#We had our first snowfall last week (at long last)!

[awkward-parabuteo]

Out on a little adventure 🌲🍂

[adonis-koo]

wicked • 19

↳ Summary: In a desperate hope to stop war from breaking you are a serviced to wed the most vile man alive, the one who has committed atrocities and war crimes beyond comprehension, he who is responsible for the fall of many nations, the wicked prince who’s heart is made of stone. You are to marry a man who challenges every belief and moral you stand for, all while being faced in a foreign land with nobody but yourself too trust…But are you both truly that different? Or is hate not too far from love?

↳ Pairing: Jungkook/reader

↳ Genre: arranged marriage AU, enemies to lovers, it’s kind of a period AU??? Historical but also technically not? prince!AU, eventual smut

Word Count: 13k

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tags: vaginal fingering, tiddy sucking (jk is definitely a boobs man), semi public sex??, oral (f), so many petnames, dom!kook, brief masturbation (m), multiple orgasms, size kink, multiple positions, cowgirl, creampies, slight somnophilia? (they keep having sex when they're both extremely exhausted), spooning turned to doggy, some very filthy talk, corruption kink, semi degradation kink, the word seed is used once and I actually hate it, some sweet, sweet aftercare, pillow talk, grinding, cumplay, brief handjob (m), edging, cockwarming, they're so in love your honor

Note: people will be shocked at how fast this update has come out and honestly ?? so am I, but tbf half of it is smut so...iykyk ALSO if you haven't checked out the playlist for wicked, you totally should!!

After the first snowfall, winter had come rolling in with no sign of stopping and just as Jungkook had once said, Penumbra was now buried in snow. 

There was something so captivating about the snow, its crisp frosty delicate nature, how despite the sun being covered in clouds, the snow reflected off the light and made everything so much brighter. 

The land was so desolate and yet so full at the same time, it left a deep yearning in you for the warmth, but in an oddly fulfilling way, it let you rest deeper at night, taking in the great vastness of the land and its minimalism. 

The morning had been busy just as each morning before had been so, Yule was only a week away and the court had many aristocrats staying at the castle making merry. It was such a celebratory time and yet you still felt like a ghost better left in the past.

Your days were not all horrible, but the constant numbness never fully went away, at one time you had wanted to go to Yule in Kimhae to reunite with your parents, but the idea of leaving somehow filled you with as much anxiety as staying.

“Well? What’s on your mind?” Jungkook finally spoke, not looking up from his work book, making sure the last of his bill signs, contracts carefully written out and correspondence dealt with so he wouldn’t be behind on his work when you both made your return.

You had been admittedly antsy, tidying up your bedroom, packing what few trinkets you thought you might want during the nights of your journey, fiddling with your own work and where to put what.

You simply couldn’t sit still.

You didn’t reply for a long moment causing Jungkook to look up from his desk, blue eyes appearing from those dark thick locks of hair.

Sighing you shifted as you set your book against the bed, “…You’ll be mad at me.”

“Well you don’t know until you tell me.” Jungkook didn’t seem worried.

You glanced away once more as Jungkook stood up, rounding his desk to walk over to you, “…What if I was having second thoughts…About going to Kimhae?”

Jungkook curved a brow, “The morning we depart for our trip?”

“Don’t say it like that!” You pouted with an usher.

“Is it really the trip? Or is it something else?” Jungkook replied, brushing off your pout.

Your pout however only furthered because you didn’t have an answer, “I don’t know…I just…this is the first time we’ll be making a public appearance outside of Penumbra since our wedding.”

“And what about it?” Jungkook shifted, crossing his arms, still not understanding what your problem was and truth be told you wish you had a better answer for him. 

“Does that not make you anxious? It makes me incredibly anxious.” You frowned, wringing your hands together, you were anxious about everything truthfully, but the idea of making your first appearance in nearly a year, well…You didn’t know what to expect. 

But then again, Penumbra had prepared you for pretty much everything at this point, there weren't too many boxes left to check off on life events at this point. 

“Why would I be?” Jungkook cocked his head to the side, “I’ve nothing to hide nor prove to anyone…If you’re anxious simply because, then it’s understandable,” Jungkook reached out to you, brushing his palm over your cheek before it crept down to your neck, “A lot has happened, I think it’s only natural. But I also know you’ve been looking forward to seeing your parents for the majority of your stay here, it would be imprudent of me to let you cancel our trip at the last minute.” 

Your lips quivered a little, “Even if I’m terrified? What if something happens?” 

Jungkook’s lips curled into a little smile, his fingers curling around your neck, not squeezing, but in a loving hold you had grown so acquainted too, “Then I will be there to stop it from happening,” Jungkook’s forehead pressed down against yours, “I know you’ll regret not going more then if you do.” 

Your eyes fluttered shut before you leaned over to bury your face into the crook of his neck, Jungkook’s arms wrapping around you tight as you murmured, “I hope you’re right.” curling your arms around his waist as you let yourself become engulfed in his warmth and letting it swallow all of your consuming thoughts. 

It stayed like this for a long minute before Jungkook slowly pulled away, looking down at you as he spoke, “I have something I wanted to give you.”

You pulled away from him more to get a better look at him, tilting your head in curiosity, “A gift…?” 

Jungkook snorted, “Something like that. I wasn’t sure if it would be finished in time, but Jimin managed to get it to me last night.” He let go of you before walking over to the bed, leaning down as he pulled down out from underneath. 

You tilted your head at the thick cloth cover as Jungkook stood up, holding it out to you. It was long and thin but held a considerable weight to it, not too heavy, but just enough to let you know it was of incredible quality. 

He nodded at you as a gesture to pull whatever was inside out, opening the draw strings. The first thing you saw was the bright silver crest of a pommel, pulling it out further was a soft leather hand and pulling it all the way out revealed a shortsword around twenty three inches. 

You couldn’t help but let your lips part at just how beautiful it was though, the metal was reflective and the detailing along the fuller, the blade was double edged and as your eyes traveled back to the handle you noticed a sort of…language? Written down the grip.

“It’s the first of its kind,” Jungkook finally spoke, “Noxtria melted with Quicksilver for a lightweight balanced sword but sharp enough to cut through thick metal. Godslayer is it’s name.”

“Godslayer?” You looked up at him. 

“The idea behind this blade was that it would be lighter than air, but have the strength to kill a god. I couldn’t think of a better person to hold the first blade of its kind than my own wife. We’ve been working on your swordsmanship for a long time now and I think it’s time you carry your own sword.” Jungkook nodded, a sort of pride in his eyes as he watched you weigh it, giving it a whirl in your hand. 

The training you had done had definitely made you physically stronger, as while the blade had weight, it wasn’t taxing to hold, “I want you to never feel defenseless by my side, we’re partners and equals and while I hope it never again comes to you needing to use this, I want you to have it if the occasion were to ever arise.” 

You were speechless as you stared at the blade, a reflection of yourself in its metal staring back at you, lowering it you whispered, “Thank you, Jungkook.” 

A small smile pulled on his lips, “Anything for my little sun.” His fingers traced down your cheek, “The case for it is still in the cover, here I’ll help you with putting on the harness.” 

Jungkook took the cloth covering off it to reveal the heavy black sheath and the harness that it attached too, Jungkook had carefully pulled it around your hip, adjusting it until it was snug against your skin, it felt weird having such a thing attached to your body now. 

But there was something oddly…safe about it, as Jungkook said, this was a safety measure and it made you feel as such, you could only hope you would never have to take another soul but….Your fingers unconsciously lifted, rubbing over the spot on your chest, now scarred from where Di Jin had attempted to kill you. 

Jungkook as if knowing what you were thinking tenderly grabbed your hand pulling it away, “It’s difficult to see it now but…” He paused for a moment as if gathering his thoughts, “I think…if I could go back and change things I would, in a heartbeat. But I do think it happened for a reason.” 

Your lips trembled softly, “How could killing someone happen for a reason?” 

“It made a spectacle for one,” Jungkook replied, a certain soft note in his voice was his hand found its way back to your neck, “Those who doubted your ability to hold your own in the court will never question it again. Your words have always had bite, but now you have proof behind them.”

You shook your head, “I don’t see eye to eye with you on this Jungkook.”

“I know you don’t,” Jungkook replied, his thumb soothingly rubbing into your skin, “And I wouldn’t expect anything less, but your respect in the court is much more now than it ever was before. Not only this but…”

Jungkook paused for a long moment gathering his thoughts, “Knowing you have the capability to defend yourself…there will be times when we will have no choice but to be apart,” He sighed, “I will eventually have to lead projects that take me away from Penumbra, knowing you have the means to take care of yourself puts me at ease.” 

“I don’t want you to be apart from me.” You mumbled, anxiety at the thought immediately quelling.

Jungkook let out an amused breath, “That’s not something to worry about now, one thing at a time. If you have the rest of your things settled, we should head down, the sooner we get on the road the sooner we’ll arrive, and the sooner you’ll feel better.” 

“...I suppose.” You mumbled, but Jungkook was not feeding into your pouty expression, no matter how much it was his weakness, he grabbed your thick cloak which had laid abandoned on the bed, wrapping it over your shoulders as he buckled it up, grabbing his own to carry as he held out his arm for you. 

Letting him guide you down you ignored the stares of a group of court ladies staring you down, perhaps in wariness, perhaps because the court had easily taken notice of how close you and Jungkook had become in the last few weeks. 

The consummation of your marriage hadn’t actually changed anything, but Jungkook’s confession of love had really done a number on you both, and every time those sweet words left his lips you had the intention of saying it back. 

And yet every time it felt like the word got stuck in your throat unable to escape, perhaps it was because you were still scared, still in disbelief that Jungkook loved you, but all of his actions, his words, even the way he looked at you, it all screamed love.

Being met with snow on the ground, crunching beneath your feet you let out a breath that you could visibly see, a sensation you still weren’t quite used to, it was freezing cold and the journey would be very long. 

Jungkook had spared no expense to keep you wrapped in very thick layers in hopes that it would keep you warm, but it seemed no matter the amount, you were always cold. 

“Wheein is doing her last rounds of gathering items, she should be out shortly,” Taehyun called out, finishing fixing up your horse’s saddle, Jungkook walked up with you before helping you on and making sure you were situated before saddling his own horse. 

“Snow isn’t too deep yet, we should make a timely arrival,” Yoongi called out, trotting on his own horse up the path ahead before stopping next to Jungkook, “If we make it with not much snowfall, it should only take four days.” 

Your lip curled a little at the estimate, you knew Kimhae was further away then Eunoia, but you had been used to only a day’s travel when you were in Eunoia, they lived further West then Eunoia and a little further south. 

The climate in the West however made it incredibly dry, the further you traveled the less snow there would be, hopefully at least. 

Once Wheein had finished her last round of gathering any last minute packing she had come out with a few guards help and finished loading the pack horses and then mounted her own. It wasn't too big of an entourage of servants, but you had two of Yoongi’s men, himself and of course your two personal servants to attend you both. 

You were nervous for many reasons, showing your face to the outside world, you weren’t sure what reaction you would gain, knowing how the truth of Penumbra had been twisted beyond recognition, you could distinctly remember all the dread you had for two years of being engaged to Jungkook. 

Words that he had abused women in many ways, that he starved all of his servants and that he’d beat them if they disobeyed, rumors swirling that he already had multiple wives and you would be another trophy in his collection, some rumors even going as far as to say he had his dead enemies taken to the castle so he could bath in their blood. 

The list went on and on and every single one was just a rumor, nothing more than foolish lies spread to cause more fear, Jungkook was not a single thing he had ever been stated as, wicked least of all. 

But you were now nervous because you had seen both sides, the truth and lies both, and you couldn’t help but wonder what rumors had escaped Penumbra about you? Dread filled you once more, what twisted way could the world turn your murder of Di Jin even worse? 

That you feasted on his corpse? 

You could briefly taste the raw iron in your mouth that had you holding back a gag, Jungkook’s sharp gaze that had been looking ahead immediately on you, “What’s wrong?” 

You held your hand on your mouth trying desperately hard to not let the memory suck you back into the past, flashes of blood in your mind, cartilage mixed with skin, the raw smell of blood, “Water, can I have some water.” You forced the words out. 

Jungkook wordlessly pulled the water satchel from the side of his saddle, handing it to you, “You’re thinking.” 

You took a large swallow and slowly the faint taste faded back into the nothingness it came from, you shook your head handing it back to him, “I’m trying not too.” 

“You’re not doing a good job of it,” Jungkook replied, making you give him a look, he laughed a little though you spot the concern in his eyes, “Would talking about it make you feel better?” 

You sighed as you shook your head, “I think i’d rather talk about something else,” Lingering on your thoughts would only serve to possibly bring memories even more vivid back, “You’ve been to Kimhae right Jungkook?” 

Jungkook guided his horse a little closer to yours so you’d be able to converse better, “It’s been a long time. We visited when they hosted the War Council. I was…maybe seventeen? This was just in the beginning of negotiating,” Jungkook hummed as he thought about it, “Kimhae was dull in my opinion, they lacked conviction and were very obvious in the fact that they didn’t respect Penumbra or the Jeon name.” 

You listened to him before you let out a laugh gaining his attention, “I remember this quite well, I was visiting Seokjin at the time. I remember spotting you and your father arriving out my window but you were too far for me to get a good look. I remember him complaining though. Telling me you had this haughty look about you, acting as if you were better than him.”

Jungkook scoffed, “I was better than him. I am still better than him. If you were present at the time though…Why had I not seen you?” He looked a bit confused, as obviously women weren’t allowed in the War Room but that didn’t mean they were prohibited anywhere else, he had stayed a full fortnite at Kimhae that trip and not once had he seen you. 

“I made myself unknown on purpose,” You replied, a small frown tugging on your lips, “It was at Seokjin’s insistence of course, he didn’t want you near me with the potential to ‘corrupt me’, as he said.” 

“Corrupt you?” Jungkook scoffed, almost offended, “If we had met properly before our engagement, I feel we could’ve been cordial. Come to think of it I do remember talk of the Eunoian Princess, being in court,” Jungkook’s gaze became pensive as his brows pinched together, “I remember Seokjin gloating about how the fairest princess warmed his bed at night and that he loved nothing more then his name screamed in pleasure.”

You blinked multiple times before your gaze shot to Jungkook, “This was in reference to me?” 

You had known Jungkook long enough now to tell he was absolutely wrought with anger at just the idea, his knuckles tight on the reigns of his horse as he stared ahead, “Mhm. I once told you that we saw him differently, that’s one of the many reasons why. He loved to peacock around gloating about sleeping with you.” 

“Sleeping with me!?” Your mouth parted in somewhat disbelief, “We…” You couldn’t help but let out a scoffed laugh, he had been pressuring you for some time, but you never realized just how desperate he was to go out of his way to lie to other men that you both had slept with one another in such a way. 

And then the embarrassment began to flood in, was this why so many men in his court assumed you were loose, or that you were an easy woman? 

“Well I can promise you he was nothing more than a liar,” You let out another laugh as you shook your head, “Screaming his name in pleasure…The only name that was ushered was my own and even then that was on a lucky day.”

“Your name!?” Jungkook sucked in a harsh breath of air. 

You paused, suddenly realizing what you had just said, and then looking around, there was a good distance between Yoongi up ahead with his fellow guards and Wheein and Taehyun were conversing further behind, Fenrir having walked alongside you awhile now. 

“So Seokjin has gotten to experience that sort of intimacy from you.” Jungkook pressed his tongue into his cheek as if this was the worst news he could ever receive. 

“It’s not…” You sighed, trying to find the right words, you had never really planned on mentioning what little intimacy you shared with Seokjin, as it wasn’t relevant to your current relationship and truthfully, there wasn’t much to talk about, “I’ve…When we first started to explore an intimate relationship together, you remember me being frightened by it, yes?” 

Jungkook tilted his head, a little confused as to where this was going but nodded regardless. 

“The same could be said for back then- especially back then,” You explained as you lowered your voice a little, “I was nervous to lose my virginity, Seokjin already didn’t like my traditional Eunoian attire, but even moreso it had him acting out, trying to pressure me into giving myself to him. But I could never commit to it. The idea of him leaving me after I gave it too him made me too anxious…And..”

You sighed as you glanced down at the snowy earth, “I hated feeling like nothing more than a sexual fantasy for him. Looking back, it feels as if that was all I ever provided, some sort of exotic fantasy that he could escape to in Eunoia, never truly a person, a soul, just something to make him aroused and fulfilled. And so to keep him satiated but also withhold my own boundary, I offered to pleasure him,” You pressed your lips together, your nose wrinkling, “It wasn’t very often, nor was it very pleasant but well…It kept things from escalating beyond my control.”

Jungkook’s jaw only clenched, “How different things would’ve been if we had met that week. Perhaps you could have been saved from all that trouble.” 

“Things happened the way they did though,” You offered a weak smile, “It’s not something I ever think about anymore, after all, it feels so long ago despite being so recent. And I’m very content now.” 

You reached out to grab his hand as your smile brightened, “I’m happy I saved myself for the right person. I couldn’t imagine it with anyone else.” 

This seemed to soothe Jungkook in the right way, “Well when you say it like that it makes me think you’ll want extra help to keep warm tonight.” 

“Jungkook!” You smacked his shoulder, “What an indecent thing to suggest, in a tent? In the middle of a journey?” 

Jungkook chuckled as he gripped his reins in contentment, “No better time than the present princess.” 

You only shook your head, the hours seemed to go quick as you and Jungkook had talked about this and that, and then a content silence took over as the sky darkened and Yoongi had begun to look for a suitable spot to make camp.

They had managed to find a spot off road closer to the woods where the cold wind was blocked and snow wasn’t as deep, clearing off the snow before getting fresh cut wood to get a fire going, setting up tents didn’t take very long. 

Soon dinner was cooking over the fire, granted you had already eaten an abundant mix of packed cabbage and vegetables tossed together and despite being tired and hungry Jungkook was still easily fending you off as metal clashed together. 

“You’ll need to try harder than that princess,” Jungkook whirled the sword in his hand as you huffed a breath, stretching your aching arms, “If you were to fight an opponent far more skilled than you in battle what would your tactic be?” 

“Run?” You raised your brows, Jungkook seemed to enjoy asking hypothetical questions that you were certain would never happen. 

“Okay but in this scenario you do, what would you do?” He pressed, giving you a moment to regather yourself. 

“Well it depends, if they’re aggressive, which I assume they would be, it’s not difficult to size my lack of experience up in comparison to someone like you, I’d have no choice but to defend until they burn down their energy and then once they tire out I’d make a chance to strike.” You sighed as you lifted your sword back up. 

“Yes that would be the logical way to go about it,” Jungkook hummed, “Contextually speaking. But there are other ways, you can use your environment to assist you, you could also have another ally help or use your size to your advantage. Being smaller means being quicker. Again.” 

You both tapped swords before sparring once more, Jungkook easily more aggressive this time causing you to back step until you back stepped right into the deeper snow causing you to yelp, whining out at the freezing damp sensation seeping through your dress into your skin. 

“That’s not what I meant when I said use the environment.” Jungkook sighed as he rested the flat of the blade on his shoulder. 

You managed to step out back onto the shallow end as you whined out, “I am perfectly aware of what you meant! I’m trying! I just can’t seem to get it…” You let out a defeated sigh as a tremor jolted through your body at catching the cold nip of breeze. 

Jungkook only shook his head somewhat amused, “How about we rest for the evening and get you close to the fire once more.” His hand curling around your waist as you both walked back to camp, “You shouldn’t have such high expectations of yourself, I’ve been training since I was a child, you’ve come a long way for only training the last six months.”

“Sparring is also different then a real duel or battle,” Yoongi spoke, as he had been watching you both the last hour in amusement, “If you’re already doing this good in a spar, you’ll be able to hold your own perfectly fine in either.” 

“This is also true,” Jungkook yawned as he sat down on the large mat, offering a hand to you to help you down, “The adrenaline is different, when it comes to life or death, you fight with more than your all, more than you could ever muster for a spar, even a duel.” 

“I just hope it never comes to that.” You sighed with a shiver, scooting closer to the warmth of the fire. 

“What matters is that you’ll be ready m’lady.” Wheein offered a kind smile as she continued, “And I agree with his Highness, you’ve improved significantly compared to when you first started, it’s something to take pride in, you’ll only improve with time.” 

“The chances are slim but it never hurts to be prepared,” Yoongi chimed in once more, “Dinner is ready.”

The rest of the evening had passed with laughter and fellowship that you found yourself truly enjoying, and at some point you had tried to remember when the last time you had felt this at ease, this…at home? 

Even in Eunoia, tragedy had always surrounded you during your youth, uncertainty of the war and the future as a growing lady and plunged into icy fear as a young woman, you wanted to say you had other moments of relaxation. 

But you couldn’t think of a single time, except for this moment, you found yourself curling up against Jungkook, yawning as your eyes began to droop and your head resting on his shoulder.

When your eyes opened once more, you were uncertain of how much time had passed other than the indication that everyone else had departed to their tents. 

Jungkook had been leaning on one hand, the other wrapped around you as he had stared thoughtfully in the fire before realizing you had awoke, “Are you ready to depart for bed?” 

It was a quiet usher that made you nod with another yawn, letting him help you up as you walked over to your shared tent.

Due to the few people in your party, a circle of tents was formed, yours however just a little closer to the fire upon your request and how could you be blamed on a frigid night such as this? Even Fenrir was curled up right next to the fire, paying you both no mind as he continued to rest. 

The tent wasn’t extremely spacious, but it gave you enough room to get what you needed done without being on top of one another, “Let’s get you out of this.” 

“And into what?” You were more awake now than before, “Did Wheein leave me something?” 

Jungkook looked down at you, a sort of boyish look on his face making you pinch him, “Don’t look at me like that,” He chuckled softly grabbing your hand away from his bicep, “We have plenty of furs, and i’ll let you sleep on the fireside, it’s making me hot being that close anyways.” 

“It’s too cold!” You whined out quietly. 

“You really want to sleep like that?” Jungkook was already stripping himself, “I’m burning up personally.” 

Your lips parted multiple times at the sight of his chiseled muscles, biceps flexing as he pulled down his pants revealing the taunt thick muscles of his thighs, even more notably his undergarments.

“Come,” Jungkook had a small smirk on his face as if knowing your eyes roamed his body despite how hard you were trying to be discreet, “Let me undress you.” 

You let out a discontented noise but it was difficult to say no when he looked like this and he was looking at you like that, shuffling over you sat on your knees in front of him, Jungkook leaned forward peeling off each layer with a sort of lethargy, as if in no big hurry. 

Despite the chilled air you could still feel the lick of fire through the thick cloth tent, dropping the last layer down your shoulders you shuddered, a sort of shyness creeping over you as you felt your nipples immediately hardening at being exposed.

Jungkook helped you shuffled out of the last layer, in nothing more than your panties now, “It’s freezing,” You whispered, trying hard to not let yourself feel self conscious at being close to naked in the tinted firelight that your husband could easily see, “If you’re content let’s go to bed.” 

“Ah,” Jungkook immediately stopped you, eyes staying on your soft perked tits, “The cold will help keep you healthy.” He had a stupid boyish look on his face again as he leaned in, warm breath fanning along your cheek before he leaned down unable to resist parting his lips to take your left tit into his mouth. 

You let out a breath louder than you intended, but the you couldn’t help it, the sharp contrast between the cold air and his warm wet tongue had your body flush with arousal, and clearly you weren’t the only one as your eyes dropped down, a solid print formed showing your husband was also feeling the same. 

“Jungkook, it's too cold for this…!” You whined out quietly despite your legs immediately parting for him to sit between as he moaned against your breast, other hand squeezing your left tit as he pinched your hardened bud between his thumb and finger while suckling on the other.

You forced the moan back into your throat.

Jungkook finally released your bud from his lips, looking up at you with dark eyes full of arousal, “Well then we’ll just have to warm you up then won’t we, my goddess?” His hand slithering down your waist as he parted his lips once more your left tit, sucking harshly making you jolt. 

His fingers pushing beneath your panties as his fingers dragging against your puffy slit as you let out a breathy noise legs parting further for him as you leaned back on your hands, hips shifting to give him more access to your cunt. 

Jungkook was delighted by the invitation you could tell by the way he harshly sucked your bud, middle finger suddenly pushing inside you, sliding in with a slight pinch of discomfort that didn’t last long as he pushed all the way until his knuckle met with your body. 

“We can’t be too loud now,” Jungkook’s lips curled into a smirk, “So you’ll need to be a good girl for me and be quiet.” 

You bit down on your lip as he pushed his index finger inside you the pinched discomfort returning the sensation of his fingers pushing in and out of your little hole had you relaxing into his touch with a soft moan, walls squeezing around his fingers with each thrust. 

“Mmm that’s a good girl,” Jungkook grinned, pupils dilated in lust as he buried his fingers back inside your cunt, feeling your little walls clench around him once more before he brushed his thumb over your clit a higher pitch whine escaping you, “Ah, ah, remember,” Jungkook looked amused, “You need to be quiet if you want to cum all over my fingers princess.” 

“Kook,” You whispered, eyes closed tight at the feeling of his thumb teasingly brushing over your clit, fingers buried deep inside you as your walls tightened around his digits, “Please…!” 

The cold air was wrapping around your body, but the sharp contracts of his warm tongue and fingers burying inside you.

Jungkook laid you back against the fur before pulling your panties off, “You’ll get your pleasure, but you need to be a good girl and wait,” His voice was deep and soft taking off his own underwear to reveal his heavy, thick cock fully hardened, he parted your legs as you tensed cold air invading your cunt as he pushed his fingers back inside you, your clit extra sensitive from the cold with each little brush of his thumb, every little tease sent a sharp jolt of pleasure in your body.

Wet sticky arousal dripping from you little hole as you squeezed around his fingers, wiggling your hips a little with a whine, “Kook, need more..” You whispered out, not liking this slow teasing game. 

“Patience,” Jungkook replied, fingers pulling out of you only a little just to thrust them back in, he did this once more, even rougher, his pace was just right, hitting that sweet little spot inside your body that your walls clenching each time as your legs twitched. 

Jungkook’s free hand rubbed through your puffy wet slit before he gripped the base of his cock, a hissed grunt escaping him as he slowly pumped his base, watching the lewd act immediately made a soft moan escape you, just the idea of his fat cock inside you had you clenching hard around him as he began arithmetically thrusting his fingers into that sweet little spot.

“Fuuck you like watching me stroke my fat cock for you my love?” Jungkook let out a wicked look, his hand running all the way up his cock, thumb messily smearing his precum over his fat bulbous head before running it back down meanwhile his other hand began forcefully shoving inside your little hole greedily.

His thumb circling your clit as pleasure began shooting through your body, your eyes never leaving his cock that he squeezed tightly in his hand pumping it eagerly as his eyes flickered between your cunt sucking in his fingers needily and your face, entranced by his movements.

It made his shaft throb so bad in pleasure it hurt, he threw his head back with a low moan hips lifting as he thrusted his cock into his fist, feeling your little hole squeeze so tight around him it was difficult to move his fingers.

Jungkook locked eyes with you, that wicked look on his face, “What do you think that little ex lover of yours would say if he could see you right now?” 

“Mmm! Right there…!” You whimpered out, struggling to keep your voice quiet as your legs turned limp at how rough he was thrusting his fingers into that sweet little spongy spot inside you, “Kook, right there…!” 

Jungkook lifted his hips once more, fucking his fist at the way your legs lifted up, bringing them to your chest to obediently spread your cunt further for him, “Would he say I’m corrupting you right now?” 

You had to bite down on your hand to fight back the whines and moans trying to escape you, “Please…! Please.” You kept muttering it, body twisting and building so fast your mind was completely blank aside from the filth Jungkook was whispering to you.

“That I’m tainting his pretty little Eunoian princess, filling her cunt up until she’s completely fucked out cumming all over my fingers?” Jungkook harshly squeezed the base of his cock, keeping his knuckles buried in your cunt as he rapidly hit into your g-spot. 

Jungkook wanted to laugh at the strangled high pitched moan escaping you as you desperately tried to keep it quiet, feeling your warm little walls wrap tight around his fingers as you came, arms wrapping around your face to try and keep your cries of pleasure to yourself.

Jungkook eased you through your orgasm before pulling his fingers out of you, low breathes escaping you as your chest lifted and dropped before letting your arms drop from your face to the crude sight of Jungkook’s fingers in his mouth, eyes closed with soft moan as he licked your cum off them.

“This is the best way I could have ever relaxed.” Jungkook pulled his fingers from his mouth with a content look as he laid down next to you, your eyes however still on his hardened cock. 

“But you…” You frowned. 

Jungkook raised his brows before his eyes dropped to his cock before shrugging, “I don’t cum easily, a good and bad thing I guess. C’mere love.” 

“How do you want me?” Jungkook’s eyes snapped back open as they met yours, as if trying to figure out if he heard you correct, “I want you to feel good too, how do you want me?” 

Jungkook moaned softly closing his eyes once more, unable to look at those cute, eager little eyes of yours, basically asking to be filled up by him. 

“Ride my cock.” Jungkook replied, admittedly getting difficult to keep his eyes open, but he’d rather kill himself then miss the opportunity to cum inside your pretty, puffy little cunt. 

You knew what he meant, you had gathered as much the last time but you just… you awkwardly straddled him, his hands on your hips to help guide you, this wouldn’t be as difficult as last time right?

Grabbing his cock in your hand you heard a gritted hiss through his teeth, rubbing his bulbous head through your wet folds before lining him against your entrance, unlike last time you sank onto it.

Biting your lip as you squeezed your eyes shut, rather than a pinch the discomfort was still moderate, but not nearly as much as the first time. 

