#a warning to ye who venture forth

[smallameangel]

Chapter 33 of UnderSOUL is officially up!

[rafeandonlyrafe]

girls night

words: 1.4k

warnings: 18+ only, smut, teasing, p in v sex, semi public sex, a bit of exhibitionism, unprotected sex, clingy!rafe, established relationship

“so the girls are coming over-”

“mhm…”

“so if you want to watch a movie upstairs, or maybe see if top can hang out?” you suggest, rocking back and forth on your heels.

“hm, no.” rafe shakes his head, keeping his ass planted in the middle of the couch.

“no? it's just that we're gonna watch like a romcom and drink wine and gossip-”

“i can do all that too.” rafe shrugs.

“but do you really want to?” you question.

“no, but i don't want to be away from you. so you'll just have to put up with me.” rafe reaches his hand out, pulling you onto his lap.

“how long until they get here?” he questions, one hand wrapping around your waist, tugging you into his chest while his other hand ventures to your ass, gripping it over your pajama shorts.

it takes you a moment to remember what rafe asked you. “hayley will probably be here in like ten minutes.” 

“enough time to make out.” rafe smirks at you before connecting your lips. the minutes pass by as he holds you tight against him, mouth dominating yours until you're suddenly interrupted by the doorbell sounding out.

“shit.” you whine, legs a bit shaky and weak as you stand, rushing to let hayley in who also brought your two other friends steph and tina.

“hi girlies!” you hug each of them before moving deeper into the house. “i hope you don't mind rafey joining us.”

“no problem.” hayley shrugs. she knows the most how clingy rafe can be, and how much you love it.

“pick a movie.” you toss the remote at tina. “ill get the wine!”

you bring back glasses and two bottles under your arms, one red and one white. you pour yourself some before looking to rafe.

“ill share with you.” he smiles, not a huge fan of wine himself, so if he's going to drink it, it's going to be from the same glass as you.

“okay, i know we've all seen it before but ive really been wanting to rewatch 10 things i hate about you.” tina says as she hits play on the movie.

“oh, yes!” you squeal, sitting down next to rafe. tina is on the farthest cushion of the spot away from you while hayley and steph have taken up the armchairs.

you lean into rafe, only occasionally reaching forward to sip your wine. 

you're watching the movie when rafe ducks his head, pressing light kisses to the shell of your ear before moving lower, kissing along your jawline and neck.

“rafe…” you whisper, hand moving to grip his thigh as he pays extra attention to the spot he knows you're sensitive at.

“want you so bad.” rafe whispers, not stopping the kisses despite your hand tightening it's grip on his leg.

“and i want to enjoy girls night.” you turn to rafe so your friends don't pick up on wait your saying. “after. you know i want you to, but not when we have guests over.”

“fine, ill stop.” rafe huffs, leaning back against the couch, pulling you further into him to make up for not kissing you.

rafes focus shifts to the movie to distract him, his hand randomly petting over different parts of your body until another idea sparks in his head.

his hand drifts further up, thumb swiping over the bottom of your breast, keeping his movements slow and casual like they're not calculated as he moves up until he's cupping your chest, thumb swiping directly over your nipple.

your eyes closed the second rafe touched your breast, concentrating on not moaning out and turning the groups attention towards you.

hayley lets out a laugh at a scene and it has you jolting back to reality. you grab rafes hand and lower it back to your waist.

“come on.” rafe growls in your ear.

you ignore him as something in the movie reminds steph of an ex boyfriend as she launches into a rant about him, the same one you've all heard a million times, yet you're still happy to hear again, to make the same comments about how much of a dick he is.

rafe leans forward, slipping his arm from around you as he grabs a blanket from the basket you pulled to the center of the room for the girls.

“anyone else cold?”

tina raises her hand so rafe tosses a fluffy blanket in her direction before draping a bigger one over both of your laps, covering you up to the waist.

“i know what you're doing.” you whisper, turning to rafe and pressing a kiss to the underside of his jaw.

“and do you want me to stop?” rafe asks. he already knows the answer to the question. as much as you feign not wanting to do anything until your friends leave, you find rafe just as irresistible.

it's why you don't really fight it when rafes hand disappears underneath the blanket. you even spread your legs for him, allowing his hand to cup your pussy over the cover of your shorts and underwear.

“you want to kill me.” you whisper-hiss into rafes ear, subtly covering your mouth in case you let any sounds slip.

“just can't resist that pussy, baby.” rafe presses kisses into your hair as you attempt to focus on the movie, rafes hand staying mysteriously still.

you become impatient, waiting for the inevitable, so you reach over, placing your hand on rafes thigh, slowly moving it upwards, teasing him by swiping your hand back down whenever you get close to his crotch.

rafe moves suddenly, standing up and letting the blanket fall away as he scoops you into his arms. “be right back, ladies.”

he rushes out of the room, not leaving you any other option as he presses you against his body.

“oh my god, rafe!” you squeal as he pushes you into the nearest private room, which happens to be your guest bathroom.

“i need you right now, fuck.” rafe tugs your pajamas down, revealing that you're only wearing a small thong.

“you could wait another like half hour? the movie was almost done!” you allow rafe to press your front into the wall, bending forward to stick your ass out.

“nope.” rafe opens up his shorts to pull his cock out, already hard from your teasing.

“ridiculous.” you roll your eyes, but its accompanied with a giggle. you love how rafe can never get enough of you, how his love and borderline obsession is clear to everyone.

“says the one dripping for my cock.” rafe chuckles, swiping the head of his cock through your folds before pressing against your entrance, pushing in with one quick motion.

“oh fuck!” you squeal before covering your mouth, remembering your friends aren't too far away, although they definitely know what's going on, you don't need them to hear it as well.

“god, you feel so good and warm.” rafe moans, immediately beginning to thrust, not wanting to take you away from your girls night for too long.

his hand wraps around your front, reaching down to rub at your clit while his other hand holds your hips steady, the slapping sound of your skin meeting together echoing around the bathroom walls.

“you're mine.” rafe huffs out, as if you need reminding.

his thrusts become wilder as the minutes pass by of him pressing into your cunt until you lose yourself to the high that rushes over your body.

rafe has to grab your hips to keep you upright as your pussy clenches around him, only a few more thrusts before rafe is spilling into you with a moan of your name.

“shit, i already want you again.” rafe laughs, pressing you into the wall as his cock finishes pulsing inside of you, needing to make sure hes filled you up as much as possible before he pulls your underwear and shorts back up.

“rafe, im gonna leak all over the couch-” you complain before he interrupts you.

“oh well.” the devious smile on his face tells all.

you pout as he gets redressed, opening the door like nothing at all happened.

“come on.” rafe holds his hand out to you, proudly walking you back into the living room.

“well, i can’t blame you for keeping rafe around all the time.” tina giggles as you retake your place on the couch, your face bright red.

“its me who needs her around all the time.” rafe smiles, pressing a kiss to the side of your head while you pull the blanket up over your face in embarrassment.

[everyonewooeverywhere]

NSFW BLOG | MINORS AND AGELESS BLOGS WILL BE BLOCKED

chapter 1 : oh shit. a cowboy.

summary: when you come into his shop to get your boyfriend's car fixed, yunho can help but wonder what a hardworking, pretty girl like you is doing with someone so...pathetic. and maybe, just maybe, he feels like he could treat you better.

pairing: cowboy mechanic!yunho x female!reader

genre: non-idol au | strangers to lovers | angst | fluff (no smut yet, but there will be eventually)

rating: 18+ (for the whole series bc there will be smut eventually)

word count: 4.9k

content/warnings: pet names (sweetheart, doll), strangers to lovers, toxic relationship, yeonjun slander 😗 (sry baby), yj and reader get into a pretty big fight

notes: literally thank you so much to @ateez-main-yapper for helping me write this! like this would not exist without her letting me yap in her dms. or letting her help build the story up. or asking her to help edit. this was a two woman job 🙂‍↕️ so thank you baby 💗

ALSO there have been a couple changes and edits from the teaser, so not everything of the first 1k words is the same ☺️

and YES there will be a part 2 (& 3 💀) so PLEASE don't ask for it 😭 she will come when she's ready

Where the fuck was this place? You took another turn down another shaded alley, the sky strangely overcast for two in the afternoon.

The tapping of your fingers on the steering wheel was the only music since the stereo had broken months ago when Yeonjun slammed his fist against it in a fit of rage when you asked him to skip his gig this weekend to attend your sister’s wedding. Now it just blinked periodically when the car hit a bump, giving it miniscule signs of life. And for a man who focused his whole life around his music, he seemed uncharacteristically uninterested in getting it repaired. And maybe it would never get fixed because you could only afford to get the big issues fixed today.

After six wrong turns you finally pulled into the parking lot. Your friend had recommended this garage when you’d told her this car had been having all sorts of issues, and she insisted on here. You had your doubts when she pulled up the Instagram of one of the mechanics to show you the shop and ended up going on about how hot he was for several minutes, but you didn’t really have any other options.

It looked official enough. The brick building was large enough to house two large garage doors that opened up the shop to the dusty parking lot. Peering inside, you could see that there weren't many people inside the garage. There were only two mechanics in your line of sight, the closer of the two venturing back and forth between his toolbox and the taillights of an old Chevy, and you were their only customer as far as you could tell. You shrugged, Maybe they’re understaffed. 

You shrugged before swinging the car door open and grabbing your purse out of the passenger’s seat, brushing off your pants before you made your way in. There wasn’t a front desk or a receptionist to talk to, and you got the feeling that this shop was solely run and staffed by the men inside. 

You spent several moments hovering by one of the garage doors, shuffling your feet and trying to catch the eye of one of the mechanics, but neither of them looked up. Entirely too absorbed in their work to notice your presence. They must not get very busy. 

“Um…hello?” You spoke, trying not to startle either of them. 

They both turned to you, and the man who’d been fixing up the Chevy opened his mouth to speak. But he was cut off by his coworker, who jogged over from where he'd been partially hidden from view behind a rack of miscellaneous parts, putting a hand on his friend’s shoulder and muttering a quick, “I’ve got her, Min.” 

“Min” chuckled and rolled his eyes, returning to his work.

Oh god. 

“Hey Doll, what can I do for ya?” Something about the way he sauntered up to you and smiled so gently immediately filled your stomach with butterflies, but you chose to ignore them for the sake of your own sanity.

Doll. That was a new one, and you felt that anyone else uttering that word toward you would’ve disgusted you to your core. But something about this stranger was strangely comforting. Maybe it was the way he tilted his head as he waited for you to speak. Maybe it was the baseball cap strewn backward on his head. Or maybe it was the strands of his taupe hair that fell in front of his face, strands you imagined yourself brushing up under his hat.

Your fingers fidgeted with the strap of your purse, “I’m, uh, having some car issues.”

The laugh he let out, and the curve of his lips that accompanied it, made the tips of your ears burn, “‘Course you are, sweetheart. Anything in particular, though?”

“Oh,” you chuckled softly along with him, “Well, he mentioned that the acceleration’s been kinda weird, and I thought the engine was a little loud when I drove it here today. Sorry, I don’t really know a ton about cars.”

He hummed and tapped his foot a couple of times, “Which one is it?” 

You pointed across the lot. 

“Alright, let me pull it into the garage,” he put his hand out in your direction. 

You stared at it, confused, and when you looked back up at his face he was smiling at you again. Stupid smile. He made your heart flutter more than you would’ve liked to admit.

“Keys, sweetheart. Your keys.”

“Oh,” you scrambled around in your purse before handing them over, embarrassed. 

He took them from you with a 'thanks doll' and a tip of his head, hand hovering over his forehead in a way that made you think he was used to wearing hats much bigger than this simple baseball cap. Before you could even question it further he was jogging across the lot and pulling the car through the big garage doors. 

When he stepped out of the car he looked at you curiously, “This your car?”

You shook your head, “No it’s my boyfriend’s. He’s been…busy…lately, so he hasn’t been able to bring it in. He keeps complaining about it, though, so I just decided to do it for him, I guess.”

He raised his eyebrow at you, nodding slowly. 

“What?” you asked, moderately offended.

He shook his head, waving a dismissive hand, “Nothing. Sorry. You just seemed a little unsure is all.”

“Yeah…I don’t know. I honestly think he just kept complaining so I would get tired of his whining and go on and get it fixed myself,” You chuckled awkwardly. Why the fuck were you telling him this? You started to feel a little embarrassed.

And that feeling only got worse when you saw the mildly horrified look on his face. 

You shook your head and ran a frustrated hand through your hair, “Can you just fix it?”

That pretty fucking smile came back, and your grip on your hair tightened just a little in frustration. “Of course I can. Glad you brought this in when you did, honestly. Seems like your boy toy’s got a bit of an exhaust leak. Could be pretty dangerous, so it's good to get it off the road.”

“Ah, perfect.” You shifted on your feet, “How long will it take, do you think?”

He lifted his hat and ruffled his messy hair before readjusting it on his head. Why did every little movement he made drive you crazy? “Unfortunately, issues like this take a couple days. I doubt I could get her done any sooner than tomorrow.”

You nodded, “Okay. I’ll try and get a ride home then.”

“Alright, Doll. Let me write down your number real quick so I–so we can call ya when she’s ready.”

You wrote down your name and number for him on a pink sticky note that he stuck to the dash. 

“Perfect!” He smiled at you, “We’ll call ya tomorrow.”

You couldn’t help but smile back, “Awesome! Thank you…Oh. I’m sorry, what was your name again?”

“Yunho. My name is Yunho, sweetheart. It’s nice to meet you.” He stuck out his hand for you to shake.

And you couldn’t help the ramming of your heart in your chest when he took your hand into his own.

Yunho watched as you stepped out into the parking lot to call someone, presumably that questionable boyfriend of yours who seemed to be way more trouble than he was worth. He couldn’t help how his heart had dropped when you told him you had a boyfriend in the first place. After a long while of singleness, he was kind of hoping to test the waters when he saw you, and it even seemed like you responded positively to his obvious flirtations.

“So a boyfriend, huh?” Mingi startled him from behind.

Yunho let out a small sigh, trying not to let himself get too worked up about it. You had only met twenty minutes ago for fucks sake. “Yeah, seems like a real piece of work though.”

“Really?” MIngi gave his friend a skeptical side-eye, “Or is that the jealously talking.”

“No, seriously! This is his car. And she said it’s been actin’ up for a while, but he never made the time to bring it in. She only brought it here ‘cause he wouldn’t stop whining ‘bout it.”

“Huh. Sounds kinda child-like to me, but who are we to judge? We haven't even met the dude,” Mingi pat his friend on the back, “Try not to let it get you down, man. I’m sure there’s a cowboy-lovin girl right around the corner waiting for you.”

Yunho nodded, moving along so Mingi would let the whole thing drop. But no matter how many times he repeated in his head that you were taken, he just couldn’t stop looking over in your direction. You just seemed so…tired. He didn’t want to assume, but he got the feeling that this boyfriend of yours might be the main cause of that. And try as he might to reign in his ego and keep it in check, he couldn't help the part of him that knew that, whatever this man was providing for you, he could do so much better. That wasn’t really his place, though. So he let you be. 

“Yeonjun what do you mean you’re busy? You were on the couch when I left an hour ago,” you sighed through the phone.

“Baby, come on. You know I have a gig tonight,” You fought the urge to roll your eyes. “And I need to get in the right headspace, so I can’t leave the apartment. It’ll ruin the mood.”

“Is that really more important than picking me up? I’m stuck here.”

“I don’t know. Call an Uber?” Oh, you were gonna kill him.

“What? Why would I pay for an Uber when I have a boyfriend at home with my perfectly functioning car who could drive his ass over here and pick me up? For free!”

You hated how difficult it was to get him to help you out in any way. Why did he have to be so stubborn? “Listen, I really can’t break my flow right now. Maybe wait a couple hours, and I’ll come pick you up, okay? Or maybe have one of your friends pick you up.”

“It’s 3 pm on a Tuesday, Jun. Most people are at–” He hung up on you, “Work..” You trailed off.

God, this is so embarrassing. What the hell were you going to do now? You could call an Uber, but you could barely afford groceries this week. And getting this car fixed was gonna drain the last of your paycheck. 

You bit at your lip anxiously, wracking your head for options. Your friends would be more than happy to pick you up, but most of them wouldn’t get off work for another two hours. So maybe you could just wait until then. Or maybe you could hitchhike? The highway was miles off. And your gut wrenched at the idea of a stranger knowing where you lived…But maybe that could work. Or maybe you cou–

“Everything alright out here, sweetheart?” 

You jumped at his voice, “Oh! Yeah,” you scratched at your head, trying to force a smile, “My boyfriend’s just really busy, so he can’t come get me.”

“Do you…need a ride?” He offered sincerely, “I don’t wanna overstep or anything, but I could help ya if you need it.”

“Oh god no! You don’t have to do that.”

He grinned softly at you, “It’s really nothing at all. I’ll tell you what, I’m leaving here in about an hour. If you can’t find a ride before that, you’ll let me give you drive you home.”

Just say ‘yes.’ Your brain was practically begging you to speak, but you knew this would cause an argument with Yeonjun. A random handsome man bringing you back to the apartment? Oh, it was a recipe for disaster. But what other choice did you have? It wasn’t like he was gonna pay for an Uber to help you home or pick you up himself. No, he left you stranded here with a shit reason, so you were gonna get home the best way possible, and, if it pissed him off, that was his own damn fault.

“Ok,” you smiled up at him, “If you really don’t mind.”

“Trust me, Doll, it’s no problem at all. Let me just finish a couple things up and change, and then we’ll get going, okay?”

You sat on the bench inside the shop while he finished his work. Trying to give yourself a moment to breathe. This was supposed to be your day off. You had finally been able to get a break from both of your jobs, and this is how you were spending it. Trying to fix the car of your boyfriend who couldn't even put his “pre-show ritual” on hold to make sure you got home safe. Part of you was mad at him. Livid that his priorities were so far in the gutter. But you were mostly angry at yourself. Because at the end of the day, when all was said and done, you were the one who had spent six whole years of your life bending over backward for a man who wouldn’t even reach out his arm to catch you. 

You worked two jobs to support the two of you. Your paychecks paid for groceries, rent, insurance, everything. And what did he pay for? Nothing. Because he didn’t have a job. He played two gigs every month at the dingy bar two miles from your apartment, which somehow justified not even bothering to look for employment. 

How did you even get here? A deep sigh rose out of your throat. What the hell were you doing all this for? Your head hurt just thinking about all the times he’d let you down and all the stupid little arguments those let-downs had caused. And yet you were still out here paying his bills and running his errands.

“Alright, sweetheart, ready to go?” You broke out of your spiral when he called for you, and you looked up to see him no longer in the denim and baseball cap he was sporting earlier. 

Lord help me. You silently prayed to whoever might be listening, swallowing around the sudden dryness in your throat. He was sporting a light blue button-down shirt with the top two buttons left open so his collarbones were exposed and a light brown cowboy hat that almost exactly matched his hair. A cowboy. Of course. You couldn’t help the racing of your heart as he reached to adjust the brim of his hat. Unsure of whether you wanted to praise or curse whatever fate had sent him your way.

You cleared your throat and stood up from the bench, barely pushing a ‘yes’ out of your mouth. 

He grinned and motioned for you to follow him to the parking lot. The innocent gesture left you lightheaded as you focused on the way his index and middle fingers curled towards his wrist.

As you approached, he gestured to a baby blue pickup truck, “Here she is. My baby.” You chuckled, endeared by the pet name, the image of him gently patting the hood of 'his baby' as he walked around the front of the truck with you reminding you of cowboys in old westerns, leaning their foreheads against their mares as they gently stroked their manes. 

It was sweet. So sweet that you almost missed the fact that he was coming around to the passenger side of the truck with you.

He brushed past you, reaching for the passenger-side door. Swinging it open, he held out a hand to you, and you took it without much thought. 

“Up you go,” he said with a playful lilt to his voice, helping you hold your balance as you climbed into the truck.

“Thank you, Yunho.”

“It’s not a problem at all, Doll. I got ya.” He was going to be the death of you for sure.

“Ten years. You’ve been working there that long?” you looked over at him, amazed, “How old are you?”

