#a favor by taking him down and sending him back to the house herself rather than hades

[theghostofwilburtheworm]

nobody understands megara from hades like i do/hj

[lustfulslxt]

Ruin Me - Chris Sturniolo

summary : chris accidentally sends y/n a text meant for nate, ultimately fessing his desire for her. y/n takes action into her own hands.

warnings : swearing, smut, slight daddy kink

a/n : based off of these texts

—

The silence feels incredibly loud as she stares down at her phone with her jaw dropped. She can’t even count how many times she’s reread the last few messages she’s received from Chris, who’s only just a story below her.

She has been spending the past few nights over at the triplets’ house, which is a common occurrence, seeing as her and Chris are best friends. She never once thought her presence was anything of a burden for any of them. Her mind immediately ran with the worst with Chris’ first few messages.

However, as she continuously reads the last couple over and over, she can feel a foreign feeling building inside her. A feeling she’s never felt for Chris until now, or more so one that she’s kept beneath the surface in favor of their friendship.

The longer she takes to respond, the more anxious she makes herself. She’s conflicted. Does she go downstairs? Does she text him back? Does she set boundaries?

Her decision is made when she finds herself subconsciously making her way down the stairs leading to his room, fully ready to give in to temptation.

As she stands outside his door, her heart and mind are racing. Is she really doing this? Before she can talk herself out of it, her fist is knocking on the wooden door.

On the other side, Chris is frozen looking at his phone. Read 10:56 PM. It’s currently 11:10 PM. His nerves are bubbling and anxiety is brewing in his stomach. He can’t help but feel like he ruined everything.

As soon as he hears knocking on his door, his face drains of color. He can only assume it’s Y/N. With slight hesitation, he makes his way over and opens the door.

“Hi.” She whispers with a small smile.

“Hi.” He breathes, then continues, “I’m sorry if I overstepped. I never wanted to make you uncomfortable or anything along those lines. We can just forget I ever said anything.”

“Can I come in?” She asks, ignoring his statements.

He opens his mouth, only is at a loss for words, and opts for opening the door wider for entry. She strolls in, stopping in the middle of the room, and turns back to face him. He slowly shuts the door, his heart rapidly pounding in his chest, unsure of which direction their conversation will go.

“So-“ He begins, only to pause because he’s waiting on her to say something.

“Do you talk about me often?” She asks.

He stammers, “W-what?”

“You said you meant to send that to Nate.” She reminds him, “Do you do that often?”

His cheeks grow hot as he scratches the back of his head. “Um, kind of. Yeah, I guess so.”

“Can I see?” She asks him, eyebrows raising.

His eyes widen, his lips curving inwards. “I-I’d rather you not.”

All she does is nod, standing there in silence.

“I’m sorry I made things awkward.” He groans, tossing his head back at his own stupidity.

She walks over to his bed and sits on it, kicking her feet. He only watches her, attempting to get a feel for what she’s thinking. Usually, he can read her through and through, but he’s much too nervous right now to even comprehend anything other than the fact that he’s screwed things up.

“Boy, stop standing there and come sit down.” She rolls her eyes.

He quickly shuffles over to the bed, sitting next to her, but makes sure to leave at least a foot gap between them. She glances at the space and rolls her eyes once more, sliding over until their bodies are aligned side by side.

“Can you please say something?” Chris asks, eyes wide. “I’m like freaking out over here and you’re not saying a single word. Let me know what’s up.”

“I wanna see what you say about me.” She repeats, nodding towards his phone beside them. “Either that, or the pictures that I know you have.”

“Y/N, come on!” He whines.

“Okay, fine.” She shrugs, standing up to leave.

He quickly wraps his hand around her wrist, tugging her back to the bed. As soon as she’s seated, his fingers are working on his phone, reluctantly pulling up what she wants to see.

He gives her a nervous glance, only receiving a pointed look from her. Taking a deep breath, he slowly gives the phone to her, which she eagerly takes.

As she scrolls through his camera roll, her mouth slowly falls open. At this point, Chris is pacing in front of her, his breath seemingly caught in his throat.

His phone is completely loaded with numerous pictures of her. Some are just selfies of them together, her alone. Others are random off guards that one would take of their best friend. Then, there are the not so normal ones.

Y/N looks up at Chris, causing him to halt his movement under her stare. He turns to her with a sheepish look on his face, and she can’t help but smirk a bit.

“Out with it.” He rolls his eyes, laying his hand out as if indicating for her to speak her mind.

“You’re a little freak.” She giggles.

He chokes on his saliva, as her response was unexpected. “Okay, can we move past this now?”

“No.”

“No?” He repeats, his face falling.

She shakes her head with a hum, “I could’ve swore you said you want me convulsing under you?”

She goes to pull her phone out to show him the messages when he quickly steps forward, stopping her from pulling up the facts to prove her statement. His hands are holding hers in place, their eyes locking.

It feels as if everything around them stopped, like they’re the only two things that exist. Their breaths become uneven due to their close proximity. Their heartbeats racing to become one. In this moment, nothing else matters.

Y/N swiftly tosses her phone aside and grabs a fistful of his shirt, yanking him down onto her. Their lips meet for the first time ever, finally crossing that forbidden threshold.

Relief floods through Chris, soon being replaced by excitement and desire. He’s been longing for this moment for what seems like forever. The feeling is surreal, he can’t help but put everything into their kiss. Y/N feels almost content, like this is that one thing she’s been missing in life.

Their kiss soon escalates, growing hot and needy, the two of them desperate for one another. Chris places one of his hands on her neck, softly gripping it, his other hand setting on the bed beside her head. Y/N runs her hands up his torso, wrapping them around his neck and moving them into his hair.

Chris quickly breaks away, “I want this, you, more than anything, but I don’t want to ruin anything between us.”

Y/N’s face flushes a rosy color as she stares up at him. Her hand meets his cheek, softly caressing it as she admires his beauty. She leans into him, planting multiple soft open mouthed kisses on his lips. She places one more, deep and passionate, savoring the taste of him on her tongue, and pulls away, tugging his bottom lip between her teeth.

“Ruin me.”

Those two simple words went straight through Chris, traveling all the way down to his dick. It begins throbbing with need, hardening beneath his pants. He stares into her eyes for another second before slamming his mouth on hers, yearning for all of her, and gladly accepting everything she’s offering.

His grip around her neck tightens, pulling her impossibly closer as their kiss grows hungry. Their tongues meet in a wet and sloppy frenzy, tangling together in an intricate way. Heavy breathing fills the air, along with the smacking of their lips.

Desperate for more, Y/N bucks her hips up into his, the feeling of his erection digging into her core, eliciting a moan from her mouth. Chris’ eyes damn near roll to the back of his head from the sound she makes, and he’s determined to hear more of it.

His mouth pulls away from hers, strings of saliva keeping them connected. He begins kissing down her jaw, his tongue gliding between his lips. He travels lower and nips at her neck, leaving a trail of saliva in his wake. He breathes her in, becoming intoxicated by her sweet scent. The smell of her peach shampoo and her vanilla body wash consume his senses, causing his mouth to water. His teeth graze the sensitive skin, sucking and biting on it, bruising it by the time he pulls away.

Y/N is left breathless beneath him, her mind foggy with lust. She can feel her heart thumping in her chest and she’s sure he can feel it too. Her hands stay tangled in his hair, holding him flush against her as he works her neck. Her skin is burning with desire and she’s never been so pleased with her impulsive decisions the way that she is right now.

Chris’ hands slip under her shirt, running up her abdomen. She feels like she’s on fire beneath his touch. His hands make their way over her bra, harshly squeezing her breasts, pulling another moan from her throat. He’s practically getting drunk off of her sounds, soaking in every little whimper and whine that falls from her lips.

He pulls back from her, swiftly removing his shirt, his chain dangling around his neck. Y/N sits up to remove hers, with his eager assistance. His hands go behind her back, unbuckling her bra, letting her shake it off her arms. He quickly flips her over so she’s bent over the side of bed.

Leaning over her, his erection presses into the back of her thigh, causing her to moan in anticipation. He moves her hair to the side and presses his lips against the back of her neck, causing goosebumps to form on her skin. She’s barely holding it together with the way his entire being consumes her. She’s relishing in the way his mouth feels on her, the way his hands caress her, the way his needy cock is pressed so hard into her, desperate to be buried inside her sopping core.

Chris continues working down her back, his tongue gliding over her smooth skin, nibbling on it every which way as he goes lower and lower. His fingers hook into the waistband of her bottoms, swiftly pulling them down, along with her panties. He tugs them further, until he’s able to pull them completely off and discard them to the side.

He pauses, taking in the way her glistening pussy peaks from between her thighs. Her plump ass looks so squeezable and he just wants to lose himself in her. His hands engulf her cheeks, kneading with the perfect amount of pressure, slowly pulling them apart as he massages them in circles. He can see her lips opening, exposing her entrance, as he does so, causing him to groan in satisfaction.

“Can’t wait to feel you around me.” He hums, spreading her legs apart to see more of her.

She only lets out a whine as the cool air meets her hot center. Her hands grip the sheets beneath her as her pussy clenches around nothing. Chris admires her desperation from behind, a proud smirk pulling to his lips.

He leans down and sinks his teeth into the plush skin of her ass, eliciting a pleased moan from her. His tongue slides between his teeth, soothing the sharp pain. Peppering wet kisses along the fat, he brings his hand to her inner thigh, slowly trailing upwards towards her core.

“D-don’t tease.” Y/N whines, pushing herself back into him.

“Shh, gonna make you feel so good.” He mumbles against her ass.

He latches his mouth on the plump tissue, sucking down and biting it, leaving purple and red bruises. His fingers slither up against her pussy, sliding along her folds, pulling another lewd moan from her.

He gathers her juices with every swipe of his fingers, leaving her legs damn near trembling. She’s never needed something like the way she’s needing him, tears almost pricking in her eyes from her desperation. Finally, he presses two fingers into her entrance, a long moan falling from her lips from the way he fills her.

“So fucking wet for me.” He groans, bringing his face closer to her heat.

His tongue flicks over her outer folds, her arousal coating his tongue, causing him to hum at the delightful taste. Pulling his fingers out, he replacing them with his tongue. Continuous moans leave Y/N’s mouth as she indulges in the way he devours her.

His hands grip her ass, spreading it as he dives in deeper. His tongue slides down to her clit, lathering it with his saliva. His nose presses against her entrance and he can’t help but breathe in her natural scent, his cock throbbing from pleasant smell.

“F-fuck, so good.” She cries out, pressing her face into the mattress.

Licking all of her juices up, he sucks her folds before pulling back, leaving her breathless, whiny, and dissatisfied.

“Can’t wait any longer, baby.” He breathes, “Need to feel your sweet little pussy squeezing my cock.”

He pulls at the drawstring of his sweats, loosening them enough to pull them and his boxers down. His dick springs out, bouncing up against his abdomen. He hisses from the cool air, eager to feel the wet warmth her pussy provides. He grabs the base of his member, pumping it a few times, before swiping it in her folds to lubricate it, and aligning it with her entrance.

He slowly sinks into her, moans emitting from both of their mouths. She squeezes her eyes shut from the slight pain as he bottoms out, filling her up entirely. His hands tightly grip her hips, throwing his head back from the sensation her soft walls provide.

“So tight.” He grunts, slowly pumping in and out of her. “God, I knew you’d feel good, but this is unreal.”

Y/N moans from the feeling of him fucking into her, along with his naughty words. She can’t help but clench around him, pushing back into him further.

Chris picks up the pace, his pelvis slamming into her ass as he buries himself in her. The sound of their skin slapping fills the room, their pants and moans adding onto it.

His hand travels up her back, wrapping around her hair, yanking her head back. He uses it as leverage to speed up his thrusts, digging deeper into her core. His tip repeatedly kisses her cervix, pulling loud pornographic moans from her mouth.

Her face contorts in pleasure, her body ridden with euphoria as he fucks into her so good. He leans over her, his bare chest firmly pressed against her back. His hand wraps around her chin, pulling her head back as he looks down at her, admiring how fucked out she looks. Drool falls from her mouth, her eyes rolling back as he digs deep.

“Mmm. You love being fucked like this, don’t you?” He groans into her ear.

She cries out in broken moans with every thrust, “Y-yes, yes. You feel so good, so so good daddy.”

His pace falters at the name that fell from her lips, taken aback by her sudden use of it. It ignites something animalistic in him, causing him to thrust deeper and harder. He lets her head fall back into the mattress, pressing both of his hands into her back as he drills into her.

Tears fall from her eyes at the overwhelming pleasure, she could practically feel him in her stomach. Their bodies glisten with perspiration, their skin sticking together everything they connect.

“Fuck, so good. This pussy was made for me, no?” He grunts as he continues pounding into her.

Y/N’s mind is hazy with bliss, unable to form a single word in response to his question, only giving him loud moans that fuel his ego and bring him closer to his release.

“I asked you-” He starts, rough strokes in between his words. “-a question.”

“Nghh. Y-you, just for you.” She forces out through her moans.

“Oh, I know it, baby. All for me.” He moans, “Just wanted to hear you say it.”

The building knot in her stomach tightens before snapping, bringing on her orgasm. Her legs tremble beneath him as she clenches around him, her juices pouring out of her and coating his dick, producing a squelching sound as he pumps in and out of her.

“Such a dirty girl.” He pants.

Hips sputter and his pace grows sloppy and erratic, his release sneaking up on him. His hands grip her ass, squeezing it as he moves it up and down against him. His stomach tightens, his thighs slightly shaking as his hot cum spurts out, painting her inner walls. Both of them moaning from the feelings, he stills his movements after a few more pumps.

He slowly pulls out, wincing from the feelings and collapses right next to her. She turns her head to look at him, her face flushed red and her damp hair sticking to her forehead.

“Still look as good as ever.” He smiles at her, pulling her hair from her face.

“You owe me $50.” She breathes, matching his smile.

He stares at her in shock, “Wait, what?!”

“Plan B, dummy.” She giggles.

“Hm. Now it’s dummy, two minutes ago it was daddy.” He teases.

—

taglist : @luv4kozume @worldlxvlys @flowerxbunnie @sturniolowhore @creamoncreamoncream2 @lvrsparadise @iluvm4ttsturni0l0 @tillies33ssss @mattsfavwh3re @its-jennarose @sophssturn @defnotayonna @ksskianshd @d0wnbad4chris @braindead4l @avasturn

[shanastoryteller]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA MY ONE TRUE LOVE!!! CAN I HAVE SOME PERCY AND TONKS CONTENT TO MAKE MY SOUL CONTENT PLEASE ✨✨✨

There are several titles that fall under the auror. When the ministry was first established, it was just inferior and superior, meant in the Latin way, but that fell out of favor rather quickly for obvious reasons. There was some talk of adopting the ranks of a legion used by the Romans, but since such ranks are still in practice in magical Italy, it didn’t the smartest idea. Tonks thinks that it was probably a Zabini who suggested it. Now their ranks are just numbered, from fifth to first, and junior, standard, and senior.

Everyone starts the same – fifth ranked junior auror – and works their way up one by one. Training is a year and if they make it through that, they’re a junior agent who better make it up to the first rank by the end of their third year, otherwise they’re likely getting cut.

There’s a track to speed through the junior phase and get to the land of securely employed standard auror, but that’s for people that have combat or specialized experience, usually for people who aren’t entering auror training straight of school like she is. Or for when they’d needed to replenish their ranks during the war and those applying had been fighting anyway.

Which is why she’s looking in confusion at the thick roll of parchment that Shackbolt has shoved under her nose. She’s only a couple months into training and while she thinks she’s doing pretty good, she’d also tripped over her literal two left feet during the first week of boot camp. Sometimes she changes in her sleep and doesn’t notice for a while, okay? It’s not like she did it on purpose. She’s pretty good at dueling, her mother made sure of that, but they haven’t even gotten to that part yet. “I’m confused.”

“Fill this out and give it back to me by the end of the week,” he says, already turning away from her.

She makes her arm extra long so she can grab his elbow before he gets too far away. “But I don’t have anything that qualifies me! There’s no way Bones will approve this.”

He raises an eyebrow and looks down at her arm. “Are you sure about that, Trainee?”

Oh. But she hasn’t really gotten a chance to show those skills off either, and being a metamorphmagus is impressive, but not that impressive. But she does as she’s told, leaving it on his desk and trying not to think too much about it.

Bones approves it.

Being on the advanced track has it advantages – blessed job security – but it also means she just gets a jump on desk duty, really. Apparently they don’t just send newly minted aurors out to battle dark wizards to the death, for some reason.

She sighs. She’s never been very good at paperwork.

How very not good she is at is proved when during her very first week when Percy Weasley shows up at her desk, looking even more sleep deprived than he had as a runty fourteen year old, which is impressive. He’s a lot taller now. Late growth spurt, perhaps. Or maybe she just wasn’t paying that much attention. He drops a stack of paper on her desk and she recognizes her own messy scrawl. “These are filled out incorrectly. I can’t process them like this.”

Her shoulders slump. She’d tried to pull other reports and fill them out the same way, but it was all so confusing. How she’s supposed to know how to categorize these things? Why are there thirteen different codes for a house robbery, anyway? And there are so many different sections, and she wasn’t even there, she just has other people’s notes to go off of, and they take notes like she did in History of Magic.

She’s going to be here all night redoing them and they’ll probably still be wrong and Kinglsey will regret ever pushing her through the advanced track and her mother will have been right, which is really the worst of all –

“Hey,” Percy says, and she blinks several times before looking up at him so she doesn’t embarrass herself. “I can – if you’re busy, I can just,” he reaches for the papers he’s dropped on her desk.

She slaps her hand over them to stop him, but instead his hand ends up trapped beneath hers. “No! No, it’s okay, I have to learn how to do this. It’s important.”

He stares at her with a look she can’t explain. “It’s just paperwork.”

“It’s my job,” she says stubbornly, “it’s all important. I’m going to be a great auror – the best auror. And that includes my paperwork.”

He smiles at her, which is suitably distracting from her own ruined night. She doesn’t know if he’s ever smiled at her before. He’d always seemed so stoic, nothing like his brothers. “All right. If you’re sure.”

“Yes,” she says, freshly determined, finally lifting her hand off his. Everyone else has figured out how to do this. She can too. She will. “But thanks.”

“No problem,” he says, then, “My dad has a muggle coffee pot in his department lounge. If you want. The password is rubber duck.”

She does prefer coffee made the muggle way. That’s how it’s made in her house, of course, with her muggle father, and there’s something to the taste that she thinks coffee loses after it’s third hour of being charmed hot or squeezed through by magic instead of just hot water and a little patience.

How does Percy know that?

Before she can ask, he’s already turned and walking away from her, and she barely has the chance to shout, “Thanks!” before he turns the corner.

[samieree]

Silver Princess || House of the Dragon

Daemon Targaryen | Aemond Targaryen | Gwayne Hightower

-> Chapter XII

Chapter XIII "Driftmark" [+18]

She asked her father if she could go horse riding with the Queen. She knew she had to go to him to get Alicent to agree. She wanted to talk to her privately in some... let's call it a more favorable environment. She achieved what she wanted, or rather she almost succeeded, because barely had time to arrange everything with her father, when the Maester came with the information that a raven had arrived with important news.

The next morning, in a much worse atmosphere, she buttoned Visenya's coat, crouched down in front of her and tried not to show her sadness. Daemon was standing not far behind her, so she didn't see him nodding to the maid to take the girl outside so they could be alone.

"You can cry if you need to, you know that?" he said when the doors closed.

The news that had come to them yesterday and had made her so sad was that her friend, Laena Velaryon, had died. She didn't want to cry, she knew it would definitely affect her daughter badly, that she had to be strong at least because of this, but... It was hard to keep a calm face and smile when another person she loved was gone. They were friends, and - through Rhaenyra and Laenor's marriage - sisters, and now she is gone. She passed away due to complications during childbirth, just like her mother. This hurt her even more and increased her fear that this would happen to her one day. She wouldn't want her daughter to grow up without a mother, as she had to, as Laena's girls will have to...

"Not in front of her." she replied, obviously referring to Visenya. She looked at the door for a moment longer, where the maid came out, holding her daughter's hand, and then she finally got up from the ground and turned to Daemon. "She was my friend. I wasn't at her wedding, I didn't visit her after the birth of any of her children, or even when she died. She rejoiced, she suffered, no matter what, I wasn't there. The last time we saw each other... Before Visenya was born, then we just sent each other a few letters." she wanted to walk away and sit in the chair for a few moments to calm down before leaving for Driftmark, but before she could take even a step, Daemon was next to her and wrapped his arms around her.

"Your paths have diverged, you can't blame yourself for that." his grip was strong. One hand rested on the back of her head, holding it against his shoulder, as if hiding it from the world so she could cry out all the tears that had gathered in her, let go of the sadness, the regret, the pain that gripped her heart. He kissed the top of her head several times, as if encouraging her even more to not keep these devastating emotions inside. "Now you will go to say goodbye to her and send her on her last journey."

These words broke her for some reason and tears began to flow from her eyes. If she was going to cry, it would be now, not later, in front of everyone at the ceremony. She let him hold her close in a comforting embrace, gripping Daemon's clothes tightly herself. It wasn't the first time she had experienced the loss of someone, the first was her mother. She cried much more for her. She went through a long mourning period before she was able to come to terms with her death.

There was a stage in her life where she wanted to name her daughter after her if she ever had one, but she decided against it. She didn't want to be reminded of her mother by looking at her, or to scratch scarred wounds. Instead she had beautiful Visenya, bursting with energy, almost four-year-old now.

She lost track of time, crying in her husband's arms until the tears stopped flowing on their own. She needs to calm down, they have to go, and her daughter can't see her like this.

* * *

As if it wasn't bad enough that her friend had died, leaving two daughters, they also heard about the fire at Harrenhal and the death of the Hand and his son, Ser Harwin. Due to this, the King reinstated Otto. She had a good feeling that removing him from his position years ago would not be the end of their troubles with him. Now he is back and will cause more problems.

