#Seriously though is this all just nonsense??

[cirilla-fiona-riannon]

My Yakuza Man

Translations may not always capture the exact nuances or tone of the original text. Expect grammatical errors and inaccuracies.

One night, after missing the last train due to overtime, I chose a different route home and found myself frozen on a pedestrian bridge.

Nobunaga: "To think I'd run into the likes of you in a place like this."

Ahead, a group of men dressed in black stood at the top of the stairs, glaring at each other.

Shingen: "Pretty weird coincidence, isn’t it? Though, I would’ve preferred meeting a lovely lady rather than a bunch of scruffy men."

Kenshin: "Stop talking nonsense."

Kenshin: "It's not just the executives; even the leaders of the clans are here. This is a perfect chance for a fight."

Masamune: "The same goes for us in the Azuchi clan."

Mitsuhide: "Yeah. Shingen and Kenshin of the Kasugayama Clan. And Kennyo, who's rising as a third power."

Mitsuhide: "Plus, we have the arms dealer Kicho and Motonari. Quite a gathering, I must say."

Kennyo: "The location isn't ideal, but it looks like there's no avoiding a fight."

Motonari: "Ha! If we're going to do this, let's do it with a bang."

Kicho: "Seems there's no escaping a clash."

(Are those swords they're holding? Are they filming a scene?)

(There's no one around right now, but…)

Mai: "Ah!"

I backed away and lost my footing on the stairs.

???: "Whoa!"

A strong arm reached out and caught me from behind.

Keiji: "You alright, miss?"

Mai: "Y-Yes."

Keiji: "If you stay on the edge like that, you might fall again. Come here."

The man who helped me smiled brightly and guided my confused self to the center of the pedestrian bridge.

Keiji: "You're lucky I'm here, huh?"

Hideyoshi: "You’re late."

Kanetsugu: "If anything, this woman is unlucky for ending up in a situation like this."

Keiji: "Hey, don't be like that! We'd all feel bad if an innocent woman got hurt because of us, right?"

Sasuke: "You have a point."

Ranmaru: "True!"

Mai: "Um, excuse me."

Mai: "Are you guys civilians?"

They looked at me with blank expressions.

Mitsuhide: "Oh? Do we look like ordinary citizens to you?"

(Ugh, now that I look closer, they're all pretty handsome but have an intimidating vibe.)

Ieyasu: "If you think we're just regular, law-abiding citizens, then you're seriously off the mark and not paying attention to the danger around you."

Mai: "So, in other words, you're not ordinary, law-abiding citizens?"

Mitsunari: "Yes. That's how it is."

(He's the kindest-looking one, and he confirmed it!)

Kenshin: "Ridiculous. Woman, get back. You're in the way."

Hideyoshi: "Lord Nobunaga, please step back!"

Nobunaga: "I'll leave it to you, Hideyoshi."

The man called Nobunaga was about to strike, but Hideyoshi unsheathed his sword and blocked the blow.

Yukimura: "Hey, you! You're gonna get hurt!"

(What am I supposed to do with that warning!?)

Keiji: "Don't panic, princess."

Keiji: "We need you to stay here until we're done, okay? We need a witness."

With a sharp breath, he thrust a spear from behind me.

I was startled, but the tip of the spear was stopped by a man standing in its path.

Yoshimoto: "Good grief."

The spear's sharp trajectory was expertly deflected by an iron fan.

Yoshimoto: "Keiji, you're a scary man."

Keiji: "I’ll probably lose to you, for sure."

Despite their gentle, almost otherworldly voice and bright smiles, the two men kept fighting.

(These two are really scary!)

Motonari: "An opening!"

At that moment, a crack suddenly appeared in the concrete beneath my feet.

I cautiously peeked down and saw a bullet lodged in it, making my blood run cold.

(There's no sound, though. A silencer?)

(But the power behind that shot—wait, this isn't fake!)

Ranmaru: "Geez, that was close."

The young man who avoided the gunshot jumped up onto the railing.

However, his slender body seemed to wobble for a second.

(Watch out!)

Instinctively, I forgot my fear and jumped toward him.

