#What Can I Take To Grow Taller Jolting Cool Ideas

[fleetwoodmak99]

Long Past Dawn

Eric Draven x reader

This is requested from @sister-morticia "Hi!! Can I please request an Eric Draven x reader whump with lots of hurt and comfort/worried!Eric? I need some caring fluff! Thank you!! ☺️" I had so much fun working on this!!! I'll be posting a part 2 as hcs of the aftermath soon. It will focus more on the comforting aspects. Also I’m really sorry this is long. 

WARNINGS: Panic attacks, hyperventilating, serious wounds, gun violence, mentions of blood, depression, talks of deep sadness, death, resurrection, paranoia, explosions, and fainting.

SUMMARY: It has been a year since you lost your lover, Eric Draven. While you have managed to get by, it has been extremely difficult. After having a particularly hard night, you decide it might be a good idea to go for a walk to release some steam, only to fall upon a danger situation.

Its been a entire year since you had lost the love of your life, Eric Draven.

It was around Halloween. The leaves on the trees were starting to change from green to orange and yellow as the air turned cool.

Halloween used to be Eric’s favorite time of the year. Always making a big deal about it with lots of horror movie marathons and tons of candy. Now, you had none of that.

No celebrating, no watching horror movies all night, no eating a bunch of candy, no Eric.

Even though it had been a whole year since that dark night, it still haunted your every waking thought.

Every day seemed to bring a new struggle. The worst of it being at night. The pain of losing Eric broke you down to the point where you could do nothing but spend most nights crying.

Anxiety making itself known at every turn. Always worried that the men responsible for taking the life of your lover and leaving you for dead will one day realize you aren't and come after you.

Memories of that night plagued your dreams often. Seeing flashes of T-Birds gang breaking through the door of your shared apartment and attacking you while you were cooking dinner.

The panic consuming your chest becoming too overpowering as you relived that night over and over again. Jolting awake in a pile of sweat when it became too much. Feeling your stomach turn to the sickening thoughts roaming around in your head.

You tried to calm your thoughts. You really did. But the terror that filled your chest was too powerful.

A strong force making you leave the warmth of your bed in an attempt to ease your mind. Pacing around the room, completely lost in thought.

Are they going to come after me? Will they want to harm me?

The demanding thoughts running through your head was starting to cause a wave of nausea to wash over your body.

No. They don't know you are alive. They would have come after you if they had.

You were lucky enough to get Sergeant Albrecht assigned to your case. He was the only one on the force who was kind to you.

Albrecht helped you stay under the radar until you were able to get enough money to move far, far away. The main problem being that you couldn't find a good steady income that would get you out of this hell hole while not blowing your cover, creating the never ending cycle of being trapped in the city. Being doomed to live here forever with no escape.

Still, you felt an overwhelming ache in your stomach every time you thought of Top Dollar still being out there, controlling most of the violence in the city. Hoping that the brutality won't one day unleash on you.

Knowing that it went against the rules you had started following in an attempt to protect yourself further, you decided it might be a good idea to go for a quick late night walk. Noting the dangers of what you might be doing, but it was your last attempt to ease your anxieties and distract you from the pain.

Hoping that the fresh cool air will be a jolt to your system, you grabbed a light jacket and black high tops, placing it over your pajamas and venturing out into the night.

Stepping out of the safety of the apartment building and into the bitter cold. Feeling the tip of your fingers and toes already starting to turn into ice. Still, you were determined to complete your walk as it has always been a good way of distraction you from your intrusive thoughts.

With that being said, the streets of Detroit certainly looked different at night. Feeling a thick layer of sorrow and rage in the air. It being so thick it became difficult to breath.

Choosing to ignore it, you kept walking.

A smile spreading across your lips when you see a group of children in Halloween costumes running with bags of candy in their hands, laughing as they did so.

Curiosity taking over as to why children would be out this late on Devil’s Night. Seeing as you did much worse things when you were a kid, you let it slide.

Either way, you began to have doubts if this was a good idea, deciding it might be time to head back and hide from the world once more.

Turning around and walking the other way, you could already feel a wave of relief washing over you as you made your way back only for your heart to be ripped out of your chest when a booming explosion erupted just up the road. A burst of light blinding you as the ground rumbled.

The sudden event sending you onto the ground, holding your heads up to your head in an attempt to protect yourself from the eruption.

Trying your best to focus on what exactly was happening as the light started to dim into small flames and a bundle of smoke coming from an old abandoned building.

At first, you wanted to run the other way. Knowing that this was most likely the work of Top Dollar or some other big mob boss trying to cause some havoc in an already broken city.

Yet when you tried to get up, you remained planted on the ground. Your body being completely immobilized and without breath.

As you tried getting your strength back, you started to hear a faint scream coming from up the road. Your thoughts immediately going to the children you had seen giggling to each other just moments ago.

You tried remembering which way they had went. Hoping that they were far away from the building now engulfed in flames but after hearing more yelling, you knew you had to make sure no one was hurt or worse.

With a new found determination, you felt yourself starting to grow stronger, experiencing a rush of adrenaline fueling your body.

This time when attempting to get up, you were able to get onto your feet. Your legs still feeling weak, you forced yourself not to waste time and move towards the very thing you made you shake.

Getting closer to the fire, you could start to feel the heat coming from the flames. Inspecting the building, you couldn't see anyone inside. In fact, you couldn't see anyone at all.

You thought for sure the police or at least the fire department would be on their way considering it was a Devil’s Night tradition for the whole city to burn. Yet no one was there. It was almost unnatural.

You were pulled from your thoughts when you heard not a scream but groaning, murmuring and the collusion of masses coming from the back side of another building. 

With caution, you started to make your way towards the sounds. Leaning on another building for support, gaining distance from the heat.

Hearing the unknown sounds starting to grow louder and louder, you could see the silhouette of different bodies laying on the ground. You didn't know if they were dead or unconscious.

Deciding to grab a nearby wooden stick. Just in case.

Two men suddenly bursting in front of you, struggling against each other. They rolled around the dirt floor, one trying to get the upper hand on the other. Both eventually getting up and starting to throw hands. 

You couldn't decide whether to intervene and try to break them up or start running, but once again your body worked against you. Forcing your mind to turn blank and stay in place. Making you now watch the whole thing go down.

At first glance, you couldn't recognized who the men were yet you couldn't help the strange feeling that you were meant to be here. Somehow this was related to you. You felt it deep down.

You tried analyzing them as they continued, trying your best not to be seen.

One of the men was a lot shorter than the other and had greasy shaggy dark brown hair underneath a worn out black knit hat with baggy clothes.

While the other one taller, and more muscular. Mostly wearing tight fit leather. His dark brown hair was longer than the other one, resting just above his shoulders. Black and white paint covering his face as some type of mask.

His hits being more calculated and precise going against the others, who was becoming more and more sloppy by the minute.

As the two men start to taunt each other. Somehow neither seemed to notice you as you stood there in fear. Your heart sinking when you hear one of the men starting to speak. You recognized that voice, clear as day.

The short man was Skank. He was apart of T-Bird's gang, who worked for none other than Top Dollar.

Shit. You need to leave now.

Finally, you were able to slowly make yourself move backwards as your feet stumbled on themselves. You tried your best not to make any noise, not even risking breathing. You couldn't help your eyes from being glued to them.

"I-I know you. You're that guy we had to straighten out cause you and your partner were protesting Top Dollar's tenant relocation program. B-But you're supposed to be dead. We killed you, dead." Skank mumbled, slightly laughing in disbelief at the end.

This made you stop. Your body turning cold.

You knew exactly what he was talking about. Remember a few months before the attack, gathering other tenants to protest. But that wasn't what was making your nerves go wild.

It was who Skank was fighting with.

No. There was no way. He has to be talking about someone else.

You didn't even want to think of the possibility of seeing Eric again. Knowing that there was no possible way that could ever happen.

But why did he look so familiar? When you heard the strangers voice, deep down you knew.

"I guess not all things that die, stay dead." His voice was deep and raspy, showing off his classic sarcasm that reminded you of Eric before his death.

How could this be happening? There was no way that could be Eric. No way.

As your thoughts battled it out in your head as to if this was a dream or not, Skank began to laugh hysterically like he was losing his mind as well. Slowly starting to move his hand behind his back to retrieve the loaded gun resting on his waistband.

While you hadn't noticed, Eric did. Giving off an eerie smile before springing into action, darting right for Skank.

Not being quick enough as a gun shot ring out, causing you to let out a small shriek. Placing your hands upon your ears in an attempt to shelter them from the sharp pain booming through it. Dropping the wooden stick in the process. Closing your eyes to try and hid yourself, knowing fully well that it was useless.

Not being able to contain your breath anymore, you started to hyperventilate. Trying your best to get your breath under control but finding it almost impossible as it kept escaping you.

Not even realizing that the two men had turned their attention to you. Eric taking a second glance as he couldn't believe his eye. He was in complete disbelief that it was you standing right there. Eric assumed you died as well that night, seeing you there made his blood drain from his face.

As the pain in your ears started to die down, you slowly forced your eyes open. Blinking a few times before getting a clear picture as to what was going on. Seeing the two men wrestling to take control of the gun. Eric grabbing at Skank's face, trying to block his vision. Somehow Eric seemed completely fine for being just fired upon.

Was he hit at all? Was he hurt?

Panic fueling your body to run but when you looked at Eric, you knew that wasn't going to be possible.

Now you needed answers.

What was he doing here? How is he alive? How long has he been alive? A day? The whole year?

Not knowing if it was the sense of curiosity or the excitement of seeing Eric in the flesh that made your heart pound. Being completely convinced that this was all just a dream. 

Hearing another bang piercing through your ears once again, causing your body to flinch out of instinct. All this followed by a tight pressure coming from the side of your thigh. Even though it wasn’t painful, it was still enough to send your body to the cold ground. 

At first not realizing why until you began to see a pool of red liquid starting to collect underneath your leg. Knowing fully well now that you were Skank's target. Lucky for you, he has terrible aim. 

Hearing who you assumed to be Eric and Shank struggle against each other once again but you couldn't find the courage to look away from your wound.

Now feeling a strong burning sensation beginning to form on the right side of your thigh, pinpointing exactly where a bullet had ripped itself through your leg. Leaving a nickel sized hole in its place.

Quickly placing your hand on it, in an attempt to somehow ease the intense feeling that throbbed through your entire leg. Feeling a wet sticky substance slipping through your fingers.

Your body starting to jitter uncontrollably as darkness began to form around the edges of your vision. The world starting to go blurry around you.

A comforting hand suddenly resting on top of yours, causing you to jerk yourself back. Only for you to make eye contact with the worried gray eyes of Eric.

A sense of relief washing over you, a small smile resting on your lips. Quickly fading, when he applied a slight pressure to your injury, trying to stop the bleeding. Causing the pain to become more intense.

Your thoughts moving to Skank, hoping he was no longer a threat. You scanned the area, your sight landing on him running down the alleyway and disappearing as he rounded the corner of a building. Your vision starting to become more and more faint as you tried to focus.

You felt a gentle hand caressing your cheek, pulling your sight back to Eric.

"I need you to stay awake, y/n." You could hear the panic in Eric’s voice.

You tried to respond.

You wanted to tell him you were trying, that you missed him, that you loved him. Yet nothing but a slight whine came out.

The energy starting to leave your body as a dull ache started to form at the back of your head. Losing all control off your body as it went limp.

The darkness completely consuming your vision as your heart pounded.

Eventually not fighting it anymore and allowing sleep to take over as the world disappeared. The last thing you remembered was hearing Eric calling your name.

[nicknellie]

Anonymous requested: While on a walk to clear his head, Alex is attacked by Caleb as a warning to him and his friends. Shaken, he refuses to tell the band what happened, but he does tell Willie who is furious and protective. Fluffy ending. (This was edited/simplified just to make it shorter.)

Oooh, this was a really good request! All the details were really helpful too, so thank you for that. I really enjoyed writing it, especially the fluff at the end. I really hope this is the sort of thing you were after. Thank you for requesting it, I hope you like it!

TW: injury, blood.

Tripwire

It was safe to say that since Alex and the boys had left the dark room there had been a lot to process. Being dead, for a start. Adjusting to being a ghost had been a whole other ordeal too. Meeting Julie, forming the band, everything that had gone down with Caleb. Willie. Throughout those few months it had been non-stop, one thing after another, and Alex hadn’t had any time to slow down or take a break, not one single moment to really think about what was going on.

Now, somehow, all the difficult stuff was over and done with. Nobody had seen Caleb in weeks, Alex had managed to free Willie from the stamp, and the band had five more gigs lined up, plus a record deal on the horizon. While things were still definitely busy, it wasn’t so constant anymore. Alex finally had the time to just take a breather – or whatever the ghost version of a breather was, seeing as he couldn’t actually breathe. He had settled on his tried and tested method of going for a walk to clear his head to take the time to wrap his mind around it all.

The freedom of teleportation was nice, but it was definitely one of Alex’s least favourite ghost abilities. He couldn’t help but worry he’d somehow end up in the wrong place every time he did it, or that he’d poof out and never reappear anywhere else. It didn’t have the safety of walking through walls or being heard and seen when the band played together. And it might have been freeing, but it wasn’t nearly as freeing as just walking. Walking was slow and repetitive and methodical, rhythmic in a way that was relaxing. When Alex walked he didn’t have to think about where he was going – he could just let his feet take him there while his mind wandered elsewhere.

So that’s what he did. As he walked through the streets of Hollywood, Alex let his mind wander. He thought about everything that had happened since they came back, everything that might have happened in the twenty-five years before that, and everything that could happen in the future. Alex didn’t often think about the future; he didn’t like dwelling on things that were out of his control and the future was certainly that. But as he thought about it then, it didn’t seem quite so daunting – after all, nothing bad had happened in weeks.

As he was nearing the Orpheum, Alex suddenly felt as if something was wrong. It was an odd sensation in the pit of his stomach, a bad feeling that he couldn’t quite put his finger on. Dread, maybe. Or perhaps just the intuitive feeling that something was coming and it couldn’t be anything good.

Ahead of him, no more than ten feet away, a mist was gathering, a light lilac cloud spinning faster and faster until it was so thick that Alex couldn’t see through it, growing taller and taller, wider and wider. The cloud spun so fast that Alex could feel wind rush past him from the movement of it, but it was gone as soon as it had come. The cloud dissipated with a soft whoosh, leaving behind a few sparkles drifting on the breeze it had created, and stood where the cloud had been was Caleb Covington.

While he wasn’t happy to see Caleb again after so long, Alex was glad to see he hadn’t lost his flair for the dramatic.

He knew he wouldn’t have time to get away, but he still considered it. Maybe if he ran instead of walking he could get away. He considered poofing out, but his mind had gone completely blank of places to poof to – all he could think of when looking at Caleb was the Hollywood Ghost Club, and going there was nothing short of the worst idea he could ever have had. So he stayed put, staring Caleb down, trying to stop the shaking of his hands and the hammering of his non-existent heart.

“Hello, Alex,” Caleb drawled. His hands were folded atop his cane and he wore a purple suit so dark it almost looked black, his cape wafting ever so slightly in the breeze, his top hat perched neatly on his head. Childishly, Alex wondered if he had the courage to walk up to him and knock the hat off his head. “Long time no see.”

“What do you want?” Alex demanded, trying to sound as if he wasn’t desperate to run away. He was aware that Caleb probably knew just how scared he really was, but if he didn’t show his nerves then he might have been able to convince himself that he wasn’t really frightened.

Caleb tutted. “Come now, is that really how you greet an old friend? I might have expected it from Luke but certainly not from you, Alex. I’m only here to see how you’re getting on without me!”

It felt like a trap, but Alex didn’t know what tripwire he was supposed to avoid.

“We’re doing fine,” he said firmly. “We don’t need you.”

“So you keep telling me,” Caleb replied. He flexed his hands, still grasping his cane. “Tell me, Alex – how did you and your little buddies manage to free yourselves from my stamp, hm?”

“Why should I tell you that?” Alex spat. It was a braver way of saying ‘we have no idea’.

“Oh, I don’t think you should,” Caleb admitted. “If you told me how you did it there would be dire consequences for you and your friends, but it would be extremely helpful to me. If you want to keep this newfound freedom with your silly little band, you shouldn’t tell me how you got the stamp off.”

“Then I’m not telling you,” Alex said.

“But,” Caleb continued, a malicious twinkle in his eyes, “if you want to walk away from this little chat unharmed then I suggest you tell me everything.”

Up until then, Alex thought he had been doing a very good job at standing his ground, maybe even looking a little intimidating. But the threat broke him. He felt himself freeze, his mind halt, and suddenly he was far weaker than the man in front of him.

“Unharmed?” he repeated. “What do you mean ‘unharmed’?”

Caleb cocked his head to the side like he didn’t understand the question. “Isn’t it obvious?” When Alex didn’t say anything, Caleb chuckled darkly. It sent shivers down Alex’s spine and made his stomach twist sickeningly. “Alex, if you refuse to tell me exactly how you got my stamp off, I am going to hurt you. And let me tell you, you’d be surprised just how much you can make someone hurt even after they’re dead and gone.”

Alex’s mind was spinning. There was no good option here, no way out. Caleb had trapped him in yet another impossible situation. He cursed himself for not poofing out while he had the chance.

But it didn’t matter how scared he was now, he would not let his friends suffer just to stave off his own pain. He had to take one for the team, even if he was dreading it. The smirk on Caleb’s face said that he knew he had won this round no matter what, smug and self-satisfied. Alex wanted to slap the smile right off his face, but he refused to give him the satisfaction of a fight.

He steeled himself, set his jaw, tried to look like as much of a threat as he could. “I’m not telling you anything. Nothing you do can make me talk. Do your worst.”

Caleb raised an eyebrow, looking almost amused, but he nodded. “Alright then. You’ve made your decision. I can’t say I’m surprised – you’re not as weak-willed as you look. But you’re still weak. I can still hurt you.”

He tucked his cane under his arm and stalked towards Alex. Too late, Alex wondered if he could have taken that brief opportunity to run away, but he would never know because Caleb grabbed his wrist. It was just like how he’d put the stamp on, a quick touch and a slight sting. When he let go, Alex looked at where his hand had been – there was a blood red mark there, swirling on his skin. Its shape constantly changed, but Alex was sure he picked out a blade before it twisted and morphed into something else.

“What is it?” he asked Caleb.

“You’ll soon see,” he replied, already walking away. He threw the words over his shoulder as he left Alex alone. “Consider this a warning to you and your friends. Willie, too. It isn’t over. There is plenty more I can do to make you suffer. It’s up to you to decide whether you’re willing to put yourselves through all of this just to stay away from me. I’ll see you soon, Alex.”

And he was gone.

For a moment, Alex was confused. This stamp, whatever it was, didn’t seem to be doing anything. It was just moving about on his skin, as fluid as water, like a cool tattoo. He wondered – hoped – if Caleb’s spell hadn’t worked.

But then it hit him. It felt as if he’d been struck by lightning and hit by a bus at the exact same time, unimaginable pain slamming into him and knocking him right off his feet. It was infinitely worse than the pain of the jolts Caleb had inflicted on them before which should have been impossible because those felt like death. And yet there he was, lying on the ground, winded and light-headed, pain surging through his body, unable to move.

Another one. This time it felt like he’d been kicked in the temple and had his face stamped on. He was sure his nose was broken even though that probably shouldn’t have been possible. He lifted a weak, shaking hand to his face and touched his upper lip – when his hand came away, his fingertips were drenched in blood. Alex had been sure that ghosts didn’t have blood, so he wondered whether he’d been wrong or if this was some sort of sick illusion Caleb had created. He decided it didn’t matter, not when he was vulnerable and hurting, in agony worse than dying.

Again, like being stabbed in the gut.

Again, like he’d broken his legs.

Again, like a knife twisted in his back.

It went on and on, attack after attack, pain after searing pain. It hurt too much for him to even scream for help, not that it would have done any good. All around him, lifers walked by without a care in the world, not knowing that he was right there, a snivelling wreck, bloodied and bruised. He curled in on himself and waited for it all to be over.

Eventually, it finished. The last jolt came like a punch to the jaw and when nothing else happened for fifteen minutes, Alex began to come to his senses. He opened his eyes and eased himself up into a sitting position. Even that hurt like hell. He studied his body – his legs, even though they felt like they had been snapped in half, seemed fine; there were a few bruises on his arms, but nothing major; every aching joint was killing him and his head was pounding; again, he touched his upper lip and felt blood crusted there, but none of it was fresh enough to be wet.

He could only imagine how pathetic he looked.

How was he going to explain all this to his friends?

Never mind an explanation – he needed to warn them.

Slowly, he picked himself up off the ground. He regretted it immediately as his head started swimming, he swayed on his feet, almost slumping right back down to the ground. He wouldn’t let himself be beaten by this, he wouldn’t show anymore weakness. His vision blurred (by pain or unshed tears, it was impossible to tell), he focused as much as he could on the studio and forced himself to poof back there.

The feeling of teleportation was uncomfortable at the best of times, but in such a state Alex couldn’t have imagined anything worse. He landed in the studio, his feet hitting the floor with such force that it sent shockwaves up his spine, nothing compared to what he’d just been through but still unbelievably painful. Distantly, he could hear his friends stop talking, muffled and indistinct voices crowding all around him, their faces swimming in front of his eyes.

“Alex,” came a voice. Maybe Julie’s, maybe Luke’s, maybe Reggie’s, maybe none of them. “Alex, buddy, you alright? Come on, speak to us, Alex. What happened? Alex? Alex?”

There was little strength in his arms, but he used it to push them all away and staggered his way to the couch. He collapsed onto it, suddenly feeling weak, somehow more vulnerable than he’d felt lying on the ground as Caleb’s stamp beat him bloody. He checked his wrist now – the stamp was gone.

He came back to himself a little at that; if the stamp was gone, he couldn’t be hurt anymore. He was alright now, he was with his friends, Caleb was nowhere to be seen. But knowing that didn’t stop the tears pooled in his eyes from sliding down his cheeks or his hands from shaking so intensely they might fall off his body. Someone – no, not just someone, it was Julie – crouched down in front of him and gently laid a hand on his knee.

He jerked away from the touch like it burned him.

“Alex,” came Julie’s soft voice. “Alex, please look at me. What happened?”

All he could do in response was shake his head and curl in on himself, body heaving with every sob he was too weak to suppress.

“Alex,” Reggie tried. Alex felt the couch cushions depress next to him as Reggie sat beside him. “It’s alright, man. You’re safe here with us.”

“You’re not alone, Alex,” came Luke’s voice. “Just tell us what happened. Who did this to you?”

But still Alex could only shake his head.

No one said anything for a while. The only sound in the studio was Alex’s laboured breathing and ragged sobs. He’d never felt so pathetic in all his life and death – he could make it through torture without crying like this, and yet just being around his friends after the fact was enough to set him off. He felt useless, he hadn’t even tried to stop Caleb in any way. He’d let this happen, he was the reason he was hurt. This was all his fault.

After a while, he heard the sound of one of the boys poofing out, presumably Luke because Alex could still feel Reggie sat beside him. Only a minute or so later, there was the sound of someone poofing back in, but Luke wasn’t alone now.

“Alex?”

His haggard breathing stopped altogether as Alex opened his eyes to see Willie in front of him, crouched down where Julie had been before. There was a soft smile on their face, reassuring, but Alex wasn’t blind to the tears in their eyes. Alex timidly reached out a hand to him and Willie interlocked their fingers.

“I’m here,” Willie said, his voice wavering. “I’m here for you, hotdog.”

At that, fresh tears began streaming down Alex’s face. He pulled Willie to him, wrapping him in a fierce embrace, holding them so tight that it made his new injuries sear with pain, but he never wanted to let go. The pain was worth every bit of comfort that simply holding Willie provided, every moment, every second, everything.

“We’ll give you guys a minute,” Julie said quietly.

“What?” Luke protested. “No way, I want to find out who hurt Alex and I want to hurt them.”

“Luke,” Julie said, gentle but firm. “That’ll come later. I’m sure we’ll find out everything, but right now we shouldn’t surround him.”

Alex, still holding Willie like his afterlife depended on it, heard the three of them reluctantly leave him and Willie behind. He was grateful for the most part, but a little bit of him still wanted them there. It would have been harder to tell them all what had happened at once, but he would have preferred not to repeat the story.

Willie just held him. They didn’t press for him to talk, didn’t let go before Alex was ready, he just held him in his arms and occasionally whispered, “I love you. You’re safe. I’m here.”

Alex couldn’t believe how lucky he was to have someone like Willie care for him.

Eventually, he pulled away. It hurt to see Willie’s face streaked with tears, especially knowing it was because of him. Alex softly tucked a lock of hair behind their ear.

“I was out for a walk,” he rasped, his voice strained from crying. “Clearing my head. Like the day we first met. Same place and everything. Then there was this weird cloud and Caleb appeared. He said if I didn’t tell him how we got the stamps off then he’d hurt me.”

“Oh, Alex,” Willie breathed. Alex could see their heart breaking.

“I wouldn’t tell him. It’s not like we know anyway. So he… he put this other stamp on me – it was like, red and swirly and it looked like…”

“Death,” Willie finished for him. Alex nodded, looking at the ground, trying to still his breathing again. “It looked like death.”

“It felt like it too,” Alex said dryly. “Or worse.” He choked on his words, remembered it all, broke again.

He fell limply to the side, but Willie caught him, pulled him into a hug as he cried. There were images racing through his mind, one after the other – Caleb’s mirthless laughter and sly smirk, the stamp dripping across his skin, himself lying on the ground covered in his own blood. He still hadn’t figured out if that blood had been real or an illusion, but he couldn’t bring himself to care anymore because right that moment he felt as if he couldn’t breathe and his legs were numb and the walls were closing in and he was losing his grip on reality and losing his grip on Willie and–

“Come back, Alex,” Willie said, his voice cutting through Alex’s hopeless thoughts. “You’re not there anymore. It’s over. You survived. You are in Julie’s garage, I’m holding you, nothing can get to you. Come back, Alex.”

Slowly, Alex dragged himself down from his thoughts. He focused on the feeling on his hands clutching Willie’s hoodie, the tickle of Willie’s hair against his cheek, the warmth of Willie’s hands on his back. He focused on Willie and it brought him back.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

“Don’t apologise,” Willie told him, sounding almost outraged. He watched as Willie took a moment to collect himself, and when they spoke again their voice was much calmer. “You have nothing to apologise for. None of this was your fault. Please tell me you know that.”

Alex couldn’t have truthfully said so, and he wouldn’t lie to Willie. Bottom lip trembling as he held back yet more tears, he remained silent.

“Alex, this wasn’t your fault. You couldn’t have known Caleb was going to attack you. You couldn’t have predicted any of this. And it could have happened to any one of us. We all would have done the same thing. You made it through, Alex. This wasn’t your fault and you’re not weak for getting hurt.”