“Mmm fuck,” Jungkook moaned softly, still unable to process that he was getting to feel your warm little walls wrapping around his thick head, “Does it still hurt?” 

His hands soothingly rubbed up to your waist before back to your hips, “A little,” You whispered, settling your hands on his chest, “I still don’t know what I’m doing.” 

Jungkook opened his lidded eyes, trying his damn hardest to not fall asleep right now, “It’s not difficult, just a matter of practice. Sink a little lower…” Jungkook bit his lower lip a little at watching his cock sink further inside your warm cunt, “Now lift your hips like this.” 

You let his hands guide your movements as you let out a soft whine, the pain subsiding as his cock began to slide inside you with ease, stuffing you so full it was difficult to believe you had something this big inside you. 

Just the feeling of his heavy cock burying inside your cunt made your walls wrap tighter around him, slowly bouncing on his cock as Jungkook’s hands settled on your hips, “Fuck yeah love, just like that, riding my fuckin’ cock like you were made for it.” 

His words of pleasure made you bounce a little faster, taking him a little deeper each time before his hands tightened on your hips, suddenly grabbing you and pulling you all the way down, you let out a tiny whine at being so full of cock with no warning, walls rapidly clenching around him as you moaned.

Jungkook’s eyes were closed as he let out a breathy deep moan, “Could fall asleep like this every night, use my pretty little wife as my personal cock warmer, mmm keep squeezing around me like that.” He had a sleepy smirk on his face as his hands wrapped around your ass, urging you to start riding him once more. 

You quickly found you loved being full of cock though, cunt split open by something so thick and heavy, excitement trilled through your body making your walls wrap tight around him as you began bouncing on his cock.

Letting out quiet moans at the feeling of his shaft hitting all the right places inside you, “Mmm yeah, oh…fuck…” You whined out softly, sitting up right as you bounced all the down his cock as you grinded against his pubic bone.

Jungkook forced his tired eyes open to the amazing sight of you, his pretty wife completely naked bouncing on his cock, tits bouncing and face fucked out, clearly pleasuring yourself now, “Make me cum,” He moaned out softly, “Let me fill that pretty little cunt up.” 

You kept trying to bite back your whines as your hips became more messy in bouncing, uneven and unsteady as pleasure quickly built inside you, sinking back on his cock as your walls tightened, moaning just a hair louder as you creamed all over his cock. 

Jungkook was tired, sleep near taking him the same way you took his cum, letting it shoot deep inside you as you swiveled your hips, taking every lost drop he’d give as quiet breathes filled the tent, your own eyes closed with that same unmistakable tiredness. 

Jungkook let out a tired smile, “What a good girl.” He pulled you onto his chest, shifting you both to be buried beneath the blankets and furs, being skin to skin made you realize just how cold you had been. 

Jungkook’s skin was like fire, hot to the touch and your own personal little fire, curling up against him, your eyes immediately fell heavy, sleep had never felt so peaceful as being skin to skin with your husband.

The journey to Kimhae had been rather uneventful and what few encounters you had with wolves and even a bear, Fenrir had easily warded them off, your baby having grown so much in the last months now standing just a little taller than your horse.

Jungkook had been up ahead chatting with Yoongi for awhile now, something regarding plans on resuming the Eastern movement when you returned from Yule.

Wheein had been riding by you for awhile now in a comfortable silence aside from a few comments to Fenrir who had been running ahead in the snow and finding random branches to be thrown, the only problem being they were too heavy for you to toss. 

“Something on your mind Wheein?” You finally asked, having noticed a faraway look in her eyes for a good while now. 

Her eyes met yours before she gave a small, weak smile, “Nothing incredibly important I just…” She faltered a little, “I know the past cannot be changed but, I can’t help but feel like so many events could have been avoided if it weren’t for me.” 

You straightened up, frowning immediately at her words, “What would make you say that?”

Wheein hesitated to speak, “...What happened, with my execution, you…” It looked as if it was physically difficult to attempt to finish her sentence, “I know how important keeping your culture intact is for you. You’ve done nothing but try to become a Penumbrian Princess, and for you to be put in a position where you had to compromise your own personal oath and belief…” Wheein let out a shaky breath, visibly puffing in the cold air as her eyes looked watery, “I feel as though I haven’t given you a proper apology M’lady.” 

Your heart felt like it was twisted, “You have nothing to apologize over Wheein. I am still mourning many things but I…I don’t regret what I did. I said it once and I will say it again, I was willing to do anything to get you back. Di Jin was the assassin who attempted to kill me, which started this entire mess…I don’t know how much you’ve heard about the Estate…”

Wheein’s lips stayed in a frown, cheeks flush and rosy from the cold wind as she adjusted her shawl, shaking her head, “Only whispers of rumors to what happened, and my own assumptions when you intervened on my execution.” 

You let out a shaky sigh, trying your best to detach yourself from the memory as you recalled the events that lead up to that fateful night, “They had lured Yoongi away and I foolishly sent him in good faith that nothing would happen but…Di Jin revealed himself that night revealing that he had come to finish what he started. He almost did,” Your hand trembled as you pressed it against your chest, “Then he got closer to me, trying to kiss my neck and…I don’t know.”

And that was the funniest part, you still had vivid clips of what happened in your head, but it was all so fast, so gorey, your mind had blotted out a lot of it, “One minute he was on top of me, and the next minute I was covered in blood.” 

There it was, that distinct iron on your tongue, it made you sick to your stomach, “And I didn’t stop after he was dead,” Your lips trembled as you whispered, “That’s the part that scares me the most. He was dead and I kept going, I...it was like I was possessed, unable to stop. I felt…” It felt like bile was beginning to rise in your throat as you swallowed it back, “Good. Powerful, invincible in that moment, feeling his flesh in my mouth, the taste of his blood on my tongue-” 

Your hand suddenly grabbed your lips, trying to swallow back the bile which risen much faster, immediately grabbing the water satchel that hung off the saddle of your horse, taking a long drink from it to try and wash what you had just admitted away. 

It had been plaguing the back of your mind every moment it was quiet, the fact that something inside you liked it, even enjoyed the depraved act, showing someone who had disrespected you and your heritage, making a mockery of it for so long, a little devil inside you secretly wishing you had finished what you had started, to devoured him the way your ancestors would. 

Even now a little voice in the back of your head was thrilled by it, it never ceased to make you sick, Weak in the stomach with shame every time it crossed your mind, it felt so heretical to think let alone voice aloud, the extent of how much a secret part of you enjoyed it. 

“I am so sorry Princess,” Wheein whispered, clearly hurting for you as she held back her tears, inhaling sharply, “I still can’t believe what’s happened. I’m sure being away from Penumbra will be a good break for all of us.” 

“If I had just…” You had to stop yourself from saying what you wanted, you had the ability to heal Wheein’s mother, maybe if you had listened to Baba Enàir more carefully, had been more dedicated to your studies as a child…perhaps this whole thing could have been prevented if you had been the one to heal Wheein’s mother, disputing any claims, “I’ll never send you away so often like that without company, I never want to put you in such a compromising position Wheein and for that I am sorry.”

“We all have our grievances about what happened.” Wheein smiled sadly, “But what counts is that we are both alive and well, but…Something else does plague me.” 

You tilted your head, patiently waiting for her to continue as she gathered her thoughts, the wind blowing her black locks of hair back as she squinted her eyes, “We still never caught who sent the assassin. What if this happens once more?” 

You frowned, you had thought this as well, “Something tells me, whoever did this will try a different tactic next. We must remain vigilant, perhaps moreso in Penumbra then even in Kimhae.” You nodded in thought, “I do agree though, this will be good for all of us.” 

This had become routine at night it seemed, waiting for everyone else to depart to bed before being guided back yourself, undressed by your husband’s large, warm hands, and then taken whatever way he wanted, with his hands, his tongue, his cock, you weren’t picky. 

You however were starting to become used to the sensation of his cock spliting you open, his cum dripping down your thighs, an unfamiliar soreness between your legs that had a sweet ache that made you crave more. 

You had never understood the idea of physical intimacy in the past, it always made your skin crawl at the idea, but then again, you never had a partner you felt you could trust like this.

More than anything, you loved being close to him like this, loved that you could be so intimate with the person you trusted more than anyone, his arms wrapped around you, laying slightly on top of your back, keeping you warm just as he promised every night. 

It was odd, the comfort it brought feeling his warm cum dribbling from your little hole as you yawned, eyes closing as you dozed off in his arms. 

It was still late into the night when you awoke to his lips pressing on your neck, moaning softly as his hips rutted into you, cock hardened once more much to your sleepy surprise, “Mm, need you my love.” His voice was much deeper, telling you he was also half asleep, “Dreamt of your pretty little cunt, letting me fill it up.”

“Mmm Kook.” You mumbled out, eyes closing as you felt your leg being propped further up to give him better access to your little entrance, his arms tightened around your waist as he managed to line his cock up before pushing it in. 

A soft sleepy moan escaped you, an entirely new position you were acquainted with but something about it made you feel so full, his cock pushing all the way inside you until his hips were flush with yours. 

Each lazy thrust of his hips had soft noises escaping you, your eyes shutting in tired bliss at his cock pushing past your little walls, filling you to the brim each time, throbbing as the head of his cock kept hitting that spongy little spot. 

Jungkook moaned as he buried his cock inside you once more, his movements having paused forcing your eyes back open, was he asleep? Your walls suddenly squeezed around his cock at being so split open by him.

This elicited a moan from his lips that sounded like pure sex, “Your cunt is heaven,” He mumbled in your skin, “Could keep my cock buried inside you forever.”

Not moving was stirring you further, making you more awake as you whined, “Jungkook, move…!” You wiggled your hips a little earning a small thrust from him.

“Think I’ll asleep like this,” He moaned once more into your skin, “Like the way your cunt wraps around me like this when I’m splitting your cunt open.” 

Jungkook moaned at feeling your cunt squeeze around him once more at his words, just like he had hoped, “Just go back to sleep my love,” He mumbled in your ear, hand pulling around to cup your tit in his hand as he massaged it making you whine in frustration as your hips began to pull and lift, sliding his cock in and out of your cunt just a little. 

“Mmm fuuck, sweetheart go to sleep.” Jungkook’s voice was a pitch higher than before, his free hand almost guiding your hips though as you fucked back against him, and your eyes were closed but sleep was not on your mind. 

Your lips parted with a soft whine at the new sensation this position gave you with him behind, his cock slide inside you just the right way brushing that sweet little spot with each bounce of your hips, it had you rapidly clenching around his cock. 

Muffling your moans into your blankets as you pushed all the way back against him wiggling your hips as pleasure throbbed throughout your cunt, feeling arousal dripping from your hole as his cock slid back inside you with ease as you let out a pathetic whine, walls wrapping harsh around him but it just wasn’t quite enough to get yourself to orgasm. 

Jungkook let out a sleepy chuckle, “Working yourself up are you?” 

It wasn’t fair…! He woke you up and you were somehow the one falling apart on his cock desperate to cum, “Koo, please.” You whimpered out quietly, shifting yourself a little to be better able to lift your hips up to his, giving his cock better access to slid in and out of your little hole with ease. 

“Mmm shit, your acting like a bitch in heat,” He moaned softly, eyes dropping to your cunt that kept backing into his cock, “You want to be fucked?” He whispered deviously in your ear. 

And Jungkook knew you did, could feel the way your walls wrapped so tight around his throbbing cock, wanting so desperately to reach your climax. 

“Jungkook…” You whispered urgently. 

“Say it.”

You let out a frustrated noise, pausing your movement but Jungkook wasn’t having it, his hand wrapping around your neck as he gave it a harsh squeeze, letting out a small gag as his voice deepened in your ear, “Beg for it little princess, beg for me. Beg for my cock.” 

Jungkook suddenly thrusted inside you, harshly making your body jolt as you whined out, shaking your head, this only made him thrust rougher causing you to squeeze around him in excitement, “Mmm like this, feels…! Good.” You whimpered out quietly, your body twitching as pleasure blossomed in your cunt, you were so close…!

Jungkook buried back inside you, stopping once more causing a louder fussy whine to escape you, his hand squeezing around your neck once more, “If you like this then you’ll love what’s next. But you need to tell me, c’mon,” His hips lazily swiveled before giving short thrusts, edging your body as your hands curled into fists, “Tell me you want my cock, that you want your pretty little cunt destroyed by me, that you want to be filled with my cum.”

You could feel saliva dripping from the corner of your mouth, his cock teasing your body with such short movements it had you whimpering, “Koo’, fuck me, please…! Need you’, need your cock, anything…!” 

Jungkook moaned as your quiet frantic plea’s as he suddenly pulled out of you, a sharp whine escaping you as he swatted your ass to be quiet, manhandling you onto you stomach as he kneeled between your legs you felt confused before your hips were lewdly lifted, presenting your cunt to him. 

You didn’t have any time to adjust or even think before his cock pushed back inside you, a moan much louder than you meant for it to escape your lips at an entirely new, better sensation, every movement of his cock had you cunt squeezing in pleasure. 

“Mmm yeah, you like being made to take it from behind?” Jungkook moaned, keeping your hips up as he thrusted inside your little entrance, watching it split open for his cock before greedily sucking it in, “Maybe this is how your little dryad kin had children? Fucking like animals?” He whispered out, hearing a gurgled whine from you only made his thrusts that much more forceful, the sound of his balls smacking into your skin music to his ears, “Being made into nothing more than a bitch desperate for cock.” 

The side of your face was planted into the ground, eyes shut in pleasure at just how good it felt, his cock hitting every little sensitive spot inside you, his demeaning words that would’ve sent flames of angry through your body once upon a time only filled you with excitement, enjoying how he manhandled you how rough he was starting to thrust, no regard for whether your cunt could take it or not. 

Your mind was filled with all sorts of unholy things, not realizing how much you were beginning to moan, enjoying the way he had a hand pressed into your back forcing you down on the ground, his balls smacking your skin and his cock pushing past your tight walls. 

“Koo’...! ‘m gonna..! Mmm!” Your moans were gurgled, desperate, cunt rapidly squeezing around his cock, a feeling he had quickly grown to love as you crumbled beneath him, at his mercy as he roughly thrusted, burying his cock deep inside you as he quickly leaned over you, chest flush with your back as his hips became faster.

Just as you let out the whinest, loudest cry his hand covered your mouth to muffle it, tears began to build in your eyes at how powerful the pleasure was building in your body, your legs uselessly twitching and your body convulsing.

But it was all useless as his cock kept sliding in and out of your small hole, “Go on sweetheart, mm know how bad you wanna cum. I see those pathetic little tears. Cum sweetheart, cream all over my fat cock, make it nice and messy for me.” 

Your body was being jolted with every thrust of his hips, your clit aching to be touched as your cunt was full of his thick shaft, his dirty words whispered in your ear making you throw a whiny pathetic fit as your walls squeezed even tighter around him, so desperate to be obedient. 

“C’mon princess,” Jungkook moaned tantalizingly in your ear, his hips pounding into you with nice lengthy thrusts, wet lewd sounds coming from how soaked you were, “Can feel it, feel how bad that pretty little cunt wants to cum, squeezing around me so tight, fuuck, that’s it, c’mon.” Jungkook wasn’t intentionally edging you but god did it feel good, you were moaning and crying into his hand, tears slowly beginning to trickle down your face at how good you felt. 

Not a single thought in your head other than his cock stuffing you full, purposely dragging into the little spongy spot each time just edging you a little closer each time to your release.

“Does your little pussy feel good?” He teased you, a wicked grin on his face as his hips pushed fully inside you, giving short thrusts to keep you as full of cock as possible, “You like presenting this little hole to me? Letting me fuck my seed deep inside, my pretty wife who swore she’d never let me cuff her in bed? How does it feel knowing I’m going to fill your pretty little cunt up?”

Jungkook let out a low moan, feeling your muffled voice cry out against the skin of his palm as your cunt rapidly clenched around him cumming so hard it felt like your eyes were rolling to the back of your head. 

And Jungkook wasn’t stopping, his hips slammed into you, wet lewd sounds filling the tent and his balls smacking into your skin as he kept his hand on your mouth to keep your moans and cries of pleasure quiet, unable to subdue them yourself anymore, as the pleasure kept going, his hips jostling you around before you felt it.

“Fuck!” Jungkook growled out, burying his cock inside you as he came, roughly pumping his cock inside you as he let out a shaky moan, letting your greedy cunt suck every drop from him as he moaned, perhaps louder then even he intended. 

After a few more seconds he collapsed on top of you, making you whine, sniffling as you wiped your face as you felt his hand drag to your waist, stroking it tenderly as he pressed a kiss against your neck, “You’re so perfect.” He whispered, pressing another kiss against your skin, “Made for me. Only me.” His hand squeezed your waist, before he laid flat on his back shifting you around to lay against him, your body curling up as you set your head against his chest.

Your thighs were aching and your hand trembled if you looked close enough as you dragged it over his chest.

And for the first time, with the fire illuminating the inside of the tent, you took the time to drag it over the rough skin of his chest and upon closer inspection noticed all sorts of marks, curiously you shifted once more. 

“Was twice not enough for my little sun?” Jungkook chuckled as you straddled his waist, his hands wrapping around your hips, “We’ll need to start retiring earlier if you want me to have more stamina.” 

“I’m not…!” You felt your body flush, trying to remind yourself that you were in fact naked right now, “I’m just looking.”

“Mmm, so am I.” Jungkook’s eyes trailing down your exposed body to your cunt, watching the white substance dripping out onto his skin, “If I weren’t already exhausted I’d already have you bent over again.” 

“Jungkook!” You whispered out, starting to feel embarrassed now, “Stop…please.” 

He let out a tired, boyish smile and staring down at him you couldn’t help but mirror it, he looked much younger like this, more like his age, eyes lidded from tiredness as his hands wrapped further, fingers digging into your ass, “Is it a crime to admire my wife? You’re only sitting on top of me naked.” 

“I’ve seen you shirtless many times now,” You decided to no longer entertain his dirty thoughts, slowly lowering yourself down his chest making his fingers squeeze tighter around your ass, “But i’ve never truly paid attention.”

“To my godly physique?”

This made you both quietly laugh as you shook your head, unable to not be endeared by this new playful side of him you had never seen, “How did you know?” You whispered back, a light tease in your voice as your hand traced over his sternum, “I meant the scars…How many battles did you fight in?” 

Jungkook palmed your ass in his hands, massaging the flesh as he yawned, eyes closing as he hummed potentially trying to recall, “Too many to count honestly, I was drafted before the Five Year War started as to be properly prepared.” 

Your fingers traced over each scar, some long and thin, others short and deeper, few discolored still having never properly healed, others faded and hardly visibly, “How’d you get this one?” Your finger’s stopped on his left right, a circular scar it was small, as if he had been pierced.

Jungkook’s eyes slowly lidded once more, following where your fingers pressed, “When we first rode to Rolon for war, an archer shot me right off my horse, my only saving grace from death was the wind otherwise it would’ve pierced my heart, y'know it’s said the Rolon Archer’s were trained since children, they could shoot a coin from over a hundred yards away.”

“You were injured before the battle had even begun?” You whispered out, perhaps a little amused at his story. 

Jungkook’s hand trailed down the back of your thigh, pulling them apart just a little making your hips brush over his skin, the feeling of wet stickiness rubbing over his skin, “It was my first endeavor by myself, my men were counting on me to lead them, you can imagine it was a pretty pathetic sight.”

“So how did you manage to siege them if you could not get close?” You tilted your head, resting your elbows down his chest, your hips appeasing him as you softly grinded down on his pubic bone. 

“We had all camped outside their outer districts, preparing ourselves,” Jungkook let out a pleasured hum, eyes closed once more and fingers trailing back to your ass before settling at your steady, soft movement, “We could not get close to their borders without them shooting us down by the tens if not hundreds. And so we would have to make ourselves unknown, invisible.”

A quiet moan escaped him at the feeling of your hips pulling just a little further down just above where his cock was beginning to stir despite his own lethargy. 

“Invisible?” Tiredness was beginning to pull at your lids but you enjoyed this too much, the conversation, the feeling of your puffy, cum covered slit grinding against him, making him break focus, “Surely that wouldn’t be possible?” 

“Invisible to the faraway eye that is,” Jungkook’s brows pinched, fingers gripping your ass a little tighter as your hips dragged just along the base of his hardening cock, weepy and sensitive from having already came inside you twice this night, “Mmm, I didn’t think you’d be such a little lust driven succubus once we consummated.”

It made you grind him just a little harder, the feeling of his cock bobbing before it smacked against your cunt, fully hardened and precum smearing against your asscheek. 

“I’m trying to have a conversation,” You teased, hands traveling over the expanse of his chest before your fingers found his dark nipples, curiously you pinched them a little, “You’re the one that’s making it sexual.” 

A restrained moan escaped him as his eyes cracked open, you couldn’t help your curiosity, fascinated at his different reactions to different things, after all, you were learning his body just as much as he was learning of yours. 

“Sex is dripping off of you,” Jungkook sighed, feeling your hips tease his cock once more, puffy slit rubbing down it’s base before back to his pubic bone, “I can’t help the way my body reacts to it, climbing on top of me naked isn’t a productive way to have a conversation.” 

You couldn’t help but close your eyes briefly, relishing in the feeling of his heady, heavy cock dragging through your puffy slit, coating it in a mixture of your wetness and cum. 

Feeling his shaft rubbing into your sensitive clit was you let out a soft moan, “You didn’t continue your story. How were you invisible.” Your hips dragged back to his pubic bone, pausing your movement to try and refocus your conversation. 

Jungkook let out a displeased sound, fingers digging against your ass once more, “If you want to hear my stories, keep entertaining me.” 

“Can you stay focused?” You gave him a mischievous smile, slowly pulling back up to your elbows, his eyes immediately on your tits. 

“As long as you don’t make me cum,” Jungkook retorted right back, a cocky grin on his face, “Well?” You tried not to shy away from his expression as your hips slowly began rubbing on him once more, teasing the base of his cock as he let out a soft pleasured moan, eyes slowly closing once more to enjoy the feeling as he recalled, “I proposed to my men that we would camouflage ourselves with the terrain, we covered ourselves in mud and moss, whatever greenery we could and crawled on the earth to evade their eyes.” 

His fingers dragged down to the back of your thighs once more as your hips dragged a little lower down his shaft as your clit throbbed making a soft moan escape you, “That’s how you managed to siege their capitol Montclair?”

His fingers pulled your thighs apart, opening your slit a little more as it rubbed along is shaft back to his base, “Mmhm, like that,” He whispered out at feeling your hips pause at the base of his cock, wiggling a little to push it further between the lips of your cunt. 

Silence had suddenly taken over as your eyes shut, enjoying being able to pleasure your husband as your hips slowly rode the base of his cock, letting it slip against your lips and rub along your clit.

This type of pleasure was slow, tantalizing, making his hips rut a little, gliding with ease against your soaked cunt, “What about this one.” Your fingers briefly brushed along his left breast, a long wicked line crossing it as you slowed your hips back down. 

“Training accident when I was younger,” Jungkook murmured out, sounding half asleep, “I had assumed Hoseok was going for a lower strike but he tricked me, he got too close and accidentally sliced me right across the chest, it was a larger wound when it had first happened.” 

Jungkook had a faint smile on his lips as his hands dragged to your waist, keeping a firm grip to encourage your hips, his eyes pulled open only a little, “He wouldn’t stop crying while profusely apologizing to me, saying he’d do anything to keep the wrath from my father at bay.” 

“Did he hear about it?” Your moan was mixed with your soft laugh, grinding down as your clit dragged against his skin.

Jungkook’s breath hitched, “No, it only went as far as my aunt. She merely laughed it off, saying it was good practice for the real deal.”

You paused your movement, hands tracing down his particularly slim waist, just at the bottom of his ribcage, “And this?”

You lifted yourself up as Jungkook opened his eyes, “No looking.” You whispered out. 

This made him confused before he let out a quiet laugh, closing his eyes once more, “I’ve seen it already princess, you can’t hide anything from me at this point.”

“I’m…testing…it’s lewd.” You tried not to be embarrassed as you sat down on his taunt, thick muscular thighs, legs still parted as you situated your cunt against his base once more, “How did you get that scar?” You prompted him once more. 

Jungkook seemed to be having an increasingly harder time focusing as he felt it, your cunt making contact with the sensitive underside of his cock, your hips lifting to drag against his shaft, “It was when we attempted war with Kyoto, I was in the frontlines with the other underlings and an assassin of Kyoto had made his way into the trenches.”

Jungkook’s jaw was clenched as he felt your hand wrap around the head of his cock, giving short as he let out a breathy moan, hand running through his hair, “He was a full grown man and we were nothing more than boys pretending to be men. His sword longer than us all,” He bit down on his lip at your hand squeezing his cock, your cunt sliding against his base, “He cut two of the other underlings in half with just one swing, I was almost the third, I had barely managed to jump back in time but the tip of his blade still cut through me, blood was everywhere.”

“How did you live?” You whispered out, sadness somewhere deep inside you filled your heart through the haze of lust. 

“Jimin had managed to jump on his back,” Jungkook let out another breath moan at feeling your hand drag down his cock, “Stabbed him in the neck, he choked on his own blood as they all rushed to get first aid for me. I almost bled out that night but by some miracle they had managed to stop the bleeding and get me stitches.” 

Jungkook groaned as his hands curled into fists, pleasure becoming much stronger than it was supposed to, “Enough please.” 

The movements ceased, “Does it not feel good?” 

“It feels too good, I told you to not make me cum.” Jungkook sighed softly in relief as he felt you change positions back to your original, the weight of your body situated once more fully on top of him, “Mmm warm my cock.”

“I don’t understand how that works.” You whispered out, a bit embarrassed, you were a fast learner but you still didn’t know all the ends and outs of how all of this worked. 

This made Jungkook laugh softly, endeared at your words as he forced his tired eyes back open, “It’s simple honestly, sit on my cock, let it stay warm inside you. I’ll be able to focus and recall events more better that way.”

“Really?” You replied skeptically.

“Mhm, what else do you want to know?” Jungkook let a crooked smirk tug on his lips as you grabbed the base of his cock, obediently doing as he told you, the fat head pushing inside you, a noise escaping you both. 

Slowly you slid down his cock until your hips were flush with his, “Mmm, what now?” It was hard to focus now having him stuffing you so full. 

Jungkook let out a long content sigh, “Nothing, this is it. Ask away.”

His hands lovingly stroked your hips as you suddenly struggled to speak, feeling his fat large cock throbbing inside you, walls clenching around him as your arousal dripped.

Jungkook let out an amused breath, “Cat got your tongue?”

You shook your head, slowly leaning back down to rest yourself on his chest, but somehow laying made your body feel even more full, “This one?” Your words were soft, trembled with a quiet whine, fingers brushing over his right bicep, a thin long line curving around it. 

Jungkook’s hands stroked your waist before trailing over your back, “It happened during our siege of Prokiev, the battle happened overnight and it was dark out, fire my only source for my fight with their royal guard captain, our adrenaline was running out and we were both ragged, he threw a sloppy blow aiming for my chest but I moved away and back, the edge of his blade managed to pierce right through my chainmail. It wasn’t a serious injury.”

Jungkook let out a soft pleasured sigh at your little walls clenching around him, seemingly unable to relax with him buried this deep and unmoving in your cunt, “It serves as a reminder though.”

“To what?” You whispered out, setting your head down on his chest, biting down on your lip once more, trying so, so hard to focus on his words and not his cock, it felt like he was completely stretching you out, hitting all the way up into your stomach though surely that wasn’t possible. 

Even if it felt like it was. 

“That many want me dead, sharpening their blades that even a shallow cut could one day maim me or better yet kill me. Sometimes I wonder how I survived,” Jungkook murmured, eyes closing as he fought the sleep off, “Each of these scars is proof that I’m still here, that somehow despite all of the odds, whether it was pure luck, or pure skill, I lived another day. Learned, grew from my mistakes.”

Your eyes had fallen shut, tiredness pulling you into a lull as you felt a blanket being pulled over you, engulfing you in warmth once more. 

You let out a ghost of a whine at feeling the slightest rut of his hips, cock making sure it was buried as far inside you as possible, Jungkook pressed a kiss against your head, “Something above let me live, let me marry you, the love of my life.” 

Your eyes had become heavier with each passing gentle press of his lips, you had soon fallen asleep to the sweet sensation of his lips feathering your skin, hands stroking your side, cock keeping you full and ushers of love on his lips. 

While the journey had been safe and overall good travel, to say you were relieved to be in Kimhae was an understatement, the air was cold, but it didn’t have that wet sharp feeling it did in Penumbra, and only a bit of frost covered the ground now.

Your thickest layers were shedded during travel as it got warmer much to your relief, more than anything you were ready to see your family, and even more so ready to sleep in a proper bed and rest.

You couldn’t voice it aloud to anyone but your thighs were sore from not only riding your horse but also from other nefarious activities late into the night, you were absolutely ready to stand on your own two feet for the next week. 

Upon entering the gates of Kimhae the sight was familiar enough to you, elegant towering buildings, busy towns people who all seemed to pause from their business at the sight of not just you but your husband, whispers broke out and if your life in Penumbra had helped you with one thing, it was being able to ignore the stares.

Riding next to your husband as you made your way through the capitol until you arrived at the large gates of the palace, the courtyard open and lush, what you hadn’t expected was the sight of someone so familiar and yet…now had become a total stranger to you. 

Kim Seokjin, the man you had once thought was the love of your life, only to realize that this was a feeble, childish type of love, the type of love you think is love until you truly fall in love. 

He stood tall and proud as his eyes locked onto your figure, standing in white double buttoned vest and long sleeve, royal blue cape cascading behind him dramatically. 

He looked like something out of a fairytale and you couldn’t deny Seokjin was just as handsome as you remembered, clean cut and warm skin. 