He let out a hearty laugh, “Twenty-five. Mingi and I used to come up after school every day and help out. His grandpa used to run the shop but he retired a few years back and left it to him.”

“Oh, that’s sweet!” The thought of a little Yunho sweeping the floors and vacuuming cars made you smile. 

He hummed, “Yeah, it’s been a real nice job. Flexible hours, good pay, get to meet pretty girls from time to time.”

The tips of your ears burned at his blatant flirting. You looked over to see him focused on the road in front of you. The rays of the late afternoon sun shone on his face, letting you see the tan glow of his skin up close. 

Why did you have to meet such a seemingly perfect man today? Why couldn’t this opportunity have fallen into your lap six years ago? 

And fuck you knew you needed to end things. But more than half a decade of your life had been poured into this relationship and you couldn’t find it in your heart to let that go so easily.

Yunho noticed you looking over at him in his periphery, expecting some kind of playful rebuke, but was more than a little worried by your silence. Afraid he'd crossed a line, he was quick to apologize, eyes sincere and tone sober when he chanced a proper glance your way. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I don’ mean to make you uncomfortable.”

“No! It’s fine,” You assure him, unconsciously threading your fingers through the ends of your hair, “I just don’t usually get this kind of attention. I know you’re just being playful.”

He nodded, some of his playfulness seeping back into his expression as he cleared his throat, adjusting the brim of his hat as he fixed his attention back onto the road in front of him. “I promise I’m not lyin’ about the ‘pretty’ part, though. I hope you know that.”

You scoff, but you can feel the heat in your cheeks rise, “Thank you…”

Silence enveloped the two of you after that, but he didn't seem to mind. Drumming his fingers on the steering wheel and humming along to the music playing out of the car's stereo. In another life, one where the man waiting for you back at your apartment wasn't hell-bent on driving you insane, you wanted to believe that you could be strong enough to look away. To ignore the butterflies filling your stomach. To ignore the way he made your heart flutter. But you just couldn’t find it in you to look away, but he didn’t seem to catch on.

He thinks it's cute that you think he doesn’t notice. He’s very keen on noticing your every little move. The way you tucked a strand of hair behind your ear when he called you pretty and the way you awkwardly fidgeted with your bag when you told him that you didn’t normally receive that kind of attention.

It took every ounce of self-control in his body to keep him from prying. But he couldn’t help the way he started to hate this man that he’d never met even more. What he wouldn’t give to have a partner who was willing to go get his car fixed without asking. Someone who was so dedicated to the relationship that they were willing to sacrifice the little free time they had just to help out.

As he pulled into the parking lot of your apartment complex, he glanced over at you and met your eyes for a second. You quickly whipped your head away, embarrassed that you’d been caught red-handed. He couldn’t stop himself from smiling, smiled, “Here we are.”

“Mhm,” you nodded awkwardly, busying yourself with checking that you had all your things set to go. “Thank you for the ride. It means a lot.”

“Not a problem at all, Doll. Need me to walk you up?” he asked, leaning forward to try and meet your eyes.

You shook your head, “No, I’ll be alright.” You gave him a smile, “So you’ll call me tomorrow?”

He nodded, the tip of his hat dropping slightly, “Yep, I should be done with ‘er around noon.”

“Perfect! Again, thank you so mu–”

You were cut off by the sound of someone pounding on the passenger side window. Both of you turn at the sudden commotion. 

Yunho watched as you hurriedly swung the door open and slid out of the car. And he heard a muffled, “Jun, what the hell!?” after you’d slammed the door of his truck.

Ah, the boyfriend.

“Are you insane? What the fuck is your problem?” You yelled.

Yeonjun glared at you through the wild strands of his crimson hair, “My problem!? Who the fuck is that?”

“Oh, that’s your issue? That I had to have the mechanic drive me home?” You seethed, jabbing a finger into his chest, “This could’ve easily been avoided if you had picked your sorry ass off the couch to drive me home yourself. Like any decent partner would.”

Your not-so-subtle jab seemed to go over his head, his mind too focused on the image of you smiling and blushing in response to a man that wasn’t him. “You really couldn’t have found a woman to drive you home? It just had to be this dick.”

“No, Yeonjun, I couldn’t find a woman to drive me home. You know why? Because it’s a Tuesday afternoon and all of my friends have jobs. Unlike you who can’t even take the time to take a break from whatever the fuck you do all day to give me a ride.”

He gawked at you, clearly offended, “I have a job.”

“Oh my god. This again?” You ran a frustrated hand over your face, “No. You don’t. Practicing with your bandmates twice a week and playing a single gig a month is not a job. You make $100 a month.”

“How many times do I have to tell you that I don’t want a nine-to-five? I like my schedule the way it is.”

You could feel angry tears forming at the back of your eyes, stinging as you held them back, “You think I DO!? Yeonjun, I work sixty hours a week trying to keep us afloat. I pay for our food, our rent, our insurance, your fucking car! And I can’t even get you to pick up the damn apartment when I’m gone.” The tears started falling before you even realized it, shocking both of you. It had been a long time since he’d last seen you cry. Because you always chose either anger or an eerily calm response to his childishness. Knowing deep down that he wouldn’t be able to comfort you if you slipped into vulnerability. “I’m fucking tired Jun. This was my first day off in three months, and I spent it trying to get your car fixed. And I can’t even get a ‘thank you’ out of you. I don’t know how much longer I can do this. You aren’t nineteen anymore, and I think it’s time you grow the fuck up.”

He didn’t say anything. The anger in his face replaced by a mix of shock and awkward discomfort, one of a man who was embarrassed to even be in this situation.

You stayed like that for a beat, holding your breath, praying for the moment when he realized everything he’d done wrong. Where he woke up from the immature daze he’d been trapped in since you were teenagers. But you supposed that was all wishful thinking, the tension broken not by either of you, but by a honk from behind him. His bandmate was here to pick him up. 

He couldn’t even look you in the eyes. “We’ll talk about this later,” he mumbled before jogging up to his friend’s car and sliding into the passenger seat. You watched him give his friend one of their ridiculous handshakes, the sound of blaring music and feminine laughter spilling out into the parking lot before the car door slammed shut. The scene was so ironic in the face of everything he'd just yelled at you for that you really couldn't stop the laughter that bubbled up through your tears, bitter as acid on your tongue.

Yunho sat in his truck as he watched your asshole of a boyfriend leave the parking lot. He stayed like that for a while, watching you wipe at your tears and try to compose yourself. When you’d calmed down enough for his conscience to let him leave, he looked down at the passenger seat and noticed you had left your purse behind.

Grabbing the bag, he exited the truck and approached you. Trying his best not to startle you, he cleared his throat. 

Surprised by the sound, you turned around to find Yunho standing there awkwardly, holding out the purse you now realized was missing from your shoulders, “You left your bag.”

“Oh…thank you.” You mumbled, closing the distance and grabbing it from him with a bit more force than you meant to. The mechanic didn’t so much as flinch.

How could he when his heart hurt for you? This woman he could barely even claim to know. He hated the fact that you felt the need to respond defensively, the pain in your eyes, and how you could barely look at him. You shouldn’t feel ashamed of this. It wasn’t your fault. But Yunho knew without you having to say anything that you were incredibly embarrassed. 

“Listen–”

“Oh god. Please don’t”

His shoulders dropped, “I just wanted to–”

You lifted a hand to stop him, “Yunho, please. You’ve been so kind to me, and I really appreciate your help today. But please for the love of god don’t make me dump my relationship problems on you.”

“Hey now,” he said, holding both his hands up in a calming motion as he spoke in a voice so deep and steady in contrast to your own that it caught you by surprise, “I don’t mean to push or pry, Doll, you just look like you could use someone to talk to is all.”

“I just don’t want you to think down on me,” you sighed.

He looked at you sincerely, slipping the hat from his head and placing it on the hood of the truck, “Now, have I given you the impression that that’s somethin’ I would ever do?”

The appreciative smile you gave him almost made him melt. You leaned back against the side of his truck, tilting your head back until it hit the window with a soft thud, “I’m just so tired.”

Yunho slid next to you, awkwardly scuffing his boot into the pavement, “Would it be too rude to say I could tell?”

You chuckled, “I just don’t know what I’m doing wrong. I’ve been trying for years to get him to just put in an ounce of effort, but he won’t budge. But we’ve been together so long I don’t know if I have it in me to end things.”

“You know it’s not your job to teach him how to be an adult, right? He’s a grown-ass man. You shouldn’t have to beg him to help you out.” 

The somber look in your eyes when you looked up at him made Yunho want to pull you in and hug you to his chest, but he respected your boundaries. 

“I know. I just…” you trailed off, no longer finding it in yourself to argue for your relationship.

Yunho took a deep breath, bracing himself for what he wanted to get off his chest, “Look, Doll, I don’ wanna overstep or anything, but I’m gonna be blunt with you.” He paused, giving you room to tell him to stuff it and save it for someone else if you wanted to. But you were looking up at him expectantly, teary eyes nearly pushing his little speech clean out of his skull. He had to clear his throat a little before continuing. “The way that man treats you is just disgusting. For everything you do for him? The least he could do is make sure that your apartment is spotless and you never have to cook again. And I’m not saying it’s me who should give it to you, but you deserve worlds better than that.”

“Yeah…” was all you could get out before you felt a tear fall down your cheek, and you tried to wipe it away before Yunho saw. But of course he noticed.

Tentatively, he placed a hand on your shoulder in comfort, running his thumb along the fabric of your t-shirt. You surprised him, though, when you turned into him and started sobbing into his chest. Your fingers desperately gripping his button down.

“Oh sweetheart,” he whispered, wrapping his arms around you and rubbing your back. Holding you with so much warmth and sincerity that you felt safer than you had in years. In the arms of a stranger, no less.

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[totalswag]

love love love ur writing babes!!

maybee u could please do one where reader begs rafe for a darry ring, like the $500 ones u can only buy once in ur life and u have to submit ur id to buy it.. i want to know what ur thought process on how rafe would go about it? 🫣🫣🫣

promise sealed — RAFE CAMERON

authors note I don't think you guys realize how much it means to me when you compliment my writing. I hope you enjoy this request lovie.

summary rafe buys you a darry ring showing his love and devotion to your relationship.

warnings none

Rafe Cameron was not used to hearing "no." In his universe, money and power could sway any circumstance to his liking. So, when you casually mentioned a Darry Ring—an unique sign of eternal love that could only be acquired once in a lifetime—he became fascinated.

You were seated on the patio of Tanny Hill with Rafe to your right, his arm over your shoulder, watching the sunset from afar. The summer wind on your skin and the birds chirping made the moment feel especially pleasant.

"Baby have you heard of a Darry Ring before?" You blurt out, playing with Rafe's gold ring.

"I've heard about those rings," Rafe replied, and raising an eyebrow at you. "Why do you want one so badly?" He was curious and wanted to know more.

You took a deep breath, knowing that you needed to express your feelings clearly. "This isn't just any ring, Rafe. This is a promise. They only allow you to buy one in your entire life, and you must submit your ID to confirm it. It signifies that the person wearing it is the only one for you. Forever."

"Forever, huh?" he wondered, more to himself than you. His fingers tapped against the armrest, and you could see the wheels churning in his head.

You nodded, thinking he understood how much this meant to you. "Yes, forever." It's not about money, Rafe. "It's about the promise."

Rafe loves you more than anything in this world. You're his everything. He would do anything for you, literally. One thing he fears the most is losing you and breaking the promise of never hurting you.

Everyone sees how in-love you are with each other. The way you look at each other is like you two are the only people in the room. The moment you got together, friends started talking about your wedding day.

But as he saw the openness in your eyes, he felt something shift. You weren't asking for financial things; you were asking for a pledge, a piece of his heart.

As the rest of the night went on, the conversation about the ring stayed in Rafe's mind.

Over the next four days, Rafe found himself continuously thinking about the Darry Ring. Constantly on his mind going back and forth. One thing Rafe doesn't want to do is buy this ring for you then could do something that may hurt you; never in his life does he want to hurt you.

You asked him about the ring one of the days you were hanging out. He told you he was looking into it but never gave you a final answer.

He did research, learning about the company's ideology and the importance of the ring. He even read comments from other couples who had purchased the ring, and each story touched a deep part of him. He wanted this to be perfect.

Once Rafe came the finalization about the ring he started to search for the perfect one for you. Luckily for him, he's been saving up money for special things like this.

Rafe spoke with his sister, Sarah, about the concept of getting you the ring. She was quite excited about the ring. She assisted him with the design because you two hang out occasionally.

Rafe accepted that this wasn't only about you; it was also about him. It was about his willingness to venture into the unknown and truly commit to someone he loved. The Darry Ring's exclusivity was both scary and thrilling. It meant he'd always put you first.

A few days ago the ring was ready to be picked up on the mainland. He was so excited and nervous to see how the ring turned out; made sure it was perfect.

He decided on a simple yet intimate setting. He took you to your favorite spot by the beach, where the two of you had shared countless memories.

You were sitting on a blanket with food you ordered from a restaurant down the road. The waves hitting shore filled your ears. People talking amongst themselves, kids running on shore, etc.

"The sunset looks beautiful tonight, don't you think?" Your gaze is drawn to the sunset in front of you, with the waves gently touching the shore. 

"Not as beautiful as you" Rafe replies, kissing your cheek while reaching in his back pocket for the Darry Ring.

You could feel his heart racing thousands miles per hour with your back pressed against his chest. Frowning with concern before he spoke up again.

"I've been thinking a lot about what you said," he began, pulling out the small, elegant box from his pocket. "About promises and forever."

He actually got it.

Your eyes widened when you realized what was going on. Tears started to form in the corner of your eyes. Getting chocked up by the moment. Searching for the right words to say.

Rafe opened the box to discover the stunning Darry Ring inside. "This ring represents something to both of us. It's a vow that you're the only one for me, and I'm willing to commit to you for the rest of my life."

Tears slowly fall down your face; carefully wiping them off your face. Now your heart is beating thousand miles per-hour. Your entire body is on cloud nine.

“Wh-a-t did I get to deserve someone like you Rafe?” You cry, lifting your shaky left hand, allowing Rafe to slide the ring on your finger.

"I love you so much, sweetie. You mean the world to me. Our love is stronger than any other." You cut Rafe off by pulling him in for a long kiss, your arms gradually tightening around his neck and his hands grabbing you around the waist. 

It was the perfect moment that you'll cherish for the rest of your life. You couldn't take your eyes off the ring, admiring its beauty for the rest of the night.

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[ynscrazylife]

could i please request an aaron hotchner x bau wife reader. maybe they are on a case away in a different state and y/n volunteers to go pick up food for her and the team and she ends up seeing the unsub and follows him to the location, which happens to be an abandoned warehouse and she calls aaron when she gets there and he tells her to wait but she doesn’t and hangs up the phone and ends up getting stabbed in her abdomen since she doesn’t have her vest

lightly stabbed (aaron hotchner x wife!reader)

WARNING: Descriptions of violence.

You’re itching to get out of here.

The entire team is crammed into yours and Aaron’s hotel room to work on the case. It’s quite a small town and the nearest police precinct is barely big enough to fit all its officers inside, let alone accommodate what the BAU needs.

There are papers everywhere and Derek definitely has his boots digging into your bed and none of you are getting close to cracking the case. They’ve been able to determine what the guy looks like, but not his name. There’s no record of him anywhere. It’s starting to give you a damn headache.

“I’m hungry,” you announce, breaking through the silence and rocking back and forth impatiently. “Is anyone else hungry?”

“I could go for some food,” JJ says.

“Yes, please,” Derek adds.

“I’ll go pick up something!” You say, snatching your chance and bolting to grab your coat.

“Where?” Spencer asks skeptically.

“I’ll find a place. Could use a drive to clear my head anyway,” you say, putting your coat on and planting a kiss on Aaron’s forehead. You grab one of the room keys before slipping out the door.

You’re going to your car in the hotel’s garage when you spot a man who looks eerily similar to the descriptions of the unsub. You shake your head, trying not to read into it too much. There’s nothing that proves a definite connection. You get into your car and pull out into the road, but find that the guy’s car is going in a similar direction.

Unable to help yourself, you keep on tailing the guy and you call Penelope up to ask if she has any information on the unsub’s vehicle.

And what she gives you is the exact description of the car you’re following.

“Penelope,” you say, doing your best to keep your tone even and in control. “I’m pretty sure I’m following the unsub right now. I can’t risk losing our one lead, so I’m gonna keep on following him. I need you to call Aaron and let him know.”

Albeit nervous, she does as you ask. Minutes later, your phone rings with your husband on the other line.

“I’m being safe,” you say as soon as you answer.

“Do you have the license plate number?” Hotch asks.

“Yes.”

“Do you have reason to believe that he’s going to hurt anyone?”

“No.”

“You have to wait for the rest of us or at least one of the cops,” Hotch says—pleads.

You bite your lip, seeing the unsub slow down upon approaching what looks like an abandoned warehouse. Classic hostage location. “There’s a girl missing, Aaron. I think I see him going into the place where he’s keeping her. I can’t wait,” you say.

There’s a beat. He knows you have a strong point.

“We’re close, Y/N,” Hotch assures you.

The image of the kidnapped girl flashes through your mind. “See you soon,” you say before hanging up the phone.

After the unsub gets out of his car and enters the warehouse, you go around to the back, finding a door there. You venture in slowly and quietly, finding the girl tied to a chair in the middle of the room.

After waiting for a few minutes and not seeing the guy anywhere, you walk towards the girl. “Hey, hey, I’m here to help. I’m an FBI agent-” you flash her your badge. “-my team is on their way, but let’s get you of here.”

“He’s gonna kill me,” the girl whispers once you’ve taken the tape off her mouth. You kneel down to untie her ankles.

“No, he won’t. I’m with you, okay?” You assured her, moving around to the back of the chair to untie her arms.

You’ve loosened the knot and almost got it completely undone when suddenly, you’re grabbed from behind. You go to elbow the guy in the face as he drags you backward, but he sinks his knife into your abdomen before you can.

It burns. It hurts.

Your body knows what’s just happened, but your brain is frozen. Your thoughts are going in slow motion as you struggle to comprehend. It’s only when the guy wrenches the knife out and you scream, vision swarming with the blood you see, that it occurs to you: you’ve been stabbed.

The guy tosses you to the floor and vaguely, you register the sound of the kidnapped girl crying. He steps over you and you use all your strength left to grab onto his ankle and yank, hard, pulling him to the ground. The knife clatters out of his grip.

“Bitch!” He yells, scrambling onto his knees and backhanding you across the face.

“PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR!”

You’d know that roaring voice from anywhere — Aaron’s here with the team. You relax slightly, knowing that they’re going to handle this.

The guy turns around to face the full, angry force of the BAU.

“DO IT NOW!”

He complies and, the second Rossi leads him away in cuffs, Aaron and Derek are by your side while Emily and JJ go to help the girl.

“Someone get a gurney in here!” Derek calls out.

Aaron’s saying something about how you’re going to be fine and they’ll get you to the hospital, but you don’t catch all of his words. He’s stroking your face and you can see that while he’s trying to keep composure, he’s worried. He shrugs his jacket off and presses it down on your wound, making you whine at the pain.

“I’ve gotta stop the bleeding, honey,” he murmurs. You know this. He knows you know this. He has to say it for his own piece of mind, to make sure that you don’t think he’s just hurting you.

“I’m sorry, Aaron,” you mumble to him, feeling your eyelids growing heavy. Your hand twitches, aching for his touch.

He takes your hand and brings it to his lips, kissing your skin and then kissing your forehead. “Shh, shh. None of that. I’m not mad. It’s-it’s only light,” he says.

You know it’s not, but his voice is comforting enough.

Derek’s talking to Aaron over your head. Something about how far out the ambulance is, you think. Comforted that your husband isn’t angry with you, your eyelids close now, and the darkness takes over.

//

The first thing you register when you wake up is beeping. Opening your eyes slowly, you blink a couple times, then see that you must be in a hospital room. The beeping comes from the monitors you’re hooked up to. There’s an IV in your arm, giving you fluids, and you can feel a bit of scratchiness from the hospital gown.

“Honey?”

Your husband’s warm voice fills your ears as he enters your line of sight. He stands up from his chair that’s been drawn up to your bedside, putting aside a newspaper that he was barely reading anyway.