After a moment’s pause, Alex weakly repeated back to them, “This wasn’t my fault.”

Willie pressed a kiss to the top of Alex’s head. “Good. Please remember that. You don’t need to feel guilty about this, alright?”

All he did was nod, closing his eyes and resting his head on Willie’s chest.

“I can explain the stamp if you want,” Willie said, carding his fingers through Alex’s hair. “It has some fancy Latin name that I can’t remember. When Caleb uses it on someone, it takes the most pain they’ve ever been in, and it multiplies it by a thousand. It’s a good thing he can’t use it on lifers because if he did it would kill them with the first jolt.”

“I’m not surprised,” Alex deadpanned.

“The first time he used it on me I thought he was trying to kill me. Again. Or force me to cross over somehow.”

At that, Alex sat up and stared at Willie, wide-eyed. “The first time?”

Gently, Willie pulled Alex back to his lap and laid him down again. “He would use it on me if ever I stepped really out of line. The last time was the day you guys performed at the Orpheum. But I’m free now, so as long as we avoid Caleb it’ll never happen again. If we all avoid him – me, you, Luke, Reggie – then none of us have to get hurt.”

“I don’t think we can avoid whatever he’s got planned,” Alex mumbled.

“Maybe not,” Willie admitted. “But let’s not think about that now. Right, hotdog? I mean, you made it out today. Let’s focus on that. Is there anything you want to do?”

Alex thought for a moment but all he came up with was: “I just want to sleep. And I want you to hold me.”

He could hear Willie’s smile in their voice. “Of course. Whatever you want, Alex.”

Alex felt his eyes drifting closed, sleep catching up with him all at once, the exhaustion being a by-product of the agony. He didn’t mean to say it, but he heard his tired voice breathe, “I love you.”

And just before he fell asleep, he heard Willie whisper back, “I love you too, Alex. Sleep well.”

[shackermanwrites]

Lifetime

Summary: When everything's falling apart in your life, and you don't know what to do anymore, maybe asking the universe for something isn't a bad idea after all. In which Sol Reader finds herself in another reality after begging the universe for something. Everything is going well not until she was put into Levi's squad.

Chapter 2 -> Chapter 3

Lifetime Masterlist

The loud banging on the door made you instantly jolt up from your bed, and you looked at the digital clock beside your bed.

“It's 4:44 am; give me a break.” You mumbled to yourself as you got up from your bed.

It’s the first time in months that you have gotten a night of sleep for more than three hours and only to be interrupted by a loud knock, you could honestly punch a wall right there.

As soon as you open the door, the smile on Petra’s face was immediately replaced by a frown.

“You look terrible, Are you okay?” She invited herself in and placed her bag on the table beside the door.

“Geez, good morning to you too huh, you woke me up, genius” you plopped down back to your bed and hugged your pillow.

“I just want to see you before you go, and also, my mom cooked some food for you and your family. It's not much, but she made your favorite banana bread.”

Petra sat on the side of your bed and lay next to you, not caring if it’ll ruin her hair. You have been like this for almost a year, and you treat each other like sisters since she’s an only child, she confessed that she looks up to you like an older sister. Her family also treats you as their own, and you are beyond thankful for them. You honestly can't imagine how you will survive if it weren’t for them.

“Thank you, Petra. I appreciate it” You gave her a brief smile while you pinch her cheeks for a second before getting up from the bed.

You were supposed to wake up at 5 am, but since you are already awake and it's almost 5, you went to the bathroom to wash your face and take a bath. The faint sound of the television and the running cold water is the only thing you can hear.

-

You arrived at your house around 5 pm that day, the trip was indeed tiring even though there are not many people traveling considering that it is almost the holiday season.

As soon as you stepped inside the house, a blonde girl who’s holding a book came rushing at you with a big smile on her face.

“Historia! You have gotten a lot taller since I last saw you.” You immediately let go of your baggage and hugged the girl. You honestly missed her, and you know she did too. She was left alone in this house, and you know how it must be hard for her to grow up alone.

“I missed you so much, Sol. I have so many stories I want to share with you, mom! Dad! Sol is here!” the excitement and joy are all over her voice.

Your mom greeted you on her apron. She gave you a smile before glancing at the living room.

“Oh honey, you're back. Your dad is in the living room. I'm glad you could make it before Christmas.” your mother smiled at you once again before she went back to the kitchen.

You hate yourself for being mad. The feeling of being unwanted rushes through your body once again.

You didn’t want to face your father, but you're here now, and there's no backing off. You pat Historia’s head before your feet made their way to the living room to where your father is.

“Father, I'm home.” Your father didn’t look at you. He didn’t even try to glance in your direction. Instead, his eyes are glued to the book he is reading.

“I haven't seen you for two years. I forgot I have an older daughter.” The palm of your hands started to turn white as you clench your hands into a fist. You didn’t want to disrespect your parents, so you forced yourself to utter the word ‘sorry’ before excusing yourself.

-

“The fuck are you doing, cadet?! Get the hell up and start running!” The people who pass through the man shouting at a cadet lying on the ground clenched tighter on the rifle they are holding as they run faster in fear that they might get called.

Tired, thirsty, and hungry are the exact words you can describe the soldiers running under the sun while holding a 4kg rifle.

“So, a new batch of brats just graduated last night? How many are they?”

“Not more than 70 but not less than 50, eight from the top 10 decided to join survey corps. Don’t you need three more cadets to annoy you for your squad?”

“Shut it four eyes, and I do need someone who has a great aim at rifle since the last squad you gave me were nothing but shit. One cadet cant even shoots properly, and the other was shaking non-stop tch, pathetic.”

“Yeah, sorry shorty, but say less since they will be here early morning tomorrow. I just hope I get Reader and Ackerman in my squad!”

“Both of them topped their class? Tch, of course, those brats will pick you, considering that being in my squad means leading their own lives to hell. Anyway, I need to go, Hange.”

“Bye, Levi! Keep the weather down there cool!”

Levi Ackerman, one of the most outstanding soldiers on Paradis Island. At the age of 14, he was already in the survey corps after his mother died, he had no choice but to survive and live, and the only thing to survive for a homeless person on the Island is to become a soldier and fight for their home.

Most of the soldiers who joined are because of the ranks, a privileged to every family who has a soldier in survey corps is seen as honorable. Homeless people who want to join the military are a joke to them since they know that they are desperate to keep going in life. Still, Levi isn’t one of them at that time. He’s exceptionally strong, wise, and disciplined. That’s why no one ever challenged him after beating up the section commander in his first year in training.

Levi is an exceptional soldier, his rank went up throughout the years, and he’s currently holding the title of Squad Captain for Special Operations at the age of 26.

The wind danced his green cape that holds the title of his rank while he walks over to a bunch of cadets panting after running laps for hours under the beaming hot sun.

“Take a break and come back after 5 minutes, don’t even bother coming late” Levi watched as the soldier in front of him salute and instantly went to do their business.

He looked up to the sky to see a bunch of birds flying across the sky. He wanted something, yet he can't put the right words into it. Maybe he even needed it instead of want.

Aiming at the sky with his rifle, he shoots at the sky, causing a bird to fall in front of a cadet, making him caught off guard.

‘A bunch of pussies ’ Levi thought.

-

A loud bang from the door causing you and Historia to flinched while lying on the bed on your stomach. The both of you have been catching up with each other for almost an hour now with a bunch of stories about her school.

You heard your mom called you and your sister saying that it's already dinner time, so both of you went down to the kitchen.

Your father was already sitting at the dining table while reading a book while your mom prepares the plates and utensils to the table. You didn’t manage to help since, by the time you have sat, your mother was already finished preparing the table.

As all of you started to eat, no one bothered to engage in a conversation, and it bothers you because you feel awkward the entire time. Luckily for you, your mother is the first one to talk.

“How's college? You didn't come home for almost two years.”

You grip on your fork tightly, you had hoped to yourself that one of them would ask how you are doing, but here they are asking you how college is.

You compose yourself before answering her question. “I'm sorry, I'm just busy, but college is fine. I'm doing great academically, and I am passing my subjects.”

Your mother nods at your response before she returns to her food.

“At least be a responsible sister to Historia, the poor girl kept asking for you last year. I did not raise to be irresponsible,” your father coldly said while giving you a bored stare.

You want to cry at that moment.

No, you want to scream.

You're trying; your mind was filled with thought and screamed inside your head, but you managed to give an apologetic smile to your father.

“I'm sorry, father, I will do better next time.”

You can't look at them in the eyes because if you do, you know youll burst into tears and don’t wanna embarrass yourself in front of your family.

You excused yourself from the dinner by making up an excuse that you're tired.

You are.

Once you entered your room, you quickly took a shower before throwing yourself at your bed to rest.

You're tired from the travel, and you're exhausted from holding yourself back from anything and anyone.

‘fuck you, universe,’ you thought to yourself.

“Take me home, universe, I know I'm not home, take me to my home universe, whatever the cost is,” you softly mumbled to yourself a bunch of times before closing your eyes as you took a deep breath.

You stayed like that until you fall asleep while hugging your pillow.

-

“Sol, I know you're tired from celebrating but get up before the higher ranks get mad” a faint voice made you groan from disturbing your sleep.

You don’t know what time it is, but you want more sleep, so you rolled over to the other side of the bed.

Not a minute had passed, but a pillow was slammed into your arms, and a voice quickly followed it. “Sol, I woke you up, don’t tell me I didn’t, get up and get ready, Armin, and I won't wait for you.”

A couple of silence before footsteps can be heard, then the sound of a door closing.

You stayed in that position for a couple of minutes before opening your eyes wide open and sat on the bed.

You saw a bed beside yours and a bunch of books on the table beside your bed.

You're not in your room.

You don’t know where you are.

[tttinytrash]

So @shamedump, you made a mistake saying using your boys was ok. Forever ago on their blog (which if you haven’t checked them out yet you should) there was mention of Mage bitties, their Nightmare that’s more of a overly blunt but well-meaning boy than canon Nightmare, growing into biggies and a few of em running a place you could go to have them drain negativity off. They get fed, you’re less stressed, win-win! This has kinda been an idea I pop back to when I’m feeling particularly stressed and I decided that since they said using their ideas was ok with credit, I’d go for it and actually write something. So Mage, and all the subsequent ideas of how their powers work, what their body is like, (I even borrowed the mousepad analogy) and whatnot is all Dumpling. I simply extrapolated a story out of it. Any misrepresentations of the character I’ll pretend comes from the fact that they’re bitties/biggies and therefore personality can differ a little from the source material. At least, that’s what I’ll say to make myself feel better lol. 

Your cousin had dragged you to this place, and you had immediate reservations upon arrival. The place was run by biggies, which wasn’t the issue. You really just couldn’t help that they looked intimidating. 

Every biggie in the shop had black goop covering their whole form, and four extra appendages sprouting out of their back. They were somewhat taller than you, and definitely broader. Despite all this, you knew they couldn’t help their appearances and made no move to actually be scary, so you pushed the anxiety down (to join the plethora of other anxiety in the pile) as your cousin approached the desk. The biggie at the desk was pleasant enough as she checked you in for your appointment, then came back to sit in the waiting area with you.

“Just gotta wait for a chair to open, cous. This will be the best decision you’ve made all week, I swear!” She assured you as she took her seat beside yours.

You agreed absently, watching the other humans, monsters, and biggies wander through the store. The Mage biggies, as their type was called, each stood behind comfy looking chairs with their client seated before them facing a big mirror on the wall. It reminded you a lot of a hair salon, actually. One tendril from their back wrapped around each wrist, while their hands gave a shoulder massage. Actually, the one on the end of the row was braiding his client’s hair. That observation struck you as pretty cute, and managed to sap away some apprehension. 

“little less scary now?”

You all but leapt from your seat you jolted so hard.

Your cousin tried and failed to muffle a snicker at your expense as the biggie continued “whoops. sorry, wasn’t trying to sneak up on you.”

“N-no, It’s fine. Just kinda got caught people watching.” you assure, trying your best to laugh off the mortification.

“it’s fine, we get it. i’m jethro. i’ll be taking care of you today.”

“Nice to meet you, I’m y/n.”

“Ooh, such a good name!” your cousin interjected.

“heh, thanks. my adopter was into some cop show. guess my attitude back in the day reminded him of somebody. anyhow, my chair is right this way, y/n.”

Your cousin excused herself and left you to your appointment, which had been the deal. You were too nervous to wait alone at a new place, but knew you should be ok from here. Jethro guided you to one of the indeed very comfy chairs and took his position behind. His tendrils grabbed a stool from against the wall and set it behind the chair so he could sit as well. Despite being behind you, he was able to look at you easily by turning his one eyed gaze to the mirror set on the wall in front of you.

“this is your first time, right?” Jethro asked, so far keeping his hands to himself.

You confirmed that it was.

“right. so i assume there’s questions?”

“Yeah, my cousin said you guys drain negativity. How literal is that?”

“exceedingly. we can sense emotions, especially negative ones. we can also feed off of em. again, literally. we remove them through physical contact and they’re converted into magic in our bodies.”

“You guys eat our bad emotions?”

“yep.”

You realized something. “...You sense them too.”

“Yep.”

“Does that include nervousness?”

“yep.”

“So you knew I was literally scared when I walked in.”

“yep.”

“I am so sorry.” Ugh, now he probably felt how mortified you were. Now he thought you were a racist! You were far from one of those monster hating bigots! Shit, maybe you should just leave-

You flinched when two cold pressures settled on your wrists, and your mortification ebbed.

“you’re fine, told you we get it.” Jethro cut your shameful spiral short, and you realized he’d wrapped his tendrils around your arms.

The appendages were cool to the touch, and the grip was light enough you could easily break free if you had any desire to. Thing is, you didn’t. You felt the stress that had been building up simply start to vanish. It left you feeling hollow, but calm and gratitude quickly filled the void. You could definitely tell those feelings were literally being taken away from you.

“now, since i’ve absorbed those negative feelings i know roughly why you came in and i’m also here to talk you through all of it rather than just making it go away if you want. but usually people just go quiet on their first time, up to you. given your reaction here, i’m assuming you want to enjoy the clear head space awhile instead?”

You nodded, feeling ever so slightly loopy. Was that an affect of the draining?

Jethro made an amused acknowledging sound. He reached forward, using his hands to apply pressure to the tense muscles around your shoulders and neck. You melted into the pleasant touch, briefly feeling shame for so visibly reacting before that too was wicked away.

“heh, i sense a return customer.”

You smiled, oh hell yes you were.

-----

You became a regular immediately.

All the guys in the shop were great, but Jethro definitely ended up your preferred siphon, and he was who you made appointments with.

You were in a session with him now, and it was nice to have him act as a sounding board as to how to deal with you day to day stressors. You’d picked up a few calming techniques you used on a daily basis by now, and your sessions had reduced in frequency by this point. It was almost a friendly catch up session between you two whenever you made a booking, but you still absolutely appreciated his services. 

As you two casually chatted near the end of your appointment, another biggie walked out from the back room. You’d seen a few clients go back there, only to emerge hours later. That was the “Special Treatment” room, and you were curious what that entailed but had never mustered the courage to ask. This curiosity meant you were very keen on observing the biggie that had just exited and therefore delighted when he took a seat in the vacant client chair next to yours. 

Jethro greeted him as he settled, and you noticed the newcomer had his hand laid on his belly as if to steady it. 

“special treatment?” Jethro asked.

“yeah. they totally fell asleep, but i’m not gonna bother them just yet.” the other responded.

“heh, they must have needed it then. nightmares, i guess?”

“yeah. pretty bad. all the more reason to let em rest.”

The conversation drifted from there, and you eventually got looped in and belatedly introduced to the other biggie, who you learned was named Obsidian. Throughout the conversation, you didn’t miss that Obsidian had his hands folded over his middle, and kept swiping his thumb across the surface whenever the special treatment client had been referred to.

You left the store contented but all the more curious. Maybe you’d finally ask when you came back next time.

-----

God this sucked.

When it rains it pours, apparently. It started with your manager breathing down your neck at the same time a bunch of impending deadlines were looming for school. With a cherry on top of family drama, you felt like a frayed nerve.

Your next siphoning session was two weeks away, but damn did you need the support now. You’d tried your calming strategies, which while they kept a panic attack at bay weren’t enough. You’d tried handling this on your own but it just wasn’t cutting it after a few days of the stress piling up on itself in your head.

You walked into the shop, hoping beyond hope that they took walk in clients.

Obsidian was apparently slotted for receptionist duty today, and he seemed to take notice of you before you were able to even say anything. His head jerked up as if he’d heard a loud noise and once his gaze settled on you, recognition dawned quickly. “y/n? what happened?” The concern made it clear that your black cloud of anxiety was exceedingly obvious to the empath before you.

“Everything, it feels like. There wouldn’t happen to be any openings today, would there?”

“i think we can swing something. gimme a sec.” 

The biggie disappeared in a shortcut, chair rattling down from its tilted position loudly. 

You flinched at the sound at looked around the shop for reactions. There weren’t many people, two biggies had clients and were politely ignoring the commotion you felt you’d made. You recognized one of the clients distantly, but your attention was quickly diverted to two figures emerging from the staff lounge. Obsidian lead Jethro, much to your delight, towards you. Jethro’s expression softened visibly at the same time you felt the happy thrill of recognition.

The expression settled into concern again by the time he’d approached. “you’re more negative now than when we first met, kiddo.” He said instead of a greeting. Blunt, as usual.

“I believe it. Sorry to drop in without a booking-”

“you’re fine, stoppit. you apologize too much. you’re probably due for a special treatment if you’re game for it.”

You perked up despite the dark knot in your soul at the mention of the mysterious back room. Your curiosity was piqued again, and you were up to try anything to get your head back in order by this point. So decided, you nodded.

You were lead into the back room, and you eagerly took in your new environment. There were a couple huge, very plush looking beanbags in the center of the room. A water cooler was off to the side, and a little table next to it had a hot water dispenser and tea bags. There wasn’t a ton of other things here, besides a few odd indoor plants and a distinct lack of mirrors compared to the salon-esque layout outside.

You belatedly realize that Jethro was trying to get your attention, and rush to respond. “S-sorry, what?”

“was askin’ if you wanted a rundown. this is your first time back here, you outta know what you’re agreeing to for both our sakes.”

“Ok, what happens next then?”

“well, you’ll recall that we consume negative emotions, and that we run off magic just like other monsters?”

“Yeah, of course.”

“this is an extension of that. some monster types have the ability to take others into their bodies harmlessly. if i do that, i’ll be able to sap even more negativity and also tease apart what triggered the emotions. that way we can work through it more specifically than in previous sessions, plus the negativity drains quicker.”

You blinked at him. That was one of the longer spiels you’d heard from him ever, but you were lost as hell. “That sounds great, but what did you mean about the taking into...?”

“yeah, it’s pretty similar to what you’re probably thinking. i’d essentially have to eat you.” he shrugged casually, like that was obvious.

You flinched away, feeling your heart rate spike.

“we don’t have to, if you want to try a normal session.” he offered, hands in pockets and expression neutral.

You go quiet in thought and he lets you. Everything from your previous session clicked into place, and you realized that when you’d met Obsidian he’d had someone inside while you three talked. You also realized the dim recognition you’d felt in the front room was that the client in the chair today was the same that’d disappeared into the back room with Obsidian. 

The train of thought came to a halt as you realized worrying was stupid, this was Jethro for frick’s sake! You trusted him easily, so extending that trust to allow what he clearly thought was the best move for you took little effort.

“If you think it’ll help, I’m up for it.” You say, determined.

He had a soft, almost relieved smile as he nodded in reply. 

He didn’t waste any time, and wrapped you snugly in all four of his tendrils. You were surprised by how little effort it appeared to take to lift your whole form off the floor. He flopped into one of the beanbags unceremoniously. 

So that’s what those are for. you thought as you watched him settle comfortably in the soft cushion.

You couldn’t help but tense when you were brought over his upturned face, and tilted so you were almost nose to nose (...nose to nasal bone. Whatever.) with him leaving your body hanging parallel to the floor in his grip. 

You’re not afraid, but you’re certainly nervous. Until you’re just not. You’ve done this enough to know he’s siphoning the nerves away, but this time you apparently don’t have much in the way of other emotions and are left with a hollow feeling. That utter lack of emotions leaves you to do nothing beyond going limp to make the next steps easier and watch as his mouth approaches to engulf your head. You duck your head down and find it pillowed on a tongue, cool to the touch and jet black. The light is almost immediately cut off as you’re pushed deeper in by the four tendrils around your torso. 

A wet gulp squishes into your ears and you feel a pressure over the crown of your head as your skull presses into the throat. You briefly wonder how a skeleton has such human like fleshy bits but chalk it up to the ooze over his whole bony form. A tendril slid off your body as its assistance was no longer needed, leaving a cool sensation and a slight tingle akin to mint in its wake.

Another wet sound and you’re in deeper. The sounds quickly pick up and settle into a comfortable rhythm, drawing you in with apparent ease. You eventually slide into a roomier space and flip into a somewhat seated position. You hear a sigh above you, and finally curiosity, relief, and a few other emotions take up residence in your head again. 

“you good?” You hear him ask, voice close but also somewhat muffled. 

You respond in the affirmative.

“good. get comfy, do whatever you need to. once you’re settled i can stop focusing on the anxiety of this arrangement and instead deal with what brought you here.”

You scootched into a comfortable curled position and forced yourself to cycle a breath. You used your favored calming technique and found that your nervousness first came back before ebbing completely. He’d stopped siphoning it away, but you felt fine now. You decided that you could take this opportunity to feel out your new surroundings for a moment, since Jethro pretty much gave permission. You decided to start pretty literally, pushing outwards on a wall with light pressure. Your fingers sunk in, the texture was like pressing on a gel mousepad. Cool to the touch, but you weren’t about to start shivering in here. 

The whole area was dim, but the grooves in the wall dully glowed with turquoise light enough to see your surroundings and to see where your hand was in relation to the rest of you. You weren’t blind in the pitch dark, much to your relief. (Not that you had considered that issue before agreeing to be taken in.) 

You ran your hand along the wall to further investigate and found friction minimal while not feeling wet. You didn’t quite realize you were rubbing at the wall before you until you heard a light chuckle and felt an opposing pressure from outside. You understood immediately that that was his hand pressing in at you from outside and used both hands together to push at the appendage and interact. After a moment he changed to rubbing at you like you had him, asking “did you want to address what brought you in or keep on playing in there?”

“Ha, sorry. Yeah, we should start. What do I have to do?”

He let out a long suffering sigh. “y/n, you still apologize too much.” He sounded exasperated, but was also teasing you.

“S-” You were about to apologize, but caught yourself. Well shit, you didn’t know what else to say if not sorry.

Jethro laughed a little at you, before moving on to his next point. “all you have to do is relax. first i have to figure out what went on with you, then we can talk.”

You felt the difference starkly between a normal session and this one. You could feel the stress sap out of you, and what you had to imagine having your life flash before your eyes was like but instead directly related to your recent stressors. It felt like it lasted awhile while simultaneously feeling like no time had passed.

The following discussion was long, but sorely needed. By the end you felt relief, gratitude, and a renewed determination. At some point the chamber you were in had seemingly formed itself a small puddle of what was apparently liquid magic. Jethro had already explained that it was essentially the excess magical energy his body had converted your stress into, and you thought it was much less noxious in this form. It was warm to the touch and flowed like water the best you could tell in the dim light. It had a faint turquoise glow that still managed to not cast too much light just like the rest of his magic. It filled a few inches at the bottom, so while you had your legs crossed it lapped as the tops of your knees and around your hips. You scooped some of the liquid up and absently let it fall through your fingers onto your knee.

The only problem with this was that such warmth in addition to the emotional exhaustion you were already feeling combined to make you about to fall asleep. Maybe you should ask about getting out?

“you nodding off on me in there? your heart’s slowing down.” he asked, interrupting your thoughts.

“I think so. Guess I should get out.” You found that you were loathe to move, though. You stretched your legs out, pressing your feet into the opposing wall.

“i can let you out, sure.” he said easily. A pause, then he adds “unless you’d rather sleep.”

You blink. “In here? Don’t you want me out?”

You felt the wall behind you tug upwards, seeming like he shrugged. “i don’t have any other appointments today.”

“...If you don’t mind?”

“since when do i suggest anything i’m not willing to do?”

You chuckle “Fair enough. Well, thank you.” You pat the wall and reposition to a reclined, curled position.

He gives you a pat back, “don’t mention it.”

The last thought you had before sleep overtook you was that for how crap you felt before, you felt pretty good now.

[dragonrajafanfiction]

Tokyo Tower (Part 4) Herzog, Bondarev, MC

It took me a while to figure out what angle I was going to go with this. I hope you enjoy it!

In the Tokyo port area, not far from the coast, the sound of the midnight tide can be faintly heard. The iron tower stands in the rainstorm, a stark and bony giant, silently supporting the sky.

Tokyo Tower.

This tower was once the high point of Tokyo, but now it has been replaced by the taller Tokyo Sky Tree. But looking up from directly below, one can still be amazed at its majesty. The jagged steel supports are more like the skeleton of a giant than a living giant.

"Ukyo, Ukyo, Ruri calling, report your position." Ruri Kazama's voice came over your headset.

"Arriving at the first floor of the underground garage. It's a little strange how quiet it is." Chu Zihang replied.

 "After the Tokyo Sky Tree was built, this place has been forgotten. Who would come to the former tallest tower when you can climb the actual tallest tower to see Tokyo?" Ruri Kazama said, "That's why the King will choose this place for the meet up.”

His voice grows faint. “In the past, it was a Tokyo landmark. It appeared in various manga and movies. Couples saw climbing Tokyo Tower together as a romantic affair, and those who fell out of love came here to commit suicide. This place symbolizes the prosperity and loneliness of Tokyo. In ‘Tokyo Babylon’, there is a dead soul wandering in Tokyo Tower, and she says, "I hate Tokyo, so gorgeous on the outside, but so dirty on the inside.’"

"You don't seem to like Tokyo that much, do you?" Caesar said.

"Not only do I dislike it, I actually want to burn the city down. It's a sad city, like a colorful cage."

Lu Mingfei, next to you, gives you a searching look. “You like this guy?” He whispered.

The two of you were in your sniping positions on a building far from the tower. Your job was not to snipe Masamune Tachibana or Dr. Herzog -- aka King General -- but to control the perimeter to avoid their escape. You’d prepared yourself with rain proof gear and warm underclothes. You’d even brought snacks and a small thermos of tea to drink while you waited. You lay on a small pad to comfort yourself against the hard asphalt roof. It was almost like a camping trip.

To answer Mingfei’s question, you answer the comms. “It’s funny you say that, Ruri. I imagined one morning tilting the whole city into the sea.” You giggle. 