Coming to a stop, your vision of him was somewhat blocked by your husband, and for the first time seeing them almost side by side made you realize just how different they were, Jungkook dawned in all black, hair array from travel and longer then when you had first met, well overdue for a trim. 

His look, all too familiar, neutral but often coming across as dark and brooding to a person who wasn’t well acquainted with him.

And you supposed you must have seemed different from your old self as well, you no longer wore flowery apparel light apparel, now often dawned in black and maroons, today no different though you had gone without the fuss and feathers to make travel easier, a plain black gown with an under layer of red peeping out, sleeves dramatically long but slits having formed to make movement easier, another white long sleeve layer beneath to keep you warm as well as curl up to your neck.

Jungkook had already dismounted his horse, holding his hands out to you as you stood up in your saddle, pulling your leg over before you felt the security of his hands wrap around your waist, lifting you down safely. 

You offer him a tiny smile of thanks as you turn to face Seokjin, the hand staying curled around your waist however did not go unnoticed by you as you both walked to greet your ex-lover. 

“Seokjin, I cannot thank you enough for your invitation,” You gave him a soft smile, perhaps a sort of soft spot for him still lingered in your chest, after all, while your love might not have been deep, it was something, and you’d take it for what it was, “It’s been a long time.” 

“Yes, I’m relieved to see you alive and well, it’s been too long.” Seokjin’s eyes were locked onto you and only you, and briefly you felt a sort of severed connection. 

His eyes drilling into you with a sort of passion that you only blinked at with a friendly polite smile, him taking your hand into his own as he lifted it to his lips, “Truthfully I don’t think enough time has passed.” 

Your hand was suddenly snatched away by a much larger one, Jungkook’s expression had quickly gone from neutral to one hundred percent leering and unfriendly, that typical icy Jeon glare as he spoke coldly, “Kim Seokjin.”

Seokjin’s eyes burned into the sight, Jungkook’s hand holding onto your own in a sort of protective manner, as if he assumed the man’s kiss to your hand would maim you.

“Jeon Jungkook.” Seokjin’s eyes twisted into a glare, but it simply didn’t have the same bite as Jungkook’s, “I can’t say I remember inviting the Jeon’s.”

“Interesting you say that,” Jungkook replied, a haughty cold look on his face, “Given one found its way to my wife,” He glanced down at you, a squeeze of his hand on your waist and his hand releasing your own only for his fingers to trace your jawbone, “Only the most beautiful Jeon.”

Jungkook’s thumb tugged at your lower lip and you couldn’t help but shy away from his gaze, somewhat flustered at such an open display of affection, “What my husband means to say is we’ve come here to represent Penumbra together, I hope this will be the first of many Yule’s we can all come together and celebrate the Rite of Peace.” 

You could tell by Seokjin’s gritted smile that whatever he had anticipated this was not it, it softened however as his eyes landed on you, “For you, I’d do anything Y/n.” His gaze became more sharp as they locked back onto Jungkook, “...And I suppose that goes for you as well. I hope your stay in Kimhae treats you well.”

“As do I.” Jungkook retorted, “Now if you’ll excuse us, we’d like to rest after our journey.”

You briefly glanced up at Jungkook, brow furrowing in a little bit of annoyance, you understood that Jungkook absolutely did not like Seokjin in the least, but couldn’t he be a little more discreet about it? 

This being your first public appearance as a couple meant you’d have to be careful how you presented yourselves, if he wanted to quarrel with the man you did not care as long as he did it in private where prying eyes and ears couldn’t witness it.

“Of course,” Seokjin almost sneered at him, making you shuffle a bit uncomfortable at seeing the men nearly bearing teeth at one another, “My head maid will show you to your room.” 

Seokjin gave you one last look, and you couldn’t quite describe it, it was one of yearning and longing, and yet it wasn’t reciprocated as you allowed Jungkook to lead you both into the palace following behind the maid. 

“What was all of that about?” You whispered reprimanding to Jungkook. 

Jungkook only looked ahead, “He touched you.” 

“...He was being polite.” You reasoned, you had never seen such displays from Jungkook before- well aside from the time Claudin had taken your hand. 

Come to think of it, you supposed this was less rash then when he pressed a knife into Claudin’s neck for so much as grabbing your hand to kiss, truthfully you should be thankful it didn’t escalate so quickly to that. 

Stepping into your guest room you paused, realizing this was the room you used to stay in when you were a maiden...Seokjin probably still has the route memorized…had he thought you’d come to Kimhae alone?

You shook the ridiculous notion away as you took your cloak off, Jungkook shut the door to your shared room, “He touched you.” He emphasized it. 

You turned around, raising your eyebrows, not understanding what he was getting at, Jungkook huffed, “Men who touch women like that aren’t being friendly.” 

“It was my hand!” You pouted, “You’ve touched my hands plenty of times.”

“And look where it led.” Jungkook countered as he took his own outer apparel off, “That’s just the way it goes. And perhaps because I also know you’ve sucked his cock-”

“Jungkook!” You cried out, embarrassment flooding through you, “Don’t say it so loud!” 

This made Jungkook chuckle as he sat on the foot of the bed, “Hmm, you’ve never sucked my cock before come to think of it.” He laughed even louder at suddenly being hit with the cloak you launched at him.

“I am tired and taking a nap, you can either join me or sleep on the floor if you keep being crude.” You kicked your riding shoes off as you pulled the covers curling up in bed, his body immediately beside you, arms wrapping around your waist. 

“I can’t help it,” Jungkook replied, snickering into your shoulder, “You’re easy to tease.” 

[ginxyy]

Becoming a family

(Ok kinda a long one. Legit just pure fluff. I would make this man a dad immediately if i could!)

The snow began to fall softly as I wrapped my scarf tighter around my neck, relishing the gentle bite of winter air on my cheeks. Seoul transformed overnight into a whimsical winter wonderland, a magical blanket of white covering the bustling streets and twinkling lights that draped the city like a fairytale. I glanced sideways at Mingyu, my heart fluttering at the sight of him. He was bundled up in a navy blue parka, his dark hair tousled in the wind, yet every now and then, a few strands managed to fall across his forehead, making him look all the more charming.

We had decided on this late-night walk not just to embrace the beauty of the first snowfall, but also because it felt like the last chapter of an unspoken story one that had begun weeks ago amidst stolen glances and tender, whispered conversations. As we strolled hand-in-hand through the quiet streets of Gangnam, illuminated by the soft glow of street lamps, I felt as if the world outside faded away, leaving just the two of us in our own bubble of happiness.

“Do you think this is too cliché?” Mingyu joked, his warm breath visible in the cold air as he turned to face me. His eyes sparkled like the stars scattered across the night sky, and I could feel myself blushing, a quiet smile playing on my lips.

“Maybe, but it’s our cliché,” I replied playfully, tightening my grip on his hand. “And I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

For a moment, we walked in comfortable silence, the sound of crunching snow beneath our feet accompanying the distant melodies of street performers welcoming the holiday season. With each step, I felt more alive, more at ease in his presence. Mixing the fresh, crisp air with the thrill of being with Mingyu, I had never felt so free.

The snowfall intensified, swirling around us like little shimmering dancers, and I couldn’t help but laugh as a few flakes landed on Mingyu’s nose. “Look!” I exclaimed, pointing the tiny ice crystals. “You have snow on your face!”

He mockingly pouted, wiping at the snow like a child, and I laughed even harder. The sound filled the air, punctuated by the occasional twinkle of distant bells, and I knew then that I never wanted this moment to end. Just as I was about to lean in for a quick kiss, the sound of excited chatter nearby jolted me back to reality.

A throng of fans had appeared out of nowhere, their delighted gasps filling the air, eyes wide with disbelief and joy. “Mingyu! Is that you?” one girl shouted, pointing at us.

Suddenly, we were at the center of attention. Mingyu paused, his brows furrowed as the realization of being spotted settled around us like a dark cloud. For a brief moment, I felt a spark of anxiety. Would the reality of us being seen change everything? But as I looked into his warm brown eyes, filled with the same mix of surprise and excitement, I couldn’t bring myself to feel afraid.

“Yes, it’s me!” he called out, his voice echoing with a charming zest that made my heart sing. There was something mesmerizing about how he embraced his fans, how he beamed with pride and love for them. It was what endeared him to so many, and it only deepened my feelings for him. I felt a serene joy knowing that even in our unexpected moment of vulnerability, Mingyu was still the same genuine person I had come to adore.

As the girls screamed and took pictures, I stood slightly behind him, feeling both nervous and exhilarated. I never expected to be part of his world, and now, suddenly, I was at the very center of it. Whispers cascaded around us, the energy electrifying. Scrolling through the social media site later, I’d find countless posts speculating about our relationship the seventeen heartthrob was officially off the market.

Mingyu turned back to me, brushing his thumb gently across my hand as the crowd began to disperse, realizing they may have interrupted a precious moment. “Are you okay?” he asked, concern lacing his voice.

I nodded, attempting to shake off the nervousness of the sudden press of attention. “Yeah, just a little overwhelming.”

“You know they’re gonna talk,” he said, a teasing smile tugging at his lips.

“I’m sure they’ll concoct some wild stories,” I retorted, grinning back.

That night, we walked longer than intended, navigating through beautifully lit parks and over quiet bridges until the world seemed to relax around us. We talked about everything and nothing our hopes, dreams, and silly little things we loved about each other. Despite the chaotic interruption, there was an undeniable connection that wrapped around us, stronger than the chill of the winter air.

When I returned home later that evening, my heart was still fluttering, dreamlike and impossibly buoyant. The glow of the lights around Seoul lingered in my mind, reminding me of our unforgettable walk. I drifted to sleep that night, imagining the happiness woven into our moments together.

Then everything changed. The next morning, something felt off. Dizziness washed over me as I prepared breakfast, and a deep-seated sense of anxiety settled in the pit of my stomach. I brushed it off as post-excitement jitters from my late outing with Mingyu, but something urged me to take a test.

As I stared at the small window revealing those stark two lines, everything came crashing down my heart raced, and for a brief moment, I felt time freeze. I was pregnant. Tears welled in my eyes, a mix of joy, fear, and confusion flooding my senses. How do I even begin to tell Mingyu something so monumental, so life-altering?

I could already envision how his eyes would light up with disbelief and then pure joy; he had always said that family mattered most to him. But everything felt so sudden, so unexpected.

The beautiful night we shared now felt like the beginning of an entirely new chapter. I knew there would be challenges ahead, but as I held that realization close to my heart, I couldn’t help but feel a surge of hope. This wasn’t just a romance that blossomed amidst secrets; it was a love story paving the way for an adventure, one I hoped Mingyu and I would navigate together.

That morning, I could barely hold my phone without my hands trembling, but I knew I had to tell Mingyu. My mind raced with a thousand ways to break the news, but none of them seemed right. How do you casually tell someone that their entire life is about to change? That our lives were about to change forever.

I decided to keep it simple and heartfelt. Mingyu had always loved silly, sentimental moments, so I leaned into that. I grabbed a plain white mug from my kitchen cabinet and a black sharpie, my heart beating fast as I began scribbling across the ceramic surface.

On one side, I wrote, Best Boyfriend Ever, and on the other side, World’s Best Dad.

I grinned as I imagined his reaction. It was cheesy, but it felt perfect for us. I also added a little doodle of a baby on the bottom, just for an extra touch of fun. With the mug in hand, I paced the kitchen for what felt like hours, waiting for him to arrive. I had texted him earlier, asking if he could stop by, playing it off like I just wanted to see him.

When he finally knocked on the door, I felt like I might faint. My heart leapt in my chest as I opened it, and there he was, looking as handsome as ever with his familiar, boyish grin, bundled up in a grey sweater that made his broad frame look even cozier.

“Hey you,” he said, stepping inside and pulling me into a tight hug. I breathed him in, letting his warmth melt away the nervousness that had been building all morning.

“Hey,” I whispered, my face buried in his chest.

“You okay? You seem… different,” he said, pulling back to look at me, his eyes searching my face. “Everything alright?”

I forced a smile, trying to contain my excitement and nerves. “Yeah, everything’s fine. I just well, I made you something.”

He raised an eyebrow, clearly intrigued, and followed me into the kitchen. I handed him the mug, watching closely as he turned it over in his hands, his eyes lighting up as he saw the first side: Best Boyfriend Ever.

He chuckled, giving me a teasing glance. “This is sweet, but I already knew that.”

“Turn it over,” I urged, my voice shaky with anticipation.

He turned the mug around, and I saw the exact moment it clicked. His eyes widened as he stared at the words, World’s Best Dad, then his gaze shot back to me. For a second, he was frozen, his mouth opening and closing as if he were trying to form words but couldn’t quite believe what he was seeing.

“No way,” he whispered, his voice barely audible. “No way. Are you…?”

I nodded, tears already welling up in my eyes. “Mingyu, I’m pregnant.”

For a split second, I worried about how he would react would he freak out? Would he be scared? But all my fears dissolved when his face broke into the brightest, most beautiful smile I had ever seen. His eyes shimmered with tears, and before I could even say anything else, he pulled me into his arms, holding me so tightly I could barely breathe.

“I’m gonna be a dad?” he choked out, his voice thick with emotion. “We’re gonna have a baby?”

I nodded against his chest, tears spilling over as I laughed through my sobs. “Yeah, we’re gonna have a baby.”

Mingyu pulled back just enough to look at me, his hands cradling my face as his thumbs wiped away my tears. “This is… I can’t believe it. I’m so happy,” he whispered, his voice trembling. “You have no idea how much this means to me.”

I could see the love, the joy, and the overwhelming emotion in his eyes, and it made my heart swell. He kissed me softly, over and over, as if he couldn’t get enough, and I melted into him, feeling a warmth and a peace I had never known before.

But then, just as quickly, his expression shifted. He pulled back and gave me a serious look, his hands dropping to my belly as if he were already protecting the life growing inside me.

“Are you okay? Have you been feeling sick? You need to rest more,” he said, suddenly serious. “Do you need anything? We should go to the doctor—no, wait, I’ll make you tea first. Sit down, you shouldn’t be standing too much.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at how quickly he shifted into overprotective mode. “Mingyu, I’m fine. Really. It’s early, and I’ve been taking care of myself.”

But he was already bustling around the kitchen, grabbing a blanket from the couch and wrapping it around me before insisting I sit. “I just want to make sure you and the baby are safe,” he said, his brow furrowed in concern.

“I know, and I love you for it,” I replied, smiling as he fussed over me. “But there’s something else we need to talk about.”

He paused, looking at me with wide eyes. “What? What is it?”

I grinned, feeling a mischievous excitement bubbling up. “We need to tell the rest of the band.”

Mingyu’s eyes widened again, but this time with excitement. “Oh my god. How do you think they’ll react?”

“I think they’ll be thrilled, but we need to tell them in a fun way. You know, something memorable,” I said, already brainstorming ideas.

Mingyu lit up at the thought. “Yes! Let’s do it! We can tell them all differently.” His enthusiasm was contagious, and soon we were coming up with a plan.

For Seungkwan, we decided to get him a shirt that said Uncle Boo in big, bold letters. Mingyu figured he’d be so caught off guard he might actually cry.

For Jeonghan, the plan was to wrap a baby pacifier in a fancy box and give it to him, saying it was a “VIP gift” for him. I could already imagine the look of confusion that would spread across his face before he put the pieces together.

For Joshua, we planned to take him out for coffee, casually dropping the news in between sips like it was no big deal, just to see how long it would take him to process.

We spent the rest of the afternoon planning every detail, laughing and crying in equal measure as we imagined their reactions. Each moment felt like a new step toward something incredible, something bigger than either of us had ever dreamed.

By the time Mingyu left that evening, his protective instincts had kicked into full gear. He made me promise to call if I needed anything, even if it was the middle of the night. I watched him leave with a heart so full it felt like it might burst, already counting the minutes until I could see him again.

That night, I lay in bed, my hand resting on my stomach, imagining what the future would hold. It was still overwhelming, still terrifying at times, but with Mingyu by my side, I knew we could handle whatever came our way. This was the start of our greatest adventure yet, and I couldn’t wait to see where it would take us.

A few days later, Mingyu and I put our plan into action. The anticipation had been building ever since we decided how we’d break the news to the rest of the band. I could tell Mingyu was beyond excited, though he tried to play it cool, his nervous energy spilling over as we prepared for each of the reveals.

The first to arrive was Seungkwan. He burst through the door, as usual, full of energy and his signature dramatic flair. “I’ve brought snacks!” he announced, holding up a bag of chips and candy. He tossed them on the counter, then plopped down on the couch without missing a beat. “So, what’s the big deal? Mingyu said I had to come over, but he’s been all cryptic about it.”

I exchanged a glance with Mingyu, and he grinned. He handed Seungkwan the gift bag we had prepped earlier a simple white bag with Uncle Boo written across the front. Seungkwan furrowed his brow as he took it, peering inside with curiosity. When he pulled out the shirt and read the words, it took a moment for the realization to hit.

“Uncle Boo?” Seungkwan muttered, confused. He looked up at Mingyu and then at me, still not piecing it together. “What is this supposed to mean?”

Mingyu could barely contain himself, a mischievous grin spreading across his face. “Think about it, Boo.”

I watched as Seungkwan’s eyes flickered from confusion to shock, and then, in one swift moment, everything clicked. His jaw dropped. “Wait… no… Are you serious?!” His voice pitched higher than I’d ever heard, and he scrambled to his feet, his hands flying to his face. “You’re pregnant?!”

I nodded, tears already threatening to spill as Seungkwan’s eyes filled with emotion. He rushed over and hugged me so tightly I almost lost my balance. “Oh my God! You’re having a baby! I’m going to be an uncle!” He stepped back, staring at me like I had just given him the most precious news in the world. “I’m going to spoil this baby rotten! You two have no idea what you’ve done. I’m going to be the best uncle ever!”

Mingyu laughed, pulling Seungkwan into a hug as well. “We know, Boo. You’re going to be the most extra uncle, and we love you for it.”

As Seungkwan wiped away tears, I could already sense his protective side kicking in. “You need to sit down. Do you need water? I’ll get you some water.” He hurried off to the kitchen, his voice trailing behind him. “And no more stress! From now on, you’re not lifting a finger, do you hear me?”

Mingyu and I exchanged a look, laughing softly. “One down,” he whispered, and I nodded, already feeling the wave of emotions that were sure to follow.

Next, Jeonghan arrived. Mingyu greeted him with a casual, “We got you a VIP gift, hyung,” and handed him the fancy box. I watched as Jeonghan slowly untied the ribbon, his face full of suspicion.

“A gift? What’s the occasion?” Jeonghan asked, smirking as he pulled off the lid. When he saw the baby pacifier, his expression shifted from amused to completely baffled. He picked it up, dangling it between two fingers, his eyebrows knitting together in confusion.

“A pacifier? You guys are weird,” he said, shaking his head.

Mingyu just crossed his arms, trying to suppress his laughter. “Why do you think we gave you that?”

Jeonghan blinked a few times, his eyes darting between the pacifier, me, and Mingyu. Then, his eyes widened with realization. “Wait… No way. Are you…?”

I nodded, grinning through the tears that had started to form again. “Yeah, Jeonghan. I’m pregnant.”

His face softened immediately, and a slow, genuine smile spread across his lips. “No way,” he whispered, stepping forward to give me the most tender hug. “You’re going to be a mum?” His voice cracked, and I could tell he was holding back tears. “I’m so happy for you.”

For the next few minutes, Jeonghan just stood by me, his arm protectively wrapped around my shoulders, as if he were already taking on the role of the older brother. “You guys better take it easy. She needs to rest, and I don’t want to hear about you doing anything crazy.” His protective instincts kicked in faster than I expected, and I had to smile.

Soon after, Joshua showed up for coffee. Mingyu and I sat across from him at a quiet little café, where the Christmas lights twinkled in the windows. Mingyu casually dropped the news while Joshua was mid-sip, and I watched in amusement as Joshua froze, the mug hovering just inches from his lips. He stared at us, processing the information in complete silence for a solid ten seconds.

“You’re… having a baby?” he finally asked, his voice soft and reverent. When we nodded, Joshua set his coffee down and gave me a gentle smile. “That’s incredible. You’re going to be amazing parents.” His words were so full of warmth and sincerity that I felt my heart swell. Joshua, ever the calm and collected one, didn’t react with the same fanfare as Seungkwan, but the deep emotion in his eyes told me everything. “Whatever you need, I’m here,” he said quietly, reaching across the table to hold my hand. “This is going to be such a special journey.”

As the days went on, we broke the news to the rest of the band, each moment filled with more joy and more emotion than I ever imagined. Vernon’s eyes practically sparkled with excitement, and he immediately asked if he could be the “cool uncle,” while Woozi’s face turned bright red as he offered us a quiet congratulations, though I could see the pride in his eyes.

Hoshi, of course, made it his mission to outdo everyone else with his excitement. He nearly tackled me in a hug, lifting me off the ground, despite my protests that he shouldn’t be so rough. “I’m going to teach the baby all the best dances!” he declared, already imagining how he would choreograph future performances with our little one.

But it was when Seungcheol found out that I completely broke down. He had always been the leader, the protector of the group, and when we told him the news, his reaction was everything I didn’t know I needed. He didn’t say anything at first, just pulled me into a long, tight hug, his chin resting on top of my head. When he finally spoke, his voice was thick with emotion. “You’re going to be an amazing mum. You know that, right?”

I nodded, unable to stop the tears that flowed freely now. “I hope so.”

Seungcheol pulled back, wiping at his own eyes before smiling at me. “We’re all going to take care of you,” he said firmly, his tone leaving no room for argument. “From now on, you’re family, and we protect our family.”

It wasn’t long before the entire group had fully embraced their new roles as overprotective “uncles.” Everywhere I went, at least one of them was by my side, whether it was Seungkwan insisting I eat more or Seungcheol making sure I didn’t carry anything heavier than a glass of water. Mingyu, of course, had taken his protective instincts to a whole new level, constantly checking in on me, making sure I was comfortable, and catering to my every need.

There were days when the attention was overwhelming, when I felt like I couldn’t breathe without someone asking if I was okay. But through it all, there was an overwhelming sense of love, of support, of family. Each of them had wrapped me and the baby in a cocoon of care, and I knew without a doubt that this child would grow up surrounded by more love than I could have ever imagined.

As I lay in bed that night, Mingyu’s arms wrapped around me, I thought about how lucky I was. This baby hadn’t even arrived yet, and already, they had so many people who loved them so many people who would be there, every step of the way.

“I think this is going to be the best adventure yet,” I whispered, my hand resting on my stomach.

Mingyu kissed the top of my head, his voice soft and full of wonder. “I know it will be.”

Nine months passed in a whirlwind, and true to their word, the entire band treated me like an absolute princess. Each day brought a new wave of attention and affection, whether it was Seungkwan bringing me homemade snacks, Woozi composing lullabies for the baby, or Seungcheol taking on the role of personal chauffeur, insisting I didn’t exert myself too much. Even the most mundane activities were taken over by one of the boys—they handled everything with a mix of humor, seriousness, and an overwhelming sense of responsibility.

Mingyu, of course, had been the most attentive of all. He doted on me constantly, running out in the middle of the night to satisfy every odd craving, massaging my feet, and making sure every appointment with the doctor went smoothly. But underneath his excitement, I could tell he was nervous. The thought of becoming a dad thrilled him, but the weight of it all made him anxious too.

We were down to the final stretch, and the nursery was ready, the baby clothes neatly folded, and all the hospital bags packed. Everything was set, and yet nothing could have prepared us for that moment.

It was late at night well past midnight when I woke up to a sharp, twisting pain in my lower abdomen. At first, I tried to dismiss it as Braxton Hicks, something I’d grown used to over the last few weeks, but when the pain came back stronger and more intense, I knew something was happening. My heart raced, adrenaline coursing through me.

I nudged Mingyu, who was snoring softly beside me. “Mingyu, wake up.”

He stirred, groggy and confused. “Hmm? What is it?” His voice was thick with sleep.

“I think it’s time,” I whispered, my voice shaking with both excitement and fear. “The baby’s coming.”

Those words hit him like a shockwave. He shot out of bed, his eyes wide with panic. “Wait, what? Now? Are you sure? Oh my god okay, okay, okay what do we do first? The hospital! Right! We need to get to the hospital!”

I watched in amusement as he stumbled around the room, trying to pull his pants on while simultaneously grabbing the hospital bag and his phone. He was muttering to himself the entire time, his usual composed demeanor completely gone in the chaos. “Where are my keys? What about the car seat? Do we have snacks? What if we forgot something?”

“Mingyu, breathe,” I said, trying to keep myself calm despite the increasingly sharp contractions. “We have everything ready. Just get me to the car.”

He nodded frantically, still fumbling with his phone. “Right, right. The car! Let’s go.”

As soon as we were in the car, he began speeding through the quiet streets of Seoul, his hands gripping the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles were white. Every few minutes, he would glance over at me, his eyes wide with concern. “Are you okay? Does it hurt a lot? Oh my god, you’re so strong. We’re almost there, okay? Just hang on.”

Between contractions, I managed a weak smile. “Mingyu, calm down. I’m okay… just focus on driving.”

By the time we reached the hospital, Mingyu was practically vibrating with energy. He jumped out of the car, running to my side to help me out, though his hands were shaking so badly that I had to reassure him again. “I’m fine, really. We’re going to be okay.”

Once inside, the nurses quickly got me settled into a room, and Mingyu, who was still visibly freaked out, finally stopped pacing long enough to sit beside me. He grabbed my hand, squeezing it tightly as I breathed through another contraction. “I can’t believe this is happening,” he whispered, his voice filled with awe. “We’re about to meet our baby.”

It was in that moment despite the chaos, the pain, and the panic that a sense of calm washed over me. This was it. We were about to start the next chapter of our lives, and I couldn’t have asked for a better partner by my side.

But just as I was beginning to settle into the rhythm of labor, Mingyu’s phone buzzed with an incoming call. He glanced down, his eyes widening. “Oh no. I forgot to tell the guys!”

He quickly answered, and I could hear Seungkwan’s voice on the other end, frantic and high-pitched. “WHERE ARE YOU GUYS? WE’VE BEEN WAITING FOR NEWS!”

Mingyu fumbled with his words, trying to explain the situation between checking on me and answering the nurses’ questions. “Uh, yeah, we’re at the hospital. She’s in labor. It’s happening now.”

Apparently, that was all Seungkwan needed to hear, because within minutes, the entire band was blowing up Mingyu’s phone with messages and calls. They wanted updates, details, everything. And then, of course, they all announced that they were on their way to the hospital.

“What? No! You don’t need to come wait, okay, fine!” Mingyu blurted out, clearly overwhelmed by the chaos already erupting on the other end of the line.

Sure enough, not even an hour later, I heard the telltale sound of commotion in the hallway. The boys had arrived, and from the sounds of it, they had caused quite the stir at the nurses’ station. Voices carried through the corridor as Seungkwan tried to charm his way into the delivery room, while Seungcheol attempted to explain to a nurse why they needed to be there right now.

When the door finally swung open, the chaos came spilling in with it. Seungkwan, Hoshi, Seungcheol, and Vernon all burst into the room, breathless and wide-eyed, each of them talking over the other in a rush to see how I was doing.

“Oh my God, are you okay?” Seungkwan asked, his eyes darting around the room as if expecting something catastrophic to be happening. “Do you need anything? Do you want me to sing to calm you down?”

Hoshi, ever the performer, chimed in. “I brought a playlist of relaxing songs! We can play it while you give birth.”

Vernon looked genuinely concerned, his brow furrowed as he glanced between me and Mingyu. “Do you need water? I’ll go get some water.”

Seungcheol, of course, was the only one trying to maintain some semblance of order. “Alright, everyone, calm down. Give them some space,” he said, though his own voice was strained with emotion. “This is a big moment.”

I couldn’t help but laugh through the pain, grateful for their chaotic love and concern. “Guys, I’m fine,” I managed to say, though my voice wavered as another contraction hit. “It’s just… a lot right now.”

Mingyu, who had been pacing again, stopped and came to my side. His face was flushed, and his eyes filled with both awe and terror. “She’s doing amazing,” he said, as much to the guys as to me. “But… maybe you should all wait outside until it’s time.”

Reluctantly, the group agreed, though not without promises to be right there the moment the baby arrived. “We’ll be in the waiting room,” Seungcheol assured me, giving my hand a gentle squeeze. “Just yell if you need anything.”

As they left, the room grew quieter, and I turned to Mingyu, who was now holding my hand with both of his, his gaze locked on my face. “You’re so strong,” he whispered, his voice filled with emotion. “I can’t believe we’re about to meet our baby.”

The hours blurred together in a mixture of pain, anticipation, and excitement, but through it all, Mingyu never left my side. His hand was a constant source of comfort, his words of encouragement carrying me through the toughest contractions.

And then, finally, the moment came. After what felt like an eternity, the cries of our baby filled the room, and everything stopped. Time seemed to freeze as the nurses placed the tiny, squirming bundle in my arms. I stared down at our baby, tears streaming down my face, unable to comprehend the depth of love I felt in that moment.

Mingyu was beside me, his hand trembling as he reached out to touch the baby’s tiny fingers. “We did it,” he whispered, his voice cracking with emotion. “We’re parents.”

As I looked up at him, his eyes filled with tears, I knew that no matter how chaotic, how overwhelming this journey had been, it was all worth it. We had created something beautiful something that connected us in a way that nothing else ever could.

In the hallway, I could hear the muffled cheers of the band as they celebrated the baby’s arrival. Even though they weren’t in the room with us, I knew they were part of this moment, part of this family we had built together.