“Hi,” you murmur, stretching your fingers for his hand which he happily supplies you with.

“Hi,” he greets, smiling widely. “You’re in the hospital, as I’m sure you can tell. You’re gonna be just fine but you have to stay here for observation for a little bit. I’ll be with you the whole time. The team’s also in the waiting room — Garcia has many balloons.”

This gets a smile out of you, too. You can just imagine the balloons getting into Derek’s face and how they squabble over it. “Mm. I seem to remember you telling me that my wound was only light, right?” You ask. It’s one of the few things you can recall from the ordeal.

“I was trying to soothe you,” he says, chuckling and squeezing your hand.

“I know,” you assure him, then you pat down on the space next to you. “Sit.”

“I’m not sure if I should—” Aaron says.

“Come here,” you insist, wanting to lie with him.

Unable to say no, he very carefully sits down next to you and wraps you up in his arms. You settle against his chest, finding it a far better pillow.

“I’m sorry,” you tell him, wanting him to know it. “You told me to wait.”

“We can talk about that later, but I’m proud of you. You saved the girl’s life,” he says, kissing your forehead.

He really is the best husband ever. As long as he’s here, everything’s gonna be okay, you think.

[ophelisstuff]

Paige bueckers × reader who loves books.

BOOKWORM | P.B X READER

authors note : i’ve been procrastinating on this big time srry if it’s not the best.

requested by : @paqerings

summery : Paige, someone who isn’t a fan of books finds herself tolerating all because of the person she’s fallen in love with.

word count : 808.

warnings : fluff that’s it

You and Paige had met at Uconn’s library on a rainy day. You being there to check out books for fun and Paige being there to find text books because she had no other choice.

A stack of books in your hand, you walked through the isles of bookshelves — looking for anything else that caught your eye. Unaware that the odd amount of books in your hand had caught Paige’s.

“Are you really going to read all those books?” The blonde questioned, disregarding the fact you were a complete stranger. Focused on finding out why there were so many books in your hand.

“Every last one” You replied, knowing that you wouldn’t be returning to the library until the pile of books in your hand were all completed.

“That’s impossible. no human is reading that many books.” Paige shrugged, finding it unbelievable that a person would optionally spend their time buried in a book.

The blonde just couldn’t understand it. What was it about books that grabbed everyones attention but hers?

Paige hated the idea of reading a book so much, she found herself on the brink of tears when having to study.

Even daring to pay classmates or bribe friends to complete reading assignments because she’d rather be out or playing basketball for fun.

“It’s definitely possible” You muttered, confusion building as you wondered why this familiar blonde was following you around all of a sudden.

It wasn’t like you didn’t know who she was. Everyone on campus knew of Paige Bueckers and admired her athletic talents.

However, you couldn’t get over the way she just talked your ear off and walked alongside you.

Disregarding any thought of you being a stranger and talking as if you two were the closest of friends. “Have you ever read a book?”

You asked, stopping in front of the mystery section — eyes drifting from book spine to book spine for something eye catching.

“No- well yes - duh. Just not a chapter book of any sort. It’s never been my thing so i’ve never tried to”

The blonde admitted, standing beside you — watching as you became fixated on the book titles.

“Well, find the right book and when you do, get back to me” You encouraged, sending the girl a short lived smile.

Picking up a final book as you headed to the front desk in order to check out.

Leaving the blonde with curiosity and confusion as she watched you walk away. Realizing she hadn’t even gotten a chance to introduce herself — let alone ask your name.

However, the blonde decided to take your advice and find a book that suited her — determined to impress you in the future.

present day —

“Can you hurry up! I wanna know what happens to Lucy Gray!”

Paige shouted, growing impatience as she sat on the couch — holding a copy of her The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes in her hands.

Finding herself obsessed with the Hunger Games book series — the blonde had managed to ‘read’ all three books from the series. And having you read the forth to complete it.

In all honesty, Paige still hadn’t read a full book on her own. Often times listening to the audio version of it or having you read a chapter to her daily.

The confusion for your love of books remained the same, however she’d grown to admire how fixated you were on them.

Growing use to how you always carried a book on you, reading whenever you could wherever you could.

Often times venturing to Barnes and Noble’s when you go book shopping. Her interest drifting to the lego sets while you walk the endless shelves of books.

“Give me a second! I’m finding a blanket”

You yelled back, picking up the throw blanket off of your girlfriends bed. Placing your reading glasses on your face as you walked down the hallway and to the living room.

“Finally! took you long enough” She muttered with a smile.

Throwing the blanket on Paige, you smiled laid beside her. The blondes head instantly becoming situated and comfortable on your shoulder.

“Oh whatever, hand me the book”

You joked, taking the story book out of her hand. Unaware of how a complete stranger who hated books turned into your girlfriend who tolerated certain ones.

You found solace in books, and being able to read them to your girlfriend — cuddled up on the couch brought you even more peace.

You nor Paige would trade this experience for anything else in the world. Often times expressing how you were both grateful for that interaction at the school’s library.

“Chapter eleven. Lucy Gray’s words stung but, on reflection, were well deserved.”

You began, Paige becoming silent as she listened to your soothing voice. Eager to hear the story being told.

[vinvantae]

𝐈'𝐥𝐥 𝐀𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐖𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐘𝐨𝐮

Jenson button x childhood sweetheart!reader

Summary: The not so wordless agreement that you and Jenson would someday end up together is thrown into turmoil when he’s invited to your proposal party

Word count: 4.4k

Warnings: none

The snow fell across the fields like a blanket, tucking each blade of grass in for a dream-filled night’s sleep - it would usually be quiet this time of night, but the air was filled with the laughter of the children and teenagers alike who had begged their parents to take their sleds out and venture down the icy slopes. You yourself had been one of them, rapping your fists against the red wood of your neighbour’s door, rocking back and forth on your heels as you waited not so patiently for it to swing open.

“Hi John!” You grinned. “Can Jense come out? I know it’s late but we haven’t had snow like this in years and-”

John smiled and stepped aside, revealing Jenson sat at the bottom of their stairs - shoving his feet into his welly boots. “Looks like someone had the same idea as you, son.”

Jenson looked up from the black rubber of his boots to see his best friend - the tip of your nose and cheeks tinged pink, the pearly whites of your teeth lit up in a big grin. He matched it with a smile of his own, giving his Dad a quick hug before joining you out in the snow, taking your sled from you to carry over his own shoulder. You were wrapped in a big yellow coat, a hand-knitted scarf and a pair of gloves that looked a touch too big for your teenage hands - your boots already covered in a soft layer of snow from the small trek to get Jenson.

“Don’t go too far, and be back by midnight!” John called out. “I’m sure your Mum told you the same, young lady.”

“Yes, boss!” You laughed, arm locked tightly around Jenson's so as not to slip on the icy ground. Your best friend smiled down at you - leaning into you to share your warmth.

Jenson listened to you yap away about all the different things you could make out of snow that would be endlessly better than a snowman. He let his arm drop from yours, moving to loop around your waist so he could haul you in closer - using the cold as an excuse. You gestured towards the moving crowds up ahead.

“The big hill just by the forest is where everyone is, it’s got the best spot for sledging.”

Jenson hummed softly, and you looked up at him. “Yes, but I don’t want to go sledding with everyone. I want to go sledding with you.”

Your nose wrinkled up in a playful disgust, earning a playful shove - a squeak leaving your lips as you nearly slipped on the icy tarmac beneath your feet, but you knew Jenson would never let you fall. His surprisingly strong arm stayed around your middle - holding you close to him. As you looked at him once again, your cheeks warmed - his blue eyes twinkling with mischief.

“You’ve gotta stop looking at me like that, you know what happened last time.” You grumbled, jabbing his waist - breaking eye contact.

Jenson raised a teasing brow. “And who said that would be the worst thing?”

“Jenson.” You hissed quietly, not missing the girls who watched the two of you walking in the opposite direction to the rest of the town. You were well aware of the jealousy that sprung from your friendship with him - you’d been in his life since you were infants, but as the two of you had grown up - Jenson had quickly become established as one of the most handsome boys in school. “Don’t say another word.”

“You know I don’t care what they think.” He grumbled. “I don’t want them…”

You looked up at him, the mischief in his eyes had since faded - replaced with a warm tenderness that you knew he had reserved for you. “Jense…”

“I know, I know.” His sigh was wistful. “I’d give it all up for you, you know that.”

You took his face in your gloved hands, brushing your thumb across his cheeks. “I would never. Racing is your dream, and we’re only kids. You’d hate me in the future for stopping you from chasing your dreams.”

He watched your gaze flutter across his face, trying to get a read on how he felt - but in his silence you spoke again.

“Hey, if you've gone and got all those big racing dreams of yours… and you still want me…”

Jenson’s hand came to rest on top of yours, gently removing it from his face so he could lace your fingers together. “I’ll always want you.”

You laughed, although there was little humour in it. “Jense, we’re only 16. When you’re an adult you may feel different, especially when you’ve got all these beautiful women throwing themselves at you once you’ve won a race…. I would be over the moon if you still wanted me but I’m not going to be disappointed if your feelings change.”

He gave you a sad smile. “…I’ll always want you.”

His forehead came to rest against yours, skin surprisingly warm despite the freezing temperatures. You went to protest again but his lips captured yours in a sweet kiss, you allowed yourself to indulge in a moment of weakness - letting your arms slide around his neck to keep him close.

Letting him go was the right thing to do, being hung up on a girl he knew back home was only going to hold him back. He deserved the right to explore and be free whilst he travelled the world, you’d never ask him to give that up.

Oh, but he wished you had.

He wished you had when he was invited back home after a race season nearly 12 years later by your mother, insisting he had to be at this party. Neither of you were 16 anymore - he was 28 years old, had just come 18th in the championship and felt absolutely miserable. But you? You seemed to be absolutely thriving.

Job of your dreams, beautiful home… and William. Fucking William.

The two of you had been together for almost 3 years now, he was some hot-shot CEO of his own company - money coming out of his ass, private jets, cars. And you knew he spoiled the shit out of you, every time you came to a race to support Jenson - William had insisted on paying for you to have the best experience, despite Jenson offering to do the whole lot for free.

And when he pulled up to the address your mother had given him, he thought his jaw was going to fall through the floor. Sure, he’d seen mansions in his time - but this was a whole different level.

It had a fucking maze in the garden for crying out loud. With a fountain in the middle? Who did this guy think he was? He reluctantly gave his car keys over to the valet, before following others inside - all of a sudden feeling drastically underdressed in his sports coat. He was more than grateful for the champagne that was offered to him as he desperately sought out someone, anyone he knew.

The two of you had grown up together, he thought you had the same friends but he couldn’t recognise a single face. Despite the two of you staying in near constant contact, he suddenly felt like he really didn’t know you at all. The girl he knew would scoff at all this, one of your favourite activities when you came to races past - before William - was making fun of all of the rich people, flaunting their wealth but now you were one of them.

He stepped out onto the back patio, eyes finally landing on your parents - chatting away without a care in the world, your father adorned with a watch and a diamond necklace draped across your mothers neck that he knew they couldn’t afford.

“Jenson! You made it!” Your Mum’s face lit up at the sight of him - she stepped away from the other couple she was with to wrap him up in a tight hug. “Oh she’s going to be so happy you’re here.”

“Have you seen her? I don’t feel like I know anyone here.” He chuckled awkwardly, giving your Dad a hug as well.

“Oh I’m sure she’s just making some finishing adjustments, we need her to look perfect.” She grinned.

Jenson frowned. “What’s the occasion?”

Your mum gasped. “Oh, I was sure William would have told you!”

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “William and I aren’t exactly best mates. I think he only tolerates me because I’ve been around for so long.”

Jenson didn’t miss the look your parents exchanged before your Mum placed a gentle hand on his forearm, giving him a sorry smile. “William is proposing to her, love.”

In that moment, he could’ve sworn his heart stopped - he didn’t know you and William were so serious. He always thought that he was just a distraction until the two of you were both in a place where you were ready to commit. It had almost happened when he got 3rd place back in 2004, but you were so close to a big promotion and you wanted to focus on that. You always wanted to be able to give the other your full 100%, be in a place in life where you were secure - maybe he should’ve just said fuck it and let himself be selfish.

He wasn’t mad at you for dating William, he could never be. But were you really about to marry him? The garden went quiet for a moment, so he looked over his shoulder.

You slowly walked down the stairs into the garden - a long dress in a deep blue hugging your figure, long sleeves to protect you from the cooler weather - a slit in the side allowed you to walk elegantly, your hand still resting against the cold stone of the railing. Jenson wasn’t sure he’d ever seen you with such professional looking makeup, nails to match your dress too. Beneath the jealousy, he felt the urge to tease you - wind you up for becoming one of the posh people you’d always claimed to loathe.

But you looked nervous as you started greeting everyone - eyes flickering around the party, you looked beautiful too, of course, but he recognised the look on your face - he’d only seen it a few times through your life but this was probably the worst he’d seen it. Fear. Did you know what was happening…? And who were you looking for?

William practically led you around the party, his hand never straying from the small of your back - which Jenson could now see was nearly exposed from the low back of your dress, adding to the elegance of your look. Jenson considered going over, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Instead, he loitered around your parents - not really letting himself join in on the conversation either, just keeping a watchful eye on you.

But that didn’t last too long either, the clinking of a champagne glass and microphone feedback filled the garden.

“Evening all, thank you all for joining us.” William had led you to the middle of the patio, his hand still on the small of your back.

“I’m sure she’s loving being the centre of attention like this.” He mumbled, earning a gentle elbow to the side from your mother. “Tell me I’m wrong.”

“Oh, shush. You had your chance.” She snipped at him.

He went to protest but instead shook his head and turned back to the scene in front of him - you were fiddling with the tips of your fingers, trying to avoid eye contact with the onlooking crowd but still glancing up as if you were looking for someone. Is she looking for me?

“As you know, I’ve been lucky to spend the last 3 years with this wonderful woman at my side.” William spoke with a confidence that demanded attention, Jenson wanted to tear his eyes away but he just couldn’t. “She came into my life at just the right time, and I can’t wait to see where the rest of our time together takes us… so…”

Your whole body froze as William sank to one knee, fishing a small velvet box from his suit pocket. “William…”

Jenson wasn’t sure if anyone else heard the tone of your voice like him, or if he’d just made it up - but it sounded like a warning.

“Would you make me the happiest man alive, and do the honour of being my wife? Will you marry me?”

You risked looking at the crowd one final time, and when your eyes finally met the blue you’d been searching for - you practically felt the tension melt away. Jenson tilted his head a little, raising his brow - you didn’t miss the way the corner of his mouth tugged up into a teasing smirk and you had to bite your lip to stop yourself from returning it. You didn’t miss the way your heart skipped a beat at the sight of him, how in that moment you wanted nothing more than to rush across the garden and have him wrap you up in his arms.

“…well?”

“Oh.” You suddenly remembered the man currently on one knee in front of you. You tore your gaze away from Jenson to look down at him, a sorry smile on your face. “…I’m… I’m really flattered, Will, I am. Uhm, maybe we can talk about this in private?”

The silence of the crowd was replaced with whispers, although he stood behind him - Jenson could see William’s entire body stiffen and his ears turn a dark pink with embarrassment. “…yeah, uh… yeah okay.”

William passed the microphone to someone before walking off, leaving you standing alone - you mumbled apologies to everyone before doing your best to catch up with him, holding the bottom of your dress so as not to trip over your heels. Jenson finally felt like he could breathe again; whilst everyone else was upset and shocked by the scandal before them - he felt relieved, you did still want him.

“…maybe inviting you was a bad idea.”

Jenson looked to your mother, who was still staring straight ahead. “You can’t tell me you didn’t know that there was a chance she’d say no. This was her choice… this has nothing to do with me.”

She shot him a look. “I saw her face when she realised you were here, Jenson. You had your chance with her, why can’t you let her move on?”

“I’ve not had my chance with her… don’t you see that? I’ve been waiting until I can give her the life she deserves and-“

“She doesn’t need to wait, William can give her that.”

Jenson scoffed. “This isn’t the life she wants… I know William wants her to quit her job and play the pretty little housewife but that’s not who she is. You know that, I know that. And proposing to her in front of all these people? Most of whom I’m not convinced she’d even met before today? Her worst nightmare.”

“Jenson.”

“You didn’t have to invite me… but you did.” He stood his ground. “If you wanted this to happen then you should’ve kept me in the dark, but you know deep down, just as well as I do, that William isn’t the one for her. I love your daughter, more than he ever could.”

Before she could speak again, your father placed a hand on her shoulder - bringing her attention to him. “What’s done is done. It’s her choice at the end of the day… and she didn’t say no, they might be working it out as we speak.”

Your mother rolled her eyes. “Yes honey, because that’s how all happy marriages start - with an argument.”

As the two of them bickered back and forth, Jenson decided to make himself scarce and track you down - weaving through the crowds who were still speaking in hushed tones. Poor William. What was she thinking? How embarrassing.

He ignored them, pushing his way inside - listening out for the two of you and seemingly you hadn’t gone far. A nearby door slightly ajar, a raised voice coming from inside.

“This is so embarrassing! All of my friends are here!”

“And almost none of mine, William.” Your voice was a lot more level, calm. Jenson lent against the wall just outside of the room. “Why did you not invite any of my friends?”

“These are our friends.” He huffed, Jenson could hear him pacing back and forth. “God, I just wanted today to be special - I got your parents here, fuck, I even got your mother to invite Jenson and you know how I feel about that prick.”

“Hey.” You snapped. “Keep his name out of your mouth.”

William went deadly quiet, it was scary. Jenson was close to peeking around the corner to see what was happening, but then William spoke again.

“It’s him isn’t it? It’s always going to be him.”

Your sigh spoke a thousand words, and this time Jenson did risk looking into the room - just to see the look on your face at your boyfriend’s accusation. You didn’t look sad, you didn’t look angry… you had a look of acceptance. You stepped closer to him, placing a gentle hand on his bicep.

“I’m sorry, I never meant to hurt you…” Your voice was soft, practically laced with honey. “I love you, William… but Jenson…”

Jenson waited with bated breath to hear your next words - you’d told him before how you felt about him, but this was different. You didn’t know he was there - you had no reason to be gentle with your choice of words. He turned back away from the room, head rolled back against the wall - he allowed his eyes to close.

“He makes me not want to sleep because being with him makes reality better than my dreams… Home is wherever he is.” Your voice was practically a whisper, as if you knew your words would sting if they were any louder. “I just don’t think I could love anyone in the same way as I love him. I… I was selfish with you.”

“I was selfish too.” He admitted, his hand coming up to cup your jaw - thumb brushing across your cheek. “I should’ve just let you be with him. I always knew where your heart truly was…”

“William, this isn’t your fault. Please, don’t blame yourself for this… all of this is on me.”

“I should go. I love you.”

“I love you too.” You whispered. “I’m sorry, you deserve better.”

Jenson froze as he heard the sounds of shoes tapping against the floor, there was no way he could get away without being spotted - so he just accepted his fate, he took a deep breath. The footsteps paused in front of him and he opened his eyes to meet the sorrowful gaze of William. “Treat her well, yeah?”

“I promise. I’m sorry it ended like this, man.” He forced a smile. “Best of luck to you?”

William held his hand out and Jenson shook it, pressing his lips into a line. “You too mate. Sorry for keeping her from you all these years.”

With a gentle pat on Jenson’s shoulder, William left to go sate the crowds - leaving your childhood friend alone in the corridor. He took one deep inhale before stepping into the room - your back was to him, as you looked out the tall window, presumably to watch your ex(?) boyfriend subdue all of his friends.

“Just me and you, under the cover of night… in the forest on that cute mossy stone bridge across the river. The one you like to throw pebbles in.”

You looked over your shoulder with a coy smile. “Sorry?”

“That’s how I’m gonna do it.” He shrugged, stepping up behind you - strong hands coming to settle on your hips, pressing a soft kiss to your shoulder. “Nothing fancy like all this.”

He relished in the way your cheeks flushed. “That sounds wonderful, Jense… I can’t wait.”

“Not much longer, I promise.” He whispered, this time kissing just behind your ear. “I’d propose to you right now if we weren’t literally at your engagement party.”

You laughed, turning in his arms. “Tomorrow then?”