Mingfei’s face twisted in sheer disbelief.

"Sorry to disturb the lovebirds’ very romantic conversation, but I'm wet and cold here in the void and also lonely. That is, needless to say, you guys' warm and blossoming words are driving me nuts!" Fingel's indignant voice came out of the headset, "Will you please shut up?"

 "From my point of view, you are completely invisible, hidden really well. What is your position?" Lu Mingfei asked.

"The northwest side of the tower, about 60 meters from the special lookout. Do you want me to say hello and yell at you a few times? That way you can remember that there is a poor man like me shivering in the wind and rain!" Fingel said viciously "I mean, is this balloon really reliable?"

"It's a dirigible." Lu Mingfei corrected.

He put down his sniper rifle and lifted his binoculars to look at the sky. Following Fingel's instructions, he did see the huge black object suspended in the rainstorm, like a giant whale suspended in the restless sea. It was so close to the color of the sky that it was almost indistinguishable. But poor Fingel was handing underneath it by a rope in the rain.

“That’s a really cool idea, Mingfei. How did you come up with it?” You ask.

“Oh… I got inspired one day.” He lowered the binoculars and looked down at you. “What do you have there?”

“Chocolate chip cookies. Do you want one?” You held up a cookie the size of your hand and Mingfei’s eyes brightened!

Fingel moaned loudly and you grin.

"We have reached the second floor of the underground garage. There’s a problem." Chu Zihang said, "The rainstorm has been going on too long. The area is flooded. The water depth is half a meter. Caesar and I had to wade deep into the garage to find the pipe opening."

You can hear them splashing around and, leaning close to Mingfei’s ear, you whisper. “I think I picked the right job.”

"Basara! Ukyou! Quiet! Unidentified vehicles are approaching Tokyo Tower!" Ruri Kazama's voice came over the headset.

You quickly grab a cookie in your mouth and munch on it while watching through your rifle scope.  A silver vintage Mercedes Benz drove through the rain-swept streets, kicking up a huge wake. It pulled into the basement level parking garage near where Caesar and Chu Zihang were. From there, there was an elevator that would take him directly up to the Tokyo Tower’s observation deck. Sure enough, a few seconds later, the high-speed elevator zoomed smoothly up the tower.

"It's Tachibana Masamune, who surprisingly arrived an hour early and drove himself here." Ruri Kazama whispered.

 "He sounds like a very young man from the sound of his footsteps." Caesar said.

"To be sure, I can see him clearly from here. He has reached the main observation deck and is looking out the window. You are right, he is in a strange state tonight, like a young man. Like the Major Bondarev of old."

“Wow…” You breathe in amazement. “It’s really him.” 

Even though he's far away and standing next to a window that’s running with rain, you recognize his upright and proud posture. You were an older orphan, a well trained soldier. He was always jolly and excited, with a disarming personality, a roguishly handsome face and well muscled body. Everyone was excited when Bondarev arrived.

Even now, you can hear Khorkina’s excited squealing echoing from the underworld. “It's Mr. Bondarev! He’s here!”

He always came with the Lenin. For you, he was like Santa Claus. But he was way hotter. Mr. Bondarev was like Santa the young women in the orphanage dreamed of marrying. Tonight, instead of a kimono, Bondarev wore the black trench coat of the Executive Board, with an open lapel revealing a white shirt with a colorful lining.

“Why are you smiling? This guy killed your friends!” Mingfei hissed.

“I know.” You whisper back. “But I haven’t seen this guy in forever and … this is amazing. He hasn’t changed at all.”

Bondarev fished out his cell phone and dialed. He started speaking in Japanese. “Mingfei, what is he saying?”

“He’s talking to Chisei. They’re talking about Erii. She’s okay.” Mingfei replies. 

“That’s a relief. She was really sad but I comforted her. Don’t worry. She’ll wait for you.” You smile up at Mingfei but Mingfei doesn’t return it. You’re puzzled for a moment but then you shrug. “Don’t feel guilty about leaving her at the Hydras. You did the right thing. You’ll have another chance to go get her. Just don’t keep her waiting too long!”

The lights suddenly went out.

Tokyo tower suddenly turned into a lifeless ruin. Masamune's trench coat was shaking and snapping in a wind that blew in as emergency doors had opened on the observation deck. He showed no fear. His whole body looked like a taut longbow.

"Basara to Ruri! The power suddenly went out in the underground garage!" Caesar lowered his voice, "All the gates are closed!"

“Ruri here, not only is the power out at Tokyo Tower, but the surrounding blocks have gone dark, and the power supply to the entire district has been interrupted."

Ruri Kazama added, "But the lights of the stairs are on."

In the darkness, the iron staircase around Tokyo Tower was lit up. LED lights were installed underneath the staircase, and each step emitted a glowing white light, as if it were a path to heaven.

"After all these years, we're still in the habit of arriving early." A voice with a smile echoed around the tower. That voice came out of the Tokyo Tower's PA system, and there was no need for any listening device. Everyone could hear it clearly.

 "That's the voice of The King General!" Lu Mingfei whispered.

“I know, stupid. I can hear it myself!” A jolt of shock echoed through your entire body. The voice reverberated like a bell, in a pure and recognizable Russian language with an accent native only to Northern Siberia. You hadn’t heard anyone speak your language for weeks and the familiarity by which your mind responded to the words sent sparks of pleasure through your mind.

It wasn’t just the voice of the King General. It was the voice of Dr. Herzog. The Herzog you grew up with, the one who raised you up. His voice echoed through the halls. It encouraged you. Praised you. Spoke your name. For you to hear it through the PA system on your naked ears, unfiltered by your headset… your heart responds as though he were speaking directly to you.

 "Of course, it's always the first one to arrive who takes the first position. How can people like you and I allow each other to take the first position?" Bondarev looked around, "I'm late this time, what have you prepared waiting for me?"

“MC translation please…” Caesar grumbled.

“They’re not saying anything important.” You shake your head.

“Translation please….” Caesar’s voice echoed a bit warningly.

“Yes, sir.”

 You speak in English for all to understand. "What else could it be? Of course it's authentic Red Label vodka and cold ice shipped from distant Siberia. Isn't that what friendship between men should be like? The liquor that burns the veins and the ice that never melts." Through the earpiece, you can hear the sound of vodka pouring straight from the bottle and the clinking of ice cubes. It was like he was sitting right next to you in the dark winter cabins of the north.

You can’t help yourself but smile. You knew this man. Were you not the only one frozen in the ice sea from twenty years ago? This is exactly a scene from your past being played out in real time! 

 "Why don't you walk faster? We have not seen each other for more than twenty years. You’ve gotten old. The world does not have much time for old people. We should seize every minute."

Your voice falls into the same tone and cadence of the King’s manner of speaking. You can’t see either of them now, but you can imagine him holding the glass up. He was probably going to toast to something. He always did.

"How can you not enjoy the overture before the official movement begins? Do you still listen to Tchaikovsky's 'Swan Lake'?" You are translating but it sparked a memory. “That’s right. Dr. Herzog loved Swan Lake. That’s why the port was called Black Swan Bay.”

  "The favorite thing to listen to now is his Sixth Symphony, the swan song he wrote for himself." Your heart sinks when you hear this and translate. After you finish translating you say. “Herzog is dying.”

“How can you tell?” Caesar asked.

“Tchaikovsky's 6th symphony was the last one he ever wrote. After he performed it he died a few days later.” You answer.

“You seem to understand each other’s words very well. I wouldn’t have picked up on that…” Caesar commented.

You don’t answer him. The night before you had already discussed this with him. Even though you had learned a lot from Caesar and had adopted a few of his philosophies, you were still fundamentally the daughter that Herzog raised. It seemed like he still had a hard time accepting that.

"You look a bit ridiculous nowadays, Major Bondarev." 

 "You look a bit scary today, however, Dr. Herzog."

"Do you want to analyze the ingredients before you drink it?"

“You’re not going to poison me.”

 "Shouldn't we share a toast?" 

You huffed. “I knew he was going to do that.’

 "To what? To the once glorious Soviet Union?" You can scarcely hold your laughter. These guys were exactly as you remembered him. It was almost like a scene from a movie you’d watched dozens of times.

You sigh, once again falling into Herzog’s way of speaking, gesturing with the glass like he always did. "There is no need to raise a glass to it. It is dead. Let’s celebrate that we have all survived, that those who survive are the strong, and that the strong raise their glasses to each other."

Your hand pauses in the air with its invisible glass.

“Ah. So is that why we have a third glass here?” Bondarev said.

“You also have seen the girl?” Herzog said. 

You’re so shocked that you forget to translate. You spin so fast, Lu Mingfei jumps out of his skin. You press your eye to the scope. But you can’t really see them any more.

Bondarev is speaking now. “Yes, I have to say, I struggled to keep my composure. Looking at her was like looking at a ghost. When did you see her?”

“I didn’t personally see her. It was reported back to me.” Herzog said.

Caesar’s voice. “MC!”

“Sorry!” You gasp. “They’re talking about me! They’re… they’re raising their glasses… to me. To the … only girl who made it out of Black Swan Bay to study.” Your voice fades and becomes choked with emotion. But not for your dead friends. You felt sad for the little girl you used to be who looked up to Herzog. Herzog was a loving and caring personality that little girl had wanted desperately to please. She had worked hard to the end for his smile of approval. But the whole time, he knew she was going to die.

Tonight, he was forced to give that smile of approval. Despite his plans, you did make it. You steel yourself again against the tragedy, not allowing yourself to cry or even feel sad for long. “Yeah. A toast to me, asshole, I’m going to shoot you in your head for my graduation party.” You snarl.

“I got worried there for a second.” Caesar said. 

“I’m fine. They’re just sweeping the area for bugs now. But they won’t find any.”

 Herzog and Bondarev each took off their outerwear and threw it on the ground, pulling up the sleeves of their shirts, moving neatly as if to admire themselves in the mirror.

"What is the meaning of this? Do old friends meet to strip naked and hug?" Fingel monitored every movement in the special observation deck.

 "No, except for the outer clothing, their clothes are very close fitting, which means they can't hide bulky weapons under their clothes, such as guns. Rolling up their sleeves is a sign that they don't have throwing knives hidden on their wrists, which are no less deadly than bullets at that distance." Ruri Kazama said, "It's a way for spies to show the other side that they are 'clean'."

"What classic old spies!" Fingel exclaimed.

You chuckle. “Right out of James Bond. Oh, they’re talking now. I don’t quite understand what it means. Bondarev is asking Herzog if he wants to ascend to the throne of the world. And he says that Dragons can live over a thousand years and be reborn through… cocooning? What does it mean?”

Chu Zihang responded. “Dragon Kings, when they hatch, create an alchemical device called an ‘egg’. Through a special process, if they get mortally wounded, they can put themselves in this ‘egg’ device and regenerate. So long as they can make their egg, and protect it, they will never die.”

You nod. “It sounds like Herzog wants to evolve into a dragon. Turn into a dragon. He says that’s the only way he knows that he is really existing, is if he’s at the very top of the food chain. If nothing else can eat him then he is truly alive. The rest of the world is just food.”

A soft moan interrupts your listening and translation work. Lu Mingfei is wincing and sighing with his eyes tightly shut. His hand is against his forehead. “Mingfei! Are you alright?” 

He doesn’t answer immediately. He doesn’t even seem to hear you at all. You shake his shoulders. “Mingfei! Are you using a Soul Skill? Is this sequelae?” You try to look into his eyes but they’re closed! “Mingfei!”

Mingfei’s whole body gave a tremendous shiver. Even though the rain was cold, he was sweating. 

You kneel next to him. “It’s okay. I’m here. Are you sick?”

“MC, for the last time, I don’t need you to worry about Mingfei’s panic attacks, I need you to translate!”

“I’m … I’m sorry! Bondarev’s saying. ‘What makes a child whose life is as fragile as a broken candle catch your attention, Doctor?’”

 “Herzog is saying that only one out of 100,000 humans exposed to dragon blood will survive. That he is 1 in 100,000. But also, Bondarev’s daughter is 1 in 100,000! He’s talking about Erii!”

"He says that the power of any evolutionary drug can only end up creating deadpool. The real evolution drug is an alchemical drug and the core ingredient is the blood of ancient dragons, especially the fetal blood of the White King. By obtaining that fetal blood, they have the opportunity to create the perfect evolutionary drug." Your voice rises in panic.

“They’re going to use it on Erii! They’re going to turn Erii into a dragon!”

[slightlymore]

Professor Jaemin | Part 2

This is part 2 of the prof Jaemin fic, it’s not a real series so you can read them both as one-shots Warnings: the same as part 1 and very dirty overall lol yall asked for this 

It was very late in the day. Your shadow looked wide on the tiles of the corridor, walking up to Jaemin’s office. Somehow you were hoping he wasn’t there anymore, that he went home already, so embarrassed to actually look him in the eyes. But your legs were still moving, subject not of your rational brain, but of the pulsating core that drove you insane. 

You eyed the door, and only that was enough to make your body shiver, thinking about what you’ve done in that office just a few days ago. On your knees, with your cheeks cupped by his big hands, you let his cock inside your mouth until it hit the back of your throat. You gagged but tightened your lips around him, showing him that you weren’t giving up yet. The expression he made as you sucked on him, was something you’ve never witnessed before. It made you wet and his praises, with that deep and rough voice of his, weren’t helping at all. You did your best, letting your tongue around him, even if the corner of your eyes started to get wet, even if you started to whine as he was too big even for your mouth. So he stopped and came out of your grip slowly, with a little strand of saliva connecting your tongue to the tip of his cock. 

You looked up at him with big eyes, as if asking if you did something wrong. “It’s alright, baby,” he said. “Come” he ordered taking you by your hand and dragging you into his arms again. He was much taller when standing so when he leaned in to kiss you, you whimpered in his hold, tiptoeing to reach him. He kissed you slowly, savouring the taste of your tongue, while one of his hands caressed your spine and unclasped your bra. You had no idea what he had in mind and you wanted to ask him why he didn’t fuck himself in your mouth. But you couldn’t as he didn’t let you one single second to breathe. When he broke off the kiss you were full-on panting and the only thing you could do was to let him take off your shirt, feeling like a little girl. When you realized that the bra was coming off as well you panicked and pressed your arms around your torso. You heard him chuckle. “I want to see you” he just said and you felt your limbs weak. He took your hands into his and uncovered your chest, making you whine in embarrassment. You couldn’t look at his face as he hummed deeply, staring at you. When you felt his hands palming your soft breasts you moaned, unaware of how sensitive your nipples were, and you looked down, at how your skin filled the space between his fingers when he squeezed down. And then he sat down on his chair and tugged at your body by grabbing your hips. “Kneel down again, baby” he ordered and you finally looked at his face and gulped seeing his dark pupils. You went down on your knees, between his thighs and eyed his hard cock resting upon his lower stomach. “No,” he said, sensing what you wanted to do with it. So you waited, like a good girl, to see what he had in mind, your legs squeezing against each other, so close to having another orgasm just by looking at him. He took his own cock himself, stroking it slowly, and you watched his veiny hand going around it as if it was your pussy doing that. You didn’t notice you were biting your lower lip until he touched your face with his free hand. “Do you like what you see?” he asked and he didn’t quite finish the phrase that you replied that yes, you loved it, and you wanted to taste it again. “Please” you added. Jaemin looked unfazed at your words but you could see his cock twitch in his hand as getting even harder, if possible. So he didn't waste any more time. He let himself go and grabbed your arms, making you come as close at to touch your nipples with his cock. His hands then wrapped your boobs, squeezing them together, and letting his cock slide in the middle. You whimpered loudly, as if getting pleasured yourself. Your hands soon replaced his, quick to learn what you were supposed to do and he rested his back on the chair, eyes trembling, and you knew that he enjoyed it a lot. “You’re so good, baby girl” he whispered as his chest rose every second more quickly than before. The compliment got to your head and between your legs and looking at him straight in the eyes you let your tongue out, trying to catch the tip of his dick. He opened up his lips, breathing with his mouth now, not expecting it. “Who would have known you could be so dirty, princess” he commented, moving his hips, humping your breasts, letting you lick him every time his dick poked out of them. You desperately wanted to touch yourself, old and new wetness dripping on your thighs, but you went on, wanting to see what kind of face he would pull as he would cum on you. It didn’t take too long. You knew he was close the moment he grabbed your face with both hands and shoved his thumb inside your mouth, fucking himself with no real rhythm anymore. You took his finger in, sucking on it, letting him know with your eyes that he could do whatever he wanted to you. Then he went completely still while sharply breathing between his teeth. You watched as he finished on your breasts, hot cum coating your skin and dripping off your hard nipples. You thought about that image the whole night after you went home and rubbed yourself on your pillow. And now you were there again. His door was open and you had to peak with your head, hiding a little on the side, afraid he was busy working, or, worse, busy with somebody else. He was alone though, standing in front of his desk, hands full of paper as he stacked them on top of each other, as if cleaning it up for the day. You closed your eyes as if building up the courage and breathed out. Then you knocked. His head jerked towards you instantly and his eyes widened a little seeing you. It gave you force to open your mouth and talk. “Hi, can I come in?” you asked and you hated the way your voice came out trembling. He didn’t reply for a second and you almost saw the way his brain geared to think about what on earth you were doing there. “Y/N” he just commented and, fuck, you loved how your name rolled on his tongue. It did not help your problem at all. You did have a plan for your visit, in case you sensed him not wanting to let you do what you came there for, but you really wished to not use it. “I have a few questions” you explained yourself as you walked in a few steps. “About the class” you added but then your hand, as if it wasn’t yours, grabbed the door handle and closed it after yourself, locking it. Jaemin looked at your movements and his lips curved in a little smile. He coughed as if trying not to laugh and put down the paper he was holding. “What are those questions about?” he asked then, resuming his position from before, knowing damn well that you didn’t care about the class. You walked towards him slowly, your blood boiling underneath your skin full of adrenaline and desire. “I wanted to ask-” you started when you were close enough to touch his chest, “-if I could suck your cock, professor” you finished quietly. His breath hitched at your words and you could see his eyes visibly widen. You tried to maintain a certain composure, as if playing with him, but your burning cheeks probably gave away your true feelings. “Mm” he hummed as if very interested. “You could” he agreed. “But-” he started to speak again raising one finger as if actually talking about school material, “-I have something better in mind” he added. One second you were standing in front of him, and one second after that you were feeling the rough wood of his desk on your face. “Well well well” you heard him say, staring at how your skirt was barely able to cover your ass, revealing your bare pussy. “Someone came prepared” he talked again and although he looked cool about seeing you bent over his desk while not wearing any underwear, you could sense the way his voice dropped seeing you that way. You looked over your shoulder biting down on your lip, feeling your pulse between your legs growing every second. You saw him staring at you as if looking at an art masterpiece and then at his hand as he reached to his collar to loosen his tie. You hoped to see that hand go down and unbuckle his belt, but instead, it rolled up his sleeves as if getting ready to sit down for dinner. And that’s exactly what he did. Your fingers tightened so hard on the edge of the desk when he kneeled down and grabbed your ass, taking your pussy lips inside his mouth as if making out with it, that you got white knuckles. The little “oh-” you throat did, became a louder and messier sound as he started to lick on your clit, slower, then slightly quicker, until it became so fast that it felt like vibrations. You were so wet that the sounds he was making felt like the dirtiest thing you’ve ever heard in your whole life, making you blush all over for being so needy. And you were in fact so fucking needy that it took you no time to start moaning his name, cumming on his tongue as he fucked you with it. Your head was empty, your lungs released all the air all at once and your legs didn’t seem to want to stop from shivering all over. But he didn’t stop. His wet tongue kept moving inside of you, making you jolt, spreading you with his fingers to get even more. “Sir- please, sir” you found yourself moaning, not knowing yourself if you were telling him to stop of begging him to continue. He did whatever he wanted though, choosing the overstimulation route until you started to whimper so loudly that he finally stopped. You wanted to look at him, to see what he was trying to do, but as you raised your head, your felt your face wrapped by his fingers and a soft but tight fabric on your lips. You inhaled sharply as he made you open your mouth and shoved his tie inside of it. “We don’t want people to come and knock on the door, trying to see what’s going on, just as you’re about to cum on daddy again, do we, baby girl?” he asked with a rough but amused voice. You hummed, trying to tell him that you didn’t want that, but couldn’t quite do it since he was already between your legs, hands kneading your ass, face buried deep inside of you, his throat letting out deep growls on your oversensitive clit. After you came the second time, more violently than before, if possible, he finally let you go and rose up on his feet and took his tie away. You felt so weak and exposed, and so fucking shy now that the orgasms washed away all the fog from your brain, that you whimpered when he made you stand on your feet as well. You didn’t have any force so you telepathically thanked him when he made you turn around and sit upon the desk. He nudged at your face with his nose and he let you taste yourself on his tongue while getting between your legs and trapping you there, by putting his hands on the desk around you. You let your hands run on his arms, feeling his tense muscles and then you brought them up to his shoulders, wrapping them around his neck and bringing him even closer to your lips. But at the sound of his belt getting unbuckled you jolted, knowing where this was going. “I don’t think I can’t take it anymore, sir” you whispered against his lips. “Mm” he hummed, as if disappointed. “Isn’t this want you wanted, baby girl? To get fucked by my cock until you forget your own name?” he asked with a piercing gaze. “Y-yes” you replied back, stuttering on your words as you choked suddenly hearing him speak like that. “But” he spoke again, “if you don’t want me to stretch that little tight pussy of yours and hit it deep inside, I won’t” he added moving as deciding it was enough. “No-” you stopped him, alarmed, grabbing his shoulders and tugging at them as to come back close to you. “Mh?” he resumed his position, looking at you with inquisitorial eyes. “I want it” you explain with a little voice, brave again by the new burning sensation forming inside of you. He looked at you, lips swollen, teary eyes and panting, so full of desire, that he let a little whimper escape his throat as well. “Tell me if it’s too much” he spoke again, and you could hear his arousal mixed with a certain worry, as if caring about you, and it was so hot that you found yourself tugging at his hips as if urging him to get it over with and just do it already. He didn’t let you try again and aligned his cock to your entrance, coating it with your wetness as he slowly humped your folds. You were about to tell him to give it all to you, eager to feel him deep inside, but as soon as he inserted the tip you felt as if there wasn’t any more air to fill your lungs with. “It’s too much” you yelped and Jaemin chuckled stopping himself. He remained like that, nudging at your neck with his nose and pressing little kisses on your skin. “Relax your muscles, baby, accept me” he ordered softly. You bit your lower lip, trying to focus and to unclench, making him slide a little bit more, not without stopping yourself from digging your nails into his back and holding him tight against you. “That’s it, baby, you’re great, a little bit more” he purred inside your ear, while his hips narrowed the distance between your bodies. “Look at you, such a good obedient little girl, taking me so well” he continued whispering until he hit your deepest spot with a grunt. He was panting as well, face buried inside the crook of your neck, little beads of sweat forming on his forehead. “You can move, daddy,” you said with the littlest voice and you soon realized what his weakness was, seeing him suddenly thrust into you with no warning, making you cry out. “Yes, daddy” you breathed out, as he was knocking the air out of your chest with his quick and deep movements, “yes, please, don’t stop” you whined again. He raised his head to look at you in the eyes as if not believing it was really you in front of him at that moment and you clenched around him seeing his dark gaze, so hungry and so aroused. Then he grabbed your neck and put your body down on the desk with a loud thud. It didn’t hurt but the movement was so intense and dirty to make you moan loudly. He grabbed your thighs, dragging you closer to himself while his hips never stopped hitting it hard. 

[faerytale-au]

The Shopping Trip

Word Count: 3,775 Second Prompt Place: After ‘A Gate Between’ Rating: T Cross posted to ao3 here!

“going out?” Sans asked as Frisk leaned over to grab one of the empty satchels Papyrus held out to her. His younger brother offering a cheerful smile as he looked at him.

“YES, FRISK WANTED TO EXPLORE SO I INSISTED ON HER COMING WITH ME.” Sans grinned in amusement, a human wanting to go explore the Seelie realm. If he’d heard that before meeting her it would’ve been enough to send him into a chuckle fit. 

Their home could be so hazardous to humans at times.

He frowned briefly but ignored the pang of worry, she was going to be with Papyrus there wasn’t anyone else more capable of protecting her than his cool brother. And of course Frisk was going to want to explore her new home, so trying to tempt her into staying wasn’t likely to work anyhow, he had honestly expected it sooner. 

Still the fact something could happen...

With a lazy step forward he casually wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her into a hug. The other slipping a small jingling bag into her satchel. “have fun love, don’t get lost k?” 

Frisk blushed but leaned into the hug with a small smile, still getting used to the rare instances that Sans would call her by the term of endearment. But the fluster in her chest was little in comparison to her growing excitement. 

She’d been stuck in the house for a few weeks now and this was not only something she felt she needed but the brothers as well, it wasn’t good to be cooped up together nonstop. And if the new added weight in her hands said anything Sans understood to a degree.

“I’ll try not to.” She responded with a small peck to his cheek. Papyrus let out a sigh.

“BROTHER YOU WORRY TOO MUCH SHE’LL BE FINE, NO NEED TO PANIC.” Frisk raised a brow and glanced at Sans whose sockets creased with guilt. Sans was panicking? He seemed relaxed, his hold on her wasn’t tight and his tone had been as calm as it often was. 

Sans however let out a huff as he reluctantly let go of her. “you’re right bro, my bad.” 

Papyrus and Sans shared a look that Frisk didn’t know how to read but the moment they both smiled whatever had been passing between them seemed to vanish and Sans looked just a bit more cheerful as he went over and plopped down on the couch. Frisk went to question it but Papyrus was already showing her out the front door and down the steps before she could blink.

It wasn’t until they were a good several feet from the house before Papyrus spoke up. “I APOLOGIZE, I’VE NEVER SEEN SANS ACT THAT WAY BEFORE. IT SHOCKED ME. I DIDN’T MEAN TO SNAP LIKE THAT.” Frisk could only blink in confusion.

“Papyrus did I miss something?” He looked down at her questioningly. “Sans didn’t look upset or anything and you didn’t exactly snap per say.” 

The taller Seelie stopped to peer down at Frisk curiously, his stare making her fidget as she paused beside him and waited for him to continue. The way he looked at her was measuring, contemplative, and when he responded it was like he was watching his words.

“HOW TO EXPLAIN. WE SEELIE CAN DETECT WHEN SOMEONE’S MAGIC IS UNSETTLED AND WHEN WE CAN’T CERTAIN ACTIONS ARE MORE THAN ENOUGH TO TELL WHEN SOMETHING IS WRONG.” Frisk listened carefully as he rubbed the back of his vertebra awkwardly. “SANS FOR EXAMPLE, I’VE NEVER SEEN HIM BEING TOUCHY OFTEN, ESPECIALLY WHEN CONCERNED.”