At a small ceremony right after the funeral, she went sat with Baela and Rhaena - the daughters of her deceased friend. Apart from Laena's parents, they were the most hurt and needed a lot of support to get through it.

"I wasn't much older than you when I lost my mother." she said, sitting between them on the stone bench and putting her arms around each of them. "It hurts, and it always will. But you have to allow yourself this pain, if you want to cry, then let the tears flow until you have no strength to cry and finally... you will find the strength to move forward. You will see that the world has not ended." her voice almost broke as the girls hugged her, and she could only squeeze them tighter and stroke their backs, as if it would help in any way.

"Grandma says we'll stay here, on Driftmark." Baela said, her voice breaking.

"You will be close to me, your uncle, your aunt, your cousins. And your grandparents are wonderful people, you will definitely be happy here." she replied.

From what she understood from her conversation with Rhaenys, girls' father was never very present in their lives and they were definitely more attached to their mother. However, after Laena's death, he killed himself, so the decision was made for the girls to grow up here. She had no illusions that it would be easy for them, but at the same time she wanted to somehow lift their spirits, help them get through what she herself experienced and was so painful.

She looked up and saw that Jace had approached them, along with little Visenya. It was obvious that he wanted to say something, but he couldn't think of the right words. Noticing this, Valaerya looked at him and leaned in - still holding the girls close - to whisper what he could say.

"My condolences. It's terrible to lose a parent, but remember that you always have us, we will never leave you in need." he repeated when Valaerya leaned back against the back of the bench. Then, as she nodded for him and Visenya to sit, he finally took a step forward, although he still looked unsure.

"Con- Conolences?" her daughter tried to repeat. Val smiled softly and pulled her into her lap. She was about to speak when Rhaena spoke up.

"You left out the 'd'. Condolences." they repeated it again and Visenya learned to pronounce the word correctly, but it didn't make her as enthusiastic as always - or she managed to hide it because she realized that it would be inappropriate to laugh and clap. Instead, she reached out to Rhaena and hugged her. Emboldened, Jace did the same to Baela, and Val wrapped her arms around everyone as best as she could.

They sat like that until Rhaenys came. Val saw her and nodded, kissed each of the kids on the head, and stood up, taking her daughter and Jace with her.

There wasn't much going on around, some people didn't even talk to each other, they just stood in groups. Prince Aegon, as usual, was drinking and looking for a maid he would like to sleep with. Aemond also came across them, but quickly went his own way. Halaena was probably busy with her spider, Rhaenyra was walking to some other place from time to time, and Daemon...

Where is Daemon?

The sun has already set behind the castle, how long has he been gone? Why did he leave? Where? She wanted to say something, to quickly think of something for the kids to do while she went to look for him, but then Rhaenyra approached them.

"Time for bed." she said, crouching down next to the kids. But before she did that, with her head she pointed towards the beach, looking significantly at her sister.

"Listen to your aunt." she said to her daughter, kissing her on the forehead. She quickly understood what Rhaenyra meant, most likely Daemon had gone down to the beach somewhere.

"And what about a bedtime story?"

"I'll be happy to tell you one, or a few." Rhaenyra said, picking the girl up into her arms. Now she took the initiative herself, but in any other situation she wouldn't have had to be asked twice to take care of this little silver-haired princess. Exactly what she had been dreaming about all along, but the gods didn't want to give her.

Valaerya slowly moved towards the stairs, checking if anyone was looking her way, and then quickly descended the stairs leading to the beach. It was getting dark quickly, and that didn't help her in her intentions to find her husband. Only after a few minutes of walking she saw someone's silhouette in the distance. When she got closer, she could tell that it was Daemon, he was standing on the very shore, the water was almost washing his shoes, he was looking at the sea.

"I assume you needed some air?" her words sounded quite ironic, considering that the entire modest ceremony took place outside. Moreover, there was also a note of resentment in them that he left without telling her anything.

"I couldn't stay there any longer." he said, turning to her.

"Rather, what disturbed you was Otto's presence." even though he rolled his eyes at that statement, she knew perfectly well that it had to be at least one of the reasons why he left. Although apparently he wasn't going to tell her why he came here. "I talked to Rhaenyra." she added after a few minutes of silence.

Right after the funeral, she exchanged a few words with her sister, whom she had not seen for a long time. They parted on fairly... neutral terms, despite the argument that Rhaenyra should not leave King's Landing. Neither of them still changed their minds about this decision, but they didn't bring that up.

Instead, they preferred to remember all the good times with their deceased friend and then exchange what was happening in their lives during the time they were apart. They didn't usually write letters to each other - or rather, Valaerya didn't like to do it unless she had a lot to say or it wasn't expected to send one - so this was the first time in a long time that they could feel close again. Although neither the circumstances were pleasant nor the news from life particularly good, at least they had each other.

Each other and honesty, because Rhae finally told her what exactly her and Laenor's relationship was like, and that her children were - as the rumors say - Harwin Strong's, unfortunately now deceased.

"Mhm..." Daemon nodded and turned around, starting to walk along the shore.

Val sighed and, for lack of a better option, followed him, quickly falling into step with him.

"Her and Laenor's marriage has always been a farce, but it's probably only going to get worse now. He never really tried to keep up appearances, but after his sister's death... It hurt him very deeply, and it will affect her too." she finished for now, looking at her husband and waiting for some answer.

After what was like a few seconds but felt like much more for her, he deigned to answer her.

"He doesn't have that much to lose." he replied, clasping his hands behind his back.

"They... They tried." that's all she said, but they both knew that it was about fathering children in wedlock. "We all know with what effect."

"It's all happened already, we can only fight the consequences."

"She needs us." she emphasized each word very strongly, as if she wanted to engrave these words in his head. She was starting to get annoyed by the fact that Daemon didn't seem to be listening to her, remaining somewhere deep in his thoughts. They were all family, they should support each other, especially since it was a matter of succession.

"And I need you." he stopped abruptly and, just as unexpectedly, he took her face in his hands, pulling it close to his. Their foreheads were almost touching as his gaze moved between her lips and eyes. Finally he stopped at the latter, staring intently at their purple. "You keep talking about others: Laena was this and that, you had this and that with Laena, Rhaenyra needs this and that, Rhaenyra feels this and that, enough...! What about you? What about us?"

Her breathing immediately quickened as he pulled her close. She didn't take her eyes off his, even when he accused her of not taking care of herself or their marriage at all.

True... She hadn't been close to him since returning from Pentos, but she simply didn't feel the need to. She was concerned with other matters, what was and is happening on the court, her daughter, her siblings. Daemon was somewhere in the background. She didn't reject his kisses, but everytime when he reached for more, she pulled away.

"What about us?" she repeated after him.

"Avy jorrāelan. (I love you.)" he said, pressing their foreheads together. It was completely honest, the thought had never even crossed his mind that he could have feelings for another woman as strong as he had for her. As the years passed, it was not about getting used to it, but about developing an increasingly stronger feeling. "Ñuha zaldrīzes dārilaros. (My Dragon Princess.)"

She didn't answer because she couldn't say the same. They were family, he was the father of her daughter, her husband, but she didn't love him as much as he wanted. She preferred not to say anything, preferred to kiss him, wrapping her arms around him and then moving them to his hair as he deepened the kiss, sliding his tongue between her lips.

She moaned softly into his mouth as he squeezed her breasts, beginning to gently massage them while forcing her to take a few steps back until her calves hit a low but quite big stone. She lowered herself onto it slowly so as not to hurt herself and supported herself with only one hand, while with the other she helped him untie the decorative, thick threads that held the top of her garment together enough to free her breasts.

He moved his lips to her neck, clearly happy that she was finally allowing them to be this close again. He started caressing her right breast while massaging the other one. Then his hands went down to her pants, untying them, and after he left one last kiss between her breasts, he removed the lower part of her clothes.

Her breath caught in her chest for a moment as she felt his tongue leaving marks on the inside of her thighs. The pleasantly cool air blowing off the sea made a wonderful contrast to the warmth of Daemon's lips, tongue and breath as he finally, after a few minutes of teasing her, buried his face in the crest of her thighs.

She fell completely backwards onto the stone. It didn't bother her how rough and uncomfortable it was compared to the bed. It didn't bother her that her friend's funeral had taken place just a few hours ago. It didn't bother her that while she was enjoying herself, her family's enemies could plan their next steps and even implement them. All that mattered was how blissful she felt with his lips and tongue moving over the most sensitive part of her body.

As she felt her fulfillment approaching, she pushed herself up a little, clutching her husband's hair tightly. She had to fight the urge to squeeze her thighs together as a loud moan escaped her lips. However, she didn't have much time to experience her orgasm, because Daemon grabbed her waist with one hand, the other slightly higher and on the other side, and pulled her up, connecting their lips. She could taste herself on them, but she didn't mind.

They fell onto the sand, sitting on it, tangled together. While he was untying his pants, Valaerya unbuttoned the upper part of his clothes a little so she could feel his hot skin under her fingers.

They made love under the stars, the water constantly washing their legs and soaking their clothes, which were already pretty dirty with sand. A moment of rest, away from everything that was currently happening in their lives, a moment to immerse themselves in themselves and enjoy such a simple, human thing. Not in their room, not against some wall in the corridor, not on the table, but under the open sky, with the sound of the sea, with a pleasantly cool, light wind, which will be the only one to hear their moans.

For now, still away from the problem that broke out between the kids after Aemond claimed Vhagar.

~

-> general masterlist -> Game of Thrones/House of the Dragon masterlist

tags: @marihoneywk @watercolorskyy

[evita-shelby]

National Anthem

Chapter 6

Cw: pregnancy, fainting, childbirth and the catholic sin of contraception

Taglist: @thegreatdragonfruta @zablife @call-sign-shark

July 4th sees them celebrating in their new home.

Things are better between them even if the issues remain there in the background.

Eva’s been told to take it easy by her midwife, the doctor and Jack himself as they ready the house for tonight’s party.

“Let Alice and Mary do the rest; you heard the midwife its not good for the two of you to overwork yourself like this.” He has half a mind of tying her to the bed if she refuses to sit down and relax.

The midwife said Rosie could be expected in early September since the boys came early, so now all babies will do so too. Eva determined to make sure their last celebration for the summer is the headliner in the neighborhood newsletters and the twat who keeps trying to shove her off the children’s hospital charity will eat shit when she sees the Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate attend it.

“I’ll rest if I’m tired, Jack.” She dismissed his concern even as she looked ready to collapse. “I’m fine.”

She has fainting spells, from the picky eating the baby already displays, and that thing her shellshock does that when she is overwhelmed, she just passes out cold.

Eva holds onto the back of the chair for support, tries to keep herself steady and promptly faints dead away.

“We can cancel the party.” He suggests once the doctor left.

It was a combination of the heat, the stress of the party and Rosie just being difficult.

He’d prescribed bedrest, was Evie gonna do that?

No, instead she was ordering Jack into helping her dress for the evening.

The gangster wasn’t complying, so she’d done it herself.

“No, everything’s done. I just need to make sure it goes off without a hitch.” The witch said putting on a very patriotic red dress.

She favors dark colors, black especially, but makes an exception to make a good impression.

Last year had been a quiet thing since the boys were still too little for them to do much, and this year was meant to make them the direct competition to the neighborhood’s top socialites.

Eva had the advantage of money and powerful connections while what’s her face had been born and raised in this neighborhood. She knew Eva was seeking her crown, only she thought she had a chance.

“You heard the doc, you’re on bedrest until the baby is born.” He reminded her and she rolled her eyes at him.

“You do know that means no fucking either, Jackie dear.” She used that nickname he hates so much.

The priest used to call him that, the bullies in the schoolyard, the gangsters he rose up against and even the people who refuse to let him into their circles.

Nothing ever gets under his skin as calling him Jackie does.

“Don’t call me that, Evie.” He warned trying to keep himself from flying off the handle. “For a nurse you make a shit patient.”

“On other news, water is wet.” She tried to be witty but only came out rather annoyed. And she was, could’ve just said take it easy, but the doctor had said Eva was to stay in bed until the blessed day came.

“I’ll have to tie you to the bed if you don’t behave, sweetheart.” And yet he doesn’t stop her, instead helps her put on her shoes. “Try to enjoy yourself and let Carrie and Gina do the rest.”

Caroline Nelson had married an Adams, named after the president who made the family what they are, and while a pain in the ass was a good enough hostess. Gina had become ornery, hating how she was still an outsider in her new family, hating the way she was now at the bottom of the food chain.

Unlike Eva, she didn’t have a shining personality to overcome it. Every day she turned more and more into a vile combination of Carrie and Jack.

A cutthroat snob that would be useful if she studied something like economics or politics, but Jack refused to agree to send her to college after high school. Even after knowing his wife had a private education in Mexico City because money can buy you professors even when women aren’t admitted to university, Jack refuses to allow it.

“Easier said than done.”

They have done this before.

She’d timed the pains and when they became alarmingly close and painful she made him drive her to the hospital instead of calling the midwife and doctor here.

This time Eva’s too in pain to argue with the suggestion of having a home birth.

She’s afraid of complications, of dying because help came too late, but man never does anything God doesn’t want him to do and Evie is no exception.

“The midwives are on their way, sir. Mary and I are taking the boys outside, so they don’t hear---” Alice’s words are cut off by Eva’s cries of pain.

She stands behind a chair, unable to lie down as the contractions appear worse than the first.

The witch had refused the twilight sleep offered to her at the hospital and have them just yank the babies out with forceps like most women do claiming she thought it unsafe.

Now she curses everything under the sun in several languages as there is nothing available to even minimize the agony she feels.

“She’s coming.” The witch shuts her eyes and sits at the edge of the bed. ���Oh, fuck, Rosie’s coming.”

In the next second Eva barks orders at Alice and him because babies aren’t born on schedules.

It is the longest and shortest time in the world for him as Eva tells him and the maid what to do.

By the time the midwives come, Jack’s holding their baby daughter in a bloody towel with everything from his clothes to the bed ruined.

But it doesn’t matter, Rosemary Eve Nelson is worth everything and more.

“September 2nd 1920 ,

Mr and Mrs John Fitzgerald Nelson announce the birth of their third child, a daughter, named Rosemary Eve after her late grandmother, Rosemary Kennedy and her mother, Eva Smith.

Mr. Nelson delivered his daughter himself on his twenty-sixth birthday as she came far before the midwives could attend her mother, a former nurse.”

He reads the announcement just as he had done when the boys were born.

Only this time they had to demand a reprint when Eva learned only Jack was being credited for the feat.

Really, they had to intimidate a man because he thought it superfluous to mention Eva was a nurse and knew what to do.

“Most people stop at three.” She mentions knowing he’ll say no.

The church had ruled contraception as inherently evil and while most claimed not to use it, many still did.

Eva had learned Jack was as much as hypocrite as your average catholic. He’d used sheaths when fucking whores to prevent diseases and bastards, and yet claimed Eva was committing sin by getting a Dutch cap in homes of keeping a good amount of time between children.

Unfortunately the thing didn’t work, but Eva won’t stop trying to have some control over herself.

“Most people haven’t been told they’ll have nine fucking kids by god himself. But God didn’t say we had to have one every fucking year.” The birth had scared him, truly scared him by the sound of it.

He hadn’t seen what was going on at the other end and now he’d gotten a front row seat to the shit show.

That had helped get him to see reason.

They would be adding using contraception to their list of sins.

It wasn’t like they were going to heaven ---if it even existed--- anyways.

A/n: Republican Channing Cox won the election for governor of Massachusetts, but since Jack is a democrat he and Eva would be sort of campaigning for the democratic candidate thus forcing the guy to come over to their house for a party with mysteriously sourced alcohol.

While Rose Kennedy was made to close her legs (cutting off oxygen to Rosemary thus almost killing her and impairing her for life) while waiting for the doctor, Eva has had midwifery training in the middle of a war so Jack and the housekeeper/head maid were given a crash course in how to deliver a baby.

Rosie will still have disabilities, just not due to birth complications as she did irl.

Next up the Wall Street bombing of 1920 while the Nelsons have a lover's quarrel across teh street from it

[quietwings-fics]

you do not have to be good

Rating: General Audiences Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply Fandom: Supernatural Ship: Lucifer/Nick/Sarah Additional Tags: Alternate Universe, Babies, Polyamory, Consensual Possession, Past Abuse, Domestic, Fluff and Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, She/Her Pronouns for Lucifer (Supernatural), i sprinkle a little gender into your devil. just for fun., Forehead Kisses, POV Female Character, Lucifer Possessing Nick (Supernatural), Agender Lucifer (Supernatural) Wordcount: 2,533 Series: you, me, and the devil makes three Summary:

Lucifer gets out of the Cage too early to start the Apocalypse. So, obviously, Sarah and Nick invite her to stay.

It’s a cloudy night. The see-through curtains take on the appearance of shrouds when the moon is too dim to pierce through them. They bought them to let enough light into their room for Nick to sleep easier, but on nights like this, it’s hard for Sarah to even see her hand in front of her face without turning on a lamp. She knows Nick isn’t in the bed with her before she turns over and feels the empty sheets on her husband’s side. She’d fallen asleep with his arms around her, tucked close to substitute touch for sight. He is gone, and the baby monitor on his bedside is humming with soft static, the noise rising and falling in a way that’s almost familiar but by rhythm alone, Sarah can’t place it.

Sarah sits up, rubbing at her eyes and then dragging her hand through her hair. The susurration of the monitor continues steadily as she gets to her feet. It’s taken time to become reacquainted with her own body. She’s only recently begun to be able to stand up without reminding herself to compensate for a baby she’s no longer carrying. She picks up the monitor and turns it off to save the batteries, even if only for a brief trip, and when she places it back down, she pauses. Nick keeps his anxiety medication where he’ll see it when he wakes up, or else he’ll forget to take it. She turns the little bottle over in her hand and hears the rattle of four, or maybe five, pills left inside.

She makes a mental note about a refill and sets it back down. She leaves their bedroom. Their house gets chilly at night nowadays and never more than pleasantly cool in the daylight. It sends goosebumps up her arms, makes her wish that she’d kept a few of those maternity clothes rather than switching back to sleeping in her old band tee’s the minute she could squeeze herself into them again. They were ugly as anything, but they had been warm. Still, she’s a few feet from their room already. She considers going back for socks but carries on. The nursery has carpeted floors, a small blessing for cold feet.

It’s not a long walk, and Sarah’s body adjusts to the chill with practiced ease. It has become a part of their home rather than an unwanted feature. The doorway to the nursery is marked by one of her grandmother’s paintings on the opposite wall. It’s a lovely scene, green and comfy. Sarah’s grandmother favored landscapes. Sarah’s mother was disappointed when Sarah herself inherited the talent but wasted it on ‘petty vandalism and the occult’. Her grandmother could have cared less and gave her art supplies for her birthday until the year she died. That’s why Sarah wanted to name Teddy after her.

She pauses in the doorway and watches. Someone who looks like her husband stands over Teddy’s crib. Her husband’s arms hold their baby, and her husband’s voice is the one singing to him. Finally, with the words put to it, Sarah recognizes the rhythm from the monitor.

“Hush, little baby, don't say a word.” Teddy coos sleepily and grasps at an offered finger. “Mama's gonna buy you a mockingbird.” She wonders if Teddy has a song preference yet. The softest lullabies Sarah can sing him are all Bowie. Nick, bless his heart, has a pretty voice but can’t carry a tune to save his life. She sees the person standing over the crib raise their head to look at her, still singing. Yes, those are her husband’s eyes, but that is not her husband.

Sarah smiles and steps into the nursery.

Lucifer watches her approach, head tilted slightly. She wears Nick’s expressions well, but her mannerisms are always off, a mixture of movements she might have picked up from Sarah and her own alien way of guiding the human body. Teddy burbles, and Lucifer’s attention is stolen away again, no words to the song but a gentle hum to replace it as she rocks Teddy back and forth.

“Theodore was crying,” Lucifer says, finally, as Sarah reaches her side. She says it matter-of-factly, but the way her eyes dart to see Sarah’s reaction make it seem like she’s making an excuse. For what, Sarah can’t tell.

“Was he hungry?” Sarah asks. Lucifer shakes her head.

“He was lonely. He needed to be held.” Lucifer is very careful with Teddy, careful in the way she holds him, careful in how she moves when he’s in her arms. Even careful when she rubs two fingers along the top of Teddy’s head against the fuzz that can’t truly be called hair yet. Sarah has no doubt Nick is guiding some of those actions, like someone teaching you by folding their hands over yours. “You should still be asleep.”

“I could hear you singing over the baby monitor,” Sarah says. It’s mostly true. If Lucifer was only a person, than she would have. Instead, Lucifer is an angel, and her voice gets cloaked in static over the radio waves. Lucifer frowns. That expression is certainly borrowed from Nick, the little crease in his brow that Sarah has kissed plenty of times before to smooth out.

“I thought it was off. I must have touched it.” Electronic things all tend to work strangely when Lucifer lays a hand on them. On the other hand, living things seem to fare well enough. Teddy is falling asleep in Lucifer’s arms. Sarah reaches for him, and Lucifer hands him over to her without protest. Teddy squirms, but he doesn’t cry.

If you had told Sarah a year ago that she would have the devil for a co-parent, she... Well, she may not have believed a word out of your mouth, but she would still have been intrigued. Not afraid.

She wasn’t afraid when Lucifer alighted beside their bed to ask permission into Nick’s body, this strange, unearthly being that watched and waited as Nick and her conferred, never once interfering with their decision, and who Sarah faced with her husband’s hand clutched tight in her own to say, “You can, but on the condition that you bring him home safe.” However that old story went, to make sure the devil made a deal with you rather than the other way around, Sarah had listened and Sarah had learned. The devil regarded her with curiosity, and the devil promised to do exactly that. She is many things, but Sarah knew and knows, she is not a liar.