He couldn’t help the smile on his face. “Tomorrow it is.”

***

Your feet crunched against the snowy ground, nose and cheeks tinged pink as you made the walk from your flat to Jenson’s house - the roads were too icy to drive and you’d always loved the snow, so walking was the easy choice. You smiled softly as you walked through your old neighbourhood, kids laughing and throwing snowballs, parents peeking through the curtains to watch on.

It didn’t surprise you that Jenson had spent some of his earnings to buy a small home here - it was one of his favourite places in the world, yours too. You rapped your gloved hands against the door, rocking back and forth on your heels as you waited.

As soon as it opened, you were wrapped up in Jenson’s arms - a kiss placed on your cold forehead before he stepped out to join you, locking the door behind him. “Can’t believe it’s snowing.”

“I know, especially since it was so sunny yesterday.” You hummed, looping your arm around his. “Where are we going?”

He gave you a soft smile. “Do you not remember the plans we made yesterday?”

“O-oh.” You giggled. “Yeah, yeah I remember.”

“Good.” Jenson pressed a soft kiss to your temple. “Then let’s go.”

“Wait.” You stopped him walking to take his face in your hands, pressing a kiss to his lips. “I love you.”

“I love you.” His voice was practically a whisper. “We don’t have to do this today… you literally just broke up with William.”

You tilted your head, giving him a sweet smile - brushing your thumbs across his cheeks. “I want this. I want you.”

His grin was almost bright enough to melt the snow around you, he took your hand in his and the two of you began the journey - careful to avoid any icy patches, holding each other close for balance. Jenson took the time to give you a full catch up of his next season, Honda had pulled out due to financial issues so Ross Brawn had bought the team and they were starting from what felt like nothing - a big risk, they weren’t… well anything. But he had faith, he had to. After coming 18th, what did he have to lose?

You had nothing but adoration for him in his career, no matter where he ended up - you felt foolish for letting each other put your career ahead of your relationship. You knew you were capable of getting your career goals with Jenson by your side, but you always feared he’d have resented you if you’d somehow got in the way of him getting the wins he deserved.

But as you stepped into the forest, the frozen stream sparkling beneath the bridge - none of your worries seemed to matter anymore. Jenson took both of your hands in his and carefully led you onto the bridge, careful not to slip as he walked backwards. “Your trousers will get wet if you kneel, Jense.”

“Worth it.” He grinned. “I know this isn’t a surprise, but you got to promise to let me get through what I have to say, okay?”

“Promise.” You hummed, taking a deep breath, giving his hands a squeeze.

You bit your lip as he got on his knees, keeping his gloved hands wrapped around yours. “Where do I even start?”

“Might be a bit long if you start at the beginning.” You teased.

“Hey, what did I say?” He hushed, narrowing his eyes playfully at you. “Okay… honestly, I don’t think there’s any words that could truly describe just how much I love you, but I’m going to try my best.”

He almost couldn’t get the words out with the way you were looking at him - a gentle sparkle in your eyes as you held back the tears, the softest of smiles on your lips. He took a deep breath.

“You’re my best friend, my soulmate… I literally cannot remember a life before you and I don’t ever want to picture my life without you. I wish I could specify the exact moment in time I knew you were the person I wanted to spend the rest of time with, but it was gradual, all consuming. You’re my first thought when I wake up, my last thought before I fall asleep and you fill all of my best dreams.”

He let go of your hands to remove his gloves and yours from your left hand. “I don’t care that my career isn’t where I want it to be. My biggest regret is simply that I didn’t do this sooner… I want us to achieve our dreams together. I want us to grow and change together.”

The tears were freely rolling down your cheeks and as he pulled a small black box out of his coat pocket, you felt like you couldn’t breathe. How you felt in this moment was polar opposite to how you had felt when it was William on one knee in front of you - you felt safe, loved… Jenson was all you’d ever wanted.

“So, my love, I’m sorry I’m not the first man to ask you this… but I hope to be the last.” He opened up the box, a beautiful ring inside. “Will you marry me?”

You nodded faster than you ever had. “Yes, oh my god, yes.”

Jenson grinned, and you let him slide the ring onto your finger - and you took a moment to admire it, recognising it as his Grandmother’s, a ring that had been promised to you by her when you were no older than 8 and now it was really on your finger. You looked to your fiancé, who was now standing with an expectant look on his face.

“You gonna kiss me or what?” You purred, running your hands up his chest.

“Don’t have to ask me twice, baby.”

He only gave himself a moment to grin before kissing you with a new vigour - when you brought your hands up to hold his face again, he could feel the press of your ring against his skin and it made his heart race. He pulled back just enough to nudge his nose against yours.

“I told you before and I’ll tell you until the end of time… I’ll always want you.”

───※ ·❆· ※───

Hope you enjoyed!

This is really a birthday present for myself cus I’m fully in my Jenson era but I hope you all like it ♥️

[justporo]

Sweet Things

You've been brooding all day, even Astarion is at a loss on how to pull you out of it - until he offers you a sweet treat, with lots of bickering of course.

MASTERLIST | AO3

Author's Note: Written for the Hot Chocolate/Mulled Wine" prompt of the BG3 Winter Holiday challenge. Honestly my favourite piece I've written so far for the challenge - let's see if it will stay this way.