Ranmaru: "Whoa!?"

I pulled him with all my strength, and we both rolled to the ground.

Mai: "Are you okay!?"

Ranmaru: "Y-Yeah."

Mai: "Thank goodness."

Kenshin: "What are you doing?"

Mai: "I should be the one asking you that! What the hell are you all doing!?"

Mai: "You have to value your lives!"

A wave of relief hit me, followed by intense anger.

Seeing them stop their fight in shock, I came back to my senses.

(I yelled without thinking.)

(But I don't think I said anything wrong.)

Kennyo: "This young lady has a point."

Mai: "-----!"

Kennyo: "If we continue fighting in a place like this, we might end up involving others."

With those words, the others started nodding in agreement.

Kicho: "I agree. We've gotten a bit too carried away; perhaps we should save this for another time."

Motonari: "Tch, guess the moment's ruined."

Mitsuhide: "Value your lives, huh?"

Mitsuhide: "To bring up such a normal principle in this situation is interesting."

Yukimura: "It's so normal that it actually makes her stand out."

(Wait, am I being teased? Or are they just exasperated?)

Nobunaga: "You're an amusing woman. I like you."

Nobunaga: "How about becoming the woman of the Azuchi Clan?"

Mai: "What?!"

Everyone: "----!"

Mai: "N-No, thank you!"

Masamune: "Now, now, hold on."

(Ah!)

The man with an eye patch casually lifted something from my chest.

(My employee ID! I forgot I still had it on!)

Masamune: "Mai, huh? Cute name."

Mai: "G-Give it back!"

Masamune: "Nah, don't feel like it."

Mitsuhide: "Not only are you a witness to tonight's events, but you've caught Lord Nobunaga's interest."

Mitsuhide: "We can't just let you go."

Hideyoshi: "You guys, take it easy on her. Hey, are you hurt anywhere?"

Hideyoshi: "We owe you for helping Ranmaru. We'll have to thank you properly later."

Ieyasu: "You're way too reckless. Are you an idiot? I've never seen anyone like you."

Mitsunari: "Indeed. Your brave actions really moved me. I want to know more about you."

Ranmaru: "Thanks for saving me earlier, miss! I was so surprised."

Mai: "U-Um."

Keiji: "Haha, you've become quite popular! I'm feeling a little jealous."

Shingen: "You're a brave and kind-hearted young lady. It must have been fate that we met tonight."

Kenshin: "Hey, woman. Mai, was it? I'll remember you."

Sasuke: "Lord Kenshin, you're scaring her. Sorry about my boss. Maybe I could apologize on his behalf sometime?"

Yukimura: "You're like a wild boar, huh? No offense."

Yoshimoto: "Indeed. The look on your face as you ran to protect him was beautiful—captivating, even."

Kanetsugu: "You're a reckless woman. You should've just ditched everything and run for your life. Are you a little pup who acts without thinking?"

Kennyo: "But that honest spirit of yours shines brightly to people like us."

Motonari: "Agreed. You're so pure and sweet that I almost feel like crushing you underfoot."

Kicho: "You poor thing. You're getting all the attention from these troublemakers. You've even got me curious now."

(This can't be happening.)

They spoke to me one after another, leaving me in shock.

Nobunaga: "Don't think you can escape, Mai."

Mai: "…..…"

I finally realized that these men, clearly part of the underworld, now knew my face, name, and workplace.

(What's going to happen to me now!?)

[nostalgia-tblr]

it seems (AIUI) to be one of these things where a medical issue has been given a name that already exists and the colloquial use of that word gets mixed up with the new term and probably we should stop using the old word ('narcissist' is one I shy away from for exactly this reason) but really it's the medical profession that's fucked it up for us. (THANKS GUYS!!)

to the point where a comedic but arguably accurate reference to narcissus (who, in fairness, is one of the few humans to have been into selfcest - this connection being why i didn't immediately think "Diagnosis!!!" meself) is going to come across as a diagnosis to people who both approve and disapprove of that diagnosis.

i recently discovered, to my surprise, that many people had assumed that bit in the loki series where mobius calls him a narcissist was intended as a diagnosis, and not just in the colloquial sense. so now the anger about it makes a bit more sense oh my god why would you take it as a diagnosis what the fuck.