She wasn’t afraid when Nick was returned to her, untouched, a little shaken from the experience of being kept by something so great. She wasn’t afraid when he told her where they’d gone and why and how Lucifer had gone from self-assured in her purpose to confused to lost over the course of the three nights she took Nick. It’s too early, Nick had said, and he’d looked like he didn’t know what that meant any more than Sarah did. And then, in the same voice he’d used to convince her to foster a litter of puppies from the streets before they could be adopted, he’d said, Sarah, I don’t think she has anywhere else to go.

Sarah hadn’t known she was pregnant when they’d let Lucifer stay. By the time she did, the question of whether Lucifer could stick around wasn’t a question at all anymore. Lucifer refused to possess her for the duration of her pregnancy, and Nick agreed despite the toll it took on him. It’s a price they don’t pay any longer, both of them adapted to Lucifer’s grace no matter which she chooses to inhabit, but the scars of those long months before they found the solution are still scattered across Nick’s body. He wears them well, and he jokes sometimes that it’s only fair. Sarah got stretch marks from carrying Teddy. Nick got burns from containing Lucifer.

There’s one at his right temple, dark spots like someone flecked his skin with embers until they took root. Sarah settles Teddy fully in the crook of one arm to raise her hand. Lucifer twitches back from her touch at first, but then she tilts her head forward against Sarah’s fingers. Sarah feels out the change in texture from the scar to unmarred skin. Nick would shut his eyes as she traced it, but Lucifer keeps hers open, studying Sarah back as Sarah studies her.

“He’s your son, too. You don’t need permission to care for him,” Sarah tells her. When Sarah was a kid with parents who dropped her off at Sunday school, Satan was a shadow constantly scheming in unseen corners. When she was teenager who wore too much black and didn’t put in ear plugs for concerts because she wasn’t thinking that far ahead, Satan was cool and rebellious and everything she wanted, sometimes needed, to be. Sarah is an adult now, and Satan is a creature who can never go home and who sings to their son when he cries.

They let her in. Lucifer isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

“I feel...” Lucifer trails off, looking for the right words. Sarah rocks Teddy again. He’s out cold, and with luck, he’ll sleep through the rest of the night. These first months were probably harder for parents who didn’t have an angel hovering over them, never needing sleep, ears tuned to hear Teddy cry out. Sarah leans down to place Teddy in his crib. She bows further to pick up the fluffy lamb toy that Nick bought him. It probably fell through the bars of the crib when Lucifer picked him up. She props it up at Teddy’s side and stands straight again. “I feel like I can’t miss any of it. Any moment.” Lucifer says, looking down at Teddy with her.

“Welcome to being a parent,” she teases. She knows what Lucifer is talking about. They’ve all felt it. There are a lot of things that books about taking care of an infant can prepare you for, but the mixture of fear and joy at something so fragile and so beautiful relying on you to raise it is not one of them. She wonders what it’s like for Lucifer, though. To be something around for the dawn of life, and to now be focused on one life out of all of them. Does it seem too fast for her? Too slow? Both at once?

“I need to spend time with him now,” Lucifer says, and something in her voice makes Sarah frown and look over at her, “before he gets older. Before he has a chance to disobey.”

“What are you talking about?” Sarah has very rarely seen Lucifer get upset. Nervous about Sarah’s pregnancy, and borderline in shock the first time she and Nick showed her the same love they showed each other, but those times were few and far between, born out of uncertainty. What disturbs Sarah now is that Lucifer sounds far too certain.

“When we’re forced to lock him away, we can send him with his toys, can’t we? And blankets? So that he doesn’t get cold.” It does not escape Sarah that Lucifer sounds like she’s pleading with her. It also doesn’t escape her that Lucifer says when.

“We’re never going to do that,” Sarah says and rushes to clarify when she sees Lucifer flinch. “We aren’t going to lock him away at all. You don’t do that to children.” Lucifer doesn’t meet her eyes.

“He’s not going to be small and sweet forever.”

“That’s good. We didn’t have him because we wanted a baby.” She steps closer to Lucifer, hovers her hand over Lucifer’s shoulder before letting it touch her. Lucifer doesn’t jolt this time. “We wanted a child. For all the good and the difficult parts that might bring. No one is going to lock him away because he has tantrums, or won’t eat all his greens, or slams doors and listens to music too loud.” She squeezes her shoulder. She sees Lucifer, but it’s Nick’s face she sees her through, and so there’s no way they could have this conversation without Sarah thinking about the obvious. “It’s probably not comparable to what you went through, but you’re not the only one here who had a rough childhood.” Lucifer tilts her head. “No, ask Nick. Not me. It’s his story to tell.”

Lucifer’s eyes go distant for a minute. Sarah observes the minute changes of her expression. Lucifer knows a lot about both of them, could not possess them without some things slipping between their minds, but she’s made an effort to let them keep what they mark as too personal to themselves. She may have a vague impression of Nick’s past, but that’s very different from being told directly about how he was kicked out at sixteen. It’s something that Sarah didn’t know about him for a long time. Nick came clean about the strange stuff his dad was obsessed with, salt lines and symbols to keep out evil, and about the fact that he didn’t actually know anyone from his dad’s side of the family at all before he ever told her about being homeless for nearly three years. As though it had been something he should have been ashamed of. As though it had been his fault somehow.

Sarah’s always been a bigger believer in destiny than he was. Nick found her and she found Nick because that was the right way for the world to be, and what a world they built together. And Lucifer found them, too, because maybe they were what she needed, even if they weren’t what she thought she would find. Lucifer blinks, focusing on Sarah again.

“You won’t do that to Theodore?” There is still a hint of uncertainty there.

“Come here,” Sarah says and gestures for Lucifer to bend down. She does, closing her eyes like she expects a kiss, and Sarah pushes herself to her tiptoes and lays one against Lucifer’s forehead instead. “We’re going to take care of him. Always.” Lucifer pulls back quickly, looks away, and between one inhale and the next, Sarah knows that she is not looking at Lucifer anymore. Nick looks a little startled to be in control, the way he always does, and she takes his hand and squeezes it to ground him. He swallows.

“She was thinking about- Not much of it I could understand, but the word cage, over and over, and...” Nick glances down at Teddy. He sleeps so peacefully while they talk about this. “Sarah, dear,” Nick says the word like he’s begging for a lifeline and Sarah gives it to him, comes close and lets Nick wrap his arms around her. He’s cold. They both are, when they hold their angel. Somewhere under his skin, Lucifer is hiding, and Sarah slides one arm wrapped around Nick up until her hand splays between his shoulderblades. Nick shivers and sucks in a breath.

It goes both ways. Sarah and Nick keep their secrets. Lucifer keeps hers.

But the more Sarah learns, the more glad she is that Lucifer is here with them, and not alone.

(Enjoyed it? Any interaction is welcomed. You can even support me on Ko-Fi <3)

[ryleigh-jae]

How They React To You Smelling Them In Your Amortentia

 Harry Potter Characters x Reader

Here’s a quick writing I threw together for y’all! I know I didn’t add that many characters, but I plan on adding more as time goes on. I have to work today and it has me on a time crunch with how much I can write for this one. Either way,,,,,I hope you like it and I hope all of you are having a fantastic day. Make sure to leave any requests if you have them! <3

-(y/h) stands for “your house” and (y/l/n) stands for “your last name” :)

~

Draco~

“So tell me, (Y/N)! What do you smell?” Hermione looked at her friend, voice filled with excitement. 

The (y/h) girl took in a deep breath, her lips curling into a sweet smile, “Expensive cologne, leather shoes, peppermint...and green apples.”

Realization hit (Y/N), knowing that it was the platinum haired boy she was smelling in her amortentia. Letting out a soft breath, her eyes glanced up from the cauldron that sat bubbling in front of her. Hoping he hadn’t heard her, she looked towards none other than Draco Malfoy, who was in fact staring at her. To her surprise, his lips were slightly tugged up in a slight smile as their eyes met. That was odd because nobody had ever seen Draco smile that way before. 

Just after sending Draco a small smile back, (Y/N) turned to Hermione, listening to what she was smelling. When Hermione disappeared to grab a notebook to record the results, a small origami dove landed on the desk in front of (Y/N). Her fingers slowly opened it up, eyes scanning over the writing.

Meet me in the clocktower tonight after dinner. ~Draco

Snape~

Being Professor Snape’s assistant was easily the best part of coming back to Hogwarts. He had been her favorite Professor all seven years at the school and being able to come back to work with him meant the word to her. Opening the potions book, (Y/N)’s eyes scanned over the formula for the assigned potion of the day. Snape was in his potions room, rummaging around for something which meant that (Y/N) was in charge of making the example potion for the students to see when they entered.

After adding the final piece to the bubbling cauldron, she closed the potions book and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Not noticing that Severus had rejoined her, she inhaled deeply, taking in each of the aromas that filled her nose. 

“Whiskey, old parchment, herbs, and pine wood..” She listed off softly to herself, the man’s presence still unknown. 

The raven haired man’s lips twitched up in the slightest, his eyes locked on her. Not to mention that the room seemed to fill with the scent of her perfume. 

“(Y/N), how much perfume did you put on this morning? Seems rather strong.” His voice spoke up, half startling the girl.

She turned around, their eyes meeting as they shared a knowing look with one another, (Y/N)’s heart swelling with joy at his remark.

Harry~

“And...Done!” (Y/N) smiled, glancing between Harry, Ron, and Hermione. 

The three gave a teasing, playful applause to their friend as she stirred the mixture in the cauldron. The assignment was to create the amortentia potion and record your results. (Y/N) watched quietly as each friend took a turn smelling the potion, Harry deciding that he wanted to go last. Of course Ron could smell all the things that made up Hermione and vice versa. When her turn came around, (Y/N) inhaled slowly, listing each scent as it came to her.

“Broomsticks..Honeysuckle..and fresh laundered robes.” She looked up at her friends, Ron and Hermione smirking at one another before staring between Harry and (Y/N).

Their reaction told the whole story, causing the girl to shyly look over at the Potter boy, seeing the cute little grin he was sporting. To make her feel more secure, Harry took in a big whiff of the potion, listing off all the scents that made up the sweet girl. This caused Harry to reach under the table, slipping his hand into (Y/N)’s, giving it a reassuring squeeze. 

“Harry and (Y/N) snogging in a tree!” Ron teased the two, causing the friend group to burst into a fit of laughter. 

Cedric~

Sitting next to Cedric, (Y/N) sniffed the air, glancing over to her long time crush. She raised a brow and laughed slightly, rolling her eyes in a playful manner. Cedric glanced over and gave her a confused smile, confused as to what she was on about.

“How much cologne did you put on today, Diggory? Bathing in that stuff isn’t gonna get ya the ladies.” She teased, playfully nudging the Hufflepuff’s shoulder.

Cedric raised a brow as he sniffed his shirt, shrugging slightly, “I don’t think I even put any on today, if I’m being completely honest with you, (Y/N). Now you on the other hand. Did you use a whole bottle of perfume this morning?”

Just as she was about to speak up again, Hermione who was passing by, paused to give the two of them a look. A small giggle passed the brunette girl’s lips as she looked between the two of them, shaking her head in disbelief. Placing her potions book down, she pointed to the potion they had all made. 

“Amortentia…” (Y/N) and Cedric spoke simultaneously, cheeks flushing red as they dared not to look at one another. 

Cedric was the first to speak again after a few moments, throwing his arm around her shoulders, “Good to know that the feelings are mutual, (Y/L/N).”

Tom~

(Y/N) rolled her eyes and sat back in her seat, staring Tom down from the other side of the room. Oh how she despised him for being so perfect. Today was the day they were making amortentia in potions class and she was curious as to what she would smell. Just as her good friend Neville finished off the potion, he offered her the first smell, which she gladly took.

“What’s it smell like, (Y/L/N)? Me?” Tom cockily teased the girl, knowing deep down that he had smelled her perfume in his. 

The (y/h) girl refused to look at him, her blush would tell him everything that he needed to know. Instead, she excused herself from class, heading down the hall towards the bathroom. Footsteps gained on her faster than she could note them, hoping that it wasn’t anyone following after her.

“(Y/N) wait up!” Tom’s voice called out, his hand gently holding onto her arm when he finally caught up to her, “I’ll tell you if you tell me.”

Even though she knew it was a bad idea, the girl nodded, “Morning dew, the Dark Forest, and cinnamon candy.”

A grin spread across Tom’s face as he stared the girl down, hands coming to rest on her shoulders, “Do me a favor and read this after class,” the boy slipped a note into her hand before heading back to the class, glancing back to shoot her a grin once. 

Ron~

“C’mon (Y/N). Why won’t you just tell me what it smells like?” Ron begged, following the girl down the hall.

He had been begging for days now and her silence on it only drove her crazy. She knew Hermione liked Ron and she couldn’t do that to her friend. But she also knew how persistent her redheaded friend was and how he wouldn't stop until he got it out of her. (Y/N) stopped just before entering the Great Hall for dinner, turning to look at Ron.

“Fresh cut grass, bonfires, and oak wood.” (Y/N) blurted out, her face going red when she saw his face light up with a bright grin.

Ron pulled his friend into a hug, squeezing her to his chest. She hesitated for a moment before melting into his arms, knowing he was genuine with his reaction. Her eyes fluttered closed for a quick moment, hearing Ron let out a sigh of relief.

“Thank you for telling me. Your perfume has been burning in my nose since the other day.” He laughed softly, burying his face in her shoulder.

(Y/N) let out a breathy giggle, her hands gripping onto Ron, enjoying the tight hug, “Your persistence really pays off, now doesn’t it.”

[kim-poce]

Allies: Part 2

Thank you @myboyfriendisjealous for commissioning me. I hope you like it!

Part 1

CW: burn mention, vampire whump, emotional whump, marriage of convenience.

=-=

Officially, Ethony volunteered to marry Queen Amber. Volunteered to leave his safe, comfortable home behind to live among humans, in a place that was not built to house him, where he was the monster of the bedtime tales, where he was shamed for the very need of feeding while being attacked just for being there. Yes, officially, he was a volunteer, but he wondered if someone truly believed that.

There were a few —actually quite a lot— issues about this marriage. For one, this was the union of two different species so ethics had been a huge big problem since the beginning; vampires saying that marrying a human was no different than marrying a cow, humans saying they would rather die than sleep with monsters. It was not an opinion shared by all but shared by enough people to make this marriage the only option. It was both a way to show that it’s possible for the species to unite and a silent threat; one wouldn’t dare to —openly— accuse one’s own monarch to sleep with an animal or a monster.

Another issue in the ethics field was: age. Vampires live for a long time, the age only matters until the coming-of-age. But humans frowned upon the idea of having an older vampire marry the young queen. No, humans wanted a young one, someone that hadn't been an adult for long, just like Queen Amber. Another point was that the groom must be from a high-ranking family, it was an unspoken request, which is to be expected. The vampire kingdom didn't intend to look down on the human kingdom, so sending a vampire from a low rank would be undiplomatic.

There was a talk between the families that opposed the union; to turn a young adult human into a vampire, adopt him in a duke or marquess's house, and sent him to the kingdom. No one dared to actually mention this excuse of an idea in front of the monarchs.

Ethony was chosen for very simple reasons; he was the son of the duchess leading the aristocrats that were favorable to this marriage and had just become an adult. Tweent-two years old. Old enough to know that an adult vampire is an adult vampire. This simple. It doesn’t matter if they are twenty or two hundred, he knew it for a fact. He also knew that almost no one marries until their fifties and that adults his age are usually seeing the word, quenching their curiosity. He knew that his older brothers were so relieved to hear the age limit decided by the humans, and he knew that his future was filled with hate and loneliness. He was an adult, but he felt so young, not even a quarter of a century, almost a child. 

The kingdom was full of people, lovely people, as long as he doesn’t get closer, then they would turn into terrified or terrifying people. The servants do the possible not to be seen, and the day is just so long. He missed home, he missed his family and friends, his hobbies, he missed the thick cloud over his home kingdom, the one that protected everyone from the sun. He missed the feeling of being safe.

But he can’t be selfish, it would be a betraying both his new wife and his family back home.

“Stay still,” Queen Amber ordered, or maybe she just asked. It was often hard to tell the two apart when her tone is always either cold or angry.

He obeyed. The queen was very close, measuring him to order new custom-made clothes, she didn’t say the reason she was doing such a thing herself. Not that she needed to, the servant with raced heart outside wasn’t meant to find out Ethony is hurt, it would create rumors. Bad rumors.

The rumors weren’t what was in his mind at the time, there was a stronger thing taking up all of his attention; smell. He could smell the sweet blood in front of him, Amber’s blood, running through her veins, he heard it. He wanted it. Humans are right, maybe he is just a bloodthirsty monster.

He shook the thought off.

“Stay still. I don’t want to press any of your wounds.”

“Sorry, your majesty.”

Slowly he took his mind get off her blood and focused on her heart instead. It beat evenly, not too fast. Humans’ hearts were always racing around him but hers rarely was. It just raced when she was angry, she never showed any fear of him.

Friends. He recalled the talk. Friends aren’t afraid of each other. But he doesn’t quite feel that’s the right word; friends are equal, but the queen was a person and he felt less and less like one.

“That’s it,” Amber said, smiling proudly. “I measured three times and the numbers matched so it must be right.”

“Sorry to make you do that yourself, your majesty,” Ethony said, he doesn’t know when in the single month he is married that apologizing became his second nature. But it did.

Queen Amber smiled at him. Pity. He knew, but he pretended he didn’t, thinking that if he pretends hard enough it won’t hurt him too much.

“I’m the one who is sorry,” she said, noting down the numbers. “It’ll get better, I promise, we’ll make it better with time.”

He was the one politely smiling now. He was sure things would get better, in the future, for the other vampires and humans. Not for him; he was a sacrifice for peace.

“Will your family come?” the queen asked. He had hoped she would talk about some trivial matter, as friends do, but it was always about work to her. He felt like a… a task, like talking to him was her job. Lord! He was feeling more lonely than he thought.

“Yes,” he nodded. Pushing his feelings aside. “My mother and my siblings.”

“And you father?”

“My mother never married, she says that forever is too long when one doesn’t die. I and my sibling have different fathers, and they don’t have ties with the dukedom. But don’t worry, my father is from a marquess family, so there are no issues with my bloodline.”

“I’m not worried about your bloodline, “Amber said, but it couldn’t be true. She had to be worried; that’s her job. “Is this common between your kingdom’s aristocracy? Having children without marrying?”

“It’s fairly common, yes. My mother has an odd point, in which she is the only one with the right over the children. It has usually more equality.”

“Interesting,” Amber said, taking her pocket clock out. “I have a meeting with the council soon, do you want to come?”

Ethany was puzzled by the question for a few seconds, but it made sense when you think about it. It has been a month since the wedding, and Ethony has yet to fulfill his duties as the king, Amber must be tired of leading the country all by herself since her coronation, years ago.

He hadn’t had any human blood lately, and healing was taking too much of him, still, it was his duty, and he was about to agree when the queen spoke.

“It’s better if you join the meeting on another day,” she said. “You should rest, it’ll be bad if you aren’t healed by the time of the ball.”

Is she worried I’ll make a scene? “Do not worry, I can hide it well.”

“I worry that it’ll be painful to you, not that you’ll let your pain be seen,” she said. Heart racing. She was getting angry, and he knew he had to calm her down.

“I’ll be healed.” He said.

The queen nodded and left their room. He should’ve insisted on going with her, at least this way he wouldn’t be alone.

It was morning, and as every morning the palace felt like a cage. The clean and golden walls, the pretty and comfortable furniture. It all felt like consolation. An unspoken ‘Stop whining. You got everything you may want.’ But he wants out, yet he can’t look outside the window, not without burning himself.

Ethony wasn’t thinking straight at the moment Amber found out about the attacks. But, the next morning, as soon as he woke up, he worried. She said she would give him knights and she did, they were right outside the room, and surrounding the whole palace. They walk with him at night, when the feeling of being locked up increases too much and he has no choice but to wander out. The perfect moment for assassins to come.

He hoped, he truly did, that the knights would be enough, that no more attacks would come. Not because he is afraid of dying, but because one word from Queen Amber moved all the knights as if nothing, and it would take just another word for him to be forbidden from going out at out. He would not obey such an order, and this relationship (the relationship between their kingdoms) would weaken. He truly is too selfish, but he is a vampire! He needs out. He wasn’t made to be locked inside that pretty room.

The room was filled by a groan when he moved, the silver burns were almost done healing but the holy water ones still hurt very much, as if his bones were burnt along with his flesh. He slowly made his way to the bed, the one advantage of being alone is that he has no need to pretend it doesn’t hurt.

Soon, his eyes were closed and he drifted into unconsciousness.

In his dreams there was never coherence, it was just flashes of unimportant things, at least at first, then he was scared. He was scared of being alone the most. Forever is too long when one does not die, too long to be away from home. He was also afraid of the pain, the burns, the humans’ glances at him, and the fantasy books he tried to read in the library where vampires are anything but people. It all hurts the same.

Then he felt blood smell. Blood is good, it’s sweet, so very sweet. He wanted it. The feeling of the dreadful and contempt looks was still there but he was hungry and hurt and this was all only a dream. He bite down as his nature wanted him to, not attacking, not violently, just slowly and calmly. Clean. The blood was so perfectly sweet, so strong, so, so…

So real.

His eyes flashed open, the blood was still in his mouth, he looked. Queen Amber’s arm was bleeding, the bite mark was clear, proof of what he did. There was no fear on her face but her heart was racing, he hoped it was anger, but he wasn’t brave enough to ask.

“That’s okay,” she said, smiling. “Lay back down, you are sick.”

Ethony should apologize, he was an adult, and he should act as one. He shouldn’t have bolted out of the room, ordered the knights to stay behind, and vanished into the darker part of the garden.