Pairing: Astarion/GN!Tav (You) Warnings: none Wordcount: 1,6k

~~~

You had been in a bad mood the whole day with no particular reason for it. And nothing was able to lift your mood. Not even your vampire and his usual shenanigans had been able to pull you out of your puddle of negative feelings. Especially when Astarion had suggested you come with him into the city to run some errands.

The usual excitement you felt to go outside during the crispy cold but beautiful winter weather, to walk through the snow and see the lights in the city - it was non-existent today. In fact, you had taken one look out of the tall living room window, scowled and Astarion had thrown a little fit about how ‘you made him venture forth into the perils of the winter smitten city so the two of you may yet survive the bitter cold’. But even his histrionics, little pout and round red eyes had done nothing to change your mind.

Astarjon had sighed in defeat: “Alright, my love, you go and soak in your bad mood as long as you can, I'll wrangle you out of it soon enough.” “Don't threaten me with a good time, Astarion”, you had replied dryly but the vampire had just smirked. A plan had undoubtedly been set into motion. After that he had been off to go into the city - of course not without coming over to you, cupping your face softly and pressing a kiss to your lips.

Afterwards you had tried to make your peace with your bad mood and had curled up on the couch in front of the fireplace, just staring into the flickering flames.

A while later you heard Astarion return to your shared home.

“I've returned from the hunt, my love, and I bring you some bounty”, the vampire declared. You turned around to see him standing in the doorframe with a huge grin and an inconspicuously looking bag in his hand. You saw some melting snowflakes glisten in his curls. He looked very proud of himself with how he let the bag dangle in front of you, one eyebrow lifted inquisitively.

Oh, you knew he was daring you to ask about it. This was one of his signature ways to get what he wanted: teasing you by holding the carrot in front of your face and then quickly moving it out of your reach with an “ah ah ah” and a fang-baring grin. 

And you felt how his tactic even slowly started to work now.

“A bag? Aw Astarion, you shouldn't have! Bags are my favourite!”, you gave back and felt a sassy grin grow on your face. Turning around on your knees on the plush sofa you placed your arms on the rim of the piece of furniture and then placed your cheek on top of it - basically hugging the backrest.

The vampire frowned at you, obviously unsatisfied with your insolent reaction. But he wouldn't be Astarion were he to give up because of that.

“Yes, a bag. And if you stop being such a miserable and yet so sassy little thing, you might even get what's inside of it”, he snapped back mockingly.

“You know, usually this time of year when someone threatens you with the thing they have inside their bag it's a rod to punish the naughty.”

“Well, seeing how naughty you've been to me today, who says there isn't a rod in there?” His grin had turned sultry, his gaze dropping in a way that made other than your negative feelings churn inside of you.

“I repeat myself from earlier: don't threaten me with a good time, Astarion”, you replied with a smirk. Simultaneously you noticed that your bad mood was slowly lifting. Well, he was your soulmate after all, wasn't he? He knew all the tricks.

Astarion in the meantime had put his hands on his hips in an affronted manner. You heard telltale, soft clanking sounds coming from the bag and raised your eyebrows at the vampire.

“So, are we sulking or are we trying to outwit me, eh?”, he commented with a little sneer, but you knew he was only teasing. “Can you at least decide what your mood is?”, he continued when you first made big sad puppy eyes at him and then stuck out your tongue at him. “It's getting exhausting to keep track of your whims, love.”

He quickly and easily dodged the pillow you threw at his face and grinned at you.

“That's pretty rich coming from you, love”, you answered and flipped him off. “Now tell me what's in the bag!”

The vampire clicked his tongue in disapproval: “You lost the privilege of finding out when you threw the pillow, no you'll have to wait.”

You threw another pillow with a pout but your partner had quickly turned and left the room altogether. 

Since you had no intention of losing other privileges and knew exactly that Astarion was way too greedy for praise and thus would come to you again, you just turned around and lounged on the couch once more. You closed your eyes and felt that most of your bad mood had disappeared already, so you simply relaxed to the bustling and rustling that had started coming from the kitchen.

You hadn't planned on drifting off.

But then you were awoken again by the smell of something delicious filling your nose. You opened your eyes and saw an incredibly ugly mug in the form of a boot in front of you.

But more important than its form were its contents you immediately recognised as: delicious hot chocolate with some slowly melting meringue drops on top of it.

And when you looked up you saw that Astarion was holding the cup almost directly under your nose with a smug grin on his lips.

“Something sweet for my sweet thing?”, he asked while batting his eyelashes excessively and his grin growing even broader.

“Where did you find the most hideous mug on this plane of existence?”, you replied and sat up on the sofa - also making space for Astarion to sit beside you.

The vampire sighed massively while he sat beside you and handed you the mug: “You are a ghastly little thing today, have I told you that?”

“At least with me it’s only today.”

Now even Astarion was flabbergasted.

“By the gods, love”, he said with raised eyebrows and then took a swig from his own mug you hadn’t noticed before. “You really do spend too much time in my company”, he finished after he had put down the cup again.

You peeked over at his cup and figured he must have gone for something with a little more kick than hot chocolate - mulled wine most likely.

“And now go and drink your hot chocolate which I so painstakingly made for you, love, or I’ll show you ghastly”, he said and leaned to you, narrowing his red eyes at you. You just made big innocent puppy eyes at him again.

You had every intention to comply - but first you swung your legs over his and covered the both of you with your blanket to make it extra cosy. And then after some fussing from the vampire and some readjusting you had snuggled up on the couch. Astarion kept sipping on his mulled wine and you finally tasted your hot and sweet beverage.

When the first of the rich, warm taste hit your tongue, you couldn’t help but let out a pleased moan and let your head fall back.

“It tastes amazing, love”, you moaned and let your eyes roll in delighted pleasure.

“Well then. Maybe I should introduce some hot chocolate in the bedroom if this is how you react to it”, Astarion commented. He was trying to play over it with his sultry joke but he was obviously proud of himself for having made what caused this reaction in you.

“You prepared it perfectly, Astarion, thank you”, you said now in a genuine tone and let one of your hands cover his which he had carefully placed on your blanket-covered knees.

He looked at you then with a small, sweet smile.

“Thanks for taking the time and the patience to put up with me and make this, Astarion”, you said and softly squeezed his hand. His smile grew broader.

You sat and drank and talked and joked. At some point you made Astarion try his own creation while you got a sip of his also very delicious mulled wine. He insisted he still preferred savory because he already had that one sweet thing in his life. But you saw him lick his lips after trying the chocolate.

When you had downed your beverage to the last drop, you sighed contentedly while the vampire looked fully pleased with himself.

“Feel better now?”, he asked and put his mug down on the floor. You simply nodded and watched as he leaned over to you.

“Good”, he whispered while he kept leaning in closer still. “But you still have a little something there”, he continued in a deep tone and eyed your already opened lips. You just made a silent “oh” while you expectantly awaited yet another treat from Astarion.

He softly grabbed your chin and closed the distance between you. You closed your eyes, expecting the kiss.

But then the vampire just grossly licked over and around your top lip to get rid of the remaining chocolate there.

You kicked and squealed trying to get him off you and stop torturing you with this gross procedure but he had the upper hand.

And then he had jumped up grabbing both your cups, promising to return with a refill of mulled wine for the both of you while you wiped off your mouth with the back of your hand.

“And you call me ghastly”, you screamed after Astarion but you couldn’t stop the big smile spreading over your face.

From the kitchen you only heard the vampire’s laughter in response.

Tag list: @spacebarbarianweird @sunfire-ancunin @tragedybunny @dependsonthedream @tallymonster @magazzne @micropoe10 @aoirohi @my-bunny-prince @lumienyx @fayeriess @darlingxdragon

[astarionapologist]

My head too is full of bg3 so I'm gonna go ahead and suggest/ request a Halsin x female Tav fic, smut is very welcome hehe :)

Also I'm of the opinion that this man definitely has a breeding kink so if that's something you would write, I'd be really happy about it ^^

Have nice day :)))

OHHH FUCK YEAH DADDY HALSIN ‼️‼️

but no seriously he’s such a big sweetie pie I love him sm

Warning 18+ minors please don't interact!

Includes breeding kink and biting and soft horny Halsin

Nature’s embrace: Halsin x reader

After you finally arrive to baulder’s Gate your next mission is the most important one yet! It’s time to go find a nice spot to set up camp. Exhausted and tired of walking Astarion begs you to take a break! Stay at a tavern for a bit! Stay under some shady buildings! Hells under some trees maybe! Point is he’s done for the day and is begging you along with the rest of the group to agree with him for break. In which you all decide to rent out a room for a couple nights in the Elfsong tavern.

After unpacking and changing out of your armor into more casual clothes your realized how starved you were after such a long journey here. Little did you sense the tall rugged elf was beside you.

“Hungry aren’t you?” He says grabbing both your shoulders in an attempt to scare you.

You let out a shriek and push him away from you unaware of who it truly was.

“GAH HALSIN- you can’t do that to people!” You huffed

“I’m sorry little dove, I couldn't resist, and I overheard the growl of your stomach. It seems you're in need of your next meal. Would you care to join me downstairs? I wouldn't mind covering the expenses, of course."

“Oh? Sure that sounds great thank you! I’m starving! I need to get my hands on something to eat soon or I’ll go crazy” You said slightly daydreaming of all the tasty food you smelled walking past the kitchen to the rooms upstair.

“Me too” Halsin whispered under his breath as his eyes traced the outline of your body.

Your cheeks blushed as you overheard this but since he wanted to be quite the jokester earlier you decided to pay him back~

“What was that? You said as you looked up at him purposely with big doe eyes

“"Oh, uh, me too. I find myself quite starved. To uphold our strengths, we should venture forth and procure something to eat, don't you think?” He said with a hint of panic in his voice

He lets out a small sigh “Let us be on our way”

The two of you head down stairs and sit down at the bar table. You order a bowl of mushroom stew with a wine to complement the mushrooms undertones. Halsin unsurprisingly orders a large juicy steak with a heaping pile of steamed vegetables on the side. Along with you he decides to order a glass of wine. Enjoying each others company you finish your dinner together and decide to head back upstairs. However almost everyone was already asleep in their sections of the floor.

“Ahhh it is getting late little dove, you should go and get some rest. We can always chat more some other time.”

You would be foolish to deny the small trace of sadness that lurched in your heart as he spoke. Unfortunately, your eyes held a bit of sadness that the old Druid could easily detect.

“Oh dove but please don’t worry, I promise we can spend more time together just the two of us eventually if that’s something you’d enjoy?”

You look up at him and give him a small smile and nod.

“Yes I would love that, your company is more than wanted.”

He smirks a little and smiles back. The two of you walk back upstairs to call it a night after enjoying your evening together. Finally, in the comfort of your bed, you slowly drift off to sleep... That is until the middle of the night when you wake up, startled by the sound of commotion near one of the beds beside you. You open you eyes to see Halsin getting ready to leave to who knows where.

“Halsin?….” You whisper at him

“Oh no.” He clears his throat

“My sincerest apologies, I did not mean to wake you from your slumber.”

You get up and sit towards the edge of the bed, you’re a bit groggy still but you decide to ignore it worried your companion is in trouble.

“What is it? Is something wrong? Why are you up so late? You asked in a hushed whisper as you turn on a dim light next to you.

As you look at him, the tall elf blushes, realizing his problem is now more obvious to you. You slowly looked down to see a large tent in his pants. How his crotch looked painfully erect it was almost begging to be attended to.

“Ah… I see…”

“I’m so sorry- it’s just the city is so stressful and I’m having trouble adjusting… not to mention how you-..” He stops talking and swallows a bit of fear as he realizes he just mentioned you.

“How I?” you blush a bit already knowing what he means. Unsurprising enough, Halsin and you have always had a habbit of giving each other bedroom eyes from time to time. You've always noticed how often he’d look at you, especially how his eyes would stare at your ass and thighs. However you both never really acted on anything, you were always too busy on the mission at hand….that is until now.

He sighs “Please you tease me enough as is…. The way your hips sway as you walk… your deep and longing stares….it all drives me mad.”

He turns away from you and says, “I never wanted to do or say something because I thought the timing was always off... And I understand if you wish to ignore me now. I am sorry for disturbing your rest.”

You get up from your bed and hug him from behind.

“Halsin… please don't leave, I would love to be able to spend the night with you… if you’d allow me?”

He chuckles “If i’d allow you?”

He grabs you by the wrist and twirls you to face him. Then he quickly picks you up carries you on one of his shoulders.

“I hope this will suffice as an answer.” He says with a light growl

He takes you to more secluded part of the floor away from any of your companions. He carefully plops you onto a large bed and begins undressing himself. When he’s finished he carefully picks you up yet again and plops you down on his lap.

He looks deeply into your eyes as his hands graze the first button on your shirt. You carefully nod and take a deep breath as he takes no time to undo all the buttons of your shirt. Luckily for Halsin you typically always sleep in your dress shirt and nothing else.

His eyes lit up as he saw the perkiness of your breast appear from underneath your shirt. Without wasting time he takes one into his hand and plays with it while taking the other one into his mouth. He swirls his tongue over your sensitive nibble slightly grazing it with his teeth. This earns a slight low moan from you as you wrap your arms around his shoulder.

He releases your breast from his mouth and kisses you deeply and hungrily. He grabs you by the hips and ass and slowly begins to move you across his large muscular thigh.

“Ha-… halsin.. please I need more,” you say as you grind needily on his thigh.

“You’re not ready, I don’t want to hurt you little dove” he says while kissing your cheek

He then slowly moves you off his thigh just enough for him to stick two fingers inside you. You gasp and hold onto him tighter as he slowly pumps his fingers into your soaking wet cunt.

He uses his other hands to spin small light circles around your clit and begins to speed up his fingers as he continues to pump them inside of you. By now yours seeing stars as you tilt your head back breathing deeply as you feel the druids fingers deep inside you. He can tell you’re close by the way you begin to tense up around him. He curls his fingers making sure to rub you sweet spot of yours to allow him to hear the wonder sounds you make as you come undone around his fingers.

You take a deep shaky breath and looked back into his eyes.

Gods. He thinks to himself, he could have easily finished just watching you come undone by just his fingers alone.

He flips the two of you over so that you’re now underneath him. You moan as you feel his tip rub against your hole.

“Are you ready? I don’t want to hurt you.” He says attempting to suppress how needy he truly is.

“Oh god yes, please hurry! We’ve both waited long enough.” You begged

He carefully slides in slowly so you can take your time adjusting around him. With a small hiss, he bottoms out and is completely inside you. He pauses for a moment kissing your forehead before he slowly begins to move. A slow yet deep pace was set as the druid gripped your hips hard as to not lose control.

You bite his neck in order to keep quiet, yes your other companions are sound asleep and unable to see the sinful acts that are taking place however you still attempt to keep quiet. The sound of skin slapping slowly starts to get louder as Halsin begins to speed up. You look up and make eye contact with him, his eyes are glowing a beautiful shade of gold.

“You drive me wild little dove…. I want to fill you up so badly.” Halsin grunts as he continues to pound deep into you.

“I want to see you squirm underneath me full of my cum…. I want…. Nothing more than to see that.” He huffs and growls out the last part.

“Fuck Halsin… I need you, I need to feel all of you, I need to be filled with you.” You say in between gasps

You’re both extremely close, he grunts as he feels how you quiver and shake around his angry and sensitive cock. He grips your hips tighter and begins to pick up the pace, lifting one of you legs up in the process. You let out a whine as you feel yourself getting closer and closer. Then suddenly a heavy feeling of pleasure consumes your body. You shake and grip his body as he continues to pound his way through your orgasm. When a deep and heavy grunt he finished deep within your cunt, making sure to get every drop deep within you. He pulls out and collapses next to your exhausted figure.

He pulls you in tightly to his chest and kisses your forehead before gently rubbing circles on your back. You slowly drift off to sleep as you hear him quietly say

“Goodnight my little dove”

HOLY FUCK I ACTUALLY FINISHED THIS

like always I did not proof read 👆but I still hope you enjoy, sorry if this was a little rough it’s my first time writing smut.

[adventures-in-the-mad-forest]

Voice Acting Volunteer Info

Taglist: @canvas-the-florist @awkwardqueercreature @bananaconda33 @prince-rowan-of-the-forest @bluebellieart

@dewberrybramble @strange-destinations @thewickedcompanion @duck-in-a-spaceship @kitkat4406

@general-kalani @astrowillscreamintothevoid

Kofi blog post (All the same information is located under the read more).

Please ensure that you read and understand this before signing up! If you have any questions, please ask!

Summary of the Podcast:

It's about Glacie, and their coworkers, who work at the Meeting Point. The Meeting Point is a restaurant/shop located near the Mad Forest. Coming back from a pretty long break, due to their own unreality problems popping up, Glacie is warned that the forest grows hungry. After some incidents, Glacie's hallucinations start getting real bad, and they eventually venture forth into the Mad Forest.

Content Warnings of this Podcast Include (but are not limited to):

Unreality

Ableism

Pain

Blood

Implied Death

Podcast Genre

Modern-ish (emphasis on the ish) fantasy horror/action

Some things to note:

This is Volunteer Work, while I will be doing my best to pay you all, I can not promise that this will happen.

You Must Be 18+ to Volunteer to Voice Act (Mainly due to the workload)

You do not need prior Voice Acting work to throw your hat in the ring! That is not going to be a factor in the form or a question I ask in the Zoom meeting

The form that goes out today is to schedule a Zoom Meeting where you’ll do your audition then on the characters that you selected that you want to attempt to Voice Act. You can try for multiple characters, and say how many you’d like to Voice Act for (maximum of 3 characters). Fill out the days and times you are generally available. We can schedule a specific date based on schedules two weeks before the meeting. (It is important to note that the form times are in MST, as I live in Arizona in the United States. That is UTC -7. Please convert to your time zone before saying you’re available.)

I’m going to state this again so it’s not too buried: Zoom meetings are when auditions will be held, I’ll be starting to schedule those in November and December, at least 2 weeks ahead of when I first email you!

One social media is required for me to credit you in the podcast officially! You may have up to three, (this is mainly so that intros aren’t too long). Yes, I will be annoying about this.

You may only work up to 20 hours per week on Voice Acting. Including practice and breaks of less than 1 hour. This is to ensure that, if money is made, I can pay you back for your time fairly without you overworking yourself for essentially no pay if no money is made from this.

Speaking of Making Money off of this

How am I attempting to do that? You’d be right to ask. Currently, early versions of the unedited script are available for early viewing for $6 each, and a bundle is available for $35 total. Only the first episode is free in the unedited version so that those who are unsure of their interest can find out if it’s their cup of tea or not! These are also currently on a 25% sale, as I'm about to get the edited script going up for early access within the next few days.

With the edited version, the first two episodes will be free for early viewing (since most of the main characters show up by that episode it will give a better idea of who they are), however the rest will be priced at $12/episode with a bundle available for $60.

95% of those funds will be going to back paying volunteers for this project. 5% will be for extra fees that may arise as we get further into the process of recording, editing, and uploading. (This is after Stripe takes out their fee).

There are also memberships available for anyone interested in supporting the podcast!

I also sell my own art on the side and will be opening up commissions! For these I will be putting 75% of the funds into payment, with the other 25% (after the stripe fee) going towards making more art.

Not only that, but after Voice Actors are picked, I will start building a kickstarter for the project that is planned to release in May or June. This is to give us time to record 1 or 2 episodes to share bloopers and behind the scenes with backers. As the max amount of time a kickstarter can be up is 60 days, I will be doing a lot of advertising for it when the time comes on different blogs. While I would recommend you share the kickstarter on different social medias too, it’s not a requirement. And it’s something I will be discussing in more depth with the podcast team.

How Will I Pay You if the podcast makes money?

If you have a kofi, I will be leaving some generous tips! If not, any app that takes card as payment (without me having to make an account) will do! I am not doing checks, as this is open to volunteers from around the world who speak english, and even if it was just the US, I’m scared that they might get lost in the mail!

If you don’t have a place I can pay you with a debit card, please be willing to find a way to do that before you fill out the form.

I am willing to teach you how to set up a kofi if you need help with that!

You will be paid back at $15USD/hour if this podcast starts making money

Again, this is not guaranteed! Voice Acting will be considered Volunteer Work unless money is made!

Now let’s get into the Available Characters for Season 1

Main Characters: 

Cameron - She/her, Cis, lesbian, works at the Meeting Point. Cameron is wonderful, she’s independent, but terrified of being alone. She’s sassy and protective, but she’d do anything for her friends.

Shaun - He/him Cishet, coolest straight guy you’ll ever meet. Gives everyone nicknames, even if they don’t stick. Doesn’t like being serious without room for whimsy, he enjoys having fun. Honestly, he’s just a silly guy.

Dwayne - He/him, transmasc, pansexual, aromantic. Single dad of two (Laila and Deon). Is doing his best to provide for his kids and give them the best life they can possibly have. Ms. Lemona is his babysitter, both of them feeling as if they owe the other for the help they provide each other.Priority for this role is for someone who is black and transmasc

Gerry - He/him, Cis, aroace. 19 years old, youngest member of the Meeting Point. He’s just been hired to work there and is finding his place, is closest with Dwayne at this point. Has a habit of calling Glacie boss for some reason (no he is not being forced to.)Priority for this role is for someone who is brown.

Side Characters:

Delmena - She/her, Cishet. Widow. She’s an older woman who uses a wheelchair. While she’s outfitted her house to be more accessible to her, the outside world isn’t as put together. This is why she hired Carmelita, a helper who lives with her but is mainly asked to do anything that requires going outside and dealing with jutting sidewalk, no pavement, things like that. While Delmena will go with her most times, sometimes she enjoys staying at home and doing things herself.

Carmelita - She/her, Transfem, Lesbian. Works as Delmena’s stay at home caregiver, while Delmena doesn’t need her most of the time, both of them provide wonderful company for each other. She recently (ish) moved to the area, after struggling to find a job in the bigger town of Campeal. Priority for this role is for someone who is Hispanic/Latina and transfem

Haeyl - She/her, Transfem, Straight. Shaun’s dogsitter, pretty mysterious. But she has a right to be. Wonderful to be around, Mellon (the dog) loves her, and she loves dogsitting for Mellon.Priority for this role is for someone who is black and transfem.

Laila - 8 years old, she/her. Dwayne’s daughter, and eldest child. She’s loves to tease her brother, and take his toys as she’s taller than him (she gives them back, she just likes to frustrate her brother). Really interested in dragons and magic, one of which she’s told doesn’t exist; the other one she hasn’t gotten a clear answer on.Priority for this role is someone who is black.

Deon - 6 years old, he/him. Enjoys trains and magnets, and is also interested in magic. Is tired of Laila stealing his toys and keeping them from him. Has a habit of accidentally leaving toys out on the floor, which caused the incident that happened to keep Dwayne from being in the first episode of the season.Priority for this role is for someone who is black.

Ms. Lemona - She/her, transfem, Laila and Deon’s babysitter as Dwayne works at the Meeting Point to provide for them. She enjoys watching these kids, and teaching them new things, even astounding them with the creations she makes. She’s a woodworker, and knows some basics on how to make some more mechanical bits and bobs.Priority for this role is for someone who is black.