He had simply hugged her, not even fully. 

How Papyrus was making it out though it sounded as if the idea of her going out had terrified him. She knew Sans wasn’t big on contact but he had been more than okay with it ever since they’d confessed their feelings to each other. 

Heck she couldn’t even cook dinner without him hugging or stealing a kiss in some convoluted way, as cute as it often was.

“It honestly didn’t come across that way.” Papyrus hummed as he resumed walking, Frisk taking a hurried step once realizing it to keep up as she eye contact. He had such long strides it never failed to amaze her how much distance he could cover.

“WELL I’M SURE ONCE YOUR MAGIC STARTS DEVELOPING YOU’LL SEE HOW HIS MAGIC WAS ACTING UP. SEELIE CAN SEE EACH OTHERS MAGIC SIMILAR TO AN OUTLINE AROUND EACH OTHER WHEN PERMITTED OR IF THE OTHER IS FEELING STRONG EMOTIONS.” Frisk furrowed her brows thoughtfully.

“Is that why you were both staring at each other? You were communicating by reading the others magic?” Papyrus smiled brilliantly, the sheer pride in it at how quickly she had figured it out making her smile in return.

“YOU TRULY ARE A FAST LEARNER FRISK, I CAN’T SEE WHY THAT LAZY BONES WAS SO WORRIED IN THE FIRST PLACE. YOU’LL BE FINE.” Frisk’s cheeks stung as they flushed at the praise, a feeling of happiness warming her chest as they walked, both of them falling into companionable silence.

~~

The street was crowded, all types of oddly shaped and differently colored Seelie all milling about either on foot or floating from stall to stall. Interestingly enough the vendors and their posts all stood out from each other, some plain and wooden, others graceful and shimmering as if made from marble and yet a few that seemed to blend in with how the Seelie roaming were dressed.

The entire area has a patched and cobbled feel to it and Frisk felt nothing but amazed at how all the chaos seemed to blend together flawlessly.

“Does it always look like this?” She asked awed as a small burst of fire magic caught her attention, a short Seelie chucking deviously as the stall vendor yelled at them. Papyrus gave a simple shrug as he took her hand and guided her over to one of the more common stalls where he released her to pick up what looked like an apple.

“TODAY IS MARKET DAY, SOME OF THESE MERCHANTS ARE FROM THE OUTER ISLANDS SO NATURALLY THEY DRESS UP TO IMPRESS.” Frisk watched as Papyrus tossed the apple up once and bobbed it before deciding to set it back down and reach for another.

“So much to learn.” She muttered as a small creature, more closely accurate to what she’d imagined a fairy was, hovered over to lift a piece of fruit and drop a gold piece nearly as big as their head into the seller’s palm. Where had they pulled that large piece from?

“IT SEEMS THEY ARE LACKING THE TYPE OF APPLES I AM LOOKING FOR.” He grumbled forlornly. Frisk looked back over to peer down and could only feel a drop of sweat roll down the side of her face. They all looked the same, but were so clearly separated from each other. 

She decided it was better if she didn’t ask. The last thing Frisk wanted was to distract or annoy Papyrus while he was trying to figure out the grocery situation. Casting another probing and curious glance around she perked up as she spotted a stall not too far down selling broaches. 

Checking on Papyrus to see he’d started speaking to the vendor. Not wanting to interrupt him she gave a shrug and began to make her way over to the stall, muttering small apologizes to the smaller Seelie she passed and barely managing not to accidentally step on.

It was only then that she noticed the odd looks she was receiving.

Her heart began to speed up as she caught taller Seelie eyeing her from the corner of her eyes, their gazes mostly snapping away the moment she fully turned to look at them. Others though gave her mixed looks, both intrigued and...frightened.

Frisk stopped and carefully looked around her before looking back to make sure she could still see Papyrus. It was only the fact she could tell he was still talking that she felt secure enough to finish the rest of her walk. With slightly hurried steps she let out a breath she wasn’t aware she’d been holding as soon as she made it to the broach table.

Instantly her eyes locked on a flower shaped one crusted in ivory and jade, the way the two colors twirled and blended seamlessly together causing her breath to hitch. Tentatively she reached a hand towards it but stopped as she spotted another one just outside her peripheral.

It was bone shaped and practically glowed in the morning light that shone down on it.

“Can I help you mage?” Frisk jolted at the slightly hostile tone and whipped her head up to a...giant bunny Seelie, a sunflower themed sunhat balanced precariously between two long and elegant purple ears currently twitching in agitation.

“Mage?” She questioned in confusion. The bunny offered her a dubious look.

“Yes, what else would you be as a human here? Honestly surprised you’re being allowed to roam without an escort.” She automatically thought of Papyrus and for some reason that made an unpleasant feeling settle in her chest. 

One she didn’t want to think about.

Frisk smiled as friendly as she could while gesturing to the broach. “I was wondering how much you’d like for this item?”

The Seelie glanced down at the broach wearily before snapping her attention back up to Frisk, her tone losing a bit of its sharpness in exchange for a hesitant drawl.

“Are you wanting to buy it?” Frisk feeling her nervousness build only nodded. 

After a moment of silence the bunny gently smiled and it was as if a switch had been flipped. Her whole body relaxed as she reached forward and picked up the bone, her large paws turning it over before holding it out to Frisk for inspection.

“Twelve gold pieces is what I’m asking, it’s handmade.” She was careful as she took it and ran the tips of her fingers over it a few times. It was solid and really sturdy, had enough weight behind it to tell of the dedication put into it. 

Excited Frisk handed the bone back and reached into the satchel for the bag Sans had given her, thoughts as to his reaction on seeing it only adding to her growing anticipation. With a huff she pulled out the bag and opened it, dropping the contents into her palm.

Her heart sunk.

There were ten gold pieces and two silver, not twelve. 

Dejected she let out a sigh and looked up to the bunny in remorse. “I’m sorry but I’m a bit short.” 

Something flickered in the vendors eyes, humor forming a smile mischievous and teasing on her face as she looked deliberately down at the broach. When she looked back up to Frisk her tone was too innocent sounding that it automatically sent Frisk’s guard up.

“...I can accept ten, granted you’re willing to accept a deal with me.” Frisk’s guard dropped. The bunny was offering her a discount essentially. Eager, Frisk asked, “What is it?” 

The Seelie shook her head and waved a finger. “That’s not how it works hun, you have to agree before I tell you what it is, law of assurance you know. But it’ll be small since you’re only short a little.” 

Frisk...was hesitant. 

First off law of assurance? Was she going to be asked to do something others wouldn’t be willing to? That’s certainly what it sounded like. But as she glance down to the broach all she could think about was Sans possibly grinning at her and throwing out a pun so terrible that Papyrus banned him from the dinner table again. 

She really wanted to get that as a gift for him.

It was just a small favor right? 

And it was at this point Papyrus realized his potential sister in law was missing. Narrowing his sockets as he paid the vendor he spun on his heel and looked around for the smaller human, letting out an audible gasp as he saw her tiny hand reaching out to shake the bunny Seelie’s own. 

Papyrus knew a deal forming when he saw one.

“FRISK!” He took off in a sprint, his loud voice drowning in the noise of the crowd as he weaved and dodged between people in a blind rush. Only to feel his soul freeze in his chest as Frisk shook the other Seelie’s hand right as he reached the table.

Frisk flinched at his sudden appearance but only jumped when the vendor’s hand quickly withdrew with a pleased humph. Frisk swallowed as she caught the deadpan Papyrus was giving her, his sockets clearly displeased.

“Uh…” He simply held up a hand.

“I SHALL BE HAVING A TALK WITH SANS ABOUT EDUCATING YOU LATER, FOR NOW LET’S SEE WHAT YOU JUST GOT US INVOLVED IN SHALL WE?” He didn’t like the withdrawn look Frisk gave him and retaliated by patting her shoulder and offering an awkwardly reassuring smile before facing the shopkeeper. 

“My Phoenix got away earlier today and I haven’t had time to go find her. I would like you to bring her back.” Papyrus let out a groan right as Frisk let out a surprised gasp. A phoenix? Those existed? 

And all Papyrus could think about was how it was a boring fetch quest. 

The worst kind of deal to take or wish to fulfill in his personal opinion. “DO YOU HAVE A MEANS OF TRACKING THE BIRD?” With little grace or preamble she handed over a strangle glass like object, slipping it easily into Frisk’s palm. It was perfectly oval and smooth, the flat surface shifting with smoke like texture across it. The texture flickered and quickly it shifted into a panning shot of a city.

Frisk became mesmerized as it swooped low over pearlescent type buildings covered in ivy and flowers, before turning in a ninety degree angle left where it coasted over a clear blue lake. Just as Frisk was starting to enjoy the view it faded back into smoky obscurity.

“AH, A SEEING MIRROR. APPEARS THE BIRD IS IN THE INNER PART OF THE CITY.” 

“Seeing Mirror?” The bunny Seelie spoke up.

“Objects usually tied to certain creatures or Seelie to allow you to view their locations. The magic is very specific and hard to craft. I’m not surprised a mage doesn’t know about it.” Papyrus faked a cough into his palm.

“YES WELL, WE SHOULD BE OFF. COME FRISK SOONER WE FINISH THIS THE SOONER WE CAN FINISH SHOPPING BEFORE NIGHTFALL.” 

~~

They’d been searching for three hours. 

While it had at first been amazing seeing the new sights and hearing the new sounds of the city proper Frisk was quickly growing uneasy and tired, a single glance at Papyrus said the same thing though he kept a focused eye on their surroundings.

She felt so guilty dragging him into this.

“Sorry Papyrus.” He didn’t respond at first as they slowed to a lazy stroll, keeping his sockets roaming between the mirror and the area until he gave a half heart ‘nyeh’ sound.

“I AM ONLY CURIOUS REALLY AS TO WHY WE’RE DOING THIS.” Frisk blushed and her tone was shy.

“I wanted to get something I thought Sans would like.” Papyrus stopped dead in his tracks and leveled a look at her. He was stunned. The idea of someone taking a deal from a complete stranger even a minor one was common yes, but for something as selfless as buying an unneeded item for a loved one?

He’d known right away when Sans had first brought her home that she was special if she’d caught his normally detached brother’s eye, had seen how easily Sans had lightened up more than he had in a few years the moment Frisk so much as entered a room. Even he felt more at ease and jovial at her presence.

But he hadn’t expected her to get wrapped up in something like this only for a present. 

Papyrus appreciated her so much more than he had before.

“THAT IS REALLY KIND OF YOU.” She smiled.

“Kind of you both to take me in.” Papyrus was about to make a witty retort before a sudden and loud caw, echoing like a bell interrupted him. They both looked up and Frisk’s golden eyes shot wide at the red tinted bird as the sunlight gave the red of its feathers a fire like quality.

“Is that…?”

“THE BIRD!” 

Like a gunshot it took off into the air and over a rooftop. Frisk wasn’t even thinking as she spotted a crate and rushed over, pulled herself over it and jumped up to the roof ledge where she dangled only a moment before vanishing from Papyrus’s sight. 

He went to follow, stepped on the crate, and let out a whine as it snapped beneath his foot. He stared at it in offence before shaking it off and eyeing the roof. Frisk was heading back towards the streets. With a grunt he turned and ran the way he thought they’d potentially be going.

Frisk was gasping from both strain and exhaustion as she thundered from roof to roof, her feet barely landing at the heel before she was lifting it again. A few times she almost tripped here and there, barely avoided taking down someone’s clothing line by ducking in the nick of time. 

She couldn’t take her eyes off the bird for even a moment or she feared she’d lose it. 

“EXCUSE ME! PARDON ME COMING THROUGH! TALL SKELETON COMING THROUGH!” The shouting of Papyrus’s voice drew her attention and she spared him a quick look, just enough to reassure herself she wouldn’t get lost before pushing herself even faster.

The bird flew as if it was the last thing it would do, it’s head even turning to almost glare at her over it’s large and glorious wingspan with majestic blue bitter irises. 

“C’mon don’t run! We’re not going to hurt you!” The bird apparently didn’t believe that and only gave a violent and curt snap of its wings, putting several more inches regrettably between itself and Frisk.

Then there was a gap.

Frisk made a noise as it victoriously and mockingly flew over it without pause. This was so much more than just trying to earn a broach now, the bird had in its own way fueled a fire in Frisk and she couldn’t have stopped even if she wanted to.

So many times in her life growing up she’d been called useless.

She wasn’t about to be called that again if she failed to make good on this deal.

Frisk jumped.

Papyrus pulled up short, his sockets going wide as Frisk leapt the gap, her hands flying out and cupping the bird and just managing to pull it to her chest...before her feet touched down on a building that didn’t have a roof on top.

“FRISK!” He rushed forward, slid sideways and pushed into the buildings doorway right as both Frisk and the bird let out a scream. The world rushed by and she clutched the phoenix to her in a protective cradle as she braced for impact.

Papyrus dove and stretched his arms wide, his sockets lighting up as he desperately pushed blue magic to slow her decent and let out a happy cry only once her body landed in his arms with a grunt and hiss through clenched teeth.. 

They both panted as the shock of what had just happened settled in, both their holds tight and trembling. Frisk slowly started to chuckle and then broke into a loud laugh that had Papyrus frowning down at her.

“I DON’T SEE WHAT YOU FIND FUNNY FRISK.” Her humor only got louder and he felt his frown gradually fall as she pressed her forehead into his chest, noticeable tears of relief in the corner of her eyes as she pulled back to look up at him.

“I thought I was a goner for a second there! If you hadn’t moved so quickly I could’ve been really hurt, Thank you!” Papyrus felt his magic flare across his skull in a blush before finally joining in her laughter. His incredulousness at the whole situation made him realize just how much she had in common with his brother.

Both of them obviously had a habit for getting into trouble, now he had two to look out for.

“BUT OF COURSE I’LL ALWAYS BE HERE TO CATCH YOU IF YOU NEED IT! NOW HOW ABOUT WE GO RETURN THE ANNOYING BIRD AND GET HOME BEFORE SANS FLIES OFF THE HANDLE AT OUR ABSENCE.” Frisk’s laughter petered out into a playful snort as he proceeded to carry her all the way to the merchant's stall. She decided not to point out how easily he’d let two jokes slip into his words.

~~

Sans stared at the both of them silently, his sockets narrowed in concern at how they were both covered head to toe in dirt; Frisk’s hair tangled and standing on end and his normally immaculate brother’s clothing thoroughly rumpled and even torn at the left sleeve.

They both looked as if they’d gone a few rounds with an angry Gwyllion.

“been busy?” He asked as he widened a socket at them, the impression of a raised brow going unnoticed as Papyrus spoke up too evenly.

“NEXT TIME WE GO OUT I SUGGEST YOU GIVE FRISK SOME MORE THAN JUST THE BARE MINIMUM FOR CURRENCY.” Sans looked over to the human awkwardly as she blankly looked at him.

“I think now might be a good time to go over what the rules are here.” He was preparing to speak but the words died as Frisk suddenly stepped forward and smiled, reaching into her satchel to pull out a bone shaped broach.

Sans felt his soul give a hard thrum as she held it out to him, and in his shock, his happy surprise he looked up to her with silent question as if he couldn’t believe she’d gotten him something. Frisk chuckled.

“I saw it and thought of you.” Sans’s eyelights hazed lovingly and Papyrus himself almost blushed at the air of affection suddenly around the both of them.

Until Sans ruined it. “bit bonely without me?” 

While Frisk and Sans both let out uproarious laughter, leaning into and hugging the other Papyrus frowned, painfully unamused and a bit let down by how quickly the mood shifted.

 “I’M GOING TO GO SHOWER.” He grumbled as he walked past them, his tone dull but smile wide with happiness and contentment.

[jenliliscripts]

Home This Christmas

"Lisa, babe, can you check the muffins in the oven? I'm still busy cleaning," Jennie yells from the living room.

"Mmmm! Just a sec!" Lisa responds in a high pitched voice then scurries to the kitchen.

"Baaaaaaaabe, how long did you leave this here? I might ruin this if I keep pricking it."

"20 minutes I think?"

"Alrighty! I'll take it from here. Go do your thing. I got this."

"Thanks, babe!" Jennie answered, her body feeling warm right after sweetly addressing Lisa.

It hasn't been a smooth ride for the two of them, especially when they had gone past the early stages of their relationship. Day by day, as they discovered their differences, fights ensued. The situation got worse when they moved into one apartment. Lisa had to pack her bags in the middle of the night a couple of times over the years. In those occasions, her clothes were already scattered on the floor outside their door with a large duffel bag on top of the pile.

Jennie's patience for Lisa continued to dwindle after every broken promise so her first reaction whenever Lisa fails to keep her word is to kick her out of the apartment. It used to be a huge issue whenever Jennie does this. So much drama and screaming. They've been reported by their neighbors because of all the shouting which led to them being called to the office by the management. Of course they were embarrassed, but that didn't stop them from fighting over the pettiest things. But they've always made up one way or another. They always find their way back to each other.

They've only gotten back together a few weeks ago and Jennie immediately noticed the changes in Lisa's behavior and because of that, she was a bit more patient whenever her girlfriend messed up. She used to pick on Lisa for the smallest things she did wrong just because she suddenly remembered the taller girl's lapses a long time ago. Now, she stops herself before she could say something unpleasant. It's what usually starts their arguments—Jennie's nagging. Lisa could take one round of it but eventually loses her cool once Jennie repeats herself as if she hasn't heard enough of her issues.

Flashback

"Babe, can you put your foot down. It's called a table for a reason," Jennie scolds her as soon as she got out of their room.

Lisa rolled her eyes and reluctantly obliged. "Happy?"

"Did you just roll your eyes at me?"

"No," she lied and continued to skim through the selection of movies on the screen.

"Yes, you did," Jennie raised her tone. Lisa has always found this vexing yet she never spoke about it.

"And so if I did? What are you going to do about? Whine?"

Jennie clenched her jaw, the veins on her neck becoming prominent. "Can't you just do something without parading your attitude?"

Lisa shrugged, her eyes boring into her girlfriend's face. "That's if you stop fretting over the tiniest things like we're going to die if I don't put down my goddamn foot down from the table."

Lisa's tone was pretty much monotonous yet Jennie perceived her nonchalance as a mockery. "Don't start with me, Lisa. You're the reason why I'm being like this."

She scoffed, leaning back and linked her fingers behind her head. "Yeah? I'm always the bad one in this house. I was never right. Go ahead. Blame me all you want. I'm used to it."

"So all this time you haven't reflected on your shortcomings? My fucking God. Grow up."

Lisa shuts her eyes then pressed her lips into a hard line. "What do you want me to do, Jen? Kneel in front of you and worship you day and night for all the plans I ruined? Should I cry you a river for forgetting to greet your mom on her birthday and for all the instances that I let you down? Is that what you want?"

"Stupid! Stupid!" Jennie shrieked, her eyes turning dark.

Here we go again, Lisa thought.

She stood up and marched to their room, but before she could walk past her girlfriend, her arm was yanked. "What? You're done yet? I'm already getting out of your way. Can't you see?"

"We're not through." Jennie's voice was shaking. She was trying to act tough even though she was the type to cry in these situations.

"What's your concern this time? I'm sorry for whatever it is. Now can I go?"

Lisa was tired of it. They were fighting everyday. They slept with their backs turned against each other. They was more anger than love between them. These moments made her think of just ending it. It would be easier that way. She doesn't have to deal with Jennie's loud mouth and she could do anything she wants like take her clothes off as soon as she enters the apartment and leave it there until she decides to pick it up or leave the dishes unwashed until the next morning. With Jennie, she has to police herself 24/7. It's driving her crazy.

Jennie's tears were starting to fall from her eyes, but swiftly wipes them away. "If you're gonna continue being like this, maybe we should just break up."

"What do you mean?"

"Just you being you doesn’t really help our case."

"What's wrong about being me now? Jesus Christ, Jennie Kim."

"We clearly have so many differences. We tried working it out and we couldn't find a middle ground. I hate you for being a slob. You hate me for being a perfectionist. You don't like following orders, while I can't stand it whenever you stray away from my instruction."

Lisa strokes her hair with her fingers as she inhaled deeply. "Jennie, I'm not your slave. I'm your girlfriend."

Jennie fell silent. "I've been silent all this time, but I think you don't find anything wrong about yourself when it's pretty obvious that there is. We're both flawed. It's not just me. Maybe look at yourself once in a while."

Lisa takes her arm and stormed off to their room. She plopped to the bed and stared at the ceiling thinking about her relationship with Jennie. Are they beyond saving? Are they going to crash and burn at the very end like how she had feared the moment she settled into the relationship? Their friends got married in succession and they're the only remaining couple who hasn't tied the knot. They've avoided the topic as much as they could so whenever their friends would open up about it, they would laugh it off and dismiss them. Jennie is aware of her hesitation, however, the reasons she confessed to her were lies. Lisa made up her mind long before and even bought a ring. She was ready to propose, but their fights started to get worse from that point so she decided to postpone it as long as she could.

Now she's just going through the motions, showing Jennie that she doesn't have a plan in taking their relationship to the next level. It may be one of the reasons why Jennie is being so uptight or maybe it's because she's forgetful and irresponsible. Either way, Jennie seems to dislike her more than she loves her.

Lisa fell into a deep slumber a few minutes later. She couldn't help it no matter how hard she tried. The bed is undeniably her weakness. Upon realizing that she dozed off, she jolted awake. It was pitch black and eerily quiet. She couldn't hear the clanking in the kitchen or the music playing from the speakers. She checked the time on her phone and it read 6:08 PM. She frantically jumped out of bed and dashed out only to find the small light in the living room turned on.

"Jen?" she called, her eyes scanning the vicinity. "Babe?"

Their friends would be arriving soon for Christmas dinner and Jennie's not the one to be gone an hour before a scheduled event. It's not yet sinking into her, but the thought crossed her mind when Jennie wasn't responding.

"No, no. She wouldn't do that," Lisa mumbled to herself as she walked back to the room.

The only way to know was to check the closet for Jennie's things. She stood in front of it for a full minute, gathering enough courage to open it. "Jennie wouldn't leave this apartment. I'm the one being kicked out here."

She closed her eyes and carefully pulled the handle. "I know her things are here. They should be."

Her heart sank at the sight of an empty closet. It was wiped clean. There was no message or call. Not even a note saying where she went. Lisa was frightened. She doesn't know where to find Jennie. She hasn't done this before. Her fingers were shaking when she picked up her phone and called her, but she was sent straight to voicemail.

"Fuck, Jennie. You're not doing this. I'm sorry. I'm really sorry."

She bombarded her with messages after many failed attempts in contacting her. She called everyone they knew but they have no idea where Jennie is. The last message they received from her said that dinner's cancelled.

And Jennie did disappear that night without a trace and it left Lisa in complete disarray. It's like her life stopped in an instant, without warning. She wasn't ready for her departure, she will never be so she set her mind into finding her. She is adamant in taking her back.

But it was almost a year since the day she left and she still couldn't find her. Lisa was becoming hopeless and was about to give up, however, Jennie magically appeared in her front door on the first of December.

Lisa opened the door mindlessly, thinking that the person on the other side was the pizza delivery guy. Her arm was already extended, ready to hand the crumpled bills she's holding. "It's 18 dollars, right—"

"Hey," Jennie cuts her off, a shy smile plastered on her face. Her hair was tied into a messy bun and she was wearing the pink sweater I gave her. The suitcase she that stood beside her was half her height and the backpack she was carrying hung loosely on her back.

Lisa stared at her, jaw hanging open, still in a state of shock. Jennie didn't seem real. It felt like a dream. "Jen, is that really you?"

She chuckled. "Yes, it's me."

Lisa snapped out of her reverie and quickly took Jennie's suitcase from her hands. "Come in, come in."

"Am I still allowed in here? Is this still our apartment?"

Lisa's expression softened, her heart swelling with joy as Jennie's arrival finally dawned into her. She is back. There's no more waiting and the search is over. She grabbed Jennie's waist and pulled her into a kiss. She missed it—how her lips felt, how her hair smells, everything.

"I missed you so much, Jen. I'm sorry for everything. I wouldn't be able to list them all down but I've realized my mistakes and I'm going to do better. This time I mean it."

Jennie cupped Lisa's cheek and smiled warmly. "I was wrong too, you know. You were right. We're both flawed. I'm sorry for leaving you like that. I was actually a bit unsure if I should ring the doorbell. I thought you went on with your life after I disappeared."

I shook my head. "I couldn't see myself with someone else, Jen. You are where all my roads end."

Jennie cheeks were instantly painted red after hearing that heartfelt statement from Lisa. She isn't the expressive one between them yet she unhesitatingly declared her feelings. "I love you, Jen. And I'm so happy that you're home."

End of flashback

Lisa went behind Jennie and slid her arms around her waist, before lowering her head to kiss the crook of Jennie's neck. The smaller girl was startled, her body jerking as soon as she felt Lisa's lips touch her skin. "It's just me, babe."

"I'm sorry. I'm not used to this version of you. I think it will take time."

"I'll do this more often. I'll drown you with affection if I must. Agh, I love you so much. I really really love you."

Jennie twirled and faced her, prompting Lisa to loosen her grip. Jennie balled her fist into the collar of Lisa's shirt then tugged her forward, and planted tender kisses on her cheeks before capturing her lips. Jennie moved skillfully, causing fireworks to erupt in Lisa's stomach and the hairs of the back of her neck stand.

They were both catching their breaths when they broke away and a smile etched on their faces as they stared into each other's eyes. "And I love you too, my Lili."

Lisa subtly fished for the ring in her pocket. "Tell you what, let's do something we can brag about later at dinner."

Jennie tilted her head to the side and shot her girlfriend a questioning look. "Like?"

Lisa took a step back and showed the ring, eliciting a gasp from Jennie. "Lisa…"

"Marry me?"

Jennie couldn't utter a single word. She was caught off guard. The idea of marriage already left her mind a long time ago but here's Lisa shattering all her expectations again. She has indeed changed. She was no longer the person she left a year ago.

"Pretty please?"

Jennie nodded repeatedly and raised her hand so that Lisa can insert the ring into her finger.

"Merry Christmas, babe," Lisa whispered into her ear.

"And more to celebrate with you," Jennie responded before kissing Lisa again.

[oxhaven]

Kalon II - WayV vampire!au

1. 2. 3. 

Your eyes fluttered open, only to clench them shut as your mouth opened to release a noise of distress. Your head felt like you were hit with a hammer as you sat up, your face contorting in pain as you groaned and rubbed your temple tenderly. You took a moment before smacking your lips and breathing out as you let your hands trail up to scratch at your head. You couldn’t remember it, but you knew you had an amazing dream that made you sleep well but it strangely made you wake up with a pounding headache. 