We were a family now a chaotic, loving, overwhelming family. And as I held our baby in my arms, surrounded by Mingyu’s love and the band’s excitement just outside, I knew we were exactly where we were meant to be.

It’s hard to believe how much time has passed. Our little Lia, once so tiny and delicate in my arms, is now a walking, talking whirlwind of energy and sass. At three years old, she’s already mastered the art of wrapping everyone around her tiny fingers, especially her dad and the rest of the Seventeen boys.

Lia has them all under her spell, and she knows it.

“Mingyu-ya!” her little voice calls from the living room one morning, her pronunciation still adorably toddler-like but clear enough to demand attention.

Mingyu, who had been washing dishes in the kitchen, immediately drops everything at the sound of her voice, sprinting toward her as if his life depended on it. “Yes, princess?” he asks, kneeling down in front of her with a grin that shows just how much he adores her.

She scrunches up her face in mock seriousness, crossing her arms over her chest. “Daddy, why is my elephant not dancing?” She points to the stuffed toy on the floor with a pout.

I stifle a laugh from the doorway, watching as Mingyu immediately picks up the plush elephant and starts doing a ridiculous dance routine with it, making exaggerated noises as if it’s singing along. Lia bursts into giggles, her laughter infectious as she claps her hands in delight.

“See, I told you! Daddy can make the elephant dance,” she declares proudly, as if she had orchestrated the whole performance. And, in a way, she had.

It’s not just Mingyu she has wrapped around her little finger, though. The entire band falls over themselves for her.

There was the time we visited the studio and Hoshi had come running over with wide eyes after Lia demanded he help her “roar like a tiger” while she was playing with some animal toys. Hoshi, ever the dramatic performer, immediately crouched down and gave her the loudest, most exaggerated roar. The two of them then spent the next hour roaring back and forth at each other, while the rest of the band just watched in amusement.

“Hyung, you’re seriously getting schooled by a toddler,” Vernon had teased, but even he wasn’t immune to Lia’s charms. Within minutes, he’d been roped into playing “jungle” with them, crawling around on all fours while Lia rode on his back, giggling uncontrollably.

The best part? Lia’s bossy, sassy side was almost always on full display, especially when she felt things weren’t going her way. One day, she had the audacity to sit Seungcheol—the Seungcheol—down and tell him very seriously, “No, no, Uncle Cheol, that’s not how you build a castle. You’re doing it all wrong. Watch me.”

Seungcheol had looked utterly baffled but also completely charmed. “Oh, really? I’ve been doing it wrong this whole time?” he asked, genuinely listening as she showed him how to properly stack the blocks.

“I think I need some lessons,” he muttered to Mingyu later, laughing at how Lia had taken control of the playtime.

Even Woozi, usually so serious and focused in the studio, couldn’t resist Lia’s pull. Whenever we visited, Lia would inevitably waltz in, head held high, demanding to sit on his lap while he worked. Woozi, who didn’t like being interrupted during his creative process, was a complete pushover when it came to her. He’d let her press a few keys on the piano, giving her an approving nod as if she had composed a symphony, while she smiled up at him proudly.

“You’re my assistant now,” he’d say in his deadpan tone, but there was always a glint of affection in his eyes as Lia “helped” him with his work.

And of course, there’s Mingyu, who has turned into the most doting dad I could have ever imagined. He’s completely smitten with Lia he’s always been loving and protective, but when it comes to his daughter, he’s on another level. I often catch him watching her with the softest expression, like he can’t quite believe she’s real.

One night, after Lia had been particularly bossy during bath time (“No, Daddy, you’re not washing my hair right! Use more bubbles!”), I found Mingyu sitting on the edge of her bed, brushing her hair gently as she fell asleep. He leaned over, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead, and whispered, “I love you, my little princess.”

It’s moments like these that make my heart swell. Seeing him so in love with our little family it’s everything I could have hoped for.

There was also the infamous “band meeting” Lia had hosted when she decided she wanted to put on a fashion show with her princess dresses. She marched into the living room, hands on her hips, and announced to the guys, “Everyone, listen up! I need you to watch me. Sit here!” She pointed to the couch, directing them as if they were her loyal subjects.

Mingyu, Jeonghan, and Joshua sat dutifully, clapping every time Lia twirled around in one of her dresses, their cheers loud enough to rival an actual concert. At one point, Joshua even got up and pretended to be a fashion show announcer, describing each of her outfits in detail, much to her delight.

Seungkwan had tried to outdo him by grabbing a feather boa and twirling it around as Lia’s “assistant.” “You’ve created a monster,” he’d joked to Mingyu, but the proud dad just shrugged, grinning ear to ear.

“She’s perfect,” Mingyu would always say, his voice filled with pure adoration. And I couldn’t agree more.

One of the funniest moments came just a few weeks ago. Lia had overheard me talking to Mingyu about a show Seventeen was preparing for, and in typical Lia fashion, she decided that she needed to be involved too.

“Dad, I need to be on stage!” she said with a serious expression, tugging on her dad’s shirt.

Mingyu, ever the indulgent father, crouched down to her level. “Oh yeah? What would you do on stage, princess?”

She looked at him as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “I’ll sing! And dance! And you can dance behind me.”

At the next rehearsal, true to her word, Lia showed up in a sparkly dress, marched right onto the stage where the guys were practicing, and demanded to have her moment in the spotlight. The band had stopped everything to let her perform her own little routine, complete with a very enthusiastic rendition of the ABCs and a dance that mostly involved spinning in circles. The guys cheered like she was performing in front of thousands, and Mingyu’s eyes shone with pride the entire time.

Every day with Lia is filled with moments like these moments where she’s the center of attention, where she commands the room with her sass, her bossiness, and her irresistible charm.

And through it all, Mingyu and the rest of the band are completely wrapped around her finger, never hesitating to indulge her every whim.

I love watching them together the way Mingyu’s face lights up every time Lia walks into a room, how the guys drop everything when she demands their attention, and the way our little girl has filled our lives with so much joy and laughter.

As I sit back and watch Mingyu helping Lia color outside on the balcony, her little legs swinging from the chair, I realize how blessed we are to have this family. Mingyu is in love with every moment of fatherhood, and I can see it in the way he looks at her his world revolves around her and, by extension, around us. The band, too, has become more than just uncles to Lia.

[lila-lou]

✨Needy - Pt. 1/5✨

Summary: Jensen finally comes home after weeks of filming and shows you how much he missed you.

Pairing: Jensen x Reader

Warnings: 18+ only! Language, smut, pregnant reader

Word Count: 2477

A/N: No hate towards anybody. It's just fiction.

English isn’t my first language, so please be lenient. 💙✨

"How do you feel?".

You were currently laying on your large sofa in the living room, your head resting on your left hand while your right hand caressed your belly.

“I’m fine Jay, really”, you smiled at your boyfriend, who was walking over to you with a beer and an orange juice. He looked beyond tired and exhausted. Not surprising considering he only landed four hours ago.

Austin wasn't known for large snowfalls in the winter, so this exceptional situation had led to complications with flights. Jensen's already long flight landed over three hours late, which didn't help his mood. When he saw his pregnant fiancée curled up on the sofa with a broken rib, he was more than pissed. Jensen had only endured the last few weeks on set because he was clinging to the thought that he would soon be able to hold you in his arms again. You and your unborn baby. You've been calling each other every night for the past two weeks to pass the wait, but not once have you mentioned your broken rib.

“Here you go”, Jensen tried to say as nicely as he could while handing you the orange juice, but all the words that came out of his mouth were mumbled. He actually knew that he shouldn't ruin the evening with a bad mood, but the last few weeks had taken a toll on him and his nerves were frayed. Not only was everything going haywire on set, but he also missed you. You were five months pregnant and he felt like he had already missed everything.

You gratefully accepted the glass and took a long sip before setting it aside. Jensen stared blankly at the television, which was playing a horror movie.

“Hey”, you sighed, taking his free hand in yours. “I just didn’t want to burden you unnecessarily. You were always so worried about me and the Baby and with all the stress on set, I thought you wouldn't have to worry about more. I went to the doctor and it’s not that bad”, you tried to explain yourself, but Jensen just rolled his eyes.

“(y/n), you are carrying our child! Do you really think there is something more important at the moment than you and your well-being?”, he replied, still slightly irritated. Of course Jensen was worried and you loved him more than anything for that, but sometimes he could be really overprotective.

“If I promise you, that I won't withhold anything from you anymore, can we please end the evening somewhat peacefully? You didn’t even kiss me when you came in”, you murmur towards the end. Jensen took a long sip of beer and sighed in resignation. Of course he knew he was acting like an ass and that you absolutely didn't deserve that, but he was just worried and stressed.

"You're right. I'm sorry. It's just... the last few weeks have been really stressful and... I feel like I've already missed so much with the little worm", Jensen admitted a little desperately before gently pulling you into his arms. “Besides, I missed you terribly”, he kissed your head lightly.

“Jay… I’m only five months pregnant. We still have four long and wonderful months ahead of us before things get tricky with you being away. You haven't missed anything yet. Except maybe my morning sickness and trust me, you should be glad you weren't there". You tried your best to lighten the mood a little, even if it really wasn't easy. Slowly but surely you could feel him relax. “I hope so”, he murmured before pulling your face to his and finally placing his lips on yours.

“Now tell me about the shoot”, you whispered against his lips with a big grin. While Jensen started talking about his new colleagues and the set, you made yourself comfortable in his arms and pulled the blanket a little higher.

Almost a year ago you moved in with Jensen. You previously had a pretty stressful long-distance relationship. While you were completing your studies in Seattle, Jensen was mostly in Toronto filming “The Boys”. In his free time, he often took the opportunity to spend time with his three children in Austin. Since he was always on the plane, jumping from appointment to appointment, you were usually the one who visited him. It quickly became clear that Jensen wasn't leaving Austin to move in with you, so you had no choice but to leave Seattle.

Luckily you already liked Austin and settled in very quickly.

Jensen had no plans to have any more children, and you hadn't thought about children either. But after your delayed and somewhat escalated housewarming party, contraception wasn't particularly emphasized.

The moment you finally told Jensen about the pregnancy was probably the worst moment of your life. You were so afraid to tell him that it took you forever to say the words without them being swallowed up by your sobs.

Of course, Jensen was anything but enthusiastic, after all, he already had three wonderful children and after his divorce from Danneel, he was happy to take things a little slower with you. However, it didn't take long for him to come to terms with the idea of becoming a father for the fourth time. He still had bad days every now and then where he worried it would all be too much, but overall, he did very well. And now he couldn't wait to finally hold the little munchkin in his arms.

While Jensen told you about his time on set, now in more detail than on the phone, his hand, somewhat distracted, stroked your small baby bump.

“Are you coming to the doctor’s appointment tomorrow? My doctor said we might be able to tell the gender”. Jensen continued to hold you tightly in his arms, your legs crossed over his lap and your head resting lightly on his biceps as he looked down at you.

“Of course, I’ll come”, he kissed your nose. “It’s just the three of us for the next two weeks”. His gaze moved from your eyes down to your belly.

“Is it kicking yet?”, Jensen’s eyes sparkled slightly. You'd think that after three kids he would already know it all, but unfortunately, he was on set for most of his ex-wife's two pregnancies and so wasn't as involved as he would have liked.

“Well, I definitely feel the movements, but they are hardly real kicks. In about 6 weeks you should be able to feel the kicks”, you told him as you watched his hand move in light circles over your belly.

After a while Jensen looked up again. “Being pregnant suits you”, he grinned at you, making you roll your eyes with a chuckle.

“You know how to make a woman blush”, you replied, playfully hitting his chest.

Jensen leaned down to you and pressed his lips lightly to the spot under your ear.

“I know damn well how to make a woman come too”, he whispered harshly to you.

You couldn't help but press your thighs together as a shiver ran down your spine. Despite the fact that you had been together for so long, Jensen still had a strong effect on you. "You think so?", You breathed as he started kissing your neck.

You giggled, your breath hitching slightly. You did not receive an immediate response. Instead, Jensen pulled you onto his lap in one quick movement. As you straddled his legs, he grabbed your ass somewhat roughly with both hands and pushed you closer to him. His lips slid down your neck, leaving wet kisses behind.

“It’s been far too long, sweetheart,” he murmured deeply, his breath hot against your soft skin.

While he kept one hand flat on your lower back, he slipped his other hand into your sweatpants before leaning in to kiss you.

“Actually, I imagined our reunion a little differently”, you whispered against his slightly parted lips, which only lightly touched yours. “With fancy and hot underwear, you know?”.

Jensen couldn't help but laugh lightly, but he stopped with a deep moan when he felt how wet you already were. “Shit baby, I’ve barely touched you and you’re already dripping”, he grinned slightly arrogant. If you weren't so incredibly turned on, you probably would have rolled your eyes. Jensen gently rubbed his fingertips over your soaked clit, making you moan immediately.

“Jensen”, you whined as he continued to tease your clit.

Your eyes were barely open, but you knew Jensen was grinning to himself. You could feel it on your lips.

“Pleaaaase,” you grabbed his thighs and leaned back further so he could get a perfect angle, despite your little baby bump.

“I´ve got you”, he grinned, slipping his middle finger inside you. A soft gasp escaped you as Jensen curled his finger and hit your sweet spot. As he added a second finger, you dug your nails into his skin. “Fuck”, you let out a throaty moan.

“You’re even tighter than usual, baby. I guess I really left you alone for too long”. Your eyes were closed as you were completely absorbed in the feeling your fiancé was giving you.

“Ugh… you did”, you agreed as your eyes met.

With a jerk he pushed your upper body closer to his again and pulled his fingers out of you. No matter how much he loved teasing you, it had been far too long since the last time he could truly feel you.

His arms wrapped tightly around you as he pressed his lips to yours again. “Shit, I missed you so much”, Jensen murmured against your lips, making your heart beat faster.

“I missed you too”, you answered barely audible.

Within seconds, Jensen laid you on your back, tugging your sweatpants and panties off your legs before kneeling on the sofa in front of you, looking at you expectantly. “Touch yourself”, he ordered before you watched as he deftly unbuckled his belt. He loved watching you, almost as much as you loved watching him.

Even though you did this a thousand times, you couldn't stop the blush from rising on your face.

Nevertheless, your fingers found their way to your wet heat as if by themselves. Your teeth sank into your bottom lip as you felt your own wetness. You carefully dip a finger inside yourself, making you breath heavily. By now Jensen already had his throbbing erection in his hand.

“Just like this Babygirl”, he groaned, switching his gaze between your heated face and your spread legs. Your head fell back into the soft couch cushions as you adjusted to the feeling of your finger sliding through your wet folds. Jensen tried everything to hold onto himself and watch you longer, but the desire to bury himself inside you overwhelmed him.

“Fuck it”, he muttered, freeing himself from his jeans and boxers before leaning over you and pressing his lips greedily to yours. You could already feel his hardness against your pussy when Jensen broke the kiss to take off your shirt. “Fuck, they’ve gotten huge”, he whispered as he massaged your left breast over your bra. You couldn't help but grin when you saw his lustful look. “Do you want to keep talking and teasing or finally start fucking me, Ackles?”, you challenged him, your hands sliding under his shirt and tugging at the hem impatiently.

“So needy”, he grinned down at you, pulling his shirt over his head so you could immediately run your hands over his strong chest and broad shoulders before pulling him closer to you by his biceps.

“I’m going to fuck your tight pussy so good”, he groaned, hovering over you again as he took his cock in his hand and lined himself up with your wet folds.

You shuddered as he pushed himself into you until he bottomed out, stretching you almost painfully and letting out the deepest moan you've ever heard.

"Shit honey, you´re okay?", he chuckled, but actually looked a little worried. It took a few seconds until you found your breath and therefore your voice again. "Yeah... I just... almost forgot how big you are", you admitted.

“Well, after tonight you won’t forget it in a hurry”, he winked at you with a grin.

With that, he withdrew completely and spread your wetness with his tip, sliding it between your glistening folds. Jensen's gaze was literally glued between your legs and you could see in his eyes how much that turned him on. “Jay…please,” you begged, wiggling your hips, trying so hard to get him back in. He responded instantly to your requests and pushed his swollen cock into you again, making you moan loudly. As he thrusted into you harder than he had since you were pregnant, he firmly grabbed your hips and pushed them up from the soft fabric of the couch to thrust into you from a better angle. He hit your sweet spot over and over again, which had got you close within a few minutes. “Jay… I’m…”, your hands grip his wrist as you arch your back desperately. "I know, baby. Just a few more minutes", he moaned, watching your breast bounce in your bra with every hard thrust he gave you. Your lips met again, taking the breath away from both of you. You could feel his hot breath in your mouth again and again as he tried to suppress his moans. “You’re so fucking tight, baby”, he groaned against your swollen lips.

By now you were just mumbling pleas and desperately wanted him to allow you to come.

“Cum for me (y/n)”, his lips trailed down your neck, sucking on your delicate skin. Those few words were all you needed to squeeze his cock even tighter. With loud moans and closed eyes, you finally came.

“Fuck baby”, his voice cracked as he felt you clenching around him.

Seconds later, you could feel him spilling his cum inside you as his head fell back down on your shoulder. His deep moan against your collarbone sends shivers down your spine, creating even more sparks in your stomach as you live out the rest of your orgasm.

It took you both quite a while to catch your breath, still overwhelmed by the feeling.

Jensen held his position a little longer. When you finally felt your heart stop racing, you let out a quiet chuckle, brought on by your thoughts, which you immediately said out loud. “I’m not on the pill”, you whispered, stroking strands of his soft hair while his face was still buried in the croock of your neck.

"Well, I can't knock you up any more than I already did, can I?", he grinned and slowly raised his head.

“I guess not”, you grin, pulling his face to yours and kissing him gently.

“I really missed you”, he whispered as your eyes met.

-

Part2

[scummy-writes]

Winter Comforts

A fic for @misty-moth. Thank you for your support!

Pairing: Arthur/Reader

Words: 2143

Tags: Depression, comfort, fluff

The snowfall after your first night at the cabin was more than anticipated, causing an extra chill in the cabin you rented for the week. While it wasn't unwelcomed as an added bonus to the atmosphere of your lovebird vacation, it was enough for Arthur to designate himself as the one to take Vic out, refusing to let the risk of illness touch you.

And that's where he was now: out in the yard, watching the way you busied yourself with putting another log in the fireplace. There he stood with arms crossed, puffs forming in the air from his deep sighs.

Meanwhile Vic stepped cautiously through the snow, his small, boot clad paws crunching with each step. He only stopped exploring long enough to relieve himself, and in that time his owner finally stopped looking so worriedly in your direction, crouching down to make eye contact with Vic with new determination.

“Alright, Vic, we have our work cut out for us this week. Our bird has been putting on a brave face for us and refuses to say what's truly bothering her.”

Vic looked at Arthur with a small huff, chilly even through the sweater you'd knitted him, as he tried to finish his business as fast as he could manage. Yet Arthur continued, his focus on figuring out how to triumph over your depression causing him to neglect the cold.

“I've already devised plans to keep her mood up, in and out of bed, but what I need from you is the best charm you can manage. I need you to harken back to your youthful days as a pup and pretend to have that energy once more! Of course, this isn't all for nothing- with her mood lifted, she's bound to spoil you tenfold, Vic.”

Vic huffed once more, giving his owner a tired look before shaking the snow from his fur. But the man continued, used to this behavior for years.

“And… I'll let you get onto the bed with us in the mornings we're here. What do you say?”

The shaking slowed to a halt as Vic contemplated the words, staring Arthur down as if to call his bluff. But when Arthur merely just stared back, waiting for an affirmation of sorts, Vic slowly began to wag his tail before taking determined steps towards the cabin.

“Atta boy!”

.

Inside, the fire you set up crackled and popped, providing a comforting warmth to the abode. Once you had finished stoking it, you couldn't manage yourself up off the floor. Instead, you seemed entranced by the flames, watching them dance as your thoughts whirled in your head. You hardly seemed to notice when the other two came back in, only breaking out of your trance when Vic excitedly collided with you, paws hitting your back in excitement.

“Whoa!”

You turned to face the pup, chuckling as you saw his boots had been kicked off in a haphazard trail towards you, tag wagging wildly as his round eyes looked up at you. An impossible gaze to resist, and you found yourself smiling once more as you stroked his head, cooing as Vic melted at your touch.

It didn't take long for him to curl up by you, overjoyed in the belly rubs he received as Arthur doffed his overcoat and shoes.

“I say, Vic strolls into the room and you're putty in his paws! Won't even pass me a glance.”

There it was- that adorable grin when he was being ridiculous. At the sound of your chuckle, relief washed over him. It seems as though your depression wasn't as poor as he feared.

You met his gaze as you rolled your eyes, continuing to pet Vic's stomach.

“Are we going to have this conversation again? About how many more merits you have in comparison to a dog?”

“Well, I do distinctly remember you insisting I was acting like one last night- hey!”

Laughter followed as you playfully threw one of Vic’s boots towards Arthur, the writer mocking offense as your giggles persisted. Soon, the two of you were caught up in tossing the boot back and forth, teasing words before each one, and Vic settled down with a huff of understanding that belly rubs were long gone for the moment.

.

It had been a while since the two of you could settle in like this. You sat between his legs as you both stretched out on the couch, nestled in a blanket while Vic sprawled out in front of the fireplace. While he dozed, the two of you read a book of your choosing; Arthur, a mystery novel from a new author, and you, a random romance you had plucked from the mansion’s library. 

With a pencil in hand, Arthur underlined descriptions he favored while making notes in the margins, humming intrigue at the way the plot was unfolding. For him, it was easy to deduce from the beginning who was at fault in the story, but he was enjoying the way the author could still make the story interesting despite that. Certainly a novel he’d recommend to you. A copy he hadn’t marked in, of course.

Between every few pages, he’d cast his eyes towards you. He couldn’t get a good read on your face in this position, but every so often he’d feel the way your breath would pause at a passage, how your shoulders would tense- and sure enough, one look at the book in your hands would confirm the male lead blundering his way through affections. 

Another reference to add to his mental notes, of what made your heart speed up.

Yet now, he watched you thumb the corner of the pages rhythmically, the same set of pages you had been reading the past time he checked on you. He furrowed his brows, but allowed himself to read a few more pages of his novel before worrying further. But when he looked back, you were still doing the same- shoulders tense as you were lost in thought.

What kept causing that? What was making you worry on this little retreat? When Comte had offered to let Arthur use this cabin as a romantic get-away, he had been hoping this would cure those bouts of long sighs and tired eyes. But they kept persisting, no matter the amount of hugs and kisses Arthur gifted, among more sentimental offerings.

Carefully, he set down his pencil and book aside, wrapping his arms around yours. Setting his chin upon your shoulder had some tension melt away, but you were still wound tight in other ways.

“Luv…” he murmured against your ear, massaging his thumbs against your skin, “what’s troubling you?”

“I’m fine.”

The response was automatic, almost cold in the attempt to dismiss his worry, but you faltered immediately, fumbling over your words to ease the bluntness, “I mean- I am fine. I’m okay, I promise.”

You turned to face him then, a soft smile on your lips, but it was a poor mask that was easy to see through. And there, Arthur was at the crux of how to handle the issue. Pushing too hard could result in you hiding even further away. Meanwhile, time may be what you needed, but… It was difficult watching the way you crumbled, even if it was in small pieces.

He hummed in response, a gentle kiss pressed against your cheek. “Haven’t we discussed this, luv?”

You drum your fingers on his arm, neglecting his question. So he continues, calmly. In a quiet tone that causes your motions to stop.

“I know all too well how one may be keen to hide it all away- that void threatening to swallow you whole, how your heart aches through the days. But we promised each other to speak up before that burden gets too heavy.”

The crackling of the fireplace fills the air, merging with the tension after his words. Arthur watches as your eyes flit away again.

“I feel like I should be saying that as well.”

“What ever do you mean?”

Glancing at him again, there is a murmur of frustration in your gaze, mixed in with your own worry. 

“Do you think I wouldn’t have noticed? You can try to hide by flirting like a man preparing to never see his lover again, or by covering my concern with kisses and prose, but you can’t hide those bags under your eyes, or those times at night when I wake up in your bed, alone.”

Arthur frowns.

“Luv…”

“I don’t know how else to make it clear to you that I am here for you. I’ve tried so much…” You trail off, voice raspier than before. 

In the moment that you take to briskly wipe at your eyes, Arthur realizes where this enigma of your worry stemmed from. And he wants to laugh mockingly at himself, for getting so lost and scared at the sight of depression taking over you, that he neglected to consider the most damning possibility.

His arms hold you tighter, letting you continue to refuse looking his way. He doesn’t prod or force you to turn around, knowing well by now that when your emotions overflow, it’s difficult to let anyone watch. So Arthur holds you, letting tears fall down your cheeks as you process your next words, trying to convey your struggles.

“I know I can’t take away your pain. I know that it will linger inside of you, no matter how many years we stay together. No matter what luck comes into our lives. But I can be here for you. I can listen, I can hold you when it’s too hard to handle the world- I can do so much, but only if you let me in, Arthur.” Another shaking breath escapes you, and your next words come out so quiet, as if you’re fearful of the words themselves, “if we can’t talk about these things, how are we supposed to stay together? To get married…?”

With that, you crumble apart. Arthur pulls you properly into his lap now, letting you nuzzle into his neck, letting his shirt soak up your tears. Each shaking sob from you has him murmuring reassurances, promises that saying such a thing wouldn’t bring ruin to the relationship. 

And he waits. Until you can breathe properly again, until you’re ready to listen to him to speak.

“I think we’ll be fine.”

“How can we be when-”

“For instance, did you know we’ve been worrying ourselves sick over the same issue?”

You peek up at him, questioningly. Arthur takes that moment to brush back the wet hairs sticking against your face, his smile soft.

“It seems we’re both having trouble letting each other in on the secrets of our heart. I can’t promise that there won’t be moments like this again in the future, but for now…” Arthur presses a chaste kiss against your temple, sighing along with you, “I can apologize. I didn’t realize you felt like this, luv. I’m so used to burying my emotions that I neglect understanding it can hurt others.”

“I’ve been trying to think of how to bring it up, but…I just kept getting scared that this wouldn’t change.”

“It will. I’ve just got to get used to the fact that I’m lucky to be loved by you,” he pecks your cheek once more, “and I’ll stop leaving you at night when the nightmares plague me.”

You study his face with your reddened eyes, and Arthur tries to ease the pangs of guilt in his heart. But you seem to relent, shoulders relaxing as you return one of his earlier kisses.

“You promise?”

Arthur hooked his pinky with yours, grinning, “promise.”

.

Vic gave you a dubious glance after inspecting the sugary fluff on your finger, giving it a few more sniffs.

“It won’t bite you! But if you don’t want a bit of marshmallow, I can just take it back-”

A low whine rang out once you pulled your finger back, and you and Arthur fell into a fit of giggles at Vic’s contradictory behavior. But you gave him another chance, and the pup happily lapped up the small treat before you could take it away again. Yet, after a few smacks of his jows, Vic unceremoniously plopped the now-wet mess on the carpet. At your surprise, he merely settled into a comfortable heap in front of the fireplace again, his curiosity sated over what you and Arthur had been laughing about for the past few minutes.

After cleaning up, Arthur watched as you happily stick another marshmallow onto your stick, poking it into the fireplace while you used your free hand to pet Vic. The puffiness of your eyes had calmed down enough, and now the smile left on your face held no hidden meaning; you were happy. Relaxed. Everything that Arthur wanted for this trip.

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[the-lonelybarricade]

We Bleed the Same - An ACOTAR retelling

The forest was a labyrinth of snow and ice... The beginning to a story we know, unfolded a little bit differently.

HO, HO, HOHMYGOD, plot twists upon plot twists! This is dedicated to my @acotargiftexchange giftee turned anon I've been secretly in love with for... years??? For @belabellissima I really hope you enjoy this, and I'm hoping my mastermind plan to seduce you worked now that we've both unveiled our secret identities

Read on AO3

-

The forest was a labyrinth of snow and ice.

Feyre had been monitoring the parameters of the thicket for the better part of an hour, but with the angle of the sun lowering past the horizon and the gusting wind blowing the tracks of any potential quarry, her vantage point in the crook of a tree branch had turned useless. Not that there was much quarry to begin with. For years, the hunters have been saying that the animals were pulling back, going deeper into the woods than most humans were willing to pursue. Even today, Feyre had ventured further than she usually risked.

She’d woken that morning to the sounds of her sisters’ growling stomachs, and she couldn’t bear meeting the hollow stare in Elain’s once bright eyes to tell her that they would spend another day without eating. Desperation had dragged her closer to the Wall than any human should dare—not just because of the faeries who lurked on the other side of the invisible barrier, but because she was now edging into wolf territory. The town hunters had warned her that they were on the prowl again in numbers. But Feyre reasoned that if the wolves hung near, it surely meant there was nearby prey to keep them fed. Unless wolf prey was the very thing she was becoming, delivering herself at their feet as she eased off the tree and stretched her stiff limbs with a restrained groan.

The icy snow crunched under her fraying boots. What little snowfall had melted already seeped through the worn leather, dampening her thin socks, but like many things, Feyre had long become numb to the cold. She wiped her ungloved fingers over her eyes, brushing away the flakes clinging to her lashes. In the woods, there wasn’t time to be cold or hungry. Even as exhaustion gnawed at her, she shoved it away, focusing on her surroundings, on the task ahead. That was all she could do, all she’d been able to do for years: focus on surviving the week, the day, the hour ahead.

Only a few hours of daylight remained. Given how deep Feyre had ventured, if she didn’t leave soon, she would have to navigate her way home in the dark. And while she might have been foolish enough to stray closer to the Wall, even she understood there was no chance of besting a wolf in the dark. Or, gods-forbid, one of the faeries that lived in the Northern parts of their land.