———

Queen Amber was, as usual, tired. It had been long since it mattered, though. Her parents died young, they weren’t even monarchs yet. Just a prince and a princess leaving their young daughter behind. It was her grandfather, the former king, who raised her, he was old already then, so she had to race her way into being ready to lead the country before he got too old to do it himself.

When she was seventeen, after studying nonstop since the accident, the former king coronated her. Then she was too busy trying to prove herself. Even now, six years since she became the queen, she is still too busy. No one said creating peace between humans and vampires was going to be easy. The vampire monarchs work in a duo on their end, and it’s getting harder and harder to make her part alone.

Maybe because the traning and classes were raced, there was a big lack in her knowledge; she wasn’t good with personal relationships. Not at all. She hadn’t any, her relationship with her grandfather, the former king, was barely personal. Between their duty to the country, the sudden loss of their loved ones, and their tendency to isolating themselves it was hard to build a close family bond.

It was night now, she was happy about it, the day had been hotter than usual. Amber was, for a second, surprised by the presence of someone else in her room, it had been a month already but Ethony is rarely still in the room this early into the night.

He was sleeping quietly, curling up on his side of the bed. He likes to curl up when he sleeps, she watched it quite a few times by now. He has the habit of, from time to time, to stretch himself for a couple of seconds and then to curl back into this little ball. Like a cat. It was cute to watch.

“You must be really tired today,” she said to the sleeping vampire.

The plan was to lie down and sleep, as her body was begging to, but the man became distressed, he shivered and he muttered something under his breath. It was a weak appearance, which is an odd feeling to get from a vampire. She caressed his hair lightly, she was the one who said that they should be friends, completely ignoring that she doesn’t know how to. Still, she guessed that calming him down from his nightmare was a good start. Ethony must have felt her presence, at least she was sure he felt her blood because he held her wrist and bared his fang.

It wasn’t a tight grip, and he wasn’t one to sleep so deeply that he would not wake up if she called, but Amber did nothing to stop him. It must be hard on him already, to be away from his people and spend most of the time alone inside their room. Principally among humans, feeling the smell of blood all day long and being unable to do anything about it. It was just blood anyway, she could give some away.

She admitted to herself that she was curious about him, about his little habits, she wanted to watch him. And she did. Ethony carefully held her arm, Amber half-remembered that vampires didn’t usually hunt the way humans do, they don’t make their prey fight, they calm it down enough to feed. It’s delicate somehow, as delicate as hunting can be. The fangs almost didn’t hurt, and the blood was drunk so slowly it didn’t make her feel weak.

Then he paused. His red eyes snapped open, and he backed away. He was scared, Amber didn’t know why, was feeding a sleeping vampire some sort of taboo? Had she done something bad?

“That’s okay,” she said, putting her best smile on, showing she doesn’t mean bad. “Lay back down, you are sick.”

Amber still didn’t know what she did wrong, but she must have done something very bad for Ethony to run away as he did. She wondered if she should just let him be, let him take time to himself. But it didn’t work the last time, it only made him face enemies alone and come back hurt.

She put on a long-sleeved dress (the rumors if it was known that Ethony fed on her would be hard to deal with), called a couple of knights (just enough to be safe, but not too much for it to look like hunting a scared vampire) and headed to the garden herself. Hoping that Ethony was safe, hoping he would forgive her for whatever she did that scared him this much.

———

Instincts are interesting things. Humans learned to fear vampires by instinct, they are strong, cruel, and dangerous. Vampires learned to fear large groups of humans for similar reasons. So, while Ethony knew that Queen Amber always walked around with, at the very last, two guards, it felt like they were out for him, like what he did was the last straw of Amber’s patience.

He hide as well as he could, but it was a garden, not a forest, it wasn’t enough to feel like home during his walks and much less enough to feel safe now. He truly had to stop acting like a child, he should be mature, like Amber is, instead of cowering away behind the largest bush he could find.

It was a good enough hiding spot, some assassins had hidden there in the first week and Ethony just noticed them when they jumped out. He didn’t have to stay there for long, just until he can calm himself enough to go to apologize to the queen. Even if she had no reason to forgive him, at least no reason other than diplomacy. He knows she is loyal to her duty as the monarch, and that she wouldn’t mind living with a monster for the peace of her people. Yet he is there, whining and drinking her blood. He wasn’t a person worthy of her. He wasn’t a person at all.

Would she believe if he said it wasn’t on purpose? Would it make things worse? It certainly would, right? To say he is so much of a monster that he can’t even hold himself back would be just to admit out loud that he shouldn’t be among people. Even as fearless as the queen is she would stop sharing a room with him.

He froze.

If he was too dangerous to hold himself back, Amber would certainly forbid him from leaving the room, it would be prison disgusted as something else. He doesn’t want to be inside this long, he wants to find a forest and sleep under the moonlight, he wants to be free and be safe. Even in such a situation he still only thinks of himself.

———

Time passed. Amber told the knights to leave her alone. Of course, she knew it could be dangerous, but it had become clear that her husband wouldn’t show up otherwise. At first, she tried to find him with what she knew about vampires; looking under the tallest trees, away from the open areas. The darker and deeper parts of the garden, the more forest-like area she knew around there.

It was a mistake, she was foolish to think like this. Ethony isn’t a generic vampire, he is Ethony. And even if she knew him so little it had to be enough. She walked towards are artificially lit-up area, where there were no trees but several large bushes, large enough for an adult to curl up behind and not be seen. Ethony likes to curl up.

“Are you okay?” she asked, sitting down on the floor near the largest bush. The vampire flinched away. Had she scared him that much? “You ran so suddenly. I was very worried.”

“Sorry, your majesty,” Ethony whispered, he was still curled up, not trying to sit or look up at her. The silence lasted a while until his choked voice broke it. “...I’m a monster.”

“No!” she protested —snapped—, it was enough to hear so many people saying this bullshit, she didn’t want to hear it from him too. “You are not. Please, ignore what the others say, it’ll get better with time.”

“I attacked you,” he looked up, red tears streaming down his eyes. “I hurt you. I didn’t control myself and not you are hurt. I am a monster! You don’t need to pretend you don’t think so too! We are the only ones here, no one will spread any rumour and-”

Amber held his face, making his looking staring into her eyes. That would be a good moment to use her comforting skills. If she had any.

“Rumours? Ethony what I need to do for you to understand that I worry about you. Yes, I also worry about rumors, about the nobles, about my people, and so many other things. I won’t say I don’t think about them, but I want you to understand that I worry about you more.”

Ethony’s eyes widened at that. As if the thought had never passed through his mind.

“Listen, I’m trying to make it work. I’m not talking about the union of our species, that doesn’t depend on our happiness to work. As long as we are not trying to kill or betray each other this will work. What you feel has no importance when faced with politics. But it is important to me, I’ll be by your side for the rest of my life Ethony, you are way more than a political tool, and I don’t like when you see yourself as one. You are my partner, and I want you happy. I’m not scared of you, you don’t need to hide yourself or your nature.”

“... I hurt you.”

“I let you do it,” she repeated. “I shouldn’t have, you were sleeping, I see now that it was thoughtless of me to do it when you were not even awake. I’m sorry.”

“You did nothing wro-”

“I did!” she carefully wiped away his tears. “Listen, I’m truly trying to make it work, but it’s a two-people job. I can’t do anything if you don’t tell me things, you need to tell me how you feel, what you want, and what you like. There is a limit to what I can find out by watching.”

“You don’t need to go out of your way to help me,” he said, casting his eyes down in shame.

“You are right. I don’t need to,” she agreed, making more tears flow, “But I want to, I want to make you happy. Okay? Please, tell me things. I don’t know when you’ll bolt out of the room if you don’t tell me your fears.”

Ethony hesitated, watching her every move, “... I… I want to go back home, your majesty,” he admitted, losing the last strand stopping him from sobbing. “I’m scared, and everyone is scared of me. I don’t want to be alone.”

Amber pulled him closer, wrapping her warm arm around his cold self. “... I’m sorry that you can’t go back now,” she said, her voice starting to creak. “But, be certain of one thing, you are not alone. I’m here with you, okay? I’ll be here with you for the rest of my life.”

“... what if I hurt you?”

“Ethony, who are you trying to fool?” she smiled. “You are too sweet to hurt someone.”

“but I already hurt you.”

“You were sleeping, and I let you. We are together in this, so stop taking all the blame on yourself. Rely on me. Can you do that?”

He nodded on her shoulder, slowly wrapping his arms around her too. For a long while, they just stayed there. They had a long time until the sun rise, so there was no need to rush back into the palace.

“I want to ask something,” Amber said when he had stopped crying.

“What?”

“Was it tasty? My blood, I mean.”

“Y-your majesty!” he buried his face in her shoulder. “Don’t ask such a thing.”

“Is this a yes? That’s good. I would be offended if you said I taste bad.”

“...You are teasing me.”

“I am not!” she chukled. Caressing his hair, it was soft, she liked it. “Maybe a little, but it’s true. You can drink some from time to time, it didn’t even hurt.”

“... because of my venom,” he said, passing his tongue on his fangs. “Are you truly not scared of me?”

“Of course not. Are you scared of me?”

“... a little,” he admitted. “I’m afraid that you, your majesty… won’t let me get out of the palace if you think I’ll hurt someone. I won’t!”

“I know you won’t. And I’ll never try to lock you up, I’m not a monster. We should spend more time together, if we do so you’ll see that there is no reason to be scared of me. Also, can you do me a favor?”

“Anything, your majesty.”

“Stop calling me your majesty,” she said, surprising the both of them. “I’m tired of being called like this, even my grandfather calls me that, I want to simply be Amber.”

“...Amber,” he tested the word. “Amber, do you… also, feel alone?”

She just smiled in response.

“...rely on me,” he said. “it’s… a two-people job. I’ll be with your for the rest of your life after all.”

The words made him feel embarrassed as soon as they left his mouth. But they were true. And that was enough for now.

[chanfictions]

Akatsuki reader, partners...mmmmm maybe Hidan and Kisame.

Again, fem! The reader gets hit by someone else's technique.

(Or she was stupidly thrown something that she didn't have time to dodge).

The reader gets aroused and suddenly wants to have sex, whines, rubs herself against Kisame and Hidan, and they decide to help her ;3

(Either arrive at the base and fuck there, or right where they got rid of the opponents)

Hey anon! Sooooo, I know this isn't exactly what you requested. I couldn't for the life of me fit Hidan and Kisame into the same box to make this work, so I just stuck with Kisame. It started with your ask. One thing led to another and this happened. I got carried away with plot. Again. Hope you still enjoy! 

Cupid

18+ Content! Minors DNI!

Kisame x Reader

Smut with a splash of plot. Unprotected sex-ish. Reader is assumed to be on birth control. Public sex-ish. Aphrodisiacs. Mentions of blood during combat.

You were sent on a mission together to retrieve a special relic that had some unexpected side effects.

3.4k

This mission was doomed from the start.

Pain had partnered you with Kisame on an infiltration and retrieval mission to acquire a powerful ninja tool being housed in a fortified military compound not far from the Hidden Sound. Stealth was your forte, so this sort of thing was right up your alley. While you had no hard-hitting combat skills to fall back on in the event that something went awry, you weren't particularly worried. As a phantom thief with a perfect record in your high profile heists, the thought of getting caught or needing to participate in a fight hardly crossed your mind. You insisted to Pain that you had never needed backup in the past and could easily do this yourself, but Pain disagreed. Kisame was assigned to you more or less as a bodyguard whether you liked it or not.

Kisame had been running solo since Itachi's death and had gotten a tad rusty when it came to fighting alongside another person. Your battle techniques got along about as well as oil and water. You favored covert sabotage and traps, and Kisame, well, Kisame was Kisame. Nothing that man did was small. He transformed every battlefield he encountered into a shark-infested lake before completely obliterating his opponents.

That's how everything went sideways. Kisame, bless his blue heart, was not subtle. You donned your camouflage jutsu and got ready to slink into the compound. "I'll pop a flare if I get into trouble. It's going to be much easier to sneak in and out without a 6'8" sword on legs following me. Just wait here."

Staring at the spot where he thought you were probably standing, Kisame's face twisted slightly. "This really isn't a good idea, Y/N." Unfortunately for Kisame, you were already long gone, and he was having a conversation with the wind. With a heavy sigh, he leaned back against a thick tree, focusing on the compound not far off in the distance where you would be poking around on your own. He didn't like the idea of you going in there alone. You were still relatively new to the Akatsuki, and your skills had yet to be formally tested. Kisame got along with you quite well and rather liked you, so allowing you to dive head first into danger without any real offensive jutsu in your arsenal left him on edge.

That overprotective nervousness regarding your safety was what sent everything spiraling out of control. An alarm sounding from within the walls of the compound left Kisame bristling and looking skyward for a flare. As the seconds ticked by into minutes with no cloud of smoke rising into the sky and the clear sound of soldiers mobilizing inside, Kisame made the executive decision to throw your plan out the window.

What he didn't know was that the alarm you set off was a decoy. Oh, shit. After plunging the base into chaos, it occurred to you that you had neglected to tell Kisame as much. At that moment, you realized that Kisame was probably about to charge in, sharkskin blazing. Shit, shit, shit! Every profanity you knew blared across your stream of consciousness like ticker tape as you hurriedly snatched the relic longbow you had been sent in to retrieve. A gooey sap coated the slick wood which left you quickly wiping your palms on your thighs to clean your hands before making a beeline for the exit. The growing cacophony of chaos outside announced Kisame's arrival.

As you expected, things outside had gotten a little out of hand. Kisame was in the heat of battle, taking on an army by himself and winning. Jutsu flew across the battlefield like exchanges of elemental cannon fire. Half of a battalion was encased in water prisons and the other was fleeing from shark filled orbs of water. Kisame was grinning ear to ear as he swatted off one after another like whiffle balls with Samehada.

You quickly scurried across the scene, sneaking up behind Kisame and whisper-screaming to get his attention. "Kisame, you big dummy! It was just a diversion! I'm fine!!"

Surprised, Kisame turned an eye to where he assumed you were while sending another enemy flying with a swing of his greatsword with an amused chuckle. "Next time, you might want to tell me what your plan is. Here I thought you were fighting off an army all by yourself."

"No, that's just you! Come on, I got the thing. Let's go!" You danced around him to avoid the swings of his sword, still wanting to keep yourself out of sight. Upon seeing his feet shift, you turned around just in time to see a flurry of arrows flying your way in such a wide spray that dodging them was going to be a feat.

Kisame blocked what he could with Samehada, but not knowing where exactly you were, wasn't sure he had protected you. A yelp answered his question. You shimmered back into sight just in front of him. He missed one, and it had plunged straight through your thigh. A stain of your blood quickly began mixing in with the sap you had wiped on your pants earlier. "Damnit!"

"I'm fine! Let's just go!" You shouted over the clatter of weapons and incoming pursuit, getting ready to run. With a snarl, Kisame reached down and snapped both ends off of the arrow before unceremoniously throwing you over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and retreating.

Fortunately, the soldiers had been so devastated by Kisame's onslaught that they hardly had the numbers to launch a fruitful pursuit. In the chaos, they had yet to notice that you stole the very item this outpost had been built to protect. Once he had put sufficient distance between you two and the base, he searched briefly for some cover to deal with your leg wound and leapt down from the towering branches to set you down with your back to a barky trunk.

You were beginning to feel flushed and hot as a shiver of heat rattled through your body and left an oddly pleasant knot in your belly. Blood roared in your ears as your heart began to race. When you looked up at Kisame, something felt… different.

Kisame knelt down to look at your leg. "You should have been standing behind me," he chided while setting one large palm on your thigh to brace it while he used the other to remove the broken arrow shaft. An ache built in your core as you caught your lip between your teeth. The warmth of his hand sent a tingling sensation rippling through your body. "Sorry, I didn't mean for that to hurt."

With massively dilated pupils, you stared at him hungrily. "It… didn't hurt," you breathed. With a deep inhale, you wondered how you never noticed how good he smelled.

Kisame stared back at you critically. "You're awfully sweaty for someone who wasn't running." Shock washed over his face after touching your forehead. You were positively boiling. "Y/N, are you feeling alright? Was there poison on that arrowhead? Your eyes..." Concern was beginning to bubble as he pulled the item in question from his pack, examining it, completely oblivious to the wild fantasies bubbling in your head.

He was so close. Your body hummed to life as that heat in your belly began growing in size. An ache throbbed through your core. Your heart was in your mouth. Every inch of your skin pricked with the need for contact. And Kisame… how had you never noticed just how hot he was? Sure, you had some occasional dirty, late night fantasies about him. But now? You couldn't tear your eyes away from him. The muscles rippling across his torso were hardly concealed by that black cloak. Even with those unusual features, his face was remarkably handsome, not to mention each time he spoke, shocks seemed to travel straight through your body and into your clit. Still with your lip caught between your teeth, you let out a sultry breath and ghosted your fingertips along his firm bicep. All that seemed to do was make your hunger worse.

Kisame, entirely oblivious to what was unfolding behind your eyes, just looked confused. The arrowhead didn't appear to have any substance left on it, and he couldn't think of another cause for your apparently unwell state. He unpacked some rudimentary first aid supplies from his pack and wrapped some gauze tightly around your thigh as a temporary measure to staunch the bleeding. Thinking that your stare focused at him was vacant, he snapped his fingers in front of your face to try to get your attention. "Hey, talk to me. What's going on with you?"

While his arm was extended, you latched onto it like a lifeline, nuzzling your face into his bicep and inhaling deeply. "Kisame..." You couldn't resist. You needed to touch him. Following that arm back to his torso, your hands traced every ripple of muscle while Kisame froze in shock.

You were his partner. While he undoubtedly found you attractive, this seemed like an odd time to suddenly declare your own desires. "What's gotten into you?" He wrapped his hands around your wrists, engulfing them entirely, as they traversed his muscular chest.

"Dunno… I just really… really need you." You used the grip he had to pull yourself in, burying your face against his neck and breathing deeply again. "You smell so good…"

A light heat rushed across Kisame's cheeks as you abruptly began coming on to him. Between your strange behavior and the thrill of the battle he had just been in, he was amped up. Your body being pressed so tightly against his was causing some complications to arise. His pulse quickened as you nuzzled and rubbed yourself against him. Feeling your breasts against his chest and your heated breath on his neck was distracting him from the issue at hand. "Y/N…" He let out your name in a low growl, intending it to be a warning, but it didn't quite come off with the bite he had intended. Hearing that word fall from his lips in such a tone just set you ablaze. A little moan escaped your lips, and you coiled yourself around him like a lusty little boa constrictor, trailing little bites and open mouth kisses on his neck, savoring every salty inch of his exposed skin. Another deep growl rumbled in Kisame's chest as he ran a strong palm up your spine to the back of your neck. "You're under the influence of some kind of jutsu," he breathed heavily, trying very hard to resist biting you back as his own desire built rapidly. There was no denying how steamy this situation was growing.

"Don't care," you whispered, nibbling at his ear as your hands wandered the chiseled landscape of his body.

"You're injured," he continued, now getting sucked into your lusty riptide, grazing your neck with pointed teeth.

"Don't care," you breathed again, beginning to unzip his cloak.

"We're in enemy territory," he murmured between bites on your throat that no doubt left marks before swallowing you in a crushing kiss. Those calloused hands ran up your sides, wanting to explore more but seeming hesitant.

"Don't care," you mewled, reaching for the waist of his pants, your fingertips grazing the impressive package Kisame was concealing, wiggling your hips for any kind of relief from the needy heat that was driving you to the brink of madness. Your panties were drenched. Your core ached. It was like you had been edged for two days straight without any kind of release. Every nerve in your body was hypersensitive to touch.

Another deep sound rattled in his throat. You ensnared him in this whirlwind, and there was no going back now. You undressed each other in a flurry of zippers and fabric, discarding one item after another in a heap upon the leaves scattered across the forest floor. You didn't care about the dirt. Nothing else existed to you right now outside of the deft hands moving across your body, making you arch your back and moan. His scent flooded your head. You were drowning in Kisame, yet felt like you were dying of thirst. You wanted him. Needed him. Your brain and body shared a singular focus. Neither the mission nor your bleeding leg mattered right now.

Kisame picked you up by the backs of your thighs, pressing your back against the rough trunk of the tree while leaving a trail of branding bites along your neck and collarbone, drawing a whine out of you. You wrapped your uninjured leg around his waist, grinding your soaked pussy against him and letting a lewd moan drift into the sky. That little bit of friction alone was nearly enough to send you over the edge. Your hands wandered, caressing every ridge and ripple of the muscle coiled like steel cables under his skin. This man was built. By now, you were well aware that he was hung like a horse as well. That impressive appendage was currently teasing the hell out of your hungering little hole. You could feel that broad head rubbing through your slick folds as you shifted. "Kisame, please," you whispered with a breathy lust, rolling your hips against him.

A low, raspy chuckle tickled your ear. "You're going to scream and give away our location," he teased.

"Then kiss me so I can't." Your desperation to have that massive girth inside of you dripped from every pore as you tangled your arms around his neck to pull him into a hungry kiss.

Unable to decline such a delicious request, Kisame shifted you to begin impaling you on his impressive cock painstakingly slowly, stretching your walls around him. He smothered your wails with his mouth. Your back scraped across the rough bark behind you, but you didn't care. This was divine. You tensed and whimpered, both aching to be filled and struggling to accommodate the sheer size of him. You clung to him for dear life, gasping and catching his lip between your teeth as he finally sheathed himself. Your core throbbed and pulsed. Nerves ached for input. You used your good leg to try to pull him in even deeper. Another little chuckle rolled through him at your enthusiasm and impatience. "Someone is eager," he teased again with a single thrust to punctuate his statement.

You mewled before biting his neck. "Kisammm-" He silenced you with a bruising kiss before any more complaints or moans could escape your lips as he began drilling you into that tree. Birds fled from the branches above from the force of his motions disturbing their roosts. You clawed his chest and back, screaming into his mouth as he repeatedly buried himself in your fluttering core. You were on fire. Each time your hypersensitive clit rubbed against his body, stars erupted behind your eyes. Sweat slicked your bodies as a steamy heat began to rise. The drag of your nipples against his skin sent rippling shocks of pleasure through your entire being.