Other Characters:

Glacie’s Guide - A hallucination of sorts, not much is known about it, but it claims in the beginning of Season 2 to be there to help Glacie navigate through the forest. (Although whether that is true or not remains to be seen).

Various Background Characters

This includes customers at the Meeting Point as well as, random chatter that is unintelligible in certain parts of the episode.

Audition Information

I have chosen lines for each character that I believe gives a good view of who they are!

See this google doc for those:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/19LNLDZgUOYPCCF6i8nH2iQrXe5UXK-S_nJGmqJ-Hzvc/edit?usp=sharing

If you'd like access to the full script before viewing, DM me on tumblr!

Forms open today, and I will begin scheduling auditions as early as Early November/Early December! As auditions happen, I will begin casting in Late December/Early January, because of this, if there’s someone you’d like to play I suggest getting the form in early. I will Not recast a part unless someone drops out so do not ask! As people are cast, I will be editing the form to reflect this.

How does casting work?

I will be attempting to schedule zoom meetings to cast specific characters on specific days. After the last zoom meeting for a character is done, and there are no scheduled zoom meetings for this character for a week, I will contact the person who got the role and give them the link to the discord server with information on what role they got. Then I will be removing said role from the form. This will continue until all roles have been filled.

I will also be contacting those who didn’t get the role to let them know that they didn’t get the role.

I would recommend, trying out as many roles as you’re interested in! While you can be cast for multiple roles, depending on how many people audition, roles will be 1 per person with the exception of background roles.

The various background roles will have between 2-5 people voicing those characters, and due to the amount of lines, only count as 1 extra role!

Joining the discord server is mandatory for Voice Actors! This is because I have things set up to record in the discord server itself.

Any questions? Feel free to ask!

Voice Acting Volunteer Scheduling and Sign Up Form:

[katherines-imagines]

“Don’t be a skxawng, just ask her.” Part 3

pairings: neteyam x reader

warnings: cute, fluff, bad writing

key: skxawng - moron

summary: Neteyam tries again to tell Y/n how he feels, but his annoying siblings get in the way

The next morning, Neteyam, yet again, ventured to find Y/n, determined to tell her how he felt.

Sadly, life is not that easy, and the author of his story happened to be cruel.

When Neteyam had found Y/n, she appeared to be taking a stroll around the village, greeting the people with a cheerful smile.

The teenage boy sighed with love, admiring the kindness Y/n showed to the people.

She would make a great Tsahik, his mother’s voice whispered in his head.

His grin grew at the thought of his parents approval.

As he headed towards the girl, she had just finished her conversation with one of the teachers.

Neteyam took note that the older woman Y/n was talking to, was Tuk’s teacher, who was planning on stepping down.

When Y/n spotted Neteyam, she walked towards him to meet halfway.

They reached each other, an awkward grin on both faces, blush’s apparent.

“Y/n,” Neteyam said with an aloof grin and a tilt of his head.

Blushing at the gesture, she returned his gaze with a toothy grin.

“‘Teyam.”

Butterflies stormed in Neteyam’s stomach, attacking his walls, begging to escape and go to the cause of their creation.

As he opened his mouth to speak, his siblings had spotted them.

The eldest sibling tried to shake his head no, wanting to finally tell the girl in front of him how he felt.

But as his luck would go, it was no use, and his siblings walked towards the two teenagers.

“Hey Y/n, Neteyam, what are you two doing here,” the last voice Neteyam wanted to here at the moment said, putting his arm around Neteyam’s neck.

“Nothing at the moment, we just saw each other,” Y/n answered obliviously.

“What are you doing here, Lo’ak?”

Great, Neteyam thought to himself. Now I’ll never get a word in.

“Nothing much Y/n, me and Kiri were just walking around since Spider couldn’t get out today,” Neteyam’s little brother answered.

“Yes, we had nothing better to do,” Kiri agreed.

“Oh, well why don’t you join me and Neteyam,” Y/n offered.

I really truly love you Y/n, but why do you have to be so nice to them, Neteyam though grudgingly.

Neteyam and Lo’ak seemed to have a conversation through their eyes at that moment, leaving Y/n confused, and Kiri rolling her eyes.

C’mon bro, let us join.

Not now, I must talk to Y/n. Alone.

Ohhh I see, a little one on one, Lo’ak smirked.

Not like that you skxawng, Neteyam scowled.

Just for that, I think I’m gonna stay.

Don’t you dare.

“Yeah Y/n, we’ll definitely join you,” Lo’ak said, ignoring his brother’s glare.

“Yay, where do we want to go,” Y/n asked, not noticing Neteyam’s glare and look of distaste.

“We can go to the forest,” Kiri suggested.

“Oo yes! Let’s!”

As the girls walked ahead of the group, talking and giggling, the boys bickered back in forth.

When Neteyam opened his mouth to shoot yet another insult at Lo’ak, he paused, seeing the beauty known as you laughing and covering your mouth.

With a teasing look, Lo’ak closed Neteyam’s jaw, who’s jaw dropped without him knowing.

“If you stare that hard, she might just break,” Lo’ak teased.

Flustered, he spit an insult, and jogged up to the girls, standing in between the two to get closer to Y/n.

As Y/n smiled in delight, Kiri gave an unimpressed look at Neteyam, while he ignored his sister and gave all his attention to Y/n.

“So what would you like to do,” Neteyam asked Y/n.

Laughing nervously, the girl answered with an, “I don’t know.”

“Don’t put all that pressure on me,” she defended herself, being the decisive one in their group.

Putting his hands up in surrender, he chuckled.

“As you wish princess.”

You couldn’t control the heat coming up from your neck and looked down.

Ruining the moment, Lo’ak came between the two and put his arms around both of their shoulders and gave a grin, which was returned by Y/n, but not Neteyam.

“Let’s go to the vines,” Lo’ak suggested, Y/n nodding in agreement.

Neteyam sighed in defeat, realizing that the rest of the day would not be spent between just Y/n and him, and he probably wouldn’t get to confess today.

And he was right.

Every single moment that he and Y/n had, was interrupted by either Lo’ak or Kiri.

When they started heading back to the village, Lo’ak and Kiri les the way, having Y/n and Neteyam trailing after them.

Happy with the day, the girl had turned to talk with Neteyam about how successful it was, when she heard the boy’s sad sigh.

Her smile falling, she quickly thought of what she could do to cheer him up.

Seeing the village up ahead, she knew she didn’t have much time to cheer him up, and came up with a quick thought.

Lightly bumping his shoulders with her own, she started softly whispering to him, trying not to be heard by Kiri or Lo’ak, so they could not ruin the moment.

“I had a lot of fun today, though it would have been funnier if it were just you and me.”

Hearing this, Neteyam looked up from the ground which he had been staring at the whole time and blushed.

“I, i too wish it were just us. But it was still fun for you, no,” he questioned, not wanting to have wasted your time.

As they stepped near his families tent, she nodded.

The girl paused for a second, trying to find a way to put her words together.

“Any time spend with you is fun, ‘Teyam,” she said quietly looking up at his eyes.

She swore she saw a blush, as he smiled down at her.

“Y/n, any time with you is as if I were spending time with Eywa herself.”

Playfully glaring, Y/n huffed.

“That’s my line, you can’t take if.”

Chuckling at her petty behavior, he nodded.

“My apologizes, ma Y/n.”

As they stared at each other, a throat had cleared.

“Ehem, so, we’re still here,” Lo’ak said, yet again ruining their moment.

Kiri slapped Lo’ak upside, annoyed that he had prevented the teenagers to confess, yet again.

As the flustered pair cleared their throats awkwardly, the girl spoke up.

“I probably should be headed home now,” she said sadly.

Nodding in agreement, Neteyam offered to take her home.

“No, that’s alright, your parents probably wanted me to bring you home earlier,” she joked.

Sighing, she looked up at the boy and suddenly smiled.

“What,” he asked confused.

“Nothing, your just cute when you are a gentleman,” you said, leaving him with a quick peck on the cheek.

Walking towards your tent, you waved at the boy who was still standing in awe, yelling a goodbye.

As Neteyam saw your figure disappearing, he heard a slap from behind him.

Turning around, he saw his mother had bitten Lo’ak upside, like his sister had done earlier.

“What have you done Lo’ak? Now it takes longer for Neteyam to ask her,” Neytiri scolded her youngest son.

Rubbing the back of his head in pain, Lo’ak whined about how he didn’t want to see Neteyam and Y/n eating each other’s faces.

As Neteyam continued to look at where Y/n’s figure had disappeared, he felt a hand on his shoulder.

Looking to his right, he saw his sister.

“You love her, don’t you,” the eldest daughter of Toruk Makto asked.

“Yeah, I do. So much,” he answered staring at the distance with a lovesick smile.

“Just remember,” his sister continued.

“Don’t be a skxawng.”

“Oh c’mon Kiri, not you too-“

“Well you sure act like one sometimes.”

“Ugh,” Neteyam groaned in annoyance.

Even though his family was annoying about him liking a girl, deep down, he was just happy that they loved her too.

———————————————————————

A/N: Thanks so much everyone for the support on the first two parts!! And yes, I am being mean and interrupting each moment between them bc how else is their romance supposed to bloom?? But thanks again for the kind comments, they mean so much to me!! If you want to be tagged for part 3, just comment :)

tagged: @fanboyluvr @sloppierjewel @midnightstar-90 @butstillbetterthanamasterofone @hafutoru @andieeeelocks29 @mizuki80 @virginslutsstuff @nanamisbigassschlong @secrettreaderr @liluvtojineteyam @marcswife21 @zeeluvsu @mommyneytiri @youshoulddrinkcoffee

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

Dirty Work 28

Warnings: this fic will include dark content such as bullying, familial discord/abuse, and possible untagged elements. My warnings are not exhaustive, enter at your own risk.

This is a dark!fic and explicit. 18+ only. Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Warnings have been given. DO NOT PROCEED if these matters upset you.

Summary: You start a new gig and find one of your clients to be hard to please.

Characters: Loki

Note: lmaooooo this is my ultimate mental breakdown in fic form.

As per usual, I humbly request your thoughts! Reblogs are always appreciated and welcomed, not only do I see them easier but it lets other people see my work. I will do my best to answer all I can. I’m trying to get better at keeping up so thanks everyone for staying with me.

Your feedback will help in this and future works (and WiPs, I haven’t forgotten those!) Please do not just put ‘more’. I will block you.

I love you all immensely. Take care. 💖

Mr. Laufeyson's grip on your wrist grows tighter as he drags you to the stairs. You stumble after him as he ascends, haughtily keeping a step ahead as you struggle to keep up. As you get to the top, you latch onto his arm, trying to slow him. He ignores you as the heels you still wear scuff on the floor.

"Mr. Laufeyson," you murmur.

"Be quiet," he snaps, "you are not to speak."

He marches into the bedroom and yanks you in after him. He kicks the door shut as he points you to the bed. You gulp and sit at the foot, meekly staring at the toes of the beige heels.

"I want you to listen and understand me." He begins, "look at me."

Your eyes flick up and you clench your jaw tight. 

"That is not suitable behaviour. I don't care how much you've imbibed, you are not to touch or be touched by anyone but me. That is our agreement, yes?"

You nod as your lower lip pokes out just a little.

"I really want you to hear me," he steps closer, bending to meet your eye line, "I do not tolerate disloyalty and it will not be forgiven a second time."

"Mr. Laufeyson," you croak, "I didn't... I didn't kiss her, she kissed me--"

"And you let her," he sneers, "you are not some helpless fawn. We are past that, yes? You cannot go on letting yourself be passed around like a used toy."

You recoil, pouting deeper at the pang in your chest. Isn't that what he's done? What he continues to do? To use you?

His cheek ticks and he blinks, tension releasing as the stitch between his brows eases. He stands straight, hands on his hips and sighs, "don't look at me like that."

"Like what?" You babble in a wobbly voice.

"Don't," he points at you.

"I'm not doing anything," you nearly sob.

"I will not feel sorry for you, quit it. You are the one who's done wrong."

You bat your lashes. You don't understand. You're just sitting there.

"You won't make me feel bad for your misdeeds," he turns and paces to the side, stopping as he looks back at you again, "stop."

You shake your head and look around.  You lower your chin and swing your feet over the side of the bed. You watch them bounce, feeling the springs below you. He huffs as he spins and continues his agitated cycle back and forth. You peek up at him as his lips move in silent monologue.

He's kind of silly when you think of it. So uptight and yet you've seen that other side of him. Almost desperate, like a puppy begging for a treat. You don't know why you didn't see it sooner. But now, he mopes like a dog cast outside.

You giggle. Quietly at first, and it gets louder, tickling up your throat. He stops and faces you, tilting his head curiously.

"What?" He hisses.

One last guffaw bubbles up and you cover your mouth. You shake your head and wiggle your shoulders, "nothing."

"Something must be amusing."

"Nothing," you repeat, "Mr. Laufeyson," you drop your hand, cheeks still bulbed in a barely restrained smile, "I promise, I just... I feel funny."

"Mmm, yes, wine," he tisks, "let's not venture down that road often."

You let out another snort and stop yourself. You cringe at him, showing your teeth, "sorry."

"What are you laughing at?" He narrows his eyes.

"It is only... you're so proper but... but you're not really," your lips tug at the sides as your skin burns. You shouldn't have said it aloud.

"Not proper?" He echoes and nears you again, thumbs hooking in his pants pockets, "what about me isn't proper?"

You shrug and look away. You don't say anything. It isn't one thing, really.

He hums and it deepens to a growl. Suddenly, he grabs your chin and forces your head straight. He makes you look at him as he bends, "you're not incorrect. I can be... improper."

He shoves you down to your back and you gasp. In an instant, he pushes your legs apart with his and kneels on the mattress. He leans over you as his hand firms on your throat.

"Especially," he touches the flouncy fabric around your thighs, "when you wear skirts like this."

"Mr. Laufeyson," you breathe.

He grins as his eyes sparkle like gems, "oh yes, I am feel very improper," he tugs the fabric from under his knees, "so improper, it hurts."

He slips his hand under your skirt and your thighs twitch, "it throbs and I can hardly control myself as I ache to let out all those improper thoughts." He pushes two fingers against your cotton panties and you squeak, "to unleash them upon your soft flesh," he pushes against you, prodding firm so pressure tingle in your core, "to delve..." he leans in closer, "deep inside."

"Mr..." you begin, pushing on his shoulders, "please..."

"Where was all this when she was on you, hm?" He snarls as his nose brushes yours, "I dare say, you enjoy playing the little slut."

You gasp and clasp the fabric of his shirt. He presses his lips to yours, smothering you as you squirm helplessly. His tongue invades your mouth and you nearly choke. His fingers rub your panties, building heat in your flesh. You writhe, splayed under him as he rocks his pelvis against the back of his hand.

You whimper around his tongue, trapped beneath him as you grasp at his sleeves and push on his chest. He won't budge. You close your eyes, trying to calm your nerves, trying to give in. That's what you're supposed to do so why can't you?

His hips tilts harder into his hand as he continues to tease you, the burning sensation turns tingly as a moan slips from you. You arch your back as your body tenses. You can't help but long for more as a fullness consumes you, building as he swirls his fingers faster and faster. The bed shakes with his frantic motion as his mouth slips down your cheek.

He puffs and growls against your earlobe. You whine as you bend your legs, digging the heels into the blankets without a care. The feeling is too much, unlike anything you've felt before, more than you ever inspired in your aimless explorations of yourself.

He groans and nuzzles into your neck, nipping as he grows more raucous in his tending. Simulating more as he teethes and sucks at your skin. He bites down on the muscle of your shoulder as your breath grows rampant and you moan and murmur.

He unlatches from you and rasps into your skin, "that's it, pet." His breath dampens the crook of your neck, "must I remind you who you belong to?"

You gulp and hiccup, the fluttering of your core turning to a vibrant thrum. You squeak as you feel a snap inside and you spasm as you crest the peak. You dig your fingertips into his chest as you ride the thrilling high and slowly come down, going limp as his touch relents, thought his hand lingers between your legs.

He lifts his head, his hair askew, and frames your face with his longer fingers. His nostrils flare as he hovers his lips just above yours, "you are mine, pet, don't forget again."

He nips your lower lip before consuming you in another greedy kiss. You're too dizzy, drunk, and dumb to stop him.

✨

Mr. Laufeyson leaves you as you are, legs bent over the end of the bed, dazed and staring at the ceiling. It's slightly degrading but you're too weak to move. Too stunned by what he did. By how it felt.

It's a good thing isn't it, to enjoy it too. It should be and yet, you can't help but doubt everything. Him, especially. You don't trust yourself to trust him. Once he has everything he wants, will he even care? That question stings and has you sitting up.

You fold over your lap and groan. Your head hurts.

You have no delusions. You're not special. You'll never be that. Heck, your own father doesn't even want you. Stop. It's just the alcohol getting to you.

You stand and the skirt falls straight. Your eyes droop heavily. You could fall asleep on your feet. You go to the window and peer out at the front lawn, you see the end of Ronan's truck just past the eaves. You haven't even said hello. It's Monday and you haven't even started cleaning!

You go to the door but the handle doesn't turn. You wiggle it, jiggling the door as you try to rip it out of the frame. Not again! You hit the door with your fist but think better of yelling. Mr. Laufeyson can't expect much if he's going to keep you locked up.

You back away and turn to the room. You look around. Like really take it in, every inch. You recall the first day you walked up to this place, it seemed so magical and fantastical. The first mansion you'd ever seen up close. Then the inside, even more amazing. It still is but you never really took the time to appreciate it. There was always something to distract you.

And you live here now. Kind of. For a while, at least.

Doubt swirls around you. What happens after? This won't last forever. What then? Of course, you can't stay. You'll go back and apologise to your dad, things can be what they were. Or close to. Your dad will always be your dad.

Thinking just makes your head pulse. So you try not to. You return to the window and stare out, longing to go down and smell the flowers, touch the lush leaves waving in the wind. To just pretend for a little bit that you're free.

✨

You barely remember sitting down or falling asleep. You wake on the edge of the bed, curled up facing the window as the sun sets beyond. You hug yourself in the dim light and blink away the sleep in your eyes.

There's a soft scratch from behind you. You notice the door is open and peer over your shoulder cautiously. Mr. Laufeyson sits against the headboard, his eyes pinpointed on the book in his hands. You gasp as he arches a brow.

"Um," you gurgle and roll onto your back, stiffly sitting up, "Mr. Laufeyson."

"Ah, there she is," he says dryly without looking away from the pages.

"I'm sorry, I..." 

"Yes, yes, wine in the morning does spoil the day," he muses drolly.

"I didn't mean--"

"Yes, yes, you keep saying how you don't mean anything," he closes the book and rests it on his lap, "as you didn't mean to mewl like a cat as I pet you, yes? Let's not pretend you are so innocent.”

You frown and go to turn away. In an instant he has a vice on your arm, pulling you back as his fingertips jab into you painfully. You whimper and face him again.

“I didn't say go,” he grits.

“Sorry–”

“Shh,” he puts a finger to your lips, “I don't want you to talk. You listen, that is your duty, yes?”

You nod, choked with humiliation. He lets you go and folds his hands over the book on his lap. He pushes his shoulders back and sits up straight.

“You will get up and go to the end of the bed,” he demands.

You obey without hesitation. You climb off the bed and take tiny steps around the bed, still wearing the shiny heels. You turn to face him and stare at the mattress.

“Head up. Eyes on me,” he orders, “you see, pet, we must train you as you seem to forget yourself.”

You open your mouth and quickly shut it. You stare at him, wide-eyed.

“Take that off.” You look around and he hums disapprovingly, “uh uh. Me.”

Your eyes snap back to him and you quiver. You touch the skirt, slowly balling your hands around the fabric. Your throat constricts in horror.

“You know how I feel about repeating myself,” he girds. 

You look down but quickly pop your head back up before he can reproach you. You run your hands up to blouse and toy with the hem. You shudder and lift it just a few inches, freezing as you fight to go further 

“Trust me when I say you do not want me to do it myself,” he scoffs, “don't play coy with me now.”

Your mouth draws to a tight line and you gnaw on your lower lip. You raise the fabric higher, exposing the unpadded cotton of your bra. The blouse catches on your chin before you wriggle free.

You lower it in between your hands and reluctantly let it fall to the floor before you. Your hands fidget and find the waist of the skirt. Your eyes flit to the wall and immediately back to Laufeyson as a growl crawls up his throat.

You reach back and unbutton the clasp. Your hand shakes on the zipper, tugging it down bit by bit. Mr. Laufeyson doesn't waver, his eyes fixed on you. Just on your face.

The fabric slackens and falls away from your hips. You stand in only the underwear and the heels. You teeter and step out of the shoes. You stare back at him expectantly.

“You're not done,” he slithers, his eyes clinging to yours darkly.

You blanch and let your mouth fall open. You'd never been naked in front of anyone. Ever.

Your hands go numb and move on their own. You can't deny his gaze or his tone. You reach back to unhook your bra and gulp loudly as you unbend your arms and it falls off your chest. You squeak and watch it fall.

He clears his throat and you look at him. You forgot. Your fingers trace the band on your underwear and you push your thumbs beneath. You bend little by little as you shove them down.

You feel your chest swell forward with the movement as your underwear dip to your ankles. You stand straight and kick them away. You cant help but hide yourself with your arms.

“No,” he growls.

You put your arms straight and let out a pathetic noise. His gaze clings to your far just a little longer before slowly descending. You shiver as you see the smoke in them. He lets the book fall off his lap as his eyes rove your figure.

He smirks, “see, it isn't hard to be good.”

[slowd1ving]

✦ II. COME HITHER, CURSE WHERE HE LIES

"This was the tale of the seventh prince; an elegy hidden from the footnotes of history. Within the game Lament of Ouroboros, his sorrows were summarised thusly: A strangely warm vein of ore.  Hero, come here when dusk kisses the edge of the Borderlands. As your palm brushes against the rock, you may be able to feel the pulse of a slumbering prince.  Three sentences were all that was afforded to the disgraced prince, forgotten to all but the Moirai." • . * cursed prince ratio + alchemist m reader rough design for minoan fashion ratio here warnings: video game violence, death? kind of? tyranny (are we surprised), male-coded reader (or at least the in-game avatar is), depictions of gore, turning into stone wc: 4.2k

LAMENT OF OUROBOROS MASTERLIST

HONKAI STAR RAIL MASTERLIST

MASTERLIST ・゜・NAVIGATION

It took all of one year for the warning to become prophecy. One year, approximately four hundred and eight days—give or take—for the two Suns to align themselves in the exact arrangement they had on the Day of Silence. And in that single year, the schemes of Veritas Ratio would germinate, blossom, and finally wither away irrelevantly. 

He was born quietly, and thus his end would, too, be quiet. 

The month of Hekatombaion had the seventh prince leave his tower: like a bird set free from its gilded cage. Though he was never caged, per se, the youth knew it was safest to stay in its stone walls: away from the all-consuming, bloody struggle for the throne, away from the greedy claws of his siblings and their power-hungry gazes. Yes, it was far easier being a shunned seventh prince than getting swept up in the tides of fatal politics. 

Fatal, indeed—the internal strife had already claimed the lives of two of his siblings. He was the fifth prince, if one regarded the situation objectively—but it was better to lurk in the oblivion. Seven was a less significant number than five, after all. 

Hekatombaion was the month of venture. The Day of Silence had occurred in its beginning; the day to mark the new year, where the blank canvas of muteness would sluggishly accumulate the sins and sorrows of the populace in the coming days and weeks. Like honey trickling over sweet basyniai, the seventh prince would begin to spread his own influence to achieve his saccharine conclusion. 

So, the youth ventured forth—though not into the bloody palace, but the summer-worn streets and the agora. Past the stands selling their wares, and the philosophers sermonising on the achromatic cobblestones, were those conducting business and students of the various schools in Metis. The work and school day had shortly ended—the evening of debates and discourse had just begun. 

Without the gilt laurels which suggested his status as one of Elation’s blood, he was no more prince than he was peasant. The drape of his clothes and their exceptional craftsmanship did, however, mark him as a wealthy man—perfect for infiltrating the symposium of a guileless young master. 