Whispers were becoming commonplace on market days—tales of strange folk spotted in the area, tall and eerie and deadly. Traveling peddlers had begun sharing accounts of distant border towns, left in splinters and cindered bones. In the eight years Feyre’s family had lived in the village, they’d never witnessed such an attack. But if a faerie did decide to soothe its immortal boredom by playing with one of the townsfolk, it would need to cross through these very woods to fulfill that whim, and Feyre would be the first to cross its path. Even so, she couldn’t go home. Not yet.

After a few minutes of careful searching, Feyre crouched in a cluster of snow-heavy brambles. Through the thorns, she had a half-decent view of a clearing and the small brook flowing through it. A few holes in the ice suggested it was still frequently used. Hopefully, something would come by. Hopefully.

Her family wouldn’t last another week without food. She wore that knowledge in the weight of the quiver looped over her back. Each of the arrows was a reminder that if she failed, if she missed or came home empty-handed, then Nesta or Elain or their injured father might not survive the winter. And she would break the promise she made to her mother all those years ago.

Feyre sighed through her nose and eased into a more comfortable position, calming her breathing as she strained to listen to the forest over the wind. The snow fell and fell, dancing and curling like sparkling spindrifts, the white fresh and clean against the brown and gray of the world. Once, it had been second nature to savor the contrast of new grass against the dark, tilled soil; once, she’d dreamed and breathed and thought in color and light and shape.

Feyre couldn’t remember the last time she’d done it—bothered to notice anything lovely or interesting. Stolen hours in a decrepit barn with Isaac Hale didn’t count; those times were hungry and empty and sometimes cruel, but never lovely. She went into the barn to forget, to lose herself for a few hours in the feeling of another living, breathing being. To remind herself that something existed beyond the perpetual numb.

But it never mattered how long she stayed in that barn. The cold always seeped back, and Feyre was no longer convinced it wasn’t a part of her. How else could she be crouched in the center of the lethal winter and find herself struck by its beauty? The snow fell lazily now, in big, fat clumps that gathered along every nook and bump of the trees. Mesmerizing—the lethal, gentle beauty of the snow. She should hate it, but maybe that would feel too close to hating herself.

The howling wind eased into a soft sigh. Soon, she’d have to return to the muddy, frozen roads of the village, to the cramped heat of the decrepit cottage where her sisters waited for their next meal. Some small, fragmented part of her recoiled at the thought of returning.

Then, a pair of bushes rustled across the clearing.

Drawing her bow was a matter of instinct. Feyre peered through the thorns, and her breath caught. Less than thirty paces away stood a small doe, not yet too scrawny from winter but desperate enough to wrench bark from a tree in the clearing. A deer like that could feed her family for a week or more. Feyre’s mouth watered.

Quiet as the wind hissing through dead leaves, she took aim. The doe continued tearing off strips of bark, chewing slowly, utterly unaware that her death waited yards away.

Feyre was already contemplating how she could dry half the meat, and they could immediately eat the rest—stews, pies … the skin could be sold or perhaps turned into clothing for one of them. Feyre needed new boots, but Elain needed a new cloak, and Nesta was prone to crave anything someone else possessed.

Her fingers trembled. So much food—such salvation. She took a steadying breath, double-checking her aim.

But there was a pair of golden eyes shining from the adjacent brush.

Feyre stilled.

The forest was silent. She hadn’t realized how unsettling the quiet had grown until the wind died, and the snow paused, and even the trees seemed to hold their breath, a riveted audience as the wolf inched closer from the brush.

He was enormous. The village hunters had said as much about the wolves that prowled in the northern territory, had spoken of animals large as ponies with an unrivaled stealth. She’d assumed their stories were embellished. No animal that massive could be so quiet.

Now, she witnessed it stalk forward, unheard, unspotted by the doe. His gaze was set on her, a sentience behind those glowing eyes that caused her mouth to dry. Her lips began shaping a wordless prayer to a nameless god, begging mercy from whatever divine power might be watching this clearing.

The voice that whispered to her was innate. He looked like a wolf, moved like a wolf. Yet she knew no animal of the mortal realm could possess such stillness, such intelligence. But a faerie could. Was it paranoia, her fears becoming unbridled and taking hold? Or was that voice in her mind the work of some primal, long-forgotten instinct remaining from the days when her people were kept as slaves?

Fae, the voice whispered. Not a wolf, a faerie.

She found herself reaching over her shoulder for her heaviest and longest arrow. An arrow carved from mountain ash, armed with an iron head. She’d purchased it from a traveling peddler during a summer when she’d had enough spare copper for extra luxuries. If legend were true, the ash wood could deal a mortal wound to the otherwise invulnerable fae.

The only proof humans had of the ash’s effectiveness was its sheer rarity. The High Fae had supposedly burned all the trees long ago. So few remained, most of them small and sickly and hidden by the nobility within high-walled groves.

For three years, the ash arrow had sat unused in her quiver while Feyre deliberated whether the overpriced wood had been a waste of money. Now she drew it, praying that the rumors were true, that she wasn’t staking her life on fiction.

Faerie or not, there would be no outrunning him. She could let him kill the doe and sneak away while he was distracted, but then she would be returning to her family empty-handed. This was winter, where ruthlessness was all she could afford.

And if it was indeed a faerie’s heart pounding under that fur, then good riddance. Good riddance, after all their kind had done to humans. If she let him live, then she risked him creeping into the village to butcher and maim and torment.

She would be glad to end him.

Yes, that instinctual voice agreed. The fae are dangerous. The fae are merciless. End him now and save your village from slaughter.

A prickling sensation along her back struck Feyre with a new fear—that he wasn’t alone. But she couldn’t hazard a glance over her shoulder to be sure, not without taking her eyes off the wolf. Feyre gripped her bow and drew the string back, training the arrow on his powerful, silver body. She had only one ash arrow, which meant she couldn’t afford to miss.

The wolf sank onto his haunches, preparing to strike. There was no time to second guess. He shot from the brush in a flash of gray and white and black, yellow fangs gleaming as they wrapped around the doe’s neck.

Feyre fired the ash arrow.

She swore the ground shuddered as the arrow found its mark in his side. He barked in pain, releasing the doe as his blood sprayed onto the snow—so ruby bright, not any different than her own. He whirled towards her, those yellow eyes wide, hackles raised. His growl reverberated in the empty pit of her stomach as she surged to her feet, snow crunching beneath her, another arrow drawn.

The wolf merely stared, his maw stained with blood, the ash arrow protruding so vulgarly from his side. The snow began falling again, and he looked at her with the sort of awareness that made her fire a second arrow. Just in case—just in case that intelligence was of the immortal, wicked sort.

He didn’t try to dodge the arrow as it went clean through his wide yellow eye.

Only once he collapsed to the ground, legs twitching, did Feyre notch another arrow and turn towards the thicket at her back. Her eyes anchored on the point of the arrowhead as she swept her aim blindly between the trees for any sign of that looming presence she’d sensed.

There was only slow-drifting snow, skeletal trees, and the soft whine of the dying wolf.

Alone, that residual intuition told her. Safe.

Feyre eased the arrow off the bow before turning to face the carnage. Her hands shook at the sight of the blood gushing from the wounds she’d given him, staining the snow crimson. He pawed at the ground, his breathing already slowing. The snow swirled around them, merciless as the arrow through his eye, almost to the goose fletching. She stared at him until that coat of charcoal and obsidian and ivory ceased rising and falling.

A wolf, she told herself. Only a wolf, despite his size.

Still, she couldn’t shake the creeping sensation of being watched as she crouched beside both animals. If nothing else, it encouraged her to work quickly. She couldn’t carry both animals back to the village—even the doe alone would be a struggle. But it was a shame to leave the wolf. His pelt would fetch decent coin or at least make for a nice cloak to fight off the winter chill.

Though it wasted precious minutes—minutes during which any predator could smell the fresh blood, if there wasn’t already one circling—Feyre skinned him and cleaned her arrow as best she could.

When she was finished, she wrapped the bloody side of the pelt around the doe’s death wound before hoisting the deer across her shoulders. Grunting against the weight, Feyre grasped the legs of the deer and spared a final glance over her shoulder, past the steaming carcass of the wolf to the forest beyond. Wind whistled against the hollow branches, obscuring any sound of nearby creatures.

And though nothing emerged from the trees on the other side of the clearing, she swore something in the vacant space stared back. Curious. Patient.

Feyre swallowed before sparing one last glance at the bloodied snow. Maybe she was unsettled by the gore, by how little remorse she felt for the dead thing. Grief was too heavy to hold with a doe around her shoulders and several miles separating Feyre from her cottage. Maybe she told herself something was watching so it could bear that burden in her place.

And maybe a creature so capable of mourning would be equally capable of forgiveness, so that when Death inevitably arrived on her doorstep—be it days or months or years—maybe the eyes that fell at her back would mourn for her, too.

-

The trampled snow coating the road into the village was speckled with brown and black mud from passing carts and horses. Elain and Nesta did their best to dodge the particularly disgusting parts as the three of them trekked their way along it.

Feyre was aware that her sisters had only decided to accompany her because she’d be selling the hides today. It was market day, which meant that the meager square in the center of town would be full of whatever vendors had braved the brisk morning. The snow had cleared some in the night, leaving Feyre hopeful that traveling peddlers had gambled the journey. She found they usually offered her a better price than the local merchants.

From a block away, the scent of hot food wafted towards them—spices that tugged on the edge of her memory, beckoning. Elain let out a low moan behind her, and Feyre’s mouth watered. Spices, salts, and sugars were rare commodities for most of the villagers. It had been a long while since Feyre and her sisters had eaten anything besides bread and game meat.

She fought the temptation to stare too long at the food vendors as they strode into the busy market square. Spring was still a long way off, and the forest had been particularly unforgiving this year. They needed to be smart with any excess coin, even if the scent of fresh tarts drifted towards her from the doors of the passing bakery. They were luxuries of a time before.

“I’ll meet you here in an hour,” Feyre said to her sisters, not giving them a chance to respond before she slipped away into the crowd.

Feyre took her time to assess her options. There were her usual buyers: the weathered cobbler and the sharp-eyed clothier who came to the market from a nearby town. She could feel the eyes of the cobbler and clothier on her, sense their feigned disinterest as they took in the satchel she bore.

Fine. She slid her eyes past them dismissively, searching the crowd for unfamiliar faces, someone who might be inclined to buy a wolf hide. Like the tall, raven-haired man sitting on the lip of the broken square fountain, without any cart or stall, but looking like he was holding court nonetheless.

It was hard to place him at first. He was handsome, ungodly so, and smiling to himself like he knew it. She might have pinned him as a lord’s son for the swaggering arrogance that radiated from him, but the clothes were off. He bore well-made leathers and a fur cloak. Not the finery of a lord, but from his full cheeks and glowing skin, he didn’t strike her as someone scraping for his next meal, either. He turned, and the pommel of the sword strapped across his back answered her question. A mercenary.

It wasn’t his sword that stilled her approach, though its silver scabbard was polished with enough care that it reflected light even with the overcast sky. It was his eyes, turning to meet hers. Such an interesting color—not quite blue, but a deeper shade, almost violet, and like his sword they were brighter than seemed possible in the bleak winter. They twinkled with amusement as he beheld her.

Feyre’s mood immediately soured. She didn’t have the patience for condescension today. She might have turned around, but he’d already seen her, and the coin purse strapped to his weapons belt looked heavy enough that she decided to stay. Mercenaries were well-paid in this territory.

“Well met,” he said, nodding his head in a gesture of greeting as equally foreign as the lilt to his voice.

She pegged him as anywhere between twenty-five to thirty years of age. His sensual, swaggering grace spoke of youth. But there was a hardened edge to him, one that said he’d been in this trade long enough to expertly wield the sword at his back, and to adequately punish anyone who made an inconvenience of themselves.

Feyre didn’t want to linger and find herself on the opposite end of that sword, especially before knowing if he was interested in buying from her. She sucked in a breath to offer her pitch and found herself blurting, “Where do you hail from?”

His brows raised. She suppressed an exhale of relief that it was intrigue sparking in his eyes, and not disapproval for wasting his time. “That depends.” Feyre couldn’t draw her attention away from his violet stare, even as it flitted over her shoulder, making a quick assessment of the passing villagers trying their best not to gawk. “Will my answer impact your willingness to do business with me?”

She supposed that meant others in the village had turned him away already. A surprise, given his exceptional beauty, but she supposed that amounted to little in the face of prejudice. Feyre knew well enough that a person’s circumstances didn’t define them, and that the judgment cast by the village was harsh on its best days. With the added rumors of neighboring villages being ransacked, she could imagine the wariness they might pay a stranger with a sword. Even a beautiful one.

“No,” Feyre said. “I’m just curious. I’ve never seen you here before.”

I would have noticed you, she thought.

In part because he was massive, even sitting down. A mark of the trade, she supposed. No one would hire a mercenary who looked like her—gangly from hunger and drowning in her layers. Unlike her withering figure, he was broad and well-muscled. Strong. She couldn’t remember the last time she felt that way.

As he contemplated her response, his gaze snagged on her arm and his smile faltered. “Are you a painter?”

The question caught her so off guard that she bristled, her weight shifting onto her back foot in case she needed to cut and run. The mercenary laughed, softly, and nodded at the fleck of paint on the sleeve of her tunic. Paint that had to have been there from three summers ago, damning evidence that this tunic was old and rarely washed.

She swallowed, apprehensive at his observation. Why it was relevant to someone like him. “I like to paint,” she said, because she wouldn’t go as far to call herself a painter. Her skills were rudimentary, at best. “Does it matter?”

An odd look crossed his face, as though he was retreating to some distant memory. Then he offered another of those arrogant smiles and mimicked, “No, I’m just curious.”

Fair enough. One personal question in exchange for another.

“I hail from Illyria,” he said. At her blank look, he added, “A tribe of people nestled in the steppes of a far-away mountain range.”

On the continent, she filled in. There was nothing like that here, at least not on this side of the Wall. When the land was divided all those centuries ago, the faeries had allocated a slim strip of plains and woodlands to the humans. Anything so majestic as a mountain range was left to the fae above the Wall, but at least these lands were hospitable without magic.

“No wonder the winter doesn’t phase you,” she said, gesturing to his cheeks and nose, which lacked the rosy flush that was surely painted on her own. “This weather must feel mild in comparison.”

“It’s been many years since I’ve returned to the Illyrian Mountains,” he said. He kept his voice light, but Feyre sensed they were treading towards unwelcome territory. “And the conditions in these lands have been harsh, but they may be letting up soon.”

Feyre frowned, glancing toward the sky. “You think so?”

There were at least two months remaining before winter yielded to spring. But perhaps wherever he came from, the weather changed sooner.

When she glanced back at the mercenary, he was staring at her, a smile playing on his full lips. “Things look promising from where I’m sitting.” Was he… flirting with her? Feyre must have spent too long debating it, because the mercenary drew her out of the thought by nodding at her satchel. “What business does a pretty thing like you have with a mercenary like me?”

It was absurd to feel flattered by his words. Feyre couldn’t remember the last time someone had bothered to pay her that sort of compliment. Certainly not Issac, who was inclined not to speak a word during those moments she found herself undressed beneath him. That was perfectly fine with Feyre. She preferred silence over a lie.

She fought to hide her scowl, but from his laugh, she thought it was unsuccessful. Pushing aside her rising ire, she said, “I have a wolf pelt and a doe hide for sale. I thought you might be interested in purchasing them.”

He ran those remarkable eyes down her again. Feyre coaxed herself to remain steady, to lift her chin as he crooned, “Does that make you a huntress or a thief?”

It was difficult to determine which would be more impressive to him. Feyre held his stare as she answered, “I hunted them myself. I swear it.”

He would not understand what it meant to her, that vow. After their world had been cleaved by the fae, humans had deserted their religions and holidays. In Faerie, they relied on magic to bind a person to their word, but they had no such tools here, no Cauldron or Mother or any other deities to swear upon. Here, a person was only as good as their word. To Feyre, and to many of the villagers, a vow was sacred. But if he fashioned her a thief, he may not consider her word as bond.

“A huntress then,” he purred. His attention fixed on her satchel. “Let me see.”

Feyre pulled out the carefully folded hides. “I was only after the doe, to feed my family. But the wolf got to her first. And I made sure I was the one who left the clearing alive.”

The mercenary gave a low whistle as he examined the hides with an expert eye, running his hands over and under. She expected to be met with incredulity, but she marked awe in his voice as he praised, “Impressive kill, little huntress. You must be a good shot.”

“If I weren’t, I’d be dead.”

That truth sobered him. Sobered them both. He assessed her for a long moment, then lifted his gaze over her shoulder, where Nesta and Elain were doing their best to eavesdrop without being spotted.

He pursed his lips. “I’ll take them,” he said, before naming a price that would have sent her staggering if she didn’t keep a tight grip on her composure. He was grossly overpaying.

Feyre leveled her shoulders. “I don’t need your pity.”

“No,” he agreed, eyes darkening. “But you need to stay out of those woods, and I know you won’t keep out of them if your family is starving.” The question must have been plain on her face. He pitched his voice lower. “I think you know that this wasn’t any ordinary wolf. It won’t take long for its kind to come sniffing, and you may end up leading them right to those sisters of yours.”

She refused to glance over her shoulder and offer merit to the fear he was trying to churn in her gut. He wanted her to look at her sisters and see their slight figures, so fragile and defenseless against a creature like the one she’d encountered yesterday morning. Her stomach roiled despite her efforts. “Are you trying to scare me so that I hand the coin right back to hire your protection?”

The mercenary chuckled, but it lacked any warmth. “My services have already been bought by a local lord. I’m just trying to warn you, from one hunter to another. You go back into those woods, and you’ll be courting your death.”

She wasn’t brave enough to ask if he was speaking from experience, if he’d once been hunted by the fae after killing their kin. If she was smart, she’d heed his words and use his coin to get her family on a boat headed south, somewhere far away from the Wall. But would they believe her, would they be willing to go?

“Think on it,” he said, as if she wasn’t already. She held perfectly still as he reached into his heavy cloak to withdraw his coin pouch. She let him count, her mind far away while she plotted their different options of escape, including the scenarios where she had to drag her sisters kicking and screaming from their beds. It was preferable to a vengeful faerie doing the same.

Maybe it was for the better. The land left for the humans in this realm had always been an afterthought, and the governing queens had never paid much attention to this small colony of villages. She’d heard things were better on the continent, the land warmer and more fertile. Elain could garden, and Feyre could learn to make paints from the petals. It was a nice thought, a comfort against the more dangerous one—if she didn’t convince her sisters to leave, a faerie might come seeking revenge for the one she felled.

Feyre’s awareness was jolted back into the cold market square by the press of metal against her palm. She blinked, and violet eyes filled her vision, creased in feint amusement.

“What’s your name?” He asked.

The weight of the coins felt heavy. She knew if she glanced at her sisters, she’d find them drawing closer, sensing the transaction was over. What would he do with her name if she gave it to him? She couldn’t imagine anything good could come of it.

“Tell me yours first,” She countered.

That errant smile grew. And she understood why he had chosen to become a mercenary. Feyre only hunted in the woods out of necessity. If tomorrow she discovered she would never need to raise her bow against another breathing creature, she would feel relieved. But from the way his eyes sparked, fascinated at this new game afoot, she knew that he was the kind of man who hunted for thrill. That this information, basic and inconsequential as it may be to the rest of the world, had become his new quarry.

He raised a hand, offering it into the space between them.

“Rhys,” he said.

Wind played at his raven hair, swiping pieces across his forehead. Feyre stared at his outstretched hand. Broad and flecked with the odd scar, his hands were more elegant than she’d expect of a mercenary. They wouldn’t have looked out of place against the ivory keys of a pianoforte or gripping fine cutlery at a Lord’s dining table. Maybe that was the danger of him—the charming smile and the clever eyes. Perhaps his foes saw a pretty face and underestimated what he could do with that sword. Maybe the poor mercenary was one littered with scars, whereas Rhys walked away from his battles unscathed.

“No family name?” she pressed.

“They’re not needed in my trade.” Rhys leaned forward, flexing his fingers in invitation. “And you, little huntress? What name might I inquire after to ensure you’re still alive in a week’s time?”

Rhys. She had no way of verifying if that was his true name. Maybe he changed it every place he went, never assuming the same identity, never leaving a trail. If a faerie found him one day and demanded to know where that wolf pelt had come from, what would stop Rhys from revealing her name? Especially if it could spare his own life.

He wouldn’t ask if he didn’t think it would be useful to him one day. She wouldn’t delude herself by buying into his purred words and bedroom eyes. Feyre took a step back, steadying herself.

“There’s only one huntress in this village,” she said. “They’ll know who you mean.”

The mercenary lowered his hand, slipping it casually into his pocket. “I told you mine.” Velvet as the melted chocolate being sold by the cup two stalls away, Rhys leaned closer and whispered, “That makes our debt uneven, love. I may seek payment for it one day.”

A shiver crept down her spine, though she couldn’t determine if it was from the threat of the words or the sultry promise in his voice. Feyre curled her hand around the strap of her satchel, fingers tightening over the worn leather like she didn’t trust he wouldn’t try to snatch it from her. “I have to go,” she said, her tongue feeling thick. From the cold, she reasoned.

He waved a hand over her shoulder, smirking at whatever caught his eye. “I wish you luck, then.”

Feyre turned, expecting to find that Nesta finally summoned the courage to yank her away. But the mercenary’s lazy smile wasn’t directed towards Nesta and Elain, ducked conspicuously behind the clothier’s wagon. It was aimed across the square. Where, leaning against a building, arms crossed over his chest, Isaac Hale watched their interaction through raised brows.

More of that wicked amusement spread over Rhys’s face. “Friend of yours?”

Friend was both an understatement and too generous of a word. They’d vaguely known each other since Feyre’s family had moved to the village, and one afternoon they wound up walking down the main road together. Their conversation had been inane and perhaps a bit awkward, but a week later, she’d pulled him into a decrepit barn. He’d been her first and only lover in the two years since.

Their trysts were erratic and haphazard; sometimes they’d meet every night for a week, others they’d go a month without seeing each other. If recollection served, it had been almost six weeks since that last frantic shedding of clothes and shared breaths. He has grown lean since the last time she saw him, his brown hair a bit shaggier.

There was no love between them. There never had been. But the last time she’d seen him, Isaac told her he’d soon be married. A piece of her heart had sunk at the news, and she’d avoided seeing him since. Now, she weighed the apprehension in her chest against the reprieve of company, that bit of selfishness that made their bleak and wretched lives more bearable.

Feyre blew out a breath, watching Issac incline his head in a familiar gesture and amble off down the street—out of town and to the ancient barn, where he would be waiting if she decided to join him.

“Yeah,” Feyre said. “A friend.”

If he believed her answer, he didn’t press. She didn’t imagine her pathetic love life would be of much interest to someone like him. There was no room for wives and children in his lifestyle. Perhaps the occasional love affair, though he likely didn’t stay in the same place for very long. Maybe that was why there was understanding in the way he nodded. Like he, too, needed the occasional warm body to remind himself that there was life outside of the daily horrors.

“Just try to stay out of trouble.” His eyes gleamed in a way that suggested staying out of trouble meant staying far, far away from him.

She didn’t get a chance to respond before a slender hand clamped onto Feyre’s forearm, dragging her away. Elain waited beside the clothier’s wagon, shivering despite her cloak as she watched Nesta pull Feyre away from the mercenary.

“Mercenaries are dangerous,” Nesta hissed, fingers digging into Feyre’s arm. Even Elain’s face had gone pale and tight. “Don’t go near them again.”

“He was fine,” Feyre said, yanking herself free. “Generous, even.”

“They’re brutes, and will take any copper they can get, even if it’s by force.”

The silver coins in her pocket said otherwise. Feyre glanced at Rhys, still sitting on the fountain. He hadn’t taken his eyes off her. She glanced away, feeling her cheeks warm, knowing she’d made it obvious they were talking about him.

She shoved a hand in her pocket, suddenly desperate to escape this market and those piercing violet eyes. She pushed a twenty-mark copper towards Elain, not bothering to look at either of them as she said, “I’ll see you at home.”

They didn’t protest. Feyre thought it was miraculous how swiftly a mercenary’s business became acceptable if it meant a new pair of boots, but she held back the sharp words on her tongue. Her sisters wandered off, already whispering about what they should buy.

Like an arrow trained at her back, she could feel the mercenary’s gaze tracking her as she wove through the market stalls, not even bothering with subtlety in those rare moments when she gathered the courage to glance over her shoulder. He merely grinned at her, shameless.

She intentionally left down the same street as Isaac, just so Rhys might assume she was on her way to meet the farmboy. And think twice about following her. When she reached the ancient barn, she paused. Isaac would be waiting to undress her on the other side of the splintered and peeling wood. She could already feel the hot breath on her spine, the hay straws biting into her palm, her knees. Maybe it was better to see him in case Rhys didn’t think twice about following her. And maybe because she could feel a pit in her chest yawning open, and she thought Isaac’s strong, work-roughened hands might be able to hold it closed for just a little longer.

Just enough to feel warm again, for an afternoon. Before she returned to the cottage and remembered that she killed a faerie yesterday. And might very well have put a price on her head—on her family’s head—because of it.

He’s married, a small, rational voice reminded her. Maybe it’s time to move on.

Besides, the last thing she wanted was to get him killed.

Feyre walked past the barn. She ought to feel proud of her dignity, but it didn’t soothe the pit in her chest, a tempest of ice and darkness that slowly seeped out with every step along the frozen path back to the cottage. No amount of stuffing her fingers into her armpits could banish the cold. It was here, it was her.

She sighed, watching the breath expel in a cloud of frosty air. There had always been an undercurrent of darkness that drew her and Isaac to each other, but now she wondered if she was too frozen, too hollow, even for him.

And as she walked, she found herself thinking about Rhys, unflinching at the bite of winter. And how, for that short time she’d been drenched in the heat of his gaze, his eyes the first vibrant color she’d seen since winter had overtaken the village, she’d forgotten what it was to be cold.

-

Hours later, after another dinner of venison, Feyre’s family gathered around the fire for the quiet hour before bed. She watched the flames flicker in the fireplace, absently bathing in the precious heat before she and her sisters would retreat into the bedroom, where they’d huddle together for warmth beneath threadbare blankets.

Nesta and Elain whispered and laughed together about some encounter they’d had with a handsome apprentice in the marketplace. There was the odd lull in laughter, in which Nesta would slide her eyes to Feyre as if daring her to make some comment about Tomas Mandray, a woodcutter’s second son who would allegedly be proposing to her any day now. They’d fought about it the day prior, but it felt like centuries ago.

All evening, she’d been trying to summon the courage to admit to her family where that wolf’s pelt had truly come from. What it had come from. She wasn’t certain how they would react or if they would even take the warning of the mercenary seriously. Father might. He’d once traded one of his wood carvings for the wards etched around their cottage’s threshold, supposedly meant to protect their home against faerie harm. It was one of the few things he’d bothered to do for them. If the fae scared him enough that he’d barter with a charlatan for those useless engravings, maybe the threat would be enough to rattle him into action again.

Except he was dozing in his chair, his cane laid across his gnarled knee. And she suspected she would get nowhere with her sisters without his aid. He had no sway with Nesta, but Elain would listen to him. And wherever Elain went, Nesta would follow.

Tomorrow, then. She would speak privately with her father and worry about convincing her sisters later.

Tomorrow was a nice idea.

But then a roar cleaved through the still night. The cottage door burst into splinters. And her sisters screamed as snow flooded into the room, flurrying around the enormous, growling shape that appeared in the doorway.

[magmacavern]

Hero and Partner Week, Day 4: Festival (+ Day 2: Flowers)

One year after her arrival in the world of Pokémon, Skitty takes Neo to her first Shaymin’s Equinox Festival. Before the party starts, they show their gratitude for Kangaskhan by helping her decorate her shop for the festivities!

I wrote a short story to accompany this illustration and provide some lore for what the festival is. You can read it below or here on Archive of our Own!

@heropartnerweek

🌸

“Hold still, I’m almost done.”

Skitty braided the second to last of the flowers into Neo’s mane and sat back to admire her work. She had tucked one dainty bloom behind Neo’s left ear and dappled several others across her mane as if a gentle breeze had blown them onto her, and then she loosely braided each of the stems into her fur to fasten them. Six coral petals adorned each small flower, and six bright yellow stamens erupted from each of the snow-white centers. The dark leaves, glossy like emeralds, contrasted against the plush grey and white of Neo’s long fur. 

“Finished now?” She asked, impatient from Skitty’s fussing.

“Yes,” replied Skitty, “and if I say so myself, you look beautiful.” She leaned in and nuzzled Neo’s forehead.

Despite her small smile, Neo pawed at her muzzle and glanced away. Not meeting Skitty’s eyes, she grumbled, “what are these, anyway?”

“You …” Skitty tilted her head slightly, considering. “I guess you can’t remember them, do you?”

Neo shook her head at that.

“They’re called gracideas,” Skitty explained, placing the final blossom behind her own ear. “Around here, they’re always the first flowers to bloom after the season’s last snowfall, and they mark the beginning of springtime. They don’t last long: just a few weeks. You must have come here not long after the last gracideas had died.” She hummed low in her throat. “I forget, sometimes, how little time you’ve actually been here with us.”

As she listened, Neo watched the day’s last rays of sunlight streaming in through the window. “It doesn’t feel like it’s only been a year to me, either.”