You sighed out before stretching your arms in the air carefully, humming contently as you felt your spine release some tension as you opened your eyes and looked about. You froze at the sight of littering candles flickering with flames. 

Right, you were still here. You dropped your arms and pulled the thin silk sheet off your body and moved to the floor. You grabbed the edge of the bed for support, not knowing if it was the fear of the situation or not having to stand in a while that had your legs a wobbling mess. You managed to notice you were donning a black silk gown, a bit too provocative for your liking as you dashed to the door and pulled it open.

You froze in place, wide brown eyes staring into gray ones that blinked at you with surprise. 

“Keira.” Ten greeted, his eyes darting down then up at you as he raised an eyebrow. “Are you alright?”

You gulped dryly, finding your breath come back to you as you took a shaky step back. “I-I…”

Ten reached for you, a warm hand grabbing your waist to steady you but it only made your legs even more gooey as his eyes stared into you. He searched through your eyes for a moment before plastering a kind smile on his face. “It’s good that you’re up. I was coming to wake you so you can have a bath.”

You took notice of the towel on his arm before you felt the hand on your waist leave you just to link itself into your own hand as you were pulled along.

“I’ll take you to the bath quarters, but I’ll leave you there for the maids to take care of you.” You heard him say to you as he led the way. You went down a long hallway that seemed to go on forever, stone being illuminated by the many torches lining the walls. It wasn’t long before you arrived at a large opening that branched out to a wide ceiling with a massive chandelier hanging down from the center. You peered over the railing as Ten pulled you along, letting you know you weren’t occupying any ordinary space. The staircase had a deep shade of burgundy rug covering it leading down the oval mahogany floor. You took careful steps down the staircase clutching Ten’s hand tightly as you looked about. It plagued your mind that you didn’t see anyone; not knowing if you were more worried that you didn’t see anyone, or if you wanted to at all.  

You were pulled along to take sharp right when you reached the bottom, your eyes taking in the sight of the wide spaced out corridor that led down to a far ending. It looked just the same as upstairs, torches along the wall to the light the way as you arrived at a rectangular opening to the left that was more brightly lighted than the rest of what you saw.

“This is your bathing quarters.” Ten assured firmly with a small grin. He placed the towel he had been holding onto in your hands. You glanced down at the soft material in your hands before staring back up at him, realizing this is where he was leaving you. He only spared you a brighter smile as he nodded his head over in the direction of the bath for you to go. “I’ll come back to fetch you in a bit.”

You flinched in your spot when you noticed the presence of two women standing at the entrance greeting you with a bow. You almost hitched on your breath when you saw them donning the same blood red eyes you weren’t accustomed to as they ushered you to come in. You followed them along with one last glance at Ten, who waved you off cheerfully before he was no longer in your view of sight.  

*

Honestly it was the most intense experience you had ever faced. Both of your handmaids remained silent the entire time they attended to you, stripping you down to your bare and properly scrubbed and washed your body until they were sure you were squeaky clean. You couldn’t take your attention away from their attire and the way they carried themselves; slim silk dresses and their hair pulled back into tight low ponytails. Light makeup covered their faces as their red eyes shone deeply, putting an undeniable fear into your heart. They even took deer care into shaving you, even the areas that made your face go red with embarrassment. You were finally able to relax when they left you in the bath to yourself, unnecessarily large for just only you to be using.  

You sank your body deeper into the warm water, moaning quietly as you felt the tight tensions in your body start to unwind. You let your head fall back gently against the edge, feeling the cool floor tile against your scalp. The feeling was calming but it wasn’t much enjoyed as the questions and feeling of worry began to flood your mind. 

Why were you here? None of this made sense at all. Growing up in a small village you learned vampires were known as monstrous creatures who made use of humans only for food. Thankfully you lived your life not coming close to these beasts, or more so they never ventured into those lifeless areas. Well, until now. It would only be a matter of time before they would begin to feast on you. But what about what Ten had told you? What about the men from before? If they wanted your blood they should have taken it by now. 

The more you thought the more it made your head ache as you tensed up underneath the water. It remained apparent to you that you wouldn’t make it out alive if you tried to escape, but you didn’t enjoy the idea of them drawing out your death like this either. Though it still remained in your mind what Ten had told you.

“You are to be our princess.”

“Your highness.”

You jolted at attention at the sound of the feminine voice cutting into the silence as you turned your neck to see the two handmaids from before standing behind a taller woman who stared straight at you with red eyes. She looked young and refined, much more deserving of the title than you who was staring back with wide eyes before they were bowing to you in respect.  

“You have an audience waiting for your presence. Master Ten has set clothes aside for you when you are done with your bath.”

She announced it normally, her tone polite but you knew it meant that it was time for you to get out now. You swallowed dryly before raising yourself out of the water and listened to the handmaids scurry over to you with the same soft towel Ten had given you earlier. 

They dried you properly before you followed the woman to a changing room, littered with comfort sofas and floor-to-ceiling mirrors lining the walls.The room was filled with scented candles that smelled of vanilla and rose as you breathed in deeply through your nose and looked around the spacious room. 

The enjoyment was short lived as you were made to drop your towel and the maids set work in pampering your body. You were made to sit still as they lathered your body in essential oils, tended and painted your nails all to styling your wet hair. They dressed you in the gown that Ten had out for you, giving more work for the ladies as fitted you in the too tight dress as they pulled at the strings at the waist band to tighten it more. You were able to catch a glance of yourself in the mirror, surprise being written in your features as you noticed the way you looked. You were no longer that dirty girl who avoided the sight of herself in mirrors. 

 It was a beautiful gown; almost too ashamed that it was on your body if not for how clean they made you.The dress was a light shade of turquoise with ivory pattern, littered with pearls and jewels along the fine lining. The silver necklace that was put around your neck accented your bare shoulders wonderfully as you couldn’t tear your gaze away from yourself in the mirror. You stepped into the silk slippers that were laid on the ground for you as the final touch as the maids waited for you at the doorway.  

Of course you were hesitant, your fingers curling closed as you found your voice to speak. “Who exactly am I meeting with?”

“Ministers of the country.” The woman unwaveringly answered, her blood red eyes staring into your brown ones deeply as she awaited you. “Master Ten and the knights should be accompanying you as well.”

The knights? Was she talking about the same men you had met with before? You had no time to think of this as you began to move with heavy legs to the doorway. A wave of sickness raced to your stomach as you got closer to the exit of the bath quarters, feeling like you were going to puke. 

It amazed you the way those feelings were washed away by the mere sight of him. You knew it was Ten even from the back, folded hands resting on his backside as he donned a more formal black suit from what you saw him in earlier. You didn’t know why your body had so much trust in him, but the thought couldn’t leave your mind that he was waiting for you just as he promised. Just as he turned, gray eyes catching yours as a gleeful smile came upon his face and shot straight through your heart.  

You stopped in front of him, releasing the material you gathered in your hands so you wouldn’t step on your dress. You watched his eyes take you in, trailing down your body as he gave an approved nod.

“You look perfect.” he almost breathed, his voice above a whisper as his eyes scanned your body back up to land on your eyes. “Keira.”

You could feel the way your cheeks heated up underneath his gaze, refusing to break the eye contact though you were embarrassed. Your thoughts were a racing mess but you couldn’t believe this disguised monster in front of you made you tremble not with fear, but with want as you were silently asking for him to hold your hand. 

*

It was unbelievable how huge this mansion was, knowing you still hadn’t seen all of it in it’s full entirety. You followed Ten closely behind as you passed through a few more unknown corridors and halls before you arrived upstairs to a room that was occupied by voices you didn’t recognize. 

You couldn’t help but grip onto the black sleeve of Ten’s shirt, your nerves quivering as he looked back into your eyes. He knew very well you weren’t ready for this, and it wasn’t a hard guess if you were scared for your life, but he wasn’t allowed to bring you into his arms at the moment. 

Your eyes glanced down as you watched his hand raise up, fingers delicately pushing back a loose curl of your hair behind your ear. “I promise I’m right here with you. You don’t have to speak if you don’t want to, but no one in this room will dare a finger on you.”

His promise only calmed you down a little, but you knew behind this door were more vampires with intentions still unknown to you. Nonetheless, he opened the door as you inhaled a sharp breath in and held it for dear life. 

The room fell silent as all eyes turned towards you and Ten and you took notice of all men in the room. The ones sitting down at the round wood table dressed in noble garments made noises of surprise as they caught sight of you and you quickly followed Ten to take place up front at the head of the table. You stood behind him as he greeted the party as ministers, your eyes trailing over to the other men in the room who dressed the same as Ten. You recognized Xiaojun and Lucas immediately, standing in separate corners in the back as they eyed you beside Ten. Lucas’s face was stone cold, much different from the goofy smile he wore when you first met him. Xiaojun had softer features, noticing the way his dark red eyes drank you in before they settled on yours with lips curling up into a smirk. There was one other person you did not recognize who stood closer than the other two, his red eyes not holding back as he gazed at you intently, a small smile playing on his lips as he continued to stare your way.   

“Princess Davina.”

The name made your attention snap over to the older gentleman who called upon you, his chair scooting back as he raised himself up onto his feet with shaking arms on the table. 

“May we all show respect to our country’s leader, Princess Davina-”

“No, she is not our princess. She is a mere human who takes on her looks.”

You heard a low, sharp growl come from the corner Lucas occupied, his red eyes staring over at the man who sat directly across from you. “Watch your tongue, Ambassador.”

You looked at him from behind Ten, taking notice of how the man carried himself much more dignified than the rest. His face was messy with facial hair, thick eyebrows that needed a trim, but you never could mistaken those blood red eyes as someone who was weak. His attitude was much more shrewd and haughty, as his red eyes stared you down. 

“Am I mistaken? She certainly fills my senses as human, for she doesn’t even respond to her title. She is not the princess, but is a weaker replica to her ancestor. We must prepare for the ritual if she is to rule once again.” 

“Ambassador.” Ten warned, seeing his grip on the underside of the table tighten. You held your head down as the words directed towards you sliced at your confidence even though you had no control over this matter.    

You caught the unfamiliar vampire from the corner of your eyes step up as his voice took attention of the room. 

“She is still but a human. Weak and confused. I fear that if we make her drink the blood of royalty her body and mind will not be able to take it.” You glanced up, viewing him from the side and taking notice of his handsome appearance. He looked much more human compared to the rest of the men you were acquainted with; though he was still handsome he just didn’t have that ethereal appearance as the others. 

You almost hitched on your breath when he looked back at you, afraid for a moment that your thoughts were being read. He only smiled sweetly, making your cheeks dust pink in a blush.

“We request more time to strengthen her tolerance so the ritual will go smoothly without issues. Though it may take some time she will become our highness we once knew. We all know she is the only one capable of ruling this kingdom not just rightfully but also superiorly. I doubt I need to take time in mentioning the great accomplishments she has done.”

The room was quiet, no one daring to argue with the boy who was seemingly standing up for you. His voice was unwavering and full of confidence with the way he spoke of this princess who used to be making you wonder who she was before it got to this point. 

The men looked amongst themselves as the ambassador kept his eyes solely on you, making your gaze drop back down to the floor as your heart began to race. You heard one of the men speak, his deep aged voice trailing off after he cleared his throat. “We of the ministry will follow along, but please don’t hesitate to ask for assistance.”

“We expect her to be ready by the end of next week as the ritual is prepared.” the ambassador clarified curtly. He finally tore his gaze away from you and eyed the boy who spoke for you and at Ten before he raised out of his seat. “Keep us updated with her progress.”

The ministers followed the ambassador’s example as the sound of chairs scooting back filled the room with the men making their way to leave the room. The intensity dropped with each member leaving through the door, your breath finding you again as you were able to breathe. You were almost caught by surprise with the look on Ten’s face when he turned to you, a worried expression in his features as his hands took hold of yours and his gray eyes stared into your brown orbs. 

“Are you alright, Keira?”

Keira?” Lucas repeated, the name sounding foreign on his lips as he stepped towards you and you realized they all had made themselves closer to you when the ministers left.  

“That is her name by birthright. She is not the princess of the past.” Ten spoke, a silent command to make sure the rest addressed you properly. 

“Not yet.” Xiaojun scoffed lightly. 

“Keira.” Your attention was brought to the unknown vampire as you watched his bright smile turn sheepish before he greeted you with a bow. “My name is Hendery. I’m pleased to make your acquaintance.”

A slight thrill filled your heart when you took notice of his eyes, deep brown matching your own as you softly smiled back at him. Your eyebrows furrowed when he stared back at you, blinking in awe before he seemed to find his words again. “We are your loyal knights. Among everyone in the kingdom we are the ones you can come to about anything.”

You listened to him intently, noticing the way he caught your eyes again along with his cheeks dusting a shade of pink. “Don’t hesitate to come to me...about anything.”

“I-” you started only for a loud growl to tear through the room as all eyes looked at you and dropped down to your stomach. You didn’t have a mirror to see, but with embarrassment settling in you knew your face was probably turning redder than a vampire’s eyes. 

*

You stuffed your face full of the feast-for-one presented to you, your round cheeks growing sore with how much you packed in them. You were brought back to the bedroom you occupied from before with Ten accompanying after he sent away the other three who wanted to stay in presence much longer. The handmaid's delivered plates after plates of food for you upon Ten’s order who sat across from you at your small table on the floor, an all too amused grin on his face as he watched you eat. 

“I apologize, I should have made sure to have fed you earlier.” he chuckled, watching you inch your head back with every gulp of wine to wash down the food. You dropped the cup on the table and covered your mouth, unable to hold back your own laugh as you let out a burp. 

“Thank you for the meal.” you thanked him as your eyes scanned over the plates you finished.

The two of you fell silent, only listening to the flicker of flames from the candles around you. You stared at Ten shyly who in turn had no problem looking at you, arms folded as he waited for your next move patiently.

“May you...tell me about...all this?”

The words just fell from your lips, not allowing you time to think over the question you were trying to ask. This was all freshly unbelievable to you and you were starting to think maybe you were dreaming. Whether it was bad or good was something you couldn’t decide. 

“This is the kingdom of vampires.”

You shouldn’t have been surprised by his answer but you still found your eyes widening as you listened to him. He looked down momentarily as if in thought, watching him pull his bottom lip into his mouth. 

“The monsters that humans have been trying to run away from in this country reside here. Mostly of royal descent, and some who are rogue. They are given status and a home here where we live and thrive naturally.” 

Your eyes darted down to his hand reaching for the pitch of wine, pouring himself a cup before he brought the cup to his lips.   

“You...are a descendant of great royalty, and you have absolute resemblance to the princess before you. Meaning you are her reincarnation. She died an untimely death, that none of us foreseen to stop.” 

He tilted his head back as he swallowed the wine down, watching the bob of his adam’s apple before he set the cup back down on the table. 

“But her influence on this palace and this country is too great for us to decide on a new ruler. It would be too chaotic, the masses would fight and we would end up losing power as a whole. So we thought it was better to revive her.”

The sigh he released was airy, sounding tired out. You almost regret asking him about it if it revealed he was in pain. 

“I don’t know what your life is outside this mansion, but I selfishly ask you to give up all of it to stay here and rule.” You could see the flames of the candlelights in his gray eyes, staring at you as you felt your breath get caught in your throat. You couldn’t believe it. Here this vampire was, stronger and more superior than you, begging you to have control over him and this palace. You dropped your head and stared at your fingers, clutching and releasing the material of your dress in your hands. 

“I have no idea how to rule a kingdom. I’m not the princess that you all served so greatly.”

He moved towards you, scooting his body closer to yours as his voice pleaded with a hint of persuasion. “You will have help, and you will learn how to rule as you grow here.” 

A finger on your chin and your head was raised back up with Ten’s face only inches from your own. Your eyes trailed over his face with light that was given by the candles, seeing the lines in his pink lips, noticing the sharp edge of his jawline. There wasn’t a speck of impurity on his face that proved all the more of how surreal he was. You didn’t have the courage to say, but you would confess only when you prayed that Ten was something like a God to you. 

“I...I need more time to adjust.”

“Adjust?” he questioned to which you nodded back, watching the way he chuckled with amusement and a bright smile. 

“Adjust means consideration that you will stay.”

“I mean, yeah but-”

You were caught off guard when you noticed you were in the air, a yelp leaving your mouth as you were swung around with Ten below you cheering gleefully. You wrapped your arms around his neck when he dropped you into his arms, still swinging in circles as you held each other with noises of laughter. 

He had fallen back on the mattress with you above him, the both of you still a giggling mess as you pushed yourself up on your arms to hover over him. You stared down at him, drunk off amusement and wine as you dared ask, “Will...I become a vampire?”

You didn’t give it much thought when you asked, didn’t bother to care how it came off. It was an idea that was foreign to you. What it meant not to be human, what it meant to let go of the life you lived from before. 

That it meant giving up on mortality completely. 

“Yes.” he answered unwavered as you blinked down at him. 

“Will...you bite me?”

He let out a wolfish laugh as his hands grabbed the back of your head and pulled you down as a yelp released from your mouth once again. You rested your face between his neck, feeling his hands trail down your backside with his breath right next to your ear. 

“No, the process is different, but it will be painful. Why, did you want me to bite you?”

You thanked the heavens your face was covered for him not to see, your muffled answer being said against his neck. “No!”

You felt his laugh reverberate against your body as you felt his fingers dance along the seams of your dress. “My sincerest apologies but it is quite painful. Being bitten by me wouldn’t even compare, but it is the only rite of ritual for you to become princess.”

You remained quiet as you breathed against one another, hoping he didn’t catch how hard your heart was beating against your chest. There were still so many questions on your mind, and even though Ten was patient with you it didn’t take away all the uncertainty in your heart.  

“So, what do I come across as to you...meaning like how did those guys in the room view me as?

“You smelt like food.”

You raised up slightly with wide eyes as Ten looked at you. “So, right now I smell like food to you?”

“You smell exquisite.” He replied hooded eyes assuring you before his hand was pushing your head back down to lay. “But I won’t eat you. I wouldn’t dare.” 

It was a relief to hear but that didn’t take away the fact that others in the palace may want to have you for that purpose. Still, you managed to stay for this long without teeth being sunk into your flesh. 

“Keira.” 

The call of your name was refreshing, humming into his neck as you pushed your face a little closer to the warm skin. 

“The ministers have their own obligations to royalty that may seem...not normal to you. I’m not saying they are going to betray you, I’m saying there may be things you’re not going to agree with. As you are right now they aren’t going to listen to you. All your frustrations can be told to me or the rest of the knights. We’ll take care of it.” 

You listened carefully to his words, your eyebrows furrowing in thought as you pressed your lips together. You felt his hand raise to fall into your hair, gentle fingers scratching your scalp tenderly. 

“I promise you’re protected here.”

“I don’t feel safe.” You stated back, a bit guilty by your reply though you knew Ten had been doing his best to keep you calm. You wished you could say more, to share how you felt with clearer words but you couldn’t find it in you to speak truth. So it remained a surprise when he just laughed out again and hugged you closer to his body. 

“That’s funny hearing that from you. The you from before never worried about not feeling safe, she worried that others didn’t feel safe with her.”

Davina. You remembered her name clearly and you knew you were going to face the truth about her if you asked or not. You wanted to ask Ten, but you could tell he wasn’t so keen on speaking about her. If it meant bringing him pain, you would rather wait than to bring it up now. 

His head turned letting you feel his face press against the side of yours. His lips were soft against your cheek, a feeling that lulled you into a calming trance. 

“In time you’ll grow into this position you play. And I will be here right here by your side through it all.”

This moment was more than you could handle. Among all the questions and responses playing back in your mind, being with Ten made it all disappear. All the worry and fear, just being in his arms made it better. Even if he was a vampire meant to tear you apart and end your life, you felt all the more safe with him.

[keelywolfe]

FIC: Terms of Engagement ch.7

Summary: Rus is still a kid himself and with his life turned upside-down, he has no idea how he’s going to take care of his baby brother. Having other kid skeletons appear in his world wasn’t exactly the help he was looking for.

Tags: Pre-Spicyhoney, Underfell Papyrus, Underfell Sans, Underswap Papyrus, Underswap Sans, Undertale Sans, Undertale Papyrus, Babybones, Scientist W. D. Gaster, Possible Past Child Abuse, Skellie Daycare, Growing Up Together, Big Brothers Caring For Their Little Bros, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Violence

Chapter One | Chapter Two | Chapter Three | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | 

Chapter Six

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Read Chapter Seven on AO3

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Read It Here!

~~*~~

The artificial light streaming in through the window was already conspiring to wake Rus when the kicked open door finished the job. He groaned aloud, rolling over and yanking the blanket over his head as he mumbled, “c’mon, bro, five more minutes.”

“Is that how you always greet Blue in the morning? Because if so, you and my brother have a great deal more in common than I thought.”

That deep, raspy voice was nothing like the sweeter, higher version of Blue’s. Rus scrambled to sit up, fighting free of the tangled blankets and choking back a scream as he met a pair of crimson eye lights set in a scarred face.

Memory jolted into place and shame came fast on its heels, fuck, how would that have made Edge feel, that the sight of his face scared the shit out of him? Wasn’t like the scars were the kid’s fault or his LV, if Rus was understanding things right.

Edge’s mouth twisted wryly and Rus’s soul ached guiltily. Might not have hidden that as well as he hoped. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. How are you feeling?”

“fine,” Rus croaked, sounding exactly like shit. “better, i mean.”

“Hm.” Edge sat on the side of the bed, his bed, Rus realized, made in the form of a race car like Blue’s was of a Volkswagen beetle. Always those almost similarities, younger brothers instead of older, turn left instead of right, their worlds not the same but still not exactly different.

Edge pulled up the blanket enough to expose his ankle. The testing pressure of his fingers made Rus wince. “Still a little bruised, but you should be all right.” That touch lingered, soothing over the dark spots mottling the bone, until Rus shifted uncomfortably. Then Edge drew away, straightening. “Red wanted to speak with you.”

“yeah, i bet.” Maybe in the time Rus was asleep, he’d come up with some ideas on how the hell he was going to get home. Edge went over to the closet, rummaging through looked like a sparse selection, and finally brought back a neat stack of clothes.

“Here, you’d probably like to change. I’ll wait outside the door if you need help down the stairs.”

“thanks,” Rus said, weakly. Edge only nodded and left, closing the door behind him.

The pants fit at the hips well enough, but Rus had to cuff them to keep from dragging on the floor. That was a novel experience, not too many Monsters back home were taller than him, especially not Blue.

He paused to think of his brother, closing his sockets. Right about now Blue would usually be waking him up to head out to his sentry post. Not today, today he was worried, maybe out searching the woods for him. maybe he’d been searching since last night. There was no way of knowing when Blue discovered he was actually missing and not just slacking off over in one of the Hotland posts, selling hot cats for an extra buck. He knew his brother, so well, and Blue would be frantic by now, Snowdin would have been searched from top to bottom and there was no way to let him know Rus was all right.

Well, mostly all right.

Rus sighed shakily and pulled the shirt Edge gave him over his head. He couldn’t worry about Blue now, worry wasn’t gonna get him home. But as he pulled on the shirt, he could smell the same laundry detergent his brother used, exactly the same, and by the time he yanked it down to his waist, Rus was angrily swiping away tears.

Time to get downstairs and start planning.

He limped his way cautiously to the door and happened to catch sight of himself in the mirror over the dresser. If he sounded like shit, he looked worse, but that wasn’t what froze him. The shirt was plain cotton, worn to softness over many washes, and looked as if once it proclaimed the wearer to be a ‘cool dude’. That was slashed across with red paint and bold penmanship declared overtop, “Bad Ass!”

It made him smile, a little sadly. The Edge he’d met yesterday seemed like the type to wear something like this but it was hard to reconcile that with the sweet kid he’d known, the one who was so awed by his first bisicle.

(I’m going to marry you, Russy.)

Rus shoved that memory back into the mental box at the back of his mind and headed out the door. Edge was waiting and again Rus was struck by how damn tall he was. It was one thing to notice it when he was sitting down, something else entirely when Rus was standing next to him and actually had to look up.

“Let me help you,” Edge said, reaching for him. Rus shied back, almost stumbling as his weak ankle protested.

“no! No, i’m good, thanks, i got it.”

If he didn’t already feel like shit, then the flutter of emotion that crossed Edge’s face would’ve done the job. The briefest flicker of obvious hurt, quickly masked.

Rus swallowed hard, “sorry, i didn’t mean--”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Edge said gruffly. He went past Rus, keeping a careful distance between them and headed downstairs.

Well, fuck.

He was feeling raw and unnerved, but there was no reason to take it out on the guy who was only trying to help him. Rus heaved a mental sigh and hobbled down after Edge, following him into the kitchen.

Red was already sitting at the table and the spread of food around him made Rus stare in drooling shock. There was a heaping plate of pancakes, melting butter oozing down the sides from the top of the stack. A plateful of brown sausages next to a bowl of cheery yellow scrambled eggs, golden hash browns, and fluffy biscuits alongside an open jar of bright red jam, a sticky spoon poking out of the top.

“mornin', bean pole,” Red mumbled, shoveling in another bite. “grab a plate and we’ll talk.”

Rus didn’t have a stomach to rumble, but damn if his soul didn’t give a lurch like it was about to hop out and load up a plate of its own. Rus hastily grabbed a plate and filled it, moaning aloud as he scooped up his first bite of syrupy pancake.

“this is so good,” Rus said around the mouthful. The look Edge sent him was so much like Blue, a pointed ‘Really? Those are your manners?’ stare, that he couldn’t help grinning sheepishly, swallowing before he repeated. “it’s great. considering some of the crap you cooked up back in the day, i gotta say, seeing you making decent food is probably the freakiest thing here.”

“nah, this ain't me,” Red said around his chewing. Edge swatted him on the back of the skull. Looked like he was less restrained with challenging his brother’s manners. Red swallowed and gave him an unapologetic grin. “sorry, bro. anyway, i don’t do the cooking, ‘bout all i can handle is reheating and dishes.”

“oh.” Rus managed a smile for Edge, trying not to let his gaze linger on the heavy crack through his socket. There was no good way to explain that it wasn’t the scar that put him off, it was what it meant. That innocent kid suffering and some part of Rus still believed he could’ve stopped it. If only, if only, and yeah, he hated that crack, hated it. But for right now, delicious pancakes were the game. ”edge, this is really amazingly good.”

“Thank you.” To Rus’s delight, his cheek bones went faintly pink. That scarred face was like a mask overtop the kid he’d known and every once in a while, the kid would peek out shyly. “This is somewhat more expansive than we’d normally have, but since we have a guest for breakfast--”

Red interrupted with a loud guffaw, “yeah, he put on the ritz for you. stay as long as you like if it’s gonna get me this kind of spread.”

