeble attempt to preserve the last of your dignity. Sylus had seen you at your absolute worst, but there was something extremely dehumanising about letting him know you were insanely lonely.

“Really, who?” His genuine surprise only made your insecurity worse.

“You don’t have to sound so shocked. Plus, you wouldn’t know them.” 

“Try me.” Of course he wouldn’t drop it. When has Sylus ever let something go?

“Well, there’s Mr Demir, and Luke and Kieran, and my newly acquired friend Dr Hunt.” In a desperate attempt to keep up your lie, you pretty much just named all the people you knew. 

“Y/N, that’s the man who sells you your sandwiches, my assistants, and a geologist who sold you a gem.” 

“Has anyone ever told you that no one likes a know-it-all?” 

“I think you should get out more. Maybe tone down the sarcasm and you might just make a friend or two.” Your jaw-dropped in faux shock at his unsolicited advice.

“You’re one to talk, your best friend is a mechanical crow.” You snuck a dumpling off of his plate while he was distracted.

“I don’t need friends, they’re unnecessary burdens.” He took a swig of his beer. You thought he’d burst into flames if he drank anything other than red wine, but he adapted to his surroundings with little effort.

You put a hand on your heart as if in pain and jokingly gave him a solemn look.“Then why would you wish such a cruel fate onto me?”

“Because I hate seeing you this miserable, Y/N.” The amusement from your banter died a quick death at his confession. You thought you kept it together most of the time, though bawling your eyes out in the N109 Zone’s hottest restaurant probably didn’t do that facade any good. But for the most part, you handled the death of your mother relatively well. 

“I’m not miserable. Not all of the time at least. Like right now, I’m only mildly annoyed!” You tried to change the topic the only way you knew how, with humour, but Sylus wasn’t budging.

“You take care of everyone but yourself and all it’s done is isolate you. There needs to be a give and take, sweetheart. People don’t like feeling useless.” He spoke to you softly, as if he was scared the timbre of his voice would cause you to shatter into a million pieces. 

There was a sinking feeling in your stomach that followed his oddly specific guidance. He seemed to know more about you than you thought he did, and you were torn between feeling seen and feeling judged. 

“That’s sound advice. Guess you’ve been reading more magazines.” You were grasping at straws, willing to try anything to get the unwanted spotlight off of your inadequacies. 

“You also need to learn how to accept help without downplaying your problems.” 

“Okay, okay. You sound like my mother. Has her soul possessed you?” There you go Y/N. Play the dead mom card, that’ll work. 

He chuckled at your joke. You knew he found you funny.

“You don’t know when to quit, do you?”

“Yeah, the manufacturers didn’t include an off-switch. No refunds, sorry.” You stuffed a dumpling in your mouth as the tension subsided. 

“Oh, I’m not returning you, sweetheart. They’ll have to pry you from my cold dead hands.” While you knew he was probably referring to the value you brought his company as his accountant, you couldn’t stifle the butterflies that wreaked havoc in your stomach.

You didn’t move when Sylus’s car stopped outside your house. 

“Thanks for tonight, I had fun. Sorry it didn’t go to plan.” You turned to him after you unbuckled your seatbelt and the tight confines of the car felt even smaller.

“It’s fine, I liked this version of events better anyway.” His low voice reverberated through the small distance between you, nestling in your heart that was beating unhealthily fast. 

“Me too. Next time you take a girl to dinner you ought to let her know if she’s supposed to dress like she’s going to the met gala.” Your advice had a bitter undertone because part of you still wished you could be the only girl he’d take to dinner. 

“I usually do, but this particular girl doesn’t need a fancy dress to be the most beautiful girl in the room.” The candid compliment made the butterflies do summersaults, and while their gymnastics routine continued, you found yourself at a loss for words.

“Goodnight, Y/N.” Sylus leaned over the centre console and opened the door for you, completing the chivalrous act of opening the door for you in his own unique fashion. He was so close, all it would take was one small move and his lips could’ve been on yours.

“Goodnight.” You barely got the word out through the sudden bout of breathlessness you were experiencing. And when you were finally encased in the familiar four walls of your home, you thought about every moment you shared with Sylus and how different he seemed from the man you knew before. 

The weekend passed by in a blur. The necklace that looked like a carbon copy of your mom’s was nestled on your neck. A permanent reminder that made ‘Operation Sylus: No More’ infinitely harder to achieve. 

Perhaps you shouldn’t have asked him to stop being a dick, because what you thought would be an easy feat was beginning to feel like climbing a mountain with a peak you couldn’t even see. 

You were staring at the list on your notes app on your brand new phone in hopes of searing it into your memory. 

Operation Sylus: No More

The foolproof guide of getting rid of all feelings Sylus related by the end of November. 

Step 1: avoid Sylus and all thoughts of him at all costs.

Step 2: no more funny jokes, his laugh is seriously deadly. 

Step 3: force yourself to remember Miss Hunter in moments of weakness. She’s the one he really wants. 

Step 4: try to find love elsewhere, like the corner shop owner, he may be in his 50s and happily married but he’s kind of a silver-fox!

Step 5: do not, under any circumstances, allow yourself to be alone with Sylus for too long.

You violated step 5 that Friday when you let him take you to dinner and you were reaping the consequences of your mistake. There was no way you could survive the free-fall if you couldn't get your heart to obey your mind. The disconnect between the two vital organs might be the thing that kills you.

When you heard something shatter in the hallway, you quickly put your phone down and went out to investigate.

The door opened to Mephisto standing on a side table where an empty vase used to sit. The vase was now on the floor in pieces in front of your feet. 

“You did this on purpose.” You pointed an accusing finger at the bird, but all he did was tilt his head to the side as if he couldn’t understand you. You knew he could understand you perfectly well.

The cold war between you two started in your first week at Onychinus when he would swoop at your head spontaneously for no reason. Sylus told you he did it to everyone he didn’t trust and that he’d be over it in due time, but you were too vindictive to let it slide. 

Several back-and-forth pranks later, the bird seemed to have remembered the tradition you managed to forget. “If this is your way of saying you miss me then you take an awful lot after your owner.” Your words faded as you made your way to the kitchen to find the broom. However, upon your return you saw that the floor was flawless and the door to your office was closed.

You rushed in with unparalleled speed to see your worst nightmare; Sylus leaning against your desk in his usual model-like fashion with your phone in his hand.

Panic coursed through you like never before as you remembered what had been left open on your phone when you set it down and the painful fact that you left it unlocked. 

Prayers for a sinkhole to open up and consume you in that very moment went unanswered as Sylus looked up at you with a smirk on his face.

“Is my laugh really deadly?” He looked amused. 

Come on sinkhole. Anytime now. 

When you didn’t answer, Sylus moved toward you. When he was close enough to touch you, he leaned down to make sure your eyes were on his.

“Your deadline is fast approaching, Y/N. Care for a progress report?” The taunting question made heat rush to your face.

“It was stupid, I wrote it months ago.”

“Then why did you have it open?” 

You couldn’t exactly tell him that his willingness to change his cold and cruel demeanour just to keep you as his accountant revived the feelings you thought were long dead. You definitely couldn’t tell him that the necklace that suddenly weighed down your chest made your heart skip a beat every time you touched it. And there was no way you were telling him that the dinner you shared was the happiest you’d felt in a long time.

“I was going to delete it when I heard Mephisto break something in the hallway.”

“Delete it? Guess you don’t need it anymore.”

“Nope.” You popped the P on the word for emphasis. “Can I have my phone back now?” He placed the device into your outstretched hand. 

“So how do you feel about me now, sweetheart?”

You tried your best to appear unperturbed by his taunting. “Mad at your blatant violation of my privacy.”

“Forgive me. I saw my name on your phone when I went to check in on you and I was curious.”

“Mephisto told you I broke the vase, didn’t he?”

“Don’t deflect. Do you still have feelings for me?”

“No, they’re gone. Can we please drop this? It’s embarrassing.” You lied in favour of self-preservation and hoped he wouldn’t be able to see through your act.

“There’s nothing to be embarrassed about, Y/N. Many women confess their love for me every month.” You rolled your eyes at his ardent display of over-confidence and narcissism, though you knew he wasn’t exaggerating.  

“Okay, brace yourself there bachelor. No one said anything about love.” It was true, you never said you loved him. Whether or not you did, well that was a secret you’d take to the grave. 

“So then which feeling are we discussing?” The loaded question came out of his mouth so casually, like someone ordering a latte. A display of power that reminded you of just how little this mattered to him. 

Your feet felt like they were grounded in their place by an invisible force and you were sure your cheeks were beet red. You knew your mouth was slightly agape in shock, but you couldn’t even close it. Meanwhile, Sylus was unfazed, treating your feelings like a game. 

“Since when do you even care about how I feel?” The sudden outburst was accompanied by your hand running through your hair out of frustration.

Sylus’s jaw clenched and for a moment he said nothing. There was no hint of amusement left on his features. 

“You think I don’t care about you?” He seemed irritated by the premise, but you couldn’t figure out why. You thought Sylus was proud of his clear disregard for other people’s emotions. 

“You treated me like gum stuck to the bottom of your boot for years. What reason did you give me to think otherwise?”

“I don’t know, maybe the fact that I pay you more than my highest ranking footmen. Or that I had Mephisto tail you when you used to bike to and from work to make sure you got home safe. Hell, I invented the lunch budget when I hired you just to make sure you were eating— I even banned mushrooms from my kitchen in case you wanted to eat here. Not to mention the bullshit extra work I’d assign you just so you would stay longer.” 

Choosing not to dwell on the implication of his silent acts of kindness, you interjected. “Hey, I took those tasks seriously!” The twins thought you were crazy when you asked if Sylus was making those assignments up. You knew you were right. 

“Don’t interrupt me.” Your mouth clamped shut at his rather reasonable request. Sylus wasn’t a big talker, so when he monologued, it was important. 

“Your kindness, your humour, it all caught me off guard. No one ever treated me like you did and I had no idea how to feel. The little doodles you sent back to me on the notes I left you delineating tasks? I kept every last one. When Mephisto complained to me about that time you put corn-starch in his water fountain and almost destroyed his wiring, all I could do was laugh. I treated you like I treated all my men because I didn’t want people to find out that you were my weakness.”

You swallowed the lump in your throat, but the pressure wasn’t budging. There was so much you didn’t know about Sylus, so much you completely misunderstood. This revelation caused a series of chain reactions to go off inside your brain and the weight of what he was trying to say felt suffocating.

You dreamed of a time where Sylus would reciprocate your feelings, but the reality of it was more daunting than you realised.

“All my threats are empty with you, Y/N. You’re the only one who gets away with the attitude you give me. You tell me you crashed a car worth over half-a-million dollars and all I could think about was if you were okay. I even offered to buy your house for way more than it was worth just to get you back. Do you seriously think I don’t care?” 

All sound came to a stifling halt. 

“Wait, you were the ‘developer’?”

The inklings of betrayal wove their way through your skin as the pieces began to fall into place. The timing of the eviction notice, the fact that he’d shown up at your house the day you received it, the way he was so quick to agree to the ridiculous bonus. 

He manipulated you like a puppet on a string and let you think you were in control the entire time.

“Don’t look at me like I’m some traitor.” His audacious demand made your blood boil.

“You are a traitor! How could you do that to me?” You yelled.

“You were going to leave me like I was nothing!” For the first time since you’d met him, Sylus raised his voice to match yours. Your entire body went cold at his vulnerability. He was afraid of being abandoned, and that was a fear you both shared.

“Not seeing you every day made my heart feel like it was being ripped out of my chest. I could barely focus, all I could think about was what you were doing, who you were with. So imagine my surprise when I come to find that while I’m being tortured every minute I’m away from you, you needed more time.

“I knew I was being selfish, I knew that your grief had nothing to do with me, but I’ve never been good at putting my feelings into words. That day in the graveyard when you wouldn’t even look at me, I thought I’d lost you for good. It ate at me like a parasite. I had to get you back and I won’t apologise for not playing fair. There isn’t a rule I wouldn’t break for you, Y/N.”  

It was hard to hate him for what he did when you understood where he was coming from. You were two sides of the same coin. While you overcompensated for the lack of love in your life by becoming the ultimate people-pleaser, he avoided it at every turn, saw it as a weakness. But at the core of every human being was an innate desire to be loved and an inherent fear of being abandoned. 

People couldn’t leave your life if you never let them in. That was a philosophy you saw both your mother and Sylus live by. It was lonely and difficult, and if you had the power of hindsight you would’ve tried harder to convince your mother she was worthy of love. You couldn’t make that same mistake again. 

You loved Sylus, that much was ingrained into the flesh of your heart. For all his rugged edges, he had a way of making things happen that was akin to magic. His determination, his grit, it was admirable.

His intelligence was infuriating, you couldn’t get anything past him. If he received the Greeks’ horse instead of the Trojans, you were sure he’d have seen right through their ruse. 

His desire to make the N109 Zone a better place stemmed from a sense of altruism you could only hope to possess. And when Sylus did things for others, he never expected anything in return. 

But for all his greatest traits he had some difficult ones too. He’d hurt you more times than you could count, and even if he’d changed drastically since your mother’s death, you couldn’t quite trust that he wouldn’t hurt you again.

“You already know how I feel about you.” You confessed. It was no secret you wore your heart on your sleeve, despite your mother’s constant reminders that the world was filled with terrible people who’d take advantage of your candour. You chose to see the good in others, it boded better than the grim lifestyle that came with perpetual pessimism. 

“Then why are you fighting this?” His question came out pained, and it was one you could answer. 

“I’ve loved you for a long time, Sylus. I loved you even though you insulted me, ignored me, reminded me I was replaceable every chance you got.

“I told myself it was just how you were, that it wasn’t personal. But when you walked out on me in the hospital when I needed you the most, I loved you a little less.”

Sylus felt an unfamiliar twinge in his chest, like someone took a needle to his heart. He left that hospital because he wasn’t sure you’d even want him there, and it pained him to see you so distraught over a problem he couldn’t fix. When MC came to him with an important mission in Skyhaven, he saw an out, and like the coward he was he took it. If he knew that you’d lose your mother while he was away, he never would have left your side. 

“When you didn’t call until weeks later, when you showed up only to tell me I was being dramatic for grieving, I loved you even less. Every time you screwed me over you made it easier to live without you.”

It hurt to remember the pain you were in back then, the immense pressure of the burdens you carried. But if there was ever a chance of you and Sylus working out, he needed to know the truth. 

“I’ve only ever loved two people, Sylus, and in one month it felt like I’d lost them both. I still love you, I’m afraid I couldn’t stop if I tried, but I don’t know if I can be more than your accountant right now.” You couldn’t survive another heartbreak, that much was for sure. 

Even though Sylus looked like he was going to be sick, you continued. 

“I thought I was okay with you treating me like everybody else, thought I was strong enough to take it. But when I saw you with Miss Hunter and the softness with which you spoke to her, it broke me. I saw that you were capable of being gentle. You just didn’t think I was a worthy recipient of your kindness.”

He was quick to correct you. “That’s not true, sweetheart. Not at all. She has something I need, something I can’t take with force. It’s why I’ve had to adopt unusual methods. If I’d known it was causing you so much pain I would’ve explained. Fuck, Y/N, you deserve so much more than just my kindness, more than I could ever give you. I can’t even think of a person on Earth who deserves you at all.” 

When Sylus saw the tears begin to slide down your cheeks, he resisted the urge to wipe them away.

“I’ll give you anything you ask for, anything but letting you go. There’s nothing so broken it can’t be fixed, Y/N. You taught me that. Let me fix this.” He tested the waters by taking your hand in his and when you let him, he pulled you into his arms. 

For a moment, the room was silent. You listened to his heartbeat through his chest and it might have been even faster than yours. It felt like deja vu, reminding you of that moment in the restaurant, or that time in his hallway after Zayne’s phone call. Sylus was there to comfort you more often than not, why were you so scared of letting him in?

“I want to believe you, I just don’t know that I can.” Your voice was small, timid. As if you were afraid something you’d say would shatter the sanctity of this moment and you’d find out it was all a dream. 

“I won’t stop trying until you do, sweetheart. You’re it for me, there’s no one else.” He kissed the top of your head with a softness you didn’t know he possessed and the words were like bandages wrapping around the wounds inflicted by your own envy.

In the comfortable silence, Sylus made a vow. “I don’t have regrets — you know that quite well — but I regret the way I treated you. I’ll spend every lifetime repenting for my mistakes, Y/N, and I promise I’ll never let anything hurt you again.” He squeezed you tighter and the comfort his warmth brought you was a welcome change to the cold you lived in all the time. 

Desperate to diffuse the overwhelming angst of the situation, you pulled away from his embrace and clapped your hands together. “Okay then, as of today we commence ‘Operation Sylus: The Redemption'.”

His loud laugh resounded through your office, and it was a sound you’d never get tired of hearing. He grabbed your chin. “Have you always been this corny?” 

“I watch a lot of movies, okay? Now, shake on it.” You shook his hand off your face and held out your hand with an invitation that he instantly accepted. With his warm hand encasing yours, you whole-heartedly hoped this operation would be a success. 

Late December

You assumed the dynamic between you and Sylus would drastically change following your impromptu heart-to-heart. But the changes came in small waves. 

It started with the middle-aged man who silently drove you to and from work with a permanent scowl on his face being replaced by Sylus himself.

Then there was the sticky notes he’d usually place on documents explaining the task and deadline, now with an added addendum.

— That necklace was the best decision I’ve ever made.

— Your hair looks especially nice today.

— Did you switch perfumes? I like it.

— That new lipstick suits you. Your lips are all I can think about. 

You saved all of them in a drawer at your desk. 

He had someone bring you your lunch every day and spent your entire lunch break with you. Somedays you talked until your tongue felt like it was going to fall off, other days you just sat and ate together in silence. And every Friday afternoon, instead of taking you straight home, he’d take you to visit your mother’s grave with a new bouquet in his hands. 

You were glad he was taking things slow. His small gestures made your heart flutter without overwhelming you, but it had been a month since your confrontation, and he didn’t even try to touch you. 

While your inexperience with love, lust and romance never impacted any significant aspect of your life before, it was growing increasingly difficult to wait for Sylus to make the first move. He didn’t want to scare you, that much was understandable. But you were growing angsty waiting for him the tension between you two hit a boiling point.

The glorious plan came to you while you were shopping with Luke and Kieran for Onychinus’s annual Christmas gala. It was a networking event masked under the guise of a holiday celebration where the people hiding in the shadows of the underworld could spend one night communicating on the surface.

Every year, Sylus insisted he couldn’t outsource waiters for the event because of potential security leaks, so you, the twins and a couple other of his staff were forced to fill in as the help. Sylus told you that you wouldn’t have to participate this year, but you began to look forward to the event. It was like an unorthodox Christmas tradition.

Your eyes drifted to the costume section of the party store, and when they landed on a short red Santa’s helper dress, you felt a lightbulb turn on in your head. Maybe you had to give Sylus a little nudge.

“Hey, aren't you guys kind of bored of the slacks and the dress shirts he makes us wear?” You sowed the seed of doubt into your unwilling accomplices.

“Duh. I hate dressing like a butler.” Luke’s eyes continued to scan the aisle for decorations. The hall was professionally decorated, but you added your own little details every year. It made things less drab and it gave the twins an excuse to spend hours in the party supply store. 

“What if we went with Christmas themed costumes this year?” The twins turned to look at you with confusion, but they quickly warmed up to the idea when you pointed at the wall of seasonal costumes.

“I’m Rudolph!” They made their declarations in unison before breaking out into an argument in the middle of the party store.

“Just flip a coin!” You desperately suggested, taking a coin out of your wallet and placing it on your thumb, ready to flip. People were beginning to stare.

“I’m heads!” They said in unison, again.

“Kieran you’re heads, Luke you’re tails.” You assigned them the parts of the coin alphabetically and watched it flip through the air. When it landed in your hands, it displayed tails. You silently hoped they would move on from this unnecessary battle and restore peace to your shopping trip again.

“Sorry Kieran, Luke’s Rudolph.” Kieran complained for the rest of the day about how annoying being an elf was, and how, since he was an inch taller than Luke, it only made sense for Luke to be the elf instead. 

They argued like the siblings you never had, and for all the pain and suffering they caused you, there was no denying you loved having them around. Besides, working for Sylus left the three of you trauma-bonded for life. There wasn’t really an out from this unconventional friendship. 

_________________

You failed to remember to clear the costume idea with Sylus before the gala. He was just so busy trying to organise the event, and you were similarly swamped with ensuring all the invoices were sent out on time to the right vendors. You barely saw each other in the days leading up to the big event.

The dress was shorter on you than you anticipated. Coming up just above mid-thigh, it was nothing like anything you owned in your closet. The little hat it came with was cute though and you pinned it to your hair. The make-up you wore was the same as your everyday makeup, barring the eyeliner you’d spent way too long trying to perfect and your lipstick. 

Other than the dress, you really did look the same as you did most of the time. Would Sylus even notice?

Right on cue, a knock on your door snapped you out of your train of thought, and you took a deep breath before opening it. 

As you expected, Sylus looked unfazed by your choice in attire as you moved out of the doorway to let him in.

“I see we’ve foregone the uniforms this year.” His comment was a welcome distraction from your insecurities.

“Whimsy is part of the Christmas spirit, you know.”

“It’s cute. Did you get that dress from the children’s section?”

The question came so out of left-field it left you were stunned. Once the shock settled in, you suddenly felt self-conscious.

“No… Why? Does it look childish?” You couldn’t help the vulnerability in your voice. 

Sylus closed the distance between you in a few long strides, his hands were on you in an instant. His palm was holding onto your waist the other tracing alone the edge of your dress. 

“Quite the opposite, I’m just wondering why they’d make a dress so short for adult women.” 

“Adult women can dress however they want, Sylus.” You chided.

“I know, but I’ll have my hands full if I’m trying to host this event and take care of the hoards of men that will be chasing after my girl at the same time.” He whispered the words seductively into your ear, the hand on your thigh slipping ever-so-slightly under the dress.

You ignored the warm, fuzzy feeling that bloomed through you at the sound of Sylus calling you his girl.

“There won’t be ‘hoards of men’. This will be the third time I’m working your annual gala and I’ve only ever gotten hit on like four times.” You knew from the way his eyebrows furrowed that you shouldn’t have told him that.

“Four times? Men hit on you four times while I was in the room and you didn’t tell me?” He was clearly angry, his rage unwarranted since it happened right under his nose. 

“I didn’t think you’d care. Most of them were like fifty, anyway!” That was true, and every time one of them placed a hand on your shoulder or your forearm, it made you grimace. 

“If men approached you in long pants and a dress shirt with a plate of refreshments in your hand what do you think they’ll do when they see you in this get up?” He walked you back until you were standing against the wall.

He had a point. Maybe it was too suggestive.

“I can change—”

“No. You never have to do that with me, baby. Just stay where I can see you, alright?” 

“Okay.” You felt a blush paint your cheeks. The tension was bubbling up between you. His hand was searing into your waist, his other one moving dangerously high on your thigh. You really thought this would be the moment he kissed you. But then the warmth of his hands was abruptly gone. 

“Okay. You ready to go?” He held the door open for you. That was it? Frustrated at your lack of results, you silently walked out of your house.

__________________

“Did you see Sylus’s date?”

“Of course, she’s definitely the hottest girl here.”

“I bet she’s had work done.”

“If so, I need the name of her surgeon.”

You eavesdropped on the hushed whispers of a group of women who were gossiping in a corner near the kitchen. The second you walked through the doors of the extravagant event hall, you both went your separate ways and you hadn’t seen him since. So much for not letting you out of his sight. 

All you heard about the entire night was his mysterious date and her envious beauty. He never told you he was bringing one, nor did he ever ask you to fill the spot. But before you could completely spiral, you reminded yourself of Sylus’s promise. He wouldn’t do anything to hurt you. There had to be a perfectly reasonable explanation. 

“Now what’s a pretty girl like you doing working here?” Your train of thought was interrupted by the voice of a man. You turned around, expecting to see one of the many sleazy old men who frequented these events and saw you as an easy target, but all you saw was a young, attractive guy in a three-piece suit. Huh.

“Hors d’oeuvre?” You offered the plate to him in place of a response. 

“No thanks. I’ve had my fill, though I must say, the other servers aren’t quite as easy on the eyes as you.” His eyes shamelessly scanned every inch of you, head-to-toe, and you felt uncomfortable under the scrutiny of his gaze. 

“Oh, um thanks.” The blush on your cheeks was an unwanted biological reaction, you weren’t used to attention from men within your age range. It wasn't like you thought you were ugly, you were just a bit of a hermit.

“What’s your name, beautiful?” You were about to answer his question when someone did it for you.

“Y/N.” The voice belonged to the man of the hour who seemed to have appeared out of thin air. 

