#The Jumping Squirrel Event

[rollinouttahere-writes]

AS2L Intro

I finally got it done! The intro for this concept has come to fruition. Unlike Lucky Break, this won't be completely linear and will just kinda jump around to random events that I feel are worth writing.

Ace, Sabo, and Luffy x Child Reader

5.5k words

Grown ups did a lot of things that you failed to understand the point of, and even more things that you found unpleasant. There were even some things that managed to be both. Namely, family reunions. You didn’t get why they needed to do this every year. You already saw them often enough since you all lived pretty close. So why do you have to spend a whole day with them at some park? It doesn’t even have a playground. Boring!

Small pebbles tumbled through the grass as you kicked them. At the moment, you were far away from everyone else, having had quite enough of your cousins’ teasing and hair pulling. Between not getting along with any of the people here that were your age, and the aforementioned lack of a playground, you were bored out of your mind. Possibly even dying of boredom. 

As you keep walking aimlessly, you notice a sign out of the corner of your eye. Having nothing better to do, you go over to inspect it. It reads “Horseshoe Trail” in big, bold letters. There’s a picture of what you assume is the trail itself beneath it. Much like the name implies, the trail is shaped like a horseshoe, going out and coming back to an exit not far from here. You look to your left and squint, and you’re pretty sure you can see where it lets out.

Maybe going for a walk in the woods would be fun? It had to be more exciting than kicking rocks all day. You hazard a glance back at the pavilion where your family is gathered. No one seems to be looking your way… This should be fine. You make up your mind quickly and hurry onto the trail before anyone can tell you not to. 

This will be fine. Besides, you’ll probably be back before anyone even notices you’re gone. The trail didn’t look that long in the picture.

The trail is a refreshing change of pace. You stare up in wonder at the tall trees on either side of the trail. Other plants and flowers decorate your surroundings, making for infinitely more interesting scenery than the bland grass of the main area your family was hanging out at. You don’t get why none of them thought to go walking through here. It makes you feel a little special to have discovered something new and exciting.

There’s a lot of noise in the woods. From the rustling of leaves as squirrels dart around, to birds singing, to insects chirping. It’s all enchanting to you. You hum happily as you wander down the path, not a care in the world. 

You’re walking for a while, a lot longer than you thought you would be. It starts to dawn on you that the trail was perhaps longer than you originally assumed. You start to feel nervous about how mad your parents will be if they notice you wandered off. Looking back, you wonder if it would be better to just turn around, or if you should keep going. The end can’t be that far away, can it?

A fallen tree is next to the path, and you walk over to sit on it while you try to figure out what you should do. You fiddle with your pink, frilly dress that your mom insisted you had to wear, tugging and picking at the seams nervously. Mom was definitely going to be mad when you got back… Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to just keep going even if it does turn out to be longer?

The sounds of foliage moving behind you snaps you out of your anxious daze. You tense up. Whatever it is sounds bigger than a squirrel. Slowly, you look over your shoulder and towards the source. Bushes shake as something works its way through them. You want to run, but you’re rooted in place by your fear. The bushes rustle louder as whatever is in them is about to pop out. Your tiny hands fist the fabric of your dress painfully tight.

A furry creature suddenly springs out and lands on the log next to you. You yelp and fall backwards off of it. The creature creeps closer and… meows?

You sit upright and finally see the animal for what it is. A cat. Instantly, your fear melts away and you squeal excitedly, “Hi, kitty! Can I pet you?” You stand up and reach out to the cat, only for it to hop off the log and start walking away. “Hey, wait! Come back!” You start walking faster, following the cat into the woods.

“I promise I’ll be gentle!” Your attempts to reason with the cat were moot, it just kept walking. Occasionally it would look back at you, but it didn’t stop. It hadn’t hissed at you yet, though, so you keep following it. You didn’t even realize how far you were getting from the trail.

Your dress keeps snagging on branches from the local shrubbery, slowing you down significantly. With every pause you take to rip your dress free, the cat gets further and further away, but you don’t give up.

It isn’t until you trip and fall over a root sticking out of the ground that you officially lose sight of the cat. You whine and slowly push yourself up. Your foot hurts from getting snagged on the root, the sandals you were wearing did nothing to protect you. It takes a minute to get back up onto your feet, and when you do, you realize that it isn’t just the cat that you’ve lost sight of.

The trail is nowhere to be seen. Tears begin to well in your eyes as you’re hit with how bad this is. How stupid could you be to have run so far away from the trail? Your parents are going to be so mad when they find you. You whip your head around wildly as you walk backwards, looking for literally any possible hint of the rail.

Suddenly, the ground dips behind you. Your arms flail as you try to catch yourself, but the ground is too slippery for you to get any traction. The next thing you know, you’re falling backwards and rolling down a hill. You scream and try to catch yourself on something, but you’re too disoriented to be able to hold onto anything for longer than a split second. Rocks and bushes attack you as you violently tumble down the hill.

When you mercifully roll to a stop at the bottom, your head is spinning and everything hurts. You whimper as you roll onto your side and try to get up. Something wet drips into your eye and stings, making you flinch and rub at it. You pull your hand away and see that it’s stained red with blood. Just like that, you burst into tears and sob loudly. You cry out for help, screaming for anyone to come to your rescue.

But no one comes.

Then, because today wasn’t awful enough, loud thunder sounds through the forest, and it begins to rain. Cold droplets fall and soak into your dirty, torn clothing. You sniffle loudly and force yourself to stand despite your body screaming at you to lay down. Sitting in the rain sounds terrible. You need to find somewhere dry to wait this out.

Looking around, you don’t see anything nearby that you could hide under. Seeing as that you’re already horribly lost, you pick a random direction and start walking. Well, more like limping. Your already sore ankle is now swelling, and the straps on one of your sandals ripped off during the fall. It’s barely hanging on and is more than a little uncomfortable to walk in. You trudge forward, sniffling and crying as you stumble through the woods in search of shelter.

It feels like an eternity before you see something through the trees that piques your interest. It looks like a small building isn’t far from here. Your tears dry for the first time and you smile, thinking that maybe you were closer to where your family was than you thought you were. You hurry as much as your pained body will allow.

The closer you get, the more your smile fades. The building you were looking at was some abandoned, broken looking shack. There weren’t any other buildings or signs of people in sight. Despite your disappointment, the rain pelting you encourages you to go inside the shack regardless. 

The door had fallen off and was laying outside of the structure. You step on it as you go inside, and it creaks loudly under your weight. Your disappointment only grows as you see that the roof had caved in. Rain was pouring into the dilapidated shack, leaving only one corner of it somewhat dry. You press yourself against the shelf in the dry spot, shivering in your wet clothes. 

Deciding that your sandals were more of a painful hindrance than a help, you unbuckle and kick them off. Next, you slip off the once cream colored cardigan your mom had insisted you wear with your dress. It got all torn up and covered in mud from your fall, plus there was some blood on it from the cuts you got. The frilly dress you had on was in a similar state. Your mom was going to kill you for ruining the outfit she picked out for you just for today.

Given that it was already ruined, you scrubbed your face with the sweater, trying to wipe away the blood you felt on it earlier. You wince as it touches a particularly tender spot on your head and pull it away. The sweater is now smeared with even more blood and dirt. You sigh and toss it next to your discarded sandals.

With nothing to do, you sit in the corner and wait for the rain to stop. Your stomach growls loudly, which makes you remember something. Reaching into your pocket, you are ecstatic to find that the candies your grandpa had slipped you hadn’t fallen out during your tumble. You smile softly and unwrap a piece of chocolate before popping it into your mouth. At least you have one good thing going for you. You look around the shack while you savor the chocolate, and your eyes are drawn to a box on the shelf next to you.

Having nothing to do, you pull it off and start rifling through it. There are some old flashlights, duct tape, and some ropes in it that you carelessly toss behind you. At the bottom of the box, you see a tiny key and a jewelry box. You grab both curiously and wipe off the dusty box. One of those cool skull-things that you see on pirates ships is on it, which only makes you more curious. Giving the box a shake, you hear something rattling inside of it.

Trying to open it didn’t work, so you put the small key into the keyhole. Much to your relief, it fits and unlocks the jewelry box. You pry it open and find a necklace inside. It feels extremely brittle in your hands, and it has the same pirate skull on it as the box. There is a piece of paper in the box, too. You pick it up and unfold it, finding that there is something written on it.

Congratulations on your lucky find

I wonder what desire you have in mind

Close your eyes, make a wish, and break the pendant in two

Whatever you want most will come to you

Now that was exciting. You looked at the apparently magical necklace in your hand with a surge of joy and intrigue. Maybe getting lost wasn’t so bad afterall! You kick your feet as you try to decide on a wish. You suppose that you could wish to be back with your family, but… did you really want to waste your wish on that? Did you really want to use a magical wish to be teleported back to your parents that will definitely be furious with you.

This is your wish. Why shouldn’t you use it for something that you want? But what do you want? To have more fun? To have a family that actually likes you? Those things would be nice. Would it be okay to squeeze two wishes into one? There’s only one way to find out.

Closing your eyes, you say your wish, “I wish to have fun with a family that loves me.” With that said, you snap the necklace in half. You keep your eyes closed for a few more seconds, then crack one open and look around. Nothing happened.

Both of your eyes open and your cheeks puff out into a pout. Why didn’t it work?! You got your hopes up and everything! Today was the worst! Who would leave a fake magic necklace here to trick someone? That’s just mean!

You’re about to throw the broken necklace away from you, but then something happens. You start to sink into the ground, with your legs disappearing in mere seconds. You flail, trying to pull your legs back up, but you can’t and you’re sinking down even more. What’s happening?! Were you sitting in quicksand?!

In a last desperate attempt, you grab onto the shelf next to you. You’re already up to your neck, only your arms and head are still free. You let out a high pitched scream, hoping- praying that someone will hear you and come to your rescue, but the shelf you’re grasping tips over, plunging you into darkness.

You expect the quicksand to drown you, but that isn’t what happens. It feels like… you’re floating. In the air. Experimentally, you wave your arms around. There is nothing around you. Death not being imminent did calm you slightly, but not entirely. Not when you were seemingly floating through some weird darkness. It felt like you were falling, however gently, so maybe if you wait long enough you’ll end up… somewhere?

Was this happening because of your wish? Was the necklace mad about you trying to squeeze two wishes into one? You whimper and curl into the fetal position as you fall, feeling stupid for making a magic necklace mad at you. Hot tears well in your eyes and drip down your cheeks as you cry to yourself.

Abruptly, your descent ends and you feel solid ground beneath you. Instead of pitch black, you can see a soft light peeking through your fingers. You pull your hands away and look around. You’re in a forest. But… it doesn’t look like the forest that you were just in. The trees are massive; way bigger than any that you’ve ever seen. It also sounds different. The woods that you had just been walking through sounded mostly quiet minus some birds chirping, but this place was much louder. The bird calls sounded different and more plentiful, and you could hear plants all around you rustling. Whatever was moving them sounded huge. 

Pressing yourself up against a nearby tree, you look around frantically, looking for any sign of other people. You saw nothing but more trees. Worse yet, it was starting to get dark. Your heart was pounding in your chest and you felt like you were about to start crying again.

Your hands flex nervously, and you’re distracted when you feel something in the palm of one of them. You look down curiously and open your hand. Your face scrunches in confusion when you see some weird looking necklace staring up at you. It’s got a skull and crossbones on it, and the skull looks like it’s biting something between its teeth. Maybe a stick or something? You flip it over in your hand and examine it closely.

You’ve never seen this thing before. Why do you have it?

Before you can ponder this mystery further, you hear a loud growl. You snap your head up and look around. You don’t see whatever made that noise, but you aren’t about to wait and find out. The necklace is stuffed into your pocket and you turn around to face the tree you’re standing next to. It isn’t easy, but your terror about becoming a snack to whatever made that noise motivates you to scale the tree faster than you would have expected. You climb until you find a cluster of branches that you can settle into securely.

The sun was setting fast, and the forest was rapidly becoming too dark for you to be able to see anything around you. You press yourself into the branches while rubbing your exposed arms. The wet dress you were in was doing nothing to keep you warm, and you found yourself wishing you still had your sweater. Even if it was soaked and torn up, it would be at least a little better than this.

Animal calls resounded all around you, ones that you’ve never heard before. You don’t understand where you are. You were just lost in the woods at home. How did you wind up in this strange forest? Was it just a different part of the woods that you’ve never seen before? How had you never noticed these huge trees before? Well, you suppose your mom has said that you don’t pay attention very well…

Another growl cuts through the air, but this one is from you. Your stomach takes the time to remind you that it’s been a while since you last ate. Digging around in your pocket, you pull out a few more pieces of candy and start eating them. It’s not like there’s anything else you can do right now. You need to find your way out of these woods, but you’re too scared to do it in the dark, so you’re going to have to wait until morning.

Your parents are going to kill you when you finally get out of here.

The night passes by slowly. With how noisy it is, and how scared you feel, sleeping is almost impossible. You do eventually nod off, but you’re awoken by a ray of sunlight shining right into your eyes. You whine and rub at your eyes before cracking them open. Light is filtering through the leaves and all the way down onto the forest floor.

Movement catches your attention, and you snap your attention to it. Much to your relief, it’s just a small bird that is perched on your knee and watching you curiously. It has green feathers on its body and colorful feathers forming a large fan-like crest on its head. The bird’s head tilts and it lets out a series of whistles before leaning down to peck at the frills of your dress.

“Hi, birdie. Do you know how to get out of here?” You knew that a bird couldn’t answer your question, but it was nice to talk to something.

The sound of your voice made it glance up at you again, but it quickly ripped a frill off of your dress and then flew away. Yeah… that was about as helpful as you thought it was going to be.

After giving your surroundings a thorough scan to make sure there wasn’t anything scary nearby, you climb out of the tree. You wince as the tree bark digs into the soles of your feet. Much like your sweater, you find yourself bemoaning the fact that you ditched your sandals. You reach the forest floor and look around warily. You weren’t able to see any houses or anything from up in the tree, so you had no idea which way to go. So, you just started walking in a random direction and hoped for the best.

Your stomach growled again. You checked your pocket for more candy and after rifling through a bunch of empty wrappers, you found one last piece. As hungry as you were… you felt like it would be dumb to eat your final piece of candy now. It’s stuffed back into your pocket as you resolve to save it for later.

What feels like hours pass, and you have yet to see so much as a trail, much less a person or building. It’s starting to feel hopeless and like you’ll be lost forever. You stop and sit down on a rock, wondering what else you can possibly do right now.

That’s when you hear it. Crying. You’ve never been so happy to hear that sound before. You scramble off of the rock and run in the direction of the noise, feeling a sense of relief that you’ve never felt so intensely before. You bound through some tall grass and find yourself in a small clearing. There aren’t buildings or anything like that in sight, but there is someone here. A boy with black hair is sitting in the middle of the clearing and crying into his knees.

Taking a look around, you don’t see anyone else here. This isn’t exactly what you wanted to find, but maybe he knows how to get out of this place. The boy doesn’t appear to have heard you stomping through the grass, so you approach him carefully and call out to him.

“Hello?”

The boy flinches and whips his head around to look at you. He stares at you with wide, teary eyes, and his face has dirt smeared across it. You think that he’s about the same age as you. It looks like he’s also had a bad day.

When he doesn’t respond, you take a few more steps towards him. You try talking to him again, “Are you okay?”

He sniffles loudly and wipes at his face with his arm, “I’m okay… I’m just lost.” Your heart sinks upon realizing that he’s no better off than you are and won’t be able to help you. The boy looks up at you hopefully, “Do you know the way out?”

You avert your eyes and shake your head, “No… I’m also lost.” That little bit of hope he had in his eyes dies instantly and he hangs his head again. It makes you feel bad that you can’t help him. You crouch down next to him, “My name is (Y/N), what’s your name?”

The boy sniffles again and speaks in a quiet voice, “I’m Luffy.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Luffy. I don’t know the way out of here, but maybe we can be lost together?” The proposition hardly sounds appealing, but it’s not like either of you have any other options right now. Not being alone will be better than nothing.

Luffy looks at you again, then nods and starts to stand up, “Yeah… we can be lost together.” As soon as you’re up, he grabs onto your hand like it’s a lifeline. You two start walking again, but it’s obvious that he’s still upset.

Something about his sad face makes you want to do whatever you can to make him feel better. You think hard as you walk with him. Then, an idea pops into your head. Candy makes you feel happy, so it should do the same for him, right? You pull out your last piece of candy, saltwater taffy, from your pocket. You stare at it for a moment, feeling conflicted. While you are hungry, you want to do the right thing.

Holding out your hand to Luffy, you present the taffy to him, “Do you want some candy?”

This makes Luffy come to a halt and stare at the offering. You pull your hand from his and unwrap the candy for him before holding it up to him again. That seems to snap him out of it and he quickly snatches it out of your hands and eats it. The fast movement startles you slightly. He must’ve been really hungry, too.

Finally, he grins at you, “Thank you! Do you have any more?”

You look down, now feeling a little guilty about snacking on your candy all night long. “No, I’m sorry. That was my last piece.”

Luffy blinks in surprise, “And you gave it to me?” You nod, not really seeing it as a big deal. It was just one piece of candy. Before you can blink, Luffy lurches forward and hugs you tightly. You’re lifted off the ground a little, then dropped back down. He pulls away and smiles widely at you, “Let’s be best friends, (Y/N)!”

Best friends? Just for some candy? Well, he seems nice, and you could always use more friends. You return his smile with one of your own, “Yeah, let’s be friends.”

With the new friendship established, you and Luffy resume your trek, but now he is much more bubbly and talkative. He’s rambling about pirates when he suddenly looks around and lights up, “Oh! This looks familiar! I think we’re almost out!” Luffy breaks into a sprint and you’re forced to run to keep up. Rocks and plants dig into your bare feet, making you wince, but you feel a surge of joy at the prospect of getting out of this stupidly big forest.

Finally, the trees thin out and both of you are free. A small town can be seen in the near distance. It doesn’t look familiar at all, and definitely isn’t your hometown. Was it a nearby town that you’ve never seen before? You guess you and your parents don’t get out a lot, so that makes sense.

Luffy doesn’t give you much time to catch your breath before he’s running again. As you run through the town with him, you notice how weird it looks to you. None of the roads are paved, and you can’t see a single car. It looks super old, like something out of a history book. Where are you right now?