Delicious as the food was, that reminder made Rus’s appetite wane. He managed a few more bites, not wanting to waste the food when he damn well knew himself how scarce supplies could be from time to time. In the end, Rus had to push his plate away, only half-eaten. Red was already finished, his plate practically licked clean and Edge only began eating after they finished, polishing off the cooling food and, yeah, maybe his manners were a little better but he still ate hungrily.

Red poured out coffee from a carafe, pushing mugs around the table. “okay, rus. now that we’ve got the eats outta the way, we need to figure out how the hell you got here. i’m guessin' you weren’t trying to show up at our door.”

Rus shook his head. “sorry, but no.” He took a sip of the coffee and almost gagged, “what the fuck is that?!”

“Chicory,” Edge said. He didn’t even bother to stifle his amusement and Rus pretended not to see he was finishing off the leftovers from Rus’s plate. “It’s easier to get and cheaper than coffee, but it does take some getting used to. Here.” He went to a tall cupboard and rummaged, bringing back a small jar. It was honey and Rus took it gratefully, stirring in a healthy (or not so much) spoonful. His next sip was still lingering bitter, but not quite that dark-roasted nightmare of the first.

“happy now?” Red asked lazily.

Rus was about to answer when Edge said, stiffly, “Yes.”

“good, then let’s get started.” Red leaned forward, elbows braced on his knees and his crimson gaze intent, “start from the beginning. tell me everythin', every detail, don’t care if you think it’s stupid, got me?”

So Rus did. Every detail, from getting up that morning, the way he’d been thinking about him and Edge, remembering them for no particular reason he could come up with. The way he’d felt agitated, almost urged to head downstairs to check on the machine. Despite what Red said, he still felt stupid describing how the machine made him feel, like it wanted to be used.

But the Fell brothers only listened intently and Edge nodded grimly as Rus haltingly explained how just being around the machine made his bones crawl.

“...and that was when i shortcutted out. i was trying to shortcut out to my sentry station, but--”

“wait,” Red interrupted, latching onto that eagerly, his sockets narrowing. “shortcut?”

With a jolt, Rus realized Red hadn’t been there when Sans taught him and it seemed he hadn’t figured it out on his own. “um, yeah, it’s kinda like teleporting. sans figured it out and he showed me how, before we shut down the machines.”

“Like teleporting?” Edge paused as he was clearing the table with a stack of plates in his hands. He looked a hellava lot more shocked than Red, sockets wide and astonished.

Red waved it off. “not that much of a surprise, bro, we know the docs were tryin' to find a way outta the barrier. okay,” Red said, slowly. “so you usually take a shortcut to your sentry station. you ever shortcut around the machine before?”

“loads of times,” Rus shrugged. “that’s how i got the damn thing to snowdin to begin with, i don’t even know how you two managed to move it.”

“we’ll go back to that. show me how a shortcut works.”

“now?”

Red raised brow bone and asked with sardonic politeness, “you wanna get home to blue?”

“um, yeah.” Guess Red had some asshole left in him. Rus looked around uncertainly. “i’ll go out to the living room?”

“wherever works, try it.”

Rus nodded and took a deep breath. Shortcutting was easy once you knew the trick of it. Drawing on his magic, the picture of where firmly in his mind, and all he needed to do was step through the void and--

Rus choked on a scream, every atom in his body felt like it was tearing itself apart from the inside in agonizing slow motion. The sear of pain blinded him and he nearly fell, saved only by Edge catching his arm and hauling him back upright. Thoughtlessly, Rus lurched into those strong arms, clinging as the pain slowly, slowly ebbed. They slipped around him after a startled moment, then pulled him in close, settling Rus to sit on bony legs as Edge murmured soft, wordless noises of comfort.

“oh, oh fuck,” Rus sobbed. His hands fisted into the shirt beneath his cheek bone. Little aftershocks were still spiking through him, vicious needle jabs of pain. “oh, that hurt so much.”

“easy, easy,” Red said, behind him, clearly upset, “shit, sorry! i thought somethin' might happen but I didn’t expect that!”

Rus barely heard him. He looked up at Edge, his vision blurred with tears as he whispered hoarsely, “i can’t shortcut.”

He’d been able to shortcut for some fifteen years now, it was his escape, his power, and to lose it felt like he really had lost a leg.

“I’m so sorry,” Edge said, softly. Offering gentle sympathy even though his face was proof he’d gone through so much more than Rus could imagine.

Thoughtlessly, Rus raised a hand, tracing that crack through his socket with a timid fingertip. He’d kept it for the effect, Edge said, offered to let Rus kiss it to make it better. That socket widened but Edge didn’t draw away, let him trace the ragged line down his cheek bone.

Then his sense kicked back in and Rus realized he was damn well sitting in Edge’s lap, groping his face like some kind of pervert.

Rus took a deep, shuddery breath and lurched unsteadily to his feet. “can i go outside and smoke here?”

“sure, go ahead,” Red said. His crimson eye lights searched Rus’s face carefully. “don’t wander too far from the house.”

Rus nodded and fled.

He walked slowly upstairs to get his cigarettes, where once he would have simply shortcutted up. Didn’t think about that, only rummaged through his hoodie for his smokes and lighter.

Downstairs, he hesitated at the front door. His shoe was stained with marrow, dried into dark splotches. Rus’s mouth tightened grimly as he shoved his bruised foot into it anyway, not bothering to tie them as he slipped out the door. The artificial light was at its highest, close to simulated noon, damn, he had slept a long time.

Rus dusted off the porch and sat down, shaking out a cigarette and lighting it despite the trembling flame of his lighter. The first rush of nicotine into his magic soothed him and Rus sat there, smoking quietly, but he couldn’t quite relax. He could still feel the low thrum of the shielding magic around the house, essentially checking and rechecking him for Intent, and finally, Rus stood and took a few steps away until the feeling faded.

From here, he could get a pretty good look at the town. If it was maybe a little dingy-er than his version of Snowdin, that wasn’t the only change. Instead of the bright, elegant sign lettering for Muffet’s Bakery, there was bold, plain one declaring itself as Grillby’s. He was too far away to see inside, but the Monster stumbling out the door didn’t look like they’d stopped in for a pastry.

The only Grillbie he knew was a Fire Monster who lived over in Hotland and she wouldn’t have been caught alive in Snowdin, since she was pretty much sure the snow would snuff her out two steps in.

He wondered if this world’s Muffet was in Hotland, if she ran her bakery out there and did she stop at a sentry station sometimes for a hotcat, or whatever they had here? Was Edge friends with this Grillby, did he stop in to get all the gossip? What else was not quite the same, tipped to one side and wrong? He didn’t know, but it was something to think about, wasn’t it. Better than remembering that he was stuck here and the wall surrounding Snowdin was in sight, a magic-soaked barrier to keep out whatever horrors lived in the Woods.

He stood there, lost in his wondering with nothing but miserable time to do it in, and that was how the children found him. The same kids he’d seen yesterday or maybe not, Rus couldn’t be sure.They approached him curiously, warily, all of them in worn clothes showing neat patches and clomping around in an older siblings’ hand-me-down boots. But their cheeks were full and their eyes were bright, interested in this new stranger in their midst. The pack of them were standing around the mailboxes, huddling together as if by sticking close, maybe Rus wouldn’t see them staring.

They almost looked familiar, another sidestep away from his world.

“hey,” Rus called out to them. A half dozen pairs of eyes went wide, one kid muffling a startled shriek and Rus shook his head. Kids. Looked like they were about the same even in different universes. He crouched to put out his cigarette in the snow before shoving the butt into his pocket. “hey, you guys want to see a magic trick?”

That got ‘em. Rus reached into his pocket and pulled out a G coin, weaving it easily through his fingers. It was a cheap trick but it do look impressive to a kid, and soon the boldest of them left the herd, creeping in closer to watch with wide eyes as Rus spun the gold piece through his fingers, walking it across his knuckles in a spin and a dance.

Since he didn’t grab the brave one and eat him or something, the other kids seemed to decide he was safe enough. They all crept closer, a collection of wide eyes and runny noses, watching as he switched hands, staring as that coin pirouetted and twirled across the backs of his fingers.

He ended with a flourish, the coin spinning up high for Rus to snatch out of the air. He bowed grandly and the kids gave him a smattering of applause.

“ah, but i’m not finished! watch this.”

He crouched down next to the bold kid and showed him the coin. “i bet you can blow this coin away. wanna try?”

The kid nodded furiously and Rus went through the whole show of it. Waving it around so all the kids could see, carefully palming it before holding out his empty fist for the kid to blow on. The round of gasps that came when he opened his hand to show the ‘vanished’ coin was better than any applause from doing card tricks at the NTT resort.

“oh, but wait!” Rus reached behind the kid’s head and ‘plucked’ the coin from thin air, showing it to them all. “Didn’t get far, did it? Here, kid.” He flipped the coin and it spun in the air, head over tails. The kid fumbled for it, wide eyes shining almost as much as the coin.

“For me?”

Again, that memory of the bisicle, of Edge’s low, childish whisper as if he couldn’t believe anything so wonderful could be his. This time it was almost paralyzing, Rus standing with his grin frozen even as the child’s smile began to wobble.

“um. yeah.” Rus fumbled for words before that smile could disappear. “yeah, it’s...it’s all yours, big guy.”

The kid didn’t even say thank you and Rus didn’t give a shit. It was all right there, in those wide, wide eyes and all the kids surrounded him as they walked away, chattering excitedly. Rus watched them go, the turmoil of his emotions swerving into a new direction.

“That’s the second time I’ve seen that trick and I’m still not sure how you did it.”

If he wasn’t already a skeleton, Rus would have jumped out of his fucking skin. As it was, he jerked so hard he almost toppled into the snow, his sore ankle raising everloving hell. Edge was a few feet away, hands tucked into his pockets and a faint smile playing on his mouth. Maybe Rus was getting used to that scar, he actually relaxed to see it was only Edge.

“a magician never reveals his secrets,” Rus said breezily. Then curiously, “you remember that?”

“Of course. That was the last morning I saw you.”

Edge reached into the front of his shirt and pulled out a chain and Rus blinked when Edge showed him that dangling from it was a G coin, as untarnished and shiny as the day he’d given it away.

“you kept it?” Rus asked, disbelieving. He reached up to touch it without thinking, hesitating inches away, his hand curling into a fist.

Edge didn’t seem to notice. His wry grin was softer, teasing. “Well, I had to. It seems that my world doesn’t take G with the Queen’s face on it.” Then he sobered. “I wouldn’t have used it, anyway. You gave it to me.”

“i…” Rus didn’t know what to say to that. He looked up into Edge’s face, searching for any sign of that kid...kids. He looked around wildly, but all the sprogs were gone. “shit! that means he won’t be able to spend that!”

“I’ll take care of it. It was kind of you, to give him that.”

Rus shrugged uncomfortably. “no big deal, it’s only a g.”

The way Edge studied him, deep crimson eye lights resting on Rus’s face, was unsettling in a way Rus couldn’t quite explain. “You still do that, too.”

“do what?” Rus asked distractedly. Another cigarette sounded great right now and he started rummaging for the crumpled pack, fishing one out.

“Deflect when someone compliments you.”

Rus froze, unlit cigarette clenched in his teeth. No fucking way, Edge was hardly more than a baby bones when they closed off their machine, he didn’t need late-day psychoanalysis from someone who slept with a teddy bear. Rus shook his head, trying not to snap as he said, “i do not! it’s not a big deal, that’s all!”

“You do, but that’s all right, Russy.” Edge smiled and there it was, always in that smile. Little Edge, the kid who sat in his lap for stories. “I don’t mind telling you again. Excuse me, I’d better catch them before they try to use that coin in the shop.”

He strode off and Rus watched him go. Putting this version of Edge on top of his memories was almost exactly like trying to compare this Snowdin to his own. Not quite right, tipped a little to the side, and off.

He still wasn’t sure whether it was a good or a bad thing.

tbc

[princeanxious]

“Egg-celent” TSS- Patceit

Warnings: Aphobia, sympathetic deceit

I was requested to write this prompt with anyship, i gave it a shot xD , all errors are mine, and i hope ya’ll like it bc it’s almost 1 am for me.

Prompt: “You’re famous and I jokingly left a comment on your social media post asking if you’ll go egg my ex-partner’s house with me this weekend, and I never actually expected you to respond, let alone show up Friday night with dark sweatshirts, toilet paper rolls, and three egg cartons tucked under your arm” AU

Prior/extra info: Patceit AU where Patton is Famous(and has a youtube and uses it for good) and just moved into Dimitri’s hometown, and Dimitri is also a youtuber but a much smaller one, known for amazing stage/costume makeup artistry and the peculiar way that one side of his face is covered in freckles and the fact that his eyes have heterochromia. Patton is also really tall(6’4) and Dimitri is really short(5’2).

———

‘Hey, /PatPuffballSanders, wanna help me go egg my ex’s house this weekend? I’d bet it’d be sp-egg-tacular.’

-posted at 10:23 pm, by /BoopDiSnek

The short makeup artist hadn’t expected things to escalate this far, and well, in all honesty, he hadn’t expected anything to happen at all. Perhaps it was the fact that Patton Sanders was famous, known well for his pretty voice, sneaky puns, dad humor, and growing popularity as a voice actor.

He was a ray of sunshine, and readily used that talent on every social platform he could to make people smile, but primarily on Youtube. The tall puppy of a man had a pun of the day, animal shelter promo of the week, and a monthly charity stream where he’d invite his friends and other youtubers of all kinds to play games and skits and challenges to raise money for all sorts of causes.

The puffball has a moral streak a mile wide, and has a segment for ‘Dad Chats’ in his videos with his viewers about how they should choose go about certain issues, and how their choices and feelings would affect their decisions, among other topics. He wasn’t good at words, but he tries to be the best influence he can, and that much was evident in any of his videos.

Perhaps it was the fact that Dimitri was still heartbroken, his boyfriend dumping him a week ago for someone else after a year and a half of dating. All because he was a ‘killjoy’ for not feeling sexually attracted to the man. It wasn’t even that Dimitri didn’t want it, he just hadn’t felt any of the sort towards his ex yet and didn’t feel the need to fake an act. It hadn’t sat well with his ex-boyfriends ego, apparently, as was evident in their last fight leading towards their breakup.

The words ‘freak’ and ‘prude’ had indeed stung, but not more than ‘unlovable’ had, the sentence burned into the forefront of his thoughts as his ex exclaimed it.

And maybe Dimitri had been a little out of it, typing the sarcastic message through his angry tears.

Even when pressing the post button had sent a jolt of nervousness through him, having tagged his favorite ball of sunshine, he’d never expected a response. It was evident in the comments his followers added to his post, concerned about his full week of silence, that the question had been silly. Patton? Patton Hart Sanders? The Patton Hart Sanders, egging a house? Sure, Patton had just moved into Dimitri’s hometown, but their hometown was big enough that he’d probably never run into the voice actor anyhow. And Patton just wasn’t that kind of person.

In any case, his phone had been left on the charger as he went to make some tea, and had almost spilled it everywhere when he returned 10 minutes later. A single notification from Patton Sanders himself sat, waiting to be read.

‘Now, I don’t know about eggin’ a house, Kiddo, but you sure have got me on the ‘Egg’ of my seat, ‘fryin’ to know whats eating at you. You feeling okay, Di?’’ It was a private message, sent two minutes ago, and Dimitri was barely breathing.

Okay, so maybe Dimitri was pretty gay for Patton, it was a popular type of crush, nothing very real, and that was all. He looked up to the man, definitely. However, there was no way in heaven that Patton Sanders had privately dm’d him. He could scarcely believe it, even after triple checking that this was an official Patton Sanders account. Perhaps it was unprofessional, but Patton seemed genuinely worried and was trying to reach out, and that made Dimitri feel guilty.

“Hey Pat! Don’t worry about it, I was just joking around.” He squinted at the sentence, scrutinizing it for any particular error before sending it, Patton’s response was almost immediate.

“Something tells me you weren’t, but i’ll let it slide for now, kiddo. The question remains, are you feeling okay?”

“Honestly? No, but i will be. Aphobia sucks, though. Some dude my ex turned out to be.”

It took Patton three extra minutes to respond, a hesitance present in his response. “Oh goodness, that sounds bad.. on second thought, that egging his house idea doesn’t sound so mean after all, Di!” Dimitri snorted, gently waving off the others suggestion through another message.

Back and forth they went for another hour, talking about video ideas and plans and possible collab ideas. Perhaps Dimitri was in over his head, he’d never collabed with anyone before, but he wasn’t going to turn Patton's suggestion for a stage makeup challenge for a charity livestream down.

Eventually they both went to bed, and time moved on.

Dimitri picked himself back up and threw himself back into his videos, breaking the silence with a short explanation video followed by his regularly scheduled videos. By the time Friday rolled around, Dimitri had all but forgotten about his question to Patton. Over the course of the week, both of them had gotten closer, talking about their town and suggestions of places to go, and promises to meet up that hopefully would not become empty.

It was mid-afternoon when Dimitri, who was currently mid-edit thankfully and not mid-makeup mode, got a knock on his door. Confused, he wandered to his front door and opened it, peering through his glasses at the outside world.

Well, attempting to peer, as suddenly Dimitri is met with a blue sweater-clad chest and a happy squeal of excitement coming from the man standing at his door. It takes two seconds for Dimitri to blink upwards at the taller man and recognize him as Patton Sanders, it takes Dimitri two more minutes for his brain to catch up with Patton’s excited rambling.

And to catch up with the fact that Patton is hugging him.

He notices Patton has a few things in one arm, most notably, a couple cartons of eggs. He can’t help but crack a smile, completely flabbergasted that Patton actually thought of going through with this.

Dimitri’s thoughts are going wild, and he’s pretty sure he has a headache coming on, but instead of addressing it, he plays it cool and invites the other in and decides to make tea for the both of them.

When Patton pulls out two black sweaters, one turned inside out,along with a mask and some toilet paper, Dimitri can’t hold back his giggles. He misses the way Patton lights up at the sound, and lets Patton know that they really weren’t going to egg his ex’s house. The relief is evident in Patton’s voice, “Thank goodness! I don’t think we’d fair too well in the dark!”

Dimitri can’t help but agree, adjusting his glasses. No, not even his contacts could save him for the depth perception nightmare that was aiming in the dark, plus, they’d easily get caught. Absently, Dimitri moves to hand the inside out sweater back, flipping it right side out now that the dark interior wasn’t needed, only to pause. His eyes caught on the graphic print on the front of the sweater, adjusting it in his hands so he could see it fully. He paused again, squinting at the familiar design.

It held a cute albino snake curled around a small round ornament, blepping contently with the words ‘It cold’ next to her. Under the graphic, the name of the snake was presented in pretty cursive lettering, ‘Nova.’

“Pat.. is this?? My winter merch??” Dimitri could barely hold back his disbelief, glancing up at a flustered Patton. Patton owned the merch of his pet albino python, Nova, and goodness gracious Dimitri needed to sit down.

“In my defence!! Nova is cute!! And she's even cuter when happily curled around you!” Patton huffed, arms crossed as he blushed, though unashamed at his remark. Dimitri’s mind went a hundred different ways at that, before just putting his face in his hands and sighing.

After calming down a bit, he had an idea, and glanced up at Patton who blinked at him nervously, afraid he’d messed up somehow.

“Wanna hold her?” Patton’s bright grin was worth the brief stuttering of Dimitri’s thoughts.

With permission, a picture was taken of Patton with Nova wrapped around his shoulders, captioned ‘Nova found her #1 fan, it seems!’ and posted on both of their social accounts.

And if the media went a little shipping crazy at the two’s meeting, that was fine by them.

(The End?)

I might draw somethink for this but idk yet.)

[yaboymercury]

Spidey Farts

Peter's favourite deli had just started stocking some new hot food and he'd skipped breakfast so he felt obliged to go and try out what they got before he got to school. Looking at the chalkboard above the counter the idea of a triple bean burrito sounded good to him even if he knew it would probably make his problem worse for the day but it was a risk he was willing to take.

Just as he was being passed the chunky burrito over the counter his senses picked up on something outside the window. About a block away he could see a dude about his age getting cornered in an alleyway by some dudes much taller than him all looming over him in dark hoodies. He couldn't see the victim well but he could tell he was in trouble.

Grabbing the burrito he ran out the shop into the alley out back taking a bite of his burrito. He held his suit in one hand and his burrito in the other weighing up his options. He didn't want to waste time so he ended up picking both awkwardly slipping his suit on while scarfing down his burrito. As always it took a little extra pull getting it over his bulbous ass and eventually he was only left with the last part of the burrito and was fully suited.

As he began swinging over to where he saw the potential attack he hoped he wasn't too late, he could also feel his stomach instantly being attacked by the burrito and the swinging certainly wasn't helping.

Looking down at the alley from the roof of a nearby building he could tell that the guy getting cornered was definitely cute and definitely in danger.

Not wasting any time Peter swung down and began web shooting and incapacitating the thugs until only one was left. Going for his grand finale Peter catapulted himself at the thug and straddled him down to the ground ready to web him to the floor. But as he held the man down his stomach gave a familiar pang triggering a new idea for Peter.

PPFFFRRRRP

The potent blast exited Peter's tightly clad ass and the meaty stink invaded the thugs nose making the already weakened man pass out. Peter had forgotten all about the guy who was looking grateful but also had a hand over his nose. Peter instead of being embarrassed was happy to be in a disguise, it was just a shame that he couldn't ask for his number as Spiderman.

"Keeps Spiderman's stink between us." He quipped waving his hand behind his ass towards the cute guy. While Peter was having fun with it he couldn't ignore just how much he enjoyed it.

Not looking at the guy too much in fear of doing something stupid he quickly left to swing closer to school leaving the shaken boy in the lingering cloud of his gas.

Waiting for his first class to begin Peter couldn't help but daydream about the cute guy he'd saved but he knew nothing could come from it. That was until the teacher walked in with the same boy following him.

The cute guy finally introduced himself as Hugo and sat next to Peter with a deep sigh obviously in an attempt to relieve some of the tension from his stressful morning.

The now blushing Peter didn't know how to react to the situation but he came to the conclusion that fate was giving him a second chance. Turning to the boy he gave him an awkward smile which was returned with a surprised grin back. To that Peter decided to introduce himself.

"Hey I'm Peter, if you need any help getting around the school feel free to ask." He finished stumbling awkwardly through the sentence which was replied to with a cool "I'll keep that in mind."

The lesson began promptly bit of course Peter couldn't concentrate feeling like he couldn't stop staring at the attractive guy next to him who occasionally made eye contact making Peter's face redden even more. Peter recognised the irony of the situation with Hugo being the new student but seemingly so much more comfortable than Peter whose stomach felt like butterflies.

These butterflies got worse until Peter finally registered that it was actually burrito gas making its vengeful return from earlier. He knew the teacher wouldn't let him leave for the toilet so close to the end of the lesson and it certainly wouldn't be able to stay in. Writhing in his seat all Peter could do was lean to his side and spread his ass and try and slip it out silently.

In his stressful state Peter hadn't realised that his ass was pointing directly at Hugo but he had already committed to the position and his ass was already loosening.

fsssssshhhh

Peter had escaped the public humiliation of it being fully audible but the heat of it escaping fortold the horrific stink which was confirmed with a quick sniff and consequent silent wretch. However what Peter quickly noticed is that Hugo was looking straight at the seat of Peter's chair, he had heard the rush of air.

On top of being mortified that he had been noticed he made a new kind of eye contact with the man. It was accusatory and shocked.

He recognised the stink.

Peter quickly jolted his head down his heart racing, it was a stretch but this guy could totally out him. He peered back at Hugo who like many others on the class now had a hand covering their nose but he was still looking at Peter only there was a mischievous look in his eye.

The lesson was quickly over and the rest of the class was quick to leave as Peter's powerful stench was pretty rough to stay in. Quickly clambering out of his seat Peter almost ran down the hallway letting out little bursts of potent gas. What he didn't notice in his worried state was that he was being followed.

Peter burst into the toilets in his school ran into a cubicle before anyone in there could see him. He locked the door behind him and leaned against the door sticking his ass out and let loose.

FRAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRPPPPPPPPPPPPTTT

The noxious blast echoed throughout the room and was quickly followed by response from other stragglers in the room some applause some laughing and after time for the smell to spread a lot of gagging and complaints. Peter didn't care though he was just panting in relief of finally farting.

While he was still in recovery in the now potentially biohazardous bathroom he heard steps get closer to his cubicle. Panting on the toilet seat Peter saw a note get flicked under the door at him.

"Hey Stinkerman, not to be rude but was able to find you because of the trail of gas you tend to leave in your wake. I think we need to chat, meet you in the café by the school in half an hour ;)"

Despite the lack of name Peter knew it was Hugo. He was happy that Hugo wanted to chat privately but immediately the student got nervous that a guy he had a building crush on wanted to confront him about his biggest secret and his terrible gas.

Peter being so nervous was making him particularly gassy, he was starting to feel a bit guilty at the state he was going to leave this windowless men's room in.

After giving himself a good amount of time to rip some nervous meaty farts in the toilet Peter snuck out the toxic room and made his way to café, on his way attempting to clean up his hair or try in vain to cover the stink of flatulence stuck into his clothes with some deodorant.

When Peter arrived at the café he noticed Hugo sitting in a secluded booth. Before Peter could sit reluctantly sit down he was greeted with:

"Hey Stinkerman." Hugo gave Peter with a smirk.

"Dude not too loud." Peter attempted to hush him.

"What no one else knows about gassy spiderman." Hugo retorted giving Peter a confident slightly flirtatious look.

"So you worked it out huh, sorry you had to experience all that... ya know.... stink.." Peter was surprised that Hugo was willing to talk to him after smelling so much of his gas.

"It's fine... it's really fine actually." Hugo gave Peter a subtle smile. "And I'm gonna keep your secret on one condition."

Peter was calmed by the smile but worried by the condition giving Hugo a questioning look.

"You take me out on a date, the new guy at school could use a guy like you to help him stay, maybe your certain scent could be of some use?"

Peter blushed happy to hear that his crush was reciprocated and that Hugo even managed to find a way to see his flatulence as a positive.

Taking a deep breathe Peter could finally respond "Sounds good to me." His stomach rumbling before he could carry on his sentence spurred on a new plan though, "But first you'll need to pass my compatibility test."

To this Hugo raised an eyebrow.

Peter urged Hugo to follow him out the back entrance of the café into the alley where he quickly pulled on his mask from his bag and used his webs to pull him and Hugo up the building to the roof. Hugo didn't hesitate to cling onto Peter as he was lifted up. While Peter would have usually found this sweet the body clinging against his was mainly just pushing his gas closer to the breaking point.

When they were on the roof he quickly got Hugo to sit down.

"So before we go any further you're gonna have to deal with the full force of my farts think you can handle it?"