“Sylus, hello. Hors d’oeuvre?” Clearly you were running out of things to say if your default reaction was to offer everyone a snack, but it was hard to find the voice to speak when you saw the girl who had her arms wrapped around his. 

Miss Hunter. You should’ve known. Your eyes passed over her beautiful dress and pinned up hair. She lived up to the rumours, she was definitely the prettiest girl in the room. Next to Sylus the pair reminded you of a renaissance painting. They made sense, and clearly not just aesthetically if he brought her as his date instead of you.

Sylus saw the way your eyes trailed off to MC standing next to him. He saw the self-doubt turn your eyes glassy, and all he wanted to do was whisk you away to a private room where he could show you just how badly he wanted you, and no one else.

But his enemies were in attendance tonight, it was part of the reason he didn’t want you there. Sylus’s only weakness used to be his mortality, and even that was debatable. But now his biggest weakness was tangible, and she wore an adorable Christmas themed dress that made every man in the room brim with desire. Miss Hunter may have been the focus of all the women in attendance, but all the men could talk about was the sexy server in the little red dress. It was driving him insane. 

But MC was a hunter and if he endangered her, she could get out of it unscathed without his help. Their enemies were the same, which made them perfect allies, but it also made their loved ones easy targets. Sylus would never forgive himself if he let someone hurt you. So despite the excruciating pain that coursed through him at your hurt expression, he did nothing to quell your concerns.

But he couldn’t idly stand by and let this man make a pass at you either. It was clear Henry was not aware of Sylus’s newly established no-fraternising-with-the-staff policy. 

“Henry, not distracting my staff, are you?” Sylus directed his attention to his business associate. Henry ran a security company which supplied a large portion of their weaponry from Onychinus. The contract they shared was a substantial source of revenue that Sylus couldn’t afford to compromise. 

“I’m just wondering where you found such delectable staff.” Sylus felt his jaw clench at the way Henry undressed you with his eyes and your consequential discomfort. Fuck the contract, he was going to make that man pay. But he couldn’t inflict his revenge quite yet, so he played nice. 

“Unfortunately my staff are exclusively mine. I’m sure you understand how difficult it is to find loyal help.” Well, at least he tried to play nice. The subtle jab at Henry’s recent whistleblower scandal was a low blow, but he wasn’t above kicking below the belt.

Annoyed and slightly confused by the exchange, you rolled your eyes at the testosterone-fuelled men bickering and cleared your throat.

“I think I’m needed in the kitchen. Nice meeting you, Henry.” You gave him the kindest smile you could muster and gave Sylus no smile at all. It was the least he deserved for blindsiding you with his date. 

“I should check on the catering, excuse me.” Sylus followed you to the kitchen and the second he caught up to you, he pulled you into a nearby storage closet.

There was barely any room for the both of you in there, so you were pressed up against his body. You tried to create some distance between you two, but he just pulled you back in by your waist.

“What are you doing? I’m supposed to be working and you’re supposed to be socialising. We can’t do those things from here.” You berated him quietly, your voice barely above a whisper. You didn’t really need anyone from the staff discovering you in this compromising position. You’d had enough embarrassment in one night for a lifetime.

“Miss Hunter is just here with me on business.” Sylus’s statement did little to comfort the tumultuous storm in your mind. 

“I don’t care.” In a sense, it was true. It seemed your mind didn’t care whether Miss Hunter was there with him on business or not, it still hurt all the same. 

“Don’t lie to me, I can tell when you’re upset.” Sylus tried to caress your cheek but you pushed his hand away. 

“Okay, fine. I’m upset. Now will you let me leave?” You tried to wriggle out of his grasp but to no avail. His hand squeezed your face as he forced you to face him. 

“If you’re upset, talk to me about it. Don’t antagonise me by flirting with other men. It won’t end well for them.” The fire in his eyes swore retribution and you did not want to be Henry right now.

“I wasn’t flirting!” You tried to defend yourself but you knew he’d see straight through your ruse. 

“That sweet smile of yours is reserved for me and me alone.” There was no way Sylus would’ve let that over-the-top smile slide and this was exactly how you expected him to react, but it only made you more upset.  

“Right, but I just have to make do with sharing you with Miss Hunter.” The irony of the situation was not lost on Sylus, but he had a laundry-list of crimes, hypocrisy was the least of them. 

“I’m all yours, baby. I promise it’s just business.” He sounded sincere, and you trusted him to tell you the truth. Sylus never lied unless it was out of omission, but when you asked him a direct question, he never failed to answer honestly. 

“I can help you with business.” You tried to reason, your palm resting against his pounding heart. 

“Not this kind, sweetheart. I’m just trying to protect you. I need you to trust me.” You trusted Sylus with your life, with your heart. Which was why you knew you wouldn’t like the answer to the question you asked next. 

“Did you sleep with her?” The mere thought of it tasted like acid on your tongue. It wasn’t like you weren’t aware of Sylus’s past, but where the other women in his life came and left like the tide, Miss Hunter’s presence was persistent. 

You needed to know just how far they’d gone, even if it might destroy you. 

“Yes. It was one time when we first met in September. Before I realised how I felt for you.” The words pierced straight through you like bullets of radiation. Your palm slowly slipped off of his chest and you diverted your gaze to your heels. “Y/N, you know I only want you. It meant nothing to me.” 

Perhaps it wasn’t the fact that they’d slept together that hurt you so deeply. Maybe it was the way he looked at her, the way she got under his skin. Sylus may love you, but what if he wasn’t attracted to you?

The thought slipped out of you before you could mull it over. “How am I supposed to believe that when you were all over in seconds and you won’t even kiss me?!” 

A hint of recognition flashed through Sylus’s eyes as he realised the catalyst behind your frustration. For some odd reason that he could never figure out, you were insecure. Even though your charm bordered on lethal and your beauty was unparalleled, you still felt inadequate. It perplexed him how someone could look so divine and not be aware of it.

“I haven’t kissed you because I wanted to make sure you were ready, sweetheart. I was worried I’d scare you away, because I’m sure if I got a taste of you I wouldn’t know how to stop.” He sounded strained when he spoke, as if he was recalling his frustration at having to hold back. 

You watched him intently, his words dripped with a desire you both shared. With his body so close to yours, it was hard not to wish he’d just act on his primal instincts. 

“You’re entirely unaware of your affect on me. You have no idea how precarious the string holding me back from insanity has become. When I saw you in that dress, I was sure I wouldn’t be able to hold back. But then you'd look up at me with those angelic eyes and I realise I can’t risk losing you.” 

Before you could even think it through, your desire became overwhelming and your lips were on his in an instant.

It was nothing like you expected, nothing like the chaste, sweet kisses you saw in your movies. It was heated, messy, desperate. His lips ravaged yours like a man on death row devoured his last meal. You felt his desire with every movement and all the doubt you had dissipated instantly. His hands were all over you, one softly held on to your neck, while the other held on to your waist like you might disappear. 

His lips moved to your cheek, your jaw and eventually the sensitive skin on your collarbone. When he bit a particularly sensitive part of your neck, you let out a whine. You hoped he hadn't given you a hickey. His face came up to yours as he looked at your lips which were red from the impact and the desire running rampant in your eyes. It might’ve been the most beautiful you’d ever looked.

“Well? I’m still here.” You whispered against his lips before giving him a chaste peck.

Sylus knew you weren’t just talking about this moment. You never left, even when he gave you a million reasons why you should. He didn’t know what he did to deserve such luck, but he knew he’d never give you a reason to walk away from him ever again.

“We should get out of here.” Somehow you knew he didn’t just mean the storage closet. He shifted to lead you out but you quickly stopped him.

“You can’t leave your own party! What about your date?” As much as the idea of MC hanging off his arm made your skin crawl, it wasn’t right to just leave her alone. 

“She’ll be fine. The only woman I care about is right in front of me, and I want to do so much to her than kiss her in a storage closet.” There was an underlying promise in his tone, and you felt the slightest bit of fear that you might’ve bitten off more than you could chew.

“You’ve lasted this long, what’s one more night?” Your last ditch effort to escape the dangerous situation was unsuccessful. 

“Sweetheart, I can't wait another second.” He gave you a soft, gentle kiss that conveyed his fraying restraint. Your fear felt inconsequential when he was with you, you knew you could trust him wholly with every part of you. 

So, when he led you out of the storage closet and all the way to his bedroom, you never once felt scared. Or insecure. Or inadequate. Sylus worshipped you like you were his salvation and he never once let you doubt yourself again.

Later that night, as you laid in his bed underneath his covers, staring over at his peaceful sleeping expression, you realised he was your salvation too.

Christmas Day

“What’s the surprise?” You asked the same question for the umpteenth time. 

“Just be patient, we’re almost there.” You let Sylus lead you through what you thought was a building while you obediently kept your eyes shut. Eventually your feet came to a halt, and you were bursting with anticipation. 

“Alright, open your eyes.” When you opened them you were in the living room of a charming beach house. It was so bright it took your eyes a while to adjust, but when they did you noticed that it was decorated with splashes of your favourite shade of yellow. The large balcony doors opened to the sight of a familiar beach, and you felt a range of emotions wash over you all at once. Sadness, nostalgia, yearning. 

“Merry Christmas, baby.” Sylus’s voice behind you snapped you back to reality. 

“What is this place?” The awe in your voice could not be concealed.

“It’s yours. I know how much you hate being on the beach, but I also know it meant a lot to your mother. From this balcony it’ll be like you’re right there without actually being there.” He sounded almost nervous while presenting his gift to you, worried you might hate it. But there wasn’t a word that could describe the pure gratitude and love you felt for the man standing in front of you. 

“You bought me a house on my mother’s favourite beach?” The disbelief in your voice was almost tangible. 

“Yeah.”

“Sylus, all I got you was a pocket watch!” You thought that since you were both not very big on Christmas, you would exchange small gifts. Clearly small wasn’t a word Sylus kept in his vocabulary. 

“You gave me so much more than that.” The suggestion in his voice did nothing to soothe your guilt. 

“This is too much.”

“Y/N, you’re more familiar with my assets than I am, if this made a significant dent in my bank account I think you would’ve noticed when I bought it a month ago.” 

“You’ve had this for a month?” The shock persisted, but he was right. His expenses ranged from a box of paperclips to the purchase of a two-hundred-million dollar industrial complex. 

“Yes, I bought it the first time you asked me to take you to the beach after work.”

“But what if we didn’t work out?” A month ago that seemed like a palpable possibility, but now you couldn’t imagine your life without Sylus in it.

“I’d find a way to trick you into taking it anyway.” 

You all but rolled your eyes at the memory of his less-than-graceful plan to acquire your house until you ended up working for him again. 

“Right, of course. You’re quite good at that I hear.” 

“I’m good at many things, I’ll remind you later.” He drawled against your ear, but before you could force him to act on his promise he spoke up again. “For now, there’s one more surprise.” 

You let Sylus lead you out to the balcony with his hands on your shoulders, driving you forward. He stood behind you, his chest to your back. He pointed to a hill on the left of the house where a beautiful willow tree sat atop the beach on a cliff.

“I bought that plot of land too. I don’t want to overstep, but if you’d like, we could move your mother here. Have her final resting place be at the place she loved the most.” His voice kept you anchored as memories of your mother threatened to pull you away. It still filled your chest with overwhelming sadness when you thought of her, but the thought that she could spend forever in the place that brought her the most joy filled you with relief. You didn’t get to give your mother much, but at least Sylus helped you give her this. 

You couldn’t stop the tears streaming down your face if you tried.

Sylus had come a long way from that day at the graveyard, an even longer way from the day you met him. The fact that he grew to care about your mother as much as you did made your heart swell with love for him that expanded every day. Something you didn’t even think was possible.

“She would love that.” Sylus wrapped his hands around your waist, placing an ever-so-gentle kiss on your temple. “I wish you could’ve met her when she was alive, you would’ve loved her.” They were both the strongest people you knew, and it pained you that they never got to meet. 

“I’m sure I would have. After all, I am a huge fan of her work.” You couldn’t help the laugh that escaped you at his cheesy joke. You were rubbing off on him, that was for sure. He peppered kisses all over the side of your face at the sound of your joyful laugh and you had to squeeze out of his grasp to make him stop. 

While you wished you didn’t have to lose someone so important to you to gain another, things always had a weird way of working out. Your future was still murky, but what you did know for sure was that ’Operation Sylus: No More’ could officially be declared a massive failure. And even though the physical hole in your heart still existed, the proverbial one shrunk to half it’s size; and you had the silver-haired man with the stone-encased heart of gold to thank for that. 

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Sorry if you were tagged but didn't get a notif, I think some of you might have your tags off because your blog wasn't coming up for me >:c

[4chensungs]

don’t kiss and tell

brothers best friend!jisung x fem. reader

after the incident of your brother finding out you hooked up with one of his friends, you promised to yourself to never look out for him anymore. but who says he’ll give up on you that easily?

wc. 2.8k

warnings. smut (mdni), jisung is down bad, body worship like crazy in here, tit sucking, fingering, ass slapping, unprotected sex

part 1 for context here <3

IT HAS BEEN one whole month since you last talked to jisung. one month since you saw him probably for the last time in a hot minute.

the last few weeks have been extremely unusual; you keep questioning yourself how was he doing, if he's even ever going to appear at your house again to hang out with you brother, like he always did. he's probably not.

and fuck jaemin, fuck him for screwing your bond with him. it's useless, pure jealousy and he's so stupid!, stupid for being this mad with one if his best friends of years, simply because he thinks you're still a child.

on the other hand, jisung is being not so subtle in the way he still wants you. he keeps liking the pics you post on your instagram stories, sometimes even replying to them. and it's the sad fact you're not giving him a single reply.

his mind wanders to the thought of you being already completely over him, wanting to distance yourself fully right now, thanks to your brother.

but your heart knows that's not what you want, and it keeps giving you a warning that the next time that you see him, these feelings will come back stronger than ever.

you miss him. so bad, thinking about him makes you sick.

you're laying in bed, scrolling quietly through your phone when the damn notification appears. why does he keep trying? you sigh out loud.

the__and.y liked your stories.

you ran your hands through your hair, turning off your phone to stare at the ceiling to collect your breath. you can't, your brother is still furious with both of you.

jisung ♡: why do u keep ignoring me in every existing social media

is he really going to do this? at this late at night?

jisung ♡: i miss you

you kept reading his messages and not replying. you didn't contact him for a month.

maybe, just maybe, things may have gotten lighter with jaemin. perhaps he's not really remembering this whole thing, yeah?

you: i'm sorry jisung

you: idk if this is right i really don't know

you: im confused

you turn off your phone again while waiting for his reply. let's give it a try.

jisung ♡: why wouldn't it be right

jisung ♡: jaemin can't control your life, you can do whatever you want

hm.

you: i felt bad that day and he's still so mad with you

you: idc if he's mad with me, he's my brother at the end of the day

you: i worry about you and how hes fucked up your friendship

jisung ♡: baby you know what's fucked up

jisung ♡: you trying to convince yourself that you don't want this because of him

jisung ♡: say to my face that you don't want it

you want this so fucking bad. to be in his arms again, and the thrill of being with him behind closed doors. god, that's all you want in every way.

you: ji

you: i want to see you

jisung ♡: that's right

jisung ♡: i've waited for this princess

jisung ♡: waited so long

you: i need you

you: i don't care anymore

you really don't give a fuck - your brother can hold his protectiveness instinct for himself, he actually can. you can't control what your heart aims for.

and it screams for park jisung.

"you can't ignore him forever, you know that?"

"who says I'm ignoring him? I texted him yesterday saying he should come this weekend." jaemin huffed, acting oblivious to the fact that the only reason why he invited jisung over was because of the boys' annual end of year party.

chenle deadpans at him with his stare, letting out a chuckle, "if you didn't invite him I would've done it myself." he paused, turning his head to look at the man, "that would be bullshit."

bullshit. jaemin swore he almost threw chenle out of the car in the harshest way possible - clicking his tongue in pure annoyance, "yeah, it was just fine when he fucked my sister behind my back."

"i'm pretty sure they did not fuck."

if you didn't then why were you both half naked. in his car. at your backyard?

"i'm telling you, I saw it. she was literally on top of him and she was fucking moaning his name, chenle. that's fucking wrong." your brother spat while still not looking at his friend - eyes focused on the road.

chenle keeps going, "cut this off, jaem. you can't see her as a baby anymore. let her live."

jisung is indeed coming to your house again - sooner than you thought. but it did take some days for you to find out, tho. you brother wasn't the one who told you.

in the same day, the last messages jisung sent you before you went to sleep.

jisung ♡: dress up prettily for me tomorrow

jisung ♡: will you?

you: what??

you: you're coming???

jisung ♡: jaemin told me to go and yeah i didn't expect it as well

jisung ♡: dreaming of you again

jisung ♡: kissing your sweet lips holding you so close to me

jisung ♡: it'll be all mine princess

you: go to sleep ji

you: silly

jisung ♡: i'll show you what's silly tomorrow

—

the sound of the boys laughing and loud pitching talking in the living room did quite mess with your head, anticipating the moment when he comes. it's crazy how you got so dolled up for him only, he's the reason why you're even going out of your room this night.

if it wasn't for jisung, you'd probably just greet the guys and come back to your own quiet place, drowning in your thoughts, alone. just like you always used to do before he appeared in your life.

a knock was heard on your door just right after you finished your makeup. unexpectedly, you meet a very tipsy jaemin.

"what the fuck is this outfit?" he spats, crossing his arms in front of his chest - his body unbalanced. for a split second, you closed your eyes and thanked all the existing Gods under your breath. he's drunk.

you smiled, "felt pretty today. you smell like beer, don't talk to me."

"hey, hey, hey." he grabbed your arm before you could close the door and kick him out, "come say hello to my friends. don't be rude."

you fixed your hair and outfit and went to the living room, being find with chenle, jeno and donghyuck's figures sat around the big table, nestled with all the different kinds of drinks and alcohol.

your breath hitched when jisung was nowhere to be found.

after greeting the guys, you decided to wait in your room - not sure on how, or when will jisung get there and you'll finally get to release all of your wants. show him how much you miss him and vice versa.

not much time had passed before another knock was heard on your door. you were sprawled on bed, dim lighting decorating the ambient.

"come in."

you said that because you thought it was your brother. jisung carefully opened the door, eyes peeking first to check on you.

that scene truly felt like a movie. you slowly got up, a smile starting to pop up in your lips as you walked to him.

your voice trembling, "hi, ji."

you opened the door fully for him to enter your space, he wasted no time to step in and pull you into a hug.

a mess was happening in your head, so ridiculously dizzy from him - the masculine smell of his cologne filling your nostrils, his hands holding your body flush to him while yours gripped his black t shirt, so simple and casual but yet made him look so attractive.

or maybe that’s just because you miss him a lot.

jisung leaned away from your embrace, gently taking your hair out of your face while holding eye contact - hands flew to your hips.

"you look gorgeous. more than ever."

your arms secured their hold around his neck, feeling your cheeks burning red from his words, "just for you." you announced.

he nodded, "all for me."

you both smiled like two idiots in love as he leaned down to kiss you, mouths melting so sweet at first - tongues brushing here and there, hums being heard throughout the kiss, "so pretty in this dress." he mumbles in between.

his back hits the door as he closes it, left hand leaving your hips for a mere second just to lock it.  making absolute sure that no one will be able to interrupt.

jisung grabs a hold of your thighs to help you walk further into your room, so familiar to him.

all the times you've sneaked out, when jisung slept by and left jaemin's room in the middle of the night when he was in a deep sleep. all behind his back with so much carefulness.

when he lays you down he's quick to trail his wet kisses down to your neck, firm hands caressing your whole body, going up and down in motions.

you arch into him, playing with his black hair strands as his face rests on your chest, meanwhile his lips keeps smooching your hot skin.

you sigh in contentment, knees pressing together - trying to give him a sign that you're needy, so painfully needy for him.

"jisung i want- mhhm" your words get cut off by your own whine when his hand grabs the top of your dress to pull it down, hanging it just below your bra.

"don't want to take your dress off.. youre looking too beautiful like this." his deep voice quietly said.

you smile at his sweet comment, holding back all your whines combined with the feeling of his fingers messing with the lace of your white bra, throwing your head back with no shame when he pulls the fabric down to expose your breasts, still not taking it off your body.

"so pretty, princess. i could admire you all day."

cool air is fast to hit but it's soon replaced by jisung's hot mouth, circling your breast with his tongue, hand massaging the other while his mouth does wonders on your soft flesh.

when he reaches for your nipple you whine even louder, his saliva pooling and soaking your whole breast when he sucks it into his warm hot mouth, humming nonstop.

"you're crazy ji-jisung."

"should i stop?" he teases, leaning his mouth away from your nipple and replacing it with his finger, rubbing it.

"no for fucks sake.. but I'm trying so hard to keep quiet." your voice trembled slightly.

jisung looks at you then laughs, “they’re so wasted right now, no one’s conscious in that room, love.”

you pout at him, he softly traces your bottom lip with his thumb before kissing you again, “I promise you, it’s okay. but I need you to tell me it’s okay with you.”

his soft and caring voice did turn you on even more, it shouldn’t, but it made you wetter. eyes holding so much love and appreciation looking at yours - “I want this. I want you, ji.”

jisung smiles one more time, giving you a nod and resumed his work, mumbling a deep “fuck” under his breath when he tested the waters, hand went under your dress to feel your core.

he pulled the ends of your dress up to your stomach, your thighs ridiculously pressed together. you should be ashamed of how wet you were, but you’re not, not even a single bit.

he gives your thighs a caress, “let me spread them, hm?”

your breath hitches when he brings your knees to your chest, spreading you all open and full for him. jisung mentally coos at the scene in front of him.

just like your bra, white lace panties with a wet dark patch decorated in the middle, like a gift for him. it drove him crazy.

“did you miss me that much, princess?” you can only moan as response when he touches the wet patch with his finger before pulling the lace to the side, holding it in place with one finger, while his middle finger travels up and down your cunt.

wet, so fucking wet, “fuck. love, i might cum just by looking at this.” he cursed and cursed again, eyes wide open and looking straight at your puffy displayed cunt, so wet just for him. he knew that and so did you.

“oh fuck baby i can’t-“ jisung’s fingers spread you open to admire you better - in love, genuinely in love with how your pretty pussy shines for him, glistening and begging to suck him in.

he leans down fast enough to give your clit a quick kiss, “can’t stop thinking about how beautiful she is.” still caressing your core.

you moan his name desperately at his nasty but sweet comment, tons of whines and “jisung” ‘s leaving your mouth.

“ji please. want your fingers.” you manage to say.

“of course, gotta prep my beautiful girl.” he smiles, an expert finger circling your clit before diving down into your entrance. covered with slick, your cunt invites him just as soon.

experienced fingers pumping in and out continuously, you whine with your eyes closed at the sound of wetness.

jisung’s in complete awe, stoping his staring at your hole to kiss your face, first at the corner of your mouth, then at your lips, shutting your whines off.

“you’re perfect.” he leans away to say.

nothing’s more perfect in this world than the sensation of his long and thick fingers inside you, scissoring you and reaching the deepest and most sensitive spots ever. you’ll say that to him later.

you try to smile but you soon harshly bite your lip when he curled his two fingers inside, you yelped, “jisung! oh my god-“

he kisses you again, and again, until he’s satisfied and thinks you’re ready to take him. jisung’s fingers leave you empty, and you let out a cry - his eyes make their way to between your legs to see how you’re pulsating.

“never seen my princess this wet..” deep cocky voice says.

you reach out to take off your dress, “i’ve missed you.”

when your dress was discarded to the floor, he was quick to unbutton his jeans as they went to the same destination of your clothes.

you could see his erection through his boxers, and as much as you want to such him off right now, you’re needing him inside. now.

your panties were about to be discarded before jisung grabbed your hand and shook his head, “want them on, baby. s’ pretty. keep the bra too.”

knowing how he likes it with you, you turned around and pinned your front to the bed, arching your back and your ass in the air.

“fuck, just like that.” he pumps his cock at first, cooing you while you wait for him.

jisung’s hands flew to your back to arch it even more, then to hold your hips. he rubs the head of his dick on your entrance, how your pussy almost sucks him in just from the rubbing.

when he enters you, you let out a little too loud moan. hands clutching the sheets and tears filling your eyes.

he’s completely focused on how you keep clenching around him - the amusing view of your cunt sucking him all the way in, then out again.

your hips were pressed to his shaft, feeling him so fucking deep into your womb.

jisung coos again, “you don’t know how I’ve been dying for this.” he slaps your ass.

“jisung! jisung fuck, jisung.” you whine like a baby, lost in the pleasure. ass stinging from his big hand slap and cunt begging to be filled until you get sore.