"Fuck, Y/N," he growled in your ear, large palms tightly gripping your ass as he drove himself into you again and again. You buried your face against his shoulder to let out a muffled wail as he sent you right over the edge. Your walls clenched tightly around him, eliciting a primal snarl from his lips. He sank his teeth into your neck as his powerful motions set impressions of that tree bark pressing into your back. With your good leg, you pulled him even deeper, arching into him as you flew off into orbit. A palm slammed over your mouth as he railed you into that tree to stifle the litany of cries erupting from your throat. Your head hit the wood behind you. He kept you pinned firmly there while fucking you into oblivion.

Your world melted away into nothing but the input of pleasure ripping through your body. The surrounding forest faded away. All you could hear was your own muffled heavy breathing, Kisame's grunts, and the slick sounds your bodies made between rhythmic contact. Every inch of you pulsed and throbbed with heat. Orgasm after orgasm tore through you in a continuous wave that left you with numbed legs and a soaked core. Your head was adrift in the clouds, the situation seeming impossible. Your new partner railing you against a tree in enemy territory was not your plan for this mission, but hell, you weren't going to question it. Your body ached and hungered for more. You kissed him as though he were your only source of air and you were suffocating.

Kisame picked up the pace, digging his fingers more firmly into your ass while keeping a tight clamp over your mouth to muffle the inhuman sounds you were making. Your eyes rolled back in your head as you lost yourself in another powerful crash of an orgasm, strangling his impressive girth with the crushing grip of your walls. A low growl and a series of curses rumbled through his body into yours as the depth of the thrusts increased until the hold your pussy had on him sent him over the edge and milked him dry. He growled your name through his release, gripping you tightly against his firm body. The combined sound of your heavy panting was the only thing that could be heard over the breeze rustling through leaves overhead.

That fog in your head slowly began to lift as you caught your breath. Your muscles trembled with fatigue as you dropped your head against his shoulder. "Fuck," you whispered through heavy breaths, slowly running your palms up his chest to his shoulders. Still pinned against the tree with his length buried within you, it took a moment for you to remember where you were. A soft hiss escaped your lips as he shifted your weight, reminding you that there was still a bleeding hole in your thigh.

"You good?" A raspy chuckle rumbled under your head that you had resting against his chest. He maintained his grip on you for the moment, not sure if you were about to go weak in the knees and collapse into a heap if he let you down.

"Yeah, I'm good," you giggled, turning your heated cheek against him before grimacing again when you looked down and saw the rather unfortunate state your leg was in.

Kisame slowly slid his length from you before gently setting your feet back down into the crunchy leaves littering the forest floor. With an arm still around your back for the sake of your stability, he glanced down at what you were eyeing, spotting your wound and what looked like a stain of pink that wasn't blood still flushing the surrounding skin. He carefully brushed his fingers against it, picking up a swipe of the gooey substance that you had wiped on your pants earlier that had seeped through the fabric and into your wound when you were hit. "What's this?" He inquired curiously, giving it a sniff.

"Some sap or something that was oozing from that bow," you breathed, shifting your weight onto your good leg and breathing heavily still as you leaned into him.

Kisame let out a hearty laugh. "You didn't wear gloves when you handled it, did you?"

Your face paled. You had entirely forgotten Pain's instructions regarding the handling of that weapon in your haste to leave with it during Kisame's little rumble with the defending army. "Oh, god -- damnit." An embarrassed laugh started shaking your shoulders as you defeatedly let your forehead fall against his chest.

"That bow is made of cherub wood. While it makes excellent longbows, its sap is also the primary ingredient in aphrodisiacs," Kisame teased. The embarrassed giggling overtook you and melted into genuine, hysterical laughter.

"Woops."

[thewayshedreamed]

Congrats on the 800 followers bby you deserve it! I have a good one for you. I slipped and fell in the shower and the only person who can help me is my enemy for nessian 👀👀👀

Well, Sim, it was you who BLEW my word count. I should have seen it coming, I guess 👀

Although, I will say you didn't do it alone. I also combined @maastrash 's prompt "Are you hurt? What happened?" and one from anon, "You're cute when you're all worried."

They all went together so well that I couldn't resist. And as a result, you got this 3k+ beast. RIP 800-word limit.

Anyway, I hope you like it, my love! Enjoy!

--

Nesta wasn't sure why she had agreed to go to the beach with Feyre, Rhysand, and his brothers. Gwyn had come through in her time of need and agreed to join them, but she'd quickly flipped her allegiances to spend more time on the beach with the others instead of retreating back to the house with Nesta. She had a suspicion it had something to do with a certain tall, dark, and broody man who hoarded his smiles from the public eye.

Unless the public eye belonged to Gwyneth Berdara.

After the long trek to their rented beach house, Nesta stopped at the edge of the dock to knock the sand from her shoes. There was a small shower outside the backdoor to rinse the saltwater and stubborn sand from her body, and Nesta hissed against the stark cold that rained down on her legs. A proper shower was the only thing that was going to combat the chill in her blood, and that realization was enough to solidify her decision to stay inside the rest of the afternoon with a romance novel.

Her towel was full of sand, so she hanged it over the porch railing and headed directly to the bathroom. It was best if she peeled her bikini off in the shower to avoid scattering any lingering sand all over her bedroom, so she moved swiftly into the small bathroom and cranked the water nearly to the warmest setting. The firm grip of her arms around her body did very little to combat the goosebumps on her skin, and she let out a near moan at the feel of the hot water.

She closed the shower door behind her and stood beneath the spray properly to rinse her hair. Her bikini made a loud slopping sound against the tile in the corner. Dealing with it was a task for someone with any motivation beyond warmth and cleanliness.

Nesta lathered her hair and combed a generous amount of conditioner through her strands to help with the detangling process. The wind had created a monster, adding another notch against the beach in her book.

While her conditioner did the Cauldron's work, she grabbed a wash cloth and body wash. As she moved back beneath the spray, her foot slipped over the suds near the drain, but Nesta righted herself with a firm hand against the tile wall. The excessive amount of conditioner wasn't helping matters.

She rinsed her hair and body all at once to get to her lounge clothes as soon as possible. Stepping out of the spray to hang her washcloth on the nearby rack to dry was near torture now that she was properly warmed, and Nesta wasted no time in stepping back into the water for one last hit before shutting it off.

That was her intention, anyway. What happened instead is that her traitorous feet were no match for the slick tile, and the backward steps were all it took to send her careening to the floor. She slapped at the wall to no avail, finding no ally in reach. What she did find was insult to injury when various toiletry bottles rained down on top of her.

She had stupidly tried to brace her fall with her other hand, sending a spark of pain from her palm to her shoulder. Her groan echoed off the walls and the shower showed no mercy as the water rained onto her chest, all over her face.

A booming voice made her eyes snap open, only to snap them shut against the sting of the water.

"Nes?"

Her delay had been too long. The bathroom door burst open, and through the frosted glass, she saw Cassian's imposing form assessing the situation.

"Nesta? Are you hurt? What happened?"

This could not be happening. Of all the fuckers to be in the house at one of her lowest points, it had to be Cassian. Gwyn would be hearing about this.

"Go away."

She cringed against how dejected she sounded. Turning her head and shielding her eyes with her uninjured arm, she found that he did no such thing.

"Cassian," she warned. "Get the fuck out of here. Now."

He propped a hip on the bathroom counter. Arrogant bastard. At least, from what she could tell, his chin was turned up toward the ceiling rather than his gaze being fixed on the frosted glass.

"Something tells me things aren't going well if you've yet to peel yourself off the floor."

Nesta rolled her eyes and turned her face toward the water once more. Maybe she could drown.

"Let me help."

"I thought I was pretty clear. I'm not accepting help from you."

A deep sigh sounded in the bathroom, but before she could snap, his rough voice followed.

"Fine. Don't accept my help. Rhys came with me to grab snacks for the others. I'll have him switch with me."

"No," she roared, cringing against the command in her voice and her lack of options.

Every time she tried to sit up, pain tore through various parts of her body. Her ass, the hip that had taken most of the impact, her shoulder. She needed help, and while she hated the idea of accepting it from Cassian, she would rot in hell before Rhysand helped her out of the shower. How had she found herself in a situation where her only chance at help was the man who spent the majority of his life being as big of a pain in her ass as possible?

His voice sounded again, but it carried away from her. "Rhys, head back without me." His brother's voice came next, but Nesta couldn't hear him over the patter of water in the shower. "Nah, I'm good. Just taking a break from the sun. I'll catch up."

With that, he shut the bathroom door behind him. At least Cassian had the good sense to lie to Rhys rather than recruit any additional attention to her compromising position.

"Alright, Sweetheart. I've got a towel ready. I'm going to open up and shut the water off."

Nesta's breath hitched at the rush of cool air, at the form that cast her in shadow almost entirely. She pulled her legs up and shielded her chest with her good arm, earning a throaty chuckle from her savior.

"I'm not looking. I'd rather when a woman wants me to see them naked."

Why her need to launch jabs at him overpowered her pain was lost on her. "Must have been a while, then."

"Saw a good set out on the beach, actually. She was feeling pretty generous after watching me and Az play volleyball, I guess."

Nesta scowled. That tingling sensation down her spine didn't feel secondary to her injuries at hearing the story.

"You're a pig," she grumbled, but she let Cassian drape the towel over her front and ease her into a sitting position.

"It felt rude not to look."

Her huff of a laugh was genuine. Damn him. He moved to wrap the towel tightly around her shoulders.

"Think you can stand up?"

Nesta grimaced against the soreness in her hip. "Yeah. In a couple of minutes."

Without a word, Cassian hoisted her into his arms with measured gentleness. Her cheek rested against his shoulder since she didn't have her arms free to prop her up, but she barely had the energy anyway.

He maneuvered them out of the tight bathroom and down the hall to her room, easing her onto the edge of her bed. She opened her mouth to say thanks, but he had already spurred into action.

"What did you want to wear?"

"I'll get it."

He shot her a glare. "Fine. I'll pick."

Nesta growled her frustration, but Cassian only ticked his eyebrows upward in challenge. She hadn't realized initially that he wore only his swim trunks, half of his black hair pulled back and out of his face. The sun added color to his already bronze skin and left a soft blush on his cheeks that accented his hazel eyes. And she, to the contrary, was a lump beneath a massive towel. One that had managed to injure herself during a simple shower, evidenced by the soaked strands of hair plastered to her face and shoulders.

"There's a large night shirt in my suitcase and some sleep shorts."

Cassian grabbed them before turning toward her, a hand gripping the back of his neck. "Anything... underneath?"

Nesta allowed a sardonic laugh. "Underwear are for people with the use of both their arms."

He cleared his throat and left the clothes next to her on the bed. With a final instruction to call for him if she needed anything, he was gone.

She assessed the clothing and picked the shirt up first. One of her arms was through a sleeve in no time, but the second one was another story entirely. With a defeated whimper she gave up, dropping her arms into her lap with a hiss.

"Cassian!"

No response. Maybe he didn't hear her; the house was rather large. Her voice was louder the second time.

"Cassian!"

A muffled thud sounded, followed by a quick, "Coming!"

He appeared at the threshold of her door, dripping with water and suds. A large towel was wrapped around his waist, his grip white-knuckled to keep it in place.

"Everything alright? Where's the fire?"

Nesta blinked at him. "You said to call you if I needed anything," she pointed out, running her eyes over his state in accusation.

Cassian let out a long, suffering sigh. "I meant it, but you said you had this part covered. I take a 3-minute shower, tops."

"Well, I don't have it covered."

There was more bite to her voice than she'd intended, but self-pity and shame were settling into her bones. She hugged the nightshirt tighter against her body to serve as some form of armor, but it wasn't nearly enough.

Cassian's shoulders sagged, but she barely noticed in favor of watching beads of water travel down his torso, over his strong calves, and make a small puddle on the floor below. "I'm sorry. I was full of sweat and sand. I thought you'd be more likely to take help if I was clean."

Something in her chest softened at his forethought, even more so since he was right.

"Go finish your shower," she relented, settling her hips deeper into the mattress. "I can wait until you're done. I just�� I need some help with my clothes."

He was on the balls of his feet, ready to haul himself straight to the shower. The water beneath his feet made her breath hitch. The words left her before she could think better of them.

"Careful! Don't rush." He blinked as if seeing her for the first time, but his usual cocky grin eventually stretched across lips. "I can't help you if you fall, too. And I'm not keeping you company on the ground until the rest of them come back."

Cassian's smile grew. He offered her a wink before he replied, "You're cute when you're all worried."

Her eyes narrowed to slits. "Go."

He hurried off on balanced feet, whether that was on Nesta's orders or a natural grace, she wasn't sure. While she waited, she opted to set them up as best as possible to make the process quick and painless. Well, minimally painful, considering there was a layer of awkwardness that was going nowhere fast. That was without counting the actual physical pain she would no doubt endure.

With a pathetic swatting motion, she knocked her sleep shorts to the floor and began shuffling them around with her feet. She'd managed to slip one into the proper leg hole before she heard Cassian's rich laugh from the doorway.

"Stubborn woman," he mused, seemingly allowing a sliver of affection to slip through. Nesta knew better.

She scowled, turning her chin up to make sure he knew how unwelcome his teasing was. He laughed harder and dropped to his knees in front of her, adjusting the tee he’d pulled over his head on his way into the room.

"What do you want to put on first? You're half-committed to both."

"Let's go with the shirt. It's long enough to cover me while we work on the shorts." Cassian nodded, reaching toward the crumpled article of clothing in her lap. Nesta jerked back to establish some expectations before moving forward. "You're about to see me naked."

"Yeah, probably," he sighed, as if it was a burden to him, too. "I won't look more than necessary though."

"Okay, good. And this doesn't change anything, so don't start acting weird around me. We take this to the grave, too. We'll never hear the end of it otherwise."

Cassian bit the inside of his cheek, pursing his lips in a failed attempt to hide his amusement. "You have my word."

He gently peeled the shirt from her grasp, sliding each sleeve beyond the crooks of her elbows before pulling the opening over her head. Nesta hissed at the pinch of pain through her shoulder but bit her tongue.

"I know. I'm sorry." He pulled the fabric down her sides and over her back. The backs of his knuckles dragged across her soft skin, and she barely contained her shiver.

Clearing his throat, he looked to the floor where her shorts were still tangled around her feet. He got to work on straightening them and allowed her to slip her other foot into the proper place. He didn't dare look up at her through his next request.

"Think you could put your weight on the leg that's not as sore?"

Nesta swallowed and said, “Yeah, I think so.”

“Use my shoulders to brace your weight, too.”

Her hands trembled as she reached for him. He was solid beneath her, the muscles in his shoulders unyielding under her grip. She had to resist flexing her fingers more firmly in a test of their resilience.

Cassian eased her shorts upward, the roughness of his knuckles tracing the same blazing path as they had over her back. His gaze was fixed resolutely on the floor, yet he managed to release them at the proper moment. The soft pop of the elastic snapped her out of whatever trance she was under, but the echo remained in the feel of his warm hands easing her hips back down to the mattress.

"Maybe we should have someone take a look at you; make sure you're okay." His brows came together when he realized she was already shaking her head in refusal.

"I'll rest a bit, and I'll be fine. I may be sore tomorrow, but I'm good."

Without a word, Cassian braced one of his legs outward and scooped Nesta into his arms. It grated her nerves how easily he'd lifted them both into a standing position.

"What are you doing? You can't make me go to the doctor."

Cassian leaned back and shook his head, trying to get his rogue hair out of his face. "I'm not manhandling you to the doctor, Nes. Settle down." His bottom lip jutted out to try and blow the strands away while he walked. "I'm taking you to the couch and getting you ice."

Oh. Well, that hadn't been what she expected. The gesture was enough to have her mindlessly raise a hand to tuck a lock of hair behind his ear. His eyes snapped to hers, his steps slowing to a stop in front of the couch. Their faces were close enough that she could run her nose along his if she wanted to, but she definitely didn't. Not even at the feel of his firm chest heaving against her.

They stayed that way, transfixed by the contact that was somehow more intimate than when he had draped clothes over her naked body. Their breathing settled into a rhythm together, and Nesta couldn't resist tracing the path of his sharp jaw. His slight stubble scraped against the pads of her fingers, all the way to his chin, where she grazed over his skin with her thumb. She snatched her hand away like he'd burned her.

Cassian's throat bobbed, and his fingers flexed against her ribs. His other hand did the same against her thigh, except his thumb traced a soft, idle path back and forth along the sensitive skin at the back. He made no moves to put her down.

Nesta knew she would regret the loss of his warmth immediately, but the line they flirted was thin. Not to mention, it was irresponsible to succumb to such a base urge considering, any other time, they would be poised to rip each others' heads off.

The shrieks of children at the neighboring beach house snapped their attention to something beyond the bubble they'd created for themselves. Cassian eased her to the couch and positioned pillows around her to keep as much pressure off of her aching joints as possible. He threw a blanket over her legs before heading to the nearby kitchen for ice.

Nesta watched his retreat with shameless appreciation. How had she never stopped to look at him through her current lens? Doing so may have been enough to make her more agreeable in nature. The thought made worry sink in her gut with what had transpired moments before, and she craved the oddly familiar banter they'd engaged in since he showed up to the scene of her demise.

"So," she called, eyes fixed on the intricately patterned throw pillow beneath her injured arm, "how much did you see?"

His voice was closer than she'd expected, but she managed not to startle. "Uh— I mean. I saw some things."

Nesta fixed her glare on him, and he gave her a sideways smile while he placed the ice strategically over her shoulder. She hissed against the cold, earning a look of apology.

"What things?"

He let out along breath. "A bit of everything, really. Not on purpose. " A slight blush turned the tips of his ears pink, but Nesta didn't comment on it. "Mostly, you know—" He gestured back and forth between his pecs. "—everything else was more... indirect, I guess."

Nesta groaned, allowing her forehead to fall to her good hand, cradling it in her palm. Cassian moved to the nearby armchair and took a sip of his bottled water.

"Don't be embarrassed, Sweetheart," he soothed, albeit mockingly. "They're not the worst ones I've seen today."

—

They had watched a movie in loaded silence until the others trudged up to the house near sunset. Nesta gave the cliff notes of how she'd wound up injured on the couch, making no mention of Cassian's help. The last thing they needed was an onslaught of questions from their nosy friends.

"I thought you were coming back out there. What happened to you?"

Cassian's brows drew together at Rhys' question. "Well, I saw Nesta laid up on the couch and offered to watch a movie with her. I lost track of time."

Rhysand eyed him skeptically, but no one questioned it. Cassian redirected everyone's attention to the matter of what they would cook as a group that night, but he was sure to give Nesta strict orders to stay planted on the couch. Overbearing prick.

With so many hands on deck, dinner was ready quickly. They all settled around the table, and Gwyn had made it a point to cushion Nesta's chair with pillows before letting her sit down. Her best friend must have sensed the verbal lashing that awaited her in the privacy of their shared room that night.

Laughter filled the space while they told stories from the day's events. Apparently, Azriel had rescued Gwyn from a feared creature of the deep while taking a dip in the water. He had hardly been able to stop laughing himself to tears long enough to complete the epic tale of how he defeated the bundle of seaweed that had threatened Gwyn's life so mercilessly. The latter hadn't found it quite so amusing, but Az offered her a broad smile in apology.

Nesta wasn't sure she had ever seen one quite so wide on his face, and holy gods. If she'd thought him to be beautiful before, she had been sorely mistaken.

As they usually did, Rhysand and Feyre settled close to each other as the other talked. Rhys was busy murmuring things into Feyre's ear that made her cheeks as red as Gwyn's sunburn, which earned a proper warning from Cassian to "stop being gross with his little sister". Nesta agreed with him enough to refrain from reminding him that he was in no way related to Feyre.

"Don't mind him, Darling," Rhys purred. "He's pouting because the only action he'll see during this trip will be self-directed."

Cassian nostrils flared in annoyance, and for whatever reason, Nesta found herself rising to his defense.

"I don't know," she sang, "I hear Cassian saw a pretty good set today."

A chorus of questions broke out, but he only had eyes for Nesta. The gleam in his eyes told her he knew she hadn't been referring to the ones flashed to him and Azriel after the beach volleyball game.

"I did," he agreed, sipping some of the amber liquid in his glass. "Perfect, actually."

The questions continued, and Azriel reluctantly began recounting the tale of he and Cassian's victory flashing. Nesta used her good arm to raise her wine to her lips, mouthing a subtle thank you over the glass for everything he'd done for her. The least she could do was preserve a bit of his dignity.

Cassian lifted his class in mock cheers and said everything he needed to with a single wink.

The pleasure was all mine.

[moeruhoshi]

I've been watching anime all day so here's a late nalu day gift

Lucy slammed her bedroom door and flopped down on her bed with a weary sigh, weeping into her pillow as her day finally came to an end.

The open door of her patio allowed her to hear the neighing of carriage horses taking away her most recent suitor, a man who barely knew what the meaning of personal space was.

Just how many princes and dukes had to waltz through their gates before the princess’ father realized that they had no interest in adequately courting her? It was painfully obvious how the lot of them were only interested in her well-displayed décolletage over her personality and spent more time schmoozing up to the king instead of trying to win her favor.

What hurt, even more, was knowing that she could never be with the one who was truly meant for her.

She stared at the red string tied to her pinky, the fiber ending far off in the distance where it connected to her destined partner. It calmed her in some ways, allowed her to feel a sense of clarity, knowing there was at least one more person out there who could give her the true love she craved.

She hoped every day, when Spetto called her down to meet another suitor, that it would be him, the one on the other end of her string, waiting to hold her as she wanted to hold him.