[jahanmp4]

I don't often talk about RP because I don't think I have anything interesting to bring to the table, but I just had this thought.

cc!Etoiles is always very vocal about HATING (and when I say hate I don't use this lightly I've rarely seen him react that intensely to anything else gameplay wise) PVP log (the act of logging off during a fight to avoid dying/losing damage). He is always about playing fair and square, if anything you need to remember about his mindset as a player, it's fairness.

This fits perfectly with q!Etoiles. He's always about defending people who are vulnerable, fighting for what is right (to him and his moral compass) and overall destroying anything that could be a threat/harmful to his loved ones. This coupled with the hc I saw someone mention on Day 1 of Purgatory of q!Etoiles being raised on UHC and feeling in his natural habitat definitely feeds in the "soldier-child" narrative.

Growing up playing UHC, q!Etoiles is all about following the rules of a duel, he's very much a gentleman in that matter. He knows all the strategies, the numbers and calculations needed to fully understand how to win a fight. He also understands that fighting someone who hasn't spent pretty much their entire life perfectioning their combat skills is unfair, and it's not even fun. He thrives in fighting against people who can potentially kill him, because then, it could potentially mean that they have the same understanding of what's at stake.

He was (wrongfully) painted as this bloodthirsty, merciless fighter by most islanders when he first arrived because they did not understand that the reason why he's so good at PVP was because he has always been meticulous and diligent in his training, but never unfair. Proof is that even when he killed other islanders/raided blue team's base he did not want to destroy anything because it didn't feel right to him.

Just now as I'm typing this he just said that he did not like the idea of destroying other team's bases because it would be too frustrating for them and that with a gameplay like that. Even if cc!Etoiles is very much holding back because of irl things, I find it so interesting how it fits PERFECTLY with q!Etoiles' soldier mindset even if unintentional (yes it makes sense because it's literally his cubito but leave me be okay). Remember how he was holding a q!Roier who was foaming at the mouth (my beloved) on a leash because he knew acting reckless and unprepared would not end well for them ? There's nothing impulsive about the man cucumber, he learned how to stay cool-headed because it's with a clear mind that you actually achieve your goals, very much what you learn in the army. Don't act on an impulse, act carefully but efficiently.

Anyways I think he's cool :D

[irenespring]

Time for one of my favorite TV traditions, "watch the new episodes of Selling Sunset and argue with the screen like the people can hear me."

[incarnadinedreams]

"even people who claim to like Jiang Cheng don't actually like him in the novel"

Nah I read that whole damn thing and liked him every scene he was in. Speak for yourself you have no idea how deep the novel!Jiang Cheng Derangement Syndrome goes in MY head

[flufflecat]

Can someone explain what the narrative stakes are even supposed to be anymore in jjk. All the characters are essentially guaranteed to die, the current cast is comprised almost entirely of characters who showed up 2/3rds into the story and we're supposed to care about them for some reason, and I do not even know what the threat is supposed to be anymore. The apocalypse? Destruction of an amorphous innocent society? Like has ANYTHING been shown of "here's the regular world that apparently needs to be saved" or are we just supposed to assume "this society is just Real Life+, so you're REQUIRED to care if some guy threatens to kill all humanity, because one of those humanities may be... a child" or something. Can you spare two seconds to show anything other than some magic randos fighting, or is it just a superhero story all the time now, minus the fun. Remember when yuuji had friends.

[just-null]

Man you're so cool and the way you colour is literally goals

I wanna be your friend so bad😔

you want to be my friend bc I color good? damn, who knew my rizz transcended through the screen. i guess they don't call me rizzler for nothin, heh..

[thetarttfuldickhead]

Am inexplicably and unreasonably upset about Jamie not liking scones. Like, obviously he can like whatever he likes and there's no accounting for taste and what does it even matter but also what the hell is wrong with you, my ridiculous muppet man? What else don't you like, huh - is it kittens and puppies? World peace? Fucking joy?