“my love.” another slap, “fucking made just for me.”

his cock is so big and it leaves you like a babbling mess, so big that it almost hurts from how good it is, hits you in all places.

you both were getting closer, his thrusts started to get sloppier and messier, slower as he pulled away to release at your back.

your own release dripped down your pussy and thighs, while his hot cum painted your back down to your ass cheeks. what a scene.

“want them all to see this mess.. jaemin needs to see how you’re good to me.“ he admires the sight of your cunt clenching and unclenching around absolutely nothing but the air, “can’t believe you’re mine and no one can ever change that.”

you tiredly laid back on your back again, trying to fix your hair. jisung’s sweaty body joined you after tossing the dirty sheets aside, he breathes heavy, but still with that cute smile on his lips.

“do you think they heard something?.” you look up at him, voice low.

jisung thinks for a second, furrowing his brows, “i honestly don’t think so, baby. but you need to change these sheets..”

“of course i will, ji.” you laughed fondly. there’s still some questions hanging in the air, with what face will he come back to the boys?

“and if they ask you where were you this whole time and what were you doing…?”

“then i’ll just say that i was fucking the prettiest girl in the family and i don’t regret it.”

—

© 4chensungs

[our-hextech-dream]

i haven't seen anyone fully articulate what i personally felt disappointed by wrt viktor's s2 persona and ending so i guess i have to do it myself even tho i'm bad at talking!! can someone who is better at this just read my mind and say it fancier and more coherently?

agency, the loss of

i have seen people already mention the way disability came into play at the end and what a wild choice it was for jayce - born able-bodied and healthy - to be the one to tell viktor - trapped in a body that was actively killing him - that actually your disability is a part of you and made you who you are and you owe everything to it. ... huh? jayce (by which i mean the writers), do you think without his disability, viktor wouldn't have still been a genius? yes, viktor is disabled - that's not even remotely what makes him a compelling character and power player. it is his mind not his body that makes him who he is. the fact that he had to waste almost his whole life fighting against that body to achieve anything is the entire crux of his frustration - imagine what he could have dedicated his mind to if he weren't constantly struggling to find a way just to survive another year, another month, another week, one more day. have you thought about it? because he has. so yeah that whole conversation, trash. bruno mars just the way you are ass one direction that's what makes you beautiful ass argument. viktor was not going crazy over cosmetic surgery, he was trying not to die.

but it strikes me as just one more expression of an overarching theme for s2 viktor - that of the complete and total loss of his agency. (more on a meta level than in the show itself, but also in the show!) i said after act 1 that viktor had died in that explosion and jayce was going to be chasing that corpse until the end, and i was correct. viktor bounced from one mindset to another, never seeming to have any consistent ideology of his own that couldn't be changed as soon as the plot demanded it. at any given point he was just kinda... wandering around, doing some random shit with the powers that worked through him. gone was the viktor who used his own hands and mind to influence the world directly, to bend it to his will. i always always felt this and i stand by it - taking viktor's abilities as an inventor and scientist away and turning him into some arcane mage jesus figure was a mistake and a disservice to his character. arcane said no this boy wasn't smart or determined, his ability to build and invent and seek and learn don't matter and never mattered, he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and as soon as the arcane got its goop on him he just became the most specialest magic pixie dream boy to ever live and his own goals, dreams, ideals, morals, talents, skills, and hard work ceased to matter in any meaningful way. he never had to work to master magic to be able to use it to further his goals, because he immediately stopped having goals.

viktor became a non-character. he became whatever ideological and technological threat level the show needed to challenge to heroes and never more. he ceased to have any control or understanding over what was happening to him, rather he just gave up and decided to use his magic indiscriminately for whoever made the most convincing argument, a choice that would have been completely antithetical to his character up to that point if he'd still been alive. 'fuck zaunites, sure i'll turn them into robots so a foreign power can use them to attack and take over piltover and zaun, who cares. it's not like these are the people i've spent 30 years of my life trying to protect and save.' <- something viktor would never ever ever have agreed to! ever! no matter what! they have played us for absolute fools.

ambiguity, the loss of

the thing i wanted the most and was expecting because of the way viktor's original lore was set up was that the series would end with viktor and jayce unreconciled and with mutually exclusive worldviews, both fully believing they were right and the other was misguided but not evil or irredeemable, setting them up for future conflict. this felt like what was being set up when arcane made it a plot point that jayce was being convinced to turn hextech into weapons while viktor started getting unethical and unhinged with the experimentation. they both had good reasons to do what they did - and i'm absolutely not going to insult jayce's intelligence by claiming he was just manipulated into it by anyone, give me a fucking break - but the point was that both of them were doing something the other thought was misguided and dangerous. and they also felt that if they could just make the other person see their completely logical and rational pov, they could fix the divide between them and make up and be best science buddies again.

but then at the end arcane completely gave up on viktor having any belief in his own ideals. it just turned into 'aw actually he was just lonely all along and none of that science stuff or difference in morals or worldviews mattered bc he's got a buddy now and he's completely unequivocally on jayce's side. :)'

it was like. insanely selfish. as in, self-centered, concerned *only* with the self. the viktor i liked, and the one i wanted to flourish and hoped arcane would canonize, was someone who was entirely dedicated to zaun, to righting the wrongs of piltover and helping the people in the way he thought best - no matter what jayce or piltover thought about it. an ambiguous villain, just like all the other really well-written ones in arcane.

accountability, the loss of

viktor killed people. not sky, who was an accident despite his fixation on her; i'm talking at least a hundred or more zaunites during his stint as the machine herald. he ripped their minds out and made them play house with him, then turned them into weapons of war for ambessa's siege, and all of those people - primarily sick, desperate zaunites - died. this was always the entire crux of the conflict between (league) viktor and jayce giopara. viktor was willing to destroy people and use their bodies for his own gain unapologetically because he thought what he was doing was a blessing and the people were better off under his control because they would never feel fear or anger again. agree, disagree, depends on your view of free will and human nature, but the fact is that everyone who came to viktor hoping for a chance to be healed so they could pursue their own dreams and lives had those dreams and lives ripped away from them and they never got justice or even a single scrap of acknowledgement from the narrative.

in arcane, the horror of viktor's actions just... fade away into the background. viktor and jayce waltz off into magicspace together, leaving viktor's dead, ruined victims for piltover and zaun to deal with. he doesn't return their minds or bodies, he doesn't even seem to remember or care about what he had just been doing to other sentient living human beings. he's not sorry, he doesn't feel regret, he got what he wanted (a friend) and fuck everybody else.

because the narrative just shrugs and handwaves and says no no forget all that it doesn't matter it was just the hexcore or whatever, viktor becomes a flat, uninteresting character. he loses the depth that villains like ambessa and silco had, villains who had their victims validated by the story, who faced challenges in their arcs specifically because of the people they had hurt despite thinking they were doing the right or noble or most important thing. and not just the villains! even the heroes had to wrestle with the people they stepped on on the way to their lofty goals. but not viktor. he just floats away scot free, completely blameless, having no affect on the world and the world having no affect on him.

on arcane's status as the new canon lore and the Implications™

reminder that arcane is somehow supposed to tie into the world of runeterra at large, but now viktor and jayce both have been seemingly entirely removed from it. if it only mattered that they knew the people we'd already seen them interact with, okay, i guess. but that isn't the case. they both have a ton of connections to other champions - from regions other than p&z even - that haven't been introduced and don't have any plausible explanation for how they could have met in the past, which means they should have been set up to meet somehow in the future. implying that jinx escaped and has gone traveling the world is the perfect way to incorporate her in-game relationships with people like lux - she could have met her while traveling! but jayce and viktor don't get that plausible continuation of their story and development of further relationships - they just disappear out of existence. (ambessa also has this problem because they killed her, but unlike jayce and viktor she does have a huge amount of unexplored backstory where she could have spoken to (for example) swain and hwei and shyvanna at some point.)

note 1 - jayce and viktor are so old that they don't have any voice lines in game when meeting other champions. but other champions who are either newer or who have had voiceover updates do talk to them, which is how (aside from the old lore) you can infer that they do have relationships with other champions including ones who weren't in arcane.

note 2 - maybe riot actually doesn't care and none of the champions are really supposed to know each other or be involved in each others' lives canonically, they just have random quippy voice lines that imply that. which would fucking suck. having the lore of the game have no impact on the game itself and vice versa would objectively suck. if the characters talk to each other on the rift and say something interesting, i want that to have meaning. i want to be able to extrapolate the state of the world and the relationships between the characters from the things they verbally say with their mouths. i'm not arguing about this. the voicelines should be seen as the most high irrefutable canon that there is for the game because it is the ONLY source of lore in the game itself.

anyways there's my bible i guess. i miss evil laser robot viktor i want him to perform unethical brain surgery on me (fixing my adhd but also turning me into his personal puppet attack dog) and then give a weapon to a child so they can kill their bullies.

[ahgasegotarmy116]

Just Take It | Jeon Jungkook | Part Five

Summary: You start a conversation with Jungkook about where you stand but are interrupted by an uninvited visitor Pairing: Inexperienced f!reader x Best Friend's Dad Jungkook (20 year age gap) Word Count: 4.7K~ Warnings: Suggestive and explicit language (an argument). Nothing too crazy honestly. Horribly edited too because it's been three weeks and I wanted to get it out! a/n: Sorry it took me so long to get this chapter out but I was away from home for a week and then wrote a couple of one shots and blah blah blah lol but anyways I hope you enjoyyyy

After our eventful afternoon Jungkook and I ended up laying in his bed and watching movies since like he said, he wanted me to be "well rested" before we have the talk. The talk that could change everything between us... 

There are multiple outcomes to this scenario and I'm not sure if I'm ready for any of them. 

On one hand he could say this was all a mistake and he was just acting on his urges. I know now for damn sure though that he's attracted to me but I don't know what his motives and feeling are towards me. If he even has any besides surface level physical attraction. 

On the other hand he could want to pursue a friends with benefits sort of arrangement. Being fuck buddies or whatever with an older man does sound exciting when I think about doing it with him. It's just that don't know if I'd want something like that even if it was with him. 

I told Jared before that I wanted to save myself for marriage and I feel like that's something I still want to stick to. I've definitely crossed so many lines with Jungkook in the last not even twenty four hours, more like twelve hours or something like that but regardless lines have been crossed and I'm still not sure how I feel about any of it. 

I want to say that I don't regret it and it's not just because it felt fucking phenomenal and out of this world but because I feel safe with him.

It might just be because over the past couple of months that I've been living with him he's become someone I care about and honestly trust with my life so I didn't really feel a need to say no to him. I wanted it to happen, I know I did I just didn't really think it would ever happen. I thought that it would stay in my hormonal fantasies forever and I was okay with that. 

The way he's been treating me has shown me that he cares about me. Although I was trying to convince myself that it was somewhat of a paternal instinct in him and that he was just being protective over me, I knew that it was something beyond that. 

I tried to somewhat address it in a weird sort of way with the whole asking why he didn't have anyone over conversation and he knew what I was trying to ask and addressed it but his answer made me even more confused. 

"I wouldn't want to ruin what we have going on here"  like what does that even mean? He doesn't want to ruin the dynamic we have in the house in terms of we're comfortable with each other and feel no need to let anyone inside our little safe space. 

Or did he mean that he didn't want to ruin what we have going on here because he wanted to see where things went with us on a more romantic level?

He hasn't explicitly told me that he would want to pursue a relationship with me but circling back to before he's given me clear signs that he's attracted to me and isn't one to hide it. 

He knows to a certain extent that I find him attractive too because I asked him to take my virginity. (I'm never gonna be able to live that one down) Anyone could tell that he was clearly struggling to hold himself back and the fact that he kissed me just shows that he wanted to. That he wanted me.

Then there's another possibility that he might want a sugar baby sort of relationship and I don't even want to think about something like that. 

Don't get me wrong! I respect the hustle, but that's just not for me. 

If I'm gonna be doing something like what we are doing right now then I want it to be something that I want to do without any ulterior motive. I don't want to put a monetary value on the time I spend with him but not gonna lie, living it large and not having to worry about money or working sounds very tempting.

I don't think he's that kind of man though...or at least I hope he's not. 

"Penny for your thoughts?" he asks playfully, having noticed that I haven't really been paying attention to the movie we've been watching. 

"Just thinking" I answer, cuddling in closer to him as I've refused to let go of him today and he hasn't made moves to do any different. 

"Bout what?" he prods further, placing a kiss on the top of my head and taking in the fresh scent of his shampoo in my hair.

"Things" I continue, liking the game we've started to play. 

"What sort of things?" he chuckles, telling me that he's enjoying it too. 

"All kinds of things" I say nuzzling closer into him and he wraps his arm tighter around me to keep me there.

"Wanna share a few?" he asks, clearly not letting this go since he wants to at least make sure I'm okay. 

"Thinking about how you might want to make me your sugar baby" I mumble into his chest and he laughs wholeheartedly making me even more embarrassed. 

"Is that something you'd want?" he asks and I shake my head. 

"You don't wanna be at home and sit pretty, waiting for me to come back and shower you with gifts and jewelry and give you the world?" he teases while pinching my sides making me pull away from him, trying to escape. 

"N-no! Now s-stop" I choke out through laughter and gasps of breath. "What would you want" he asks after having tackled me down onto the mattress making sure to do a thorough job of tickling me until I could barely breathe. 

I take a second to think, my eyes going back and forth between his while his stay still, focused and almost begging for an answer. 

"I thought we weren't going to have this conversation until I was well rested" I say, breathless, still not knowing up from down when it comes to us. If there even is an 'us'. 

"You feel well rested?" he asks, cocking a brow at me and I nod my head quickly, giving me a crooked smile in response. "Then it's perfect timing right?" he continues and I nod again leaving him getting off of me and leaning his back against the headboard, waiting to hear what I have to say. 

I take a minute or so to gather my thoughts and the whole time he's watching me curiously, almost able to see the wheels turning in my head. 

"What happened between us kind of caught me by surprise" I start, looking down at my lap and playing with my fingers nervously. "I don't regret it, it was just, well I'm just kind of confused about how you feel about me, and I'm really confused about how I feel about you" I admit and I can see his expression go a bit wary but I jump at the chance to explain myself. 

"It's just that I think both of us know at this point that we're extremely attracted to each other" I start out and the corner of his lips upturns for a second but nods in confirmation, waiting for me to continue. 

"With us getting physical and all so quickly I can't help but think that maybe we should take a step back. I would like to know your thoughts and intentions and feelings about all of this. I might be overthinking it but I really think it's best to be up front and honest with each other" I say and take in a shaky breath, scared I might've said the wrong thing.

"You're so sexy when you act so mature like that" he taunts and I groan, wanting to keep this serious. "I'm just playing Bunny. Well I'm not because you really are sexy but I don't want you to feel all nervous and insecure like you are right now. We're being open and honest right?" he questions and I nod my head, eager for him to continue. 

"Meaning it would be the perfect opportunity to tell you that I have feelings for you right?" he says and my eye bug out in response, not knowing what to do now. "Wasn't expecting that huh?" he chuckles and I shake my head making him laugh even more. 

"Cat got your tongue Darling?" he teases and scoff at that. "No I was just being polite and letting you keep talking since you let me do the same" I say, making excuses and trying to keep my voice level. 

"Sure Bunny" he smirks not believing a word I said but continuing nevertheless.

"I've had feelings for you for a while now and I haven't told you or acted on it because I wanted to respect the fact that you were in a relationship. I never liked Jared though for what it's worth" he says without hesitation and it makes me cringe at the thought that I was about to marry that snake. 

"Is it harsh to say I'm glad he's out of the picture?" he says boldly making me laugh. "Not just because it benefitted me but because he didn't deserve to marry a beautiful, intelligent, kind hearted woman like you. I would've said something but I'm not your father so I knew it wasn't my place" he finishes and making me smile, thankful that he was so considerate. 

Now that I think about it, even back then I respected and trusted his judgement so it wouldn't have bothered me even if he did say something.

"It's not harsh to say because I'm happy about it too. To be honest though I don't really know what I ever saw in him. I think because he was the first guy that more or less respected my boundaries that I thought I had to hold onto him. I don't know" I say and he nods his head.

This is something I haven't experienced before. Someone sitting and taking the time to actually talk things out without any outside distractions and focusing on each other and hearing each other out. 

Maybe it's just an age thing and the fact that Jungkook does fit the standard of dating older and more mature men is better. We're not dating though, but I guess we'll hopefully figure out where we stand once this conversation comes to a close.

"I'm really confused and I kind of don't know how to feel but I'm not closed off to figuring things out" I say, glancing up at him and back down at my lap, nervous from seeing how fascinated he is with me right now. 

I hold my breath and wait for him to say something but when nothing ever comes I chance looking up at him again and I'm surprised to see how he's still watching me.

"Like I said, I've had feelings for you for a while and if you're open to seeing where things go then I would really like to take you out on a date. Like on a proper date. I know since we've been living together and we've been spending a lot of time together but I-" he start off strong but begins to ramble and is regretfully cut off by the sound of the front door opening. 

"Dad! Dad where are you?" Jina calls out and neither of us dares to move or make a sound. "Dad" Jina drags out, regretfully confirming that I am in fact not dreaming. "Be down in a second" he says then presses a finger to his lips. 

"Just stay in here and I'll take care of it" he whispers and I nod my head, watching him as he panics internally before leaving the room and closing the door softly behind him. 

What the hell are we gonna do? My car is out there! Or wait, did I put it in the garage yesterday? I can't remember but I really hope it's not out there otherwise she'll already know I'm here. 

"What are you doing here?" Jungkook says. I can hear his muffled voice through the walls and I know I probably shouldn't listen but curiosity gets the best of me making me rush to the door and quietly crack it open, needing to hear how this conversation goes. 

"Nice to see you too dad" she says, and I hate the fact that I'm only able to hear them but I'll settle for this. 

"You should've contacted me before you came over Jina. You know I don't like people showing up unannounced" he says sternly.

"You're usually totally fine with me coming over" she says sounding thoroughly confused and I can hear Jungkook clear his throat before she starts again. 

"Am I interrupting something?" she asks after no doubt clocking the dishes that were left over from lunch. Two plates, two cups and two sets of silverware. A dead giveaway that someone is here especially since it hasn't been cleaned up yet. 

"You are actually" he says and I trip, surprised that he would straight up admit it but he has no reason to hide, and neither do I.

Having pushed the door open thanks to my clumsiness (somehow able to stay upright and keep my dignity this time) I'm faced with the dilemma of if I should just go back inside and pretend that never happened when it clearly did or come out and face her. 

I'm given the luxury of having that choice since she hasn't seen me yet but I decide it's better to do this as soon as possible. We've hid the fact that I've been living here for two months so what's adding on the fact that I've been messing around with her father while doing so. 

(Although this is a newly added feature but she doesn't need to know that)

I take a deep breath before stepping out from behind the door, watching Jina's face go from surprised to confused to disgusted to angry before turning back towards her father. 

"You're fucking my best friend?" she accuses, not completely wrong but semantics. 

"Best friend's don't fuck around and get pregnant by their friend's fiancees" I remind her, walking down the stairs in conveniently only Jungkook's shirt making what's going on, or what's starting to go on between us even more clear. 

"Oh grow up! It's not like there's anything we can do to change that now can we? Plus looks like you're doing just fine without him" she throws at me and from that moment I'm not pulling any punches. She wants to play dirty? Fine, let's play dirty.

"Jina stop it" Jungkook growls, going on the defensive, not being able to gauge what kind of mindset she's in or even her reasoning for coming here but wanting her out all the same.  

"Grow up?" I chuckle dryly, "I guess you're right, I guess maybe I have started growing up since it seems I've matured enough to be with someone like your father. Which, last time I checked, wasn't someone you have any business in questioning on things like his sex life and who he does and does not partake in it with" I say, placing a hand on his bicep possessively and I feel the tension he had once held in his body start to melt away. 

Interesting to know that I have this effect on him...

"Come on, we both know that you're probably just a piece of ass to him" she scoffs before turning to address him. "Didn't know you started picking up strays. I wondered where she had ran off to" she says, continuing to disrespect the both of us without a care in the world.

"Don't call her that!" Jungkook says, jaw clenched as a way to keep himself in check. 

All I see is red though and the next words I hurl out are ones that I couldn't stop myself from saying even if I tried. The ringing in my ears fanning the flames of my agitation making it impossible to hold back.

"How's life being pregnant with my fucking ex boyfriend's baby? He's probably taking real good care of you huh?" I taunt, cocking a brow at her and from the way the color rushes to her cheeks and the words die in her throat are enough to tell me everything I need to know. 

He hasn't done shit for her.

She balls her hands into fists by her side and lunges at me but Jungkook jumps in between us, grabs her by the shoulders and turns her around, forcing her out the front door. 

"You're gonna throw me out and choose that slut over your own daughter?" she yells struggling to get out of his grasp the whole way. 

"Last time I checked honey the only slut around these parts is you" I throw back, following right behind them and the way her jaw drops is just priceless. 

"That's enough! Jina go!" Jungkook says through gritted teeth letting go of her once she's passed the thresh hold, leaving her standing there, looking between the two of us before scoffing and storming off down the driveway. 

"I knew you were obsessed with her I just never thought you would bother acting on it" Jina spits out at her father and when she sees that he doesn't flinch she hurls more baseless lies and insults at the both of us. 

"You know she's just using you to get a place to stay and get over her ex right? What happened to staying a virgin until you got married y/n? Huh? Guess getting cheated on really fucked you up" she spits while unlocking her car. 

"And I guess fucking around with an ego-driven two-timing narcissist gets you pregnant" I throw back and she purses her lips before sinking down in her car, accepting defeat this time and leaving like her father told her to. 

"Say hi to Jared for me" I call out, waving at her as she grips the steering wheel until her knuckles have gone white, putting it in reverse and backing out of the driveway.

I walk over to the couch and let out a big sigh once I've sat down, throwing my head in my hands as a way to ground myself. 

Breathing through this dizzy feeling from that whole confrontation that I had not been prepared for is a lot tougher than I thought it would be, my whole body still buzzing.

I hear Jungkook close the door behind him after having watched her speed down the street, still worried for her safety but also wanting to make sure she was actually gone. What happened just now was enough of a confrontation to last me a lifetime, or at least it feels that way.  

"Hey" he whispers, kneeling in front of me and rubbing my back, "Are you okay?" he continues and I nod my head, feeling the tears prickling in my eyes, calling my bluff.

"Come here" he whispers, sitting on the couch next to me and pulling me onto his lap, rubbing my back again and holding me while I let out some of those tears I had held back.

"I don't even know why I crying" I say, sniffling and sitting back up to dry my eyes.

"No one likes getting into fights with someone they used to care about. Well, nobody sane likes getting into fights with someone they used to care about" he says, trying to lighten the mood and it does the trick making me scoff a bit, smiling at his efforts to make me feel better.

He cups my face and wipes a few tears that had fallen, looking at me with his brows pinched together as if his heart is breaking with mine.

"But you still care about her though, don't you?" he asks and I nod my head. "It's hard not to" I admit, getting off his lap and sitting next to him which makes him angle his body to face mine, taking hold of one of my hands, encouraging me to speak my mind. 

"She's been my best friend for the past six years. That's not something that can magically be turned off for me. I know what she did to me was devastating and I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive her for it. I'm still trying to heal from it all so I don't know, I couldn't help but defend myself, and you. I'm sorry you had to see that" I say, mumbling the last part and feeling so much regret for saying those ugly things about his daughter right in front of him. 

"Everyone has a right to defend themselves and when you're being attacked like that, you can't help but say hurtful things. She had no right and she knew that and wanted to hurt the both of us anyway" he says and I take a deep breath before turning my attention back to him because she said just as many hurtful things to him as she did to me.

"Are you okay?" I question, tightening my hold on his hand to hopefully encourage him to be vulnerable with me as well. 

He nods his head with a sad smile and waits a beat before saying anything and I hold my breath until he does. 

"No one wants their daughter to end up in the kind of situation she put herself in or see the people that they care about hurting but what she said didn't hurt me" he says and I nod my head, paying attention to his hand that I have placed in my lap, tracing the swirls of ink with my eyes as they travel further up his arm. 

"What did hurt me though was the way she was talking about you. You know that's not how I feel about you at all right?" he says, tilting my face up towards him making purposeful eye contact with me, needing to know that I believe him. 

"I know" I nod, giving him a sad smile accompanied by my still glossy eyes making him even more sad seeing how upset all of this has made me. 

"Can I do anything to make you feel better?" he asks, cupping my face and keeping my eyes on him when I try to turn them away. "No, I'll be okay" I shake my head and he studies my features before nodding and accepting my words at face value. 

"Okay, do you wanna go back up to my room? You can sleep in there with me if you'd like" he says, brushing a tear dampened strand of hair out of my face. 

I give him a mischievous smile, telling him I know what he's up to but he pulls away and puts his hands up in a way to defend his motives. 