You’re forced to make a hard right as Luffy turns and runs into one of the buildings. You stumble in behind him and look around the place. It looks like a restaurant or something. You’re dragged towards a counter while Luffy calls out, “Makino! I made a new friend!”

A woman with green hair is behind the counter and smiles warmly at Luffy before flicking her attention to you. Her smile drops instantly and is replaced with a look of concern. “Oh dear, are you alright?”

Oh right, you did get pretty dirty and hurt from your fall yesterday. You look away sheepishly, embarrassed to be looking like a mess. Your mom would definitely scold you if she could see you right now.

“This new friend of yours must be pretty great if you haven’t even noticed me yet.” A new voice cuts in. You look up as a man with red hair and a straw hat spins around in his seat. He has three scars over one of his eyes that you can’t help but think look really cool. Like Makino, his relaxed grin drops when he sees the state of you. One of his hands reaches out and pulls something out of your hair. A small twig with a leaf on it. He raises a brow, “Rough day, kid?”

“Shanks!” Luffy abandons you to clamber up to the man, and you’re left standing alone and feeling very self conscious about your appearance as you notice even more people staring at you.

Makino comes out from behind the counter and crouches down next to you. Her warm smile is back and she starts wiping off your face with a wet rag. “Why don’t you tell me your name, sweetie?” You mumble out your name while avoiding eye contact with her. She hums in acknowledgment, “(Y/N)? That’s a lovely name. Now, can you tell me what happened to you?”

“Well… I wandered away from my family because I was bored, and then I got really lost in the woods because I was chasing a cat. Then I fell down a big hill and got all dirty and hurt.” Saying it all out loud made it sound really dumb.

“And when did all of this happen? Just a little bit ago?”

“No, it happened yesterday, and then I was lost in the woods all night.” You winced as she wiped at a gash on your head.

“You were in that forest all night?” Makino looked shocked at your statement.

“Yeah… I tried to find my way out, but I couldn’t, so I slept in a tree until morning.” Again, you felt embarrassed about your situation. How stupid were you to get that lost all because you wanted to pet a cat?

Makino still appears to be shocked by your story, but she tries to force another smile onto her face. She stands up and takes your hand, “Come into the back with me. I have some spare clothes for Luffy here, and I think they’ll fit you.”

The prospect of having clean clothes sounds amazing to you, so you follow her without any protest. When you’re in the back of the restaurant, she takes the time to clean off the rest of the blood and dirt from you before giving you some clothes to change into. The shorts and t-shirt are much more comfortable than your tattered dress, so you can feel your mood lifting instantly just from having them on. You were still barefoot, but you weren’t about to complain. Makino examines your discarded dress with a puzzled look, then shrugs and tosses it into a bin.

You’re guided back out to the main part of the restaurant, and placed in a seat next to Luffy. Shortly after that, a plate of food is placed in front of you, as well as in front of Luffy. He happily digs in, but you hesitate, “I don’t have any money…” 

Your concern makes Makino chuckle, “Don’t worry about that, it’s on the house. You look like you could use something to eat.” Her words were enough to demolish your already weak resolve, prompting you to start wolfing down the meal. It tasted amazing and was a relief to your empty stomach. It didn’t take long for the plate to be completely clean.

As soon as you're done, Makino comes back over to you and starts asking questions. “What do your parents look like? Do you think they’re nearby?” You tell her that they probably aren’t around here and rattle off a description of them. She frowns and doesn’t seem to recognize them based off of your description.

Shanks chimes into the conversation, “What’s their ship look like? We just docked a little while ago, I might’ve seen it.”

“Ship? My parents don’t have a ship.” The question confuses you. There aren’t any big bodies of water around your town as far as you know. Why would your parents have a boat?

“Oh? So you’re local?”

“No, I’ve never seen this place before.”

Makino perked up at that, “You aren’t from Goa Kingdom, are you?”

You shake your head, “I don’t know that place.” You tell them the name of your hometown, but all that does is make everyone look confused. Everyone looks around at each other, silently asking if anyone recognizes the name. It would seem that no one does.

“Well, if you aren’t from around here, then you definitely got here on a ship. Did your parents get a ride here from someone else?” Shanks stares at you more intensely, as if trying to find answers written on your face.

“We weren’t on a boat, we were just at a park.” The questions were starting to frustrate you. Your town had to be nearby. There’s no way you walked that far.

Shanks stares at you hard, then his eyes drift up and focus on the gash on your head. He sighs and relaxes his expression. “Your parents are probably lurking around the docks, you should try looking for them there.”

Luffy sits up straight and turns to face you, “Oh! I can show you where they are!” He hops down from his stool and doesn’t wait for an answer before hauling you off of your own seat. You’ve barely made it out of the restaurant before another person runs out after you.

“Wait! I’m coming, too!”

You look over your shoulder and see a girl with red and white hair running after you two. She looks to be a few years older than you. 

Luffy smiles at her, “Hi, Uta! Why are you coming with us?”

Uta reaches out and pokes his cheek, “Because I know that you only offered to go so you can sneak onto Shanks’ ship.”

“Nuh-uh! I want to help (Y/N)!”

She rolled her eyes and lightly shoved his shoulder, “Yeah, right. You’re definitely going to sneak onto the Red Force as soon as you see it.” The two start bickering amongst each other, not paying you much mind as you all make your way to the docks.

All of this is very confusing and overwhelming. You have no idea where you are or how you got here, but at least the people you have found have been really nice. This situation wasn’t great, but it could certainly be worse.

At least you made a new friend.

[is-the-primate-vid-cute]

Arrest made after Dallas Zoo events, including the theft of two tamarin monkeys:

Davion Irvin said he loves animals and that if he’s released from jail, he would steal more, the documents said.

Irvin, who remained jailed Tuesday on $25,000 bond, was arrested last week after asking questions at a downtown Dallas aquarium about animals there. He is charged with six counts of animal cruelty and two counts of burglary.

Zoo staff say the monkeys have lost weight but are unharmed.

Irvin told police that on the night of Jan. 29, he waited until dark, jumped a fence to get onto zoo grounds, cut the metal mesh of an enclosure and took the two emperor tamarin monkeys, according to arrest warrant affidavits . He then got on the city’s light rail before walking to the vacant home where he said he kept his animals.

Irvin has been charged in two of the odd events over a span of several weeks at the zoo and is linked to another, police said. In the taking of the monkeys, Irvin faces one count of burglary and six counts of animal cruelty — three for each monkey. He also faces a burglary charge in relation to the escape of a clouded leopard named Nova, who was discovered missing Jan. 13. A cut was found in her enclosure, and the zoo closed as a search was launched. She was found later that day near her habitat.

Irvin told investigators that he’d wanted to take Nova but that he was only able to pet her before she got on top of her enclosure, an affidavit said.

Police said have said they are still investigating, but Irvin has not been linked to the suspicious death of an endangered vulture at the zoo in January.

Meanwhile police in Louisiana announced the arrest Tuesday of a 61-year-old man in the case of 12 squirrel monkeys that were discovered missing Jan. 29 from their enclosure at Zoosiana in Broussard, about 60 miles (96 kilometers) west of Baton Rouge.

Police said the missing monkeys haven’t yet been found.

Source

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

girl on fire 1

Warnings: this fic will include elements, some dark, such as cheating, neglect, noncon/dubcon, and other untagged triggers. Please take this into account before proceeding. It is up to curate your online consumption safely.

Summary: neglected, you find comfort in another home.

Characters: Jonathan Pine, Loki

Author’s Note: Please feel free to leave some feedback, reblog, and jump into my asks. I’m always happy to discuss with you and riff on idea. As always, you are cherished and adored! Stay safe, be kind, and treat yourself

Another lonely morning greets you. The chirping of birds and the yellow haze of sunlight does little to warm your bed. You stretch your arm out, feeling the empty space beside you. You lift your hand and stare at the ring you forgot to take off, as you often do. Sometimes, you just don’t want to. Sometimes you think if you do, he’ll truly be gone. 

Your husband isn’t gone though. Just absent. Just away on business. What's the difference?

You sit up and that knot under your shoulder pangs. You don’t sleep well without Loki near. Even after all this time, you’re not used to it. You wonder if he lays awake in his hotel beds. 

You go to the bathroom and wake yourself up with a splash of cold water. The day unfolds slowly around you as the dregs of sleep recede to painful reality. Alone. Again. Just like every day. When you said til death do you part, you didn’t think it would be a walking death. 

You wash and dress, for no reason in particular. You suppose because you should look human if you go outside. You sit and drink your tea in the kitchen as you watch the news on your phone. Current events only make you feel worse about the world. Even in your suburban paradise, there is no joy. 

You close out the player and tap on your messages. The last text you got from your errant husband was two nights ago. He landed safely. He doesn’t respond unless you message first. You’re starting to forget the days when he would rush in the door and sweep you off your feet. There is only numbness left where once you tingled. 

You’ll talk. Yeah, you’ll sit down and communicate and make it all better. Sure, that’ll happen. You laugh at yourself as you rinse the mug and leave it in the sink. You say that to yourself every time and then he comes home and it’s just silence. 

This isn’t a home, it’s a prison. At least you get outdoors time here. 

You step into your slippers and go outside, grabbing your gardening gloves as you tie on the tool belt with trowel, rake, and spade tucked in the pockets. You roll your shoulders and stretch, groaning as the dull jab remains under your shoulder blade. You need to stop reading in bed. 

As you near the soil along the walk, you stop short. Dirt litters the pavement and petals scatter all around. You near fall to your knees, staggering instead as you grasp at your stomach. No, no, no. 

You stare down at the ruin of your tulips. Not just any tulips but the pink and white ones you’d been nursing for weeks. The ones you bought yourself to mark your tenth year of marriage. The gift you never got from your husband because he couldn’t fit you into his calendar. 

“Ugh!” You exclaim and stomp the broken stems. “I hate you!” 

You stamp your feet in the dirt, spreading the mess, jumping up and down as your anger swells and your hurt flows over. That damn squirrel! That pest! That horrid creature! 

You kick through the other flowers, crushing peonies and pansies and violets. You don’t care about any of it. It doesn’t matter. It all just wilts and dies. It’s all just a bunch of bullshit. 

You clutch your head and collapse on your heels, sitting on your knees as you hang your head forward. It’s not the flowers. You know it’s not. The one thing you don’t want to think about is the only thing you can think about. 

You stay like that, sobbing into the ruin of your front garden. How pathetic you must look in your old Gap tee shirt and oversized sweatpants. If any of those HOA cyborgs walked by, they’d surely give you a citation. 

“Pardon,” a voice breaks through your tragedy and you close your eyes.  

You’re delusional. You have to be imagining things. It sounds just like him. Like your Loki. You turn your head and open your eyes, lashes webbed with tears. You sniff and quickly mop them away. Of course it wouldn’t be your husband. 

“Are you alright? I saw you fall from across the street,” the slim tall man stands on the other side of your iron gate. “Oh my, well, what a mess that chap made of your garden. I’m afraid he had a go at mine as well.” 

You squint and shake your head, “who?” 

“That squirrel fellow. He broke one of my planters as well,” he points with his long index finger. How peculiar. He reminds you of him. Tall, slim, and his nose... 

“That’s... yeah,” you sniffle and look down, using your shirt, to wipe away what’s left of your grief. 

“They must’ve meant very much. Even if they are just flowers, I can empathise,” he says. 

You shrug, “I’m being dramatic.” 

You stand and sweep off your pants. He lingers and you avoid looking at him. You’ve humiliated yourself enough. 

“Tulips,” he remarks. “I’ve some lovely blue ones from Holland if you’d like some bulbs. Can never have too many.” 

“That’s nice of you,” you keep your head down, turning your back to him, “who are you exactly?” 

“Oh, yes, I suppose I’ve not made the rounds yet. I... do you perhaps know a Hattie?” 

“Yeah, across the street,” you mutter. 

“That would be her. My aunt,” he explains, “she’s in need of some assistance, she’s due for surgery, so I’ve volunteered myself as her minder. She always did make the nicest biscuits, I only think it fair.” 

“That’s... nice,” you nearly choke on emotion. It is very sweet and selfishly, you feel worse for hearing it. 

“Needless to say, I’m a bit of a stranger around here,” he continues, “I’m Jonathan, though, if you... care.” 

You take a breath and lower your head, trying to get yourself together. You face him and try to force a smile but only feel like you might start crying again. You enunciate your name through the tension in your lips.  

He repeats it and it nearly takes your breath away, “do I have that right?” 

You have to hold back a gasp as you nod.  

“Beautiful,” he remarks, “happy to have a name to the face. I hate to be trouble but you might see me around.” 

“That's… That's okay. I'm sorry. I'm just… having a day,” you try to laugh out your distress but it only sounds fractured. 

“We all do,” he says, “I might be so lucky you never catch me in one.” 

“Sure, uh, I'll… I gotta go inside.” 

“Of course,” he purrs, “I shall let you know if I do catch the menace.” 

You put on a perplexed face. 

“The squirrel,” he says, “I am merciful, never worry. I'll only give him a good fright.” 

“Mm, thanks, er, I'll keep an eye out too.” 

“I do hope your day turns for the better,” he dips his head slightly, “can't complain for the sun, can we?” 

He turns and struts to the curb. You watch as he looks both ways then strolls on, hands in his pockets, a man without a care. You envy him that, but you can't quite place that other thorn in your chest. 

[thebunnyslibrary]

In The Woods Somewhere

summary. You go into the woods to take some photos...but find him instead

characters. Vampire!Bucky x Reader

word count. 4.8k

warnings. Dub!Con, Manipulation, Kidnapping, Stockholm-ish, mentions of violence/blood.

BunBun's Spoop-tober Collection Masterlist / Main Masterlist

Finally, your big break. You were finally getting the chance to publish a collection of your photos of haunted locations around New England with a real publishing company. Your final location was an abandoned church in the woods; thought to have been used by an early group of colonizers until it and the nearby settlement had been abandoned. No one knew for sure what had happened. Perhaps the colonizers had moved on? Maybe they were wiped out by plague? There was even a dark story of a minister who had started murdering villagers that were “unclean;” allegedly filling the church pews with corpses with slashed and bloody necks. Doing research on places before you took photos was one of your favorite parts; gathering information for the captions and essays you wrote to go with the photos.

After your parents had died while you were in college, it had left you feeling empty and directionless for some time. Then, after finally finishing your degree, you decided to use the money your parents had left you to buy a van and photograph the world.

You’d been working as a traveling photographer for a while now, doing gigs like weddings and events. You’d also managed to self-publish a few books and tried to sell your photos and art where you could. It wasn’t much but it kept you in gas money and beef jerky. You’d been all over North America and a few parts of South America. You were hoping to go international for a follow up book if this one was a success.

You pulled up to the walking trail that led into the forest. You had about an hour’s hike into the woods; knowing getting the shots at sunset would create perfect photos. You shrugged on your backpack with your supplies and with your camera case hand, headed off. The trees were washed in the golden hue of fall, starting to shed their leaves in preparation for their long winter sleep. A slight chill hung in the air but after 3 months of heat and humidity you were ready to be cold for a little bit.

Sometimes you listened to music when you hiked but today you’d decided to relish in the sounds of the forest.. Bird calls echoing off the trees, the rustling of the trail as you walked, squirrels and other small critters gathering their own winter supplies. A flock of geese calling out as they flew in v formation overhead and you quickly snapped a picture. Traveling and photography had given you an entirely deeper appreciation for nature and it’s beauty. An hour later, you stepped into the clearing where the church was set.

It was a small chapel, probably only fit to hold 10 or 15 people.  Most of the eastern wall had crumbled while the others were still partially there. Only one or two (maybe one and a half) benches were left; but you weren’t too sure about actually sitting on them. Still completely intact though, was the Archway that must’ve bene the entrance. Above it, was a bell; likely used to let the nearby colonizers know that church was starting. But on the bell was an inscription that could no longer be read. The language appeared to be Latin, but the words had been lost to time. You were raising your camera to take a picture, when a soft voice startled you

“Hi.” You turned suddenly and you were staring into crystal blue eyes. You jumped back but kept your eyes fixated on his. A man, maybe a little older than you had been standing right behind you.

“Oh! Uh…hi!” you said, blinking and taking more of him in now. Dressed in a black jacket over a fitting gray tee-shirt, dark jeans clinging to his legs, and silver rings adorned most of his fingers on his right hand. His left hand was hidden by a leather glove. His hair was pulled back in a man bun and a single ruby on a black chain hung from his left ear.

                “Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you. I was just coming up the trail and I called out to you.” His voice was soft, with a hint of an eastern European accent, making a slight shiver go through you.

                “Sorry, I suppose I didn’t hear you.”

                “No worries, I’m James. But my friends call me Bucky” He reached out his hand for yours, taking it and telling him your own name. “I’m surprised to see someone else this far out in the woods.

“I’m here to take pictures.” You explained. “It’s a beautiful structure…what’s left of it anyways.”

“How interesting.” He said. “Are you a professional?”

“Well, sort of. I’m actually just finishing my first collection to be published. ‘New England’s Haunts and Its Future.’ I’m including the church with a piece on New England puritanism and its effects on today’s bigotries.”

He smirked. “I like it. I’ll have to make sure I order a copy of your book.” You both laughed. “You know the old England had some haunts too. All of Europe, in fact. Plenty of old spooky castles. You should definitely see them.”

“If my book goes well maybe.”

“Have you ever had your work in a gallery?” he asked.

                “Unfortunately, no. I’ve had my art displayed in some cafes here and there, but not much else.”

                “Pity, you seem passionate about your work, it must be nice.”

                “I’d call it nice, maybe good.” You beamed. “I’d actually like to get a few shots in, if you don’t mind. I can talk a little while I work though.” There was something about him. He unnerved you, if only slightly. But you also didn’t want him to leave. You wanted him to stay with you.

The two of you walked through the archway to stand on the overgrown stone floor, flowers and dandelions peeking through the cracks. As you walked up what used to be aisle and could almost make out where the other pews had been. Maybe it was the sunset, maybe It was your imagination, but along the floor, the stones seemed eerily stained red.

                Again, Bucky’s closeness startled you, but this time, you seemed frozen to the floor.

“You know, darling. There’s one thing I’d love. Could you take a picture of me under the archway? It would make for a great dating profile picture.” He winked at you. And you felt your face warm up.