For my own peace of mind I'll be imagining him just saying that because he doesn't want anything from Roy at this particular point in time. Or maybe Simon's scones are JUST TOO GOOD, nothing else can compare, so Jamie just avoids all other scones as to avoid disappointment. Either work and make hell of a lot more sense that Jamie "not even liking" scones. I mean, come on.

[aberfaeth]

now you might be thinking hey casey don’t you find it odd that ted lasso wrapped up half its arcs in one rapid-fire epiphany montage? and that despite the increased runtime, so many important moments informing character arc happen offscreen in a way that feels more lazy than artful? and yes. yes i do find it odd. ok moving along

[cesarescabinet]

Idk if this is a hot take or not but I don't get The Cure's reputation of being a depressing band when The Smiths' discography is far more uniform in the absolute misery.

[beastsovrevelation]

Reasons why I motivate myself to work on my Good Omens fanfictions:

So I can take a certain hyper popular ship everyone loves, but I despise, and tear it apart, smash it with a hammer, and set it on fire for my own entertainment. 😊 It's not like someone will do it for me.

I would say because Lady!Crowley deserves more love, but horrific things happen to her, so, I'd be a hypocrite (spoiler alert, she's fine in the end).

Anathema and Newt's family keep a raccoon named Shovels, that they dye black, and pretend is a cat.

I have four ideas put down, so far. One's an actual detective story. Two of them are crossovers with... Legion, of all things (one came to me in a dream). All involve my Antichrist OC, who wasn't supposed to have anything to do with the GO universe, until I had that damn dream.

Another motivatior - so I can work with Maxine (the Antichrist OC) more. After a long consideration, I decided to pair her up with War (in non-crossovers, in those she's with Michael), which is problematic because they're cousins (War's mother is Satan's sister)... You know, whatever. Nobody from Earth knows. It isn't anything uncommon for royalty, either. 🤣 Besides, they're both women (offspring from donors, so no biological threats), and they didn't grow up together. I just... I adore my Antichrists. They're everything to me. Max, forgive me for getting you involved in this madness of an universe, the fanfiction gods compelled me.

Honestly, my other OCs, too. Max's best friend, Cthylla (daughter of Dagon, and... You can guess. He has a habit of oversleeping), her cat Squid, Madonna Maria (a literal jackal with vile temper and a fondness for whiskey, Maxine's biological mother;), Titan the Hellhound, Agnes Device-Pulsifer, Francisco Rossi (the Second Beast, who loathes Aziraphale even more than I do, for absollutely no reason)...

Off with Pollution, Pestilence is being reinstated to his rightful place.

I'm eager to work with canon characters like War, Michael (Legion and GO version), and Hastur - all of who, I adore

I am kind of a hater in this fandom. In the end, I've realized, fanfiction must be written for oneself, not the fandom. I will not apologize for doing what I want, with characters (and their genders) in a fic. Nor for heavily focusing on my OCs (even making them the main focus - it's something that I love doing).

The only thing I do feel some guilt for? I remember Neil Gaiman saying he likes stories where women saves themselves, which I completely agree with, yet Lady Crowley gets saved by others, most of the times... I guess, she's just in situations nobody could save themselves from. Now, her healing is another can of worms maybe that could be counted as her saving herself).

Oh... I hope no one who reads this took it as me attacking them, or mocking them, for liking what I don't. I kind of sounded like someone's evil grandma, threatening to throw their favorite toys in the trash can. 🤣 I'm just writing down my thoughts in an edgy manner. Think of this as a literal angsty, but hopeful diary page.

When I said I'm a "hater", I meant I personally have a very odd, unconventional relationship with Good Omens and it's characters. It's a... "I don't like how you're portraying biblical mythology, but I will always love you". I love Neil Gaiman. I don't know anyone im the fandom anymore, but I all the hearts to them, too. I'm just the designated class contrarian. My stories, like all fanfiction, are seperate universes from canon (and I mean no disrespect to it; the fanfiction wouldn't be here if canon wasn't).