They could instead be a peasant, she thought as her hopes for him to visit one day were beginning to fade. Not that she cared about that kind of thing, but it meant that they didn't have the means to enter the castle easily. Or maybe they were somewhere in a neighboring country, too far away to find her. Maybe he hadn't been gifted the power to see the string and didn't know she was waiting for him but felt just as empty without her by his side.

She was sure if she voiced her knowledge of the red string to anyone else, they would call doctors from all over Earthland to analyze her cognitive function. 

But she desperately wanted to tell everyone that she had no intention of selecting a suitor through their gaudy traditions. She would instead venture out into the world to find her soulmate, the person at the end of her red string of fate. But knowing her father, he would only let her marry with the promise of the expanded wealth she would gain him from a political marriage.

"Miss? Are you still awake?" Spetto knocked lightly, the princess holding in her sniffles to hear what the maid had to say. "I'm sure you are…but I won't bother you. Your father wants you to know that he'll be inviting the Duke Cream from Veronica for another visit tomorrow. He's eager to correct his…insolent behavior from the last time he saw you."

The princess didn't bother answering and instead let out a frustrated sigh as the sound of her maid's footsteps echoed down the hall. The setting sun illuminated the crimson strand and her fingers loosely wrapped around it, her weak pout quivering as she tugged on the phantom satin.

"I'd rather have you, whoever you are..."

~000~

"The princess!" Spetto screamed as she ran into the King's throne room. Jude was sat upon his seat with the Duke at his side, their conversation halting at her interruption. "She's gone!"

"What in the world do you mean, woman? I'm sure that no good daughter of mine has just buried her nose in one of those god awful fairy tales again. Have the guards search the library for her," He gruffed, rolling his eyes as her demeanor became more hysterical and shaken.

"I have, your highness! The princess has run away, she's truly nowhere to be found!"

"And just when I was about to be introduced to my bride," The Duke frowned and tossed his bleached hair aside. "Send hounds after her, why don't you? I will not let this girl make a fool of me on this glorious day."

"Go on, then," The King glared at his guards standing nearby who quickly rushed out the door. "I should have known that girl would be trouble. Her mother had always filled her head with nothing but pure nonsense."

Lucy lifted her billowy skirt as she ran through the woods, deep within its darkness, trying her best to ignore the now wailing trumpets of distress audible in the distance. She knew it wouldn't have been long until someone noticed her absence, especially after having heard the reality behind Duke Cream’s visit.

It was by chance, an incident that occurred while she was passing her father's office the night before. Lucy heard the plans he made to arrange her marriage to the Duke, ensuring that their kingdom would absorb the principality. This meant her father would have an entire stronghold on the country of Fiore.

A life with that obnoxious and narcissistic Duke was not one she wanted, nor could even stand the thought of.

So, in a panic, she made plans to run away, leaving when the guards wouldn’t be around, going as far as she could go without any clear signs of which direction she'd taken off in. She persevered through her tiredness with the lone thought of her meeting her soulmate who was sure to greet her with a wide smile and open arms.

"This way! C'mon now, you'll never make it running without anywhere in mind!" A voice tinkled through the line of trees, halting the princess in her place as she breathed harshly and darted around scared eyes.

"Who's there! I-I'm not going back to the castle!" Lucy shouted as she turned about in circles, shrieking as a short blonde girl suddenly appearing from thin air

"Did I say I was trying to take you home? No! Now hurry it up! You'll never make it there if you make stops like this, follow me!" She instructed, turning toward the trees and beginning to run.

"Who are you?" Lucy asked between pants as she followed the shorter blonde, mesmerized by the trail of sparkles she left behind her, and the cute wings peeking out from beside her ears.

"A friend," She smiled as she continued maneuvering them through the woods. "And a guide! You’ll never get where you need to go without my help,"

"So you know where I'm going? You can see my string too?"

"Well, sure! I let you see it after all. Boy, was he worried when I told him you were stuck out here without your magic. Idiot almost killed himself trying to find his way through, but it can't be done by anyone but a spirit." She sighed and shook her head, rambling as they avoided a patch of bramble bushes 

"My soulmate...? He was looking for me too? Really?" Lucy felt her heart swell, beating stronger even as she ran, a dazzling smile taking its claim of her lips.

"Yup! You have a very loyal man waiting for you," She giggled. "He can't wait to meet you, said he'd get his house ready and everything while I was out looking for you. I apologize for taking so long, moving around in this realm isn't easy, there’s barely any magic in this land!”

"Magic? Like in books? Isn't that practice all made up?" The princess quirked a brow as the strange girl only giggled again and slowed her movements as they found purchase under the wide berth of a willow tree.

"It's quite amazing someone like you was born here when your home is with us, in the right Fiore. Now, come on! Everyone's waiting!" She grinned, ignoring Lucy's confusion as she pulled them through the hanging branches, the two suddenly falling into the void of the trunk.

"E-Eh?! W-Wha…!" Lucy fell to her knees as she suddenly felt queasy, holding a hand to her head and waited for her headache to subside. She looked up to see where the other blonde had gone, not finding her anywhere and instead met a new and sunny skyline. "Wasn't it…night just a moment ago?"

She stood to her shaky feet, finding her body no longer weighed down by exhaustion, tears, or dirt on her dress. Whatever was in the air made her feel light as, well, air. She'd never felt so amazing before! Just where had she gone when they fell through that tree?

Taking some small steps through the field in front of her, she looked down to her finger, the red string extending into the distance behind her.

"Oh wow…" When Lucy turned around, she was met with the image of a town she had never seen before, curiosity pulling her towards the bustling streets.

It was as she always imagined the streets of the village she ruled above looked; stalls serving food and selling fresh produce, children running and laughing, patrons bartering and making light conversation, happiness in everyone's eyes. Their smiles created her own, and she followed the string eagerly, feeling just right in the Fiore she’d been led to.

She worried this would all turn into a dream soon enough, there couldn't possibly be another Fiore…or the existence of magic at that. Her steps quickened as she feared Spetto would be in at any moment to wake her, feet carrying her towards a patch of woods that broke off from the town.

It would’ve made nice for a peaceful walk if she didn’t think the calm scenery before her would disappear.

“Oi, Gray, watch it!” A sharp voice boomed from the nearby distance. 

“Shut it! I know what I’m doing, it ain’t hard to paint a wall, flame brain!” 

“Don’t start a fight! We had to rebuild that side of the house five times because you two keep knocking it down!”

Lucy slowed down her pace as the volume of their argument increased but kept her eyes on the string that told her he was just ahead. 

Her eyes landed on a red-haired girl pointing a large sword at two boys who kneeled respectively in front of her, bowing their heads as she scolded them. 

Breaking through the line of trees, Lucy smoothed down her stray hairs and dusted off her dress, holding herself nervously as she continued forward.

Each step closer made her legs feel like jelly, flushed her cheeks, and made her heart beat a million times faster, her fingers twitching as she held her hands together. 

“U-Um...excuse me…?” Lucy’s voice was shaky as she approached the three, her eyes watery as she stared at the pink-haired boy who raised his head at the sound of her voice. The string fell into his lap; he was her soulmate.

The red-haired girl turned to face her first, eyes concerned as they fell on her disheveled appearance. “My goodness, are you okay? You’re not lost, are you?”

“N-No...I—“ 

"Oh, crap! It's you!" 

"Don't say that to a girl, idiot! You have no idea who that is!" The raven-haired boy threw a glare at the pink-haired one who quickly stood up.

“Mavis didn’t tell me when you’d get here, I would’ve come to pick you up if I knew you were...oh, hey, don’t cry, okay? Um, here,” He quickly took the end of his scarf to wipe her tears, feeling a knot in his throat as she gently fell against his chest. "It's gonna be okay."

"I just...I just can't believe…" She shook her head, not minding the stain she created on his shirt. "That you're real...that you were waiting for me."

"'Course I was! Having a new family member is always exciting, and my hearts been leapin' like crazy waitin' for you! You were stuck out there all alone and I couldn't come find you. I'm sorry it took so long." 

Erza forced herself and Gray to look away as the blonde hastily kissed their wild companion, his shock present in the stiffness of his back.

He was startled by the sudden action but felt himself melting into the touch, desperate as well to be close to his soulmate.

"I'm home," Lucy laughed with a bit of surprise, Natsu's eyes widening along with his grin. 

"Yeah! Welcome back!"

[invisibleanonymousmonsters]

All Men Have Limits - IV

Character: Dick Grayson x Reader x Bruce Wayne

Summary: A certain bat believes that Y/N is in way over her head, that she’s too naive to act in her best interest. So, whether she wants it or not, the vigilante family is going to help and protect her before she gets herself killed.

Word Count: 3,800+

Previously on…

As Y/N packed her bags, she was also brainstorming her route once she got to her safe house. She’s just stay there for a couple of nights. Then she’d leave town. Gotham wasn’t safe for her right now. And if she was out of city limits, The Court of Owls had less influence. Though she didn’t doubt they’d send an assassin to the other side of the world to hunt her down.

Y/N looked around her extravagant room.

She doubted she’d ever be back here.

Things were getting…complicated.

It was a cruel reminder for why she kept to herself. People meant drama. Drama meant distractions. And distractions meant she wasn’t focused on the task at hand – which was bringing down the corrupt.

Y/N was just zipping up her duffle when there was a knock on her door.

“Come in!” She turned to see Dick walking in.

He eyed her bag. “What are you doing?”

“I was just about to go pack up my equipment in the cave.”

“No, you’re not. You’re staying here,” he confirmed.

She gave him a repulsed look. “Uhh…No, I am not. This mansion is about to be flooded with unidentified members of The Court.”

“Sure is,” Dick smirked. “But I have a solution.”

He held out his hand to show a bracelet. It looked expensive. The band was gold but there was a giant garnet gemstone at the center of it.

Dick handed it to Y/N.

“You shouldn’t have?” Y/N asked with confusion.

“I called in a favor with an old friend. She’s a magician.”

Y/N tried not to laugh, “A magician?”

Dick gave her a playful glare. “Yeah, a magician. But it’s not tricks and gimmicks. She knows actual magic.” He tapped the gemstone. “When you wear this, you’ll look like a different person. It’s a cloaking spell.”

“Why didn’t you guys suggest this right away?”

Dick sighed. “Bruce isn’t fond of metas and…magic.”

“Wouldn’t it be easier for me to just leave?”

“I would rather have you in disguise with our eyes on you, than have you out of reach,” he explained softly. “When you’re wearing this, all of us will still be able to see the real you. But not anyone else.”

“I don’t want to go to this stupid gala. I’ll just wear this and stay in my room or the cave.”

“Well…that’s the other part,” Dick cleared his throat awkwardly. “You’re gonna be my date.”

Y/N blinked in surprise. She couldn’t remember the last time anyone asked her on any kind of date. Not that Dick even asked. He more so told her.

“That wasn’t exactly a request, Dick.”

“Everyone knows everyone. If you’re by yourself, people will ask too many questions. But if you’re my date, no one will think twice why you’re there.”

“I-I don’t have anything to wear…”

Dick laughed lightly. “Alfred already sent out for a dress and shoes for you.”

“…why do I feel like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman?”

“Come on, Y/N. You know it’s not like that.”

Y/N remained annoyed.

“I’ll be here at your door around 8 tonight, k?” Dick gave her a soft smirk.

“Fine.”

———————

This was just another night for Dick. He’d been dragged to enough of these stupid galas to know the drill: wide smiles, forced laughter, and lay the charm on real thick. With the way this family handled their identities, they could’ve been a family of actors instead of vigilantes.

Dick straightened his cufflinks as he made his way to Y/N’s room.

He could hear the murmur’s of the guest from the ballroom, proving just how many people were attending for the sound to reach him in such a giant manor.

There was a part of Dick that half expected Y/N to be in her usual baggy sweaters and leggings when he opened the door. A silent protest that she wasn’t going to be anyone’s arm candy tonight.

Dick knew he didn’t give her much choice.

When his family had been discussing the situation, Dick tried to off to stay hidden out of sight with Y/N. But Alfred was having none of it. They all knew he took these events rather seriously. Especially one that was started and named after Bruce’s mother.

Dick knocked and turned his back to the door, he double checked there were no guests exploring where they shouldn’t be.

When the door opened, Dick turned around and was stunned to silence.

“Is this bracelet working on you or do I really look that bad?”

Y/N shifted as he stared at her like she’d cast a spell on him.

Dick was seeing Y/N. That was for sure.

“I see the dress fit,” he finally spoke.

What the hell was the matter with him? That’s really what he chose to say?

Though Y/N couldn’t help but laugh at the comment. “That it does.”

Dick woke up a bit and cleared his throat. “You look…beautiful.”

He never had a problem charming women. So why is he suddenly talking like a total cave man?

“Don’t look so surprised,” Y/N call him out teasingly. “Just because I dress like a scrub every day doesn’t mean I don’t know how to clean up.”

His brow furrowed at the first comment. “You’ve never looked like a scrub, Y/N.”

OK. OK. He was getting back to his normal self.

“Well…” Y/N broke eye contact from her bashfulness. “Thank you.”

Dick held out the hook of his arm. “Shall we?”

Y/N inhaled, “Right.”

As soon as she hooked her hand onto Dick’s bicep, a wave of relief washed over her. She wasn’t doing this alone; she was doing this with him at her side.

“So, what’s the the plan here?” Y/N asked nervously.

“The plan is to blend in. Don’t talk to any press. And…” He smirked. “It wouldn’t hurt to try and have a good time.”

“Right. I’ll try to do that while I’m in a room possibly filled with people who want me dead…” Y/N sighed.

“Not ‘possibly.’ There will be.”

Y/N narrowed her eyes at him. “Way to make me feel better, Dick.”

He laughed. “You’ll be fine. I’ll be with you the whole time. Damian, Tim, and Bruce will be there, too. And somehow Alfred convinced Jason to even make an appearance. You’re not in this alone, Y/N.”

“Mhmm,” Y/N answered as they arrived to the party. She didn’t bother hiding that she was still extremely nervous and on edge.

“I did really mean it,” Dick told her quietly.

His tone made Y/N tear her eyes away from the party to look at him. “Really mean what?”

“You look beautiful.”

His words didn’t fumble this time. He was confident and clear, leaving no room for doubt or insincerity.

Y/N gave him a shy smile.

“I’m guessing a drink would make this a bit easier, huh?” Dick offered.

“Yes. Yes, it would.”

Dick guided her to the nearest bar.

All the staff knew what the Wayne family looked like. Which meant the bartended skipped over all other guests and b-lined for Dick when he requested a drink, and then looked to Y/N to order what she wanted.

There was loud laughter from a group of people near them. Followed by a voice that Y/N thought she knew, but still sounded a bit off.

When Y/N looked over, she realized it was Bruce talking to a group of guests, who were absolutely fawning over him. He was smiling and laughing, and taking very frequent sips of his drink.

This was Bruce Wayne: the character. Charming playboy, debatable narcissist, and spoiled brat. But in the eyes of Gotham’s elite, he could do no wrong.

Y/N wondered if Bruce had ever considered bringing her as his date. ‘Don’t you start,’ said a voice inside her head.

Dick followed her eye line.

“Doesn’t it make you nauseous watching him like this?” Y/N mumbled.

“Not Dick. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,” Jason answered.

Dick and Y/N turned to see Jason and Damian.

Yes, Dick adopted Bruce’s charm. But he didn’t rip himself into pieces, building characters that were unrecognizable to the people who actually knew him. Dick’s charm was a part of his personality. His flirtations came naturally. But he only used them on people he intended on building a genuine connection with. (Though Nightwing was guilty of using said charm on targets during missions a few times.)

Y/N looked around for Tim and saw him talking to what appeared to be serious businessman. He was the only one carrying on the legacy at Wayne Enterprises. If any of the boys needed to be here, it was Tim.

“Shouldn’t you guys be making rounds or something?” Y/N asked.

Jason shrugged. “People only cared about us when we were cute kids. Now we’re just spoiled adults who are the product of nepotism.” He smirked down at Damian. “But this one isn’t out of the clear yet.”

“Don’t remind me,” Damian groaned. “At the last one, a woman pinched my cheeks as if I was some toddler.”

“I thought I was about to watch him murder someone,” Dick added.

“I wanted to,” Damian clarified.

Dick started talking to Jason about something.

It provided Y/N the perfect window with the youngest Wayne. 

“I’ll sneak you alcohol if you do a mercy killing for me,” she offered Damian.

The boy looked amused but gave no indication that a deal was made.

“Your date that awful?” Jason teased as he smirked at Dick, who ignored him.

“Do you have the hearing of a dog? Fuckin’ Christ.”

The four of them stuck together for most of the night. Tim would touch base with them every so often. But he kept getting dragged away by board members or partners or anyone that wanted to kiss the ass of the future head of Wayne Enterprises.

Dick and Y/N were laughing at Jason about something when Dick’s face suddenly fell as he spotted something on the other side of the room.

“God damn it, Damian.” Dick hissed as he put his drink down on the nearest counter. He turned to Y/N. “I’ll be right back. Stay here.”

Y/N just nodded.

But then Jason seemed to spot the youngest brother as well.

“I should probably help him and do some damage control,” Jason sighed.

Y/N laughed and nodded for him to go ahead.

“Now you can see why I avoid these shit shows.”

She laughed but pushed him away, “Go help Dick.”

Now that Y/N was alone, her senses was hyper focused on the party around her.

As she reached for her drink, she noticed that her surrounding area had gone eerily quiet. And she felt far too many eyes on her. There were hushed whispers and even gasps. 

“Would you care to dance?” A voice asked from behind her.

Y/N’s entire body tensed.

She turned to see Bruce waiting patiently for her response.

But the look on his face was that of a man she didn’t know.

Bruce had a charming glitter in his eyes and his smirk was arrogant.

Y/N looked around at their audience, then at the dance floor. She was desperately trying to remember the last time she danced with someone.

“Umm…I don’t really know how–” her words came out so slowly.

“How to dance?” Bruce offered.

Y/N nodded.

“You just need a good partner,” he reassured her as he held out a hand.

‘What a fucking line,’ Y/N thought as she tried not to roll her eyes. She half expected him to add a wink.

Bruce guided her to the center of the dance floor and then pulled her closer with his right hand while his left wrapped around her hand.

Y/N wasn’t expecting him to pull her so close, but their body’s were now pressed together.

Bruce moved his mouth to her ear. “Relax,” he murmured.

“It’s hard to relax when you’re using me to set up your new flavor of the week,” she criticized. “Everyone is watching us.”

Bruce may be used to such scrutiny, but Y/N had zero experience with it. And it was safe to say she hated it.

“They’re not looking at me. They’re looking at you,” Bruce corrected.

“A woman who’s not even me. It’s just the dress.”

“I’m happy you like it, seeing as I picked it out,” he commented smugly.

Y/N’s chest tightened at the revelation.

“I see the real you right now, and that’s who I asked to dance.”

Y/N wanted to make a run for it. She didn’t want Bruce with an audience. She just wanted him to herself and she wanted him as he really was.

But her brain shut down for just this song and she followed her heart.

If Y/N concentrated hard enough, she could ignore all the invasive gawking. If she closed her eyes, it was just her and Bruce. So, Y/N tucked her head into his shoulder and let Bruce glide them across the floor.

Somehow she felt that Bruce was allowing himself this as well.

One song was not enough for what they both needed and wanted.

But Y/N would take what she could.

Though what she did not expect was to finally pull away to see Bruce looking utterly heartbroken. As if pulling away from her was the hardest thing he’d ever have to do. And for the first time, Y/N legitimately considered that Bruce might want the same thing as she did.

He’ll just never act on his feelings.

If Y/N had blinked, she could’ve missed the moment of honesty and vulnerability Bruce had colored all across his face – bleeding from his eyes.

Because, the next moment, the character was back.

As the party clapped for the band, someone called Bruce’s name. And their locked stare was broken.

And just like that, Y/N was snapped back to reality as if someone threw a bucket of freezing water over her.

Now that Bruce had moved on, no one bothered to keep their voices down. And the upperclass women of Gotham made it loud and clear that they were not pleased with Y/N’s presence.

“Seems he’s found his next prey.”

“She looks half his age, of course he would go for her. Typical man.”

“She’ll eventually learn like we all did.”

“I still say he was the best lay I ever had.”

“Remember when we both slept with him in the same week?”

Now Y/N wasn’t just brought back to reality – she was put in her place.

Before she could even realize what was happening to stop it, her eyes were filled with tears. She had to get out of there.

“Excuse me,” Y/N whispered desperately and she tried to push her way through the crowd.

As soon as she made it outside, she let out a gasp. The fresh air helped, but it wasn’t enough.

There wasn’t any guests outside, but Y/N didn’t feel a safe enough distance from the party. The gardens and maze were in her peripheral and it took her all of two seconds to decide that would be her safe haven.

She hurried through the maze and prayed that no drunken couples had tried to also sneak away from prying eyes. 

But when Y/N reached the center of the maze, she was alone.

A fountain sat in the middle and the sound of its moving water calmed Y/N down a bit. But even that couldn’t stop her tears from finally escaping.

Y/N sat on the edge of the fountain as she tried to get a hold of herself. She could only imagine what this was doing her makeup that she spent an hour doing. 

‘What a waste,’ she thought.

Her escape was short lived. 

Dick called her name repeatedly from a distance.

Y/N panicked at the idea of him catching her crying. She quickly tried to hide any evidence of tears and pull herself together.

Dick finally caught up and let out a sigh of relief from behind her.

“Y/N, you can’t run off like that,” he tried to tell her.

He opened his mouth to lecture her further, but when he finally made it around the fountain and was facing her, his concern shifted. 

“What’s wrong? What happened?”

“Nothing,” Y/N struggled to speak without sounding nasally. “I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not. You were crying.”

“I’m fine,” she tried to laugh. “Seriously, Dick.”

But he wasn’t having any of it. He moved to sit next to her on the edge of the fountain. Without hesitating, he wrapped an around her shoulder and pulled her into him.

“Come here,” he muttered softly.