"Just sleep, I promise. Scouts honor" he says, crossing his heart and I laugh at his playfully defensive nature. "Sure" I say, taking hold of his hand while he stands up and leads me back to his bedroom. 

~~~~

After having talked a little bit more about what had happened the topic of conversation circles back to what we had been in the middle of before she showed up. 

"So earlier it seemed like you wanted to ask me a question" I say, taking a sip from my soda that had come with the take out we had ordered hours ago, toying with the straw and keeping his attention. 

"Yeah? And do you know what your answer might be to said question?" he teases, wetting his lips and keeping his eyes trained on mine. 

"You have to ask the questions first Daddy" I say placing my drink down on his nightstand and when I turn to face him again he's tackling me down on the bed peppering kisses all over me. 

"Stoooppp" I giggle and he laughs along with me before leaning back to hover over me. "Will you go out with me?" he asks and I can tell that this whole moment has him feeling like a teenager again.

"I thought you'd never ask" I say, running my fingers through his hair making him lean into my touch. 

"You can't take it back though. Once we do this I won't ever let you go" he husks out, placing a kiss on my palm and I shutter at the feeling. "Then don't" I breathe out making a flame of desire flash through his eyes. 

"You're gonna get yourself in trouble you know that?" he warns, placing a kiss on my nose before getting off me and turning off the tv. "Hey! I was watching that!" I pout "No you weren't" he chuckles. "Plus it's time to go to bed. We've got a big day ahead of us" he says, getting under the covers and motioning for me to do the same. 

"Big day?" I question, not remembering we had something on the agenda this weekend. "I may or may not have planned out our date this morning while you were still in bed Sleeping Beauty" he says, pulling me onto his chest but I sit up pulling away from him with my brows scrunched together. 

"How were you so sure I would say yes?" I scoff, shocked by his bold assumption. "From the way I've been making you moan my name I figured you wouldn't mind going on one date with me in return" he says and my jaw drops, throwing the covers off myself and making a break for it but he yanks me back towards him making me flop down on the bed. 

"You can't just say things like that" I whine, hands over my eyes as a way to block him out of my vision and hide the very apparent blush that I'm sure is starting to bloom. 

"Am I wrong?" he taunts, placing kisses on my neck and collarbone, dangerously close to making me moan his name again. 

"You're no fair" I say, pushing him off and giving him my back making him chuckle at my shy behavior. He lays down and pulls me back into him. My back now against his chest and his hand placed on my hip where I'm again reminded that I'm only wearing his shirt and my underwear. 

"Keep your hands to yourself Mr." I tease while prying his hand off me. "Come on darling, you know I'm a man of my word. Just sleep, nothing else" he says, this time sliding his hand further up to hold onto my bare waist. 

"Fine" I grumble out and he laughs and nuzzles his nose into my neck, taking another deep breath, flooding his senses with my scent. 

"Goodnight Bunny" he mumbles against my skin. "Goodnight Daddy I tease and am rewarded with a slap on my ass. 

"Did, did you just spank me?" I say trying to wiggle out of his hold but he's already got his arm wrapped around my waist again. "I told you that pretty little mouth of yours was gonna get you into trouble didn't I?" he says, switching to rubbing his hand along the tender flesh he just struck, caressing it in a way to ease the pain. 

I pout and settle back into the bed, not dignifying his words with a response. It's only when I accidentally move my hips backwards do I freeze from gaining a soft moan from him, no doubt caught off guard from the contact of my ass up against him. 

"Sorry I didn't mean to I-" "I know Bunny, just go to sleep" he says placing a kiss on my neck and holding my hips in place, putting a little more space between us. 

As I slow my breathing to a steady one I start to lull myself to sleep but I flinch at the sound of his cute snores in my ear. 'Something I'll have to tease him about in the morning' I giggle to myself and take his hand off my hip, choosing instead to hold it against my chest having him surrounding me. Soon I'm slipping into that dreamland he had drifted off to moments before, safe and warm being in his arms.  

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From Sea to land

Captain Caviar cookie x mermaid reader

Reader is a girl btw

[♥︎•.pretty dividers made by anitalenia.•♥︎]

★

reader Is lowkey kinda weird but not rly, don't be weirded out by her actions pls

If a lot of readers words sound cave man ish it's on purpose dw >:]

it's like how the mermaids would call stuff different names than land cookies

land cookies: ship/boat

merfolk cookies: hollow whale

etc etc…

★

lowkey tired of fics portraying mermaids that despite either interacting with a person once or never they already know how everything works. So in this reader isn't gonna act all majestic and soft(yet) she's still a predator that hunts for her food for the witches sake.

In this fic, the reader is a gem mermaid with the ability to transform into creatures of various shapes and sizes in order to protect the ocean and her kingdom, sharks, eels, whales, etc!

Swimming about the murky waters only to discover endless wrecked ships, she finds a submarine stuck on debris, she watches for a while then she decides to help the sharp-toothed cookie and candy-eyed cookie. After the trio all manage to evade one very angry mermaid and properly introduce yourselves, you eventually get close to the two, especially the one known as Captain Caviar cookie.

you all know how the story ended so this will pick up right after they all escaped Black Pearl cookie and after Candy Diver cookie casually revealed they were a ghost.

btw if i added the whole part where they meet Black Pearl cookie and try to escape from her plus the stuff before that i would not get this fic as done as quick so we just skipping to where they are safe and out of the water. :’]

"Sooo this is where we part ways eh? I gotta say y/n cookie, we would've been soggy crumbs if you hadn't used that flashy power of yours!"

you chuckled, a little sad that you'd probably never see the two again but also a little happy about the praise. “Well I couldn't stand to see your lives cut so abruptly, I..have a soft spot for land cookies you see.." currently the pair was out of the submarine and now on the beach near the docks. You were at the very shallow part of the sea, practically a beached mermaid. you had to drag yourself this close to the dry sand and as you lay flat on your stomach you played with the warm grains a little, as did Candy Diver cookie, making random shapes out of the sand and a messy attempt at a sand castle, nevertheless they perked up at your words.

"■■●●○●???"

The sounds of sloshing and bubbling was basically incoherent but captain caviar seemed to grasp an understanding of what they were trying to say because they kept pointing at their legs and wiggling their feet before covering them in some sand.

The captain scratched his head and looked down at your tail "yeeahhh...speakin of standin', we've seen ya turn into all sorts of sea creatures so far but I don't think it'll do ya any good if you want to come on land with us."

"Unless ya wanna be in a fish tank the whole time..." he grumbled under his breath, no doubt already against that idea.

This dawned on you and made you feel that sadness again but only for a moment, you thought hard, then had a crazy idea.

"I can turn into any kind of creature I want, what if I can turn myself into a land cookie?"

Captain caviar cookies expression turned into one of skepticism and a little bit of hope, "Ya think that'll work? Ever done it before??" candy diver tilted their hand in confusion, although still continuing to bury the rest of their legs in sand.

you flipped yourself onto your back and sat up to look at your tail, "I'll admit that I never have but I'll never know unless I try!"

With that you concentrated on the power in your gem, imagining your body transform into what the two cookies had, your tail split and formed your new legs. You now had the leg part down, a rather painless process as you literally transformed into creatures far more complex and large. It did take a bit of energy out so you didn't really bother to will-away most of your scales. There were still big patches here and there that would easily tell other land cookies that you weren't one of them but all in all you did have legs that resembled the dough that land cookies had. You did your best for your first time and that's all that matters right now.

"Not bad for my first time, oh well, hard parts over" you spoke proudly, looking up at Captain Caviar cookie only to see his stunned expression, "Well I'll be! Looks like ya can do anythin!" you giggle at the praise, though as you attempt to mimic the way he's standing you realize that you have no idea how to work them. They weren't useless but all you could really do was wiggle your feet a little and twitch the muscles in your legs in an attempt to stretch them.

"Ah, right, you never walked before, here we'll help, right Candy Diver cookie- woah! Candy Diver cookie!"

You look over to see that Candy Diver cookie managed to bury themselves waist deep in sand and carefully used the sand to make it look like they had a mermaid tail, even using a small twig they found to carve scales in the sand covering them.

You both looked at them for a moment before bursting into laughter. Their shenanigans temporarily put a halt on your crisis.

Now in brighter spirits you reached out for Captain Caviar cookie and tugged on the end of his coat, he turned to you, "A little help?"

"But of course mate! Here let me-" for just a split second he looked down at your legs and while he admired how your patches of scales glistened in the sunlight his eyes traveled to an uncovered area, in your mermaid form there just would've been a slit but due to your change in anatomy and lack of clothing your vagina was more prominent and easily noticeable.

Captain Caviar cookie stumbled on his words and averted his eyes, “H-here! Us cookies like to cover ourselves”

The flustered Captain hastily took off his coat from around his shoulders and helped you slide your arms in the sleeves, it felt weird..not bad but still very weird.

“Is this your shell?” this almost snapped him from his flustered state, “Shell?” “y’know? Your protection from predators? many of my little friends have shells!” Captain Caviar let out a hearty laugh, “Ooh, no no, we wear fabric, er- clothes for many different reasons, ‘course there's loads of different names for all kinds of clothes, but that's what it's generally called.” he couldn't help but find your curiosity endearing. You rubbed the fabric and admired how it felt.

The Captain buttoned the coat and offered you a hand, you hesitantly took it and attempted to stand, it was difficult and damn near impossible but you were determined.

After a couple of failed tries Captain Caviar cookie decided to speed up the process and yank you to your feet, causing you to yelp and fall forward against his awfully warm chest and taking a moment to inhale his scent, your free hand clung to his shoulder, claws threatening to dig into his dough at any moment. “Woah there! See I've gotcha!”

You wobbled from side to side, frightened by this foreign sensation in your new legs, your squeezed his hand and slowly pushed away from him, a terrified look on your face but still, you've literally fought plenty sea beasts before, this shouldn't have you feeling like this and yet it does because you feel so vulnerable. Besides your razor claws and teeth you didn't have much of an advantage. Though a little less now because you were being helped by a cookie with some scars that shows he's been through some tough battles himself and survived.

Not to mention just how much muscle he had, or how attractive he actually looked up close-

“Ah ha! There ya go, not shakin’ so much anymore, now let's try walkin’“ Captain Caviar put your arm over his shoulder and neck then went to your side. Candy Diver watched curiously, sounds of water splashing around inside of their suit.

They watched as Captain Caviar cookie began showing you how to walk, first by simply demonstrating lifting his legs and moving his joints and then gradually helping you to move on your own. After your first small step you already felt like you accomplished something big, however you seemed to bite off more than you could chew, you tried to take a big step and it resulted in you nearly collapsing, luckily Captain Caviar caught you just in time. After that you tried again and little by little you were able to take bigger steps, now the hardest part was doing it on your own.

You almost wanted to add to Captain Caviar's scars as you felt him pull away from you, though with his encouraging words you decided to swallow your fear and try to take a step on your own.

On the side, Candy Diver cookie decided that they were done playing in the sand and wiggled themselves out. After dusting Themselves off they ran to you two, “■■●○!!” You thought you could feel them telling you words of encouragement because of their body language but for all you knew they could have been cussing you out-

Regardless you tread on, your body is stiff, having the fear of face planting into the sand...Your focus began to switch to not get a mouth full of sand and before you knew it you were actually walking!

Strength was taking root in each step you took and you only noticed after you stopped and took a look back to see that you were about 10 feet away from Candy Diver cookie and Captain Caviar cookie. Candy Diver cookie was waving their hands in the air as a way to express their excitement and Captain Caviar wore a big grin, proud of your progress.

“Good! Now…it won't be easy gettin’ ya inside, we've still gotta go through town, hope yer up for a challenge!”

You were confident enough to declare that you could handle anything and thus the three of you walked from the beach through the town and you were practically gonna explode from all the different things you were seeing. Land cookies with such colorful shells! erm, clothes..! and the things they've built were just astonishing, sure you've seen a couple of their buildings from a far but to see them up close was a whole different experience.

Your sight seeing had to come to an end eventually, you soon made it to Captain Caviar's cave as you called it, Candy Diver was busy in a different part of the building, (tbh they were probably watching tv or something) “This is a very interesting cave, you sleep here?” “ain't no cave, this here is called a bedroom” carefully he led you to what he called his bed, where he slept and ohh did It feel heavenly against your palm.

Captain Caviar turned to go put some souvenirs he had from the adventure on his desk, meanwhile you remembered watching him button up his coat for you so you picked and pulled at the buttons till they came undone and you felt the air hit your bare skin and scales, you slid the coat off of you and collapsed onto the bed, giggling at how soft it felt. You kicked your legs a little, mimicking the way your tail would sway in the water whenever you were happy about something.

The cookie turned and immediately returned to his flustered state, “So soft! I always struggled to sleep back in the water, always had to look out for predators, strong currents, not to mention everywhere I slept was rarely ever as cozy as this..”

You stretched your arms and legs out on the bed to fully get every fell of it, looking over to see that Captain Caviar cookie wide eyed and slack jawed, you sat up, “are you alright Captain Caviar cookie?” unbeknownst to you, for land cookies it was very indecent and illegal- to just go around with nothing covering your privates.

Captain Caviar cookie realized this and tried his best to compose himself, your lives were very different for sure, really only similar via the love for water that's for sure.

He also realized that his crew were awaiting his arrival and he needed to go catch them up on everything that happened, and for now at least explain the situation with Candy Diver cookie cause trying to explain that he nearly died from a mermaid, befriended a ghost and now had another mermaid in his bedroom would be too much for them to handle and he was too tired to have to deal with all the questions.

“Uhh…YEAH! yeah…I uh…will be back soon, I have to go do some stuff, for now try to get some sleep ey?” your happiness faded a little, “you'll be back soon right?” fear crept up on you as you realized you were in unfamiliar territory with no way to navigate around it.

Captain Caviar only reassured you, “Come on now, mate! We've faced the most dangerous sea beast there is! Ain't a cookie here that can come close to that kind of power”

With that he bid you a goodbye and closed the door behind him.

.

.

.

It was starting to get dark and you already found yourself getting a little bored, you already explored around his entire room, the small trinkets to the pictures on the walls of him and his crew to his clothes. Eventually you returned to his bed and stretched your limbs, it dawned on you, you examined the space around you but you didn't get a chance to examine your own.

It started with just feeling your legs, your thighs, calves, feet, you suspected there were more names than just legs for the various different parts of them but for now you didn't bother thinking too hard about it.

You shifted to your side and wondered what they called this part of your behind that felt incredibly squishy, you wondered if it was used to break your fall, or maybe the extra dough was there to protect against a vital organ? No matter, all you cared about was how nice it felt to rub that area.

You really had no shame, it wasn't in your nature to want to feel shy or insecure about something that you were gifted, you weren't exposed to the cruel world of land cookies. The most you covered up was your chest which was literally only covered because you saw a couple mermaids weaving themselves various different patterned coverings using underwater plants.

Feeling up yourself had begun to make you feel hot and flustered and you knew all too well how to satisfy yourself. You sat up and began to peel away the plants on your chest, it was mostly kelp but there were other smaller kinds of plants in there too.

You didn't really know where to place the plants so you just did what you did best back when you were in the water, you ate them! You were hungry after a long and eventful day!

After your quick intermission was over you quickly returned to what you were previously doing, you quickly spread your legs and instantly began carefully dragging a finger up and down your whole vagina, you had to be careful, your claws were not retractable so unless you were so insatiably horny to the point you would break your claws off just to finger yourself then you just couldn't. Instead you always opted to simply rubbing your clit for satisfaction. Which wasn't bad, you weren't really interested in any of your species enough to want to mate with them.

You knew that the cookies here had customs and mating rituals far different than your species, you'll admit that you did see it happen once or twice so you have an overall idea of how courting and the whole process works.

Also hearing stories from a couple of mermaids she had small talk with, she came to the conclusion that unlike her species, who only mated for reproductive reasons, many land cookies did it simply for satisfaction and this is why after a night of getting too close to shore and definitely not being creepy- you watched from afar as a drunken cookie pleasured themselves in a secluded area by the beach and you tried to do it yourself.

Ever since learning of how good it felt to mate with yourself you always wanted to learn more about the things land cookies could do that their kind couldn't.

This time felt strange though, of course with the legs but also because one, you were on land, and two, you couldn't help but pick up on Captain Caviar's scent on the bed. Your main concern was the second one, you wondered why you decided to trust a cookie you only knew for a few hours, maybe you were unknowingly searching for a potential mate despite how picky you were. If you weren't interested in the ones in the sea maybe you could have better hope in the ones on land? which led you here.

‘Great, I might have gotten myself in a lot of mess because I wasn't thinking with my head! Worst part is that I don't hate this..’ you chastised yourself for trusting such a brute.

A brute that had a lot of strength and the muscles to prove it

A brute with such beautiful scars and intricate patterns on his body

A brute that helped you accomplish the impossible, walking on land

Any other cookie would've took advantage of that and took your gem, or so you've been told would happen if you were to encounter land cookies.

you whined, fingers picking up speed as you remembered how his body felt when you fell onto his chest, when your hand was on his shoulder and when your arm was wrapped around his it, it didn’t help that the bed, matter of fact the whole room was filled with his overwhelming scent, at first you didn't seem to notice nor care but now that you started to yearn for him the smell became so powerful that it made your legs quiver.

You couldn't deny it no longer, regardless of how short you knew this cookie for, you wanted to mate with him.

Just the thought of it sends you into a frenzy, your soft cries and whimpers increased in volume and length as you accepted this truth. You didn't exactly understand how the act would play out, nor did you fully grasp the entirety of having a mate but you knew that you desperately needed him.

You've been told that with the right partner, it would feel much better than simply rubbing yourself and oh did that thought rile you up further. Thinking about how many good qualities the Captain had made you only want him more, you were sure that with his experience and physique he would make a perfect partner. After all most mermaids wanted mates that were strong enough to protect them and their future offspring from danger. They were all very strong of course but a little extra protection never hurt, better safe than sorry.

Furthermore, you edged closer to your climax and by this point you could only let out small pants and Captain Caviar cookies name, your increasing body heat and pleasure mixed with the thought of him only added fuel to the fire until it was too much.

Your fantasies about him, unrealistic and possibly too upfront about what you wanted him to do to you was just what you needed to finally cum.

Just as you came you couldn't even speak anymore. All you could do was gasp for air as your body convulsed and quivered.

Soon your body slowly calmed down, just in time to, because you suddenly heard the sound of the doorknob turning, immediately you snapped out of your state and tried to act normal like you didn't just leave a wet spot on Captain Caviar's bed, you laid on your side and pretended to be sleeping, even going as far as to hug a pillow that undoubtedly made you throb a little down from the smell, it had his scent, the smell of salt water and a hint of something sweet to it.

They needed to be washed but you didn't know that nor did you really see a reason too, sure you literally had your juices on his bed but that was all for more reason not too! It showed that you were eager to mate!

Anyways, the door creaks open, in stepped Captain Caviar cookie, he looked a bit irritated, seems he had to do a little more than simply explain things to the Salty Sharks.

“damn Custard cookie, someone outta throw him and his blabber mouth to the barracudas…”

He looked at you, slowly starting to get used to your nakedness but not quite. your eyes were shut so you luckily didn't see the dark blush that formed on Captain Caviar's cheeks, You sniffed the air and instantly sprung up, still clutching the pillow. “Fish!”

He chuckled, holding two bags up, “Yup, assumin’ you ain't eat all day, went ahead an stopped by the market an picked up a couple for ya”

mental note, he provides for you, the list of reasons you wanted him was getting longer by mile.

He knew that you weren't like him and didn't have to cook your food before eating so he handled one of the bags of fish to you.

He had different looking fish than you, you were too busy trying to get to your meal that it didn't matter to you in the moment, immediately throwing the pillow to the side you ripped up the bag, nearly eating the plastic but being stopped by him in the process. You eventually got to the fish and you immediately began to chow down, definitely better than the old kale.

Captain Caviar's blush remained strong at the discovery of your lack of top but decided not to question it for now. He sat down next to you and began to take out his cooked fish and ate with less aggression than you. The smell of fish was strong but his smelt different, a rather good smell. The difference was starting to dawn on you, it was the same kind of fish but his looked darker and it had specs of something black, red and some orange sprinkled on top.

“Why is yours different? Is it not the same fish as mine?” he then had to explain to you the whole process of cooking food and adding seasoning to enhance the flavor. you rotated between staring at him and the fish intently a few times, trying your best to understand the process. It's seemed a lot to do to just make your food taste better.

You stared at his fish, the more he explained the more you wanted to try it, as if he read your mind he offered you a piece.

Carefully you set your own fish down and put your hand out and accepted the small offering.

Pulling your hand back you looked at the small piece and sniffed it for a second before shoving it in your mouth.

Almost immediately your eyes lit up.

You begun singing out praises about the taste, amazed at how land cookies are geniuses for coming up with this.(girl wait till u try a seafood boil)

You then thanked him and continued to eat your own fish, the two of you continued to talk for a while, you asked him questions about himself and he did the same for you.

You found out things like Captain basically meaning leader, and that he competed against many strong cookies and won. He couldn't help but laugh at your shocked expression.

Then whatever he asked you, you answered truthfully

You told him tales of your battles against giant deep sea squids, the time you just barely dodged getting impaled by a swordfish and one about when you wrestled a shark for the remains of a fresh kill to which you flipped the shark after seeing a few divers do it in the past and took your meal to your cave to eat by yourself.

You didn't stop there tho, you also told him about what It's like to be a mermaid, most would usually live in groups, families, however for you it was rather lonely and cold, the mermaids you knew were basically just neighbors, their homes not too far from your cave and you made conversation whenever yall came across eachother every now and then, shared a meal before but that was it.

he listened intently, he half expected your story to be...happier, calmer. he told you he heard stories from rather terrified sailors that many mermaids would cackle beneath the waves and poke holes in boats, even dolphin-dive across small boats to scare cookies for no reason.

You couldn't help but burst out laughing, you admitted that you've jumped over a few boats in your time to ease the boredom.

You both resumed your back and forth of times of the past, at one point while Captain Caviar rummaged through his bag and pulled out a can of beer. The sound of the can opening made you perk up.

…and just like that you had more questions and wanted to try whatever he was drinking, this time he was hesitant, telling you not everyone is a fan of the taste but after remembering that you kill and eat almost every part of what you kill, eyes, insides, bones etc for a living, he offered it to you, it was cold to the touch. You sniffed the can, the smell rather strong. when you took a sip you immediately regretted it, you tried your best to swallow but it burned your throat going down and you made that very clear by shaking your head and making a grossed out face.

He laughed louder than before, “Good right?” to which you protested, “Absolutely not! I take it back, not everything land cookies make are good!” earning another laugh from Captain Caviar cookie.

The rest of the night went well, aside from the whole bed situation, you licked up what you could and then wiped the blood and juices from the fish off your hands and onto the bed, catching him by surprise.

Sure you didn't like the reprimand he gave you for getting the blanket dirty but he did inform you that it needed to be cleaned, he grabbed both of your bags and went to throw one away, he took some stuff out the other, set them on the desk and threw the other away. When he turned back around you were already peeling away the sheets and pillow cases like he instructed, careful to only have him see the current mess and not the one from before he walked in.

You both walked to a new room, he told you this is the laundry room, that it was smaller than he would have liked but it got the job done which is what matters. You nodded, not really understand what he meant.

Another moment of teaching you how a washer and dryer works later and here you are sitting in front of the washer, head tilted and watching the blanket spin with the water again and again. Captain Caviar was in a different room showering and by the time he was done He returned to see you attempting to work the dryer, you managed to put the wet covers inside though you didn't know how to start it, you huffed and was seconds away from mashing the buttons before Captain Caviar approached you and showed you how to do it.

The next thing Captain Caviar showed you was showering, you did come from the sea so you were bound to have a lot of bacteria and grime on you, he wasn't sure how your body would react to soap so he added very little to the water. being submerged in water again made you want to go fully under but Captain Caviar advised you not to as the soap would burn your eyes, you grumbled but listened.