“Sure, why not.” You focused your camera on him and his eyes seemed to flash red at you. You gasped before snapping the button, but only cursed and brushed it off as red eye-syndrome. You took one more picture and this time, it seemed normal. You pulled it away and waited as the picture loaded. Your book would hopefully lead to some newer equipment. Bucky stood behind you suddenly, but again you were frozen to place; only this time with his chest firmly against his back.

As the picture loaded on the screen, your stomach dropped. The picture was empty. the archway was still in there. But Bucky wasn’t.

You turned around and his smile was downright predatory. Revealing two pearly white fangs. But his eyes, they were bright crimson red.

                “That’s…. those can’t be real…your eyes, your teeth…” you said, feeling your heart drop into your stomach

                “Oh, my darling. They are ALL too real…little girls like you should know better than to go out after sunset.” You should be running, fighting back, anything. But you can’t. You’re staring into his deep red eyes and you can’t move. “No, printsessa. I can’t have you running away. Not when you smell so delightful.” His arms wrapped slowly around your waist, pulling you closer to you. “Not to mention how beautiful you are. You are exactly what I’ve been searching for.” He whispered in your ear. Before you could blink, you felt a sharp pain in your neck and the world went dark.

You awoke in a soft bed, softer than anything you’d felt before. A bed, but you’d been… Oh fuck… You shot upright quickly as you remembered what happened. What greeted you was a dimly lit room. A wall of immense windows letting the moonlight stream in while a fire roared in the fireplace. Low lamp light gave let you see to see immense bookshelves lining the rest of walls. You started to panic. That freak had knocked you out, now you were in some cabin somewhere. You were still wearing the same clothes, but you had no clue where you were.

                “My my, finally awake. I suppose I did drink a bit more than necessary. But I just couldn’t help myself. You were just absolutely delicious.” You looked and saw Bucky. He’d been sitting by the fire until he stood up and moved towards the bed. You could see he was wearing black t-shirt and sweatpants, but what you hadn’t seen before…was his metal arm. His hand had been covered by the glove, but now you could see the moonlight glinting off it. You caught yourself staring and remembered what had happened last time you’d stared at him.

                “What did you do to me you sicko?” You lowered your eyes to the floor, trying to move out of the bed without tripping. You heard him chuckle.

“What’s wrong baby doll, you don’t wanna to look at me? “

“No! I just wanna go home. Please.” You tried to be strong but you were trembling as you tried to keep your eyes low enough. You desperately searched for anything sharp or heavy, settling on the lamp and reaching to pick it up, but before you could, you found yourself pinned face down on the bed, your arms trapped behind you. You struggled against him, but he hardly moved. His voice in your ear.

                “Poor little bunny. You know what really happened. Or do you need a reminder?” You felt something scrape against your neck. Fangs.             

                “That’s…. you’re not…”

                “Oh, but I am doll. And I don’t think I’ve found anything I’ve ever wanted more in my centuries of living.” He pressed a soft kiss to your cheek. “Your trembling is so adorable baby girl. It makes me want to ravage you until you cry for me.” His hand wandered down to your jeans and your breathing turned shallow. There was an ache deep between your thighs that wanted to call out for him, but you were still scared of what he’d done.

“No, I won’t have my beloved scared of my touch.” He said, gently pressing a kiss to your neck before moving to help you stand up. Your legs were much wobblier and you found yourself leaning against him. You stared at his chest and quietly spoke. “Bucky, please. Where are we?”

“We’re at my cabin. I’d like to show you around; as this is to be your home too. If you promise to behave.” Deep down, you still felt petrified. But an inner voice said that if he had already wanted you dead, you would be. Besides, you hadn’t noticed before, but something about his smell was so enticing to you. Cinnamon and smoke, with a slight…metallic underlay.

                “If…If I go with you willingly…will YOU keep it that way?” you asked, trying to sound firm. You could hear the amusement in his voice.

                “I see my little bunny can stand her ground. No, I will not control you that way like before.” He pressed a kiss to the top of your head. Taking a deep breath, you lifted your head to look at him.  His hair was still pulled back into a loose bun, moonlight casting shadows on his sharp cheekbones led down into full lips. And those eyes. You would never forget the deep red color before he drank from you. Now instead they were crystal pools. As unending as the sky. Like you could stare forever. But you blinked away, acknowledging he had kept his promise. You moved away from him and instead toward the windows.

                “If you are…a vampire…why the windows? I thought you were supposed to avoid natural light.” He chuckled. And walked a normal pace now to stand next to you as you both stared out into the forest.

                “Any creature can be exposed to too much sun. We just have much a lower tolerance limit. I have heavy black out curtains for the day…but I cannot find it in myself to give up this view.” He pointed up towards the stars. You didn’t think you’d ever seen so many. But a rumble of thunder off in the distance caught your attention you saw flashes of lightning. A storm was moving in soon, and you could feel your resolve to escape crumble slightly. Where could you go in a storm?

                “How exactly…did you become…?” you asked, hesitantly, not wanting to upset him and trying to focus on anything other than his closeness. You’d always thought trying to…humanize…your enemy so to speak was supposed to help keep you safe. He smiled.

“A vampire…Well, I would imagine you know how.” He chuckled and you found yourself chucking as well. “Where Romania is now, I was a simple farmer. Goats mostly. Then one night, a creature attacked our village.” He paused. “Killed my sister. I tried to fight back, and something about that… He changed me instead of killing me. Figured it was some cruel punishment, killing everyone I knew and loved and leaving me alone.” You felt your heart tug. As if sensing your sadness, he turned and shook his head.

“Don’t worry too much about it, I got my revenge. Afterwards I stayed low, kept to myself for a few centuries. Until the world erupted into war. I refused to keep to myself. That’s how I lost my arm. When the Germans found out what I was; they tried to use my powers to make more. They took my arm to see if they could clone me. Then they gave me this one and tried to turn us into a weapon of war. Only their plans backfired. They couldn’t control them. They eventually all killed each other…at least the ones I didn’t kill first.” He was quiet for a moment and you almost started to panic. But he let out a sigh.

“After the war, I settled here. Made my home, invested some wise money, now I have a little peace.” He turned to you. You felt your heart ache for him. “But I have waited so long for something so enticing as you.” He started to move closer, but you still were nervous, taking a step back.

                “Wait uhm... I thought you wanted to show me around.” You reminded him, trying to distract him. He smiled and let out a deep sigh.

                “I suppose I did. Well, you’ve seen the bedroom and its extensive library. But there’s an even bigger one downstairs. Come.” He took your hand with his metal one and led you towards the door. You felt less scared following him now; you still could feel yourself wanting to resist and struggle. But he was holding your hand too tightly.

                As the two of you toured through the large Tudor cabin (mansion, it seemed), you took note of the art on the walls. Beautiful photographs of places around the world; paintings you wanted to stare at for hours; Bucky having to pull you away from a particularly intriguing work from the Harlem Renaissance.  The two of you talked. Bucky had been to many of the places you hoped to go. And some of the ones you’d already been to. It was nice to find someone like yourself, a wanderer.

                “I suppose after my parents died; I just felt a little lost.” You told him “I didn’t have a big family, no siblings, so I just decided to be free. It’d at least be nice to have a home base someday though.” You mused.

                “I can understand. I’ve actually lived on this land for some years, even before what happened to me. It’s actually owned by an Indigenous tribe. I bought it outright around the 1800s when the government tried to push them out, then gave it back to them. I only asked they let me build a small cabin on the outer edges.” Your jaw dropped. “But…do they know…?” You asked, still having trouble believing it for yourself.  He paused and smiled.

                “In my lengthy time, you meet many people who believe many different things. I’ve learned to appreciate many human cultures, and to always show respect where it is deserved. And not to tolerate those who would degrade it.” He said, then kept leading you on, with you following a little bit closer. You two walked into a room you definitely didn’t expect to find. A Kitchen.

                “It was easier to build than to ever explain why there wasn’t one. Plus, I have a supplier who steals blood from some hoity toity government hospital and I need somewhere to keep it cold. You’d be surprised at the amount of blood they keep on reserve for those rich old bastards.” He rolled his eyes and you managed a genuine laugh. “I don’t know I would.” He smiled at you before continuing out of the room, with you following almost eagerly behind. The tour led down one last hallway to a set of double doors.

                “Now my favorite room. My private study.” He opened the doors. A library that could’ve easily fit 10 of your vans with celling high bookshelves stretched before your eyes. A cozy looking couch sat across from either one of the 2 fire places on opposite walls, and a huge bay window revealed the storm had truly arrived. Gone was the moon, here were flashes of lightening and roars of thunder. In front of the windows sat a big mahogany desk. You strode over to the desk, to see out the window and there on his desk was a stack of all of your books. As you looked back towards him you could see on the walls, one of your photographs.

                It was one you’d camped out and waited all night for in the woods. But you’d caught them, a pack of wolves running through the woods under a moonlit sky.

                “I saw it in a little café in Boston and had to have it. I’ve been following you for quite some time. Literally.” He chuckled. “I became enraptured with you. Your pictures moved me. How you always seemed to capture both the joyful and the macabre sides of humanity. That’s why I had to get your book published. So, I bought the publishing company to make it happen” You turned to him in disbelief.

                “Bucky, you…you didn’t…you couldn’t have…”

                “Oh, but yes I did, doll. It’s what you’ve wanted, what you’ve desired.” His voice dropped. He licked his lips and moved closer to you. “And now, my little bunny rabbit. It’s time to take what I have desired for so long.” He grabbed your hand and tugged you back towards the desk, using his strength to lift you up and pin you down on your back, minding your head.

 His confession, his obsession, even with his charming personality, you felt fear flaring up inside you anyways.  “Wait please…” you pleaded, pressing your hand against his chest.

                “No more waiting printsessa. It’s time. I need to satisfy my thirst. And my lust. And I cannot resist the sound of your pulse screaming out for me.” He paused, pressing his hips more against yours. You wanted to resist, wanted to push harder against him, but you couldn’t bring yourself to. Instead, you wanted to bring him closer.

                “No…you gave your word…” you begged, desperately.

                “I did. And I’ve kept that word. I did nothing to control you. I just failed to mention that my natural state is to lure you in. Until you’re caught like a fly in my web and you don’t even realize it.” He purred, trailing kisses down your cheek. “You’re in my home, surrounded by me, breathing me in until slowly and slowly your defenses have lowered, until you don’t even have the strength to push me away.”

                 He was right. You had wanted to resist him but you’d felt it crumbling more and more. Like the walls of that stone church. You were gripping his shirt not to push him away, but wanting to pull him close. Handsome, intelligent, alluring. Your thighs clenched with want.

                “When I first drank your blood, there was a taste of fear that was indescribable. But now I know, lust will make it even sweeter.” He grabbed your hips and lifted you onto the desk. “So beautiful, but so…fragile.” His fleshed hand wrapped around your throat; you could feel the bitemarks as his thumb ran over them. “You know all I’d have to do is squeeze, right? And I’d crush this fragile beautiful throat. You’re so delicate.” His voice was low. You were still afraid, but that fear was streaked with desire. You wanted to give yourself to him, no matter what the cost.

                “Please…Bucky…” you whimpered, not even sure what you were asking for.

                “Please what, baby? Tell me. Tell me you want me to ravage you like the beast that I am. I can smell your pussy; you must be absolutely dripping by now.” You were drowning. And he was oxygen.

                “Yes.” You barely breathed the word out before his lips were on yours. He slowly pushed you to lay down on the desk. You could hear rumbling in your ears. You couldn’t tell if it was the storm, or your heartbeat. But judging by how Bucky was staring down at you, you assumed the latter.

“You’re so excited aren’t you, doll? You want me to fuck you, make you my slut. And I will, you are never leaving me.” He pulling away, making you whine in desperation, but his only response was to growl as he ripped your jeans down, your shoes falling away and leaving only your panties covering your pussy. He knelt between them, putting your legs over his shoulder, and inhaled deeply.

                “Fuck.” He groaned. “You are soaking wet. How long have you been hiding this, huh? Since I first drank your blood, or from when I told you that I am absolutely obsessed with you? What a shameless slut.” His words, that voice, you would listen to him forever if he wanted, anything to get him to touch you. His fingers moved slowly, stroking you over your panties.

                “I’ve dreamed about eating this pussy for so long, and now I’m going to savor every moment.” You tried to buck your hips as he nipped at your thigh, but his silver arm held you firm. In the bright light of the fire, you could see how each of the platelets moved as he gripped you tighter. You looked back down at him between your legs and knew he’d seen you staring.   

                “Someday I’ll show you everything it can do baby. But for now...” He pulled your panties aside and started with soft licks to your clit while two fingers gently worked inside you. His touch was so gentile compared to the monster you’d feared him as. Your soft moan turned into a shriek as the edge of his fang nipped you.

                “I told you, love. Desire will make the blood so much sweeter. I know you want me. Want to be my little snack for all eternity.” His fingers sped up, rubbing that special spot inside you that make you cry out with reckless abandon.

                “Bucky…Bucky…don’t stop…oooh…” you moaned. Your hands clasping for structure and finding none. His tongue resumed its ministrations on your clit, never even giving his words a chance to wash over you as your knees began to shake. You could feel the erratic patterns his tongue was laving on your clit, driving your climax further to its breaking point.

                “Cum for me, darling. Give yourself to me.” His words were your undoing as you screamed his name. Cumming harder than you could have ever imagined possible. And true to his word, his tongue lapped up every drop it could, sucking his fingers clean. You lay against the cool desk, your body burning with desire and you locked eyes with him, not caring to look away. He smiled, showing off his fangs. “Oh, baby girl, between your blood and your pussy, I’ll never go hungry again.”

                Standing up and leaning over to kiss you, you found yourself tugging at his shirt, trying to get his skin on yours again.

                “Bucky please…need you…” you begged.

                “How can I deny such a sweet bunny like you?” He rid himself of his shirt and sweatpants as you followed suit, dropping your panties to the floor. Your eyes widened at the size of his cock. You’d had your fun with toys but he was something else.  You could see pre-cum dribbling down the side and you wanted to close your legs, but Bucky stood between them

                “Don’t look so afraid, doll. I know a good slut like you can take my cock in that pretty pussy.” He rubbed the head of his cock against your slit and you tried to push your hips up. He pinched your thigh, making you squeak. With his spare hand, he gathered your hands in his strong metal one, pinning them above you to the surface of the desk. His cock teased your entrance and you both moaned.

                “You’re mine now, understand. Heart, body, mind.” He kissed from your temple to your ear. “I own you down to your very soul. Forever.” You nodded. He was a vampire. He was obsessed with you. He’d likely hunted you down for weeks. But none of that mattered now. You needed him.

                “Yes, Bucky. I’m yours. You’re mine.” Bucky smiled and pushed his cock into you, slowly; letting you feel the stretch of him filling you up.

                “Yes, darling. I’m yours. Yours to keep satisfied. Yours to use you as a little fuck toy when I need it.” His pace became rougher, fucking you; squeezing your wrists tighter until you yelped. Then he slowed his hips, letting you now revel in the pleasure you felt. He started rubbing at your still sensitive clit, making you clench around him.  He growled deeply and you gasped as his eyes flashed crimson.

                “Oh, baby doll, don’t play with fire if you don’t want to end up burnt.” He said, his voice lower and huskier. You knew he was getting closer to his own release when his pace picked up again. Not as punishing as before, but you felt his lust, his carnality in every thrust. And it only drove you crazier.

                “When you cum, I’m going to drink from you again and you will be bound to me, my mate, my slut, little morsel.

                “Yes…Bucky yes…please…” closer and closer you edged until he let out a low growl.

                “If you don’t cum right now, I have no problem chaining you in my basement and edging you until the next full moon. Now. Cum.” The idea alone sent you over the edge, screaming out as he bit down fiercely on your neck, drinking from you again. He kept fucking you through his own orgasm, but did not drink as much as he did last time. Only just enough to make you light headed. When he finished, you two lay there a few moments, you breathing heavily as Bucky seemed to still above you. As you floated back down, your body seemed to go even more limp.

                “Such a good girl.” Bucky released your wrists, but you didn’t have the strength to move your arms. Instead, he cupped your chin in his hand and kissed you with your blood streaked across his lips. He kissed passionately and deeply, until your toes curled and you knew he meant what he said. 

                Not bothering to remove himself, Bucky helped you wrapped your arms around him and he carried you over to one of the enormous couches by the fire. Grabbing a blanket off the back and swaddling you both. “You’ll have to sleep for a little while now. But when you wake up, you’ll live forever.” His words seeped into your brain, but there was nothing you could do now. You heard him speak again.

“You wanna know the real story behind those people?” Bucky asked and you made a noise of half-committal. “Well, those colonizers weren’t hard to pick off.” In that moment, you were reminded that though he seemed to have a soft spot for you, there were also very, very dark spots. You shuddered, but it was quickly washed away by the feeling of his metal arm, holding you tighter.

“Don’t worry darling,” he purred. “Think of all the beautiful photos you can take in the moonlight.

[hanasnx]

HOLY SHIT FUCK PISS PLS GIVE ME MORE FRAT BOY ANI I BEG 🧎🙏 I need the spice 😩

once again my greatest weakness is exploited…. my inbox ….

ppl say jump in an inbox message i say how high

bcos quite honestly fratboy!anakin is so hard for me to write, simply bcos its so difficult for what i know of anakin and his character to align with a fratboy persona. however! i married the concepts my last fratboy post and i’ll do it again for u jelly. ive had to brainstorm a couple days…

next part

☥ likes nuts. peanut butter. pistachios. nut and seed bread. u ask and he’s like “i like feeling like a squirrel” and ur not sure if its a joke. probably keto diets. he eats his body weight in good fats and goes to the gym as an obsessive hobby bcos hes got so much energy and nowhere to put it

☥ mario kart is one of his favorite games. he has a nintendo switch solely for mario kart. his friends play in competitions and get super hyped about it, sometimes they play normally but sometimes they make it an entire event. his frat makes a tournament out of it tbfh and winner usually gets some stupid made up prize like “mk-losers of the frat is your slave for a day” or “everytime you enter a room, if a MK-loser member of the frat is present, they must announce you to the room like ur a king” or “you gotta set up the winner with one of your hot exes”

anakin usually wins. and gets pissy when he doesnt. hes so competitive. especially if the people around him make it a big deal that he didnt win, hes all like “whatever its just a stupid game anyway. i changed my vehicle settings this time around”

☥ as an excuse to be close to you he asks you if he can crack your back for you bcos you complained about it hurting and when you stretched trying to get it to pop it wasnt as satisfying as you wanted it to be.