Why did it feel so natural for him to do that? Like he’d done it a million times before?

He rubbed her arms. “Jesus. You’re freezing.”

Then he was taking off his suit jacket and putting it over her shoulders. But he didn’t miss a beat, quickly bringing her back into his arms again.

“Wanna tell me what’s got you so upset?” Dick asked after a few minutes of silently comforting her.

“It’s stupid.”

“It’s not stupid to me if it made you cry.”

Y/N took in a shaky breath, feeling like she was on the cusp of crying again. “I’m just like the rest of them.”

Dick waited, feeling like she needed to say more before he spoke.

“They were whispering terrible things. But it was everything I already knew. I’m just another stupid girl that managed to convince herself that she was different.”

Dick was silent as he processed his words. It wasn’t hard for him to know Y/N was talking about Bruce, even thought she never uttered his name. 

“I’ve got an idea,” Dick announced. “Let’s ditch this stupid gala. Get out of these clothes. Put on some sweatpants. And I’ll have Alfred order us as much pizza and wings as you want.”

Now Y/N wanted to cry for a completely different reason.

Dick was the sweetest man she’d ever met.

“Sound like a plan?” He asked her when she didn’t respond and instead just stared into his blue eyes.

Y/N nodded.

“We can even invite my good-for-nothing brothers if that’ll make you happy.”

Her first instinct was to say yes. They all amused her beyond belief. Watching the way they all interacted with each other was like watching a reality show. And it was always obvious how much they loved each other deep down – even with Damian, who would rather die than admit such a thing.

But if all of them were included, who knew when Bruce would eventually make an appearance. And Y/N just didn’t think she could be in a room with him again tonight. 

“Just you and me,” she clarified.

That seemed to please Dick and he nodded. 

“Just you and me,” he confirmed as he offered her a hand up. 

When they started walking back to the manor, Dick wrapped an arm around her shoulder, keeping her close to his side.

“I’m going to ask you a question and I need you to be completely honest with me,” but she said it through a smile.  

Dick looked a bit nervous, but nodded. “Alright.”

“Do you know how to order takeout on your own?”

Dick threw his head back and laughed. “How dare you!”

He pinched her waist, making her yelp. But he didn’t let her escape his hold. “Yes, I do. In fact, when I’m at my own place, I live off takeout. And let me tell you, no one can order food quite like I can. Thank you very much.”  

Once they reached the second floor of the manor, the two of them parted ways to changed out of their fancy clothes.

Y/N washed her face, scrubbing the layers of makeup off. But before she could rid herself of the evidence, she noticed the smeared mascara and eyeliner. 

Words could not describe the relief of putting on baggy sweatpants and a hoodie and fluffy socks after wearing a fitted gown and high heels.

30 minutes later, just as promised, Dick was bringing up a huge pizza and a box of wings to Y/N’s bedroom.

They ate on the floor. Dick managed to light the fireplace that was in there, because Y/N didn’t know what to do with the thing. The television was on, but neither of them were watching it. It was simply white noise.

Two hours later, Y/N was laughing so hard at a story Dick was telling her that she had tears in her eyes and her stomach hurt.

“I don’t believe you!”

“I’m not kidding. Ask Jason. He took my clothes and I was ass naked, running through the streets of Gotham. I wanted to kill him.”

Y/N grabbed another wing and got sauce all over her face.

“What?” She asked when Dick was watching her with adoration. “Do I have sauce on my face?”

He tried to hide his smile. “Nope.”

She knew he was lying and then purposely smeared more sauce around her lips. “How about now? Do I have anything now?”

“No. Nothing.”

“On a scale of 1 to 10, how attractive am I right now?” Y/N laughed as she wiped the sauce off her face with napkins.

“11,” Dick responded without hesitating.

The playfulness was sucked out of the room when they both heard how serious his tone was.

Y/N’s face went somber as she looked down at the floor. “I’m sorry I didn’t dance with you.” She laughed lightly, “I’m a lousy date, huh?”

“That’s not true,” he immediately shot down. “This is the most fun I’ve had…” His words died out when he realized he couldn’t even remember. “Well, it’s the most fun I’ve had in awhile.”

“Me too,” she replied with a quiet sweetness.

Through her full-body laughter, she had moved closer to Dick without realizing it.

He glanced at her lips. He just couldn’t help himself. 

The thing about Dick wearing his heart on his sleeve was that it was nearly impossible for him to hide his feelings, his desires. It was all in those blue eyes of his, waiting to easily be read by someone.  

And while Y/N looked at him looking at her, she felt beautiful. Because that was all Dick could possibly think as he stared at her.

Neither knew who leaned in first. Perhaps this was their dance that they weren’t able to have earlier.

But they made up for it by sharing an impassioned kiss now. 

Dick’s lips were softer than Y/N expected. His hands gripped her waist possessively, making it very clear what he wanted – but still being ever so gentle and soft with his touches.

One of Dick’s hands moved from her waist up her back to tangle his fingers in her hair. He tugged on the strands and pulled her closer, deepening the kiss.

They both could slightly taste the pizza and wings on each other’s lips, but neither of them cared at all.

The kiss didn’t last long enough for either of their liking.

But Y/N pulled away anyways, gasping for air a bit.

“I’m sorry,” she sighed. 

“You don’t have to be sorry,” he whispered through hooded eyes as he brushed some hair away from her face. “I’ve been wanting to do that for awhile,” he added with a smirk.

But Y/N wasn’t really sorry about the kiss. 

She was sorry because she knew that things were far more complicated than ever.

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

Part V

Happy Valentine’s Day!!! 

Please, please, please write me a book report of what he thought of this chapter. It will be your VDay gift to me 😘

[mackeydoodledoo]

I Only Swim Free: Chapter 5

Pairing: Bela Dimitrescu x (Fem!)Reader

Summary: You’ve done swimming all your life. You’ve gotten to your dream college on a scholarship for your outstanding freestyle technique back in high school. Relationships never crossed your mind however, that was before you met your swim team captain: Bela Dimitrescu.

Warning: Broken Heart, Depression, But it gets fluffier when you read more into this chapter, ends in SMUT

A/N: This chapter about to get SPICY

“Busted and Blue” - Gorillaz

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Word got out [rather quickly] that Bela’s now ex-boyfriend had been cheating on her. Since Bela went to look for you during the fraternity house party.. It was also because of how he was seeing you and her always so in close proximity to each other. Although he feels guilty for what he’s done, he’s been trying to reach back out to Bela to tell her how sorry he is and that he’ll be a better guy for her.

Lousy excuse really.. 

“To be honest I’ve heard lousier excuses from my own past exes,” You sigh, looking down at your textbook, writing down some notes for a class you missed because Bela didn’t want to be left alone, even if it was in your own apartment

“I was right about him,” Daniela called it

“What do you want a cookie?” Cassandra jokingly asks

“Yes,” Daniela says, giving her sister the ‘puppy dog eyes’ 

“Go nuts,” You say, pulling out a cookie you bought from the student center

Daniela happily takes the cookie and immediately bites into it.

“You have to unwrap the plastic first dumbass,” Cassandra sighs, deciding to go up into her room

You took Bela back to her house however, she immediately locks herself in her room. Her mother or her sisters check on her, despite her wanting your company the most. You had been trying to focus on your school work but at the same time trying to be there for Bela as much as you could was already a clashing combo to work with. Luckily, your teammates and her two sisters had been there for her too when you weren’t able to.

“Hey thanks Dani for offering to look after her tonight, I owe you one,” You sigh

“No worries, I knew her boyfriend was nothing but trouble,” She sighs, “But-but you- she’s taken a real liking to you though.”

Well, we did kiss in her car after that one fraternity house party she dragged me to, she continuously stays at my place. Not that I’m complaining though..

“Really?” You ask, slightly blushing, “Well, I wouldn’t want that on our minds right now. Thanks again!”

You heard that Dean Dimitrescu had been close to going at his throat for hurting her daughter. However, she also knew it would look bad on her part; taking her personal anger out on a student was not the best idea. 

“I’m angered just as you are Dean,” You sigh, scribbling into your notebook, breaking the lead in the mechanical pencil

Scribbling into your notebook was one way you were able to take out your frustrations.

“We trusted him,” She growls, pacing in her kitchen, “But, I do highly appreciate you being there for my daughter, is there anything I can do to repay you my dear?”

“Nope,” You sigh, “I don’t want to be given one of those special treatments, even if I am helping one of your daughters.”

I would want you to accept me as Bela’s new Lover. Please and Thank you Dean...

“Well, you’re welcome here,” She slightly smiles, “And please, when it’s after classes, you may refer to me as Ma’am, My Lady or Alcina. Alcina is my first name.”

Very fitting for an elegant lady such as yourself Ma’am.

“Yes Ma’am,” You say, “I’m going to get dinner, Do you and your daughters want anything?”

“I’m sure my girls will text you, I will make due with what we have in this fridge my dear. Thank you for the offer,” Alcina smiles

She tips her hat as you make her leave. You casually salute three fingers to her as you were about to do the same hat tip, just minus the hat. You send out a text in the Dimi-Daughters groupchat Daniela had made for the four of you. Almost immediately Bela and Daniela text you with whatever food they wanted, Cassandra being the last one. 

As soon as you and Bela show up to practice the next day, you were excused from classes as Donna had given the email out to all professors regarding State Finals, Donna has you all gathered at the poolside.

“I have the results of the semi finals roster,” She announces, “And... We are going to the State Final championship!”

You and your team cheer and congratulate each other.

“Okay okay girls calm down,” Donna calms her children, “This doesn’t mean we won’t win, so tonight we will prepare for it, this Saturday.”

In an instant all of the girls began giving their all into swim practice. You on the other hand, were just going through the motions. Not sure how to handle the sudden pressure.

“Didn’t I tell you that we all pull through this together or we lose?” Donna asks, coming up to you

“Yes coach,” You say, sighing

“You’re going to do fine, an excellent rookie like yourself should be proud you get to do this your first year,” She smiles

“True,” You sigh, beginning to shake off your nerves

“Now get your ass into the water y/l/n!” Donna yells encouragingly

After coach’s announcement you finally took a shower after skipping them to beeline it to your apartment for Bela. You turn around once you hear the shower curtain open behind you. you wipe your eyes and see Bela stepping into the shower with you. 

“Hey you,” You smile, giving her a hug

“Hey yourself,” She smiles, putting her arms on your shoulders, “Quite the show at practice today..”

“Says you, even after what happened you still managed to get your shit together and nail practice,” You smile

You snake your hands on her hips as the both of you begin washing each other from the chlorine gathered from today’s practice. Even after giving each other a shower, the both of you just settled in each others’ embrace as the hot shower began wasting away. 

“You remember when we first met in the locker room?” Bela asks, slipping on the hoodie you gave her

“How could I forget?” You smile, slipping on some shorts

“You were looking at my ass through the mirror weren’t you?” Bela asks, smirking

You almost drop your brush as your chees go red and begin heating up. You slightly look up from the mirror and see her slowly walking towards you. Like a predator stalking its prey.

“Did you... Enjoy it?” Bela flirts, turning you around and pushing you against the sink

“Well-I-uhmmm-ummm,” You stutter, trying to find the words

“You did didn’t you?” She smirks, putting her hands on your stomach

You felt yourself tense up when her palms touched your bare skin. You could feel them slowly running up your stomach and begin feeling the tips of her fingers go under your sports bra. 

“Bela! Y/n! Hurry it up I’m going to lock the swimming area soon!” Calls Donna from the entrance to the locker room

The both of you snicker as Bela drags her fingers away from your bare skin; you almost growl when her hands moved away from your skin. Bela practically moved into your place when she got the news. Thankfully her exes fraternity brothers kicked removed him from the fraternity house and helped her with her things when she decided to live with you. 

You and Bela had finally settled a day where you’d take her out to her favorite restaurant, as a make-up for not being able to see her very often. 

“Yeah, midterms are such a pain,” You sigh into your phone, “But, I’ll make sure you get tomorrow night with me okay?”

Bela decided to stay with her family for the next couple days as she’s been cooped up in your place for so long, not that she was complaining, she missed being around her family.

“Thanks for the ride y/n,” Bela sighs in relief, “I miss you.”

“I miss you too,” You blush, “Hey, we’ll see each other at practice later okay?”

“Yeah,” She sighs, “I gotta go, mother is calling for me. I love you.”

“Love you too,” You smile through the phone

Wait... She added I into the “love you”.... 

You didn’t say it back, no matter, you’d tell her how you’d feel about her tomorrow night. Even though you haven’t been able to see her, the both of you were able to be on the phone with each other every night before the both of you would go to bed before your classes in the morning. State finals were upon the swim team before finals. So you’ve also been working your butt off for the missed time you’ve had to sit out because of your calf injury from the first meet. 

“Hey you,” Bela smiles as she picks up the phone

“Hey,” you smile, “How you been?”

“Doing a lot better,” Bela smiles, “If you hadn’t hooked me up for that one therapy session, I would have still been sulking.”

“I wouldn’t want that happening to you,” You sigh, “Hey, it’d be better off if you stay at home for tonight. Have an exam tomorrow morning and I have. To. Study!”

“Okay,” Bela sighs, slightly pouting

“Hey,” You say, gently, “We still have dinner tomorrow night. No pouting until before then. Okay?”

She sighs, but shakes it off, “Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

The next evening, You and Bela settled that you would be driving. Once you reach the Dimitrescu estate, you decide to get out of your car and walk up to the front door and knock on it. Cassandra is the one to greet you. 

“Bela’s finishing up y/n,” She says, “Nice getup by the way.”

“Thanks Cass,” You sigh, adjusting your shirt

You wait around awkwardly but you see Dean Dimitrescu sipping on wine in the kitchen.

“Will you do me one big favor y/n?” She calls from the kitchen

“Of course My lady,” You say, turning to her 

“Prove to me on why you’re worthy of my daughter,” She says calmly

“Yes ma’am,” You smile

“Mother I’ll be fine,” Bela calls from the stairs 

You look up and your eyes widen. Bela is wearing a wine red lace dress; the lace drapes behind her legs. You were a sucker for lace. You were a sucker for Bela Dimitrescu. Seeing Bela Dimitrescu IN lace is a whole show.

“Wow...” you say breathlessly as she takes your hand in hers

“Don’t have too much fun now lovebirds,” Daniela teases the both of you

“Shut your mouth Dani,” Bela sighs as she drags you out the door

“Your family is something Bels,” You smile

You open the passenger seat for Bela and she smiles at you as she gets in. Just as you shut her door, you were going to open yours when you see Bela reaching over to open the door for you as best as she could.

“Why thank you my lady,” You smile, getting into your driver’s seat

As you pull into the restaurant that Bela had made reservations for, you’re again in awe. 

“Are you sure you’re fine with paying?” You ask

“You’ve done enough for me. Both taking care of me when I was heartbroken, setting me up for therapy, teaching me freestyle.. The lost goes on,” Bela smiles, “It’s my turn to treat you.”

You couldn’t argue with that. Bela takes your arm as the both of you walk into the restaurant and basically see class. Something you don’t have however, you managed to find your ‘go-to’ nice outfit and a suit jacket at a nearby thrift store. 

“Did I tell you how fine you look?” Bela whispers right into your ear

You felt a shiver crawl down your spine as she asks you.

“No,” You finally say, “Did I tell you though that you look absolutely beautiful?”

Bela blushes as she leads you to a two-person table away from the rest of the patrons.

“Mother made arrangements for us so no need to worry about money,” Bela smirks as she sips water from a fancy glass, “I can easily tell you’ve never been in a fancy restaurant before.”

“Parents could never afford it,” You say, “So, it was the cheap diners. But hey, nothing wrong with diner food every now and then.”

“Nothing wrong with that,” Bela adds

After the restaurant date, the both of you reach your apartment by midnight and you allow Bela to enter your apartment first. However, just as you closed the door, she turns to you.

“What is it?” You ask her

She says nothing as she walks up to you and cups your face in her hands. She doesn’t crash her lips onto yours, giving you the chance to pull away if you so chose to. However, your lips gently mold right onto Bela’s. She lets out a high-pitched gasp as you bring her body closer to your, both of your forms fitting perfectly against each other like puzzle pieces. Your hands trail upward to find the zipper to her dress and slowly remove it, teasing her. She helps you slip her out of the dress. She turns her body towards you, revealing a black lace lingerie set.

“Oh? So you’re wearing these for me? Was this all apart of your little plan Bela Dimitrescu?” You ask, slowly walking towards her

“Whatever do you mean,” She bites back

“You know what I mean,” You coil your arm around her waist, “Any pretty kitty like yourself should be punished for tempting me.”

In one quick motion you pick her up into your arms and place her onto your bed as you settle your hips between her thighs. You dip your head down and begin kissing her along the crook of her neck. You smirk in her neck when you hear her let out a small whimper as the tip of your tongue ran gently along her neckline.

“Hmmm sweet music,” You whisper

You lift her up for her to straddle her in your lap. You give her another kiss on the lips before laying gentle kisses along her breasts. Bela guides one of your hands to cup one of her breasts and you oblige. However, your thumb rolls over her nipple, making it hard. You hear Bela let out a strangled moan. Strangled; your mouth was latched onto her throat.

“More,” Bela breathes out

You reach around her back and with a flick of your fingers, her bra unlatches. She lets it fall off her arms and she discards it somewhere onto the floor. 

“What-what do you think?” She asks, blushing

She tries to hide her flushes cheeks and turns her head away from you. You gently run your fingers along her cheek to have her look at you.

“I think, you are so fucking beautiful my love,” You say

Bela sees the moonlight reflection coming off your eyes and she drops her head down for her lips to meet yours. The kiss was at first soft and gentle however, once you gained yourself, you began losing your self control and turned the kiss to be more intense. Bela lets out a muffled gasp as she felt the pillow at the back of her head. You pull yourself away for a moment to strip off your shirt. Bela knew you were fit because of swimming. She never thought she’d be getting up close and personal with you.

“You’re beautiful,” You whisper against her ear

You kiss and lick your way down until you stopped above her bare chest. You look up at her with pleading eyes. 

‘let me’ your eyes pleaded

She runs her fingers through your hair and pushes your face into her breast. You leech onto her nipple and gently make circles around it. She arches her back, forcing your tongue to gently lick the tip of her nipple.

“Y/n!” She gasps

While you run the flat surface of your tongue along the surface of her nipple. Your hand snakes up to her other breast and you squeeze it. Then, gently squeeze her nipple. 

“Ah!” She screams

Your mouth switches onto the other breast to give the same gentle treatment. 

“Y/n...” She says breathlessly

Your fingers trace her curves as you continue your exploration of her body down to her dripping hot center.

“Are you already wet for me?” You ask, once you arrive to her panties

She nods, “You already made me excited...”

You lowly chuckle as your fingers hook around the thin lining of her panties, lifting them. She lifts her hips to help you fully remove them from her body. You, again discard them somewhere onto the floor. Your hands gently run along her thighs to hoist them over your shoulders.

“Hmm, so you were,” You smile

Bela felt you gently breathing against her wet, dripping center, making her squirm a little bit.

“If you’re just going to keep teasing me ju-”

You drag your tongue along her pulsating lips and you insert your tongue into her, making her let out many small whimpers. Her fingers run along into your hair and you feel her pulling against you. She bucks her hips to feel more of your tongue. Your arm reaches around her hip and you press your palm down, keeping her from moving her hips along with your tongue.

“Babyyyyy I need more,” She whines

You pull your tongue out from inside her and give a small kiss on her clit before crawling up to meet her face. You give her a long, lingering kiss for her to taste herself on you.

“You’ll get more kitten you need to be patient,” You chuckle, “But, damn you taste so good.”

“Give it to me now,” She growls

You hook her leg over your shoulder, so that your arm is under her thigh.

“What-what are you- AH!” Bela chokes

She felt your finger insert itself into her. 

“How does that feel baby?” You ask, looking down at her

“It feels so good,” Bela moans

“Good girl,” You coo

You slide your finger in and out of her slowly, hearing her let out little breathless whimpers was music to your ears. You stop for one moment to add another finger when you slid them back in. Bela again arches her back to feel more of your fingers. Your pace began going faster and faster.

“Y/n... I’m-I’m gonna-”

Before you let Bela climax, you force your fingers out of her and hook both of her legs around your hips. You jerk your hips forward to feel her wetness against yours. You let out a growl whilst she lets out a small whimper. You lean down towards her face as you continue grinding on her. 

“Oh god baby,” You growl, picking up your grinding pace

Bela swings her arm around your shoulder and the other around your hips and begins clawing at your back.

“I’m so close y/n,” She whispers in your ear, “Faster.”

You let out frustrated grunts as you stop for a moment.

“Why-why did you s-stop?” She asks, panting

“I want to look at you,” You smile

However, you don’t really give Bela time to process anything before you jerk your hips again, making her lean her head back into the pillow. 

“Together-together y/n,” Bela requests, “I want to cum with you..”

You smirks as you could feel yourself reaching your climax as well. You cup her face into your hands as you begin letting out pants and slight whimpers. 

“Bela...” You whisper her name into her ear, breathlessly

You could feel her nails sink deeper into your back. You didn’t really feel any pain towards her nails. You only felt her clit against yours.

“Bela... Bela... Bela!” You growl as you come undone

Bela holds onto you for dear life as the both of you slowly come down from your high. Everything was blurry in your vision however, Bela was clear as day. You smile as you lean down to kiss her. Once morning hit, you rub your eyes however, Bela’s arm drags your arm back down across her bare waist. 

“Morning baby,” You smile, kissing the back of her head

She stretches her arms as she turns her body so that she’s facing you, “Morning.”

She gives you a good morning kiss and lays in your embrace.

“Hmmm,” Bela hums

“What?” You ask

“Are you sure you haven’t had sex with a woman?” She asks, smiling

“I’m sure love,” You say, “Why?”