Though you did temporarily change back into your mermaid form so that you could feel a bit normal, albeit half your tail was sticking out of the tub.

It was weird scrubbing your body with this rag but if land cookies did this then you guess it shouldn't hurt

Next your eyes were squeezed shut and the Captain was washing your hair with a bit more soap, the scratching of your scalp made you relax and want to drift off to sleep, this was cut short as he grabbed a cup, filled it with water and poured it over your head.

oh well that ain't to bad either, just gotta make sure soap doesn't get in your eyes and mouth.

Some time passed, you were back in your legs and given a towel to dry yourself with while he went to take the covers out of the dryer and make the bed.

While drying, you notice yourself in the mirror, you've seen your reflection before but never this clearly, by both land and sea cookies you would be considered attractive and you were proud of that.

A small knock on the door made you jump, “ya good in there?”

His voice was a little muffled but still as naturally gruff "yes, you can come in”

He didn't even get to walk in all the way before you asked, “I can see myself, have you put magic upon this..this..?” You paused, not finding the right words to place upon this contraption.

“Nah, it's called a mirror, it shows you what you look like, another thing made by cookies but I myself have no idea how it's created so who knows, could have magic in it” he walked in and set a couple things on the counter, you looked at it, it looked like a very tiny brush, it would take forever to brush your hair with that.

Another learning lesson, you were eager but starting to become more and more tired by the minute.

Mint, he called it, the harsh stingy flavor in your mouth is called mint, you now assumed that these cookies must have crazy, using different scents to cover up your natural one was one thing but to brush your teeth was even more wild!

You didn't lIke the feeling of the brush and toothpaste on your mouth and was letting out small growls over it so he huffed and grabbed your jaw and gently squeezed to keep you in place, “Alright quit yer fussin, open up”

So here you were, getting your teeth brushed for the first time by a land cookie.

“Now spit it out in here n’ use some water to wipe ya mouth but don't rinse the inside, it can't do it's job if it doesn't sit for a while.” pretending you understood what he was yappin about you did as he instructed, spat it out in the sink, used to running water to wipe your mouth clean and even made sure your spit went down the drain.

All in all, it has been a very tiresome day for you both, moreover when he had you put on some shorts, via saying 'place it on the ground, step into the two holes and pull them up' as for a top he gave you one of his, he rarely wore them, only really covering himself in the colder months. Might as well get you used to clothes as soon as possible.

With all that out of the way you finally, finally got to go back to the bedroom.

and with that you ended the night off by sleeping under a fresh blanket next to Captain Caviar.

You tried to keep your distance but ended up clunging to him like a remora on a shark

.

.

.

★Timeskip★

It's been a few months now

During that time Candy Diver cookie and you met the Salty Sharks and became part of the crew. It was hard for many of them to wrap their dough around the fact that they had a ghost and a mermaid on board with them now but eventually they've grown to accept it and actually like you two.

You've learned the ropes around the land here and on the ship, an especially good help on repairing the bottoms of ships because you were immune to getting soggy.

It was a lot of work sometimes but of course through all this you stayed close to Captain Caviar cookie and Candy Diver cookie, after that near death experience the three of you went through it proved a great opportunity to share your sides of the story and further scare rookie cookie.

With the help of Captain Caviar cookie you were able to get yourself your own place to stay, you insisted on a small place because you would really only return there to change clothes and sleep. Over time you really began to find your style and fell in love with clothes, you'd spend the money you and your crew mates received after long voyages mostly on clothes, you were told by a few to start saving a little just in case so you did so without really seeing a need to.

You rarely turn the lights on in your home, always got food from returning to sea and hunting or bought from the market, never used the air conditioning or heating, heck the only thing you really used in your home was the water.

Though..as of recently you've grown a habit, one only growing worse the more you were around a certain Captain.

You wanted to deny it, suppress it however you could, you truly did, but your body knew what it desired. It was that time when the women of your species went into heat.

Each night you'd return to your home desperately trying to simmer down the wetness pooling between your legs, with how limited your situation was it would take a couple rounds of playing with your pussy to fully be satisfied for the time being before it would creep back up the next morning.

It was taking a toll on you and was starting to affect your day to day life. You went shopping less and only went to the market. You feared if you dared enter the waters during this time you'd have to fight off men left and right.

You were thankful you conveniently weren't supposed to go on another voyage for another few weeks but this didn't mean you were off the ship, when y'all were stationery you were tasked with various things, the more experienced cookies did internal repairs and check ups, while others cleaned and gathered supplies.

On the ship you could barely keep up with your tasks, you were either tired from the long and vigorous night before, or you were often In a daze, standing still and daydreaming of heated scenarios that would make you hot and bothered, hence why you always ended up being exhausted the next day.

You had to make up lies to not worry the others, many of them consisted of, “Nightmares” “My neighbor's were fighting again haha” and “I stayed up watching TV again”

Word that you refused to clean the bottom of the ships as usual multiple times eventually got to Captain Caviar cookie, you were a mermaid so this shouldn't be something you had a problem with. Seeing as he genuinely cared for the well being of his crew he wanted to confront you about this but there you were, already finished scrubbing the deck the best you could and off, in a rush to get home.

As you made long strides you heard one of them shout at you in the distance, “Hey scales! Ya best get back here! Ya still have lots to do y'know!”

Still, you walk a little faster even till you were nearly out of sight. The Captain decided to take matters into his own hands, he asked what happened and after being caught up he decided to go after you, putting one of the more experienced cookies in charge till he got back.

He knew where you were going, there's no way you'd abandon your duties to buy clothes, as for food, when you were hungry you used to jump right off the ship to catch your meals so food wasn't the problem here. By the direction he knew you were heading home, if you were tired you could've slept on the ship so that crosses that off the list of potential reasons in his mind.

Your house was so close now and you wasted no time in making the last few steps a little quicker, relief washed over you the moment you got that door open, that desire was taking over your senses more and more but you still remembered to close the door behind you.

You almost smiled now that you were alone, it had been rough all day trying not to touch yourself. The thin walls where everyone slept wasn't a good place to relieve yourself because you were quite loud, even if you were to cover your mouth or bite down on something you wouldn't have been able to hide your moans.

Basically in your eyes you did all of your crewmates a favor by not having them hear you every single night but this was far from the truth, whenever you'd randomly disappear it would just leave another poor cookie to finish your work for the day..

You got to your room and grabbed an old piece of clothing from the day before and fell to your bed, learning from your mistake of getting Captain Caviar cookies bed wet with your juices you made sure to put something under you for easier clean up.

You got your pants and drenched underwear off as quick as you could, your heat was getting harder to deal with, it would appear that it would only increase the longer you went without properly mating with someone, it would eventually go away after a few weeks but it hadn't even been a single week and you were already at your limit.

You didn't bother with much teasing and went straight to abusing your clit as always, sometimes your fingers went down to gather lubricant seeping out before returning to the place they gave the most attention.

To your surprise you came rather quick this time, however you knew this wasn't the end. As your body jolted and convulsed, after your insides tightened around nothing and your legs locked up..you were still extremely horny.

This was frustrating, you were actually considering gnawing off your claws in order to satiate that need to be filled..

[Knock knock knock!]

“Y/n cookie! I know yer in there! Heard ya been actin funny lately so I came to check up on ya!”

your half lidded eyes shot open, no, no no no!

He can't be here right now, you were busy, did he follow you to your house!?

You practically threw yourself off the bed and rushed to get your pants and underwear back on, chastising yourself when you almost left without swiping the old cloth off the bed.

“DON’T UH- don't come in! I'm fine Captain Caviar cookie! I just needed to do something! I'll be back on the ship in a bit!”

As you came closer to the door you heard him scoff, “I don't buy that one bit, word ‘round the ship is that you've done this many times before, just what has ya rushin home in the middle of work everyday?”

Your face dropped, you fell silent, you couldn't tell him that you were becoming a problem on ship simply because you wanted to masterbate.

Your silence was alarming and his voice sounded concerned, “Is there somethin serious goin on with you Y/n cookie…?”

You swallowed, you didn't want to do this but for the sake of not keeping him in the dark you figured it's best that you told him what was troubling you, he's heard all about the life of mermaids from you, why would he be freaked out by this..?

Slowly, you opened the door little by little, revealing your restless state, “Woah! What in the world happened to you!?”

It took you a moment to get your words together, you didn't look him in the eye when you spoke.

“If I tell you, you promise not to be..freaked out..?”

His concern only grew but he nodded and made the promise to you, with that confirmation you opened the door fully and invited him inside.

Your home was very small and you didn't bother with much furniture so you simply took him to your bedroom. You sat down, him following behind you and sitting next to you.

your body was tense, eyes shut and you concentrated on how to explain this to him, you eventually sighed.

“Okay, here we go..”

Swallowing your fear of his reaction you began.

“Captain Caviar cookie..I've told you all about my life as a mermaid, especially about how friendships and relationships work”

He raised a brow, did one of them sea-cookies catch your eye? Nah, that wouldn't really explain leaving the ship abruptly and coming all the way here.

He nodded and urged you to continue, eager to get to the bottom of this.

“Well..around this time it is what you would call our..”

Your eyes stared into the floor so intensely you could practically burn holes through the wood.

“..mating..season..”

The silence that fell was deafening, oh gosh, you knew you shouldn't have said anything.

Maybe you should've just plunged into the sea and picked some random mate after all, it would've saved you some trouble.

“Ah…so that's why ya been sneakin off the past few days ey?”

You didn't want to guess what his face looked like right now, his voice was quiet though you guessed he'd either be confused or disgusted.

“Yes, it's only getting stronger and I have yet to..properly mate” he hummed, the quietness returned.

With all that off your chest it was now Captain Caviar cookies turn to speak, “Well Y/n cookie I gotta say, that was…a lot, I'm glad ya had the courage to tell me this”

“For whatever It's worth, I'm with ya till the end of the line n’ I hate to see ya have to isolate yourself like this, so…” he trailed off. This time it was him who looked away and you who looked over at him.

“If ya need help to uh- get rid of this problem of yours I could help ya out..only-if-ya-want-of-course-!” With every word both of you blushed further.

All anxiety and fear you felt was thrown out the window at this, you placed your hand on his making him finally look at your face.

You gulped and spoke,

“Yes, please Captain Caviar cookie..I need you..”

Just as you said that he leaned in and placed a kiss on your lips, you could smell his sudden spike in arousal.

You gripped his shoulder as the kiss deepened.

His hands moving to pull you closer to him made your body rise in temperature.

His rough hands against your dough was driving you crazy, you two broke the kiss to catch your breath and you whimpered at the attention you were getting at last.

You gasped when he placed his hand over your clothed pussy, rubbing the area in a slow circular motion. The hand on his shoulder moved to his forearm, squeezing it so that he wouldn't pull away.

“If my observation is correct, ya haven't been able to properly touch yourself cause of them claws right?” he was closer to you now, you felt his own body heat at this point. You nodded, lidded eyes focused on his large hand against your growing heat.

“Poor thing, let's get these off ya” following suit you slid your pants and underwear off with his help, a thin strand of your slick sticking to your underwear didn't go unnoticed by the sharp eyes of Captain Caviar cookie.

He smiled and shed his coat, discarding it to the side of the bed.

You desperately wanted him to touch you all over, “Please touch me again..! Your hand feels so different compared to mine”

He nodded and got close enough to where he was now kissing and slightly nipping at your neck. All the while his hand returned to your heat. His fingers drew long strokes up and down, instantly earning a whine. “Ahh..I've missed seeing this…” he breathes against your neck, fingers now playing with your clit, now that you weren't doing the work it felt much better, also since you were lowkey crushing on him ever since you first came on land…

His finger slid down to your opening and your breath hitched, he slowly slid a finger into you, stiling for a moment. His finger was pretty thick so he did what he could to get you used to it, it was your first time having something inside you.

At first there was a small sting of pain that made you flinch, to help with it Captain Caviar cookie used his thumb to rub your clit a little to take your mind off of the pain. Eventually it did and you were back to panting and letting out soft noises.

You weren't sure what you wanted or how to say it so you pleaded for more of whatever he was doing.

He obliged and gradually pulled his finger half way out and then sunk it back into your wet hole.

You squirmed, legs spreading a bit, trying to get more of whatever this was, he saw your desperation and it was getting to him. As his finger got faster and your moans increased he felt himself get turned on further. A throbbing that was beginning to become painful by the second.

He did his best to keep his focus on you, you just looked so mesmerizing and the sounds you made went straight to his dick

Being bold he pulled all the way out, added a second finger and then slid them deep inside, “ha..ah..Captain Caviar cookie-!”

The sweet sensation of his fingers moving around inside you, a place that you desperately wanted to touch for a very long time, along with his thumb against your clit was sending you over the edge.

Your body was beginning to quiver, a hand returning to his forearm. “Faster please..”

Oh, you shouldn't have said that, cause that was this cookies que to start being a little rough with you. His fingers went as deep as they could and with more vigor, they curled around your tightening walls making you cry out.

The noises your mouth made were loud but not loud enough to cover the squelching sounds coming from your hole.

“Can't-! I..I can't-! Please Captain..I'm g-gonna..” Captain Caviar cookie couldn't contain himself, he let out a few small groans, wrapping an arm around you and bringing you as close to himself as possible. Your delicious sounds were getting him worked up even though he hadn't touched himself once. “I got ya, I got ya…” he cooed at you.

Despite how good everything felt, you subtly wanted to make him feel good too, with your free hand you placed it on his thigh, dragging it onto his crotch. In response he groaned a little louder, he felt hot and hard under your touch.

His scent was intoxicating more than ever before, it was already hard to deal with normally but with his added arousal you couldn't control yourself.

Your knees suddenly buckled, body stiffening and the middle of your back arching little by little, without thinking your hand squeezed around his crotch, making him shudder and grunt.

“There ya go, doing so good…” His words spurred you on further, familiar waves of your orgasm came but felt more intense seeing as you were giving your body what it wanted.

It took you a moment to get your breathing under control, getting fingered for the first time was…something.

Speaking of, he looked at his soaked fingers and without thinking, he lapped up your essence, causing you to question his sanity. Was this a normal practice mates do? On land and in the seas you've never seen such things before however that doesn't mean you didn't find it attractive.

Captain Caviar cookie made sure to lick up every trace of you off his hand, he's tasted countless amounts of things in his time, from the disgusting mudshakes and salt water juice that he was forced to get used to…to fancy foods he couldn't even pronounce the names of thanks to Oyster cookies extravagant parties and dinners she hosted often.

Regarding how good you tasted, he made a mental note to get another taste in the future, whether that be later tonight or at a later date.

“ya okay there mate?” His voice was hardly one of concern this time, it was low and more ragged.

Instead of responding verbally you let your actions speak for you, you leaned over and kissed him once more, this time adding tongue to it, his tongue, saliva, his scent, everything of him was addictive and you couldn't get enough, eventually the ache between your legs returned and you pulled away with a high pitched whine.

“I'm assumin ya ain't satisfied yet ay?” you nodded, ashamed that his efforts didn't fully satiate your hunger but this didn't disappoint him. Rather, he chuckled to your shock, “That's good to hear Y/n cookie, here let's get this off”

Looking down at your top you hastily remove it, leaving Captain Caviar cookie to see all of you again.

Now that he had your permission to actually look at your naked form he admired every part of you.

You ease yourself back against the mattress, sitting up on your forearms, you gazed up at him, awaiting his next move.

He came down to your level, one forearm supporting his weight and the other one already getting acquainted with your boobs and eventually your nipples.

You squirmed under his touch, you rubbed your thighs together in a pitiful attempt to relieve the buzzing feeling down there currently increasing once more. His tongue lapped at one of your nipples while a hand rubbed the other.

You laid there and softly moaned from the strange feeling, all the pampering you were receiving was nauseating, you couldn't think of being anywhere else or with anyone else.

By this point, with your feelings growing over the past few months you knew deep down that this wasn't just the work of your heat cycle causing your need for Captain Caviar cookie, it was simply making those feelings more Intense, going against your instincts of finding someone of the same species and getting it over with, you chose to suffer just to hope of some day claiming this cookie as your mate.

It seems that the divines were extra kind with you because you were able to make this happen after all.

You weren't the only one either, during voyages and whenever you and many of your crew hit the town for a night of fun you failed to notice Captain Caviar cookie being at your side more than he would be with other cookies. Sure he made sure nobody got hurt, that rookie cookie got juice instead of alcohol, and that Candy Diver got a change of the freshest water in their helmet-

He kept his eye on you more than any other cookie.

On the deck, when things were calm you all would chat, crack jokes and play games together you and Captain Caviar cookie found yourselves laughing extra hard at each other's jokes and teasing.

There was much more to it, there were times you found yourself at his door because you couldn't sleep, at that time you did your best not to make it seem like anything more than just asking for help and comfort.

All this time it felt one-sided..

..it most definitely was not one-sided, that's for sure.

Just your presence drove him mad, he was thankful that he knew how to keep a stern face for the sake of his title and reputation as the Captain of the Salty Sharks, while everyone slept peacefully in the ship he had a problem with getting a little behind on paperwork because he couldn't keep his mind off of you.

If only you knew how many times he was either on his bed or sitting at his desk and jacking off to the thought of you, watching you lean over the side of the ship to watch the waves or how you'd be on all fours scrubbing the little nooks and crannies of the ship you were stationed at…

Heck, maybe he could smell your arousal just as you could with him.

“Crumbs..you feel amazing” was all you could say through heavy pants and needy sobs, you couldn't stay still for a second.

every lick and suck, pull, and rub had you gripping onto the sheets beneath you.

He looked up at your flushed face, mouth gaped, and tears threatened to fall down your cheeks.

Seeing you like this was getting him more riled up than he expected. He groaned against your soft dough, the light vibrations making you moan once more.

Eventually, he decided to show you a little sympathy, Captain Caviar cookie pulled away from you, a thin string of saliva keeping him connected for a moment longer before he wiped his mouth with a toothy grin.

“haha, sorry mate…this ole’ sea dog couldn't get enough of ya” true to his word, he kissed your forehead and caressed your cheek.

Captain Caviar cookie carefully took your hand and placed it on his rather large bulge

You didn't need his help to begin trying to make him feel good.

He inhaled sharply, “Feel that? It's all for you…” You whined, him giving himself to you so easily was already too much.

After a minute of massaging his covered cock he fully pulled away and off the bed to your dismay.

You watched as he pulled off the pieces of clothing that hid his bulge.

Aside from the gold adorning his arms and dog tags, he was completely naked.

As you learned, he had a couple more tattoos previously hidden by his pants

You drank up his full appearance, “woah..you look lovely” you spoke gently to him

Happy with your comment he climbed back onto the bed, this time he wasn't at your side. Captain Caviar cookie had put himself between your legs.

You felt his cock lay against your folds, it was way bigger than his fingers.

Definitely longer too, you stared at what you were dealing with. A small twinge of fear and curiosity crept up on you, and it showed on your face clear as day.

Seeing your face, he reassured you, bringing up your many strengths and acts of courage he's both heard and seen from you.

They had no relation to the current situation, but they did highlight how you've looked danger and death in the eye many times and didn't back down, which was still a pretty cute gesture.

The small confidence boost helped ease you up. You gave him your consent to resume.

He did fear that he would hurt you. Two of his fingers weren't enough to properly prepare you for him

Bracing himself against your sopping wet pussy he tried not to just sink all the way down to the base in one go-

He slowly began to push himself inside, immediately you let out a whimper to voice your discomfort

Captain Caviar cookie rubbed your thigh, going a little slower to try and make it easier for you.

He did stop once he was about halfway in. Giving you small praises to comfort you the best he could, he further checked up on you, made sure you were still okay with this and when you let him know that the pain lessened he pushed in more, of course because of how much he was packing he couldn't get his full length inside.

Once he hit that spongy wall, he finally stilled.

The both of you were panting, in a daze from this strong feeling. Captain Caviar cookie bit his lip to keep some restraint and sanity for the sake of your wellbeing, but it was so hard. You felt incredibly tight and hot, it left him shaking ever so slightly.

You were no better, you felt so full, stretched beyond your limit, the tip of his cock kissed the entrance of your cervix and dared not to pull away.

It took a while, but eventually, after a few heated kisses and more reassuring words, you granted him permission to start moving.

He nodded, pulling halfway out and slowly sinking back in. You two barely even started, and yet the both of you felt like coming undone at any moment.

There was still a bit of pain, though, with every roll of his hips meeting yours that oh so familiar feeling was becoming stronger.

That feeling of immeasurable pleasure was taking root, and you didn't want it to end

You laid all the way down and wrapped your arms around Captain Caviar cookies neck, bringing him closer to you

“I need more..h-ah! please!” Your heat only worsened the more rough with you he got, but you really couldn't care.

Your mind was turning into putty with every thrust, holding back your words became impossible, you spewed out breathless babbles of how much you wanted him for so long, how you used to get off to the thought of him and it eventually slipped out that you wanted him to breed you..

All this time, he'd been careful not to hurt you in any way, but when you practically begged him to fill you up?

He just couldn't hold himself back anymore

You didn't think much of the weight of your words cause your mind was turning into mush by that point, but he did, within the span of a few seconds he slid his arms around your waist in a tight hold.

His body fell forward against yours, pinning you to the mattress, unable to move nor squirm much under his weight.

His shark-like teeth sunk into your neck, effectively marking you and further restricting your movements.

Now he truly began to fuck you properly, a new drive to truly mate with you gave him the energy to become a more ruthless version of himself.

Tears streamed down your cheeks. You sobbed and cried out, you could only lay there and take his cock deep in your weeping pussy, your back arched, chest squished against his.

Your legs trembled as you felt a sweet coiling from within, you were about to cum so soon, “C-Captain! Captain Caviar- I'm about to..to cum!”

Your cries were heard but disregarded, with no encouragement or reassurance this time.

The only response you got from Captain Caviar cookie was a guttural moan against your neck that was now starting to bleed strawberry jam.

He didn't stop or show any sign of stopping anytime soon, so you had no choice but to cum all over his dick.

Your pussy fluttered and tightened around him, it was too much for you, you found yourself becoming an overstimulated mess under him. You had no time to calm down and recover from it.

You clawed at his back, effectively leaving your own form of markings on his dough.

Your legs began to feel how they felt when you first transformed into a land cookie, like jelly.

After your first orgasm he proceeded to keep you in that position till you came once more, he then gave you a less than 30 second break because in reality what you thought was the end was simply a position change.

He had you on your stomach now so that he could reach a hand down and overstimulate your poor pussy more by rubbing circles around your clit while he pounded away at your insides. He was as cruel as ever, not moving his hand away for a while even when you came again.

Did I mention that he did in fact cum inside you twice during this? He definitely made a mess inside and outside, it was way too much to keep inside and so a lot of his cum got on your thighs and sheets.

He then had you lying flat on your back again, using his fingers to fuck his thick cum back inside you.

You asked him to breed you so he was going to make sure he did just that, all the while abusing your clit once more, sucking on it and swirling his tongue around it.

Your body was coated in sweat. You could barely keep your eyes open anymore. Nearing another orgasm you placed your hands on his head. Firmly keeping him in place while you focused on reaching yet another strong orgasm.

Sure that you were utterly and though roughly bred, he finally gave you your long-awaited break.

Captain Caviar cookie gave you whiplash with how quick his gentle demeanor returned like he didn't just give you life changing front and back shots-

He climbed up and laid next to you, doting on you, asking if you were alright and giving you light pecks and massaging your dough.

Even though you were pretty tired, you did your best to tend to him, giving him your own small kisses and praise.

You both cuddled each other, you nuzzled against him, exhausted after all of that.

Captain Caviar cookie made a small joke about how you won't cause trouble on board anymore.