“i can crack your back for you.”

you fall for his trick. “would you? that would be so great thank you,” you fist your hands and cross your wrists over your chest, like usual, expecting him to get behind you and lift you and jostle you like people always did when they cracked your back. instead, he gets to your front with a smile.

“i know a better way.” you look at him quizzically as he takes your wrists and drapes your arms over his shoulders. he stoops, large frame wraps around you and your waist, fists at the base of your spine. you get nervous. “go limp.” you relax as best you can, your cheek against his neck surely heating up with a blush at how youre pulled flush against him.

he knows exactly what hes doing and his cheeky grin is hidden from you. “alright, inhale deep.” you do as he says. “and exhale.” you do. and slowly he lifts you from the ground easily by standing straight, and his fists slide up your spine, squeezing you to him. your heart is pounding, and your spine pops as he moves up. he gets to the top and sets you down, and holds you while the black dots in your vision subside. you realize he’s embracing you so tender and patient and you politely push off of him.

“um. thanks.”

“anytime.”

and he meant that. bcos he gets into the habit of asking you if you want your back cracked, and you get into the habit of saying yes bcos of how good it felt, how good he was at it, and how close the two of you got when he did it.

to the point that when you saw him, he’d pavloved you, and you lift your arms above your head reaching for him, waiting to rest them on his shoulders so he can pick you up and pop your spine. he obliges every time, excited to do it. he loves pressing you against him like that.

☥ hes an engineering major i just know it. very bright, but not the top of his class. he doesnt study really, things just make sense to him. and he also admits to you that he does a lot of things in his free time that requires engineering.

“like skateboard ramps?” you taunt.

“something like that.”

☥ his favorite movie is treasure planet and he wants to watch it every time you two end up hanging out. if you ask what movie he wants to watch, its treasure planet. if you look over at him randomly, you see him mouthing the words. it was his hyperfixation as a kid and heavily influenced him. especially bcos he doesnt have a dad, and hes got a father figure named obi wan in his life that had no business caring for him but did anyway. like that pirate in his favorite movie:)

if youre not sick of it, you dont even bother to ask him what he wants to watch. u just put it on. it usually is background noise anyway for whatever conversation arises bcos this boy cannot focus on one thing at once, and must multitask and get distracted

☥ hes the band “chase atlantic” coded unfortunately

☥ would wanna sleep with u in ur bed all the time even if ur not dating. he wants to take naps with you. he has insomnia, and he noticed that one time when you hung out, he fell asleep with you so easily. now he asks for sleepovers constantly. also bcos it means he can subtly cuddle you.

and when youre closer, and he can flirt with you, and youre comfortable with him. he probably cops a few feels so you smack his hand or move it away for him.

at one point you move his hand onto your chest, indicating you wanted him to grab and massage it for real this time. just like he always teases. and it turns into grinding his dick onto your ass and squeezing your chest til the flesh pops out in between his fingers. circling and pinching your hardening nipples. arm under your head, hand on your jaw to inclined your face in his direction so he can bite and nibble your ear, lick at it while he talks dirty shit in it.

“you’re so hot, can’t believe you’re letting me do this to you… you know half the guys at house would kill for this…

you wanna help me make ‘em really jealous?”

☥ the horny texts and pics this man would send once you two are officially talking or together.

“i think about fucking you all the time.”

“you gonna let me hit after class? cmon i deserve it.”

“baby you gotta show me that pussy. its been so long i forgot what it looks like. remind me.”

“coming over today. you want a ride? on my cock i mean.”

“some guys at the house were talking about you today. can i tell them about us?

gotta see their faces hearing what a slut you are. i promise i’ll spill every dirty detail. could even show em some of the pictures if you want… or the videos. i like the bareback one, doggy style? cant get over the way you sound in that one. wet pussy, pretty moans, twerking on my cock like a porn star. miss you sweet girl.”

☥ he honestly would pick out a hoodie for you to wear. he wants u to wear it. gets pouty when you dont “wheres my hoodie?”

“at my dorm.”

“why arent you wearing it?”

“ani—?”

“its cold outside.” he wants ppl to know youre wearing a guy’s hoodie— specifically his hoodie— for a reason

☥ he’d still call you stupid nicknames like “killer” and “champ”.

“hows it hangin today, killer? you look fucking good.”

“you’re late again champ, usually you get here before me. you avoiding me or something?”

☥ trying to get you to fuck him at his frat house or dorm or whatever bcos he wants the guys to hear you .. just so everybodys clear on whats going on between you two

[harriertail]

Omen of the Stars reread + a lot of thoughts

The Fourth Apprentice

The cover is actually the best cover in the series are you kidding me? Its so pretty. The yellow blue and dark green r so nice

Why does the TC/ShC stream drying up affect the lake water level and not the RiverClan... river? Does the Moonpool stream still run???

Every mention of Squirrel and Leaf sitting together "so close they were like kits just out the nursery" is an actual STAB in the chest. They go thru so much :((((

A flash flood seems to take out the beaver den (or its just poorly worded?) so what was the point of the journey...

Dovewings personality is snappier than i think pple give her credit for, I kinda enjoy her

Tigerheart literally does not interact with her on the mission lmao what is he on about 'I'm gonna miss you'

Jayfeather missing Lionblaze is act so painful :(

Fading Echoes

So much of the opening of these books is just recounting previous events and character arcs omg this goes for all WC books.

Hollyleaf :(

Blossompaw's siblings joke that she moons over Toadstep. Idk why fucking Thornclaw becomes her mate later on then :/

What is Tigerheart doing on the border ? he doesnt explain it? I actually thought that he was already meeting Dovepaw secretly but then hes not like what is he doing...?

Dovepaw being worried for the other Clans + her thoughts about having this power should put her above the Clan rules could be so interesting. the series back-and-forths over Lionblaze (we must protect ThunderClan) and Dovepaw (we must protect all the Clans) even though Lionblaze gets annoyed at Dovepaw for using her powers to look after ThunderClan???

The whole "being obsessed with Prophecy and what it means" is probs a part of Jay's character (as he baso became a med cat to fulfil his destiny) but it also feels like a gross misunderstanding of what a Prophecy is. All the "the dark forest is rising. This might be what the Three is meant for" is like putting the horse before the cart- a prophecy is meant to describe a situation and hint at the character/means to solve it; but PO3/OoTS has the characters/means to solve, but no conflict :/ its a bit backwards.

I like the mentions of Firestar + Sandstorm going on night hunts etc.

Blossompaw/fall's a cunt lol. Shes kinda fun but shes not nice at all especially to Ivypool.

I love Littlecloud. I love when the med cats share ideas and discuss things 10/10 makes my day everytime

The pacing is actually... not good. Ive defo always been on thr camp of "too many povs and too few chapters ruins the book" but wow FE really shows it.

So much of Doves characterisation so far is about agency and not wanting to be special and have Firestar/Lion/Jay talk to her. I wish this was not forgotten about in later Super Editions.... kittypetdovewing2k24

this battle is crazy tho. I wish more of the DF plot was about stirring up trouble between the Clans and specific troublemakers in each Clan rather than the later nebelous 'dark warriors invade the forest' battle. Ill get to that one day

Night Whispers

Picking right back up in the battle...

and again just recounting the last books events. hollyleaf death/disappearance explanation count: 3

Kinda love how many times shes mentioned. From Lionblaze avoiding the tunnel she ran into to Jayfeather finding the fur that Leafpool hid.... cute

Okay i actuallt love ShadowClan discussing the battle + tactics + training and then the chapter immediately after the TC camp doesnt mention it at all and Ivypaw is like "why arent we discussing the battle? Just because we won doesn't mean we will again!!" interesting character moments + a nice look at differences between the Clans

Ivypaw and dovepaw fighting over tigerheart????? they fight so much but then always wanna be together like jfc.

Dove n tiger have negative chemistry like it just jumps right into "no boundaries can keep us apart". I get shes using him as an escape from TC/prophecy bullshit but like.... rlly? I wish it was just like expanded on. Tbh i wish every chapter had like just two extra pages to actually delve into things a bit better.

Lmaoo lionblaze cinderheart leafpool dovepaw patrol this is so fucking funny brambleclaw u get one point for this

Tigerheart break up scene count: 1

Flametail POV. Interesting but... why? Bad things r coming we know... what was his point narratively? It was cool tho. I liked seeing ShadowClan.

Every single book Dovepaw has a character die/get really hurt and is haunted by their screams. Rippletail, Longtail/Briarpaw, and later on its Antpelt... jesus christ girlie has it SO rough

The ivypaw "nernernenerner im better than you im being trained by tigerstar" to "oh fuck hes actually a bad guy i cant believe the terroristic maniac lied to me" is so rapid shes so funny/stupid

The imagery in this book is kinda crazy. Fire and ice cats and drowning in darkness visions. Very fun.

Sign of the Moon

So the med cats are divided and split up and StarClan does not trust any other Clan cat- but when in StarClan, Barkface and Flametail are hanging out? Crookedstar offers to share prey with Yellowfang? But StarClan is super fractured rn each Clan must stand alone. Okay

Antpelt nooooooooooooooo

Idk what the mountain prophecy actually means like. Firestar was always going to lead ThunderClan into battle.... what is he gonna do that's different...

Rock: i was the first Stoneteller Five chapters later Half Moon becomes the first Stoneteller. This is egregious

Swoop death. that's the fourth death Dovewing is going to be haunted by

The Forgotten Warrior

all the hints to Hollyleaf still... its a nice throughline... the yarrow and tansy and Molepaw/Cherrypaw scenes... shes my fave. sometimes the foreshadowing feels like it could be just Jayfeather coping that she's 'defo still out there' but TFW ties it up well. especially when you get surprised by Sol coming back and its like 'oh they were convinced she was defo still out there :(' and then she's actually back!!!

also the title??? is banger. the Forgotten Warrior, with Leafpool on the OG cover??? wow. espec as its constantly brought up that Leafpool was the medicine cat but no one sees her as a warrior really.... TBH all these titles are just as good as the TPB titles in terms of meaning/how good they are.

Another fox? okay.

SOL.... okay

tunnel adventures part 3.

All this like.. Bumeblstripeing is just kinda naff. Dovewing is clearly tryna force herself into liking him. But then she's also going on about how Tigerheart used her??? NGL i do really wanna see like.. why she changes her mind in AVOS

Brambleclaw lying to protect Hollyleaf is actually like. GOD that hurts. especially when you consider Bramblestar's Storm and how much he misses her. thats his favourite

the cinderheart shit is so stupid my jaw is actually on the floor. what you do mean you've been in love with a cat you shouldn't have. is cinderheart having cinderpelt's feelings for fucking firestar and that's why she doesn't want to be with lionblaze. also they have negative chemistry they literally are CONSTANTLY having issues.

oh my god i swear the 'Sol is secretly working with WindClan' was brought up chapters ago and we are only now dealing with it okay. anyway hollyleaf moment.

its kinda weird we dont get any like. scenes of the siblings just being siblings... they only discuss prophecy/plot shit and dont get to be siblings again - which i guess fits with the whole 'everything has changed' but god it'd be so god to just have them doing like. normal cat stuff - especially when so much of this series has had Jayfeather missing her and Lionblaze

i love Dustpelt and Brackenfur building shit... its so good

Dawnpelt murder accusations. okay.... i can't wait for Flametail to suddenly be argumentative again next book

the battle we've been building to all book is one chapter. cool. Sol runs off again and it's the end of the book. cool.

[fanficonly]

Wenclair- Enid's playlist for Wednesday- "Hit Play on Her"

@sayum2510 Looking through my drafts I found one I conjured up from your ask months ago, not sure where I was going with it so it's kind of just little wenclair moments based on your wenclair songs you mentioned.

In case you're still interested I've decided to tweak and post the lil one shot so ... Hope you enjoy 😋

Enid had tried.

Tried so desperately to hide the feelings she had for Wednesday.

She really had.

But she knew it wasn't long before the Seer caught onto the way Enid would trip over her tongue whenever Wednesday dressed up. Or the way she reaches for her and only her in any dier situation. Or the way she rambles juuuust a little bit more often when talking to the Ravenette than with others.

It had happened again just now. Wednesday had left for a family event, one that Enid had declined the invitation for after learning there was a lot of death, spirits and séances involved. As much as it pained Enid not to blindly follow Wednesday into another tragedy filled night she had to say no because she knew all of the Addams' would be there. And she was sure as hell she couldn't hide her feelings from such an intelligent family. As much as Wednesday was dense when it came to social cues, relationships and love...her family were far more well versed in such feelings.

With Wednesday, she could play it off as her being quirky because, of course Wednesday wasn't great at picking up hints. But observation in general Wednesday was an expert in. So all it would take is a little interest and she would eventually come to the conclusion that Enid is hopelessly in love with her. Whereas with Wednesday's Mother and Father and Brother and honestly anyone with Addams blood, they could sniff out her attraction to Wednesday better than she could sniff out a squirrel that was 5 metres away.

Only moments ago Enid was hit with the harsh reality of how desperately attracted to Wednesday she was when she heard the harmonious voice.

"I'm leaving Enid" she states bluntly and Enid looks up from her laptop, her jaw dropping as she stared at her best friend in pure shock. Mouth agape, practically drooling as her eyes trailed up Wednesday body which fit nicely into a lacy black cropped dress, fishnets and a pair of overly large combat boots. As she trailed her eyes to Wednesday eyes she took a moment to admire her usual gothic make up and hypnotic stare. Enid's kryptonite.

"What are you looking at? Did the dry cleaners miss a blood spot" she inspected her outfit, spinning in stiff circles, as if teasing Enid with more to gawked at.

"No no" Enid jumped up from her bed blinking her eyes out of thier hypnotic state and stumbling over her feet to stand parallel to Wednesday. "Just wow Wednesday you look- just- your beau- the ummm I like-" she rose her hand to her mouth and cleared her throat "the dress it's cute" she let out a quick breath, and a growl lightly erupted from her throat at her own awkwardness.

"Cute? That was not really my intention, I was going more for sacrificial altar offering " Wednesday deadpanned. But Enid just giggled and ran her eyes up and down Wednesdays body checking her out in plain view once again.

"Are you sure you do not wish to accompany me?" Wednesday noticed Enid's prying eyes and tilted her head quizzically. Clearly misjudging Enid's staring as wishing for a 2nd invitation rather than the shameless pining that it was.

"N-no It's fine I'll come to the next one" Enid babbled out, smiling nervously and recieving a slight nod from Wednesday as she turned to leave.

"Your loss" Wednesday had smirked over her shoulder at Enid before leaving the room and of course the blonde almost melted at the sight. "Urghhh" she let out a frustrated grunt of annoyance, trying to force the feelings away and failing miserably. So Enid did what she did best and resorted to laying face down on her bed, headphones on and blasting enough music to numb her brain.

And when of course this didn't work Enid scrolled through her Spotify and hovered her thumb over her favourite playlist. The one she had made the day after meeting Wednesday, the one she continuously added songs to that reminded her of the dark goddess of a girl that she so desperately yearned for, the one she added songs to everyday since.

She let out another low growl before hitting play on her Wednesday playlist simply titled "Her".

🎶But I can't help myself when you get close to me🎶 Enid's mind drifted. God Wednesday made her feel so painfully in love

🎶Baby my tongue goes numb goes like bleh bleh blee🎶 that's exactly how she sounded everytime She looked at the pale goddess and tried to form a sentence. She sighed and let the music take control of her, swaying to the melody and feeling every word that was sung

🎶Looking at you got me feeling nauseous🎶

... She smiled

🎶OOO it feels so good I HAD TO CHANGE THE OCTIVE🎶

Enid belted out the tune, images of Wednesday plaguing her thoughts as she did. Nonsense by Sabrina Carpenter was extremely fitting for the way she had just felt about Wednesday looking at her and she let the songs play. It was merely a way to comfort herself knowing that she was not the only person who had these kind of feelings.

And you know, yelling out her feelings was very therapeutic, it's not like she can just tell Wednesday she's in love with her, Imagine!

...

After a while Enid tried to keep herself busy in order to stop her mind from wandering to impure thoughts of her best friend in that dress (or rather out of it). She had found herself cleaning their dorm room, finishing her homework, writing on her blog,going for a walk, and even hanging out with her friends until midnight, anticipating seeing Wednesday upon her return.

But she wasn't there.

Enid sighed and fell back on her bed, pursing her lips and tapping her fingers, anxiously waiting. Eventually nothing could stop her, the ache of wanting Wednesday too strong to ignore and of course she then picked up her headphones and hit shuffle on "Her".

Mommy issues by cloudy June immediately starts playing and Enid is almost annoyed by how accurate her playlist was getting.

The blonde stands this time, jittery with anticipation as the lyrics purred in her ears 🎶You're good at masquerading the second that you came in, face straight but legs are shaking🎶 Enid sighed knowing full well these words were more directed towards Enid herself when it came to Wednesday. Of course, she had to put on a smile every time Wednesday made her feel flustered, acting like her body wasn't screaming at her while she had to remain straight-faced, or at least her usual friendly smile rather than obviously swooning over the girl.

That didn't stop Enid from getting into the song, blurring her thoughts and letting the music sink into her mind like a ship on treacherous waters.

Enid danced around the room aimlessly singing "When I call the shots you call me-" as she spins around she stops dead and

"Mommy" she squeaks out the last word, inadvertently and she turns to see Wednesday entering their shared dorm, slightly dishevelled but still in that tantalising outfit.

"What did you just call me?" Wednesday quirks an eyebrow up and stares at Enid, gripping her clutch purse Infront of her and awaiting a response

"Ahhh umm no the umm" Enid throws her headphones off and dashes her phone on the bed awkwardly along with the headphones. Like a guilty child getting caught stealing candy from the kitchen cupboards

She blushes profusely and stutters out "It was the s-song" in a poor explanation

Wednesday's brain practically buzzes with questions and ways on how to respond before landing on "Interesting choice of song Enid" and walking over to her side of the room as if nothing had happened. She hears an audible sigh from Enid and side eyes her. This wasn't the first time she had been suspicious of Enid but she had just endured a formidable amount of affection from her family, her battery was drained, so she decided against pressuring Enid into teaching her.