After a moment, Skitty said, “every year, we throw a party in honor of the coming of spring. It’s called the Festival of Shaymin’s Equinox, after the Pokémon who planted the very first gracidea seeds and brought the world out of a long winter many generations ago. We celebrate Shaymin’s Equinox by decorating the Square with gracidea flowers we collect from the Beau Plains, making lots of special foods, stuff like that. A long time ago, the festival was about celebrating those who survived the winter and mourning those who were lost, but now that we’ve learned how to adapt to the colder months, it’s mostly about showing our gratitude to the Pokémon we care about.” Skitty lifted a paw and caressed one of the flowers she had braided into Neo’s fur. “It’s really important around to Pokémon around here.”

Skitty stood abruptly. “Anyway, it’s time to go!” She waved with her tail for Neo to follow. “I promised Kangaskhan that we would help her set up before the festival starts.” 

Neo smiled again, charmed by Skitty’s sudden bashfulness. She stood and pressed a brief kiss between her eyes before leading the way outside.

As they walked together out of the rescue base and into the golden spring evening, Neo entwined her tail with Skitty’s and thought how lucky she was to be alive in this world.

[talesfromasnarkylisa]

Stranded In Arendelle: Chapter 3

After finalizing the trade deal with Arendelle, Rapunzel decided to talk to Eugene. Much as she enjoyed hanging out with the populace, she had a bad feeling the gathering was going to go awry. 

“Darling, I think we should go soon,” she told her husband.

Eugene was busy hanging out with a prince when Rapunzel approached him.

“Why?” Eugene was confused. “We’re having the times of our lives here! No property disputes to solve, no world ending disaster. What could possibly go wrong?”

“A lot, actually,” Rapunzel sighed. “The queen is as friendly as a rock. Actually, no. Rocks have way more personality than her. She absolutely refuses to directly negotiate with me. Her sister’s trying to marry a money-grabbing Southern Isles prince. She says Elsa would approve, but I just can’t see that happening. And I have no damn clue as to whether there’s a curse or a vengeful lost royal with magical powers, but there sure as hell are people with a serious vendetta against Arendelle!”

“Calm down, sweetheart,” Eugene tried to comfort her. “I’m sure there are enough bodyguards to secure everything.”

“Yeah, I don’t know about that,” worried Rapunzel. “I also talked to the advisor, and he told me Arendelle has a lot of enemies. Thus why they needed the trade deal.”

Eugene thought about what Rapunzel was saying. He was starting to worry a little, too. There were a lot of land disputes back in Corona. And with King Frederic’s state of health, it would be unwise to leave the kingdom with just him for too long.

“Ok, we’ll leave by the end of today,” he stated. “I just need to finish up discussing some possibly useful weapons for Corona’s defenses.”

“Fine by me,” Rapunzel responded.

…

To say there was quite a scene when Rapunzel and Eugene got back into the castle would be quite the understatement. As Rapunzel predicted, Queen Elsa was very much not fine with the red-haired prince - who as it turned out, was Prince Hans - marrying Anna. Everyone in the room stopped to watch their spat.

So much for that discussion, Eugene was disappointed.

The royals of Corona tried to get out of the castle. But before they could even leave the throne room, the doors behind them shut and locked. Anna pulled off one of Elsa’s gloves. The next thing Eugene and Rapunzel knew, the queen summoned ice spikes with her hand.

Looks like I know who has winter powers now, figured Rapunzel.

She pressed the button on Varian’s unfreezing device to keep the spikes from attacking her. As Elsa fled the palace, a snowstorm was left in her midst. Everyone - from the coronation guests to Anna to the populace at large - were shocked. In the distance, tourist cruises were rapidly departing to escape the icy weather.

“Run,” Eugene stared at Rapunzel. “If we get to one of those ships in time, we’ll at least make it out of here.”

Rapunzel obliged. They ran through snow, slush, and wind. They took every carriage possible until the services closed due to the worsening snowfall. Eugene slipped on ice twice, but only got a few bruises. The two made it to the dock when the last boat left.

They were now stranded in Arendelle.

July 22nd, 1843

Rapunzel and Eugene were in the library they initially planned to get Arendelle maps from. The princess was busy using the telegraph. After having trouble deciphering its beeps and boops at first, she took an instruction manual from one of the shelves.

“Any luck with the telegraph, Rapunzel?” asked Eugene.

“It’s taking forever to operate the damn thing,” she answered. “But yes. Varian’s almost done fixing an airship to send here for us in a few days.”

“With this kind of weather,” Eugene despaired, “I’m not sure an airship’s going to make it.”

Rapunzel closed the instruction manual for the telegraph.

“There should be antifreeze devices on the airship,” Rapunzel stated. “Besides, we were originally supposed to be gone for a week anyway.”

“True,” Eugene responded. 

All of the sudden, Rapunzel spotted Nuru in the library. She waved to her, and Nuru approached Rapunzel.

“Hello!” greeted Nuru. “What are you two doing here?”

“We were trying to get the telegraph to work,” stated Rapunzel. “so we could get back to Corona on time.”

“Oh,” Nuru put some books in her bag. “Do you have any idea where books about meteorites might be?”

As Eugene went to talk to the librarian. Rapunzel cleaned up the telegraph.

“I don’t know,” she answered. “I haven’t been to Arendelle before. Ask Eugene when he comes back. Maybe he’ll know.”

“Ok,” said Nuru. “It’s just that my kingdom has dealt with meteorite attacks for about a decade now.”

Something clicked into Rapunzel’s head. Meteor showers. Hawada. State of emergency. She suddenly remembered part of why Corona needed the Arendellian trade deal; because Arendelle had been refusing to directly help Hawada for a while now and King Frederic wanted to. Unfortunately, Rapunzel had no idea how to help Nuru beyond the rather shaky trade deal the former made to get enough money.

“You know,” Nuru told Rapunzel, “I’ve never experienced snow in my life. I kind of want to enjoy all the frozen white crystals outside. Make snow angels, build snowmen. Wanna come?”

Right, thought the princess of Corona. Nuru’s 16.

“When Eugene comes back,” Rapunzel responded. “I think he could use the fun too.”

“Yay!” exclaimed Princess Nuru.

…

Once Eugene came back, Rapunzel and Nuru started building a snowman outside. Eugene needed to finish up securing those weapons for Corona first, but he promised Rapunzel he’d come back to see the final product.

“There’s so much snow!” Nuru exclaimed. “It doesn’t even go below freezing back home,”

“First time for everything,” said Rapunzel.

Rapunzel gathered the carrot and buttons for the snowman’s face. In the meantime, Nuru struggled to find good packing snow.

“How do I make this into a snowball?” Nuru was frustrated. 

“Look for snow that’s kind of sticky,” answered Rapunzel. “Close to warmer spots.”

“But isn’t snow supposed to be cold?” asked Nuru.

“Yes,” Rapunzel responded, “but not too cold.”

The two princesses were interrupted by a raven haired woman walking by. Slightly younger than Rapunzel, she was fair skinned and wore a grey overcoat on top of peasant clothing. 

“Cool snowman!” she complimented. “Who built it?”

“Both of us,” stated Rapunzel. 

“I’m Princess Nuru, by the way,” Nuru told the woman.

The woman in the gray jacket smiled.

“Nice to meet you both!” she exclaimed. “The name’s Kirsti, for the record.”

“Do you know where Eugene Fitzherbert is?” Rapunzel realized that it was a long time since her husband left.

“The brunet southern guard captain?” wondered Kirsti.

“Yes,” responded Rapunzel.

“I saw him with a bunch of well-dressed men,” said Kirsti. “Either castle guards or soldiers. He didn’t seem happy to be with them.”

Rapunzel dropped the snowball she just started packing.

“I have to go now,” she told the two women. 

“Bye!” Kirsti left.

“May I come with you, Rapunzel?” asked Nuru.

Rapunzel sighed.

“Eugene could be in a very complex and dangerous situation right now. You’re a teenager. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“That might be true,” answered Nuru. “But this trade deal he’s helping out with affects my country which I’m representing here. Which I’m running half the time at this point, even though there’s an acting regent.”

The princess of Corona thought for a bit. Considering the alternative would have been to leave Nuru to fend for herself in a snowy foreign kingdom alone with a shady Westergaard in charge, Rapunzel decided to let Nuru come with her.  (Wattpad version: https://www.wattpad.com/1462062364-stranded-in-arendelle-chapter-3)

[mimicteruyo]

Freeze Alert

[Touhou Ship Week Day 5: Trust. Shizuha/Letty, 1.2k words]

"We really should get going now, Sister."

"Mm."

"I know you wanted to see her, but it's been below freezing for three nights in a row now."

"Mm."

"And what if she doesn't show up tonight either?"

"Mm."

"...You haven't listened to a word I've said, have you?"

Shizuha raised her chin from where it rested against her hand. "Was it about us going to sleep?"

"I know this can still be considered autumn... sort of." Minoriko frowned at the barren trees and the tangible greyness of the cold air around them. "But our time is over. If I stay out here shivering for a moment longer, I'm going to lose all hope."

"You can go if you want." Shizuha settled her chin back down. "I'll wait for just a little longer.."

"Promise me you'll come in before you turn into an icicle."

"Goodnight, Minoriko."

Minoriko muttered something about stubborn older sisters as she turned away the fallen tree Shizuha was using as a seat.

Once she was well and truly alone, Shizuha began to lean against a branch jutting out of the trunk and tried to keep herself from sighing. It was no longer possible to ignore the chill seeping into her marrow or just how smothering the darkness of the approaching night was.

Even so, she couldn't bring herself to leave.

She eyed the sodden bleakness of the Forest of Magic around her without much interest. It bore no resemblance to the colourful and bountiful woods of early autumn, but it wasn't exactly like winter either. If anyone required proof of that, the most obvious evidence was that no-one had seen so much as Letty Whiterock's shadow yet.

Most years, autumn and winter overlapped for a few days — not many, but just many enough. And most years, Letty showed up a bit early, knowing Shizuha would be waiting for her even before the final leaves had fallen.

Shizuha closed her eyes with the hope that if she couldn't see her bleak surroundings, she could more easily pretend they weren't there. Maybe Letty had finally gotten tired of their arrangement. Maybe she was already up and about Gensokyo and just wouldn't show herself in the forest until Shizuha gave up and left. Maybe Shizuha had said something stupid last year that had festered in Letty's mind all winter until it had turned into something untreatable.

The thoughts made the wind even more bitter. Shizuha hugged herself and kept waiting, thinking back on the final words Letty had said to her.

"I'll be back."

---

The beginning of winter always felt to Letty like exhaling after months of holding her breath.

She blinked slowly as the water in the air around her crystallised. As always, it took her eyes some time to adjust to the dark, especially before the first snowfall, but it had been decades since she had last found it this difficult to wake up. Had someone been manipulating the seasons again for whatever reason? She would have to look into it later and put a stop to it.

With time, the Forest of Magic began to look like itself again. She glanced over her shoulder as she took her first steps of the season, gratified to see the familiar train of frost following her.

She paused as soon as she reached the meeting place and watched her breath rise up towards the cold stars. She wasn't sure why she had bothered to come here at all. Shizuha would be long gone by now, fast asleep in some cosy nook dreaming of the following autumn. Letty only had herself to blame for  not showing up on time. She should write a letter to apologise. Maybe a gift of some kind would—

As dark as that stark, empty night was, she suddenly caught a glimpse of something almost violently red in the shadows.

Letty's heart beat infrequently at the best of times. It came to an utter standstill as she walked over to the fallen tree at the edge of the clearing and peered over it.

Shizuha lay curled up on a bed of dead leaves half hidden in the shadow of the trunk, her red dress standing out like a flame in the night. Her skin was covered in a lacework of frost, and her lips were starting to turn blue. Her eyes were closed.

"Shizuha Aki!" Letty lunged forward to lift Shizuha before she thought better of it. Her touch wasn't known to dispel frost. Quite the opposite.

After several uncomfortably long moments of considering her options and growing increasingly alarmed by Shizuha's utter stillness, Letty ultimately picked her up regardless. Even then she couldn't tell if Shizuha was breathing or not. Small crystals of ice clung to her eyelashes like frozen tears.

Quietly convinced it wouldn't make things worse, Letty cradled Shizuha close, then looked around into the silent night, her heartbeat as violent as it had ever been.

---

Shizuha burned. She tried turning away to escape from the flames, but they followed her as if her skin was already on fire. As if...

This isn't fire. It's...

She opened her eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling. She was lying on a couch with a pastel-coloured blanket drawn over her. The heat was now recognisable as the burn of thawing out.

"What..." She blinked before looking around and immediately locking eyes with Letty, who was standing right next to her.

"Shizuha Aki." Letty's tone was as flat as ever, but her eyes were almost liquid as if the ice in them had melted. "How do you feel?"

"Fine." She was in some pain — one of those funny consequences of having a physical form resembling that of humans — but it would fade soon enough. She sat up to take in the quaintly furnished Western-style sitting room they were in. "Where are we?"

"Oh, you're already awake." As if on cue, Alice Margatroid hovered into view flanked by two dolls. Her smile was surprisingly amiable for someone who had presumably had her home invaded by two near strangers in the middle of the night. "I'll be in the next room if you need me."

As soon as she had left, Letty leaned closer to Shizuha. "Do you need anything? Water? Tea?"

"I'm fine." She could almost ignore the sting already. In fact, she thought she might drift back into a dream soon enough, a pleasant one this time. "Funny. I don't even remember falling asleep."

Letty was silent for a while, then looked away. "I'm sorry."

"For what? It's not like I was in any real danger."

"I should've woken up earlier." Letty reached out to brush Shizuha's bangs from her face. Her touch felt like a cool breeze. "I didn't mean to cause you pain."

Shizuha caught Letty's hand before she could pull it away. Its touch burned more than ever, but she held on and smiled. "I knew you'd be back."

Later, when she thought back upon the night, it was unclear to her just how long they had truly spent together in the soft silence of that cosy room. It had felt at once like hours and no time at all.

Regardless, from autumn to autumn, she cherished the memory of the bitter burn of frost melting into sheer kindness.

[fragmentsofemelia]

Original Short Story - Chastleton House

National Trust: Chastleton House File

April 2005:

During the examination of Chastleton House a series of letters were found within a wall cavity in the Cavalier room. The letters were bound together in twine, with a crimson wax seal. The letters detail the first stay of Florence Whitmore-Jones (born Florence Clough) at Chastleton House. Although much of Florence’s early life is undocumented we can assume that she is between nineteen and twenty one at the time of writing. Florence would go on to marry John Henry Whitmore-Jones in the spring of 1830 and in the autumn she had her first child, Arthur Whitmore-Jones. Unfortunately Florence passed away during the birth of her third child, Willie Whitmore-Jones.

August 2016:

The letters were handed to the National Trust in the autumn of 2007 and were displayed within the property up until 2016, when the living relatives asked for them to be removed.

LETTER I

27th November 1829

Dear Mother,

It gives me the greatest pleasure to assure you that I arrived safely at Chastleton House in the late evening last night. The journey was exceptionally long, however, Mr Whitmore-Jones graciously sent a carriage to collect me from Cirencester station. Upon my arrival at Chastleton it was nightfall. I was resentfully rushed inside by the groundskeeper who took great care to tell me how late in the season it was and that Mr Whitmore-Jones is due home a week from now. Mother, I am so excited to meet him! Alas, I shall attempt to stifle my excitement with my letters to you.

The next morning I was made tea by one of the kitchen maids and was shown around by the miserable groundskeeper. This house is a labyrinth of secret rooms and passageways, with multiple staircases and a gallery full of Mr Whitmore-Jones’s collection of paintings and busts. I am sure that I will fit in here, Mother. The groundskeeper informed me that I am to stay in the snug Cavalier room. The walls are lined in a complex pattern of rose wallpaper, which looks rather wondrous! However, when I laid my bag down I saw a puckered scrape of the original wall where time had eradicated the paper. I fingered the loose parchment and watched as it disintegrated. I ran my hand across the harsh oak bed frame, where flecks of the wood submerged themselves within my palm. The groundskeeper assured me that I am the first inhabitant of the Cavalier Room since Mr Whitmore-Jones was announced the rightful owner. I hope that my stay here will prove to be rather wonderful, and if not it will not matter as I won't be gone for long!

Later that afternoon I was shown the grounds, which are entrapped by large shrubbery, with an intricate maze marking the centre of the gardens. The groundskeeper appeared rather excitable when we came to his rose garden. However this excitement soon turned to despair once he saw how the sharp air had bitten the petals from their buds and spat them upon the floor! I felt an acute pity for him and his dismissal of the winter. Mother this felt strange to me – our groundskeeper at Watlington Manor understands so much of the changing in season and never becomes disparaged by the wilting of his crop. The groundskeeper did not speak again unless it was to tell me of the history of the grounds or to complain of the bitter weather. We walked the entirety of the gardens until the night fell upon us.

Still, I am not quite sure as to why Mr Whitmore-Jones requested my presence so close to Christmas - perhaps he has heard of my talent with oils and hopes to add my work to his collection! Oh Mother, how wonderful would that be? Perhaps he will pay me handsomely and I may finally dedicate myself to artistry.

Your adoring Daughter,

Florence

LETTER II

1st December 1829

Dear Mother,

The sky has grown pregnant with white and grey, I'm sure it shall snow again soon. Chastleton has been coated with thick snowfall since I last wrote to you. On the first night of the snowfall I overheard the maids anxiously babbling about how early in the season it was for snow and that they do not think that Chastleton shall cope in these conditions– I can not say that I myself have been made anxious by this snowfall, I think it to be rather exciting! Although I do regret not asking Elizabeth to pack my warmer clothes. I am yet to fully understand the maids’ anxieties of Chastleton’s ability to withstand the winter, however as the days have rolled by it is becoming more apparent that it is in great need of a loving hand.

Last night on the west staircase I heard the furious cry of the Groundskeeper, protesting to a poor maid that Chastleton is in no position to allow guests– this made me ever so nervous and I rushed back to my room. Since my arrival at Chastleton I had noticed the derelict nature of the house, with the rooms coated in debris from the summer; there are even little birds nesting in the parlour, which I cannot bring myself to tell the groundskeeper about as I am sure they will meet their end. I have gone to great lengths to avoid the groundskeeper since last night.

During my days at Chastleton I have been resigned to sitting in front of the window and watching as the flakes turn the garden into a barren landscape of white. Unfortunately, the maids refuse to let me use my oils, over fear that I shall create some sort of unfixable mess! Otherwise I would take great pleasure in painting the trees that have been kissed with frost and the lawn that sits idly under the untouched blanket of twinkling snow. My candle illuminates the growing iciness upon the window pain as I sit and write this letter to you! There is something remarkably calming in the stillness of winter. Yet, I have become agitated by the impending nature of the spring – it stirs a fear within me that I am unable to place.

I have heard nothing of Mr Whitmore-Jones’s whereabouts. In vain I have tried to pull information about him from the maids, yet they refuse to speak of him. I think they have decided to keep me at a distance from them, as they retreat whenever I enter a room.

How are you and father? I do hope that you are well and that I shall hear back from you soon! I long for when I will be back with you again.

Your loving Daughter,

Florence

LETTER III

7th December 1829

Dear Mother,

I am restless at your absence, Is there a reason as to why you do not respond? I am sure there is a delay due to the snow but my heart longs to hear from you.

Since I last wrote to you I have found this insatiable urge rising within me to clean, as if I were a housemaid! I lay awake at night preoccupied with thoughts of dirt lining my nails and debris piling on the floor. The walls breathe iciness upon my skin as I feverishly clean this house in preparation for Mr Whitmore-Jones’ return. My days have become obsessive and tiresome at the sheer magnitude of work that Chastleton requires. Yesterday, during one of these fits of cleaning, the parlour became encapsulated by a rotten, festering aroma. The scent trickled down my throat which my body rejected as I violently wretched. I found the perpetrator of the odour whilst cleaning the fireplace. Underneath the cobweb ridden logs I made out the cream plumage of one of my house sparrows. I threw the logs into the centre of the parlour to reach her rotting body. As I picked up her wilted frame I felt her twitch and writhe as maggots pierced their way from her insides. Oh mother how horrid it was! I screeched as I saw them burrow out of her and retreated to my chamber. Yet this incessant urge within me to clean brought me back to her body. I held the poor thing in my palm and wept. I took her into the garden and buried her in the snow. Mother I do not know if I shall cope if that same fate falls upon the other sparrows!

My distance from Mr Whitmore-Jones upsets me so, as I believe he became quite fond of me. Mother, do you remember those lovely letters he would send me over the summer? I can still picture the crimson crested wax seal and the beautiful twine he would bind them in. He was enthralled at the mere idea of me visiting Chastleton– yet, where is he now? Still the maids refuse to tell me of his whereabouts and I am still forcing a distance between myself and the groundskeeper out of fear that he detests me! In fact, Mother, I haven’t seen anyone in days– The maids retreated with the growth of the snowfall, so I have been left to clean and long for Mr Whitmore-Jones to return.

I do hope to hear from you soon!

Your worried Daughter,

Florence

LETTER IV

8th December 1829

Dear Mother,

I know it has only been hours since my last letter – yet, nights at Chastleton cause me to question what I know to be true. At night the house eradicates my tender hours of labour. It toys with my spirit and forces me to start anew in the morning. My slumber is interrupted almost nightly, as of yet I do not know what it is, but there is a damp warmth in the air that suffocates my dreams.

Last night, in the haze of my dream, a thick dampness fell upon my chest, expelling the air from my lungs. I felt a gouging asphyxiation trickle down my body. I yelped as it curled up on my stomach causing my abdomen to gurgle and throb. My mind has become forgetful since my arrival; so I began to question if I were still in that lucid dream I had only encountered mere moments before, or if this horror was truly happening. My abdomen relentlessly groaned as my thoughts became wilder. I retreated from the Cavalier room, forcing myself down the west staircase to the Old Kitchen. A kitchen maid fixed a cup of tea to ease my mind and the pain eventually subsided. I told her at length of the damp horror that torments me so, and a brief glimmer of terror shone in her eyes. She held me as I walked back to the Cavalier room. The maid urged me to not only return to my slumber but to not tell the other maids of this damp horror.

This morning when I woke my chambermaid had drawn a bath for me. I thought this to be quite wonderful as the water was lusciously perfumed and warm. It reminded me of the baths Elizabeth would run for me! My hands began to shake as I worked the soap bar into my damp skin. I attempted to hold myself still and hoped that the stillness would rid the events of last night from my mind. The shaking softened and momentarily I felt as if I had never left Watlington. I felt as if I were only twelve and Elizabeth had run my sunday bath, the scent of freshly baked bread flitted about my nose. I lazily opened my eyes and continued to scrub at my skin. A hue of deep red sat tauntingly underneath the milky film of bath water. I jumped from the bath and this is when I saw the talons of the night marked upon my skin. The lacerations buried into my abdomen right where I had felt that terrible pang! I ran my fingers over the scratches, my skin rising where the ripping had taken place. I dressed quickly so that the chambermaid would not see my mangled form. I fear that the maids know more about Chastleton than they seem; Mother, there must be some awful secret they are hiding from me – something so ghastly and vile that lurks through the halls. This is why they have kept me at a distance, surely Mother? I am fearful to sleep again tonight in case the labourious pain rises again and I become a more mangled form of myself in the morning.

Your frightful Daughter

Florence

LETTER V

10th December 1829

Dear Mother,

The house has once again spat out all of the hours of labour that I have so tenderly afforded it. The grime oozes by night and the putrid odour of the little sparrow haunts my nose, inspiring an acute nausea to overcome me. The great parlour I once spent my days sat in has become littered with grime and sparrow excrement. The chill of the winter beckons me to retire from my insatiable cleaning; yet that same urgency grows and becomes unrelenting at the absence of Mr Whitmore-Jones. The longer he is kept from me the larger my desire to cleanse this house becomes. Upon my arrival the groundskeeper said he shall only be gone for a week– and how long have I been at this house now Mother – with nothing but cleaning and torment to pass the time!

I have thought about slipping away into the night, leaving Chastleton and never returning. However I lack transport and the journey is far too dangerous on foot, especially in this bitter winter. The silence of Mr Whitmore-Jones causes a scepticism to writhe within me. I fear I do not know when he shall come back to Chastleton, or if he shall come at all. I have tried in vain to find the groundskeeper and confront him about the whereabouts of Mr Whitmore-Jones but he has become ellusive. I see his figure in the gardens, traipsing large wheelbarrows from one place to another, but in the thick of the winter I do not understand his exertion, as surely there is nothing left to do?

In this isolation you must think that I have become hysterical, but this is all true! Mother, this house– it breathes with me– these walls like damp flesh that hold my body here. I do not know when I shall be able to see you again.

I still await your response – Mother, if you receive this letter please send our carriage to Chastleton so that I may come home!

Your nervous Daughter,

Florence

LETTER VI

12th December 1829

Dear Mother,

The damp torment that woke me many nights ago has metamorphosed into a curious, childlike anguish. Last night my chambermaid dressed me for bed and I fell into a deep slumber. I awoke to the curious patter of footsteps outside my room. I am the only inhabitant of Chastleton during Mr Whitmore-Jones’ absence, aside from the maids but they continue in their aloofness. The haphazard pounding of feet manifested outside my door. The beating of my heart rang in my ears. I swung the door back and a sharp chill hit my body. There was no being that explained the sound, I was met with the emptiness that I have grown accustomed to. I turned myself back to my slumber when a faint patter of feet echoed down the west staircase. I lit my candlestick in the fireplace and cautiously followed. The floorboards of the hall creaked with my impending steps. The groaning almost caused the patter that woke me to become indistinguishable. The familiar gripping pain penetrated my abdomen but I continued down the stairs, clutching at my already bleeding body. The echo faded as I entered the ground floor. I searched every room on the ground floor in vain, yet the purporator of my dream was nowhere to be found. I began to feel faint at my loss of blood and, to my own recollection, collapsed.

This morning I awoke in the Cavalier room and the scratches that had sunk deep into my skin were gone. There was no sign of blood on my nightgown that I had only clutched to my skin hours earlier. My candlestick sat back in the holder, its wick white as if a flame had never touched it. I grasped the wax stick and threw it into the fireplace. I caught sight of my deterioration in the mirror. My once plump cheeks concave, a grey tinge takes over my skin. Only my hair remains somewhat similar to the girl that entered Chastleton. My frame has been decimated with bruises and frailty bites at my bones. In my inspection of myself in the mirror, my abdomen began to bulge. Something groans and writhes within me, something most horrid and detestable. I fear it is too repulsive to imagine. Mother, I do not remember how I got back to the Cavalier room last night but I feel my condition worsen as I write this to you! The maids must not find out about this thing that thrashes inside me. I weep once more as I do not believe that you are receiving these letters, this house intercepts all of my desire and destroys it.

— Florence

LETTER VII

20th December 1829

Dear Mother,

My cleaning of this house has become relentless – every waking hour I feel the filth creep between my fingers and burrow its way into my mind. I wash my hands until I feel them crack yet the muck stains my palms. My sparrows have passed away, their little bodies pile in the fireplace by night and cause the most foul odour to hang in the air. My condition worsens with the hour as the cancerous thing grows inside me. I have asked my chambermaid, the only one of the maids who still allows herself to come near me, to discharge herself temporarily until Mr Whitmore-Jones returns. I am too fearful of her seeing the wreck I have become. I only leave the Cavalier room to clean or eat in the parlour.

My appetite has become engorged and peculiar; the smell of my once favourite pheasant causes my mind to reanimate the detestable stench of the rotting sparrows. The grotesque rot hangs in the air and suffocates my mind. Only the sweetest treacle keeps this rising hunger satisfied. My mouth salivates as I write this letter and think of the thick tar dribbling down my throat. I have taken to teaching myself how to cook in the dead of night, when the maids have retreated to the opposite side of Chastleton.

Last night the hunger awoke me. I hauled this growing form to the Old Kitchen. I felt the tumorous entity writhe within me as I began to crack eggs upon the cast iron contraption. The transparent slime hissed as the heat ate away at its clarity. My sweat-ridden hands furiously opened a jar of treacle. I grasped a spoon from the counter and heaped the syrup upon the spoon. I threw it upon the eggs, where the blackened treacle bubbled and curdled with the eggs. I heard the familiar patter of feet echoing down the west staircase. This sound startled me and the jar slipped from my grasp. It shattered, spreading treacle and fragments of glass across the stone floor. My body contorted and I fell to my knees, shovelling handfuls of the treacle into my mouth. The concoction scratched as I swallowed it down. I felt a frenzy overcome me as I consumed the mixture. My body convulsed as I coughed and blood sprayed across the Old Kitchen tiles. The patter became louder as the thing tore down the stairs. I sprang back, a chill of terror gripping my body. The wretch inside me squirmed with the rising sound of footfall. The door to the Old Kitchen swung back and a figure stood in the doorway. I felt my chambermaid grasp my shoulder. She pleaded for me to follow her. I obeyed and ran with her through the groundskeeper’s room, through the pantry and the Old Dairy. The incessant patter rang in my mind as we clambered up the east staircase. My chamber maid forced me through a door that the groundskeeper emitted showing me on that very first day here. Through the door was a narrow pathway, with a slanted wall that took up most of the space the room had to offer. On the floor was a mattress and a singular lit candle. My chambermaid encouraged me to lay still on the makeshift bed where I fell, once again, into a deep sleep.

– Florence

[newstfionline]

Monday, January 1, 2024

Happy New Year!