You then proceeded to double down on it, mentioning that sure your fellow shipmates wouldn't have to force you to do your work, but now he would be the one dealing with you from then on.

…and soon another

……and possibly more

Captain Caviar cookie wondered, now that this was set in stone, what would your offspring look like...??

Would they have a tail? legs?

He decided not to think too much about it for now; Captain Caviar cookie preferred to only think of you right now.

You both really needed to do a lot, a bathroom break, shower, and a change of sheets.

Buuuttttt that can wait a few minutes, you two needed to rest up for a moment to even have enough energy to do all that after all...♥︎

there's plenty of fish in the sea, am I right(GET OUT-)

I didn't expect this bs to be this long if you made it this far I'm so sorry I have a fixation on mermaids and this stupid cookie💔

[therealsophiependragon]

okay but Mai did care. Like Mai gave many, many fucks about stuff. She's not someone who outwardly expresses a ton of emotion, but "I love Zuko more than I fear you" was not a one-off fluke, guys, it was a build-up.

I heard someone say a while ago that Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee are great representations of what women look like under the patriarchy. Azula becomes incredibly competitive and ambitious, the boss lady, pushing herself further than anyone else would have had to in order to get the respect of her father and his court. And she still has to work really hard for it, they constantly like question her and stuff which is very well-displayed in her opening scene. Not saying Azula's a victim guys. Please don't misunderstand me guys. Please don't mangle what I'm saying guys. But I firmly believe that a significant shaping of Azula was from her environment, and part of her environment was the Fire Nation's sexism.

Now Mai keeps her emotions in check and might be what a drunk guy on the street or an ex-boyfriend or a father might call an 'emotionless bitch,' whereas Azula is a 'psychopathic bitch' or a 'crazy bitch' which you know fair but also we're talking about Mai now. Mai grew up in an environment where a shit ton was expected of her and she had to respect the authority figures being her father and mother even though her father quite obviously didn't know things as well as she did. She had to clam up and keep quiet because that's what a lady was supposed to do, but she turned that silence lethal, and it isn't that she's numb or emotionless or doesn't care, she's just safer and taken more seriously if she's silent, and so Mai doesn't talk unless she has something to say.

Ty Lee is over-compensatingly feminine and girly, which is another way women act out under oppression. People think she's a ditz and even Azula underestimates and condescends to her at times, and maybe she acts this way because she genuinely feels like this is who she is, but sometimes when I see Ty Lee, I see myself in social situations. When people make me feel dumb, I automatically feel like I have to lean into that and make myself seem even dumber even if I'm not. I feel the need to giggle and tease and make self-deprecating one-offs about how I'm blonde or how I left my brain at home and all that shit, and I think Ty Lee does this too. Like a fear-response technique. And she acts this way a lot around Azula too which is telling because Azula embraced and sharpened a lot of traditionally masculine dispositions to use as weapons, and Ty Lee sees that.

So Mai and Ty Lee are really just protecting themselves I feel like. Not saying that they aren't being 'their true selves' onscreen or that, unafraid, they'd be completely different people than presented - there's actually evidence against this - but I'm sick of people presenting Mai as some emotionless and uncaring person who gives no fucks because that's not who she is. Istg like

[therealhousewifeofharrystyles]

Harry’s Home

Part III.

Read Part 1 Here!

Read Part 2 Here!

Pairing/AU: Roommate!Harry // Roommate!Y/N

Word Count: ~ 4k words

⚠️ Content Warnings: Adult Language, Pining, Sexual Desire, References to Body Weight (“Chubby” Reader), Fantasies of Rough Sex, Breeding Fantasies, Exhibitionism, Explicit Depictions of Masturbation(M&F), Dirty Talk, ~Slow Burn~

So, yeah. Harry and I have successfully become somewhat close. We’ve put up with each other’s shit for long enough and eventually bonded—or whatever the hell you call it when a pair of sex-starved adults live in close quarters and they decide to play nice so the walls don’t come down on them.

Even though it’s the time of year when I can see my breath and I have to wear socks to protect my chilly toes when I’m lounging around the house, when I’m around Harry…I might as well be a tea kettle on the verge of squealing in steaming agony. I guess you could say I’ve been in heat.

I’m catching myself spacing all the time, hypnotized by his comfortable routine. He grasps my attention like it’s second-nature to him, and I have no other choice but to relent—to surrender. How fucking pathetic is that? Like, get a grip, woman. 

But seriously, I can’t take it anymore. I turn powerless and my body betrays me, simply from the man meeting my eyes with his from across the room. For someone to hold this much control over another human being by just existing…not only is it completely unfair, but it feels otherworldly. It’s as though a connection has been birthed out of the rawest, most sinful form of lust, with its sole purpose to fuse a pair of unwed and horny humans. Thus latching itself onto the two of us, melding an incubus with a siren.

I guess it could just be some crazy-intense sexual tension, too. There’s no fun in that explanation, but whatever. The point is that I can’t fucking take it anymore.  Me being so mesmerized by him performing the most mundane of tasks—unscrewing a new jar of jam, rubbing the sleep out of his face as he stumbles out of his bedroom, sneaking little peeks at me from across the room and smirking to himself after he looks away. God. That smirk keeps me up at night…my hands groping myself and massaging my clit to lull myself to dreamland.

Right…so about that…

For the past few months, Harry’s been able to hear me fucking myself through the thin wall that separates our two bedrooms. The divider does absolutely nothing to silence me and my explicit acts of self-pleasure. These walls couldn’t muffle a mouse, let alone an ambitiously horny, and impressively vocal young woman who’s desperate to get her rocks off…hard. 

And I’m certain he can hear everything—every gasp, every whine, every slick plunge of my fingers—or a toy—as they’re used in a merciless attack on my own body in order to chase an unattainable high…It's loud. It’s filthy. 

It’s pornographic.

And yet Harry indulges in my songs. I know he does. The only way I’m able to get myself off is to picture him on the other side…to close my eyes and astral-project my way into his room and assume the role of the voyeur…as the exhibitionist. I’m a walking oxymoron.

I imagine my waves of ecstasy seeping through the walls to awaken his neglected cock in his tight briefs.

I think to myself, 

…I bet he’s wondering whether or not I'm messing with him...if I know he’s listening to me…and if, perhaps, I want him to listen…

If only I were just playing a sick game of tease…Such a possibility would be utterly humiliating for Harry. He loathes feeling like his control is in the hands of another. Said power landing in my hands? Oh…No, no, no. Lest we forget the towel incident? Don’t let the sensitive late-night talks, the apology hugs, or the sleepy cuddles fool you; a switch, Harry is not. Not that he’s told me or anything, but it’s a feeling. When he drags his eyes down to slowly assess me…there isn’t a doubt in my mind that he’s in charge.

He has a limited threshold for teasing and babying, which is precisely why he shooed his own mother out the door after a mere 5 minutes of her jests. Harry spent his entire life as the baby. I sense he’s needed a release for quite some time…and it probably doesn’t help matters that my playful antics are sure-fire triggers for his dark dominance to take over. I think he’s struggled to find the right mate to unleash that part of himself with. At least completely, that is. And I hope I’ve been pressing just the right buttons to experience it all for myself. 

But yes, I’ve been fucking myself with lotsa gusto knowing he’s in close earshot of the action. Hopefully, he’s come to successfully make sense of some of my muffled ramblings beyond his wall as, “Yes, Daddy!” as well as the occasional gasp or moan of “Harry.” What? I like it…

Although I’d love to exacerbate the narrative that this has all just been a cruel game started by yours truly—a game that I’m winning, to be clear—I'm actually not messing with him. This had begun purely by accident, and now I'm just continuing to provide some adult entertainment for my, uh...housemate and…good friend. 

Before you scold me for being a perv, let me just finish explaining the situation. Because if Harry had a problem with something I did, he’d tell me. And he never complained about this. Never. 

Quite the opposite, actually.

The first time I did my private deeds with Harry eavesdropping in the next room, I'd initially felt horribly embarrassed. I hadn't realized how shameless I was, or how loud and desperate the noises were as they came out of me. Once I finally caught myself, it was like space and time had spun to a stop, and I was painfully aware of my raw indecency.

I wasn’t watching porn, reading erotica, or listening to naughty audio recordings. Nope. Only my lustful thoughts fueled the eagerness in my fingers as they played with my pussy. I’d also been blatantly inconsiderate of Harry and his right to privacy whilst they did. I felt dirty. I wasn’t thinking clearly. Pfft, I was hardly thinking of anything. It reminded me of the time just before we moved into this house…when I lurked on his social media pages for the images of his slick, half-naked body which burned themselves into my memory, all just to use him for my own personal, sick, sexual gratification.  

And there I was again—now cohabiting a space with the very inspiration for my filth and frustration—lying comfortably atop a spacious, girly pink towel to protect my bed linens from succumbing to my wetness. My knees were spread apart and my dripping cunt was on full display for my closed door across the room. If anyone walked in, they'd unknowingly be entering what many theme parks tend to call a “splash zone.” 

Luckily, Harry was in the living room watching some melodramatic video essay on YouTube…Or at least that’s where I’d left him before ending up in the not-so-innocent position atop my mattress.

I hadn’t thought about the fact that the house wasn’t empty until I heard my own whiny sighs combined with unmistakable slippery pussy-rubbing echoing throughout the room. My cheeks flushed an even deeper shade of pink once I’d realized the extent of my elevated volume. There was no way Harry couldn’t have heard all that. And I had no idea how long I’d been up to it, or for how long at that high of a frequency.

The click of a door closing nearby interrupted my nervous internal monologue—Harry’s door. He was mere meters away from my partially-nude body, but my private quarters kept me safe from any judging eyes. The wall our bedrooms shared stood as the only barricade between our two bodies. For a while, I dismissed my initial self-awareness and I slowly, and carefully, swirled my drenched fingertips over my clit. More of my liquid arousal coated my petite hand. For some reason, the idea of Harry walking in on me like that had me feeling hot. Realistically, that would’ve meant immediate, devastating humiliation. Did that mean I was into that? I’d say yes judging by the way I was pulsing around nothing whilst staring at my door, picturing the man himself standing there smirking at me…tilting his head and patronizing me. 

…Aw, would you look at tha’…Does that feel good, Sweet Bunny? 

“Mmhmm.” I found myself nodding with a sigh, my eyes relaxed and veiled. My mind refused to backtrack, and instead doubled-down. I probably should have stopped myself right there, but fuck, could self-sabotage feel good.

My brain directed me towards thinking about how pretty and sweet I was on the outside. My body, soft, and my features, so delicate, but so grabbable. Every part of me had an ample amount of plushness to squeeze. To manhandle. My tiny wrists and my elegant neck, the perfect size for a pair of big hands to wrap around. I bit my rosy lip on a whine, then brought my thumb up to rub and tease it before sucking on it. The sinful acts my mouth performed were a secret I kept with the few lucky men who’d experienced it for themselves. I wanted so badly to share that with Harry…I wanted to share all of myself with him. 

“Mmm…Harry.” I moaned aloud, releasing my wet thumb and sneaking it under my shirt, swiping the slick pad back and forth over my sensitive tit.

It was hard for me not to think about Harry whenever I touched myself. I thought about his fingers playing with my hair, him burying his face into my neck the times we cuddled…feeling his hard-on against my ass on the couch…the times when he’d hugged me…and catching his gaze drift down to my tits…I bet he’d thought I’d never notice, even after having done it multiple times in a single conversation. Hmm…was Harry Styles an ass man or a tit man? Or was he something else…? He certainly liked looking at my boobs…and I'm able to confirm that his body has a very positive reaction to pressing up against my butt…

Honestly, I didn’t even care what parts of the body Harry liked the most. All I cared about was how badly I wanted to feel him use mine. I wrapped my small hand around my throat and arched my back up off of the mattress, gasping as I mindlessly pushed two hooked fingers inside my tight opening, picturing a certain tall, curly-headed British man molesting me instead. The sound of my own moans enhanced my pleasure as I rode myself towards peak bliss. My modesty had become non-existent as my hands worked each sensitive spot between my legs and teased at my pebbled nipples. A part of me needed him to hear me that night. I was getting off on that taboo. But that’s all it was…my imagination. 

It was just a silly little fantasy. Harmless exhibitionism. I wasn’t actually being that loud…—but that’s when I suddenly heard more feedback beyond the wall. It’d been some time since I’d heard the door click shut. My personal distractions got in the way of keeping track of time. 

There was an urgent fumbling. A repetitive clinking. The sound resembled a bit of metal hitting other metal. But it was light. Small. Following that, I heard a rough yank and a soft plop as whatever the item was had dropped heavily onto the carpeted floor. An unmistakable hum of a zipper quickly came subsequent to the discarding of the first mystery item—but it was no longer a mystery to me as my sex-clouded mind pieced together what I was hearing. The hands nestled between my thighs slowed at the realization.

Well, Harry’s just changing into his pajamas for the night, right?

My audible x-rated activities bouncing off the walls for several minutes whilst my roommate innocently removed his pants next door…maybe I was overthinking this…I remembered calling out our "goodnight"'s to each other around 10 minutes before I slipped out of my panties and began to shamelessly pleasure myself. He was still in his business-y work clothes when I left him in the living room…and I knew I just heard his bedroom door click shut in the middle of my alone time. And at that point, Harry was right there. He was just trying to unwind, yet happened to be in the room adjacent to mine. It was probably too awkward for him to ask for me to quiet down. 

Poor guy…ugh. I was disgusted with myself. I felt I needed to end my “session” right there, and

I was mentally preparing a nice apology text to send him. There was no way in hell I'd bring this up in person to Harry the following day. Surely I’d be in tears before I could even form the right words. I didn’t even want to imagine the scenario of Harry, himself, mentioning it to my face. Every possible, horrible consequence of my selfishly lewd deeds played out in my mind. There I was, lying there with my knees bent up and spread wide open—my fingers frozen against where I'm most sensitive. The silence made the throbbing in my clit feel even more desperate. 

And then Harry flicked his white-noise machine on.

Oh, God…This was so embarrassing.

I wanted to sink into a black hole and never be seen, nor heard, ever again. The severity of the situation felt devastating to me. Was I truly so grotesque that the beautiful man I lived with had to tune me out with the highest setting of his old, rattly sleep machine?!

Hell, I was more than embarrassed, I was fucking humiliated. For real, this time. And it was all my fault.

I just wanted to disappear.

But just as I was readying myself to book a flight back home to move back in with my parents to spare myself from ever having to look Harry in the eye again…

I heard it. 

I heard him.

“…Mmmhh…”

Beyond the hum of the wimpy white noise, there was a raspy moan on the other side of the wall. I thought I was just imagining it, or that maybe it was Harry quietly retching in disgust, but then it happened again. 

No, yeah. It was definitely a moan.

I held my breath as I focused upon the sound of an abrupt curse followed by the distinctive sound of spitting. 

“...Ahhh, fuck—” 

*ptuh* 

The grunting and other lewd noises continued. I could only imagine Harry’s tightened fist, wet from his own drool, working diligently at his neglected cock.

“...Mm…h-hm…ugghhh…”

It seemed like Harry's white-noise machine had some impressive competition. My lips curved into a smirk and my embarrassment exponentially subsided.

His growls vibrated right through the layers of paint and drywall—sliding their way under my shirt, swirling around my perked nipples before bolting straight down to my fingertips, coaxing them to push deeper into my heat. Squeezing my thighs together and arching my back, I curled those digits and gasped out audibly. Feminine arousal leaked from my center and down the crease where my ass met my thighs. Everything was so slippery. I’d made a mess of myself within seconds. Not to mention, the pornographic squelch of my fingers echoed shamelessly beyond the slick walls of my cunt.

If Harry’s spit-covered palm was loud enough to hear over the white noise, then I knew the splashy reservoir between my legs was audible too.

Another series of grunts and huffs sounded beyond the wall behind me and the white noise machine was switched off. I retracted my fingers and slid them up and down my slit, teasing myself and picturing Harry rubbing the head of his dick along my entrance. My brow pinched hedonistic agony. Oh, God, did I want him inside me…I needed something…anything…

With my less-saturated hand, I reached over to open my bedside drawer and lifted the lower compartment to retrieve the silk satchel that encased my dildo. My sticky-slick fingers fumbled impatiently with the ties until the toy comically launched out of the bag and bounced itself smack down onto the inside of my splayed thigh. I could just picture Harry laughing at my lack of grace even though he was busy with his own deeds next door. The thought of Harry teasing me about the dildo made me blush a bit, and I smiled to myself, imagining his hand reaching out to brush my hair out of my face, his pupils dilating as he’d sit on his knees next to the bed and lean over me until his lips grazed my ear…

Be a good girl and show me what filthy things you do with this, Bunny…Show me where it goes…Show me how you fuck yourself…

I hadn’t realized I’d done it again. I’d gotten lost in that depraved little world of mine, and I whimpered aloud in response to the Imaginary Harry who was speaking in my fantasy, “Y-you want me to fuck my pussy for you, Daddy?” Maybe it was the Imaginary Harry again, but I could’ve sworn that I heard a silky British voice nearby react, “Goddd…dammit, Bun’…Ugh, fuuuck, yes. Fuck that sweet little pussy f’me, baby, holy shit…”

Laying back down, I brought the silicone cock up to my lips and sucked it into my mouth. I slowly bobbed my head on it and soaked it with my saliva after deepthroating it several times. The sloppy blowjob I gave to my dildo seemed to have been loud enough to be heard by Harry next door, as he voiced out, “Oh my god, Y/N…I wanna fuck that pretty mouth.”

I pulled it away from my tongue, a string of drool dripping from the tip, and rubbed the head of the toy against my sensitive clit whilst I responded, bringing me right back to where I needed to be. 

“Mmhh, but you can’t put a baby in me that way, Daddy.”

My own eyes widened and I gasped. I couldn’t believe I’d actually fucking said that.

“Shit! Ughh…Ahh…Ughhhh…Fuck you, Bunny…Almost made me…c-come…Christ—Ohhh, fuck me…”

With my free hand, I sucked on my index finger and let my eyes flutter closed as I pulled it out from my lips, trailing it down my neck, all the way to my breasts. Groping myself as best as I could with the rest of my hand, I used my forefinger to tease my nipple whilst the dildo swirled and swiped around my slickened slit. My breathing picked up quickly. The dildo had eventually disappeared inside my clenching hole. The only audible sounds I remember hearing were those of my own—my high-pitched gasps, the pornographic swishing and squelching of the dildo fucking my drenched cunt, the wet flicking noises of my fingers moving rapidly against my clit…I don’t even remember how loud Harry was at that point, I was too focused on my fantasy—my fantasy with him—to notice. I was so focused, in fact, that I had once again lost all sense of self-control and consciousness, succumbing to whatever had come naturally to me at the time and practically singing out my song of ecstasy for the whole goddamn neighborhood.

“Ohmygodohmygodohmygod…Harry, please. I need your cum…Oh, god, please come inside me. Fuck all your cum d-dee–oh g…–ah! Yes! Yes! Don’t stop!”

As I begged for my climax, Harry seemed to have been on the edge of his orgasm as well.

“Jesus Christ, you’re gonna kill me, Y/N…You want me to fill you up? Be my little breeding bunny? God…You dirty girl…Fuuuck…oh fuck, I’m gonna come…”

“Yes! Yes, Daddy! I can take it! Please! Yes, yes, yes, yes! Aaahhh!”

I unraveled with a squeak followed by a series of breathless sobs, my hands, wrists, and arms working frantically and my eyes rolled back whilst the kaleidoscope of pleasure poured through my body. Immediately after my explosion, I collapsed like a ragdoll with the dildo slowly pushing out of me, and my fingers slipping around on my clit to prolong my high. As my breathing recovered, I listened to the tail-end of the orgasm taking place from Harry’s side of the wall.

“Holy shit…Fucking take all of it f’me, babe—ohhhh, yeah…uhh-uuggh…mmhh…hm…Damnit…’So much…I wish all this was inside you, Bunny…fucking hell…”

I’d slept like a rock once I finally passed out. I wasn’t even worried about what would come the next morning. Nah, I had the upper hand on this one for once. As a bratty submissive, I’d gotten used to being teased and controlled. What an interesting feeling to exist on the other side. God, it felt fucking fantastic. Unfortunately for Harry, he wasn’t as confident…or at least that was what I’d been able to interpret in the days following. Nights after the first one, I’d carry on fucking my cunt until I was physically too exhausted to move my pretty little hands anymore. I swear I’d heard Harry finish at least thrice in one night once. (Impressive, Styles.) As for myself…well, I usually lost count.

That first morning, I awoke with sore arms, a rogue dildo laying on the floor, my limbs tangled inside my sheets, yet a ridiculous smile was perma-glued onto my sleepy, orgasm-spent face. I tried my best to tone it down, as I didn’t want to prance around the house like I’d just risen from a deep sleep induced by a gazillion-and-one pulsating firecrackers of pleasure. Too obvious, you know? Had to act nonchalant. Unbothered. 

Who was I kidding—I was the most chalant person I knew. Harry would see right through that charade. But there honestly wasn’t much need for pretending on my part since Harry had actively avoided any and all eye contact with me anyway. I’d never seen the man be so meek. It was truly a sight. 

Things would eventually loosen up as the days progressed, especially if it was a work day which meant Harry had an excuse to be miles away from me for several hours. It was somewhat of a bummer because I thoroughly enjoyed this sampling of power I newly held over the man. I reveled in the way our typical roles would reverse the mornings after our little bedtime serenades. They weren’t a nightly occurrence, as I preferred to keep him on his toes; however, they’d happen often enough that I tended to daydream in the middle of my work meetings. I’d even begun to retreat to my bedroom an hour or so earlier in the evenings, giving Harry some lame excuse like tiredness or a headache. In reality, it was me signaling that I needed to get myself off sooner rather than later. Whenever I’d announce my departure, I could feel how much he’d been aching for it all day, too. Harry eventually utilized the same approach to speed up the fulfillment of his own needs. I’d changed up my tempo, my method of pleasure, the filth of my words, even my own positions whilst touching myself. It seemed like it had become almost like a routine for him to wait for me to fall into bed late in the evening. (Yet another one for me to be distracted by…) 

Nothing’s changed. I still imagine that he patiently lays atop his soft duvet with an anxious throb booming against his eardrums…That minutes will go by with him training his ear to follow each soft pad of my feet. And then I shut my door. I waste no time before diving my pretty fingers inside the waistband of my underwear and playing with my sensitive little petal—allowing all the filth to freely escape my lips. And every single time we do this, I’m in my room picturing him naked from the waist down, one hand eagerly pumping his dripping length whilst the other massages his balls and perineum. To this day, the waves of simultaneous pleasure are still trapped only by the few measly layers of drywall that stand in between us.

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

I know, I know…it’s been a while…but I’m back:-) and this isn’t the end of Harry’s Home—the final part is basically finished, but I wanted to post this chunk of it since I’d been kind of neglecting my account for months now. I hope y’all like it! Xoxo ~ Régan 💋

Tags: @daphnesutton @victoria-styles @pishhhh20989 @heyyyloverr @youdontcaredoyou @jerseygirlinca

[felisidae]

Killer kitty doodle because I'd rather plunge myself into a volcano than finish any of my hundreds of wips + very long and insane Killer ramble because I love this stupid guy

Ramble below, I warn you it's not pretty.

I hate how people write Killer off as a one note character, with his only personality trait being "chaotic murder gremlin", or even worse "Nightmare simp". Ima state now I have a high dislike for Nightkiller, it completely ignores not only Nightmares character as a whole but reduces Killer to a mindless servant. Which he kinda is, but that's not all he is. He is so so interesting and I mourn the fact that I don't see a lot of people explore past a surface level.

In Ground Zero he has more of a mind for himself, though he still wouldn't ever outright disobey Nightmare. Both out of fear and the fact that he really has no other choice, he had nowhere else to go. He doesn't really have a relationship with the other mercenaries, as he is better at solo missions due to how blindly violent he can get at times. Strike serves as an outside perspective, constantly questioning Nightmares authority and Killer's loyalty to him. Killer begins to doubt how much power Nightmare actually has, and how much power he's simply just been giving him in an effort to fill the empty hole of loneliness in his soul.

Chara works more as a voice in his head, they aren't actually visible which I think would really contribute to Killers growing insanity as he begins to doubt if Chara even exists at all. Whose voice was he really listening to when he killed all those people. Chara's voice is less audible at Stage 1 and more audible as the stages progress. Chara is in some part, a part of him. Since their souls literally merged, I thought it would be neat if they like, literally merged together too. But like, in a mental way. Chara is now permanently attached to Killer whether he likes it or not. Rarely is there ever silence in his mind with them around, but he's gotten used to it at this point.

Strike and Killers relationship is more reluctant companions, they love to hate each other. But really, they need each other. Strike relies on Killer to do well, anything. And Killer relies on Strike to ground him and sometimes knock some sense into him when he gets too lost in his mind. Strike is really the first actual friend he's had after everything went down in his universe. Killer doesn't know why he's so intent on helping Strike, perhaps for the possible chance of fighting the guardians again, or maybe a small part of him wants to do the right thing. Letting Strike stay in the castle was also Killers first act of disobedience in a looooooooong while, Nightmare did not like this guy at all. But he managed to find a way to make it work, one way or another.

He and Dream have this weird frenemy relationship. Dream wants to help Killer, but Killer doesn't trust him for a second. Cautious of his true intentions. He does enjoy fighting with the guardian, though he's a little disappointed at how much Dream holds back against him.

He and Bird have insane beef, they HAAATE each other. They love to tease each other when fighting, which only gets them both equally pissed off. Birds hatred comes from protectiveness of Dream, and Killers hatred comes from envy. Bird symbolizes everything Killer is not; he has true freedom. Not only because of his ability to fly, but because he isn't chained to Dream like Killer is to Nightmare. Although they come from similar backgrounds, they both came out very different. (Would it be crazy to say I kinda ship them in a toxic but works somehow way, I'm thinking raptor could work, as it's another name for birds of prey. But I'll work on it I guess)