Enid however felt like she wanted the floor to open up and swallow her whole! God what must Wednesday be thinking right now.

...

Later on in the week the moment had been fading from each of their memories and the days returned to normal

Enid smirked at Wednesday.

"Come on Wednesday what did we talk about?" Enid scolds Wednesday but the juxtaposition of the smile it was paired with told the girl that she wasn't really in that much trouble.

The Addams girl huff's in annoyance, her facial expression barely changes as walks away from the situation and tracks swiftly back to her room.

Enid blindly follows after her, all the while skipping happily and relishing in that little power she had over Wednesday. One she knew didn't last long when it came to other Activities the two would part-take in.

"This preposterous idea that I would have even a miniscule interest in this activity must really mean you have finally succumb to the illusion that I will change Enid" Wednesday scolds back.

"And yet here you are" Enid's smirk has a giddy twinge to it as she wiggles her eyebrows suggestively saying "Aren't you?"

She skips away, throwing her headphones on and pressing play on her favourite playlist titled "Her", scrolling through Spotify and finding yet another song to add to it.

At this point her Wednesday's playlist was becoming an unhealthy addiction but hey what can you do. Wednesday made her feel things that she just couldn't say out loud so surely singing them was the next best thing.

...

It was 4 am and Enid could hear it the consistent rumble of howls that plagued the night air. Everyone was out, all of the wolves screaming at the moon with pure heart and Enid was again alone in bed.

She hadn't turned since the hyde attack. Her therapist told her it was a mental block due to the traumatic events that transpired but she wasn't sure.

A large HOWL could be heard this time much closer. Which caused Enid to curiously lift her head off of her pillow and squint her eyes out of the room window.

It was Wednesday? Enid crept up to the window and admired her from afar. With each distant howl she watched the seer howl back and subtly smile to herself as she did. What the hell?

The werewolf climbed out the window quietly and spoke

"Wednesday what are you doing?" While remaining a fair distance away from her crush.

Wednesday barely flinched at the sudden presence of her best friend and spoke unfiltered

"Confusing the other wolves of course, It's one of my favourite games I've played it ever since I was a kid" Wednesday seemed rather dazed as she thought back to the memory and then snapped back to reality to see Enid's eyes in pure shock and awe

Wednesday cleared her throat "My apologies I am not sure why I shared that information with you".

"It's okay to share Wednesday I told you you could tell me anything" Enid walked slowly towards Wednesday "Pretty cool game" she observes standing by Wednesday's side, not daring to make eye contact just yet.

She slowly turned to look at Wednesday hoping this vulnerable openness wouldn't end so soon but as Wednesday looked at her, Enid saw something in her face change.

"Yes, well I did not mean to cause you any discomfort" Wednesday seems almost guilty as she averts her gaze away from the wolf's eyes.

"Why would that cause me-" Enid began but then it clicked "Oh ..." She looked away shamefully "Because I can't turn into a wolf" she sighed lightly

"Yes" Wednesday said, oblivious at first to Enid's sadness. She stayed silent her eyes scanning the glorious view from their balcony before her eyes landed on Enid and she finally noticed how upset she was.

Wednesday seemed to internally panic, unaware of the proper protocol in these situations. Usually she would not care but something about the way Enid's pleading eyes bore into her soul caused a spark to go off, jumpstarting her insides.

"Just because you cannot transform does not mean you cannot howl" Wednesday's lip twitched.

"Wednesday no it just makes me feel-" she began to protest but Wednesday simply raised her hand to halt her words

"Okay but you like games don't you Enid?" She asked earning a slight submissive nod from the werewolf girl "Then let's play my game" Wednesday smirked.

"Wednesday" Enid groaned out, tilting her head to sigh at the sky

"Enid" Wednesday simply retorted before continuing as if Enid had not rejected her proposition.

"It's very simple really, whenever you hear a howl you reciprocate and then revel in the satisfaction of knowing there is a wolf out there confused by the sound, chasing its tail looking for a strange sounding wolf" Wednesday eyes beamed with wicked delight as she explained the rules.

"That's pretty Evil Addams, you don't even get to see them all confused what's the point" Enid couldn't help but giggle a little bit, what an odd 'Game'.

"No but I know they are and that is enough, it is part of the enjoyment using my imagination" Wednesday shrugged slightly.

Just as she said this another distant howl could be heard in the distance and Wednesday looked at Enid expectantly.

After no response Wednesday gripped the edges of the concrete wall in front of her and let out a monstrous howl, causing Enid's eyes to light up in pure adoration.

"How did I do?" Wednesday flicked her eyebrows up. It wasn't like her to request validation from someone but the Seer thought it would be a great honour to hear the opinion of the most vicious creature she had ever laid eyes on. Enid, of course, in her wolf form, jaw dripping with the blood of Wednesday's enemy, teeth bared with a look of pure bloodlust in her eyes... Wednesday had never felt so strongly towards her roommate than in that moment. So, who better to assess her howling abilities than the best there was in her eyes.

"You would make a good little wolf" Enid spoke, mesmerised by the sight in front of her. As she caught herself saying it she became nervous at Wednesday's reaction.

Her wolf became giddy when the response she was given was "Well you are a good little wolf" and Enid beamed with pure delight. That's the nicest thing Wednesday had ever said to her and was she being delusional in believing that it seemed even a little ... flirty?

Even as Wednesday said this, she was outwardly shocked by even her own words, her lips that seemed to be betraying what her mind would have told her to say instead

Enid was speechless, her legs almost caving in from beneath her as her mouth went dry all of a sudden at the sound of Wednesday's voice

Luckily another Howl rang out and Wednesday looked at Enid changing the subject rather quickly

"Your turn" She told her, nonchalantly.

Enid, still buzzing from the look in Wednesday's eyes as she called her a good little wolf, smirked playfully "Fine" she shook her head disapprovingly before letting out an almighty HOWLLLLLLL, without question.

She looked back at Wednesday expectantly who was lightly entranced by the sight. She cleared her throat

"Not terrible." She said as if she was grading an English paper "poor technique though" Wednesday looked away from her feeling rather deviant.

"Excuse me? Who is the wolf here!" Enid moved closer to Wednesday letting her know that she was very offended

"To the perception of a stranger in sure it would be hard to tell" Wednesday didn't look at her. She had to deflect after her little wolf mishap a moment ago

"What was wrong with it?" Enid asked voice a little cracked. Again something sparked in Wednesday... Did she feel guilty for making her feel bad? Of course she did it's Enid! She was just trying to be playful and cheer Enid up but it was so unnatural to her.

Do something!

"Here" Wednesday suddenly gripped the wolf's hips twisting her body lightly and Enid in utter shock from Wednesday's touch, let it happen. What was going on?

She gulped, as her heart rate quickened and Wednesday hands moved swiftly to each of Enid's hands and roughly placed each one on the balcony's edge, breaking the touch barrier between them haphazardly.

"What are you-" Enid finally managed to hoarsely conjure up words but she was immediately stopped as Wednesday slid her hand up to the Blondie's chin tilting her head away and slightly to the sky, keeping her fingers lingering for a few seconds too long. Enid's breath hitched in her throat and Wednesday noticed this furrowing her brow for a moment then brushing it off.

Wednesday stepped back and admired her handiwork then spoke assertively

"Now" she reached forward only to stop Enid from moving out of the position she was just expertly put into "Try again" she all but demanded.

Enid took a harsh breath in and out, extremely grateful that the cold night air prevented the flush of her cheeks from being so obvious and then she howled once again.

This time an earth shattering howl erupted from Enid's throat, causing even Wednesday to smile slightly at her triumph and again feel that uneasy spark of feeling that rose from within the depths of her darkened soul.

Enid panted for breath afterwards, the cold air evident, from the breath that could be seen clearly like fog rolling into a graveyard at midnight. It honestly, once again, captivated Wednesday and for the first time in forever ... She was speechless ... She was feeling.

Enid noticed and smiled proudly.

After a while of comfortable silence and occasional howling at the sky while stealing glances at each other, both girls retreated to the comfort and warmth of their beds.

Wednesday lay still, staring at the ceiling, contemplating everything that had just occured and Enid smiled widely into her pillow as she attempted to sleep.

But she just couldn't. She felt like they had a moment. The same feeling she felt gripping onto Wednesday for dear life after the school was attacked. The relief from finding out Wednesday was alive and the pain of having to let her go once again. Eventually, Enid resorted to "Her" after more than an hour of tossing and turning endlessly.

🎶She don't wanna be anybody else she's a women in total control of herself🎶 Enid smiled again humming in happiness as the line 🎶I swear I saw her howling at the sky, she ain't out to get you but she's better on your side🎶 rang through her ears and she happily let the image of Wednesday howling continuously burn into her brain.

Her blissful descent into slumber was interupted by Wednesday's voice

"You are aware that your headphones are not plugged aren't you?" She stood right beside Enid's bed startling the girl.

"Shit!" Enid whispered fumbling for her phone to turn it off. She will never get used to how silent Wednesday's footsteps were, it's as if the girl just glides everywhere.

"Interesting choice of song Enid" Wednesday smirked before retreating back to her bed to continue her own descent into a peaceful sleep.

As she laid there she watched as Enid avoided eye contact and flopped her head back onto her pillow, looking somewhat embarrassed.

And for the third time that night Wednesday's heart sparked and Enid's Beat rapidly.

[ramshacklerumble]

💬🩵

“Oh, Gia.”

The voice flicked Gia’s attention from the rows of beakers they’d been sorting over their table to Riddle, mild surprise raising his eyebrows. Gia had come to class early in order to score a table and wasn’t expecting anyone to come by for at least another five minutes— though if there were anyone else who would want to be in the first class of the first semester earlier than they had to, it would be Riddle.

“This is the junior class.” He said, “Did you misread your schedule?”

Gia gave the barest shake of their head and as they did so, pulled the paper from their bag and passed it over to Riddle’s already waiting hand. “I’m taking this class.”

They watched his face pinch as he skimmed across it and watched the lines deepen when he read it again. “This…must be a mistake on part of the school. You should go to the Headmage to have this fixed and get you to your proper lessons...”

Had this been anyone else…Gia would’ve been offended. Knowing Riddle didn’t mean anything by it and was just trying to get things moving like they were supposed to helped with that.

Sorta.

“…I asked to be here.”

“Pardon?”

“This is my class.”

Riddle blinked as if Gia had sneezed in his face. “You…You asked to be here?”

Gia nodded, took their schedule back and went on setting up their table.

“Wha—?“ Riddle stood there, totally stunned. “How is that possible? You jumped classes? I’ve never heard of that. Where is that written?”

Gia shrugged then asked, “Wanna sit with me?”

Riddle made a sputtering noise— which Gia guessed was at their initial response and not their question because he moved around the table to plop onto the other seat. “I wasn’t aware you could skip like that. I wasn’t told. Why…I could’ve been taking this very class as a freshman had I known!”

“You never asked.”

Riddle was pouting, staring off at nothing in particular until the statement replaced the look with an expression of realization. “No, I…I didn’t. I’d taken the title as housewarden because the rules said it was possible, but it never occurred to me to…simply ask if I could take higher classes.”

He turned to Gia, “What made you question that?”

Another shrug, “I could.”

“The audacity.” The words came out with a soft huff of amusement, “…Or the imagination, perhaps?”

Riddle sighed, “Maybe it was for the best on my part. If the basic act of asking for other options was beyond my reach, then perhaps I wasn’t the right fit just yet.”

“Mm…It worked out.”

“How do you figure?”

One last shrug, “We’re both here.”

The vague regret that’d settled over Riddle’s features lifted as he chuckled, “Oh…yes. Yes, you have a point there.”

He adjusted himself in his seat— straight, poised and nothing like the half-hunched pillbug imitation Gia favored— and clasped his hands over the table, “Class hasn’t even started and already I’ve learned something new. I’d say that’s a favorable start to the semester.”

The first bell chimed throughout the school. Though nothing in the room changed, there was a shift in the air probably caused by a unanimous groan from the rest of the student body.

“Now, Gia.” Riddle smiled at them, “Let’s see what else you have for us this year.”

—

(technically cheating i guess since i’ve actually had this squirreled away in my docs for months, but i figured why not. this takes place in the beginning of sophomore year. i liked the idea of gia asking to be put in the junior alchemy classes because they’re ambitious as all hell and they DO get in because they prove they’re able to.

i’d also been thinking about their friendship with riddle a lot at the time. i’ll get into it in another ask, but while gia has a friendly acquaintanceship with riddle throughout freshman year following the events of book 1, they become solid friends in the following year after trey and cater leave for their senior internship. this leaves riddle on the lonely side until he ends up being absorbed into the original heartshackle crew.

it’s also worth noting that the last person to walk through those classroom doors is none other than floyd leech. godspeed my friends.)

tag list: @cyanide-latte @inmateofthemind @simons-twsted-children @tixdixl @blithesharem @thehollowwriter

@jovieinramshackle @theleechyskrunkly @skriblee-ksk @boopshoops @the-trinket-witch (lmk if you wanna be added)

[itwasthereaminuteago]

|| Lost and Found ||

Frank Castle x female reader

Tags/warnings: meetcute! With dogs!

Oral (f rec), beardburn, coming in pants (m) 😍, written for the @bernthirst-events #beardthalbash, thanks to @darlingshane and @anna-hawk for organising!

"Midge! Miiiidge!" Your voice echoes through the endless trees as you call out again and again, listening hopefully for the familiar thunder of paws on the leafy undergrowth coming back toward you, but there was nothing but the muted twitter of birds. "Midge, come!" You shout again, your voice starting to tremble with worry as you walk hurriedly along the forestry path. The light was beginning to fade earlier in these shortening autumn evenings, and it would soon be impossible to find your runaway pup. You take out your phone, dismayed to see the signal nonexistent out this deep in the woods.

"C'mon Midge! Midge, please come back!" The back of your throat is rough from yelling and your eyes are glistening with tears. You couldn't go home, you had to keep looking for her.

"Miiiidge?!" You tried again, and stopped in your tracks as you heard a rustling nearby, but it was just a blackbird rummaging in the leaf litter.

"Oh Midge…" you croak out more quietly, still holding her broken lead tightly in your fist. You cursed yourself for not replacing it sooner after she had been chewing it, for not buying a stronger one. You were so wrapped up in your own admonishment that you jumped out of your skin when someone walked up the track behind you.

"Ma'am, if you don't mind me askin', are you alright?"

You turned and were met with the figure of a large bearded man. He kept his distance when he realised he had given you a bit of a fright, giving you time to take in the fact that he was wearing a dark green shirt with the park ranger logo embroidered on it along with utility pants and sturdy walking boots. His eyes were dark and he was looking at you kindly.

"I'm Frank, I'm a ranger. I heard you yelling, can I help?" He asks, and you find yourself stuttering over your words, partly in relief that someone else was around, and someone who hopefully knew these woods a lot better than you.

"It's- it's my dog, she… oh, I've been searching and calling for her for hours, she broke her lead when she saw a squirrel and bolted after it! I couldn't catch her in time and she's just- she's just a pup!" You sniffle as your eyes keep flitting around to look through the trees. "I can't find her, she doesn't know this part of the woods that well, I can't leave her alone out there."

The ranger nods and steps a little bit closer. "Alright, I know that you're worried about her, but this sorta thing happens a lot. I'm gonna help you to find her best I can. Can you give me a description? An' I heard you callin' out 'Midge', s'that right?"

You wipe at your damp eyes, nodding. "She's a border collie, black and white. She's 8 months but she's small for her age."

"Okay ma'am, do you remember when and where you last saw her? I'll radio my team and we'll be able to have more eyes and ears lookin' out for Midge okay?" His voice is low and authoritative but soft with it, and your tears soon stop as you're distracted by the way he goes straight into action.

"Back over the ridge near the fire pass, I think it was about two hours ago…" you tell him.

Frank unclips his radio from his belt and relays all the information, getting confirmation from a variety of voices shortly after.

"Okay, let's take a walk back that way huh? You got some treats or somethin' with you?"

You fall into step beside him, grasping the bag of mini bone biscuits from your pocket. "Yeah."

He smiles. "That's good. Those her favourite, huh?"

"Yeah. But she just loves any food really."

You pick a few out hoping that Midge might be able to smell them from wherever she is and her greedy stomach might lead her back to you.

Frank nods. "Is she alright with guys? I know some dogs don't like a man with a beard, can scare em sometimes."

You soon dismiss Frank's concern. "No not at all, actually she'd likely love you. I mean, our postman is quite a big guy and she's always happy to see him at the house. Though I guess he does bring treats for a lot of the dogs."

Frank smiles again and starts calling out for Midge as you come near to the spot where she ran off and you join him, shaking the bag of treats. He takes out a flashlight and starts a sweep. "Which way did she head, do you remember?" He asks.

You point down the slope in front of you and he starts making his way through the trees with you following behind and both calling. After a little while walking down the hill he holds up his hand in a signal to stop and you stay quiet. He listens and you strain your ears too, eventually hearing a distant whimper.

"Oh! Oh it's Midge!" You're suddenly sick with fear that she's seriously hurt and start running towards the sound, the thick branches scraping against your face and arms. Frank catches up to you quickly and urges you to slow down.

"Hey, hey! Watch yourself now, there's a ton of burrows and shit you could break your ankle in if you're not careful. Just hold back with me. It's alright, we'll get to her."

You reluctantly slow your pace as he's right after all, he does know these woods better than you and very soon he's crouching down at the roots of a big tree. As you round it you see little Midge on the ground whining and wagging her tail as she sees you. Her back paw is caught between two roots and she's clearly in some pain.

"Hey, hey Midgey, shhh it's okay, just stay nice and still." You try to calm her, holding her collar as Frank is extremely gentle as he carefully moves the roots to work her paw free and lift her up.

"There we go," he says as he holds her.

Both of you look the pup over for any other injuries before he radios that you'd found her to his colleagues. As you feel her ankle joint there's a little bruising but she doesn't seem to be in any great distress and when you hold out one of her treats she's more than eager to gobble it up.

"Oh Midge, it's alright baby, you're gonna be alright!" You stroke her soft fur in comfort, more for you, lifting your head to look at the ranger, your eyes shining slightly with tears. Just then Midge tilts her head up and licks Frank's face so sweetly and he cracks a smile. "Heh, that's a good sign."

You're so relieved and the rich sound of his laugh as Midge keeps on lavishing him with licks is infectious, making you chuckle too. It makes you feel so much better after all the worry.