Why do I keep hurting Crowley? I don't know, my relationship with the character is very complicated also. I find him annoying, but I named my stuffed snake after him. 🐍

Why did I write this down and post it? Because I've noticed I'm more likely to get something done after I get on a barrel, and anounce I will. These stories are so fun to write... Fine, that was kind of a lie. I'm picking at Ch. 1 of the dream storyline, and it makes me want to cry.

P.S. - I didn't see season 2, and I have no intention to (though my mom is badgering me to watch it; she's also scolding me for hurting Crowley).

[deus-ex-mona]

mfw someone i’m mutually blocked with seems to frequent this blog anyway (you know who you are)

[todayisafridaynight]

I've been in my feelings about Jo and Aoki's last interactions for a bit...

Because that whole scene is textbook verbal abuse, right... Aoki is very clearly trying to tear Jo's self-esteem and bolster his own, establish control, all that, and Jo just has to stand there meekly and take it. All because Jo's disobeyed one too many times and Aoki needs someone he knows he can control to head the Tokyo Omi Alliance.

Like Jo says he's never disobeyed Aoki except in that one instance, but not handling things himself at Otohime Land was very much his way of giving Ichi an out indirectly, and I feel like Aoki was beginning to catch on based on his comments about Jo neglecting the situation and acting strangely. Directly refusing his orders just confirmed his suspicions.

It's kind of lost among all the bombshells dropped in Chapter 13, but Jo's hesitance to kill anyone who's important to Arakawa is a big deal to me. It's not like he had any personal ties to Hoshino or any investment in maintaining the balance of the Ijin Three whatsoever; he went to those lengths to set himself up to be stopped because Arakawa wouldn't want Hoshino to die and that was it.

To return to the scene, I think it's also a great demonstration of Aoki's "those who use and those who get used" mentality. This next thing is... pretty badly mistranslated, at least in the subs, so it was lost on me for a while. But before the Lost Puppy line, the specific way Aoki chooses to downplay Jo's merit is by telling him he only got to his position because everyone was so sensitive to his (Aoki's) feelings and could tell he favored Jo, following him around like a lost puppy being precisely why Aoki favored him.

I don't think that was all there was to it, of course. Dude was five and deliberately brings Jo wherever he goes to this day by choice. It's kind of like those guys who get rejected once and start going on tirades about how "she should've been grateful, she was ugly anyway." But that's what Aoki wants to portray--you only had it that good because of me, and I can take it away whenever I want. Whenever you're no longer of use. Anything to preserve his status as the user and Jo's as the used.

Jo's crossed the line at this point. He is no longer of use. He does kind of get into it so that takes the edge off my frustration with The English Language, but from this point onward, he believes Aoki sees him as a "bullet"--a hitman only sent on suicide missions. So despite everything he's done for him, despite being "the favorite," he knows full well Aoki's trying to kill him before Aoki even gives Ishioda the order. And... he accepts it.

So TO GO FROM THAT to having to reconcile in prison would've been so much powerful than what the ending was trying to do. Having to come to terms with the fact you killed one of the only people who saw you for who you were and truly cared about you, were going to kill the other two, and have abused all three from the moment you realized you had power over them. And for Jo, going through everything he went through because of Aoki and loving him without question anyway... Getting to express that in some small way... I need to lie down...

ALSO tattoo essay... later... maybe tomorrow... I mainly just feel like I sound extremely mean about rggtattoos' take😭😭😭but the show must go on

YEAH NO THAT'S IT ALL FAX NO PRINTER NO EXTRA NOTES NECESSARY

It'd be the fact that Aoki'd have no choice but to confront those decisions he made and those things he wanted to happen. he'd made a social circle for himself where people predominantly liked him for the power and influence he had and totally turned his back on the people who- awfully ironically as he wanted- loved him for him

He'd already smoothed things over with Ichi, so- by his own hand- all that was left was Jo, the person he'd taken for granted the most next to Arakawa and who he planned to have executed alongside him. Jo's got every right to not forgive Aoki and to push him away, let each other rot in prison ignoring each other. So it's the worst feeling when Jo doesn't do that- its impossible for me not to imagine Jo wondering about what happened for Aoki to get so banged up if he's brought into prison the same night, and making sure Aoki's okay despite it.