Coming back to Striller cause I'm absolutely feral about them. They are purely platonic in canon, though Strike does have some underlying affection for Killer. Killer simply sees Strike as an anchor, something to keep himself from going completely insane. But I think it would be interesting to look at them through a romantic lens maybe, if Strike lived long enough it might have actually worked out.

Back to Killer himself. I'm still trying to better understand his character though my own vision of him. He's flirty, he's aggressive and snarky yes but he can also be callous, calculating and cruel (did not mean to make those all start with c but I ball). He's a very tragic character, I hate him sm guys.

I wanna just ramble about all the characters in my au, Bird will probably be next. Oh boy I have so much to say about him, for a character with literally zero story he is so interesting in my own vision of him guys I swear please. (And I WILL be discussing Goldeneagle in gross detail trust.)

[fanficofdreams]

Mine.

Dean Winchester/Reader.

Summary - You and Dean never have seen eye to eye, what happens when Sam breaks and tells you two to sort your shit before one of you gets hurt.

Warning - 18+ content.

not proof read****

You had been with the Winchesters for a while now, and things had always been rocky between you and Dean. From day one, there had been this unspoken tension between you two—like he could never fully accept you being a part of their world. You tried to ignore it, but it wasn’t easy when every conversation seemed to end in a fight, or when Dean barely tolerated your presence.

Tonight was no different. You were in the bunker, doing some research while Dean sulked around the kitchen, like he always did when he was in one of his moods. Sam had been trying to keep the peace, but it was clear that even he couldn’t hold everything together anymore.

“Can you two just figure it out?” Sam’s voice cut through the tension, sharp and exasperated. He dropped the research notes he’d been working on and stood up, running a hand through his hair. “I’m getting out of here. I can’t keep being the middle man.”

With that, Sam grabbed his jacket and headed for the door, leaving you and Dean alone in the silence. You could still hear Sam’s footsteps echoing down the hallway as the door slammed behind him.

You turned to Dean, your frustration bubbling over. “Well, looks like it’s just us now,” you said, your tone sharp. “Are you happy now? You’ve pushed Sam to his breaking point, and now we’re stuck here, alone.”

Dean didn’t respond immediately, just standing there, his arms crossed over his chest. But you could see the tension in his posture—the way his jaw was clenched, like he was holding something back.

“You know what?” Dean finally said, his voice low and rough. “I’m done with this. Done with you constantly pushing my buttons. You think I like this? This constant arguing, this… this tension between us?”

You raised an eyebrow. “Well, I didn’t exactly ask for it, Dean,” you shot back. “You’re the one who can’t stand being around me. You’re the one who won’t give me a chance.”

Dean’s eyes flashed with anger, and he took a step toward you. “That’s the problem. You think I’m doing this because I don’t want you here. But the truth is, I can’t stand being around you because you drive me insane. Every damn time you open your mouth, every time you act like you’re the only one who knows what’s going on—it makes me crazy.”

You froze, your heart racing as his words hit you harder than you expected. “What… what are you saying?” you asked, barely able to keep the shock out of your voice.

Dean’s gaze hardened, but there was something vulnerable in it now—a flicker of something he hadn’t shown before. “I’m saying that I can’t keep doing this. Watching you throw yourself into danger without thinking about the consequences. Watching you act like you’re invincible, when I know that one day you won’t come back. I’m trying to protect you, but you won’t let me.”

You swallowed, taken aback by the rawness in his voice. “Dean, I don’t need you to protect me,” you replied, your voice a little shaky now. “I can handle myself. You’ve got no reason to act like this.”

Dean’s lips tightened, his breath coming a little faster. “I don’t want to protect you,” he said, his voice low, almost a growl. “I want to have you. I want to stop pretending like I can just let you go on these hunts without losing my mind. You make me… want things I shouldn’t want.”

You felt your breath catch in your throat. His words echoed in your ears, the gravity of what he was saying sinking in. This wasn’t just another argument anymore. This was something real. Something deep.

“Dean” You didn’t know what to say. His confession hit you hard, leaving you speechless, your heart racing in your chest.

But Dean didn’t give you a chance to finish. He took another step closer to you, closing the gap between you both, his chest almost brushing against yours. You could feel the heat radiating off of him, the tension thick in the air.

“I don’t know how much longer I can fight this,” he said, his voice strained. “Every time I look at you, all I want to do is pull you close and kiss you until you stop pushing me away. But I know I shouldn’t, and that’s what drives me insane.”

You couldn’t move. You couldn’t think. Every part of you was on fire, and yet you were rooted to the spot. Dean’s words hung in the air between you, and for the first time, you understood exactly what had been simmering between you both all this time.

His hand moved up, brushing against your cheek, and you felt your breath hitch at the softness of his touch. Dean’s eyes flicked down to your lips for a split second before locking back onto yours, and the intensity in his gaze made your heart race even faster.

“Dean, I…” You started, but you couldn’t finish. Your body was already betraying you, your pulse hammering as you leaned just the slightest bit closer.

And then, without another word, Dean closed the gap completely. His lips captured yours in a kiss that was nothing like you’d ever imagined. It was rough, desperate, as if everything you two had been hiding—every word left unsaid—was finally spilling out in that one moment.

His hands gripped your waist, pulling you closer to him, and for a moment, time seemed to stand still. Your breath hitched, the space between you two charged with an undeniable electricity. His touch was firm, yet there was a gentleness in the way he held you, as if afraid you might slip away.

You could feel the warmth of his body against yours, his heartbeat steady and strong beneath the surface of his chest. It was almost as if everything around you had faded. There was only the two of you, the weight of unspoken words that hung in the air.

Dean picked you up in his arms, like you weight nothing. His lips never leaving yours, the kiss deepening with every step he took. The world seemed to blur around you, the only thing you were aware of was the heat of his touch, and the rhythm of his heart.

With a swift movement, he pushed open the door and entered his bedroom, his grip tightened around you as he laid you gently on the bed. His eyes burned with intensity, his hands lingering at your sides, as if memorising every inch of you.

The moment you were both fully on the bed, he paused, his breath shallow as he gazed at you with a look that made your pulse rate ''are you sure'' he murmured, his voice low as he kisses your jaw.

You could only nod, your body aching to feel more of him. As his lips found yours once again. Trailing down the side of your neck, planting soft, burning kisses along your skin. You gasped softly, your fingers instinctively threading through his hair, pulling him back to you. His hands found their way to the hem of your shirt, lifting it over your head

''Dean'' you lift up his shirt, trying to pull him further down. ''Please-''''

I know'' he mutters your name, the kisses turning softer as they scatter over your face, finally landing back on your lips with a low hum. ''I’ve got you baby''

You smile, you feel lightheaded from all the emotions going through you, you let Dean take control. He is squeezing your ass with one hand and holding your waist with the other, nipping at the skin of your throat, and as he said ''I got you baby''. The words keep running through your mind, making you want him even more.

You arch your back and dig your nails into his back, feeling him smirk against your skin, knowing he's found your sweet spot. ''Should we..'' you moan slightly feeling him suck against your spot “Be doing this.”

''You tell me to stop..'' he whispered, feeling him trailing kisses down your jawline until he reached your lips. ''I’ve wanted you for so fucking long, too long'' he grunted into your mouth.

You let him kiss you passionately but rough, you carried on letting him take control, melting into him more and more as time goes by. The thought of should we be doing this, inching further from your mind as he grinds into you.

He broke away to lift his head up and lock eyes with you. Now staring down at you with a mix of desire and something else, you couldn't put your finger on. You stared back at him, the same feelings coursing through you alongside pleasure.

You didn’t realise how incredible his eyes were before, but now, you were gazing up at him, they seemed to hold everything—depth, desire, vulnerability. The intensity in his gaze made your heart race, and for a moment, the world outside the room didn’t matter anymore.

Without thinking, you lifted your hand, your fingers lightly brushing over his cheek, feeling the roughness of his stubble under your touch. His skin was warm, and the sensation of your palm against his face sent a jolt of connection through both of you.

His eyes softened, a flicker of something more than just passion crossing his expression—something deeper, something real. He leaned into your touch, his breath slow and steady, as if savoring the moment.

“You’re incredible,” he whispered, his voice barely above a breath, as his thumb gently traced your jawline.

You could feel the weight of his words, the sincerity behind them. It made your chest tighten, but in the best way. You pulled him closer again, letting your lips meet in a kiss that was tender, yet filled with a promise of something more. His lips moved back to your neck, kissing you with a tenderness that made your pulse race. Feeling his make their way to your clothed core, the subtle pressure made you gasp. His fingers hovering your folds over the fabric, making you gasp. 

“As much as I love these, they need to go.” He whispered against your mouth.

With just one hand, he pulled down your underwear leaving you exposed in front of him. He used his hands to spread your legs, placing little kisses all over your thighs until his tongue found your arousal. Building to an explosive orgasm that sent vibrations through you, arching your back, fingers digging into his back.

you scream for the first time, and hopefully not the last time.

DECIDED im going to make this a 2 part.. sorry!

[musette22]

It's absurd that Annabelle haters aka Sebastain Stan jealous fans reported an old fan account of hers The Best Annabelle Wallis on Instagram to have the page deactivated, and it was, because they don't want people to think she has fans. For the first time I felt ashamed to be part of Seb's fandom, really. There's also a Seb fan pretending to be an Annabelle fan spreading hate against Seb's mother to make people hate Annabelle. This is pure evil. All this because she was with him on the red carpet. We don't have to love and become a fan of Annabelle, but she was the one he chose to be there. If it's not her, it will be someone else, but it will never be us. The same thing happens with Cevans' fandom, there's a lot of hate, and this only drives fans away, to the point that soon there will only be hate.

At a time when we should be feeling proud and celebrating Sebastian's achievements, I'm just embarrassed to call myself a fan because I don't want anyone to think I'm crazy.

I hope Thunderbolts will flop. That's what I'm feeling right now because a lot of these fans are Bucky fans.

Oh honey, I'm sorry you had to see that vile stuff. It is awful, and it is ridiculous and nasty and inexcusable behaviour, that's for sure. I personally think Annabelle seems great actually, and she seems to be making Seb very happy, so she definitely doesn't deserve this kind of treatment from Sebastian's supposed "fans".

But unfortunately, this kind of stuff is just always going to be part of celebrity fandoms, or at least for as long as there is social media where people feel like they can say and do anything and get away with it. It's sadly happened with every partner Sebastian's had, and much worse than the current situation, too. That doesn't make it okay, but it's not anything new.

But the good thing is: not all fans are like this (you and I and all the wonderful people I am lucky enough to call my mutuals in this fandom are proof of that). In fact, I would venture to say that most fans are not like this, and the boys and their loved ones are aware of that, I'm sure. But the nasty fans are unfortunately usually the loudest and most visibly present, that is true.

Which is why it is SO important to protect your peace and curate your own fandom space. It really is mostly a question of avoiding certain spaces and people, and blocking certain blogs and accounts. It really does work, because I personally hardly ever see any of this stuff, so unless people come and tell me about it, I wouldn't even know this was happening. So if you curate your experience, and you do it properly, then you'll notice that there are also so, so many people in this fandom who do love and support the boys and their partners, and who aren't delusional and (overly) parasocial about them. It may seem to you like the hate is omnipresent, but if you take a few precautions and cut out some of the haters, the fandom suddenly looks very different, I promise!

Of course that doesn't make the bullies go away, but the less attention they get, the more likely they are to lose interest. Also, remember that there is genuinely something wrong with a lot of the people behaving this way. They're clearly either unhappy with their own lives, or have something else going on that makes them act like this, and honestly, I kind of pity them. I hope they get help, but one thing's for sure: they're not getting any of my attention or energy. I have far better uses for that, like gushing about our boys with all the beautiful like-minded people I've found on here! ❤️

So please, don't waste your energy and time on these people, darling. They don't deserve it, and you deserve better! And hey, Seb is clearly happy and thriving, so the haters can eat their spiteful little hearts out 👋🏻

[givingblood]

Feeling stupid bc other than it being rushed as fuck, I didn't think it was bad? Kinda doubting myself rn

Don't stress dude you have the popular opinion, a lot of people agree with you.

I just feel like we spent a lot of time with characters we had already explored (silco Felicia vander) and characters we don't really have any reason to know (kino), we got black rose for no reason, I feel like Mel could have been such a great push back against Ambessa, let her outfox the wolf, let her be the mediating voice for Caitlyn rather then creating Maddy to pat Cait on the back and say "Ur a good person x"

Maddy has no value and having Caitlyn sleep with someone regardless of how little she seemed emotionally invested feels like lazy shock value, if Maddy was used as a stand in to show that Caitlyn is doing everything she can to stop thinking about Vi then I'd see it as a characte development but it wasn't, she was just there and then she wasn't.

Caitlyn was so under utilised, I thought I was going to see this new arc, where she decends into a form of jinx derangement, where she gets lost in her fear of jinx and have her slowly start to unravel the wool that Ambessa placed over her eyes, but that's not what we got. Caitlyn followed Ambessa around, and turned on her seconds after running into Vi. Also, the blue eye samurai part rubbed me the wrong way and by the trailer I think we are seeing hand to hand combat with Ambessa and God, please give my girl her rifle... please.

Vi, my sweet angel, I was told by the show runners that this was going to be her season, we are going to see her at her lowest, explore who Vi is when she has no one to protect, but we literally did not get that at all. Within minutes of seeing Jinx she is back on buddy terms, they have playful banter and they are cuddling Warwick. Vi was not given any development, she was just given a dog to protect instead.

Also, Vi was hit in the face twice by the people who deserved to be slapped and that upsets me just because lol.

Isha is lazy to me, she was given to Jinx to be a stand in for her younger self because writing Jinx as someone who has to come to her own senses by taking accountability is just not something the writers could do apparently. We needed a physical embodiment of her former self to get her to care about her actions and she was used to develop Jinxes empathy while the lives of the people Jinx ruined (vi, caitlyn, sevika, the undercity) crumbles around her.

Viktors arc felt like I was watching a different show, it felt uncanny, unlike Arcane and any time he went into his weird cosmos I cringed, Skye being there drove me crazy too, this girl meant nothing to Viktor, she didn't even call her by her first name. They were colleagues, and she had unrequited feelings.

Mel and the black rose felt like they threw Mel in a hole (literally) for 2 eps and brought her back because ??

Where is Sevika? Where is ekko? Where is heimerdinger?

((( I fucked with Jayce this act tho, he kept his word and he's seen the horrors, he's recalibrated to Heimerdingers perspective and it was a journey for him, he came back to fix his mistakes and he looks great doing it)))

I have so many feelings and I'm not the best at articulating them in a way that captures exactly what I'm talking about so I'm sorry if you didn't get much out of this.

It had an emotional weight to it because Arcane always delivers visually and musically, I swear if arcane directed a scene where I dropped my sandwich on the ground they could make that a masterpiece and the audience would be balling their eyes out, they know how to create atmosphere.

Arcane is the best show I've ever watched, I will always recommend it to people, and by the sound of it everyone else loved it, they got what they wanted and I'm so happy for them.

I think I just had my expectations through the roof because season one was a masterpiece.

Act 3 this weekend and the end of arcane, I'm nervous and I truly hope we all end up happy.

[bunni-v1]

Hii! If you request are open can I ask you a headcanon of Vil Schoenheit, from Twisted wonderland, in a romantic relationship with the reader who is a Kpop idol (not a soloist but in a group)?? Preferibly a fem reader. Thank you. Byeee!!

Vil with a K-pop idol partner

Tw: N/A (I think lol)

Info: Headcannons; Fem!Reader; Vil x Reader; Fluff

🍓Hi. This one is short and sweet, I didn’t want to drain myself of motivation to write. Especially since so many people are wanting more parts to my most recent post. Plus, I’m writing two essays for my classes this week, so it’s gonna be a bit rough to keep up that motivation. I really hope everyone enjoys this one, though. It’s always fun to do fluffy Vil content.

Vil Schoenheit

-You likely meet through an acting gig when you’re both freshmen in college. The two of you are cast as lovers, and everyone can feel the chemistry you have.

-Something between you two just clicks! You both lead similar lives and have similar interests. 

-And with the press on the movie and all the time you spend on set, it's inevitable that the two of you become close. 

-You don’t start dating immediately, though. In the world of acting and music, you have to be careful of who you’re dating and when you make that public.

-However, Vil always makes it to any shows you have anywhere near him. He adamantly promotes you and your group's music everywhere and praises any modeling and acting you do on the side.

-Fans speculate you’re together FAR before the two of you actually decide to become an official couple.

-Speaking of, the two of you keep your relationship very private at the start. You each have access to the other schedule and plan dates at least once a week, and they’re always in private places.

-It’s both to protect your reputation and to ensure that your relationship won’t be warped by fans.

-Neither of you announce that you’re a couple until at least four months in, and before that, you don’t even give hints that you two may be together.

-The press has an absolute blast with you two. Finding every thread of evidence of your relationship until the day you both announce it publicly. 

-When you do announce it, your fans gobble it up like crazy. I’m talking edits, fan art, fan accounts, the whole nine yards. 

-But all that aside, what’s your relationship like?

-Simply put: Complex.

-It’s not unhealthy by any means, it’s just very different from a typical relationship you see in day-to-day life.

-Both of you are very busy. You with performing and all that comes with it, and Vil will his college courses at Nightraven.

-It takes a lot more work than the typical relationship, but with Vil’s dedication, it all works out in the end.

-Vil always ensures that he has free time for you. Whether that be visiting you off campus, having private dates in his dorm room, or video calling after a long day of classes.

-He makes the time for you. He has your schedule memorized, and always has a workaround so the two of you can stay in contact as much as possible.

-If and when he is able to, he visits you at your shows.

-His favorite thing to do is surprise you before you go on stage, take over your makeup and dressing team jobs, and pretty you up for the crowd.

-He always says you shine more when he’s the one doing it.

-He’s always in the front row, singing along to the lyrics — even if he can’t understand what they mean.

-He knows every line to every one of your songs, and he listens to and sings them proudly when he’s alone.

-Furthermore, after the two of you go public, he’s even more intense with his promotion of your music.

-He posts himself listening/singing along to your music, buying and wearing your merchandise, and attending the concerts.

-You’d think he might be a little jealous of your popularity, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.

-He always says that you’re one of his greatest inspirations, and how proud he is to call himself your partner.

-In fact, your performances were actually a huge inspiration for the VDC, and he asked you and your group for help with the choreography and lyrics.

-Speaking of your group, he makes sure he has a great relationship with each and every one of your group members. 

-If one of them is bothering you, he’ll be sure to say something, but for the most part, all of your friends really like him.

-It’s honestly not all that different from a normal relationship with him, just a little more work to keep in touch with him.

-He’s honestly your biggest fan, and he adores you and every single thing you do wholeheartedly.

[emotsper]

SO after my szai explanation ask went absolutely insane and two people added their own stuff to it, I am not obsessed with szai thank you very much

anyways, point is that i watch a lot of music videos in my freetime, and while watching watashi wa, watashhitachi wa here are some szai moments that may be overinterpreted but!!!! who cares we're all insane anyways

so first of all the fact that airi got this line.......

second, these two lines

AND LAST THE FACT THAT AIRI WAS THE FIRST ONE TO LIGHT UP IN "there are many things I want to protect"

stupid fruits i love them

oh god dont make me started on song lyrics bc they absolutely devastate me ok . this time thankfully i remember to put the read more but anyways. click only if u gaf enough ab szai bc i do. (also i am not converting u its ok im just crazy enough to remember specific parts of the covers bc they make me insane)

ik the "covers aren't exactly canon" is pretty much accepted on a good chunk by the franchise but it doesn't mean it cant make u crazy.... here are a few cases of crazy ass lines i can think of with a more recent one. starting off with haruai's superhero.

1. HRAI SUPERHERO

this one makes me go insane bc as pris pointed out in the server we're in before, airi sometimes in a sense compare shizuku to a goddess with how pretty and gracious she is and while it can be seen as exaggerated, we can kind of see that she also meant it even in a way that shes not aware of. and shizuku is there to remind her that she's not a god and neither is airi, the one she wants to love 🥲

2. MMJ DEEPSEA GIRL

this one is a bit more straightforward, except now the szai and mnhr parallel(?) is also included. but we'll talk ab szais part only ofc.

(first chorus) airi shutting herself in the shadowy beyond just like her act of moving away from the idol stuff due to her being marketed less of an idol and she disliked it despite her fame rising up, and shizuku who. do i even have to say it. fell in love first.

(second chorus) shizuku had a line before this that reads as "deep sea girl, purposefully falling down" where she starts to doubt herself as an idol when airi lashed out on her back in mainstory, and airi who still haven't moved on her hope of her being a real idol ever since she left her old group up to the point of the confrontation with shizuku 🥲

3. Flos

GIRLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL theyre both clearly feeling guilty over dropping off their past idol work especially after airis proclamation of them being rivals when they debuted 😭 im so.

4. I'm a loser!

🥲🥲🥲🥲 airi being the first one who acknowledged shizuku as a real idol, and so is shizuku who acknowledged airi as a real idol, and it got better with them acknowledging each other as their ideal idol.... coughs coughs coughs co

5. Ice drop

🥲 again i dont have to explain this one. the . ough

okay im not gonna do every single comms im just doing the ones i remember from the top of my head 😭 but theres definitely way more crazy ass lines from their songs and yeah. that i am we are line points back to the event where shizuku was worried with her self image after airi lashed out on her and it lasted long enough until the color of myself event where she starts to show more of her true self, not the perfect elegant idol shizuku but the more clumsy and imperfect shizuku :") i love them your honor

[queenshelby]

An Illicit Affair

Part 13: The Hospital Visit

Pairing: Cillian Murphy (46) x Reader (23)

Warning: Age-Gap, Taboo Relationship, Infidelity

Whilst Danielle didn't say anything to Cillian during the event that evening, your friend Lucy picked up on his appearance right away and pulled you aside for a talk.

"Are you fucking crazy?" she asked, tidying up your hair with her hands while wiping away your lipstick with a napkin. 

"What are you talking about?" you asked Lucy, feigning ignorance.

"Come on, you know what I'm referring to," Lucy whispered, peeking over her shoulder. "The stains on Cillian's shirt? Your lipstick? It's all fucking smudged," Lucy rolled her eyes. "You are going to end up in some deep shit, girl," she warned you in a hushed whisper as a cold chill ran down your spine.

"I am...," you stammered. "Fuck, I am trying but I can't help it," you admitted to your friend, staring down at your feet nervously. "I know it's wrong, but I can't seem to stop myself," you confessed, gripping the hem of your skirt tightly and adjusting the fabric. 

"Look, I know you like him," Lucy sighed, running her fingers through her tangled hair. "But, seriously, you going to put a stop to this. I mean, he is married and way too fucking old for you," she reminded you, shaking her head disapprovingly.

"You guys are worlds apart, Y/N," Lucy added, her voice filled with concern.

"I know, I know," you sighed, your voice sounding defeated. "But, somehow, I just can't help acting irrationally whenever I'm around him," you confessed, shaking your head sadly just as you spotted Cillian leaving the function along with his wife.

"Damn, this is so complicated," you muttered under your breath, swallowing hard as you watched Danielle take his hand in to hers and leading him towards the exit. 

It hurt seeing them together, yet you couldn't bring yourself to admit defeat.

Your feelings for Cillian were too profound to ignore, and the connection you shared transcended logic or reason. But Lucy insisted on warning you, pointing out the risks involved: "You're risking it all," she noted, fidgeting with her hair nervously. "If word spreads, you'll face serious consequences—career-wise, personally."

"I know, Lucy," you sighed, chewing on your bottom lip. "I'm not blind to the dangers."

Lucy shook her head, her eyes brimming with concern. "You gotta draw a line, Y/N. Protect yourself."

"But..." you stammered, but Lucy didn't allow you to finish your sentence. 

"No 'buts,'" Lucy interrupted. "Cillian's a married man and the father to your ex-boyfriend, nonetheless. Don't forget that," Lucy advised, shaking her head.

"I promise I will end this, Lu. No more from here on," you lied, feeling guilty for lying to your best friend.

You took a big gulp of your drink, thinking about Cillian. You remembered the way he'd looked at you earlier—with such raw hunger and desire. It made your heart race, and your palms grew sweaty.

"Hey, Y/N," a familiar voice then suddenly said from behind you and, when you turned around, you saw James standing there, flashing his charming smile.

"How long have you been standing there?" you asked him, raising an eyebrow curiously.

"Long enough to catch the tail end of your conversation with Lucy," James responded, winking suggestively. "And I must say, I'm intrigued now," he added, moving closer to you.

"By what?" you challenged him, crossing your arms defensively while swallowing nervously. 

"You've got the hots for Max Murphy's father?" James ought to confirm, grinning mischievously. "Seems like quite an unconventional crush for you, seeing that you used to date his son, but hey, each to their own," he added, cocking an eyebrow at you slyly.