"I can't thank you enough, Frank. I was so scared it would be so much worse!" You tell him as you all walk back to the park entrance.

"Hey no worries, it's all just part of the job." He replies as you reach the gate. It was almost completely dark now and the rain was starting to come down in a drizzly mist. "You local? Do you need a ride home?" He asks.

You glance down the road. It was only about a mile and a half walk away but you didn't want to risk Midge getting away from you again as she might manage to wriggle out of your arms on the road.

"Um, actually that would be really great if it wouldn't be too much trouble? We're not far."

"Not at all ma'am, best make sure this lil lady doesn't have another chance to get into trouble again, I know what they can be like!" He jibes, booping Midge gently on her nose which she licks afterwards.

When you reach the outside of your little lodge house after the short ride, you thank Frank again. In the light from the porch his dark eyes are twinkling as he bids you both goodnight.

"I'm sure she'll be back out and about in no time, just keep an eye out for those darn squirrels yeah?"

You laugh a little now that your worry is mostly over, and you notice how handsome he is as well as the kindness and trust that seemed to just emanate from him effortlessly, putting you at ease. "I certainly will! I'm so glad you found us, thank you. Once she's rested and recovered from her ordeal maybe we'll see you around?"

"Yeah, I sure hope so." He replies giving you a gorgeous smile as he gets back into his truck.

-

Frank is just signing off an email when he hears a familiar bark from outside the office. Lady, his own dog, responds with her own short huff, excited to see her playmate again.

It's been a couple of months since Midge's incident and maybe him carrying treats in his pocket might have had something to do with it, but she always ran up to the ranger station and let her arrival be known every time you walk her. And Frank sure as hell doesn't mind as it means he gets to see you.

It had started with polite, friendly waves and a big pet for Midge whenever you happened upon each other in the park. Then, you would frequently stop to chat to him, ask him about his day and he about yours, and then you had started to drop by after his shift finished so you could all go on a walk together. There was nothing Frank loved more than being in the outdoors, except now he got to share that with someone, and he found himself increasingly glad that it was you.

Frank always made you laugh with the way he would run around playing with Midge and Lady, even after a long day's work. You showed him the tricks you had been teaching your pup, and on your regular hikes you also started to learn more about each other. Frank started looking forward to the times he would see you, your easy and generous smile lighting up his world and maybe even pushing to broaden the boundaries of it, maybe let someone like you to become something more. It had been a long while since he thought he felt something more than friendship blossoming, and gradually opening up to you felt right.

Still, right now he was so damn nervous. He had been trying to work up the courage to ask you out for days and then he'd inevitably chicken out, but he promised himself he'd do it tonight. And even if you turned him down, there'd be no regrets.

"Hey big bear!" You say as you greet him. "Which route do you wanna take this evening Frankie? It's your turn to pick." You ask him as Frank steps out with Lady and locks up the office. He almost loses his nerve when he turns and sees your pretty face and your sweet voice calling his nickname caresses his ears.

"Uh, I was thinkin' up by the creek," he suggests as the four of you start walking up the trailhead. Frank scratches at the back of his shirt collar. "Can't remember if I mentioned before but our place is up that way."

You turn to look at him wide eyed after you throw the ball for the dogs as they run ahead. "It is? Wow, it's so gorgeous up there. You're so damn lucky Frank, a perfect job and an amazing commute!"

He can't help beaming back, you seemed to see the positive in almost everything, he guessed he was pretty lucky.

Okay, he decides, now is the time to do it. Just put it out there. Just ask. What's the worst that could happen?

He clears his throat. "Was wonderin' actually, if you'd… uh, maybe you might wanna-" He couldn't believe he was stuttering over such a simple question. Fuck, was it supposed to be this hard? Thankfully, you stepped in and saved both of you from any more of his awkwardness.

"Frank, are you inviting me to your place?" You ask.

The light rain that's falling makes the longer strands of his hair lie in curls against his forehead. He runs a hand through it pushing it back, nodding. "Yeah, I mean, no pressure or anything. Just, if you wanna maybe have a drink with… me?"

You smile at him again. "Yeah, I'd love to."

By the time you reached his lodge you were both slightly soaked by the autumn drizzle. Frank stacks up the wood burner as soon as he lets you in, giving you and the dogs a towel to dry off with as he gets the fire going.

Once you dry off your hair and the dogs, you look around his home in awe. It's so beautiful, hewn from trees from this very forest, nothing too big and grand, just perfectly cosy. He had a neat but well stocked kitchen area, with a solid oak table and chairs by the window. A set of natural carved steps led up to a mezzanine with shelves stacked with all sorts of books and what you assumed was his bedroom.

There were glazed double doors that opened out the back onto a wooden porch and the mossy lawn behind bordered by the trees. And beside the wood burning stove was a tired but comfy looking sofa with a massive thick rug in front of it where Frank gestured to you to make yourself at home.

You kick off your shoes and hang your coat up on a hook near the door beside his next to the dog leads, and settle on the couch.

"This is magic, Frank," you tell him as he opens the fridge taking out a couple of beers.

He shakes his head, dipping his face a little like he's embarrassed or something as he walks over and hands you a bottle. "It's alright. You hungry?" He asks.

"I'm alright just now, just thirsty!" You smile, clinking your bottle against his as he sits down across from you after placing a couple of logs onto the now steadily blazing pile of kindling.

"Did it come with the job?"

He shrugs, fingers stroking his thick beard. "Uh, kinda." He takes a swig of beer and smiles as he notices Lady bringing out one of her favourite toys and letting Midge play with it without a gripe.

"Heh, look at that. S'good they're gettin' on so well." He remarks, and you hum in agreement as you watch them play.

"Yeah, I'm so glad," You say as you turn your gaze back to him. "It means we can spend more time together."

The corners of Frank's mouth pull up just a little. "S'that so? Cos I've been thinking I'd like that." He admits, the nerves rapidly melting away.

You move just a little bit closer to him on the couch, turning your body to face his. "I know I'd like that…" you confess. As you put your beer down on the side table, your hand brushes his knee and you decide to leave it there. He gazes directly at you and you feel your body temperature rise but it's not because of the fire that's burning nearby...

His fingers lightly stroke over yours and when you look back up he's so focused on you, the brown of his eyes seems so deep and dark and soft you could get lost in them. He's searching your expression for permission.

"Can I kiss you?"

His voice melts like thick honey in your ears and you're leaning in with a whispered yes instantly, almost before he can get all the words out. He raises a hand to cup your face stroking his thumb softly over your cheek and you close your eyes as he slowly leans in and gently captures your lips with his own. He's so very tender but you can feel the control he possesses as you eagerly kiss him back, the captivating strength and power held in check only by a hair trigger. Your fingers thread through his beard, guiding him to you and right now he'll go wherever you want him. He thinks maybe he should stop, a gentleman would stop and let you take the lead, dictate the pace, but you already are.

Under the light tang of beer you taste sweeter than he could imagine as your tongue slips in so softly, so teasingly between his parted lips against his own and he can't help the low moan he lets out as you surprise him by shifting to climb into his lap.

You gently pull away for a second, and your words are laced with a barely concealed urgency that has him struggling against that fucking gentlemanly conscience he had just a minute ago.

"Tell me if this is too fast?" You probe, looking down at him, your pupils already blown out. You'd been waiting for this. You'd given him all the signals for a little while now, hoping he'd maybe feel the same, waiting for him to be ready.

Frank's eyes dart from yours, down to your mouth and back up again. "Don't feel too fast to me," his words almost vibrate through you with his low tone. "Just feels right."

He moves to kiss you again and it's bliss. His lips are so soft, as is his beard although slightly tickly against your skin. You sigh and smile making a contented sound and he shows you some more of that control, his hands running up the sides of your thighs to rest on your waist, just lightly holding you. He still lets you set the speed, what you want and you let him know as your fingers slide up the shirt covering his broad chest weaving into his hair. His kiss goes deeper as you move in his lap, slowly shifting forward, pressing your hips against his and he makes his reaction to that known with the sexiest noise you've heard him make so far. You want so desperately to hear more.

"Been goin' crazy over you, you know that sweetheart?" He reveals, as you both pull away momentarily, still just inches away from each other's mouths. Your breaths are shallow, you've not felt this excited in a long while.

"You think I haven't felt the same?" You smirk.

In the days after Midge's rescue and recovery, you had found yourself thinking about Frank a lot. About his kindness, competency, and yeah maybe sometimes about how handsome he is… still you never thought he'd take a second look at you, but now you had both arrived here, feeling Frank's fingers twitch against you desperate to touch and you eager for him to do so.

You urge him to continue to explore as your lips meet again, the sensation of his fingertips so tentatively sliding up under your sweater and chasing the goosebumps away as they glide over your bare skin. You nip teasingly at his lower lip and he rewards you with a small grunt before his tongue delves back deeper into your mouth as you move your core over the now obvious bulge in his pants. He trails hot kisses down the side of your neck, pulling at the neckline of your top and you peel it off so his lips can access more of you.

"You're so gorgeous darlin'," he speaks into your skin as he places every kiss with care and attention, his eyes flicking up to meet yours as he mouths around the swell of your breasts still held captive by your bra. You tug at the hem of his shirt, leaning back for a moment so he can move to take it off. Your hands are back on him instantly, tracing over his muscular torso, fingers excitedly running over every dip and rise, appreciating every rough line of his varied scars now bared to you. You're both almost panting for breath, and he's struck dumb as you claw at his belt buckle but he gently puts his hands over yours, halting them.

You glance up. "Oh, if you don't want to-"

Frank chuckles, bumping his nose against yours. "I do. God, I really do… I just need to make sure it's what you want."

You can't believe this guy, he's almost perfect. Frustratingly so.

"Frank, I really want you." You tell him in all lucidity.

He licks across his lips at your confirmation, making the damp spot in your panties grow as he lets his eyes rove over you.

"Well, I'm gonna take you to bed then. C'mon." He says as he encourages you to your feet and guides you up the stairs.

You shimmy off your pants and socks in between more fervent kisses before he lays you down on his bed, leaving his own on as he lifts your foot and starts kissing his way up the inside of your ankle and calf. You part your legs wider to make space for him and his broad shoulders, your heart rate increasing by bounds as you anticipate his next move.

"Mm, s'this okay sweetheart?" He checks in as he nears the juncture of your thighs, his beard brushing the sensitive skin there, "Can I take these off?" He adds, and you hum in the affirmative as his dark eyes meet yours and he smiles. "Been just dyin' to taste you..." You flush with heat at his purred confession and lift your hips as he hooks his fingers around the waistband so he can pull your underwear down. He kisses your mound softly when he returns, taking his time.

"Anytime you want me to stop," he says before lightly kissing your clit and you let out a shuddered breath. "You just tell me baby, okay?" You nod and moan out loud when he begins to lap his tongue right between your glistening folds. You know you'll never want him to stop.

Your body writhes as he continues with wide slow licks between your thighs, relaxing as it's clear he more than knows what he's doing. You whimper, jolting unexpectedly as he begins flicking the hardened tip of his tongue over your clit before softening it again and repeating, swirling, sucking and worshiping your almost steadily dripping cunt like it's a fountain in the desert. When your thighs press in bracketing his head at a particularly sensitive touch, he wraps his big paws around you, fingers greedily switching between kneading the soft flesh of your legs and cupping around your ass as he devours you.

The hair of his beard rubs against your skin and the sensation is addictive. You move your hips against his rhythm and he reaches up to take one of your hands that is currently fisting in the sheets to position it on his head, to make you grab his hair and show him exactly what you want.

You gasp as he very quickly and easily hits a pressure and tempo that has you arching your back right off the mattress. Frank groans as you guide him, squeezing your legs around him almost rutting against his face, moaning so deep into your pussy you can feel the vibrations go through you. And just like that every focused movement he makes brings you further pleasure, taking you higher and higher, and seeing and feeling your reaction just keeps him going.

"Attagirl," he praises, briefly raising his head to look at you. Your juices shine on his lips, spread all around his mouth and wetting some of his beard. The sight just makes him look even hotter to you.

"Frank- mmn! God that's so good, please don't stop…"

He would never, diving right back between your quivering thighs and working you up to and over the edge like it's his only purpose. He can't help himself, you're so fucking sexy like this he's almost humping the bed trying to ease the throbbing need that's barely contained in his jeans. He might have thought about you like this before, how you'd sound, how you'd look, but nothing has prepared him for the reality.

He groans long and low as you clamp your legs hard to his head, you're trying not to but you can't stop your hips from rising, can't help fucking yourself hard against his face, but he wants it, encouraging you until your orgasm explodes from within. The intensity shakes you from your very core, rippling through your body in multiple waves as Frank still holds you firmly to him, licking you through it devotedly as he ruts his own hips into the mattress with another sexy moan. He slows down as he feels your tight grip in his hair easing off, his now near-black eyes meeting yours as he pants and licks his lips.

"You okay there darlin'?" His question is sincere but you almost snort with laughter with how fucking good he's made you feel. He can't be real.

"I'm-" you giggle and throw your arm up over your face as you feel nothing but euphoria.

"god, I'm… yeah, yeah I'm okay! Oh… shit. Wow!"

He grins and wipes his face on the sheets before crawling up the bed to lie next to you, and you turn on your side to face him, drawing him into a kiss as you reach for his pants for a second time.

He catches your hands yet again, shaking his head apologetically. "Uh, it was kinda 'oh shit wow' f'me too y'know? It's… been a while."

It takes you a brain-melted second to get his meaning and then a satisfied smile spreads across your lips. "Frankie, you know that's hot, right?"

He laughs falling back on the sheets, a slight blush dusting his cheekbones. "Hmm I dunno bout that, kinda feel like a teenager again, but as long as you're satisfied for now darlin'."

"I think that'll keep me going for a long while!"

"Not too long though, yeah?" Frank turns his head to look your way and try to gauge your meaning, the faintest hint of concern in his tone. This wasn't a one time thing right? It didn't feel like it was.

The corners of your mouth hook upward yet again. "Definitely not too long." you assure him.

Your eyes track up to the large skylight in the roof above the bed as you catch your breath back, watching the moody, inky clouds gently rolling past.

"Must be a fantastic view of the stars when it's clear." You muse, still gazing up as you feel the warmth of Frank's hand slide over your stomach to hold you close to him in the afterglow.

He follows the line of your sight. "Yeah, it was a pain in the ass to install but worth it for sure."

You turn in his arms to face him. "You put that in yourself? Wow, that's something."

He gives a shrug. "Well I always planned for it when I built the place."

You're incredulous. "What? You built this place?!"

Frank just chuckles, smoothing a couple of stray strands of hair out of your face.

"Yeah, haven't always been a ranger. Used to do logging, bit of carpentry. Just thought how hard can it be? Had the idea in my head for a good long while before I had the means and the land to make it happen."

"Frank Castle… I'm officially stunned. That's incredible!" He has the audacity to shrug again like it's nothing and then laughs out loud as he watches your brows draw together.

"Hey, I'm serious! That kinda skill, that's rare. And, I guess it explains this…" you run your fingers over his large biceps, giving them a quick squeeze before smoothing them over his chest.

He hums. "Yeah, only some of it, have to thank the gym for the rest."

You grin as he pushes up on an elbow, leaning his head on his hand as he traces slightly ticklish patterns over your skin as he regards you as if you're a goddess.

"And what about all this darlin'? What about you? You're somethin' special."

You shake your head but he's determined to make his feelings known to you.

"M'serious. Y'know I was totally shittin' it thinking about askin' you here, askin' you out? Was too damn scared you might not say yes."

You can't imagine Frank being scared of much, and you don't know how you could ever say no. Even before the sex.

"Well, I did say yes," you point out as you lean over to kiss him. He still tastes of you and the memory of the intimacy you'd shared is fresh in your mind. "...and I'm really glad that I did."

"Hm, well I better give the dogs their dinners," Frank muses as he strokes at your side, "and make ours too I guess..." he adds with a smile as your stomach chooses that moment to grumble loudly.

"Oh, yeah, I didn't think I was that hungry until you mentioned dinner!"

Frank grins as he pushes himself up, grabbing a couple of clean towels from the cupboard near the bed. "Alright, m'gonna clean up real quick and make us somethin'. If you wanna have a long shower while I cook you go right on ahead darlin', there's plenty of hot water."

You smile as you stretch out under his ridiculously comfortable covers, watching his gorgeous ass disappearing into the bathroom as you call after him. "I'm loving the sound of that idea!"