After dominating the thugs, his class and his school toilets in the same day Peter's urge to dominate with his gas was becoming uncontrollable and Hugo's semi-willing face seemed like the next best target.

Hugo was now the one blushing as he looked up at the gassy guy above him "Uh sure I guess if you have to..." He wasn't sure if he should let Peter see his growing erection tenting in his trousers but if this went where it seemed like it was it would be pretty hard to miss.

"Well then buckle up" Peter said standing over him before lowering his trousers and boxers enough for his bouncy round ass to be bared right in Hugo's face who was almost salivating at this point. But before he could fully appreciate the view it he was shoved in my Peters hand coming behind his head.

The sweaty musk of the tight crack was overpowering but the sound of rumbling was what really worried Hugo.

PRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAARPPPPPPPPPPP

The wind engulfed the new guy's whole being as Peter sighed orgasmically at the sensation of letting out such a massive volume of gas. Even the meaty stink Peter got from where he was could probably kill, he was slightly worried that the guy recieving it could face permanent damage.

"Fuck you stink!" Could be made out muffled under the cushioning of Peter's ass and the roaring gas escaping his butt.

Peter couldn't tell if that was a good or a bad thing but either way it wouldn't stop him.

"I got a lot of powers when I became Spiderman but don't worry man this gassy gift is all natural..."

Cocking his leg Peter let loose even more.

FRRRRRRAAAAARRRRRRP

PPPRRRRRRTTTTTT

BBBBBRRRRRRRRRRAAAPPPPPPPP

The smell on top of the building was becoming horrendous the pollution in this certain block of New York was certainly getting worse today. The roof of the building slowly enveloped in a thick cloud of farts leaving the inhumanly stinking student.

FRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAP

Ending with a particularly rotten gas blast Peter finished his barrage and turned around to find the man he liked passed out with his eyes rolled back and nose pushed up and sweaty but with a slight smile. What was also noticeable was the boner very present in his trousers confirming Peter's suspicions.

Leaving the the stink covered rooftop he carried Hugo down to the café back entrance and discreetly placing him back into their booth. Before leaving him with his number on a note Peter made sure to put it under his ass and leave a particularly foul SBD on it marking it with his stench to remind Hugo of the reason to call him.

(Done as a gift for a friend but hope you all like it, hopefully going to finish gassy lessons over summer as well)

[alfredosauce50]

Who's the bad guy? ( 2p + 1p America x reader) 3

Wordcount: 2,700 The reader is referred to as she/her

Allen's place was a small yet rather decent house that only had one floor. Crisp, beige white paint used to flake off of the wood from the outside onto the grass below, but you advised him that it would be better without any added color on the lovely burgundy wood anyway. Sometimes you two would get together and have little "Not Spring day Spring days" to keep his place at an inhabitable and decent condition to stay. It was now a more neater, humble little house paired with a polished black impala next to it that seemed to be cared for better than the actual living space. "Allen!" You shouted, pounding your fists on his door. "Open sesame please!" If you hit the door any harder, your hand would have gone straight through it. The only thing stopping you was the fly screen. Withdrawing your hands once again to let them rest against your sides, you stood around on the front porch with your lips pursed. The sides of your hands were starting to sense a little sting from the constant thumping pressure inflicted on it. You let out a huff and glanced down at your phone, clicking it open to reveal the time. Half past nine it was, and that lazy redhead was still unable to pick himself up to answer his own door. 

Yes, Allen was still half naked curled up under the covers completely deaf to all his surroundings. His counterpart, however, was typing away busily on a tablet on one of the kitchen high chairs with wireless earphones and spoke rather quickly into it. You raised your hand against the hard surface of the wood and was about to knock once more but someone's voice stopped you. Narrowing your eyes to look past the dark filter of the fly screen, you peered around to attain the perfect angle to spy on the activity in the house. "Look, I just want it done by tomorrow night. Is that too much to ask for?" He sighed, his face unseen and focused on the bright screen sitting in front for him. His back moved occasionally and his arms moved elegantly but efficiently as he worked his way around his temporary desk set up on the counter. You stared at him in wonder. "Yeah, of course. I have my part done. It's all on you now. Alright. Bye." Once the house fell into silence again, you called his name. "Alfred!" You spotted his blonde tresses move as he jolted to turn around and look at you. Stifling back a couple of laughs, you waved at him. His baby blue irises brightened at the sight of you under a pair of rimless glasses. "(F/N)! Good morning!" He smiled, hopping off the chair and walking over to open the door. There was nothing but the sound of his footsteps and the faint snoring from one of the bedrooms, and there was nothing that could please him more. "Good morning!" You replied, finally able to see him clearly with the door out of the way. "It's nice to see you up and working already." He welcomed you into the humble abode before disappearing into the kitchen again. "Yeah, I'm on vacation and yet people can't seem to get work done without me there." He huffed. A few clinks of glass was heard from where you were sitting. "Would you like me to get you anything? Orange juice? Coke?" Peering over to the source of the voice, you hummed. "Oh, water is just fine, thank you." He nodded subconsciously and filled a glass from the tap just as you requested. Placing it in front of you on the coffee table, he took a seat next to you. Muttering another word of thankfulness, you reached for it and took a few sips allowing the cool liquid to soothe your dry mouth from all the shouting. He returned his gaze to you. "So, how's your day been?" You cleared your throat and grinned at him. "I don't know, how has yours been, big shot?" He shot you a quizzical look. "Seems like you've been pretty busy in the morning. What kind of career gets you so busy that you can't even answer your door?" Alfred's lips separated agape and he waved his hands at you apologetically, absolute terror flashing in his eyes. "I'm so sorry for keeping you waiting, really!" He spluttered. "I was just on the phone with one of my employees and uh, he kept on putting shit on hold. Yeah, I'm usually not that busy that I can't answer the door," Your lips stretched into a wide smile and you cracked up in his face. "Haha, I know, I know. I was just messing with you." You breathed heavily. Absolute confusion made its way to his face and he rubbed his nape sheepishly. "Hehe, oh right." He murmured. He flickered his eyes over to you and found you still gleaming at him with that adorable smile of yours. Immediately darting away his eyes, he felt the horrible burn on his neck spread to his ears and cheeks. Taking another sip of your water, you shifted on the cushions to get comfortable all while he had his visage focused in his lap. "But really, what kind of job do you have? You sound pretty important to me," You continued. He turned his head over to you and blinked. "Oh, er, I work at this company." He replied, unsure on whether to get any deeper than that. "Pretty busy company." You hummed with a hint of disappointment. "So busy that you can't even get a day off in your vacation? I was even thinking of showing you around town too!" You exasperated, catching him by surprise. Of course he had a few free days to spare, but just not today. That didn't seem to matter to him and he suddenly jolted up to sit up straight. "Wait, what? You should have said! Of course I'll come!" The atmosphere exploded then, two hearts pounding in exhilaration from a soon-to-come little play date in town. That set off an in-built mental alarm inside a particular man who was just peacefully snoozing away a few doors away. He inhaled deeply and groaned, rolling around on his thin double mattress that squeaked loudly under his weight. Blinking away the cloud of rust that had formed over his eyes, he stuck up his arm in the air and stared. "I know this great cafe, just a couple minutes away. We should drop by and grab a bite to eat there. Then we can go to the mall just across the street. It's not the best mall in the world, but I love their sales and stores..." The fast-paced wording was bound to throw anybody off track, but he had long grown accustomed to it because he had no choice. Speaking of malls, the thought of you suddenly crossed his mind at the mention of it. If you weren't talking about malls with him or your gay blond Italian friend on the phone, who else could it be? All his ideas tied together and formed a rather ugly shape. The obnoxious laughter of his most loathed relative ricocheted in the walls of his mind like bullets. Even if it was just his imagination, God did it hurt like the real deal. His face was consumed with a frown and he threw the blankets off of his legs, ready to burst out the door in nothing but a pair of boxers. It was his house, so why should anyone care? "Did someone say mall?" He asked, appearing in the living room and cutting your lively conversation short. The two of your heads darted to him and your lips stopped moving. "Woah hey Allen, why don't you put on a shirt or pants at least? We have a guest over," Alfred coughed. He was dismissed almost immediately and Allen took a seat in the middle of you two. The couch dipped significantly lower causing your form to slide down and press against his shoulders. "Doesn't matter. We've seen each other in less." He snapped, bringing a rush of blood red to your face. You slapped him on the shoulder and clenched your teeth tightly. "Allen!" You seethed. "You have no shame!" That was one time, one fucking time and he still won't stop bringing it up. It occurred when you unfortunately opened the bathroom door without knocking to reveal him butt-naked in front of the mirror and shaving his... Places. You never returned to that bathroom ever again without knocking, even if he wasn't in there. Now, what was the time when he peeked at you? Changing in his bedroom turned out to be a horrible idea. He flashed you a toothy grin. "What's there to be shy about?" "Everything, Allen." You grumbled. He knew no bounds, this man. With you, he just loved crossing yours. He wrapped an arm around your shoulders and pulled you close so that you could feel his hot skin flush against yours. What was he doing? You peered up at him slowly to find him already staring at you. For some reason, your heart was fluttering when he touched you. "Come on babydoll, we're best buds, aren't we? No need to hide anything," He replied, making your face heat up again. Keeping his gaze locked with yours, he held you closer so that it was almost like a hug. This was done in a fraction of a second, but he was able to catch the fact that Alfred was making and boy, was he tense. You breathed in frustratedly. "Yeah, but you're a dude and I'm a girl. It doesn't work like that," Seeing that he still looked unconvinced, you turned over to Alfred. "Right, Alfred?" He nodded quickly. "Yeah, dude. (F/N) isn't comfortable seeing your junk as a dudette," Allen rolled his red-hued eyes. "Alright, whatever you say." He murmured. Everything then drifted off into an awkward silence. Duty calls for you to break through the ice. "So..." You started. "Alfred and I were planning to go to town. You wanna tag along?" He widened his eyes and he felt his stomach churn. So that was what the two of you were up to! Of course he was going to tag along! "Fuck yeah I'll come!" Anything to keep an eye on that stupid cousin of his. He was going to watch him like a hawk with every second he had on his hands. After Allen slipped on something to wear which consisted of a white tank top, bomber jacket and of course, pants, the three of you set out on a little adventure to the local shopping district. Nothing to compare to what the real shopping districts were like in New York, but it was all you had growing up. As the residential area slowly disappeared out of sight, taller buildings and the street full of stores and cafes filled your line of vision. Since it wasn't close to the appropriate time to eat lunch yet, the three of you wandered through different stores on the main street. Besides the time spent browsing through goods and window shopping, Allen's hand never left yours. Interlocking his fingers with yours, he walked closely by your side when shop-hopping. You thought it was cute of him, but he was acting a little out of the ordinary nevertheless. The homely buzz of chatter filled your ears just as a waft of warm, baking bread engulfed your nose. The air inside was very warm and inviting, bringing people closer as they shared their thoughts and opinions in casual conversations. You've just arrived at one of your friend's bakery cafe, one of the most popular places to eat with the community. Taking a seat at one of the tables with the two boys following suit, you all ordered something different. The waiter disappeared into the kitchen. "How do you like it here so far, Alfred?" You asked, "Not too shabby for you?" Allen found himself snickering silently. "Oh, it's totally awesome! The stuff here is like, really cheap." He replied energetically, earning a satisfied hum from you. "That's good to hear," You said. Shortly after the three of you finished your meals with Alfred finishing first despite eating three times as much, the owner walked up to you three with a tray in his hands. There sat three gleaming glass bowls of ice cream sundaes loaded with a mountain of chocolate syrup, sprinkles and a rainbow of other toppings. Before he could place them on your table, you held up your hand to stop him. "Hold on, we didn't order these," You cut in. He flashed you a smile and chuckled. "I know, it's all on the house." "What! No way! We can't have this, it's too much." You continued. "Oh, of course you can. You've got your new blonde friend here to help you. He ordered three mains, I think he can handle some dessert." He laughed heartily and gave Alfred a few pats on the back. You exchanged looks with the said boy and found him just as surprised. "I gotta say thanks for bringing me another hungry mouth to feed. For this one, I'll say ravenous." You smiled. "Well, thank you!" He waltzed back to the kitchen with an empty metal tray. "... Holy fuck." You heard Alfred whisper in awe. "I've never eaten something like this for free." "You haven't?" You picked off another chunk of the chocolate ice cream and stuffed it in your mouth. "I have. I used to get free food from this place all the time when I was little," "Same." The blonde gawked at the two of you with more disbelief with a hint of jealousy. If he ordered a sundae back at where he was from, he'd pay the full price no doubt. How come it was different here? He tried figuring that out by giving the cafe another quick scan, the first time being when he stepped foot on the vicinity. The atmosphere was jovial and full of laughter, smiles radiating the room like no light source could ever do. But everyone here was dressed in tatters! He couldn't understand how anybody could be satisfied living here. Unless... His gaze softened at you. You were laughing at Allen who'd just dropped a spoonful of strawberry ice cream on the table. The melody of your laughter was better than any music he had ever been blessed to hear, albeit an orchestra or a concert. People were satisfied with simplicity? Maybe that was why there was still a sense of happiness around such a poor neighborhood. For once, he was genuinely laughing along with you. He thought he wasn't able to enjoy himself with his time here at Allen's, but... He realized something this time. Even if he wasn't going to complain as much as before, the redhead was going loathe his visit much more than he ever had. Knowing that the 'asshole' thing won't work anymore, he needed to come up with some plan B tactics to keep you out of his hands. The lively blonde continued to converse with you, telling one-liners and even... What was that? Did Allen just hear him flirt with you? He watched your face heat up a couple notches and he felt himself do the same, except out of fury. It wasn't just plain anger that was surging through him, but hurt. His chest grew tighter as he stared at the two of you out of the corner of his eye. He didn't want to make it look obvious that he was watching. But what gives? The way how that wonderful smile graced your face every now and then made his heart melt. The world didn't deserve it, and Alfred certainly didn't either. He used to be the only one who made you smile like that. The longer Allen sat there in silence with nothing but ice cream, the closer Alfred leaned into you. If this wasn't in public, Allen would have had his hands around his throat by now.

[michaelmyersmalewife]

DYAD | vi. jailbreak | MASTERLIST

venom symbiote x reader

words: 2k+

warning(s): graphic gore

you can also support this fic on wattpad & ao3

"Run where, genius?! They've probably got us surrounded by n-"

Before you could even think to finish your thought, your legs were pulled into motion. You yelped, the foreign sensation jolting through your nerves like a shot of electricity. It felt like you were on autopilot, the way you swerved out the door faster than your mind could process.

"H-Hey - Hey!"

Suddenly, your legs stopped mid-sprint, skidding a foot or two across the floor and nearly knocking you down had it not been for the black tendrils sprouting from your chest regaining your balance. Though you barely registered running, you were already out of breath.

"Do you even know where you're going?"

Do you?

"I..good point.

Your voice was barely audible over the blaring alarm that reminded you of your situation. A ringing filled your ears the longer it went on, and you strained to hear any sign of the guards' heavy footsteps.

They will find us soon. We have to hide

"Uh, no, we need to leave."

Before you could take a step, your feet planted themselves firmly on the ground. It was like your muscles were being pulled tightly together. You couldn't move even if you wanted to.

Remember our deal

Your eyes shut, sighing harshly. Your lips pressed together in a line as you looked around. The faint sound of footsteps gradually coming closer reached your ears, and you relented.

"Right. Just make it quick, yeah?"

Immediately, Venom took control of your body once more. You weren't sure if you'd ever get used to the feeling, but that was a conversation to be had at another time. If there would even be another time. As you ran past numerous doors and halls that you hardly recognized, you felt yourself becoming dizzy again. It wasn't long until you had to stop, a group of armed guards quickly passing you by as you hid inside an empty office. Your lungs burned as you spoke.

"How do you know this is the right way?" you whispered.

Your memories are not as bad as they seem

"Am I supposed to know what that means?"

I searched your mind for a layout of the building. It's not that hard

You paused, putting your hands on your hips and scowling at empty space with your mouth slightly agape.

"You -" you rubbed your eyes. "We're definitely having a personal boundaries talk later."

Peeking out the door and finding nothing, you sprinted. Only a few minutes passed when you finally skid to a stop in front of a large, clear door. There was a keypad next to the handle.

"Great, now what?"

You aren't the most faithful, are you?

Venom's voice almost had a teasing tone. You crossed your arms. "Guess you could -" As you spoke, a long inky tendril sprouted from your back and slinked over your shoulder, microtendrils splitting from itself and into the cracks of the keypad. With a single tug, the panel popped off and the door limply swung open. "- say that."

After you

Cautiously looking around the dimly lit room, you huffed. "Show off."

The room was familiar, but hazy in your mind. You knew you had been there before, but something about the cell-like rooms with square glass walls gave you uncomfortable chills.

Where we bonded

Something flashed in your mind, a memory. A dark, viscous thing attaching itself to you, worming its way through every cell in your body like the world's most thorough virus - it was almost dreamlike. Folding your arms close to your body, you tried to control the shivering that shook your body.

"Well I wouldn't put it in those words exactly."

Venom was silent.

"So what are you planning after you find your friends? World domination?" you said with a chuckle.

That was the idea

You clapped your hands together. "I'm gonna pretend you didn't say that!"

As you walked through the room, quickly glancing into the cells for any sign of the other symbiotes, a thick undulating stream emerged from your shoulder. In the blink of an eye, teeth and eyes emerged from the flesh void, coming together to form a face. No matter how much it scared you, you couldn't bring yourself to look away.

"So do you all look the same or..?"

"I suppose. Without a host we are essentially formless."

"Cool," your voice trailed off as you passed a cell.

Inside was a single tank, almost identical to the one Venom had been contained in. You poked Venom, finding that their "skin" was far warmer and a lot less slimy than you expected. You nodded your head towards the tank. Venom surged towards it, pulling you after them so quickly you nearly tripped over your feet. You grit your teeth.

Venom hovered above the tank, frantically searching its contents for any sort of movement.

"Are they -?"

A tendril burst from your chest, banging on the glass until it shattered, spilling its shards on the floor.

"Easy, you're gonna get us caught!"

Venom didn't respond. An uneasy feeling settled in the pit of your stomach. Cautiously, you stepped forward, peering over Venom's nonexistent shoulder. Your face fell.

"Oh."

Inside was a mass similar to Venom, but unlike their iridescent black form, its colors were an eye-catching yellow mottled with maroon spots, almost like a puddle of lava. It would've been a sight to behold, beautiful even, had it rolled in the steady waves that Venom always did. But since opening the tank it hadn't moved an inch.

"Shit, I'm sorry."

Venom was unreadable as their gaze left the body, their attention suddenly catching on another tank in the next cell over. Venom pulled you along.

"Hey -"

They smashed the tank open, revealing another lifeless symbiote, this one a deep forest green. As Venom moved from cell to cell, with you having no choice but to follow, you were met with two more. They were both in the same state as the other had been, and Venom hadn't spoken a word.

Though you found that you could feel what they felt. Initially mistaking them for your own, you felt a vague emptiness, a tightening in your chest. You felt their loss, a crushing wave of loneliness. A tear welled up in the corner of your eye but you brushed it away with the flick of your thumb.

"H-Hey, um." Without a word, Venom retreated back into your body. "I'm so, so sorry but we have to go."

There are ones that are missing

"We'll get caught any second, if they're not here maybe -"

Doors flew open as a flurry of boots against tile and men shouting filled the room.

"Shit."

"Drake, we found 'em." a voice spoke into a radio.

The bald man that always seemed to be attached to Drake's hip stepped forward, gun in hand. You groaned. Taking a step forward, you raised your arms in the air.

"Listen, we -"

Without a hint of a flinch the man pulled the trigger, hitting you square in the shoulder. You let out a pained cry as you hit the floor, your back colliding with the floor with a loud thud. A breathless gasp left your lips as you writhed on the floor. Your saw your wound through half-closed eyes that struggled to stay open with each passing second.

Not much of a conversationalist

"Shut up." you harshly whispered under your breath.

The man leaned down on one knee, the smug look on his face doing nothing but make your blood boil. He smiled.

"You didn't actually think you were gonna get out of here, right? I mean, come on." he gestured to the half a dozen men that surrounded you.

Suddenly grabbing you by the collar of your shirt, he lifted you to your feet, your shoulder stinging as blood oozed from the wound. You hissed, jaw clenching in pain. Your hands feebly wrapped around his arm as your feet struggled to hold your weight.

"Been a pain in the ass for a while now but you caused quite a scene, y'know." he chided. "Boss is gonna be pretty upset."

Glaring at him with all your strength, you mustered a kick to his stomach. He growled, loosening his grip enough that you dropped to your knees. Your vision blurred as you briefly glanced down at your shoulder, a trail of blood that showed no sign of stopping running down your shirt. Your body trembled.

Be still. I can help you

"Please," you whispered.

You felt Venom shift beneath your clothes in a similar fashion to the stunt they pulled earlier, but this was different. You felt them leak from your skin, seamlessly weaving through muscle and bone, pooling on the surface of your skin like oil. Their tendrils reached your wound and you flinched at the sudden contact, but in a matter of seconds your pain was soothed. You could almost feel the smallest of their foreign threads entangle themselves into your flesh, stitching you back together faster than you could think. You opened your eyes. As you felt Venom snake down your body, you realized you had grown - were still growing - nearly a foot taller than you already were. Your eyes widened.

For a brief moment you saw a dawning look of horror on the man before you, and it was then that you looked down at yourself. Your clothes had completely disappeared, you had disappeared, engulfed in what could only have been Venom themself. What was once small hands were now inky black claws attached to arms far more toned than yours had been. Suddenly you felt Venom spread themselves up your neck - your face - like gravity-defying tears, covering your hair and eventually your entire head.

For half a second you could see nothing.

In the blink of an eye, you could see more than you ever have in your life.

The man motioned to the others behind him, his horrified expression devolving into confused anger. Immediately you were assaulted with what could only have been more bullets. You flinched, instinctively curling into yourself only to find that every hit felt muffled, almost as though you were behind a suit of armor. If that armor was a sentient alien creature.

A wide, toothy grin split across your face.

"W-What the hell -"

Without hesitation you stepped toward the man, the hail of gunfire around you doing nothing to stop you. He could only shout like a cornered animal when you trapped him within one clawed grasp, your hand easily wrapping around his arm. His eyes were as wide as twin full moons.

With a single smooth jerk, the hand that held the gun snapped backward, and a sharp cry of agony echoed through the room. Shouts from the other guards became lost in the adrenaline-fueled haze of your mind.

Hungry

You licked your teeth, drool dripping down to the floor.

Do it

The man screamed, but the sound was cut short when your jaws closed around his face, teeth sinking into flesh. It took almost no effort to bite further, bone cracking and splintering into shards as his death rattle echoed down your throat, blood coating the lining of your jaws and splattering to the once pristine tiles below. You pulled away, teeth chewing at brain and cartilage. You dropped the body to the floor, blood still oozing from what remained from his face as he twitched slightly, suddenly going eerily still. You turned around.

Some guards trembled, one was vomiting in the back of the room, most where already reloading and preparing to fire. You rolled your shoulders, sighing.

"I've already had my fill," you spoke, voice much lower than you were used to. "But I'm not opposed to seconds."

The assault continued but you felt none of it. It was almost as though you were watching the scene unfold from a far-away screen. The rush of power you felt before in your cell paled in comparison to whatever this was. This was something entirely new, and you weren't completely against it.

With a jump like a coiled spring, you bounded across the room, knocking over guards as you made your way to the exit. It was all a blur, the halls blending into a tunnel of sterile white as you suddenly found yourself in a dimly lit parking lot. For the first time in what felt like an eternity, fresh air hit your face - albeit a face that didn't exactly resemble your own. You exhaled, closing your eyes for a brief moment of satisfaction before sprinting across the parking lot and into a tunnel.

So, what now?

Before Venom could respond, the sound of a revving car engine echoed from behind you. It was getting closer.

"No time to talk, just trust me."

You felt a heart, your heart, thundering in your chest. Something in the back of your mind made you hesitate, but you were faced with no other choice. You surrendered to Venom's control, and almost instantly you were whisked away on powerful legs.

The car behind you quickly matched your speed, but as soon as you reached the end of the tunnel you turned sharply, running across a grassy slope on all fours. Tires skid as the car came to a stop, the sound of doors slamming shut followed by shouting men filling the late night silence.

You stopped mid-sprint, suddenly faced with a high barbed wire fence. Venom was unfazed, quickly scaling the metal rungs and leaping across the other side and landing on both feet. Before you could even think of catching your breath, the fence's gate opened, at least a dozen men pouring into the forested area you had found your self in.

These guys don't quit, huh?

Lovely. More snacks

I don't think so, big guy. I think two is more than enough for me in one day

Fine. If you insist

Before the men could reach you, Venom frantically ran deeper into the forest. You weren't given the chance to question them before you found yourself scaling a tree so fast it was as if you were made of air.

Finally, Venom retreated from your flesh, only covering your arms and legs. You released a breath you hadn't known you were holding, gasping at the rush of brisk air that filled your lungs unfiltered by alien flesh. Sheepishly glancing beneath you, you saw the glow of flashlights run towards your direction only to quickly pass you by. You would've laughed if only it wouldn't give away your location.

You were sure for how long, but for a while you simply waited, eventually finding no sign of flashlights - or anything, really - in the forest. You exhaled, closing your eyes and letting the breeze hit your face. You never thought you'd be this glad to feel something as simple hit your skin. The moment was shattered when your eyes wandered downward, the realization of your situation hitting you like a train.

"Uhh...Venom?"

The symbiote hummed.

"Can you get me down now?"

[bearxclaws-blog]

She stared — thoughtlessly, unblinkingly and with an uncharacteristic sparkle in her eyes.

Quietly, she admired the cook as he moved around, his almost dancer-like grace helping him glide from one Straw Hat to another. He carried with him a tray of hefty tankards, but appeared wholly unburdened by its weight as he still found room to weave his slender frame around their newest ( and boniest ) crew member.

“I’m gonna laugh when you spill those, Curly-Q.” Snickered the brunette as he turned to her, a single drink left on the tray. There was only one way to hide that she had been staring, and that was to poke harmless fun.

Sanji, lips pulling into a radiant grin, remained unperturbed by her ribbing.

“Hearing your gorgeous laugh would be worth it, Anita-chan~!”

                         Dammit——!!

Quick as she could, Anita drowned her embarrassment. Flushed cheeks were hidden behind her tankard as she knocked back the drink. She swallowed hard and drummed her fingers along the side, lips rubbing themselves clean against the crook of her elbow.

“Mind getting me another one?” She shoved the now empty tankard towards him and chose to ignore the flicker of surprise in his eyes.