Whereas Ichi was more upfront about his love and even frustrated about it ('frustrated' in that 'how could Aoki be so blind not to see how much care there is for him from us'), the breaking part about Jo is that he's forced himself to be so careful about showing his affection. Ichi's love was borderline irritating for how apparent it was: Jo's could have easily been written off or ignored.

All of that said, prison is where Aoki would be forced to realize that Jo does love him like Ichi said he does; there's no reason to keep up appearance or kiss up anymore- Aoki doesn't have any use to Jo anymore (if Aoki chose to interpret Jo's loyalties as a stepping stone to promote himself), and there's certainly no where else to run. It's probably that dawning moment that's gotta be so. Oh God What The Fuck. Like it's a sobering moment for him to go 'What have I been doing this whole time/what have I done to everyone', as corny as it sounds

[quatregats]

Hmmm mayhaps I should not have stayed up until Twelve Twenty-Two Ay Em writing my Machineries of Empire Aubreyad AU but heigh ho, here we are

[euthymiya]

[ ASKING PRICE — FT. KINICH ]

synopsis: kinich isn’t so happy that you spend time with ajaw. you’re more than willing to pay the price to make up for it

before you read: gender neutral reader ; established relationship ; slightly jealous kinich (of ajaw getting more attention) ; ajaw cameo! ; lots of kisses ;) (kinich not ajaw)

You laugh, and Kinich’s vein all but pops.

Normally, he’s agitated by Ajaw on most hours of most days. That much is a well known fact. But not today, though—because today, he’s absolutely infuriated. (And no, this is not on a limited, conditional, restricted, contractual, partial, temporary basis. This anger is very much here to stay and not go anywhere.)

You’re here to complete a commission with him, not spend your time giggling with a certain saurian. And your kindness is very much wasted going towards someone as pompous as Ajaw—still, there’s a part of him that admires it. Only you could manage to be kind to someone as difficult to get along with.

What he doesn’t admire, however, is that you happen to be the one person Ajaw also doesn’t mind being kind to. (Well, as kind as someone like Ajaw can get, that is.)

“—and when the Almighty Dragonlord, K'uhul Ajaw summons the howling winds, and sets the whole world ablaze, you can be the only survivor!”

It’s a grating voice, Kinich thinks distantly, rolling his eyes at the way you chuckle and give a grateful nod, entertaining the pure nonsense of a fool. Ajaw has approximately the same brain power as a dead saurian. That’s to say: none. How you manage to laugh at jokes made by such a simpleton is beyond the comprehension of someone like Kinich—but he supposes you’ve always been kind to a fault. A pity laugh certainly isn’t something you’re above, he supposes.

“Will I have the luxury of ruling by your side as your trusty sidekick?” You play along. It seems to please the dragon, earning a haughty laugh.

“I suppose you can have a small corner to call yours,” he agrees, “just make sure you push that slimy, slithering, miserly worm off a cliff and I’ll allow it.”

You glance over at Kinich as soon as the words are uttered by the obnoxious loud mouth beside you, and he can feel the last of his veins snap—that is, until you smile, giving him a playful wink.

“I’ll see what I can do,” you giggle.

“See?” Ajaw turns to look at him, making Kinich’s eye twitch ever so slightly. “You should be more like this one! The Almighty Dragonlord—h-huh? Hey!”

“Kinich!” You scold, watching as Ajaw cuts himself off with a scream, flying off into the distance from one irritated flick of Kinich’s fingers.

“What?” He huffs, crossing his arms as you throw your head back and laugh.

“You’re cute, you know. When you get like that.”

“Like what?” It comes out as a grumble. A rather petulant one, at that—he almost cringes hearing it in his own tone.

He knows what you mean, too. You know he does, so you reach over to ruffle his hair as his lips curl into a deeper frown. It’s not lost on you, however, that he almost seems to lean into your touch, almost seems to savor the feeling of your palm against his head.

“It’s cute when you’re jealous,” you tease. “Adorable, you know? Seeing you sulk is a bit rare.”

“I was not sulking,” he protests. That, of course, pulls a laugh out of you that makes him sulk even harder. “And I’m not jealous. Being jealous of Ajaw is absurd.”