[krowfics]

Holding Still (ficlet)

Fandom: Sanders Sides

Ship: LAMP for @lamp-appreciation-week

Plot: Virgil is attempting to finish Patton's makeup for Pride

Words: 971

Notes: uhh barely edited, like only a smidge. day 1 prompt was 'hold' i am in fact late i am not in fact surprised. Patton 🤝 me - getting distracted by things out the window

AO3

~~~

“Hold still.”

“Sorry!” Patton said, whipping his head back to position.

Virgil glanced out the window to see it was a squirrel running along a branch outside of it that caught Patton’s attention this time. Maybe he should be annoyed, but he couldn't help just being endeared.

“It's fine, Pat.” he said, returning to the eye shadow.

“You gotta make it easier on our dear emo, Pattycake, it's already so hard for him to remember that eye shadow goes above the eye.” Roman said, ironically focusing on the eye shadow he was blending out under Logan's eye. Virgil had already finished that part anyway.

“Asshole.” Virgil mumbled.

“Hey,” Patton frowned.

Virgil ignored him in favor of turning to Roman and very maturely sticking his tongue out at him. Roman gave a sly smile and dove in for a lightning quick attack of pressing a peck to the hinge of Virgil’s jaw. 

“Wait!” Virgil pulled back but was too late to dodge, he quickly grabbed the nearest mirror to check the damage.

“Oh, calm down Scare-bear, I dodged your glitter.” 

Virgil confirmed that he, in fact, did, but the transfer-proof lipstick he was wearing had failed. Only slightly, Virgil wiped off the speck easily but it was the principle of the matter.

His attention was drawn back to Patton by way of his giggling. Logan next to him was looking with fond amusement, eyes darting between Roman and Virgil.

Virgil huffed, “Come on, let's finish so we can leave at a reasonable time.” He’ll be damned if he put glitter on his face only for them to miss the entire pride event. That wouldn’t happen, probably, but Virgil was nothing if not at least a little nervous about something all the time.

“Fine fine, I'll stop distracting you.” Roman conceded, “I'm sure you need your full concentration to work against your every instinct, dealing with pastels like that.” 

Virgil only rolled his eyes, opting to return to Patton’s face. He settled back into the zone easy enough, subconsciously tuning out the movement of Roman doing Logan’s make up beside them. It was only when he was completely zoned in on the final part of the pastel rainbow that his canvas suddenly moved again.

“Patton.”

“Sorry!” Patton jumped, “There was a sparrow- outside it was- It's gone now, sorry.” he said, sheepishly.

Any irritation he had evaporated instantly, “It's fine. I pulled the brush away in time and it's all stencils anyway so we’re good.”

“I'll stay still.” He said, somehow with confidence, and Virgil loved him so much, but he did not believe him for a moment.

“This part is nearly done, but I really do need you to hold still for the dots.” Patton had requested pastel hearts in rainbow order across his cheeks, which was easy enough being that they already had stencils on hand for that, and then little white dots, almost freckle like. They wouldn't be particularly hard to do but they would be very easy to mess up.

Patton nodded, “I'll be still.”

Logan must've had the same lack of trust in the sentiment because he blindly reached over and grabbed Patton’s hand, squeezing for a moment, and Virgil had an overwhelming urge to lurch forward and… kiss them? Bad idea, considering the make up. He should at least finish it before he ruins it. Well, he hadn't put on Patton's lip tint yet…

Now who's distracted? He shook his head in an attempt to clear it and returned to finishing the final heart. He did so, and proceeded to peel off the stencils and add the white speckles with little fanfare. Logan’s hand holding idea must've worked to keep their boyfriend’s attention occupied.

Patton made a chirp in excitement at seeing himself in the mirror after Virgil had finished, gushing over the look and flustering Virgil with praise.

“And done.” Roman announced, somehow having not gotten distracted by Patton’s joy. He held up the mirror to Logan and immediately looked to Patton so he could start with his teasing praises at Virgil’s work, “Our bundle of darkness really isn't allergic to color, it's a miracle.”

Patton meanwhile quickly got distracted again, “Oh oh oh! you're so pretty!” Patton all but gasped at Logan's more glam look.

Logan opened his mouth to speak but only managed a strangled noise at finally seeing Patton, having managed to look straight forward the entire time he was having his makeup done. “Virgil is very talented.” is all he said, eyes not leaving Patton while looking a bit like he was staring at the sun.

“Indeed,” Roman said, “It takes true talent to somehow manage to add to the beauty of Patton’s already perfect face.”

“A mastery of the art form,” Logan agreed.

“I am not wearing enough foundation to handle compliments” Virgil said, face ablaze. 

“But you did such a good job we can't help it!” Patton said, noticeably flushed himself, only adding to the look.

Virgil barely resisted the urge to bury his face in his hands else he’d smudge his own make up. “We should go if we're ready.” He said instead.

“Oh, fine.” Roman sighed. And Logan stood to gather last minute things, making sure they had water bottles and granola bars and the like.

A few minutes later, Virgil caught Patton staring out the window again, but he didn't interrupt him this time. Patton startled a bit when he noticed Virgil staring, but he smiled, “There's a butterfly.” He explained and indeed there was, but Virgil only gave it a glance, far happier to enjoy his own view.

“Stop being sappy, we're ready to go.” Roman interrupted, causing them both to blush. 

Patton giggled adorably while Virgil scoffed, “That's rich coming from you, you're the sappiest of us all.”

“I accept that title with honor, now come on, Logan's already in the car.”

~~~

taggg @flowercrownsandtrauma

edit after ive woken up and consumed coffee- never let me post things at 1 am oh my god i live in shame (there was a couple minor inconsistencies)

[khorren]

Full range of Stat selectable exotics baybeeeeee

Gearing in exotics outside of the standard core stats (like berserker!) can be a pain in the butt. But yesterday's patch added a game changer. Previously if you wanted stat selectable exotics you'd either need to run around verdant brink collecting airship parts and pray you'd get lucky finding a T4 night meta going. Or have a few pieces of armor and weapons on the TP that were stat selectable, or a few other things like waiting for festivals, or slogging through pvp/wvw for a while.

It is a WvW method so it wont be for everyone, but you'll have some badges of honor squirreled away from achievement point chests I'm sure.

Honestly, stat selectable exotic trinkets alone is *huge* QoL. They really sucked ass to get.

And a full range of stat selectable exotic weapons for cheap is really nice. Like this is a really, really, really nice addition.

As always, if you dont know much about WvW and want to know more I am always happy to babble about WvW. There's also currently a week long WvW event going on that gives extra rewards (look under bonus events) ! So jump on in! I love WvW and am happy to talk about it, show people around (if our servers match up) or just iron out any concerns and fears you have about the game mode!

[bakuhatsufallinlove]

U.A. High School Field Trip Around Japan: Day 4 Translations

This is Day 4 of Shonen Jump’s special commemoration of My Hero Academia reaching one hundred million copies worldwide, which is being rolled out daily across one-week in each prefecture’s newspaper.

The schedule:

April 4th, Day 1: Hokkaidō & Tōhōku regions

April 5th, Day 2: Kantō region

April 6th, Day 3: Chūbu region

April 7th, Day 4: Kansai region

April 8th, Day 5: Chūgoku & Shikoku regions

April 9th, Day 6: Kyūshū & Okinawa regions

April 10th, Day 7: Nationwide release

You can see the illustrations on their website here, where they are released digitally the day after the newspaper release.

Here we go!

Kansai Region

Mie

Photo credit: twitter user Hrkn1500

Aoyama: "Sur-pri-se~!" Sero: "Amazing, Aoyama!" Satou: "Should we go look for the toilet?"

Nabana no Sato is a flower park situated within the absolutely massive Nagashima Resort. It has lovely blooms all year, and from October to May it claims to host Japan's biggest illumination event, including a 200-meter long light tunnel.

Shiga

Photo credit: twitter user smile_wk_26

Tokoyami: "Art of the Flying Squirrel Black Shadow!!!" Mineta: "Imitation Caltrop!!" Edgeshot: "Abscondance" Hagakure: "Nin-nin! Hidden Hagakure!!"

They are at the Kōga-ryū Ninjutsu Ninja Village in Kōka city, the birthplace of this school of ninja-arts. I visited the Tōgakure Ninjutsu House in Nagano -- Tōgakure, Iga, and Kōga are considered the three main families of ninjutsu. These kinds of attractions usually have museums dedicated to the style's history and showing off tons of unique historical artifacts, but the main draw is all the activities for visitors to try their hand at being a ninja, shuriken-throwing, wall-climbing, rope-walking, etc.. Hagakure is making a pun, because her surname means "hidden leaves" or "hidden by the leaves" so she is "hidden hidden-leaves." Tokoyami is doing his Black Fallen Angel move, but it's much funnier to make it a giant flying squirrel attack.

Kyōto

Photo credit: twitter user sitatyan_dayo

Ashido: "You can't even see the sky through all the bamboo~!!" Yaoyorozu: "They say that the growing speed of bamboo is the fastest in the world. I've heard it can grow up to one meter in a single day." Mineta: "My whole height in a single day... I can't do this!!! Jirou: "Cheer up." Label on Mineta: "Mineta Minoru, Height: 1.08 Meters."

Arashiyama Bamboo Forest is a hugely popular tourist spot for its dense, soothing beauty. One meter is equivalent to 3 feet 3 inches; Mineta is just over 3 and a half feet tall.

Ōsaka

Photo credit: twitter user tomikomha

Shouji: "Hyah hyah hyah hyah!!!" Fat Gum: "He's... he's moving too fast, I can't even see his arms!" Kirishima: "No, actually, he's got lots of 'em!"

They are making takoyaki, a famous soul food created in Osaka in 1935. It requires a large griddle with rounded molds, and chefs use two metal rods to rotate the batter rapidly. It's really fun to watch them make it, and most stalls put the griddle up against a full-length window to show it off.

Hyōgo

Photo credit: twitter user NZM_101

Izuku: "Even cutting an onion... a hero... doesn't cry! WWUAAAH" Ochako: "What a shame! Challenge failed." Shouto: "No, even heroes cry when they have to."

Awaji Island is famous for its onions and produces some of the sweetest onions in the world. They have a spring crop of sweet but slightly spicy onion, and a fall-time harvest that they store and dry to further develop their sweetness. Shouto's line is from chapter 137 when Izuku insists heroes don't cry while crying into his food. What's funny is that sweet onions supposedly produce less of the chemical that produces tears in humans, so maybe Izuku is just being a lil' crybaby, hehe, but we'll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he's working with a particularly spicy spring harvest.

Nara

Photo credit: twitter user yukanicoyomo

Iida: "Observance of traffic laws! OUTSTANDING, DEER-KUN!!" Kouda (thinking): "Iida-kun, you're making the deer suspicious..." Bakugou: "Don't talk to the deer!! Deer don't give a shit about rules!! Dammit!!"" Kouda (thinking): "Bakugou-kun, you're scaring the deer..."

They are in Nara Park, where you can buy special crackers to feed the very friendly and booming deer population. Deer in Nara have been protected and seen as important to local Shinto beliefs for at least a thousand years; in 2023, studies from three universities revealed that they actually make up a unique genetic group not found anywhere else. Apparently, the deer in Nara will exchange bows with people, especially if it means they get a snack~

Wakayama

Photo credit: twitter user __sen_115

Ojiro: "A two-tone popular character... We have one of those." Hagakure: "We do, don't we. Just by being there, he creates a splendid atmosphere...!" Todoroki: "Huh? There's somebody like that?" Ojiro: "IT'S YOU!!!"

Visiting Adventure World in Shirahama which is home to a giant panda conservation area. A branch of Chengdu Giant Panda Research Base has bred 17 giant pandas there, which is the most success in breeding outside of mainland China.

That's all for Day 4. Next up is Day 5!

[octoberbluegates-eng]

The flower crown and the seven rusalki

A slavic-inspired summer solstice fairytale

Once upon a time there was a small, peaceful kingdom in Eastern Europe, ruled by a king and a queen who were beloved by their people, as were their children. Their youngest daughter was named Lukne, and everyone agreed that she was the most pleasant of all. Each time she would attend a royal event, guests were charmed by her pretty face, welcoming manners, and modesty.

Lukne was happy. She was educated, cherished, and as a last-born, she was given unusual freedom for her station. Yet she only used this freedom for one thing. Every occasion she got, she would leave through the backdoor, cross the line of trees bordering the vegetable garden, and sit right above the river flowing behind the royal palace.

She could spend hours there. She would bring her toys, watch the bugs, and also swim when it was warm enough. The stream, birds, wind, and sun sang for her a melody more beautiful than anything else. No place in the world could give her more pleasure.

She had tried talking about it to her mother, to her father; she had brought her sisters and brothers; but nobody could really understand what she felt for this tiny patch of grass and water. She could not explain it herself because she couldn’t understand why her family didn’t see it. Therefore, Lukne remained happy, but lonely. She believed it was a lesser inconvenience.

In the spring of her thirteenth year, the young princess was, as usual, lying in the grass by the river. She was reading over the day’s lessons when she heard a high-pitched squeal. She looked up and saw, in the river, a young squirrel being carried away by the stream.

With no hesitation, Lukne stood and jumped to its aid. She gasped when she felt the icy water under her clothes but wasted no time and started swimming vigorously. With significant efforts, she was able to catch the tiny creature who stopped screaming.

When she managed to reach the bank and climb out of the water, Lukne suddenly realized that the squirrel she had been holding in her hand was gone. She jumped on her feet and looked around, fearing that it might have fallen back into the river. She startled when she saw, instead, seven young girls looking at her, standing in the shallow part of the stream.

They were all incredibly beautiful. Their long, loose, wet hair shone like waves in the sunset; they were nude, and their skin was as smooth as the rocks that had been polished by erosion; their smiles were warm, and their eyes were full of mischief.

“You were so brave!” said the shortest one. “You could have drowned in such a heavy dress.”

“It isn’t that heavy, I am a good swimmer,” Lukne assured. “Besides, I wasn’t about to let that poor squirrel die.”

The girls laughed maliciously at her answer and shared a few glances. “My name is Rasa,” the small one continued, then she pointed at her companions, one by one. “And this is Leili, Migle, Alma, Endla, Laine and Virve.”

The princess nodded at each of them in greeting and introduced herself as well.

“We know who you are, good princess,” said Rasa. “We have been watching you for a long time and we would like to get to know you better, because we love this place, just like you do. Would you be our friend?”

Lukne agreed, thereby she was not alone anymore when she went down to the river, because her new friends would be waiting for her there the entire warm season. They would spend most of their time in the water without a care in the world, and watch Lukne with interest when she remained on the shore. The princess felt, for some time, that the girls were toying with her, as she was a stranger to their group, but as months went by, this feeling slowly subsided.

Lukne was one of them. She would play, swim, run, dance, and sing with them. Laine and Virve would teach her how to imitate birds and frogs. Alma was the most energetic and ran more often than she walked, although the quiet Endla always managed to appease her outbursts. Leili and Migle kept diving into the water from atop the trees and they were so light and agile that they could climb them without even a scrape. As for Rasa, she was an affectionate chatterbox, always clinging to someone.

But most of all, they all felt for each other an affection which Lukne was soon entwined in. First there were compliments, calm and peaceful moments, then presents, small things they had found. In the autumn, when the weather got too cold, the girls would say their goodbyes to their princess with heartbreaking embraces, and would not come back until spring, with more tender reunions each year. During the long winter months, Lukne would look at the frozen river from her bedroom window and miss her dear companions terribly.

Lukne grew and soon became of age to marry. You should know that in this kingdom, young people followed a tradition on the night of the summer solstice, which they call Kupala night. Young girls would, during the day, make a crown out of freshly picked flowers. They could use any type of flower, and braid them together any way they wanted. They could even decorate them with candles or ribbons. Then, at sunset, they would walk up the river and put their crowns in the water.

The slow, steady current would then gently carry the crowns downstream, to the waiting suitors. They had to find, among all the crowns, the one made by the woman of their heart. Should they succeed, they could meet with their beloved’s family and ask for her hand in marriage, for it was said that wearing this crown undamaged proved that the couple was blessed by the goddess of love.

The people were ecstatic when the king declared that he would marry Lukne, his youngest daughter, to whoever would come to the palace on Kupala morning, wearing the crown made by the princess. Therefore, any citizen in the land had a chance to marry her.

Lukne did not really care about marriage yet. She was even almost surprised when Rasa asked her, in the autumn, on the day they had to leave, if she would marry soon.

“I hope not,” Lukne admitted. “Should I marry, I would have to go live with my husband. I am so happy with you, I don’t want to imagine living elsewhere.”

“You could marry a young king who would make you his queen, or a rich noble who would cover you with gifts, or even an honest man madly in love with you.”

“But I don’t know anyone who makes me happier than you do.”

The seven young girls then smiled fiercely, and Lukne would have been scared if she did not love them so much. Endla approached and handed her a small pouch.

“It’s a present from all of us,” Rasa explained. “They are seeds. If you love us, plant them in your bedroom, in a tub of dirt taken from the river. They won’t wilt from the cold, or the shade, but water them daily and speak to them before going to bed.”

Lukne took the small pouch, and the very next day, she got to work. She used a shovel to fill a large tub she had asked the servants for with silt and loam. Two stableboys helped her carry the heavy result into her bedroom and place it close to her bed. She then planted the seven seeds the pouch contained.

Every day, as autumn and winter went by, she took care of watering and speaking to the plants which quickly sprouted from the earth. Each time she told them a few kind words before bed, she would think of her seven dear friends, and smile, remembering that they would meet again soon.

When spring came again, the seven plants all carried huge, colorful buds which Lukne was excited to see bloom. Her companions congratulated her for taking such good care of their present. Spring went by in carefree joy, and a few days before Kupala, the flowers bloomed wide open. Lukne was blown away with surprise and wonder when she found, in the heart of each of them, huge gemstones, more beautiful and pure than any she had ever seen in her regal life.

“Indeed, they are magic flowers,” Rasa said amusedly when Lukne told them what had happened. “On Kupala eve, you will cut them to make your crown.”

Lukne followed her advice. When the day came, she took scissors and cut the flowers with their stems, then she walked down to the river to braid them by the water. The seven girls had stopped playing and approached to watch her.

“Aren’t you making any?” Lukne asked, laughing at their fascinated faces.

“We don’t need to.”

“We never did,” Virve admitted.

“It’s a lot of fun, I assure you!”

So, Leili and Migle jumped off their branches, Laine and Virve took rocks as their seats, Endla sat in the grass with Rasa, and Alma ran back with an armful of flowers she had just picked. Lukne spent the day showing them how she liked to make her crowns.

At nightfall, Lukne said goodbye to her companions. She walked upriver, her beautiful magic flower crown on her head. Then, when she was alone, she took it off and gently placed it on the water. The crown floated for a few seconds but, weighted down by the gemstones, it quickly sank under the dark surface.

Lukne smiled. What a good idea her friends had. Nobody would be able to find her crown now. She went back to the palace gardens where the Kupala bonfire had been lit, and she enjoyed the celebration without any more worries.

The next morning, a line of suitors was waiting at the palace doors. The king received them one by one, accompanied by Lukne who he would ask each time if the presented crown was hers. But each time, Lukne assured it was not, and the suitor sheepishly left.

The king was surprised, when they were all turned down, that none of them had found the right crown. He asked Lukne if she had indeed made one.

“Of course!” Lukne assured. “I made it from the flowers I grew in my bedroom. You can check if you don’t believe me!”

The king just smiled and held his daughter close. “I won’t insult you by doubting your words. However, I do hope next year will be the charm.”

For seven years, Lukne played the same trick on him. The plants she had grown were perennial and always bloomed again shortly before the summer solstice. Lukne took great care of them, and it was a pleasure for her to make her crown, surrounded by the seven girls from the river. Then, the crown would sink, and Lukne was free another year.

The seventh Kupala morning, however, was a complete surprise for the king, for Lukne, and for the entire court, when Rasa, Leili, Migle, Alma, Endla, Laine and Virve came to the palace. They were still nude, unfazed, and each of them wore on their head one of the crowns Lukne had made.

“Your majesty,” Rasa said, always her companions’ spokeswoman. “We have come to ask you for your daughter Lukne’s hand in marriage.”