At the stroke of midnight, the New Year gives a clean slate (AP) It’s an annual end-of-year exercise in futility for many. But a clean slate awaits at the stroke of midnight for the next round of resolutions. From the first spray of fireworks to the closing chorus of “Auld Lang Syne” 366 days into the future—2024 is a leap year—it could be the year for finally achieving long-elusive goals, fulfilling aspirations and being resolute on all those New Year resolutions. “As humans, we are creatures that aspire,” said Omid Fotuhi, a social psychologist who is a motivation and performance researcher. “The fact that we have goals, the fact that we want to set goals is just a manifestation of that internal and almost universal desire to want to stretch, to want to reach, to want to expand and grow,” said Fotuhi. “New Year’s resolutions are one of those ways in which we do that,” he said. “There’s something very liberating about a fresh start. Imagine starting on a blank canvas. Anything is possible.”

Snow Shortages Are Plaguing the West’s Mountains (NYT) With gusts of wind howling around Mount Ashland’s vacant ski lodge this week, Andrew Gast watched from a window as a brief snowfall dusted the landscape. It was not nearly enough. The ski area’s parking lot remained largely empty. On the slopes, manzanita bushes and blades of grass were poking through patches of what little snow had landed. Even the 7,533-foot summit—the highest point in the Siskiyou Mountains along the Oregon-California border—still had bare spots. These days Mr. Gast has been checking the weather forecast the moment he wakes up, only to learn that warmer and drier days lie ahead. Across much of the West Coast, from the Cascades in the north to the Sierra Nevada in the south, mountain sites are recording less than half of their normal snowpack for this point in winter. The situation has created serious problems for dozens of ski resorts during the holiday weeks, which are crucial to their livelihoods, and has stirred wider concerns about the future—for the coming summer agriculture season and for the region’s altered ecosystems amid a warming climate. The snow that blankets mountain ranges in winters serves as a vital reservoir that is released when temperatures rise each summer. The snowmelt cools rivers enough to sustain salmon runs, propels hydropower systems that provide the region’s electricity and feeds irrigation channels needed to supply the nation’s apples, blueberries and almonds.

Last US lighthouse keeper steps down (Guardian) Sally Snowman, the last remaining official lighthouse keeper in the US, retires this weekend from her post looking after the first lighthouse built in North America, on a tiny island in Boston harbor. Snowman, 72, has been looking after Boston Light Beacon on Little Brewster Island for two decades and it’s now being sold to a private owner. The arrangement—the new owner will be required to preserve it—comes almost 60 years after it was designated a national landmark and government funding secured to keep it staffed, making it the last staffed lighthouse in the country. The lighthouse was built in 1716, almost a century after colonial settlers arrived from Europe. It had to be rebuilt after British forces blew it up in 1776, three years after a demonstration against British rule—the Boston Tea Party—kicked off a revolution.

In a crisis-ridden world, Germany’s chancellor uses his New Year’s speech to convey confidence (AP) Germany’s chancellor used his New Year’s speech to call on his country’s citizens not to lose confidence in the future as they adapt to a world experiencing multiple crises and changing at an ever-faster pace. “So much suffering; so much bloodshed. Our world has become a more unsettled and harsher place. It’s changing at an almost breathtaking speed,” Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in the prerecorded speech to be broadcast Sunday. “The result is that we, too, are having to change,” he said. “This is a worrying thing for many of us. In some, it is also causing discontent. I do take that to heart. But I also know this: We in Germany will get through it.” However, the chancellor made clear that Germany needs the work of all its people to take the country forward. “My fellow citizens, our strength also resides in the realization that each and every one of us is needed in our country—the top researcher just like the carer, the police officer just like the delivery driver, the pensioner just like the young trainee,” he said. “If we get that into our heads, if we deal with one another in that spirit of respect, then we need have no fear about the future,” Scholz said. “Then the year 2024 will be a good year for our country, even if some things do turn out differently from the way we imagine them today, on the eve of that new year.”

Ukraine, Stalled on the Front, Steps Up Sabotage, Targeting Trains (NYT) The saboteurs managed to place four explosives on a Russian freight train carrying diesel and jet fuel, roughly 3,000 miles from the Ukrainian border. But more important than the destruction of the train, Ukrainian intelligence officials said, was the timing of the blast. They needed it to blow up as the 50 rail cars were traveling through the nine-mile-long tunnel through the Severomuysky mountains, the longest train tunnel in Russia. Russia and Ukraine continue to battle on a large scale, both on the ground and with aerial strikes. But guerrilla tactics—including sabotage, commando raids, targeted assassinations and attempts to blow up ammunition depots, oil pipelines and railways—have taken on added importance as the two sides fail to make substantial advances at the front.

Japan issues tsunami warnings after a series of very strong earthquakes on the Sea of Japan coast (AP) Japan issued tsunami alerts and told people to evacuate seaside areas after a series of strong quakes on its western coastline Monday. The Japan Meteorological Agency reported quakes off the coast of Ishikawa and nearby prefectures shortly after 4 p.m., one of them with a preliminary magnitude of 7.6. It issued a major tsunami warning for Ishikawa and lower-level tsunami warnings or advisories for the rest of the western coast of Japan’s main island of Honshu. Japanese public broadcaster NHK TV warned torrents of water could reach as high as 5 meters (16.5 feet) and urged people to flee to high land or the top of a nearby building as quickly as possible.

Netanyahu says Gaza war on Hamas will go on for ‘many more months,’ thanks US for new weapons sales (AP) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday that Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza will continue for “many more months,” pushing back against persistent international cease-fire calls after mounting civilian deaths, hunger and mass displacement in the besieged enclave. Netanyahu thanked the Biden administration for its continued backing, including approval for a new emergency weapons sale, the second this month, and prevention of a U.N. Security Council resolution seeking an immediate cease-fire. Israel argues that ending the war now would mean victory for Hamas, a stance shared by the Biden administration, which at the same time urged Israel to do more to avoid harm to Palestinian civilians. The Health Ministry in Gaza said Saturday that more than 21,600 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s unprecedented air and ground offensive since the deadly Oct. 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel. It has said about 70% of those killed have been women and children.

The costs of Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza (Washington Post) It might seem obscene to assess the mounting financial cost of Israel’s war in Gaza while the bombs are still falling on the besieged enclave, when hundreds of Palestinians, on average, are dying each day—alongside smaller, but historic, numbers of Israeli soldiers. And yet, the economics behind the weeks-long assault have powerful implications for Israel, the Palestinians and the Middle East. The cost to Gaza, while clearly devastating, has not yet begun to be calculated. About half of the buildings and two-thirds of the homes in the Strip have been damaged or destroyed, 1.8 million people have been displaced and more than 21,000 people are dead, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. The Israeli economy has been damaged, too. Since Oct. 7, government spending and borrowing have soared. Economists interviewed by The Washington Post estimate the war has cost the government about $18 billion—or $220 million a day. A war that lasts five to 10 more months could cost Israel as much as $50 billion, according to the financial newspaper Calcalist. That would equal 10 percent of the country’s GDP.

At These Schools, Arab and Jewish Students Share Their Feelings, With Each Other (NYT) In a classroom decorated with Hebrew and Arabic letters, a group of third graders—their eyes closed, their hands placed facing up on their laps—took a deep breath in unison. “And exhale,” a teacher told them. The students, a mix of Jews and Arabs, attend Max Rayne Hand in Hand School in Jerusalem, one of six such bilingual institutions in Israel dedicated to the proposition that Israelis and Palestinians can learn and live together in peace. On a recent day in December, soon after a temporary cease-fire in Gaza collapsed and the prospect for peace seemed more distant than ever, the students were meditating. If regional peace seemed momentarily unobtainable, at least they could try for inner calm. At Hand in Hand schools, every class has two teachers—a Hebrew speaker and an Arabic speaker. As suspicions between Israelis and Palestinians are at an all-time high and support for a peace deal is at its lowest point in decades, the faculty and families who make up the Hand in Hand schools are doing the difficult work of trying to overcome those differences. And they believe they have created a model of honoring one another’s traumas, experiences and histories that can be replicated across the region. The schools present history through the lenses of both Israelis and Palestinians, and foster relationships between Arabs and Jews in childhood in the hope that they can extend into adulthood. “We need to be friends with each other and not fight,” one student at the Jerusalem school said in Arabic. “We can live in peace,” said another in Hebrew.

[hananoami]

[2024/06] Collection Progress

At last, the month of June has come to an end. This collection progress is a week late from when I originally wanted to post it, but it is what it is -- life happens.

There were two big limited-time wish banners that lasted roughly two weeks during this month that introduced new memories to the collection: Zayne's Trace of Divinity and a triple banner Entwined Shadows. There was also a 10 Days With You login event. Of course, to keep up with my 100% collection I participated in all of these. Not sure if I'll be able to say I 100% everything again once Sylus' collection is added into the game, but for now I am very fortunate to have been able to reach this feat.

Below is the breakdown of new memories added into the game.

𝔁𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒓

This 10 Days With You login event was for Xavier's [Lost Signal] memory, which was easy enough to obtain since all I had to do was log into the game and collect the daily login rewards. He was also apart of the Entwined Shadows banner. While I was attempting to pull his [21 Days] memory I lost the 50/50 to a dupe Zayne's [Snowy Serenity] and ended up using the Affection Crate to select his memory after 200 wishes... Thank god for the Romantic Blessings rewards. I noticed there was a trend in his new memories this month where him and MC were fake dating for work. It was a bit awkward during the tender moments in [Lost Signal] but we finally got our first kiss in [21 Days] kindled!!

[02] New memories that were added to the collection in June:

4☆ Lost Signal [Event: 10 Days With You]

5☆ 21 Days [Banner: Entwined Shadows]

𝔃𝒂𝒚𝒏𝒆

FINALLY! THE BANNER I HAVE LONG WAITED FOR! I already knew before any confirmed information was released about this myth pair I was going to R3 it... and true to my word I did, but at hefty cost. It took me 548 + 1 wish crate to fully rank out this solar pair. Out of all of the myth banners we've had Zayne required the most pulls. Do I regret it? Absolutely not. As a Zayne girly I was dedicated to the cause. His Snowfall solar pair hard carried me to clear his last Directional Orbit: Ice - Stage 120 fight (more on that can be read here). Actually GOAT'd. I really enjoyed his Yunshan's Charm event too. Over all, I couldn't have been more satisfied with the way his myth inspired event and limited-time wish banner turned out. We got to see a different side of him in another time line. It was bittersweet, but only made me appreciate him more. He deserves to be happy. And speaking of happiness, I truly cried when I saw Snowy Serenity's teaser showcase. We've gotten teased with kisses in previous memories with Zayne, like in [Drunken Intimacy] and [Heart Within Reach]. However those were always fade to black.. until now. [Snowy Serenity] is the first time where we actually got a full on kissing scene!! I could go on and on about this scene. The tension between him and MC... the desperation as their lips met... heck out of all of the kisses we've gotten from Entwined Shadows banner Zayne was the one that left me breathless.

[06] New memories that were added to the collection in June:

5☆ Snowfall Encounter [Banner: Trace of Divinity]

5☆ Snowfall Embrace [Banner: Trace of Divinity]

4☆ Forest's Breeze [Banner: Trace of Divinity]

4☆ Forest's Slumber [Banner: Trace of Divinity]

3☆ Secrets Of Fate [Banner: Trace of Divinity]

5☆ Snowy Serenity [Banner: Entwined Shadows]

𝓻𝒂𝒇𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒍

Rafayel also got his first kissing scene during the Entwined Shadows limited-time banner with [Floral Promise]! Originally, my plan was to pull in the following order: Zayne, Xavier, and then Rafayel... in spite of that order this pouty baby said he wanted to be first-- making me lose the 50/50. Usually it sucks losing the soft pity but I wasn't even upset since I was going to pull for this memory regardless. I only found it silly to see him come home before anyone else.

[01] New memory that were added to the collection in June:

5☆ Floral Promise [Banner: Entwined Shadows]

[ 𝓶𝒆𝒐𝒘 𝓫𝒂𝒅𝒈𝒆𝒔 ]

Xavier completed not one but TWO of his meow badge series this month with [Kittyland] and [Superkitty]! His first time!! On June 5th, I managed to complete both series at the same time which was kinda wild in its own right. Then on the same day, June 11th, Zayne completed [Superkitty] while Rafayel completed [Pawfait]. Overall, it was a very lucky month for us in terms of completing meow badge series!

Xavier: 87% Zayne: 92% Rafayel: 81%

[ 𝓹𝒍𝒖𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒆𝒔 ]

Rate up [Puffy Penguin] to the three-prong claw machine this month.

XAVIER: 40% ZAYNE: 36% RAFAYEL: 45%

[theghostpinesmusic]

Deschutes River Canyon (1/3)

A few weeks ago, back before all of our recent travel and right after the end of the school year, Lindsey and I backpacked the Deschutes River Canyon from Mack's Canyon to the confluence with the Columbia.

My obsession with this area started during COVID, when I took a solo trip there during spring break in 2021, because I was overwhelmed by work and stress and work-related stress and thought that maybe going on a backpacking trip earlier in the year than usual might help. It did, and so I came back in the spring of '22. Where my '21 trip was, by necessity, an out-and-back hike of part of the canyon, with Lindsey's help I was able to set up a shuttle in '22 and hike the full canyon from one end to the other. I had so much fun the second time that I started thinking of the trip as a new spring tradition of sorts.

Unfortunately, I was so buried by work this past spring break that I couldn't make the third annual iteration of the trip happen. Arguably, I needed the break this year more than in previous years for a variety of factors that probably deserve their own story, and I was heartbroken to have to "miss" the trip…but only until June, as it turned out.

Usually, the canyon heats up so much by June that while it's not unhikeable, it would be distinctly uncomfortable and possibly even dangerous to hike it. Also usually, by June I'm typically aiming for higher elevation alpine backpacking destinations that have a higher "payoff" (however you want to parse that word) for the effort than the Deschutes Canyon.

However, in one of those situations that was likely just random chance but felt like evidence of providence, the three days immediately following the end of the academic year this year were forecast to have atypically low temperatures. Simultaneously, because of the exceptionally high snowfall in the mountains this winter and spring, many of the high routes that are usually "in" in mid-June were still a month or so away from melting out. So, Lindsey and I booked a shuttle, packed our bags, and headed to the Mack's Canyon trailhead the Monday after Saturday's graduation. For "fun," we both decided to hike with completely new bags: by and large, this worked out fine, although I found my REI Flash 55 bag to be a bit less comfortable when fully weighted than my usual Exos 58.

It's a five-hour drive from our house to the trailhead, but a lot of it is through really beautiful Central Oregon country, culminating in a drive along the Deschutes that wedges you between the river and insane columnar basalt pillars for a few miles before dead-ending at Mack's Canyon. There are a lot of paid campgrounds along this stretch of road, too, that would be fantastic stops if I ever manage to take a break from backpacking and car camp instead, but I digress…

Because of the long drive, we didn't plan on making great mileage the first day, but nonetheless ended up covering about eight miles from the trailhead to Lockit Camp, coincidentally the exact same camp spot that I stopped at on my first night of the trip last year. One of the fun parts of this trip is just the sheer number of potential along-the-river campsites that are available to choose from, so repeating myself felt like a little bit of a cheat, but Lockit is definitely the best campsite within a half-day's walk of the Mack's Canyon start point.

The entire Deschutes Canyon hike is roughly twenty-five miles of walking along an old railroad bed (check out the history of "The Deschutes Railroad War" if you're interested, it's wild, and at one point we found the remains of a century-old boiler from an old train), which means that there's very little in terms of difficult topography or elevation gain/loss.

That said, the first three miles or so heading north from Mack's Canyon is the toughest part of the whole trip in this regard. The culprits are a series of canyons that used to be spanned by railroad bridges almost a century ago, but now are…not. Which means you have to scramble down into the canyons, pick your way across them, and then scale the canyon wall on the other side to regain the road bed. I'm selling this as if it's incredibly difficult, and it's not. But it's also not easy.

Fortunately, we didn't have much trouble negotiating these spans, and the rest of the day was spent ambling along the road bed until we ended up at Lockit Camp and bedded down for the night.

It's always hard for me to explain why I find this particular trail so beautiful. It's not as immediately striking as many of the alpine locations I've hiked in, and it also more dry than wet, more brown and yellow than green. Maybe you have to live in central/southern Oregon for it to make sense. I think it has something to do with the contrast between the dry, rocky canyon and the huge, blue river hammering its way through the middle of it all; hopefully some of these photos help illustrate what I can't explain in words. More later about the second and third days of the trip!

[lindsaystravelblogs1]

Days 46-47 - Aborted Landings

Day 46, Monday, 30 January 2023

Why was there land outside our window when we woke up today?  It was a puzzle.  If we were travelling west along the ice-shelf and our cabin in on the starboard side, the ice-shelf should be on the port side.  We eventually discovered that we were actually not sailing west.  We were in the huge Bay of Whales, heading south with the eastern shore of the Bay outside our window.  

The ship slowly sailed south as far as it could - to 78 degrees 44 Minutes South – blocked only by a few thousand kilometres of 40-metre-high ice.  We stopped very close to the iceshelf and everyone was encouraged to go out on the helicopter deck and wear their orange Ponant jackets for a couple of group photos.  Once the photos were taken, we were all given a glass of Champagne or two – not another one!  It was pretty cold on deck but lots of photos were taken by everyone as well as the official photographer before we all scurried back in to warm cabins and more food and drink.

We did a ship-cruise around part of the Bay then returned north to continue our passage along the Ross Iceshelf.  There were frequent periods of fog and snowfalls that often reduced visibility to about 20 metres.

We had a excellent lecture about Humpbacks, the whale we are most likely to see in the next week or so.  We have previously seen quite a few on other voyages and they really are magnificent creatures – inquisitive and playful and very happy to show off for the humans.

We saw many seals and penguins, mainly Adelies and a few Emperors, and had several call-outs to view non-existent Orcas.  We did see quite a few of them, but always a long way away with very poor views, lots of splashing and diving and resurfacing in unexpected places, making photography very difficult.  Time after time, there was a sighting and everyone threw on an extra layer or two for the stampede to their preferred deck, only for us all to stand there, scanning the ocean and feeling our fingers slowly stiffening in the extreme cold. Nary a ripple so everyone trudges back to their cabin, more likely to one of the bars, to wait for the next wave of excitement.

Orcas - mainly males, with straight-backed fins up to two metres high. 

Heather had gone to a few French cooking classes and we both went along to one to learn how to make butter brioche.  The end product didn’t really excite me and there seemed to be a lot of time and work going into the process so if ever I find the need for one, I think I will source it from Brumby’s or Baker’s Delight.

During the afternoon, we had a lecture on Shackleton, given by perhaps the best French guide.  We had quite similar lectures from Nina, our great Australian storyteller on our Aurora voyage, and many of the snippets were identical.  On the other hand, our French guide was obviously not as enamoured by Shackleton as our Aurora guide, but I still regard him with honour – a heroic failure to say the least.

The Recap covered a few useful things about more of the wildlife down here as well as some of the huge historical and scientific significance of the area we are approaching.  The Precap also promised great things – some of which actually happened.

Day 47, Tuesday, 31 January 2023

I think we lost our sixth hour last night and you know what they say about tomorrow...... Tomorrow never comes – and for us, it most certainly won’t – and didn’t.  We will cross the International Date Line later in the day and suddenly 31 January will become 2 February with the first of the month going completely AWOL.  Go figure!

Very soon after waking up, we looked out of our window and saw Mt Terror with the top of Mt Erebus behind it.  I think Erebus must now be my most favourite mountain.  It was a glorious sunny day, minus seven, but it is surprising how we are accustoming to the cold.  As long as our skin is at least minimally exposed, we can stay outside for quite a while with just a parka and without the huge expedition jacket that seriously impedes our movement and makes many simple tasks surprisingly difficult.

Ross Island marks the end of the Ross Iceshelf.  Mounts Terror and Erebus are both on Ross Island and Erebus is the southernmost active volcano on the planet. It was such a clear day, and stayed so all day, that we had magnificent views of it all day.  Smoke could be seen drifting away from the summit and for much of the day, we could also see Terror, although not as well.

We sailed along the northern side of Ross Island until we reached Cape Royds where Shackleton’s hut was situated.  I visited this hut three years ago and getting to it was challenging.  One guy just in front of me fell on the rocks and smashed up his face pretty badly – with a lot of drama to go with that – but that is a longer story.  Given the terrain, I suspected that there would be no landing and as it turned out, I was right but for different reasons.

Shackleton’s Hut from way out at sea - protected by dangerous terrain and lots of less-dangerous Adelie Penguins. 

The Expedition Team went out and found a possible place to land, but by the time they returned to the ship, the wind had driven the ice back in and the Captain decided that the risk of the ship getting trapped in the ice was too great so we had to move on.  Landing aborted – and I thought that was probably a good thing.

We sailed on past Cape Evans to Discovery Point where Scott’s final journey started.  The huge McMurdo Sound US base is immediately adjacent to Scott’s Hut and the NZ base is just over the hill.  We were not allowed to land there due to the US activities near the Hut but it is the one that I remember best from our trip three years ago.  (Shackleton’s hut is the next most familiar one, but I was not keen to revisit it unless there was an easier way to access it.)

Interestingly, I saw on Facebook that the equivalent Heritage Expeditions trip that we did in 2020 did actually land and saw both Shackleton’s Hut and Discovery Point on the same day that we didn’t - very strange!

We stayed around the base for an hour or two (it was our dinnertime) before returning to near Cape Evans where we hoped to make a landing early next day – the Tooth of February.

It had been quite a good day despite the aborted landing and with the extra time spent in the bar, we were just in the mood to fall asleep while pretending to listen to more of our audiobook.

[colormepurplex2]

By The Fire With Care | KSJ KTH

▻ By the Fire With Care ↳  Seokjin x Taehyung ⤜ Cabin Getaway  ⤜ Snowed In Lovers/Established Relationship ⤜ Rating: MA 🔞 ⤜ WC: 2,996 ⤜ Summary: Seokjin and Taehyung were only supposed to spend a week at the cabin, but the sudden snowfall had other ideas. Their flight is grounded for at least the night, so what do they do in the meantime? With the crackle of the fire, boozy eggnog, and a few hours to spare, they enjoy one more night of self-indulgence and a little sticky fun.

⚠️ This is pure smut. Kissing, oral, anal, cum eating, praise, wax play

Part of the Bangtan Writers HQ 2022  Bangsmas - A “banging” Holiday Writing Event.

A special thank you to @downbad4yoongi​ for betaing and believing in me.

Can also be found on: Ao3 | Wattpad

Eggnog & Mistletoe

“I can’t believe this is happening,” Seokjin murmurs to himself as he knocks off the snow caked to his boots.

“At least we didn’t spend hours waiting at the airport before they told us our flight was canceled. Another night in this cabin won’t hurt, my parents have already said we can stay here as long as we like,” Taehyung says, kicking his own boots against the banister of the wrap-around porch to dislodge the snow.

Seokjin grunts, clearly still displeased by the turn of events. They were supposed to leave and return home today, after a week of relaxing in seclusion at Taehyung’s parent’s remote cabin in the mountains.

He turns and grabs Taehyung’s suitcase before shouldering open the door to the cabin. “It’s not that I don’t want to stay another night here, it’s just that big board meeting tomorrow that I really don’t want to miss. It’s an important planning meeting for the new merger. I don’t necessarily have to be there, but I would like to.”

Taehyung nods, more than understanding. “Hey, it’ll be okay. We’ll be on the first flight out in the morning and you can leave from the airport and go straight to the office. You’ll be there before those assholes can even think to raise an eyebrow.”

That makes Seokjin smile. “Thank you for being you,” he whispers, setting the suitcases to the side in the living room and grabbing ahold of Taehyung’s arm to tug him in close. “I love you,” he mouths against Taehyung’s lips before firmly planting a lingering kiss there.

“Mm, I love you, too. Let’s take some of these layers off and then crack open that last bottle of eggnog with the hope that no more snow falls between now and 6 am tomorrow morning.” Taehyung unwraps his scarf and shrugs off his jacket, tossing them on top of the wooden hutch by the door. He kicks off his shoes and pads away on his wool sock-clad feet that match the thin red blazer he’s still wearing.

Seokjin takes off his own jacket and knit cap, adding them to the pile of Taehyung’s things. He toes off his boots, loosens his tie, and undoes the buttons on his cardigan, not bothering to take out clothes to change just yet. “Grab the bottle of Remy Martin, too. If you’re going to make me drink eggnog, I’m at least going to enjoy it.”

Pulling out the requested bottle of cognac, Taehyung wrinkles his nose but shrugs and sets it out on the counter. The wind is picking up outside already, bringing in more snow. The weather forecast is bleak, but they’re trying to remain hopeful.

“Want to get a fire started while I make the drinks?” Taehyung asks, nodding to the cold fireplace they had cleaned out just a few hours ago.

There is a small stack of chopped wood on the back porch that Seokjin gathers into his arms, headless of the nice clothes he’s currently wearing, and deposits it into the metal grate by the brick fireplace. He grabs a few smaller pieces and gets them set up in the hearth, tucking a small bundle of tinder under it and lighting it. A few minutes later, there is a nice fire working to slowly heat the open space of the cabin.

Taehyung’s family has had this cabin for a long time, it’s filled with childhood memories and pictures. It’s become somewhat of a holiday tradition since Seokjin and Taehyung got together, seven years ago, for them to spend a week here just the two of them. But, this is the first time they’ve ended up grounded due to the snow.

“There should be enough wood to make it through the night, as long as you don’t mind cuddling up under a few blankets, too.” Seokjin gives Taehyung a coy smile, waggling a teasing eyebrow.

Taehyung laughs. “I think I can live with that compromise.” He grabs the two large mugs he prepared with the eggnog and cognac, bringing them over to the low coffee table in front of the couch.

Seokjin grabs some of the fleece blankets from the basket by the couch and begins to make a cozy palette on the floor between the coffee table and the fireplace. He grabs a small box of matches and lights the vanilla and cinnamon-scented candle in the center of the table. “Remember the first time we were here?” he asks, a soft smile curving his lips with the memory.

“How could I forget?” Taehyung says, wrapping his arms around Seokjin from behind. “You had just met my parents and spent the entire week worried you had made a bad impression. It was cute how pink your cheeks were any time I brought it up or I got a phone call from mom.”

“I was more so meaning what we did on this floor right here, but okay,” Seokjin snarks lightly, leaning back into Taehyung’s embrace.

Taehyung hums, ignoring Seokjin’s sass. “Mm, that’s also a good memory,” he muses, beginning to rock gently from side to side. “You took me in your arms and we danced under the mistletoe you snuck up in the rafters so that you could kiss me over and over while we swayed.”

“It’s still up there,” Seokjin says softly, tilting his head back on Taehyung’s shoulder to look up at the wooden beams spanning overhead and the small green and white bundle of artificial mistletoe from all those years ago.

Taehyung reaches up and cups the older man’s chin, tilting it just so. He brushes his lips along Seokjin’s jaw before slanting them over his pouty mouth. “So it is,” Taehyung whispers against his lips before deepening the kiss, prodding with his tongue until the other man opens for him.

Taehyung tastes like nutmeg with a hint of warmth from the cognac. “You taste delicious, sweetheart,” Seokjin sighs, breaking away from the kiss and turning in Taehyung’s embrace. “You know just how I like it.” He reaches down to the coffee table beside them and grabs up one of the mugs, taking an appreciative sip of the boozy eggnog.

“Should we add cognac-spiked eggnog to our holiday traditions?” Taehyung asks with a smirk. He picks up his own drink and watches Seokjin over the rim of the mug as he brings it to his mouth. Seokjin smiles, a faint line of eggnog lingering on his upper lip that Taehyung promptly swoops in and licks away, his mug suspended in the air and forgotten for the moment. “Maybe eggnog body shots?”

That makes them both laugh. “That sounds like a sticky mess,” Seokjin chuckles softly, but there is a heat in his eyes at the idea.

Taehyung nods. “Mhmm, very sticky but very fun.” He tips up his mug, draining the eggnog in a few swallows, then sets it off on the coffee table. “I know something else we can do that can be very sticky and fun.”

Seokjin slowly sips at his eggnog, tightening his hold on Taehyung’s waist a fraction.  “Enlighten me, sweetheart.”

“Well,” Taehyung begins, “first, you need to finish that off.” He nods to the half-empty mug in Seokjin’s hand. With a smile, he hooks a finger under the bottom of the mug and tips it up to Seokjin’s mouth. “Open up,” his voice turns soft, husky, as he watches the cream-colored liquid slide over Seokjin’s bottom lip and onto his waiting tongue. “Just…like…that. Fuck, that’s hot, it makes me think of that one time I came in yo—ow!”

They both dissolve into breathy laughs, the finger Seokjin jabbed into Taehyung's side sliding down to hook into a belt loop and giving a playful tug. “Don’t talk about mouthfuls of cum when I’m drinking a milky substance.”

“Sorry, daddy,” Taehyung sasses.

Seokjin’s lips press into a firm line. “Watch yourself unless you want to get put across my knee.”

That makes Taehyung wince. “Fine, I’ll behave. The last time I was over your knee I couldn’t sit down for almost a week.”

“Mmm, don’t have such a tender ass and you could take more,” Seokjin teases, moving his hand down to palm Taehyung’s ass. He drains the last of his eggnog and deposits the mug beside Taehyung’s on the coffee table, bringing his hand up to join the other on Taehyung’s ass. Warmth suffuses his cheeks, a welcomed effect from the cognac and the blazing fire.

The way Taehyung presses against Seokjin, the slightest grind of his hips against the front of Seokjin’s slacks, has both men letting out soft moans. “Should I get on my knees and ask for forgiveness?” Taehyung asks, cheeks flushing pink and tongue darting out to swipe over Seokjin’s bottom lip.

“And something else,” Seokjin murmurs and takes a small step back, sliding his hands up from Taehyung’s ass to run through his thick, chocolatey hair. “If you suck my cock as well as you mouth off, I’ll consider you forgiven.”