“Oh but I think you were,” you nudge his shoulder, lips stretching into a knowing grin as he grunts. “Don’t worry, I’d never push you off a cliff.”

“That’s because you’d never manage to,” he shrugs. You give him a playful scowl as you huff, you don’t know that, under your breath. He fights back an amused smile, trying to keep his seriousness in tact. “Have you had enough fooling around? We have a commission to complete. You’re going to make me lose out on mora.”

“Is that so?” You say thoughtfully.

By now, Kinich knows that face. It’s not a very welcomed face, either—it means trouble for him. Some form of scheming on your end that almost always ends with you getting what you want, and almost always ends with him walking away as a loser of sorts. It’s his own fault, of course. Being powerless against your charms is a weakness he’s not entirely managed to overcome yet.

But he’s trying—and he’ll get it one day. He’s sure of it.

“I don’t like that face,” he says dryly, eyeing you cautiously.

“What face?” You gasp, mock innocence feigned even as the mischief creeps into your eyes. He can see it. Sense it. Feel it. Almost like he can tell a foe is coming even before they strike—it’s a practiced precision of sorts.

“That face you make when you’re up to something. I can tell you have something up your—”

You cut him off with a kiss to the corner of his mouth, making him go silent almost instantly. A small part of him can feel his cheeks burn, but the bigger part of him melts before he can even comprehend it.

“What if I paid you a better price,” you murmur, “and commissioned some of your time?”

A hand trails up his chest, rubbing slowly against the expanse of it over his shirt, stopping just over his heart. Evil, he wants to tell you, how evil you are to rest your palm right over his erratic heart.

Like you sense the pounding beat, you grin sweetly.

“You’ll need a better price than that,” he mumbles quietly when he finally finds his voice, clearing his throat subtly.

“Haggling over prices with me?” You pout. “Not even I can get a discount.”

“Of course not,” he says stubbornly. A strong arm wraps around you, pulling you against his sturdy chest as you bite back a grin. “I only accept offers with appropriate prices.”

“Fine,” you pretend to roll your eyes in defeat, leaning in to press a firm peck to his lips. “Will that cover it?”

“Not quite,” his arms tighten around you, pulling you closer. Impossibly closer. So close, you think his lips could knock into yours from a gentle breeze alone.

But he’s still. Patient. Painfully observant as his eyes stare into you and wait for what he wants—and, well, Kinich always gets his asking price. One way or another, he never walks away short of a single mora.

Or kiss.

So you lean in, pressing your mouth to his as your hands cup his face, tracing the skin above his cheekbone delicately as he sighs softly. His eyes flutter closed, and briefly, he thinks how nice it is when it’s just you. And him. And no Ajaw.

He should keep it like that more often.

He needs it, you think. Needs to feel you up close and personal, needs to know you’re here and staying, needs to know you’re his and only his.

He lets out a soft sound of protest when you finally break away, earning a quiet chuckle from you before you plant a sweet kiss to his jaw.

“How was that?” You whisper, kissing along his jawline, earning a small shiver of approval from him. “Was that payment enough?”

“I suppose for now,” he mumbles.

“Now you’re just being greedy,” you tease, grinning against his skin.

But you know as well as he does, you’re than happy to afford his prices. And then some, too. You’re as generous about spending as he is enthusiastic with taking.

“Or maybe you’re just being stingy,” he shoots back. With a fond shake of your head, your lips are back on his, cradling his face as he leans into you until he can’t tell where you start and where he ends.

It’s hard not to give into your charms, but he’s not so sure it’s a losing battle. It feels suspiciously close to a win, in fact—that is, if Ajaw stays far, far away. (And again, it would be nice if it was not on a limited, conditional, restricted, contractual, partial, temporary basis.)

He’s sooooo cute and his backstory literally haunts me I want to kiss him so bad you guys don’t get it. I was supposed to skip him but 173 wishes later I now have a c4 diluc and a c0r1 kinich 🥹

[rin-yellow]

ngl hate it when ppl conflate robotics engineers with AI grifters. We hate them as much as y’all do lmao, they’re not doing our asses any favours.