The king needed several seconds to recover from the surprise, his gaze going from the seven girls to Lukne whose eyes now shone with joy. “This is rather unusual, but so be it. My child, is one of those ladies wearing your crown?”

“They all are,” Lukne revealed. “Each crown I made in the past seven years.”

“All of them?!” the king exclaimed, taking a closer look at the crowns. “But they are all as fresh as if you had made them yesterday!”

Realizing that something was not normal, the king signaled the royal wizard. Said wizard had not stopped staring at the seven girls since they had entered. He muttered a spell under his breath, and immediately, the seven girls’ appearance changed. They seemed even more beautiful, and yet their faces were different, strange and unhuman. Their thick hair seemed to lengthen further and turned green.

“Your majesty,” the wizard announced. “Those suitors are rusalki.”

A whisper of astonishment ran through the court, and some took several steps back. Rusalki were nature spirits which one must be cautious around, for they could be as good as evil, and always dangerous.

The king turned to his daughter who was still smiling. “You don’t seem surprised,” he noticed.

“I would have had to be truly stupid to spend so much time with them without suspecting that they weren’t human.”

The seven rusalki laughed at the remark, but the king was far from amused. He listened as Lukne told him what had happened, wondering what he should do. It was important not to anger these creatures.

“Will you live at the palace, with my daughter?” he asked.

“No, we cannot leave the water outside of the warm season. We want Lukne to live with us, in our palace at the bottom of the river. She will want for nothing, and we will keep her happy,” Rasa assured. “What do you say, dear Lukne?”

“It’s my greatest wish,” Lukne replied, moved.

The king stared at his daughter in bewilderment. How could she say this? Was she bewitched? He thought as fast as he could. “Unfortunately, I am quite afraid that I cannot accept your request,” he said very slowly, and with each word that came out, the rusalki’s faces darkened with cold anger.

“Why ?”

“Out of fairness!” he said very quickly. “Nobody but you could have found those crowns you had my daughter make; we must give other suitors a chance.”

The rusalki whispered among themselves. “If, next year, we find the crown fairly, will you grant us your daughter’s hand in marriage?”

“Yes,” the king said after a moment of hesitation.

“Promise it to us.”

“I promise.”

“And keep your promise,” Rasa insisted. “Because if you break it, no field or garden or yard in the kingdom will ever see a drop of rain or dew again.”

The king felt sweat run down his back, but he nodded. “I swear on my land, and before my entire court, that if you win my daughter the same way any human could, I will let you marry her, and take her with you.”

The seven rusalki smiled with mouths too wide and teeth too sharp. They bowed before the king and kissed the princess’s hand before leaving, all still wearing their flower crown in their long green hair.

The following year, Lukne was coddled more than ever. All throughout summer, the king threw dozens of balls which she was obviously invited to, in hope that she would take a liking to a prince, or a noble, or even a woman, anyone at all. Lukne, of course, was still just as pleasant, but nobody could seduce her.

The king posted guards at each door of the palace, ordering them to follow her so that she would never leave alone. Lukne was allowed to go to the river, and even to spend time with the rusalki, but everything they said was repeated back to the king.

Lukne was very upset. Her little heaven on earth was invaded by chaperones. The rusalki, however, seemed to take it as a challenge, and kept finding ways to make fun of the guards, splashing water on them or jumping on their shoulders from the branches, until they eventually stayed at a distance, afraid they might end up pulled into the water and drowned.

During the winter, the king doubled down, taking advantage of the seven suitors’ absence. He told Lukne that she would be unhappy, that she would no longer be human, that the people would be sad to see her go, that she wouldn’t see her family or friends anymore, that she had probably been enthralled, that those creatures couldn’t love her the way a human could, that it was dangerous, stupid even, to want such a life.

But each time he tried persuading her, Lukne grew increasingly upset. “Do you think that, in over ten years that I have known them, I never thought about any of this?” she would snap back at him.

When spring came, Lukne told her companions she was worried that her father might try something. But the rusalki told her to trust them, which was not difficult for her.

Kupala eve arrived. Lukne was going to cut her magic flowers, like each year. She simply planned to take out the gems. But when she went up to her bedroom, she found out that the tub she had grown them in had been taken away. In its place was a table covered in simple wildflowers. A servant informed the princess that the king had ordered for her to braid her crown with nothing else. Lukne was not even allowed to use candles or ribbons, and she was forbidden from leaving the palace until nightfall.

With a heavy heart, Lukne got to work. With all her love, she braided a very well-made crown, but far from the wonderful crowns she had been making for seven years. Nobody would expect such a simple crown from a princess.

The night came. Escorted by the guards, Lukne walked upriver and gently placed her wildflower crown down on the water. Her eyes watered. Her crown was almost invisible among all the others. She did not have the heart to join the celebration, and sadly went back up to sleep.

Laying in bed, she took what little comfort she could find in the fact that, at least, even if the rusalki would not find her crown, nobody else would either.

The next morning, Lukne was resigned when she went down to the throne room and took her seat next to her father. The king saw that she had cried. He still ordered for the suitors waiting at the palace doors to be brought in.

The seven rusalki were there first, and as if to mock the king, they were still all wearing one of the magic flower crowns. They approached the throne as a tight group, smiling wide. Lukne smiled back at them, happy to see them, but when Rasa, who was in the middle, stepped forward, she raised a hand to her heart, mouth agape.

There, in the hands of the little rusalka, was her wildflower crown.

The king’s eyebrows shot up on his forehead, and he asked Lukne if it indeed was her crown.

Unable to answer, Lukne just nodded.

“Don’t lie to me,” the king ordered the rusalki. “Did you in fact wait at the end of the river, with all the other suitors? Did you use no sorcery at all?”

“We swear we did everything according to your rules,” Rasa replied proudly. “Unlike you who forced Lukne to make the plainest crown you could.”

“But how?” the princess managed to breathe out.

Seven fond, conniving pairs of eyes turned to her. “Did you think the flowers were the only thing that mattered, those seven years?” Rasa questioned playfully. “You were the one who taught us to braid them, we could recognize them with our eyes closed.”

Then the rusalki turned back to the king with stern expressions. A rumble of thunder was heard, somewhere in the distance.

“Now keep your promise,” they ordered all at once.

Lukne stood from her throne to join them. Her father, remembering the risks if he broke his promise, bowed his head, and granted them his blessing.

Some time later, princess Lukne married the rusalki. It was the strangest wedding the kingdom had ever seen, pronounced in the river by the water spirits. Lukne squealed in laughter when her companions ridded her of her dress and untied her hair turned green before kissing her, one by one.

Then, right before diving into the water, Lukne walked up to her parents and held them tight. “Thank you for being fair,” she told her father with love. “Come see me sometimes.”

“But how?” the king asked, confused. “Are you not leaving forever?”

Lukne burst out laughing. “Of course not! I will be in the dewdrops, the mist, the rain, the rivers and lakes. I am staying forever, don’t you see? If you miss me, do what you never did before, come down to the river to see me. I will be there."

And having said those words, Lukne disappeared under the surface.

From that day onward, the kingdom was more fertile than ever and never knew any droughts. The river was given the name of Lukne, and when her story became a legend, it was made into a sacred place of protection for misunderstood lovers.

As for the king and queen, as long as they lived, they came down to the river every year, on Kupala night. They could not hear the song of the water, birds, wind, and sky, but they could see their daughter. Their feet in the water, they watched the flower crowns float away, holding in their arms their little rusalka.

[kijosakka]

ok dijosakka do you have any Izzy headcanons

yes i do!!! (came up with these in the hours between getting this ask and answering it)

• definitely a maximalist. no one knows how she dusts

• can ride a unicycle and is stupid fast on both skates and rollerblades. however she can’t ice skate

• skipped 2 grades going into high school

• ^^ heavily isolated from her peers growing up, has a tendency to be a self-fulfilling prophecy with relationships going wrong

• laughing/rambling is her default to all uncomfortable emotions (this one is basically canon i think)

• loves overly sour and sweet things. nothing is too sour nor too sweet

• genuinely loves snacking on shit like carolina reapers

• keeps gets stung by jellyfish every single time she goes to the beach without fail

• eats all fruit with the skin/rind

• ^ thinks the skin of the apple is the best part (green r her fave)

• collects driftwood

• no sense of self preservation. where did it go

• ^ has never used a crossroad i don’t think. exclusively jaywalks

• additionally a habitual arsonist

• ^ collects empty/broken lighters

• really good at doing/braiding hair, its just trying to actually convince her to sit there with you

• chemistry and physics are her best subjects (she failed history class)

• body paint and markers are her best friends

• ^ also stickers

• hyperlexic

• loved block toys. still does

• has never kept the same scent of shampoo for more than single bottle

• has chased and successfully caught a squirrel before

• rock climbing & parkour courses. that is all

• loves throwing surprise parties

• constantly chasing adrenaline rushes (to the point of recklessly endangering herself, usually)

• tried to learn to cook when she was younger but after repeatedly getting yelled at for messing up, she quit trying altogether

• doesn’t have any pets because of her constantly traveling for her acting career, but if she did she would have a (venomous) snake

• favorite cake flavor is orange

• ^ makes box cake mix exclusively with sodas instead of oil/eggs

• did some kind of ballet/rhythmic gymnastic when she was younger

• see also: attachment issues. (this is canon also i think)

• habitually got in trouble for climbing equipment in school

• very, very good at impressions, human and animal

• freckled all over her body

• very loyal (aka slashed chris’ tires when noah got fired)

• double-jointed in every joint

• definitely has those time loop codes

• can play the theremin (think i saw this one somewhere else?)

• her and eva playfight/wrestle like they’re actually trying to kill each other (lovingly)

• very touchy/physically affectionate via surprising others but will jump back and hate it if someone surprises her with touch

• loves playing in the rain (esp lightning storms and hail)

• was always picked last for school team events (in spite of being very smart/athletic)

• chewed on her hair when she was younger

• takes baths exclusively over showers

• favorite hide and seek spot was the washing machine/dryer before she learned how to climb stuff and hide Better

• loves ‘kids’ games like tag and hide and seek because nobody ever played them with her when she was young

• scared of dogs (this makes sense to me and no idk why)

[asirensrambles]

3 times someone read to Fenris + 1 time he did the same

Flufftober Day 5: Fenris/female Hawke x + 1 (can be a classic "5+1 things" [or any number you want] creation or literally a plus one for an event or really anything else you can think of) I could only come up with 3 scenarios, so that's what I went with!

@flufftober

1.

Fenris' ears burned, and he wanted nothing more than to bolt. However, that would have been rude, and Hawke had seemed so genuinely thrilled to present him with the book. Gathering his courage, Fenris risked looking up to meet her eyes. The pity, scorn, or disgust he was expecting to see was nowhere to be found. Instead, she looked thoughtful more than anything.

"Well, I guess we'll just have to teach you then. I could read the first chapter aloud, see if you like it?" Dumbstruck, Fenris could do nothing more than nod. He managed to settle into one of the seats in front of the fireplace as Hawke began the story.

2.

Although the reading lessons with Hawke were going well, Fenris still couldn't manage much more than children's stories. Reading over a job contract? Forget it. Unfortunately, Hawke was out at Sundermount helping Merrill with Maker knows what. It was with reluctant steps and near dragging feet that Fenris made his way into Aveline's office. As he entered, the Captain of the Guard looked up. Upon seeing Fenris, Aveline tilted her head ever so slightly in confusion. Usually, the elf avoided the city guard like the plague.

"I need a favor," Fenris blurted out. Being surrounded by so many armed enforcers had him on edge.

Aveline's eyebrows nearly shot off her face, but she quickly schooled her expression to a more neutral one. "I'll help if I can. What do you need."

Fenris crossed the room and shoved the contract onto the desk. Unable to meet her eyes, he glared at it, as though the document had personally offended him.

"This is a contract for a job I was approached for. I was wondering if...if there's any reason I shouldn't sign it."

The elf's inability to read was something that, while the group knew, was never really spoken of directly. Although Fenris couldn't see it, Aveline's expression softened in understanding.

"I'd be happy to look over it, see if they snuck anything in there that shouldn't be."

"........thank you."

3.

The Hanged Man was busier than normal this particular Friday. After being jostled one too many times, Fenris fled to Varric's quarters upstairs. Almost immediately, he felt himself relax as the impending possiblility of pain flaring across his skin faded away in the open space. To his surprise, Varric was actually in his quarters. While that in and of itself wasn't strange, it was strange on a Friday night. Curious as to what would have the usually social dwarf squirreled away from everyone, Fenris padded over.

"What are you doing?"

Varric nearly jumped out of his seat. "Maker's breath, Fenris! I'm gonna have to put a bell on you."

Fenris smirked. "You can try."

The dwarf just shook his head, before turning back to the pile of papers in front of him. "I'm trying to catch up on some business correspondence, but for some unfathomable reason, one of my partners decided to use Tevene." Varric held up the letter for Fenris to see.

While Hawke's lessons were paying off, trying to match the letters for Andrastian sounds with their Tevene counterparts sent his brain short-circuiting. "I never learned to read Tevene."

Varric squinted at him. "It's the same alphabet, I should be able to read it to you, and you can translate for me?"

Fenris shrugged. It wasn't like he had anything better to do with his night. "Sure."

+ 1.

Although it felt foolish, Anders assured him it would help. Apparently, there was a good chance Hawke could still hear him, even as she lay unconscious, recovering from the fight with the Arishok. Fenris reading to her would let her know she wasn't alone, give her mind something to focus on and claw it's way back to. While he was skeptical, Anders was obnoxiously knowledgeable about healing and the practice of medicine, so if he said it would help, Fenris was willing to try. So he picked up the book from the nightstand, opened it to the bookmark, and began to read. It was slow, sometimes stumbling going, but Fenris pressed on. A few days later, when a trembling hand brushed against his own, he knew it had been worth it.

[elenavr13]

Echoes of Old Friends

Darkiplier x DA

Warnings: swearing

After the events of WKM, the DA attempts to move on & create a life for themselves despite being trapped in the mirror. Against their hopes & wishes, their past seeks them out in the form of a familiar face.

*What Could Have Been- Sting*

*I may expand this & turn it into a complete story in the future.*

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

            Daylight filters through the cracked glass reflecting the main entrance of the decrepit, forgotten manor. Mindlessly flipping through the pages of one of the books I have read a thousand times, I suddenly feel a chill crawl down my spine. What the hell? The physical feeling startles me back to reality because I haven’t felt anything like that in years. Immediately, I close the book & scan the room, nothing not even in the outside world. Faint tapping screams through the silence-drowned manor. Probably just the weather. After a few seconds, it occurs again. This time I realize the odd sound is coming from inside the house. My mind starts spinning with ideas of what type of animal has climbed through a broken window or one of the rotting walls. Maybe it’s another raccoon coming to search through the rubble or maybe the squirrel I saw the other day has come back. Excited to see a living creature, I get up to find it. Before I can even travel to the next reflection, a voice freezes me in place.

            “Y/n, I know you’re in there. Come out.” There’s people here!

            “Y/n?” I whisper to myself. Something about that name tugs at my heart. Then again that voice is also eerily familiar. I jump from reflection to reflection searching for any sign of the people with no luck. Suddenly, the realization hits me. Y/n, that was- is my name. My name is Y/n. I haven’t heard that name in years. The last time I…that voice…Damien?  Appearing in the mirror that holds my soul hostage, I see the man who used me & shattered my heart. Sorrow in addition to hope consumes me upon seeing him but it quickly gets replaced by bubbling rage.

            “Why are you back?” I seethe.

            “You don’t seem very pleased to see me.” His smooth voice provokes me.

            “& why should I be? You’re the last person I ever want to see.”

            His jaw clenches but he continues. “I can get you out of there.”

            “I don’t want your help.”

            He smirks. “Stubborn as always but I can give you what you want. All I’m asking is that you…”

            “I want you to leave.” He appears taken back.

            “Even after all these years you still blame me. We were happy before that night & we can still be happy if you will only listen to me.” Anger emanates from his voice as it increases in volume.

            Unfazed by his temper, I snap back. “We? There is no ‘we’ not after what you did, Damien.”

            “It’s Dark now.” He sneers

            “Oh, I apologize, Dark.”

            “That snake took everything away from me! I was merely protecting you from him. It was for the best.”

            “You know what would have been ‘for the best’? If I had never agreed to your fucking deal. I trusted you & you betrayed me. Mark may have been the cause of all this but he never did anything to me. You on the other hand took everything away from me! I don’t want anything to do with you anymore. Just leave me alone! Leave me alone like you have for the past however many years it’s been.”

            “91” My anger immediately dissolves from his simple answer. 91? It’s been 91 years since that night? I’ve been trapped in a reflection utterly alone for nearly a century?

            “You just expect me to agree to your plan after you abandoned me for a century? I’ve managed to make some semblance of a life without you- without anyone for that matter. I Don’t Need You. Why do you even want to ‘help’ me? I don’t have anything anymore. I am just a reflection of a person because of you. So tell me, what are you going to gain from ‘helping’ me? ”

            He continues to stare back with a blank expression which only ticks me off more. Before I do anything irrational –like I could– I begin to leave to another reflection in the manor. “I miss you.” His baritone voice stops me.

            Without turning back around to face him, I say, “Little late for that, Damien.”

            A deep growl keeps me in place. “I tried to play nice & you still view me as the bad guy. I thought you were better than that.” This time I spin on my heels to face the man I used to believe was my friend.

            “& I thought you were better than to destroy what we had.”

            “I didn’t destroy…”

            “Go ahead, keep blaming Mark for your actions.” Suddenly he takes a hold of the frame surrounding my vision of the outside world & rips the mirror off the wall.

            “I have heard enough of your insolence.”

            “Put Me Back! Damien, put…”

            “Stop calling me that name!” I glare daggers at him but he seems to be amused by it. “How are you even going to stop me, doll?”

            “I’m not your doll.” Rage gets the best of me I throw a punch which would have made contact with his smug face if not for the glass separating us. Instead of flinching, his smirk just grows as he leaves the manor with me in tow. I attempt to jump to another reflection but some force keeps me tethered to the single, wretched, glass prison. Knowing there is nothing I can do, I fall silent, exhausted from my outburst. Why can’t I just be happy? I was just starting to get better & move on. Now Damie- Dark is back to remind me of the life that was stolen from me. What did I do to deserve this endless suffering?