Thus, the prince incognito began frequenting these conferences and gleaning precious information and gossip from the drunken fools who sought to boast of their knowledge and logos. Their fallacies were awful for entertainment, but Veritas was very grateful for how witless their lips were. All the news, rumours, and information passed around students and teachers alike were his for the taking: the rudimentary designs from which he would craft his weapon. From these anserine gatherings with peers a few years older than him he crafted a network of the politics of the kingdom: who sat behind and whispered to the magistrates; who supported the polemarch and just who was responsible for the military advancements of the archon in charge of armed forces; and finally, the influence of Aha and his siblings on the spread of the kingdom. 

These were the preliminary preparations for investigating the ruling class of Metis. 

Metageitnion was the month for thanksgiving. The seventh prince’s presence at the mess hall was nothing out of the ordinary, then, for the arid weather heralded festivities and games where his attendance was expected—if not mandated. As opportunistic as he was for information, he naturally assumed his place below his siblings: slightly sycophantic, yet assuredly not a threat. 

Dried figs melted on his tongue—a mellifluous snack he’d consumed plenty of in his tower, but tasted especially cloying as praises flowed from his mouth like honeyed wine. His siblings, vain as they were, dangerous as they were, liked observing how their shunned brother cowed neatly before them. Though, the watered-down liquor they ingested was nowhere near enough to loosen their lips on matters of heresy; another span of days passed without gaining information. In its stead, he established himself as a vapid fool with no interest in scrabbling for the throne: a slippery, cowardly bastard who simply wasn’t worth the effort to kill off. 

Had they paid attention to the glowing reports from his tutors, had they cared an iota for anyone but themselves, they might have noticed that his smarts didn’t just extend to backing off from the throne. Perhaps then, they would have surmised that the compliments and agreements uttered with his smiles were strategic more than anything. 

But his tower was isolated from the main palace, and he was no more a danger than a caged bird. 

A fool, just like the rest of them. Alas, his gormless act perhaps was a bit too convincing—the siblings in the know wouldn’t entrust state secrets to someone who appeared as imbecilic as he did. Nonetheless, they grew accustomed to seeing him, and his presence where they were no longer seemed unusual. 

This was how Veritas tactically placed himself onto the petteia board as a piece that could no longer be overlooked. 

Boedromion was a month of aid, so the prince decided to extend a hand to those seeking help in the assembly. From behind the scenes, he handpicked those he needed for his investigation: those who had the ear of the archon in charge of the military, those who worked in administrative wings of the palace, those who could be moulded into perfect aides for his siblings. He observed the strata unable to speak up, unable to assert themselves in the agora, unable to hold any sway of their own. 

It was no altruism when he pulled them aside. Into their minds he painted himself as the benevolent saviour; the silver tongue who gave them their voice in the assembly back. In return, they turned themselves to pieces on his game board. Hence, he gained valuable information and more reliable rumours to investigate about the imperial family. Who to talk to, who to bribe, who to follow when the twin suns dipped below the horizon and the moon embraced the sky once more. 

These were the new connections the seventh prince forged—a net far more sound than the ramshackle collection of drunken scholars and fools from the symposia. 

Pyanopsion was the month of harvest, so his Highness watched his efforts fruit into an audience with Aha. The drunkard was shrewd—far too clever for someone rumoured to be an imbecile—therefore the seventh prince bowed before the sovereign and spoke no honeyed platitudes to THEM. When the king asked for his thoughts on the assembly, he answered honestly—and THEY guffawed with THEIR chalice in hand. When the king asked for his opinion of the people, he answered fraudulently—and THEY ruffled his amaranth locks with a hand that felt far too distant for a father. 

What are people, if not tools for the Elation?

There is no greater joy for them than serving us on this grand stage. 

Do you not agree, your Majesty?

Lie after lie dripped from his composed mouth. Even as he thought of the bright children running through sun-dappled streets, even as he thought of the beaming pedlars and their wares, even as he thought of the joy in the ordinary, mundane families he came across in the synoikiai—all these mentations came to a halt behind his expression. In those three sentences, his heart had hardened against THEM: as THEY smiled, as THEY affectionately broke bread with him, as THEY gestured for sweet wine to be poured into his cup. 

The youngest prince was no longer a mere prince but Aha’s son; an acknowledgement that only served to disgust the youth further. 

How vile. 

And though his goal was reached, this was how the Elation successfully alienated itself to Veritas. 

Maimakterion was the month of cold, and so the prince retreated to the stone palace for the first time since childhood. Past nightfall, he breached the lax security of the grand library and accessed its restricted section. All his manoeuvring, all his alliances and mind-numbing conversations—it was worth it to finally enter this place once more. 

There, in a forgotten corner that seemed more sepulchral than even the mausoleum, the seventh prince found what he had searched for. Penned in faded ink that he could barely see even with the light enchantment, was proof of collusion between the imperial family and the so-called ‘heretics’.

This was the point in time where his Highness felt the most vindicated towards the venerable Sophos and THEIR mockery. 

This was also the point in time where his Highness could no longer step off the path he had chosen. 

“Do you think he can feel it?” The maiden idly twined threads past HER fingers, for it was far more entertaining to see a mortal walk towards his doom with a head held high. “Surely there must be some sense of ill portent.” 

“The men most arrogant are least prepared for their end, Clotho,” the mother rebuked, but the syllables were about as harsh as spring butterflies—for SHE, too, anticipated the boy’s expression as he stared into the face of his own hamartia. 

“Hubris!” the hag cackled, yet the tremble of HER deathly grin belied the ever-present tears that traced the weary lines of HER face. “What a terrible conclusion.”

For the Moirai, this fate was nothing more than a short-lived, tragic play. 

And so, the month of Posideon passed quickly for both the three and the prince. The information inked into the yellowed scrolls was his proverbial labyrinthine thread, tugging his body to his salvation. Through the throngs of regular humans, his path was etched towards the harbingers of heresy: alchemists and their ilk. 

Throughout these days, he hardly thought of Sophos Nous at all; yet the familiar sensation of exoneration remained. He would prove himself before THEM; he was ready to put Aha to trial in front of the assembly if need be. 

The archontes were not infallible. 

This fact applied to Aha especially. 

When he probed those labelled as heretics, he was bitterly reminded that this wasn’t their fault. They were not the lawmakers, nor were they those with choice. Victims. Shackled to the Elation, their actions were akin to those of a puppet: pushed towards their day of reckoning by a force far superior to their own. 

Thus, the seventh prince worked tirelessly. Through the short days, through the long nights—he toiled away in his tower. He compiled sets of arguments, practised endless logos, drafted out the evidence necessary to condemn those at fault within the upper echelons of Metis. 

Gamelion came and went. Under the guise of a serving boy and some forbidden enchantments, Veritas walked the long stretches of the palace with nothing but worn sandals on his feet. He traced its ancient mosaics: memorising the old walkways and floor plans gifted by one of his acquaintances. For preparation was the friend of success, and the prince was nothing if not successful in his endeavours. 

It all led up to this night—stepping into the room sequestered from any official floor plan. 

“Look at him,” the maiden cooed. The spindle in HER cruel hands stilled momentarily—for a brief while, none were born. Though, this was an insignificant deviance in the tapestry of humanity: far too quick for anyone to realise. “Has he realised he’s out of his depth yet?”

“Hardly,” the matron scoffed. “He’s ablaze with self-righteous anger, as it were. Surely he could not have been ignorant of the sins on his own blood-kin’s hands?”

“Lachesis,” the hag warned. “Keep silent and enjoy the act.”

“Don’t tell me you feel sympathetic, Atropos?” the mother sneered, for it was ludicrous that the Moirai felt any sort of attachment to humanity. To fairly allot, the reason for THEIR very existence, was no longer possible if any bias was introduced to any of them. 

“Hardly,” the crone muttered. HER sentimentality would not affect HER role in this universe; just as it had been before, and as it would be after, HER shears would continue their severing of life from humans. 

The three were rapt as the prince gazed around the hall. Every turbulent beat of his heart, every miniscule grit of his molars, every bitter fist his sinuous hands made—all of his reactions were carefully documented, since a tragic hero like him had not been observed for an age and then some. 

It was by no means a modest room. The circumference of the marble spanned the equivalent of the large temple dedicated to the Elation, propped up by frieze-decorated columns. Stone reliefs etched into the walls depicted the rise of his lineage; they were intertwined with a sickening repertoire of mythos that they had no place against. Heroes of the old gleamed bright against his family’s wickedness—so utterly out of place he couldn’t help but gaze foully at the castings. 

Turned yonder, and the door through which he came glinted with the tell-tale light of an enchantment: a rippling string of formulae that indicated the space warping which enveloped this place. Yes, although the archon had expressly forbidden use of enchantments, they clearly had no qualms about taking the knowledge for their own gain. 

For the Elation is above the law. 

Past the vast anteroom was another door; this one, too, distended and undulated under his piercing gaze. Or rather, the silent movement of his mouth as he shattered its illusions and breached its innermost chamber—and this one was the one which struck him still. 

The seventh prince could only watch, horrified, as the expanse of terror unfolded before him. There was no escape from the sight, not unless his eyes were plucked out of his skull. 

Aeons. 

There was no space unblemished by golden cadavers. Cadavers, for statues surely wouldn’t possess faces distorted in crazed screams and bodies contorted in the most despicable of agonies. Cadavers, for surely their pain had ended—he prayed they were dead within their metallic shell, he prayed their souls had departed the material world, he prayed that his presence didn’t disturb their rest any further. 

Bile rested bitter in his mouth, and he struggled not to let the acrid film swirl into vomit—for his stomach churned and his palms grew clammy at the sight. 

These were the supposed threats to the Elation—innocents whose only crime had been to be against the tyranny of his family. 

For their dissent, they’d been dipped in molten gold—either dying through the intense heat, or slowly withering away as the alchemy chipped away at their flesh. 

Both options were equally horrifying. The seventh prince’s vision swam, and he barely made it back to his tower before his legs finally gave out. 

Yes, the prince had gained the knowledge he finally needed to take down his family, but at what cost?

Deep inside, he already knew the heavy feeling in his heart was the price he was beginning to pay. 

If only he knew the fate allotted to him at the end of this thorny path. 

Anthesterion trickled by slow as a fat bee. Sluggish. Every second was prolonged, every moment was accompanied by his racing pulse and adrenaline-stricken brain. No longer did he need to act the cowed prince—for before his siblings, his mouth grew dry and his pupils constricted into mere pinpricks. 

When he glanced at his sister, he saw the golden woman who’d wept with her body curled in on herself: shoulders hunched to her ears, hands sharpened into desperate claws (gouging at her flesh, since everyone knew pain nullified pain—and what greater anguish was there than losing your very body to aureate?). She’d writhed in her last moments; the harrowing movements had sent shockwaves all throughout the security enchantments. 

He could taste her tears.

When he stared at his three brothers, he also stared at the man who had ripped off his own arm to escape his inescapable fate. He stared at the blood that had pooled like gilt on the marble floor, for not even his most ardent lifeblood could evade the disgusting talons of his kin. He stared at the expression of horror the man had: eyes bulging out of their sockets, mouth twisted to an excruciating scream, and a wretched gaze afflicting him. 

He could feel the oily sanguine dripping from his own hands. 

He could no longer escape his siblings either. 

They relished in the iron grip they had over the city. They revelled in the generated fear. They savoured their long talks—talks which Veritas was now privy to, talks in which he did his best not to heave up the fruit in his stomach and the bilious film that now perpetually dwelled on his tongue. He was reviled, but they indulged in their craving for petrification with a particular sapidity that broke him down—over and over and over until he could no longer smell anything that didn’t carry the stench of copper. 

That was perhaps the month in which the seventh prince grew the most ill. 

Elaphebolion trailed its ghostly fingers around his neck like a noose. He grew careless in his haste to put his family before trial: left too many loose ends, made too many connections, and drew the attention of far too many eyes. 

It didn’t take long for his tower to truly become the cage of his metaphor. 

No, it took less than three days from his last meeting with an informant to find the door to his tower securely locked. Overnight, while the seventh prince restlessly slumbered, wrought bars enclosed his windows in one final trap. 

Thus, the prince was prince no longer, but a bird with its wings clipped forevermore. 

But that was not the end of it—for if it was, his life-thread would not have been seeped with the bloodiest of carmines. 

Mounichion was when Aha finally came to visit THEIR wayward son. 

Join me, THEY offered—though Veritas knew THEIR proffered hand was no salvation, but puppet strings that would attach to his own. For the ceaseless entertainment of the Elation, this was perhaps the greatest mercy Aha could extend: to become a dull marionette in this gilded cage until only his bones were strung up for all to ridicule. 

And when THEIR son’s incensed gaze did not waver, THEY sighed. 

Maddened with grief, boy? THEY mocked the look in his irises—once as bright and sweet as cherries, now dulled to the hue of dried blood. 

Kill me, those numbed eyes seemed to respond—but futilely, the youth wanted to live. 

“I’ve something much better, son.”

Mounichion was thus the month of confinement, where Aha planted a short-lived weed of hope that sprung up in the cracks of the prince’s heart—and withered just as quickly. 

Thar-gelion was when Veritas avoided death, but lost many things in return. 

It had started off small. His vision began to blur somewhat, but he chalked it to confinement in his tower. Even when he crafted himself ocular lenses and fitfully forced himself to sleep in the topmost room, there were moments in which the edges of his sight faded and greyed with a frequency that slowly increased. 

He browsed anatomical manuscripts. When the light from the twin Suns was particularly dim, he struck the oil-lamps with crude enchantments and perused their words as though they held the key to his answers—yet the lack of solutions was not enough to alarm him.

It should’ve been. 

His sense of smell was next to mute, though this was a far more subtle difference than his sight. Being confined to a particular area would obviously force one to grow accustomed to its ins and outs—including the odours and various scents of it. It wasn’t a problem, until one day Veritas Ratio noticed he could no longer quite smell the papery fragrance of his scrolls, nor the rich tang of his ink. 

Yet still, he ignored the warning signs. After all, he was preparing for his eventual execution. 

Naturally, his taste palate, too, had dulled due to his weakening olfactory sense. Although, this loss was far less profound than one might have anticipated—but it made all too much sense if one took into consideration his status as a prince awaiting judgement. Feed him enough so he survives. A few pieces of flatbread, some cheese, and one or two bruised handfuls of dried fruits were dropped through the bars daily—along with a skin of sour wine—much like feeding a wild bird when it had not yet been tamed enough for the door to open. These various foodstuffs were bland enough that it wouldn’t have made a difference if he could taste either way. 

Thus, the prince simply did not notice this sense fading.

The next sense to take leave was his hearing, and this time he did feel the difference. His balance was affected, though he surmised that was due to the lack of nutrients his body received. But when the fragile rustle of paper against his fingers stopped registering; when the tell-tale thump of his heart in the silence of his room grew silent; when he could no longer hear his own neurotic waves of breathing—this was when the seventh prince realised something was dreadfully wrong. 

He’d screamed himself hoarse, tearing at his skin with his nails to wake from this forsaken dream—only to no longer feel his crescent nails digging into flesh. 

No. No.

Air came shallow to the prince as his fading eyes desperately fixated on the blood welled on his arms. He could not feel the wounds. He could not smell the metallic crimson dripping in rivulets. He could not hear the hasty, panicked breaths and his racing pulse. And finally, when he put his mouth to staunch the flow, he could not taste the acrid tang on his palate either. 

And so, the prince spent the month of Thar-gelion slowly losing his mind. 

Skirophorion was when it came to a bitter end. 

In those days, His Highness barely left his bed. Sleep was now the only respite; he could no longer read his books, he could no longer pore over his beloved tools, and he could no longer support his weakening body. Any meals were now delivered far more sporadically; alas, the prince rarely ever ate. 

Death was imminent. 

His mind had long since given up, and his body was sure to follow. 

Any day now. Veritas could only count the seconds, the minutes and the hours—no longer could the youth cross the days off, not when his joints and limbs had petrified. 

Death was a mercy the prince would not receive. 

It was when Aha next visited THEIR son at the tower that Veritas truly learnt of the state he was in. 

No, he was no longer at his tower. That was a lie—a last comfort afforded to the prince. 

Poor child, all of this suffering could have been avoided, Aha’s message burst bright in his dulled mind. He thought he felt his index finger twitch. 

Would you like to see what you look like? The golden impression faded, as though Aha was waiting for the prince to answer. Well, I suppose you can’t answer either way. 

A sort of horrified fascination lingered in the scholar’s mind. Had his flesh, too, been transmuted to an aureate statue?

Did you think you’d join your people as one of MY sculptures? The question shook sympathetically, or maybe it was a dry laugh as the king looked on at THEIR pitiful son. 

No, child, you deserve a tragic end befitting MY line. 

And thus, the youth blindly awaited his judgement. 

Death shall never end thee, for madness will be thy salvation. 

No longer did he sense Aha’s presence. 

Rather, one last image was transmitted through the king’s enchantment—a cliffside, in which Veritas could faintly see his own features carved into the rock. Then, nothing. 

The stone smoothed out, and his image was struck from history forevermore. 

. 　⁺ ✦ 

When the next Day of Silence came and went, the prince was truly mute. He had no mouth, after all—so not a scream left him. 

The only thing he had left were his thoughts: one last, final burden. 

Is this the cost YOU foresaw, Nous? 

Veritas Ratio’s arrogance was no more. And so, the prince’s story came to a swift, acrimonious end. No, not end, for that implied that he was not shackled to limbo.  Bound to neither gold nor a statue, he would spend the rest of time waiting to be purified of his sins—for gold was finality. Gold was the most sacrosanct form of death he had not been afforded. 

And as the prince continued to count away the seconds, the minutes, the hours and eventually the years which trickled past in the hourglass, only insanity awaited him. 

This was the tale of the seventh prince; an elegy hidden from the footnotes of history. 

Within the game Lament of Ouroboros, his sorrows were summarised thusly:

A strangely warm vein of ore. 

Hero, come here when dusk kisses the edge of the Borderlands. As your palm brushes against the rock, you may be able to feel the pulse of a slumbering prince. 

Three sentences were all that was afforded to the disgraced prince, forgotten to all but the Moirai. 

Three sentences were how his tragedy was retold. 

Three sentences, a final insult to the most pitiful of princes. 

. 　⁺ ✦

[rose-of-the-grave]

The Great War: Chapter 6

Pairing: Mattheo Riddle x Reader

Sorry for the wait but it is finally done! The next chapter is like half written already so it should be less of a wait. Granted the next one will be longer... As always I'm the author (please don't repost) <3

Masterlist. Series Masterlist. Read on Ao3

Warnings: canon events? idk what else

Word Count: 2685

Description: A trip to Hogsmeade leads to disaster. Y/N's loyalties will be tested.

Taglist: @sylveryfire, @undercover-smutlover, @dundunmin, @whoreforfictionalmen18

“Come on, hurry up!”

All four of them were dressed warmly, ready to venture out into the snowy wonderland that Hogwarts’ grounds had become overnight. The pale light shining through the clouds, the snow glittering every place it touches. Icicles hung from the trees and a chill was in the air, biting at their cheeks. Trudging through the snow, they shivered despite being all bundled up.

Something hit her in the back. What on Earth? Y/N whirled around to see Ron with a grin on his face and another snowball in hand. Not wasting any time she gathered some snow in her hand, throwing it at him. He jumped to the side, the snowball clipping his shoulder. Ron threw another at her which she managed to dodge.

“Missed!” She taunted. A snowball hit her firmly on the side of her face leaving bits of snow all over her scarf. Harry had joined in. Tossing one back at him she ducked away from another. Ducking behind a tree she gathered a few snowballs before peeking out. Harry and Ron were tossing them back and forth, not paying attention to her. Tucking them all into her side she threw them one by one right at them.

“Hey!” She chucked a snowball right as Harry turned. It struck him right in the chest. Suddenly a snowball hit her on the shoulder. Turning around she realized her fatal mistake, Hermione hadn’t been out there with the boys. Instead she had been waiting for the ultimate take down. Not one to be defeated, Y/N scrambled to retaliate. Snow flew through the air back and forth. Tackling Harry to the ground, their friends followed suit, piling on top of each other. Their laughs were infectious.

They kept on playing and joking around, the snow providing a much needed laugh, until their stomachs began to complain.

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

“For weeks you carry around this book, practically sleep with it and yet you have no desire to find out who the Half Blood Prince is?” Hermione berated.

Offended, Harry retorted, “I don’t sleep with it!”

Next to Y/N Ron muttered, “Yeah ya do, mate.”

“I do not!”

“Do too! Every night I look over to say good night and you’re reading that bloody book! It’s like being with Hermione.”

She glared at him.

Shrugging, “What? It’s true!”

Groaning, Harry continued on, insisting to Hermione, “And I am curious!”

“Oh really?” Hermione said with an arched brow. “Well I was curious so I went to…”

All three of them chimed in before she could say anything, “The library.”

Giving them all a stern look she admitted, “Yes.” Her expression fell, “And I couldn’t find anything.”

“Really?” Y/N asked, surprised.

“No. There’s no mention anywhere of a Half Blood Prince.”

“There we go! That settles it!” Harry said, vindicated.

Up ahead stood Professors Slughorn and Flitwick discussing something.

“...Emergency choir practice I’m afraid. Some other time!” Flitwick said, already heading in their direction towards the castle. Slughorn continued towards Hogsmeade.

Harry’s eyes were glued on the Potions professor, “Anyone fancy a butterbeer?”

“Yeah.” Ron said, Y/N and Hermione echoing that sentiment. Following closely behind Slughorn they eventually reached the Three Broomsticks.

Y/N watched as Harry led them to a table in the middle instead of one of the booths along the wall like usual. His seat faced the counter where Slughorn was buying something. While they were all taking off their coats Draco appeared out of nowhere. The Slytherin was alone, an unusual sight. He met her gaze for a moment, his eyes shadowy. He hadn’t been sleeping well. Not that she cared. He shot a pointed glare at Harry but it lacked the heat.

Distracted by the server, they all ordered a butterbeer each. Hermione thanked her as she walked away.

“Oh bloody hell!” Ron said, his gaze trained on a booth across the room. They turned to look. Dean and Ginny.

Turning back she said, “Oh Ronald, they’re only holding hands.” Hermione rolled her eyes at him.

“Yeah and snogging.” Y/N said having not fully turned away.

Ron’s face turned red, “I’d like to leave.”

Their drinks all arrived right as Hermione exclaimed, “What? You can’t be serious.”

“She happens to be my sister!”

Hermione snorted, taking a sip. “So? What if she looked over and saw you snogging me, would you expect her to get up and leave?”

Ron stared at her stunned.

Y/N and Harry exchanged a look. Unable to hide their grins they both took a sip of butterbeer. Spotting someone behind her he raised a hand, “Professor!”

She turned around, it was Slughorn.

“Harry, m’boy! It’s good to see you.”

Harry stood up, “And you, professor.” Shaking Slughorn’s hand, “So what brings you here?”

“Oh me and the Three Broomsticks go way back! Further than I care to admit. I remember when it was One Broomstick!” He chuckled to himself, accidentally spilling a bit of his butterbeer on Hermione’s sleeve. “Careful, all hands on deck Granger!” She gave him a smile, nodding, but he turned to Harry. “So listen, Harry. Back in the old days I used to throw together the occasional supper party. For the select student or two. Would you be game?”

Not missing a beat, Harry replied, “I’d consider it an honor.”

Glancing over at Hermione, “You’d be invited too Ms. Granger.”

Quickly swallowing she replied, “I’d be delighted to.”

“Splendid! Look for my owl!” Turning towards Ron, “Good to see you Wallenbee, Y/L/N.”

Both of them gave him a pained nod, before turning towards Harry who sat down with a small grin on his face.