“Another one? But this is your fifth——”

“Curly-Q.  .  . Just get it. Please?” 

                        I don’t need to look at you anymore than I already do.

Manners from her were rare, Sanji knew this. He stood a little taller, surprise turning to concern. It didn’t elude him that she had been acting strangely since leaving Thriller Bark, and it certainly didn’t surprise him that she would rather drink than confide in someone.

“If that’s what you want.” He cooed adoringly.

God, she hated that voice. The hint of baritone traveled right to her chest where it sunk into her heart like a poison-tipped arrow. The wound would fester, every instance of his existence reopening it and sending fire through her veins.

Grumbling, she waved him away. He turned without another word and meandered towards the kitchen. Anita, with her mind sinking into a cloudy combination of booze and emotion, watched. Straight-backed, confident, cool — he was amazing.

                        Damn him. This is so stupid. So, so stupid.

And still her eyes remained on him. She pleaded with herself to look away from his fair hair and mesmerizing stride, but there was no cooperation. Not until she heard someone speak in her ear.

“You’re staring again.”

A jolt sparked up her spine and made her jump. Beside her, Nami sported a simpering smile. Cheek in hand, she slurped at the straw jammed into her glass. Anita narrowed her eyes and made to argue, but decided rather suddenly that there was no point. 

They had all witnessed something terrifying, and things were going to be different because of it. She was going to be different.

“He almost disappeared.”

“Mmm. So that’s why you’ve been so quiet.” Nami popped her straw from her mouth and set her drink aside. “You’re worried about him?”

“No! Shut up.  .  .” She fell silent long enough for her face to contort before she buried it in her hands and let out a sound of pure disgust. “Yes!”

Nami felt her lips wobble as she tried with all of her might not to giggle. A little titter here and there may have escaped, but she masked it with a knowing smile and a nudge to Anita’s side. “Then tell him you’re worried!”

“Uh, no. Nah, I’m good.” Her head snapped up, revealing splotches of red so bright that they masked the freckles dotting her nose. “That’s not gonna happen. Not now, not ever.”

“Why not?”

It was a simple question with a not-so-simple answer. There was no good reason for her not to tell the cook that she had been worried, not when the rest of the crew felt the same. Watching the sun burn him down like a slender candle had thrown all of them into a tizzy, so it should be expected that she would have felt that same momentary flash of white-hot panic while members of her crew were on the verge of death.

Only it had been more than that.

The loss of a dear friend was vastly different than the loss of a man that made her feel. That he made many women feel didn’t elude her. He was a shameless flirt that aimed to make every woman he encountered feel special, but it was the sincerity and selflessness behind it that had him worming his way under her skin. She hadn’t quite believed that he said those flowery things without wanting anything in return at first, but time had allowed her to learn that his kindness was real.

When he called her beautiful, he meant it.

When he praised her ability to take a hit in battle, he meant it.

And when he said he was glad that she had become one of them, he meant it.

He didn’t ask for sweet words in return, but she wanted to give them. She wanted more than anything to expose her stone-encased heart and show him that the cracks throughout were his fault. That she was becoming soft because of him.

But she flinched from the notion, past experiences tainting her romantic ideas of confessing. It wouldn’t end well, and she was convinced of that despite how open the cook was about his own appreciation for romance.

“It’s dumb to tell him I was worried. Everyone else was, so he should know.” She grunted, fingers kneading at her eyebrows.

“But what if he wants to hear it?” Wondered the redhead.

“If he wants to hear it from someone, he’ll want it to be from you.” Anita scoffed. Nami rolled her eyes. That argument, she had decided long ago, was getting old.

“You’re impossible, you know that? It’s not like you’re pouring your heart out to him. Just tell him you’re glad he’s okay!”

“No.”

“Anita.  .  . ”

“No.”

“I’ll tell him.” The threat was so swift and cut so cleanly that it left the bear-woman speechless. Her mouth hung open, but she remained in a stupefied silence until it dawned on her a minute later that she ought to argue.

“You wouldn’t.”

“The way I see it,” started the navigator as she leaned back on her hands, “you’ve got two choices. Either you tell him you’re happy that he’s alive, or someone else does. I can’t guarantee that the ‘someone else’ won’t ad-lib a little.”

The options were laid out, but Anita had already decided. She got to her feet and mumbled under breath as she stalked towards the kitchen. Nami appeared entirely too pleased with herself and shot a cheeky grin at her nakama’s back.

“Good luck~”

“Get stuffed!” Anita pulled the door open, gifted Nami a rather rude gesture, then stormed in. Sanji, still working on the drink she had demanded he make, turned to see her pulling the door shut.

“Anita-chan?”

She faltered at the worry in his voice.

“Is something wrong?”

Anita shook her head and forced a laugh. It sounded hollow in her own ears, but he didn’t seem to notice. “Yeah! I mean, no! Everything’s fine. Just, uh.  .  . wonderin’ how that drink’s comin’ along.”

“Oh! I just finished mixing it, my sweet~” He abandoned the tray sitting on the counter and came to stand before her, drink in hand. “For you, my little teddy bear!”

Habit lunged forward, but she grabbed it by the tail and reeled in it before she downed the entire glass in one gulp. She watched the surface ripple and swirl, tongue sweeping across her lips. Later. She’d drink it later; whether it was out of celebration or to calm a mounting depression, she had yet to know.

“Actually, can you — maybe — put it down for a second?”

The cigarette between the cook’s lips drooped as he frowned. “Why, do you not want it?”

“Just set it down!” She groaned with frustration and tapped the thumb side of her hands against her forehead after clapping them together. “Why do you ask so many questions?”

                        Hypocrite.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.” He did as he was told, but not without the look of a wounded puppy. “Are you sure everything is alright?”

There was no reply — only a shaky breath and a soft, almost too cautious press of her hands to his chest. The material was soft and cushioned her touch, but she could feel his solid chest underneath. And beyond that, the beating of his heart. A slow thrum, healthy. Alive. It picked up in speed, the gentle bump turning to a quick staccato against his rib cage.

She didn’t dare look up, knowing for absolute certain that she would see how alight with heat his cheeks were ( and, in return, he would see how red she had become. )

Content to stare at the bright blue of the sweater, she let her hands wander. She touched at his shoulders, at his upper arms, his wrists and sides. Tangible. Real. Not fading. He was there, she could see him. That wasn’t enough. She needed to know that it wasn’t an illusion.

Every sweep of her hand brought out a noticeable shiver in the cook, while the breaths he dragged in and out of his lungs made his chest swell.

“Anita?”

“You scared me.” Her voice was low and soft, edged with a reluctance to show her fear. 

His heart clenched. “When?”

“A few days ago. Back at Thriller Bark, when.  .  .” She paused, tongue growing dry.

“When.  .  .” He prompted again.

“When you were disappearing. It wouldn’t stop, and I thought that was the last time I’d — we’d see you.” 

“It wasn’t.” He assured her in an equally gentle tone. “I’m still here!”

“I know it wasn’t, but still——!” She trailed off, throat finally closing around her words. People wondered why she had difficulty speaking when it came to her thoughts and feelings, but none of them believed her when she claimed that her body rebelled against her. Her mind still functioned and dreamed up a million-and-one things she could say to him, but her mouth refused to comply.

Nami said this wasn’t comparable to telling him how she felt, but what did she know? To her, admitting she had feared for him was the same as telling him outright that she loved him.

“Still what?” His voice dropped again. Too soft to be a whisper, yet she heard it as loudly and clearly as she did the thundering in her chest.

“Sanji, do me a favor and be quiet for two seconds.” Not Curly-Q. Or Love Cook. Or Dumb-Ass. She’d called him by his name, and it only doubled his belief that this was important to her. But in believing that, he wondered if that meant he was important to her.

His pulse raced, and with it he fueled his imagination.

What if this was her way of telling him how she felt? Since the very start, he knew she was on the rougher side. Unrefined, jagged, crusted with dirt. She was a raw diamond, ready for cutting and polishing. Except she didn’t need to be conditioned to be beautiful. She did things the way she wanted to do them and didn’t care that others disapproved. There would be no surprise on his end if an admittance of love came out as gritty and messy as the rest of her.

And if this was a confession, would it lead to the sweet kiss he had so often daydreamed about?

“Hey, c’mere.  .  .”

His breath hitched. This was it.

Her hands were on his cheeks. Calloused skin against sparse stubble. All it took was a single tug, and they were nose to nose. He anticipated flushed cheeks and a wanting flicker in her eyes. A press of her inexperienced lips against his.

He glimpsed tightly furrowed brows and a hard, fiery stare instead.

“You listen to me, Fancy Pants. That ain’t allowed to happen again. You scare me like that ever again, I’m gonna kick your ass. I mean it. I will really, seriously destroy you. Understood?”

Sanji nodded. “Extremely understood.”

“Good.” She eased her head up, planted a short kiss above his curly eyebrow, then shoved herself away. The drink he had set down earlier was picked up and chugged down with worrying ease. It was her fifth in only the span of an hour, but she doubted that another ten would fill the warm pit she had put in her own stomach.

Turning, she shuffled towards the door, empty tankard in hand. “Another one, Curly-Q! And make it snappy!”

“Yes, Anita-dear~!”

[dentelle-grise]

Your Latest Trick - Chapter 25

Long after everyone has stopped talking about Loki and his misdemeanors, his failed attempt to take over Midgard and his punishment, you meet him at a party.(Loki x Reader NSFW) -

First chapter here (can be read as a oneshot) All chapters to date at AO3 (64K, NC-17)

Tagging my rebloggers, commenters and other folk who asked. Please let me know if you want in (or out) of the list: @joanbushur, @frenchfrostpudding, @lovely-geek, @wolfsmom1, @sigridlaufeyson, @lokislonelylady, @monitoroutside, @daniissuchadani, @devilbat, @deadlydreamersecrets @helenisabel, @stardustandangelsfanfiction, @ely-seum, @wendyrobson1978, @the-ships-i-ship, @shemart101, @dreamourbrainout, @sadghostomg, @lokilover2000, @blobfishington, @lynneth1968-blog, @deaddecade, @nardo94, @tom-fucking-hiddleston-1981, @ashesandfire, @imagines-of-the-fandom​, @beingrandomisfun​, @tomsragnarok, @skulliebythesea 

Chapter 25

You don’t expect Loki to still be in your quarters when you finally come in from the balcony.

You wait until you’ve calmed down, till you’ve sucked back the tears from the brink. You’re battling a furious mix of frustration and self-directed anger. What if you’d told Papa back there. You half wish you had. He’d have believed you too, but then what would Loki have done? Evaporated to never be seen again?

You feel like he’s toying with you and you’ve been too blinded by desire to see it. He’s not serious and this masquerade will go on until the day you’re caught.

Could that be that he wants?

It's a long time before your blood has cooled and by then you're more sad than anything else.

You lied again, if only by omission, and feel more trapped than ever. Papa’s words you don’t recall exactly, but he was offering help. And you lied to him.

You creep back through the bathroom and push the door to the bedroom.

Loki is very much still there. You stop, short, shocked at the sight.

He’s completely naked, standing right in the middle of the room. Though he’s facing away from you, his hands stretched up above his head, you are sure he knows you’re there.

Your eyes follow his long legs, the elegant curve of his hips and up his back, pausing on the scar. He’s waiting for a reaction and then you realize what’s odd.

He’s tied his own hands from the ceiling, doubtless by magic, and it pulls him up so that he seems even taller than usual.

“Loki?”

What is this?

He just laughs. Nothing’s wrong. He intended this.

He turns enough that you see his face and that's when you also see he has a strip of black satin covering his eyes.

Not entirely naked then.

You take a gulp of air, your focus suddenly realigned.

“What are you doing?” you ask.

His hands are attached just high enough to force him onto his toes. He shifts constantly to maintain his balance. It looks uncomfortable, but then he put himself there and could surely break free in an instant if he chose to.

"Guess." he says hoarsely. “Use your imagination.” you watch him swallow. His own is definitely already at work.

“I trust you. Just. Do as you feel with me.”

This blows away every prior thought, or rather the frustration and anger might just have found an outlet.

You think you know what this is now. Loki doesn’t ever apologize outright. This much you’ve learnt. He half tortured you with pleasure earlier, not to mention the humiliation. And now he’s offering you some sort of revenge in kind.

If he weren’t blindfolded, he’d see how this throws you off balance, how it makes you fluster and blush to the roots of your hair.

He probably knows though, that’s why he grins so as he swings around in your direction. It makes you want to take him down a peg or two.

Then, you know exactly what you are going to do. Silently you step over and take the quill from your desk.

You creep up and, without touching him anywhere else, start to stroke the feather over one of his nipples, making him hiss and shudder. You concentrate on flicking the one nipple repeatedly until it’s pebbled and hard and its twin has done the same in sympathy. You know you’ve got him thinking of your first time, of what this did to you, commanding the feather by magic, and that such thoughts amplify his own reactions. He twists and shivers under your ministrations. With half his face hidden you can’t see his reaction but he certainly lets you hear it, making little ‘oh-oh-ohs’, sighs, whimpers, while you calmly paint his skin with the feather.

You don’t relent. Loki makes gasps of growing intensity until it’s too much and he starts to swing himself from his bonds, trying to trap you with his legs.

You just dodge, taking advantage of the fact he can’t see you. He has given you the advantage, but when you laugh he knows exactly where you are and he’s so quick that he nearly catches you. He blindly knocks over a chair and kicks the sofa in his efforts and you start to wonder if the ceiling will hold.

You back away, out of reach. Then, giving no warning, you lunge and catch him instead, burying your face in his belly and nipping. It works far better than you could have expected. He lets out a bitten off cry and comes almost instantly all over the both of you, dragging in air between spasms and letting out a broken stream of praise and curses till finally he utters a word you don’t recognize at all. His bonds break and he falls into your arms, all but knocking you over.

You sag under his weight and gently slip together to the floor, where you untie the blindfold. Underneath you see an expression still more naked than the rest of him. He looks totally unguarded and lost. When you notice the tracks of tears you want to put the slip of cloth right back for modesty’s sake, but fascination stays your hand.

“Loki, do really like being…?” You wave the blindfold a second, “…bound, helpless.” It seems incredible, given the way he’s capable of utterly owning you physically.

“Not in the slightest.” He says, regaining some composure. It sounds offhand but contradicts all immediate evidence. “I’m never helpless.” He the last word ends in a dirty chuckle that goes right through you. Then, more seriously, he says, “I only want to give myself to you.”

There follows a clean up session of decadent proportions, involving two successive baths - the first time you dried one another things became too heated and finished in full out lovemaking on the bathroom floor. You didn’t realize how wound up you were just from watching him, how easily he could tip the balance.

Afterwards, as you lie on the bed, his head pillowed on your stomach, his expression hidden from you, he promises you will see your parents and Odin together. Then he shifts up nuzzles into your neck, holding you, and whispering about how it will all be alright, he’ll see to it.

You’re infused with relief, even though he sounds apprehensive, or perhaps because of he does - who wouldn’t be?

This is a major victory, even though he has made no mention of when such a meeting might happen. It’s finally going to happen. You’re going to make this real. Loki will announce his return to the world and it will be the end of all the hiding and lying and weirdness. The future is vertiginous with possibilities.

You go about thanking him and celebrating it all at the same time, your movements slow but not hesitant. You don’t want to talk of it more. It’s scary. You want to show him through kisses and touches, how pleased you are that finally, finally you’re going to take this step together.

It’s supposed to be affectionate rather than passionate, but soon kissing isn’t enough. He reaches his hand lower and you willingly accept. Then fixing you in the eye he smirks.

“How many times, I wonder?” he asks in a voice feigning innocence.

“What?” though you think you’ve guessed;

“How many times could I make you come in one night?”

It sounds loving, cheeky. It’s a romantic idea.

In practice, it’s a crazy idea. If you thought he was trying to kill you out there on the battlements that was nothing.

He starts gently, fingers and lips all over you. He’s painstakingly careful not to do anything to hurt you and with his own lust sated he’s fully in control. Usually you’re satisfied with once, impressed with any more, but even alone you have never experimented to know where the limit lies.

Then, with his tongue pressed deep inside you, he caresses your breasts blindly but exquisitely above his head. You have a view of the top of his head but, when he looks up and gives you a flash of those eyes, your whole body jolts. His gaze pins you emotionally, if you weren’t already pinned physically.

Your body knows the way, when he re-engages, the expectation is there, the path beaten, this time you race down it into the wall of orgasm.

“You are just so lovely like this.” He murmurs as you lay there panting.

He is dedicated to his mission but you as you come down and his caresses resume, you also start to have a creepy feeling that this is a kind of experiment for him. The fascination in his face is more than sexual, its academic, which is not to say it isn’t carnal or that perhaps it’s even more erotic because his intellectual curiosity is piqued as well.

You are like some specimen he has collected and is now playing with. You try hard not to think of boys and the terrible tortures they subject insects to. Fortunately he choses that moment to bite you on the hip in passing and all such ideas disappear.

He moves you onto you side and works from behind you, hidden, reduced to the sensation he creates and his words. When you cry out raggedly, he hushes you like an animal that needs to be calmed. You don’t need to be calmed. Not at all, you want more of him, but most of all the part of him that’s scheming and reasoning and watching, a step back from what he’s actually doing.

You want to make him lose it and watch it happen, now that would be beautiful.

You close your eyes imagining that happening, him coming, that half troubled look he gets sometimes, just before… That’s what pushes you over the edge again, and this time its like you keep on falling.

You can hear him telling you how good you are how beautiful you are, how he loves to see you like this and all the time he persists, stimulating you any way he can until it happens again and you shudder, grasping the sheets the air, anything.

Bit by bit he’s chasing away your thought and reason, until there is only the want and the living, writhing, growing thing that drags you toward another climax. Oversensitive and eager, it gets easier and easier for you to fall over that edge, the reality of the situation is slipping away, and as he comes into view he seems enthralled.

And all the time he denies himself. It waits there, like so much latent anger, ready to trap him. Your altered state gives you an odd kind of clarity, one focused on him alone. Under the surface is something driving him, something angry, something hurt. It’s like a need to lay waste. It would be frightening were it not for your utter trust, instead you feel a thrill.

When watching you has become too much he pins you to the wall with magic so that you are suspended just inches from the floor. You feel weightless. Like this, his hands free to fondle you as he takes you. He’s never been so demanding, nor so giving and the moment he enters you is pure bliss. Your world narrows to your own heat, everything stemming from that one place he’s now relentlessly plundering. It’s like all that went before was nothing but a prelude to this.

He’s being loud but you don’t understand his words, it’s just noise but the tone is one of adulation. On and on it goes, so that there are no long peaks and valleys but a never-ending plateau of pleasure.

But then gives a broken cry unlike any you’ve heard from him yet and you wonder through the fog in your mind if he’s alright and try pull him to you, though your limbs are too weak to obey and he just leans on you shaking. You can feel the carpet under you feet, though you don’t recall him breaking the spell. You croon to him and stroke and kiss him until he calms, his body damp with sweat against your and still sparking reactions wherever you touch.

You struggle back to the bed and lie silent a moment. Its not the warm lethargy you expected, more an insatiable over-awareness. It’s a floating dreamlike state where you feel cushioned from everything but where the slightest touch anywhere on your body is almost too much. Loki strokes your hand touching the fingers one by on and you twist yourself against him. It feels like like the most intimate thing he could be doing when he’s only caressing your little finger.

“You’re unstoppable.” he sighs, tucked under your arm and the vibrations of the words go through you like waves

“I lost count.” you say, surprised you can still form words. It feels like an apology, but question really makes no sense anymore. He seems to take it as a complement though and pulls you closer. You can feel a pleasurable vibration from him like he was humming to you. After a few moments you realize he is softly snoring.

You sleep late, unbothered by the sunlight creeping behind the curtains, and wake alone, of course. You’ve all but missed the morning and you’re ravenous.

You move slowly, full of delicious aches and pains. There’s no chance that you could catch Loki if you had to run after him today. But then you guess he isn’t moving too quickly this morning either and that idea makes you smile.

But still he was up and about before you and evaded all discussion of the meeting with Odin and your parents. The idea of it makes you nervous too, despite your readiness.

One thing at a time then. First you’ll see Papa, right away if you can. You’ll explain everything that’s happened and put yesterday right. That way, he’ll ease the way with Mother. Her reaction to your ‘beau’s’ identity you cannot predict. When it comes to seeing Odin he’ll help too. You’ll have an ally. However you decide you’ve no need to mention Loki’s presence yesterday.

When you emerge from your chambers it’s clear there’s something special going on. There’s flags out and music coming from the main esplanade. The palace gates are open and everyone in sight is busy going places, carrying things, food especially, decorations, what looks like parts of a movable stage/ You’ve been so distracted lately that if an event planned for today then you completely missed knowing what it is and you’ve been so occupied that you wouldn’t have heard it on the grapevine.

But from the atmosphere this doesn’t look prepared. There’s stress as well as bustle, a kind of hyperactive excitement. What’s all the fuss about? An unexpected visit perhaps. Has Odin finally invited the elven dignitaries? Your mind falls again to that face, ‘her’. You can’t let this complicate things.

Papa is not in the treasury as you hoped. No doubt he is taken with the preparations too.

The advantage of the hubbub is that no one pays attention to you and you simply observe. Odin must be busy with the visitors, and Loki is who knows where. You feel a bit peaked. There’s little chance you’ll be able to them both today. You wander about in rather in a haze for while, beset by flashes, of last night.

There are hastily erected marquees and the inevitable bunting in the marketplace and the central city seems invaded by stalls and hawkers of all kinds like on a public holiday.

You buy yourself a pasty, a large one, and devour it with relish there in the street while the vendor, chubby and raucous in a straining striped apron, watches. Because you were clearly enjoying it and hadn’t bothered moving away from the stall as you ate, he embarrassingly draws attention to you as he calls out to all and sundry about how tasty his wares are.

“What’s the big event?” you interrupt between mouthfuls, glad to see Asgard looking more like its old self. The semblance of normality and joyous atmosphere help you to set your mind on something else for a moment than your concerns and the ghosts of Loki’s touches.

“The prince has returned.” You stop munching and stare at him. Already? Loki has revealed his survival to the whole of Asgard while you were sleeping! You grin and nearly drop the food.

“He has prevailed over the forces of darkness and the King is throwing a party. But you come from the palace, didn’t you know?”

You laugh nervously. “I slept late and missed the news.”

You take another large bite, a good excuse to to answer any questions.

“They say he’s brought the mortal.” He says behind his hand. “So, there could be another reason to celebrate…” he goes on excitedly, so focused on imparting the news that he pays no attention to your evident confusion. “A royal engagement!”

“The mortal?” You say dumbly.

“The Lady Jane.”

You rally. He’s talking about Thor, of course he’s talking about Thor. But Loki had said Thor was busy defending Midgard.

“Already!?” It must have been an easy triumph. You don’t know if it’s relief for Thor or disappointment that this is not Loki’s celebration.

“Well they don’t live so long do they? He can’t afford to hang around.”

You half-heartedly look for Asta, checking your favorite haunts while the crowd swells around you. You want to have it out with her about yesterday. Although you can’t tell her the truth yet, at least you can find out what’s got into her, what she meant by that parting look.

You make your way back to the palace. It might even be better like this, like this not all the focus will be on Loki when he reappears. On second thoughts something tells you he might prefer not to share the attention with Thor. You only wonder why Loki and Odin hadn’t told Thor already about Loki’s survival. Perhaps that’s where Loki is now, seeing his brother, but who knows how things really stand between those two.

Back within the palace walls you make for Asta’s quarters but your path is blocked by a group of courtiers moving toward the throne room. Papa is not among them, but mother is! She spots you at the very same moment you see her.

The group is murmuring nervously, obviously about to see the King, you want to back off, but Mother gives an excited cry on seeing you and runs over.

To your embarrassment, everyone stares as she hugs you demonstratively and calls you her dear girl, which is almost unknown for her - how can this day get any stranger? - before thankfully pulling you away into a cloistered walkway.

“Well, you certainly know how to keep a secret. To think.”

So that’s it. Loki really didn’t wait for you. But a least you think, taking in her jubilance and shining eyes, she not unhappy with the idea. You think you can forgive him.

“We would never have guessed. But what wondrous news.” She pulls back and holds you at arms length just looking you over and smiling, glowing almost. “I am so proud. Who would have thought, my little girl, a queen.”

“What?! But…” You had thought perhaps that Thor’s prolonged absence on Midgard might mean he no longer wanted the throne but there was nothing official. That would have left no heir. But now there was Loki. And if you were with Loki…

“I admit I did fear it was a bit soon. But there’s no time like the present. Just what Asgard needs, some good news. You’ll make the family proud and the nation strong. When will you announce your engagement?”

“Engagement?!”.

Mother hushes you. “I knew it was serious when I saw you at the armory. You just didn’t have the words to tell me. Did you.” She’s being infuriatingly condescending. “But you know, you weren’t very discreet were you now!!”

“We were seen? People know?”

“Your little secret is out, or should I say your big secret - The king was seen outside your chambers.”

The King!!!

“No!!!”

Not Loki but Odin? You don’t speak out a second time, the shock and incomprehension on your face is enough to stop her.

“Oh ho.” This seems to make her even happier. “You thought you’d kept it quiet?”

“I’m not-”

“Oh I know you’re weren’t galavanting and Odin would not… treat a woman that way.”

“We played chess, what twice, and Papa was even there the second time.” you protest.

“Chess, that’s a sweet way to put it.” And she smiles even more patronizing, this time with a glint in her eye. She has always been an affirmed royalist, and despite Odin’s crazy experiments she still seems to support him wholeheartedly. “I’m glad you have finally shown sufficient brains to make a good marriage. Well, not just good.” She adds tapping you affectionately on the arm “The finest.”

“The king was not in my chambers, if he was seen near my rooms it’s because he sleepwalks.”

She looks like nothing you say will change her course and knowing this bit of information on Odin’s nocturnal habits has done nothing for your case.

“You think that-” You try again but you can’t say it because you don’t want to picture it. She thinks you’re sleeping with Odin. The sheer idea… You just want her to disappear, for something to come and save you, for Loki to appear and sweep you away, for Papa…

And then in your mind everything falls into place - his concern yesterday! and Asta and Dagny’s behavior. The rumor must have gone right around the palace.

At that moment the doors to the throne room open, but instead of the crowd going in, Thor strides out, resplendent in his best red ceremonial robes and full regalia and flanked by a dozen guards.

He looks around and his eyes fall on you.

“You.” he says without even saying your name, and your mother takes an audible intake of breath. There’s not an ounce of friendliness in Thors’s expression, not the slightest shadow of the old camaraderie.

“I would speak with you.” His gaze sears through you. All the more severe for coming from one you thought you knew well.

You take a step forward and mother does too, glued to your side.

“Alone.”

Chapter 26