It’s a delicate line they like to dance on, switching between who’s more dominant in situations like this. Last night Seokjin was the one on his knees, pleading for Taehyung to fuck him until he couldn’t breathe. They’ve been together so long and have explored so many different things that it’s seamless at this point. They know exactly what each other enjoys, how far they can be pushed.

“Don’t mind if I do,” Taehyung murmurs, a sly smile hooking his lips which he begins to trail along Seokjin’s jaw. “As much as I love you in a tie…” He makes quick work of the tie and Seokjin’s cardigan and shirt “Beautiful.” Taehyung takes a moment to admire Seokjin’s exposed chest and stomach. He places wet, open-mouthed kisses down Seokjin’s throat and down to his nipples. Nibbling until they’re both tight and glistening, he moves further down, finally dropping to his knees.

Seokjin tightens his grip in Taehyung’s hair. “You’re so pretty on your knees,” he says on his next breathy exhale.

Taehyung flicks open the button on Seokjin’s slacks and slowly pulls down the zipper. “Not as pretty as you are above me.” He brings his attention to the large bulge behind the taut black fabric of Seokin’s boxer briefs. “Or this,” he whispers, more to himself than anything. With slow and deliberate movements, Taehyung pushes down Seokjin’s slacks and underwear until he’s standing there in nothing but his black dress socks.

There is a moment where only the sounds of their breathing and the crackle of the fire fills the space. “I love you,” Seokjin coos, staring down at Taehyung kneeling before him.

Taehyung peers up at his beautiful boyfriend through his lashes, being deliberate in his actions as he leans forward and wraps a hand around the base of Seokjin’s shaft. Seokjin sucks in a stilted breath, his lips parted as his chest heaves. Slowly sliding his tongue out over his lips, Taehyung flicks a tiny kitten lick over the bead of precum glistening on Seokjin’s cockhead. “I love you, too,” he finally responds, grinning at the way Seokjin moans wantonly from the action.

Taking Seokjin between his lips, Taehyung does his best to take as much of him as he can. “Fuck, sweetheart, you’re so good at that,” Seokjin pants, using his hands in the younger man’s hair to push him a little further, groaning at the softly garbled choking sound Taehyung makes.

They work to set a perfect rhythm, one that has them both breathing heavily and moaning. Taehyung is so hard in his pants that he fumbles his freehand to get them undone so he can have more room and a bit of relief. Wrapping his hand around his aching cock, Taehyung squeezes himself in tandem with each thrust of the other man’s hips. With one final thrust, Seokjin pulls out from between Taehyung’s lips and slumps down to take his mouth in a heated kiss. “Fuck me,” Taehyung begs between kisses.

“Lay down,” Seokjin asserts, pulling away from Taehyung's mouth. Taehyung whines at the loss but quickly relaxes back, yanking off his blazer, shirt, and shucking his pants and underwear the rest of the way off. “Look at you so ready for me,” Seokjin praises, eyes roving over the straining length of Taehyung’s cock standing proud between his thighs. “Can I mark you, sweetheart?” he asks, flicking his eyes up to Taehyung’s. 

Taehyung worries his bottom lip between his teeth for a moment before nodding. “I’d like that.”

Seokjin stands up and moves over to their suitcases, unzipping the side compartment on his bag and pulling out his waterproof toiletries bag. He digs around in it, finally finding what he needs, and moves back to where Taehyung is sprawled out on the blankets before the fire. He stands there, staring down at him for a moment. The way Taehyung is stretched out, knees slightly drawn up and canted to the sides, beautiful cock resting long and thick on his belly, eyes half-lidded over blown pupils; he’s utterly perfect.

Dropping down to his knees between Taehyung’s thighs, Seokjin pops the lid on the lube he just retrieved. “Ready, sweetheart?” Taehyung nods, his bottom lip caught back between his teeth. He watches as Seokjin squirts a generous amount of lube into his hand before fisting it around Taehyung’s cock.

Taehyung’s eyes flutter shut for a moment as he fights against the ecstasy of finally having his cock touched. The anticipation has heightened the thrill, sending small pulses of pleasure straight to where Taehyung aches between Seokjin’s long, slender fingers.

Those fingers work over Taehyung’s cock a few times before slipping down and finding the tight pucker of muscle below. “Ah, fuck,” Taehyung grunts as Seokjin begins to work a finger inside of him. He’s gentle and takes care to not go too fast, slowly working Taehyung open until he can get another finger in beside the first.

“That’s it, sweetheart, you’re doing so well. You’ll be ready to take my cock soon.” Seokjin continues with a soft litany of praises and encouragement until he’s worked three fingers into Taehyung’s tight ass. “So perfect.”

“Jin,” Taehyung moans, hands fisting into the blankets beneath him. 

“Stroke your cock for me,” Seokjin says, giving him a small smile of encouragement. Taehyung brings a shaky hand up and wraps his fingers around himself, gasping as he strokes up and then back down. “Good, but don’t cum yet.” Taehyung nods, eyes going blurry from the intensity of the pleasure.

Seokjin watches as Taehyung’s ass flutters when he pulls his fingers free. Grabbing the lube, he coats his own cock with a generous amount. “Fuck,” Taehyung whines. “Please fuck me, Jinnie, I don’t know how much longer I can wait.”

“Shh, sweetheart, patience. It won’t be long now,” Seokjin promises as he reaches back with his free hand and grabs the candle from the coffee table. Being careful so as not to spill, Seokjin cradles the base of the candle and lofts it above Taehyung’s chest and stomach. He positions his cock against Taehyung’s ass, giving a gentle nudge that has the other man arching up and working his cock harder with his fist. 

“Oh god,” Taehyung whimpers at the first trickle of hot wax touching his skin at the same time Seokjin begins to press inside his ass. “Fuck, fuck, fuck!” A dribble of precum slips out to mix with the lube covering his cock as he squeezes the base to hold off on his own orgasm.

“Perfect,” Seokjin gasps, his hips finally pressing firmly against the other man’s ass. They both pant, taking in the creamy white wax in the shape of a heart covering Taehyung’s chest and stomach. He carefully sets the now snuffed-out candle on the floor, away from the puddle of blankets under them.

Taehyung wraps his legs around Seokjin’s waist, encouraging him to move. Bracing one hand on Taehyung’s hip and the other on the top of his thigh, Seokjin begins with a slow and drawn-out thrust and works into a steady, grinding slide in and out.

The hand Taehyung has around his own cock picks back up, matching the rhythm of Seokin’s hips. “It feels so good,” Taehyung moans. “You’re going to make me cum!”

“Are you going to cum all over yourself, make yourself all sticky and filthy so I’ll have to clean you up?” Seokjin works his hips faster, adding just the slightest swirling flare as he fucks into Taehyung’s ass in a way that he knows drives him crazy. “Cum for me, let me see it.”

A mix between a sob and a moan wrenches itself out of Taehyung with the first rope of cum that lances across his skin and the hardened wax still covering his stomach and chest. “Jin!” he cries, his body tensing around Seokjin’s cock in a way that has his own release barreling through him.

“Tae, oh god, fuck!” Seokjin grunts, his body jerking and his knees quivering, barely able to keep him upright. He has barely pulled out of Taehyung before he’s greedily lapping up the mess of cum spread over his skin. Seokjin hums in appreciation until he’s licked up every last drop. “I love the way you taste,” he murmurs, nuzzling and nibbling along Taehyung’s half-hard cock.

“If you keep that up I’m going to get hard again and I’m too tired to fuck you right now,” Taehyung huffs, wrapping a fistful of Seokjin’s hair around his fingers and tugging until he relents and crawls up beside him.

“I’ll give you some time to rest,” Seokjin muses lightly, cuddling up against Taehyung and pulling one of the fleece blankets over them both. “How about we enjoy the fire for a bit, maybe have another cup of eggnog, then I’ll run you a bath using that lavender bubble bath you like so much. After that, once you’re good and relaxed, I’ll beg you to fuck me until the sun peaks over the mountain.”

◅ Back to Master List ©️      2022    ColorMePurplex2    

[shadowworks]

Compulsion

Pairing: Mafia!Dabi X Reader

Warnings: dubconish themes, flirting with Hawks, blood, murder, blackmail, fingering. NSFW, quirkless AU!

Word Count: 4.4k

A/N: Alright! This piece is for The Smut Pile Mafia Collab

I have to give my wholehearted thanks to @hisoknen @some-kindofgnome , @pleasantanathema, and @ever-enthralled for reading this over the last couple weeks, and making sure it reads well! I am so happy to have you beautiful souls! Also a special shoutout to Raph for brainstorming with me when I was stuck at the very end. 💕

Edit: This has fanart! Beautiful @maewoahoah created a Mafia!Hawks piece right here and a Mafia!Dabi piece here! She’s very talented! ;)

On this ominous winter evening it begins snowing. 

You readjust your peacoat and step through the frosty glow of the street lamp to your front door. Your muscles ache a little more than usual, your steps a little heavier. It’s been a long and tedious day at work; far less stimulating compared to Toga’s position working for a bootlegger named Tomura. But both jobs pay the rent. You push papers and withhold your scowls towards clients. Now, you want a bath. 

The sound of a muffled radio plays on the other side, and it floods your ears as you walk in with warmth and an iron smell wafting your chilled nose. 

“Folks, I'm goin' down to St. James Infirmary...

Seeeee, my baby there;

She's stretched out on a long, white table

She looks so sweet, so cold, so fair.”

Toga’s playing blues again. It’s a routine she has before the graveyard shift across town. At this time, she’s in the kitchen making something before she goes, but you’re having trouble figuring out what food smells like copper. 

“He-e-e-y,” you call lazily, a sing-songy tone in your voice. 

She doesn’t answer, though you hear the clacking of stiletto heels on wood, which makes you amble down the hall to see what she’s doing. 

“Think you can smuggle some whiskey tonight? I thought we had some, but Keigo probably polished it off last—“

You stop in the doorway. 

There’s a poor bastard lying flat on his back, head twisting too far towards the sink. Ribbons of blood streak down his colorless skin, pouring out from a dark and glossy hole just beneath his jaw. You see it puddle and stain the edges of his hair a sticky red, the only sound besides your heart thudding is the soft thrums from the parlor.

“ When I die please bury me in my high top Stetson hat

Put a twenty dollar gold piece on my watch chain

So the gang'll know I died standing pat.”

You’re in a daze, one where you’re not sure how long you’ve been staring. It doesn’t seem real. Is it real? But it’s not until you hear the sound of heels clicking against the wood floors that you drag your gaze to the noise. 

Toga’s standing near the stove, her features vacant, shoulders slouched, and she’s holding a knife that’s still wet.

What the fuck? 

You want to scream, berate her, seethe what the fuck was she thinking, or if she was thinking for that matter. But the blonde speaks up before you do, with a voice above a whisper. 

“He was going to leave me. Said he was too dangerous.” Toga doesn’t look in your direction, moving to the rim of pooled blood which has stopped spreading out, “I told him I wouldn’t let anyone come between us, but he wouldn’t listen.”

Your jaw goes taut, staring incredulously at her steely face. The lack of emotion gives you a sinking feeling in your stomach.

The man wasn’t a random suit who bled out on your floor, this moron was seeing Toga on and off for months and had been trying to be more present.

Nights spent arriving at your door with flowers and sweets, and driving her to work was becoming a staple in his routine. He preferred staying in Toga’s room if they had the day off, and he always slipped out when the morning frost dusted the grass, a soft bluish hue painting the streets before sunlight. 

But that’s not the problem. See, he was a core member inside the Mafia running the northern side of the city, ‘The League’ they like to call themselves. The only men above this guy was his boss Tomura, and the underboss Dabi. You don’t know the former, but you’ve spent time with the latter.

You’re aware of his sadistic nature that flashes behind those teal eyes, and he doesn’t try to  hide it, either. The sideway glances during a poker match before he fucked someone over , the smile he wore when you asked about the purple bruises on his knuckles. 

So fan-fucking-tastic, the broad has some nerve.

You curl your lip, already shrugging your shoulders from your coat. You toss it over the table and start rolling up your sleeves to the elbows.  

Toga finally turns towards you after catching movement by her side, brows raising confused, “What are you doing?”

“You’re gonna grab his feet and we’re gonna move him onto the rug in the hall.” 

You step in the blood, grabbing him by the rusty black colored jacket and dragging him from the puddle. Of course it leaves drag marks, your heels making tracks alongside, but you can deal with the clean up later. 

Toga hurries over to help, carrying him by the legs and letting you guide the body to the floral rug.

“You don’t want to know what happened?”

You stop. Immediately dropping the dead weight, his blond head lolls off to the side. Your palms sheen with red, but you straighten up and push a beach curl from your cheekbone with the back of your hand.

“Not really. All I want is this fucker out of my house.”

It’s her turn to stare at you incredulously. This is completely out of nowhere for you to be assisting in hiding a dead boyfriend, even if you two are roommates. You’ve only been living together for four months now.

“Toga, I need you to listen, okay?” you say, a bit mockingly, “I can look past the murdering business by pretending you acted in self defense, but if you don’t have the goddamn brains to realize this idiot has friends, then I suggest you don’t stab people!”

Toga flinches slightly at the lilted pitch in your voice, already suggesting panicky, “We can take him to the woods and hide him there?”

“That’ll work.” You don’t think Twice about it.  

Working together, you both hoist him a couple feet onto the rug, refusing to look at his face. You didn’t need to be feeling a pang of guilt. It doesn’t take long for you to roll him towards the front door, as the material wraps around his figure. 

The hardest part is retreating to the car. The moment you push through the door, you see the distance from where you stand and the car parked a little down the sloping street. You both give a hard look to the powdery snow dusting the ground, quiet and enchanting. It would be beautiful...had you not been carrying a corpse.

“Stop being a little bitch and heave!”

“I can’t! You’re making me hold all the weight!”

“He’s off the ground! How the fuck are you holding all the weight?”

“But my arms hurt!”

“Fucking hell, Toga. What if I had stayed at my sister’s tonight? What then?”

“Stop yelling at me! I get it, alright? I shouldn’t have done it in the house!” 

Your bickering toils through the winds, muffled by the falling snow. The burst of cold air is running through your buttoned blouse while crossing to the 1929 Chevrolet causing a shiver to roll down your back. When you reach the car Toga plops the rug down onto the snow first, then you. Your wet fingers feel numb against the metal handle. 

There’s one entrance on each side, which likely will make shimming the body to the backseat  much harder. You pause, looking at the front in thought. 

“I’ll go first,” you say, “when he’s in, you go and grab our coats.”

“Are we burying him?”

“Think the lake’s faster.”

“What if it’s icy? They’ll see the hole if we throw him in.”

You both ponder your options for a little while, this isn’t exactly something you’ve done before...You can’t say the same for Toga, but she seems just as puzzled, almost clueless on how to get rid of her ex. 

Meanwhile, the rolled corpse behind you starts to slip downhill, little by little. The slanting street gives speed and the rug starts to roll.. Red droplets trail behind in its wake. 

You just happen to see it first.

“Toga—Toga, the body! The body!” 

Toga cries out, taking off after the rug as best she can on a frozen sheet. “Fuck, fuck, fuck!” 

The graceful snowfall flutters with pain and chaos.

Toga skids against the fresh ice, feet stumbling under her navy blue dress. She falls to the ground with a hard thud, and you see she isn’t stopping. She keeps going alongside the body, sliding until the two disappear under another parked car. 

You don’t have time to think, a chill strikes up your spine in your panic. 

“Toga!” you call out, taking off after her. Unfortunately you find yourself abruptly on your back, pounding hard on the stones and stealing the breath from your lungs. 

If you could sigh right now you would. Or rather, if you could punch Toga right now you would, as rage twists with a throbbing pain in your chest. Was all this worth having a mobster roommate? The odds were piling against her. You have a mind to push her in the lake when you get there.

Several silent minutes go by with you staring up at the cloudy sky. It’s brighter from the illuminating white snow, and despite the icy powder prickling your flesh, you have no choice but to wait for the ache in your chest to fade. 

“Enjoying the view?” 

You hear a new voice, male, and the suave tone tells you who it is before he treads near. He looks over you with half lidded eyes of honey gold. 

He’s very pretty. The drifting snow flakes above his wheat coloured head manage to enhance this, though the uplifted eyes lined in black, and nicely sharp features are the last thing you want to see. You’re nowhere near ready to start lying out of Toga’s mess. 

“That can’t be too comfy down there,” Keigo says, bending forward with an outstretched hand,“C’mon, upsy-daisy.” 

You take his hand, feeling another leather glove hold your waist and lift you onto your feet. When you settle, he starts brushing the caked snow off your back. Mobster or not, he’s at least a gentleman.

“You alright?” he asks, giving you a once over for any fresh scratches.

You give a slow nod, crossing your arms over your chest. Fear’s got the better of you, and you look anywhere but him., “What are you doing here? I thought you were working tonight.”

“Oh I am! You could say I’m on patrol, need to pick up a few things.” 

Your gaze stills to your left, heart skipping. Keigo’s not alone. Standing nearby, a slim figure dressed in black from head to toe is watching you two lazily. A thread of smoke seeps from his parted lips, clouding a handsome face and spikes of black hair. Keigo keeps talking, but you can’t take your eyes off the ghostly presence you know to be Dabi.

“Unfortunately that includes loverboy. He was supposed to be back hours ago, but we figured he’s still fooling around,” a little smirk tugs at his mouth, suggestively “He’s still inside, right?”

You blink, turning back to face Keigo, “I wouldn’t know, I just got home,” you lie. 

“Look at you! You look like you’re about to freeze to death.” He starts suddenly, swiftly slipping his arms out from his heavy coat, revealing a black three piece with pinstripes, and a brighter crimson tie. In one smooth motion he twirls the long, beige coat over your shoulders, letting it rest over your figure.

“Thank you,” you say, before your eyes catch something. 

Dabi moves towards the clumsy skid marks, head tilting down to the red dots in the snow near his polished shoe. You stiffen.

“You sure you’re okay?” 

Your gaze flashes from Dabi’s retreating back to a politely smiling Keigo, “Yeah, I’m fine! I’m really cold is all.”

“Well, we should get you inside. You know you left your door wide open?” Shit, the door. You forgot about the stupid door—

(Dabi looms across the indents in the snow and follows down the hill like a dark shadow against crystals illuminating bright.)

“Ah yeah, I thought I left my purse in the car. It was just for a second, and then I slipped,” You force a smile. Relax. You need to relax. Keigo doesn’t seem convinced, reading something off in your features.

“Is that right?”

(He gets the edge of the old Ford, and notes the specks of red soak wider here. The spots lead underneath.) 

“I know, it’s pretty foolish. It’s um...It’s a good thing you showed up when you did, or...”

Your eyes drift over Keigo’s shoulder. The underboss starts to crouch low. Your pupils shrink, a new wave of panic tingles the back of your neck. Damn him, why was he so clever? 

“Dabi, wait!” you shout, pushing past Keigo’s shoulder. In your hurry you kick up the snowy crystals, rushing to the taller mobster in his long obsidian coat. Dabi quickly turns, standing up.tall before you hook onto his upper arm like a lover. “I saw an animal go under there that looked hurt. You shouldn’t mess with it.”

A smirk that breaks into a grin spreads on his face, a look of amusement blooming from your look of fright. You want to glare at him, though that could be dangerous. Why does he like seeing you scared?

 “An animal, you say?” he parrots back, adopting the same mocking pitch you gave Toga earlier. He’s not in the least bit on edge, and you really don’t like that. He flicks his teal eyes up to look behind you just then, “Good thing I have the city’s best exterminator right here.”

As if on cue, you hear the crunching boots of Keigo walking to the car. “Give me a break with the dirty work, will ya?”

“What, scared of a little pest?” Dabi taunts back coolly.

 “I’m not too fond of getting my knees wet, actually,” Keigo returns quite dryly, sharp eyes studying the long pattern marks. He places his gloved hands on his thighs and drops himself to a crouch in front of the vehicle.

You desperately hope Toga proves you wrong. Maybe she had the common sense to bail while no one was looking. It’s all you can do at this point, while Keigo dips his head underneath. You don’t realize, but your grip on Dabi’s arm presses tighter into the wool.

Keigo inspects below for a moment. There’s a long pause like a winter evening should be. Silent. Calming. You can almost believe in the soothing little lie. Then Keigo coughs a laugh  that echoes through the street. Bursts of manic giggles grow louder from the mobster, leaving you tilting your head at his pushed back hair, confused.

“There’s a pest, alright! I think I caught something—“

Keigo reaches under, and with an impressively strong yank, Toga’s head pops out in a doe eyed stare. Her arms are wrapped around a bundled rug with a fairly familiar head sticking out. 

“Hey there, Toga!” Keigo exclaims, “When did you become a rat?”

 Dabi tips his head down, drawing the lit cigarette back to his lazy smile. He’s shockingly calm which does nothing to ease your shivering panic. Toga however, seems fine. In fact, she’s moved on to livelier feelings.

“Hey! Does it look like a rat could’ve done this?!” she snaps, shaking the body in her arms. It bangs against the bottom of the car sending loud echoes through the nearly empty street. Specks of blood dribble on the white ground, and a couple more drops spray her cheeks.

You stare up at the clouds, rolling your eyes. Goddamnit Toga.

“Yeah, I guess a rat can’t hold a knife, huh? Ya got me there.” Keigo turns and beams you a smug look, eyes half lidded in an expression that reads, nice try, but you failed.

You scrunch your nose, quietly shooting him back a glare. Asshole might’ve caught you both red handed, but he didn’t have to be so fucking cocky about it. It’s only charming when he has a winning hand at cards. Beside you, Dabi’s shoulders shake with silent laughter, though you don’t have the guts to flash him the same glower. He is second in command after all.   

“Yeah, see? That’s what I thought!” Toga says in victory.

You blink very, very slowly at Toga when she finally meets your vastly unamused gaze,“...Nice work, Toga.” 

It comes suddenly. A fiery warmth ghosts the dip in your waist as Dabi leans in. It’s not unwelcomed, raw and soothing even, but it hardly lasts. His hand curls around Keigo’s coat collar and pulls it off your shoulders. The crisp wind rushes to your exposed arms.

“You got any rat poison on you, Hawks?” Dabi tosses the coat to Keigo. 

He catches it mid air as he rises to stand. “Nah, fresh out. But we have some back at the house.” 

“You want to take care of our rat problem then?”

“Can do, boss man.”

Before you can figure out what they mean–what they have planned for Toga–Dabi’s pristine leather glove presses at the small of your back and directs you toward the pouring light of the open door. “Don’t wait up.”

It’s barely there, but as you shift your eyes to Keigo, his features take on a darkened look toward Dabi.

“Play nice, now,” you hear Keigo say. This time though, the joyous tone is gone. 

A new song hums on the radio when you’re pushed through the threshold, you listen to the richly solemn blues as Dabi closes the door. He turns the lock with a click and pockets the key.

“I forgive you 

'Cause I can't forget you.

You've got me in between the devil and the deep blue sea”

He doesn’t give you a passing glance, instead he turns and strolls down the freshly bare hall. He hasn’t removed his coat, and each room he passes he tilts his head in to search for something, stopping by the parlor. With a twist of a knob, he shuts off the radio.

“Where’d she ice him?” he asks, still not looking at you by the stairwell. 

“In the kitchen.” You return. No point in hiding it now. 

His steps creak the wood as he ambles further down, knowing full well where to go. He’s been here a handful of times; of course, those were happier evenings filled with drunken laughs.

You watch him stand by the doorway, staring at the vibrant mess of a crime scene. He pops the tip of his cigarette in his mouth before slipping from your line of sight. Dabi’s got the key to the door, so it’s not like you can run away—especially with Keigo just outside. It’s too risky to try and you know it, but it does cross your mind. 

Summing up the courage, you decide to follow Dabi with measured steps, “What are you going to do with Toga?” 

When you face the kitchen, Dabi’s near the table where you threw your coat. He has a hand in one of your pockets, and he’s fishing for something inside. It jingles in his grip as he stuffs it into his own pocket. Your car keys. 

“Are you going to kill her?” you try again, a little irked he’s swiping your things left and right. He doesn’t release your coat either, laying it over the crook of his elbow.  

He draws a final inhale from the dying bud, and crosses to the sink to snuff it out. An exhale of smoke blows out from his lips, “Killing her seems like a favor, don’t you think?”

“I thought it was the other way around.”

He turns, flicking teal eyes sheening with energy at you, “That lunatic’s no longer your concern. Right now, you ought to be more worried about yourself.”

Your features go taut, which in turn makes Dabi’s sadistic smirk return.

 “I didn’t help her kill him.”

“No,” he agrees, taking a few strides around the blood to approach you,“but you were willing to stash the stiff.”

“Yeah, for this very reason. I didn’t want you coming after me!”

Dabi draws dangerously close, mere inches apart as he glances down with lidded eyes, the smell of tobacco perfumes from his shirt collar nestled under a violet tie. He crooks his index finger, embellished with a silver ring, ghosting it under your chin. “How’d that turn out for you, babydoll?”

With a ruthless smile, he breaks the fixed stare and rounds you to the hallway. He seems to be making his way towards the parlor again, but the swish of your peacoat in his arm, set you off.

How dare he? You don’t like how he’s walked inside, claiming what’s yours. You might have your life screwed over, but at the very least you want your coat back as some semblance of control.

You stalk after him, picking up pace to aim for his arm. The clacks of your heels are loud, but you currently couldn’t care less about being sneaky, “Give it fucking back. You’re not keeping that!”

You lunge for the black wool, but as your fingers brush the material on his left elbow, Dabi whips the coat, rotating arms. You’re not fast enough, but you try a second reach for his right arm, huffing out a growl at his stealthy reflexes.

“Dabi, I’m serious! You’re such a—”

In a twirling motion his newly free palm shoves at your shoulder, pinning you against the stairwell’s wall. He’s close, so close, the blue flames in his eyes are absurdly intense. 

“That makes two of us. You’ll get this back when I say so.” 

His voice is low, soft lips almost connecting to yours. You tilt your chin up, glaring at him with fearful, tentative eyes. His gaze flashes with mirth, and he huffs a small laugh at you.

“I’ve always liked this about you. That spark inside you.” He muses. The peacoat spills to the floor. Dabi lifts his slender fingers, pushing back a loose curl from your cheek. 

Your stomach flips, as shocks tickle your skin. There’s been subtle flirting between you two before. You just wrote it off as overthinking the moment. Even though he only called you, babydoll, and he sat next to you at gatherings. How he filled your glass with water instead of booze as the nights waned. Now, you feel foolish for denying the little signs. 

“You have a horrible way of showing girls you like ‘em,” you counter back, your voice’s quiet but leveled. 

“Yeah?” he asks. The arm holding your shoulder tightens, while the other lowers to collect your long skirt. He traces his knuckles on the soft flesh of your thigh. As his hand trails up, his eyes remain fixed on your facial features. “Maybe this will help.”

His slim fingers reach the cotton slip, and it’s easy to pull off to the side, exposing the lips of your warmth. He tests the waters, sweeping the tips of his fingers across your folds. Your mouth parts in a breathless hitch in your throat. Dabi parts his own lips drawing near, ‘til his lips touch yours but not quite pressing together yet. His pierced nose bumps yours.

“Now here’s what’s going to happen,” he starts, just before sinking two fingers between your folds, pumping deep and slow inside. “You’ll go upstairs and pack what you need. When you come down—”

He thrusts particularly hard into you, sending a gasping moan to fall from your open mouth. His voice remains calm, a hint of glee can be detected. Fucking bastard.

“—You’ll be leaving with me. You’ll work for me...Live with me…And you’ll do everything I say. You got it, babydoll?”

He adds a third finger, soaking his knuckles deep with your slick. He’s hitting the right spots, the perfectly deep pressure. Your attention turns hazy as wakes of pleasure tighten just below your stomach. Your hips buck against his thrusting hand, yet still, you manage to nod your head. 

Moans flutter from your lips and vibrate onto his smiling one. To heighten the pleasure he begins swirling your wet clit. “Ah, Dabi...Oh god, Dabi—”

He slows his fingers suddenly, which makes you cry out. He pretends to ignore it. “If you try to escape me...I will hunt you down and hurt you in ways that will marr that pretty skin of yours. I’ll make you scream so loud, and no one will be there to save you. Tell me you understand.”

He curls his knuckles, pressing into a rough spot at the top, pumping fiercely against your slippery, muscular walls. You cry out, squeezing at his shirt collar and coat. “Fuck—I understand, I understand! Baby, right there, ah!”

Dabi gives you no mercy. He tugs and twirls the bud of sensitive nerves, swirling with driven circles that clench your walls in wonderous pressure. You’re close, he’s so close to sending you in high bliss. Your moans get heavier, and your clenching more and more and—

He removes his fingers. Another cry of protest sobs from your mouth only to be swallowed by Dabi’s lips on yours. His tongue massages the moans from your breath, his scent of cigarettes and smoke immerse your senses as you drown in the kiss.

He slowly breaks apart with a wet sound, looking deeply in your lust-glossed eyes. His voice is low and arousingly husky. “Now get your things.”

Before you know it, Dabi pulls away from your shoulders, and turns for the parlor. You try catching your breath, watching his slim, muscular back...Did that happen? Did he rob you of everything? Your home, your life, your orgasm?

Eventually, with light steps you do as you’re told, and turn to climb up the stairs. What choice do you have? He has your life in the palm of his hand. And right before you make it to the top, your hand drawn on the railing, the spinning clicks of your house phone perk your ear.  

A long pause. Then finally, Dabi’s rich voice speaks up from the parlor,

“Hey, I’ll be needing a few guys at Togas...Yeah, we found him….Toga did him in pretty good...No, we’ll need the good bleach for cleanup.”

***

P.S, this might be a mini series 👀