“What’re you playing at?” Ron asked.

Still smiling, he replied, “Dumbledore asked me to get to know him.”

“Get to know him?” Y/N asked.

Harry shrugged, “I don’t know. But it must be important or else Dumbledore wouldn't have asked.”

All of the pieces clicked together. Slughorn must have something to do with Dumbledore’s task for Harry.

”You’ve got a little bit.” Ron motioned to his upper lip. Swiping at it Hermione still didn’t get it.

Reaching over he used his sleeve to wipe it away before sitting back down. Face flushed, Hermione thanked him.

Standing up Y/N told them, “I’ll be right back.”

Ducking into the restroom she bumps into Pansy.

“Hey Pans.”

The Slytherin whirls around, hiding something behind her back. “Hey.”

At Y/N’s curious glance at whatever she was concealing she simply shrugs. “Just a gift for a friend. I don’t want anyone finding out until I give it to them.”

“Oh.” Still curious Y/N walks into one of the stalls. When she comes back out Pansy is touching up her makeup like nothing happened. Whatever she was hiding in the hand between her and the sink. After washing her hands she pauses by the door.

“Go on, I still need to go to the bathroom.”

Nodding, Y/N exited to find someone leaning against the wall outside.

“Riddle.” She gritted through her teeth.

Flashing her an arrogant smile that she longed to slap off his face he said, “Miss me?”

She crossed her arms. “No.”

He leaned in a little too close for her liking, “Liar.” The fine hairs on her neck stood up. Before she could think of a retort the door behind her opened, almost knocking into her. It was then she realized why she had been spared a collision right when she noticed the arm tucked around her waist.

Pansy gave her a smile. “Hey you two.”

Mattheo said something but she couldn’t quite focus on him. Not now. There was something different about Pansy. She no longer had something hidden on her, whatever it was that she had been so desperate to conceal from prying eyes had vanished.

Pansy cleared her throat pointedly, startling her. “The two of you seem awfully close.”

Like they had been burnt they both jumped away from each other. Y/N refused to meet his eyes, focusing her gaze on Pansy. “I need to go, my friends will be wondering where I went off to.”

“Right.” Her friend’s smile dropped, almost like she had just bitten into something sour. She hated that she was the reason for that but she knew her friends would never understand her hanging out with the supposed enemy.

“I’ll see you later?”

“Yeah, sure. See ya.” Pansy waved before heading outside where she and Mattheo both rejoined some other Slytherins.

Not feeling too happy anymore Y/N walked back over to their table where Hermione was talking about some book that she had read. By the looks of it she had been talking for a while because Ron immediately perked up seeing her approach and Harry also seemed a bit bored, although more invested than Ron. They would never have survived if Hermione had been a guy, she had a habit for rambling about her newest discovery. It was always super interesting but she could go on for hours.

“Oh, hey.” Harry said, just noticing her.

“Hey, you all ready to head back?”

They all nodded and grabbed their coats. It had started snowing harder in the past few minutes, making it feel even chillier. Not too far ahead were a pair of Gryffindors, seventh-years. One of them was Katie but she didn’t know the other. Ever the nosey one, she couldn’t help but strain her ears to hear their rather loud argument.

“I know what I’m doing.”

The response was muffled by Ron and Harry talking. The pair of them caught up with her and Hermione, the latter flinging her arms around their shoulders, a smile on her face. Harry pulled Y/N into his side so the four of them were all walking together linked to each other's sides. She squeezed tightly, not wanting to let go from her friends. They meant the world to her. Their meaningless excited chatter was abruptly interrupted by Katie’s friend screaming.

“I warned her. I warned her not to touch it!” She pointed at Katie’s body where it lay on the snow, moving back and forth. Katie looked possessed. Suddenly an invisible force lifted her into the sky, her mouth open in a silent scream.

All five of them watched her in horror.

Her dark hair floated about her face, her eyes gazing up at the sky unseeing. Her arms reached out to the sides. Then, like a doll being dropped by a child who has lost interest, she fell to the ground. Concerned, they all hesitantly began to approach her body.

“No, stay right there!” Hagrid’s voice boomed from behind, “Don’t get any closer.” He lifted Katie’s limp body up into his arm while all of them stood still, the wind whipping at their coats and scarves.

Harry glanced at the object on the ground. In the heat of the moment they had all been too focused on Katie being thrown around like a ragdoll to worry about what she had dropped. He bent down to pick it up when Hagrid warned, “Don’t you touch that. Except for the wrappings. Do you understand?”

Harry crouched beside it, the wrappings fluttering in the wind. Grabbing a hold of it, he pulled it to the side to see what it was. The necklace had tumbled onto the snow. It was an odd sort of necklace, certainly an old family heirloom. No one their age would be caught dead wearing it. The chain was made of triangular bits that she was sure she had seen before. Using its container he lifted it up, examining it.

They all exchanged a puzzled look. Unsure what to make of it, all of them followed behind Hagrid, the snow slowing them down. After what felt like hours they reached the main entrance. Hagrid took Katie to the Infirmary where she was laid down on one of the beds. Then the rest of them were whisked away to a classroom by Professor McGonagall. The necklace was confiscated from Harry and placed on display.

“You’re sure Katie didn’t have this necklace in her possession when she entered the Three Broomsticks?” Professor McGonagall asked.

Katie’s friend shook her head, “It’s like I said. She left to go to the bathroom, and when she came back she had it in her hand. She said that it was important that she deliver it.”

“Did she say to whom?”

“Professor Dumbledore.”

“Very well, thank you Leanne. You may go.” She nodded her head before passing by them. Y/N was fairly certain that Leanne was headed to the Infirmary Wing.

McGonagall turned towards them, her expression filled with exhaustion and disapproval, “Why is it when something happens it is always you four?”

They all looked a bit sheepish. “Believe me professor, I’ve been asking myself the same question for six years.” Ron said.

She looked up at the back of the class, “Oh, Severus.”

All four of them whirled around to see their least favorite teacher. The feeling was mutual. He shot them a disgruntled look before greeting McGonagall, “You asked to see me?”

She then proceeded to tell him the shorter version of what happened. Circling the stand, he lifted the necklace, examining it.

“What do you think?”

Snape responded, “I think Ms. Bell is lucky to be alive.”

“She was cursed, wasn’t she?” Harry asked. “I know Katie, off the quidditch pitch she wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

“Yeah.” Y/N chimed in. She didn’t know her well but she was always super nice at practice.

Harry continued, “If she was taking that to Professor Dumbledore, she wasn’t doing it knowingly.”

“Yes, she was cursed.” McGonagall said, not turning around.

“It was Malfoy.”

Suddenly Harry had five pairs of eyes on him, none of them were all that surprised to hear him accuse Malfoy, their rivalry was well-known but it was a very serious accusation, like McGonagall went on to say.

“Indeed. Your evidence?” Snape said.

Harry shrugged, “I just know.”

Snape inhaled sharply, “You just,” He paused, “Know. Your gifts astonish me Potter. Gifts mere mortals wouldn’t dream of possessing. How grand it must be to be the Chosen One.” His derisive tone gave Harry pause, they all knew that he didn’t have any proof. Even if he was sometimes right, it wasn’t easy for anyone to believe him without proof, especially if they were a teacher known for hating him.

McGonagall stepped in before anything more was said. “I suggest you go back to your dormitories. All of you.” The last part was pointed at Harry. He had a habit of wandering around the castle at night unaccompanied. They all turned to leave. Y/N gave her friend a glance. She knew how sure he was that it was Malfoy, Ron had told her about all the times he had woken up to see Harry’s nose buried in the Marauder’s Map. He slept with that thing by his side just as much as he did with his Potions book.

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

“I know it was Malfoy. It just has to be!” Harry exclaimed, collapsing on one of the couches. Thankfully the common room was mostly empty.

“It wasn’t.” Y/N murmured.

“What?”

“I said it wasn’t Malfoy, at least I’m pretty sure of it.”

All three of her best friends turned to look at her with identical expressions of shock at hearing those words come out of her mouth.

Explaining further, she clarified, “When I went to go to the bathroom he was busy talking to his friends, there’s no way he got it in there.”

Harry’s brows furrowed, who else could it possibly be? Y/N had a suspicion but she didn’t know for sure and she wasn’t about to sell out Pansy for a hunch. It would jeopardize everything.

Hermione turned to look at her, “Was there anyone else in there?”

Knowing that there wasn’t any going back, she shook her head. They all plopped down on the same couch, sitting there in silence.

“So, is now a good time to tell you guys I’m not going with you over break?”

Chapter 7>>

[ebonystarfall]

Can I request a oneshot of Kui Mulang x Jade Maiden rencarnate except they're a demon with koi fish attributes (like the same color scheme as the Jade Maiden but with pretty scales and a flowy tail)

Wolf Fangs and Koi Scales

Kui Mulang x Jade Maiden Reincarnate (Koi Fish Demon)

Created by: Starlight, Owner 2.

Type of content: Oneshot

Point of view: Second

Word Count: 1,089

TW: Mentions of murder, small angst (I wasn’t aware that I had added that in), possible ooc (it could be in character, we just haven’t seen how he is around the Jade Maiden. After all, he was basically featured in one episode.)

A/N: Starlight here. Starbeam (Owner 1) put me in charge of this ask. If you notice a different style of writing for both of us, then you’re right. I get most of my writing styles from reading too many classic books. (Please save me) However, I don’t mind getting to be a little silly on my main account. You can definitely see the clear difference between us 😊

REBLOGS ARE APPRECIATED

Silence. Irritating, lonely silence. It reverberated in the ears of Kui Mulang. In any other moment, the air would have been filled with screams—agonized, desperate cries of those whose souls he devoured, savoring their terror with a cruel smile. Yet now, only the oppressive quiet of the throne room surrounded him. A weary, disenchanted sigh escaped his lips. Perhaps he had grown weary of this existence. Was it truly so difficult to find his lost love once more? Had the relentless march of Time claimed her irrevocably? Was he merely clinging to a mirage of hope? No, he could not succumb to doubt. He had ventured too far down this dark path to consider redemption. He must press on.

Thus far, his guards had failed to present any new captives. No souls? Kui Mulang assumed that the denizens of the region had received the warning and chosen to keep their distance. Resolving to take matters into his own hands, he decided upon a solitary stroll beyond the palace walls. None would object, he reasoned. Moreover, it had been some time since he last ventured forth, and the diversion would serve to occupy his restless spirit.

A thought unfurled within his mind. What if he were to find the reincarnation of his beloved wandering about? A solemn sigh escaped him as he made his way toward the palace exit. It was a wild notion, indeed, but not one beyond the realm of possibility. Though it was a chance in a thousand, he would grasp it. Kui Mulang surveyed the palace’s exterior surroundings and commenced his walk along the dirt road, his gaze fixed solemnly ahead.

Memories of the Jade Maiden surfaced: her radiant smile in response to his words, her voice as melodious as a harp, and her laughter—that he missed most. It was her laughter that could banish the oppressive silence of his palace. In truth, he had never regarded that cold and dark palace as a home. Nowhere could he deem a home without her presence.

—

He had been walking for quite some time now. The moon had ascended higher in the sky since he last glimpsed it. Lost in contemplation during his quiet stroll, he unexpectedly encountered a river. How peculiar—it seemed unfamiliar to him. Could his memory of the outside world be fading? No, he must simply have overlooked it before. The demon approached the riverbank, determining it was an decent place to pause and rest briefly. Yet, from the corner of his lavender eyes, he detected a movement…or was it a figure?

He tensed, squinting at the disturbance in the water. It might have been a mere fish, but few fish boasted scales so elongated. Kui Mulang called out, his voice tinged with both curiosity and a chilling edge.

“Who lurks there? Reveal yourself, or face... consequences.”

He was greeted by the sound of splashing—yes, unmistakably splashing, farther downstream. Stealthily and with great caution, he traced the source of the sound, and his eyes widened at the sight before him. There you were, a demon resembling a koi fish. Your fins and scales cascaded elegantly, reminiscent of flowing robes in hues of white and sunset orange. He was struck with astonishment. What manner of power did you possess? Who were you, truly?

"You appear troubled. But fear not. I'm y/n, and you must be the owner of the palace not far from here," you said, your smile warm and kind.

He was taken aback. His guards had never mentioned finding you, and if they had, they certainly hadn't brought you to the palace. Your smile seemed innocent, brimming with joy. He felt an urge to shatter your soul and consume it on the spot, yet found himself unable to proceed. Why? Not even a cruel demon like him could answer that question.

“Are you aware of the fact that I could kill you right now?”

“Of course.”

“But you won’t run- or, well, swim away?”

“If you were going to harm me, you would’ve done so already.”

The wolf demon had paused, contemplating your words. You were correct, he realized. He could have struck the moment he spotted movement in the water. Even if you were merely another demon, he couldn't fathom why he had refrained from devouring your soul. Was it because you reminded him of... her? No, that couldn't be. You could never be the Jade Maiden, despite the unsettling resemblance in your smile and the way your fins and tail resembled her elegant attire. The parallels were uncanny.

“Are you aware of who I am? Truly, do you know my name, or what I have done besides being the cause of demise for the creatures in the area?”

“…I was planning on asking you the same. You feel like a stranger I’ve crossed paths with before. Many times, in fact.”

Kui Mulang took a surprised step forward, disguising it with a throat-clearing cough. It all seemed too good to be true. You didn't appear to remember him entirely, but there were hints of familiarity in your manner. Even one memory would be enough. If you truly didn't recall... he would gladly bring you back to the palace and assist you in any way he could. Hope surged within him, albeit tinged with desperation. Part of him wished you would deny knowing him at all, so he could get rid of this false hope and consume your soul. Yet, it felt like you were being sincere. And that genuinely frightened him. Fear gripped him—the fear of losing the Jade Maiden, of losing what he had just found.

With utmost gentleness, he took your hands in his and gazed into your eyes. He detected a hint of surprise in your expression as your hands rested in his grasp, along with a touch of fluster. He whispered softly in your ear, his voice slightly hesitant yet filled with hope, “Who was I to you in those memories?”

“…you were someone that I felt like I cared about, it felt like I loved you. Isn’t that strange?”

A small, hesitant smile crept onto his face as he suddenly enveloped you in his arms, drawing you close in a tight embrace, indifferent to his robes becoming damp from the river. He almost felt as though he were hallucinating from the sheer joy of the moment. Closing his eyes, he buried his head against your shoulder.

“Dearest, I could never think it was strange…”

“It still seems surprising, of course.”

“Ah, still as humorous as ever, I see.”

[aquaquadrant]

The Time King

Word count: 1,937 Warning: Implied death A/N: Finally got around to uploading my piece for the @bdubszine (which y'all should def check out if u haven't already). This was a different approach for me and a lot of fun, loved the chance to write abt Bdubs's season 8 finale. Hope y'all enjoy, please reblog/comment if u do <3 - Aqua

The Time King

~*~

It’s the end of the world, and Bdubs is doing fine.

Why wouldn’t he? He’s the fuzzy, cozy, mossy Time King! Uh- King of the Server, in fact. If he may be so bold. Everyone else is- they had a meeting, and everyone else is leaving. Everyone’s leaving, he’s the only one left- last man standing! Oh, or uh- floating? He float- he’s flyin’ all over the place, now, uh- it’s fine! This is fine, he likes it.

(The Time King is a liar.)

Oh, so the moon is big. Hah, yeah, that- it’s been happening for a while now, Bdubs supposes. But he didn’t see it ‘til just- just recently ‘cause, um- of course, whenever night comes, he- he’s the Time King! And the Time King… changes the day- uh, changes night to day. Right. Right, right, right, right, right, of course. He’s gotta sleep, okay, so he hasn’t seen the moon for- for forever, and it’s big now.

And it’s comin’.

Blocks are flyin’ up everywhere, all over the place, and uh… they aren’t comin’ back. Some of these builds, oh boy, okay, they look rough. They’re getting pretty shambled. And then there’s the- the ground shaking, every so often. Shaking real bad. And then- yes, of course, the flying! Bdubs floats now, he flies- it doesn’t last long. He’s gotten used to it.

But everyone else got… uh, they got real nervous, it seems. Nobody else is on the world, currently, and- and nobody’s been on since their meeting, so. Yeah.

(The Time King is alone.)

So everything in the world can belong to Bdubs. Ah hah! That’s- he’s pretty sure that’s how it works. He thinks- the rest of the Big Eye Crew, Tango, Keralis- they gone. Oh, yeah. They- Tango went on a little uh… space mission, to the moon, okay, so- so Bdubs doesn’t think he’ll be back on this world again. He did… uh, send Tango a little message… you know, just to let him know that… well, things are floatin’ and flyin’ all over the place, it’s a mess here, everything is in shambles. So Tango really… really shouldn’t come back.

Oh! And Keralis, that sweetie, he’s got a- a- big ol’, uh… space… station? Space ship? So that’s- yeah, that’s how he’s leaving. Oh, but his house is so- oh, what a beauty! What gorgeous- it’s a shame, really, but- but hey, good for Bdubs! Right? Oh, that’s amazing. Keralis’s house and private island, Tango’s cyclops under the mountain, the Big Eye shopping district- sure enough, Bdubs can claim it all!

Isn’t this beautiful? This is- he feels like he could stay here forever. You know, for as much forever as he’s got left.

(The Time King is running out of time.)

See, Ol’ Bdubs- he ain’t no fool! He knows. He knows that, uh, there’s a good reason everybody’s leaving. It’s… this isn’t the kinda problem that can be fixed, you know? Of course, they’d respawn. Players respawn, when they get killed. But the moon is comin’ and he thinks there won’t be much of anything left, after. And who- who’d want to stick around for that, right? Right, okay… uh, well him, he supposes. But someone has to leave last, right?

That’s- that’s the thing about uh, you know, the end of a world. Someone is always the last one to leave.

Bdubs has played on a lotta different worlds, over the years. And someone will always be the- the last person to ever, uh, exist in a world... as everyone gradually fades out and uh, you know, ventures forth into new adventures… and stuff. That’s what usually happens, okay. So when a world ends, someone is always the last person to see it- to actually load the chunks.

And then they leave, and the world is held in a sort of uh, a sort of stat- uh, status? In stasis. So it’s still there- all their old worlds- waiting for them, if they ever wanna visit. Like, if they want to look at old builds, or look at old redstone. Or you know, just take a stroll down memory lane. So, the Hermits- they’ve had plenty of worlds end, but they’re never really gone.

This time is different. This time, there’ll be nothing to come back to.

So uh… it’s only right, Bdubs thinks, that someone be here to witness it.

And you know, there’s… part of Bdubs doesn’t like the thought of leaving his pets here alone. There’s Squawkers, of course, and Lulu, his faithful companion. Pets get left behind all the time on old worlds, it’s- it’s just how things are. They can’t travel between worlds. But Bdubs is always comforted by the thought that no matter what… they’re still there, waiting for him.

And he knows they aren’t real, okay, not in the way players are. They’re just- uh, little bundles of code and data that exist only on this world. They don’t have a- a unique, sort of… con- conscience? Or- no, um… consciousness. Something that can, uh… persist… beyond this world. That’s just how the universe designed ‘em.

Oh, there’ll be other horses, of course, in other worlds. Maybe uh… maybe even ones made of the same data and codes as Lulu. Like… the same- same color, the same stats. Like a- ‘oh, look here, this is a standard white horse with eleven hearts, eleven-point-nine block speed, two-and-a-half snow jumpin’ horse!’ Physically identical in every way, sure enough, but- you know, it- it won’t be Lulu.

Animals don’t respawn. Of course. So- so when the moon comes down, and uh… you know, blows everything to kingdom come… they aren’t gonna… um. It’ll- you know. So he just- he doesn’t want them to be alone, for that. Yes, yes, okay, Bdubs is a big ol’ softie, sure…

(The Time King is… sentimental.)

He’s not sure what’ll happen to him, exactly, after respawning. He’s never- can he even respawn in a world that gets destroyed? Or- or will it be like, um… the ultra- ultra hardcore? Worlds? Hardcore worlds where after you die, you just… can’t go back. It doesn’t exist anymore. Deleted. Gone. Bye-bye. Go back to another world. Yeah, maybe it’ll be like that.

But, you know, until that happens, Bdubs is making the most of it. Having a nice tour around the world, the beautiful world- seein’ what everyone built. Oh, it’s amazing- it all belongs to him, now! And that’s- there’s something really nice, about that.

‘Cause there’s all of Boatem, of course- Grian’s magical alley, Scar- sweet Scar- his uh, Swaggon… place? The Swaggons. There’s Impulse’s candy factory, Pearl’s mountain range, Mumbo’s sort of… mountaintop village… shrine? Yes, lovely. Oh, it’s all lovely. So the Boatem people left, down through the uh, the Boatem Hole, of course- those sillies. So it all belongs to Bdubs, now! Amazing.

Then there’s Octagon, too- and oh goodness, how amazing is Octagon! Doc and Ren, those two guys really… uh, really outdid themselves. Giant praying mantis… that’s- oh, that looks like some pretty impressive redstone, there- uh, for Doc, that is! For Bdubs, it’s- he can understand that, all too easy. Of course. Maybe he’ll improve on it, later. Yeah.

Oh goodness, there’s so much here… Bdubs could go on and on, really. Etho and Iskall’s savannah, Cleo and Joe’s big ol’ castle, Jevin’s slime pit and custom swamp, Cub’s humongous dripstone canyon, Beef’s spaceship, Xb’s bunker, Zedaph’s lab, Xisuma’s village, Hypno’s mushroom, Wels’s house, TFC’s mine, and the forest shared by False, Stress, and Gem. Oh, yes! Oh, baby, it’s all property of Bdubs, now! What- what a paradise this is! Even… even if not everything got finished. That’s okay. Uh- he can work on it, later. Maybe.

And of course, Bdubs checks on all the profits from the Big Eye shopping district. And sure enough, they’ve got sales! They’ve got- he’s practically rolling in diamonds, now! Richest Hermit on the server, by far! Isn’t that fitting, for the Time King? Oh, their beautiful shopping district- there’s still some wool scaffolding, though, around the place. Some outlines of buildings he never got to build. That’s okay, he- oh, didn’t get to build yet, he’ll say instead. Yeah, he likes that better.

(The Time King is great at pretending.)

And finally, there’s… oh, right. Hollow Hills. The horse course he was building with Etho. Right. He forgot about that. Right, right, right, right, right. Okay. It’s finished, it is, just- they had some ideas about cool things to add, power-ups and stuff, but the course is rideable! It’s- look, he can take Lulu for a race right now- perfect riding, of course, world record- and it’s all complete and- and functional! And he said- he and Etho, they always- every time they start a project together, they just go too big, okay, and never finish. But not this time! It’s finished! They did... it’s just, they never got around to holding a proper race on it, is all.

Um… 

That’s the other thing, about the end of a world. Usually, they have more time. 

They get to choose when they’re done, you know? And that’s- that’s not to say that they always finish every project, okay, but usually they’ve done everything they wanted to. Projects are left unfinished ‘cause of a lack of inspiration, not a- not a time limit. They usually have time to do whatever they need to before the end. But uh, right now.. all Bdubs can think about is everything he still had left to do, all the life he still wanted to live on this world.

So he’s not really sure if he’s still here because he’s brave enough to stay, or just too scared to say goodbye.

(Oh, Time King, did you get everything you needed?)

It’s the end of the world, and Bdubs is afraid.

He’s finished his tour, finished seeing all the amazing builds that he laid claim to, for- hah, for all of one day. He’s collected his profits, collected all the wonderful diamonds that he earned for his hard work makin’ and stockin’ the shops- even though it’s uh, it’s too late to spend ‘em anywhere. He’s completed his race, completed a perfect run on the racetrack, first try, of course, and- and he can claim the world record because the world’s ending, anyway, so no one could beat it even if they tried. No one will ever get the chance.

So as the moon bears down on the world, Bdubs stands outside his starter base- and that’s uh, that’s kinda funny to think about, you know? Calling it a starter base when he never really moved on from it. It’s just his base, his one and only base, and sure enough, it’s a moon, of all things. He’s got Squawkers on his shoulder, lil’ claws or uh, talons, gripping through the mossy cloak, still squawkin’ an imitation of a zombie they passed earlier. And he’s got Lulu at his side, lead rope in one hand as he pets her velvety soft nose with the other, tryin’ to keep her calm because he thinks… uh, he thinks she can tell.

And as the moon- oh, it’s beautiful. As the moon- the humongous moon, swallow the whole sky moon- bears down on the world, ringed with flames and blazing a- a yellow so bright it’s painful to look at, Bdubs can’t help but think that it uh, it looks an awful lot, actually, like the sun.

Isn’t that fitting?

(The Time King changes night to day, one last time.)

~*~