“Those fingers... That tongue of yours.. Worked.. Wonders.. On me,” She says, seductively

Your cheeks flush a faint red as she laughs with a low tone. You let go of her and pull the covers over your head in an attempt to prevent her from seeing you blushing however, she follows you under the covers.

“Oh? Is my girlfriend blushing now?” She smirks

“Enough already,” You groan, pulling the sheets to separate the both of you

Bela yanks on the covers and lets out an enticing giggle as she gets up to straddle you. You sit up to snake your arms around her bare midsection.

“Iubita mea,” Bela says

“Hmmm is that.. Romanian?” You ask, blushing while smiling at the same time

“Maybe,” She teases as she drops her head down to kiss you again

It was an early Saturday morning and you weren’t up for it. But, Bela agreed to drive the both of you there.

“You excited?” Bela asks

“As excited as I’ll ever be,” You sigh, “I just hope there’s no last minute events...”

“Coach gave us the whole events roster,” Bela explains, “Rest assured those are the events that are in there, we’ll be doing.”

You smile in relief, “Good, because I think I would permanently damage my calf if I ever did another 1500 meter freestyle event...”

“You’ll be fine,” Bela reassures you

The Arena was a little ways out of hometown but nothing surprising for State Finals. Your team gets there about the same time you do, and follow whomever your guide was for the day. She shows you to the locker rooms, where all of you get changed into your uniform swimsuits and make any last second preparations for the final meet of the season.

“Dimitresu University Women’s swim and dive, you ready?” Your guide comes back into the locker room

Chapter 6

[the-anxiety-ridden-writer]

knives on my body, blood on my hands

Chapter One: The House At The End of The Street, The Cabin Buried in the Woods

THE CLOCK HAS BARELY TICKED PAST NINE O’CLOCK when the last light flickers off. Ink black shadows swell in the thin backstreets whilst gray storm clouds obscure any light coming from the shining moon.

The old town plunges into darkness and hidden within it, a little girl revels in it. Tilts her head back and let’s the beginnings of the storm wash over her, as if the rain water that begins to seep into her very being can wash away the red that has stained her soul.

(It can’t, the blood on her hands will transcend lifetimes)

A bright clash of lightning brings her out of her thoughts. She melts into the shadows and continues on her way, making her way down the street with eerie silent footsteps.

Perhaps a lesser man would have stumbled down the street, unable to walk the burrard street without tripping over himself. But the little girl moves with a silent grace in her step, weaving around the bumps and cracks even when she can barely see the boots on her feet.

The training of her handlers, years spent in the Hydra and The Red Room overcoming her. She could walk the streets - could walk a path around the world and still carry the deadly grace and efficiency that they had beaten into given her.

Besides, the little girl was just The Asset to her handlers, Hydra’s own personal Angel Smerti. She was no man, much less one of low value.

The house at the end of the street is quiet when she enters it. The screams of the lightning hide the soft whine of the window when she opens it and the creak of the wooden floorboards when she lands on them.

The Asset squints her eyes, letting them adjust to the darkness and trail over the bookshelf lined walls. She stepped towards the oak desk, lifting one of the files scattered on the surface. She let her eyes scan the pages within before setting it down, letting the words winter soldier, car crash, two victims and serum mull over in her head before filtering it away for later, a loud clatter pulling her attention to the doorway.

A poison slick dagger is already soaring through the air and embedding itself in the figure before she can fully get a good look at them. The figure - a frail, old man with thinning white hair - stumbles back from the force of the knife, dark eyes widening in fear as the Asset stalks over to him.

She gives him quick once over, letting her eyes roam over the man as his muscles begin to tense up until he can’t move at all, until he is nothing but a mere puppet that the Asset can pull all the strings of. A puppet that the Asset can cut all the strings off of.

She carefully ignores how those last thoughts bring a small sense of dread and horror that pools in her stomach. Turn her head to the voice telling her ‘what’s one more body to add to the pile?’ And the voice asking her ‘just how monstrous have you become?’

(too much, far too much for someone her age)

The man finds his voice, previously lost in a sea of gasps and whimpers, “Please.” he begs, eyes wide, a wrinkled hand pressed to the dagger buried within his stomach.

“Please don’t ki-“ the Asset cuts him off, yanking the dagger out and shoving it into his throat. It doesn’t take long for the old man to leave these mortal planes, drifting off to be judged by an otherworldly being that can distinguish a saint and a sinner and never the between. To the otherworldly being that thinks he has any right to judge the actions of a human being trying to survive.

No, Death has never discriminated between the saints and the sinners.

‘And neither shall I’ the Asset thinks, ripping her dagger from his throat to slip back into the many holsters that cover her clothing.

She lugs the old man into the study, manhandling his body into the smooth leather chair, resting his head upon the oak desk, staining the folders with his blood. She stepped back, observing her work with a critical eye. It almost looked like the poor man had fallen asleep at his desk, if you - you know - ignore the blood.

The Asset eyed the scented candles perched atop one of the bookshelves, promptly labeled Cinnamon Sugar! Warm Spring Sunshine! and Peach! The Asset raised an eyebrow, an idea coming to mind.

An idea that would end in the echoing cries of firetruck sirens throughout the quaint street, the horrified muttering of neighbors and the ashes of an old man's study.

•☽○☾•

IT’S DAWN by the time the Asset makes her way back to where her handler—a sleazy, middle aged man that she hadn’t taken the time to remember his name—is currently based.

The sky is a disarray of colors, the sun spilling a cup of bright yellows and exotic oranges over the previously dark canvas. The Asset finds herself staring up at it, and feels a deep longing begin to stir. For the sky ran everywhere. It ran through the deepest of forests and the driest of deserts and over the endless waves of the ocean. The sky ran everywhere, demanding to be seen and heard and free and the Asset found herself envying it.

Truth be told, there used to be a fire in the Assets soul, before she was called Asset and went by the name that had been sewn into a velvet blanket by a woman that may have cared. It would burn through her veins, close to her heart and on days when her trainers would be harder on her than the rest for her heritage or when one of the girls - a pretty blond who went by Rowena - would make a cruel remark about the shape of her eyes, she’d let the fire consume her, let it burn through her and come out of her mouth, searing into them, until Rowena wept ugly tears into her hands and the trainers unleashed a flurry of punches and kicks before demanding an apology. The Asset can’t remember if the girl with her name sewn into a blanket had ever apologized, had never wanted to dwell too much on those memories.

(she hadn’t, the girl took all the pain and torture with her head held high. she refused to apologize for the fire in her soul. )

The Asset shook those thoughts away as the cabin her handler—Ivan Vanko—had holed himself up in came into sight. Just the sight of it, and the thought of facing Ivan had her straightening her posture, wiping any sign of weariness and schooling her face until there were no cracks in her porcelain mask, nothing for Ivan to dig into to expose all her thoughts.

There’s no noise when she enters, the door shutting silently behind her. She tenses, tilting her head to the side before pulling out one of her knives. Moving down the hall, she keeps her senses sharp, With no idea who she’s up against, she waits, muscles wound tight and her mouth a hard line, eyes darting around the slim hallway walls. She doesn’t have to wait long.

A hand thrusts out of the first doorway to her right, a strong pull has her flying through the air and losing the grip on her knife. Pain erupted in her shoulder but she didn't give it the time of day. Instead she rolls to her feet, springing up and throwing every ounce of her strength into the flying kick that sends her assailant slamming into the wall with a yell of pain.

The Asset lets herself breathe, if only for a second. Her eyes assess her assailant — a well dressed man with balding hair — cataloging every weakness she can find, from the way he favors his right side to the fading bruise on his right temple, while he lay recovering.

This time, when he lunged for her, she is ready.

She side steps his attack, digging her knee into his injured side, and sends a sharp elbow into his already bruised face. A loud crack echoes in the room, and when he stumbles back, a scream of pain that can only come from deep within himself, a small twisted part of her is pleased to see his nose is far from the correct position.

Adrenaline thumps through herself, a synchronized sympathy that plays in tempo with her heart. When both he and his little friend that had been waiting, watching in the shadows of the room lunge at her, she already knows who the victor of this battle will be.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is where their dance begins. Or rather, her dance begins.

She dodges his friend's attack, turning and arching her leg in the air, slamming it into assailant number two — a short woman who was barely taller than The Asset — side. It leaves her stumbling back, groaning as she falls like a corpse into the glass table in the center of the room.

The Asset grunts as strong arms encircle her, lifting her up, up, up. She grunts, moving her arm up and once again digging her elbow in his face. It connects with his eye this time, the action leaving him stumbling back, clutching his hand to his eye. The Asset doesn’t give him time to recover, doesn’t have enough sympathy, enough empathy, enough mercy in the body that has been crafted with the fists and guns and needles of the men and women who have used her, trained her, killed her.

It’s why the dagger slips so easily out of its concealed holster and into the man's chest. A cry of agony is silenced with the arc of her leg, her foot connecting with his Adam's apple. He toppled over, hands held to his chest as if he can relieve the pain that she has brought to his body.

She stared him down, the soft creak of wood under her foot echoed like screams around the room. She plants one foot on his chest, pressing down as she pulls the dagger from his chest, baring her teeth behind her ninja-esque mask as he screams.

She leaves the man there, bleeding, beaten, broken and goes to find her handler.

AN: I don’t know what this is, but it’s dumb. I’m also dumb tho and I’m thinking of adding on.

Special thanks to @unmaskedagain , @nightlychaotic and @nobodyfamousposts for introducing me to maribat. I love all of your maribat posts.

Tag list: @avengerthewarrior , @nightlychaotic

[stiltonbasket]

Prompt for a’su!wwx: wwx tries to use the longstanding art of “““womanly wiles””” to get something. Bystanders who know him look on in horror, but somehow it works.

“How are we going to find out if that courtesan lives here?” Jin Zixuan wheezes, trying to peer over the wall around the inner courtyard of the Moling safehouse. “I can’t see a thing.”

He huffs and drops back to the ground, casting one last dismayed glance at the top of the wall--because Mo Xuanyu was by no means short, but he was half a finger shorter than Jin Zixuan’s old body, and Wei Wuxian is even shorter at two full fingers below his original height. As it is, neither of them have any hope of spotting the mysterious courtesan who was present during Jin Guangshan’s murder until Lan Zhan gets back with Wei Wuxian’s sword, so Jin Zixuan settles down to wait while Wei Wuxian pulls out a hand-mirror and scrutinizes his reflection.

“What are you doing?” his brother-in-law grumbles, as Wei Wuxian slips on a pair of Yunmeng-style earrings and ornaments his hair (now worn fully down in the style common to unmarried women, rather than the chignon used by matrons) with the pale red roses Lan Zhan bought him earlier that morning. “You don’t need to fix your hair, Wei Wuxian. You look fine.”

“I’m going to talk to the guards,” Wei Wuxian told him, darkening his eyebrows with a smudge of black powder and reddening his lips with a hint of rouge: vermilion, appropriate for a bride or a prostitute, instead of the pink that Qin Su usually wore before her death. “They might be from Lanling, so I have to make sure they won’t recognize me.”

“They’ll definitely recognize your voice,” Jin Zixuan says doubtfully. “Are you sure?”

Wei Wuxian nods. “Jin Guangyao kept me away from his inner circle, except for Su She. And he didn’t really have a choice about that, since Su She’s a junior sect leader.”

Jin Zixuan gives him a worried look. “I’ll be right here if you need help...or not,” he mutters, as Wei Wuxian darts out of sight and pretends to have walked up around a bend in the road, right in front of the main gates.

Wei Wuxian eyes the four guards with his face half-hidden behind his pearl veil before rushing up to greet them, brushing the hanging pearl strands aside as the guards’ hands fly to their swords.

“At ease, it’s just a girl,” the one at the left scolds, before bowing low in respect. “Are you lost, guniang? The main street is not far away from here, and one of us can direct you back.”

He favors the guard with a dimpling smile and steps forward to make his silver earrings tinkle like a pair of tiny bells. “Oh, no! I’m here to meet with your mistress.”

The guards exchange bewildered glances. “That isn’t possible, xiaojie. Our mistress has not taken visitors or left the estate in many years, and as far as we know she does not write any letters, either.”

“But I saw my sworn sister just last year,” Wei Wuxian protests, letting the wind flutter through his filmy shawl and carry forth some of the fragrance from his perfume bag. “And I have this letter she wrote to me--here, see, written from the estate on Anhua road on--”

The leftmost guard laughs. “That’s it, xiaojie! Anhua is two roads over. Your friend must live there. This street is called Yehua.”

“Oh,” Wei Wuxian gasps, pretending to be bewildered when the guardsman points at the signpost bearing the name of the street. “How foolish of me!”

“And our mistress couldn’t be your sworn sister, anyway. She didn’t send that letter,” one of the younger guards pipes up. “Mistress can’t read, so she always tends her gardens and cooks to keep herself busy.”

“She must be an excellent cook,” Wei Wuxian praises, with another beaming smile. “And so industrious, too! Doesn’t she ever go out to see plays in town, or go shopping?”

“She has us for that,” another guard says quickly. “She doesn’t need to trouble herself with shopping, and she doesn’t like watching performers.”

Wei Wuxian gives their mysterious mistress another off-handed compliment and beats a hasty retreat, walking down the road just until the house fades out of sight before doubling back and jogging down a side path to the spot where he left Jin Zixuan behind.

When he gets there, he finds Jin Zixuan sitting on a bench with his mouth open, and Lan Zhan staring mutinously at the ground as if it had somehow offended him. “What’s wrong with you two?” he demands, spitting on a handkerchief before applying it to his face in an effort to wipe his makeup off. “Lan Zhan, you look like someone tried to snatch your forehead ribbon again. Cheer up a little, ah?”

“What were you doing with those guards?” Lan Zhan asks, with a plaintive note in his voice. “Those men are in Jin Guangyao’s service, Wei Ying. What if they had recognized you?”

“Qin Su would never have let her skin get this tanned, or worn her hair down in public,” he dismisses. “I just flirted with them a little so I could find out who lives here. And I did find out, Er-gege, so take that!”

Lan Zhan’s pale face goes even whiter than usual. “Flirted?”

“Well, what did you think this was for?” Wei Wuxian sighs, gesturing to his lip rouge and eyebrow powder. “I had to coax them into telling me a little about their mistress, didn’t I?”

His friend’s mouth quivers almost imperceptibly, and he turns away with a soft tch sound and marches off in the opposite direction. Jin Zixuan stares after him, looking even more lost than he usually does, and then he glares up at Wei Wuxian with an oddly sullen pout on his lips.

“What?” Wei Wuxian asks, kicking Jin Zixuan’s toe. “What’s wrong with you both? And why are you staring at me like that?”

“Don’t make me watch that again,” Jin Zixuan snaps, hurrying after Lan Zhan. “And don’t be so cruel to Hanguang-jun! Don’t you have any pity for him?”

Wei Wuxian frowns. “What do you mean?”

But for whatever reason, neither Lan Zhan nor Zixuan will tell him, and Wei Wuxian spends the rest of the day in a state of abject confusion before focusing on eating his dinner instead.

[zaffrenotes]

[TRR] Kairos

Kairos - Part 14

Pairing: Liam x OC Series Rating/Warnings: 18+; language; series will include ns*w 🍋 scenes Chapter Rating/Warnings: G Author’s Note: * All main characters belong to Pixelberry, I’m just borrowing them * Kairos (καιρός) is a word in Greek that translates to “the right time” or “the right moment to act” * Liam’s wife asks about “the one that got away” one night over dinner, and Liam recounts a relationship from his past * This is my submission for @wackydrabbles Prompt 101: Were you ever going to tell me? * Author’s Note 2: * a very late, hastily proofread update thanks to early neighborhood fireworks and turning myself into an emotional support human to my dog (who hates loud noises) * Word Count: 1377 (5 minutes reading time)

Catch up with previous chapters here

“London?!” Max exclaimed. “We were there for Fashion Week! Is that why you switched your assignment to go with me?”

“Yes,” Benigno replied. “I could have used personal leave to travel there on my own, but the timing worked out in my favor and accompanying you was less conspicuous.”

“Were you ever going to tell me?” Tears had begun to form in Max’s eyes, upon realizing she’d been in the same city as her sister.

“With respect to you Miss, no.” Benigno looked over to see Max’s chin quiver as she fought the urge to break down in front of Liam. “First I needed to see with my own eyes if it was really her, and when I saw her…she asked me to keep her whereabouts a secret, Miss Max.” He glanced over to Liam before turning to face Max again, frowning at his confession. “I’m only telling you now because you’ve put pieces together, and it’s clear King Liam cares about Miss Elia, or he wouldn’t have asked about her after all this time.”

“How were you able to track her down?” Liam inquired.

Benigno gave him a small shrug before answering. “It’s better not to know the details, but I called in a few favors.” He reached into the breast pocket of his jacket and pulled out a small silver case, opening it to pull free a blank ivory card, before slipping the case back into his pocket. “May I?” he asked, reaching forward for one of the pens on the table. Liam nodded and Benigno wrote something on the back of the card; he leaned forward when he was done and returned the pen to the table, then stretched his hand forward, presenting the card to Liam. “If she’s still in London, this was her last known address from when I saw her.”

Liam glanced down at the address before tucking it into his pants pocket, nodding with solemn appreciation. “Thank you, Mr. Santos.” He looked over to see the eager expression on Max’s face. “I know by all accounts this ought to be handled by family, but it would raise suspicions if you weren’t present with the other suitors for all of the events.” The corners of Max’s lips turned down in a pout, though she nodded in agreement. “I’ll have to look at the schedule of events to see when I could slip away unnoticed, but I thank you both for your help tonight. You have no idea how much this means to me, to even have this small bit of information.”

-

A muted beam of sunlight filtered through the wispy curtains, and Liam stretched his arms above his head before rolling on his side to shut off the chirping melody from the alarm on his phone. After a cursory glance at the notifications that rolled in overnight, he placed a call to room service to order breakfast and took a shower. Once he’d eaten and dressed, he left the hotel and took to the streets of London, in search of the first woman who captured his heart.

Nearly an hour later, Liam stood across the street from a row of houses. He checked the pinned location on the map on his phone, breathing deeply to calm his nerves. With only a few feet separating him from his past and possible future, he slipped the phone into his pocket and crossed the street, making his way to the front door. His heart fluttered at the sight of the knocker on the door, in the shape of a brass peacock. Taking the ring in hand, he knocked it against the plate secured to the door and waited for someone inside to answer.

He wasn’t sure what to expect when the door opened, but seeing an older woman with greying hair and tortoiseshell spectacles was not on his list. She cracked the door open just wide enough to block the entry, wary of the unscheduled visitor standing on the doorstep. “May I help you?” she asked, eyeing Liam cautiously.

“Forgive the intrusion,” Liam replied. “My name is Liam Rys, and I’m looking for Miss Young. I was told she lives here.”

“She does…I’m Mrs. George, the caretaker. Do you have an appointment?”

“No ma’am. I’m a rather old friend of hers and I’m only in town for a day between business meetings. I was hoping to say hello, possibly catch up over lunch if she’s free.”

Mrs. George set her lips in a tense, dubious line. “I’m afraid the lady of the house isn’t here at the moment, and unscheduled visitors aren’t allowed in.” She craned her neck out towards Liam. “And if you’re truly a friend of Miss Young, you’d know how much she dislikes surprise guests.”

Liam sighed, his shoulders slumping in tandem as he exhaled. “Mrs. George, this may be the only opportunity I have to speak with her for the foreseeable future. I’m not certain when I’ll be able to travel to London again, or whether she’ll be here when that time comes.”

Mrs. George scrutinized Liam’s face, then let out the tiniest gasp as she straightened her posture in the doorway. “When did you see her last?”

“It’s been three, nearly four years, give or take a few weeks.”

Mrs. George continued to study Liam’s face for a moment, then nodded to herself. “I’m not at liberty to disclose her precise location, but Miss Young spends most mornings walking through Holland Park. You’ll likely find her there at this time of day.”

Liam’s face lit up with renewed hope, and he stepped forward, shaking hands with the kind woman. “Thank you, ma’am.” He turned and walked down the short path to the gate, waving to Mrs. George as she watched him from the front window. He wondered what could have prompted her to disclose even such a general location for Elia, perhaps unaware that she’d been living under the fake name Benigno had used on the passport given to her all those years ago.

It didn’t take Liam very long to reach one edge of Holland Park, though he had no idea where to start looking for Elia. With another deep breath to calm his nerves, he decided to begin his search by walking the perimeter and slowly working his way inwards, in hopes of crossing paths with Elia.

Forty minutes and countless steps later, the only thing Liam found was a thin sheen or perspiration across his brow as he balanced walking with purpose and blending in with others meandering through the park. He was strolling along one of the paths past a playground, when he heard the familiar screeching birdcall of a peacock; he laughed to himself, recalling the reserve on Kos and the trips he’d taken there with Elia.

Liam thought he might’ve been foolish to think he could find Elia in less than a day, when she’d spent nearly two years completely under the radar. She’d taken a risk in sending money to Benigno, and she’d trusted him more than anyone to keep her secret. She’d never bothered to reach out to Liam, even before he’d gotten married; he began to doubt whether she’d even want to see him now.

He was so lost in thought that he nearly collided with a small child pointing at a peacock a few yards away. “Mama, mama! Pfau! Pfau!” Liam dodged the little boy speaking German that stopped in the middle of the path to point. He smiled as he looked down to see the boy’s excited face, then froze in shock.

“Billy! Slow down, sweetheart!”

Liam’s heart seemed to stop, hearing Billy’s mother call out behind him. He knew that voice. Throat suddenly dry, he forced a cough and dared to turn around, eyes trained on the ground, too nervous to look the mother in the eye right away. She had on a pair of nondescript black leather ballet flats, black dress pants, and a cranberry cashmere sweater set. Her obsidian hair was swept up in a purposefully messy updo. She was just as beautiful as he remembered. When he caught her eye, he grinned softly at her, and her jaw slackened enough to let her mouth fall into a perfect O.

“Liam? Is that you?”