"I don't have a crush on him, we were just..." you stammered, trying to explain yourself. "We were just joking," you tried to tell him but James raised an eyebrow at you suspiciously. 

"Yeah right," he chuckled. "Listen Y/N, I really don't care who you have a crush on because I know it isn't me," he said, shrugging his shoulders dismissively. 

"James, I am sorry," you began to mumble nervously but, again, James interrupted you.

"Don't worry about it. Your little secret is safe with me," James assured you, winking cheekily before calling it a night. "I just came over to say goodnight. I have to be at the hospital at six o'clock tomorrow morning and better hit the hay soon," James said, yawning theatrically before giving you a friendly pat on the back. 

"I will see you tomorrow then," you told him shyly, forcing a smile to appear on your face.

"Yeah, sounds great," James nodded, turning around to leave without another word.

You stood motionless, staring at the spot where he once stood, feeling nervous while Lucy's chin hang low. 

"You are so screwed if he talks," Lucy said worriedly, rubbing her temples.

"He won't," you assured her, but deep down, you knew that James had the potential to spill the beans about your illicit encounters with Cillian. "Despite, he thinks that I just have a crush on him," you added, hoping Lucy would find comfort in your words.

"Really?" Lucy arched an eyebrow skeptically. "So you don't believe he suspects something?"

"No," you shrugged, swallowing hard. "But even if he does suspect something, I doubt he'd rat me out," you argued, trying to convince yourself more than Lucy.

"Why do you say that?" Lucy wondered aloud, studying your expression closely.

"Because James isn't that kind of guy. He is arrogant, but not vindictive," you insisted, trying to calm Lucy down. "I think we can trust him," you added, glancing around nervously and praying that nobody else had caught wind of your little secret.

"Well, let's hope you're right," Lucy sighed, folding her arms across her chest. "Because if he does blow this thing wide open, your live will never be the same," Lucy continued, shaking her head worriedly.

"Stop worrying," you scolded her, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Everything's gonna be alright," you assured her, smiling reassuringly.

"I just don't understand why you're messing around with a married man," Lucy sighed, shaking her head in disbelief. "You're better than that," she added, pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration.

"I know," you murmured, averting your gaze. "But I really fucking like him," you concluded helplessly before you tried to change the subject, which was something that Lucy allowed you to do, at least for now.

The following morning however, when you went to start your shift at the university hospital at around 9 o'clock, you were met with a somewhat unwelcoming surprise as one of the nurses in charge handed you your files.

"James ordered an ECG and MRI in 19," the nurse explained. "You are also required in 28 for preliminary tests," the nurse explained before also handing you a clipboard containing your assigned patients for the morning. 

"Thanks," you nodded, reading through the list of names. Most cases didn't require further discussion; routine checkups, physical therapy, and medication adjustments. You knew the drill. But then you came across a name that caused your heart to skip a beat.

"Cillian Murphy," you whispered under your breath, your eyes widening in disbelief.

"Yeah, the actor, you know," the nurse said, her eyes twinkling, causing your chin to drop. 

"Yeah, I know who he is, but what is he in for?" you ask the nurse, shifting from foot to foot nervously. 

"He's got a large cut on his arm," the nurse explained, eyeing you warily.

"It says here that he presented to the ER last night. Has it not been stitched yet?" you asked her, confusion  written all over your face.

"Oh, the laceration has been closed up, but he stayed in overnight for observation due to risk of infection. The laceration was close to the tend on, pretty deep actually," the nurse answered, raising an eyebrow as she eyed you suspiciously. "I handed the file to James this morning but he said that Mr Murphy might rather see you than him," the nurse added, handing you Cillian's chart and then disappearing around the corner.

"Fuck," you whispered under your breath, flipping through the pages and scanning the details hastily.

You weren't exactly thrilled about having to interact with Cillian a at your place of employment after last night's encounter with James. Yet, James was your boss and he had instructed you to attend to him, making it a matter of professional duty. You thus had no choice and, even if you had, you were keen to know how he sustained the injury in the first place. 

To be continued...

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[thegracefulknight]

Ciel/Lizzy Playlist

Long post ahead

Okay, so I tried made a list of songs which I think would be perfect for them. ♫ These songs are based from both of their POVs, though it may lean more towards Lizzy's.

Each song is arranged according to how O!Ciel and Lizzy's dynamics progressed through the manga. I also included parts of the song lyrics that highlight their relationship well, or those that resonate with important parts in their story. The first few songs are kinda meh but the last ones are sure to hurt like crazy! xD This playlist has 26 songs btw, so prepare your tissues and cry with me!

Hope you guys give it a listen! ♡

Song List:

1. Sad Song (We The Kings ft. Elena Coats)

—A light, almost fairy-tale like opening highlighting Lizzy and her dreams with R!Ciel. Together with O!Ciel, they are three children living in their happy, idyllic childhood.

"You're the perfect melody, the only harmony I wanna hear / You're my favorite part of me/ With you standing next to me /I've got nothing to fear"

2. When You're Gone (Avril Lavigne)

— Lizzy's sorrow after the murder of the Phantomhives. She remembers the boy she had sacrificed a lot of things for, the boy who was supposed to be her fairytale ending.

"When you're gone, the pieces of my heart are missing you / When you're gone, the face I came to know is missing too/ And when you're gone /The words I need to hear to always get me through the day /And make it okay /I miss you"

3. Safe and Sound (Taylor Swift ft. Joy Williams & Paul White)

— "Ciel" returns after one month; however, he has now changed. For the sake of the broken boy who returned to her, Lizzy makes another sacrifice, vowing to be a wife that could protect him, and keep him safe.

"Just close your eyes, the sun is going down / You'll be alright / No one can hurt you now / Come morning light / You and I'll be safe and sound"

4. Your Guardian Angel (The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus)

— Despite not wanting to get closer to her initially, O!Ciel finds himself caring for his brother's betrothed. He has protected her time and again, and vows to always protect her at all costs.

"Seasons are changing, and waves are crashing / And stars are falling all for us / Days grow longer and nights grow shorter / I can show you I'll be the one

I will never let you fall (let you fall) / I'll stand up with you forever / I'll be there for you through it all (through it all) / Even if saving you sends me to heaven"

5. THE CONTORTIONIST (Melanie Martinez)

— A song where Lizzy contemplates on how she keeps up the facade of being cute for her fiancé because of a comment made a long time ago. This song highlights the moment where she decides she is done pretending to be weak and cute.

"Twisted all my limbs for you / Two of them in knots and two of them in loops / Ribbons tied around like a noose / Wonder if I'll ever get it loose / I don't wanna bruise for you /Holding back my words until my face is blue (Huh) /I don't really care 'bout your crew / You can tell 'em what you wanted to

... I'm done, I'm done /Done doing backbends, I break and I snap / It's no fun, no fun / Pushed myself into a box while you held out a gun /I'm done! Wah ha ha ha ha ha hah! / I'm done, I'm done! Wah ha ha ha ha ha hah!"

6. Queen (Loren Gray)

— The theme for the monumental scene where she drops the act and reveals her strength in the midst of the bizarre dolls. For love, the throws away her beauty. Which only leaves the boy beside her struck with awe at this new side of her.

"You can call me a princess all you like / 'Cause you like to keep me helpless by your side / But it ain't what I want, I'ma show you, I'ma show you / How to treat me like a queen /Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

/ Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah / Boy, you better bow down on your knees / Can I get a "Yes, your majesty?"

7. You'll Be Safe Here (Rico Blanco)

— After Lizzy's unexpected revelation, the earl accepts her true self and begins to admire her more.

"Close your eyes, dry your tears / 'Cause when nothing seems clear / You'll be safe here from the sheer weight / Of your doubts and fears / Weary heart, you'll be safe here

... "And though the world would never understand / This unlikely union and why it still stands / Someday, we will be set free / Pray and believe"

8. So Close (Jon McLaughlin)

— The victory party after the second Sapphire Miracle has been memorable, not only for students, but also for the guests. Just for this one night, O!Ciel lets himself enjoy the night by dancing.. with her.

"A life goes by, romantic dreams must die / So I bid mine goodbye and never knew / So close was waiting, waiting here with you / And now forever I know / All that I want is to hold you so close

So close to reaching that famous happy ending / Almost believing this one's not pretend / Now you're beside me, and look how far we've come / So far we are so close"

9. You and I (Tatu)

— A song about the earl and the lady as a reflection of their circumstances, and their wish to protect. And wanting to believe.

"Just a side / To an anguished street, criticized/ For what we believe / If we hide, maybe we can make it through this / Is it fair, to be burned away? / Is it fair, that we live this way? /Victimized, for a life we didn't ask for

No truths to confirm / No lies to deny / Too hopeless to care /We're too scared to cry"

10. Smoke (PVRIS)

— Lizzy thinks she and her beloved have gotten closer, but have they? Somewhere in her mind, there is a small fuse waiting to be lit.

"You're just a ghost of blissful feelings / A cloud of smoke that I keep breathing / An illusion, I'm losing you to the games in my mind. / I see your face, an apparition / But now it's changed / Shape shifting / Don't wanna open my eyes."

11. Set Fire to the Rain (Adele)

— Just as Lizzy thought things will start changing for the better between them, small things that went unnoticeable at first are now telling her that something.. still feels not right.

"But there's a side to you / That I never knew, never knew /All the things you'd say / They were never true, never true / And the games you'd play / You would always win, always win"

12. Aoki Tsuki Michite (Book of Circus ED Theme, covered by AmaLee)

— A song where O!Ciel looks back on the choices he made, as he strengthens his resolve to go down the path he chose.

"Praise your palette of lies / For it's a masterpiece that you have created / All of your promises, bleeding in flawless harmony

Sing another spell, paint another dream / We could bring to life a new reality / All of my mistakes, gathering like storm clouds / Will soon rain down on me"

13. I Know You (Skylar Grey)

— Trying to ignore her doubts, Lizzy still continues to yearn to understand her fiancé who has changed and remained distant ever since that month. In her deepest wishes, she pleads to be allowed inside his heart.

"I believe, I believe there's love in you / Gridlocked on the dusty avenues / Inside your heart, just afraid to go / I am more, I am more than innocent / But just take a chance and let me in / And I'll show you ways that you don't know

Don't complicate it, don't let the past dictate, Yeah / I have been patient, but slowly I'm losing faith

So please, I know you, baby / I know you, baby / So please, I know you, baby / I know you, baby"

14. Demons (Imagine Dragons; covered by Sam Tsui & Kurt Hugo Schneider)

— Despite Lizzy's efforts, the earl remains distant. He has embraced the darkness and his impending end, and the only thing he believes he can do is to keep her at a distance, for more reasons than one.

"They say it's what you make, I say it's up to fate / It's woven in my soul / I need to let you go

Your eyes, they shine so bright / I wanna save that light / I can't escape this now / Unless you show me how"

15. Leave the Memories Alone (Fuel)

— A song from the earl's POV, as he reminisces the past and how he wishes to keep Lizzy in the light.

"I wanted you.. to stay by the windowsill with the blooming roses."

"So I find me in your garden now / A sad smile for the scene / And all the flowers that we planted now / Taken by the weeds / But in my minds eye, you know they still bloom for me / They stand tall there, in that summer breeze

Leave the memories alone, I don't want to see / The way it is, as to how it used to be / Leave the memories alone, don't change a thing / And I'll just hold you here in my memory"

16. What Was I Made For? (Billie Eilish)

— Lizzy reflects on her duties as the future wife of the Queen's Watchdog, and her sadness at not being able to help or understand the earl. The growing distance between them makes her feel desperate for answers.

"I used to float, now I just fall down / I used to know, but I'm not sure now / What I was made for / What was I made for? / Takin' a drive, I was an ideal / Looked so alive, turns out, I'm not real / Just something you paid for / What was I made for?

'Cause I, I / I don't know how to feel, but I wanna try / I don't know how to feel, but someday I might / Someday I might"

17. Empty (PVRIS)

— Desperate to find a way to understand O!Ciel, Lizzy starts going to the Sphere Music Hall. However, what she finds there changes her forever.

"You see I want the world to believe, that there's a light inside of me / But it's time that I'll come clean / I'm not what I seem, no / Some would say I'm possessed, yeah / But I'll confess, I've just been obsessed / With life and death and emptiness, I guess / Can't you see all of the change in me?"

18. My Immortal (Evanescence)

— Lizzy remembers all the sacrifices she made for Ciel. She gave her heart for her betrothed, but now that she realizes her love has been given to two different people, where does her love for one end, and where does it begin for the other? Who does she really love? Somehow, she already knows the answer, and it is causing her anguish over her supposed love. *This song could be interpreted to be directed to both the twins, as Lizzy thought all this time that she was loving one person only.

"You used to captivate me by your resonating light / Now I'm bound by the life you left behind / Your face, it haunts my once pleasant dreams / Your voice, it chased away all the sanity in me

These wounds won't seem to heal / This pain is just too real / There's just too much that time cannot erase

When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears / When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears / And I held your hand through all of these years / But you still have all of me"

19. Stay With Me (Danity Kane)

— Lizzy is in disbelief after discovering that the Ciel she has been with for the past three years was not her true betrothed. She tries so hard to hold on to the image of O!Ciel, the boy who accepted her, and the fiance she has come to love with all her heart. However, the ugly, undeniable truth is right in front of her.

"I've searched my heart over so many many times / No you and I, is like no stars to light the sky at night / Our picture hangs up to remind me of the days / You promised me we'd always be / And never go away / That's why I need you to stay

Stay with me, don't let me go / Cause I can't be without you /Just stay with me and hold me close / Because I've built my world around you / And I don't wanna know what it's like without you / So stay with me, just stay with me, stay.."

20. Because of You (Kelly Clarkson)

— Looking back to the times she tried to keep up her cheerful facade and balancing it with her strong side in front of the boy she loved— O!Ciel, Lizzy finally shatters under the grief and heartache of learning his lie.

"I'm forced to fake a smile, a laugh/ Every day of my life/ My heart can't possibly break / When it wasn't even whole to start with.."

"...Because of you, I try my hardest just to forget everything / Because of you, I don't know how to let anyone else in / Because of you

I'm ashamed of my life because it's empty / Because of you / I am afraid"

21. Stand In The Rain (Superchick)

— She's mad, she's confused, she doesn't know what to do. She wants to return to the days where she doesn't know anything, and be by his side. But her duty is to remain here. Heartbroken, mad at herself and filled with guilt, she compensates by staying by R!Ciel's side.

"She won’t make a sound / Alone in this fight with herself / And the fears whispering if she stands she’ll fall down

She wants to be found / The only way out is through everything / She’s running from, wants to give up and lie down

So stand in the rain, stand your ground / Stand up when it’s all crashing down / You stand through the pain, you won’t drown / And one day what’s lost can be found / You stand in the rain"

22. Beautiful Girl (Broken Iris)

— O!Ciel's lies, mistakes and choices have finally come to haunt him. He realizes this as soon as his eyes met his twin brother's. And most of all, he finally discovers the reason why Lizzy left.

"Last embrace, forcing you away before it's too late / I end this day in a most bitter way / A regretful state but...

I'll never forget those eyes, that beautiful smile. I still remember the way you said "good-bye" / No matter how hard I try I can't forget about /

Beautiful Girl, on top of the world / Don't fall down, because an angel / Should never touch ground.."

23. Never Be The Same (Red)

— The sudden appearance of R!Ciel turns his world upside down. Remaining silent with a darkened expression on his face, a disheartened, regretful earl reminisces his memories with Lizzy

"I can see, I can still find /You're the only voice my heart can recognize /But I can't hear you now, yeah. /I'll never be the same / I'm caught inside the memories, the promises /Are yesterdays and I belong to you. / I just can't walk away, 'cause after loving you / I can never be the same."

24. Broken Inside (Broken Iris)

— Fighting despair, the earl descends further deep into the darkness. He is determined to take back everything, no matter what it takes.

"The thinning line between you and my sanity / Is quickly fading / Takes just a breeze to cause a storm /Takes just a breath to cause a scream / It takes me to cause a tragedy.."

"Until the end of me, I swear / You'll be the death of me / I dare you to cross the line again / Because deep down inside /There's something that waits to be / Broken Inside"

25. The Scientist (Coldplay)

— O!Ciel should have known that this is coming. He knew he lied, and was willing to take this to his grave. But he didn't expect to feel like this when it did happen. If only things have been different..

"Tell me your secrets, and ask me your questions / Oh let's go back to the start / Running in circles; coming up tails / Heads on a science apart

Nobody said it was easy / It's such a shame for us to part / Nobody said it was easy / No one ever said it would be this hard / Oh take me back to the start"

26. Descent Within (Broken Iris)

— Outro; the perfect ending for a story doomed to end in tragedy

[anthropologyruinseverything]

New fic series! WWE Mafia AU

Welcome to what is essentially my dark romance, junk food series. I want to practice writing in the genre so here we go! Plz see CW warnings. There are 3 fulls stories and a 1 shot planned, I will be writing stories and one-shots as part of this universe as time goes on. As of right now Jey, Damian, Roman and Tama are in the works but I’d like to expound so hit me with recs!

(They may take time to write)

Now on with it.

18+ only from here plz - minors dni

Sea & Moon

Jey Uso x IndigenousFMC

Summary: Nokomis “Kiki” Levy was a normal twenty year old college student whose biggest concerns were passing chemistry and what graduate programs would want to see on an application.

Joshua “Jey” Fatu is thirty-one and has recently been appointed heir apparent of his father’s branch of their families shadowy enterprise and needs to prove himself up to the task.

Their worlds collide when Kiki’s father, a detective with SFPD, gets too close to Jey’s family business. While they start as enemies there is an undeniable burn between them. Will a much larger threat be their end or give them a chance to thrive together?

🚨It’ll be a dark journey for the Levy girls, please heed content warnings that include mild n0n-con between main characters, dubious consent, violence, mentions of difficult topics such as substance abuse, mental health issues and more. There will be various k!nks such as prim@l play, masks, captiv!ty, 🔪 play, ch0king, and more. The boys are morally grey to black but love and obsess over their ladies.

There is an HEA for everyone! I probably won’t post more than the prologues and one shots here on Tumblr and leave the really dark stuff on AO3. I will post links though and just drop a comment if you’d like to be tagged in any further updates.

## Prologue

**Nokomis “Kiki” POV**

⭐️*character note, Kiki has vitiligo which affects her face over her right eye, her hands and other other areas.

It was just supposed to be another regular movie night at home with my sister and cousin, nothing unusual or life altering. The same sort of thing we did almost every Saturday night since we could remember. I didn’t think twice when my folks decided on a last minute date night while we three girls piled onto the couch for comedies and popcorn, waving them off as if I’d see them in a few hours.

I wished I’d hugged them tighter and longer. As if that would have somehow stopped what happened next.

Not long after my parents had left my dad’s retired K9 partner Atlas started going insane, running back and forth to the back door and barking. I assumed he was interested in a rabbit or some other critter like a possum in the backyard so I hushed him and sent him to his crate for acting so crazy. In the long run I’d probably saved his life but I had still wished for his protection with what came next.

We never heard the back door locks being picked or footsteps in the kitchen. Between the movie, our laughter and the occasional dog bark nothing else penetrated our space and like most college students on a Saturday night our minds weren’t on the dangers lurking in the shadows. We didn’t know anything was wrong until Kai went to the kitchen for drinks and her scream alerted Kiri and me to our unwelcome visitors.

I’d never felt so stupid and slow as I did when the large men in masks appeared in the doorway, one with a particularly vicious face mask, long black hair and icy gray eyes held a long knife to Kai’s throat, clutching her tightly to his front with his other arm. Every time I ever swore to myself and my parents I would fight back went out the window when I realized it might actually cost my cousin her life. Instead I reached for Kiri’s hand as we stood frozen to the spot. Her light brown eyes were blown wide in fear and her normally tan face had gone ashen.

Everyone was quiet except for Atlas’s enraged barking.

The shortest man was still at least six feet tall and he wore a black mask with red spiral designs that covered his lower face. Withdrawing a gun from a shoulder holster he indicated the elderly german shepherd. “Shut it the fuck up.”

Instinctively Kieran and I both moved to stand between him and Atlas, her fingers digging into my hand tighter than ever before while her other came up in a placating gesture as I spoke. “Please don’t hurt him, he’s old and scared.” She turned to me with frightened eyes and indicated I should comfort him with a jerk of her chin. Dropping I tried to soothe him and at least got him to quiet down to a whimper.

The next thing I became aware of nearly made me lose control of my bladder. A harsh, cold metal gun barrel was pressed to the back of my head as Kiri’s hand was wrenched from mine.

“You girls gonna behave?”

I swallowed past the thick lump in my throat and nodded, hating that every inch of me was paralyzed. What happened to being an officer’s daughter who could stand her ground? All I could think about was that knife pressed to Kai, that gun leveled at the back of my head or at Atlas. If I didn’t behave they could be hurt or I could be killed. I risked glancing up at Kieran who was so still and quiet, being held by the largest of the three. His purple and black mask was monstrous like the tattoos on his exposed arms.

“Stand up slowly. Where’re your parents?” Out of habit when someone stared at me intensely I let my hair fall forward over my face even as I did what he said. His dark brown eyes looked black in the dim light of the living and the comedy kept playing in the background offering a ridiculous soundtrack to such a grave moment. Everything felt surreal in the flashing lights.

“N-not home.” My voice shook even as I tried to sound calm. “Our dad, he’s a cop, he’ll be back soon.” As if supplying that information would make him think twice.

The tall one chuckled, responding in a deep voice that fit his intimidating stature. “We know mija. He’s why we’re here.”

Kai’s whimper brought my attention back to her and the man holding her. He was far too interested in running his knife down her chest. “Hey! Stop it!”

Kai was two years younger than us and as such we’d always been protective of her. I realized what I’d done when those cold gray eyes flashed to me.

The man with black eyes didn’t hesitate, stepping in uncomfortably close to put the barrel under my chin. “Behave.”

“Okay. I’m sorry.” Survival mode engaged apparently. I realized we were truly fucked when he tugged his mask down to reveal an equally black beard but handsome face. “Leave a note D. We’re taking them and their old man can turn himself in when *we’re* ready.”

The last thing I remembered for a while was Kai crying out and a sharp prick in my neck before everything went black.

———

**Joshua “Jey” POV **

Catching the purple haired girl as she fell I moved to set her on the couch with the other two so they could be tied up. We’d come looking for Detective Levy and we were leaving with his twin daughters and their cousin. Not the worst all things considered but still not my plan and I didn’t like it when things didn’t go according to plan.

“You said he’d be here tonight D.”

Damian tugged his mask off with a shrug, accepting the roll of duct tape Roman had retrieved from his bag. He passed me one as well and we went to work taping the girls wrists, ankles and mouths.

“I’ll talk to J.D.” Unlike our family Damian ran a crew of people he’d collected with no ties aside from shared interests. It made them difficult to trust and easy to be angry with as far as I was concerned. I owed Damian my life, not them.

“Do that. Let’s get the fuck outta here.

Roman, you can mess with her later.” He was preoccupied with the pretty little woman he’d pounced on in the kitchen, running his hands up her thighs over her pajama pants. Instead of answering he just rolled those alarming eyes of his and threw her over his shoulder. I took a second to really assess the young woman in front of me. Her name was Nokomis, one of the detectives two daughters. College student majoring in biology and member of the chess club. Of course. What I hadn’t known about was her vitiligo and I found myself more interested than I should have been in the beautiful patterns on her skin. A particular blaze over her right eye was especially striking.

Shaking the thoughts loose I followed his example and so did Damian with his new charge. Our SUV was parked in the alley behind the house and it had been easy enough to blow out the lone street light a few days prior. We put our two in the third row while Roman climbed in the center with his prize. I felt a twinge of pity for her. Capturing his interest so intently was not an enviable thing for anyone.

I waited until Damian was pulling the car onto the street to speak. “Obviously this changes things.”

“No mierda Jey.” Damian’s irritation was obvious. He knew I hated it when jobs went wrong and I knew it irritated him as well. Not to mention bad intelligence was always followed by a period of mistrust and I knew J.D. was already on thin ice as it was. “You were serious about holding them?”

I looked back at the middle row to find my cousin petting the woman in his lap even as she seemed to struggle against him. It would have been funny if I didn’t know him. “Yeah. Can have some fun but don’t kill ‘em.” I looked pointedly at Roman.

“I don’t kill women Jey. Just…like to play rough.”

“Yeah with professionals, not college kids.”

“You sure that’s a good idea? She saw your face cabrón.” Damian cut in. He had a good point but I wasn’t worried. If I hadn’t thought through this possibility I may have been more stressed about the decision.

“Nah, when they see what we do to their old man they’ll be too scared to say shit and we’ve paid off or killed anyone else who could do shit about it anyway.”

He flexed his broad shoulders and stole a glance in the rear view as the other girls were coming to and shifting around in the far back seat. I wasn’t blind or dumb and while he wasn’t as obvious as Roman I could see he was interested in the little one he’d held onto.

“Could let off some steam.”

I smirked. It wouldn’t be hard to seduce them, a few drinks and some promises and they’d be pliant like most other females I dealt with on the regular. I’d be lying if said I wasn’t intrigued by the girl who stared at me in the rear view, her light brown eyes looking golden in passing streetlights. I could see the defiance in them.

Good. Maybe having to wait a few more days to end the cop who got too close and couldn’t be bought wouldn’t be so bad. Not with some pretty company.